Saturday, January 27, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
When the Lifesaving Gadget Puts You In Jail
An excerpt from Gizmodo -
What Happens When the Computer That Keeps You Alive Can Also Put You In Jail?
By Kristen V. Brown
When Ross Compton’s Ohio home caught fire last September, the story he told police was that he grabbed a few things and rushed out of the house, hurling essentials out a bedroom window he broke open with his cane before scrambling out himself.
Police, though, were suspicious. Compton’s few things had included a computer, a suitcase packed with clothes and the charger for the external heart pump that he needed to survive. It seemed unlikely that a 59-year-old man with a pacemaker and a heart pump would have been able to gather all those things and make it out of a burning house alive. But police were stumped on how exactly to make arson charges stick.
In the end, it was his pacemaker that did him in.
After obtaining a search warrant for all the electronic data stored in Compton’s pacemaker, police determined that his device did not corroborate his story. His heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms all suggested that Compton had not in fact quickly bundled up all his most prized possessions and left in a hurry as his house went up in flames. Last month, with the help of the pacemaker data, he was indicted on charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.
Privacy issues are moving under our skin—now the devices that keep us alive and healthy can also be used against us in the court of law.
https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-computer-that-keeps-you-alive-can-1792236550
What Happens When the Computer That Keeps You Alive Can Also Put You In Jail?
By Kristen V. Brown
When Ross Compton’s Ohio home caught fire last September, the story he told police was that he grabbed a few things and rushed out of the house, hurling essentials out a bedroom window he broke open with his cane before scrambling out himself.
Police, though, were suspicious. Compton’s few things had included a computer, a suitcase packed with clothes and the charger for the external heart pump that he needed to survive. It seemed unlikely that a 59-year-old man with a pacemaker and a heart pump would have been able to gather all those things and make it out of a burning house alive. But police were stumped on how exactly to make arson charges stick.
In the end, it was his pacemaker that did him in.
After obtaining a search warrant for all the electronic data stored in Compton’s pacemaker, police determined that his device did not corroborate his story. His heart rate, pacer demand and cardiac rhythms all suggested that Compton had not in fact quickly bundled up all his most prized possessions and left in a hurry as his house went up in flames. Last month, with the help of the pacemaker data, he was indicted on charges of aggravated arson and insurance fraud.
Privacy issues are moving under our skin—now the devices that keep us alive and healthy can also be used against us in the court of law.
https://gizmodo.com/what-happens-when-the-computer-that-keeps-you-alive-can-1792236550
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Run, Don't Walk
From Business Insider -
Relationship experts say these are the 8 red flags to look out for when you start dating someone — and some are surprisingly common
By Lindsay Dodgson
http://www.businessinsider.com/relationship-red-flags-you-should-look-out-for-2018-1/#1-you-justify-their-bad-behaviour-1
Relationship experts say these are the 8 red flags to look out for when you start dating someone — and some are surprisingly common
By Lindsay Dodgson
http://www.businessinsider.com/relationship-red-flags-you-should-look-out-for-2018-1/#1-you-justify-their-bad-behaviour-1
Racing For Many
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
From Ghana to Virginia to PyeongChang: Maame Biney’s long journey on short track
By Rick Maese
Biney, 17, is the first African American woman to ever qualify for an American Olympic speedskating team, and at the PyeongChang Games she promises to be one of the most charismatic members of the U.S. Olympic team. Her journey to the Winter Games is like few others. Her father often jokes that in Ghana, ice is used solely to keep beer cold, so his daughter's chosen pursuit might draw some confused looks back in the country of her birth. Even in the United States, short-track speedskating is a niche sport that pokes its head into the mainstream every four years.
But when the PyeongChang Games begin next month in South Korea, the spotlight will find Biney. NBC will make her a focal point in the Olympics' opening week, certain her story will connect with American viewers: the youngest woman on the U.S. short-track team, a possible medal contender who can connect with youth, with African Americans, with sports fans of all backgrounds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/from-ghana-to-virginia-to-pyeongchang-maame-bineys-long-journey-on-short-track/2018/01/23/206aa13a-fa29-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.abb48b5f99a9
From Ghana to Virginia to PyeongChang: Maame Biney’s long journey on short track
By Rick Maese
Biney, 17, is the first African American woman to ever qualify for an American Olympic speedskating team, and at the PyeongChang Games she promises to be one of the most charismatic members of the U.S. Olympic team. Her journey to the Winter Games is like few others. Her father often jokes that in Ghana, ice is used solely to keep beer cold, so his daughter's chosen pursuit might draw some confused looks back in the country of her birth. Even in the United States, short-track speedskating is a niche sport that pokes its head into the mainstream every four years.
