Newsfront

(May 1, 2015)

THE IMPLICATIONS OF GOOGLE RANKING SITES BASED ON ACCURACY

NZ Herald, 12 Mar 2015

For some time, those of us studying the problem of misinformation in US politics – and especially scientific misinformation – have wondered whether Google could come along and solve the problem in one fell swoop. After all, if Web content were rated such that it came up in searches based on its actual accuracy – rather than based on its link-based popularity – then quite a lot of misleading stuff might get buried. And maybe, just maybe, fewer parents would stumble on dangerous anti-vaccine misinformation (to list one highly pertinent example).

It always sounded like a pipe dream, but in the past week, there's been considerable buzz that Google might indeed be considering such a thing. The reason is that a team of Google researchers recently published a mathematics-heavy paper documenting their attempts to evaluate vast numbers of Web sites based upon their accuracy.

As they put it:

The quality of web sources has been traditionally evaluated using exogenous signals such as the hyperlink structure of the graph. We propose a new approach that relies on endogenous signals, namely, the correctness of factual information provided by the source. A source that has few false facts is considered to be trustworthy.

As our friends at The Intersect note, this does not mean Google is actually going to do this or implement such a ranking system for searches. It means it's studying it. For what purpose, we don't know.

But it's not the company's first inquiry into the realm of automating the discovery of fact. The new paper draws on a prior Google project called the Knowledge Vault, which has compiled more than a billion facts so far by grabbing them from the Web and then comparing them with existing sources. For 271 million of these facts, the probability of actual correctness is over 90 per cent, according to Google.

The new study, though, goes farther. It draws on the Knowledge Vault approach to actually evaluate pages across the Web and determine their accuracy. Through this method, the paper reports, an amazing 119 million Web pages were rated. One noteworthy result, the researchers note, is that Gossip sites and Web forums in particular don't do very well – they end up being ranked quite low, despite their popularity.

Google's new research didn't explicitly mention how this approach might rank science contrarian websites. But media have been reporting this week that climate-change sceptics seem unnerved by the direction that Google appears to be heading.

If this ever moves closer to a reality, then they should be. If you read the Google papers themselves, for instance, you'll note that the researchers explicitly use, as a running example, a fact that has become “political.” Namely, the fact that Barack Obama was born in the United States. And thus, before our eyes, algorithms begin to erode politicised disinformation.

Substitute “Barack Obama was born in the United States” with “Global warming is mostly caused by human activities” or “Childhood vaccines do not cause autism,” and you can quickly see how potentially disruptive these algorithms could be. Which is precisely why, if Google really starts to look like it's heading in this direction, the complaints will get louder and louder.

Stuff, 9 April 2015

New Zealand has pipped Australia as one of the most “socially progressive” countries in the world, outperforming many of its wealthier Counterparts.

In a report released run by US-based not-for-profit organisation The Social Progress Imperative, New Zealand was ranked the world's fifth-most socially progressive country in the Social Progress Index. The country was ranked first in the inaugural index last year, however the organisation said the two results should not be compared because the measures had been changed.

The index measured everything from access to technology, education, and human rights, to environmental Management.

Overall, 133 countries were ranked on their social and environmental performance, using 52 indicators, all pegged against a country's gross domestic product. New Zealand did particularly well in the “person rights” category, ranking first for freedom of expression and political rights. It also ranked third on “access to basic knowledge” and performed well on access to communications, tolerance and inclusion, and freedom of Religion.

However the country did less well on access to nutrition and basic medical care, partly because of our high child-mortality. Environmental sustainability was also something to work on, with poor water management a particular concern.

New Zealand's fifth beat Australia, which was ranked 10th, as well as Canada, Britain and the United States. Norway was listed as the most socially progressive country, followed by Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland. Michael Green, executive director of the Social Progress Imperative, said New Zealand's placing was a “fantastic result” – particularly impressive given it was economically weaker than many countries it outranked, such as the US and Australia.

