Alexandria wants your help in renaming Jeff Davis Highway – WTOP

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After voting to change the name of Jefferson Davis Highway through Alexandria, city planners now want the public's help in finding a new name. (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. After Alexandrias city council voted to change the name of Jefferson Davis Highway in the city, planners are now asking for help to find a new name.

Its not that whatever name gets the most suggestions will win, its just a brainstorming process, said Craig Fifer, spokesman for the City of Alexandria.

Fifer said the City of Alexandrias Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Renaming Jefferson Davis Highways survey has already received several hundred name ideas.

So far, the city has seen a wide variety of names according to Fifer. The suggestions include local figures, others are geographic in nature and some suggest extending the names the road takes in other parts of the town, which include Patrick and Henry streets.

Alexandria resident Zach Stern supports the name change because he said the road celebrates a historical figure that he believes shouldnt be celebrated. Jefferson Davis was the president of Confederate States of America.

Stern said he believes it should be renamed to Alexandria Highway.

Roads are often named after the destination and I am proud of Alexandria, so it seems like something we can all rally around, Stern said,

Resident Amanda Curylo said she doesnt have a name idea, but she recommends another historic name which isnt as controversial.

For others, such as Chet Nagle who has lived in Old Town Alexandria for 36 years, said he still feels the name should stay the same.

Jefferson Davis was a historical figure in our country and I dont think that this political correctness movement makes any sense, Nagle said.

Ideas for the what the road should be called will be collected through Sept. 15.

There will also be public hearings to gather ideas. Theyre scheduled for Aug. 17 and Sept. 25. A final board meeting on the decision will be held on Oct. 5.

All three meetings will begin at 7 p.m. at the Community Room of The Station at Potomac Yard

Fifer said once the advisory group will make its recommendation to the city manager in October, the city manager will then pass that on to city council by the end of the year for a vote.

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Alexandria wants your help in renaming Jeff Davis Highway - WTOP

Political correctness hasn’t gone mad. It has made us nicer – Irish Times

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Alf Garnett and his son-in-law Mike arguing over the Christmas dinner table in a 1966 scene from Till Death Do Us Part. From left: actors Anthony Booth, Una Stubbs, Dandy Nichols and Warren Mitchell. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

Let me say this again. The words politically correct are the near-exclusive preserve of reactionary snowflakes. This would surprise any visiting alien exposed to columns about left-wing despots shutting down dissent such as that in all those columns about left-wing despots shutting down dissent. (The noise from the silenced is often deafening.)

The common opening line I suppose this is not politically correct, but suggests that those who disapprove of whats being said often something racist, homophobic or sectarian are likely to use those words when making their case.

PC gone mad is equally loaded. The implication here is that there was a reasonable movement called PC that went on to lose the run of itself. We didnt mind PC when it dissuaded youngsters from beating up foreigners in public lavatories. But now that its illegal to sing the national anthem and all TDs must be disabled women the time has come to call a halt. Its PC gone mad.

After ploughing through a few acres of this stuff, our alien would be convinced that, used approvingly, the term was rarely far from liberal human lips.

Let me say it again in a different way. Almost nobody arguing for respectful language has used those words in a quarter of a century. Before then it was occasionally uttered in Marxist circles. Michel Foucault used it to describe those who professed to communism without doing (as he saw it) sufficient intellectual heavy lifting.

In the early 1990s, a number of conservative commentators, reacting against supposed leftist tyranny on US campuses, began flinging it about in articles, books and scholarly papers.

Its hard to think of a comparably peculiar linguistic shift. An obscure phrase uttered around the mimeograph machine in a few Trotskyite squats had been reinvented as the slogan beneath which a wholly imaginary movement was alleged to march. You know who I mean: the PC Mob.

The words have now been appropriated to describe any resistance to insensitive or discriminatory language.

You found a great deal of this in defences of Kevin Myerss recent, controversial column. One writer to this newspaper approved of him for not toeing the politically correct line. Ruth Dudley Edwards admired him for calling out the nonsense that characterises the politically correct.

There was much, much more. (We should clarify that both were speaking of his work generally, not specifically of the column that led to the furore.)

The notion that some recent puritanical upsurge this thing called PC was responsible for objections to Myerss comments about Jews is absurd.

Such dangerous stereotypes have been frowned upon in most newspapers for the last century. The phantom menace of PC has, if anything, allowed right-wing commentators to open their bile ducts wider. Rude comments about vulnerable groups in society are now framed as brave resistance to the leftist bullies.

You know who I mean its the PC Mob again.

An unlucky half-dozen endured the retired major venting spleen about immigrants at the golf club bar. Hundreds of thousands gather to hear Sword of Albions racist YouTube rants about how the Mob has silenced him. PC so oppressed Donald Trump that he barely managed to become president of the United States.

It is a good thing that the media, academia and public institutions are now more sensitive about language and minority rights. The racism and sexism on television visible until as late as the 1980s now seems shocking.

A common trope in sitcoms notably in Love Thy Neighbour and the more respectable Till Death Us Do Part allowed any degree of racist abuse if the character speaking was revealed as a fool. A realistic John Cleese allowed the N-word to be cut from a recent repeat of Fawlty Towers.

Attitudes really began to change in the 1990s. It is no coincidence that the myth of political correctness emerged simultaneously. Here was a weapon to assist the restoration of the old bigotries. It hasnt quite worked.

The generation that grew up in those years the Millennials so despised by old, thick windbags has proved more tolerant, more open-minded and more watchful for discrimination.

Of course there have been downsides to these shifts in perspective. It takes no great research to find some low-hanging fruitcake offering an idiotic opinion on Twitter that plays into paranoia about the PC Mob. One or two celebrities in particular deliver on a daily basis (you know who you are).

We could do without campaigns against potentially problematic films or TV series before those projects have reached the public. But, on balance, this thing that only reactionary snowflakes call political correctness has been beneficial to western society. Were just a little nicer. Were just a little kinder. Maybe its time to reclaim the phrase.

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Political correctness hasn't gone mad. It has made us nicer - Irish Times

China’s cloning of genetically modified dogs for research raises concerns – SBS

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Beijing biotech lab Sinogene say they have successfully cloned a genetically-modified dog for medical research, and now plan to use the same technology to create "superdogs" for Chinese police.

The beagle puppy named Longlong, born in May, is a clone of a gene-edited beagle called Apple.

These two dogs are 99.9 per cent the same. We've observed their personality and appearance, even their facial expressions are identical. As you can see they're both very naughty and active. Even the way they walk, how they move around, says Mi Jidong, Sinogene General Manager.

Two other clone puppies Nuonuo and Qiqi followed Longlong in June. All were born from surrogate mothers in the lab.

Apple, the original beagle, was genetically modified last year using a gene-editing tool known as CRISPR/Cas9.

Clone puppies Nuonuo and Qiqi were born in May.

Its been more than 20 years since the first mammal, a sheep named Dolly, was cloned in 1996. Since then other animals, including horses and pigs, have since been cloned. The first dog, however, was only duplicated in 2005.

Dogs are extremely difficult to work with. Some cells are very complex and difficult to clone. Also its extremely hard for a dog embryo to survive in lab conditions, its very vulnerable, explains Mr Mi.

Another reason the cloning of dogs may be more difficult is that the animal is more genetically similar to humans than other animals. Approximately 400 out of 900 genetic illnesses in dogs are similar to human diseases.

Its for this reason that Apple, Longlong and his fellow-clones will be used primarily for medical research.

It's the first step in our future development to delve further into modifying dogs for medical research, says Mr Mi.

Apple was gene-edited to have several times higher levels of blood lipid a trait associated with high cholesterol. Sinogene say theyre cooperating with other labs in China to study gene-based diseases including heart disease and diabetes and develop medicines.

Scientist Mi Jidong plays with Sinogene's cloned puppies from a gene-edited beagle.

But thats not the only focus of the lab. Sinogene will also be using the same gene-editing and cloning technique to create super dogs for the police force as early as next year.

