October 2013

Parents should ban electronic media during mealtimes and after bedtime as part of a comprehensive "family media use plan," according to new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The influential new guidelines are being spurred by a growing recognition of kids' nearly round-the-clock media consumption, which includes everything from television to texting and social media. "Excessive media use is associated with obesity, poor school performance, aggression and lack of sleep," said Marjorie Hogan, co-author of the new policy and a pediatrician. Families should have a no-device rule during meals and after bedtime, the guidelines say. Parents should also set family rules covering the use of the Internet and social media and cellphones and texting, including, perhaps, which sites can be visited, who can be called and giving parental access to Facebook accounts. The policy also reiterated the AAP's existing recommendations: Kids should limit the amount of screen time for entertainment to less than two hours per day; children younger than 2 shouldn't have any TV or Internet exposure. Also, televisions and Internet-accessible devices should be kept out of kids' bedrooms.

Doctors say parents need to abide by the family rules, too, to model healthy behavior.

Mobile security researchers have discovered a new way for attackers to access mobile phone apps from Wi-Fi networks.

On Oct 29, mobile security researchers will demonstrate a simple attack that exploits a vulnerability in the code within iOS apps. The vulnerability allows attackers to persistently alter the server URL from which a mobile app loads its data, so that instead of loading data from realserver.com, for instance, the attack makes the app load data from attacker.com, without the victim knowing. Attackers could use that data to load malicious links, or insert fake, market-moving news into a news app. The researchers from Skycure, a mobile security company, said that in the past they had alerted vulnerable app makers to a vulnerability before making it public. In this case, however, they said such responsible disclosure was all but impossible because the vulnerability was present in hundreds of apps they tested, including stock management apps to news apps.

AT&T is postponing an effective price increase on some of its dedicated data and voice lines after the move was met with strong opposition from customers and competitors who buy the service.

AT&T announced earlier this month it would no longer offer extended contracts, and the discounts that come with it, for older types of high-capacity network connections for businesses known as "special access lines." Sprint and other telecommunications companies that buy the connections claimed the move was anticompetitive and complained to the Federal Communications Commission. AT&T and Verizon Communications control 80% of the special access market, Sprint and other rivals say. The connections are used mostly by businesses that need dedicated network connections for such purposes as hooking up ATMs or connecting field offices to a company headquarters. Wireless carriers use them to connect cell towers to the broader network, and the connections are also bought by AT&T's competitors and resold to businesses. On Oct 25, AT&T sent a letter to business customers saying it will postpone the changes for 30 days in order to "address questions and concerns that customers have raised."

AT&T must notify the FCC of any changes to its special access lines.

A team of American transparency advocates will test a British model for open data standards in the United States, with $250,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Led by open data pioneer Waldo Jaquith, the US team will work with the UK-based Open Data Institute to replicate its model and determine its effectiveness stateside. The institute’s goal is to encourage governments and businesses to adopt open data standards as a way to promote economic growth, innovation and social change. The US team, for example, will connect government agencies, businesses and nonprofits with experts and vendors who can help them be more transparent. The effort will also help these organizations overcome the barriers preventing them from sharing their data, by hosting convenings and creating open source projects that can fill the gaps. The US team is guided by an advisory board consisting of Aneesh Chopra, former U.S. chief technology officer, Daniel X. O’Neil, executive director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, and Max Ogden, a noted open data developer and alumnus of Code for America.