Why some schools are cutting back on the technology they spent billions on; The Washington Post, May 7, 2026

Lauren Lumpkin, The Washington Post ; Why some schools are cutting back on the technology they spent billions on

"The scrutiny comes amid a reckoning with the ubiquitous — and potentially dangerous — role of technology in children’s lives."

Got an Old Kindle? It Might Not Work Anymore. Here’s What to Do.; The New York Times, April 9, 2026

 Brenda Stolyar, The New York Times; Got an Old Kindle? It Might Not Work Anymore. Here’s What to Do. 

"Earlier this week, Amazon notified its customers via email that, starting May 20, it will end support for Kindle and Kindle Fire devices released in 2012 or earlier. That means you’ll no longer be able to download new content to your e-reader via Amazon’s Kindle Store.

Although you don’t have to stop using your old Kindle immediately, the restricted functionality may force you to consider whether you want to upgrade to a newer version or ditch the Amazon ecosystem altogether.

If you own a Kindle that’s no longer supported, Amazon wants you to buy a new one. The company is offering a 20% discount that you can apply toward one of its new Kindle models, along with a $20 e-book credit that will automatically be applied to your account with the purchase of a new device. The promotion will be valid through June 20, exactly a month after the company ends support for its older models.

Here’s what you need to know about Amazon’s decision to sunset its older e-readers and tablets, and what that means for you."

Even Without Internet Access, Prisoners Are Trying to Benefit From A.I.; The New York Times, April 21, 2026

Evan Gorelick

Photographs by Alex Kent

, The New York Times; Even Without Internet Access, Prisoners Are Trying to Benefit From A.I.

"Prisons have long restricted inmates’ access to technology, concerned they could use it to break the rules or commit crimes. The internet is mostly off limits, along with A.I.-powered chatbots.

But as hype about the technology has infiltrated prison yards and cellblocks, many inmates are eager to try it out. They’re attending workshops and classes to learn about A.I. They ask friends to send printouts of chatbot answers by snail mail. Some inmates even use contraband cellphones to gain access to the technology.

The result? A.I.-generated legal documents, essays, business plans and even a bespoke board game or two."

How AI is getting better at finding security holes; NPR, April 11, 2026

 Huo Jingnan, NPR; How AI is getting better at finding security holes

"In the past few months, AI models have gone from producing hallucinations to becoming effective at finding security flaws in software, according to developers who maintain widely used cyber infrastructure. Those pieces of software, among other things, power operating systems and transfer data for things connected to the internet.

While these new capabilities can help developers make software more secure, they can also be weaponized by hackers and nation states to steal information and money or disrupt critical services.

The latest development of AI's cyber capability came on Tuesday, when AI lab Anthropic announced it had developed a powerful new model the company believes could "reshape cybersecurity." It said that its latest model, Mythos Preview, was able to find "high-severity vulnerabilities, including some in every major operating system and web browser." Not only that, the model was better at coming up with ways to exploit the vulnerabilities it found, which means malicious actors can more effectively achieve their goals.

For now, the company is limiting the access to the model to around 50 select companies and organizations "in an effort to secure the world's most critical software." They're calling the collaboration Project Glasswing, naming it after a butterfly species with transparent wings.

Anthropic says the risk for misuse is so high that it has no plans to release this particular model to the general public, according to the announcement, but it will release other related models. "Our eventual goal is to enable our users to safely deploy Mythos-class models at scale," the company wrote."

'We had lots of dreams'; Idaho's library system ends, restructures programs amid federal funding cuts; Idaho Press, June 14, 2025

LAURA GUIDO , Idaho Press; 'We had lots of dreams'; Idaho's library system ends, restructures programs amid federal funding cuts

[Kip Currier: The Digital Equity Act of 2021 would have helped millions of Americans -- like the millions of Idahoans referenced in this Idaho Press article -- to finally have high quality Internet access.

Sadly, those Internet access plans all came crashing down when the Trump administration declared the Act unconstitutional and "racist". As PBS reported on May 25, 2025:

"One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.” He said it was an “ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway,” though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden."

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-digital-equity-act-tried-to-close-the-digital-divide-trump-targets-it-in-his-war-on-woke 

 

[Excerpt]

"Digital Access for All Idahoans

The commission has ended its nearly four-year effort to improve internet accessibility across the state following the termination of a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; the current presidential administration declared the grant, first awarded to Idaho in 2022, unconstitutional.

“On May 9, everything was canceled, and that was a pretty major initiative we’ve been undertaking,” Deputy State Librarian Dylan Baker told the board. “We were really … on the cusp of working through the subgrant process.”

The library commissioners first announced the Digital Access for All Idahoans plan in 2021, with a plan to use the federal grant to both improve access to the internet and improve the skills to navigate it confidently — the libraries focused primarily on the skills aspect of access.

