Daily Tech News 15 September 2025

Top Story

Children are hacking their own schools for fun, warns the UK Information Commissioner's Office. (BBC)

Translation: The British government is run by and staffed with idiots.
It says more the majority of so-called "insider" cyber attacks and data breaches in education settings - meaning they have been carried out by someone with access to internal systems - originate with students.
I think they've confused insider with inmate. An insider attack would be by the staff, not by the students.
"What starts out as a dare, a challenge, a bit of fun in a school setting can ultimately lead to children taking part in damaging attacks on organisations or critical infrastructure," said Heather Toomey, Principal Cyber Specialist at the ICO.
Reefer madness, IT edition.
Since 2022, the ICO has investigated 215 hacks and breaches originating from inside education settings and says 57% were carried out by children.
Translation: The British government is run by and staffed with idiots.

Tech News

Why grandma won't buy Betty Crocker cake mixes any more. (Cubby)

Shrinkflation and ratios.

Specifically, the boxes have shrunk from 18.25 oz to 15.25 oz and now to 13.25 oz. So if you follow an older recipe specifying a box of cake mix and specific amounts of wet ingredients, you're going to end up with slop rather than cookies.

You can get away with changes like this in cooking generally, but not in baking.
I checked the benchmarks of the two tablet CPUs on Nanoreview. The Idea Tab's A76 (in a Mediatek Dimensity 6300) scores 782 on single-threaded Geekbench.

The Legion Tab's X4 core (in a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) scores 2193 - nearly three times as fast.

The A715 core used in the Idea Tab Plus lands right in the middle with 1398.

For an idea of how far we've come, an A53 core running at 1.3GHz from the beginning of 2016 scored just 141. So the A76 is a lot faster than older low-end tablets which mostly ran the A53 core, and it's just a little slow compared to modern high-end hardware.
A look inside the Beelink ME NAS device. (Liliputing)

The ME is almost a latter-day Cobalt Qube - you can even buy it in blue. Two network ports, HDMI, and USB ports accompany an Intel N150 CPU, 12GB of RAM, a 64GB boot device, and six M.2 slots (five PCIe 3.0 x1 and one PCIe 3.0 x2).

One interesting point that I hadn't considered: The N150 has nine PCIe lanes but only supports five independent devices. The ME has the six SSDs and two 2.5Gb Ethernet controllers, and eight is more than five.

So how did Beelink do that? Apparently they just did it and it worked.

The review goes into benchmarks but they're pretty much as you'd expect - the CPU is not particularly fast, but is more than fast enough to fill both 2.5Gb Ethernet ports simultaneously.

The also tested with a 5Gb USB Ethernet adaptor, and it worked and filled that with data easily, with a top read speed of around 600MBps.
Vibe coding has turned senior developers into AI babysitters but they say it's worth it. (Tech Crunch)

While blinking rapidly in Morse code.
Indian tech startup Hike took one. (Tech Crunch)

The company abruptly shut down after crowing about how well its US division was doing on Saturday.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: In the American version they simply shot the balloons and the song was quite short. Let this be a lesson. Of some kind.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 quiet

Posted by: pavel chekov at September 15, 2025 04:30 AM (XCUp7)

2 weird

Posted by: pavel chekov at September 15, 2025 04:30 AM (XCUp7)

3 Oink!

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 04:31 AM (aJQjq)

4 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 15, 2025 04:31 AM (EKfGo)

5 Morning all.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 15, 2025 04:31 AM (BLOW1)

6 Reefer madness, IT edition.

Pixy, you can take the rest of month off.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 04:32 AM (aJQjq)

7 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at September 15, 2025 04:33 AM (+qU29)

8 Greetings. How are your footsies Pixy?

Posted by: Tuna at September 15, 2025 04:33 AM (lJ0H4)

9 What happened to the 100th Luftballoon?

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 15, 2025 04:33 AM (XV/Pl)

10 9 What happened to the 100th Luftballoon?
Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 15, 2025 04:33 AM (XV/Pl)

Swallowed by a drug mule.

