# Is Video Watching Bad for Kids? The Effect of Video Watching on Children's Skills
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:01 2025-11-17
Abstract of a paper on NBER: This paper documents video consumption among school-aged children in the U.S. and explores its impact on human capital development. Video watching is common across all segments of society, yet surprisingly little is known about its developmental consequences. With a bunching identification strategy, we find that an additional hour of daily video consumption has a negative impact on children's noncognitive skills, with harmful effects on both internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., social difficulties). We find a positive effect on math skills, though the effect on an aggregate measure of cognitive skills is smaller and not statistically significant. These findings are robust and largely stable across most demographics and different ways of measuring skills and video watching. We find evidence that for Hispanic children, video watching has positive effects on both cognitive and noncognitive skills -- potentially reflecting its role in supporting cultural assimilation. Interestingly, the marginal effects of video watching remain relatively stable regardless of how much time children spend on the activity, with similar incremental impacts observed among those who watch very little and those who watch for many hours.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1810213/is-video-watching-bad-for-kids-the-effect-of-video-watching-on-childrens-skills?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:01 2025-11-17
Abstract of a paper on NBER: This paper documents video consumption among school-aged children in the U.S. and explores its impact on human capital development. Video watching is common across all segments of society, yet surprisingly little is known about its developmental consequences. With a bunching identification strategy, we find that an additional hour of daily video consumption has a negative impact on children's noncognitive skills, with harmful effects on both internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., social difficulties). We find a positive effect on math skills, though the effect on an aggregate measure of cognitive skills is smaller and not statistically significant. These findings are robust and largely stable across most demographics and different ways of measuring skills and video watching. We find evidence that for Hispanic children, video watching has positive effects on both cognitive and noncognitive skills -- potentially reflecting its role in supporting cultural assimilation. Interestingly, the marginal effects of video watching remain relatively stable regardless of how much time children spend on the activity, with similar incremental impacts observed among those who watch very little and those who watch for many hours.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1810213/is-video-watching-bad-for-kids-the-effect-of-video-watching-on-childrens-skills?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Iran Begins Cloud Seeding To Induce Rain Amid Historic Drought
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:01 2025-11-17
Authorities in Iran have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rain, in an attempt to combat the country's worst drought in decades. From a report: Known as cloud-seeding, the process was conducted over the Urmia lake basin on Saturday, Iran's official news agency Irna reported. Urmia is Iran's largest lake, but has largely dried out leaving a vast salt bed. Further operations will be carried out in east and west Azerbaijan, the agency said.
Rainfall is at record lows and reservoirs are nearly empty. Last week President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if there is not enough rainfall soon, Tehran's water supply could be rationed and people may be evacuated from the capital. Cloud seeding involves injecting chemical salts including silver or potassium iodide into clouds via aircraft or through generators on the ground. Water vapour can then condense more easily and turn into rain. The technique has been around for decades, and the UAE has used it in recent years to help address water shortages. Iran's meteorological organisation said rainfall had decreased by about 89% this year compared with the long-term average, Irna reported.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1749243/iran-begins-cloud-seeding-to-induce-rain-amid-historic-drought?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 20:22:01 2025-11-17
Authorities in Iran have sprayed clouds with chemicals to induce rain, in an attempt to combat the country's worst drought in decades. From a report: Known as cloud-seeding, the process was conducted over the Urmia lake basin on Saturday, Iran's official news agency Irna reported. Urmia is Iran's largest lake, but has largely dried out leaving a vast salt bed. Further operations will be carried out in east and west Azerbaijan, the agency said.
Rainfall is at record lows and reservoirs are nearly empty. Last week President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that if there is not enough rainfall soon, Tehran's water supply could be rationed and people may be evacuated from the capital. Cloud seeding involves injecting chemical salts including silver or potassium iodide into clouds via aircraft or through generators on the ground. Water vapour can then condense more easily and turn into rain. The technique has been around for decades, and the UAE has used it in recent years to help address water shortages. Iran's meteorological organisation said rainfall had decreased by about 89% this year compared with the long-term average, Irna reported.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1749243/iran-begins-cloud-seeding-to-induce-rain-amid-historic-drought?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# AI Use in 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 7' Draws Fire From US Lawmaker
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 19:22:01 2025-11-17
An anonymous reader shares a report: The use of AI in the latest Call of Duty has prompted a US lawmaker to call for regulations to prevent artificial intelligence from taking jobs away from human workers. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents a large swathe of Silicon Valley, took aim at Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 after buyers noticed the popular shooter contains a significant amount of AI-generated icons, posters, and achievements. Gamers are criticizing it as filled with "AI slop."
On Friday, Khanna tweeted: "We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits." He added, "Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed. They should share in the profits. And there should be a tax on mass displacement."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1743203/ai-use-in-call-of-duty-black-ops-7-draws-fire-from-us-lawmaker?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 19:22:01 2025-11-17
An anonymous reader shares a report: The use of AI in the latest Call of Duty has prompted a US lawmaker to call for regulations to prevent artificial intelligence from taking jobs away from human workers. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents a large swathe of Silicon Valley, took aim at Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 after buyers noticed the popular shooter contains a significant amount of AI-generated icons, posters, and achievements. Gamers are criticizing it as filled with "AI slop."
