“ChaiOS” Bug That Can Freeze Your IPhone with A Link

A bug has been discovered in iOS that crashes the iMessage app and can freeze or restart your phone when you’re sent a specially-engineered website link. You don’t even have to click the link for it to affect your phone or even your Mac. Software developer Abraham Masri, the brain behind the bug, gave it the name “chaiOS” So how does this bug work?

iMessage preloads links to webpages when opened so that it can show the users a preview of the page. So Masri, speaking to Buzzfeed News, explained how he created a webpage on GitHub and stuffed its metadata with hundreds of thousands of unnecessary characters. When trying to load all of this unexpected information, iMessage crashes, sometimes taking the entire operating system down with it

The bug doesn’t work consistently, as shown by some user reports; it crashes iMessage, causes lag, freezes the device, or triggers what’s known as a “respring” (when iOS reboots the software called SpringBoard and kicks the user back to the lock screen). ChaiOS only affects versions of iOS from 10.0 to 11.2.5 beta 5 and can also crash iMessage on macOS. Finding working copies of the bug isn’t easy, thankfully as the link, as well as other mirrors of it, have been taken down from GitHub. Masri has also refused to upload the bug, saying he released it to get Apple’s attention. We hope that Apple is more alert and responsive to issues like this. In the mean time, if someone has sent you a copy of chaiOS and it is affecting your iphone, here are a few fixes you can try:

• Quickly delete the thread the link was sent in, if you can, before the app crashes.
• Block the domain of site hosting it. So, if the link is coming from GitHub, for example, go to your Safari settings, then General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions > Websites > Limit Adult Content > Never Allow > GitHub.io.
• Backup your iPhone and then reset to factory settings. Note that this is an extreme measure as it’ll delete all your files.
• Wait for a patch. It is expected that Apple will send one out soon enough.

 By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube fight to suppress terror content

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were pressed in Congress Wednesday over their reliance on artificial intelligence and algorithms to keep their powerful platforms clear of violent extremist posts.

In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, executives of the world’s top social media companies were praised for their efforts so far to eliminate Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and other jihadist content from the internet.

But critics say that extremist groups continue to get their propaganda out to followers via those platforms, and call for tougher action.

Another concern is that the continued ability to use anonymous accounts, while benefiting pro-democracy activists battling repressive governments, will also continue to empower extremists.

The current efforts by the companies to remove content and cooperate with each other in doing so are strong but “not enough,”  Senator Ben Nelson said.

YouTube is automatically removing 98 percent of videos promoting violent extremism using algorithms, said Public Policy Director Juniper Downs.

But Senator John Thune, Chairman of the Commerce Committee, asked Downs why a video which showed the man who bombed the Manchester Arena in June 2017 how to build his bomb has repeatedly been uploaded to its website every time YouTube deletes it, as recently as this month.

Carlos Monje, director of Public Policy and Philanthropy for Twitter, said that even with all their efforts to fight terror- and hate-related content, “It is a cat-and-mouse game and we are constantly evolving to face the challenge.”

“Social media companies continue to get beat in part because they rely too heavily on technologists and technical detection to catch bad actors,” said Clint Watts, an expert at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in the use of the internet by terror groups.

Last year Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft banded together to share information on groups and posts related to violent extremism, to help keep it off their sites.

 By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

Isreal Names Cinema after “Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot

A cinema in northern Israel is to be named after Israeli-born Hollywood celeb Gal Gadot, star of the blockbuster hit “Wonder Woman”, the town of Upper Nazareth said Tuesday.

“We are going to name the new cinema after Gal Gadot, an Israeli actress who brings honour to this country,” municipal spokeswoman Orna Yosef told AFP.

“This is a message for our young people because Gal Gadot is an example of success, who has shown that dreams can be attained.”

Gadot, 32, won the Miss Israel beauty pageant in 2004 aged 18.

After her two-year compulsory military service she went into modelling and then films, breaking into Hollywood with a role in 2009’s “Fast and Furious.”

She now lives in Los Angeles.

Last year, Lebanon and Tunisia banned “Wonder Woman” because of Gadot’s Israeli army service.

The Gal Cinema, which will have two screens, will open officially on Wednesday with a showing of Israeli director Eran Riklis’s thriller “Shelter”.

Upper Nazareth was founded in 1956 adjacent to biblical Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel.

Upper Nazareth’s population of 50,000 is 80 percent Jewish, with the remainder made up of Muslim and Christian Arabs.

Israeli daily Yediot Aharanot said that cinema closures in the area meant that until now residents were obliged to make a round-trip of around 80 kilometres (50 miles) to see a film in the coastal city of Haifa.

By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

 

Kim Kardashian welcomes Baby No. 3 via Surrogate

Reality star Kim Kardashian and her rapper husband Kanye West Tuesday announced the birth of their third child, a baby girl who was born via a surrogate.

“She is here! We’re so in love,” Kardashian, 37, wrote in a post on her website which she then shared with her 58.3 million Twitter followers.

In a brief message, she wrote that their “healthy, beautiful” daughter was born Monday at 12:47 AM local time, weighing 7.6 pounds (3.3 kilograms). The baby girl’s name was not announced.

