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Comment I learned a lot when I got mine (Score 1) 45

by EmagGeek (#66150835) Attached to: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used To Be

I stayed in school for a couple of years to get my MSEE after getting my bachelor's. It was like being in Montessori school again and I loved it. It was the first time I had really manage my time over the long stretch - not just to get through this week's test, but to make my overall project successful. My advisor was more or less hands off, but available if I got stuck. Otherwise, it was up to me. That was 25 years ago. About 5 years ago I made the transition to leadership roles to be that advisor to the new guard, but I still value an MS if it was done with the right intent. A lot of colleges today will throw you an MS if you just take a few extra classes, but when I see a well-planned thesis that the candidate can demonstrate true understanding in an interview, it tells me (along with many other things) that they can manage goals, timelines, requirements, and do the validation work to tie it all up. It's nice when I don't have to spend their first 2 years at the company developing those skills in them.

To me the whole point of the MS is to give you something to figure out on your own and make you learn how to manage it. Taking a bunch of classes only makes you better at getting through this week and temporarily memorizing enough formulas to get through a final. There's little true understanding in that.

Submission + - Code.org, Microsoft Celebrate Georgia's New CS + AI Graduation Requirement

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: From tech-bankrolled nonprofit Code.org's Tuesday LinkedIn post boasting that Georgia just made AI and CS education the law: "Georgia is now our 14th CS [high school] graduation requirement state, and the 3rd to legislate AI as part of that requirement. Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 179 into law today. Years of work. Countless conversations. Real results. [...] And a special thank you to the Technology Association of Georgia and Microsoft, whose partnership was instrumental in making this happen. [...] AI and CS education for every student. One state at a time."

Microsoft State Government Affairs employees threw the partnership love right back at Code.org with their own LinkedIn posts, saying: "At Microsoft, we’re proud to support this milestone. SB 179 positions Georgia as a national leader in workforce innovation, expanding access to computer science and AI education to build a durable, diverse talent pipeline aligned with the demands of a modern digital economy. This approach reflects Microsoft’s commitment to advancing responsible, transparent, and secure AI, and reinforces the importance of early education in shaping how the next generation develops and uses technology. Grateful for the leadership and partnership that made this possible."

The Bill specifies that "grants shall be provided to eligible entities to deliver professional development programs for teachers providing instruction in computer science courses and content," explaining that "'High-quality professional learning providers' means institutions of higher education in this state, local school systems, nonprofit organizations, or private entities," which would seem to include Code.org, Code.org's higher education Regional Partners, and Microsoft.

While the legislation celebration may begin in 2026, the Bill notes the Class of 2037 will be the first whose graduation is impacted by the new requirement: "Each local board of education shall require all students who will graduate in 2037 or later, as a condition of graduation from high school, to complete a course in computer science or a career, technical, and agricultural education (CTAE) course embedded with computer science which meets the requirements provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph".

Submission + - Will Elon Win His Case Against OpenAI? Predictions?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: With the nine-person jury set to begin deliberations Monday in Musk v. Altman, this week's GeekWire Podcast discusses the trial, its potential outcome, and how the verdict may profoundly impact the larger nonprofit world.

"So, here's my prediction," opined GeekWire's Todd Bishop. "They're going to find that OpenAI did in fact have a breach of charitable trust of the nonprofit mission. I think it's less clear that they're going to say that Brockman and Altman unjustly enriched themselves. I'm not sure of that. And I'm pretty sure that Microsoft is going to get off without any issues based on what I heard. I think that's the way it's going to go. [...] So, if somebody were to force me to go on to some kind of prediction market and put my life savings down, that's how I would do it. [...] Ultimately you can think what you want of these people, but it comes down to the law and whether the jury finds that the facts meet the specifics of the law and the jury instructions that the judge gives to them. I think witness credibility is also really significant here. And I think one of the key questions is whom do they believe or disbelieve more, Elon or Sam? And I think that's a very difficult choice to make. [laughter] It's going to be very interesting to see how it plays out."

So, if you were a betting person, who would your money be on?

Comment People buy Honda because they're boring (Score 1) 149

People buy Honda because they're simple, boring vehicles that are easy to learn to drive and maintain. They don't have complicated whizbang features and are very appropriate for people who don't want to have to get a rocket surgery degree to own.

An EV is an incredibly scary proposition to Honda's demographic. It's no surprise at all that their EV venture fell flat.

Comment Re: If it's free, you are the product (Score 2) 94

by EmagGeek (#66146053) Attached to: The Era of 15GB Free Gmail Storage Is Ending

The absence of the delete feature and unlimited storage was prompted by grants from law enforcement. Email stored for over 6 months is considered "abandoned" and does not require a warrant for law enforcement to obtain and read. Another feature of abandoned emails is that attorney-client and spousal privilege are set aside because clearly no one cares about "abandoned" material.