Were also exploring how we can use genetic modification and cloning to improve the specific qualities of different working dogs. For example to improve their stamina, their intelligence to make it easier to train them And also give them a better sense of smell, says Mr Mi.

China currently imports many of its police, search and rescue dogs. Mr Mi believes Sinogenes work could save money and improve the quality of Chinas police dog pack.

But the work has been condemned as cruel by animal welfare groups operating in China.

Cloning has many problems. Large numbers of animals are used as donors and surrogates. But the success rate is very small. So its a huge waste of animal life, says Peter Li, China Policy specialist at Humane Society International, and Associate Professor of East Asian Politics at the University of Houston-Downtown.

He says money would be better spent caring for Chinas millions of unwanted dogs.

I think this super dog work is suspect. Dogs are already very intelligent. We know that cloned dogs have health issues, they dont live long. It is a huge waste of public resources to clone dogs for the police force, says Professor Li.

Beijing-based animal rights activist Mary Peng believes medical testing on animals needs to be better regulated

Animal welfare activist and founder of Chinas first international animal hospital in Beijing, Mary Peng, says she doesnt feel animal medical testing should stop but says labs need to be better regulated. Cloning is really just another form of breeding, says Ms Peng. But I share concerns of how the animals are treated.

She says though China has progressed rapidly in recent years when it comes to the treatment and general attitude towards animals, protective laws lag behind international standards.

China is having the worlds biggest love affair with their pets in the history of the world, she says, but this is all very new, less than 25 years old maybe.

And this experimentation, medical research etc, are also really new industries for China, Ms Peng says. And Im not sure that the laws and regulations about how the animals are treated while theyre in these labs have been fully developed.

But Professor Li says the labs work also raises larger ethical questions. If we see cloned animals as a testing object, I wonder how soon this work will be applied to humans. If we have this level of audacity, this level of recklessness as a standard, then many other test labs will do things that should be stopped.

Sinogene scientist works with dog cells in their Beijing lab

Retired Tsinghua University artificial intelligence and ethics expert Professor Zhao Nanyuan dismisses the criticism of animal rights groups as foreign and irrelevant, saying Chinas scientific progress outweighs the cost.

To see human-animal relations as an ethical question is a concept borrowed from Western religion. In Chinese ethics we dont have this.

He says many in China, like him, will focus on the long-term benefit, rather than the individual treatment of an animal or embryo.

In China we have less problems developing genetically modified technology. Im pretty sure other countries will be behind China when it comes to human genetic research because of their concerns."

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China's cloning of genetically modified dogs for research raises concerns - SBS

How some of India’s PSUs are set for a logical evolution through disinvestment – Economic Times

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After racking up accumulated losses of Rs 50,000 crore, debt of Rs 55,000 crore, a failed Rs 30,000 crore bailout in 2012 and an aborted disinvestment attempt in 2001, the NDA government bit the bullet: last month, the Cabinet gave its nod to sell its stake in the beleaguered Air India. It isnt the only state-owned behemoth in which the government reckons it doesnt need to be wasting its time.

Half of Indias 235 Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) are under scrutiny for a possible disinvestment. The governments think tank NITI Aayog has recommended a strategic sale in over 40 public sector undertakings (PSUs) and outright closure of 26 sick PSUs.

This time, it may not be all talk and little action. Various governments have toyed with disinvestment since 1991, but with limited success. The biggest sell-off surge happened under the NDA government of 1999-2004, when PSUs like Maruti, VSNL, IPCL and IBP were privatised. It is hard to argue against the economic rationale for privatisation.

While CPSEs contribute over 20% to Indias GDP and employ over 10 lakh people, many have turned into bloated, inefficient behemoths and a drain on the national exchequer. One-third of the CPSEs today are making losses. Even a maharatna like BHEL has slipped. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, a recent CAG report points out, its turnover declined from Rs 49,510 crore to Rs 26,587 crore and profits slipped from Rs 7,400 crore to losses of Rs 913 crore. Between 2007 and 2016, sick CPSEs reportedly logged losses of Rs 19.68 lakh crore. Small wonder, then, that NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant suggested that the government should hand over schools, colleges and prisons to the private sector as the government has no business to be in business.

The reality, globally, is a bit more nuanced. PSUs arent exactly out of fashion and have often been used to stoke nationalistic fervour. The French government has threatened to nationalise the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire instead of selling it to Fincantieri of Italy. Italians are nervous about French colonisation as many cross-border deals (like the 50 billion Essilor-Luxottica merger) have resulted in French firms having the upper hand.

Global Lessons In India, PSUs were created post Independence to build a self-reliant, state-led economy. Through the 1970s, amid a nationalisation drive, PSUs dominated the economic landscape before a bankrupt government was forced to rethink its strategy post liberalisation.

India echoed what was happening globally. Professors Aldo Musacchio and Sergio G Lazzarini talk about evolution of state capitalism in their book Reinventing State Capitalism (2014). Globally, too, state capitalism peaked around the 1970s. As a result, output of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to GDP reached 10% in mixed economies and 16% in developing economies.

Then reality dawned. The oil shock of the 1970s and the liquidity crunch of the 1980s meant SOEs globally ran average losses equivalent of 2% of GDP, according to the World Bank. In developing countries, they stood at 4% of GDP. Between 1980 and the turn of the century, the focus shifted to a wave of PSU reforms that included minority stake sales, listings and overhauls of PSU management.

The year 2008 was an inflection point when state-led bailouts of distressed companies PSUs or even private became the norm. The US government bailed out private firms like GM and AIG. By some calculations, firms under government control today account for a fifth of the worlds total stock market capitalisation.

While state capitalism has been in vogue, governments have been trying to make it efficient. The book refers to two examples. In 2007, Brazilian private firm JBS acquired US-based Swift & Co for $1.4 billion to become the world's largest beef processing company. Then it acquired Pilgrim's Pride for $2.8 billion. JBS, identified as a national champion, was funded by Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES), which became the largest minority shareholder in JBS. SOEs in China are coming from the other end. In 2010, Agriculture Bank of China's mega IPO raised $22 billion.

The two examples reflect the new forms of state capitalism taking root. Both are distinct from the traditional (often inefficient) PSU model where government owns and manages the SOE like an extension of public bureaucracy.

PSUs have often helped government deal better with economic cycles. "In China when the economy is in danger of recession, SOEs can quickly deploy government resources and play a counter cyclical role. India is different in that governments, especially Central governments, are relatively much weaker," says Xi Li, professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

After its independence in 1965, Singapore government owned a lot of companies like SingTel and Singapore Airlines. In 1974, it set up Temasek Holdings, a sovereign wealth fund, to hold and manage its assets on a commercial basis and push the nation's growth agenda. Temasek today owns and manages a portfolio of over S$250 billion.

Japan and Korea took a different approach. Chaebols in Korea and Keiretsu in Japan have played a key role in the economic growth of the two countries. And governments in both the countries have nurtured them. This also led to crony capitalism which they are now trying to tackle. For example, Chaebol reforms was a key issue in the 2017 election in Korea. "To avoid the trap of import substitution and make local firms globally competitive, governments gave these companies export targets. When achieved, they were given special credit and land," says Ajay Chhibber, visiting distinguished professor, NIPFP, a research institution.

India's Path NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant recently told ET Magazine that "the government should spend money on improving social indicators like health, education, nutrition". Beyond disinvestment and sell-off, some shifts are already visible. PSUs like BHEL are morphing to be relevant. Besides renewable energy, it now wants to make components for metro rail and defence. "To facilitate public spending, new PSUs are sprouting in areas like inland waterways, metro rail and renewable energy," says Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman, Feedback Infra. The government has set up the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation to build highways. New mechanisms are being explored to help PSUs operate efficiently. For example, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) will help fund projects where the government's stake will be capped at 49%.

