kfwyre's recent activity
-
Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
-
Comment on Happy 6th Birthday, Tildes! in ~tildes
kfwyre LinkI love y’all, and I love it here! In the words of Daði Freyr: Make sure everyone gets a slice of… …cake! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ( ) ) (*) (*) ( * (*) | | (*) | |~| |~| | * |~| | | | | |~| |...I love y’all, and I love it here!
In the words of Daði Freyr:
We got a good thing going.
Make sure everyone gets a slice of…
…cake!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ( ) ) (*) (*) ( * (*) | | (*) | |~| |~| | * |~| | | | | |~| | | | | | | | | ,| |a@@@@| |@@@@@@@@@@@| |@@@@a| |. .,a@@@| |@@@@@| |@@@@@@@@@@@| |@@@@@| |@@@@a,. ,a@@@@@@| |@@@@@@@@@@@@.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@| |@@@@@@@a, a@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@' . `@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@a ;`@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@' . `@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@'; ;@@@`@@@@@@@@@@@@@' . `@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@'@@@; ;@@@;,.aaaaaaaaaa . aaaaa,,aaaaaaa,;@@@; ;;@;;;;@@@@@@@@;@ @.@ ;@@@;;;@@@@@@;;;;@@; ;;;;;;;@@@@;@@;;@ @@ . @@ ;;@;;;;@@;@@@;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;@@;;;;;;; @@ . @@ ;;;;;;;;;;;@@;;;;@;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;@@ . @@;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;@@@; ,%%%;;;;;;;;@;;;;;;;; . ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;@@;;%%%, .%%%%%%;;;;;;;@@;;;;;;;; ,%%%, ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;%%%%%%, .%%%%%%%;;;;;;;@@;;;;;;;; ,%%%%%%%, ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;%%%%%%%, %%%%%%%%`;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; %%%%%%%%%%% ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;'%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%`;;;;;;;;;;;;,%%%%%%%%%%%%%,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;'%%%%%%%%%%%% `%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%,,,,,,,%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%,,,,,,,%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%' `%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%' `%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%' """"""""""""""`,,,,,,,,,'""""""""""""""""" `%%%%%%%' `%%%%%' %%% Susie Oviatt %%%%% .,%%%%%%%,. ,%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%, -
Comment on GM ends OnStar driver safety program after privacy complaints in ~transport
kfwyre LinkArchive link All previous Tildes discussions about OnStar Smart DriverGeneral Motors Co. has ended its OnStar Smart Driver program after customers complained it violated their privacy.
OnStar had cut deals with LexisNexis and Verisk to share personal driving data as part of the program, which they then shared with insurance companies. The idea was that safe drivers would get better rates.
Some GM vehicle owners said they either didn’t know they had consented to the program or that their rates went up. With complaints piling up in recent weeks, GM ended Smart Driver, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
-
GM ends OnStar driver safety program after privacy complaints
37 votes -
Comment on "We never really thought anyone was going to make a Playdate game" in ~games
kfwyre LinkIt's now been two years since the hotly anticipated launch of Panic's handheld, the Playdate.
70,000 units had been sold as of February 2024, and Panic revealed a few more stats about its cranky yellow console last week, to celebrate its anniversary.
150,000 games have been sold since the March 2023 launch of the Playdate storefront, Catalog, representing $544,290 in revenue for the developers behind them. Panic's shop featured 181 games as of April 3, 2024, plus over 800 titles available to sideload via itch.io and the likes.
-
"We never really thought anyone was going to make a Playdate game"
21 votes -
Comment on How GM tricked millions of drivers into being spied on (including me) (gifted link) in ~transport
kfwyre (edited )LinkAs a Bolt owner who also never (knowingly and willingly) signed up for OnStar Smart Driver but had it activated anyway, I’m glad this issue is getting more attention. Each successive article...As a Bolt owner who also never (knowingly and willingly) signed up for OnStar Smart Driver but had it activated anyway, I’m glad this issue is getting more attention. Each successive article reveals more information which shows that the issue stems explicitly from GM’s practices and not people like me simply being careless or inattentive.
What’s really sad is that GM’s actions here have made such a bad stain on such a great car. I love my Bolt. It’s awesome. I’ve had it over a year now and the glow hasn’t worn off: I still couldn’t be any happier with it! In theory I’d be singing its praises and recommending it to anyone and everyone who will listen.
