Tag:

could

Islamist girls’ school that taught pupils gay people should be killed and men could beat their wives forced to close

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

An Islamist girls’ boarding school which taught pupils that men could beat women and gay people should be killed is facing closure after a pupil exposed its sharia-inspired rules.

Aliyah Saleem was expelled in front of the entire study body at Jamia Al Hudaa girls’ school in Nottingham in 2006.

She was accused of “narcissism” for owning a disposable camera, and publicly humiliated as a part of her punishment.

Following her expulsion, Ms Saleem spoke out about her treatment at the school, saying that pupils were taught no geography, history, art, sport or music, but were instead subject to extremist views.

Students were taught that the death sentence could be given to gay men and that Jews and Christians made Allah angry.

Speaking to The Times under a pseudonym in 2014, Ms Saleem spoke of how she was made to feel isolated and shut off from society – visits into town being banned unless it was to see a doctor or dentist.

She said she left school anti-Semitic and unable to live within British society.

Two years on, Jamia Al Hudaa has been instructed to close its boarding facilities after an Ofsted inspection found there was “inadequacies” in safeguarding the pupils, which included poorly trained staff and a culture of bullying.

The Times reported that since 85 per cent of the school’s pupils are boarders, it will effectively be forced to close.

Parents have been instructed to collect their daughters from the school on October 18.

The Ofsted inspection confirmed the school does not promote “British values” and allows pupils to access controversial literature by authors who have been barred from entering the UK.

Ms Saleem, who is now 27, wrote in a blogpost that she did not think the schools watchdog had done enough.

She said: “There is still much to be done in regards to this school and all independent schools which have the power to immensely limit the curriculum taught.

“I believe that children who attend such schools deserve so much more from the government, and an apology would be a good place to start.

“The management at this school are not only incompetent, but at times were utterly cruel when I was a student there. We are yet to understand the full scale of successive government’s failures to monitor independent schools rigorously.”

Opened in 1996, Jamia Al Hudaa has around 200 boarders and is run on fundamentalist Deobandi lines. This year only 25 per cent of its pupils achieved five A*-C GCSE grades, compared to the national average of 53 per cent.

The school been approached for comment.

[Source:- independent]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Internet

Yahoo Hack: Ripple Effects Could Extend Well Beyond

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Yahoo Hack: Ripple Effects Could Extend Well Beyond

As investors and investigators weigh the damage of Yahoo’s massive breach to the internet icon, information security experts worry that the record-breaking haul of password data could be used to open locks up and down the web.

While it’s unknown to what extent the stolen data has been or will be circulating, giant breaches can send ripples of insecurity across the internet.

“Data breaches on the scale of Yahoo are the security equivalent of ecological disasters,” said Matt Blaze, a security researcher who directs the Distributed Systems Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, in a message posted to Twitter.

A big worry is a cybercriminal technique known as “credential stuffing,” which works by throwing leaked username and password combinations at a series of websites in an effort to break in, a bit like a thief finding a ring of keys in an apartment lobby and trying them, one after the other, in every door in the building. Software makes the trial-and-error process practically instantaneous.

Credential stuffing typically succeeds between 0.1 percent and 2 percent of the time, according to Shuman Ghosemajumder, the chief technology officer of Mountain View, California-based Shape Security. That means cybercriminals wielding 500 million passwords could conceivably hijack tens of thousands of other accounts.

“It becomes a numbers game for them,” Ghosemajumder said in a telephone interview.

So will the big Yahoo breach mean an explosion of smaller breaches elsewhere, like the aftershocks that follow a big quake?

Ghosemajumder doesn’t think so. He said he didn’t see a surge in new breaches so much as a steady increase in attempts as cybercriminals replenish their stock of freshly hacked passwords. It’s conceivable as well that Yahoo passwords have already been used to hack other services; the company said the theft occurred in late 2014, meaning that the data has been compromised for as long as two years.

“It is like an ecological disaster,” Ghosemajumder said in a telephone interview. “But pick the right disaster. It’s more like global warming than it is an earthquake. … It builds up gradually.”

