Comment Re: You're shitting me! (Score 4, Insightful) 165
There should be a required WARRENT ID field and it should be checked against valid active warrents. Otherwise, access denied.
Submission + - China's Top Spy Chief Warns AI Is a Threat to Party Rule (gvwire.com)
fjo3 writes: China’s top spy chief has warned that artificial intelligence could pose a direct threat to the Chinese Communist Party’s hold on power, in what is the highest-level and most detailed articulation yet of how Beijing sees the technology’s security risks.
The unusually blunt assessment by Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, is in contrast to the warnings dominating the AI debate in the United States, which have focused on the possibility that AI could slip out of human control or pose a threat to humanity itself.
In an article published Sunday in the state-run magazine China Cyberspace, Chen called for more party control over AI and stricter government oversight. This, he said, was necessary to protect political stability at home; to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns from “hostile forces”; and to compete militarily with countries like the United States.
The unusually blunt assessment by Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security, is in contrast to the warnings dominating the AI debate in the United States, which have focused on the possibility that AI could slip out of human control or pose a threat to humanity itself.
In an article published Sunday in the state-run magazine China Cyberspace, Chen called for more party control over AI and stricter government oversight. This, he said, was necessary to protect political stability at home; to defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns from “hostile forces”; and to compete militarily with countries like the United States.
Comment I have no proboscis and I must scream (Score 2) 51
Man, Nicholas Tesla was right when he wrote
"You will live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension."
Actually, I think I've got this one, other than whether this was really necessary.
Comment Re: credibility (Score 1) 123
Does it have an internal cellular?
Comment Oops...title should end with 'for Kids' (Score 1) 1
Amazon Vine Review Recasts 'Coding Kids' Exposé as Learn-to-Code Primer for Kids
Submission + - Amazon Vine Review Recasts 'Coding Kids' Exposé as Learn-to-Code Primer for 1
theodp writes: "Amazon Vine," the e-tailer explains, "is an invitation-only program which selects the most insightful reviewers in the Amazon store to serve as Vine Voices. Vine Voices have the unique opportunity to order items free of charge and share their product experiences with Amazon customers to help them make informed buying decisions. [...] When customers see a review with the special Vine badge, they can trust that they're getting an honest, unbiased opinion from a real customer just like them."
So, how well does the reality live up to the promise? In the case of the new book Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools, not so much. Described by the publisher as "the inside story of how Big Tech catalyzed, co-opted, and ultimately came to capture computer science and AI education in America" ("Fourth graders doing Google-branded coding lessons. Amazon schooling seventh graders on its warehouse robots. Advanced Placement computing courses from Microsoft and Apple."), the top review selected by Amazon informs customers that the book is a 'good introduction to coding.'
"I really enjoyed Coding Kids," writes the 'trusted' Amazon Vine reviewer. "What stood out to me most was how the book takes something that can sound complicated—computer coding—and makes it feel approachable and even fun. As I was reading it, I found myself thinking that this is exactly the kind of book that could help a child become interested in technology without feeling overwhelmed by it. I particularly liked the way it encourages kids to be curious, experiment, and solve problems on their own. That was probably my favorite part because it shows that coding isn’t just about computers—it’s also about creativity and learning how to think differently. I would definitely recommend Coding Kids to parents, grandparents, or teachers looking for a good introduction to coding. I came away from the book thinking that it could genuinely spark a child’s interest in technology and give them the confidence to explore something new."
While likely just another example of Hanlon's Razor ("Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."), the recasting of an investigative nonfiction book that casts a critical eye at Amazon's influence on K-12 education as a learn-to-code primer for children doesn't exactly instill trust in the Amazon Vine program or Amazon's 'Top Reviews' selection process. More on-point book reviews of Coding Kids can be found at the Washington Independent Review of Books ("Turns out, Silicon Valley isn’t especially altruistic.") and Science ("Big Tech’s crusade to get kids coding is more self-interested than it first appears").
So, how well does the reality live up to the promise? In the case of the new book Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools, not so much. Described by the publisher as "the inside story of how Big Tech catalyzed, co-opted, and ultimately came to capture computer science and AI education in America" ("Fourth graders doing Google-branded coding lessons. Amazon schooling seventh graders on its warehouse robots. Advanced Placement computing courses from Microsoft and Apple."), the top review selected by Amazon informs customers that the book is a 'good introduction to coding.'
