Robo Kids Need Help For Traveling
In collaboration with UH-Manoa, students from Waianae Elementary, Kamaile Academy and Nanaikapono Elementary are preparing to send 12 students to a weeklong summer robotics camp at the LegoLeague national headquarters in Manchester, N.H. The camp will teach the students about robot construction, programming strategies and teamwork.
These students received their first taste of robotics as a result of their participation in PALS (Program for Afterschool Literacy Support).
PALS is an enrichment program developed for fourth, fifth and sixth graders on the Waianae Coast.
Their projects are implemented and developed based on the students’ interests relevant to their community, and this is the first year PALS brought robotics into the program. Their teams even participated in the recent district and state robotics tournaments.
Additionally, other PALS students have researched and built aquaponics systems, traditional soil gardens, created public service announcements and more.
The cost of attending the summer camp is $2,400 per person (airfare, camp tuition, room/board and transportation). PALS is required to raise most of these funds in order to send these students and teachers to the summer camp.
In addition, each student requires $250 for incidental expenses.
All checks should be made out to UH Foundation and mailed to Kay Fukuda, PALS Project Director, Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity, 2600 Campus Road, QLSSC 413, Honolulu, HI 96822. For more information call 561-0427.
Protecting Yourself from Online Scams
With the prices of everything climbing higher and higher, it can be tempting to fall into the trap of a quick money-making scheme, a work-at-home job offer, or if you’re struggling with weight a lose-weight-quick gimmick.
To educate us, the folks at PC Tools are providing some insight into the tactics used to keep their customers protected from online scams. The hope is that by doing this, you will think twice about your actions online.
Keywords are an important part of the methodology cybercriminals use to catch the attention of consumers and encourage them to click through to online scams. So the detection of these keywords is essential to providing effective protection. PC Tools uses this technique in conjunction with the analysis of browser actions and traditional black and white listing techniques to alert their customers to potential online scams.
“There’s a substantial database of keywords that our technology uses to help detect and assess potential scam websites,” says Richard Clooke, Online Security Expert for PC Tool. “If a pop-up appears offering to help you ‘Burn Fat Fast’, but asks for payment to sign up to a super-new diet plan, think twice before you go ahead.”
At a glance, here’s a small selection of the common keywords PC Tools uses as a first indicator of whether a scam is present on a website:
* Work from home scam: Home/Online/Work/Jobs
* Diet scam: Burn/Fat/Fast/Diet/Pay/Buy/Acai/Weight/Mango
* Mobile Phone Scam: Service/Bill/Billed/Charges/Charged/Subscription/Subscribe/Subscribed/Terms/Conditions
This is important considering PC Tools and the Ponemon Institute revealed that 53 percent of U.S. respondents admitted that they would provide their own credit card information for get-rich-quick or work-from-home scams.
Furthermore, according to the research, the percentages of Americans who could be duped by such a scam could be even higher: 62 percent think their friend is likely to provide their credit card details for further information. And while the respondents were talking about their friends, researchers say when they speak about the motivations of those they know, they are actually speaking about themselves.
Visit: pctools.com/news/view/id/ 309/ for the full results of this survey. The PC Tools software is available for $50 for a 12-month license (up to three computers).
