Category Archives: Evolution

A fossil fish that lived almost 400 million years ago in a shallow primordial sea had both fin rays and finger bones in its pectoral fins, an international team of paleontologists revealed on Wednesday.

Will Israel's cyber spies let Bibi use coronavirus to kill democracy?Haaretz

These strange fish, discovered in Miguasha, Quebec, in 2010 and analyzed in the new paper in Nature, may be the missing link between fish and tetrapods early four-legged animals that ventured beyond the seas onto the land and became the ancestors of all legged and winged vertebrates.

The Quebecois Elpistostege watsoni specimen wasnt only complete, it was huge: 1.57 meters (5 feet, 2 inches) long, which is helpful to analyzing its morphology. Scanning the long-deceased predatory piscine with high-energy computed tomography, Richard Cloutier and the team found the skeleton of the pectoral fin included not only fishy fin rays but also bones homologous to our upper arm, forearm, wrist and fingers.

It was the most tetrapod-like arrangement of bones found in a pectoral fin to date, say the paleontologists fromFlinders Universityin Australia and the University of Quebec at Rimouski.

The pectoral fins are the ones nearest the fishs head.

Until now, fossil evidence of the elpistostegalians has been sparse and fragmented: a famous one in piscine paleontological circles is Tiktaalik, found in todays Arctic Canada, which is known only from incomplete specimens. The new complete fossil provides evidence that the digits of four-legged animals evolved in fish before they left the water which is earlier than previously thought.

In other words, the hands and feet of land-dwellers apparently evolved from the skeletal pattern buried within the fairly typical aquatic pectoral fin of elpistostegalians, the team says.

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The Miguasha specimen reveals extraordinary new information about the evolution of the vertebrate hand, said John Long, strategic professor in paleontologyat Flinders University in Adelaide. This is the first time that we have unequivocally discovered fingers locked in a fin with fin-rays in any known fish. The articulating digits in the fin are like the finger bones found in the hands of most animals.

Elpistostege, are you my mother?

Elpistostegalian and tetrapod fossils are known from the Late Devonian period, around 390 to 360 million years ago. But fossil trackways indicate that early tetrapods left the waters earlier, probably looking for food in shallow water and on land, the team explains.

Evolving to survive out of the water requires not only feet homologues but the ability to breathe air, and adaptation of auditory and feeding structures as well. As for the feet: The origin of digits relates to developing the capability for the fish to support its weight in shallow water or for short trips out on land, the scientists explain. The more small bones in the fin it evolved, the more flexibility it had to spread out its weight through the fins.

One thought. This was a monster fish with impressive fangs and seems to have been the alpha predator in the shallow sea habitat that was Quebec around 380 million years ago. Yet the transition from sea to land is presumed to have been evolutionarily driven by a search for new sources of food. Elpistostege watsoni was clearly just one member of a long line of distinguished tetrapod-like fish.

Nor is there any particular reason to think it was our mother, ancestral to the terrestrial vertebrate line; some other transitional tetrafish may have been. But even if Elpistostege is not necessarily our mother, its the closest we know to the missing link fishes and four-legged beings that led to us.

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Fossil fish fingers shed new light on the evolution of the human hand - Haaretz

The Camon series is one of TECNO Mobiles best smartphone series. The series focuses on equipping a smartphone with the best camera technology possible. And in todays phone market, the camera is an essential feature of a smartphone. They say Moments dont last forever, so make it memorable, one of the many ways to make it memorable is by capturing the moment. Taking photos and videos of our precious lifes moment with the help of our smartphones front-facing camera. The TECNO Camon smartphones usually have the very best of camera technology in the Africa market.

The TECNO Camon Camera Evolution

Over the years, we have witnessed the evolution of TECNOs Camon camera. The latest being the TECNO Camon 12, which was released in September 2019. The first Camon smartphone was launched back in 2015 the TECNO Camon C8. The selfie camera of the Camon C8 features a 5MP sensor, which was quite good at the time.

Then in 2016, we had the second generation of the Camon series the Camon C9. The device features a 13MP front-facing camera, which is more than twice what is available on the C8.

March 2017 saw the birth of the third Camon device the Camon CX, which features a 16MP selfie camera alongside a quad-LED flash to help brighten photos in low-light conditions. The evolution will then take a step backwards in January 2018, as the then-new Camon CM comes with a 13MP front-facing camera. Dont know if you know this quote minor setback for a major comeback?

Just before the end of 2018, TECNO Mobile bounced back with the release of the Camon X and Camon X Pro. The Camon X packs a large 20MP selfie shooter while the Camon X Pro comes with an even larger 24MP selfie shooter.

From 2018 ending to 2019, the company launched the Camon 11 followed by the Camon 12 with dual and triple cameras at the back. It is sufficing to say that we are now in the ERA of Multi-Smartphone cameras.

TECNO Next Generation Camon Smartphone

TECNO Mobile is yet to announce any information regarding the next Camon smartphone. The naming of the Camon series is something that has not been in an orderly manner since inception. So who knows what the next Camon will be, 13? 14? Or 15?

It is only right to assume the next Camon smartphone will feature a vastly improved AI camera. The upcoming phone will definitely come with a larger megapixel than what we have on previous devices.

Let us know what you think will be the name of the next TECNO Camon smartphone in the comment section below and what megapixel camera it will feature.

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Infographic: The TECNO Camon Camera Evolution - TechCabal

In our fast-paced industry, keeping up with the ever-changing platforms, the features and updates consistently and then keeping track of new changes in order to implement or even consider them in your next campaign which goes live next week.... is probably one of the toughest asks for any social media manager.

A survey among The Drum's readers tells us that 44% are being kept awake at night by the need to keep-up-to-date with changing channels?

Weve rounded up some key updates from the world of social media in the last few weeks with an aim to keep both marketers and brands up-to-date with socials ever-changing landscape.

