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‘Death by Pokémon GO’: Researchers Discover Pokémon Go Caused Millions in Damages

Jonathan Antonio
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‘Death by Pokémon GO’: Researchers Discover Pokémon Go Caused Millions in Damages

For a brief point in time, Pokémon Go was one of the most popular apps in the country. Despite bringing millions in revenue for the Niantic company, it also brought injuries and death, well at least according to a new paper.

This report titled Death By Pokemon Go, shows the darker signed of augmented reality gaming. Purdue University economists Mara Faccio and John McConnell read through accident reports from Tippecanoe County, Indiana, in the first 148 days after the game was released in July 2016. In that county alone, the total value of injuries, damage and the two lives lost between $5.2 to $25.5 million. If these numbers correlate with the rest of the country, it would suggest that $2 billion to $7.3 billion in just a few months.

The reports showed during those 148 days, 286 additional crashes occurred in the county, compared to the same time period before. Of these, 134 took place near pokéstops. In this scenario, it’s crucial to determine that Pokémon Go caused these damages directly, as opposed to just causing people to be more active outside, those more likely to get hit by cars.

Apple App Store
Stock Photo: BANGKOK,THAILAND-AUGUST 7, 2016 : Pokemon Go,most popular new online game application smartphone, a free-to-play reality mobile game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices (pim pic / Shutterstock.com)

Looking at the numbers, economists realized that the number of crashes was much higher near pokéstops than gyms, suggesting that the crashes really were caused by people jumping out of cars while playing the game. The increased number of deaths were not just caused by people being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Pokémon Go was actually causing people to make dumb decisions.

It is important to point out, that Pokémon Go developers decided to make the game hard to play while moving at high speeds. As a result, if you’re going too fast, you can’t just battle at a gym or catch more Pokémon.

Pokémon Go Mobile App
Pokemon GO augmented reality smartphone game players (Stoyan Yotov / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Study: Laptops Are Not Great for Taking Lecture Notes

Jonathan Antonio
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Study: Laptops Are Not Great for Taking Lecture Notes

There is increasing evidence suggesting that using laptops during lectures actually decreases learning, which can result in lower grades.

According to The New York Times, researchers at Princeton University and the University of California asked a group of students to take notes at a lecture using pen and paper while another group used laptops. Scientists found students who used a laptop did not understand the lecture as well as those who wrote with their notes out by hand. Researchers believe this was because students who wrote notes by hand had to process what the lecturer was saying and, in effect, summarize what was being said to keep up with the lecture. Moreover, they found that laptop note takers had a “Tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim,” which mean they were less likely to process the information in their own words, thus preventing them from understanding what was being explained.

Another study by scientists at York University and McMaster University tested students by asking them to look things up on their laptop that were unrelated to their lecture. Researchers found that the distraction caused them to remember less of the lecture, and those sitting near them were also affected as well.

Then, a study from the United States Military Academy tested students’ achievements in an economics class by comparing student performance based on whether laptops or tablets were restricted, unrestricted or permitted at all. The study found that the students who did not have access to a device performed significantly better than those who did.

As technology progresses, writing things by hand is becoming less common as gadgets and speech recognition software continues to replace traditional pen and paper. But, it’s been proved that handwriting improves motor skills, memory, and creativity. Despite note taking with a  laptop makes you faster, you may want to think about how much information you are actually retaining.

Facebook Messenger is Now Testing a New Streak Feature

Jonathan Antonio
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Facebook Messenger is Now Testing a New Streak Feature

Facebook Messenger is adding a streak feature, a feature that is already on Snapchat.

When Snap, the Snapchat parent company, announced their plans to go public the company stated their most significant competitor was Facebook. Snapchat explained in their IPO filing that their most significant risk factors include competition. “We face significant competition in almost every aspect of our business both domestically and internationally,” Snap Inc explained. Not to mention, the company pointed out that their competition “mimic our products and therefore harm our user engagement and growth.” In fact, a TechCrunch report found Snapchat’s growth stalled by 82% following the release of Instagram Stories.

Since then, stories and messaging have appeared on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Previously, the company even lifted Snapchat’s popular face filters and camera features. Facebook is now planning on adding a streak feature similar to Snapchat, which is an addictive game that encourages users to send messages back and forth for multiple days.