Idaho had been awarded $6.3 million total, with more than $2.3 million slated to go to the first round of subgrantees that included libraries, community colleges, nonprofits and other state agencies, according to board documents.

Nearly 200,000 Idahoans were expected to be reached in 61 cities and towns in 30 counties, the board documents said."

The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it; AP via ABC News, May 25, 2025

BARBARA ORTUTAY Associated Press and CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press via ABC News; The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it

[Kip Currier: Access to information and technology is essential for providing more and better opportunities for every child and adult throughout America and the world. The Digital Equity Act of 2021 was a bi-partisan effort to promote access to information and technology and to bridge ongoing Digital Divides that exist in rural, suburban, and urban parts of America.

How absurd and moronic it is then that the current administration would intentionally mischaracterize the Digital Equity Act as "woke" and "racist".

How tragic and destructive it is that Trump's actions have halted the myriad good things that this law was set to continue to achieve in the near future for so many Americans of all kinds. In Blue States, Purple States, and Red States.]

[Excerpt]

"One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.” He said it was an “ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway," though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden."

THE EQUALIZER; The Washington Post, October 8, 2024

Sarah Vowell , The Washington Post; THE EQUALIZER

"NARA Chief Innovation Officer Pamela Wright, a graduate of the University of Montana, grew up on a ranch outside Conrad. “My job,” she explained, “is to find the most efficient and effective ways to share the records of the National Archives with the public online. NARA has been in the business of providing in-person access to the permanent federal records of the U.S. government for decades, and we are pretty good at it.” She added, “We are still expanding and improving our digital offerings” — so far, about 300 million of NARA’s more than 13 billion records have been scanned and posted to the internet — “but now my family in Montana can easily access census records, military records and many other pertinent records from home.”

It makes a weird kind of sense that the government worker who understands the value of providing online advice and information to far-flung Americans, and who is driven to connect the citizens of the hinterlands to their own stories as told in our collective federal records, is a woman whose hometown is a 32-hour drive from a reference desk in D.C."

Musk's X seeks Brazil comeback, retreats on 'censorship' feud; Reuters, September 27, 2024

 Ricardo Brito and Luciana Novaes Magalhaes, Reuters; Musk's X seeks Brazil comeback, retreats on 'censorship' feud

"In a major climbdown, Elon Musk's X told Brazil's Supreme Court it had complied with orders to stop the spread of misinformation and asked a judge to lift a ban on the platform, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The billionaire had held out for more than five months against what he called "censorship" in a feud with a judge in one of X's largest and most coveted markets. The court shut Brazilians' access to the platform in late August."

A.L.S. Stole His Voice. A.I. Retrieved It.; The New York Times, August 14, 2024

 Benjamin Mueller, The New York Times; A.L.S. Stole His Voice. A.I. Retrieved It.

"As scientists continued training the device to recognize his sounds, it got only better. Over a period of eight months, the study said, Mr. Harrell came to utter nearly 6,000 unique words. The device kept up, sustaining a 97.5 percent accuracy.

That exceeded the accuracy of many smartphone applications that transcribe people’s intact speech. It also marked an improvement on previous studies in which implants reached accuracy rates of roughly 75 percent, leaving one of every four words liable to misinterpretation.

And whereas devices like Neuralink’s help people move cursors across a screen, Mr. Harrell’s implant allowed him to explore the infinitely larger and more complex terrain of speech.

“It went from a scientific demonstration to a system that Casey can use every day to speak with family and friends,” said Dr. David Brandman, the neurosurgeon who operated on Mr. Harrell and led the study alongside Dr. Stavisky.

That leap was enabled in part by the types of artificial intelligence that power language tools like ChatGPT. At any given moment, Mr. Harrell’s implant picks up activity in an ensemble of neurons, translating their firing pattern into vowel or consonant units of sound. Computers then agglomerate a string of such sounds into a word, and a string of words into a sentence, choosing the output they deem likeliest to correspond to what Mr. Harrell has tried to say...

Whether the same implant would prove as helpful to more severely paralyzed people is unclear. Mr. Harrell’s speech had deteriorated, but not disappeared.

And for all its utility, the technology cannot mitigate the crushing financial burden of trying to live and work with A.L.S.: Insurance will pay for Mr. Harrell’s caregiving needs only if he goes on hospice care, or stops working and becomes eligible for Medicaid, Ms. Saxon said, a situation that, she added, drives others with A.L.S. to give up trying to extend their lives.

Those very incentives also make it likelier that people with disabilities will become poor, putting access to cutting-edge implants even further out of their reach, said Melanie Fried-Oken, a professor of neurology at Oregon Health & Science University."