But when the PyeongChang Games begin next month in South Korea, the spotlight will find Biney. NBC will make her a focal point in the Olympics' opening week, certain her story will connect with American viewers: the youngest woman on the U.S. short-track team, a possible medal contender who can connect with youth, with African Americans, with sports fans of all backgrounds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/from-ghana-to-virginia-to-pyeongchang-maame-bineys-long-journey-on-short-track/2018/01/23/206aa13a-fa29-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a_story.html?utm_term=.abb48b5f99a9
Sharing Kindness
From Buzzfeed -
People Are Sharing The Kindest Things Strangers Have Ever Done For Them And The Stories Will Warm Your Heart
You never know what a big difference a little kindness can make.
By Julie Gerstein
https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/people-are-sharing-the-kindest-things-strangers-have-ever?utm_term=.xgZN2Eyx3#.byZNb7ZqB
People Are Sharing The Kindest Things Strangers Have Ever Done For Them And The Stories Will Warm Your Heart
You never know what a big difference a little kindness can make.
By Julie Gerstein
https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliegerstein/people-are-sharing-the-kindest-things-strangers-have-ever?utm_term=.xgZN2Eyx3#.byZNb7ZqB
No Sh*t Sherlock
An excerpt from the Slatest -
Report: Tourism to the U.S. Down 4 Percent Since Trump Took Office
By MOLLY OLMSTEAD
Travel to the U.S. has been declining since Donald Trump took office, leading to a cost of $4.6 billion in spending and 40,000 jobs, according to NBC News.
A report by the National Travel and Tourism Office found that last year saw 4 percent less travel into the U.S., translating into 3.3 percent less spending, NBC reported. As a result, Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second-most visited country in the world after France.
This “Trump Slump” in part stems from the president’s anti-immigration language. More intense security and a weaker dollar likely also played a role.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/donald-trump-hurting-us-tourism-according-to-report.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_source=TheSlatest_newsletter&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
Report: Tourism to the U.S. Down 4 Percent Since Trump Took Office
By MOLLY OLMSTEAD
Travel to the U.S. has been declining since Donald Trump took office, leading to a cost of $4.6 billion in spending and 40,000 jobs, according to NBC News.
A report by the National Travel and Tourism Office found that last year saw 4 percent less travel into the U.S., translating into 3.3 percent less spending, NBC reported. As a result, Spain has overtaken the U.S. as the second-most visited country in the world after France.
This “Trump Slump” in part stems from the president’s anti-immigration language. More intense security and a weaker dollar likely also played a role.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/donald-trump-hurting-us-tourism-according-to-report.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=traffic&utm_source=TheSlatest_newsletter&sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d
New Oral HIV Test
An excerpt from 2Paragraphs -
Stanford Scientists Develop New Oral HIV Test for Early Detection
by 2Paragraphs in Daily Edition
Getting blood from a potentially infected person is not as easy as getting saliva. Let’s start there. Many people and cultures resist syringes — and drawing blood, even for those who don’t resist on principle, is a more cumbersome process than collecting spit in a cup. Problem is: it’s a lot easier to detect early stage HIV in blood than in saliva. While the antibodies that develop to fight the virus are hard to miss in a blood sample, in a saliva sample it’s less easy to detect HIV antibodies. (Fewer HIV antibodies are present in saliva, especially near the beginning of the infection.) Enter Stanford University chemists, working with the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory. The chemists, led by Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, developed a way to get those HIV antibodies in saliva to act in a way that made them detectable.
https://2paragraphs.com/2018/01/stanford-scientists-develop-new-oral-hiv-test-for-early-detection/
Stanford Scientists Develop New Oral HIV Test for Early Detection
by 2Paragraphs in Daily Edition
 |
| Oraquick, an oral HIV test on the market today (photo by Marcello Casal JR/ABr via Wikimedia Commons) |
Getting blood from a potentially infected person is not as easy as getting saliva. Let’s start there. Many people and cultures resist syringes — and drawing blood, even for those who don’t resist on principle, is a more cumbersome process than collecting spit in a cup. Problem is: it’s a lot easier to detect early stage HIV in blood than in saliva. While the antibodies that develop to fight the virus are hard to miss in a blood sample, in a saliva sample it’s less easy to detect HIV antibodies. (Fewer HIV antibodies are present in saliva, especially near the beginning of the infection.) Enter Stanford University chemists, working with the Alameda County Public Health Laboratory. The chemists, led by Stanford professor Carolyn Bertozzi, developed a way to get those HIV antibodies in saliva to act in a way that made them detectable.
https://2paragraphs.com/2018/01/stanford-scientists-develop-new-oral-hiv-test-for-early-detection/
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