Unlike your average non-vice presidential book event, tickets to hear Mr. Gore speak at Dumbo's PowerHouse Arena are going for $45 a pop (students can rush for $35 at the door).

On the bright side, tickets guarantee an autographed copy of the book. No word on if he signs tablets.

Mr. Zamansky. (Photo: Google+.)

Spend much time listening to Silicon Alley types talk about their fair city, and it won't be before you hear someone issue a lament on behalf of the children—specifically, the quality of the math and science education they're getting. Indeed, teaching tech skills in the public schools is among the most popular political proposals that the New York Tech Meetup suggested last month, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vision for New York as a center of innovation is rarely far off from a new plan to offer a 21st century education.

The latest: Mayor Michael Bloomberg named the 20 middle and high schools that will host the city's Software Engineering Pilot program, which will provide classes in "computer programming, embedded electronics, web design and programming, e-textiles, robotics, and mobile computing" beginning in September. Meanwhile, Union Square Venture's Fred Wilson broke news on his blog that the TEALS program—which recruits software engineers to volunteer their time teaching computer science in the schools—is coming to New York.

One person who was less than full-throated in his optimism for the two plans: Mike Zamansky, a Stuyvesant High School computer science teacher who has been lobbying for more rigorous computer science training in the city's public schools for the better part of the last decade.

"The TEALS program is very well-meaning," Mr. Zamansky told Betabeat. "But they're not building the core capacity of teachers. It's wonderful to get engineers in the classroom, but can they teach? I think the cooler endgame would be having teachers that know technology." The SEP program, meanwhile, sounded good on paper to Mr. Zamansky, but left him wondering if the city would be able to adequately train teachers to lead students through the new curricula. "You need experienced teachers who have technology backgrounds," Mr. Zamansky said. (Well, yes, but where do you find them?)

Mr. Zamansky has long hoped to expand his school's computer science throughout the city; meanwhile, he's launched a program called CSTUY in hopes of reaching students outside the Stuyvesant community.

Earlier this month, Betabeat sat among 50 or so Stuyvesant students in a back corner of TechStars' East Village offices and listened as Stuyvesant alumni described their careers in technology. The meeting was limited to Stuyvesant students, due to issues with insurance coverage, but Mr. Zamansky told Betabeat that future offerings—which he hopes will include mini-courses on web design and system administration—will be more open.

Next month, CSTUY is bringing together Stuyvesant alumni at companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter with current students at Foursquare's offices—an event which he hopes will be open to Brooklyn Tech students to attend.

"I don't want it to be just Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech," he said. "I want it to be students from across the city."

Foursquare is adding Visa, Mastercard and debit cards to its check-in deals program as it attempts to expand an existing revenue model. The company has let users pay for the deals—which users can access after checking in at participating locations—with American Express since 2011. [AllThingsD]

The U.S. government wasted millions of dollars in its attempts to expand broadband wireless service, according to a Republican congressman. [Bloomberg]

Thomas Pynchon's next novel is said to be set in Silicon Alley, in the period between the dot-com boom and the terrorist attacks of September 11; here are some rejected plot lines. [PandoDaily]

The Visual Effects crowd is pissed off, and rightfully, it seems, about the lack of airtime it was afforded during the Academy Awards on Sunday. Television broadcasts largely ignored demonstrators protesting the state of the VFX industry, in which many jobs have been shipped overseas; meanwhile, the Oscar winner for VFX had his speech cut short, and Ang Lee, who won Best Director for his CGI-heavy Life of Pi, forgot to thank his VFX man. [The Big Social Picture]

Uber is signing up drivers in San Francisco; no taxi license needed, but there will be a test. [Engadget]

(Screencap)

So you're an insurance company, and you've got a snazzy new smartphone app that does things like helps your customers call for a tow truck when their car breaks down. Also, you have a reputation for memorable TV pitchmen (cavemen, lizards, etc.). Then before you know it, you shoot a 30-second spot for your app in which a comely dame propositions a talking pig and you've got a bunch of pissed off Christian ladies on your hands.

