Help inspire the next generation of technology creators: 2014 RISE Award

Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers is crucially important—breakthroughs don't happen without people to make them. We want students to not just be consumers of technology, but also creators of it; to enrich not only their own lives, but those of their communities. That's the motivation behind the Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards.

Given once a year, Google RISE Awards are designed to promote and support education initiatives to increase engagement in science and technology, especially computer science. Google grants awards of $15,000 - $50,000 USD to non-for-profit organizations around the world working to expand access to these fields for K-12/Pre-University students, specifically girls and underrepresented groups.

In 2013, 30 organizations received RISE grants—with projects ranging from robotics contests in Germany to programming challenge days for girls in New Zealand. In June, we brought all of our partners together for a Global Summit. It was an inspiring meeting, and since the Summit several organizations have begun to work together to expand their reach. 

For example, our RISE partners in Nigeria, WAAW Foundation and W-TEC, have teamed up to organize a one-week residential Advanced STEM Camp. The program launched this week and will provide 27 public school girls exposure to robotics. Over in Argentina, an organization already connecting Belgium to Argentina is is now collaborating withanother on programming workshops for students and teachers. And organizations in Liberia and India are sharing resources to overcome common challenges in access to technology for girls.

 

The hard work of RISE organizations has also drawn support from leading figures such as President Obama, Ireland’sTaoiseach Enda Kenny and HRH Prince Andrew. 

We’re looking for more organizations to partner with in 2014. Submit your application by September 30, 2013. You can submit your application in English, French, Japanese, Russian or Spanish; all eligible countries are listed on our website. Show us what you can do to get students excited about STEM and CS!

                                                   By Marielena Ivory, K12/Pre-University Education Outreach

Coming to grips with windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 will be arriving soon and we have a look at what's new and some helpful tips to get you started

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When Windows 8 was released last October it didn't receive a lot of fanfare. But this year Microsoft is making several changes to the operating system with version 8.1 and a lot of them are for the better. While it's not a complete overhaul, there are some subtle changes that should make it easier for new users to learn and use. Here's a look at some tips and tricks for using new features in Windows 8.1.

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Boot to desktop, Start button, and easier navigation

Two of the biggest complaints of Windows 8 was having to deal with the modern-style Start screen when logging in, and the lack of a Start button. For users on a traditional PC without touchscreen capabilities, it made no sense and was confusing. Microsoft listened, returning a Start button, boot to desktop, and giving users the ability to make the new modern-style interface less in your face. This should be welcomed by users of computers with a mouse and keyboard who prefer to stay in the desktop environment. It's not set up by default, but it's simple enough to configure.

On the desktop, right-click the taskbar and select Properties to open "command central" for tweaking Windows to get it just the way you want it. It provides options to bypass the Start screen and go straight to the desktop when you log in, sort programs so your desktop ones appear first on the list, and disables aspects of the modern UI so it isn't as invasive.

Another subtle but effective change in the navigation settings is the ability to sort all apps more easily, set desktop apps to be listed first, and keep your desktop background on the Start screen.

New lock screen features

The lock screen in Windows 8 was mediocre at best. It allowed you to get app notifications, and while that function is still there, more have been added. You can now accept Skype video, voice, and text calls, and access your device's camera, much like you can with iOS and Android. And another cool feature is the ability to create slide shows from images and photos stored on your local device or in the cloud on SkyDrive.

Full SkyDrive integration

In Windows 8.1 you no longer need to install a separate desktop version of SkyDrive. It's all integrated into the modern interface and the desktop. It's also integrated into the new search feature, which makes finding your files much easier. The modern-style SkyDrive app now lets you save files for offline access, and provides easier management of your stored files.

New built-in Bing apps and utilities

When it comes to built-in apps in Windows 8, Microsoft's own Bing apps were probably the best developed and most usable. Apps like News, Sports, Maps, Weather and others are still in 8.1 but have been improved over the past year. The two most impressive are Bing Health & Fitness and Bing Food & Drink. The Health & Fitness app provides a diet and exercise tracker, nutrition plans, prescription drug information, health news and a lot more. Bing Food & Drink offers recipes, meal plans, cooking tips from celebrity chefs, wine and cocktail guides, and the ability to create your shopping list.

Another notable new app is Reading List, which lets you collect articles from Internet Explorer 11 and save them for offline reading. To use it, open the modern version of IE, bring up the charms bar, and select Share charm. Other apps include Alarms, Calculator, and Sound Recorder, which weren't in the first iteration of Windows 8, believe it or not.

Summing up

This is a look at just a few of the new features in Windows 8.1 with tips that should help you get started more quickly. If you're using Windows 8 currently, and not too thrilled about it, the 8.1 update will provide easier navigation, new apps and other welcome features. The 8.1 update is for Windows RT too, which finally includes Outlook 2013. The update is free to all current Windows 8 users and is due to be released later this month.
                                                                                                    By Brian Burgess

pictures of pavlov poke

Pavlov Poke presents a shocking answer to Facebook addiction

Sometimes Facebook can be a bit like a timewarp. You open it to take a quick peek and before you know it, the better part of the day is gone by. MIT PhD students Robert R. Morris and Dan McDuff decided that they’d like to spend less time with social media and more writing their dissertations, so they came up with Pavlov Poke. As the name implies, it’s a sort of aversion therapy device for weaning off of Facebook that gives you electric shocks if you've lingered too long.