Former bureaucrat Pradeep Baijal says PSUs are a necessity in areas where government has a natural monopoly; like railways, metro rail, utilities or sensitive areas like satellite or nuclear power. In a rapidly evolving world, there should be a model of constant review of the PSU portfolio - what to retain and what to divest," adds Amit Sinha, partner, Bain & Company.

Gaurav Taneja, partner, EY, says PSUs are necessary in areas where private sector is not keen to invest, like public health in rural areas. "In fact, government should convert many of these operations into public sector outfits and set up a strategic framework to evaluate their performance," he says. Consider the case of not-so-profitable Jan Dhan scheme where public sector banks were asked to roll it out without adequate compensation and yet are expected to compete with the private sector.

"The difficulty with PSU emanates from a misplaced sense of their reason for existence," says Utkarsh Palnitkar, partner, KPMG in India. "Distortions come into play when a PSU is expected to perform on similar lines as private sector units yet is deprived of management autonomy," he adds. Experts recommend that disinvestment proceeds must be parked in a separate fund to be used in infrastructure investment. "We should not be selling the family silver to pay the grocery bills (which is the case now)," says Chhibber.

Ranen Banerjee, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, says: "Private and public sector need not be completely divorced. While PSUs can build and own the infrastructure, private sector could do operations and maintenance efficiently." An example: railway tracks could be state-owned, and trains with the private sector. Any takers?

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How some of India's PSUs are set for a logical evolution through disinvestment - Economic Times

Music Review: Constant Evolution Parts 1 & 2 WooliebuGGer – HuffPost

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WooliebuGGer recently released Constant Evolution Parts 1 & 2, from his forthcoming EP or album, slated to drop later this year. Hailing from Aurora, Illinois, WooliebuGGer began creating music at the age of 14, stating, I am inspired everyday by the idea of what can be accomplished.

Stylistically, WooliebuGGers sound encompasses electronic, experimental, ambient, minimal and glitch elements. And his musical influences include Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, Future Sound Of London, Stereolab, Pink Floyd, The Doors and The Beatles.

Constant Evolution is a single, lengthy song composed of two distinct segments: part 1 consists of a radiant dance beat, while part 2 dampens the rhythm and takes on a flowing, almost psychedelic flavor rife with extended, syncopated notes.

The bipartite song begins with a percolating synth rhythm, followed by a mesmerizing, futuristic melody that exudes electronic dance elements riding on leitmotifs projected by the synths. The leitmotif gives the impression of gazing into a sonic mirror that reflects the melody in ever devolving fractal patterns. The groove is provided by handclaps that ebb and flow, depending on the intensity of the synth matrix. Part 1 concludes with a protracted synth note that vibrates horizontally as part 2 enters riding a clicking, popping groove, with white noise sound effects and an escalating shrill tone that abruptly halts. The tune segues into percussive effects backed by, and riding on, a rapidly stuttering synth, which eventually fades, leaving only the percussive effects, which assume a light industrial feel that elongates and increases in tension, like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. As the tune culminates, two part harmonies percussion and synth slowly fade, increase and end on a vibrating tone.

The overall sound of parts 1 and 2, together, is electronic ambient music that is kept fresh by the replicating leitmotifs serving as an elastic melody, a melody that ultimately devolves into an austere, minimalist series of detached sonic expression in Part 2. Even though part 2 depicts an almost mechanical detachment, it remains intense with suppressed energy.

Constant Evolution Parts 1 & 2 evokes turbulent, stylish sonority, along with tensile flamboyance under precise control. The latter component, the tensile flamboyance, provides the tune with an edgy tightness that imbues the music with pressure and strain that borders on apprehension. To that end, although its eccentric and quasi-experimental, it is good. That being said, if youre searching for relaxing ambient music, this is not it. On the other hand, if youre searching for ambient music that is pregnant with mysterious sonic symbolism stridently asserting its vitality, this is just the ticket.

Find out more about WooliebuGGer here.

Listen to more WooliebuGGer here.

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Music Review: Constant Evolution Parts 1 & 2 WooliebuGGer - HuffPost

DVQ 3.0: The latest evolution in fantasy football draft strategy – New York Post

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In movie trailer voiceover voice:

In a world where the third time seldom is the charm, when source material often devolves into convoluted chaos, when the expansion of combinatorial storylines undermine the value of the product, a madman has defied the odds. But not just any madman, a Fantasy Madman.

In the fight to engineer a world-beating system to fantasy football draft strategy, the Madman has ignored complacency while avoiding the pitfalls of overcomplication. He has identified the confusing complexity of his past evaluations and has taken action. The days of sliding scales are over. The era of required cross-referencing player ratings is a thing of the past. This is a new world of player rankings.

This is the DVQ 3.0.

Sometimes, simpler is better.

Weve seen it before: a disappointing third installment of a beloved franchise. The Dark Knight trilogys weakest entry was the third. Spider-man 3 was a disaster, as well as the third X-Men or Matrix movies the list of part-three disappointments is long. Heck, a third presidential term isnt even allowed.

But the Madman, he perseveres. Past incarnations of the draft value equation (DVQ) have been functional but admittedly overly complex. With this, the third edition, we make it easier. This third entry is more Lord of the Rings: Return of the King than Godfather Part 3. It is the pinnacle of the DVQ thus far.

In the past, the DVQ addressed draft value with a sliding scale. Each player was evaluated based on projected results compared with their average draft position. It worked; were proud. But it wasnt as helpful as we wanted. The ratings varied based on where in the draft you were targeting a player, and it admittedly required cross-referencing to understand player-to-player comparisons.

But that was like going to a restaurant that only serves dishes a la carte. Even if the food is great, Give me a No. 8 is easier and quicker than surfing through an entire menu for individual items.

This season, the new DVQ 3.0 lets you simply order a full meal. It gauges each players value independently then assigns a draft position rating. The number reflected in each player rating is the spot in the draft at which the Madman projects the best value. Note: There is a parabolic curve near the top, where there is greater separation in individual projections, thus a greater separation between DVQ ratings.

So when you see 16.9 beside Jimmy Catchgood, that is the spot in the draft at which the Madman believes that players projected-point total agrees with the value of that draft pick. By shifting our evaluation to this paradigm, it accomplishes multiple tasks with one rating.

It shows where you should target a player. It will include clusters of players with similar ratings, which reveal the mash-up of similar values. It also will unveil tier cliffs, where there is a substantial divide in player ratings. And it does all of this with one number. One number that conveys actionable information. One number that simultaneously separates and groups players of varying or similar values. One number to rule them all.

So now that you know this, how do you employ the DVQ 3.0 in your personal draft strategy? First, no plan is foolproof. If there is a player you adamantly want on your roster, and you dont think they will be there when you pick again, take them when you can.

Use the DVQ as a guide. For example: You want Wilhelm Runningwell on your roster, and he has a DVQ of 29.3. Youre picking with the 22nd pick, and you dont think Wilhelm will last that long, then take him. But, say, you really want that player, and his average draft position (ADP) is drastically higher than the DVQ rating, then perhaps you should re-evaluate that choice.

For example: Christian McCaffrey has an ADP of 31.7 in a 12-team PPR (points per reception) redraft league, but a DVQ of 89.9. Chances are, if you really want McCaffrey, you will have to pick him well ahead of where the DVQ recommends. The Madman says wait. The Madman says that player is being overvalued. The Madman says there are more reliable options at the point in the draft when McCaffreys ADP indicates he will go. The Madman says, you must be mad!

The short story is: Play the odds. And the DVQ 3.0 is a method to convey those odds. Weve made it more simple to follow. Weve made it more universally informative. Weve made it easier.

This is the Bourne Ultimatum of third installments. This is a Christmas Vacation of fantasy advice. This is the DVQ 3.0.

Sometimes, simpler is better.