The first hint that something was wrong at Yahoo came when Motherboard journalist Joseph Cox started receiving supposed samples of credentials hacked from the company in early July. Several weeks later, a cybercriminal using the handle “Peace” came forward with 5,000 samples – and the startling claim to be selling 200 million more.

On August 1 Cox published a story on the sale, but the journalist said he never established with any certainty where Peace’s credentials came from. He noted that Yahoo said most of its passwords were secured with one encryption protocol, while Peace’s sample used a second. Either Peace drew his sample from a minority of Yahoo data or he was dealing with a different set of data altogether.

“With the information available at the moment, it’s more likely to be the latter,” Cox said in an email Tuesday.

The Associated Press has been unable to locate Peace. The darknet market where the seller has been active in the past has been inaccessible for days, purportedly due to cyberattacks.

At the moment it’s not known who holds the passwords or whether a state-sponsored actor, which Yahoo has blamed for the breach, would ever have an interest in passing its data to people like Peace .

Meanwhile, Yahoo users who recycle their passwords across different sites may be at risk. And while an internet-wide password reset is one option, Yahoo’s announcement that some security questions were compromised too means that the risks associated with the breach are likely to linger.

A password can be changed, after all, but how do you reset your mother’s maiden name?

[Source:- gadgets.ndtv]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

Grammar schools expansion ‘could dumb them down’

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Close-up of boy in maths class

Grammar schools could be dumbed down by expanding them in areas where parents want them, analysis of plans to increase selection in England suggests.

An Education Policy Institute study says as grammars expand, they will take more lower ability pupils – diluting their high achieving potential.

It also argues the negative impact on nearby schools is greater because more lower ability pupils are left behind.

The Department for Education said they want the plan to help local schools.

The government said the report focused on the binary system of the past but thiswas not what its plans intended to recreate.

The EPI report models what would happen to grammar schools by expanding them in the way the government is considering.

It talks about a grammar school bonus for those pupils studying in them, describing it as an extra 2.4 grades at GCSE across eight subjects for all pupils in the current stock of grammars.

For the small minority of the poorest pupils in grammars – those on free school meals – it works out as 3.9 grades, which is half a grade per subject compared with pupils at other types of schools.

Tipping point

Research author and associate director at EPI, Jo Hutchinson, said the decline in the benefits of grammar school education would be seen most in areas with more selection.

These are the areas where parents tend to want more grammars, according to polling cited by the study.

Ms Hutchinson acknowledged that high achieving schools would be dumbed down.

She said: “When we add more grammar school places to an area, these schools will have to fill their places with children who are further down the ability scale.

“They will pick the next most able children and the raw potential of these pupils will be lower.

“In the areas where there are more places, the benefits are going to be more diluted for those children in the grammar schools, as they become more like mixed ability schools.”

She believes that those not in grammar schools will also suffer because “the bunch of children who are left behind are a bunch of lower attaining children”.

She said this situation would be exacerbated further by requiring grammar schools to take a quota of poorer children, as has been suggested by Prime Minister Theresa May as a way of boosting social mobility.

‘Weak argument’

“In a quota system – whether it’s free school meals or parents on lower income – they are going to be a group that is lower attaining on average.”

This would dilute the high achieving nature of the schools faster, she said.

The report identifies a “tipping point” at which the positive effects of attending a grammar school start to reduce and the negative effects of not attending one increase.

This was when 70% of the top quarter of high achieving pupils at the end of primary school acquired a grammar school place.

Overall, the report debunks government claims that expanding grammar schools will boost social mobility.

Superficially, it says, grammar schools appear to do well in closing the attainment gaps between poor children and others studying in them

But when researchers took into account the high achieving nature of the very small minority of disadvantaged pupils who reach grammar schools, most of this difference disappeared.

‘Lower incomes’

The study said if more grammar school places were created in areas where parents wanted them, this would lead to a net loss of 7,000 GCSE grades for the poorest pupils in areas where selective schools are concentrated.

It also found that proposals to increase the number of grammar school places in England were unlikely to improve attainment overall.

