As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
SpaceX Rocket Explodes During Test Flight
MCGREGOR, Texas (AP) — An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded shortly after launch on a test flight at the company’s Central Texas development site.
A SpaceX statement said nobody was injured in the Friday afternoon explosion at its test site in McGregor, Texas, 23 miles southeast of Waco.
In a statement, SpaceX spokesman John Taylor says the test flight involved a three-engine version of its reusable Falcon 9 rocket. He said an “anomaly” was detected in the rocket and it automatically self-destructed.
He said the vehicle remained within its designated flight area throughout and a representative of the Federal Aviation Administration was present.
The company offered no further details on the nature of the “anomaly,” but Taylor said SpaceX will review the flight record to learn more about the rocket’s performance before its next test flight.
BuzzFeed posted a Vine video from KWTX of the explosion, which can be seen above.
Briefly: Kaebo cloth Lightning cable, bike mount case for iPhone
Portable power solutions company Juno Power has announced its newest line of Lightning adaptor cables, named Kaebo. An Apple certified charge and sync cable, the Kaebo features high strength cloth that is resistant to rips or tears. Its aluminum build is designed to withstand most accidental damage. The cable is equipped with an aluminum connector and USB head for optimal performance, and is available in silver, light gold, and slate gray. Measuring at one meter long, the Kaebo is priced at $22 through Juno Power and Amazon.
U.S. Retailers Warned Of Possible Hacking
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 1,000 U.S. retailers could be infected with malicious software lurking in their cash register computers, allowing hackers to steal customer financial data, the Homeland Security Department said Friday.
The government urged businesses of all sizes to scan their point-of-sale systems for software known as “Backoff,” discovered last October. It previously explained in detail how the software operates and how retailers could find and remove it. Earlier this month, United Parcel Service said it found infected computers in 51 stores. UPS said it was not aware of any fraud that resulted from the infection but said hackers may have taken customers’ names, addresses, email addresses and payment card information.
The company apologized to customers and offered free identity protection and credit monitoring services to those who had shopped in those 51 stores.
Backoff was discovered in October, but according to the Homeland Security Department the software wasn’t flagged by antivirus programs until this month.
Jerome Segura, a senior security researcher at cybersecurity software firm Malware Bytes, said that the way that Backoff works is not unique. The program gains access to companies’ computers by finding insufficiently protected remote access points and duping computer users to download malware, tricks that have long been in use and are often automated.
What has changed, Segura said, is that the hackers deploying it have become increasingly sophisticated about identifying high-value computer systems after they’ve broken into them.
“Once the bad guys realized they were able to penetrate larger networks, they saw the opportunity to develop malware that’s specifically for credit cards and can evade antivirus programs,” he said.
By using Backoff selectively, rather than distributing it widely on the Internet, the hackers likely managed to escape detection for longer. Following Homeland Security’s warnings in July, however, companies are much better able to probe their own computers for Backoff.
The battle between retailers and hackers is an ongoing one. Retail giant Target, based in Minneapolis, was targeted by hackers last year and disclosed in December that a data breach compromised 40 million credit and debit card accounts between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. On Jan. 10, it said hackers stole personal information — including names, phone numbers and email and mailing addresses — from as many as 70 million customers.
Target, the third-largest retailer, has been overhauling its security department and systems in the wake of the pre-Christmas data breach, which hurt profits, sales and its reputation among shoppers worried about the security of their personal data. Target is now accelerating its $100 million plan to roll out chip-based credit card technology in all of its nearly 1,800 stores.
So-called chip and pin technology would allow for more secure transactions than the magnetic strip cards that most Americans use now. The technology has already been adopted in Europe and elsewhere.
Though improving card technology and updating malware detection will help retailers defend themselves, Segura said that the recent profusion of computer breaches should make companies think harder about how they use remote access systems for employees and vendors. By limiting what portions of their systems can be accessed remotely, he said, companies can limit the damage that hackers can do.
“This past year and a half has been breach after breach,” he said. “It’s incredible.”
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Associated Press writer Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.
Here's 'Twin Peaks' Re-Imagined As A Retro Arcade Game
If you’re a real “Twin Peaks” fanatic, just the initial chimes of its always ominous intro song will cause goosebumps to sprout up all over your arms and legs.
Now Filthy Frackers has re-imagined Angelo Badalamenti’s epic theme song in NES style, transforming the hazy Washington landscape into pixelated lo-res goodness. It’s nostalgia on nostalgia, people. What’s not to like?
Thank you, Filthy Frackers, for providing this tempting glimpse at what an ’80s arcade game based on “Twin Peaks” would look like, even though the show wasn’t created until 1990. If only someone would make a game we could actually play, now that would be a dream/nightmare come true.
