Author: Loknath Das

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday was widely panned, with special scrutiny for her one foray into higher education policy, in which DeVos said she didn’t know which was greater — the number of false accusations of sexual assault on campus or the number of campus rapes. It’s an answer that the Education Department has walked back now in response to questions from Inside Higher Ed. A department spokeswoman, Liz Hill, said Tuesday that DeVos agrees that false reports are a fraction of the overall complaints. “Of course she doesn’t believe that and she didn’t say that,” Hill said. “What she…

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The original craftsmen who constructed the Oneida Stake Academy building at 90 E. Oneida, Preston, left clues that reveal their esteem for education. Even without the aid of electricity, the 128-year-old building’s rooms are full of light. Not only is the academy’s design grand, it invites visitors to look up. And when they do they can see among the hand-chiseled stone an interesting symbol above the front door: an inverted star. It is a unique inverted star, whose bottom ray extends beyond the length of the other four points.  John Lambert, founder and president of Abstract Masonry Restoration, Inc., has…

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It takes discipline to make a game and one of the best ways of ensuring that you complete it on time is by setting milestones and goals. — 123rf.com What if we told you that you can create your own videogames … perhaps even for free? In 2013, the highly addictive mobile game Flappy Bird made its debut and in less than a year, the title started generating an estimated US$50,000 (RM195,000) a day for its creator Dong Nguyen, an indie developer from Vietnam. Now, we know how the story ends – Nguyen, unable to handle the massive success of Flappy Bird and the…

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Playing GTA V won’t make you a killer. Writing in The Week, Mathew Walther complains that violent video games are ‘sick’ and says it doesn’t matter if there’s any evidence to suggest that these games lead to violent acts; so long as he believes that they’re causing bad things to happen in peoples’ brains, those bad things certainly must be happening. Walther is echoing President Trump, who has spoken openly about his worry that violent video games are creating killers. (And like Walther, he’s completely wrong.) Violent video games are most definitely sick, but only if you say that like one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…

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Is there any point having Black Ops 4 on Switch? The morning Inbox enjoys a drunk night with Geralt of Rivia, as one reader recommends a half price Super Mario Run. Third party myth So I see there’s a lot of speculation on Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 appearing on Switch, because of that reliable rumour guy and a lot of the previous games appearing on Wii. But I’ve got to say, is that not the reason why it’s not likely? We had four Call Of Duties on Wii and Black Ops II and Ghosts came out on the…

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As the saying goes, the best things in life are free: love, friends, and great software that works almost as well as a paid product. If you’re like me, you have probably shopped around for certain apps or programs, and then you balked at the price tag. “Is this really worth $200?” you ask yourself. Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet. But other times, there’s a free option that will get the same results. Most people know that there are very capable free alternatives to Microsoft Office. If not, you definitely need to tap into these free alternatives to…

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The youth mental health support service ReachOut surveyed parents of 12 to 18-year-olds about their concerns and found that 45 per cent were worried about their children’s use of social media. Technology closely followed at 42 per cent. In comparison, 25 per cent were worried about their children using drugs, alcohol or smoking. ReachOut chief executive Jono Nicholas said parents were worried about the everyday use of social media and technology. “It’s an important part of their social network but in many instances they’re not sure if they’re safe while using social media sites,” Mr Nicholas said. “Unlike some of…

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Mandatory limits could be imposed on the amount of time children are allowed to spend on social media, the culture secretary has suggested. Matt Hancock said social media companies had failed in their duty of care to children. “We are going to require them to take that care,” he told the Times. “For an adult I wouldn’t want to restrict the amount of time you are on a platform but for different ages it might be right to have different time cutoffs. “I think there is a genuine concern about the amount of screen time young people are clocking up…

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The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. The world is full of connected devices–and more are coming. In 2017, there were an estimated 8.4 billion internet-enabled thermostats, cameras, streetlights and other electronics. By 2020 that number could exceed 20 billion, and by 2030 there could be 500 billion or more. Because they’ll all be online all the time, each of those devices–whether a voice-recognition personal assistant or a pay-by-phone parking meter or a temperature sensor deep in an industrial robot–will be vulnerable to a cyberattack and could even be part of one. Today, many “smart” internet-connected devices…

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Mario is a simple guy. He wears overalls and a spiffy cap. He’s got a brother and a couple of close friends. He can run fast and jump high. In his various quests to save princess Peach, he makes use of all of these attributes and relationships, yet none of them tell us anything about who Mario really is. As Super Mario Odyssey has shown us, if you take away the overall, what remains is still Mario, a guy with a fluffy moustache and a pair of delightful nips. What he wears does not define him. Yet most of Mario’s…

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