The Department for Education is understood to be researching the impact of more grammar school places, as well as running a consultation on the plans announced earlier this month.

It said: “Our new approach would ensure any new selective schools prioritise the admission of pupils from lower income households or support other local pupils in non-selective schools to help raise standards.

“We are clear that relaxing restrictions on selective education can and should be to the betterment, not at the expense, of other local schools.”

Malcolm Trobe, acting head of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It clearly shows that creating more selective schools will not raise overall educational standards in England and is likely to widen the attainment gap between rich and poor children.

“The government must now listen to the evidence and abandon its misguided policy.”

[Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

School selection plans could undo years of reform – Morgan

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Altringham Girls Grammar School

Plans for a new wave of selective schools in England have come under fire from former Tory Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and many educationalists.

Mrs Morgan said Theresa May’s plans to lift the ban on new selective schools, including grammars, risked undermining six years of education reform.

All schools are to be given the right to apply to select pupils by ability under the plans.

Mrs May says the overhaul is motivated by a commitment to social mobility.

But Mrs Morgan said it was “at best a distraction from crucial reforms to raise standards and narrow the attainment gap and at worst risk actively undermining six years of progressive education reform”.

The prime minister’s plans suggest schools becoming selective and new and expanding grammars will take quotas of poor pupils or help run other schools.

Mrs May argued the ban on new selective schools has been in place too long and has held many pupils back.

Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, said the idea that poor children would benefit from a return of grammar schools was “tosh” and “nonsense”.

He told the BBC: “My fear is by moving to a grammar and secondary modern system – because, let’s face it, that’s what we’ll have if you divide at 11 – we will put the clock back, and the progress we have made over the past 10 to 15 years will slow.”

Analysis

Ben Wright, BBC political correspondent

For two decades the grammar school question seemed settled.

Academic selection was allowed to continue in some parts of England but there would be no new grammar schools built.

For Labour, opposition to schools they see as divisive and unfair goes back to the 1960s. In contrast, the Conservative Party has wrestled with the issue for years.

For many Tory politicians and activists, grammar schools are ladders of aspiration and pillars of belief – springboards for sending bright children from modest means into the professions.

But while leaders like John Major promised to revive grammar schools, none did – and David Cameron was dismissive of the idea that they could fuel social mobility.

So why the sudden change?

First, Theresa May is clear she’s not talking about a return to the 11-plus and secondary moderns.

Second, the profile of the government has changed – 20 members of the new cabinet went to state schools and half a dozen of those were grammars.

Mrs May’s influential chief of staff Nick Timothy is from a working-class background and attended a Birmingham grammar school.

These are people who can talk about meritocracy in a way Mr Cameron could not, strivers who made it – and that is shaping their politics.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would block the proposals at every stage of their passage in the Commons.

“Fundamentally, it’s the same as the old 11-plus system, in that it is dividing children on the basis of their perceived ability at the age of 11.

“I don’t think that’s a good message for our children.”

He added that comprehensive schools “help social mobility, help children develop at their own pace and bring communities together”.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron predicted the “out-of-date, ineffective approach” would be defeated in the House of Lords.

In a major speech, the prime minister said an arbitrary rule preventing selective schools from being established had been tolerated for too long.

“The truth is that we already have selection in our school system – and it’s selection by house price, selection by wealth. That is simply unfair.

“We are effectively saying to poorer and some of the most disadvantaged children in our country that they can’t have the kind of education their richer counterparts can enjoy.”

She said schools should be able to select on the basis of ability, adding that many already selected on the basis of disciplines like music and sport.

“So I want to relax the restrictions to stop selective schools from expanding, that deny parents the right to have a new selective school opened where they want one, that stop existing non-selective schools to become selective in the right circumstances and where there is demand.”

But Mrs May said the government would use the approvals process to prevent new areas of the country having a limited “binary” choice or schools.

‘Tutoring for the test’

She also said: “People get lost in the argument about whether the grammar schools of the 1950s and 60s improved social mobility or not. But I want to focus on the new grammars of the future: those that will be just one element of a truly diverse system.”

