Thursday, December 10, 2020

Woman falls into volcano vent on Oregon’s Mount Hood

A woman skiing on Oregon’s Mount Hood (an active volcano) plunged into a vent on its side but lived to tell the tale. The 35-year-old woman said she suffered a dislocated shoulder but otherwise “feels fine” and is on the mend, after slipping off the snow-covered fumarole, a vent in a volcano that emits steam and gases that often smell like rotten eggs but that can be concealed by other weather conditions. She said that a good samaritan nearby had a rope and was able to rescue her from being buried underneath the snow. An avid skier, she was with her husband and was wearing traction shoes and a helmet, and was also equipped with water. Authorities said the quick rescue also saved her from toxic fumes that are usually emitted by fumaroles. (Everett Post)

A ‘lost generation’ of students

The pandemic has forced countless U.S. families into remote learning, a trend that is stalling progress for many young learners. Virtual school has disproportionately disadvantaged minorities and those in high-poverty communities, putting students of color an estimated three to five months behind in math compared to one to three months for White students, according to a McKinsey study. In addition, school districts say the number of students failing classes has risen by as many as two or three times with non-English-speaking and/or disabled students the most affected. (Associated Press)

Researchers find credit card ‘skimmers’ inside social media buttons

Constantly evolving credit card skimming techniques are a new threat to holiday shoppers. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Sansec have discovered a novel technique that inserts payment skimmers onto checkout pages. Malwarebytes said it has also seen this new trick. This isn’t the old-style physical skimmer attached by criminals to, for example, gas pump credit card readers but code that lurks on retailer checkout pages. It is also referred to as e-skimming or a Magecart attack. Online payment thieves developed a new method to hide payment skimmers in perfectly legitimate social media icons, according to a Sansec malware researcher. Those buttons could include Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or any number of well-known social media sites. These malicious icons lurk on checkout pages of hacked stores, and log keystrokes of unsuspecting online shoppers. When you enter your credit card numbers, these icons will send your data to an offshore (often foreign) server for later collection. Magecart-style cyberattacks are becoming widespread. An attack happened recently to online stores that use Magento software. Consumers are most vulnerable when they manually enter credit card information on a web form. That’s where a credit-card skimmer could be lurking. (Sansec)

Minnesota resident’s Christmas light display shamed for ‘harmful impact’ to community in anonymous letter

A home owner in St. Anthony, Minnesota received an anonymous letter from a neighbor recently chastising she and her husband for their Christmas light display. “I couldn’t help but notice your Christmas light display. During these unprecedented times, we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don’t describe what we’re feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas or who can’t afford to put up lights of their own,” the letter, shared by Crime Watch Minneapolis, reads. “We must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have.” The letter then challenges the homeowner to “respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities,” the letter concludes. The woman said that she and her husband were “very surprised, shocked and saddened by the letter.” She explained that “these times we live in are so divisive” and that it’s “a sad statement that Christmas lights have to be a target.” (Fox News)

Breakdancing Added to 2024 Paris Games

Breakdancing became an official Olympic sport as in the International Olympic Committee’s pursuit of urban events to lure a younger audience saw street dance battles officially added to the medal events program at the 2024 Paris Games. The IOC also announced the 2024 Paris Games will feature 100 percent gender equality in its athlete quotas. The 2024 event will have exactly 50 percent male and female participation, surpassing that of the Tokyo Games. “With this program, we are making the Olympic Games Paris 2024 fit for the post-corona world,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement earlier this week. “We are further reducing the cost and complexity of hosting the Games. While we will achieve gender equality already at the upcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, we will see for the first time in Olympic history the participation of the exact same number of female athletes as male athletes. There is also a strong focus on youth.” (CBS News)

More in US access food banks

The number of Americans facing hunger will jump from 35 million a year ago to over 50 million by the end of 2020, with the pandemic forcing many to access food banks for the first time, according to a new report by Feeding America. Some states are more affected than others, Nevada, which has suffered a drop in tourism since March, is expected to move from 20th place in 2018 to fifth place this year in food insecurity, according to the report, while Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana are struggling more. (Associated Press)

Kids take car for multi-state joyride, allegedly as part of social media challenge

Arkansas man builds Christmas tree out of deer antler sheds

A man in Warren, Arkansas said he’s getting requests to build custom Christmas decorations after crafting a unique Christmas “tree” out of deer antler sheds. He came up with the idea after his wife suggested they replace the artificial tree they usually put up around the holidays with a live tree. “We probably put about 15, 16 hours of work in the tree, and once it started coming together, she could actually see it,” he said. “She got excited about it — we both got excited about it.” The couple wasn’t the only ones, either. After debuting the tree on Facebook, he now claims he’s being bombarded with folks asking if he can build one for them, too. “We had gotten a lot of requests to build these trees for other people, and so now we’re looking into it.” (Fox News)

Chick-fil-A location in Ohio being sued by neighboring business over long drive-thru line

It’s not uncommon to see long lines at a Chick-fil-A drive-thru, especially while dining rooms are closed due to the pandemic. For one location in Ohio, however, that long line isn’t a welcome sight for the restaurant’s neighbors. The general manager of a nearby liquor store has sued the Chick-fil-A over its long drive-thru lines. According to the suit, the line of cars extends into the parking lot of the shopping plaza behind the restaurant and causes significant traffic issues. The suit was filed by a local businessman who owns businesses in the nearby shopping center. Business owners have reportedly complained that the line of cars blocks the areas in front of other businesses and has caused issues with customers even being able to access the parking lot. Other customers have reportedly been unable to leave their parking spots after being blocked in. Nearby business owners say the worst times are the lunch and dinner rushes. The lawsuit isn’t asking for money, just for a resolution to the problems caused by the long drive-thru lines. (WTOL 11)

Thursday Smacks Back With:

• Chanukah (at Sundown)
• Dewey Decimal System Day
• Human Rights Day
• International Animal Rights Day
• Jane Addams Day
• Lager Day
• Nobel Prize Day