Monday, January 01, 2018

Examples of poor security even my students will recognize!
Security Vulnerabilities in Star Wars
A fun video describing some of the many Federation security vulnerabilities in the first Star Wars movie.




My Data Management students are using an eTextbook this quarter. Perhaps they will use this App to do research? (Probably not.)
Libby App Connects eReaders to Business Titles from Most Major Metro Public Libraries
… The Libby app connects local libraries and the thousands of eBooks and audiobooks on their digital bookshelves 24/7.
The Libby app is developed by OverDrive.
… After you download the Libby app on your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet, (or on your Windows PC) all it takes is your library card to start borrowing books. If you happen to have an Amazon Kindle, the books you borrow on Libby can be sent to the device.
Once you have the app, it will help you find your local library and even get you a card using your mobile phone number. You can sign into multiple libraries using one or more cards.
When it comes to reading or listening to the books, you can stream or download them. And best of all, the company says it will always be free.




Why you need to think carefully before you pass a law?
Child porn law goes nuts: 14-year-old girl charged for nude selfie
A 14-year-old girl is facing charges in Minnesota juvenile courts that could lead to her being placed on a sex offender registry—all for taking a nude selfie and sending it to a boy at her school. Prosecutors say that she violated Minnesota's child pornography statute, which bans distributing sexually explicit pictures of underaged subjects.
But a legal brief filed this week by the ACLU of Minnesota says that this is ridiculous. Charging a teenager for taking a nude selfie means the state is charging the supposed victim—an absurd result that the legislature can't have intended when it passed Minnesota's child pornography statute, the ACLU argues.
… The ACLU also argues that charging a teen for taking nude selfies violates the First Amendment. In a 2002 case, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected the creation of virtual child pornography—in which no actual children were used in the creation of works that appeared to involve sex with children. The court held that laws against child pornography were justified because protecting children against exploitation was a compelling state interest. But that argument doesn't apply to a ban on virtual child pornography.
The ACLU argued that a similar point applies here. It doesn't make sense to say that a 14-year-old girl is coercing herself into creating child pornography. Hence, in the ACLU's view, the state lacks a compelling interest to limit the expressive rights of 14-year-olds to create nude selfies and voluntarily share them with peers.




Looks like I’m a big hit in Italy! No idea why…





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