How Do We Mourn In a Digital Age? 哀傷，在這新的世界？

This is a question that I have no answers. It's open for everyone to think about.
I came across this post today about our loss of a brilliant Steemian @lauralemons. I seemed to see this name but cannot recall exactly. I wasn't privileged enough to know her but obviously a lot of old Steemians know her so I can feel their grief.
As I didn't know her, this post isn't about Laura. Just that the post reminds me of my past experience of mourning a close relative of mine. A few years back, I lost a younger cousin of mine. She was only a little over thirty back then. Let's call her Angel.
Angel was the daughter of my mom's sister. She was a warm, caring and optimistic person with always a smile on her face. Even she was diagnosed with a troublesome disease at a very young age, her smile wasn't seemed to be shadowed by this saddened incident. She and I weren't in the same city, so we did not see each other often. Mostly once a year during the new year holidays. But we feel close when we see each other every time.
She was in the service industry for her entire career. She likes to interact with people I guess although these kind of jobs don't get you good salaries here. I have always admired her braveness as had this happened to me, I would have been very depressed to even lead a normal life. Later when I got married and later was blessed with a lovely baby boy, Angel was there to cheer for us and very happy to be his auntie. Angel did not get married probably due to her disease, so she shared her love to those kids in the family including mine.
One day I was told that Angel passed away and I was speechless and shocked. She was probably the first close relative of my generation to pass away. How could it be? how could it? She was so young and beautiful and caring and nice and everything... Why would God want to take her away? Just like that. Life disappeared overnight. Without a sign.
I didn't go to her funeral as my family thought we were so close. We weren't and we were. I did not blame them for not letting me know. So I might had cried for a few hours and was depressed for a few days but I got over it as we did not really have very deep attachment.
Three months later. I received a message from facebook. Today is Angel's birthday! Write a birthday wish on her timeline ... It was then I realize for the first time that people don't die on facebook. They can live as long as facebook shall live. I checked all the most recent messages on her page. Three months ago, there were a lot of messages expressing condolences. Some were even told by these mourning and got shocked. How advanced are we to learn others' death from internet messages...
As I checked Angel's photos of her fantastic life (yeah, quite a lot of places she had been to and a lot of cuisines she had eaten), I felt relieved to see her had a good run but at the same time I knew that facebook messages sometimes do not even come close to one's real life. I could only hope for the better.
I wrote a few words for her as well. Still a happy birthday to her although she had started another one. And said something like she will always be on our mind. I had no one to say to except facebook version of her.
I knew that at this time next year, facebook would notify me again. As no one will ever want to turn that page off. Angel will always be there. Always like that in her thirty's. She will not get old like we will. One day her nephew will grow to be his auntie's age...
In this digital age, we can all have a version of us online, on the blockchain maybe ... maybe even your entire life can be mostly recorded in the future ... If the technology is going to gather more and more information or even get an AI to mimic the dead, it will certainly make us dizzy and wonder what death means then....
Still, at the bottom of my heart, I know that she had left. No matter how many photos there are how many words she said there are... She was long gone. And I can imagine that even an AI can pretend to be her to some extreme standard, I can tell the difference.
The way we mourn our love ones' death is always the same. Never will it change. What changes is only the format. Deep down there is no other way for a human to mourn a human. If there is, we are not human any more.
Sorry, the blockchain does not have answer this time.

_{image - pixabay}
今天意外看到這篇文章，說的是一個令人悲傷的消息，一位資深的Steemian @lauralemons過世了。我對於這名字有模糊的印象，但應該沒有什麼交集或淵源，只是看到許多老用戶在悼念她，同感到悲傷而已。
這讓我想到，多年前我一個表妹的過世。表妹是一個開朗樂觀、永遠臉上帶著微笑的小女孩。在我心中，她永遠是這樣一個可愛的女孩，只是後來我已經看不到她變老了。
表妹長年在南部，偶而也到過台北工作過幾年，但我們通常很少機會見面。過年時回老家，親戚聚會是最可能的場合。她總是笑咪咪，開朗迎人，我從不曾在她臉上看過哀傷。但造化弄人，表妹在年紀很輕時就被診斷出一種不好對付的疾病，當時我們知道後都感到十分震驚，但她臉上的笑容卻似乎從不曾受到影響。媽媽偶爾會更新她治療的情況，但我總是不忍多聽，後來似乎也穩定了，生活工作都可以如常。
她在餐飲類服務業工作，可能也是跟她喜歡與人互動有關，即使這行業在台灣並不容易出頭也不容易有高一點的薪水，她仍然樂在其中。聽到她一點一滴在累積自己的資歷，我們也為她感到高興。可能因為生病之故，她都沒有走向結婚這條路，就連男朋友也沒有聽人提起過。但她的愛可以分享給家人，我結婚時，生小孩時，她都參與其中且可以感受到她的真心歡喜。
幾年前某天，家人通知我，表妹過世了。一時之間，我感到無可置信。她還這麼年輕啊？上天為什麼要這麼殘酷呢？這麼好的一個人，這麼豐沛的愛，世界真的就這麼殘忍嗎？當時，死亡對我來說，都是七老八十的家族親長們，悲傷固然，悲痛不至於，這是生命的常態，說得過去。三十年華的表妹，說不過去，不合理，不應該。沒有人會回答你這問題。痛哭幾小時，再加上幾天的低落情緒後，我算是終於走出這情緒，畢竟我們不算真正有培養深厚的家人般的情感。面對這些，只能讓時間過去。
三個月後，我臉書接到一個訊息，通知我今天是表妹的生日，要我留言祝福。那是我第一次意識到，臉書可以讓你長生不老，永遠存在，只要伺服器不關。我都忘記我有她臉書了。於是我瀏覽著她臉書過去三個月來的訊息，三個月前，哀悼的訊息湧入，祝福她一路好走，下輩子再做朋友等等... 還有人明顯是到這裡才被通知死訊，震驚於此事的發生... 好殘忍的時代啊，臉書通知妳臉友的死亡...
我看著表妹過往的照片，她一如過往般的，似乎在三個月前的時光裡，仍那般快樂悠閒。拉拉拉拉，你可以上看她這幾年的生活，到哪裡去玩，吃了什麼東西，轉通知朋友什麼生活小訊息，開心跟其他朋友合照等等... 一切都還在，彷彿觸手可及... 雖然臉書所呈現的生活，跟真正的生活有可能是天差地別的，但我們作為生者，總是願意相信任何亡者曾經非常快樂的徵候，總是希望她不曾有過遺憾，走的時候快速而安靜，趕緊下一趟美好的旅程...
我也不免俗地留下紀錄。祝福她這一生的生日快樂，希望她下一生也早日快樂。告訴她，我們永遠會念著她。顯然是寫給我自己看的。她已經走了，不在臉書上了，但也許我們不知道，其實她看得見？那時我知道，明年此時，我還會收到通知，我相信祖克伯的工程師們。
沒有人會有動機想去關掉表妹的帳戶，家人尤其是。誰不希望能永遠看到她這樣的存在。她的臉書版本，會一直存在，她不會變老，我們才會。兒子長大了，他還不太記得的表阿姨可能漸漸跟他同一年紀。這世界，這數位的世界，甚至是這區塊鏈的世界，可以把人都數位化了，栩栩如生你看過嗎？相片比本人更真實。影像不用說，聲音不用說，甚至以後會有AI來模擬人的說話與表情？可能還能在我七十大壽時聽到表妹的祝賀？
天啊？那樣的世界又該怎麼面對？我們既不捨於亡者的離去，難道就能接受他們的永存？
內心深處，我知道表妹就是走了。在多相片、影音甚至AI都無法模擬。她早已經走遠了，我們也該離開了，彼此懷著記憶裡的愛離開吧。數位化、智慧化，都只是表象。
一個人類哀悼另一個人類的死亡，只能有一種方式。那就是讓時間遺忘傷痛，留下美好的記憶。或就是只是遺忘。
這是不會變的。如果有一天變了，那人類可能也不再是人類了吧？
區塊鏈今天請閉嘴吧。

What is Gorilla Glass, Sapphirewhat is Gorilla Glass, Sapphire glass, Tempered Glass & Dragontrail glass glass, Tempered Glass & Dragontrail glass

Gorilla Glass and Dragontrail Glass are both very hard and tough glasses. Both these glasses are scratch resistant and are very difficult to break. Here I am making a clear comparison between these two to find out what makes them different from each other in terms of their properties and usage.

