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In a blog post yesterday, Samsung announced plans to launch a Samsung Pay debit card this summer. The Verge reports: Samsung will launch the card, which will be backed by a cash management account, in partnership with personal finance company SoFi, Ahn said. Samsung is also developing a "mobile-first money management platform," according to Ahn. His blog doesn't detail what features that money management platform or the upcoming debit card may have, but he does say that Samsung will share more details "in the coming weeks." Samsung joins Apple in offering a branded payment card. Google is reportedly working on its own branded payment card as well, though Google's will apparently be a debit card, like Samsung's. Google will also supposedly offer spending-tracking tools for the card.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: GPS is facing a major interference threat from a 5G network approved by the Federal Communications Commission, U.S. military officials told Congress in a hearing on Wednesday. In testimony to the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Department of Defense Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy disputed the FCC's claims that conditions imposed on the Ligado network will protect GPS from interference. When the FCC approved Ligado's plan last month, the agency required a 23MHz guard band to provide a buffer between the Ligado cellular network and GPS. Deasy argued that this guard band won't prevent interference with GPS signals. Results from tests by federal agencies show that "conditions in this FCC order will not prevent impacts to millions of GPS receivers across the United States, with massive complaints expected to come," Deasy said. The FCC unanimously approved Ligado's application, but the decision is facing congressional scrutiny. "I do not think it is a good idea to place at risk the GPS signals that enable our national and economic security for the benefit of one company and its investors," Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said at the hearing, according to CNBC. "This is about much more than risking our military readiness and capabilities. Interfering with GPS will hurt the entire American economy." A spokesperson for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the military's concerns "baseless fear-mongering" in a statement quoted by Multichannel News. "The FCC made a unanimous, bipartisan decision based on sound engineering principles," the spokesperson said. The FCC said "the metric used by the Department of Defense to measure harmful interference does not, in fact, measure harmful interference," and that "testing on which they are relying took place at dramatically higher power levels than the FCC approved." "Ligado said Wednesday in a statement that it has gone to great lengths to prevent interference and will provide 'a 24/7 monitoring capability, a hotline, a stop buzzer or kill switch' and will 'repair or replace at Ligado's cost any government device shown to be susceptible to harmful interference,'" CNBC reported. The FCC also said it imposed a power limit of 9.8dBW on Ligado's downlink operations -- "a greater than 99 percent reduction from what Ligado proposed in its 2015 application," Pai said.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Crawling along the world's river bottoms, the larvae of the caddis fly suffer a perpetual housing crisis. To protect themselves from predators, they gather up sand grains and other sediment and paste them all together with silk, forming a cone that holds their worm-like bodies. As they mature and elongate, they have to continuously add material to the case -- think of it like adding rooms to your home for the rest of your life, or at least until you turn into an adult insect. If the caddis fly larva somehow loses its case, it's got to start from scratch, and that's quite the precarious situation for a defenseless tube of flesh. And now, the microplastic menace is piling onto the caddis fly's list of tribulations. Microplastic particles -- pieces of plastic under 5 millimeters long -- have already corrupted many of Earth's environments, including the formerly pristine Arctic and deep-sea sediments. In a study published last year, researchers in Germany reported finding microplastic particles in the cases of caddis flies in the wild. Then, last month, they published the troubling results of lab experiments that found the more microplastic particles a caddis fly larva incorporates into its case, the weaker that structure becomes. That could open up caddis flies to greater predation, sending ripple effects through river ecosystems. In the lab, the researchers found that the larvae chose to use two kinds of microplastics to build their cases, likely because the plastic is lighter than the sand, so it's not as hard to lift. The problem is that the cases with more plastic and less sand collapse more easily, weakening the larvae's protection from predatory fish, among other things. A more long-term concern is bioaccumulation. "A small fish eats a larva, a bigger fish eats the smaller fish, all the way on up, and the concentrations of microplastic and associated toxins accumulate over time," the report says. "The bigger predators that people eat, like tuna, may be absorbing those microplastics and the chemicals they leach." The study has been published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

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The Boston Herald writes that a "video vigilante faces numerous charges after being arrested outside Massachusetts General Hospital where police say he was recording the emergency ramp at the height of the coronavirus pandemic." schwit1 shares their report: John L. McCullough, 41, was charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace and threats to do bodily harm after police say he refused to stop recording Sunday evening. "I informed him that I could not make him stop filming but I asked him to stop out of respect to patient privacy," the arresting officer wrote in a police report obtained by the Herald through a public records request. The next day the newspaper's senior editor posted a follow-up: John L. McCullough told the Herald Tuesday evening he is a First Amendment crusader who takes videos of police and posts them to YouTube. That's what got him a June 2 arraignment date. "I understand how people may feel, but that doesn't mean I should be locked up," McCullough said... "Did I break the law? No. I may have been rude," he added. "I understand people may feel jittery, but where peoples' feelings start my rights don't stop...." Cambridge civil-rights attorney Harvey Silverglate said McCullough will probably have his case tossed, even if what he was doing is seen as crass. "There's no amendment in the Constitution called the humanity amendment," said Silverglate. "It's a free country and you have a right to be a jerk." But taking video outside a hospital during a pandemic and as people try to social distance — and first responders, including the police, face all-too-real health risks — is "pretty distasteful," Silverglate added. Still, he added the judge will "have to throw it out." He added it's "punishment itself" to go to court in this climate. McCullough, records state, does not have an attorney yet. He did say he's ready to plead his case. "Don't be brainwashed," he added, "and it shouldn't be a problem when a black man has a camera." The Herald suggests one more interesting detail. "McCullough said '20 other cameras' were probably rolling at the same time as he was — alluding to security cameras in the area."

