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Submission + - Tech-Backed Nonprofit Code.org Pondering What AI Means for Its Brand

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: "There won't be an Hour of Code and an Hour of AI," tech-backed nonprofit Code.org clarified for members of its Advocacy Coalition in a meeting last week (video, 29:34). "Hour of Code is totally becoming Hour of AI. [...] There will be adult-facing activities [...] We're leaning into the 'K-Gray' learning [a switch from the Hour of Code's focus on K-12 schoolchildren]."

Asked what the switch from the Hour of Code to Hour of AI means for the Code.org brand, Chief Academic Officer Pat Yongpradit replied, "That is a question that needs to be answered, for sure. And certainly something that all of us need to wrestle with. What is our place in a world where CS and AI are mashing together and evolving and everything." Code.org Director of Government Affairs Anthony Owen added, "I'm not touching the brand-changing question with a 10-foot-pole, but I will say that [...] we need to accept [...} AI is CS."

Slides from the meeting show that the new Hour of AI, which will launch during CS Education Week in December, aims to have 25 million participants ("Every Student. Every Teacher. Every Leader"), including 1,000 'Policymakers.'

Submission + - Aging Can Spread Through Your Body Via a Single Protein, Study Finds (sciencealert.com)

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Take note of the name: ReHMGB1. A new study pinpoints this protein as being able to spread the wear and tear that comes with time as it quietly travels through the bloodstream. This adds significantly to our understanding of aging.

The researchers were able to identify ReHMGB1 as a critical messenger passing on the senescence signal by analyzing different types of human cells grown in the lab and conducting a variety of tests on mice.

When ReHMGB1 transmission was blocked in mice with muscle injuries, muscle regeneration happened more quickly, while the animals showed improved physical performance, fewer signs of cellular aging, and reduced systemic inflammation.

Submission + - Uranus has a fiery secret (sciencedaily.com) 3

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: Uranus emits more heat than it gets from the Sun, meaning it still carries internal warmth from its ancient formation. This revelation rewrites what scientists know about the ice giant’s history, strengthens the case for NASA’s upcoming mission, and offers fresh insight into the forces shaping not only other planets, but also Earth’s future climate.

Submission + - NYT: Goodbye, $165,000 Tech Jobs. Student Coders Seek Work at Chipotle.

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: The New York Times reports from the CS grad job-seeking trenches: Growing up near Silicon Valley, Manasi Mishra remembers seeing tech executives on social media urging students to study computer programming. “The rhetoric was, if you just learned to code, work hard and get a computer science degree, you can get six figures for your starting salary,” Ms. Mishra, now 21, recalls hearing as she grew up in San Ramon, Calif.

Those golden industry promises helped spur Ms. Mishra to code her first website in elementary school, take advanced computing in high school and major in computer science in college. But after a year of hunting for tech jobs and internships, Ms. Mishra graduated from Purdue University in May without an offer. “I just graduated with a computer science degree, and the only company that has called me for an interview is Chipotle,” Ms. Mishra said in a get-ready-with-me TikTok video this summer that has since racked up more than 147,000 views.

Some graduates described feeling caught in an A.I. “doom loop.” Many job seekers now use specialized A.I. tools like Simplify to tailor their résumés to specific jobs and autofill application forms, enabling them to quickly apply to many jobs. At the same time, companies inundated with applicants are using A.I. systems to automatically scan résumés and reject candidates.

Submission + - AOL is finally pulling the plug on dial-up Internet after decades of service (nerds.xyz) 1

Submitted by BrianFagioli
BrianFagioli writes: It is the end of an era, folks. You see, AOL has announced that its dial-up Internet service will officially shut down on September 30, 2025. The change also means the retirement of the AOL Dialer software and the AOL Shield browser, both designed for older operating systems and slow connections that relied on the familiar screech of a modem handshake.

While this move will probably surprise no one, it still marks the closing of a chapter in online history. Dial-up Internet was once the gateway to the web for millions of households, back when speeds were measured in kilobits and waiting for a picture to load could feel like an eternity.

According to AOL, the decision came after a routine evaluation of its products and services. The company says this will not affect any other benefits in existing AOL plans. Customers can continue to access the rest of their plan features through the AOL dashboard.

For anyone still using AOL dial-up in 2025, this change means finding an alternative Internet connection. That might be a challenge in rural areas where broadband options remain limited. It also raises the question of how many people are still paying for a service that has long been considered obsolete in the broadband era.

If you have questions or want to manage your account, AOL has set up customer support lines for both the U.S. (1-888-265-5555) and Canada (1-888-265-4357).

