What stage of capitalism is this?

Timebomb shippers are eating good.

Over the past two decades, school districts have spent billions equipping classrooms with laptops, yet students have fallen further behind on essential skills, Michael Bloomberg argues. With about 90% of schools now providing these devices, test scores hover near historic lows — only 28% of eighth graders proficient in math and 30% in reading.

Bloomberg notes technology’s classroom push came from technologists and government officials who envisioned tailored curricula. Computer manufacturers, despite good intentions, had financial interests and profited substantially. The Google executive who questioned why children should learn equations when they could Google answers might now ask why they should write essays when chatbots can do it for them.

Studies confirm traditional methods — reading and writing on paper — remain superior to screen-based approaches. Devices distract students, with research showing up to 20 minutes needed to refocus after nonacademic activities. As some districts ban smartphones during school hours, Bloomberg suggests reconsidering classroom computer policies, recommending locked carts for more purposeful use and greater transparency for parents about screen time. Technology’s promise has failed while imposing significant costs on children and taxpayers, he writes. Bloomberg calls for a return to books and pens over laptops and tablets.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Marine scientists in New Zealand have documented the world’s weirdest road trip pairing.

Apple was slower than most Big Tech firms to jump on the generative AI hype train, but it finally got there with the release of Apple Intelligence. The first components of Apple’s AI rolled out last year, but it’s going to take a bit longer for one of the most hotly anticipated features. After announcing that the improved Siri was delayed until 2026, Apple has reportedly begun an uncharacteristic reorganization of its executive ranks.

The new report from Bloomberg claims that Apple hopes to get its AI-backed Siri efforts back on track after months of delays. The updated assistant is supposed to leverage on-device data to improve personal context to make interactions more natural and work across apps. CEO Tim Cook has apparently become dissatisfied with John Giannandrea, the company’s AI head. Apple leadership discussed the lagging Siri AI features at length during a recent summit, and the result is that Giannandrea will no longer be overseeing Siri development.

In the coming days, Apple is expected to tell employees that Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell will be stepping in to take over development of the next-gen Siri. This will remove Apple’s troubled virtual assistant completely from Giannandrea’s oversight, leaving him to work on AI research and testing initiatives. Apple’s Vision Products Group, which is responsible for developing the company’s VR headsets, will be managed by Rockwell deputy Paul Meade going forward.

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The 1985 martial arts film starring Taimak and Vanity celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.

A new AI system called Aardvark could deliver weather forecasts as accurate as those from advanced public weather services but run on desktop computers, according to a project unveiled Thursday and published in Nature. Developed by the UK’s Alan Turing Institute with partners including Cambridge University, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and Microsoft, Aardvark aims to make sophisticated forecasting accessible to countries with fewer resources, particularly in Africa.

The system has already outperformed the US Global Forecast System on many variables in testing. Project leader Richard Turner noted the system is “completely open source” and not planned for commercialization by Microsoft.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Robert Wickens was one of motorsport’s rising stars when his life was permanently altered in a crash that paralyzed him from the chest down in 2018. Ever since, Wickens has said that his goal is to return to compete in the sport at the top level, and that looks set to happen early next month in Long Beach, California, following a successful test of his hand control-equipped Corvette GT3.R race car earlier this week.

The day-and-a-half test at Sebring in Florida wasn’t Wickens’ first time in a race car since his crash. In 2021 he tested a less-powerful front-wheel drive Hyundai Veloster N TCR car and competed in the Michelin Pilot Challenge series for Bryan Herta Autosport, winning the championship in 2023 with his teammate Harry Gottsacker in the newer Elantra N TCR car.

And last year, we bumped into him in Portland, Oregon, ahead of his test in the Formula E Gen3 Evo car.

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If you own a Honda Prologue or Acura ZDX, you’ll soon have a lot more places you can charge your car. Honda and Acura EVs will be able to access the Tesla Supercharger network in June 2025, when Honda’s official NACS-CCS adapter goes on sale.

Adapters will be available to purchase from authorized dealerships, and EV owners will receive a notification from the HondaLink and Acura EV apps when they’re available. The apps will also be able to locate Tesla Superchargers around the same time. Honda says the adapter is the safest way to charge on Tesla’s more than 20,000 chargers in the US, but hasn’t shared how much it’ll actually cost once it’s available. For a preview of the possible price range for Honda’s adapter, car makers have charged anywhere from nothing (Rivian) to $230 (Ford) for an NACS adapter.

Honda’s plan to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) has been in the works since 2023. In finally offering its own adapter, Honda joins other EV makers like Mercedes-Benz, Rivian, Polestar, Lucid and Ford in giving existing EV owners a way to take advantage of Tesla’s expansive charging network.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-and-acura-evs-will-be-able-to-use-the-tesla-supercharger-network-in-june-185608357.html?src=rss

Every Tesla Cybertruck ever sold is being recalled so Tesla can fix an exterior panel that could potentially come unglued and detach while driving.

If the “panel separates from the vehicle while in drive, it could create a road hazard for following motorists and increase their risk of injury or a collision,” Tesla explained in a safety recall report submitted Tuesday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Tesla initially became aware of the issue in January and launched a study of the problem as more complaints came in, the report said. By March, social media complaints were getting louder as Tesla wrapped up its probe, concluding that a voluntary recall was necessary.

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In late February, Anthropic released Claude 3.7 Sonnet. As the industry’s first hybrid reasoning model, it was a major milestone for the company. Rather than forcing users to pick between a version of Claude that can answer a question nearly instantaneously or work through a problem step by step, the chatbot can do both, with a simple toggle allowing you to switch between Claude’s different “thinking modes.” Today, Anthropic is enhancing 3.7 Sonnet by giving it the ability to search the web.

“With web search, Claude has access to the latest events and information, boosting its accuracy on tasks that benefit from the most recent data,” Anthropic explains. Before today, Claude’s knowledge cut-off was October 2024, meaning if you asked it about recent events, there was a good chance you wouldn’t get the best answer. When Claude turns to the web for help, it will list citations you can tap or click on to fact-check its answers.

If you live in the US and pay for Claude, you can enable web search through the profile settings menu. Anthropic says it will roll out the feature to free users and more countries soon. With today’s announcement, Anthropic is playing catchup. OpenAI began rolling out ChatGPT Search to paying subscribers last fall, and as of the start of this past February, all users, including those without a ChatGPT account, can use the feature for free.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropics-claude-chatbot-can-now-search-the-web-too-183501166.html?src=rss

The streamer acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company for a hefty sum in 2021, and its latest project is… a game show.