America's public education system has become "an avenue for multitrillion-dollar companies to enact their agendas," argues a NewYork Times reporter who's covered that tech industry influence for over 10 years. Big tech companies "advocate for new laws to require schools to teach industry-aligned subjects. They sit on committees that help shape learning standards for public school students..."


The reporter concludes that "Silicon Valley's efforts to capture the attention of education professionals and provide student training materials can also double as marketing or indoctrination."
They enable some of the most powerful corporations on the planet to spin rosy technology stories for administrators, teachers and students, giving them a sanitized view of industry practices and product risks. Many parents would likely object if, say, Exxon Mobil wrote their children's environmental science curriculum. Or if Purdue Pharma trained their children's biology teachers. Yet, over the last decade, schools have often embraced the technology industry in similar ways with few questions asked.

The article excerpts the soon-to-be-released book " Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools," with the reporter adding more thoughts on LinkedIn:


Every few years, Silicon Valley has urged American public schools to quickly adopt the latest technology or teach the latest tech subject: Big Data analytics; laptops for every child; algorithm-driven math and reading apps; compter programming; virtual reality. And each time the urgent arguments sounded remarkably similar: if schools just adopted the latest tech tool, or taught the latest tech subject, it would democratize learning for every child and equip students with valuable career skills.
Despite good intentions, "today we know some of those classroom tech drives did not exactly pan out as advertised."

Now some of the same companies that urged schools to provide laptops and coding lessons are employing similar arguments to urge schools to quickly adopt A.I. tools. I've spent years covering Chromebooks and student chatbot use. And I'm troubled by our collective amnesia around school tech.

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader theodp for sharing the article.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

ScienceDaily reports:

A microchip about the size of a grain of rice can generate a highly organized "rainbow" of light, a capability that could eventually support faster, higher-capacity 6G communications and extremely precise timing for quantum technologies. Physicists at Loughborough University, working with an international research team, demonstrated a system that produces a series of precisely spaced light frequencies. Those optical frequencies can then be converted into multiple high-frequency electromagnetic signals known as millimeter waves.

Millimeter waves are attracting growing interest for future communications because they can provide considerably more bandwidth, giving networks more room to transmit data. A major obstacle, however, has been producing these signals with the precision and stability required for advanced applications... "They could ultimately contribute to faster, higher capacity 6G networks," [said Dr. Luke Peters, of Loughborough University's Emergent Photonics Research Centre], "but the potential goes far beyond communications. These frequencies could also be used in radar systems as well as spectroscopy and astronomical instruments, helping scientists study materials and make extremely precise measurements of the universe.
"These applications are still some way off, and there are challenges to overcome before the technology can be used in real-world systems — but our latest work has tackled a major one..." A microcomb generates an extremely precise set of light frequencies arranged somewhat like the colors in a rainbow, although the light itself is invisible to the human eye. A specialized antenna can then convert those optical frequencies into millimeter waves. Earlier research demonstrated that microcombs could produce a single precise millimeter wave frequency. Generating many frequencies simultaneously could be far more useful because each could potentially serve as a separate channel for transmitting information at the same time. Achieving that, however, requires a microcomb with exceptional stability and signal quality.
In a new Nature Communications paper, the Loughborough led researchers report a system capable of doing exactly that.

Their system connects its chip-based microresonator to a much larger loop of optical fiber where laser light continuously travels through both parts of the system, according to the article.

"The team is now investigating how the microcomb system could eventually move from a laboratory experiment into practical technology."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Citrix's Desktop as a Service (DaaS) product includes a lightweight, hardened second operating system called UniconOS (once called "eLux") to offer Windows customers a write-protected file system Citrix says is secure against computer viruses and other malware. Nerds.xyz reports:

According to the company, the environment remains isolated from the Windows filesystem and uses Secure Boot protections covering the shim, bootloader, kernel, and initial RAM filesystem. That separation matters when ransomware encrypts Windows or a faulty update leaves the operating system trapped in a boot loop. Instead of repairing Windows immediately, an employee can boot into UniconOS and use Citrix DaaS to access virtual applications and desktops.