For more 8-bit remixes, check out Forrest Gump, Finding Nemo and Elf, all of which are decidedly not as creepy as Lynch’s suburban murder mystery.
h/t The Creator’s Project
The king of the leakers
The man who exposes the technology industry’s secrets
Awful Racism Prompts Organizers To Shut Off Comments On Darren Wilson Fundraising Site
Shut it down, folks.
That was the reaction organizers of the fundraising campaign set up to support Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown, had toward open comments on the campaign’s GoFundMe Page.
In the scant week since it was created, the campaign — the funds of which will be used “to cover potential legal fees, relocation and living expenses of both Officer Darren Wilson and his immediate family,” the site notes — has drawn more than $235,000 in donations, along with a barrage of tremendously racist language.
Commenters referred to the teen as “a common street thug” and black Americans as “aggressive and entitled primitive savages.” One donor, who identified himself as a Chicago police officer, offered $50 for Wilson to use toward “a lap dance to ease the mind of the negativity surrounding the incident and beyond.”
“Support Officer Darren Wilson” organizers pulled the plug on comments roughly one day into the campaign, according to updates on the campaign page.
Over $100,000 has been raised for Darren Wilson. But man, why must liberals bring RACE into this?! It’s about…oh. pic.twitter.com/UHagxSTuDL
— Bastard Keith (@BastardKeith) August 21, 2014
Some of the racist comments were bad enough that GoFundMe even tweeted about the issue:
In regard to the ‘Officer Darren Wilson’ campaign, donors’ comments posted in violation of GoFundMe’s terms have been removed.
— GoFundMe (@gofundme) August 22, 2014
Gawker reports that many of the inflammatory comments originated from noted troll-bait site 4chan.
On Friday afternoon, organizers stopped accepting donations for the current campaign so that subsequent donations could go to the authorized charity collecting donations on Wilson’s behalf.
Despite the majority of Americans feeling Wilson’s actions were unjustified, according to a recent NYT/CBS poll, the minority that supports Wilson has been vocal and active.
The Maryland FOP Lodge 70 donated more than $1,000 to the GoFundMe campaign, making it among the top supporters. The Miami Fraternal Order of Police union showed symbolic support on its website. Around the St. Louis area and across the country, residents are lighting porch lamps blue in solidarity with Wilson, Yahoo News reports.
3 Reasons Why It Sucks to Be the CEO Of Uber
Sometimes I wonder why Uber CEO Travis Kalanick gets out of bed in the morning. OK, it’s probably the fact that his company was recently valued at more than $18 billion which, depending on his ownership, makes him at the very least a billionaire. For most business people, that’s motivation enough. But there’s got to be an easier way to make that first billion, isn’t there? I could never do what he does. I think it sucks to be the CEO of Uber. Why?
You must enjoy fights. Kalanick’s battles with regulatory authorities, competitors and haters around the world are epic. Don’t believe me? Just go ahead and search for news about “Uber.” I just did. And here’s what I found today: the company just won a short reprieve in Berlin from a city ban that had previously ruled that Uber did not comply with passenger safety standards and is now engaged in a war with taxi drivers in India. In Pittsburgh they’ve been required by the courts to provide information about its ridership. The Maryland Public Service Commission recently ruled that Uber is a “common carrier” and should be subject to greater regulation. They are fighting a growing number of ominous reports about people who keep getting into strangers’ cars because they think it’s an Uber vehicle and cab companies in San Diego who are furious with the ride sharing service for not only taking away business, but their drivers too. The company’s rating system recently came under scrutiny and some guy alleging to be a “Boston Uber driver” has attracted attention after making serious allegations about the company’s safety practices. By the way… that’s just today. Which I guess is just another day at the office for Kalanick. If this were me I’d be jumping out the window.
But it’s not me. Case in point: compare Uber with the once popular MonkeyParking app in San Francisco, a very useful application that allowed users to share and auction off city parking space. The founders of that company came under heat from local officials. So…they retreated. I’m not arguing their rationale and I probably would’ve done the same. Fighting City Hall is time consuming, expensive and intimidating. But would Kalanick have backed away? I seriously doubt it. This guy does not avoid battles. In fact, he seems to gleefully seek them out in order to see his vision accomplished. His advice for others: “Stand by your principles and be comfortable with confrontation. So few people are, so when the people with the red tape come, it becomes a negotiation.” That’s what successful and great entrepreneurs do. Unlike me, they’re not afraid of a fight.
You have to grow a very thick skin. Recently, Uber and its main rival Lyft had a nasty public battle over Uber’s competitive practices. Lyft accused Uber of having 177 of their employees order and then cancel more than 5,000 rides on Lyft in order to slow down the service. Uber countered with their own allegation that Lyft employees, drivers and one of its founders ordered 12,900 trips on Uber’s app and then canceled them. It’s not a pretty situation. But the media and Twitter-sphere loved it. I would’ve been sick to my stomach.
