With the rapid advancement of technology, smart technologies have made their way into homes faster than the consumer market could understand the concept of a “smart home”. This also means that there are security risks that get overlooked in the process. Before diving into the security risks associated with a smart home. One should first understand the concept of a smart home and why they are becoming so popular.
https://home.howstuffworks.com/smart-home.htm

Pros and cons can be found throughout any particular generation. The Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials all faced their fair share of unique challenges. However, Generation Z, or as the video likes to call them, Generation ”iPad”, is experiencing perhaps the most challenging innovation of all: childhood development and the smart device. Linked below is a news clip that reviews the troubles many parents face when it comes to their child and the tablet. 

iPad vs. Imagination

As the video mentions, there seems to be a completely new way children are playing. There’s the  traditional play which consists of toys, board games, swing sets, puzzles, and simple games of “make believe”. And then there’s the iPad, which consists of the top 100 free mobile games. 

While both types of play seem completely different, one consisting of an enormous amount of social activity and the other consisting of calm and quiet focus, they both share similar qualities. For example, both require a lot of activity and real world experiences. Both activities are also considered forms of entertainment which increase general knowledge and skill.

Bad Behavior is Still Bad Behavior.

Just as Rosemary explains in the video, just because parents give their children tablets doesn’t mean they’re bad parents. Tablets and any smart device can be used as a great learning tool for children. However, I do not believe that any tool, toy, or distraction should excuse bad behavior. Which means, temper tantrums still warrant punishments and consequences. And studies show that tablet use can prevent children from learning how to calm down after a tantrum. Knowing when it’s okay to give your child the tablet and when to stand your ground against bad behavior can make all the difference.

Learning From Interactive Media.

Just as I have discussed in previous blog posts, interactive media is extremely beneficial for learning. Which means that mobile games are really good for your babies. But don’t leave it up to the app to teach your kids. Talk it through with them, explain what’s going on, and break out the vocab words. Every fun experience can be made into a learning experience when presented with the right mentor. And remember, tablets aren’t the only thing that can be interactive. Try introducing your favorite toy or family board game to your child. The results might just impress you. 

After a recent survey conducted by TIME, it is now known that the majority of Americans believe that gender inequality exists in the United States. What’s surprising is the stark disagreement about how serious this issue is and furthermore, what should be done about it.

In surveying, the respondents offered opinions on various aspects of gender inequality – such as, the wage gap, representation in government, and unpaid work. The findings were interesting. They found that men don’t consider the problems of gender inequality to be as sever as women do.

This is interesting as women working full time make 81% what their male counterparts make. In addition, women spend 67% more time doing unpaid work than men.

https://time.com/5667397/gender-equality-opinions/

Before, if not certainly after, the 2016 presidential election, allegations of Russian interference crowded the news cycle like a 21st century Red Scare, only this time, it was backed by fact. At least, that was the the case until the United States-Russia Helsinki Summit in 2018. There, President Trump all but set ablaze the US intelligence community with his widely publicized rejection of Russian interference and siding with Putin. This prompted outrage from even the most conservative corners of the media landscape: outlets ranging from CNN, the New York Times, to Fox News swiftly condemned Mr. Trump’s actions at the summit.

Almost as quickly as the backlash from conservatives came did they begin to shift and warp the narrative of what had transpired in Finland. They lauded Trump’s actions in his meeting with the Russian president as strong and “shrewd diplomacy.” This allegiance to Putin follows a pattern of conduct, one we’ve seen continue even into this year, akin to that of one who’s been blackmailed. While those allegations sufficient support, Trump’s behavior regarding Putin should come as no surprise as his dealings within the Ukraine and Russia span decades.

Why is it, then, that this registers to seemingly half of the nation, while it falls on the deaf ears of the remainder? You guessed it: filter bubbles, social media, and, as this article from Ellen Shearer at RollCall suggests, cognitive dissonance. Our brains, faced with countless conflicting messages every day, do their best to make sense of what is fact and what is fiction. In doing so, facts can be rejected as false and opinion regarded as truth. To read more, click here.

