Hidden Danger In The Film’s Subtitle

We all know that danger lurks in every corner of the web. You don’t even have to go as deep as the dark web to come across scammers and criminals. Now, don’t get me started on the malware that has spread so quickly and crippled businesses and government organizations - the WannaCry ransomware. All these cyber crimes can make anyone worry about their activities on the web.

How mistaken are we to think that we know it all. The web holds so many mysteries that we won’t be able to unravel them all in our lifetime. Not only malware poses danger these days but viruses can also be found on film or video subtitles. The world is rapidly growing smaller and other cultures tend to be of interest to us. For instance, KPop and Kdrama are gaining a huge overseas fan-base and subtitles are crucial for the foreign audience to understand what the movie/show/song is all about.

Hackers can hide computer viruses in online video subtitles and use them to take control of computers, security experts have warned.

The attacks are embedded within the subtitle files that accompany many illegally downloaded films, and easily bypass security software and antivirus programs designed to keep computers safe.

Check Point, the security group that discovered the flaw, said millions of people who use video software including to stream or play films and TV shows on computers could be at risk. 

They warned that the attack lets hackers take "complete control" over any type of device using the software, including smart TVs. It identified four programs - VLC, Kodi, Popcorn Time and Stremio - but said there could be more.

(Via: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/05/25/hackers-hiding-computer-viruses-film-subtitles-experts-warn/)

If you want to steer free of these potentially damaging and costly mistakes, don’t just stream or download videos from shady websites. Only visit trusted sites. Remember that your PC’s existing antivirus software can not detect it, so it can likely wreak havoc on your device by the time you find out about it. You don’t want to lose data nor pay the ransom money in bitcoin but you are torn because you so desperately want your data back.

"We estimate there are approximately 200 million video players and streamers that currently run the vulnerable software, making this one of the most widespread, easily accessed and zero-resistance vulnerability reported in recent years," the Check Point Research Team says.

The vulnerability's reach is exacerbated by how users get most of their subtitles. Most of these files are hosted on subtitle repositories where anyone can upload a malicious file.

These portals rank subtitles based on popularity algorithms that an attacker can manipulate. By falsely improving the popularity of a malicious subtitle file, attackers can ensure that users download their file more often, or that streaming services such as Strem.io or PopcornTime pull the malicious subtitle before legitimate files.

Users are advised to use one of the updated video players, or not load any subtitles until they're sure they've updated to a safe version of their favorite player.

(Via: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malicious-movie-subtitles-can-give-hackers-full-control-over-your-pc/)

Cyber criminals are becoming more creative by the minute. Whatever security measures companies implement, they always find a way to get through it. Cyber criminals have probably been studying human behavior and trends on the web because the attacks they do affect thousands of people in one go. It is so unfortunate, though, considering that many people prefer streaming videos online – from music videos, tv shows, movies, and all sorts of videos found on the web.

Like with this subtitle thing, there are at least 25 subtitle formats that can be exploited by these hackers. Add to that the limited security they implement, its vulnerability is the perfect formula for the next cyber heist. Similar to most cybercrimes, the solution often lies to downloading the latest player version since media player companies already issued a fix for it. Let’s wait and see then what the next online scam will be.

Hidden Danger In The Film’s Subtitle was originally seen on https://www.podblaze.com/

source https://www.podblaze.com/hidden-danger-in-the-films-subtitle/

Keeping Your Health And Sanity Intact In These Changing Times

There is just too much going on around us nowadays that we often lose our perspective and get confused over what’s a priority or not. From a world that is rapidly modernizing where technology is closely tied to our everyday lives, the conflict of relationships and health woes make living extra difficult for some. The question not only boils down to coping but whether how prepared you are to face these changing times?

Americans have witnessed their fair share of changes over the decades. And the most surprising of all these changes happened fairly recently when Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency. Not only is that he never had any political background but his very personality is something many do not think is a good fit as the leader of a great nation.

