Kane Gamble is not your average teenager… At just 15 years old, he managed to impersonate the Director of the CIA and gain access to passwords, personal information, security intelligence, and sensitive documents regarding military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over his three year spree, he also targeted the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence under Obama by taunting them online, releasing their personal information, bombarding them with calls and messages, and taking control of their iPads and TV screens, sometimes displaying the message “I own you”. He was the founder and leader of the notorious hacking group “Crackas With Attitude”, which isn’t actually a hacking group because they use “social engineering” rather than hacking. Social engineering describes the range of manipulating call center or help desk staff into releasing confidential information.

businessinsider.com

He gained access to the CIA Director’s Verizon internet account by first pretending to be an employee of the company, then the Director himself, building up an increasingly detailed picture. At first he was denied access because he couldn’t name the director’s first pet, but on later calls the handler changed the pin and security questions. To think that the CIA and FBI are the most protected, classified, and secure (or thought to be) information systems in the world, it is mind-boggling how this teenager managed to obtain so much information seemingly so easily. This story proves the importance of cybersecurity advancing further than it is now, and the need for IST professionals to continue working to protect the most secure information in the US.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/19/british-15-year-old-gained-access-intelligence-operations-afghanistan/

“What’s a mind without a body? New research adds physiology to computer models”

Our minds are influenced by our bodies’ needs, mental state, and physical environment. The brain must make decisions constantly, sending signals to all parts of our bodies in less than a split second. This cognition can change based on many aspects of the human body, from emotions and fatigue, hunger or even nausea. A student who stayed up into the early hours of the next morning would be more likely to have a harder time focusing in class the next day than a student who got a full eight hours of sleep.

Though programmers have developed computers that can process information quickly and efficiently, no current technology exists that can process information in the same way our brain does. Researchers are now trying to change that. Penn State News recently reported on the research being conducted by Frank Ritter, a professor from the College of IST here at Penn State. Together with Christopher Nancy from Bucknell University, he wants to program a sense of bodily processes in a computer simulation to learn how the brain responds to physical fatigue. Through the use of a framework called ACT-R/Phi, a theory developed about the combination of how the brain works with how the body works, they aim to get a better idea of how our normal, daily physiological functions influence what we do and what we decide.

The U.S. Army, a sponsor of the research, wants to use the information to better predict how fatigue may impact how a soldier performs certain tasks. The research could benefit the medical field as well. Such a combination of physiology and technology could also be applied to hospital simulations. This could be a more efficient and cost-effective way for medical students to learn, as well as a way for doctors to simulate how certain treatments may affect their patients’ conditions. However, such a reality may still be far off, as mimicking the human state has been a long-standing challenge in the field of technology that doesn’t yet seem to have a very simple solution.

http://news.psu.edu/story/499094/2018/01/15/research/what%E2%80%99s-mind-without-body-new-research-adds-physiology-computer?utm_source=newswire&utm_medium=email&utm_term=500848_HTML&utm_content=01-15-2018-22-46&utm_campaign=Penn%20State%20Today

Throughout the history of youtube, there have been endless fads and trends that have traveled across the world. In todays day in age, it seems like people will go to extremes in order to gain followers and viewers on content that they have posted. Some fads that have been very popular in recent years are the cinnamon challenge, hot food challenges, drinking challenges and many, many more. These challenges normally don’t pose any serious health harm to the participant, but times have changed.

In recent weeks, the new ever so trending youtube fad is the eating of Tide Pods. These laundry detergent pods have been seen being chewed or even swallowed on youtube.  The consumption of these tide pods have serious health risks, including seizures, pulmonary edema, breathing difficulties, coma or even death. In the first 15 days of 2018, over 30 people between the ages of 13 and 19 contacted the American Association of Poison Control Centres.

Youtube has now vowed to quickly remove these videos from their database. Youtube’s guidelines strictly prohibits content that encourages dangerous or harmful activities. They can only be taken down when flagged by users, so it is directly up to viewers to flag these harmful videos.

So, all in all, does technology like social media drive kids and young adults to do things that have potential health risks in order to gain viewers and followers? To what extent are these people willing to go in order to gain publicity. Youtube and other social media platforms are forced to expand their safety guidelines in order to protect their users from harmful fads. With the young population becoming more and more obsessed with their social media platforms, it seems as if they are willing to put a lot on the line in order to gain viewership and these videos must not be tolerated. As seen, trends like this can cause drastic health issues among younger followers who do not realize the true health risks behind them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42730235/tide-pod-challenge-youtube-blocks-videos-after-poisoning-fears

Luka, the reading robot.

