Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for September 4, 2019

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Authored by @remlaps

Growing access to comp. sci. classes doesn't put high-schoolers in the seats; Tesla users complain of being locked out and stranded when the mobile app stopped working; Samsung files to patent a solid-state blockchain drive; China accused of targeting Uyghur Muslims with iPhone, Android, and Windows malware for up to two years or more; A Steem post designing a circuit design project
Straight from my RSS feed
Whatever gets my attention

Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

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pixabay license: source.

  1. A Minuscule Percentage of Students Take High School Computer Science in the United States: Access Isn't Enough - From 10% in 2012, the percentage of high schools that offer computer science courses has grown to somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%, depending upon the state. However, only 4% of high school students take computer science courses. Mark Guzdial argues that this is little different from if the class didn't exist at all. Concluding that providing access to the classes isn't enough to encourage interest, Guzdial goes on to note that many colleges are already overwhelmed by the numbers of students who major in computer science, and that higher education would need to restructure to accommodate more students. Advocates in the UK and US argue, however, that "everyone deserves to learn about computer science." If you accept that premise, then there's a gap that needs to be filled somewhere between creating the class and filling the seats with students.

  2. Tesla owners are complaining that they were locked out of their cars and left 'stranded' after the app stopped working - One of Tesla's selling points is that you can use the car without a key, if you have a mobile app on your phone, but it only works if you can log into the phone app. Apparently, system maintenance took the app offline, and some Tesla owners took to Twitter to complain about being locked out of the app, and thereby stranded. As-of the time this article was published, Tesla had not issued a response.

  3. Samsung Files Patent for ‘Programmable Blockchain Solid State Drive’ - Not much detail is available, but the device is apparently intended to use Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to improve speed and increase lifespan for blockchain aware storage devices. The filing comes amidst an overall trend towards integration of blockchain into their product lines for one of the world's largest electronics producers.

  4. Sources say China used iPhone hacks to target Uyghur Muslims - In an attack that lasted two years, China is accused of hosting a number of web sites that were used to target Uyghur Muslims by way of their iPhones. Apparently, they made use of the vulnerability that was included in Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for September 1, 2019, and the web sites also had malware to target Android and Windows devices. h/t Bruce Schneier. According to Schneier, "This upends pretty much everything we know about iPhone hacking." Contrary to expectations, the attack was not particularly hard or expensive, it didn't target "high value targets", it was used aggressively, not sparingly by a state actor, and despite its aggressive use, the attack was not discovered for a long period of time.

  5. STEEM Circuit design using "Multisim"(Regulated voltage source) - Engineering student, @orbital753 talks about a project to design a circuit, and to simulate the design using Multisim. The project specification was to design a "voltage source by continuous regulation in series configuration". After showing the design and calculations, the post concludes by noting that the circuit met the design specifications, but was not efficient because no "overcurrent protection was implemented, so it would be damaged if a short circuit were encountered. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been assigned to this post for @orbital753)

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"... a mobile app on your phone, but it only works if you can log into the phone app."

This is why I drive a vehicle with no brain. I'd love an electric car, but only if it had no connection to the internet. Electric motors are reliable. Software is not.

Also, the example of state actor abuse of software but further emphasizes the need for security, particularly regarding devices as dangerous as vehicles.

Thanks!

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Yeah, and all it takes is a dead cell phone battery. Even if I had a Tesla, I don't think I'd be going anywhere without my keyfob.

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Well, I'm not going anywhere with a keyfob. My truck is so old it has mechanical fuel injection. Hacking that will require boots on the ground, and I'm too inconsequential to justify such expense IMHO.

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Nice post on science and technology.

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