Disconnected: 23 Million Americans Affected by the Shutdown of the Affordable Connectivity Program; CNet, July 28, 2024

Joe Supan, CNet ; Disconnected: 23 Million Americans Affected by the Shutdown of the Affordable Connectivity Program

"Jackson got her first home internet connection through the Affordable Connectivity Program, a pandemic-era fund that provided $30 to $75 a month to help low-income households pay for internet. In May, the $14.2 billion program officially ran out of money, leaving Jackson and 23 million households like hers with internet bills that were $30 to $75 higher than the month before. 

That's if they decided to hang on to their internet service at all: 13% of ACP subscribers, or roughly 3 million households, said that after the program ended they planned to cancel service, according to a Benton Institute survey conducted as the ACP expired. 

For as long as the internet has existed, there's been a gap between those who have access to it -- and the means to afford it -- and those who don't. The vast majority of federal broadband spending over the past two decades has gone toward expanding internet access to rural areas. Case in point: In 2021, Congress dedicated $90 billion to closing the digital divide, but only $14.2 billion went to making the internet more affordable through the ACP; the rest went to broadband infrastructure...

"The biggest barrier to home broadband is cost. There are more people who don't have access to home internet because of cost than there are people who don't have access because the infrastructure doesn't exist."

Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance"

Bridging the Digital Divide: Advancing Access to Broadband for All; American Bar Association (ABA), June 3, 2024

Emily Bergeron, American Bar Association (ABA); Bridging the Digital Divide: Advancing Access to Broadband for All

"The “digital divide” is the disparity in access to and utilization of information and communication technologies between different groups based on socioeconomic status, geographic location, age, education, or other demographic characteristics. This divide often manifests as unequal access to the internet and digital devices, leading to disparities in opportunities, information, health care, education, and participation in government and the digital- and knowledge-based economy. The COVID-19 pandemic brought considerable focus to the digital divide. Individuals with broadband access could work, attend school, shop, and consult with their doctors from the comfort of their homes, while those lacking access had few options...

Eight out of 10 white adults have a broadband connection at home, whereas smaller percentages of Black and Hispanic adults—precisely 71 percent and 65 percent—indicate the same. Notably, Black adults are more likely than white adults to believe that a lack of high-speed internet at home puts people at a significant disadvantage when connecting with medical professionals, with 63 percent of Black adults expressing this view compared to 49 percent of white adults. The perspective of Hispanic adults, at 53 percent, does not significantly differ from that of individuals from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Despite federal efforts to expand broadband access in Tribal lands, a significant disparity persists. Approximately 18 percent of people in these areas still lack broadband services, while this figure is only 4 percent for non-Tribal areas. The gap widens further in rural regions, where about 30 percent of individuals on Tribal lands lack broadband access compared to 14 percent in non-Tribal areas...

The digital divide is not just a matter of technology. It undermines social justice and equality. By working collectively to bridge this divide, we can help create a more inclusive, connected, and equitable society where everyone can harness the benefits of the digital age. It is incumbent on governments, policymakers, and private organizations to take proactive measures and commit to digital inclusion, ensuring that no one is left behind in this fast-evolving digital landscape."

The return of net neutrality; The Hill, April 25, 2024

SYLVAN LANE  , The Hill; The return of net neutrality

"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 along partisan lines to restore net neutrality rules, barring broadband providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing internet traffic."

Libraries on Call; American Libraries, March 1, 2023

 Kelvin Watson, American Libraries; Libraries on Call

Smartphone lending program bridges technology gaps

"When Las Vegas–Clark County (Nev.) Library District (LVCCLD) closed its doors at the start of the pandemic, the technological barriers that existed within the community were laid bare, particularly those affecting people facing homelessness. Last April, LVCCLD launched its Cellphone Lending Program, an innovative approach to providing hundreds of unhoused individuals with access to needed services and social connection."

He built a website showing open Covid-19 vaccine appointments across the US. Some call it a lifesaver; CNN, April 11, 2021

Christina Maxouris, CNN; He built a website showing open Covid-19 vaccine appointments across the US. Some call it a lifesaver

"For weeks, Nick Muerdter had been hearing about his coworkers' concerns and frustrations as they tried to navigate complicated and evolving Covid-19 vaccination systems to land an appointment for their parents...

In mid-February, Muerdter began creating a tool in his free time that scanned local pharmacies' vaccine appointment availability and gathered all that information in one place -- allowing users to view nearby available appointments just by plugging in their zip code and how far they were willing to drive.

Coworkers that had been searching for weeks found appointments for eligible family members in just days, he said, with the help of the new website. 

"This just really sort of tried to automate what you would have to do if you were to go the websites and enter every single zip code or ... check every single store in your area," he said. 

