Technolandy

Day 143 (of 2025/26) 3 News Stories you may have missed – no smoking for those born after 2008; screen time limits; Ontario financial literacy… (thanks @krushowy) Bonus wonder about Mythos…

1. Growing up in a smoking household (not me though – probably because of the experience) I was surprised to see the UK ban smoking for those born after 2008 https://www.the-sun.com/news/16253865/smoking-banned-anyone-born-after-2008-clears-parliament/ especially during 4/20 week when the legalization of another inhalant has been popularized (along with ecigs and vapes) in many countries – the UK still classifies it as a class b drug – so more about more restricting tobacco and related products based on the historically harmful substance… going to be interesting to see how this flows and influences the shifting move towards cannabis regulation….
2. LA Unified just shared some caps to school screen time – taking about health and learning concerns (without looking at the underlying reasons for those…) https://uk.news.yahoo.com/los-angeles-schools-move-cap-080000565.html and while I am pro-tech, I’m also pro-variety.. even in my 1:1 class, we were very much also the ‘most environmentally aware’ and I will always promote the power of learning through/with play (sometimes even including screens…) but I also chuckle reflecting on the UK and WHO screen times https://theconversation.com/uk-government-recommends-maximum-one-hour-of-screen-time-for-younger-children-what-the-evidence-says-275752 which most are going to ignore… even though philosophically, I agree with 0 hours for children under 2 (except for interactive video calls), the ‘one hour’ for ages 2-5 is farcical since the introduction of television…  though ‘readiness’ is a key consideration – didn’t mind seeing this share from HuffingtonPost around screen time considerations: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/too-much-screen-time-questions_uk_69df7ddee4b05c8319cdd36d too much of anything can be bad for you, but mindful use of screen media has also had 
3. Ontario introducing new lessons for financial literacy https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/ontario-is-introducing-a-new-financial-literacy-curriculum-for-high-schoolers-heres-what-theyll-learn/article_c85cf3f9-cda2-4aea-9fde-c0710864fa4b.html wonder if it will highlight why you should not play the lottery (even though it’s become an essential revenue stream for governments) and how the top earners hide $ so that they do not pay as much tax… or are those not the fluencies that we want to communicate more broadly? 

Bonus… doom? Anthropic announced an AI model so powerful, it’s not being released widely… Mythos is a neat example of the balancing act needed as tech more embeds itself into all that we do… and can point out (and exploit) flaws in our systems that usually only get exploited by those with generational wealth… https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/technology/anthropics-mythos-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.c1A.WhgQ.cr5jiA31ns_a&smid=url-share