Lets First get to know what is Gorilla Glass, Sapphire glass, Tempered Glass & Dragontrail glass.

 Gorilla Glass :
 Gorilla glass is registered trademark of Corning Glass Company of USA, it’s a alkali-aluminosilicate sheet toughened glass, it’s a special type of glass which has following properties, its hard, thin, lightweight & scratch resistant, after steve jobs used gorilla glass on Iphone, gorilla glass became the choice of all high end device makers and used in laptops, mobiles, tablets and other portable devices
 Gorilla glass have different versions, like Gorilla glass 2 & newer and better Gorilla glass 4, which is more shatter resistant the previous generation glasses
 Also please note that its not the glass which is scratch resistant but it’s the “secret” coating these manufacturer make which gives the hardness along with the chemical process of making glass bonds stronger

 Dragontrail:
 Dragontrail is also a alkali aluminosilicate glass which is made by Asahi Glass company of Japan, Dragontrail is considered to be more resistant than gorilla glass 2 and suppose to resist scratch better, it can also support more weight upto 60kg. although in drop tests it does not compare well against the Gorilla glass. it can break more easily than GG3

Sapphire Glass:
 Sapphire is not glass at all but it’s a crystalline material, sapphire glass is made of synthetic sapphire which are made in labs. Synthetic sapphire is generally made by applying incredibly high heat and pressure to aluminum oxide powder and getting blocks of synthetic spphire, these blocks are then cut and polished in screen sizes and this is what is called a sapphire glass
 Sapphire is very hard and compared to gorilla or dragontrail glass but sapphire transmits 6% less light. Also its heavier than gorilla glass of same thickness.

 Sapphire glass is nothing new, infact high quality watches have been using sapphire glass from a long time but the watch glass are usually 2 to 3 times thicker than the glass used on mobile devices. But all this has now changed, as companies have found to produce sapphire glass as screens. But sapphire are prone to shatters, they can shatter easily compared to Gorilla Glass or Dragontrail glass.


 Tempered Glass:
 Tempered glass screen protectors are essentially toughened glass, they are heat treated and chemically treated to make it stronger, it essentially is same as a GG or Dragontrail glass but made to protect devices. it contains different layers like silicon, PVC sheet between glass layers to give it impact resistance. tempered glass are essentially meant to give you the same glass feel of your device screen but to protect against minor scratches, drops. thing to note here is that many tempered glass vendors claim it to have hardness of 9, but those claims are mostly false. they same similar hardness as your normal GG



 Hardness levels:
 Now to understand what makes these glass resistant to scratches and so hard, we have to understand something called “Mohs scale of mineral hardness” in layman terms, this scale means, anything that has hardness less than the material will not scratch it. For example, quartz has hardness of 7 on Mohs scale, so a material likes copper will not be able to scratch quartz
 Coppers Mohs scale of hardness is 3, while quartz is 7
 (Please note that Corning values on their official website on the Vickers hardness scale, which is alternative to the Mohs scale)

 Corning gorilla glass has a Mohs hardness of 6 for Gorilla glass 2 and its suppose to be 6.7 for newer Gorilla glass 3. Dragontrail glass has hardness of around 6.5 on mohs scale while sapphire glass has hardness of 8 ~ 9.

Now that we know the basics, lets clear few things
 Gorilla glass, Dragontrail glass, even your Tempered glass and sapphire glass will all scratch, sapphire will be the hardest to scratch but will scratch none the less, so once you put them or have them dont expect your device to be impervious to damage. treated glass may resist scratches better but tend to shatter.

Thank you!

Finland Solves Refugee Identity with Blockchain Debit Cards

Finland has said it has “solved” the problem of refugee identity, using the Blockchain to record data of new residents.

As part of its commitment to support asylum seekers, Finland is providing arrivals with a prepaid debit card instead of cash, and linking the identity of cardholders to the Blockchain.

As Technology Review reports, quoting Finnish Immigration Service director Jouko Salonen, the issue of “strongly authenticated identity” is no longer a problem.

“We have found a way to solve that,” he told the publication.

The cards are the product of local startup MONI, and function more like a bank account replacement than a simple payment device.

In issuing them, Finnish authorities are able to track both spending and identity with the added benefit that the Blockchain data is immutable.

“Our purpose has always been financial inclusion, and especially to help people in developing countries,” MONI CEO Antti Pennanen added.

A cross-Europe effort to solve the problem of refugee identity is currently a topic of debate for the European Parliament.

A task force is looking into the options for using the Ethereum Blockchain to alleviate the problem, with the latest information showing an allocation of €850,000 ($1 mln) for 2017 having been half spent.

“[...] EU governments in partnerships with other countries and organizations (e.g. NGOs) need innovative solutions to manage increasing flows of migrants and their temporary stay in different countries,” the organization commented last month.”

How millennials use their smartphones in 2017.

How millennials use their smartphones in 2017, and the surprising reason for why they delete apps.

 

(Via BigStock)

Developers: Make sure your app logos are designed well, or else millennials may delete your product off their phones.
That’s one takeaway from comScore’s 2017 U.S. Mobile App Report that published Thursday and provides a fascinating look into the smartphone habits of Americans aged 18-to-34.
The study, which analyzed comScore digital audience data and survey results, found that millennials “prove to be the most engaged, sophisticated and addicted users of apps.” Those in the 18-to-24 age bracket spend an average of 3.2 hours per day with apps — that’s nearly 50 days per year — compared to 2.3 hours for the average user.

(Via comScore)

Compared to older age groups, millennials are much more interested in discovering new apps, paying for apps, and making in-app payments — about 20 percent download an average of one paid app per month. They are also much more likely to delete an app because of thumbnail logo designs — “because apps confer social identity, millennials will delete an app if they don’t like how it looks on their screen,” the report noted. More than 20 percent of millennials said they deleted an app in the past year because of how it looked on their home screen.

(Via comScore)

Nearly half of millennials use 21 or more apps per month, while about 75 percent say their smartphone would be “useless” without apps and say they get an urge to open an app when they are bored. A majority of millennials also said they check app notifications immediately after receiving them.

(Via comScore)

YouTube and Facebook topped the list of millennials’ most-used apps, but 35 percent said Amazon is the app they “can’t live without.”

(Via comScore)

(Via comScore)

The report also analyzed how millennials are more likely to position apps on their smartphones based on “thumb reach,” and are “increasingly considering this dynamic.” And for my favorite slide of the report: App users 55 years old and up are five times as likely than millennials to only operate their smartphone with two hands.

(Via comScore)

.....

Google Detects Dangerous Spyware Apps On Android Play Store

Security researchers at Google have discovered a new family of deceptive Android spyware that can steal a whole lot of information on users, including text messages, emails, voice calls, photos, location data, and other files, and spy on them.

Dubbed Lipizzan, the Android spyware appears to be developed by Equus Technologies, an Israeli startup that Google referred to as a 'cyber arms' seller in a blog post published Wednesday.

With the help of Google Play Protect, the Android security team has found Lipizzan spyware on at least 20 apps in Play Store, which infected fewer than 100 Android smartphones in total.

Google has quickly blocked and removed all of those Lipizzan apps and the developers from its Android ecosystem, and Google Play Protect has notified all affected victims.

For those unaware, Google Play Protect is part of the Google Play Store app and uses machine learning and app usage analysis to weed out the dangerous and malicious apps.

Lipizzan: Sophisticated Multi-Stage Spyware

According to the Google, Lipizzan is a sophisticated multi-stage spyware tool that gains full access to a target Android device in two steps.

In the first stage, attackers distribute Lipizzan by typically impersonating it as an innocuous-looking legitimate app such as "Backup" or "Cleaner" through various Android app stores, including the official Play store.