And soon, what started off as a small side project became an "all consuming" job, outside his full-time job. Muerdter's website now covers all 50 US states, plus Washington, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

He calls it: Covid-19 Vaccine Spotter."...

"The feedback has really been sort of amazing and positive and so many people seem to have found this useful," he said. "That's just sort of what makes me happy."

And knowing he's helping is reward enough, Muerdter says. 

But flooded with offers of donations, Muerdter created an option to contribute to his efforts, money he says goes toward covering website costs. Whatever is leftover, he gives to charities like UNICEF and Direct Relief.

"I'm not trying to make money off of this," he says. "I'm just happy to help people.""

Student tracking, secret scores: How college admissions offices rank prospects before they apply; The Washington Post, October 14, 2019

Douglas MacMillan and Nick Anderson, The Washington Post; Student tracking, secret scores: How college admissions offices rank prospects before they apply

"Admissions officers say behavioral tracking helps them serve students in the application process. When a college sees that a qualified student is serious about applying based on the student’s Web behavior, it can dedicate more staffers to follow up...

But Web tracking may unfairly provide an advantage to students with better access to technology, said Bradley Shear, a Maryland lawyer who has pushed for better regulation of students’ online privacy. A low-income student may be a strong academic candidate but receive less attention from recruiters because the student does not own a smartphone or have high-speed Internet access at home, he said.

“I don’t think the algorithm should run the admissions department,” Shear said."

FCC Refuses to Back Down From Plan to Strip Phone and Internet Subsidies for American Indians; Gizmodo, July 7, 2018

A.J. Dellinger, Gizmodo;

FCC Refuses to Back Down From Plan to Strip Phone and Internet Subsidies for American Indians

 "Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission under Ajit Pai voted to make it harder for American Indians to receive subsidies for broadband internet service. Despite legal challenges, the commission decided this week not to reverse its position, opting instead to continue to deny expanded assistance for phone and internet access... 

The FCC under Ajit Pai has taken particular interest in dismantling much of the Lifeline program, which helps to make broadband internet and both landline and mobile phone services available to low-income Americans."

OLPC’s $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong; The Verge, April 16, 2018

Adi Robertson, The Verge; OLPC’s $100 laptop was going to change the world — then it all went wrong

[Kip Currier: Very interesting April 2018 article in The Verge about the One Laptop Per Child initiative.]

"Thirteen years ago, OLPC told the world that every child should get a laptop. It never stopped to prove that they needed one."

The least connected people in America; Politico, February 7, 2018

Margaret Harding McGill, Politico; The least connected people in America

[Kip Currier: A must-read primer on the State of the Digital and Tech Divides in America AND a compelling call for long-promised, long-overdue action on Broadband Internet access for all Americans.]

"As broadband internet becomes more and more important in the U.S. — the way Americans do everything from apply for jobs to chatting with their relatives to watching TV — one gap has become more glaring: the difference between those who have broadband and those who don't. An estimated 24 million people, about 8 percent of Americans, still have no home access to high-speed internet service, defined by the Federal Communications Commission as a download speed of 25 megabits per second. (That's what the FCC says allows telecommuting or streaming high-definition video.) The overwhelming majority of those people live in rural areas, like farms or in big, poorly served areas like this one.

The shorthand for fixing this problem is “closing the digital divide," and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai says it's his top priority. But it has been a high-priority problem for years and remained persistently out of reach for reasons rooted in the structure of our telecommunications system itself. Internet access in the U.S. depends almost entirely on private companies; unlike other crucial services like postal delivery or electric power, it isn't considered the government's job, and isn't regulated as a public utility. But the limits of that system have become painfully apparent: Companies can't make money by running expensive wires to few customers, and a complex tangle of incentives offered by the government hasn't solved the problem in towns like Orofino.

Nowhere is the lack of broadband access more acute than in places like this: Rural Indian reservations have lower rates of coverage than anywhere else in the nation. About 35 percent of Americans living in tribal lands lack broadband access, according to the most recent report by the FCC. In Idaho, the FCC estimates that 83 percent of the tribal population lacks broadband, making the Nez Perce tribe among the least-connected groups in the country."

A Girl’s Nude Photo, and Altered Lives; New York Times, 3/26/11

Jan Hoffman, New York Times; A Girl’s Nude Photo, and Altered Lives:

"Around the country, law enforcement officials and educators are struggling with how to confront minors who “sext,” an imprecise term that refers to sending sexual photos, videos or texts from one cellphone to another.

But adults face a hard truth. For teenagers, who have ready access to technology and are growing up in a culture that celebrates body flaunting, sexting is laughably easy, unremarkable and even compelling: the primary reason teenagers sext is to look cool and sexy to someone they find attractive."