Notices by myrmepropagandist (futurebird@sauropods.win), page 3

Holiday Question:

Does anyone *like* candy canes? Peppermint sticks?

What makes a candy cane or peppermint stick "good?"

I recently got a candy in a card that was more like a "U" than a "J" ... It was ... chewy. But not on purpose. Aren't they shaped that way so you can hang them on the tree?

I know there are defenders of EVERY candy no matter how heinous so speak up!

(If you don't have candy canes are there any strange winter candies where you live?)

Government mandated cat cuddling and cat petting regulations have only increased around here.

Mandatory lap allocations. The regime knows no limits.

I used to be a bit of a hack PHP web dev in my awkward private sector days. I can show them how to make all kinds of things using PHP. I think making a "whiteboard" basically a single wikipedia page with anyone can edit with history that uses google authentication would be a good first project for me.

I don't really want them to waste much time learning the details of any authentication. service or language. These are fleeting things.

There is a labor of love for any dev who'd make a FOSS universal authentication service that institutions like schools would WANT to use.

Until that happens the reality is google dominates and everyone uses it, by not playing along nice with it? It's just isolationism.

*evil grin expands*

Could one use google's authentication API to make a service people could sign up for that would be independent of google authentication?

A kind of escape hatch?

Your ordinary computer user will balk at "signing up" and filling out forms. It's one of the greatest barriers to getting people "on here" among other places.

I recently went through the sign up process on the fedi with an adult friend and frankly it's unacceptable.

@mynameistillian

Games for kids should not have lootboxes. It's gambling. It's a kiddie casino. Why do we get a social media ban for kids but not something like that? (I know why, I just think we should be asking about this more often and much louder.)

@mynameistillian

Further all forms of gambling (for adults) should have a simple to sign up for "self exclusion" option. This is done by casinos already. You can sign up to be on a list and they won't let you in to gamble. People use these services because in dark moments they know they have a problem.

If your game (for adults) has lootboxes you need to offer self exclusion.

The CS club is excited to set up new services on the student intranet at our small grade school. Currently the school uses google for authentication. We can talk about how that isn't ideal, how google is bad etc. but the student club can't change this and neither can I.

So, any service they create will need to use that same authentication service. (we do not want to run annon services, or have students register again)

Anyone have experience doing this on a small scale?

I believe that Computer Science has a place in "The Liberal Arts Education"-- that is I think an understanding of how computers are made, programming and algorithms should be a part of what a "well educated" person knows regardless of their particular area of focus.

This is not the case at present and one can be considered "well educated" a know nothing about computers.

1/

The concept and philosophy of the liberal arts education is the (I think) sensible idea that everyone* should know a little about the 'greatest hits' of human knowledge.

Obviously what is considered a 'greatest hit' could be contentious. Should everyone read Shakespeare? Does everyone need to know a little algebra? Should everyone be able to read? Should everyone be able to critique art?

2/

*Sometimes this is contracted to only include the ruling class. I see no reason to do this.

@Bubotomy

According to the wikipedia the Mediterranean Sea has an average depth of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) and surface area, 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi)

So 3,750,000 cubic km

Now the average depth of the sand in the Sahara is much less easy to pinpoint. I have found 16ft but also 110ft. I don't think anyone knows.

But the Wikipedia has the surface area at 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi)

So 147,200 to 1,012,000 cubic km

I think the sea wins by virtue of depth.

OK this has gone on long enough!

I'm breaking out the little ant-sized mirrors and the "bee safe paint!"

I have black and yellow and will try this on some of my black carpenter ants.

Schools dances, office holiday parties can be kind of corny and boring. So many people have input on what can and cannot be done that you might end up with a very limited and boring event.

But, these things are still very important (the office parties less so, I think)-- they have an "educational purpose"

And this is why schools need to come to grips with running social media intranets.

2/

Right now teens go off into the wild to find a place on social media and adults are rightly alarmed. Companies like Facebook, Instagram, X etc. have no interest in "modeling a healthy online environment" or "teaching young people to use social media constructively" -- instead everyone is acting like simply banning kids from using phones and scanning IDs will make social media go away.

No one is asking or answering the question: How and when will young people learn to use social media?

3/

I think that schools should take on this role.

You could have a server for a school with mastodon, but not connected to the rest of the fedi, you could network with similar schools. Just like at the school dance the teachers are around so there are limits to how it's used.

Teens could post about their soccer games, advertise their clubs, make jokes, practice using the medium wisely.

When teens post to social media they care about their friends at school seeing the post most. 4/

Ant Ceramic Art on Etsy:

There are some really excellent pieces of art. Maaan if I were a rich person with a house with a place to put a $600 vase I know exactly which vase I would have. :

https://www.etsy.com/listing/8838238/ant-picnic-6x6-ceramic-art-tile
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1661330421/stunning-casas-grandes-mata-ortiz-olla
https://www.etsy.com/listing/4393721145/ceramic-sgraffito-bowl-with-ants?

I just wanted someone else to look at the nice ant art. Maybe it will inspire YOU to make ant art.

Is a house really a home without some ants?

This vase is perfect. A better vase cannot be made.

@faithisleaping

I think that adults don't do anything about the bullying and have not created any way for students to say it is happening is the real failure.

And if kids want to use the wider internet they still can. I just think what we have now is by default exclusionary since only those kids with parents who help them use the internet, or those with parents who don't care know what's going on at all.

@pteryx @faithisleaping

"I half-wonder if some faculty secretly thinks bullying is a *good* thing that punishes misfits for them."

There are adults who think this. They are real and they are incorrect.

No, I can't make an outcast kid feel like they are a part of the class 100 percent. But, I can make them feel like they are just as valued as everyone else and deserve to be treated with respect.

Teens don't like it when you point out they are being a jerk. They will stop, or tone it down.

@pteryx @faithisleaping

In fact, I've seen some pretty dramatic changes just from pointing out that "no one wants to be treated like that" and "you are being mean."

It's your job if you are the adult.