The nation also has a lot to lose in many of the policies President Trump is pushing forward in Congress.

The country is up in arms over how many people will lose healthcare under the Trump administration’s new healthcare plan. On Monday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a report estimating that the number of uninsured Americans would increase by an additional 24 million people to total 52 million by 2026. (“In 2026, an estimated 52 million people would be uninsured, compared with 28 million who would lack insurance that year under current law,” the authors of the report write.) By next year at this time they estimate that number to jump by 14 million.

This would reverse the current trend in the United States of reducing its number of uninsured inhabitants to the lowest rates in over 50 years. Under the Affordable Care Act (aka the “ACA” or “Obamacare”) the rate of uninsured Americans plunged from 15.7% in 2010 to 8.6% in September of 2016.

(Via: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-truth-about-exercise-addiction/201703/how-would-trumpcare-affect-mental-health-care)

The sectors that will be hit first and hard are the education, healthcare and the country’s economy among others. The new president is adamant to reverse “Obamacare” of the former administration and deny millions of Americans important basic services unable to access one when in need.

The American Health Care Act — aka Trumpcare or the AHCA — is the GOP’s effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). You’d think with a proponent like Trump behind it, it would offer the gold standard of healthcare. You know, like the free healthcare that Congress gives itself.

Instead, the proposed law is a fairly half-hearted attempt to remake the Affordable Care Act into something that Republicans can better stomach. Let’s take a look at the current proposal, which is getting pushback from all sides.

President Trump has repeatedly referred to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed more than seven years ago, as “the disaster known as Obamacare.” Now he has his own disaster-in-the-making to defend, proclaiming in late February, “Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.” (Actually, anyone who’s worked in healthcare or been in a hospital in the past 10 years knows exactly how complicated it is.)

(Via: https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2017/03/09/how-trumpcare-will-affect-mental-health/)

Trump’s has a different means in mind in order for him to achieve his dream of Making America Great Again and he will proceed with his plans even at the expense of the people - the very ones who made it possible for him to secure his shot at the presidency.

But another major concern to Americans is not just on the government’s capacity to provide basic health care services but in President Trump’s ability to perform his functions well. His family has a strong history of dementia and he himself acts strangely at times too.

But, a consistent conversation among anti-Trump supporters continually points fingers to Trump’s mental stability as a reason for his unpresidential mannerisms, calling into question why psychiatric as well as medical information on the president have not been released to the public.

The American people have reason to know the health, whether mental or physical, of those holding such a positions of power, but the diagnosis is wary.

(Via: http://depauliaonline.com/2017/02/27/trumps-actions-lead-questions-surrounding-health/)

The American people got a lot on their plates right now but it is still too early to tell how the Trump leadership will turn out. With major changes expected to come their way, the only way the nation and the people can survive is when they stick together and do their part in realizing the dream of a better America and not just wish for it to happen.

The following article Keeping Your Health And Sanity Intact In These Changing Times Read more on: PB

source https://www.podblaze.com/keeping-your-health-and-sanity-intact-in-these-changing-times/

Art Through The Years

Artworks tell a lot about our history. These pieces often tell stories and trends of a certain period in time. You can also tell what technology is available in those times based on the materials used. Primitive men used sharp rocks to carve out figures on the walls of prehistoric caves. As the years go by and man evolves to become more superior in intellect, the tools they use to express their artistic side also improved.

If you look at popular and well-preserved artworks in most museums today, you can learn a lot not only about the artist but about that period in history. The art also connected people regardless of race, religion or personal differences. Appreciation for the arts is universal. So, find out now how the arts shaped and connected the world through the years.

The Malta Stock Exchange is sponsoring an art exhibition, curated by artist Adrian Scicluna, within the Exchange building at the Garrison Chapel at Castille Place in Valletta.