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The Pavlov Poke is a DIY “provactive art/design project” that is not intended for sale, but rather as a joke with a serious purpose behind it. According to Morris and McDuff, Facebook users are on the site an average of average of 400 minutes per month.

Some studies even claim that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol. There's even a scale you can use to determine your level of Facebook addiction.

The purpose of Pavlov Poke is to highlight this addictive behavior and suggest ways of combating it. At the very least, Morris and McDuff want it to act as a warning that people should be aware of the addiction posed by modern digital technology and to resist it.

The device itself is very simple in construction. It consists of a UI inspector that keeps tabs on computer application usage. It notices how often and how long site is visited and if it falls inside the parameters set for distraction, a processing code pops up an onscreen alert. Meanwhile, an Arduino platform is connected to the computer by a USB feed. The processing code signals a shock and the Arduino triggers a shock circuit, sending a current through a pair of electrodes that give the user a harmless, but unpleasant electric shock.

In the event that shock isn't enough of a deterrent, or if the user starts wearing rubber cuffs, Morris and McDuff came up with an alternative that works on the same principle, but instead of electric shocks, the device posts a job request to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk website. The request offers US$1.40 for someone to ring up the user and say, in a suitably scolding voice, “What are you doing? You've been using Facebook again! I can't believe you would do this! Consider this a warning. Good bye!
                                                                       By David Szondy 

Google, Microsoft Press Lawsuits for Right to Release More Surveillance Data

Perennial competitors in the search realm, Google and Microsoft have set down their swords to press the U.S. government in court for the right to publish statistics on secret surveillance demands against their customers, the companies said today.

In June, the two internet giants separately petitioned a federal court for permission to release the number of national security requests they get from the government for customer data. The U.S. repeatedly stalled in responding in court, asking for six extensions in two months.

Then yesterday the Obama administration announced on its own that it would begin releasing limited statistics itself: specifically the total number of national security requests it issued for customer data in the past 12 months. It will then release the same information every year going forward.

But Microsoft and Google say that doesn’t go nearly far enough. The companies will press their legal action seeking the right to release more statistics, including a breakdown of the number of requests specifically targeting user content, versus requests seeking metadata like the sender and recipient on e-mail. And they will not consent to more delays.

“[W]e believe it is vital to publish information that clearly shows the number of national security demands for user content, such as the text of an email,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel wrote today on the company’s blog. “These figures should be published in a form that is distinct from the number of demands that capture only metadata such as the subscriber information associated with a particular email address.

“We believe it’s possible to publish these figures in a manner that avoids putting security at risk. And unless this type of information is made public, any discussion of government practices and service provider obligations will remain incomplete.”

Microsoft acknowledged the unusual partnership with its competitor.

“To followers of technology issues, there are many days when Microsoft and Google stand apart,”Smith wrote. “But today our two companies stand together. We both remain concerned with the Government’s continued unwillingness to permit us to publish sufficient data relating to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders.”

Both companies began seeking permission to publish surveillance data after Edward Snowden’s revelation of a secret NSA program called PRISM that accesses information from Google, Microsoft and other internet giants.

Google said at the time that it wanted to address public concerns that Google might be providing unfettered access to user data or giving the government information in bulk.

“[G]overnment nondisclosure obligations regarding the number of FISA national security requests that Google receives, as well as the number of accounts covered by those requests, fuel that speculation,” Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote in a letter to the attorney general and FBI.

“We therefore ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their scope,” he continued. “Google’s numbers would clearly show that our compliance with these requests falls far short of the claims being made. Google has nothing to hide.”

For the first time this year Google began publishing information about the National Security Letters it receives each year after negotiating with the government for permission to disclose them. The NSL figures Google provides are broadstroke numbers in the form of a range, such as 0-999 requests, for the number of court-authorized requests it gets as well as a similar broad range for the number of user accounts affected by the requests.

The company wants to do something similar for FISA requests, which Google and other recipients of such requests are barred from discussing.

Microsoft’s Smith indicated today that while the government had been petitioning the court for extensions to respond to the requests, they had been conducting negotiations on the side with the government to come to an agreement. Those negotiations failed, Smith wrote.

“We hoped that these discussions would lead to an agreement acceptable to all,” he wrote. “While we appreciate the good faith and earnest efforts by the capable Government lawyers with whom we negotiated, we are disappointed that these negotiations ended in failure. With the failure of our recent negotiations, we will move forward with litigation in the hope that the courts will uphold our right to speak more freely.  And with a growing discussion on Capitol Hill, we hope Congress will continue to press for the right of technology companies to disclose relevant information in an appropriate way.”