Facebook temporarily bans ads for medical face masks

Facebook is temporarily banning ads and commerce listings for medical face masks amid growing concern over coronavirus-related exploitation.

Coronavirus-themed social groups and pages also will be blocked from its algorithm, accoeidng to Facebook. The rules apply to Instagram as well. Supplies are short, prices are up, and were against people exploiting this public health emergency, tweeted Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram.

Twitter launches its own take on Stories with 'Fleets'

We all knew it was only a matter of time before Twitter got its own version of disappearing content.

Twitter has announced its own variation of Stories, known as Fleets - which makes sense, given the rising popularity of Stories.

As Facebook has repeatedly mentioned, Stories are on track to overtake the newsfeed as the primary social sharing surface.

Users with Fleets available will see a new, rounded profile icon at the top of their Twitter feed. If your connections have posted Fleets, they'll appear in their own round bubbles, which is obviously very similar to the common Stories format on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and others.

At present, Fleets are being rolled out only in Brazil, where Twitter will conduct its initial testing.

Instagram prototypes IGTV monetization

As anticipated, Instagram may finally make use of its latest inventory and let IGTV video makers monetise 18 months after launching the longer-form content hub. Instagram has confirmed to TechCrunch that it has internally prototyped an Instagram Partner Program that would let creators earn money by showing advertisements alongside their videos.

The program could potentially work similarly to how monetisation on Facebook works, where video producers earn a 55% cut of revenue from ad breaks inserted in their video content.

The murky plight of social media regulation

Last week, Ofcom announced that it would be granted new powers to regulate advertising on social media. Considering the first Facebook ad went out in 2005, this has been a very long time coming. The government is planning to set the directions of the regulations and will allow Ofcom to adapt and draw up the details.

While this teething period may take time, its definitely a welcome change that these regulations around social advertising arent just being explored, but are on the road to being enforced. This will only mean that content creators and brands are going to be forced to be more mindful of the content theyre putting out and the negative impacts this content could have.

TikTok adds parental controls to monitor kid activity

TikTok has introduced a new set of parental controls, called Family Safety Mode, designed to let parents set limits on their teenage childrens use of the TikTok mobile app.

The suite of features includes screen-time management controls, limits on direct messages and a restricted mode that limits the appearance of inappropriate content. According to TikTok, parents who want to enable Family Safety Mode must first create their own account on the app, which is then linked to the teens account. Once enabled, parents will be able to control how long their teen can spend on the app every day; as well as turn off or limit who the teen can direct message; and choose to turn on TikToks restricted mode that will limit inappropriate content.

The new parental controls are available first in the U.K, but theyll be rolled out in other markets in the weeks ahead.

Facebook is giving free ads to the World Health Organization

Facebook is providing the World Health Organization (WHO) with free ad space in response to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the social network is providing WHO with as many free ads as they need for outreach related to the outbreak. Its also providing ad credits to other organizations and is working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and national ministries of health.

Snapchat introduces swipe-up to call ad format in the US

After launching its new 'Swipe Up to Call' ad option in the Middle East last year, Snap has announced that it will now offer the same to US advertisers.

While phone calls are not a huge priority for modern phone users, we think driving direct calls could have specific benefits in certain sectors.

As per Snap's announcement, "This new ad product will allow automotive businesses to scale test drives and feed their leads funnel. Real estate companies will have another strong tool to increase the reach and prospect volume by getting consumers to immediately call their sales representative to book an apartment showing. Restaurants will be able to use Swipe Up to Call to drive reservations and food orders."

To use the 'Swipe Up to Call' prompt in your Snap ads, you'll soon be able to choose Calls & Texts as your advertising objective in Snapchat's Ads Manager.

Owais Tambe, paid media lead at Wilderness.

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The evolution of social media platforms: early bird gets... everything, really! - The Drum

Queen Rania, with Senator Jesse Helms in Washington DC on June 7, 2000, wears a simple black suit with a blue blouse, a style format she stuck to in the early 2000s. Getty Images

Queen Rania of Jordan, pictured in Amman in November 2000, sports a beige two-piece with a contrasting teal shirt. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with a newborn Princess Salma as well as Princess Iman and Crown Prince Hussein, wears a maroon turtleneck in November 2000. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured in Amman on December 17, 2000, has long highlighted traditional Jordanian craftsmanship through her wardrobe choices. Getty Images

The royal experimented with a fringe and layered haircut in April, 2001. Getty Images

Queen Rania, here photographed on June 6, 2001, was an early proponent of the power suit. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured in Rome on October 12, 2001, also dabbled with lighter locks in the past. Getty Images

For a visit to London in November 2001, Queen Rania, pictured with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, chose elegant navy separates, for a finish that still looks contemporary. Getty Images

While in London in November 2001, the royal, pictured with Cherie Blair, began to show her appreciation for architectural cuts. Getty Images

Queen Rania, photographed with artist Hind Nasser on November 29, 2001, made a lesser-seen dabble with pastel tones in this co-ordinating lavender suit. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured arriving at King Abdullah's birthday party on January 29, 2002, wears a dramatic full-length coat over a classic shirt-and-trousers combo. Getty Images

The royal, pictured on June 10, 2002 in Amman, didn't escape the sunglasses trends and the pinstriped blazers of the early 2000s. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with Baroness Symons and Maria Shammas on June 17, 2002, has long favourite monochrome ensembles with clean lines, as per this asymmetric coat and trousers look. Getty Images

The royal wears peachy chiffon embellished with sequins for a gala dinner in France on September 30, 2002. Getty Images

Queen Rania wears a bolero jacket over a velvet evening gown at Bellevue Palace in October 22, 2002 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Queen Rania first started embracing the pussybow blouse, a style she still favours to this day, in October 2002 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