Once installed, Lipizzan automatically downloads the second stage, which is a "license verification" to survey the infected device to ensure the device is unable to detect the second stage.

After completing the verification, the second stage malware would root the infected device with known Android exploits. Once rooted, the spyware starts exfiltrating device data and sending it back to a remote Command and Control server controlled by the attackers.

Lipizzan Also Gathers Data from Other Popular Apps

The spyware has the ability to monitor and steal victim's email, SMS messages, screenshots, photos, voice calls, contacts, application-specific data, location and device information.

Lipizzan can also gather data from specific apps, undermining their encryption, which includes WhatsApp, Snapchat, Viber, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Gmail, Skype, Hangouts, and KakaoTalk.

There's very few information about Equus Technologies (which is believed to have been behind Lipizzan) available on the Internet. The description of the company's LinkedIn account reads:

"Equus Technologies is a privately held company specialising in the development of tailor made innovative solutions for law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and national security organisations."

Earlier this year, Google found and blocked a dangerous Android spyware, called Chrysaor, allegedly developed by NSO Group, which was being used in targeted attacks against activists and journalists in Israel, Georgia, Turkey, Mexico, the UAE and other countries.

NSO Group Technologies is the same Israeli surveillance firm that built the Pegasus iOS spyware initially detected in targeted attacks against human rights activists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year.

How to Protect your Android device from Hackers?

Android users are strongly recommended to follow these simple steps in order to protect themselves:

• Ensure that you have already opted into Google Play Protect.
• Download and install apps only from the official Play Store.
• Enable 'verify apps' feature from settings.
• Protect their devices with pin or password lock.
• Keep "unknown sources" disabled while not using it.
• Keep your device always up-to-date with the latest security patches.

Microsoft’ Calibri font hinges Pakistan’s entire government

It is probably the first time that the news regarding a corruption case surrounding Pakistani government involves a Microsoft font and the world-renowned encyclopedia website Wikipedia as the corruption scandal escalates to new heights threatening the country’s government.

The Panama leaks

As many of you may know, earlier in 2016, a hoard of documents dubbed as ‘Panama Papers’ was leaked which enlisted the customers of a law firm who were using its services to handle offshore companies.
Among the customers, were the children of the current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. And among the children, was Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, who was apparently linked to an offshore firm.

Maryam Nawaz

The case ended up in the hands of Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team (JIT) after a long period of trials with the Supreme Court. The investigation culminated in a report being released on Monday, the 10th of July 2017.

The report and the Calibri font

In the report, Maryam Nawaz did claim to have ties with the firm called Nielson and Nescoll Ltd; however, there was just one problem with the documents.
The documents provided by Maryam Nawaz were written in the Calibri font and were dated sometime in 2006, apparently proving Maryam Nawaz’s claims regarding the firm.
However, an investigation into the matter revealed that the font was in fact, not available until 2007. This implied that the documents were fake.

The rush to Wikipedia

As soon as this was revealed, interested parties searched Wikipedia for details and found that the Calibri font was actually available in 2004, albeit, was not publicly released.
The public release was made in Microsoft Office 2007, as stated by investigators who believe that the documents are incorrectly dated. Around 60,000 people have visited the article since the controversy was made public.
The statement that the font was available in 2004 is what is causing all the hype in public media. However, according to a report, Dawn approached the designer of the font and found out that the font was indeed established in 2004 and delivered to Microsoft.
Also, public betas were released in 2006 according to the source. One of the representatives of LucasFonts stated that even though the public beta version was available, it is highly unlikely that someone would use a beta version of the font to create official documents.

Panama leaks chart against Shareef family’s corruption

Wikipedia locks article

As a result of the controversy, Wikipedia administrators initiated a vote in favor of or against locking the article from being edited openly.
Usually, articles on Wikipedia can be edited by anyone anonymously. However, sensitive content such as that related to President Donald Trump or the Israeli-Palestine conflict cannot be edited as such. Wikipedia has currently shut down open editing of the respective article.
The ban was supported by one major Wikipedia editor, Saqib Quyyam, who stated that he intended to prevent anonymous groups from editing the article with information that was doubtful.

Response from Maryam Nawaz

As a response to the controversy, Maryam Nawaz tweeted a Quora page which mentioned that the font was available in 2004. She also tweeted that “Every contradiction will not only be contested but decimated in [the Supreme Court].” The group has therefore refused to resign from office.

Two Banks have successfully used Blockchain for Commercial Property Lease

ANZ and Westpac coupled with IBM and shopping mall operator Scentre Group to digitize the guarantee process.

The trial used scattered ledger technology to replace paper-based evidence documents, following in a single source of information with decreased potential for cheating and improved efficiency.

The use of blockchains, used to allow the digital currency Bitcoin, suggests you can show where data has come from and gone to, generating new economic movement in areas such as financial services, supply chains, and state registries.
Data61, a design of Australia’s peak science institution, the CSIRO, has been investigating how blockchain technology could be employed in Australia to deliver productivity benefits.
The ASX is also thinking of replacing its CHESS properties clearing and settlement system with blockchain.
Mark Bloom, chief financial officer at Scentre Group, says a renew of the decades-old process for issuing, tracking and maintaining on guarantees is long overdue.
“With approximately 11,500 retailers across Australia and New Zealand who study evidence to support rental obligations, manual tracking of support has been an extremely cumbersome and energy intensive process,” he says.
Nigel Dobson, the ANZ’s general administrator wholesale digital, says the bank has remained keen to avoid the hype circling blockchain and instead has concentrated on the practical.
“This proof of concept demonstrates how we can collaborate with our partners to develop a digital solution for customers, which also has the potential for industry-wide adoption,” he says.
Andrew McDonald, general director corporate and institutional banking at Westpac, says the new process is about eliminating the cost of fraud, error and operational risk.
“Next steps include supporting all industry players to embrace this technology so we can properly protect and save money for our customers,” he says.
“Beyond that, there is no reason why this couldn’t be used across other industries.”
At IBM, Dr. Joanna Batstone, director of IBM Research Australia, says she thinks blockchain can probably drive productivity across all Australian industries.
Take your time to comment on this article.

SpyDealer Rooting Malware Steals Data From Android Devices

SpyDealer is one of the most powerful Android malware.

Capable of intercepting data from more than 40 apps, the SpyDealer malware has been recently discovered by researchers at the Palo Alto network. The malware has a number of capabilities that allow it to extract personal information from a compromised Android device.

SpyDealer versions

According to the researchers, the malware has different versions. They are 1.9.1, 1.9.2 and 1.9.3. The latest version of the malware, 1.9.3, has all the configuration settings encrypted and contains an accessibility service which allows it to decrypt app databases.
The researchers reported that the malware was probably in digital space since October 2015, given the data obtained from infected devices.
Also, the malware infects Android versions 2.2 till 4.4. Data suggests that 25% of the Android devices are still running on these versions. Nevertheless, the malware can work with later versions as well but with fewer privileges.
Up till now, the malware takes data from 40 different apps that include Facebook, WeChat, WhatsApp and other social media and messaging apps. The malware is codenamed as GoogleUpdate and is available via third-party app stores.
It is not on Google Store which means that users need to be wary of app offerings from unknown app stores.

What does it do?

SpyDealer has a very sophisticated system which allows it to record audio and video, receive calls automatically, retrieve personal messages, determine a person’s exact location along with taking photos.

How does it work?

The malware works by gaining privileges in the infected device. It does this by rooting the device. The exact method by which the malware is installed in the system is not known. However, the following process has been revealed.

Launch

The infected device is registered with two broadcasting receivers that listen for certain events to take place. One event is when the device boots up while the other occurs whenever a network connection is established.
If either of the two events occur, the AaTService is launched which subsequently retrieves the readme.txt files that contain all the configuration for the malware.
The file contains the IP address of the C2 server from which the malware gets instructions, the commands for mobile networks and the commands for Wi-Fi networks.