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A new hydroxychloroquine study -- "the largest to date" -- was published Thursday in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. It concluded that Covid-19 patients taking the drug "do not fare better than those not receiving the drug," reports Time: Dr. Neil Schluger, chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Columbia, and his team studied more than 1,300 patients admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Irving Medical Center for COVID-19. Some received hydroxychloroquine on an off-label basis, a practice that allows doctors to prescribe a drug that has been approved for one disease to treat another — in this case, COVID-19. About 60% of the patients received hydroxychloroquine for about five days. They did not show any lower rate of needing ventilators or a lower risk of dying during the study period compared to people not getting the drug. "We don't think at this point, given the totality of evidence, that it is reasonable to routinely give this drug to patients," says Schluger. "We don't see the rationale for doing that." While the study did not randomly assign people to receive the drug or placebo and compare their outcomes, the large number of patients involved suggests the findings are solid. Based on the results, Schluger says doctors at his hospital have already changed their advice about using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. "Our guidance early on had suggested giving hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized patients, and we updated that guidance to remove that suggestion," he says. In another study conducted at U.S. veterans hospitals where severely ill patients were given hydroxychloroquine, "the drug was found to be of no use against the disease and potentially harmful when given in high doses," reports the Chicago Tribune. They also report that to firmly establish whether the drug has any effect, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding a randomized, controlled trial at six medical institutions of hundreds of people who've tested positive for Covid-19.

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Boston dominated for most of four quarters but Indiana briefly took the lead in the final minutes behind Victor Oladipo and inspired defensive play.

Despite a rough outing Tuesday night, Brad Stevens and Celtics believe the future is bright for the pride of New Albany.

Romeo Langford reflects on a tough outing Tuesday night and what it was like playing in Indiana again.

The Pacers final game before the NBA went on hiatus was vs. the Celtics, whose player Marcus Smart has tested positive for the coronavirus

An insurance payment due to Victor Oladipo's injury gives Pacers lowest payroll in NBA

"When we do start back, everybody will be off the same amount of time," McMillan says.

Friday, the Dunking Dutchman took over the Indiana Pacers' Twitter to do a question and answer session with Pacer fans.

This isn't normal, the way we love Larry Bird all these years later, not even for someone as special at sports as Larry Legend.

Joe Young has been playing in China since his time with the Indiana Pacers ended. He is a Houston native

Victor Oladipo was rocking and the Pacers were rolling before NBA shutdown, leaving President Kevin Pritchard, team hopeful about possible resumption.

Oladipo: 'I can look at it like I was just getting my rhythm back or as an opportunity to rest and ... continue building strength in my tendon.'

The Indiana Pacers would have started the 2020 NBA playoffs this weekend, but these memories will have to do for now.

Indiana Pacers legend always strived to be on Michael Jordan's level; not quite getting there still eats at Reggie Miller

Michael Jordan after his first title on 'The Last Dance': 'At last I fit somewhere in the category of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson'

The Pacers didn't have their starting point guard for the last three games before the NBA went on hiatus, but he's able to play if/when it restarts.

The Adidas move was expected; each side alleges the other is at fault

After two quick 3-pointers, "I get the rebound, get fouled and that's where the last two points come for the 8 points in 9 seconds," says Miller.

Pacers coach Nate McMillan is hoping to be in the final days of a stay-at-home order, and he's letting players know they need to be ready to return.

'Last Dance' brings back memories of tough 90's NBA for Pacers coach Nate McMillan

Stay toasty during dinner or warm up with a drink at these 10 Indy restaurants with fireplaces.

The iconic restaurant still conjures up fond memories of the food and the cruising.

Several Indianapolis-area restaurants are offering brunch deals and takeout specials to help mom relax and stay out of the kitchen on Mother's Day.

New guidelines announced by Gov. Eric Holcomb include timeline for resuming social gatherings and entertainment events, including bars and nightclubs.

Social distancing and people's potential discomfort sitting in auditoriums have given Indianapolis venues several problems to solve amid coronavirus.

These Indianapolis-area spots have some delicious sandwiches.

Stefanovic was on the court after scoring when Griffin stepped on his chest

First-half incident resulted in an ejection for Illini player as he stepped on Boilermakers guard

Boilermakers and Hoosiers try to break into the upper echelon of Big Ten football recruiting

Despite a loss, Purdue sees positives from Big Ten tourney matchup with Maryland

With Matt Haarms announcing his decision to leave the Boilermakers, the coaching staff begins the search to fill a void in the middle

The Greenwood Redevelopment Commission has given city officials the green light to seek bids for a nearly 20-acre development project. Here's what it could look like.

Former Center Grove High School kicker gets a big-screen announcement from the former Colts punter.

Led by larger-than-life QB Drew Byerly, charismatic coach Chris Coll and two weight-room ringers, Franklin finally beats neighboring Whiteland.

Johnson County commissioners adopted in September a master plan for a county-wide trail system.

One person died after the collapse of a well that was under construction in the 4900 block of W. Road 225 N. in Bargersville.

Champ McCorkle notched his 1,000th-career point as the Cougars beat Center Grove for the Johnson County tournament championship.

The Johnson County jail in Franklin will soon undergo a more than $23 million expansion.

The last business standing on a flood-prone piece of land is expected to vacate this year, making way for a 15-acre park with an amphitheater.

A 15-acre park with amphitheater, playground and farmer's market plaza is planned for the southwest side of Franklin.

Coffeehouse Five opened a shop in Franklin this week. The coffeehouse is a non-profit that offers pastoral counseling services for free.

A high schooler launched an idea to deliver groceries and help small businesses.

Lawrence North drops to No. 2 in Class 4A after loss to North Central

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