Citrix SecurAccess with Chrome Enterprise provides access to internal web applications under the organization's existing security policies. In other words, UniconOS does not actually fix the damaged Windows installation. It gives employees another route to their applications while the IT department investigates or repairs Windows... [T]he installer shrinks the Windows volume, creates a new partition, copies UniconOS onto it, and registers the necessary boot entries. Windows remains the default operating system during ordinary use, although administrators can configure boot delays and fallback behavior...

The approach could prove useful following a widespread ransomware attack or another defective Windows update resembling the CrowdStrike incident of 2024. Recovery would happen independently on every compatible endpoint instead of requiring IT employees to physically handle thousands of computers.

Thanks to Slashdot reader BrianFagioli for sharing the news.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

VAL DI SOLE (ANP) - Mathieu van der Poel (31) had "geen power" in zijn benen. Dat zei de Nederlander na zijn mislukte poging zondag om het WK mountainbike te winnen. "Ik had geen goede dag. Dat was al vanaf het begin zo. Ik bleef zitten waar ik zat", zei Van der Poel, die als 33e was gestart en als nummer 30 eindigde tegen de NOS.

Van der Poel koesterde vooraf de hoop dat hij in Italië wereldkampioen zou kunnen worden. Hij wist het WK mountainbike nog nooit te winnen.

Van der Poel keek ook terug op de val van de Sloveen Tadej Pogačar zaterdag tijdens de Vuelta. "Ik heb hem beterschap gewenst."

NEW YORK (ANP) - Jessica Pegula is goed begonnen aan de US Open. De als derde geplaatste Amerikaanse versloeg de Roemeense Elena-Gabriela Ruse in de eerste ronde van het laatste grandslamtoernooi van het seizoen: 6-3 6-2.

De 32-jarige Pegula bereikte twee jaar geleden de finale van de US Open. In die eindstrijd verloor ze in twee sets van Aryna Sabalenka: 6-3 7-5.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Familieleden van twee Nederlanders die worden vermist na de overstromingen in Nepal en Tibet zijn "diep aangeslagen" en "leven tussen hoop en vrees". Dat laten ze weten in een verklaring die is verspreid door de organisatie Namens de Familie.

De 51-jarige Maaike Moolhuijsen uit Haarlem en de 29-jarige Christiaan Berghuis uit Nijkerk zijn onderdeel van een reisgroep van ongeveer tachtig mensen. Ze gingen vanuit de Nepalese hoofdstad Kathmandu naar de berg Kailash in Tibet. Ze waren afgelopen woensdag op de weg terug en net bij de grensovergang van China en Nepal aangekomen toen de overstroming plaatsvond.

Volgens de verklaring van de families is er sinds de ramp geen duidelijkheid waar Maaike en Christiaan zijn en hoe het met ze gaat. Die onzekerheid leidt tot "veel zorgen, spanning en verdriet".

In de nieuwste uitzending van Feyenoord: De Verlenging werd er uitgebreid teruggeblikt het teleurstellende gelijkspel tegen ADO Den Haag. Vanuit De Kuip werden er harde conclusies getrokken over 'de grote meneren' van Feyenoord, het spel van de Rotterdammers en de titelambities.

Ayase Ueda is hard op weg naar de uitgang bij Feyenoord. Voor de Japanse spits, die zondag nog trefzeker was tegen ADO Den Haag (2-2), lonkt een stap naar Frankrijk.

Goed verborgen achter de negentiende eeuwse panden aan de Westersingel in Rotterdam, schuilt een zogenoemde third place: een plek om te ontmoeten en te ‘zijn’. Wie onderdeel van de gemeenschap wil worden, betaalt honderden euro’s per maand. Toch is het volgens oprichter Henk Aaron geen elitaire kantoortuin, maar een plek met een maatschappelijke missie.

Pro-leden moeten kiezen bij welke Europese familie het wil horen: de sociaal-democraten of de groenen. Juist wat de partij lange tijd kon tegenhouden, gebeurt alsnog: een debat over de vraag wat Pro ten diepste is.