England rolls out 'Test and Trace' program to combat COVID-19
The program aims to notify people after they've come in close contact with someone who tested positive.
29 May, 2020
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- The program currently involves 25,000 contract tracers who are capable of tracing 10,000 contacts per day.
- Participation in the program is voluntary, though officials said it may become mandatory if necessary.
- The program will eventually include a smartphone app that records who you've come in close proximity to.
<p>England started a test-and-trace program on Thursday that aims to contain the spread of COVID-19 as the nation eases its lockdown.<br></p><p>Under the new program, anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will be contacted by staff with the National Health Services (NHS), and they'll be asked to share the contact information of people with whom they've recently come in contact. People who've crossed paths with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 will be asked to self-isolate for 14 days. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"As we move to the next stage of our fight against coronavirus, we will be able to replace national lockdowns with individual isolation and, if necessary, local action where there are outbreaks," U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/29/test-trace-track-uk-coronavirus/" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement. "This new system will help us keep this virus under control while carefully and safely lifting the lockdown nationally."</p>
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<p>Hancock said the program will be voluntary at first, but that the government will make it mandatory if "that's what it takes."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"If we don't collectively make this work, the only way forward is to keep the lockdown," he said. "The more people who follow the instructions, the safer we can be and the faster we can lift the lockdown."</p><p>The NHS wants people who are experiencing symptoms to visit <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/" target="_blank">nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19</a>. The agency also wants to automate its Test and Trace program through the <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/05/27/nhs-app-covid-19-uk-coronavirus-track-trace/" target="_blank">NHS COVID-19 app</a>, which is currently being tested by more than 52,000 people on the Isle of Wight. If the test on the Isle of Wight is successful, the app is expected to be available for the rest of England in June.</p>How the contact-tracing app works
<p>The app doesn't ask for names or personal information, except for a partial postal code. Rather, each user's phone is assigned a randomized identifier number that's transmitted to a centralized database. The app doesn't do much else, besides ask users how they're feeling each day.</p><p>Other governments have already been using digital contact tracing apps to limit the spread of COVID-19. South Korea, for example, made a tracing app mandatory for new arrivals to the country, and people who violate quarantine are required to wear location-tracking bracelets. As of May 29, South Korea has reported less than 300 deaths. The U.K. has suffered <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-britain-casualties/uks-covid-19-death-toll-tops-40000-worst-in-europe-idUSKBN22O16T" target="_blank">more than 40,000</a>.</p>Privacy concerns
<p>Manual contact tracing has been used for decades to help contain viruses — the NHS describes it as a "tried and tested method used to slow down the spread of infectious diseases." But the prospect of digital contact tracing has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/28/contact-tracing-apps-can-help-stop-coronavirus-they-can-hurt-privacy/" target="_blank">raised concerns for privacy advocates</a> who question how governments and private companies might use the technology. </p><p>Speaking about the new NHS app, Ian Levy, the technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), told <a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nhs-covid-19-tracking-app-contact-tracing" target="_blank">Wired U.K.</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"In theory, that's a privacy risk, but it's only stored on the NHS app system and there's no way to link device 123456 to 'Ian Levy' or a particular place," Levy said. "If you discover that my app ID is 123456, there are some theoretical things you can do to try to understand my contacts if you've followed me round. But if you've followed me round, you've probably seen my contacts anyway."</p><p>In the U.S., federal officials haven't indicated that they're developing a national contact-tracing app. But several states — <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/05/20/alabama-north-dakota-and-south-carolina-to-debut-apple-and-googles-covid-19-contact-tracing/#4147ac591732" target="_blank">Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina</a> — are working individually with Apple and Google to implement their own contact-tracing apps. </p><p>Similar to the NHS app, Apple and Google's system uses Bluetooth signals to record when users come in close proximity with each other. The companies said their system won't collect users' personal information. </p><p><span></span>Apple and Google develop the contact-tracing apps themselves. Rather, they've made the technology available so that individual health agencies to do so. In addition to the three U.S. states, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/05/20/alabama-north-dakota-and-south-carolina-to-debut-apple-and-googles-covid-19-contact-tracing/#49f900e1732e" target="_blank">22 countries have also signed on to use Apple and Google's system.</a></p>
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Here's What a Country Without Net Neutrality Looks Like
Insert dial-up noise here. If you're not concerned about what's about to happen with net neutrality, you're not paying attention.