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DVQ 3.0: The latest evolution in fantasy football draft strategy - New York Post

Robotics ETF Hits Illustrious Milestone – Investopedia

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Investopedia
Robotics ETF Hits Illustrious Milestone
Investopedia
Sometimes, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on a narrow or highly specialized investment theme, also known as niche ETF, proves its doubters wrong. That is certainly true of the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO.
Robo Whiz for robotics educationThe Hans India

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Robotics ETF Hits Illustrious Milestone - Investopedia

New Haven high schoolers develop tech skills in summer robotics internship – New Haven Register

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High school students develop tech skills in summer robotics internship

By Brian Zahn, bzahn@newhavenregister.com @brizahn on Twitter

Photo: Brian Zahn / Hearst Connecticut Media

ESUMS student George Shelton demonstrates driving the Yo(unity) Bot 3.0 from an app on his phone.

ESUMS student George Shelton demonstrates driving the Yo(unity) Bot 3.0 from an app on his phone.

New Haven high schoolers develop tech skills in summer robotics internship

NEW HAVEN >> Following five grueling weeks of developing a cost-effective robotics kit, 15 aspiring entrepreneurs presented and defended their product before investors.

Later this month, they return to high school.

Fifteen New Haven Public Schools students with an interest in engineering got this chance to be entrepreneurs as they were selected to partake in a paid internship program sponsored by the Connecticut Pre-Engineering Program, with financial backing by Liberty Bank. The interns, challenged to develop inexpensive robotics kits for middle school students, were compensated with $1,000 for the five weeks.

Each of the kits had to be acquirable for less than $55, the interns were told, with all the mechanical structures and electrical components needed to build a robot. One of the four teams, a public relations team, was also tasked with developing a manual for middle school students on how to use the kit.

What we want to see is an excitement and passion for STEM, said Sade Owoye, a project manager for CPEP.

Mikayla Osumah, a rising senior at Engineering and Science University Magnet School, said it was indeed her passion for STEM that led her to the internship. She said things clicked into place for her when she built a drone for a class project, and she began to realize several possibilities that could be explored through manufacturing and engineering.

Didacus Oparaocha, a teacher who leads and coaches the interns through the program, said he sees a direct benefit for the students, most of whom come from low-income families.

One of the main goals is poverty elevation, he said. I believe STEM is an answer to solving poverty.

As an employee at Sikorsky Aircraft, Oparaocha said he wants the students to have an even higher quality of life than he has, after moving from Nigeria to Italy and then to Michigan and Connecticut.

The CPEP staff said the program is meant to give students relevant work experience to prepare for careers.

We believe if you give students an opportunity for a real work opportunity, showing up every day on time and dressed professionally, it gives them chances to succeed as entrepreneurs, said Kathy Ciullo, CPEP chief financial officer and director of operations. Were trying to give them provable hands-on opportunities.

One of those opportunities was preparing a presentation during which they would ask CPEP Executive Director David Beam for the funding to carry out the robotics kit project.

Further, in addition to developing a prototype for an affordable robotics kit and considering the costs of materials and labor, students were made to practice communicating and explaining their work.

Were taking the proper steps to be professional, said ESUMS rising senior Donavon Chisolm.

Rising ESUMS senior George Shelton called it an internship you can take further in life.

Shelton said he would like to pursue electrical engineering and automation after he graduates from high school.

District officials said they believe the program offers practical applications for lessons taught in the classroom.

Kenneth Mathews, the school districts math curriculum supervisor, said he believes the interest in the program among students is tenfold its capacity.

The skills theyve learned will serve them throughout their lives, Mathews said. Many have shaped what they want to pursue in college.

After asking the interns approximately a dozen questions on the skills theyve learned from five weeks of work such as about whether any challenge is too difficult for them to overcome, about the value of teamwork or about whether a career can be fun were a few examples Beam said he has worked with engineers at all different levels, and he is certain all of them could have benefited from the type of early job training offered by the program CPEP has to offer.

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New Haven high schoolers develop tech skills in summer robotics internship - New Haven Register

The Whys and Hows of Becoming a Robotics Engineer – Machine Design

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In 2015, a poll of 200 senior corporate executives conducted by the National Robotics Education Foundation identified robotics as a major source of jobs for the United States. Indeed, some 81% of respondents agreed that robotics was the top area of job growth for the nation. Not that this should come as a surprise: as the demand for smart factories and automation increases, so does the need for robots.

According to Nearshore Americas, smart factories are expected to add $500 billion to the global economy in 2017. In a survey conducted by technology consulting firm Capgemini, more than half of the respondents claimed to have invested $100 million or more into smart factory initiatives over the last five years. The study concludes that at least 21% of manufacturing plants will become smart factories by 2022. This is especially true in areas of labor shortage like the U.S. and Western Europe.

The Kuka Official Robotics Education (KORE) certificate program offers professionals and students the opportunity not only to become certified in operating Kuka robots, but also to learn robotic engineering principles.

All of this will result in the addition of more robots to manufacturing sites. Over the past seven years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that companies added 136,748 robots to factory floors. But while the conclusion of many is to assume that jobs are disappearing due to automation, the opposite is proving true. The BLS also determined that while robots were being added to factories, 894,000 new manufacturing jobs were also created as a result of automation. According to the book What to Do When Machines Do Everything by Malcom Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring, 19 million jobs will be lost due to automation over the next 10 to 15 yearsbut 19 million new jobs will be created due to automation.

In other words, the job market for robotic engineers is at a prime. For the engineer either in school or already working, there are numerous resources available for educating yourself in the world of robotics. Take advantage of them, and crest the next wave of jobs in automation.

The lack of robot education in high schools and universities is creating a large gap of skilled laborers for the future of automation. FANUC CERT program brings robot certification to all levels of education, including high schools, colleges, and vocational schools.

In April of this year, the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) published awhite paper concluding that 80% of manufacturers report a labor shortage of skilled applications for production positions. This may result in the U.S. losing a staggering 11% of annual earnings. However, the addition of new automation technologies allows companies to increase productivity and create higher quality products. This allows them to grow their business and add jobs.

The distinction that has to be made is that while robots will automate tasks, they will not automate complete jobs. In the white paper from A3, it was noted that robots have been increasing labor productivity at the same rate as the steam engine: 0.35% annually. Amazon is a key example of how robots add jobs. In 2012, the online shopping giant acquired Kiva Systems, which became Amazon Robotics. By 2014, Amazon Robotics employed 45,000 full-time employees. Three years later, that number had doubled to 90,000, and the company is striving to break the 100,000 mark.

Machine Design recent reported that Amazon has launched 30,000 robots into service in conjunction with 230,000 employees across its fulfillment centers. The Kiva robots have led to higher efficiencies that have resulted in increased growth. Another example of growth due to automation and robotics is in the automotive industry. General Motors grew U.S. jobs from 80,000 to 105,000 from 2012 to 2016. This increase in jobs coincided with the addition of approximately 10,000 robot applications in GM plants.

The robotic engineer job market will grow between now and 2024. The BLS reports that robotics engineers, as part of the mechanical engineering field, will increase by 5% by 2024. The median annual wage for robotic engineers was $83,590 in 2015. If the rate of machines being added to factories remains consistent, then the number of skilled technicians needed to program, operate, and maintain those robots will also increase.

The Universal Robots Academy teaches you how to set up and program its collaborative robots online in six module training courses.

For the young engineering student looking to enter robotics, there are key areas of study that one should focus on to obtain the appropriate education. Robotics is truly an interdisciplinary career which combines several fields of engineering, including mechanical engineering, computer programming, and electrical engineering. According to Robotiq, a manufacturer of end effectors for collaborative robots (cobots), the core subjects for those at the high school level are mathematics and physics. These core areas of study make up the foundation of many robotic courses. If the student has the opportunity at the high school level, they should also take courses computing, programming, design, and extracurricular engineering electives like machine shop and manufacturing classes.