Posted by: pavel chekov at September 15, 2025 04:38 AM (XCUp7)

11 Reefer madness, IT edition.

For the Win! It is just perfect.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 04:38 AM (aJQjq)

12 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at September 15, 2025 04:39 AM (sAmhv)

13 Disclaimer: In the American version they simply shot the balloons and the song was quite short. Let this be a lesson. Of some kind.
........................................
'murica!!!

youtube.com/shorts/1ncAUFgTDq8

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at September 15, 2025 04:45 AM (sAmhv)

14 What happened to the 100th Luftballoon?

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 15, 2025 04:33 AM (XV/Pl)
-

Shot down by an F-22 off the S. Carolina coast in February 2023.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 15, 2025 04:47 AM (EKfGo)

15 Ireland's gone:

Open Source Intel
@Osint613

Conor McGregor has officially withdrawn from the 2025 Irish presidential race.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at September 15, 2025 04:52 AM (EKfGo)

16 99 Luftballons
Sing It Live (2025)
South Australia
https://youtu.be/VLvo67iVxr8

99 Luftballons
Leo Moracchioli On Everything
It is a very enthusiastic version
https://youtu.be/Wr-ywwsjXW8

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 04:56 AM (aJQjq)

17 Well, it's mid-September and time to start planting the fall garden but it's gonna be in the mid 90s all week.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at September 15, 2025 04:57 AM (3Ope8)

18 G'mornin all y'all.
Glad to be alive
Praise God from whom all Blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts,
Praise Father Son & Holy Ghost -
Amen

Posted by: OkJohn at September 15, 2025 04:59 AM (NC/it)

19 Two jobs to go to today, so a bit of driving

Posted by: Skip at September 15, 2025 05:06 AM (+qU29)

20 Kinda forgot the Manchurian Oval Office resident let his bosses have a balloon fly all over the country

Posted by: Skip at September 15, 2025 05:07 AM (+qU29)

21 Posted by: OkJohn at September 15, 2025 04:59 AM (NC/it)

Nice. Been a stretch since I heard that.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at September 15, 2025 05:11 AM (3Ope8)

22 8 Greetings. How are your footsies Pixy?
Posted by: Tuna

Hugely improved. Between the BP medication and the skin cream, almost back to normal.

I only notice the problem at all now when climbing stairs, and then it's just a bit of stiffness rather than actual pain. Couple of places where they're still healing but not anywhere I need to put weight on.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 15, 2025 05:11 AM (BLOW1)

23 15 Conor McGregor has officially withdrawn from the 2025 Irish presidential race.
Posted by: Biden's Dog

Shame. I was pretty sure he could take the leprechaun they have now.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 15, 2025 05:13 AM (BLOW1)

24 Mornin' Pixy.

As always, I love the snark on the IT news you give us. How are things on the medical/pain-in-the-feet front?

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:13 AM (O7YUW)

25 https://tinyurl.com/ycxxx8zx
20 posts from Doug Ross Substack, it's pretty good stuff

Have a great day horde

Posted by: Skip at September 15, 2025 05:13 AM (+qU29)

26 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at September 15, 2025 05:17 AM (hoCmQ)

27 G'morning, all!

Being woken by a leg calf cramp at 3:00am does not lead to a well rested feeling at 5:00am.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 15, 2025 05:18 AM (a1415)

28 Never mind Pixy, asked and answered in 22, just hadn't read down that far.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:18 AM (O7YUW)

29 New York Gov. Kathy Hochul endorses Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor
Of course she would, Dems got to stick together. Wait until he hits her up for a few billion for all the free stuff he promises.

Posted by: Colin at September 15, 2025 05:18 AM (wlQdF)

30 Also @Pixy: And I'm very glad you're mostly back to normal!

Right. Coffee now. Must slap neurons into some form of order...

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:20 AM (O7YUW)

31 So with all the work wide vigils for Charlie Kirk yesterday, how many fiery but mostly peaceful events occurred?

Was there even a single store front boarded up in any city or town in preparation for the riots and protests?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 15, 2025 05:21 AM (a1415)

32 The Idea Tab's A76 (in a Mediatek Dimensity 6300) scores 782 on single-threaded Geekbench.

For comparison my Surface Go 2 uses an Intel Core m3-8100Y and scores 860 on the single-threaded test and 1610 on the multi-threaded. This machine can run Windows 11, All the Office Apps, A browser, and a bunch of other things.

So yeah, the A76 should be rather sufficient for basic tablet tasks.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 05:24 AM (aJQjq)

33 National Post article written by Conrad Black about being in the Oval Office on Sep 10 when President Trump and Vice President Vance received the news of Charlie's passing:

https://tinyurl.com/2aczpw69

The important bits:

"I would be remiss not to emphasize that neither the president nor the vice president expressed any sentiment except sorrow at the death of their friend and sympathy for his wife and family and close associates, and calm, deep concern at the extent of violence in the country. There was not a vengeful or partisan word or even an ill-tempered one. Both men were absolutely exemplary and in fact somewhat inspiring in their sole preoccupation with the horribly premature and violent death of a talented friend and supporter, and their shared concern at the frequency of recourse to political violence in America and much of the western world."

"All Americans, whatever their political leanings, should be reassured that the two holders of the national offices of the United States, in a poignant hour of great sacrifice and sadness, had no thoughts except charity for the bereaved and concern for the country."