The royal looked to a Rennaissance-worthy velvet gown on December 2, 2002 in Versailles, France. Getty Images

The royal, pictured with Queen Sofia of Spain on September 30, 2003, wears knee-high boots with a chic sleeveless dress. Getty Images

Queen Rania champions the skirt suit on March 8, 2004 in Beirut. Getty Images

Queen Rania looks red carpet ready in cream satin for a gala dinner at El Pardo Royal Palace on May 21, 2004 in Madrid, Spain. Getty Images

For the wedding of Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Bourbon and former journalist Letizia Ortiz on May 22, 2004, Queen Rania donned a simple white shirt, dressed up by a lilac and lace maxi. Getty Images

Queen Rania, while visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, dressed for the UK's wintry climes in a knitted tunic layered over trousers on November 6, 2006. Getty Images

Queen Rania dresses up an emerald gown with a sleek black stole at the Foreign Press Association awards on November 23, 2004 in London. Getty Images

Queen Rania, then pregnant with Prince Hashem, wears a textured coat on November 29, 2004 in Amman. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with Renee Zellweger, wears a long navy dress on June 11, 2006 for an event on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea. Getty Images

The royal, pictured in Cape Town on April 3, 2006, dressed up a simple shirt with layered necklaces. Getty Images

Queen Rania wrapped. atrench coat over a printed tea dress at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, UK, on August 11, 2006. Getty Images

Queen Rania experimented with velvet for daywear in this blazer on October 30, 2006 in The Hague, Netherlands. Getty Images

This royal blue gown was offset by a woven belt on October 31, 2006 in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Getty Images

Queen Rania donned a classic LBD for a Unesco Goodwill Ambassadors meeting on April 3, 2007 in Paris, France. Getty Images

Queen Rania demonstrates why she reigns at tailored separates on October 31, 2007, in Amman. Getty Images

Queen Rania is the picture of elegance in pale dove grey Elie Saab at the Bambi Awards on November 29, 2007 in Germany. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with Queen Sofia of Spain on October 18, 2008, dips a toe into the then-emerging lace trend. Getty Images

Queen Rania keeps it elegant in a tonal autumnal look on October 18, 2008 in Madrid, Spain. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with King Constantin of Greece, wore an artfully draped purple gown to the wedding banquet for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden on June 19, 2010 in Stockholm, Sweden. Getty Images

Queen Rania turns to a scalloped coral silk dress on October 30, 2008 in Paris, France. Getty Images

Queen Rania amps up the drama with an oversized applique bloom at Windsor Castle on May 18, 2012 in London. Getty Images

The royal steps out in a blue dress with flattering white panels while with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall on March 12, 2013, in Amman. Getty Images

Queen Rania embraces a fringe of feathers with this long-sleeved top and draped skirt at the Women in the World summit on October 8, 2015 in London, England. Getty Images

Queen Rania, pictured with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German politician Christian Lindner on September 17, 2015 , wears a belted skirt with a subtly embellished blouse. Getty Images

The royal, pictured with Queen Letizia of Spain, wrapped up in a fashion-forward tweed jacket to arrive in Madrid on November 19, 2015. Getty Images

Queen Rania, photographed with Queen Letizia of Spain on November 20, 2015, has long championed the midi skirt, but this pleated black and white number might be her best one yet. Getty Images

Queen Rania debuted a cutaway coat layered over a hot-pink pencil dress on January 8, 2016 in London. Getty Images

Queen Rania looks regal in a flowing teal gown, and complementing golden headband, at the Royal Hashemite Court on June 2, 2016. Getty Images

Queen Rania, with Crown Prince Hussein, embraces Hama Fashion's traditional prints in a modern silhouette for Jordan's 70th Independence Day on May 25, 2016. Getty Images

Queen Rania made a rare appearance in eclectic Valentino prints at the Ein Herz Fuer Kinder Gala on December 3, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Queen Rania wrapped up in a statement red Givenchy coat and matching heels at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst on August 11, 2017 in Camberley, England. Getty Images

The royal kept it simple yet super contemporary in a white Givenchy shirt dress at Fashion for Relief on May 21, 2017 in Cannes, France. Getty Images

Queen Rania wears an embellished pencil skirt with a light knit on November 30, 2017 in Oxfordshire, England. Getty Images

Queen Rania wore a dusky blue, high-necked dress for Princess Salma's graduation ceremony on May 22, 2018. Getty Images

Queen Rania turned to a fuchsia midi and heels by Amina Muaddi for a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and King Abdullah II on January 1, 2019. Getty Images

The royal wears relaxed trousers and a loose scarlet Antonio Berardi jacket to tour the Jabal Al-Luweibdeh neighbourhood on April 17, 2019, in Amman. Getty Images

Queen Rania wore relaxed, safari-inspired Michael Kors suiting for a visit to Al Maghtas, where Jesus is believed by Christians to have been baptised, in March 2020. AFP

Queen Rania, pictured with Queen Sonia and King Harald V of Norway in Amman, on March 2, 2020, chose a clean yet ultra modern Izeta coat for the royals' visit to Jordan. EPA.

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A royal flush: 54 photos that chart the style evolution of Jordan's Queen Rania - The National

DOOM Eternalis finally out, granting everyone a way to kick back and enjoy some high-octane shooter gameplay. And whileDOOM Eternalreviews have been strong, it's easy to forget just how far the franchise has come since its debut all the way back in 1993.

Since it first released,DOOMhas defined the shooter genre, evolving and changing as the industry has. It laid the foundation for a lot of what gamers know and love today, and easily stands as one of the most popular games of all time. However, an often overlooked aspect of the franchise is its protagonist,the Doom Slayer. And while the character does lack a fair bit of depth, watching him evolve has been impressive.