At the university level, many educational institutions offer a robotics major as its own independent field of study. However, since the field of robotics is one under constant change, many professionals reach the robotic industry through different avenues. In the Robotiq guidelines, it is possible to break down the robotic field into three key areas:

According to GradSchoolHub.com, the top 10 universities with grad school programs in robotics are as follows:

NASA has alist of robotics programs at universities across the U.S.:

Robotic education in STEM is growing. In 2015, the government offered in $100 million in federal grants to support the growing workforce. The plan was to offer schools with the resources to introduce robotic education into the classroom, as well as to provide training and certification for those looking to enter the field.

The Nanodegree Robotic Program from Udacity is the first of its kind. It offers remote robot education sponsored by major companies, including Bosch and iRobot.

In recent years, many robotic companies have realized the need to create their own certification programs to help foster robot education. Several of them have created universities and training programs for professionals to become certified in their robotic platforms.

For the engineer looking to get started in robots, the number one resource is the Robotic Industries Association, an associated society of the Association for Advancing Automation. At its website, one will find a plethora of resources to help get started or advance their robotic education. You will also find a listing of safety standards, webinars, upcoming events, and integrator certification training. For those looking to get started, theBeginner's Guide is a good place to start:

Universal Robots is one of the major seller of collaborative robots. If youve attended any technical conference in recent years, youll have seen many of them gracing the booths of automation companies. Universal Robots has its own education platform, the Universal Robot Academy. The module breaks down into six easy learning modules:

This is the advantage of cobots. Since they have safety features built-in and operate in controlled environment, the learning curve is quickerone does not need to determine safety zones, light curtains, or cages.

For larger industrial robots, companies like Kuka and FANUC both offer certification programs.Kuka offers the Kuka Official Robotics Education (KORE) certificate program. The program is designed to be offered in high schools, community colleges, universities, and vocational schools. The program will teach basic robot programming and operation skills, centering around project-based activities that mimic real-world manufacturing.

FANUC Certified Education for Advanced Automation offers high schools, colleges, and universities training in automation techniques. TheFANUC CERT training not only offers education in robotics but also in CNC machining and robotic drilling. Both of these programs are also available to engineering professionals at certified training locations.

Lastly, for those that cannot reach a training location, there are several online courses that provide robotic training. One that is sponsored by the likes of Bosch, Kuka, iRobot, and Lockheed Martin, is the training offered by Udacity, the online education platform. Udacity is a new online learning platform that aims to bring affordable education to the internet. The education is created by educational professionals and sponsored by major companies in the industry. The Nanodegree Program offers a robotic education with hands-on projects in simulated environments. The course itself is a two 3-month terms and will provide instruction in kinematics, perception of objects, controls, and deep learning for robotics.

The resources of robotic education are on the risejust like the robot machines fueling the next wave of automation.

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The Whys and Hows of Becoming a Robotics Engineer - Machine Design

Will virtual reality clubbing make staying in the new going out? – British GQ

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Nights out have certainly changed, as I found out a few months ago in a basement in London Fields. At 11pm, as the DJs were warming up, I saw a young lad tire of dancing, turn to his phone and open up Pokmon Go. He then spent most of the night trying, with little success, to catch a Pidgey by the decks.

Pokmon Go ruined many activities last year (shopping, walking, going outside generally), but clubbing's a new one - not that the augmented-reality game is entirely to blame for clubs across the country shutting down. Since 2005, the number of nightclubs in Britain has almost halved, down from 3,144 to 1,733.

Personally, I blame hygge. The Danish art of living cosily involves nuzzling in comfort and wellbeing, and I'm guilty of it too, sort of. Just instead of luxe Scandi design and Jo Malone candles, my nights have paid more homage to American entrepreneur and renowned recluse Howard Hughes - they involve seeing as few people as possible, while watching as many Netflix series as I can humanly manage. Which seems all well and good, but it does leave clubbing looking a bit neglected.

Boiler Room, the platform that live-streams DJ sets and gigs around the world, may have the solution as it launches the world's first virtual-reality music venue in London. The physical club, due to open this year, will be rigged with cameras, which will allow fans to watch gigs and go clubbing in real time, via virtual-reality headsets. In short, you'll soon be able to rave from your bedroom in a more immersive way than just turning the speakers up until your neighbour calls time on your homemade Haienda.

Over the five years I've worked as a DJ, I've seen a lot of things - from punters at the start of the night awkwardly stomping around as though they'd watched YouTube dance tutorials from C-3PO, then a couple of pints later swaggering away like Liam Gallagher listening to "Supersonic", to people vehemently refusing to leave until their record request gets a play (it never does) and grown-ups in the early hours having a bit of a moment to Toto's "Africa" (who hasn't?). I've played at venues about to crumble - one memorable December in Leeds, I spent an entire set with a portable heater next to my decks because the club's windows were smashed in as I attempted to warm up the frostbitten crowd with some Prince. I'm intrigued to see how any of that can be replicated.

At Boiler Room's headquarters in Hackney, I try out a few of the virtual experiences on offer - it isn't live and the technology has now been updated, but it's a rough guide to how it will be. The virtual-reality headset I try on is an older Samsung model that looks like a pair of futuristic ski goggles. It's heavy and bulky, almost like the VR equivalent of getting your first Nokia 3310 (I'm told that a good-quality headset is around 100, which seems quite pricey for the odd bit of bedroom dancing). When I pair the headset with some noise-cancelling headphones, I resemble a budgetBlack Mirrorepisode, or an early draft ofThe Jetsons.

I try out a VR club night with grime MC Kano, which feels a lot like being in the computer gameDoom. It's like a wonky Nineties video game, with Kano towering over me, shouting beats in my face. There's a DJ hovering over the decks looking incredibly serious; young kids are dancing - others bob their heads stoically - while a few are taking pictures on their phones. So far, so authentically east London.

I'm squashed in the middle of the crowd, without the sweat and beer flying around, unable to interact with anyone. It's quite cold and soulless, a bit like being inside a gif, and it leaves me feeling like a very sober voyeur intruding on a good night out. In reality, I'm swivelling around the conference room of a hip young company in unflattering apparel, trying not to knock coffee over expensive tech.

Like Glastonbury, the idea of watching the highlights from afar on a couch, with indoor plumbing, can be pretty appealing - smugness-inducing, even - when you miss out on getting resale tickets or you happen upon images that year of humans swallowed whole by mud - although it can never really replace the experience, long drops and all.

There's certainly an appeal to the virtual-reality venue. This could be the solution for when you can't make it to a night out (if you're full of cold, skint or just a bit lazy), a way for fans in far-flung places to watch their favourite DJs without having to spend a fortune. But then clubbing was never meant to be virtual, or even convenient. While virtual-reality clubbing is exciting and looks set to be the next best thing to going out, it's certainly no substitute for actually going out.

Clubbing (in real life) is the anti-hygge. It's cumbersome, an effort to get everyone out and, rather than revelling in warming Scandi accents, can feel more like having the flu: sweaty but somehow always freezing. And yet all these things are important, because you're young and things aren't meant to feel like a bubble. Everything as a twentysomething feels aspirational and unattainable - except for clubbing, which is real. And that's why it should probably stay exactly how it is. Like this? Now read:

GQ Rules for modern men: how to behave in a nightclub

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Best nightclubs in London, tried and tested

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Will virtual reality clubbing make staying in the new going out? - British GQ

You’re heavy, and your doctor makes you feel bad about it. That’s not good. – Washington Post

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By Marlene Cimons By Marlene Cimons August 13 at 7:06 AM

Virtual reality in which people wearing headsets and other equipment experience computer-generated environments as if they were real is helping obesity researchers better understand peoples responses to their personal genetic information.

Its important to put people in a setting that is as close to real life as possible, says Susan Persky, a scientist with the National Human Genome Research Institutes social and behavioral research branch. For example, you really will feel much more like you are in a doctors office. You feel present within the system. At the same time, we control everything.

Persky and her colleagues have conducted several studies using VR to gauge how obese individuals react in clinical settings and at other sites when presented with genetic information about their weight.