The exhibition investigates notions of connectivity, with participating artists presenting works that explore the theme not merely from an interest in instruments and infrastructures, but by acknowledging the phenomena of what connectivity says about us.

The exhibition features works by artists, Matthew Attard, Noel Attard, Vince Briffa, Clint Calleja, Glen Calleja and Sandro Spina, Giola Cassar, Valerio Schembri, Adrian Sciculna, Sarah Maria Scicluna and Darren Tanti.

“Clint and Valerio link religion with mo­dern communication technology. Through the use of metaphor Valerio investigates inclusion and exclusion in society; while Clint references the Tower of Babel from the Bible, sending a cautious message that we must be wary of today’s communication technology,” Scicluna explains.

He continues how Darren Tanti’s painting connects two realities, exploring how Eastern and Western contemporary and historical culture influence each other and subsequently merge.

(Via: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20170402/arts-entertainment/connectivity-through-art.644236)

We learn a lot about our past by looking at old artworks and it gives us a glimpse of what the future also holds for us.

The world is built on binaries: good and evil, war and peace and life and death. The work of Sherin Guirguis, an artist, associate professor and vice dean of faculty at the Roski School of Art and Design, challenges notions of the informal and formal, the structured and chaotic, the arts and the politics.

Even one artist can make a big impact in this world.

Her work focuses on connecting opposites together, both in art and in life.

Her most recent work “One I Call,” which is currently on display at the Desert X exhibit in Palm Springs, is an interactive complex based on the pigeon towers of Egyptian villages. Often used to serve as beacons of the outskirts of civilizations or the ancient mail systems of rural communities, these pigeon towers were central places for communities. “One I Call” aims to do the same by incorporating the natural landscape of the Whitewater Reserve of the Coachella Valley into a beautiful complex with which visitors can interact.

The final piece is a
beehive-esque tower, in which gold leaf circles and sticks align in geometric patterns that collect sunlight in a dazzling way. The landscape of the exhibit — tall mountains where sheep graze, and birds burrow in the boulders — complements the small tower nested in a beautiful desert. When visitors come, they truly are able to interact and experience the history behind the pigeon tower, theCoachella Valley and the civilizations before it.

“We came to a place, we made a work about that place and then we had people from that place engaged,” Guirguis said. “That felt good.”

(Via: http://dailytrojan.com/2017/03/08/roski-professor-speaks-power-art/)

If you go to the Horror section of your local bookstore today, you won’t find books by Stephen King, Mary Shelley or HP Lovecraft; instead, you’ll find a stack of newspapers from the past couple of years.

Okay, that’s not quite true—let’s just call it an alternative fact—but it may as well be. Because with Trump, Brexit, the refugee crisis, and the rising tides of rightwing populism, nationalism, racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia, the real world has become so nightmarish that no amount of snarky online commentary can make a difference. Even this article.

But there may be something that can: art.

We’ve seen millions of protesters standing up for what they believe in, fighting back against the seemingly inevitable fascism and fake tan-tinged future, and now artists are bringing their progressive messages to as wide an audience as they possibly can.

As Paul Gauguin said at the turn of the last century, “Art is either a plagiarist or a revolutionary.” Leo Tolstoy called art “a method of communication between humans about the conditions of life itself.” And as Sam Lewis-Hargreave recently put it, “Don’t worry, I’ll stop quoting old artists and get to the point.”

Historically, art has been about resistance. It’s a tradition that goes further back than Picasso, but let’s start with him anyway. Described with uncertainty on the artist’s own website as “probably Picasso’s most famous work,” the 1937 painting Guernica used Cubism in a way that finally made sense: to portray the tragic, distorting, and downright confusing nature of the suffering of war.

(Via: http://www.thelondoneconomic.com/entertainment/arts/art-last-hope-liberal-future/23/03/)

History teaches us that art played a big role on how we shaped our society today. Artworks have been instrumental in pushing for reforms and changes that were desperately needed by the people of yesteryears. Until now, artists hide messages in their art pieces that let the public know about their stand on certain issues that plague the world today. And it is inspiring to realize that these beautiful and timeless pieces serve a dual purpose that not only pleases the eye but also works for the common good.