The plans will also include the ability for bright children to join grammar schools, not just at 11, but at 14 and 16 as well.

The speech announced an end to the current ban on opening new grammars introduced by Labour in 1998. It is thought that an Act of Parliament would be needed for the ban to be lifted on new selective schools opening, but a change in the law may not be required for grammar schools to expand.

A consultation is to be held on ways to make new selective schools and expanding grammars more inclusive so that places are not limited to families who can “pay for tuition to pass the test”.

Education Secretary Justine Greening told the BBC the government wanted to create 21st Century grammar schools that would “turbo charge” the education and prospects of disadvantaged children.

There are also plans to make tests for independent schools qualifying for charitable status more rigorous.

Private schools reduce their tax bills through this, and Mrs May said a consultation would be held on how to achieve a greater public benefit in return.

In summary: main proposals

Existing grammar schools in England to be allowed to expand, backed by £50m of new funding
All state schools in England to be allowed to select pupils by academic ability “in the right circumstances” and where there is demand
All selective schools will have to meet access conditions, such as taking a share of pupils from low-income backgrounds, setting up a new non-selective secondary or primary school or backing an underperforming academy
New grammars will be able to take pupils at 14 and 16, as well as 11, or take on students from non-selective schools for certain subjects
Universities will be expected to sponsor a state school or set up a new free school as part of an overhaul of fair access requirements
Catholic schools which are oversubscribed and want to expand will be able to choose 100% of new pupils on faith grounds, not 50% as now
All independent schools will have to support state schools in some way, in return for maintaining their charitable status
Fee-paying schools will have to sponsor or set up a new free school or subsidise places for pupils from more modest backgrounds
[Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

Primary schools could boycott ‘chaotic’ Sats tests

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Sats boycott on the cards

The NAHT heads’ union says schools could refuse to administer the tests if discussions with government are not ‘fruitful’

Headteachers are warning ministers that they could boycott Sats next year unless significant changes to primary assessment begin in the next few weeks.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT headteachers’ union, has been outspoken about the “chaos and confusion” of this year’s tougher key stage 2 tests.

Now he wants the Department for Education to take action on three key issues before half-term, including rethinking proposals for resits in Year 7, redesigning the reading test and addressing concerns about the use of “secure fit” rather than “best fit” on the writing assessment.

The government also needs to address the inconsistencies between local authorities on how writing is moderated, he said.

Mr Hobby added: “The long-term picture is to sit down and discuss a more coherent strategy for assessment that could take years to come to fruition. But in the short term there are very serious concerns. A boycott remains a possibility for 2017 if discussions with the government are not fruitful.”

His warning comes as the government is preparing to publish further details on Thursday of how pupils performed in the controversial reading, maths, and Spag tests.

Initial results, published in July, revealed that just 53 per cent of pupils had reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared with 80 per cent of pupils who achieved the expected level 4 last year.

‘The tests last year were a shambles’

The government has said that the writing assessment system will stay in place for the coming school year, to give it time to “engage” with teachers before changes are made.

The NAHT’s position is being backed by other teaching unions. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: “The current regime is not fair, valid or reliable. We would be prepared to look at a boycott.

“The KS2 tests last year were a shambles.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “The improvements that we have made to the primary curriculum and assessments will raise educational standards and help ensure all children leave primary school having mastered the basics they need to succeed.”

They added that the DfE was “working constructively with teaching unions” to “ensure this is done effectively”.

[Source:- tes]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Education

Student fees: Universities could charge £6,300 a year, Queen’s says

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

Queen's University in Belfast

Student tuition fees in Northern Ireland could rise to £6,300 a year, Queen’s University in Belfast has said.

It said students should pay between £5,200 and £6,300 depending on the level of government funding available.

Students currently pay £3,925 to study at Northern Ireland universities.

The figures are contained in an internal university document in response to the NI Executive’s programme for government (PfG) 2016-21, which has been obtained by the BBC.

In the document, Queen’s said the money higher education institutions had received from the executive had reduced from £214m in 2009-10 to £185m in 2014-15.