Similar to Snapchat streaks, Facebook Messenger streaks include emoji status for anyone you’re currently on a streak with. Facebook appears to be testing this on limited accounts at the moment. Twitter user Case Sandberg discovered the streaks feature, and other Facebook Messenger users noticed the new feature. That said, the company is not transparent if this is just a test or the start of the gamification of Facebook Messenger.

Snapchat
LONDON, UK – APRIL 13TH 2017: The official homepage of the Snapchat social media website, on 13th April 2017. (chrisdorney / Shutterstock.com)
NEW YORK CITY, NY- March 2, 2017: Snapchat’s Snap Inc. makes IPO debut on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE. Investors flocked to initial public offering, pushing valuation of nearly $24 billion. (NYCStock / Shutterstock.com)

Streaks have become a trendy part of Snapchat, thanks in part to the young audience. Snapchat uses the feature to encourage users to send more snaps, and even warns users that their streak is about to expire. If Facebook is planning to clone this feature, then don’t be surprised to see this feature to appear on Instagram and WhatsApp.

A recent report looking into how companies can get users addicted to their apps found Snapchat’s Streak feature helps users develop habits to keep users checking in. The streak feature is a psychological technique called loss aversion, which involves users to stay on an app even when it is no longer useful, or they no longer enjoy using it anymore.

Hillary Clinton Claims American is “Totally Unprepared” for Artificial Intelligence

Reginald Edward
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Hillary Clinton Claims American is “Totally Unprepared” for Artificial Intelligence

Hillary Clinton claims the United States is “totally unprepared” for the economic and psychological effects of artificial intelligence. Clinton spoke to radio host Hugh Hewitt this week in an interview promoting her new book. In the interview, the former Presidential candidate said the world was “racing headfirst into new era of artificial intelligence” that would drastically change “how we live, how we think, how we relate to each other.”

Clinton added, “A lot of really smart people, you know, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, a lot of really smart people are sounding an alarm that we’re not hearing. And their alarm is artificial intelligence is not our friend.” Clinton then highlighted two specific areas that will be impacted by artificial intelligence including digital surveillance and job automation. In regards to digital surveillance, Clinton argues “everything we know and everything we say and everything we write is, you know, recorded somewhere.”

“What are we going to do when we get driverless cars?” she asked. “It sounds like a great idea. And how many millions of people, truck drivers and parcel delivery people and cab drivers and even Uber drivers, what do we do with the millions of people who will no longer have a job? We are totally unprepared for that.”

It is essential to note economists and researchers have been arguing that advances in technology and artificial technology are going to have a significant impact on the job markets. The treat is not only for skilled and unskilled labors but also administrative professionals such as lawyers and accountants.

Researchers are unable to determine exactly when these changes will take place. However, a recent study suggested that for every new industrial robot installed in an area, between 3 to 5.6 jobs are permanently lost.

Hillary Clinton
CHARLOTTE, NC, USA – JULY 5, 2016: Hillary Clinton makes a impactful gesture as she delivers a speech at a joint campaign event in the Charlotte Convention Center with President Barack Obama. (Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com)
clinton-foundation
Saint Louis, MO, USA – March 12, 2016: Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton campaigns at Nelson-Mulligan Carpenters Training Center in St. Louis. (Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.com)

Keep in mind some of the most significant tech companies including Amazon are working towards job automation. For example, Amazon is currently working in grocery stores without cashiers and delivery systems without a delivery driver.

Moreover, China is working hard on creating the best artificial technology, which is concerning since the Trump administration is determined to cut funding for basic scientific research. Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt was not too happy the Trump administration’s decision saying the U.S. government needs to “get [its] act together.”

Overall, Clinton did not explicitly reveal any specific policies that she would like to see. Instead, the government needs to act. “One thing I wanted to do if I had been president was to have a kind of blue-ribbon commission with people from all kinds of expertise coming together to say what should America’s policy on artificial intelligence be?” She added: “We can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

Twitter Bookmarks: Twitter is Now Testing A Way to Privately Save Tweets for Later

Jonathan Antonio
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Twitter Bookmarks: Twitter is Now Testing A Way to Privately Save Tweets for Later

Twitter is currently testing a new feature called Bookmarks, which will allow their users to save tweets for later. Twitter’s product designer Tina Koyama tweeted a preview of what the feature looks like, with a bookmarks option listed on the user’s navigation menu.

