School Surveillance: How Millions of Kids are Spied On

When we hear the word “surveillance” we usually think about the NSA, or perhaps tech companies like Facebook and Google. What we probably don’t think about is school surveillance used to spy on kids.

The new school surveillance technology doesn’t turn off when the school day is over: anything students type in official school email accounts, chats or documents is monitored 24 hours a day, whether students are in their classrooms or their bedrooms.

Tech companies are also working with schools to monitor students’ web searches and internet usage, and, in some cases, to track what they are writing on public social media accounts.

Google Celebrates Quantum Computing Milestone

On Thursday, Nature’s 150th-anniversary edition featured news of a quantum computing breakthrough from Google.  The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, explained in a blog why he felt it as so significant.

For those of us working in science and technology, it’s the “hello world” moment we’ve been waiting for—the most meaningful milestone to date in the quest to make quantum computing a reality. But we have a long way to go between today’s lab experiments and tomorrow’s practical applications; it will be many years before we can implement a broader set of real-world applications. We can think about today’s news in the context of building the first rocket that successfully left Earth’s gravity to touch the edge of space. At the time, some asked: Why go into space without getting anywhere useful? But it was a big first for science because it allowed humans to envision a totally different realm of travel … to the moon, to Mars, to galaxies beyond our own. It showed us what was possible and nudged the seemingly impossible into frame.  That’s what this milestone represents for the world of quantum computing: a moment of possibility. 

TR9 True Wireless Headphones with Charging Case: $34.99

We have a deal on a pair of TR9 True Wireless Headphones with a charging case. Small and lightweight, these in-ear earphones were designed to sit comfortably in and around your ear so you can go for a jog, hit the gym, or do your daily commute without having to worry about them falling out. They’re $34.99 through our deal.

Firefox 70 Brings Enhanced Tracking Protection Today

Mozilla released Firefox 70 today and one of the new features is Enhanced Tracking Protection turned on by default on all platforms.

More privacy protections from Enhanced Tracking Protection:

Social tracking protection, which blocks cross-site tracking cookies from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, is now a standard feature of Enhanced Tracking Protection.

The Privacy Protections report shows an overview, with details, of the trackers Firefox has blocked. It provides consolidated reports from Monitor and Lockwise.

Lee Pace, Jared Harris Star in Apple's 'Foundation'

Apple is bringing Jared Harris (Chernobyl) and Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire) to star in its Foundation series.

Based on Isaac Asimov’s novel series of the same name, Foundationchronicles the epic saga of The Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it. Harris will star as Hari Seldon, a mathematical genius who predicts the demise of the empire. Pace is set as Brother Day, the current Emperor of the Galaxy.

totallee's New Green Case Matches the Green iPhone 11 Pro

totallee makes thin iPhone cases so your smartphone doesn’t become bulky. It recently released a line of green cases for the midnight green iPhone 11 Pro.

This case covers every corner of your phone and features a camera lens “lip” for added protection. Like a brushed finish? Go matte. Looking for invisible protection? Transparent all the way. Want a sophisticated backing? Leather is for you. This case maintains the original look of your iPhone 11 Pro. No branding. No bulk. No nonsense.

You can pick up one of these cases for US$29.