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Submission + - California Bill Would Require Computer Science for High School Graduation

theodp writes: Flanked by posters holding K-12 computer science education advocacy charts and stats copied verbatim from tech giant backed and led nonprofit Code.org, California Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond at a press conference (Vimeo) last week to announce AB-2097, a bill that, if passed, will require every public high school to teach computer science and establish CS as a high school graduation requirement by the 2030-31 school year. A California Dept. of Education news release also echoed Code.org K-12 CS advocacy factoids.

The announcement came less than two weeks after Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi — whose goal is coincidentally to make CS a HS graduation requirement in all 50 states by 2030 — was a keynote speaker at the Association of California School Administrators Superintendents' Symposium. In an Oct 20 Facebook post, Berman noted he'd partnered with Code.org on legislation in the past and hinted that something big was in the works on the K-12 CS education front for California: "I had the chance to attend Code.org’s 10th anniversary celebration and chat with their founder, Hadi Partovi, as well as CS advocate Aloe Blacc. They’ve done amazing work expanding access to computer science education, especially for women & communities of color, and I’ve been proud to partner with them on legislation to do that in CA. More to come!"

Submission + - US judge orders Elon Musk to testify in SEC's Twitter probe (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Feb 11 (Reuters) — A federal judge ordered Elon Musk to testify again in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's probe of his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, giving the regulator and the billionaire a week to agree on a date and location for the interview.

Comment Re:It's not dangerous (Score 1) 660

I carry cash at all times. I have no choice as I frequently work in places where there are no ATMs and where hotels and restaurants don't take plastic. If I'm in Mogadishu or Kabul (both places I have worked this year), the risk of being robbed is invisible compared with the risk of a fast, violent death by other means. So am I afraid of being robbed? No.

In fact, the only place I've ever been robbed was on a train travelling to Geneva Airport in Switzerland. I nodded off and the thief picked a travel wallet from my (unzipped, contributory negligence) cabin bag. Luckily, my passport was in my jacket pocket so my journey could continue. But I was robbed of a fairly substantial amount of cash. Does this make me afraid of being robbed? No.

Since that incident, I am more disciplined about zipping up and securing my personal belongings. I have a wallet that is attached to my person with a chain. I have taken these precautions and am therefore able to travel, without fear, with cash.

All the cash I carry can be traced to the bank account from which I withdrew it, or the cashier at the organizations I'm working for that issues cash for expenses. So I am unafraid of being arrested or have cash confiscated by police. It's a truth that in Switzerland (where I live), people frequently tender very large bills (CHF500 or even CHF1000) to pay for a pint of milk. Nobody raises an eyebrow, never mind calls the cops.

The future involved less, but not zero, cash.

Submission + - DHS may designate "elections" as critical infrastructure - implications?

Demerara writes: I'm fascinated to hear the opinions of Slashdotters on the practical implications of any decision to designate "elections" as critical national infrastructure. Politico has a story here http://www.politico.com/tipshe...
For those of you who have worked on systems that are already under this regime — given that there are just over 90 days to the November elections — what can be achieved with respect to elections — and in particular to electronic voting machines (whether direct recording electronic DRE — touch screen etc — or precinct ballot scanning machines)? What might the designation require of state and county boards (the buyers of these systems) and what would the vendors have to do?

Comment by Candlelight (Score 3, Interesting) 310

I spent some time writing billing data analysis by candlelight. This, of itself, is not unusual in a developing country (where I lived at the time). But since the client was the electricity company and it was their data being analysed, the irony was not lost on my client who insisted that I never mention this fact to anyone... Well, that's all over now!

Comment Re:Not a big problem (Score 1) 378

I don't know a single person - literally not even one - who still uses local mail.

Well now you do - consider the many, many people (such as myself) who are frequently offline or in places where internet connectivity is limited, intermittent and very expensive. Offline email is not an option for me - it's a way of life.

Google

How Steve Jobs Changed Google Plus 243

Anthony_Cargile writes "Everyone thinks of Google Plus as a social networking website competing with Facebook, but that is no longer the case — even Google recognizes its failure in that regard. But in a meeting with Sergey Brin and Larry Page shortly before his death, Steve Jobs gave key advice as to what direction to take their company with regards to Google Plus, as is evidenced by their controversial new 'umbrella' privacy policy that went in effect this year. Privacy advocates beware, as the problem is almost certainly worse than ever anticipated."

Comment IT's easy... (Score 1) 792

...if they are not named Mitt Romney, then they are all AGAINST Mitt Romney.
If they are named Mitt Romney, they are FOR Mitt Romney.

They are ALL AGAINST Barack Obama.
They are ALL AGAINST tax increases.
They are ALL FOR invading Iran. No, wait, that's not quite right....

It's a Republican primary. Don't expect too much clear blue water between candidates....

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