On Friday, Khanna tweeted: "We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits." He added, "Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed. They should share in the profits. And there should be a tax on mass displacement."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1743203/ai-use-in-call-of-duty-black-ops-7-draws-fire-from-us-lawmaker?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Take-Two CEO Says Consoles Aren't Going Away, But Gaming is Moving Toward PCs
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-11-17
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, which operates publishing labels including GTA-maker Rockstar Games and 2K, said on Monday that although gaming consoles are not going away, the industry is moving toward PCs in the next decade. From a report: "I think it's moving towards PC and business is moving towards open rather than closed," Zelnick told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"But if you define console as the property, not the system, then the notion of a very rich game that you engage in for many hours that you play on a big screen -- that's never going away." Zelnick said the current split between console and mobile is about even in the market, but mobile is growing more rapidly than consoles.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1648254/take-two-ceo-says-consoles-arent-going-away-but-gaming-is-moving-toward-pcs?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-11-17
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, which operates publishing labels including GTA-maker Rockstar Games and 2K, said on Monday that although gaming consoles are not going away, the industry is moving toward PCs in the next decade. From a report: "I think it's moving towards PC and business is moving towards open rather than closed," Zelnick told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"But if you define console as the property, not the system, then the notion of a very rich game that you engage in for many hours that you play on a big screen -- that's never going away." Zelnick said the current split between console and mobile is about even in the market, but mobile is growing more rapidly than consoles.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1648254/take-two-ceo-says-consoles-arent-going-away-but-gaming-is-moving-toward-pcs?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# UK Cyber Ransom Ban Risks Collapse of Essential Services
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-11-17
The UK government has been warned that its plan to ban operators of critical national infrastructure from paying ransoms to hackers is unlikely to stop cyber attacks and could result in essential services collapsing. From a report: The proposal, announced by the Home Office in July, is designed to deter cyber criminals by making it clear any attempt to blackmail regulated companies such as hospitals, airports and telecoms groups will not succeed. If enacted, the UK would be the first country to implement such a ban.
But companies and cyber groups have told government officials that making paying ransoms illegal would remove a valuable tool in negotiations where highly sensitive data or essential services could be compromised, according to two people familiar with the matter. "An outright ban on payments sounds tough on crime, but in reality it could turn a solvable crisis into a catastrophic one," said Greg Palmer, a partner at law firm Linklaters.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1631207/uk-cyber-ransom-ban-risks-collapse-of-essential-services?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 18:22:01 2025-11-17
The UK government has been warned that its plan to ban operators of critical national infrastructure from paying ransoms to hackers is unlikely to stop cyber attacks and could result in essential services collapsing. From a report: The proposal, announced by the Home Office in July, is designed to deter cyber criminals by making it clear any attempt to blackmail regulated companies such as hospitals, airports and telecoms groups will not succeed. If enacted, the UK would be the first country to implement such a ban.
But companies and cyber groups have told government officials that making paying ransoms illegal would remove a valuable tool in negotiations where highly sensitive data or essential services could be compromised, according to two people familiar with the matter. "An outright ban on payments sounds tough on crime, but in reality it could turn a solvable crisis into a catastrophic one," said Greg Palmer, a partner at law firm Linklaters.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1631207/uk-cyber-ransom-ban-risks-collapse-of-essential-services?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
# Global Web Freedoms Tumble
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 17:22:01 2025-11-17
Global internet freedom declined for a 15th consecutive year, according to Freedom House's annual report. Semafor: "Always grim reading," this year's is particularly sobering, Tech Policy Press noted, with the lowest-ever portion of users living in countries categorized as "free." Conditions declined in 27 of the 72 countries assessed, with those in Kenya -- where anti-corruption protests were quelled, in part, by a seven-hour internet shutdown -- deteriorating the most. China and Myanmar tied for least-free, and the US' ranking dropped, while Iceland retained its top spot for the freest digital environment. Bangladesh improved the most. The most consistent trend observed over 15 years, Freedom House noted, is the growing digital influence of state actors: "Online spaces are more manipulated than ever."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1620236/global-web-freedoms-tumble?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 17:22:01 2025-11-17
Global internet freedom declined for a 15th consecutive year, according to Freedom House's annual report. Semafor: "Always grim reading," this year's is particularly sobering, Tech Policy Press noted, with the lowest-ever portion of users living in countries categorized as "free." Conditions declined in 27 of the 72 countries assessed, with those in Kenya -- where anti-corruption protests were quelled, in part, by a seven-hour internet shutdown -- deteriorating the most. China and Myanmar tied for least-free, and the US' ranking dropped, while Iceland retained its top spot for the freest digital environment. Bangladesh improved the most. The most consistent trend observed over 15 years, Freedom House noted, is the growing digital influence of state actors: "Online spaces are more manipulated than ever."
[ Read more of this story ]( https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/11/17/1620236/global-web-freedoms-tumble?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.