In one, she found that telling overweight women about the likely genetic basis for their obesity reduced the womens feelings that they were blamed for their weight. Other research has found that women who feel stigmatized by their doctors may avoid medical treatment to the detriment of their health.

The scientists recruited 200 women unhappy about their weight and gave them a 10-minute appointment with a virtual doctor. The virtual clinician gave each woman one of four presentations. One stressed genetic factors, delivered in a supportive style. A second also emphasized genomics, but it was given in a directive, doctor-knows-best manner. A third was supportive but focused only on personal behavior. The fourth stressed behavior but in a directive manner.

Not surprisingly, the volunteers liked the supportive virtual clinician best, especially when the doctor also offered genetic information, saying this approach made them feel less stigmatized and better about themselves. People feel less blame when doctors talk about genetic factors, Persky says. In obesity, we find this idea of genetic predisposition resonates with people.

Researchers also looked at guilt among overweight mothers of 4- and 5-year-old children, providing information about the influence of lifestyle to one group and the effects of genetic factors and lifestyle to a second group. Mothers told about genetic factors felt guiltier than the others, presumably because they felt they were passing obesity along to their offspring.

The parents then were asked to select a meal for their children from a virtual food buffet offering choices that were more healthy (grilled chicken, steamed carrots, peas and green beans) and less healthy (chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese).

Why use a virtual buffet rather than a real one? Its an assessment of actual parent behavior that can be measured in the controlled, sterile lab, while it actually looks and feels like a real-world environment where parents actually make feeding choices, Persky says.

Mothers who chose the healthier options felt less guilt afterward about the possibility of passing down genetic obesity risk factors to their children, even those in the group who werent explicitly told about genetic influences, according to the study. Most parents have some sense that there are genetic factors involved in weight, Persky says. This isnt a totally new concept for them.

The findings suggest that parents are inclined to change how they feed their children thus feeling less guilt about passing on their genetic risks while still reluctant to change their own eating behavior. Parents are often willing to do things for their children that they wouldnt do for themselves, Persky says.

Read more

Using virtual reality to make you more empathetic in real life

Why you eat so much

Odd teeth: A mothers Internet sleuthing led to her childs diagnosis

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You're heavy, and your doctor makes you feel bad about it. That's not good. - Washington Post

Virtual reality headsets bring stories to life at San Jose public libraries – The Mercury News

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SAN JOSE As technology advances in the ever-changing Silicon Valley, citizens can now enjoy the thrill of virtual reality at the library.

At a launch event on Friday at Martin Luther King Jr. public library downtown, adults and teens were able to test out Oculus Rift Systems a headset combined with a virtual reality screen so passersby could see in 2-D what users in the headset were experiencing in 3-D.

I played a Haunted Mansion game that had surround sound, said San Jose 18 year-old Brandon Lau. It felt so real, it was scary but extremely worth it.

The San Jose public library is offering the virtual reality headsets through a state library grant. Virtual reality headsets are available at TeenHQ in the downtown library and at the Evergreen branch library. Its part of a partnership with the California Library Association and Oculus VR.

We want to be relevant and innovative, which means keeping up to date with technology, and we wanted to make it available not only to kids but to adults, said library spokesperson Nancy Macias. Digital inclusion is huge, regardless of age or background, VR should be available to you.

The headsets come with hand controllers so that users can actually grab and interact with objects in the virtual world.TeenHQ offers other forms as technology as well, such as a recording studio and 3-D printers.

We have a game where you can build sculptures in the virtual reality, said Cindy Ball, the program manager of Oculus Education, the company that provided the headsets. And with that design, here at the library they have 3-D printers, so maybe what you design in the virtual space you can actually bring to life with the 3-D printers.

The downtown library and Evergreen branch are two of ninety state libraries to launch virtual reality through Oculus VR and the California Library Association this year. The SPJL VR headsets are open to the public at no cost. Ball said Oculus hopes this initiative helps people who may not otherwise be able to experience virtual reality due to their economic and social circumstances.

We really want people who havent been able to experience VR before to use it for the first time, Ball said, so someday, people who are interested can move from being consumers to creators of VR.

Oculus provided 20 educational applications through the headsets, including an exploration of the International Space Station and a rock climbing experience.

On top of those games, the library has some applications that they downloaded themselves. Librarian Erik Berman said games are used to get teens at TeenHQ in motion through Fruit Ninja and sports games as well as learning about the world through explorations of foreign lands. He said he was excited to mix the virtual reality with the physical world through programs that expand on some of the experiences.

The VR is the gateway to learning about different things, Berman said. We have a French immersion experience that we actually will run programming around. We will show a documentary and then teach teens here about French culture in a program later on.

Berman said one goal of offering the virtual reality experience at TeenHQ will be to design their own such game at the library.

The first virtual reality open house will be held 3 p.m. Monday at TeenHQ at the downtown library. TeenHQ has programs and specific times when the virtual reality headsets are available.

Although the TeenHQ is only available to teens, adults are encouraged to use virtual reality headset at the librarys Evergreen branch. Seventy two year-old Judith Fields came to the launch with her friend 67 year-old Jackie Snell and were excited as they sliced fruit in Fruit Ninja, designed butterflies with virtual robots and visited national parks.

I loved experiencing Yosemite, it was my favorite, Fields said. I loved feeling like I was visiting and exploring the park it was beautiful.

Youre never too old to use VR, Snell said. Its actually easier, you can experience the world and you dont have to go anywhere you can check it out at the library.

More information on the SJPLs virtual reality collection can be found atwww.sjpl.org/blog/virtual-reality-library.

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Virtual reality headsets bring stories to life at San Jose public libraries - The Mercury News

Virtual Reality Science Lessons Now At Indy Charter School | WBAA – WBAA

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An Indianapolis charter school will be one of the first in the country to use a virtual reality program to teach science to high school students.

Hope Academy, on the citys far northeast side, is purchasing the software and curriculum from a tech-startup to supplement its traditional classroom teaching.

The software, designed by Iowa-based VitoryVR, offers middle school and high school coursework based on the NextGen Science Standards. The science curriculum currently offers 24 units, such as the solar system or Newtons Law of Gravity. In all, there are 120unique virtual experiences.

Principal Linda Gagyi says students will use the virtual reality classroom as part of their more traditional classroom learning based on Indianas academic standards.

Its amazing way to deliver standards and curriculum and the VR experience, she says.

As part of a science lesson this year, senior Sofia Merrick can travel to New Mexico to check out a massive telescope or

To get there, shell just slip on an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. She tried out the program Thursday.

It just really brings you into it. Its like you are actually seeing it. The one I was doing it was the solar system. It was like, I was like floating through the solar system, Merrick says.

Steve Grubbs, founder of VitoryVR and former Iowa state lawmaker, says the VR curriculum was created to keep students engaged and allow them to experience virtual reality fields trips related to science topics.

Indiana state lawmakers Sens. Jim Merritt (R-Indianapolis) and Brandt Hershman (R-Buck Creek), and Reps. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) and Woody Burton (R-Whiteland) attended the demonstration.

Later this month a handful of schools in St. Louis, Des Moines, the Quad Cities area in northwest Illinois and southeastern Iowa, and Bermuda will start using the virtual reality software too.

Hope Academy is spending around $18,000 on four virtual reality workstations and licenses.

Hope Academy is for students in grades 9-12 recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Around 40 students are enrolled for the current school year.

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Virtual Reality Science Lessons Now At Indy Charter School | WBAA - WBAA

FDA warns of contamination of multiple drugs, dietary supplements – Bucks County Courier Times

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Liquid vitamins for infants and children are among several supplements and drugs that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers and health care professionals not to use due to risk of severe infection.

The FDA is advising against using any liquid drug or dietary supplement products manufactured by PharmaTech LLC of Davie, Florida, and labeled by Rugby Laboratories, Major Pharmaceuticals and Leader Brands, due to potential contamination with the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) and the risk for severe patient infection.