"I really enjoyed Coding Kids," writes the 'trusted' Amazon Vine reviewer. "What stood out to me most was how the book takes something that can sound complicated—computer coding—and makes it feel approachable and even fun. As I was reading it, I found myself thinking that this is exactly the kind of book that could help a child become interested in technology without feeling overwhelmed by it. I particularly liked the way it encourages kids to be curious, experiment, and solve problems on their own. That was probably my favorite part because it shows that coding isn’t just about computers—it’s also about creativity and learning how to think differently. I would definitely recommend Coding Kids to parents, grandparents, or teachers looking for a good introduction to coding. I came away from the book thinking that it could genuinely spark a child’s interest in technology and give them the confidence to explore something new."
While likely just another example of Hanlon's Razor ("Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."), the recasting of an investigative nonfiction book that casts a critical eye at Amazon's influence on K-12 education as a learn-to-code primer for children doesn't exactly instill trust in the Amazon Vine program or Amazon's 'Top Reviews' selection process. More on-point book reviews of Coding Kids can be found at the Washington Independent Review of Books ("Turns out, Silicon Valley isn’t especially altruistic.") and Science ("Big Tech’s crusade to get kids coding is more self-interested than it first appears").
Comment Re:I'm kind of disappointed in the article (Score 1) 2
Can't do a book full justice in a brief Slashdot post, but she actually does go back and cover how Apple entered schools in the 80s in a chapter entitled 'From Tom Edison to Sam Altman.' She goes back even further into the history of tech and schools, including how Thomas Edison promised that movies would revolutionize education and replace textbooks - "They'll do all the teaching by moving pictures, all of it" he told the NY Times in 1912 - not unlike the current promises being made about AI.
Comment Re:I just wish (Score 1) 96
For me, I want a newer smaller and lighter iPhone like mini, SE, 4S, etc. 13 mini is starting to get old and slow!
Comment Re:81 remote code execution? WTF? (Score 1) 63
Like in Linux kernels. So many!!!!!!
Submission + - Journalist Calls Out 'Collective Amnesia' of Schools' Romance with Big Tech 2
theodp writes: The74 reports that in her new book, Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools ("the inside story of how Big Tech catalyzed, co-opted, and ultimately came to capture computer science and AI education in America"), Natasha Singer, a veteran business reporter for The New York Times, traces Big Tech's bid to persuade schools to embrace their products, with industry-sponsored curricula and tools growing at astonishing speed.
In his book review of Coding Kids , Aran Shetterly begins with a Spoiler Alert: "Turns out, Silicon Valley isn’t especially altruistic." He writes, "At the center of her book is the story of the nonprofit Code.org and its charismatic, Harvard-educated leader, Hadi Partovi. Thirteen years ago, Partovi produced a five-minute video called “What Most Schools Don’t Teach.” This 'audacious act of Silicon Valley influencer marketing...aimed...at a low-resourced nonprofit sector: public schools serving millions of children,' delivered a worrying message: Kids who didn’t learn to write code would be left behind. And the long-term success of the United States economy depended on training these students to fill a million open tech jobs. [...] No word in Coding Kids chills more than 'democratize.' 'Democratizing' sounds a lot like 'democracy,' but the tech-elite byword has nothing to do with a form of government; from the lips of the tech barons, it means enforcing ubiquitous access to their products."
Fast-forward to 2026, and now we're dealing with AI, and tech is reading from a similar playbook. Asked by The74's Greg Toppo, "Does this moment seem different to you?", Singer replies, "This moment is different, but also similar. We are in a moment in society where a lot of people have increased distrust of these huge tech companies, and we see a wave of parents pushing back against tech in schools. [...] We have had these cycles of tech in schools where there are all these promises about the latest tech, laptops, learning apps, massive open online courses, virtual reality, big data's going to revolutionize schools and like democratize access to education for kids and get them these great career skills, and we keep having these cycles. My concern is that we don't learn anything. One of the reasons I wrote this book is because it feels like we have collective amnesia. Now we're in the sixth or eighth cycle of this — and shouldn't we be asking questions about the push for AI in schools, based on what we've learned about the push for all the other things that came before?"
In his book review of Coding Kids , Aran Shetterly begins with a Spoiler Alert: "Turns out, Silicon Valley isn’t especially altruistic." He writes, "At the center of her book is the story of the nonprofit Code.org and its charismatic, Harvard-educated leader, Hadi Partovi. Thirteen years ago, Partovi produced a five-minute video called “What Most Schools Don’t Teach.” This 'audacious act of Silicon Valley influencer marketing...aimed...at a low-resourced nonprofit sector: public schools serving millions of children,' delivered a worrying message: Kids who didn’t learn to write code would be left behind. And the long-term success of the United States economy depended on training these students to fill a million open tech jobs. [...] No word in Coding Kids chills more than 'democratize.' 'Democratizing' sounds a lot like 'democracy,' but the tech-elite byword has nothing to do with a form of government; from the lips of the tech barons, it means enforcing ubiquitous access to their products."
