July 2014

NSA targets Tor administrators and people searching for privacy tools, reports claim

An investigation by the German broadcasters ARD and WDR has apparently demonstrated the targeting by the National Security Agency of a German student called Sebastian Hahn, who runs a node on the anonymization network Tor. It has also shown that anyone searching for “privacy-enhancing software tools” online may be marked for surveillance.

Tor (“The Onion Router”) works by bouncing traffic off a series of servers so that it’s near-impossible to trace who’s browsing what. It’s partly funded by the US Department of State because it’s handy for dissidents in repressive regimes, but Edward Snowden’s leaks already showed in 2013 that the NSA has been targeting Tor because it believes terrorists also use it.

Meanwhile, according to an English-language ARD article -- and partly written by members of the Tor project -- the NSA “tracks all connections to a server that hosts part of an anonymous email service at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.”

What’s more, the broadcasters reported -- again based on the source code -- that the actual contents of emails sent over the Tor network are extracted for scrutiny, not just the emails’ metadata about senders, recipients and timing.

Federal Lawmakers Probe Contracts, Laws on Student Data Privacy

The hot-button issue of student data privacy reached the halls of Congress, with US House subcommittees focused on education and homeland security issues holding a joint hearing that yielded more thoughtful questions than major news.

Education Week, which has covered issues of data privacy and educational data use extensively, was part of the social media coverage and discussion surrounding the hearing, which featured faces and arguments largely familiar to those who have been following the issue.

Charter Schools' E-rate Requests Much Higher Than Other Schools'

Public charter schools are requesting 79 percent more per building from the federal E-rate program than traditional public schools are, according to an Education Week-requested analysis from Funds for Learning.

The Oklahoma-based company, which consults schools on the E-rate, conducted a review of all requests for funding submitted by schools and districts in 2014 -- about 21,000 applications in all.

The analysis shows that smaller applicants generally have to pay more for their services, "likely due to their inability to tap into the economies of scale that bigger applicants benefit from," said John Harrington, CEO of Funds for Learning.

Bridging the Digital Divide in Classrooms

[Commentary] Every teacher faces moments when it seems difficult (if not impossible) to engage students. Here are a few considerations that teachers should keep in mind as they think about ways to integrate technology into the classroom.

Increasing Access to Technology

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device): BYOD provides an opportunity for students to use their own devices in class. This is a great option because students are already familiar with the device, and districts don’t have to foot the bill.
Leasing programs: Leasing programs are enticing. They require a certain level of infrastructure while providing students with an opportunity to “lease” a device from the school at a lower cost.
Computer labs: Most schools have computer labs. So how can teachers utilize these resources better?

Building a Technology Environment

Teachers who find themselves speaking a different technology language than their students need support to take advantage of the power that technology can have on students’ growth and success. The process involves a few key steps:
A positive attitude. Be open to technology and the potential it holds.
Professional development.
Allowing students (the digital natives) to lead technology use in the classroom.

[Harvey has taught Social Studies at Lafayette High School in Lexington (KY)]

Edtech Startups Protest FCC Proposal for ‘Two-Tiered Internet’

Leading education entrepreneurs recently filed concerns about how having a “two-tiered” Internet can stifle innovation.

In May, over 100 Internet companies -- including industry giants like Google and Facebook, which presumably would be able to afford the “fast lane” access -- signed a letter to the FCC in protest of paid prioritization. Andrew Gioia, co-founder and COO of TeachBoost, believes the proposed rules “would open the door for commercially reasonable discrimination by ISPs.” A larger company who could afford a partnership with Internet service providers would be able to bring its content to consumers much more quickly. The changes would place “a very real stifle on startups,” as companies with less funding, unable to purchase the faster access to their sites, would be at a “competitive disadvantage.”

Order restored to universe as Microsoft surrenders confiscated No-IP domains

Microsoft has surrendered the 23 domain names it confiscated from dynamic domain hosting service No-IP.com, a move that begins the process of restoring millions of connections that went dark as a result of the highly controversial legal action.