Submission + - Autosave or Manual Save, That is the Question

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Whether you're editing documents or code — locally or in the cloud, single-user or in collaboration with others — autosave has increasingly become the default and sometimes the only behavior rather than manual saving. Which may be a plus for those who forget to periodically save their work, but a minus to those who wish to intentionally control when and where their files are saved.

Interesting, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of published empirical studies to explain how Miclyrosoft, Google, Apple, and others arrived at the decision that autosave-as-default for the masses was the wiser choice (a skeptic might point to cloud architecture limitations, unstable software & infrastructure, reduced technical support costs, and industry herd behavior as deciding factors).

In the absence of rigorous, peer-reviewed studies, which is the lesser of the two evils for your work: autosave, and run the risk of silently preserving inadvertent mistakes, or manual save, and run the risk of silently discarding changes? And, with increased emphasis on risk/governance and collaborative document sharing, any thoughts on why documents aren't typically opened in View instead of Edit mode to reduce the risk of inadvertent changes?

So, is Ctrl-S a bug and/or a feature?

Submission + - The Audio Industry Is Grappling with the Rise of 'Podslop' (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Welcome to the modern era of podcasting in which thousands of new shows are released into the world every day with a sizable portion likely being AI-generated. Figuring out exactly which ones fall into that growing category is becoming more difficult just as the industry is starting to take this issue seriously. In only the past month or so, Amazon launched a feature that explains a product by generating a quasi-podcast, complete with co-hosts talking to each other and taking questions from users. Shout out to Business Insider reporter Katie Notopoulos for spotting this (and, naturally, demoing it with an adult diaper rash-cream). Not long ago, Nicholas Thompson, chief executive officer of the Atlantic, noted “podslop” dominated his Spotify search results when he typed in the word “Sora.” This was around the time that OpenAI shut down its user-generated, AI-content-only app.

[...] All of which raises some big, difficult questions. For one, what should the listening platforms do about this incursion? As of right now, Apple Podcasts requires creators who generated a “material portion” of their show using AI to disclose it. The platform also bans misleading or deceptive content. Spotify hasn’t published any specific guidelines around AI, though it maintains general rules around dangerous and misleading content. Where this conversation gets even trickier is when it comes to money. Many of these podcasts are hosted on at least one free service that allows programs to opt into their ad marketplace with zero barrier to entry, meaning these shows (and the hosting service) profit off every listen or download. Spreaker, a company owned by iHeartMedia, is the primary one to watch here. Though it tells users to disclose when they rely on AI, it still allows those shows to opt into its programmatic ad marketplace, which pays creators 60% of the revenue generated by the ads placed in their shows. It stands to reason that most of these thousands of shows don’t reach many people. But in the aggregate, the ears and dollars could add up. Are the advertisers on board with being next to AI-generated content, some of which might be deemed “slop?”

Submission + - Cisco releases open-source 'DNA test for AI models' (scworld.com)

Submitted by spatwei
spatwei writes: Cisco released an open-source tool to trace the origins of AI models and compare model similarities for great visibility into the AI supply chain.

The Model Provenance Kit, announced Thursday, is a Python toolkit and command-line interface (CLI) that looks at signals such as metadata and weights to create a “fingerprint” for AI models that can then be compared to other model fingerprints to determine potential shared origins.

“Think of Model Provenance Kit as a DNA test for AI models,” Cisco researchers wrote. “[] Much like a DNA test reveals biological origins, the Model Provenance Kit examines both metadata and the actual learned parameters of a model (like a unique genome that comprises a model), to assess whether models share a common origin and identify signs of modification.”

The tool aims to address gaps in visibility into the AI model supply chain. For example, many organizations utilize open-source models from repositories like HuggingFace, where models could potentially be uploaded with incomplete or deceptive documentation.

Submission + - In Backlash Against Tech in Schools, Parents Are Winning Rollbacks

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: From Salt Lake City to New York City, the New York Times reports, parents are demanding more sway over the digital tools that schools give children:

"Los Angeles parents are fed up with schools loading up students with laptops and tablets, and assigning schoolwork on a slew of apps. Some families, who had decided against giving their children screens at home, told school board members that they were appalled to find young students using school-issued devices — even in kindergarten. Some parents complained that their children were able to play video games or watch social media videos during school. Others reported that an A.I. app, which fourth graders were assigned to use to create portraits of the fictional Swedish schoolgirl Pippi Longstocking, generated sexualized imagery."

"Such concerns prompted parents last year to form a group called Schools Beyond Screens to push for increased technology oversight in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest public school system. Last week, the Los Angeles school board passed a resolution requiring the district to restrict student access to YouTube, eliminate digital devices entirely through first grade and develop screen time limits for higher grades — becoming the first major U.S. school system to do so. The parents’ successful campaign points to an escalating national reckoning for the powerful classroom technology industry. Encouraged by the fast spread of school cellphone bans, parents, teachers and legislators across the United States have banded together to ensure that technology use in schools is beneficial for learning."

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