Just when you think you're clued up about your kid's tech, some fiendish new app comes along to keep you on your toes.
A video by Alabama DA, Pamela Casey, recently went viral after it alerted parents to a fake calculator app.
Does your child have this app-- Calculator%? You need to know what this app really is for--- and it isn't for adding numbers! Check out this new video (less than 2 minutes)!
Posted by Blount County District Attorney-41st Judicial Circuit on Tuesday, September 1, 2015
At first glance, the icon may look like a typical calculator, but the app is in fact a "little vault of deception." After you plug in a preset passcode, the app unlocks hidden photos and files.
Calculator% is not the only secret app available on iPhone and Android.
Photo vault apps have been on the market for years, claims social network safety expert, Paul Davis. But this one is particularly sneaky, as it can evade even the most responsible, astute parents. (In this case, look for the % in the name as a giveaway.)
These apps are available to buy in various iterations on iTunes and Google Play, so parents are advised to search "photo vaults" for other apps that may be posing as innocuous tools.
"In the context of secrecy, it's a concern as to why children install [fake calculator] - versus using an app that is obvious," says Davis.
If your kids feel they have something to hide, it may be time to bring the conversation out into the open.
There were plenty of heroes at the scene of the terrorist attack on 9/11 - and not all of them were human. A Golden Retriever named Bretagne was a first responder, charged with sniffing out survivors caught in the rubble of the World Trade Centre.
Now 16, she is the oldest member of the canine unit, and she was honoured with a birthday party worthy of her years of service, including a gourmet doggy burger and the "keys" to the Hudson River dog park.
Though she retired in 2008, in her day Bretagne went over and above the call of duty, even ignoring her handler once to comfort a distressed firefighter at Ground Zero.
“Bretagne and I have a really strong bond," said Bretagne's handler, Denise Corliss. "A lot of dog handlers say you get that one dog, and I’ve had several K9 partners, but Bretagne is that one dog for me,”
The host of the party, 1 Hotel Central Park, kindly donated $1,000 to Texas Task Force 1, the training unit for first responder dogs.
Check out the highlights of Bretagne's big day out, then go and cuddle your own furball. And ask yourself that popular bumper-sticker question: who rescued who?
Charlotte Proudman is a human rights lawyer in the UK. Imagine her surprise when she received this private message from a fellow legal professional on her LinkedIn account:
"Charlotte, delighted to connect, I appreciate this is probably horrendously politically incorrect but that is a stunning picture,” wrote 57 year-old Alexander Carter-Silk, whom Proudman has never met. "You definitely win the prize for the best LinkedIn picture I have ever seen."
Although Proudman initially considered simply deleting the message, she decided to reach out to other female professionals on social media to see whether they were similarly approached.
To Carter-Silk, she had this to say:
"Alex, I find your message offensive. I am on LinkedIn for business purposes, not to be approached about my physical appearance or to be objectified by sexist men.”
It seems many people are treating LinkedIn like it's a dating app rather than a networking site for professionals, as many women contacted Proudman to voice their support over "rampant sexism" across all sectors.
Carter-Silk pleaded in his defence that he was simply remarking on "the professional quality" of Proudman's photo - sure he was - while his firm raced to assert its own integrity and commitment to gender equality blah blah. Sounds like some swift backwards shuffling to me.
But Proudman has also been subjected to criticism, with some accusing her of failing to take a compliment at face value. Some have even accused her of ruining her career by biting "the hand that feeds you," i.e. the male-dominated legal sector.
I bet lawyer Amal Alamuddin - aka Mrs Clooney - would have a few choice words to say about this story...
Can we agree that LinkedIn is not the place to pick up hot professional chicks?
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