And for what it’s worth, Lyft is not the only company who is less than enamored with Uber’s competitive playbook. For example, a taxi association in the Seattle area recently sued Uber for “unlawful and deceptive business practices.” Reports of price gauging have continued to plague the company over the past year, particularly after severe weather and concert events. And just this month, one taxi industry “leader” in New York City claimed that “…only rich Jews could afford the car service’s surge-pricing program.” Super! So along with everything else, the company is now instigating anti-Semitism.
I have never met the 37 year old Mr. Kalanick. But I can easily guess what he’d say if I asked him what he thought of others’ opinions about him and how he runs his company. This is a guy who doesn’t care what his haters and competitors think. He’s changing the world. Me? I sometimes obsess over a single negative online comment. A complaint from one customer can turn my day upside down. I want everyone to think I’m the greatest. I lack the mojo, bravado and ego that great entrepreneurs have. And, of course, the thick skin.
Finally, you must not be afraid to fail. Uber may one day go down in flames. The service may eventually meet political, union and regulatory headwinds that are just too strong to overcome. A new competitor, with more resources and better connections may take away market share. An unplanned incident might occur that generates so much bad PR that customers turn away from the service. You never know. But do you think this will be the end of Kalanick? By now this is something you do know.
The current CEO of Uber is a UCLA drop out. His first company had to file for bankruptcy in order to protect itself from a major lawsuit. He ran out of money several times before founding and then selling another company, all before starting Uber. If Uber tanks you’ll see Kalanick back doing something else. That’s what makes a true entrepreneur. Someone who not only takes calculated risks, but is not afraid to fail. You get that impression when you read about Kalanick. Sure, he’ll fight hard. But if he loses, he’ll be back. My whole life as a business owner is spent protecting what’s mine, saving money, conservatively managing my assets. Kalanick knows that if he loses everything he can just make it back again. He’s not afraid. It’s in his DNA.
You have to be a certain kind of person to disrupt the world. I am not that person. I think it would suck to be the CEO of Uber. Thankfully, there are others not like me.
A version of this column previously appeared on Inc.com.
A Primer on Educational Technology: 5 Terms Parents Need to Understand
This back-to-school season, students more than ever are arriving to classrooms equipped with digital devices and learning tools. Apps, videos and other online resources that can be accessed from iPads, Androids devices, Chromebooks and the like are profoundly impacting the learning process.
While many elementary, middle and high school students are already accustomed to technology-enabled classrooms, educators continue to incorporate digital learning innovations into their teaching styles. Even the most tech-savvy parents can find it difficult to keep up with all of the trends and terminology.
To that end, it might help to do a little bit of homework and read up on how lessons are delivered and knowledge is exchanged in many classrooms today. Here are five educational technology terms and trends every parent should understand.
Flipped Classroom
As we all know, kids with access to tablets, laptops or virtually any connected device understand how to find and watch videos online. Inspired by organizations like Kahn Academy, teachers can easily (and inexpensively) screencast their own videos around lesson plans and topical lectures. These videos typically include audio narration, virtual whiteboards and complementary images and animation.
Teachers are now assigning their students video lessons via email, storing them in Dropbox or Google Drive, or posting directly to YouTube or Vimeo. This is “flipping” the traditional teaching model, reserving classroom time for facilitated group projects and individualized instruction for students who tend to absorb different concepts at their own pace.
Which brings us to…
Personalized Learning
Not only can technology accommodate more direct interaction between teachers and students, but more quickly and accurately assess if and to what degree a kid is understanding a particular lesson or concept. There are now thousands of apps and digital learning tools designed to assess everything from reading comprehension to calculus to foreign language fluency. Students shown to have difficulty picking up particular topics can spend more time on interactive quizzes and personal tutorials, while others can move on to the next subject or chapter. There are also tools that identify how children best learn, whether visually, auditorily, or perhaps through gamification. Individuals learn differently and at their own pace. Part of teaching moving forward will be to identify the best mix of digital learning tools for each student.
STEM, STEAM and STREAM
It’s no secret that the highest paying jobs in the 21st Century typically require a fluency (if not mastery) of science and mathematics. From coding courses in elementary school to high school robotics teams, schools are encouraging and implementing STEM-based programs and extracurricular activities that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Newer variations of STEM that attempt to weave in liberal arts principals include STEAM and STREAM, which emphasize Art and Reading.