The Internet of Things is not only everywhere but it keeps getting bigger. Luka is the newest educational toy that can read to your children for you. Luka works by scanning pages of books, reaching into its cloud database, and then reading out loud to the child. Luka can only read books in its database, but don’t worry about limiting your child’s selection because so far Luka can read more than 50,000 books. Luka also comes with a compatible app so that parents can be involved as well. The app allows parents to alert their children when to get off Luka and go to bed or even when to wake up.The goal is that Luka will teach your kids how to read independently.

While Luka seems like a great resource, some people are not onboard. There are worries that Luka will further erode traditional family values. Reading a bedtime story to your child is seen as bonding experience and has been for years. If your child were to have Luka read to them, would it damage your relationship? The interviewer in this video had a similar question for the creator of Luka. The answer is yet to be seen, but with other products out there like the LeapFrog Tag Reading Stylus, I doubt that it would replace the natural craving we have for human interaction. I, like the creator, believe that it could be helpful to keep learning on track if children have parents that are busy and are not always available to help their child.

Another potential problem with the Luka toy is that it may increase children’s addiction to technology. With increasing worries about how constant technology affects us and especially children, a toy like Luka could potentially fail on the market.

Luka will be released in the United States this March and will cost about $149.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-42658214/ces-2018-luka-owl-robot-reads-bedtime-stories-to-kids

https://hypekids.com/2018/1/luka-robot-reading-companion-kids

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiVoMvJ9eHYAhVPXq0KHfXGB1wQjhwIBQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds3ED08N19lY&psig=AOvVaw3iAt4R_K3gSdvVHdhRHUeK&ust=1516378853882527

Nintendo is expected to launch a new product on April 20, 2018. It’s called the Nintendo Labo. The campaign of this product is based on “make, play, discover” and is to combine imagination with the Nintendo switch. This $70 cardboard product has already become a twitter sensation.

Part of the backlash is people not understanding the significance of cheaper cardboard they could purchase elsewhere compared to buying the what seems overly priced Nintendo Labo. Along with the price, people have been showing that they “already have the product” and posting pictures of cardboard games.

Another part of the backlash is people not understanding what fun it is supposed to be. The Labo however is targeting children and allowing them to use their imagination, something many technological games don’t allow much for any more. Nintendo is trying to take a more old-fashioned approach to a child’s toy and tech savvy people find humor in this.

Nintendo posted just 17 hours ago of this product on twitter and the video has already received over 518K views and 1.7K comments. As more people talk and discuss the pros and cons to this product, it will be interesting to see how well it does when it hits the market in April.

https://labo.nintendo.com/

https://www.twitter.com/

Drones have become an ever so popular trend that have grown to a drastic amount of use. The Federal Aviation Administration has required all drones to be registered and since 2015, over 770,000 drones have been registered. This once a hobby of the future has turned into a common fad among many Americans.

There have been many heated debates regarding drones including the legality aspects, flying zones, and restricted drone areas. Now, if you are in New Jersey, add flying under the influence to that list. This bill was signed on February 15, 2018 by Governor Chris Christie that restricts users from flying drones while under the influence. The blood-alcohol concentration for being “under the influence” for operating drones is the same as it is for cars, .08% or more. This also includes the use of drones while under any “narcotic, hallucinogen, or habit-producing drug.” The consequences of this could lead to a $1000 fine and even six months in jail.

I think this significantly portrays hows technology is forcing the law to change. If you would have mentioned that there was going to be a law about flying unmanned aircrafts to me ten years ago, I would not have even considered it as an option. This truly displays how rapidly technology is expanding and how our laws and regulations must keep changing in order to keep up with it.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/us/new-jersey-drones-drinking-trnd/index.html

The newest craze in the app community is a live, 12-question trivia game show on your phone called HQ Trivia that runs live games twice per day and gives away a $2,000 pot for the winner(s) to split. On some occasions (like New Years Eve and Christmas) “special” shows are announced and have given away more than $2,000, the most being $18,000, for one single game. With $4,000 on average distributed to the winners of HQ each day, the lingering question in everyone’s minds is where exactly does this money come from? HQ utilizes absolutely no advertising other than promoting its own fan base and some very brief remarks about current culture trends, and the app is completely free to download and play.

Photo: cnet.com

Variety reports that the payouts are supplied by Intermedia Labs, the app’s developer, which is comprised of two of Vine’s co-founders. One of them said that profitability is not currently the company’s focus, but rather to gain lots of interest from brands, companies, and potential large sponsors with a focus on “enhancing the game play”, not making the users feel like they’re the product of advertising. Intermedia Labs has received backing (“a few million dollars”) from venture capitalist firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, but essentially the jackpots are being funded by Silicon Valley investors who believe that one day the app will get big enough that companies will pay to be associated with it.