The post Art Through The Years See more on: PB

source https://www.podblaze.com/__trashed/

Traveling As Backpackers

Traveling is so liberating. It gives you a new perspective on life and a chance to experience many new things for the first time. You also get to learn new cultures and meet new people whose lives are entirely different from yours. But since money is a big factor when it comes to traveling, most people consider it as a luxury. Hence, only a handful gets to travel as often as they want.

However, it is time to change this misconception. You can travel even though your budget is limited. If you haven’t heard of the term “backpacking” yet, it’s high time you include it in your vocabulary and probably even your life. With some preparation and lots of guts, you can travel to your dream destination with nothing but your backpack on.

Every person should at least try backpacking even if it's just a one-time thing. You'll be surprised that the world has so much to offer so why not get out of your comfort zone. But before that, here are a few tips that beginners should take note of.

Pack Light

Backpacking can be considered as a vacation, but it's totally different. Basically, you just live off on a few basic things as you travel. When backpacking, always pack light by bringing the things that you really need and you can replace. Don't take sentimental and expensive stuff with you because they're just going to cost you overweight luggage fees.

(Via: http://www.travelerstoday.com/articles/43401/20170321/beginners-guide-start-backpacking-adventure.htm)

And you’d be surprised at the many success stories of backpackers who already traveled the world while we are still here daydreaming about it.

Johnny Ward is living the dream.

The travel blog he started as a broke backpacker called OneStep4Ward developed into anonline marketing firm that he can manage from anywhere in the world. He built himself a career that granted him the flexibility to travel for 10 years (and counting), and visit every country on Earth. Not to mention the $1.5 million he's earned along the way.

Ward spoke to INSIDER via email about how he made it all happen, one step at a time.

Johnny Ward didn't come from money growing up in Ireland.

He grew up on welfare in a single-parent household with his mother and sister. He moved to England to study International Economics, then decided to travel the world after graduating.

He funded his travels by teaching English in Thailand, and spent two years backpacking around Southeast Asia on a budget of about $10 to $15 a day.

(Via: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/this-33-year-old-travelled-to-every-country-in-the-world-and-made-15-million-a7663126.html)

See, traveling through backpacking is a great way to see the world if you are short on money but have a lot of time in your hands. This is also a great way to imbibe a new culture as you really interact with the locals and even hold a job for a certain period of time. If you want to hit the road and commune with nature as much as you can, there is no need to spend lots of money on gears you’ll seldom use because you can just simply rent them out.

The biggest barrier between most people and a backpacking trip isn’t the physical exertion, the time off, or a fear or bears: it’s the cost and difficult of obtaining the necessary gear. If you don’t already own a backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc, purchasing all of that isn’t just expensive, it can also be colossally overwhelming.

Now, a new startup wants to make renting all the necessary stuff easy, and it's offering to ship the equipment anywhere with an address. 

For just $68 per day, CampCrate will mail you a box containing a backpack, sleeping bag and pad, tent, headlamp, water filter, and JetBoil stove. Couples can rent gear for two, for $120 a day. When you’re finished, just drop it off at a post office—CampCrate covers the shipping and provides a pre-printed label. The only other things you’ll need are clothing, food, and a map. 

“There’s other gear rental services,” acknowledges the company’s founder, Chad Lawver, “But I think we’re the first to make it this easy.” 

(Via: https://www.outsideonline.com/2167706/want-go-backpacking-now-its-easy-anyone-rent-gear)

If you have a passion, go for it. There will always be challenges and limitations but you can always work your way around if you are passionate enough. Nothing compares to the feeling of being in a place you’ve only seen in books or on the web before. Indulge yourself in these little luxuries and discover more of what you are capable of along the way. Go out and travel as much as you can and have wonderful stories to tell to your grandkids someday.