RELATED:Doom Eternal Features Terminator Easter Egg

The Doom Slayer's background is largely a mystery. WhileDOOM 2016andDOOM Eternaldive a little bit deeper into the character's lore, there still isn't a lot fans know about him as a person, besides being a large, hard to kill murder machine sent to Earth with the intention of turning all manner of demons into ground beef. He is the clearest example of an unstoppable force within video games, more so than almost any other character out there.

One of the few things confirmed about the character is his lineage. Tom Hall and John Romero, two developers instrumental in the creation of the originalDOOM,have confirmed thatthe Doom Slayer is a descendant of B.J. Blascowicz, the main protagonist of theWolfensteinfranchise. It's an interesting connection, though one that doesn't have all that much of an effect on gameplay. WithWolfenstein: Youngbloodgiving BJ Blascowicz twin daughters, the family tree is slightly different than originally thought, so that also might skewer things a bit.

In terms of actual character development,DOOM Eternaldoes show fans that the Doom Slayer will do whatever it takes to protect humanity, even if that means ignoring the orders of The Night Sentinels, an order the Doom Slayer is a part of. Still silent and stoic, battling against seemingly impossible odds, it's one of the few things fans know about the character as a person, and has remained persistent throughout the series.

In many ways, the Doom Slayer's evolution is tied to the evolution of the series itself. The Doom Slayer only evolves as the game mechanics do. As the series has gone on, the Doom Slayer has gotten faster, a broader arsenal of weapons, and more aggressive with the likes of viciously-brutal glory kills. Against Master Chief, another popular FPS character, the Doom Slayer does lack depth, as a Master Chief has seen a deeper, more emotional side portrayed in recent entries. He's become less of an alien killing machine, and more of a jaded soldier that has suffered major losses throughout his career.

The very nature ofDOOM Eternal,and the franchise as a whole,makes it more difficult to grow a character in the same way.DOOMis about constant, non-stop action, with most of the narrative relegated to brief cutscenes and codex entries throughout most of the game. That isn't such a bad thing, as most players came for the action in the first place, though It does leave players looking for a deeper story stuck searching elsewhere.

TheDoom Slayer's evolution, intrinsically linked with the game's mechanics, is a key part of keeping the franchise relevant. As it's iterated upon, one can only assume that the Doom Slayer is getting more advanced and skilled, even if that's simply because he's platforming more. That does go a little way to give the character more depth, even if that depth isn't what one would traditionally think of when imaging how a character has grown.

Even if the Demon Slayer really hasn't changed that much in the decades since his debut, there's still quite a bit that he's done to inspire other characters out there. The Doom Slayer is the base for any number of shooter protagonists out there from Master Chief to Marcus Phoenix and any other number of heroes.

The Doom Slayer has continued to be a blank slate, and that has managed to keep nearly him as relevant as Mario throughout the years. Of course,DOOMdoesn't have the same family-friendly nature of Mario, but its fair to say thatDOOMhas been one of the most impactful video game franchises of all time, thanks to, in large part, the Doom Slayer. That makes him a fair bit like Mario, at least in terms of impact.

RELATED:Doom Eternal Secretly Contains Two Classic Games

The question now is how much longer the Doom Slayer's legacy will last. The character has a long, storied history in the video game world, and with the success of the rebooted franchise so far, it seems likely that the legacy will continue well into the future. Of course, it's hard to say whether or not that will mean the Doom Slayer is explored even more. The character has had a massive impact on the games industry, that much is true, but it would be interesting to see the character himself explored a little bit more, if anything to learn even more aboutDOOM'slore.

On the other hand, at this point, theDoom Slayer being a mostly silent, hyper-violent character is sort of his thing,and it doesn't seem like id Software would want to throw that away. How the future of the character translates to consoles will remain a pretty major mystery, but it will certainly be interesting to see where he'll end up, and what iteration onDOOM'smechanics it will take to get him there.

If anything, Doom Slayer will likely stand as a testament toDOOM'soriginal development team, and the lasting impact their work has had on the games industry as a whole. That legacy is sure to be more impressive than the character himself will ever be, and that's something not many developers can claim to have accomplished.

DOOM Eternalis available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. A Switch release is planned for the future.

MORE:Twitch Streamer is Playing Doom and Animal Crossing with One Controller

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's Super Saiyan God Vegeta Explained

Cameron has been holding a controller for about as long as he can remember. He has a deep passion for the games industry as a whole, but a particular love for RPGs and tabletop games. You can follow him on Twitter @ArtisanDread.

Originally posted here:

Doom Eternal: The Evolution of the Doom Slayer | Game Rant - GameRant

This article is part of the monthly CSI5x5 series by the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, in which five featured experts answer five questions on a common theme, trend, or current event in the world of cyber. Interested in the CSI5x5 and want to see a particular topic, event, or question covered? Contact Simon Handler with the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at[emailprotected].

The internet has been a pivotal force behind thegrowth of the global digital economy and altered the relationship among states,their citizens, and the private sector. These changes have disrupted thegeopolitical balance of power and ushered in a new generation ofglobally-powerful multinational companies. However, new dynamics of conflictare threatening the internet as we know it.

Our Cyber Statecraft Initiative experts go CSI5x5 to take a look at how the changing internet is shaping the conduct of statecraft.

Trey Herr, director, Cyber Statecraft Initiative: Failure to agree on, and widely adopt, an authentication scheme for email. Be it spamming, spoofing, or phishingemail has been rife with malicious abuse since its inception yet serves as the lingua franca of the internet. The cost has been decades of fraud,regular security compromises, and galactic quantities of spam.

Jeff Moss, nonresident senior fellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative; founder, Black Hat and DEF CON security conferences: When the International Telecommunication Union allowed data lines to be treated differently than voice circuits in regards to fees that countries could charge for landing, termination, etc.This had the positive effect of allowing data lines to flourish all over the world and cheap internet to be the norm. This is also why the internet cost structure is not the same as the (legacy) voice structure.

