Notices by wizzwizz4 (wizzwizz4@fosstodon.org)

@chjara Nope! There are others. Wiktionary gives Abel and Babel; there's also navel. (Can't figure out how to get Wiktionary to list rhymes for -əl, so that's all I've got.)

@dalias An analytics system that communicates the current state of a one-bit noisy signal, which only runs on school-issued devices, and is only active in a setting where it replaces the need for shoulder-surfing, is not a "digital cop-in-your-pocket".

How about requiring that all digital cameras in school make a clicking (photo) or beeping (video) noise when in operation? That is also a system that identifies when certain functions of a multi-function device are in use. Would that be a "cop"?

@dalias However, some degree of use restriction is required in a classroom, or the students will be distracted from their studies. To achieve this, either you implement automated use restrictions (impossible to calibrate, per Rice's theorem, and also indistinguishable from malware), or you have some level of manual oversight.

This is less of a problem for self-directed studies, but that requires self-regulation of motivation: study's boring when you don't get it. Many 5yos find that hard.

@dalias You specifically criticised corporate spying and lock-in. Plenty of people think a "legitimate" authority is somehow different. Nonetheless, I was addressing your criticism of "screens are bad".

So I can better understand your perspective: do you have experience of being in a "digitised" classroom? (I do.) I don't think your analogies are analogous enough to be used as an argument here, and I'd like to know where it's more likely that you're missing something, or I'm missing something.

@dalias That's not to say you should force children to learn the syllabus in order, week by week in lockstep. I can't imagine a greater impediment to learning. But if someone's participating in a lesson, they shouldn't be distracted.

Locking down computers so they can only run pre-approved software is not a good approach. This will prevent students from doodling or playing Tetris; it will prevent them from writing or installing computer programs. This will significantly hurt learning.

2/3

@dalias I forgot about the prejudice against comic books. Perhaps my argument will be clearer if you replace that with a more pretentious form of literature, such as Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, or Ulysses by James Joyce; or a technical repair manual for a rocket engine. However educational these are, they're not conductive to following along with lessons about a different topic entirely.

1/3

@dalias Providing teachers with remote access to children's computers is an unjustifiable invasion of privacy. (Even having them look at the screens while they walk around the classroom is questionable. PCs are personal.) Automatically providing a list of running programs is too much.

Providing a binary "child is running an unexpected program" flag doesn't expose enough information to be a privacy violation, while preserving a heuristic for identifying why a struggling child is struggling.

3/3

@dalias It's also like asking "Why are we giving 5-year-olds comic books in classrooms?" and "Why are we allowing 5-year-olds to pass paper-dart notes in classrooms?".

The problem isn't screens: the problem is general-purpose computing. A scheme where 5-year-olds have special-purpose educational programs, and the teacher can see (in an EAFP fashion) whether they're running others in the classroom, would allow the "screens are distractions" issue to be addressed like any other distraction.

@Fragglemuppet If you can explain why, and how you deal with that, to make it easier for others to do so, then I'd say it doesn't matter what it counts as: you're helping, which is what matters.

@dalias @thibaultamartin Distributing backups among your friends' systems should be as simple as sending and accepting a follow request is on social media.

@chjara Completing missions, being wanted, and having sex with women.

I propose that Grand Theft Auto is yuri. In this essay,

@esvrld @beeoproblem Mathematically, they're really huge Markov models, compressed in a clever way.

@Gina It'd be a huge amount of work. I've been investigating this for a few years, but I don't think the Mastodon software (as currently implemented) is particularly compatible with keeping moderators healthy and safe.

@Gina I'd actually be blaming them for taking on more than they could handle, except that this was their first time doing something like this, and there aren't really resources from which they could've learned that they were setting themselves up for failure.

Meanwhile, I saw the signs, thought "wow, they must be really hyper-competent to be able to deal with this!", and said nothing. I doubt I'm the only one who stood by while everything fell apart.

@Gina … As much as I like this place, I actually hope they're serious about leaving. Moderation is a huge burden, especially if there's nobody to kick the hard cases up to; and they've been shouldering far too much for far long. (At the very least, they should both take a break.)

@Gina Mastodon moderation isn't set up so you can just delegate it.

The default moderator role: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/roles/#default-moderator-role has the permission "Manage Users", which “Allows users to view other users’ details and perform moderation actions against them.”. Afaict, that access to sensitive data isn't audit-logged.

That kind of access is not something you can easily delegate, but it's a package deal with stuff moderators need.

etc etc. Mastodon is not designed properly, and makes this much harder.

@h3artbl33d @Gina Right, that's exactly my point. The Mastodon software conflates access to previous reports etc (mods need this nearly always) with access to IP and email address (only needed in rare edge-cases), and doesn't even log access to the user details page, so we have to Just Trust moderators with it all.

That's also bad for moderators. If someone exfiltrates user data, and the detective comes 'round and says "who had access to this data?", I (as a mod) do not want to be on that list.

@clarity If there is a way for me to help this happen, I will dedicate my life to it. (Technically, I have already dedicated my life to it – I made that decision aged approximately six – but I haven't seen a way forward.)

@lizzy What does the c stand for?

@lucy @chjara @lizzy Point is, I doubt many people who describe their political philosophy as "I want to be left alone" actually want the absence of any system of government. They want [that which I cannot name], which does actually require some kind of social infrastructure / community support.