The international political economy of the hack: A closer look at markets for cybersecurity software

This article examines the development of hacking and cybersecurity software packages as commodities, based on an international political economy of vendors and clients operating in the interstices of international law. Offensive hacking and defensive cybersecurity tools offer new means for surveillance of critics, journalists, and human rights workers, especially in corrupt or authoritarian political systems. The article provides a case study of the Hacking Team, an international “cybersecurity” firm offering spyware and surveillance systems to government security agencies, which was itself hacked and “doxed” in 2015. The leak of documents contributes new knowledge of an international political economy for software products, which exploits the digital rights of targets and which could further undermine general Internet security.     

Skating start propulsion: three-dimensional kinematic analysis of elite male and female ice hockey players

The forward skating start is a fundamental skill for male and female ice hockey players. However, performance differences by athlete’s sex cannot be fully explained by physiological variables; hence, other factors such as skating technique warrant examination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the body movement kinematics of ice hockey skating starts between elite male and female ice hockey participants. Male (n = 9) and female (n = 10) elite ice hockey players performed five forward skating start accelerations. An 18-camera motion capture system placed on the arena ice surface captured full-body kinematics during the first seven skating start steps within 15 meters. Males’ maximum skating speeds were greater than females. Skating technique sex differences were noted: in particular, females presented ~10° lower hip abduction throughout skating stance as well as ~10° greater knee extension at initial ice stance contact, conspicuously followed by a brief cessation in knee extension at the moment of ice contact, not evident in male skaters. Further study is warranted to explain why these skating technique differences exist in relation to factors such as differences in training, equipment, performance level, and anthropometrics.     

Sport-specific factors predicting player retention in junior cricket

Understanding factors that motivate young athletes to continue participation in sport can help key stakeholders cultivate an environment that fosters long-term participation. This investigation sought to determine the performance and participation factors that influenced continued participation in junior cricket. Administration-level data were collected each annual season across a seven-year period by a community-level junior cricket association in Australia and analysed to identify the performance and participation-based predictors of player retention. All players were males aged <16 years. Players were categorised according to whether they remained in (or departed from) the association at the end of each playing season. A multivariate logistic regression model with a stepwise variable selection was employed to identify significant independent predictors of player retention. The number of innings batted and overs bowled were significant participation-related contributors to junior cricket player retention. Performance factors such as the number of wickets taken and the number of runs scored also significantly influenced player retention. Finally, team age group, the number of previous seasons played and age were also significant factors in player retention. This demonstrates that sufficient opportunity for children to participate in the game and expression of skills competence are key factors for retention in cricket.     

Laptops in the Scottish Primary School: Interim Report

Abstract

The following paper should be seen as an addition to that provided in the Proceedings of the 7th ICTE.’ For reasons of brevity, it does not deal to any large extent with the background to the project, but details the progress of a study into the effects of introducing laptops into primary (elementary) school. The project has provided every pupil in one class with a laptop computer and has tracked the use being made of it as a curriculum tool for writing. The second phase of the project is under way, with a completion date of April 1991.     

>How to avoid implying that physicalism is true: a problem for teachers of science

It is difficult to teach science without implying, in a broad sense, that physicalism is true. This is a problem for teachers, regardless of whether they accept or reject physicalism, as well as for students. Physicalism‐‐it used to be called materialism‐‐is not a single doctrine, but a family of doctrines. Six of these are described and it is argued that they are not logically favoured by science. Since alternative metaphysical schemes exist (e.g. Whitehead's) which are consistent with scientific facts, evidence which supports a scientific theory over rivals, even decisively, does not have the logical power to decide in favour of physicalism. Science teaching's insinuation of physicalism can be avoided by deliberately stressing such uncontroversial features of science as: the unfinished nature of research; the use of idealizations in scientific theories; how all scientific theories at best only approach the truth; and that older theories are now known to be, strictly, false, although they still fit the facts to some degree.