Fast-forward to 2026, and now we're dealing with AI, and tech is reading from a similar playbook. Asked by The74's Greg Toppo, "Does this moment seem different to you?", Singer replies, "This moment is different, but also similar. We are in a moment in society where a lot of people have increased distrust of these huge tech companies, and we see a wave of parents pushing back against tech in schools. [...] We have had these cycles of tech in schools where there are all these promises about the latest tech, laptops, learning apps, massive open online courses, virtual reality, big data's going to revolutionize schools and like democratize access to education for kids and get them these great career skills, and we keep having these cycles. My concern is that we don't learn anything. One of the reasons I wrote this book is because it feels like we have collective amnesia. Now we're in the sixth or eighth cycle of this — and shouldn't we be asking questions about the push for AI in schools, based on what we've learned about the push for all the other things that came before?"
Comment I am not even a senior! (Score 1) 139
I have IBS and pee a lot.
Submission + - Los Angeles Public School System Bans Most AI for Students
theodp writes: The Los Angeles public school system will vastly restrict the use of AI at all grade levels, reported the NY Times and others. The news of the ban — which oddly had to be coaxed out of LAUSD employees (YouTube) at a meeting of the LAUSD School Board Generative AI Ad Hoc Committee — stunningly came as a complete surprise to both the LAUSD Board and K-12 AI usage protestors (the employees were unable to answer a Board member's question about what LAUSD's policy was on schoolwork done using AI on students' personal devices). It comes shortly after New York City announced it would ban most AI through 8th grade. Both developments seem to respond to an extraordinary movement, driven by parents, to push back against the incursion of technology and screens into childhood. The new AI restrictions will apply for the current school year, as a board committee considers how to potentially incorporate the technology in the future.
For several years, the Times notes, debates over technology have roiled LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest, with over half a million students. Its former superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, was an AI booster who sought to develop the district’s own AI chatbot ("Ed") for students. But the small start-up company Carvalho selected to lead that project had little experience in generative AI, and its CEO was later indicted on charges that she had defrauded investors. Carvalho resigned from the district in June after the FBI searched his home and offices in a related investigation. Following his resignation, Carvalho was scrubbed from the Leadership page ("Visionaries driving our impact") of the tech-backed nonprofit CodeAI, where Carvalho was a Board member. CodeAI was known as Code.org until last June, when it rebranded itself as CodeAI in a pivot to AI literacy that was publicly encouraged by the leaders of its deep-pocketed tech giant corporate donors, including Microsoft President Brad Smith and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who pledged to help fund the move.
This week's AI moratorium announcement by LAUSD would seem to be a setback for Microsoft, who a year ago used LAUSD as its AI Poster Child as it boasted it was bringing AI literacy and skilling to students and educators across the US, including using its partnerships with Code.org and Code.org's TeachAI initiative to provide AI literacy and skilling for all of LAUD's 409,000 students. LAUSD was a big booster of Code.org's inaugural Hour of AI last December, which received funding from Microsoft and replaced the nonprofit's flagship Hour of Code event as the nonprofit pivoted to AI. It also seems a setback for CodeAI, as the LA and NYC AI moratoriums cast doubt over whether the nonprofit's new AI curriculum and flagship Hour of AI event will be welcome in the nation's two biggest school districts for at least the 2026-27 year (coincidentally, the NBA announced this week that CodeAI $10+ million donor Steve Ballmer is facing his own 2026-27 suspension!). Code.org and its tech partners rapidly gained traction for pushing coding into classrooms with its first Hour of Code in 2013, which was bolstered by high-profile announcements of Code.org partnerships with some of the nation's largest school districts, including New York City and Chicago. So, will the AI backlash slow their efforts to do the same with AI?
For several years, the Times notes, debates over technology have roiled LAUSD, the nation’s second-largest, with over half a million students. Its former superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, was an AI booster who sought to develop the district’s own AI chatbot ("Ed") for students. But the small start-up company Carvalho selected to lead that project had little experience in generative AI, and its CEO was later indicted on charges that she had defrauded investors. Carvalho resigned from the district in June after the FBI searched his home and offices in a related investigation. Following his resignation, Carvalho was scrubbed from the Leadership page ("Visionaries driving our impact") of the tech-backed nonprofit CodeAI, where Carvalho was a Board member. CodeAI was known as Code.org until last June, when it rebranded itself as CodeAI in a pivot to AI literacy that was publicly encouraged by the leaders of its deep-pocketed tech giant corporate donors, including Microsoft President Brad Smith and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who pledged to help fund the move.
