Dos_Box

Having been lurking on a few Linux forums over the past couple of months, there is definitely a great reluctance to use AI for coding in a lot of cases. There seem to be a lot of purists out there, which may cause some friction in the Linux world in the near future I think. Saying that, I was having a play with some of their other offerings last night and there are some glaring bugs. In WordArt, fpr example, you can't change the font size. You can, but the second you click back on the doc it reverts to the default. That and a lot of other bugs too. If you take a look at their GitHub page for the various apps, you will page upon page of reported issues, but they do seem to be working through them quickly (I image they set AI on them). It'll be interesting to see what else starts to emerge over the next few months now people have had an opportunity to see the potential of AI coding. *And yes, most will be horrible.

If you haven't been keeping an eye on our socials, we have been promoting the EdSec talks recently in preparation for the final article. I'll start to put them up here and today we are very happy to announce our talk from Nellcote. You missed our London conf they did an excellent presentation on penetration testing (their speciality) and this year they are to join us with their session: "DfE Cyber Security Standards defined" So join us at Derby on the 27th October to hear this alongside a some of the EdTech industry's leading companies both speaking and exhibiting as well as a post-conf social organised by LGfL. You can get your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/edugeek-edsec-2026-tickets-2000008399963

Interestingly, I was watching some US legal eagles on YT last night and one comment made me think. If Adobe had been using AI to code their products, does that create any possible IP issues on their part? I can't see it myself, but Imagine if company 'A' uses AI to create a product via a third party AI, and company 'B' uses that same AI to create a similar product at the same time, utilising almost identical AI generated code and there are legal fisticuffs, who would be judged as having the copied\infringed the other?

It certainly is one thing that many don't appreciate about AI, in that you need to know what you are doing in the first place to judge the output. AI is a great assistant, but a lousy creator.

You can guarantee that out there somewhere is a frustrated edtech trying to get AI to reverse engineer all of their subscription apps. At best it will be cathartic, at worse the entire school might like a word with them.

We don't often see hornets up here, and defo one insect I keep well away from!

As regards business, Adobe currently have an offer on for 50% off on Creative Suite, down from £66.49 per month for the first three months. Then you get locked in. Yes, it is decent pricing for education, but many in the private sector, particularly one-man-bands would consider the costs saving worth taking a punt with especially as the subscription goalposts keep moving, which does not generate goodwill from the end user. By all accounts, the ArtCraft 'creator' did this as he was so frustrated with his Adobe subscription. And never forget the way that some people will jump on any cause they think is worthwhile. And it's not that it's going to take that much of the volunteers time. Just their tokens.

For most here I imagine that you have been aware that have not been living under a rock and have been reading up on the current furore over the vibe coded Artcraft suite and Photon, whose aim it to provide free alternatives (whilst looking very similar) to Adobe products. Artcraft even has its own Office 356 Word\Excel and PowerPoint equivalents. Both have been coded via AI, and both, after some playing with this weekend in a VM, are not there yet. Not by a long way. However, they could well be with enough time, effort and tokens. I'm sure there will be plenty of legal and ethical considerations flying around in the next few weeks\months, but the genie, I feel, is well and truly out of the bottle. And where will this ultimately lead? Imagine a Linux based Office 365-alike setup, or tools that can mimic the functionality of Microsoft management and deployment tools and integrating with a current open source office suite? Admittedly, there is a lot more to the software and tools we use daily than telling an AI to code you one, there are often hard learnt lessons baked in there that AI may ignore, leaving you wide open to lord-knows-what, as well as near-do-wells looking to exploit the gullible\desperate. When it comes to interesting times, we are certainly entering them right now.

Try giving either @ICTDirect_Dave or @ICTDirect_Joe a bell, they might be able to help if the kit is in reasonable order.

I do need some work pants for decorating\gardening etc. so thanks for that Also, if anyone fancies a tipple, Gentleman Jack is on a really good offer @£18.99 (46% off)- https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004CYNYNK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

This one took me by surprise as I'd never heard of these Office easter eggs before!

Well, this listing is all the confusing.

Really good, it's handled all the fiddly screws in various pieces of Apple kit with zero issues. It also has all the obscure bits like the pent screws Apple uses. I'm very pleased with mine.