Frances Judd, a long-time kindergarten teacher turned educational app developer and maker culture evangelist, described each new method of science and technology-based learning in a recent interview with ABC News. One component of STEM often overlooked is the multimedia fluency skills involved in knowing how to use and control the apps and devices that deliver all of the important math and science-oriented content. In this respect, it is advantageous for students to learn from the technology that they will eventually reinvent.
Common Core Standards Alignment
Parents who send their kids to public schools in most of the country will hear a lot about the Common Core State Standards Initiatives over the next school year and beyond. Like it or not, schools are aligning their math and english language arts curricula around the Common Core, which emphasizes analytical and critical thinking skills to solve problems. There are thousands of apps, videos and digital learning tools (in addition to textbooks) that claim to teach particular Common Core-based lessons.
One new service, Verizon Educational Tools, identifies and showcases the best apps and videos that teach Common Core standards. Developed by Appolicious, Verizon Educational Tools gives Report Cards to thousands of iOS and Android apps (as well as educational videos), and lets users browse by device, grade level and subject. Parents and teachers can also search for apps and videos based on particular Common Core Standards. I recently demonstrated the service during an interview ABC News.
Device Agnostic Learning
Not every school (or household, for that matter) is beholden to one type of Internet-connected device. A high school student, for instance, may carry around an Android phone, use the family Windows-based personal computer at home and access to an iPad in the classroom. While videos and websites are essentially ubiquitous across all devices, many apps are native (and often exclusive) to one device or mobile operating system.
Increasingly, services like screencasting app Explain Everything are becoming device agnostic and accessible across iOS, Android and Windows devices. However, not every educational app and software developer has the resources or commercial motivation to expand beyond one platform or device. The good news is no matter which one or combination of devices you own, there is an unprecedented wealth of educational resources available.. There are also great services to help you identify which apps, videos and online tools are the best for your kid.
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Download the free appoLearning iPad app and visit us online at www.appoLearning.com.
11 Documentaries You Can Watch Right Now To Understand How ISIS Rose To Power
Last month, the Islamic State jihadist group, formerly known as ISIS or ISIL, declared its sovereignty and promoted one of its leaders, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to the helm. The Islamic State has been calling their newfound Syrian-Iraqi realm a caliphate, or a singular Muslim nation, with al-Baghdadi serving as caliph.
This particular type of religiously guided state hasn’t been seen in centuries, and they’re not inherently bad. What is inherently bad, however, is the Islamic State and the gruesome and inhumane methods it employs to seize control of Iraq. For the past several weeks, the group has been terrorizing Iraqis, particularly an ethnic minority known as the Yazidis, prompting U.S. airstrikes to halt their progression. Air raids are even now being considered in neighboring Syria, where much of the group resides.
It’s a complex issue, and much of the current state of affairs is best explained by analyzing the events of the past decade. The documentaries below are all available for free online, and will help you understand what’s going on.
Inside the Islamic State: “The Islamic State” (via YouTube)
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
This timely documentary by Vice News takes a look at the extremist group’s grab for power in Syria and Iraq. Journalist Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks traveling with the Islamic State, from the front lines of battle to a recruitment camp and other establishments, where he witnessed the group’s brutal tactics as they advanced across the region.
The Rise of the Islamic State: “Losing Iraq” (via PBS)
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
PBS Frontline released this documentary last month to tell the story of Iraq’s growing unrest. The film charts the growth of the Islamic State, beginning years before U.S. troops withdrew in 2011, as they worked to build a military force. Interviewing journalists and former high-level military officials, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, “Losing Iraq” also offers a critique of the Bush administration’s military planning, or lack thereof.
Extremism in Syria: “Syria’s Second Front” (via PBS)
While peace talks in Syria’s civil war stalled back in February, PBS Frontline aired this documentary detailing the war-torn country’s new challenge — extremist groups. These groups are tied to al-Qaeda, as the Islamic State was until being disavowed earlier this year after a dispute. The documentary follows the Free Syrian Army as it swings from fighting against jihadist rebels in the north and the regime of president Bashar al-Assad in the south.
Sectarian Violence: “Iraq in Fragments” (via Veoh)
Filmmaker James Longley recorded these ordinary Iraqis’ stories on trips to the region between 2003 and 2005. His finished product includes no scripted narration, simply showing interviews with its subjects’ and telling the stories of their everyday lives. Beginning with a young working-class Sunni boy, the film also focuses on two other representatives of the “fragmented” nation — a Shiite cleric and a group of Kurds. At the time of filming, the northern Kurdish region seems the most stable.
A Critique of U.S. Occupancy: “No End in Sight” (via YouTube)
Subtitled “Iraq’s Descent Into Chaos,” this 2007 film by Charles Ferguson takes a critical look at the failures of the war in Iraq. More specifically, Ferguson focuses on decisions made by the Bush administration in 2003 that led to harmful long-term effects. Interviews with journalists and many formerly high-ranking officials tell a tale of hardline party ideology and refusal to hear dissenting opinions.
