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+ - Gates warns of software replacing people; Greenspan says H-1Bs fix inequity ->

Submitted by dcblogs
dcblogs writes "Bill Gates and Alan Greenspan, in separate forums, offered outlooks and prescriptions for fixing jobs and income. Gates is concerned that graduates of U.S. secondary schools may not be able stay ahead of software automation. "These things are coming fast," said Gates, in an interview with the American Enterprise Institute "Twenty years from now labor demand for a lots of skill sets will be substantially lower, and I don't think people have that in their mental model." Meanwhile, former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan believes one way to attack income inequity is to raise the H-1B cap. If the program were expanded, income wouldn't necessarily go down much, but it would go down enough to make an impact. Income inequality is a relative concept, he argued. People who are absolutely at the top of the scale in 1925, for instance, would be getting food stamps today, said Greenspan. "You don't have to necessarily bring up the bottom if you bring the top down.""
Link to Original Source

+ - 'Sons of Anarchy' Creator on Google Copyright Anarchy

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes "Over at Slate, Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter argues that Google’s anti-copyright stance is just a way to devalue content, which is bad for artists and bad for consumers. The screed is Sutter's response to an earlier anti-copyright rant in Slate penned by a lawyer who represents Google and is a Fellow at the New America Foundation, a public policy institute chaired by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that receives funding from Schmidt and Google. "Everyone is aware that Google has done amazing things to revolutionize our Internet experience," writes Sutter. "And I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Google are very nice people. But the big G doesn't contribute anything to the work of creatives. Not a minute of effort or a dime of financing. Yet Google wants to take our content, devalue it, and make it available for criminals to pirate for profit. Convicted felons like Kim Dotcom generate millions of dollars in illegal revenue off our stolen creative work. People access Kim through Google. And then, when Hollywood tries to impede that thievery, it's presented to the masses as a desperate attempt to hold on to antiquated copyright laws that will kill your digital buzz. It's so absurd that Google is still presenting itself as the lovable geek who's the friend of the young everyman. Don't kid yourself, kids: Google is the establishment. It is a multibillion-dollar information portal that makes dough off of every click on its page and every data byte it streams. Do you really think Google gives a shit about free speech or your inalienable right to access unfettered content? Nope. You're just another revenue resource Google can access to create more traffic and more data streams. Unfortunately, those streams are now pristine, digital ones of our work, which all flow into a huge watershed of semi-dirty cash. If you want to know more about how this works, just Google the word 'parasite.'""

Comment: More like hundreds of millions of dollars (Score 2) 272

by theodp (#46474615) Attached to: Is the New "Common Core SAT" Bill Gates' Doing?

Follow the story link to the Gates Foundation Common Core grants, or check out this post from Diane Ravitch: "The Gates Foundation spent nearly $200 million to pay for the writing, review, evaluation, dissemination, and promotion of the Common Core standards. It is difficult to find a D.C.-based education organization that has not received millions of dollars from the Gates Foundation to promote the standards. Bill Gates believes in the Common Core standards...And he is not at all concerned that the standards were never field-tested, even though Microsoft would never launch a new product line without extensive field-testing."

Comment: How much did BillG pay to "take" the SAT? $20M (Score 1) 272

by theodp (#46474469) Attached to: Is the New "Common Core SAT" Bill Gates' Doing?

Diane Ravitch: "The Gates Foundation spent nearly $200 million to pay for the writing, review, evaluation, dissemination, and promotion of the Common Core standards. It is difficult to find a D.C.-based education organization that has not received millions of dollars from the Gates Foundation to promote the standards. Bill Gates believes in the Common Core standards...And he is not at all concerned that the standards were never field-tested, even though Microsoft would never launch a new product line without extensive field-testing."