27 November, 2017
<p class="p1">On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will try to get rid of net neutrality, after the Obama administration passed the <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-open-internet-order" target="_blank">“Open Internet Order”</a> in 2015. The order ensures that internet service providers (ISPs) treat all legal online content equally and bans them from blocking, prioritizing, or slowing some of it as well as being paid by companies to do so.</p><p class="p1">Here is John Oliver explaining net neutrality in a much funnier fashion.</p><p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e705e67f7649004571d2f931f77ec4b0"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/92vuuZt7wak?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p><p class="p1">Net neutrality seems like an issue that should be supported by both political sides. As Julian Assange pointed out recently in a provocative tweet to Donald Trump, without net neutrality Trump’s opponents who own most internet companies could make his “tweets load slowly, CNN load fast and infest everyone's phones with their ads.”</p><blockquote>
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a>: 'net neutrality' of some form is important. Your opponents control most internet companies. Without neutrality they can make your tweets load slowly, CNN load fast and infest everyone's phones with their ads. Careful.</p>
</blockquote><blockquote>— Julian Assange</blockquote> <p><!-- p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 13.0px} p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 19.0px 0.0px; line-height: 21.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; color: #222222; -webkit-text-stroke: #222222; background-color: #ffffff} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none} span.s3 {font: 19.0px Georgia; font-kerning: none; color: #196d8d; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #196d8d} --> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The new FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, however, promised to do away with it and a few days ago released the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/22/16690870/fcc-repeal-net-neutrality-proposal-released" target="_blank">final draft of the proposal</a> to end net neutrality. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The main goal is to reverse the reclassification of ISPs from “telecommunications service” (under Title II of the Communications Act) to “information service” (under Title I of the Communications Act), which will strip the FCC from the power to regulate the internet gatekeepers.<span> </span></span></p><p class="p2">The reclassification happened in 2010 after the FCC wanted to impose net neutrality rules on ISPs, but was then successfully sued by Verizon, and the court pointed out that if the FCC wanted to have more regulatory power over ISPs, it needed to reclassify them. (Curiously, Ajit Pai used to be a lawyer for Verizon.)</p><p class="p2">What would it mean for the FCC to no longer have the same control over ISPs? Internet providers will be able to prioritize their own products and services over those of competitors by, for example, not counting them towards monthly data usage, or ensuring better traffic for them, or even by blocking competitors’ products, like in the infamous <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/06/technology/verizon_blocks_google_wallet/index.htm" target="_blank">case of Verizon blocking Google Wallet</a>. </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">To get an idea, we can also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/net-neutrality-portugal-how-american-internet-could-look-fcc-2017-11" target="_blank">look at Portugal</a>, a country that—even though it is covered under EU's net neutrality rules—has found big enough loopholes in them. The country’s wireless carrier Meo requires users to pay additionally for apps and services they would like to use, like WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, and Messenger. Video apps are also offered as paid add-ons in a variety of bundles.<span> </span></span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">This kind of set up could easily harm smaller companies. If, for example, Snapchat and Messenger are in different bundles, each of which is an additional $4.99 to your plan, it is very likely that you will choose to use only one. Also, small businesses won’t have the resources to pay providers to push their content or products to the top. They could potentially lose all internet traffic.