Syrian Civil War: “Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution” (via Medium)
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
This 30-minute documentary released in February tells the story of Syrian rebel fighters, refugees and humanitarians trying to survive the civil war. David Axe, an experienced war reporter, gives a brief history of the deadly conflict as he talks to ordinary Syrians.
The Kurdish Conflict: “Female Fighters of Kurdistan” (via YouTube)
Another product of Vice News, this three-part series released in 2012 follows a group of female Peshmerga, part of what is generally regarded as a highly trained army of guerrilla fighters. It explains how the Kurdistan region came to be, more or less, occupying the mountainous part of northern Iraq, Iran and Syria, along with a southern bit of Turkey. Recently, some of this territory — portions in northern Iraq — was seized by the Islamic State. Until then, however, a combination of Peshmerga protection and oil access had allowed Iraq’s Kurdish region to remain relatively stable for decades. The group aims to one day create their own officially recognized nation.
Post-Occupancy Life: “Iraq After the Occupation” (via YouTube)
Part of Al Jazeera’s investigative series Fault Lines, this film takes viewers on a tour of major cities to see the damage caused by years of fighting. Several fragmented families are interviewed — according to the documentary, one in 10 women had been widowed by the end of the occupation. Other personal accounts tell the story of a country with a long way to go in rebuilding its cities and industries.
A Female Iraqi Perspective: “Iraq: The Women’s Story” (via YouTube)
Feeling that women’s stories were not being told in the media, an Iraqi journalist traveled her country to create this documentary in 2006. She argues, throughout her dangerous journey, how the American invasion is to blame for the rise in religious extremism that has curtailed women’s rights. Under Saddam Hussein’s rein, she explained in an interview with The Guardian, life was hard. “We had no freedom of speech, no freedom of expression,” she said. “But I never imagined the change would be this way, so bad.”
American Soldiers’ Perspective: “The War Tapes” (via YouTube)
In 2004, filmmakers gave cameras to 17 members of the National Guard deployed to Iraq. Together, the troops recorded 800 hours of footage. The finished documentary features three of them: Sergeant Stephen Pink, an aspiring writer, Sergeant Zack Bazzi, an Arabic-speaking college student, and Specialist Mike Moriarty, a self-described super-patriot. The film won Best International Documentary at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival for its poignant, yet absorbing, take on the war.
A Cultural History: “Iraq, the Cradle of Civilization” (via YouTube)
Michael Wood’s 1991 film on the rise of early civilization in Iraq puts present-day conflict in a much broader context. Touring key landmarks, he walks us through their ancient history and into the rise of Islam. Interestingly, according to Wood, everyday life remained relatively stagnant in the region until the oil industry took hold.
Judge: BlackBerry-esque Typo case will face contempt of court charge
Ryan Seacrest-backed Typo, manufacturer of physical keyboard cases for the iPhone has run into more legal trouble. BlackBerry has been allowed to proceed with contempt of court charges, alleging that Typo has been selling its keyboards which have been ruled to violate BlackBerry intellectual property, contravening a court order to stop doing so.
It's Getting Tougher to Quit Social Media
Let’s face it — we are all on social media, in one form or another. The list is huge: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Four Square, and a myriad of others. Everyone from almost every age group is involved with the social media community, for so many different reasons. Even large corporations Like Coca-Cola and Home Depot are into the social media thing. But as interesting and fantabulous as social media is for us, it also becomes so embedded in our lives that if, God forbid, we ever had to quit social media we would end up like a group of coke addicts who stopped cold turkey. Imagine what quitting would involve.
First off, everybody loves the Internet. Aside from shopping and email, we love the fact that we can communicate with other human beings. That was our first addiction — connecting to people around us, and not just locally. We loved the fact that we could communicate with people in other countries, other time zones, of other languages. The rise of email and chatting found legs in international communication.
Next, we saw the evolution of the smart phone. A simple, wireless telephone device that hooked up with the technological equivalent of steroids, became the smart phone. With its PC-like prowess, the smart phone bridged the gap between the Internet and the mobile user. No longer did you have to be at a desk to enjoy all that the internet had to offer. Smartphones were like mobile nirvana.
The next level of addiction is the “app”… those software-based extensions of the smart phone that enable additional fun things from quirky games to web-based gambling. We can’t get enough of apps, because they are small enough, simple enough, and cheap enough to tinker with harmlessly.
Do you see the trend? Like drug addicts looking for our next high, technologists and developers are in the game of providing the next big thing. Think “Ecstasy for Android,” and you’ll get where I’m going with this.