Justin Sherman, nonresidentfellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative; fellow, Duke Center on Law &Technology at Duke University School of Law: The assumption that the internet wouldsomehow operate independently from existing political, economic, and socialdynamics and power structureswhether thats social media platformsunderpreparing for the volume of hate speech that would spread on theirplatforms, or citizens thinking corporations wouldnt grow to have an outsizedinfluence on the global web, or liberal democratic governments assuming theadvent of the internet in authoritarian countries would inherently bring withit information openness and democratization.

Sara-JayneTerp,nonresident senior fellow and senior advisor, GeoTech Center, AtlanticCouncil; lecturer, Western Washington University: Nobody who dealt with large-scalegovernance models expected the internet to become this important. And by thetime it did, there was a powerful second human world, with all the issues ofthe physical world, but no real equivalents to Diplomacy, Information, Military,and Economic (DIME) models, and all the added complexities of the 3+1Vs(volume, velocity, variety, veracity). We metamorphosed from friendly hippiesto Eternal September to online hybrid conflict whilst losing the humanitiesmajors who could have helped us with that (yes, back in the 1980s, we hadcomputer scientists with humanities degrees).

Josephine Wolff, assistant professor of cybersecurity policy, Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy: From my perspective working on cybersecurity and liability, I think the most consequential miscalculation has probably been not clarifying the expectations for different stakeholders when it comes to security responsibilitieswhat kinds of security measures we expect from internet service providers versus web hosts versus Domain Name System (DNS) operatorsversuspayment processors versus software manufacturers, etc. Those expectations are hard to crystallize because the threats evolve over time, of course, but even so, we could have done a much better job earlier on of trying to define what particularcapabilities each of these stakeholders has to identify and crack down on certain types of online misbehavior. We could have also thought much more carefully and rigorously about what kinds of responsibilities that should translate into across the larger internet ecosystem.

Herr: The contrarian answerit may be onthe way to improving US national security. Why? Much of this authoritarianinformation controlif not outright surveillanceis carried out or facilitatedby some large US-based technology companies. This has raised concerns in the UnitedStates, provoking conversation between the public and private sector about theresponsibilities of these global technology firms. The product of theseconversations is not always progress but the dialogue itself buildsrelationships and helps bridge a cultural gap. These relationships will paydividends down the road and better they are formed now than in a moment ofcrisis.

Moss: The goal for many is to controlcontent and suppress dissent through real name policiesinternet driverslicensesand other measures to identify who is saying what.This iscoupled with traffic inspection technology, mostly made in the Westunfortunately, and backed up by local laws.This impacts US national securitybecause there is less free flow of ideas, is harder for people in the USinteract with others, and the fragmentation of the internet into differentpieces hurts global economic competitiveness.

Sherman:Censorship and surveillance can have negative impacts on humanrights, democracy, and internet freedom and opennessall of which are reasonfor concernbut there are also potential national security implications.Increased online control can enable authoritarian regimes to consolidate power,many of whom may not align with US national security interests. Increasedonline control may also lead certain actors to perceive themselves as moreinsulated from foreign hacking and other risks and thus increase theiroutward-facing malicious activity as a result.

Terp: Security of the state,or security of the people? And which people? Countries like Chinas use of theinternet and connected technologies to stalk Americans related to it coulddefinitely be viewed as a mass personal security problem, leading to a questionof just how widespread does an security problem have to be before its nationalsecurity? The abuse of the online and internet-enabled commercial surveillancethat weve all become used to as the price of being online (or of our friendsand neighbors being onlinesee under Ring doorbells) by other nation-statescoupled with the surprising amount of information shared by government here(really? I can just look up everyones address and birthdate here?) has mademicro-targeting and fine-tuned disinformation easier, and old-school tradecraftto gather information abroad harder. All the parts of the DIME model have beenchanged by this change in information availability.

Wolff: Particularly in the case of China, it seems to have forced the United States to think more carefully about supply chain security and the national security implications of relying on overseas suppliers to provide equipment for internet infrastructure and devicesas well as the national security implications of its allies suppliers given the global nature of the internet.

Herr: Distributedtrust, equitable control, and open architecture.

Moss: Decentralization and communicationsprivacy with no reliance on any centralized components, such as the DNS systemtoday. Privacy to reduce surveillance capitalism, decentralization (at theexpense of raw performance) to increase resiliency.

Sherman: Security: robust, by-defaultsecurity of transmitted internet data, for instance, which can better protectconsumer privacy and safeguard journalists, political dissidents, and citizensagainst surveillance; robust, by-default security of internet protocols, whichcan prevent governments or criminal groups from hijacking and redirecting largevolumes of internet traffic; and so on.

Terp: to build spaces thatcontinue to work for everyone: small and large businesses alike; peopleregardless of gender, color, language, access, and reduce the fears thatharassment and abuse create.

Wolff: This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think Id actually choose a lot of the same values that were initially baked into theinternet, beginning with the flexibility of the end-to-end principle and the resilience of its decentralization. Because I spend so much time looking at security incidents, Id be tempted toinclude security as a core value but its hard for me to say exactly what thatwould mean in practicethat its harder to spoof information about where packets originate from? I think there would be some benefits to embedding that principle in the design of a new internet but its also difficult for me to predict what all the unintended consequences would be of designing an internet that way since one of the great lessons of the internet we have today is that its very hard to make those predictions ahead of time!

Herr: It was easier before the internetswidespread commercialization but that inflection point is long past. An internetwith these principles is possible but policymakers and users goal should be toevolve the current architecture forward to this state rather than trying torevert to a previous incarnation of the network.