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Ajit Pai <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-will-vote-on-whether-to-repeal-net-neutrality-rules-on-december-14-2017-11" target="_blank">says that</a> repealing net neutrality is good for consumers because it will allow for more investment from telecoms, but that is a weak argument. <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21725552-new-research-suggests-too-little-competition-deters-investment-americas" target="_blank">Research suggests that</a> it is precisely open competition and not lack thereof that causes higher investment. As <em><a href="https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21725552-new-research-suggests-too-little-competition-deters-investment-americas" target="_blank">The Economist</a></em> points out, “declining competition does more than harm some consumers; it makes firms lazy.” </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Without net neutrality, telecoms won’t have to compete based on the quality of their products, but would be able to tie the hands and eyes of their customers to their products, whether or not the customers actually like them.</span></p><p class="p2">Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/923701871092441088" target="_blank">wrote on Twitter</a>: </p><blockquote><p class="p3"><span class="s1">"In Portugal, with no net neutrality, internet providers are starting to split the net into packages. A huge advantage for entrenched companies, but it totally ices out startups trying to get in front of people which stifles innovation. This is what's at stake, and that's why we have to save net neutrality."</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The vote to repeal net neutrality regulations will happen on December 14th. Here are several ways to take action, <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/38657-fcc-infrastructure-net-neutrality-ajit-pai" target="_blank">compiled by Inverse</a>.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"> </span></p><div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="jonathan-zittrain-on-net-neutrality" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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Social Media's Dark Side: How Connectivity Uprooted Our Self-Worth
We used to use technology. Now technology uses us. Silicon Valley ethicist Tristan Harris explains how the attention economy hijacked our self-worth for profit.
25 July, 2017
In the 1970s, at the dawn of personal computers, people like Steve Jobs and the scientists at Xerox PARC talked about computers as "bicycles for our mind". Sure, someone was going to make big money selling these hardware units, but the intention was at heart quite pure; computers would give our minds wheels to go farther than ever before. Our capabilities would be augmented by technology, and we would become smarter and more capable. That ethos has not really stuck, and today we find ourselves in a Pavlovian relationship with push notifications, incapacitated by the multi-directional pull on our attention spans.
<p>We've made it through every new technological wave—newspapers, radio, TV, laptops, cell phones—without the social decay that was widely prophesied, but there's something different about smartphones loaded with apps living in the palm of our hand, says tech ethicist Tristan Harris. It would be a mistake not to recognize how, this time, it really is different. Companies today are not more evil than they were in the 1970s, what's changed is the environment they operate in: the attention economy, where the currency is your eyeballs on their product, for as long as possible—precious exposure that can be sold to advertisers. Unlike the neutral technology we once used, and could walk away from, today's technology uses us. Behind every app—Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat—are 1,000 software designers working every day to update and find new psychological levers to keep you hooked to this product. The most powerful development has been that of 'likes', public feedback that externalized our self-worth onto a score card (this has reached new heights with Snapchat's streaks, which research by Emily Weinstein at Harvard has shown puts extreme stress on kids and adolescents.) "These products start to look and feel more like media that's about maximizing consumption and less like bicycles for our minds," says Harris. Is it too late to do something about the attention economy? To find out more about Tristan Harris, head to <a href="http://www.tristanharris.com/"><i>tristanharris.com</i></a>.</p>
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These Dyslexia Fonts Stop Words From "Floating" Away
Dyslexia makes letters float, rotate, and flip on a page. It turns M's into W's, q's into p's, and so on. Changing the font-face might be able to help keep the letters in place on the page.
07 April, 2017
Child asleep holding book (Wikimedia)
The debate between which is better, eBooks or page turners, has been going on for a few years. The paper books smell better, the aesthetic growing as the pages turn yellow and the ink smudges from where the stories made the reader cry.