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:30 AM (O7YUW)

34 Evening to the late toilers, morning to the insomaniacals and early risers! Yeah, it's Monday . . . but remember:

"Compared to being on the wrong side of the ground, even a bad Monday is pretty small kumquats, nicht wahr?"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:30 AM (omVj0)

35 @34/Wolfus: Good morning, and thank you for that reminder. (And I'll just need a mid-day nap and I'll be right as rain.)

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:33 AM (O7YUW)

36 The Nena video is cool. Gosh, I loved the '80s. Not my work, not the cars I had, but my home life, and the women's hair and clothes; and while the pop music was on the whole not as great as in the first half of the '70s or in 1979, it was pretty darn good.

Linda and I have been watching first-season episodes of Spenser: For Hire from 1985. Linda comments that the fashions of the '80s, at least I think she means the women's clothes, were "hideous." But then she says she likes the stuff they wanted us to wear in the '70s. Maybe because she was entering her teens as that latter decade closed, and it looked glamorous.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:36 AM (omVj0)

37 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at September 15, 2025 05:36 AM (XQo4F)

38 Good morning, one and all. Yesterday was my 23rd anniversary. The wife and I went to go see the Demon Slayer movie and then went to our favorite Japanese restaurant afterward.

And now I'm back at work. sigh

Posted by: NR Pax at September 15, 2025 05:37 AM (+4yJ5)

39 Wolfus: Good morning, and thank you for that reminder. (And I'll just need a mid-day nap and I'll be right as rain.)
Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025

***
Morning to you, G & R. The nap has been part of my weekend, and now daily, routine since I became an adult. It's supposed to help you live longer. Maybe it only makes life less uncomfortable.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:38 AM (omVj0)

40 @38/NR Pax: "Yesterday was my 23rd anniversary. "

Congratulations to you both! May you have many more years of love and happiness together.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at September 15, 2025 05:41 AM (O7YUW)

41 On my list for today: Get the car's annual safety inspection, known as the "brake tag"; grocery run; a stop of Office Depot to weigh a package so I know what to put on the eBay listing; writing down all the details of my hotel stays in Birmingham and Evansville, phone numbers, addresses, etc.

Just reading that, I'm exhausted already. No, the brake tag is not due until the end of Sept., but I won't be back until almost then, so I need to do it this week.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:45 AM (omVj0)

42 Never alone: Scripture is John 16:1-7. A welder talks about his father and about Jesus being with us in the Holy Spirit:

https://tinyurl.com/4wc7vvsw

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 15, 2025 05:47 AM (looXz)

43 It'll be hot this week and what the local weather mavens call "dry," i.e., no rain, not less humid. Well, they *pretend* that the humidity will be down a bit. But a drop from 60% at midday to 50%, if we actually see numbers that low, is not much of a drop. At 4:45 am today it's 76% humidity.

Wunderground says Evansville will be around 83 F. next Tuesday, with lows in the 60s. Amazin'. I hope they're right.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:51 AM (omVj0)

44 40: Thank you, G&R. Much appreciated.

Posted by: NR Pax at September 15, 2025 05:51 AM (+4yJ5)

45 The attractive blonde lady, Helena Moreno, appears to be well ahead in the polls in the Swamp mayoral race. Yes, she's a Dem (and a former local news anchor). But it'll be so pleasant not to have to look at a face like LaToya the Destroya's on the "news."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at September 15, 2025 05:53 AM (omVj0)

46 Parking at mega churches. Christian comedian Tim Hawkins. Just scroll past the description to the video. It's funnier that way.

https://tinyurl.com/mpwyn3xb

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at September 15, 2025 06:00 AM (ZeH0U)

47 w00t

Posted by: m at September 15, 2025 06:01 AM (aURVT)

48 w00t
Posted by: m

Glad you made it. The donuts are gone.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 06:04 AM (aJQjq)

49 >>>(Tech Cunch)

Pixy, would you like to buy an "r"?

Posted by: m at September 15, 2025 06:05 AM (aURVT)

50 Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

Rejoinder: 99 bottles of beer on the wall...

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea at September 15, 2025 06:07 AM (WvZaB)

51 You WILL give me MOAR gruel, or I'll release your browsing 'istory to the authorities, see?

Posted by: Oliver Twist, 2025 at September 15, 2025 06:09 AM (PiwSw)

52 Wait until he hits her up for a few billion for all the free stuff he promises.
Posted by: Colin at September 15, 2025 05:18 AM (wlQdF)

Wait until he "totally has nothing to do with" a bunch of peasants storming the governor's mansion because he doesn't get it.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at September 15, 2025 06:09 AM (06Hmj)

53 48 w00t
Posted by: m

Glad you made it. The donuts are gone.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at September 15, 2025 06:04 AM (aJQjq)

haha!