“We went through all the designed flows and picked the ones that are the easiest to navigate to test out with our community,” she tweeted. “You told us that you want tweets you’ve bookmarked to be private, so only you can see it. We kept this in mind while creating designs for the feature.”

Twitter’s head of product Keith Coleman tweeted about the function last October, saying that the bookmarking feature was a top request from users on the social-networking platform.

Currently, if you want to save a tweet, the only way you can do it is by hitting the like button and review your likes at a later time. However, your liked tweets appear publicly on your profile and alert users that you liked that tweet. This new bookmarking feature will privately save your tweets for later. There is no release date for this new Bookmark feature.

YouTube Reveals Their Plan to Stop Predatory Comments on Videos of Minors

Jonathan Antonio
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YouTube Reveals Their Plan to Stop Predatory Comments on Videos of Minors

Following a Verge story revealing examples of predatory comments on videos of minors, YouTube announced on Wednesday that they will turn off comments entirely on videos where the video-streaming detects predatory behavior.

Recently, The Verge reported on the number of predatory comments on videos of minors. The Verge reports, “videos of young children doing activities like gymnastics were being targeted by commenters making sexual comments, or inviting the children to talk.” Following the report, YouTube removed several of the videos, some of which had “hundreds of thousands or more views.

The company later issued a statement saying they will take more steps to make sure they do not appear on YouTube. “Comments of this nature are abhorrent and we work with NCMEC to report illegal behavior to law enforcement,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Starting this week we will begin taking an even more aggressive stance by turning off all comments on videos of minors where we see these types of comments.”

In response to the recent criticism in regards to how the platform handles minor created content, YouTube also announced several changes. The company announced they will be using technology to flag problematic videos more quickly and will remove ads from “inappropriate” videos targeting families. YouTube also said they will provide new content and guidelines on YouTube Kids content. Also, the streaming site plans on working with experts to handle the content on the platform.

YouTube has been hit with criticism following a viral Medium post revealed bizarre videos targeted towards children. “These latest enforcement changes will take shape over the weeks and months ahead as we work to tackle this evolving challenge,” the company said.

California Grants Lyft Permission to Test Self-Driving Cars

Jonathan Antonio
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California Grants Lyft Permission to Test Self-Driving Cars

Left is the latest company to receive a permit to test self-driving cars on public roads in California. This news comes after the company wanted to build their own self-driving software only four months ago. Left appeared at the bottom of the California’s DMV’s list of permit holders, a sign that the ride-hail service was preparing to test their first autonomous driving taxis.

That said, it is not clear whether or not Lyft will be using their own proprietary software and hardware for their self-driving cars.

Lyft has already teamed up with companies like Ford, General Motors, Waymo, NuTonomy, Drive.ai, and Jaguar Land Rover, with the intention of being the platform on which manufacturers deploy their self-driving cars.

The company’s decision to apply for a permit is in direct contract with the company’s chief rival Uber. Uber previously attempted to test their self-driving cars in California without the state’s approval. The DMV revoked the Uber’s licenses of fleet cars, forcing the company to give in and obtain a permit.

Ultimately, it could be argued that Lyft just does not want to get left out. California’s growing list of autonomous vehicle testing permits is growing and is expanding the list of technology futurists looking to break into the self-driving market.

Report: Foxconn Used Illegal Student Labor to Make Apple’s iPhone X

Jonathan Antonio
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Report: Foxconn Used Illegal Student Labor to Make Apple’s iPhone X

Foxconn has reportedly been employing students to illegally work overtime at their factories to assemble Apple’s, iPhone X. According to the Financial Times, six high school students told the news outlet they regularly work 11-hour days assembling the device, which is illegal for student interns to do under China’s laws. The students were teenagers, between the ages of 17 to 19 years old, and they said they are told they had to work at the factory for three months to graduate. One student told Financial Times they were being forced to work there, and that the work had nothing to do with school. The student also claimed to have assembled up to 1,200 iPhone X cameras a day.

According to the Financial Times, Apple and Foxconn said they had discovered several student interns working overtime, and they were taking action. However, both companies claimed the students were not “forced” to work beyond the legal hourly limits. “We’ve confirmed the students worked voluntarily, were compensated and provided benefits,” Apple said. “But they should not have been allowed to work overtime.”

Moreover, Foxconn said they worked with local governments and vocational schools in organizing the internship program, but claimed the overtime work violated its policy, which prohibits students from working more than 40 hours per week.