“It's particularly on the measure of opportunity that New Zealand performs strongly,” he said. Areas in which New Zealand did particularly well, such as rights, tolerance and opportunity, were areas that globally were the weakest. If the world was measured as a whole it would be about as socially progressive as Cuba or Kazakhstan.

New Zealand ranked 5th overall. Australia ranked 10th

Ranked 1st on “personal rights”
Ranked 7th on “personal freedom and choice”
Ranked 5th on “tolerance and inclusion”
Ranked 8th on “access to information and communications”
Ranked 28th on “nutrition and basic medical care”
Ranked 34th on child mortality
Ranked 34th on “ecosystem sustainability”
Ranked 61st on ‘water withdrawals”.

VACCINATION WARNING AHEAD OF POTENTIAL WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC

NZ Herald, 19 Apr 2015

Parents are being warned to vaccinate themselves and their children ahead of a potential whooping cough epidemic. The highly contagious disease, also known as pertussis, is said to work in cycles, with a large-scale outbreak every two to five years.

“Every few years we see a huge spike of pertussis cases in New Zealand, and with the last one starting in 2011 and only just waning now, we can expect another in the near future,” registered nurse and former Waikato DHB immunisation coordinator Kim Hunter said. “We've done a good job of getting lots of adults immunised, particularly parents and grandparents, but in 70 per cent of whooping cough cases in babies, they catch it from a parent or close family member, so we need to keep working to prevent that from happening.”

Infants are worst affected by the disease as their airways are smaller, and they are quickly exhausted by the wracking cough that is a hallmark of the condition, she said. If they are placed in the intensive care unit, they have a one in six chance of suffering severe lung damage, brain damage, or of dying from the disease, she said.

Babies should be vaccinated against whooping cough at six weeks, three months and five months, Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, senior lecturer at the department of general practice and primary health care at the University of Auckland said.

“If you put off vaccinating your baby, all you're doing is leaving them unprotected for a longer period of time,” she Said.

The warning comes ahead of Immunisation Week, which runs from Monday April 20 to Friday April 24. It aims to raise awareness among parents of young children and babies of the importance of immunisation to protect their child against serious illnesses.

SCIENTOLOGISTS USE CHURCH'S PHILOSOPHIES TO TRAIN TEENS TO DRIVE

Stuff, 18 April 2015

A private education trust is having a roaring success teaching government-funded driver licence courses using education techniques inspired by the teaching methodology of the controversial Church of Scientology.

But the Secular Education Network is decrying the classes, saying any influence of the church on the education material meant a “biased education” was being Delivered.

Registered charity Rule Education Trust, run by David Rule, is delivering driver licence courses to Aucklanders in need. Rule set up the not-for-profit in 2002 and has since launched courses in more than 15 locations across Auckland, including marae, decile 1 schools, community centres and prisons.

Rule has been a member of the Church of Scientology for 30 years and uses some of the teaching techniques he learned while teaching the church's study skills Programme.

Rule taught Scientology's Applied Scholastics programmes alongside Auckland social worker Betty Wark. Applied Scholastics International teaches study skills developed by the church's founder L Ron Hubbard. The techniques include making sure students understand the meanings of words, encouraging them to physically interact with what they are learning about and not teaching too much too soon.

Rule said he believed in the education technology and while he did not teach these study skills or any religious material during the driver licence courses, he did draw on what he had learned in his time teaching Applied Scholastics.

Last year more than 1000 people enrolled in the driver licence courses and about 200 people across the region were currently attending classes. About half the people enrolled in the courses were referred by organisations like police and Work and Income (WINZ), and the success rate was sitting at about 75 per cent for the community and prison classes and more than 95 per cent in high schools.

The courses are funded partly by Auckland Transport and Adult and Community Education Funding. In the past, money had been received from the Ministry of Social Development and the trust hoped to gain funding from Auckland Council.

Rule said people attending the courses often found it hard to come up with money to pay for test fees and for the means to get to courses. The people Rule taught in prison were often there for repeat driving offenses, sometimes for driving without a licence.