“This equates to some 13% in cash terms and 24% in real terms,” it said.

“The 2015-16 academic year saw a further 10.8% reduction in the higher education budget, totalling £16.1m.

“The impact of this funding reduction has required the university to substantially reduce its undergraduate intake.”

Cutting

Queen’s said there is a deficit of £55m between the money universities in Northern Ireland need and what they receive in public and private funding.

An additional £14.6m was allocated to higher education in the executive’s 2016-17 June monitoring round, but it is not clear if this funding will be repeated in the future.

Last year, both Queen’s and Ulster University announced they were jointly cutting more than 2,000 student places over three years.

There are three costed funding options put forward by Queen’s in the document, all of which, it said, would reverse that cut in places.

All involve “moderate levels” of extra public funding and “affordable increases” in tuition fees.

Additional government funding of £27.5m and tuition fees of £5,200 a year

Additional government funding of £14.6m and tuition fees of £5,700 a year

No additional government funding and tuition fees of £6,300 a year

Reductions

The document from Queen’s said the options are fair to students, graduates and Northern Ireland.

“These options are designed to facilitate discussion amongst stakeholders regarding the development of a sustainable model of funding for higher education,” it said.

“The options are based on the principles of providing a competitive level of funding for Northern Ireland’s universities and the reinstatement of places that have been lost due to successive budgetary reductions.”

NUS-USI President Fergal McFerran and Queen’s Students’ Union President Seán Fearon condemned the leadership of Queen’s University for calling for a rise in tuition fees in Northern Ireland.

‘Damaging’

“This is extremely troubling development because any increase fees could have a devastating impact on students” said Mr McFerran.

“Placing even more debt on students could also significantly damage the economy as well as damaging universities here.”

Mr Fearon, said the proposal would only “drive the export of our school leavers to universities elsewhere, increasing ‘brain drain’ in the region”.

Former education minister Stephen Farry said he hoped the executive would find extra resources to fund universities.

“There are changes we can make in our public spending that would allow us to invest in things that are important for the future,” the Alliance party MLA said.

“I think we can maintain the balanced approach with fees in the region of £4,000, but only if the executive is serious about putting in [about] £80m per year to make sure we’re properly resourcing this.”

He added: “If we’re serious about growing the economy, we will need more and more people with high-level skills.

“This is not an optional extra – this is an absolute inescapable requirement.”

Borrow

The trade union Unite said arguing for increases in fees was “completely indefensible”.

Unite regional officer Sean Smyth said: “Increasingly, a university education is beyond the hopes of many working-class young people.

“It is essential that [the funding budget for universities] is used to prioritise the education of those coming from disadvantaged and working-class households.”

A recent study by the former Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) found that Queen’s and Ulster University were receiving funding of between £900 and £2,500 a student less than English universities.

University education in Northern Ireland is free at the point of entry, but the vast majority of students borrow the cost of their yearly tuition fee.

They can also take out a maintenance loan for living costs, which is capped at £3,750 if they live with their parents, and £4,840 if they live away from home.

These loans start to be paid back when the student enters employment and earns more than £17,495 a year.

The more a graduate earns, the bigger the proportion of their loan they repay.

{Source:- BBC]

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Tech Update

WhatsApp for desktop could be in development, leaked screenshots suggest

by Rajdeep April 4, 2024

written by Rajdeep

WhatsApp might finally be fixing its biggest annoyance, and getting a client for desktop computers.

The messaging app began life on phones, and has only made its way off them very cautiously. It launched a web version last year, but that is very closely tied to the phone – that must still be turned on and be on the internet if the web version of WhatsApp will work.

The suggestion only comes from some apparently leaked screenshots that ask people to translate important bits of text for the desktop app into other languages. And so it is possible that WhatsApp isn’t working on a desktop client at all, but it would fit closely with its ambitions.

Chat apps have become big business in recent years, with traditional names like Skype competing with new business-focused apps like Slack. Many of those continue to operate desktop clients, meaning that people can use them to talk in the workplace or elsewhere.