If Intermedia Labs sticks true to its current beliefs and wants any sort of advertising specifically to enhance the game play, I speculate that companies may begin to pay to have questions regarding their products or services asked on HQ. In exchange for money to dish out to winners, the companies may receive demographic information in return about the users who answered their specific question which they can then use to learn more about their customers and further tailor their business model. So although there may never be any direct advertising on HQ Trivia, it will likely begin implementing some form of under-the-table sponsorship to continue increasing their prize totals.

http://time.com/money/5088086/hq-trivia-money/

(Photo: SpaceX via Florida Today)

SpaceX. Elon Musk. Colonizing Mars. Pretty much everybody at this point has heard the news stories, seen the “alien spaceship” traveling over Southern California a few weeks ago, and is in the loop when it comes to Elon Musk’s plans for commercializing space travel. Although the Falcon 9 rocket has been launched (and safely landed on aircraft carriers for reuse) many times to resupply the International Space Station, the next step in this groundbreaking era of space travel is the Falcon Heavy.

The Falcon Heavy is projected to make its debut test launch by the end of January, but the static test fire of its 27 rocket engines will occur sometime this week. When successful, the Falcon Heavy will be classified as the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of 2. Each rocket booster on the Falcon Heavy boasts 9 engines and produces over 5 million pounds of thrust (keep in mind, the Falcon Heavy has 3 of these boosters). There is only one launchpad that is capable of withstanding this immense thrust, 39-A at Kennedy Space Center, the same used by the enormous Saturn V rocket years ago.

This feat of engineering is obviously extremely risky, and even Musk himself said, “I hope it makes it far enough away from the pad that it doesn’t cause pad damage. I would consider even that a win, to be honest.” Although the Falcon 9 has launched and landed safely plenty of times, this rocket will be 3 times as powerful and just as, if not more unsafe for astronauts than the Challenger was. Though what would a debut launch be without making it a little interesting? Musk has announced, then retreated, and is back to claiming that his own personal red Tesla Roadster will be attached to the payload at the tip of Falcon Heavy and released into Mars’ orbit upon successful launch. This is obviously bizarre, but just think of how cool it would look to aliens if they happen to come across a bright red Tesla Roadster floating around Mars…I think it’s worth a shot.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2018/01/05/elon-musk-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch/1006599001/

https://www.cnet.com/news/spacex-falcon-heavy-static-fire-test-launch-elon-musk/

The shift towards electronic cars has been an upcoming, but very slow switch for many of the large name car manufacturers. Many have introduced a small handful of new electronic cars, but none have been drastically succesful with appealing to the public. Although, one company has been able to break this barrier, Tesla. They have swept the electronic car competition out from all competitors feet. Now companies such as Ford, must play catch up in order to compete with Testa in the electronic car business.

Ford recently announced that by the year 2022, it would invest over $11 billion towards electric vehicle production. Bill Ford exclaimed that the majority of this money would go towards the creation of 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles. The split would be approximately 16 fully electric vehicles and 24 plug in hybrids. Ford seems to be taking a different path towards this switch to electric cars. Instead of creating brand new electric vehicles, they hope to turn their already popular cars into electric models.

I believe Ford is taking the smart route towards making the transition towards electric vehicles. This thought of turning already popular models towards electric, means that people won’t have to settle on a not so appealing model just because it is electric. The future will hold roads filled with electric cars, so Ford heavily investing into this industry is a smart move. If anyone wants to be able to compete with the super Tesla’s that are slowly taking over the road, they must get a head start now and heavily focus on what customers want. Simply producing an electric car isn’t enough anymore, the car must be appealing and have a very similar aspects, if not better, than a regular gas vehicle.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42689637

It’s sad to see that we, as a society, still don’t take operating any type of vehicle or machinery as seriously as we should. Constantly there are stories of people getting into accidents due to either driving under the influence or distracted driving. The incident pictured above is of driving under the influence of drugs.

The car was driving in California, speeding, and hit a median that sent the car flying 60 feet into the air. Now we can look at this situation and be thankful that the driver and passenger of the car only suffered minor injuries. We can also be grateful that no one else got hurt, just a large hole in the side of a building.

This accident could have caused much more harm and killed many of innocent people for no reason other than ignorance to recognize the power and danger that comes with driving an automobile. We see now a lot of new technologies introduced in vehicles that have sensors telling you when something is close to your perimeter and cameras to show you what’s behind you.

These gadgets aren’t going to do anything if the driver is under any type of drug or alcohol influence. It is important to be attentive while driving to protect yourself, your passengers, and any innocent pedestrians or bystanders.

www.nytimes.com