According to the Daily News, the conservative Christian group One Million Moms took issue with said Geico advertisement, calling the ad 'repulsive':

Maxwell the Geico pig goes on a date in Geico's new piggy commercial. In Geico commercial, the pig and a young female are in a parked car on a lover's lane. The car is actually broken down, but while sitting there the girl appears to be turned on by the pig. She hints that she wants to make out. She is disappointed when she learns the tow truck is on the way and they won't be able to "pass the time."

To the Christian group, the ad is evidence of Geico's worrisome and casual views on bestiality. On the other hand, it's a good thing Maxwell had that app.

San Quentin. (Photo: Wikipedia)

So the tech world likes incubators. Indeed, even as new players enter the field, there are signs that the incubator model is bursting at the seams. Y Combinator downsized to less than 50 companies in its most recent class, from 84 last summer. When 500 Startups decided to establish a base in New York, it opted for a coworking space instead of an incubator. TechStars keeps growing, but its most recently announced additions have been abroad or in more narrowly-defined niches.

Perhaps the surest sign of the incubator model's ubiquity comes from California's San Quentin State Prison, which just graduated its first class from its so-called Last Mile program, which gathers inmates twice a week to discuss startups (they also answer Quora questions:

The latest batch of startup ideas included a fitness app that would motivate drug addicts to exercise, a cardiovascular health organization, a social network for sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder, a food waste recycling program, and an e-commerce site for artists in prison.

To be fair, Last Mile founder Chris Redlitz told Reuters he's not looking for his next investment as much as he's hoping to teach inmates about entrepreneurship and bridge the gap between Silicon Valley elites and the hoi polloi. To the former, we'd applaud Mr. Redlitz; on the latter... good luck with that.

It wasn't so long ago that the Nook was the key to Barnes & Noble's future. Now the bookseller is planning to back off of its efforts to sell its own e-reader, and is working on strengthening partnerships with tablet suppliers. [NYT]

It's not that Julian Assange isn't giving interviews—it's just that he's leading a busy life inside the Ecuadorian government's London embassy, and it's a question of fitting reporters in. [Ars Technica]

Kara Swisher leans into the backlash against Facebook COO's Sheryl Sandberg's new book. [AllThingsD]

In case you can't wait for the competing biopics currently in production, here's what it's like to go on a double-date with John McAfee. [PandoDaily]

(Photo: NJ Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)

Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest were hacked this week, after a security breach at customer-service provider Zendesk allowed a hacker to access user email addresses at the three social media companies. [Wired]

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book marketing plans include "Lean in Circles," in which women study Ms. Sandberg's curriculum for career success. [NYT]

Twitter cofounder Ev Williams talks about when—and when not—to sell your company. [Medium]

Nevada became the first state to legalize online gambling. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie may sign a law legalizing Internet gambling in his state as early as next week. [The Washington Post]

If you're a "startup junky," what are you really addicted to? [PandoDaily]

IBM is making a push into mobile, and plans to provide customers with software, data and security services on mobile devices. [NYT]

Calling all youth correspondents: the social network Pheed is said to be gaining in popularity, especially with teens. [Forbes]

Facebook isn't the only tech company to catch heat for using stock option deductions to avoid paying corporate taxes. The Center for Tax Justice says LinkedIn has used the deduction to avoid paying federal taxes for the last three years. [New York Post]

Eduardo Saverin talked about life after the Facebook, the challenges faces the social media company he helped found, and his decision to move to Singapore. "No, I did not rescind my citizenship for tax purposes," is what he says. [WSJ]

(Photo: Top News)

Marissa Mayer introduced Yahoo users to a "new, more modern experience" for finding "the best of the web" in a blog post early this morning. [Yahoo]

Ever dream of founding the next Apple, Facebook or Twitter? That might be a long shot. But if you act fast, you can probably get your computer hacked by visiting the same website that compromised the recently-hacked tech giants. [AllThingsD]

“We used to have these ads, I’m a Mac and I’m a PC, and the Mac was always the cool guy,” Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak told Bloomberg. “And ouch, it’s painful, because we kind of are losing that.”[Bloomberg]

Apple's lead designer Jonathan Ive dropped some knowledge on a British children's television show. [Quartz]

"You cannot be cross-shopped on Amazon is like e-com 2.0," said Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer. [PandoDaily]