Moss: No, technology has costs, and tryingto keep everything free brought us persistent advertising and profiling. Forexample, I cant pay Facebook to not show me ads. The economic model isadvertising to create the appearance of free, but it is actually at odds withan open and secure internet.

Sherman:Yes, although not perhaps quite as free, fair, open, and secure asonce imagined. The current internet has many flaws and imperfections in itstechnical design, and other problems like weak or nonexistent data privacyregulations in many countries allow for infringements on ideals of fairness.But there is hope for the future, should governments, corporations, citizens,human rights activists, and civil society work together in different ways onthe various issues facing and created by the modern internet.

Terp:Mostly. It is not anabsolute, and it is not an end state: we have to keep working every day to keepthe internet healthy.

Wolff: Sure, I think the larger question is, is it possible for us to reach any consensus about what it means for the internet to be free, fair, open, and secure? If we could answer that question in any consistent way, I have great faith we could make it happen, technologically.

The Cyber Statecraft Newsletter

Herr: Companies. Major technology firmsappear to be winning more battles over the design and deployment of technologythan individuals, and even where states wish to influence the internet, theygenerally have to act through companies to do so. The concentration of cloudcomputing into a handful of hyperscale vendors has centralized an enormousamount of influence over the internet and how it used. For better and worse,these companies will have a major role to play.

Moss: States, they will determine the extentof fragmentation through national laws and regulations. Data localization lawsalready distort who can afford to enter a market. Should countries fight overthe internet then the network operators will respond and try to protect theirinvestments and users, changing how the network operates. Companies and usersmay change their behaviors, but it is under the framework of laws thatcountries impose.

Sherman:States, thoughcertainly including through engagement with companies and individuals. Morecountries around the world are exerting increased sovereignty over the webwithin their borders, from Beijings content controls and Moscows domesticinternet law, to the EUs General Data Protection Regulation and New Delhisdraft Personal Data Protection Bill. They will have a strong influence on theshape of the web in the next decade.

Terp:Companies. States havethe power to bound the internet around their territories; to limit the mobilebandwidth available in countries where that is the main access to the internet,to control traffic to and from servers. Individualssome individuals, oftenwith helphave ways around that (hello steganography) and can form communitiesto push back against some of the stronger constraints (communities should alsobe on that list). But the group thatultimately stands to make most difference is companiesfrom companies launchingsmall satellites and other ways to get internet coverage into previously-darkareas, to companies working with research organizations to change the ways weinteract with each other, as individuals, communities, nations etc., online.

Wolff: My guess would be that states willbe the most influential force, but they will exert that force largely throughcompanies. Or, put another way, states will make many high-level rules abouthow they want theinternet to be run, but the actually nitty-grittyimplementation of those rules will be delegated to companies who will havesignificant discretion in many cases to decide, operationally, what those ruleswill look like in practice.

Simon Handler is a program assistant with the Atlantic Councils Cyber Statecraft Initiative under the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, focused on the nexus of geopolitics and national security with cyberspace. He is a former special assistant in the United States Senate. Follow him on Twitter @SimonPHandler.

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The evolution of the internet and geopolitics - Atlantic Council

Updated: May 25, 2018:

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Retail Evolution: Continuing to Think Outside of the Box - JD Supra

As Microsofts Surface Duo slowly approaches for release later this year, LG is getting out in front with its third dual-screen smartphone. The trick to LGs approach, if youre unfamiliar, is the second display is part of a case that can be separated from the main phone whenever you dont want the added weight or bulk.

My colleague Sam Byford was impressed by the multitasking powers of LGs dual-screen G8x ThinQ, and now the company is back with its latest evolution on the idea. The V60 ThinQ 5G Ill not be mentioning ThinQ anymore beyond this point, thank you upgrades the internals with Qualcomms latest processor, 5G data, an improved camera capable of 8K video, and more. And yes, it still includes the hi-fi headphone jack thats become a hallmark of LG phones.

But for a mobile division that continues to struggle, the V60 feels a bit iterative especially in the design department. Its got a 6.8-inch FHD+ (2460 x 1080) OLED panel. No fancy high refresh rates to be found here just plain old 60Hz. The screen has a small notch, but its surrounded by fairly sizable bezels. And around back, the camera bump has returned after LG managed to keep everything flush in last years flagships. Theres still a dedicated Google Assistant shortcut key on the V60 as well. Everything still looks and feels very much like a V-series phone, and I do quite like the classy blue and classy white finishes. A bolder third option wouldve been nice. LG has given the V60 chamfered aluminum edges with a matte finish, and the divide actually comes right across the USB-C port, which looks a bit peculiar but still feels fine in your hand.

Inside the phone is where the notable upgrades are. The V60 is powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 865 chipset and supports 5G connectivity. On most carriers, its optimized for Sub-6 5G networks, but therell be a (more expensive) model thats designed for ultra-fast millimeter-wave data speeds. You get 128GB of built-in storage with optional microSD expansion and 8GB of RAM. Theres also Wi-Fi 6 on board, and LG says the V60s 5,000mAh battery lets it last 30 percent longer than the G8x did. Thats particularly important when you remember that this phone has to drive a secondary display; the Dual Screen case lacks its own battery.

Like before, that second screen is a perfect match for the primary one. Its the same size and resolution. And yes, it still mimics the notch since LG is using the same panel part to save on costs. You can position its hinge however you want, turning the V60 into a mini laptop of sorts. Previously, only LGs own apps could utilize both screens at the same time. But with the V60, LG has managed to get Googles apps Google Photos, Google Maps, YouTube, etc. working in the wide view mode that spans both displays at once. When the phone is held vertically, this feels a bit silly since the apps literally just stretch across two displays with a big divide in the middle. But switching to landscape lets you use one display as a full-screen keyboard, which could help you jam out emails in Gmail a bit faster and with fewer typos.