<p>The latest bonus in the electronic books versus printed debate is the ability to change fonts. Dyslexic-designed fonts are said to allow for more people to read with ease. There are a few options. <a href="http://opendyslexic.org/" target="_blank" title="OpenDyslexic">OpenDyslexic</a>, <a href="https://www.dyslexiefont.com/" target="_blank" title="Dyslexie">Dyslexie</a>, <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dyslexia-unscrambled/ebobafleaeaancdaofchakjljljjkdfg?hl=en-US" target="_blank" title="Dyslexia Unscrambled">Dyslexia Unscrambled</a>, are just a few.</p> <p>Dyslexia Unscrambled is a Google Chrome app with more than 1,000 users, and a 4.5 star rating. Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic are more well known. These fonts are designed to keep the letters from floating over a page or screen, by ‘weighing them down’ in their place. The letters are formed thicker in certain places and thinner in others that make it easier to read, make letters like p, q, d, and b easier to tell apart.</p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMzOTEwMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Mjk3MDc0N30.OzmEcjsakTZTgdLRyUHvCG4JssogBKHCwLdBC_mJGsw/img.png?width=980" id="a3be6" width="959" height="428" data-rm-shortcode-id="f4767d0340ae781d6e37afba7ff03593" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>Currently there are no formal studies that state success with the fonts. However, many people cheer on the endeavors to help those with dyslexia have an easier time reading. Dyslexie was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/nov/12/dyslexie-new-font-that-makes-reading-easier-with-dyslexia" target="_blank" title="The Guardian">featured</a> in Istanbul Design Biennial in November, 2014, and creator Christian Boer's work was featured on several news outlets like <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjdxuC_wZHTAhWDRCYKHZ9gDLoQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcdaily.com%2Fenable-dyslexics-to-read-better-with-dyslexie%2F29213%2F&usg=AFQjCNE4MM8UIwu69MvjwHbDxM4utk5JSw&bvm=bv.152180690,bs.2,d.eWE" target="_blank" title="NBC News">NBC</a>. Boer was a graphic design student, and has posted a lot of information about how he designed each letter. Boer has presented his typeface and how it could help in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVaeGOflF7w" target="_blank" title="TedTalk">TedTalk</a>, describing how the slight changes in ‘gravity’ helps the reader along. OpenDyslexic’s creator Abelardo Gonzalez is upfront with the lack of research and solid results that dyslexic-fonts have. In his <a href="http://opendyslexic.org/faq/" target="_blank" title="OpenDyslexia">FAQ</a>, he even references the question of if the typeface would work for ‘everyone.’</p> <blockquote><p>“No, and I wouldn’t imagine it would. It works for a significantly large amount to warrant continued work on OpenDyslexic. Some people like Comic Sans, Gill Dyslexic, or Verdana more. OpenDyslexic is another option that can be used if it helps you.”</p></blockquote> <p>But what OpenDyslexia does is continue updating. The page links a reader to all the research that has been done, and Gonzalez promises to update the fonts with this research. <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/28/11455.short" target="_blank" title="PNAS.org">PNAS.org </a>released a study stating that "large letter spaces" helps with dyslexia, and currently OpenDyslexia does have the same spacing practice.</p> <p>Currently, Dyslexie has over fifteen thousand likes on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DyslexieFont/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">Facebook</a>; coupling that with the newer OpenDyslexia, these fonts have reached and helped many people in their endeavor to read. It seems that while some don’t see an improvement, many do and that is what keeps these creators going. The users of the apps have a fair amount of praise for them, so they must be doing something right. </p> <p>Watch Diamond Dallas talk about his dyslexia:</p> <div class="video-full-card-placeholder" data-slug="diamond-dallas-page-on-the-nature-of-work" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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David Attenborough Narrates an Animated Adventure Series For Kids
Don't work with children or animals? Sir David Attenborough laughs in the face of danger.
