Culled from Graphic GH

A human trafficking ring involving some Asians has been busted by the police in Takoradi.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Department of the Ghana Police Service arrested two Chinese for trafficking six Vietnamese into Ghana for prostitution.

The Takoradi Police have since rescued the six, who were said to have been trafficked into the country on the pretext of transiting Ghana to the United States of America.

The six victims were identified as Tran Thi Letrhu, 32; Thi Hong Loan, 29; Huyn Thei Nhieu, 35; Nguayum Nga, 31; Se Thi Kieu, 38, and Tran Thi Thru, 38.

They are currently in the custody of the Takoradi District Police Command.

The women were camped in a rented 12-bedroom apartment at Tadisco-Down, a suburb of the twin-city, which serves as a residential apartment, a nightclub and a brothel for those who could not afford to pay and camp the women in hotels.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Takoradi after the arrest of the Chinese, ASP Obeng Dickson, the officer in charge of the Western Regional Anti-Human Trafficking Department, said the police had information on the operations of the traffickers through Interpol.

The suspects, identified as Hwang Si Hui, 49, and Cz Tian Ping, 35, are also in police custody.

They are said to have brought in the victims to Takoradi, ostensibly for prostitution.

ASP Dickson explained that when the women arrived more than a year ago, they were camped in Tema for prostitution.

“After the first trafficker recouped his investment in bringing them into the country, the six were reassigned to two other Chinese, Si Hui and Tian Ping, to provide services for other nationals in the northern part of the Western Region,” he said.

After following intelligence carefully, he said, the police and National Security officials realised that the victims were in Takoradi and were being camped by the two suspects for prostitution.

“What they do is that when clients visit the house and select which of the girls they want to hire, the person is given a number of days to bring back the girl to the house in Takoradi,” he said.

Cost per night Cost per night According to the police, the cost per night out or days of engaging the women was between $500 and $1,000.

The women looked young and were dressed in colourful dresses and hot jeans skirts when the security officials arrested them.

Charge of abetment Charge of abetment He said the Ghanaian cook who was hired to cook for the victims had also been arrested on a provisional charge of abetment and was helping the police in their investigations.

The victims are expected to be transferred to Accra as a result of communication difficulties, since the police were finding it difficult to communicate with them because they could only speak Vietnamese.

The victims The victims The victims, who looked visibly worried and continually wept, would not eat the food offered them apart from coke and water.

Reports also say the victims had been camped in the 12-bedroom apartment and not allowed to go out on their own since they arrived in the twin-city.

Culled from Telegraph UK

British researchers are exploring ways to prevent information stored on robots being hacked or passed on to others, as part of a £2 million three-year project examining the implications of deploying robots in public spaces.

Humanoid robotics is an emerging research field that will become increasingly important as robots start to assist people in their daily lives, for example becoming companions for older people in their homes.

However, there is concern about how much information is gleaned and stored, particularly as these sociable human-seeming devices could lead to us being less guarded about what we reveal.

Dr Brown, Associate Director of Oxford University's Cyber Security Centre and Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, is researching ways to enable these robots to glean information without compromising users’ privacy.

He explained that humanoid robots have the potential to gather, store and analyse data about our movements and activities.

It is therefore important to design robots that have privacy embedded into their design, so their information gathering is restricted to what is needed to interact and carry out their tasks.

"While they provide opportunities to make our lives easier, the potential loss of control over this information should concern us," said Brown.

"At Oxford we have been exploring how individuals can maintain control over information about themselves, while still enjoying the potential benefits of robotic technology."

One technique being developed involves organising people into groups with similar interests, either online or at social gatherings, without needing each person to share their interests.

This would also allow commuters to search for car-pooling partners without broadcasting their home location and work route, which will be useful as self-driven cars start appearing on Britain’s streets.

It would also help motorists plan routes allowing for rush-hour traffic without the need for pervasive monitoring infrastructures.

Brown's research is part of a wider project that aims to measure how people respond to robotic surrogates in public spaces.

Researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Bath, Exeter, Queen Mary University of London and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory are introducing an advanced-programmed humanoid robot, ‘Nao’, to the public in Bristol in 2015.

Culled from BBC

Apple has unveiled its new iPhone technology for cars at the Geneva Motor Show.

CarPlay allows iPhones to plug into cars so drivers will be able to call up maps, make calls and request music with Siri voice commands or a touch on a vehicle's dashboard screen.

It requires Apple's latest software, iOS 7, and an iPhone 5, 5C or 5S.

Apple first announced plans to make its iOS mobile operating system more compatible with cars last June.

Car producers including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo previewed CarPlay in Geneva with other producers saying they plan to adopt the system.

"iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction,'' said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPhone and iOS product marketing.

Ferrari is previewing CarPlay on its four-wheel-drive FF model.

Volvo plans to feature the iPhone system in its redesigned Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Mercedes-Benz isn't revealing which models will get CarPlay, but expects that both its S-Class large sedan and C-Class midsize sedan should be compatible with the system.

A long list of other car manufacturers, including General Motors, Ford and Honda, also are drawing up plans for CarPlay, according to Apple.

Google announced it was teaming up with car manufacturers including Audi, Honda and Hyundai to integrate its Android operating system into their dashboards last month.

GM and Honda declined to comment on their CarPlay plans.

Meanwhile Ford has already launched a voice-control system called Sync made by Microsoft in some of its cars and offers its own touch-screen technology.