Posted by: m at September 15, 2025 06:16 AM (aURVT)

54
You can get away with changes like this in cooking generally, but not in baking.

___________

The MBAs are happy. Share prices are up. Last quarter's earnings were good. Who cares about the customer?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at September 15, 2025 06:25 AM (kkTda)

55 27 G'morning, all!

Being woken by a leg calf cramp at 3:00am does not lead to a well rested feeling at 5:00am.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at September 15, 2025 05:18 AM (a1415)

I take potassium pills to prevent that.
Very rarely do I get cramps now.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at September 15, 2025 06:35 AM (6ydKt)

56 JD Vance
@JDVance
Tomorrow, I will have the honor of hosting the Charlie Kirk Show. Please join me as I pay tribute to my friend.

12:00PM ET
http://Rumble.com/CharlieKirk

Tomorrow being today.
I’ll have to watch some of it if I remember.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at September 15, 2025 06:44 AM (6ydKt)

57 mornin yall. Who can figure this out?

"Two men accused of lighting live bomb under news media vehicle in Salt Lake"
— Two men have been taken into custody after an operation involving multiple law enforcement agencies in a Magna neighborhood.

One of the suspects were identified as 58-year-old Adeeb Nasir and 31-year-old Adil Justice Ahme Nasir"

One of the suspects was identified as two people? These leftys are getting more nutty all the time.

Posted by: Charlie Townsend at September 15, 2025 06:45 AM (vFG9F)

58 Off angelic sock

Posted by: fd at September 15, 2025 06:46 AM (vFG9F)

59 "Neighbors say both Adeeb and Adil were just turning their lives around and on their way to a neighborhood Koran study at the time of the incident."

Posted by: The local media nobody watches anymore at September 15, 2025 06:49 AM (XQo4F)

60 The show biz kids gave an award to loser Colbert. Typical lefty, failing upward.

Posted by: fd at September 15, 2025 06:49 AM (vFG9F)

61
58-year-old Adeeb Nasir and 31-year-old Adil Justice Ahme Nasir

sounds Amish, or mayhaps Mennonite

g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at September 15, 2025 06:51 AM (tljrc)

62 What does it say when the "best talk show" on TV gets cancelled?

Posted by: fd at September 15, 2025 06:51 AM (vFG9F)

63 Because the value of my career is measured in lucite blocks.

Posted by: Said no one ever at September 15, 2025 06:52 AM (XQo4F)

64 @62

>>What does it say when the "best talk show" on TV gets cancelled?

Talk on TV is dead, especially with enumerable, better quality podcasts and vtube shows of every stripe and variety.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 15, 2025 06:55 AM (COlmM)

65 “Police say they found the device placed under a news media vehicle parked next to an occupied building and determined it to be a real explosive device. It "had been lit but failed to function as designed," according to the affidavit,” KSL reported.

The men are facing charges including Threat of Terrorism, Possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Possessing Explosive Devices.

“Lit”?

They made some kind of pipe bomb with a fuse and couldn’t even get that right.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at September 15, 2025 06:56 AM (6ydKt)

66 That article about the cake mixes shrinking in size is right on. I very rarely use cake mixes but I have two old recipes that use them, that I hadn't made for many years. I made one a couple years ago (a bar cookie using German chocolate cake mix, with caramel, nut, and chocolate chip layers), and another one for Easter last year (anyone remember Watergate Cake with Coverup Icing?).

Both times I had to buy two mixes and weigh out the mixes to get the right proportions. What a sham.

Posted by: bluebell at September 15, 2025 06:57 AM (79pEw)

67 “Lit”?

They made some kind of pipe bomb with a fuse and couldn’t even get that right.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at September 15, 2025 06:56 AM (6ydKt)
---------

Those ones I get from Acme can be really unreliable.

Posted by: Road Runner at September 15, 2025 06:58 AM (79pEw)

68 I don’t bake cakes but losing 5 ounces of cake mix does seem to be a big problem.

A big problem that Betty Crocker should’ve realized is a big problem before it became a big problem.

They could solve it by offering up the original 18.25 oz box of mix as a “Large” version and charge a few bucks extra for people who need it for recipes.

At least pm’s that’s what I’d do, but I’m not getting paid big bucks to run a company into the ground so my opinion doesn’t matter.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at September 15, 2025 07:01 AM (6ydKt)

69 But look how much money you saved on your pipe bomb!

Posted by: Temu at September 15, 2025 07:02 AM (XQo4F)

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