By and large, though, the V60s Dual Screen setup is still best suited for multitasking with different apps on each one. This remains the ultimate Uber / Lyft driver command center. You can watch videos on one screen while messaging or scrolling Instagram on the other. And when playing games, you can use the additional display as a gamepad and customize where all the buttons go. LG hasnt managed to solve all of its Dual Screen quirks, though. The second screen still gets its own launcher and home screen, which can get annoying to manage on top of the ones on the regular phone. The Dual Screen case still has the small outer display thatll show you the time and notifications.

But the star of any LG phone, no matter how many screens, is usually the camera. The companys handsets have built a reputation as powerful content creation tools, offering more manual controls than Android competitors especially when recording video. The V60 has dual rear cameras; that third lens on the rear is a time-of-flight depth sensor.

LG has given the phone a larger 1/1.7-inch sensor for the primary 64-megapixel f/1.8 camera, which is on par (in size, at least) with recent Huawei phones and Sonys latest and not too far off from the Galaxy S20. In low light, the camera utilizes pixel binning to produce 16MP images to help combat noise. Theres still also a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera that provides a 117-degree field of view. LG isnt doing any wild tricks with zoom in the same manner as Huawei and Samsung; the V60 still tops out at 10x.

The V60 has the best video chops of any LG phone yet, as it can capture 8K-resolution recordings. The phone includes four microphones (on the top, bottom, left, and back), allowing it to produce 3D audio alongside your video clips. Theres a new feature called voice bokeh that can adjust the audio as its being recorded to emphasize voices, and the fun ASMR mode from the G8x is back again. In manual video mode, you can set the V60 to record in HDR10+ for more vibrant colors.

LG hasnt given up on providing its customers with top-notch audio. The 32-bit hi-fi DAC for wired headphones is still present, and the V60 has balanced stereo speakers, which is something that other flagships have lost as bezels get shaved away. To round out the specs list, theres an in-display fingerprint sensor, Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 (with wireless charging), and the phone ships running Android 10.

The V60 ThinQ 5G has flagship specs in a somewhat uninspired design, but until Microsofts Surface Duo arrives this fall, there arent many phones that can give you this dual-screen trick. Foldables seem far more futuristic, but theyre also more fragile and you can detach this second display whenever you want and stick to the traditional slab. Will there be more excitement around Microsofts device? Certainly. And Im not sure the V60 really does anything to move the needle for LG. The companys fans will still be very into this phone, but other consumers might not be swayed. LG has said it hopes to make its mobile business profitable by 2021 through wow factor. Is this supposed to be that? Or is the wow still to come from an eventual G9?

Pricing and availability for the V60 will be announced soon by wireless carriers. It will be released this spring. The G8x sells for an appealing $699 (Dual Screen case included), so if LG can manage to undercut Samsung by a good amount, that can only help the V60s cause.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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LGs new V60 ThinQ 5G has two screens and can record 8K video - The Verge

How did the eye evolve? Michael Behe in 2006 and JonathanWellsin 2017 wrote about the irreducible complexity of the light-sensing cascade that makes vision possible. Yet Darwinists persist in asserting that this wondrous organ emerged, without guidance or direction, from a presumed ancestral eyespot.

This is an update on that important subject. I wish to emphasize the irreducible complexity of the visual cycle, on top of the sheer anatomical complexity of the human eye with its over two million working parts, second only to the human brain in complexity.

Eyespots only perform a function when embedded in an interdependent system such as the one devoted to locomotion in the green algae Chlamydomonas. Phototaxis is a movement that occurs when a whole organism moves either closer to, or away from a light source, such as the sun. It is essential, for example, for green algae, which can move towards light to perform photosynthesis, capturing light and transforming it into chemical energy. Yet green algae also move away from the light to protect themselves against an intense source of illumination. Eyespots are the simplest eyes found in nature. They are composed of rhodopsins, which are light-sensitive proteins, and orange-red colored pigment granules, which have their color by selectively absorbing or reflecting light. The color spectrum, which is reflected, is the one that becomes visible to our eyes.

The pigment spot reduces the illumination from one direction or changes the wavelength of the incident light falling on the photoreceptor. It thus allows the organism to move in the direction of the light or away from it.

As an interdependent system, this visual system requires certain essential components, including rhodopsin proteins, a pigment spot, and ion flux. If one part is missing, the organism cannot move by phototaxis. Natural selection will not select any intermediate evolutionary step, since the system, with any of the required elements missing, would confer no function, and thus no survival advantage.

While proponents of unguided evolution characterize the light-sensitive spot of some ancestral creatures as simple, it is anything but that. As a 2015 article in Frontiers in Plant Science notes, eyespots have a high ultrastructural complexity. Of course, this may be said, all the more so, of more advanced eyes. Consider some of the details. In forms ranging from the simplest, most rudimentary eye, such as eyespots in unicellular organisms, e.g. Chlamydomonas, to complex vertebrate eyes, such as our own camera eyes, rhodopsin proteins capture the light and are the first and central players in a complex chain of biochemical events. There is no vision without rhodopsin proteins. Unless rhodopsin transforms light into a signal, and that signal is used by a signal transduction pathway to promote phototaxis, neither rhodopsins nor eyespots would have a function on their own.

Rhodopsins themselves are complex. They are composed of two parts: opsin proteins, which are made of seven -helices forming a circle, and retinal, which is a light-absorbing chromophore. Retinal is covalently linked to the opsins and horizontally positioned in the pocket inside the opsin tunnel. When a single photon hits retinal, a small conformational change is triggered in the opsin, and that triggers a cascade of several chemical reactions and biochemical transformations, ultimatively leading to sight. A 2016 article in Nature Communications observed that rhodopsin functions as a molecular offon switch; it isdesigned to be fully inactive in the dark and to rapidly convert to a fully active structure in the light.