The following article Traveling As Backpackers Find more on: The PodBlaze.com Blog

source https://www.podblaze.com/traveling-as-backpackers/

Wildlife in Danger

When we talk about critical issues involving Mother Nature and environmental conservation, we only think of their effects on humans (especially climate change and global warming). However, we fail to include our non-human friends because as usual, we are too preoccupied with ourselves.

The wildlife is the first to suffer in the case of a natural/ man-made calamity or disaster. They are not as ingenious as us in getting ourselves out of trouble. So as the more superior species than that of our furry and flighty friends, it is but our responsibility to think of their welfare and well-being because obviously, they can’t think for themselves and these environmental issues are our fault in the first place.

Efforts to save some of England’s rarest species, including the shrill carder bee and the chequered skipper butterfly, from extinction are being backed by £4.6m in lottery funding.

Little-known and exotically named insects such as the bearded false darkling beetle and the royal splinter cranefly, as well as plants including the prostrate perennial knawel and interrupted brome are among the 20 endangered species being targeted for action.

A further 200 threatened species will also be helped by the funding from the National Lottery, including pine martens, large garden bumblebees, lesser butterfly orchids and hedgehogs.

The money will support the “Back from the Brink” initiative to bring together leading charities and conservation bodies in the first countrywide coordinated effort to safeguard species from extinction and deliver conservation measures across England.

The scheme aims to boost conservation efforts in 150 key habitats and landscapes, and recruit and teach more than 5,500 volunteers the skills they need to study, identify and look after threatened species.

(Via: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/31/funding-boost-to-help-save-englands-rarest-species-from-extinction)

The threat of climate change hurts the wildlife more than it does to us. Droughts leave them thirsty and dying. Floods can kill them too. They have no urban jungle to shelter them from the elements or a supermarket to provide food when they are hungry. When the trees stop bearing fruits and the crops start growing, the animals will soon die too.

For long, Nigeria has rested on an erroneous notion that our wild animals were plentiful and not under any threat of extinction, however, following the recent publication of the IUCN red list of globally threatened species which revealed that 148 animal and 146 plant species found in Nigeria were threatened at various degrees including some species near extinction, we hope it is not too late to right the wrongs. Out of the very large landmass that Nigeria boasts of, we are not assured of the functionality of our seven National Parks, we are not sure they really are a refuge for what we have left of our wildlife population, we are yet to see wisdom in prioritising our wildlife heritage, we have chosen not to take a cue from smaller countries like Gabon with 13 well-managed national parks, Egypt with 25 national parks and Kenya with 23 national parks only aside game reserves, wildlife sanctuary and other forms of protected areas in countries like Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania and Madagascar are clear examples for Nigeria to follow.

"100 Cross River gorillas remain in Nigeria", "There are approximately 450 savanna elephants in Nigeria", "Fewer than 50 lion remain in Nigeria","Value of illegal wildlife trade is 50 - 150 billion USD per year", "Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed by humans every year", "Half of world's wildlife was lost in last 40 years", "100,000 African elephants were killed in last three years for their ivory", "Less than 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild", "Population of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish has declined by 52 per cent globally between 1970 - 2010" waking to read these and many more anti-wildlife true statistics tell that the time for urgent action is now.

(Via: http://allafrica.com/stories/201703300629.html)

It is high time we acknowledge the connection between environmental deterioration and wildlife extinction. Even though we may never see the extent of damage our abuse and neglect is causing to the wild, it does not mean that the problem is not real.

If we don’t act now, it may be too late for some of the endangered animals nearing extinction. We’ve seen it over the years. More and more animals disappear from the face of the planet forever. The most recent are the African Black Rhino. We somehow managed to wipe out every single one of them and it is a depressing thought as any. Let us get our act together and save the planet along with everyone else living in it.