Rooting

According to Palo Alto Network, once the configuration file is downloaded, the rooting procedure is then started. Versions 1.9.1 and 1.9.2 use the exploits from Baidu Easy Root to gain root privilege. Baidu Easy Root is a third-party commercial app that is usually used to jailbreak a device.
It is mainly used to allow users to access certain settings of their phones that would otherwise be impossible due to security protocols.
The malware essentially downloads a file called raw.zip which contains all the exploits featured in Baidu Easy Root 2.8.3.
Version 1.9.3 along with the other two also use another method to gain root privileges. However, this method does not use Baidu Easy Root. Rather, the procedure executes the files ‘png’ and ‘toor.sh’ to gain root access.

Persistence

After rooting the target device, the malware executes a file called power manager which creates a backup of the malware. Whenever a user tries to uninstall the malware, it gets reinstalled after which it executes its code.

Connecting with the server

The malware then establishes a connection with remote C2 servers or passively receives commands. There are essentially three channels through which it communicates with the servers; SMS, TCP, UDP.
The SMS channel uses a broadcasting receiver that listens for incoming SMS messages. These messages contain the commands that are to be executed.
Similarly, the TCP connection passively listens for commands from the 396568 port.
The UDP connection, on the other hand, actively establishes a connection with the remote server and receives encrypted commands allowing the attacker to exfiltrate various types of information.

Reading text messages in real time

Many apps encrypt the data that is being transmitted through them. This prevents hackers from hijacking a person’s messaging service. SpyDealer, however, uses accessibility service to receive plain text messages from the screen directly.
The accessibility service is enabled remotely since the attacker has root privileges in the target device.

The ultimate cyber-espionage

As mentioned earlier, SpyDealer spies on a victim using a number of different techniques.
It records phone calls and any surrounding audio. To do so, the malware uses a PhoneStateListener to listen for any incoming calls.
Also, the malware records a video through both the rear and front cameras of the infected device. Since Android devices require a preview for recording video, the malware creates a small preview surface measuring 3dip x 3dip in size.
Furthermore, SpyDealer can secretly take photos as well and again creates a small preview surface in order to prevent the user from noticing that a picture is being taken.
Also, an attacker can configure the malware to answer phone calls automatically.
Lastly, the geographic location of the victim can be determined through the malware which uses the phone’s GPS. This functionality is activated whenever the phone’s screen is turned off, and the procedure stops as soon as the screen comes on.
This allows the malware to go undetected since the GPS status bar appears to be inactive to the user. Moreover, the map service of Baidu Easy Root is also by the malware to determine the location based on GSM.
All of the information thus gained is saved in a file with appropriate formats and uploaded to the attacker’s servers.

Vulnerabilities Found in Pre-Installed Dell Software

Critical Vulnerabilities Found in Pre-Installed Dell Software

With so much of news surrounding major global malware attacks such as the recent NotPetya incident, not much has been talked about some flaws that exist within the popular Dell software.

Security flaws that require immediate update

Before letting you know about the technical details of the vulnerabilities, it is important to note that those with Dell devices are advised to upgrade the Dell pre-installed software immediately so as to prevent any major accidents.
Given that many businesses use the Dell system, it is strongly recommended that the respective IT administrators install the latest updates before things get messy.

Three different vulnerabilities

Security researcher, Marcin Icewall Noga, who works at Cisco Talos, Cisco’s security intelligence unit, discovered three vulnerabilities in Dell’s pre-installed software. Let’s have a look at what these vulnerabilities are.

CVE-2016-9038

The first vulnerability is associated with privilege rights to the system. In essence, the CVE-2016-9038 is a vulnerability that provides an attacker the privileges to a local system. The vulnerability is present in the SboxDrv.Sys driver.
An attacker can send custom data to the SandboxDriverApi device driver that comes with a Dell device. The vulnerability allows read and write capabilities to the attacker. If carried out correctly, the attacker gains privilege escalation.
Also, Noga stated that the fault not only exists with the device driver but also with Workspace 6.1.3-24058 and Invincea-X.

CVE-2016-8732

The CVE-2016-8732 is a vulnerability which virtually allows an attacker to disable protection protocols in Dell’s systems. The software associated with the vulnerability is the Dell Protected Workspace 5.1.1-22303 with InvProtectDrv.sys driver containing further vulnerabilities.
The driver has inferior protection and lacks proper validation. The attacker can, therefore, use the vulnerability to infect a system by executing applications that will disable certain security protocols, allowing the attacker to infiltrate a system.

CVE-2017-2082

Also a protection bypass vulnerability, the CVE-2017-2082 involves Dell’s PPO service and allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code.
Initially, the vulnerability arises as a result of poaService.exe searching for the DLL library called atiadlxx.dll. The attacker can, however, use a customized version of this library file and run arbitrary code.
Nevertheless, version 4.0 comes with a patch and users are recommended to update their systems as quickly as possible.

Update:

The good news is that Dell has addressed the issue and the vulnerability has been mitigated through a Dell Command update.

Android Gingerbread Will Crumble on WhatsApp in 2020

It's the end of an era. Facebook's WhatsApp just announced that older Android devices equipped with the Gingerbread operating system will no longer be able to use the messaging app as of February 1, 2020.
Gingerbread constitutes just 0.8% of Android usage, so it's no surprise that WhatsApp is phasing it out. It's a little astonishing that the app will even support devices with this older OS for so long. It was previously reported that Facebook was considering killing off support for Gingerbread on WhatsApp in 2016, but these plans have since changed significantly.
With the reveal of WhatsApp's updated platform support plans, we now have a timeline of when older operating systems and software platforms will be cut off. In 2017, Nokia Symbian S60, Blackberry OS & 10, and Widows Phone 8.0 and older will all lose support. Nokia S40 will succumb to the same fate in 2018, followed by Android versions 2.3.7 and older — including Gingerbread — in 2020.
The blog post explaining these changes carefully noted that while WhatsApp will continue to work on the Gingerbread OS until 2020, it's not guaranteed to work well.

Because we will no longer actively develop for these platforms, some features may stop functioning at any time.

— WhatsApp

These changes will only affect the few who still use these operating systems, so it's likely that you'll be able to continue using WhatsApp for years to come. Although many WhatsApp users in foreign countries have slightly older phones, the global popularity of Android and iOS — 99.6% of all smartphones run Android or iOS — means that only those with very old Android devices will be impacted. WhatsApp did not mention plans to cut off any versions of iOS in this announcement, so Apple users can rest easy ... for now.

By Sarah

How to Speed Up Firefox With Multi-Process, If It's Not Working By Default

After years of waiting, Mozilla last week launched Firefox 54 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android, with multi-process support — a "major improvement" to improve your browsing experience — but many users are still struggling to take advantage of this feature.

Mozilla's multi-process support in Firefox has been in development for over eight years as part of a project, code named Electrolysis or E10S, which aimed at improving responsiveness and speed by streamlining memory use by different processes.

Describing the latest release as the largest change to Firefox code ever, Mozilla says it has worked hard to avoid increased memory consumption, and slower performance, as Firefox now uses up to four processes to run web page content across all open tabs.

In other words, Firefox is finally making use of "significantly less RAM" of your computer, as heavy web pages in one tab will now have a much lower impact on responsiveness and speed in other tabs.

"This design makes it easier to utilize all of the cores available on modern processors and, in the future, to securely sandbox web content," says Mozilla. "It also improves stability, ensuring that a single content process crashing won't take out all of your other tabs, nor the rest of the browser."

This feature is about to be enabled by default with Firefox 54, but many Firefox users are unable to take advantage of multi-process support and disappointed to see that their web browser is clinging to a single process.

This issue is happening because one or more of your installed Firefox add-ons could be incompatible with Electrolysis, or multi-process feature.

Step 1 — Check If Multi-Process is Working

To check whether or not Firefox multiprocess feature is working fine, visit about:support in the address bar and look for the "Multiprocess Windows" line (as shown):

• If it says "1/1 (Enabled by default)" — multi-process feature is working.
• If it says "0/x (Disabled by add-ons)" — multi-process is not working.

Step 2 — Disable/Remove Incompatible Add-Ons

To find out the list of incompatible add-ons to see which of your extensions is at fault, install "Add-on Compatibility Reporter add-on" provided by Firefox.

