sigma

Netsweeper has that categorized as "Technology", so local block applied for now. I seem to think it's blocked in Impero for us in any case.

Since we can't filter it properly, AI chat remains blocked to pupils until there is a technical solution that enables us to meet KCSIE, DfE Standards, and whatever garbage Saferinternet.org decide to have a whimsy on.

https://wetransfer.com/documents/WeTransfer_Terms_20250623.pdf For residents outside the USA.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-digital-and-technology-standards-in-schools-and-colleges/filtering-and-monitoring-standards-for-schools-and-colleges Refers to: https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/teachers-and-school-staff/appropriate-filtering-and-monitoring/appropriate-filtering Which now states that: Firstly, are there any filters that can actually do this? Secondly, who decides what is Dis/Misinformation? E.G. Events in Gaza, This is also included in the July "preview" version of KCSIE. Whether it makes it to the final September publication will be interesting. If it does, there's little chance we could comply.

They are funded by advertising. Regardless of any the new domains popping up, much, but not all of the actual content is loaded from the same few CDNs and blocking them makes many games unplayable. List to follow as I’m out this afternoon.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/10/grok-is-coming-to-tesla-vehicles-next-week-says-elon-musk/

I am at home, no filtering and the site doesn't load. It's their end.

Probably because even IT staff are subject to the IWF and other mandatory blocks?

We only allow access to scratch.mit.projects/editor but we've lately had to restrict that to the correct subject lessons and break times as we'd find that the more savvy pupils were searching for, downloading and importing the .sb3 files for "well known games" in a geography lesson for example, and similarly for python games. (It also blocks games on other sites where the CDN is scratch.mit.edu).

I would be very suprised if with full decryption if that, and other games sites hosted on sites.google.com wasn't blocked by Smoothwall filtering.

It looks to be completely stand alone. I noticed a pupil on it in a room where scratch.mit.edu is blocked in its entirety.

UCLA seem to have put up a scratch clone - minus the content: scratch.cresst.org

I see what you mean, go for it! Black plastic works well for holding position to keep the weeds out in the interim.

The garden has structure, The lavender will need to go and be replaced if you like it. Once they get leggy, they don’t regenerate from old wood. Same for most conifers except yew. With the big conifer at the bottom left? You could take off all the lower branches so that you can walk under it, so would give back space, but keep some height and shape. With the overgrown shrubs, I would try cutting them back really hard in the spring or if they do, after flowering. Best case, they grow back and you can keep them to your preferred size, at worst, you kill them but no loss if you were going to bin them anyway. Shrubs provide a year round backdrop, and also gives homes to insects and birds. Is it a windy or exposed situation, so do the trees provide shelter or shade. You might be able to thin the trees with careful pruning so that you can see through them to extend the views beyond and give dappled shade to increase the planting possibilities. Do they provide autumn colour/winter interest at all interesting/coloured bark or attractive spring growth? Plants are expensive and it’s easy to spend a lot on something that won’t grow in your conditions.

If it didn’t, there was always Irfanview with the add-ons pack.

Unfortunately, Scratch has also become a de facto CDN for many of what I would describe as the ‘time wasting” games. Our pupils can access the editor to code/create, but that’s about it. They can’t access any studios or projects. Good luck if you are with ‘a certain ISP’ as they will whitelist for you in the defaults they set for you.

No, because we would need more than one unless they can open gates, but, have seen two gardens in Scotland using them this week. One was using Husqvarna robots and the lawn looked really good. I think it was using GPS rather than wires. The edges were still finished by hand though.

Our trusty Honda petrol mower does same, but still takes 2 hours..

Of course it was a completely hopeless scheme for tiny village schools who would struggle to get enough vouchers even for one beige RM ball mouse.

https://futurism.com/meta-sketchy-training-ai-private-photos

If you are already coving all the bases, KCSIE and DfE mandatory guidance, and can reconfigure your backup line to meet those standards should you switch to it, I can’t see a catch.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91356839/40-perecen-of-gen-z-men-are-using-ai-to-cheat-at-work Alarmingly, Gen Z employees are also using AI in ways that are unethical. Almost a third (31%) have used AI in ways that they know break company policies, including sharing internal data. A staggering 39% said they use AI to automate tasks without their manager’s permission, and 14% said they are doing so often or always. And nearly one-third of workers (30%) are straight-up using AI to generate fake work in an effort to look more productive.

And all that personal data gets gifted to the AI model?

They do for us. We use explicit proxies which are locked by GP's. "Transparent proxies" in their parlance set as transparentpuil, transparentstaff, etc.

I mainly, but not exclusively themake changes for Netsweeper and Impero. Both have an audit trail. It depends on why the change is needed. Is it a real change, or a fix to repair something that no longer works or shouldn't work but now does? If it's one of those or within our policy, I just get on with it. I will block if I see something that needs blocking, and it's a Safeguarding issue, as a do first, report later. I'm generally having to make a few recategorization requests on a daily basis sadly. More concerning is having to keep an eye on the ISP, who make stupid changes without telling anyone, such as turning off decryption and replacing it with a bypass for google.com and google.co.uk last Monday. It's wasn't off for long, but it shouldn't have happened at all. So, I monitor them like a hawk, as usually when they make changes it has unwanted side effects for us that need mitigating.