Amazon once more has a sale on, personally I'm in the market for a decent USB hub. I currently have an old Anker USB 3.0 hub, which is fine, but I could do with the bandwidth that USB C gives. The hub should have lots of USB A sockets too! I would also, if you need one, take a good look at the mini electric screwdriver sets. I got one on a flash sale a few months back and it's been amazing. I'll never need to buy 'special' screwdrivers again, and the electric driver is a godsend! Actually, its on sale again! - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electric-Screwdriver-Precision-Professional-Electronics/dp/B0FPCKMDHM?crid=3HZB1B1IJ12PO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EBWejALf19Ovyd5EQIqM60h_RNuJcs5lRIhDwO0TIREfkJgjvcgZOI_K_s1FQkiWrgmo6wGNITE51wvRBR1e9AgW3pLOh09hTJQv9mOW__wtKyDEOJZkx1arKxO3GtWN1_zk5slhwJe_DFBAPa9XTGUAHnxihHW8pGp_sGwIfeR1uwbCxihSGsTwnHJVjkGDS8HylZ-_51sdDsd6FuLbdNz3eDAWEgwvyZLXnMVGpuE.gEziFpiKoPwM_d9pbehsZWNWn1QV6iAcQhOpKks9WFs&dib_tag=se&keywords=mini%2Belectric%2Bscrewdriver%2Bset&psr=PDAY&qid=1791293259&s=pbdd&sprefix=mini%2Belectric%2Bscrewdriver%2Bset%2Cpbdd%2C102&sr=1-15&th=1 The case is pretty good with the main body on a sprung clip that clips in\out when pushed to keep them all the bits secure and you can change the driver from inside the case. The bit holder sleeve is also magnetic, so they don't fall out.

I'd best move this to General Chat I think!

And we've got the (almost final) details of the speakers and exhibitors in. It's going to be an amazing day with talks covering everything EdTech security and many of your favourite EdTech companies present in the expo followed with an evening post-conf social sponsored by LGfL. What's not to like Grab your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/edugeek-edsec-2026-tickets-2000008399963 and we'll see you there!

You were 7 when EduGeek went live! I'm off for a little cry now.

I should imagine that most of you follow the wider tech news and already know this, but Oracle could be in trouble, they have huge debts for an AI data centre they are building and have invoked a force majeure notice - https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/oracle-data-center-force-majeure.html

Didn't they have that process quite some time back to set the wages for similar roles identically in local govt? I recall quite a bit of consternation from those in IT being graded the same as dinner staff. I suppose since MAT's became a thing and education almost privatised, they can now set whatever wages they want.

Just a quick note to remind you all that comments about wage levels for jobs listings are not allowed in the Jobs Forum. This has been in the Jobs Forum rules for a very long time now - We can appreciate that in a lot of cases, the education sector wage levels are often well below that of the private sector, and in the current climate money is tighter than ever, but sometimes these kind of jobs, and even the wage, are perfect for someone out there. If the job and wage is not for you, then please just simply ignore it, especially as many of these listings posted by members have the T&C's set by the school management, not the IT dept. Telling off over

It's certainly shaping up to be an amazing day so far! We have talks from Clever, Sophos, LGfL, Nellcote, Smoothwall, Heimdal and EXA lined up to keep you informed on the latest news, trends and information in the educational security world. On top of this we also have the expo, which this year is full of the companies you interact with on a regular basis including, and in no particular order: SalamanderSoft, Smoothwall, ICT Direct , MSI, Net-Ctrl , LGfL , Wave9 , Schools Broadband, Heimdal, Entry Sign (Osbourne Technologies), Nellcote, Smart Technologies, Clever, and Concero Not only that, but LGfL will be hosting you all after the conference for a meal, drinks and an evening of geeky chat. We’ll be using this thread to keep you all up to date on further details and when they come in, but in the meantime, if you have any questions about the conf, then please feel free to post them up here. You can get your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/manage/events/2000008399963/details

Thought I'd post this up before I go to bed. It's down from £21.99 to £16.92. Not bad at all! https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Ethernet-Adapter-High-Speed-Compatible/dp/B0CWV2Q6HJ/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=6fRFQ&content-id=amzn1.sym.f2efabd5-9dce-4b61-be77-8a721772f133&pf_rd_p=f2efabd5-9dce-4b61-be77-8a721772f133&pf_rd_r=VYRPTDTNT4C9XSYDZJEQ&pd_rd_wg=NUGCn&pd_rd_r=05e81ea0-a547-456d-b711-7c85549d2bd8&th=1

It's really shaping up to be a great day now, with the speakers and exhibitors list really filled out. And with LGfL hosting you all for the evening social it's going to be an amazing day (plus the venue (museum) is epic! Go to the top floor to see the model railway We should be getting the program and other details up in the next few days, so keep an eye out and grab your ticket now before its too late!

You still can still come if you like, you've been a long time member and we don't slam the door in the face of those

Who won't lend them a quid?