Step 3 — Enable Firefox Multiprocess Feature

In order to manually fix this issue and enable Electrolysis feature, you first need to disable or completely remove incompatible add-ons from your browser.

Now, enable Electrolysis feature in Firefox using the following steps:

• Type about:config in the address bar
• Search for browser.tabs.remote.autostart
• Double-click on it and set value to True

Step 4 — Change No. of Content Processes

You can also change the number of content processes, which is by default 4, to more or less, according to your pool of RAM.

• Visit about:config
• Search for dom.ipc.processCount
• Set its value to more than 1

That's it. You are done.

You do not need to restart your web browser for this to take effect.

No doubt, this change will let Google Chrome users rethink to shift on Firefox, as by default Chrome starts a new process for every tab, thus using an infinite number of processes, which eventually slow down the web browser as well as the operating system to a crawl.

"We are pushing forward in building a completely revamped browser made for modern computing. It's our goal to make Firefox the fastest and smoothest browser for PCs and mobile devices," Mozilla says. "Through the end of 2017, you'll see some big jumps in capability and performance from Team Firefox."

Firefox 54 is available to download in the stable form, while Firefox 55, which further refines the process, is available only to developers.

by Mohit Kumar

Lyric Intelligence In Popular Music: A Ten Year Analysis

Lyric Intelligence In Popular Music: A Ten Year Analysis

Popular music lyrics are dumb. No really, I’m not just saying that. As easy as it is to mock the quality of lyrics today, there’s some real science behind looking at how dumb they truly are.
That’s why I set out to answer the big questions. Which genre is the most sophisticated? (Prepare to be disappointed.) Which artists are the dumbest? (Prepare to be surprised.) And, can any hit songs be comfortably read by a 1st grader? (Yes, they can.)
How exactly did I go about this?
I turned to the Readability Score. It uses writing analysis tools like the Flesch-Kincaid grade index and many others to create an average of the US reading level of a piece of text. I plugged in song lyrics (punctuation added by me, since most songs lack it altogether) and out of the machine popped out average grade level, word count, and other very interesting metrics.
All told, I analyzed 225 songs in 4 different datasets, resulting in 2,000+ individual data points. How’d I choose them? If they spent at least a few weeks (3+) at #1 on the Billboard charts for Pop, Country, Rock, and R&B/Hip-Hop for any given year, they made the list.
While the results are certainly enlightening, it’s important to note that this data doesn’t touch on the meaning of a song, the metaphors, how the words connect with the artist’s personal story, etc. to create deeper meaning. These numbers are fun and interesting, so just enjoy them.
What did the data tell us?

Is We Really Getting Dumber?

Well, this research is, if nothing else, great news for third graders. They may have a long way to go in terms of unlocking the deeper meanings of great literature, but hit music lyrics are right in their zone.
Did you miss that? Yes, I said third graders. Because only 2005 and 2006 would have given a reasonably competent third grader a tough time. Sure, we know hit music lyrics aren’t the peak of sophistication, but who knew the bar was this low?
Well, the bar is actually getting lower. These averages have really been on the decline over the last 10 years. And keep in mind that we’re looking at all the data from Pop, Rock, R&B/Hip Hop, and Country combined to show the overall trend.
So it’s clear we’re on the way down, but if you’re wondering “Was it men or women dragging the music down?” you’re not the only one. I was just as curious to find out.

 Who Wins the Battle of the Sexes?

The short answer is that everybody is getting dumber, it’s not really a gender thing.  Overall, my data showed that men talk more (higher word count), but women have slightly more intelligent things to say (higher average grade level).
Let’s take a look the average grade level over time to see how men and women fare.

It looks like hit music in general has settled on some formulas: Men should stick to roughly a 3rd grade reading level and women shouldn’t sing rock songs at all (more about that later).
What does it all mean exactly? Well, women seem to be a bit smarter than men, except for when they’re not (i.e., 2008-2009). Ultimately, the genre and the artist matter much more than the gender.
Granted, it’s not exactly a team effort. Certain artists do more than their fair share to bring their gender and genre group down or up through the years. So now it’s time to break down this data a bit more by genre and see who really sets the standard for dumb.

A Deeper Look into Genres

Does Country really have the “smartest” Lyrics?
Yes, yes, it does. In fact, if you average out all the hit songs in each category for the last 10 years, you get:
Average US Reading Level by Grade:
Country: 3.3
Pop: 2.9 (tie)
Rock: 2.9 (tie)
R&B/Hip Hop: 2.6
There are a lot of reasons for this. Remember that I mentioned that word length plays a role? Well, Country is the only genre generally devoid of words like “oh” or “yeah” repeated 20 times in a row. Sorry everyone else, but if you say it in the song, it’s counted as a “lyric.”
But it’s also about the syllables. Country music is full of words like Hallelujah, cigarettes, hillbilly, and tacklebox. Add to that long place names like Cincinnati, Louisville, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and Country has a serious advantage over the competition.
Unfortunately for Pop and R&B/Hip-Hop, places like L.A. and New York just don’t score that many points. But take a song like Dani California, and you’ll see that throwing in the word “California” more than a dozen times can make a real difference.
In 2007, Rock and R&B/Hip-Hop both plunged with the help of songs like “Buy U a Drank” by T-Pain (which just made it above a 1st grade reading level) and “I Don’t Wanna Stop” by Ozzy Osbourne (a more respectable 1.6 average grade level).
Then, in 2009, it was Country and Pop’s turn, when they each hit their own record lows with the help of songs like “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas (2.0 grade level) and “Then” by Brad Paisley (which wasn’t much higher at a 2.2 grade level).
Was it the housing boom and bust that got people in the mood for listening to the simpler songs in life? Hard to say, but what’s for sure is that the people have spoken. No matter what the year and the economic situation, they do not want to listen to anything a third grader would find challenging.
Looking at the overall trend, it seems things have leveled off since 2010, with all four major genres resting comfortably into the 2nd-3rd grade range and R&B/Hip Hop ranking last in 5 of the past 10 years. Sorry 1st graders, but you’ll have to settle for R&B and Hip Hop from 2007.
Still, besides those grade level averages, how do elements like word count play into the picture?

Interestingly enough, there’s a definite correlation here between the average length of song and the average grade level. Problem is, it’s an inverse relationship — shorter songs actually have a higher grade level.
Shockingly, R&B/Hip Hop and Pop seem to be talking a lot and not saying much.
Country and Rock, on the other hand, certainly seem to have a winning formula: keep it short, while not skimping on word or grammar complexity, and you have nicely aged song. It’s surprising what you can fit into less than 300 words.
What’s clear is that over time, not a lot has changed. Aside from normal fluctuations, all the genres seem to have a standard level they stick to. Frankly, having listened to my fair share of radio for the past 10 years, that’s not exactly surprising.

Artist VS. Artist: How Low Can They Go?

Hint: Very Low.
I went through each category and picked 7 of the top artists based on their number of hit songs and how long those songs stayed at #1. So without further ado, here are the facts about the artists whose voices we hear most often in each genre:

This is probably a good time to reiterate that these are the numbers, plain and simple, and that all Beyoncé partisans should address their complaints to the people at the Readability Score. We can’t hide the facts: of these 7 top R&B and Hip Hop artists, she has the second smallest average word count and the least sophisticated lyrics.
Who’s the standout? None other than Slim Shady himself, with Nicki Minaj and Macklemore following up in the number 2 and 3 spots. Is Kanye West talking a lot and not saying anything? Yes. Should you be surprised?
Wait, I’mma Let You Finish. No.

The Country data here seems to be telling us something. The more devoted teenage girls are to an artist, the more poorly these artists score. Okay, that wasn’t exactly fair, but Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, and Florida Georgia Line are bottom of the pack here in terms of average grade level at 3.4, 3.2 and 2.93.
The queen of Country, however, is definitely Carrie Underwood with a grade level of 3.72. Blake Shelton (3.63) and Brad Paisley (3.54) are close behind. If there’s one trend clearly at play here, it’s that (again) longer lyrics don’t exactly translate into more sophisticated lyrics. But, perhaps Rock has something to say about that.