+ - Is the New "Common Core SAT" Bill Gates' Doing?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes ""I want to explain why Common Core is among the most important education ideas in years," wrote Bill Gates in a USA Today op-ed last month that challenged the "dangerous misconceptions" of those who oppose the initiative (pretty confident for a guy who conceded there wasn't much to show for his earlier $5B education reform effort!). "The Gates Foundation helped fund this process," acknowledged Gates in quite an understatement of his influence. Receiving $6.5M in Gates Grants was Student Achievement Partners, whose founder David Coleman was dubbed the 'Architect of the Common Core.' So it's not too surprising that at last week's SXSWedu, Coleman — now President and CEO of The College Board (no stranger to Gates money itself) — announced a dramatic overhaul of the SAT that includes a new emphasis on evidence-based reading and writing and evidence analysis, which the AJC's Maureen Downey calls "reflective of the approach of the Common Core State Standards". And over at The Atlantic, Lindsey Tepe reports that the Common Core is driving the changes to the SAT. "Neither Coleman nor the national media," writes Tepe, "have really honed in on how the standards are driving the College Board-as well as the ACT-to change their product." In conjunction with the redesigned SAT, The College Board also announced it would exclusively team with Khan Academy (KA) to make comprehensive, best-in-class SAT prep materials open and free in an effort to level the playing field between those who can and can't afford test prep services. In a conversation with KA founder Sal Khan — aka Bill Gates' favorite teacher and a beneficiary of $10+ million in Gates Foundation grants (much earmarked for Common Core) — Coleman stressed that Khan Academy and CollegeBoard will be the only places in the world that students will be able to encounter free materials for the exam that are "focused on the core of the math and literacy that matters most." "There will be no other such partnerships", Coleman reiterated. Game, set, and match, Gates?"

+ - Obama: Would Michelle Have Married a Nerd?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes "President Obama, it would seem, does not get his news from Slashdot. CNET reports that while making a get-out-the-healthcare-enrollees appearance on Funny or Die, Zach Galifianakis teased the President:: "You said if you had a son you would not let him play football. What makes you think that he would want to play football? What if he was a nerd like you?" In response, the President quipped, "Do you think a woman like Michelle would marry a nerd?""

+ - Did Bill Gates "Buy" the SAT?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes ""The Common Core State Standards [CCSS] exist because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation wanted them," Susan Ohanian wrote in 2011. Last August, education activist Mercedes Schneider took a look at Bill Gates' spending on the controversial CCSS Initiative — $147.9 million to the four organizations primarily responsible for CCSS by her reckoning — and worried, "Can Bill Gates buy a foundational democratic institution? Will America allow it?" A commenter added that "David Coleman, 'Architect' of the Common Core and founder of Student Achievement Partners that received $6.5 million from Gates, was also mysteriously appointed as head of the College Board and is aligning the SAT to Common Core." Last week at SXSWedu 2014, Coleman announced a dramatic overhaul of the SAT that includes a new emphasis on evidence-based reading and writing and evidence analysis, which AJC reporter Maureen Downey calls "reflective of the approach of the Common Core State Standards". And over at The Atlantic, Lindsey Tepe reports that The Common Core Is Driving the Changes to the SAT. "Neither Coleman nor the national media," writes Tepe, "have really honed in on how the standards are driving the College Board-as well as the ACT-to change their product." In conjunction with the redesigned SAT, The College Board (no stranger to Gates Grants itself) also announced it would team with Khan Academy (KA) to make comprehensive, best-in-class SAT prep materials open and free. In a conversation with KA founder Sal Khan — aka Bill Gates' favorite teacher and a beneficiary of $10+ million in Gates Foundation grants (much earmarked for Common Core) — College Board CEO Coleman stresses that, apart from the one with KA, "there will be no other such partnerships" that are "focused on the core math and literacy that matters most". Game, set, and match, Gates? Or could the SAT changes actually spell trouble for Common Core?"

+ - Google Chairman: $19 Bn for 50 People? Good for Them!

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes "Speaking at an SXSW panel, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt emphasized that Google is 'very, very worried' about the class tensions that underlie recent Bay Area protests, where high-salaried techies have driven up rents. 'Ninety-nine percent of people have seen no economic improvement over the last decade,' he said, adding that 'the data suggest that the problem gets worse' and will become the 'number one issue in democracies around the world.' Schmidt's solution to this displacement? Foster conditions — e.g., better education, looser immigration laws, and deregulation in strictly-controlled areas like energy and telecommunications — that encourage the creation of fast-growing startups ('gazelles') that generate lots of jobs. When interviewer Steven Levy noted 'gazelles' like the 50-employee WhatsApp which was acquired by Facebook for a reported $19 billion seem to lead to more inequality, Schmidt brushed aside the apparent contradiction. 'Let us celebrate capitalism,' the tax-us-if-you-can Schmidt said, opening his arms. '$19 billion for 50 people? Good for them.' Eric, meet Tom."