The drug and dietary supplement products made by PharmaTech include liquid docusate sodium drugs (stool softeners), as well as various dietary supplements including liquid vitamin D drops and liquid multivitamins marketed for infants and children.A lab test done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a strain of B. cepacia in samples of the stool softeners.

B. cepacia poses a serious threat to vulnerable patients, including infants and young children who still have developing immune systems, said FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb. These products were distributed nationwide to retailers, health care facilities, pharmacies and sold online making it important that parents, patients and health care providers be made aware of the potential risk and immediately stop using these products.

According to the CDC, B. cepacia poses the greatest threat to hospitalized patients, critically ill patients and people with health problems such as weakened immune systems and chronic lung diseases. The symptoms of B. cepacia infections vary widely from none at all to serious respiratory infections. It can spread from person-to-person by direct contact and is often resistant to common antibiotics.

Consumers, pharmacies and health care facilities should immediately stop using and dispensing all liquid drug and dietary supplement products manufactured by PharmaTech and labeled by Rugby Laboratories, Major Pharmaceuticals and Leader Brands.

This is not the first time the FDA has advised patients against using liquid docusate (stool softening) drug products manufactured at PharmaTech's Davie, Florida, facility. The FDA issued an advisory in 2016 after the products were implicated in the CDC's public health investigation into a multistate outbreak of B. cepacia infections.

The FDA encourages health care professionals and consumers to report adverse events or quality problems experienced with the use of drugs and dietary supplements products to the FDAs MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program:

Complete and submit the report online at http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm; or download and complete the form, then submit it via fax at 1-800-FDA-0178.

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FDA warns of contamination of multiple drugs, dietary supplements - Bucks County Courier Times

Editorial: Why taking supplements can be risky – San Francisco Chronicle

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Chronicle Editorial Board

Some of the dietary supplements Nicholas Chrysanthou takes to deal with his over 80 food allergies, on the kitchen counter of his home in Houston, TX, June 28, 2017. (Michael Wyke / For the Chronicle)

Some of the dietary supplements Nicholas Chrysanthou takes to deal...

Health-conscious people may want to think twice before taking dietary supplements. Researchers have found a significant increase nationwide in calls to poison control centers related to vitamins, herbs and other supplements. These calls have increased along with the growth of supplement sales in the U.S.

Between 2000 and 2012, there have been around 275,000 calls about over-the-counter supplement exposure. The most serious of the poisoning cases often concerned young children, stricken with breathing problems and seizures. The Journal of Toxicology report found ma huang, yohimbe and energy products were associated with the greatest toxicity.

Over-the-counter dietary supplements are not held to the same rigorous safety standards as medications or food products. The lack of oversight can lead products to be contaminated, mislabeled or of inconsistent quality.

Some embrace supplements as offering a last bastion of freedom over what goes into their bodies. Many patients turn to herbal remedies for a natural approach to health care and to avoid costly medications.

However, without clinical trials and other safety precautions, consumers cant know the potential side effects of certain supplements, particularly when taken with other medications. The study results indicate a need for stronger oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Politics has blocked that kind of oversight for years. So, at the very least, check with a doctor before deciding to be a human guinea pig.

This commentary is from The Chronicles Editorial Board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.

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Editorial: Why taking supplements can be risky - San Francisco Chronicle

Securing Our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure Takes A Villageand Automation – CSO Online

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Huge malware and ransomware attacks often grab the headlines, with WannaCry and NotPetya as recent high profile examples. News cycles endlessly discuss who was affected, how these attacks occur, and what can be done about it. For many organizations and individuals, the loss of a network or the compromise of data is big news and really important.

At the same time, however, we tend to take the services provided by our critical infrastructure resources for granted. We flip a switch and the lights and air conditioning turn on. We turn the tap and fresh, clean water pours out. Goods are delivered, airplanes land on time, and the stock market hums along. But the risks and security of these critical infrastructure resources often flies under the radar.

We may sometimes hear about the targeting of an electrical grid in far off places, but the potential for high-profile cyberattacks on the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified here in the United States, and the resulting ramifications, are not in the American publics psyche to the degree they should be.

Malicious cyber activity targeted at the nations critical infrastructure including water systems, transportation, energy, finance, and emergency services are particularly worrisome because the interruption of those services can have devastating effects on our economy, impact the well being of our citizens, and even cause the loss of life.

Hackers have a variety of motivations for cyberattacks mischief, bullying, and financial gain among them. However, for our critical infrastructure sectors, attacks can also come from highly motivated cyberterrorists or hacker groups affiliated with nation states or political factions looking to further their cause or establish a military or strategic advantage.

In some cases, these attackers might want to dramatically disrupt public services; in other cases, their goals are much darker, such as wanting consumers to lose faith in the nations financial sector.

There have been documented attacks on critical infrastructure, such as two successful efforts to disrupt the Ukraine power grid in 2015 and 2016. But such events have always seemed safely far enough away. However, this past July, the U.S. government warned nuclear power plants about escalated attacks on their facilities. Such warning ought to make people sit up and take notice. With critical infrastructures increasingly online, interconnected to other resources, and often in the hands of private industry, its time that we elevate this conversation.

The challenge, however, is that in many cases attacks on the critical infrastructure are less than obvious. Many of these intrusions are low and slow. These subtle attacks often resulting in incremental changes to the compromised system worry many security experts because theyre so hard to detect incrementally. Its relatively easy to recognize when major attacks happen, and the victims can then move to counter them. But sophisticated intrusions often subtly work together to eventually become a strategic liability to our country. Imagine a series of malicious activities that, once in place, are able to affect a regions ability to provide a reliable water supply, safely transport oil and gas, or provide timely emergency services.

So what can be done?

The United States critical infrastructure is owned and operated by thousands of entities, and the security problem is so interdependent and complex that were often paralyzed in determining where to start. To move forward, then, lets recall the Chinese proverb: The journey of 1,000 miles starts with one small step.

We need to start by getting security practitioners, critical infrastructure operators, and other groups to agree that securing these sectors is a 10-year problem, not a one-year problem.

Next, protecting our critical infrastructure requires a team effort. The Government cant solve the problem (critical infrastructures are primarily owned and operated by the private sector), and private companies cant be expected to take on other nations cyber militaries. By starting to work together in small ways, broadening security expertise, and conducting joint cyber projects, industry and government can begin to develop the muscle memory necessary to tackle bigger things.

Several critical infrastructure sectors need to start by developing better ways to automatically share threat and vulnerability information within their industries one mans detection is another mans prevention. While some sectors have made serious progress in this area, others have lagged behind. And as critical infrastructure resources continue to become interconnected, the weakest link problem becomes increasingly relevant.

Companies also need to focus more on exploring all dimensions of their risk; too often we focus only on Vulnerabilities and Threats. They need to also ask: What are the bad consequences Im trying to avoid? Consequence-based engineering, the practice of engineering out all the potential bad outcomes from the beginning of the system design process, needs to become the standard for the development of all critical infrastructure architectures, whether physical or virtual.

Finally, critical infrastructure operators need to increasingly embrace security automation strategies to complement their safety-oriented operational technology strategies. The best way find the incremental intrusions and respond in a coordinated and comprehensive fashion is through automation. Human eyes often cant see the low-and-slow attacks, and we cant respond fast enough once a breach has been detected.

Its well-documented that the IT industry is in the midst of a digital revolution that is impacting all segments of the economy, from how people work and interact, to how governments serve their citizens. But less appreciated is the fact that were also on the verge of a security revolution:

Security strategy is one of ubiquity, integrated to work as a contiguous system and powered by automation.

So, in a variation of the it takes a village to raise a family saying, developing a strategic approach to critical infrastructure security takes a critical mass of cooperating people who leverage the best of breed technologies and strategies to ensure our infrastructures not just survive, but thrive. At the same time, we need to better manage the problem of complexity so that it doesnt overwhelm network operators. Automated security systems, managed by a strong guild of security professionals who practice working together in times of non-crisis will be able to meet the needs of the villagers they serve - at digital speeds, and without compromising security.