This news comes after reports of high demand for the new iPhone X ahead of the device’s intended ship date, which was hit with rumors of supply issues.

At least 300,000 people assemble iPhones at Foxconn, with thousands of students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School sent to help with the iPhone X. The students in the Financial Times report spoke to volunteered to work overtime and were paid for it, which is nothing in comparison to the reportedly extreme conditions at Foxconn.

Android Phones Have Been Sending Location Data to Google, Even If You Said No

Jonathan Antonio
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0
Android Phones Have Been Sending Location Data to Google, Even If You Said No

Even if you have turned off location services and do not have a SIM card, Android phones gather your location data and send the information to Google, according to Quartz.

On Tuesday, “location services” refers to exact GPS data for app usage, such as the information Google Maps gives you while you are looking for directions or Uber sharing where your driver will pick you up. But, a new Quartz report reveals a practice in which Google was able to track user locations by triangulating cell towers which were served a specific device.

Since January, several Android phones and tablets have been collecting the addresses of all nearby cellular towers and sending the data to Google’s push notifications and messaging management system when connected to the internet. It is a service that consumers cannot opt out of, even when their phones are factory reset.

According to Quartz:

While information about a single cell tower can only offer an approximation of where a mobile device actually is, multiple towers can be used to triangulate its location to within about a quarter-mile radius, or to a more exact pinpoint in urban areas, where cell towers are closer together…

Although the data sent to Google is encrypted, it could potentially be sent to a third party if the phone had been compromised with spyware or other methods of hacking. Each phone has a unique ID number, with which the location data can be associated.

As Gizmodo pointed out, someone could potentially use the data that a person did not even know they were transmitting over their device to discover that person’s location. “Imagine if someone who’s in witness protection just got a new Galaxy S8 and they do all the right things to protect their privacy. A hacker with the proper know-how and determination could potentially get within a quarter mile of them.”

A Google spokesperson told The Verge in a statement that all modern Android phones use a network sync system that requires mobile country codes and mobile network codes, so tower info called “Cell ID” were considered an “additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery.” According to The Verge, “Google ultimately discarded the cell tower data and didn’t go through with the original plan.”

A source close to the matter told Gizmodo that the feature was intended to improve battery life and the timeliness of receiving messages. By locating a nearby tower, the phone would not have to search for a new tower as often, which could drain battery life. But Google, according to Gizmodo’s source, never decided to implement it, and the team has removed the feature altogether.

A spokesperson for Google added that by the end of November will complete the update.

It is important to point out in Google’s terms of service, at the time of publish, still vaguely state, “When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location” using “various technologies… including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell tower.

Android
Stock Photo: MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA/USA – JUNE 30: Android Nougat replica in front of Google office on June 30, 2016. (Asif Islam / Shutterstock.com)

HBO Hack: Justice Department Charges Iranian Man For The HBO Hack

Jonathan Antonio
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HBO Hack: Justice Department Charges Iranian Man For The HBO Hack

The United States Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it has charged an Iranian man for hacking HBO, which resulted in a high-profile security breach that led to the early release of TV episodes and scripts.

In an indictment, prosecutors claim Behzad Mesri gained server access to HBO by hacking employees’ accounts. With that access, according to the Justice Department’s indictment, Mesri stole unaired episodes of hit shows such as Dwayne Johnson’s Ballers’ and Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, as well as scripts for other TV shows including Game of Thrones. Financial documents and logins for social media accounts were also stolen from HBO.

Game of Thrones
LOS ANGELES – APR 10: Games of Thrones Atmosphere at the Game of Thrones Season 6 Premiere Screening at the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX on April 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA (Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com)

Prosecutors allege when Mesri had the data he reached out to HBO and demanded $6 million in bitcoin as a ransom for the stolen data. Prosecutors also claim Mesri worked as a hacker for the Iranian military and now faces charges of computer fraud, wire fraud, identity theft, and extortion.

It is important to note, last August, last the hacks were taking place, the company reportedly offered a $250,000 “bug bounty” payment to the hacker, while it is unclear whether it actually intended to pay the ransom.

The Justice Department says it will detail the charges in a press conference later on today.

Lena Headey Game of Thrones
LOS ANGELES – APR 10: Lena Headey at the Game of Thrones Season 6 Premiere Screening at the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX on April 10, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA (Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com)
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