Wildlife in Danger is courtesy of The Pod Blaze Blog

source https://www.podblaze.com/wildlife-in-danger/

The Media: The 4th Estate

The media is the voice of the people. They show the public what is happening in their surroundings and tackle all issues that affect society - big or small. From politics to entertainment, the media gives everyone a glimpse of what’s happening behind-the-scenes in every event and keeps us up to date on the past and current issues.

Traditional media dominated the world in yesteryears. But as the world evolves and our technology improves, other media outlets have sprouted that have even a wider reach than that of conventional. Nowadays, the media makes use of social media and the Internet in reaching out to more people and they can be accessed 24/7, which is unheard of in the past.

Facebook and Mozilla are among the companies and organizations launching a US$14 million fund to promote news literacy and increase trust in journalism.
The nonprofit, called the News Integrity Initiative, will be based at theCity University of New York. It will run as an independent project of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Others contributing to the fund include Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and the Ford Foundation.
Recent polls show the public's trust in the news industry at a low.
False news and misinformation, often masquerading as trustworthy news and spreading on social media, has gained a lot of attention since the 2016U.S. presidential election. Companies like Facebook are trying to address the issue.

(Via: http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=87023)

Media not only tackles local issues but even global ones too. The world keeps getting smaller because the web bridges the distance among people. The issues get interconnected as well and may even unite nations against a common enemy: terrorists, for instance.

U.S. media outlets say terrorist groups have been testing explosive devices that can be hidden in a laptop and that can evade some commonly used airport security screening methods.

CNN and CBS said Friday that U.S. intelligence officials had told them militants with al-Qaida and Islamic State have been developing innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices.

The news organizations said the new intelligence suggested that the terror groups have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how to conceal the explosives in order to board a plane.

They said the intelligence played a significant role in the Trump administration's recent decision to prohibit travelers flying out of 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and Africa from carrying laptops and other electronic equipment onboard in the cabin area.

(Via: http://www.voanews.com/a/terrorist-groups-testing-laptop-bombs/3791946.html)

Without the media, the public will be lost on issues of national and global interest. They give us context on the moves and decision of the state. And if you want some entertainment, they got that covered too. But when it comes to U.S. news these days, it’s hard to decipher which one is legit and which one is for leisure as Donald Trump as president has definitely changed things a lot.

Before most people are out of bed, Donald Trump is watching cable news.

With Twitter app at the ready, the man who condemns the media as "the enemy of the people" may be the most voracious consumer of news in modern presidential history.

Trump usually rises before 6 a.m. and first watches TV in the residence before later moving to a small dining room in the West Wing. A short time later, he's given a stack of newspapers — including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Washington Post and, long his favorite, The New York Post — as well as pile of printed articles from other sources including conservative online outlets like Breitbart News.

The TVs stay on all day. The president often checks in at lunch and again in the evening, when he retires to the residence, cellphone in hand.

It is a central paradox of the Trump presidency. Despite his fervent media criticism, Trump is a faithful newspaper reader who enjoys jousting with reporters, an avid cable TV news viewer who frequently live-tweets what he's watching, and a reader of websites that have been illuminated by his presidential spotlight, showcasing the at-times conspiratorial corners of the internet.

No recent president has been so public about his interest in his media coverage, nor seemed so willing to mobilize the powers of the federal government based on a media report that he has just read, heard or watched.

In fact, the power of Trump's media diet is so potent that White House staffers have, to varying degrees of success, tried to limit his television watching and control some of what he reads.

(Via: https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2017-03-10/media-the-enemy-trump-sure-is-an-insatiable-consumer)

It is true indeed that the media is still a powerful and influential entity in the world today. World leaders seek the media’s attention when they run for office and still make use of them when reaching out to the people when in office. Even though at times many complain that the media may be biased but still they show the people the different sides to a story, so we have an idea what’s happening to the world at large.

