ALEXA TELLS FAMILY SECRETS

ALEXA TELLS FAMILY SECRETS


PORTLAND, May 25, 2018, Can your voice-controlled smart speaker be trusted? Maybe not as a recent family in Portland just discovered when their Alexa speaker not only recorded their private conversation but sent the recording to a friend on their contact list, KIRO-TV Seattle reported.  But how could this have happened and how can it have prevented?

In every robotic device, there is a series of wake words which activate them. By saying Alexa, Echo, Amazon or Computer to a speaker you will turn on the device and if you were to accidentally say something that sounds like “send a message” you might be releasing information unbeknownst to you.

In the case of the family, Alexa sent the conversation to a series of cloud-computing servers. When Alexa asked if a particular person was the correct person to be sent, Alexa somehow heard yes and then sent the message. How can these false positives be prevented?  According to the report, Forrester predicts by 2020 almost 50% of American households will contain a smart speaker as a voice-activated digital assistant. Amazon responded to the report by stating that it is evaluating options to make cases such as happened to the Portland family less likely.

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Verbs tenses active and passive

Tense	Active	Passive
present simple	I write a book.	A book is written.
present continuous	I am writing a book.	A book is being written.
past simple	I wrote a book.	A book was written.
past continuous	I was writing a book.	A book was being written.
present perfect	I have written a book.	A book has been written.
past perfect	I had written a book.	A book had been written.
future simple	I will write a book.	A book will be written.
future	I am going to write a book.	A book is going to be written.
modal	I must write a book.	A book must be written.
modal perfect	I should have written a book.	A book should have been written.

Curcumin(kur-kyoo-min)

Remember, curcumin is usually poorly absorbed into the bloodstream. 

So, it helps to consume black pepper with it, which has piperine, a natural substance that enhances the absorption of curcumin by 2000%.

Curcumin

1. Curcumin is fat soluble, so it works better with a fatty meal.

2. Curcumin is a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compound. It reduces swelling.

3. Turmeric Increases the Antioxidant Capacity of The Body: Oxidative damage is one of the mechanisms behind aging and many diseases. Curcumin has powerful antioxidant effects. It neutralizes free radicals on its own, then stimulates the body's own antioxidant enzymes.

4. Curcumin Boosts Brain Function and a Lowers Risk of Brain Diseases: Curcumin boosts levels of the brain hormone BDNF, which increases the growth of new neurons and fights various degenerative processes in the brain.

5. Curcumin Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease: Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world. Curcumin has beneficial effects on several factors known to play a role in heart disease.

6. Turmeric Fights Cancer: Curcumin leads to several changes on the molecular level that may help prevent and even treat cancer.

7. Curcumin is Useful in Preventing and Treating Alzheimer's Disease: Curcumin can cross the blood-brain barrier which leads to various improvements in the pathological process of Alzheimer’s disease.

8. Arthritis Patients Respond to Curcumin: Many studies show that curcumin can help treat symptoms of arthritis and is in some cases more effective than anti-inflammatory drugs.

9. Curcumin Fights Depression: Curcumin has shown some promise in treating depression. There is also some evidence that curcumin can boost the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

10. Curcumin May Help Delay Aging and Fight Age-Related Chronic Diseases: But given that oxidation and inflammation are believed to play a role in aging, curcumin may have effects that go beyond just prevention of these diseases.

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mrubman@gmail.com

The women’s movement

The success of the women’s movement eventually led to the creation of the modern-day feminist.

This new movement called for a reexamination of policies, politics, and procedures from the patriarchal American government. This movement could be countered in the media.

For example, The Cosmopolitan cover from September 1953 shows five dancers in revealing glittering dance outfits. All have their legs raised and are smiling or laughing.  This cover’s provocative image reinforces the sexual nature of women which was detailed by the Kinsey report, a document on the sexual behavior of women (DuBois, 540).

Betty Friedan, a leader in the women’s movement stressed the unhappiness of educated women. Women want more than just, “my husband, my children, and my home,” (DuBois, 542). There is a large segment of the population that mustn’t be forgotten, the middle class, the workers, teachers, nurses. The feminist movement grew along with the civil rights movement as many were feeling that power of an idea whose time had come. (DuBois, 598)

Photographs of the labor movement of the 50s and 60s were very important and could tell you a lot about the climate of the times. For example, the photograph entitled Women and Union Activism shows a crowd of almost all white women displaying their UAW union cards, they are all smiling and looking up at the camera.

This new-found attention continued in all avenues, as women soon became the focus of specific political campaigns as we see in the photograph entitled, Republican Women for Nixon. (DuBois, 554) Here are three young white women sitting on a short wall in skirts all holding a banner with slogans like Young Republican Spirts of the 60s, Nixon for President and the GOP The Best for Me (DuBois, 554) these images show how stereotypes are used for peer pressure.