North Korean hackers have carried out a systematic effort to target financial institutions all over the world. Their methods are bold, though not always successful. In their most profitable operations, they have manipulated how major financial institutions connect to the international banking system. By tricking components of this system into thinking their hackers are legitimate users, they have enabled the transfer of tens of millions of dollars into accounts they control. They have tampered with log files and bank transaction records, prompting a flurry of security alerts and upgrades in international financial institutions. Most publicly, and perhaps by accident, the hackers have disrupted hundreds of thousands of computers around the world in a ham-fisted effort to hold valuable data for ransom. Through their successes and failures, they learned to modify and combine their tricks, evolving their operations to be more effective.

Read more about it: https://www.wired.com/story/how-north-korea-robs-banks-around-world/

After an outbreak of the coronavirus on their ship, the Diamond Princess, and a systems data breach, Princess cruise lines has taken a hit that is slow to recover from. The news of this data breach has made life much harder for Princess cruise lines whos already struggling due to cancillations caused by the fear of spreading the virus.

According to Jennifer Garone, director of data privacy at Carnival (parent company to Princess), an unsanctioned third party gained unauthorized access to employee emails cointaining private information on empleyees, crew and guests. Some of this information included social security numbers, passport numbers, national identity numbers, credit card and other financial account numbers.

Learn more here:

Choppy waters: Data breach impacts Princess and Holland America cruise lines

You wouldn’t necessarily choose to say that UX Design and boardgames have much in common. Maybe you might stereotype boardgame players and UX designers in very similar ways… but not much beyond that.

One thing connected these two things is Hick’s Law. As described in this article, Hick’s Law states that the more decisions there are, the longer it will take for someone to make a decision. Now, this may not come across as revolutionary, but consider two things: it was the 1950’s and, even for obvious things, there needs to be evidence for it to be considered scientific.

This relates to UX design because when looking at choices on menus, it is important that someone doesn’t get frustrated; it promotes minimalism in design choices. This relates to boardgames because it is frustrating to make decisions and games that are overly complex are a turn off. Laws of design are almost universal. They affect all types of design – not only one aspect of it. Different types of design may not matter when it comes to this.

It can be argued that making decisions is the point of boardgames and that people turn to them for complex scenarios, but people don’t do the same with menus. However, if something is too complex for the medium its in, the result will be the same: people will not pay attention and the design will be looked at poorly.

We release a lot of our personal information while on the internet. Whether it is on shopping sites or social media sites, it is important to make sure it is a secure website before we do so.

There are a few quick things that you can look at to tell if the website you are using is secure or not. The first thing to look at is to check the SSL certificate. You can do this by looking at the URL of the website and seeing if it beings with “https” rather than “http.” If the URL begins with “https” that means that they are using an SSL certificate and that it is secure. Another important thing to look at is the domain. Often times, a hacker will purchase a domain name that looks very similar to a real company’s domain name. If you aren’t paying attention, you will put your personal information into the fake website and then fall victim to a cyber attack.

For more information about secure websites, click here.

As the years go on and on, the number of people traveling by air continues to rapidly increase. With this increase in travelers, the government and travel industry are turning to technology – specifically artificial intelligence – to process these travelers quicker, and to make the transportation process as seamless as possible.

Airports in Abu Dhabi and Japan have introduced kiosks that allow passengers to check themselves in as it is an autonomous kiosk. Multiple other airports have implemented artificial intelligence to detect line lengths in security to alert travelers how long it may take them to get through security, and this also helps airport workers as it allows them to know where they need to put more staff in the process of getting through airline security.

Self-boarding gates are becoming more popular for international flights, as they use facial recognition technology to make sure a photo taken of the passenger by the gate matches their passport and customs border photos. These replace agents who are normally there to check boarding passes and identification cards.

Artificial intelligence is a great tool when implemented properly, and airports are definitely one of the places it can thrive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/business/artificial-intelligence-airports.html

Julia Riccio – jmr17e

Interested in adding web development skills to your resume? This article contains a list of the 6 best free courses in the internet for anyone wanting to learn web design. These courses were picked from experts in the web design field who judged the training, classes, and tutorials offered by each course and ranked each one from best to worst. Each course contains a brief description and layout of what the course looks like and what it has too offer. For more information make sure to visit the link below.

https://digitaldefynd.com/best-web-designing-courses/