Today’s Tech Sightings:
How Bill and Melinda Gates Want to Transform Teaching
Bill and Melinda Gates are putting up a series of blog posts this week to look at ways technology can transform education. In one post, Bill Gates points to a school system in California, which now uses computers to analyze how kids perform and how they might perform in the future.
Online Course Teaches Kids to Program While Having Fun
A new online course uses popular video games like Minecraft to teach kids age 8-14 how to code. The course – “Server design 1” – lets kids create game content with Java code.
Google Won the Internet. Now It Wants to Cure Diseases
Google’s recent reorganization into Alphabet spawned several independent companies that will be pursuing research in medicine and healthcare. Google co-founder Larry Page’s statements on the matter suggest biomedical research might become a more serious pursuit for these entities.
Indian Airport Becomes World’s First to Run Entirely on Solar Power
India has declared Cochin International Airport as first in the world to run completely on solar power, using roof-installed solar panels and a nearby solar plant with up to 46,150 panels. Excess power goes back to the grid. The effort is expected to save about 300,000 metric tons of carbon.
China Summons Western Tech Firms, Revives Bank Cyber Rules
China’s Banking Regulatory Commission has informed several Western technology companies that it will seek opinions on a new version of bank procurement rules. The U.S. and Europe had strongly protested prior regulations that required Western tech vendors to share their source code if they sell to lender. The new move, however, could renew friction.
Owner of Ashley Madison Website Confirms Some Authentic Data Leaked
The company behind infidelity website AshleyMadison has confirmed hackers’ claim that they dumped on the Web some of the legitimate information they stole during their recent hack of website. But the company, Avid Life Media,said it did not have any credit card information on its servers.