Honestly, I am more surprised that AOL dial-up still exists in 2025 than I am about it shutting down. For me, this one hits a little closer to home, because AOL was my very first ISP back in the 1990s. I can still remember the sound of the modem connecting and the thrill of hearing âoeYouâ(TM)ve got mail.â It was slow, clunky, and sometimes dropped the connection for no reason, but it was my first real taste of the Internet⦠and Iâ(TM)ll never forget it.

Submission + - Microsoft President to Kids: The Hour of Code is dead, long live the Hour of AI

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: A July blog post by Microsoft President Brad Smith has been recently updated to include the complete video from the launch of Microsoft Elevate, which will bring "more than $4 billion in cash and AI and cloud technology to K-12 schools, community and technical colleges, and nonprofits." The initiative, Smith wrote, "will focus on advancing AI education and training with schools, community colleges, and nonprofits. It will launch new and innovative initiatives, including the support we’re announcing today for a new 'Hour of AI' with Code.org."

Later in the video, Smith asserts it's time to 'switch hats' from coding to AI, adding that "the last 12 years have been about the Hour of Code, but the future involves the Hour of AI." This sets the stage for Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi's announcement that his tech-backed nonprofit's Hour of Code — the wildly popular learn-to-code annual event for K-12 schoolchildren that's held during Computer Science Education Week in December — is being renamed to the Hour of AI.

Explaining the pivot, Partovi says: "Computer science for the last, you know, 50 years has been, has had a focal point around coding that's been sort of like you learn computer science so that you create code. There's other things you learn like data science and algorithms and cybersecurity. But the focal point has been coding. And we're now in a world where the focal point of computer science is shifting to AI. It's, we all know that AI can write much of the code. You don't need to worry about where did the semicolons go, or did I close the parentheses or whatnot. The busy work of computer science is going to be done by the computer itself. The creativity, the thinking, the systems design, the engineering, the algorithm planning, the, the security concerns, privacy concerns, ethical concerns, those parts of computer science are going to be what remains with a focal point around AI. And what's going to be important is to make sure in education we make, give students the tools so they don't just become passive users of AI, but so that they learn how AI works."

Speaking to Smith, Partovi vows to redouble the nonprofit's policy work to "make this [AI literacy with a focus on AI engineering] a high school graduation requirement so that no student graduates school without at least a basic understanding of what's going to be part of the new liberal arts background [...] As you showed with your hat, we are renaming the Hour of Code to an Hour of AI."

Code.org launched in 2013 with the tagline "Leaders and trendsetters agree more students should learn to code." So, does this pivot mark the final death knell for 'Learn to Code'?

Submission + - OpenAI Opens an AI 'Dollar Store' for Federal Agencies

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: OpenAI said Tuesday it will offer ChatGPT to federal agencies for $1 a year as part of a new partnership with the General Services Administration (GSA). The announcement comes one day after the agency added OpenAI’s AI model to its government purchasing system, alongside Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude.

"One of the best ways to make sure AI works for everyone is to put it in the hands of the people serving the country," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with the General Services Administration, delivering on President Trump’s AI Action Plan, to make ChatGPT available across the federal government, helping public servants deliver for the American people.”

Anthropic is also reportedly planning to make its models available to the government for as little as $1. Last month, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Anthropic announced the launch of a $22.5 million AI training center for members of the American Federation of Teachers union, which represents about 1.8 million workers, including K-12 teachers, school nurses, and college staff. On the heels of that announcement, Microsoft separately pledged $4 billion for AI education training programs, targeting schools, community colleges, technical colleges and nonprofits.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How many of you are using RSS readers?

Submitted by alternative_right
alternative_right writes: I use RSS to cover all of my news-reading needs because I like a variety of sources spanning several fields in politics, philosophy, science, and heavy metal. However, it seems Google wanted to kill off RSS a few years back and it has fallen out of favor. Some of us are holding on, but how many? And what software do you use (or did you write your own XML parsers)?

Submission + - KDE's 'Other' Distro -- KDE Linux -- Now Avaible to Download in Pre-Alpha (theregister.com)

Submitted by king*jojo
king*jojo writes: KDE Linux is an all-new desktop Linux distro being developed as a showcase for the KDE desktop project. The project is still in a pre-alpha testing stage, but recently went public on the KDE website. Versions are available to download and try out.

KDE Linux is an entirely new and experimental OS. There's lots of room for confusion here, because KDE already has a demonstration distro, KDE Neon. KDE Linux is a totally separate and far more ambitious project. In terms of its underlying design, it's intended to be a super-stable end-user distro. This is in contrast with Neon, which is an experimental showcase for the latest and greatest code. Neon isn't meant to be anyone's daily driver.

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