+ - Google Bothered By, Blocking Android-Windows "Duet"?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes ""Android is free and open," reiterated Google Android Chief Andy Rubin in 2010 as Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7. Rubin added, "Competition is good for the consumer and if somebody has an idea for a feature or a piece of functionality in their platform and Android doesn't do it, great. I think it's good to have the benefit of choice, but in the end I don't think the world needs another platform." But now, CNET and Digitimes report that Google is holding up the Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300 (specs), a laptop-tablet hybrid that can instantly switch between Android and Windows 8.1. A source familiar with the Asus Duet told CNET that Google is the one that has not favored the idea, while Microsoft has not, to date, been actively opposed to the idea. "If true," reports Apple Insider, "it may not be the first time Google has helped to quash such a product. South Korean electronics giant Samsung quietly canceled plans for its hybrid Ativ Q tablet last year, and Digitimes notes that Asus may not be the only company to bow to Google's wishes.""

Comment: Re:HP ENVY Recline how meny kids will get robed ov (Score 1) 33

by theodp (#46436569) Attached to: Amplify Education's New Intel Tablet Begs For Abuse

Even a $400 tablet, it would seem, would be apt to be stolen or even just lost in transit. So, why not have a nice big display (27" Acer touch is under $400) in the classroom that's protected by being attached to or a part of a desk to greatly reduce chances of breakage?

Privacy

Eric Schmidt, Jared Cohen Say Google Data Now Protected From Gov't Spying 155

Posted by timothy
from the now-how-to-effectively-test? dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google's Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen were [part of a] wide-ranging session at SXSW today and they revealed that Google's data is now safely protected from the prying eyes of government organizations. In the last few days Google upgraded its security measure following revelations that Britain's GCHQ had intercepted data being transmitted between Google datacenters, Schmidt said that his company's upgrades following the incident left him 'pretty sure that information within Google is now safe from any government's prying eyes.'"

+ - Amplify Education's New Intel Tablet Begs for Abuse

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes "Bring it on, suggests the video for The Amplify Tablet, an Intel device (specs) developed for Rupert Murdoch's Amplify Education, which shows kids wrestling with, dropping, and even splashing the device. So is a ruggedized 10.1" device, which appears to be Amplify's answer to earlier fragility problems, the future of high-tech education? Or is go-big-or-go-home with a 27" touch screen the way to go, perhaps in some kind of next-gen-flip-top-school-desk? Or — cost be damned — are separate classroom and home devices what are really needed?"

+ - Facebook to Pay City $200K-a-Year for a Neighborhood Cop

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes "Valleywag reports that Facebook just bought itself a police officer and questions what kind of mechanism will be in place to make sure the officer — whose position Facebook has agreed to fund to the tune of $200K-a-year for 3 years — doesn't provide preferential protection for the social network giant and its employees. It's probably a fair question, considering that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the City of New Orleans enter into a federal consent decree designed to address the "divided loyalties" of the city's moonlighting police officers. But for now, everything's hunky-dory in Menlo Park, where Police Chief Robert Jonsen called the deal a "benchmark in private-public partnerships". No doubt it is, as was last week's Google-City of San Francisco deal to fund free bus passes for low- and middle-income kids. But is giving earmarked funding to facilitate self-serving city expenditures a good or bad development?"

+ - BP Finds Way to Bypass US Crude Export Ban

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Bloomberg reports that the oil industry is pressuring President Barack Obama to end the 41-year-old ban on most crude exports but British Petroleum (BP) isn’t waiting for a decision. The British oil giant has signed on to take at least 80 percent of the capacity of a new $360 million mini-refinery in Houston that will process crude just enough to escape restrictions on sales outside the country. “It’s a relatively inexpensive way around the export prohibition,” says Judith Dwarkin “You can lightly ruffle the hydrocarbons and they are considered processed and then they aren’t subject to the ban.” Amid a flood of new US oil, the demand for simple, one-step plants capable of transforming raw crude into exportable products such as propane is feeding a construction boom along the Gulf Coast. The first such mini-refinery, built for 1/10 the cost of a complex, full-scale refinery, is scheduled to open the first phase of its 100,000 barrel-a-day crude processing plant in July, The mini-refineries take advantage of the law that allows products refined from oil to be sold overseas, though not the raw crude itself. "The international buyers of these products will likely need to refine them further, so this is basically a veiled form of condensate exports,” says Leo Mariani."

All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors.

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