As a general note, functional molecules, such as those within the catalytic sites of enzymes (in our case, retinal cofactors), require high specificity in their form and are thus well conserved (unchanged, or non-evolved ) across organisms. That is because mutations within these sites usually do not confer any advantage.

In seeking to explain how biological novelties arise, evolutionists often point to the recruiting and co-option of extant building blocks. In such a scenario, the building blocks are incorporated into new systems by natural selection of new functions. Rhodopsin would have to undergo evolution by recruiting retinal cofactors, which it would have to find fully formed and functional, finely tuned and just the right size to fit the binding pocket of opsin, a molecule obtained by a complex multistep biosynthesis pathway starting with carotenoid organic pigments from fruits, flowers, trees, or vegetables. It would require elaborate import mechanisms from the outside into the eyespot and the information on how to insert it in the opsin binding pocket to form rhodopsin and attach it at the right place.

In their book The Retina and Its Disorders, Joseph Besharse andDean Bokstate (p. 641) that the chromophore-binding pocket is well defined, suggesting that the binding pocket has high specificity for the Schiff base and the ionone ring. The precise and correct binding of retinal to the opsin is essential to trigger the change of the shape of retinal, and thus necessary for visual sight. It must be specific and functional from the beginning.

So the following is required:

Unless all of these specific points are right from the beginning, rhodopsin will not be functional. A coordinated and finely tuned interplay and precise orchestration between opsin and retinal right from the start is thus indispensible.

Hundreds of rhodopsins are embedded in the lipid bilayer of the membrane of Chlamydomonas, each using seven protein transmembrane domains, forming a pocket where retinal chromophores are inserted.

The precision with which opsins must fold into their seven-transmembrane configuration is staggering, as JILA (formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics) reported:

Biophysicists at JILA have measured protein folding in more detail than ever before, revealing behavior that is surprisingly more complex than previously known.

[T]he JILA team identified 14 intermediate states seven times as many as previously observed in just one part of bacteriorhodopsin, a protein in microbes that converts light to chemical energy and is widely studied in research.

The increased complexity was stunning, said project leader Tom Perkins, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) biophysicist Better instruments revealed all sorts of hidden dynamics that were obscured over the last 17 years when using conventional technology.

If you miss most of the intermediate states, then you dont really understand the system, he said.

Knowledge of protein folding is important because proteins must assume the correct 3-D structure to function properly. Misfolding may inactivate a protein or make it toxic. Several neurodegenerative and other diseases are attributed to incorrect folding of certain proteins. [Emphasis added.]

An article in the journal Eye (Light and the evolution of vision) confirms:

[E]ven as far back as the prokaryotes the complex seven transmembrane domain arrangement of opsin molecules seems to prevail without simpler photoreceptors existing concurrently. Darwins original puzzle over ocular evolution seems still to be with us but now at a molecular level.

As for retinal, the second essential component of rhodopsin, a paper in the journal Vision Research reports:

11-cis-Retinal is a unique molecule with a chemical design that allows optimal interaction with the opsin apoprotein in its binding pocket, and this is essential for the formation of the light-activated conformation of the receptor.

Remarkably, all structural details in the retinal chromophore are functionally important. As another paper, this one in the journal Trends in Biochemical Sciences, finds:

Although there is an intriguing evolutionary conservation of the key components involved in the production and recycling of chromophores, these genes have also adapted to the specific requirements of insect and vertebrate vision.

We have, so far, only scratched the surface. But we can safely say that the origin of both vision and its key player, rhodopsins, cannot be explained by the evolutionary mechanisms of random mutations and natural selection. Instead they must have existed from inception as a unified and codified system. Such an observation, I believe, is best explained by intelligent design.

Image credit: Steve LongviaUnsplash.

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The Evolution of the Eye, Demystified - Discovery Institute

When people invented gears is not certain, but examples survive in artifacts from ancient China and Greece. These indicate that the mechanism was known well over 2,000 years ago. Impressive! And yet as Michael Behe points out in a new episode of Secrets of the Cell, from Discovery Institute, bugs had been there and done that long before humans came on the scene:

Gearsin a bug? I thought humans invented gears, says the always charming Lehigh University biochemist. Indeed, the planthopper bug has gears in its legs that permit it to jump what in human terms would be like vaulting the length of two football fields at one go. Evolutionary theory asks you to believe such a thing arose through chance mutations sifted by purposeless natural selection. Episode 3 of Secrets of the Cell, The Power of Evolution, invites us to wonder if Darwinian thinking has underestimated the mechanical marvels in the design of insects, so wonderfully precise and purposeful, to which nothing we humans have ever built even comes close. To look at such things and not say Yeah, that was intelligently designed requires a supreme effort to deflect our own intelligent intuition. Thats not true just of planthoppers but of bees, fleas, flies, butterflies, spiders, cockroaches insects and other livings, of all species.

But as Darwinists would have it, isnt the case for design just an argument from incredulity, a common logical fallacy? Darwin and his immediate successors could confidently assure themselves that such marvels were simply a product of blind natural churning. But that confidence began to really unravel with a modern scientific revelation: that the changes in a species that we can see are driven by molecular changes in genes and DNA that we cant see. How the hidden reality of coded biological information in the cell fatally upset the case for unguided evolution is the subject of Episode 4 in the series.

Look for that here at Evolution News next Wednesday! Secrets of the Cell is a series of short (five minute) videos, beautifully produced and maximally accessible. Share it widely with your friends and family. For previous episodes, see here and here.

Update: Michael Behe also discussed the planthopper in a recent debate with a critic. See, Behe and Swamidass Debate Evolution and Intelligent Design at Texas A&M.

Link:

In Episode 3 of Secrets of the Cell, Michael Behe Tests The Power of Evolution - Discovery Institute