At the time this post was being prepared, No-IP had recovered 18 of the domains and was in the process of reacquiring the remaining five from Public Interest Registry, the registry for Internet addresses ending in .org, No-IP spokeswoman Natalie Goguen told Ars.

People who rely on No-IP subdomains that don't end in .org should already have service restored, as long as the domain name service (DNS) server they use has been updated to reflect the transfer. Users who are still experiencing connectivity problems should try using DNS services from Google or OpenDNS, which have both updated their lookups to incorporate the transfers.

Microsoft confiscated the No-IP domains in late June through a secretive legal maneuver that didn't give the dynamic DNS provider an opportunity to oppose the motion in court. Microsoft's ex parte request was part of a legal action designed to dismantle two sprawling networks of infected Windows computers that were abusing No-IP in an attempt to evade takedown. As partial justification for the request, Microsoft lawyers argued No-IP didn't follow security best practices.

One in Seven Would Give Up Friends Before Smartphone

A recent survey sponsored by Motorola Mobility and B2X found that one in seven Americans would rather give up their best friends for a week than part with their smartphones.

An even greater number -- 40 percent of respondents -- said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to surrender their phones for a day, even if offered $100 to shed their cellular handcuffs.

The 518 people surveyed said they keep their devices within reach, day and night. The desire to remain in constant contact is so great, they frequently don’t turn off their phones. The survey is intended to provide insights into customers’ needs and “pain points” when it comes to delivering services.

Swear Off Social Media, for Good or Just for Now

[Commentary] Social media can be a harmless and easy way to keep track of friends, family and news. It can also be addictive and invasive and produce an archive of bad behavior that can damage relationships or make it hard to get a new job.

And, of course, there are privacy worries compounded by a controversial Facebook experiment unearthed recently that turned unwitting users into emotionally manipulated guinea pigs. That last one might prompt some people to leave Facebook permanently. Or not -- it wasn’t exactly the first time Facebook has done something that made some users swear off the service.

So is quitting social media the new thing in social media? That’s hard to say. For many users, the distractions, manipulations and targeted ads of social media are still worth it for keeping up with friends and family. But it’s still wise to exercise control over your social media history, even if quitting is too radical a step in this connected world.

ESPN and Univision are scoring big World Cup ratings

US goalkeeper Tim Howard made plenty of saves in the World Cup match against Belgium, but ESPN's ratings needed no rescuing.

The United States team's 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium drew an average of 16.5 million viewers to ESPN, making it the third-most-viewed soccer telecast ever in the US. The US team’s 2-1 loss in extra time to Belgium drew an average of 16.5 million viewers to ESPN, making it the third most-viewed soccer telecast ever in the US.

That's an impressive feat for the Disney-owned cable sports network, particularly considering that many of the US fans were still at work during the game that started at 1 p.m. on the West Coast.

The viewership levels came in behind only the 18.2 million who watched Team USA's tie with Portugal on June 22 and the nearly 18 million who saw the US women's team defeat China in 1999.

The US viewership total climbs when adding viewers for the Spanish-language network Univision. An average of 5.1 million people tuned in to Univision's coverage of the match, bringing the total to 21.6 million. The combined viewership on ESPN and Univision for the US match against Portugal was nearly 25 million.

E-sports cannot fight segregation with segregation

A sub-reddit dedicated to the video game Hearthstone exploded with discussion. A Finnish e-sports tournament had just been announced, and the Helsinki event, scheduled for July 31, would include a competition based on the Blizzard-produced card-battle game, complete with a grand prize of €1,000 and free travel to the tournament's world finals in November.

User Karuta posted the tourney's rules and highlighted a strange stipulation: only men need apply. As people dug in to the tournament's details, they found that the whole affair was divided into male- and female-only categories, and worse, women were invited to fewer competitions.

Public outcry came swiftly, and within less than a day, IeSF posted an update that hinted at a reversal of course. "Our top priority is to promote e-sports in the best ways we can," the company posted to its Facebook page. "We believe that listening is important, and we're now collecting your opinions from the social media, and we will update soon." That course has since been fully reversed.

Benton

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