We have unknowingly been trained to want more technology, and in that process we have taught ourselves that it’s okay. The difference is the same as the one between Advil and Heroin; some drugs are okay, some are downright brutal.
I personally quit Facebook and Twitter, among others, years ago, though I’ll admit I did rejoin Yelp to deal with customer service issues. Me, addicted… naw! What’s a little harmless Yelp here and there, right?
Consider how deep you are in social media dung right now, and consider how hard it would be if you just let all of it go, today.
.. Couldn’t do it, could ya?..
What Happens When Kids Go Cold Turkey from Their Screens for 5 Days?
We all stare at screens more than we would like to, and many of us rely on these tools to communicate with others, even during times when we should be spending quality time with our families and friends. So, does all this time staring at screens, which may take time away from looking at faces, change the nature of what we learn about the social world? Our study at the Children’s Digital Media Center@LA, at UCLA, asked this question. We compared two groups of approximately 50 6th grade children each over a period of five days. One group had no access to screens of any kind, while the other did.
But how does one find young people willing to give up all media for a few hours, let alone five days? We explored the ways we could guarantee that a large enough group of children would stop using media and found a simple solution. An outdoor education camp for public school children, the Pali Institute, came on as our partner. The camp director worked with us to make sure that during the five days of the camp, children had zero access to screens of any kind — no TV, no phones and no computers. This meant that the kids at the camp could only talk to other people using the form of communication our species has used for millions of years — face-to-face interaction.
Social abilities are quite complex, but an essential underlying skill is understanding emotion; children learn about emotion even before they learn language by first paying attention to a caregiver’s face. Watching faces and paying attention to the interaction of people around them provides children with essential facts for survival: who can I trust, who will love me and whom should I be scared of? We chose emotion understanding as our measure because of these early and important social learning skills.
Honestly, we were not sure that after only five days of looking at faces versus screens, anything would change. Anecdotal evidence abounds that children who stop using media become magically kind, respectful and patient, but hard data is limited. But there may be some basis for parent intuition, because we found that children’s skills in reading emotion in both faces and videotaped scenes got dramatically better. The time they spent interacting in groups, with their peers and counselors, with no devices in their hands or in front of their faces, made an important difference. The kids at camp improved their emotion understanding, while the kids who were at school did not.
So, what’s the takeaway? Should kids not look at screens anymore? Unless you want to move to Siberia — and I am only saying that figuratively, because chances are even Siberia has the Internet — I think that ship has sailed. Instead, take heart that it took only five days for kids to improve; in other words, screen time does not create irreversible damage to our children’s social skills. The rules are still the same as they always have been — create balance and device free time in your children’s lives. And when kids are small, make sure to give them many opportunities for rich in-person social interaction.
Our call to action is we must examine this question further. Before screens become the only thing we ever look at (remember the movie Wall-E?) let’s devote some resources to study the costs and benefits. The stakes are high, and our children are worth it.
Meri Woods Downloaded Child Porn To Frame Hubby: Jury
A Pennsylvania jury convicted a woman on Wednesday of downloading child pornography onto the family computer and trying to blame it on her husband.
Here Come the Robots in Retail
Delivery drones are so 2013. The big news in technology in retail in 2014 and beyond is robots replacing humans. Starting just this week, right across the road from Apple in Cupertino, the Aloft hotel is testing robotic bellhops. As reported in The New York Times, the cute-as-a-button “Botlr” will deliver basic items from the front desk to your room. Best of all, no tips necessary, but positive tweets appreciated (#MeetBotlr).
In a world where humans are relatively expensive, robots in retail make sense. Particularly when (in gestures and in sounds) they remind us of endearing droids like R2-D2 from Star Wars, or Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons television series, rather than (say) The Terminator. It’s easy to imagine a near future where robots could be store greeters (New York pharmacy Duane Reade had a holographic greeter in its Wall Street flagship when it opened in 2011). Robots too could race items to and from change-rooms in apparel stores.
Robots are already performing more menial, behind-the-scenes roles in retail, such as inventory checking and shelf replenishment can’t be far behind. And (as with Aloft’s Botlr) robots are starting to pop up in basic service roles too, like the Robot-run restaurant in Harbin, China with Robochefs and Robowaiters.
But of course, robots don’t have to take human form. Apple’s “Siri” personal assistant is a robot of sorts – not that it works all that well right now. When the technology is perfected though, “The Ultimate Productivity Hack Will Be Robot Assistants” according to HBR.
Google is spending hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing companies with expertise and IP in robotics and artificial intelligence. The tech giant’s well-publicized experiments with self-driving cars are all about removing people from the picture. When driverless technology is married with Uber, you can see why Google invested US$258 million in the smart-phone driven travel company. Tap the app on your phone and a vehicle will arrive, sans someone at the wheel. As Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick famously stated: “When there’s no other dude in the car, the cost of taking an Uber anywhere becomes cheaper than owning a vehicle.”