Year 13 Tangaroa College student Filiamata Tapumanaia attended a course last week and passed her learner licence on Friday, along with 21 other students. Tapumanaia said she knew having her licence would improve her chance of getting a job.

Tangaroa College careers advisor Susanna Sabbage said gaining a driver licence was a “huge confidence booster”. A significant amount of students from the decile 1, south Auckland school would go on to work in a trade, where a driver licence was essential.

Rule was in the process of piloting restricted and full-driver licence classes and tests at James Cook High School. He was also training more tutors and expanding the reach of the courses to take in west Auckland. He said his ultimate goal was to open a private school using the Applied Scholastics technology where parents could also join classes.

Meanwhile, the church hopes its education courses would be revived and one day a school would be founded. Church of Scientology New Zealand secretary Mike Ferriss said there was currently a lack of resources but he hoped the opening of Scientology's Athena School in Sydney would have a flow-on effect. Some church members home school their children, including Rule and himself, he said.

Ferriss said the church's teaching programmes were “common sense” and they did not teach religion or anything with a spiritual base. “People will try and conflate them together because that's what they want to Think.”

While Ferriss was “passionate about education”, the church's current focus was on moving into its $10.2 million heritage building in central Auckland.

Ferriss said the church had secured the additional funding to carrying out the renovations, something that would cost more than the building itself, and it would open in about 12 months.

The work on the new building came at a time when the church was once again under fire following the release of the scathing 2015 documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief based on the book by Lawrence Wright.

Ferriss said members of the church's New Zealand branch “cringe” each time a documentary or damning piece of media is released.

“That creates a very negative picture. We're kind of used to it.”

NEW BEAUTY TREND SNAILS THE LOOK

NZ Herald, 26 Apr 2015

Kiwi women are turning to a humble garden pest in the search for eternal beauty. Snail slime is being sought as a miracle face-fixer to make skin appear softer and younger.

Snail Soap, imported from Europe, has customers in a lather at La Cigale French market in the Auckland suburb of Parnell. And a new craze of snail facials – which involves shelled slugs being placed on the face – is expected to arrive at New Zealand beauty parlours soon. The trendy Snail Soap costs $25 a bar. Made in Portugal, it contains snail slime, virgin olive oil, honey and extracts from medicinal plants.

“Some people have a chuckle when they see it has snail slime in it, others go, ‘Oh, God' and need a bit of convincing,” Dianne Perillo, La Cigale Shop manager, said. “But it is proving popular with women who can afford it.”

It is claimed snail mucus helps reduce pigmentation and scarring, as well as beating wrinkles.

“Young to middle-aged women who are well-versed in organic products and looking for something different have been buying the Snail Soap,” Perillo said.

“No one has come back and said it is rubbish or doesn't work.”

The healing and repairing powers of the slime was discovered when snail farmers in Chile, harvesting for the French food market, noticed their hands were extremely soft and smooth, and minor cuts healed quickly.

Laboratory analysis showed a substance called Helix Aspersia Muller produced by the snail to quickly regenerate its shell and skin contains beneficial glycolic acid, collagen, elastin, allantoin, vitamins and minerals. Actor Katie Holmes, former wife of Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, is said to have taken to the product.

Snail facials are popular in Thailand, Japan and the US. Beauty salons in New Zealand are now eyeing the craze.

Stacey Power, cosmetic nurse and co-director of Ever Young in Auckland, said the idea would take getting used to.

“Some Kiwis will probably think it is all a bit weird and might consider using their own snails from the garden,” she said. “But snail facials are believed to be very good, particularly for treating scarring,”

Dani Revell, founder of the We Are Anthology blogging site representing a number of beauty bloggers, tested a snail facial for the Herald on Sunday.

It was “a bit weird” but said she'd be willing to try again. “I didn't mind the snails being on my face but it was a bit creepy when they came into my vision because their heads and shells appeared huge,” she said. “But my skin felt clean and tight afterwards.”

But Christchurch-based dermatologist David Nicholls said he hadn't seen any scientific proof to back up the claims for snail slime.