The Media: The 4th Estate See more on: podblaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/the-media-the-4th-estate/

Why Code Testing Is Crucial

Computing is the way of life. That is the reality of our world today. Everywhere you go, computers run our life, from major industries, companies, offices, and organizations, everything is computerized. Considering how important computing is in our modern life, we need to remain vigilant to ensure that computers use the right codes all the time.

The Internet of Things managed to connect everyone on the web seamlessly. Wherever you are in the world, you can access the same stuff as someone living in other corners of this planet. And considering how gullible people may be at times, they will often believe the first thing they see on the net even without verifying it first or one mistake can cost someone his/ her job, money, life, or something else.

As systems in industrial, automotive, medical, and energy markets that involve human life and limb are connected to the IoT, the stakes get higher and the pressure for safety and reliability increases. While hardware can be physically isolated and protected, once the system is connected to the Internet, it becomes exposed through software, which forms the “soft underbelly” of the IoT. And if they’re not secure, they can’t be considered reliable or safe. That means the battle for safe and secure devices takes place on the field of software.

Producing safe and secure code has a number of dimensions. On one level, code that’s functionally correct—it does what it’s supposed to do—can still contain openings that a hacker can take advantage of. On another level, the code must be functionally safe in that it follows rules to prevent injury or damage, and it must be functionally secure in that it contains mechanisms such as encryption that prevent access.

(Via: http://embedded-computing.com/guest-blogs/testing-is-the-only-way-to-assure-that-code-is-correct/)

Coding testing is a crucial aspect of technology since more and more are at stake every day. Even hospitals rely on technology in saving lives or in carrying out various medical processes – from documentation to actual medical procedures and surgeries.

Ran Yingying, a former state television presenter, is also the wife of Chinese Boxing Association flyweight champion Zou Shiming. Recently, Ran drew attention for posting the test scores of her 6-year-old son’s commercial genetic test, which had come up with a series of figures covering everything from his ability to learn languages to music appreciation, athletic ability, interpersonal skills, and aptitude for mathematics.

“It looks like the son of China’s most successful boxer did not get his father’s sports genes,” Ran wrote, mostly in jest. Her post was forwarded tens of thousands of times, with many commenters saying they want to perform similar tests on themselves or their kids.

Such genetic tests have become so popular that in late 2015, 22 experts in the fields of genomics and sports science published a statement in the British Journal of Sports Medicine saying that no child or young athlete should be subjected to genetic testing to spot athletic talent or boost performance. They concluded that the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of these commercial tests is “simply far too weak to back their use.”

Public demand is running high regardless. With varying levels of scientific support, startups are already offering a wide array of genetic tests, be they screenings for health risks or predictors of personality.

(Via: http://www.sixthtone.com/news/code-and-capital-genetic-testing-china)

Even in a controversial field as genetic testing, computing and coding testing play a major role in making things happen as safely as possible, especially that human lives are at stake.

Risk might be mission critical, such as software on a scientific robot crawling another planet, or risk might be associated with sensitive financial information.

In the first example the integrity of the software is paramount; it is hard to fix something on another planet. In the latter example both quality and security are important, with security perhaps paramount.

There’s also a fundamental difference in how quality and security are each regarded. A quality assurance test at the end of a production cycle will tell you whether a software product is stable enough for release – a simple “Yes” or “No.” Whereas a security test will be vaguer – “It depends” – and in the race to market, that result may be overridden by management. Quality code may not always be secure, but secure code must always be quality code.

(Via: http://www.information-age.com/quality-software-security-123465456/)

There is a lot at stake when it comes to computing nowadays. Coding testing and security is a must because we are not only dealing with sensitive information but the number of people and organizations relying on these systems are far too many now that technology runs the world. A minor error in the coding of these data can prove to be disastrous, so there is just no room for error at all.

The blog post Why Code Testing Is Crucial is republished from https://www.podblaze.com

source https://www.podblaze.com/why-code-testing-is-crucial/