Yes, Rock has plenty to say about the “longer lyrics = less sophisticated lyrics” trend. Not just any Rock either, we’re talking about Nickelback. Yes, the Canadian rock band so many love to hate manages to get the longest AND most sophisticated lyrics in the Rock category.
Just as surprising, Linkin Park came in with the shortest lyrics and the second most sophisticated. Who knew? Still, on the whole, major Rock artists and groups stay pretty firmly in the 2nd and occasionally 3rd grade. I guess guitars can compensate for just about anything.
If there’s a single stunning fact about this genre, it still has to be that not a single female singer made it onto the Rock list. That means not a single lady stayed at the top of the charts for four or more weeks during the entire last 10 years. Why that might be frankly deserves its own post.
But how does this all compare to what’s maybe the most generic, the most ubiquitous, and the most popular category of all? Ke$ha fans, prepare yourselves…

As promised, Ke$ha does manage to score the worst of any major artist I looked more closely at. Not just a little worse either, although Lady Gaga makes a valiant effort to keep up (keep down?).
Unlike the other genres, the Pop stars who stand out are a bit less surprising with the gold, silver, and bronze going to Mariah Carey, Adele, and Justin Timberlake, respectively.
Pop actually holds its own pretty well with Mariah Carey scoring higher than anyone in the other three categories. Bravo Mariah, bravo!
But how do artists and their songs compare across genres?

Top Songs: The Good, The Bad, and The Very Ugly

Remember how I mentioned that Country has done very well? Well, here’s a bit of insight into why. Fully 5 of the top 10 smartest songs in this study are country songs. Only a single song (thanks Rihanna) made it from R&B/Hip Hop.

This of course brings us to the shame list, the dumbest 10 songs of the last 10 years. Here, Country has completely vanished, replaced by a fairly even representation of Pop, Rock, and R&B/Hip Hop.
Somehow, Three Days Grace and Maroon 5 managed to score on both charts. The former scoring the dumbest song in the entire study alongside the 3rd smartest.

Showing My Homework

For anyone who’s a bit more curious, here’s the full list of the four categories ranked by average grade level.

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Ranked by Grade Level

Average Grade Level	Title	Artist	Year	Weeks at #1	Word Count	Characters per Word	Syllables per Word
4.8	Diamonds	Rihanna	2012	11	382	4	1.4
4.1	Thrift Shop	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz	2013	14	725	3.9	1.3
3.9	Irreplaceable	Beyoncé	2006	9	549	3.5	1.2
3.9	Slow Down	Bobby Valentino	2005	4	452	3.8	1.2
3.8	Moment 4 Life	Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake	2011	5	648	3.7	1.2
3.7	The Monster	Eminem Featuring Rihanna	2013	13	710	3.7	1.2
3.7	We Belong Together	Mariah Carey	2005	14	418	3.5	1.2
3.4	Mercy	Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz	2012	4	968	3.9	1.2
3.4	I Remember	Keyshia Cole	2008	7	319	3.7	1.2
3.3	No One	Alicia Keys	2007	17	314	3.2	1.2
3.3	Let Me Love You	Mario	2005	11	477	3.7	1.2
3.2	Best I Ever Had	Drake	2009	7	811	3.5	1.2
3.2	Hold On, We’re Going Home	Drake Featuring Majid Jordan	2013	5	343	3.5	1.2
3.2	Pretty Wings	Maxwell	2009	14	267	3.9	1.2
3.2	Lotus Flower Bomb	Wale Featuring Miguel	2012	5	589	3.6	1.2
3.1	Be Without You	Mary J. Blige	2006	15	575	3.4	1.2
3	Anaconda	Nicki Minaj	2014	6	641	3.4	1.2
2.9	Deuces	Chris Brown Featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall	2010	9	596	3.4	1.2
2.8	I’m On One	DJ Khaled Featuring Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne	2011	10	722	3.4	1.2
2.8	Motivation	Kelly Rowland Featuring Lil Wayne	2011	6	369	3.5	1.2
2.8	Heaven Sent	Keyshia Cole	2008	9	495	3.6	1.2
2.7	Look At Me Now	Chris Brown Featuring Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes	2011	8	906	3.4	1.2
2.7	Everything To Me	Monica	2010	7	201	3.5	1.2
2.7	Can’t Be Friends	Trey Songz	2010	11	358	3.2	1.1
2.7	Soul Survivor	Young Jeezy Featuring Akon	2005	4	792	3.4	1.2
2.6	She Will	Lil Wayne Featuring Drake	2011	4	794	3.5	1.2
2.6	Blurred Lines	Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. + Pharrell	2013	16	674	3.3	1.2
2.5	Candy Shop	50 Cent Featuring Olivia	2005	4	619	3.4	1.2
2.4	Ni**as in Paris	Jay Z Kanye West	2011	7	576	3.5	1.2
2.4	Can’t Hold Us	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton	2013	7	758	3.4	1.2
2.4	Happy	Pharrell Williams	2014	12	544	3.5	1.2
2.4	Love In This Club	Usher Featuring Young Jeezy	2008	4	613	3.3	1.1
2.4	It’s Goin’ Down	Yung Joc	2006	8	589	3.5	1.2
2.2	Gold Digger	Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx	2005	4	774	3.5	1.1
2.2	Lollipop	Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major	2008	6	658	3.4	1.2
2.2	There Goes My Baby	Usher	2010	4	456	3.5	1.2
2.1	Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)	Alicia Keys	2010	12	384	3.3	1.2
2.1	Black Widow	Iggy Azalea Featuring Rita Ora	2014	5	551	3.4	1.2
2.1	Climax	Usher	2012	10	326	3.4	1.2
2	Blame It	Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain	2009	14	803	3.3	1.2
2	Adorn	Miguel	2012	4	265	3.5	1.2
1.9	When I See U	Fantasia	2007	8	380	3.3	1.1
1.9	Fancy	Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX	2014	13	535	3.4	1.2
1.8	Love On Top	Beyonce	2012	7	599	3.3	1.2
1.8	What You Know	T.I.	2006	6	870	3.5	1.2
1.7	No Lie	2 Chainz Featuring Drake	2012	5	783	3.3	1.1
1.6	Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)	Beyonce	2008	12	687	3	1.1
1.6	Say Goodbye	Chris Brown	2006	4	793	3.2	1.2
1.6	Bed	J. Holiday	2007	5	597	3.3	1.2
1.6	Need U Bad	Jazmine Sullivan	2008	4	479	3	1.1
1.2	Lost Without U	Robin Thicke	2007	11	396	3.3	1.2
1.2	Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)	T-Pain Featuring Yung Joc	2007	8	545	3.4	1.1
1	It Kills Me	Melanie Fiona	2010	9	316	3.3	1.1

In the R&B/Hip Hop category, Rihanna’s Diamonds may seem like a surprising choice for sophistication, but throwing those rocks around got her average word length up to a full 4 characters. Macklemore’s high score, on the other hand, seems to speak for itself. Respect the Jammies is all I’m saying.
Then there’s Robin Thicke and Melanie Fiona… What can we say about the subtle metaphors and other intricacies which surely lie behind lines like “Tell me how you love my body?” Not a lot, really. Like Macklemore, they speak fairly well for themselves.