WhatsApp has apparently been looking to take on those apps by offering similar features, including tools that let people add attachments to their conversations. And so it’s possible that the company would explore bringing their chats to computers as well as phones.

The company has indicated in the past that it’s unwillingness to spread onto other platforms is partly because of its commitment to security and encryption. Using just one device allows the company to ensure that messages aren’t being read by other people, it has indicated.

It is possible to run WhatsApp on the desktop by installing third party clients, which wrap the web version into an application that can be run on the desktop. But those still come with the same limitations as on the web, and similarly depend on the phone.

April 4, 2024 0 comment

Blogging

Could starting a blog or posting regularly to LinkedIn help or hurt my career?

by Loknath Das January 13, 2020

written by Loknath Das

Dear Sam: I enjoy writing, even though my job is more technical. Friends, who also are just starting in their careers, have recommended that I begin blogging or posting to LinkedIn. Is that a good idea or could it hurt my career as I look to climb the ladder? — Dan

Dear Dan: Blogging can undoubtedly lend credence to your areas of emerging expertise. I would perhaps question the ‘why’ behind the desire to blog or the suggestion by your friends to start publishing your thoughts. Are you trying to position yourself as a future consultant? Are you seeking to represent yourself with an increased presence for an upcoming job search? Blogging should be entered into with some forethought of who your audience is, what views you are expressing and what the purpose is behind your efforts.

Also, I would want to make sure that anything you publish is thoroughly reviewed and proofread as the strength of your written communications will be evaluated just as much as the content of your messages. Lastly, be sure you don’t mind your thoughts following you for your entire career. For instance, let’s say you use a specific software package at work or have a particular affinity for a certain technology tool, and, in your blog, you state your preference. Now, fast forward five years and that other company could come calling with an offer for an interview and, just maybe in their vetting process, they will find your brand preference from an earlier writing you forgot about; do you see the dilemma? I want you to be very thoughtful about what you publish, for obvious reasons.

If you are seeking to blog as a job seeker, that can be a great way to demonstrate subject mastery. I have seen lots of job seekers use LinkedIn’s post and article capabilities to share professional wisdom. Hence, don’t think you necessarily have to develop an entire platform exclusively for your thoughts; you might be able to do the same thing on an already existing platform with an embedded audience. If you don’t think blogging is the right direction for you at this juncture in your career, instead perhaps join groups and follow companies of interest on LinkedIn and be an active contributor to those digital discussions. Of course, you will want to follow the same rules in terms of representing your professional candidacy at all times with any comment that you make, but this can be a softer entry into the publishing arena.

In brief, a blog could help you in these five ways:

Establish you as a thought leader in your space.
Promote your candidacy for new opportunities.
Establish you as a teacher and as a possible team leader.
Expand your network and opportunities to connect with peers.
Build your presence on professional powerhouse platforms like LinkedIn.

Beware, however, as a poor blog could hurt you by illustrating what you don’t know, showing a lack of prowess when it comes to writing skills, alienating a potential company of interest if your views differ, and even, perhaps, showing an inconsistency of follow-through if your blogging is sporadic. Hence, I encourage you to start if you evaluate you have the expertise, time and knowledge to deliver thoughtful messages regularly. If not, then perhaps use comment features on other blogs and company posts as a way to reinforce your emerging expertise. Happy writing!

[“source=oregonlive”]

January 13, 2020 0 comment

News Update

The Galaxy S9 will reportedly be a more iterative update and could show up at CES

by Loknath Das November 23, 2017

written by Loknath Das

All the major smartphones of 2017 are out in the world, but it’s never to early to start thinking about next year’s flagships. Samsung is reportedly starting earlier than ever, with the company reportedly previewing the S9 and S9+ at CES in January, according to Evan Blass at VentureBeat.

The S9 and S9+ are said to be more iterative updates on the existing S8 and S8+ than the radical redesign Samsung offered this year. According to Blass, the new phones should see upgraded processors — likely Qualcomm’s forthcoming Snapdragon 845 — for an extra speed boost, but the biggest change is said to be Samsung moving the fingerprint sensor back below the camera, instead of the problematic location next to the lens that Samsung has placed it on the S8, S8+, and Note 8. Both phones should also see the addition of AKG stereo speakers. And don’t worry, the headphone jack is reportedly sticking around for another year.