This week's AI moratorium announcement by LAUSD would seem to be a setback for Microsoft, who a year ago used LAUSD as its AI Poster Child as it boasted it was bringing AI literacy and skilling to students and educators across the US, including using its partnerships with Code.org and Code.org's TeachAI initiative to provide AI literacy and skilling for all of LAUD's 409,000 students. LAUSD was a big booster of Code.org's inaugural Hour of AI last December, which received funding from Microsoft and replaced the nonprofit's flagship Hour of Code event as the nonprofit pivoted to AI. It also seems a setback for CodeAI, as the LA and NYC AI moratoriums cast doubt over whether the nonprofit's new AI curriculum and flagship Hour of AI event will be welcome in the nation's two biggest school districts for at least the 2026-27 year (coincidentally, the NBA announced this week that CodeAI $10+ million donor Steve Ballmer is facing his own 2026-27 suspension!). Code.org and its tech partners rapidly gained traction for pushing coding into classrooms with its first Hour of Code in 2013, which was bolstered by high-profile announcements of Code.org partnerships with some of the nation's largest school districts, including New York City and Chicago. So, will the AI backlash slow their efforts to do the same with AI?
Submission + - Tivo announces it is enshittifying (cordcuttersnews.com)
AmiMoJo writes: TiVo has begun notifying customers of a significant change to one of its longest-standing and most popular DVR features. Starting November 2, 2026, the current version of SkipMode that allows users to jump over commercial breaks with a single button press on the remote will no longer be available. The company is instead preparing to test a new paid add-on called Premium Auto Commercial Skip.
Comment Re:When pulled over for speeding.... (Score 1) 165
Wow, I didn't know MS Office was taking over!
Submission + - NBA Suspends Steve Ballmer for 1 Year, Fines Clippers $30M for Salary-Cap Scheme
theodp writes: GeekWire reports, "The NBA dropped the hammer on Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer on Wednesday, suspending the former Microsoft CEO from all league and team activities for one year and fining the franchise $30 million following a year-long investigation into illegal salary-cap circumvention involving star forward Kawhi Leonard. The sweeping sanctions mark one of the most severe punitive actions taken against an owner in modern sports history. Beyond Ballmer’s ban and the team fine, the Clippers were stripped of five consecutive first-round draft picks (2029 through 2033), several team executives were suspended, and Leonard was ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution. Leonard’s uncle and advisor, Dennis Robertson, was also banned from league activity for five years."
"Central to what the NBA identified as a salary-cap evasion scheme was Aspiration, a green-banking tech startup that filed for bankruptcy after its co-founder pleaded guilty to a $248 million fraud. Shortly after signing Leonard to a $176 million contract extension in 2021, Ballmer personally poured $50 million into Aspiration, while the team landed a $300 million sponsorship deal and Leonard secured a multimillion-dollar endorsement contract with the firm."
Given today's events, looking prescient in retrospect is a 2014 Deadspin item that quipped, Steve Ballmer Practiced Being Owner With His Son's High School Team, which took note of a Seattle Times investigation into "incoming Clippers owner Steve Ballmer's foray into the shady world of high school prep sports and the wealthy parents living vicariously through their kids." Summarizing Ballmer's aggressive find-a-way-to-win maneuvers, Deadspin wrote, "Ballmer's son's basketball team at Lakeside School in Seattle [which Bill Gates once attended] sucked, and he wanted to make it un-suck. So he created a non-profit as a way to pump money and talent into the school, got friendly faces coaching positions, and pushed for an administration-wide commitment to athletics at the expense of academics. He was basically the owner of Lakeside basketball."
"Central to what the NBA identified as a salary-cap evasion scheme was Aspiration, a green-banking tech startup that filed for bankruptcy after its co-founder pleaded guilty to a $248 million fraud. Shortly after signing Leonard to a $176 million contract extension in 2021, Ballmer personally poured $50 million into Aspiration, while the team landed a $300 million sponsorship deal and Leonard secured a multimillion-dollar endorsement contract with the firm."
Given today's events, looking prescient in retrospect is a 2014 Deadspin item that quipped, Steve Ballmer Practiced Being Owner With His Son's High School Team, which took note of a Seattle Times investigation into "incoming Clippers owner Steve Ballmer's foray into the shady world of high school prep sports and the wealthy parents living vicariously through their kids." Summarizing Ballmer's aggressive find-a-way-to-win maneuvers, Deadspin wrote, "Ballmer's son's basketball team at Lakeside School in Seattle [which Bill Gates once attended] sucked, and he wanted to make it un-suck. So he created a non-profit as a way to pump money and talent into the school, got friendly faces coaching positions, and pushed for an administration-wide commitment to athletics at the expense of academics. He was basically the owner of Lakeside basketball."