Top Country Songs Ranked by Grade Level

Average Grade Level	Song Title	Artist	Year	Weeks at #1	Word Count	Syllables per Word	Characters per Word
5.8	All About Tonight	Blake Shelton	2010	3	311	1.3	3.9
4.9	That’s What I Love About Sunday	Craig Morgan	2005	4	254	1.2	3.7
4.9	We Were Us	Keith Urban And Miranda Lambert	2013	3	283	1.3	3.9
4.7	Before He Cheats	Carrie Underwood	2006	5	304	1.2	3.8
4.6	Good Directions	Billy Currington	2007	3	303	1.2	3.8
4.6	The House That Built Me	Miranda Lambert	2010	4	310	1.2	3.7
4.5	We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together	Taylor Swift	2012	9	376	1.3	3.8
4.4	The World	Brad Paisley	2006	3	248	1.3	3.6
4.4	Summertime	Kenny Chesney	2006	5	294	1.2	3.6
4.1	Beer In Mexico	Kenny Chesney	2007	3	242	1.3	3.7
4	I’m Still A Guy	Brad Paisley	2008	3	364	1.1	3.5
4	Making Memories Of Us	Kieth Urban	2005	5	247	1.2	3.5
3.9	So Small	Carrie Underwood	2007	3	274	1.2	3.9
3.9	Take Me There	Rascal Flatts	2007	3	256	1.2	4
3.7	She’s Everything	Brad Paisley	2007	3	358	1.3	3.5
3.7	Consider Me Gone	Reba	2010	4	303	1.2	3.4
3.7	If You’re Going Through Hell (Before The Devil Even Knows)	Rodney Atkins	2006	4	362	1.1	3.6
3.6	Sure Be Cool If You Did	Blake Shelton	2013	5	371	1.2	3.6
3.6	Something In The Water	Carrie Underwood	2014	3	340	1.2	3.6
3.6	Watching You	Rodney Atkins	2007	4	398	1.2	3.5
3.5	Wasted	Carrie Underwood	2007	3	343	1.2	3.6
3.5	Better Life	Kieth Urban	2005	6	325	1.2	3.4
3.5	Shutgun Rider	Tim McGraw	2014	3	277	1.3	3.7
3.4	Letter To Me	Brad Paisley	2008	4	450	1.2	3.4
3.3	Don’t Blink	Kenny Chesney	2007	4	383	1.1	3.8
3.2	Stay	Florida Georgia Line	2013	6	410	1.2	3.4
3.2	Somewhere With You	Kenny Chesney	2011	3	374	1.2	3.4
3.2	Drink A Beer	Luke Bryan	2014	5	176	1.2	3.6
3	Don’t You Wanna Stay	Jason Aldean With Kelly Clarkson	2011	3	222	1.2	3.6
3	Why Don’t We Just Dance	Josh Turner	2010	4	230	1.1	3.5
3	Living In Fast Forward	Kenny Chesney	2006	3	235	1.2	3.6
3	Play It Again	Luke Bryan	2014	9	436	1.2	3.5
2.9	Honey Bee	Blake Shelton	2011	4	355	1.2	3.3
2.9	Jesus, Take The Wheel	Carrie Underwood	2006	6	307	1.1	3.4
2.9	Cruise	Florida Georgia Line	2013	24	421	1.2	3.7
2.9	Bless The Broken Road	Rascal Flatts	2005	5	239	1.2	3.7
2.8	What Hurts The Most	Rascal Flatts	2006	4	280	1.2	3.6
2.7	This Is How We Roll	Florida Georgia Line Featuring Luke Bryan	2014	6	383	1.2	3.6
2.7	Burnin’ It Down	Jason Aldean	2014	14	436	1.2	3.7
2.7	That’s My Kind Of Night	Luke Bryan	2013	12	390	1.1	3.6
2.6	Never Wanted Nothing More	Kenny Chesney	2007	5	352	1.2	3.3
2.6	Felt Good On My Lips	Tim McGraw	2011	3	326	1.2	3.4
2.5	Big Green Tractor	Jason Aldean	2009	4	368	1.1	3.3
2.5	Need You Now	Lady Antebellum	2009	5	237	1.2	3.3
2.5	Our Song	Taylor Swift	2008	6	386	1.2	3.6
2.5	You’re Gonna Miss This	Trace Adkins	2008	3	317	1.2	3.5
2.5	Keep Me In Mind	Zac Brown Band	2012	4	287	1.2	3.4
2.3	It Won’t Be Like This For Long	Darius Rucker	2009	3	317	1.1	3.4
2.2	God Gave Me You	Blake Shelton	2011	3	274	1.1	3.3
2.2	Then	Brad Paisley	2009	3	285	1.1	3.5
2.1	The Man I Want To Be	Chris Young	2010	3	266	1.1	3.2
1.5	As Good As I Once Was	Toby Keith	2005	6	380	1.1	3.2

Country scored very well overall; what kind of lyrics could have made that happen?
Let’s just say they got some help from feel good pills and red Gatorade. I already mentioned the long words which brought country to the champion’s table (tackleboxes and cigarettes anyone?), but longer sentences also played a part (thanks Keith Urban).
Of course, even for Country, it wasn’t all roses and bourbon.
Toby Keith and Chris Young did the genre no favors with their pleads to God and their baby. These lyrics scored low with a combination of short phrases and clippy writing. If only they could have mentioned Mississippi more…

Top Rock Songs Ranked by Grade Level

Average Grade Level	Title	Artist	Year	Weeks at #1	Word Count	Characters per Word	Syllables per Word
5.5	Dani California	Red Hot Chili Peppers	2006	12	296	4.2	1.5
5.2	Animal I Have Become	Three Days Grace	2006	7	258	3.9	1.4
4.5	Be Yourself	Audioslave	2005	7	194	3.9	1.3
4.5	Inside The Fire	Disturbed	2008	14	293	4	1.3
4.3	The Pot	Tool	2006	4	320	4.1	1.3
4.2	Check My Brain	Alice In Chains	2009	8	148	4	1.4
4.2	Isolation	Alter Bridge	2011	7	218	4.1	1.4
4.2	Another Way To Die	Disturbed	2010	8	321	3.9	1.3
4.2	Something In Your Mouth	Nickelback	2009	4	470	4.1	1.3
4	Say You’ll Haunt Me	Stone Sour	2010	8	369	3.8	1.3
3.9	Your Decision	Alice In Chains	2010	8	162	3.7	1.2
3.7	Boulevard Of Broken Dreams	Green Day	2005	14	289	3.5	1.2
3.5	New Divide	Linkin Park	2009	8	250	4	1.2
3.4	Psycho	Puddle Of Mudd	2008	9	338	3.6	1.3
3.4	Remedy	Seether	2005	5	355	3.5	1.1
3.4	Second Chance	Shinedown	2009	10	250	3.8	1.3
3.3	Speak	Godsmack	2006	6	181	3.7	1.1
3.2	Lifeline	Papa Roach	2009	6	283	3.7	1.3
3.2	Through Glass	Stone Sour	2006	7	520	3.8	1.2
3.1	Save Me	Shinedown	2005	12	199	3.8	1.3
3	Best Of You	Foo Fighters	2005	4	338	3.7	1.2
3	Break	Three Days Grace	2010	11	187	3.9	1.3
2.9	What I’ve Done	Linkin Park	2007	8	158	3.5	1.2
2.9	Animals	Nickelback	2006	6	480	3.6	1.2
2.9	Chalk Outline	Three Days Grace	2012	13	244	3.6	1.2
2.8	Walk	Foo Fighters	2011	4	305	3.7	1.3
2.8	Photograph	Nickelback	2005	7	489	3.5	1.2
2.8	Country Song	Seether	2011	10	411	3.5	1.1
2.7	The Pretender	Foo Fighters	2007	6	499	3.4	1.2
2.7	Cryin’ Like A Bitch!	Godsmack	2010	5	258	3.7	1.2
2.7	Painkiller	Three Days Grace	2014	4	249	3.5	1.2
2.6	Face To The Floor	Chevelle	2011	12	216	3.7	1.2
2.6	Fake It	Seether	2008	7	339	3.6	1.2
2.5	Shepherd Of Fire	Avenged Sevenfold	2014	7	273	3.6	1.2
2.4	Rope	Foo Fighters	2011	5	264	3.4	1.1
2.3	Trenches	Pop Evil	2013	4	287	3.5	1.1
2.3	Words As Weapons	Seether	2014	5	239	3.5	1.1
2.3	Been Away Too Long	Soundgarden	2013	5	239	3.6	1.2
2.2	Something From Nothing	Foo Fighters	2014	13	306	3.5	1.2
2.2	Live To Rise	Soundgarden	2012	6	225	3.5	1.1
2.1	Pain	Three Days Grace	2007	13	332	3.6	1.2
2	Hail To The King	Avenged Sevenfold	2013	10	246	3.8	1.1
1.9	Breath	Breaking Benjamin	2007	7	234	3.4	1.1
1.8	Never Too Late	Three Days Grace	2007	7	297	3.3	1.2
1.7	The Day That Never Comes	Metallica	2008	7	182	3.8	1.1
1.7	Heaven Knows	The Pretty Reckless	2014	5	338	3.6	1.2
1.6	I Don’t Wanna Stop	Ozzy Osbourne	2007	5	406	3	1.2
1.6	Bully	Shinedown	2012	12	369	3.3	1.2
1.6	World So Cold	Three Days Grace	2010	5	265	3.4	1.2
1.4	Unity	Shinedown	2012	4	372	3.3	1.1
1.2	Let Me Hear You Scream	Ozzy Osbourne	2010	4	340	3.3	1
0.8	The Good Life	Three Days Grace	2010	5	215	3.1	1.1