So, ready or not, robots are coming. It’s only a matter of time before the “dude is a droid” in your local store, particularly in more value-driven outlets where every dollar in overheads counts. And if service levels go up and costs go down, then that is a good thing for both retailer and shopper.
Of course, with every trend is a counter-trend. As the robots roll in, living, breathing, smiling human beings will be a differentiator in retail’s future.
Time to Rethink Technology at Summer Camp?
Sitting with my wife by the lake in Northern Michigan at the beginning of the summer I listened as the director of our family camp, Camp Michigania, recited the rules for the week. “One final thing we ask everyone to abide by,” he said to the assembled adults, “please keep your children from using any technology this week and try not to use your own cellphones and computers in public.” I noted the irony that he had just read his annual list of policies and procedures from his iPhone.
Is it hypocrisy when a camp director asks campers to unplug while being tethered to his own smartphone? I contemplated this from my spot on the beach watching my kids kayak and paddleboard as I tapped away at my notebook computer, enjoying the gorgeous surroundings as I put the finishing touches on a blog entry.
I am a techie, but I am also an advocate for summer camp. I respect those who believe that our kids should leave anything that requires a rechargeable battery at home before getting on the bus to sleep away camp — hard as that may be. But I also wonder if we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Just how far into the future will we be able to continue banning communication devices from these children of the digital age?
The argument against allowing these young campers to import their technology to camp is that they need a chance to unplug and to be fully present without any influences from the outside world. But those influences inevitably sneak into summer camps each year. Overnight camp counselors use the Internet after hours and on days off and then keep the campers abreast of what’s happening in the world. Communiques in the form of one-way email messages, faxes and even hand-written letters from family members alert them to the goings on back home. Summer camp for our children is akin to a vacation for us, but aren’t we all guilty of sneaking a peek at our email while on vacation? Is the expectation that our kids shouldn’t have that ability a double standard?
We would be fooling ourselves to believe that technology can be totally barred from camp. In the second decade of the 21st century, electronic gadgets are everywhere. Camp itself has become reliant on technology as staff members regularly use smartphones to check for impending storms, camp directors send newsletters home via email, digital photos are posted nightly for the eager parents, and the camp social worker is never far from her cellphone to text mom about her homesick daughter. Some camps let the children bring Wi-Fi-enabled devices and even mobile phones to camp, but mandate the appropriate times for usage. “Multimedia” is a daily activity at some camps along with canoeing and crafts. Campers take photos with digital SLR cameras and then use computer applications to edit them, while counselors may be using other computers in the room to post photos to Instagram or browse their Facebook feed.
So what’s the right answer? Should camp leaders continue to ban campers’ use of technology or begin to embrace policies of acceptable tech use? I asked camp expert Jeremy J. Fingerman, the CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp what he thinks.
“Camp is a wonderful opportunity for kids to unplug from technology, providing them the freedom to develop deep relationships and communication skills without distractions,” Fingerman wrote in an email. “I often hear from parents that camp provides a much needed break and a chance for kids to just be kids.”
That makes sense. Summer camp should be a refuge for the screen zombie kids whose idea of exercise is going to get more snacks while playing Xbox. Tech gadgets would certainly compete with the immersive experience that sleep away camp creates for the young people. But does technology have no place whatsoever in the lives of campers?
Some obsolete technology has been ruled acceptable at some camps. Before sending my oldest child to Camp Tamarack in Ortonville, Michigan, this summer I was forced into the basement to dig deep into the box where our outdated tech gadgets go to die. Usually one to embrace the latest in technology, I was on a mission to find an old model iPod with no Internet capability and no screen to view videos. That was the only music device he was permitted to take (the Sony Walkman I took to the same camp three decades prior was deemed too archaic).
Specialty camps like Camp Inc., the new overnight camp in the Rockies for entrepreneurial teens, embraces technology. Campers unplug for a few hours each day to jump in the lake, go boating, play volleyball, and hike in the mountains. But then they plug their camp-issued notebook computers back in as they work with fellow campers on their startup companies. I visited Camp Inc. in July and a summer storm took out the phones and Internet service at the camp one day. Campers and their counselors alike didn’t know what to do without access to the outside world and no electricity to fire up their computers. It was like a traditional sleep away camp from a simpler time before the Internet existed. It could be a nice experience, but not at a camp where the “Shark Tank” format startup pitches serve as the camp’s Color Wars.