16 March, 2017
Animated Attenborough. (Image: CBeebies 'Storytime' app, illustrated by Will Rose)
Sir David Attenborough’s adventures are being retold. His time in nature exploring the nooks and crannies of wildlife will now be featured on Storytime, an app with 2.4 million downloads, that is designed for toddlers. With Attenborough’s narration, the Storytime app run by CBeebies (a BBC television network for the under six age group) aims to help young children learn how to read on their iOS and Android screens.
<p><a href="http://www.biography.com/people/david-attenborough" target="_blank" title="Biography.com">Attenborough</a> has plenty of great stories to tell young children, including the moment where a gorilla sat in his lap. His love of animals and the natural world was exemplified in his creation of the BBC documentary series <em>Zoo Quest</em>, in 1954. Before <em>Zoo Quest</em>, if shows wanted to educate their audiences about animals, the featured creatures would be brought onto a lit stage, uncomfortable and out of their natural habitat. Attenborough wanted that to change, and did so by bringing his show into the animal’s natural domain instead, forever changing the dynamic. His mission and popularity grew exponentially, and he later headlined <em>Eastwards with Attenborough</em> and <em>Life on Earth.</em> Narrating his life’s work through an educational app is an important step in cultivating the next generation's interest in preserving biodiversity on our planet.</p> <div class="video-callout-placeholder" data-slug="monkeys-babies-and-awesome-science" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;">
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</div> <p>So how will toddlers take to a story featuring Attenborough? He is, after all, a 90-year-old man and his target audience is usually those a little older than six. However, some educational studies say this is a good thing.<em> Sesame Street</em>, the educational program that was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sesame-street-and-its-surprisingly-powerful-effects-on-how-children-learn/2015/06/07/59c73fe4-095c-11e5-9e39-0db921c47b93_story.html?utm_term=.afd588d969c5" target="_blank">proven</a> to stop children from falling behind their grade level in school, has always had guest stars that appease parents more than the kids. The show runners explain why on their <a href="http://www.sesameworkshop.org/what-we-do/our-initiatives/formal-learning/" target="_blank">workshop site.</a></p> <blockquote><p><em>“Research and long experience shows that when parents are involved in education, children simply learn better.”</em></p></blockquote> <p>This conclusion is everywhere, and in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Learning-Educational-Television-Communication/dp/0805839364" target="_blank" title="Children's Learning From Educational Television"><em>Children's Learning From Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond</em>,</a> it was claimed by Thomas Cook and other critics of <em>Sesame Street</em> that any study of the show's effectiveness were skewed by the parents watching with the children.</p> <p><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMzODkxMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzIyODEwMn0.2QAUSBirnXxgxtsWRGduX0E6BZilkHhRJPr9X6JIgss/img.jpg?width=980" id="105cb" width="624" height="351" data-rm-shortcode-id="4302475f8a11adb39d0b652e26c6cc78" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p>That is where Sir David Attenborough comes in. While its recognized that the young children may not know who he is, his stories can intrigue them, and their parents will remember being enthralled by him themselves. Enthusiasm is contagious. Both parents and children can be delighted at his stories of lyrebirds, gorillas, komodo dragons, and sloths. It's interactive too—the kid in your life can help Sir Attenborough "pack his adventure kit, move plants aside for him and by tracking the gorillas’ path through the jungle," according to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2017/david-attenborough-cbeebies-storytime-app" target="_blank">the BBC</a>. </p> <p>The 5-part miniseries is illustrated by Will Rose, giving it a bright, colorful and happy aesthetic, and the entire Storytime app is directed by Kay Benbow. Benbow expressed the desire to make a full series rather than the resulting miniseries. Sir Attenborough is just too busy of a man for that, so all the energy was focused on the episodes they had time for. </p> <p>Sir David Attenborough is no stranger to being on the screen, and now he's being introduced to a brand-new generation. The man is used to being thrown in the wild, next to things that snap, bite, and sting. Teaching children to read should be no challenge at all.</p> <p class="flex-video"><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a9c20a931a29723f53efcd0d5f0b83b"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q-alFCQN0QA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p>
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