“We are incredibly grateful to our surrogate who made our dreams come true with the greatest gift one could give and to our wonderful doctors and nurses for their special care,” said Kardashian.

“North and Saint are especially thrilled to welcome their baby sister,” she added.

Kardashian and West married in May 2014, and already have two children: daughter North, 4, and 2-year-old son Saint.

The couple chose to use a surrogate as Kardashian suffered from placenta accreta — a serious condition where the placenta becomes too deeply attached to the wall of the uterus — during her second pregnancy, making a third pregnancy too risky, according to celebrity website TMZ.

TMZ also reported that the Wests paid $45,000 to the surrogate — who was banned from smoking and taking drugs as well as taking hot baths, dying her hair and eating raw fish during the pregnancy.

By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

Airtel, nTel get more Internet subscriptions in 2017 Third Quarter

The duo of Airtel and nTel raked in the highest number of Internet subscriptions in the third quarter, 2017.
   
According to the Nigeria Bureau Statistics (NBS) report for Q3, 2017, released last weekend, the GSM platform remained the most dominant means of accessing the Internet for subscribers in Nigeria.
  
The report showed that for the period under review, active GSM Internet subscriptions stood at 92.9 million representing a 1.5 per cent growth from the previous quarter’s 91.5 million, and a 0.22 per cent decline from the same period last year.

The NBS report informed that “while GSM Internet subscriptions were on a declining trend over year to date 2016, subscriptions picked up in 2017, showing a 3.3 per cent growth from Q1 2017 to Q3 2017.’’

According to the report, Airtel robustly gained subscribers both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, rating it the biggest contributor to the growth of total active GSM internet subscription with a 7.9 per cent growth compared to Q2 2017, and 15.6 per cent when compared to the same period in Q3 2016.

This reflected in the increase of the company’s market share by 1.4 points from the previous quarter and by 3.2 points from the same period last year. MTN, Globacom Limited (Glo), EMTS, which traded as Etisalat, now 9Mobile, had market shares of 0.4,-0.7, -1.1 points and 0.2, 0.1.-3.6 points by 3.2 points respectively from the same period last year.
  
However, MTN had the highest share of all GSM active Internet subscribers, capturing 35 per cent of subscriptions with 32.5 million users, followed by Glo at 29 per cent of subscription with 26.9 million customers. Airtel at 23.4 per cent of subscriptions, with 21.7 million customers is third.

 By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

Healthy Alternatives for your Sugar Cravings

Cravings are a very common phenomenon and sugar cravings are among the most common especially with women. If they are not properly managed, they could lead to over-consumption of calories. Here are some alternatives that are both sweet and nutritious.

Date Fruits

Date Fruits are dried fruits from the date palm tree and they are a good source of potassium, iron and fibre. They also happen to be very sweet so it’s a great alternative to sugar.

Yoghurt

Rich in calcium and proteins, yoghurts are a great choice for dealing with cravings. Some research has also shown that some yoghurt can help regulate appetite and control cravings.

Smoothies

Smoothies are a sweet and healthy option if you want to deal with a craving as soon as possible. The fibre of the fruit, the yoghurt and the juice provide the body with sufficient nutrients and nourishment.

Dark Chocolate

Chocolate is one of the most common go-to foods for sweet cravings. Rather than have regular chocolate, replace with dark chocolate with has 70% more cocoa and a compound called polyphenol which is a great antioxidant

By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe

Ethiopia's Beauty in Lip Plates

Across the world, there are people who have not been swayed by the technological advancement but have rather maintained their traditional way of life. Some of these kinds of people are found around Lake Turkana and the Lower Omo Valley in Southern Ethiopia.

The Surma people are made up of three ethnic groups: The Mursi, the Suri, and the Mekan people. The Suri and the Mursi share a similar culture. Their women’s beauty is determined by how large their lip plate is.

Lip plates are usually made of clay or wood and range between 4 and 25 centimeters. To be placed on the lip, two or four teeth are removed before the lower lip is cut to fit the lip plate. This lip plate process is usually done by their mother when they attain puberty. To stretch the lip, a ceramic disc is placed after the cut and will remain until the initial cut has healed before it is placed with another slightly larger disc. The process is repeated so that the lip will become large enough to accommodate the first lip plate which is about 4 centimeters.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Apart from designing their skin with incisions and patterns which are sometimes painted, the lip plate is seen as a boost of one’s self-esteem. The lip plate tradition is valued by both parents because it indirectly means that the father’s number of cows will increase when he is paid her dowry. Any man who must marry a Suri or Mursi lady has to be wealthy because her dowry usually falls between 40 cattle (for the small plate) and 60 (for the large plate).

Because of the self-worth and importance attached to it, some girls increase their lip plate. To their delight, they are often allowed to design her lip plate.

Most times, the women don the lip plate when their intention is to look more appealing. An example is when they want to serve the meal of their male counterpart; as part of their beauty regime or during special ceremonies.

However, their men only have to undergo body painting as their form of ritual. Each scar on the man tells a story: He has fought and killed an enemy.

What a proud people!

By Ogodogun Oghenekevwe