American adolescents spend more than 7.5 hours each day using an electronic device and the proliferation of built-in wireless technology has made it increasingly difficult for summer camps to strike the balance of allowing some electronics instead of others. At B’nai Brith Beber Camp in Wisconsin, executive director Stefan Teodosic is proud of his camp’s “Screen Free Technology Policy,” which he helped craft in 2012 with input from parents and campers. The camp’s director of operations explains the technology policy in a video embedded on the camp’s website. In the video, he admonishes parents to please leave all expensive electronics at home.
“These devices have a way of getting lost or broken at camp, and sometimes even stolen,” Camp Beber’s policy explains. “The only electronics allowed will be screen-less music players and digital cameras. All other music players, eBook readers, portable game devices, and video players should remain at home. Period. Camp is one of the few places throughout the year where kids can truly unplug.”
Most overnight summer camps will continue to discourage technology that interferes with their stated mission of promoting socialization between campers and instilling a love of the outdoors. The screen free policies also help remove divisions between the campers who come from families that can afford expensive technology gadgets and those that cannot.
Technology is all around us, but we can strive to give campers a hiatus during the summer from staring glassy-eyed at screens both big and small. Their much needed break from the world of technology is healthy and they can certainly detox from their cellphones, tablets, iPods, game consoles and laptops for a few weeks. As time goes on, however, a completely screen free summer may be unavoidable. Striking a healthy balance will be a recipe for success.
Rabbi Jason Miller is an educator, entrepreneur and blogger. He is the president of Access Computer Technology in Michigan.
4.7- or 5.5-inch — Which iPhone 6 Should You Buy?
In a few weeks, I and millions of other iPhone owners will be facing a vexing purchase dilemma.
On September 9, Apple will — reportedly — announce not one, but for two new iPhone 6s, a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and a 5.5-inch iPhone 6/Air phablet.
Which iPhone 6 do I and millions others choose?
Moving from a 4-inch iPhone to a 4.7-inch seems like a big enough jump — but that “good enough” rationale is a trap. You should never ever buy a piece of tech by rationalizing “that’s all I need,” because it’s never all you’ll need.
“Oh, I only need 1 TB of memory,” you rationalize, until your hard drive is suddenly over-flowing with large video, music and photo files. “Oh, I only need a 42-inch TV,” until you discover you can’t see it from across the room. “Oh, I don’t need the fastest router” until Netflix buffers more than it streams. As technology expands, so do your needs and you’re left woefully under-teched in short order.
So I can’t choose the 4.7 iPhone 6 just because it’s slightly bigger than the iPhone 5s.
Plus, the 5.5-inch iPhone Air promises to be the more tech-loaded of the two, perhaps with the vaunted invincible sapphire screen, perhaps with 128 GB of on-board memory to hold my entire 12,000-track music library and some movies, which I’ll now be tempted to watch on the bigger screen.
(Here’s the best roundup of iPhone 6 rumors I’ve found.)
As you can see from the photo adorning this post, the display on 4.7-inch Moto X is barely more spacious than the iPhone 5s. But the 5-5-inch screen on the LG G3? That’s Madison Square Garden vs. your high school gym. That’s a 5-bed/4-bath penthouse vs. a studio apartment. That’s Bill O’Reilly vs. Jon Stewart (and I’m speaking purely physical size comparisons here).
But is a 5.5-inch iPhone Air TOO big?
Fortunately, I have a way of finding out.
As a smartphone reviewer, I futz with nearly every new flagship Android model, including the aforementioned adorably customizable 4.7-inch Moto X, the drop-dead gorgeous but also fun 5-inch HTC One (M8), the chic mirrored piano-black 5-inch Sony Xperia Z1s, the best-selling blue-collar 5.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S5 and, most recently and most importantly, as noted, the shockingly compact LG G3, which squeezes a 5.5-inch screen into a body barely bigger than the Samsung Galaxy S5.
So to discover if a 5.5-inch phablet is TOO ponderous, I’ve been toting the LG G3 around for the last few weeks to get used to its girth, and for research for an upcoming everything-about-smartphones piece I’m writing for the November/December issue of Consumers Digest.
But something funny happened during this “is a 5.5-inch smartphone too big” experiment.
I’ve fallen in like with the G3.
How does it feel
First off, the G3 is not too big. In fact, after handling it for a while, the iPhone 5s and the Moto X seem insignificant in comparison — sort of like swinging a weighted bat then picking up the regular bat and finding it too toothpicky.
Like previous iterations of LG’s G-series phones, the G3 has installed its sleep and toggle buttons on the rear of the phone, immediately beneath the camera lens. I’m still getting used to this location and I’m still not sold on it, but you can simply tap-tap-tap on the blank screen to wake the G3 up – no sliding locks across the screen necessary.
While tests indicate the Galaxy S5 takes slightly superior sn