According to Blass, the S9+ is also getting a few upgrades over the smaller S9, with the larger device reportedly getting 6GB of RAM (instead of the 4GB found in the S9), and a second rear camera similar to the Note 8.

Finally, Samsung is also rumored to be releasing a new version of its DeX dock that places the phone flat, allowing it to be used as a virtual keyboard or touchpad. (It’s also said to be backwards compatible with older Samsung devices.)

It’s still not clear how much of this will be previewed at CES versus Samsung’s traditional March launch event, which is also reportedly taking place. But with the annual tech show looming in the distance, it won’t be too long of a wait.

source;-.theverge.

November 23, 2017 0 comment

News Update

Facebook’s Aquila Internet-delivery Drone Could Add Billions More Online Customers

by Loknath Das November 21, 2017

written by Loknath Das

Facebook’s Aquila Drone Could Add Billions More Online Customers

Social networking giant Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) last week reported the first successful full-scale test flight of its ambitious Aquila solar-powered high-altitude unmanned aircraft. It’s part of an ambitious goal to bring four billion more people online — more customers, freelancers and maybe even partners for your business.

“After two years of engineering, I’m proud to announce the successful first flight of Aquila — the solar-powered plane we designed to beam internet to remote parts of the world,” wrote Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post on Thursday.

The maiden flight took place before dawn in Yuma, Arizona, on June 28.

Aquila Drone Beams High Speed Internet from the Sky

Facebook’s original mission was to fly Aquila for 30 minutes, but everything went so well that the company decided to keep the plane up for nearly 96 minutes.

It was a significant milestone and step forward in Facebook’s quest to use drones to beam high speed internet from the sky to the nearly four billion people (60 percent of the global population) without internet access, 1.6 billion of whom live in remote locations with no access to mobile broadband networks.

“Over the next year we’re going to keep testing Aquila — flying higher and longer, and adding more planes and payloads. It’s all part of our mission to connect the world and help more of the four billion people who are not online access all the opportunities of the internet,” Zuckerberg said.

“When complete, Aquila will be able to circle a region up to 96 km in diameter, beaming connectivity down from an altitude of more than 60,000 feet using laser communications and millimeter wave systems,” added Jay Parikh, Global Head of Engineering and Infrastructure at Facebook.

“Our goal is to have a fleet of Aquilas flying together at 60,000 feet, communicating with each other with lasers and staying aloft for months at a time — something that’s never been done before,” continued Zuckerberg.

4 Billion More People Could Soon Come Online

It’s worth reiterating that Zuckerberg and his company’s Connectivity Lab, the group working on the state-of-the-art internet-delivery drone, intend to bring four billion more people online via the Aquila project. That’s four billion more potential online customers, freelancers and maybe even partners!

The opportunities of the internet are endless, especially with more people online. From expanding the customer base for online businesses to enabling creation of new services and new revenue streams on top of traditional ones and increasing global visibility for brands, an increasingly connected world cod be good for many.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), another internet giant and major Facebook rival, is also working on a similar project, pushing its Project Loon, which would use high-altitude balloons to distribute connectivity and bring people in remote parts of the world online. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, too, aspires to use satellites to cover the globe with internet connectivity.

Of course, both Facebook and Google have plans of their own on how they would tap this new pool of internet users. Their business models depend on overseas growth and they are determined to reach every single person on the planet. But, savvy entrepreneurs and small businesses also stand to benefit if the high speed internet connectivity projects are successful in bringing more people online.

Moreover, the race to bring affordable internet to hundreds of millions of people in more sparsely populated and hard-to-reach stretches of the globe could also usher in an important new era of rigorous experimentation and innovation not just from technology giants like Facebook and Google, but also from enterprising start-ups touting the next big thing.

Image: Facebook

[“Source-smallbiztrends”]

November 21, 2017 0 comment