One woman that girls could look up to in the 1950s, was biologist Rachel Carson. In her famous book, Silent Spring she discusses her love of fresh air and forests and was usually shown in an outside rustic environment. On the cover of her book, the Sea Around Us, Carson is featured smiling against the rugged waves of the ocean.
When feminist voices began to be heard, more needs arose for the movement’s influence. One such demand was that of the anti-nuclear movement, which eventually formed the organization, Women Strike for Peace(WSF). This anti-nuclear group would strike and hold banners such as, Women Strike for Peace (DuBois, 555).

Leaders in the women’s movement grew and were shown in different positive light images, for example, the image of Dolores Huerta shows her signing up members of the United Farm Workers. Dolores eventually forced an agreement between the growers and the Unions. (Dubois, 570). There were also several African Americans that help with the Black Power movement. One such famous popular leader was Angela Davis, as the photograph shows we see her speaking to a large group in an urban setting (DuBois, 613).

Civil rights and women’s rights were both fighting for change.
As the feminist movement became more accepted conservative politicians began to join in and careful agendas were created. Many famous female politicians and first ladies started attended events, greatly helping the feminist movement. (DuBois, 640) A new feminist organization NOW was created with a very organized modern agenda including equal rights amendment, the law banning sex discrimination, maternity rights, tax deductions, child care, and equal education. (DuBois, 610)

Feminism is still relevant today more than ever. Recently, in fact, the wave of sexual harassment accusations has shown that abuse of male power is still everywhere. The issue of equal pay for equal work is still a current issue of the feminist movement. And the right to control your bodies, i.e. abortion rights are also still an issue today. Regarding being called a feminist, after all this research,  I now see it depends on the definition. But I would add, I think all people should be treated as equals.

References

Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents, E. DuBois, L.Dumenil., Bedford, Boston, 2005
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Contact 323 377 8298

mrubman@gmail.com

American political system

The American political system has many core ideas and does uphold American values. Let us look at some of these values to see how the political system works when it comes to American Freedoms and the American Bill of Rights. 

The American Bill of Rights and its amendments guarantee many important freedoms. The first value that I believe is key in America is the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights or the freedom of speech.

Throughout history, the ability to speak up and protest has been important to express the positive and negative issues. This freedom is not something that exists everywhere, and its value is immense. Many people have died to try to protest in other counties.

Recently, there has been a lot of controversy around another amendment. That is the 2nd amendment or the right to bear arms. Here we can see how strong our values are and how the process works together. After the recent attack on a school in Florida, students started to protest and protest the ease at which a former student legally obtained a dangerous firearm.

Many young and old citizens wanted to change the law. These protestors marched on Washington and other cities to show their disagreement with the law.

The students shouted, screamed, and voiced their opposition. They told their elected officials that they were angry, and they wanted changes. Only in the United States, can students feel safe enough to protest and complain. The American value of voicing disagreement to change laws is universally key to the American system. The system upholds values since elections decide who will serve, and we have the power to vote elected officials out of office. That is the key to democracy, modern elections.

One of the founding fathers who is my hero was Benjamin Franklin. He was one of the most influential men of the eighteenth century. One of the things he was most influential in was the separation of the American colonies from British rule. He was the only man to sign all four major documents. The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of the alliance with France, the Constitution of the United States, and the Treaty of peace with Great Britain.

Benjamin Franklin made many contributions to American society. He invented such things as bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. Franklin's bifocal design has remained mostly unchanged to modern times. He also started the first free library, wrote poor Richards Almanack and was the first postmaster general while being the oldest member of the constitutional convention. Poor Richards Almanack was an enormous success and was translated into many languages including for the first time, into Slovene. Franklin not only wrote the almanac but also wrote it under a fake name, not wanting to take too many accolades for his success. Franklin's work lives on, not just in the ideals of America but in a simple phrase for which he is also credited for, that a penny saved is a penny earned.

Frank Fisher: A Tongue Twister

Repeat the following three times.

There was an old fisherman named Frank Fisher, Who fished for some fish in a fissure, Till a fish with a grin,
Pulled the fisherman in, Now they’re fishing the fissure for Frank Fisher.

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The Decimal(des-uh-muhl) from www.gofundme.com/AmericanEnglishHollywood.

The American Decimal(des-uh-muhl)Point

Numbers 2: The Decimal(des-uh-muhl)

Exercise 1: Practice saying the following aloud

Note: [this sign = means (equal)] spoken aloud as (5+5=10) (five plus five equals ten). 

1,000,000,000,000. = One trillion(tril-yuhn)

1,000,000,000. =One billion(bil-yuhn)

1,000,000. =One million(mil-yuhn)

1,000. =One thousand(thou-zuhnd)

100.=One hundred(huhn-drid)

10.=Ten(ten)

1.=One(wuhn)

0=zero

.10(wuhn-tenth)

.01(wuhn-huhn-dritth)

.001(wuhn-thousandth)

from American English 

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