If the Red Hot Chili Peppers do have to pay a price for that panorama, it’s not showing up here. “Dani California” performed extremely well with an average grade level of 5.5. Three Days Grace even bucked their overall poor score with “Animal I Have Become.”
None of this, however, can undo what Ozzy hath wrought. “Let Me Hear You Scream” set a pretty low bar (1.2 to be exact). His other song, “I Don’t Wanna Stop,” didn’t do much better, either at 1.6.
Then again, it would be a crime not to mention Three Days Grace’s other record setting song: The Good Life. With an average grade level of 0.8, it was the lowest scoring song of the hundreds analyzed. Who said the good life was complicated?

Top Pop Songs Ranked by Grade Level

Average Grade Level	Title	Artist	Year	Weeks at #1	Word Count	Syllables per Word	Characters per Word
5	She Will Be Loved	Maroon5	2004	4	351	1.2	3.7
4.8	E.T.	Katy Perry Featuring Kanye West	2011	6	293	1.4	4.1
4.6	Hips Don’t Lie	Shakira Featuring Wyclef Jean	2006	7	617	1.3	3.7
4.6	California Gurls	Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg	2010	7	411	1.4	4.2
4.5	We Are Young	fun. Featuring Janelle Monae	2012	5	352	1.3	3.9
4.2	Shake It Off	Mariah Carey	2005	5	352	1.2	3.6
4.2	Forever	Chris Brown	2008	5	446	1.3	3.7
4.2	The Reason	Hoobastank	2004	8	231	1.2	3.2
3.9	Irreplaceable	Beyonce	2007	7	549	1.2	3.5
3.9	Leave (Get Out)	JoJo	2004	5	330	1.1	3.4
3.7	We Belong Together	Mariah Carey	2005	10	418	1.2	3.5
3.7	Boulevard Of Broken Dreams	Green Day	2005	4	289	1.2	3.5
3.7	The Monster	Eminem Featuring Rihanna	2014	5	710	1.2	3.7
3.6	Hollaback Girl	Gwen Stefani	2005	6	459	1.2	3.4
3.5	Set Fire To The Rain	Adele	2012	4	346	1.1	3.6
3.5	My Love	Justin Timberlake Featuring T.I.	2006	4	784	1.2	3.4
3.5	Over And Over	Nelly Featuring Tim McGraw	2004	8	546	1.2	3.3
3.4	Summer Love	Justin Timberlake	2007	4	642	1.1	3.3
3.3	No One	Alicia Keys	2008	5	314	1.2	3.2
3.3	Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)	Kelly Clarkson	2012	4	429	1.2	3.7
3.3	Animals	Maroon 5	2014	4	505	1.2	3.6
3.2	Big Girls Don’t Cry	Fergie	2007	8	400	1.2	3.4
3.2	Leavin’	Jesse McCartney	2008	5	403	1.2	3.4
3.2	Bleeding Love	Leona Lewis	2008	9	393	1.2	3.8
3.2	I Knew You Were Trouble.	Taylor Swift	2013	7	588	1.2	3.5
3.2	One More Night	Maroon 5	2012	8	492	1.2	3.4
3.1	Be Without You	Mary J. Blige	2006	4	575	1.2	3.4
3.1	Low	Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain	2008	6	731	1.1	3.7
3.1	All Of Me	John Legend	2014	5	374	1.2	3.4
3	Roar	Katy Perry	2013	5	445	1.1	3.2
3	Locked Out Of Heaven	Bruno Mars	2013	4	323	1.1	3.5
2.9	Rolling In The Deep	Adele	2011	5	574	1.2	3.6
2.9	Pieces Of Me	Ashlee Simpson	2004	5	326	1.2	3.5
2.8	Teenage Dream	Katy Perry	2010	4	421	1.2	3.5
2.8	We Found Love	Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris	2011	8	292	1.2	3.8
2.8	Check On It	Beyonce Featuring Slim Thug	2006	6	617	1.1	3.2
2.8	Apologize	Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic	2007	7	219	1.2	3.2
2.7	Firework	Katy Perry	2011	4	391	1.2	3.6
2.7	Cupid’s Chokehold	Gym Class Heroes Featuring Patrick Stump	2007	5	668	1.1	3.1
2.6	Telephone	Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce	2010	4	664	1.2	3.3
2.6	Payphone	Maroon 5 Featuring Wiz Khalifa	2012	4	589	1.1	3.5
2.6	Blurred Lines	Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. + Pharrell	2013	10	674	1.2	3.3
2.6	Dynamite	Taio Cruz	2010	4	413	1.1	3.3
2.5	Toxic	Britney Spears	2004	4	289	1.2	3.2
2.5	U + Ur Hand	Pink	2007	4	478	1.2	3.5
2.5	Promiscuous	Nelly Furtado Featuring Timbaland	2006	8	588	1.2	3.3
2.4	Can’t Hold Us	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Ray Dalton	2013	4	758	1.2	3.4
2.4	Happy	Pharrell Williams	2014	5	544	1.2	3.5
2.3	Dark Horse	Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J	2014	5	470	1.2	3.5
2.2	Say It Right	Nelly Furtado	2007	4	247	1.1	3.2
2.2	I Gotta Feeling	Black Eyed Peas	2009	7	646	1.2	3.2
2.1	Whatcha Say	Jason DeRulo	2009	4	544	1.1	3.6
2.1	SexyBack	Justin Timberlake	2006	5	644	1.2	3.3
2	Since U Been Gone	Kelly Clarkson	2005	7	288	1.1	3.3
2	Boom Boom Pow	The Black Eyed Peas	2009	7	526	1.1	3.6
1.9	Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)	Katy Perry	2011	6	460	1.2	3.6
1.9	Grenade	Bruno Mars	2011	5	447	1.1	3.3
1.9	Run It!	Chris Brown	2005	4	706	1.1	3.3
1.8	Hey Ya!	OutKast	2004	6	497	1.2	3.4
1.8	Gives You Hell	The All-American Rejects	2009	4	463	1.1	3.4
1.7	Poker Face	Lady GaGa	2009	5	573	1.1	2.9
1.5	Wide Awake	Katy Perry	2012	4	354	1.2	3.4
1.5	TiK ToK	Ke$ha	2010	7	499	1.1	3.4
1.4	So What	Pink	2008	5	494	1.1	2.9
1.2	Moves Like Jagger	Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera	2011	6	469	1.1	3.3

Now I finally arrive at Pop. Maroon 5 really put it best when they pointed out that “it’s not always rainbows and butterflies.” That line may have gotten them high points, but their odd tongue-centered request was enough to undo it all.
Katy Perry is in a similar position, with high and low scoring songs leaving her averaging out somewhere in a muddled middle. On the other hand, maybe we can just attribute her higher scoring songs to Snoop.
Pink on the other hand is a much simpler picture. True, her repeated use of words like “nah” puts her in good company (The Beatles, for example); but in terms of “smart” lyrics, she doesn’t do herself any favors.

Okay Children, What Have We Learned?

What have we learned here? Well, the concept of creating for the lowest common denominator is certainly going strong. So what if popular music doesn’t tend to lend itself to sophistication? Are most of these songs still great? Definitely.
Perhaps we can be a little less judgemental of elementary schoolers (you know who you are). It also wouldn’t hurt to be a little more judgemental of contemporary songwriters. More than anything, these findings are a reminder of just how fun dumb can be. In the end, there’s nothing wrong with that.