Watch Phils recent video where he discusses the strategic nature of attacks against critical infrastructure and the actions necessary to bring focus on finding effective security measures.

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Securing Our Nation's Critical Infrastructure Takes A Villageand Automation - CSO Online

DAVE HANSEN: Foxconn deal vs. automation trend – La Crosse Tribune

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Lawmakers will soon have an important decision to make that will have an outsize impact on our state for years to come: whether or not to approve a deal made by Gov. Walker that could send up to $3 billion in direct cash payments to Taiwanese-based Foxconn to build a manufacturing plant in southeast Wisconsin.

In my initial response to the news I urged my colleagues to proceed with caution. Not only is this an incredibly expensive offer (it could cost the average family in Wisconsin $1,200 and take 25 years or more before state taxpayers break even!) but it could set a precedent with how we approach future economic development at a time when more and more industries are moving to automation as a way to reduce labor costs.

Foxconn is at the forefront of this effort with its publicly stated goal of fully automating its manufacturing process to the greatest extent possible. Theyve already begun by laying off 60,000 workers in China who were earning $3.25 an hour and replacing them with robots.

This begs the question: If they are laying off workers to save $3.25 an hour, why are they willing to pay their workforce here in Wisconsin what appears to be five to seven times that amount?

Since Gov. Walkers initial announcement, Foxconn has already said their plan is to create 3,000 jobs rather than the 13,000 Walker claimed. They also said that manufacturing jobs would pay $13-$15 per hour, which is far less than the $53,000 initially promised.

So what to make of this deal? How does Foxconn plan to make the economics of this deal work for them if they are already replacing thousands of lesser-paid employees with robots? Is it realistic to think that any manufacturing jobs created at Foxconn will still be performed by humans 10, 15 or 25 years from now? It is likely that most of the promised jobs will be automated well before the 2043 break-even date.

According to Walkers plan, state taxpayers will pay to help Foxconn build its plant and local taxpayers will help pay for infrastructure improvements related to the plant. There is even $250 million in borrowing proposed to reconstruct I-94 between Milwaukee and Illinois despite the fact that the governor and Republicans cannot agree on a long-term fix for the billion-dollar deficit in the Transportation Fund.

This all amounts to potentially billions of state and local tax dollars being spent to help a foreign corporation build a plant in which the majority of jobs will likely be done by robots.

If that is the case, then its time we have a larger discussion about what constitutes a job for the purpose of providing economic development assistance and the impact that these new technologies will have on our workforce.

Recent reports suggest that 47 percent of all jobs in the U.S. could be lost to automation in the next 20 years. Those jobs range from manufacturing to retail to the legal and medical fields and beyond. According to a CBS report, even Wall Street is expected to replace nearly 230,000 jobs in the next eight years with machines.

Whether or not these new technologies lead to new jobs that provide better pay and benefits or to large-scale unemployment, one thing is certain: This change is coming rapidly and were not prepared to deal with its impact.

Regardless of where you stand on the Foxconn deal, their stated goal of full automation is not unique to the world we are now living in. It is time for the Legislature to take the issue of automation seriously and do what needs to be done to protect the best interests of taxpayers, our families and our workforce.

Democrat Dave Hansen, Green Bay, represents the 30th state Senate district.

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DAVE HANSEN: Foxconn deal vs. automation trend - La Crosse Tribune

Trump Administration to Begin Probe of Alleged Chinese Technology Theft – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Trump Administration to Begin Probe of Alleged Chinese Technology Theft
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
WASHINGTONThe Trump administration announced plans Saturday to pressure China over alleged intellectual property theft, adding the threat of trade retaliation to an ongoing campaign seeking greater cooperation from Beijing in the North Korean ...
Trump Administration to Launch Probe of Alleged Chinese Technology Theft -- UpdateFox Business

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Trump Administration to Begin Probe of Alleged Chinese Technology Theft - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

‘Barbershop’: A Roundup Of This Week’s Issues In technology And Culture – NPR

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'Barbershop': A Roundup Of This Week's Issues In technology And Culture
NPR
A Google memo spurs gender debates, Airbnb cancels bookings by users connected to the "Unite The Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va. and a DC man schedules six dates in one night and gets caught. Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email. NPR thanks our ...

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'Barbershop': A Roundup Of This Week's Issues In technology And Culture - NPR

Technology migrations are more painful, and cloud isn’t making them any easier – ZDNet

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These days, more often than not, typical migration projects mean moving applications or functions from an on-premises system to the cloud in some form or another. Migration has always been tough enough, requiring lots of pre-cutover planning and weekend work, coordinating a bunch of moving parts, as well as a lot of hand-holding for affected employees and executives. (Especially executives!)

Now, the direction of movement in many migrations is in the direction of the cloud, and despite all the talk of how simple and easy cloud makes things, it really doesn't make things any easier for the people overseeing the migration.

If anything, migration failures have seen a dramatic rise over the past few years, in line with the growing shift to cloud applications and services. A survey of 1,598 IT professionals, recently released by Vision Solutions, finds the incidence of "migration failure" rose 42% in the two most recent years the survey was conducted -- rising from from 36% of IT managers reporting failures in 2014, to 44% in 2015 and 51% in 2016.

So what gives? The cloud -- which gives everyone and anyone license to make their own IT messes -- has made things much more complicated, the survey's authors surmise. "Technology professionals are shaping and tiering the data center and want to make deliberate decisions about what software to move to the cloud," they state. "At the same time, business units maneuver around IT to gain more agile cloud-based applications, leaving companies vulnerable. But IT has to figure out the best way to inventory and manage these apps, rather than trying to root them out."

About 25% of professionals seem to be aware that business users run cloud applications outside the control of IT, while 33% admit they just don't know who uses what. Two-thirds of survey respondents now use cloud in one form or another, but managing these environments is still an inexact science. For example, IT professionals lack consensus about who is responsible for protecting data and applications in a public cloud, the survey finds. About 43% believe cloud providers are ultimately responsible, while 39% believe internal IT departments should be in charge.

At the same time, migrations -- cloud or no cloud -- have never, ever been easy. "Migrations often involve different types of hardware and software assets, planning, testing, staffing, and scheduling, so it's no surprise that they can fail," the survey's authors state.

The survey also finds largest companies (1,000 employees or more) were more likely to have experienced a migration failure (60%) versus 44% for all others. "No doubt, large organizations have more complex systems and are migrating many servers and databases, as well as applications," the survey's authors explain.

The biggest issues encountered with migrations include 44% reporting that their staffs had to work overtime (no surprise there!), coupled with system downtime (42%). How much downtime are we talking about here? The survey finds 83% of IT managers report having some degree of downtime due to a migration, and 58% reported migration downtime of an hour or more,.

Migrations often don't happen as planned, either. Two-thirds of the IT managers surveyed report they have had to postpone migrations, mainly due to concerns about downtime. The prospect of working overtime (read: weekends) also did not excite staff members for some strange reason. In fact, the majority of IT professionals worked an extra 25 hours or more during migration.

Of course, there are accompanying pains for the business, especially those still on outdated hardware and software: "performance degradation, operational inefficiencies, data loss, equipment failures or added costs as leases overlap," the survey's authors add.

The pain points cited in the survey include an inability to start applications on the new server in the required timeframe (60%), and a lack of testing resulted in late discovery of issues (39%).

"These findings indicate that the root causes of failed migration are likely poor, unrealistic planning and goal setting, and faulty testing procedures," the report's authors conclude. "While inadequate tools might account for some of these migration failures, it's clear that the human factor - including training and planning - plays a vital role." Organizations successful in their migration efforts "plans better, tests earlier, and has access to a migration tool that enables continuous uptime during migration."

And along with this advice, there's plain common sense: value everyone's feedback at all stages of the process, keep everyone in the loop and informed about what to expect, and commuincate how the new platform is going to improve their lives.

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Technology migrations are more painful, and cloud isn't making them any easier - ZDNet