But with how scummy GM has been about all of this? I want to tell people to stay away and buy literally anything else.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentAt the moment, my official dock simply doesn’t output to the TV. This is on the most recent firmware update too. I’ve tried it intermittently since I’ve gotten it and it’s always had issues:...At the moment, my official dock simply doesn’t output to the TV. This is on the most recent firmware update too. I’ve tried it intermittently since I’ve gotten it and it’s always had issues: outputting at the wrong resolution, flickering, etc.
It’s possible I simply got bad hardware, but in trying to troubleshoot it, I’ve found a lot of similar complaints about it over on r/steamdeck which makes me think the product simply isn’t up to snuff yet. I ended up getting a third-party dock that works fine.
With regards to the difference, a working dock and a Link honestly aren’t that different, and the Dock is actually better in terms of quality since it’s not streaming. That said, the Link is super convenient, especially if there are multiple Decks.
We recently did a nerd weekend at an Airbnb where there were four Decks in attendance. I hooked my Link up to the TV, and we took turns hot seating games on different people’s Decks, or someone would just cast what they were playing solo to the TV during downtime as something we could communally watch and comment on. A dock would have been a lot more cumbersome for that, but the wireless Link made everything super fluid and easy.
Granted, this is an extremely niche use case, but I’ve pretty much adopted it at home. I use the dock when it’s just me, but when I’ve got friends over, my Link is up and ready to go.
-
Comment on PortMaster: a simple GUI tool designed to facilitate the downloading and installation of game ports for Linux handheld devices in ~games
kfwyre LinkFrom their FAQ: List of supported devices List of supported games I personally haven’t used this and am curious to hear people’s thoughts on it. I like the idea of aggregating a lot of Linux...From their FAQ:
PortMaster is a simple GUI tool designed to facilitate the downloading and installation of game ports for linux handheld devices.
One of the goals of PortMaster is to not install or upgrade any existing OS libraries for any ports. Any of the ports that need a particular non-standard library are maintained within the ports' folder and made available specifically to that port during execution.
Through the volunteer contributions of the mighty Port Navigators , most of the the ports available through PortMaster have been configured to launch with proper controls for the various devices that are supported.
I personally haven’t used this and am curious to hear people’s thoughts on it. I like the idea of aggregating a lot of Linux source ports for games under one easy roof. Feels almost like Lutris.
The place I would be most likely to use it would be my Steam Deck, which isn’t yet supported. However, according to RetroDECK’s most recent blog post that is currently in the works. I personally love RetroDECK and think this would be a great addition that’s very much in line with the spirit of the project.
-
PortMaster: a simple GUI tool designed to facilitate the downloading and installation of game ports for Linux handheld devices
3 votes -
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 21 in ~games
kfwyre (edited )LinkThe Rusty Lake Bundle is 71% off on Steam. It is a complete-the-set bundle, so if you already own some of the games, you will only pay for the ones you don’t have. The Rusty Lake games are a...The Rusty Lake Bundle is 71% off on Steam. It is a complete-the-set bundle, so if you already own some of the games, you will only pay for the ones you don’t have.
The Rusty Lake games are a series of shared-universe point-and-click escape room games that feel like the kind of web games you could find made in Flash in the mid-2000s. The games aren’t explicitly horror but go for a more unsettling, off-putting vibe.
The bundle contains the following games:
- Underground Blossom
- The Past Within
- Cube Escape Collection
- Rusty Lake Hotel
- Rusty Lake: Roots
- Rusty Lake Paradise
- The White Door
- Cube Escape: Paradox - Chapter 2 (DLC)
The DLC is for Cube Escape: Paradox which is free (and can act as a sort of demo for the series — if you like it you will probably enjoy the rest).
The Past Within is an asymmetric co-op game similar to the We Were Here series where two players have to work together to solve the puzzles by sharing information with each other.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
kfwyre LinkBrotato The past two weekends I have had friends over. The past two weekends we have played hotseat Brotato on the TV, with one person doing a run while the room helps guide them on which level...Brotato
The past two weekends I have had friends over.
The past two weekends we have played hotseat Brotato on the TV, with one person doing a run while the room helps guide them on which level ups and items to take. It’s as close to multiplayer Brotato as we can get right now (at least, until the DLC comes out).
The past two weekends have been a ton of fun, and we have now collectively cleared 21 characters on Danger 5.
A side note: I am incredibly lucky to own a Steam Link. It is perfect for casting a Deck to the TV and works WAY better than the official dock (which legitimately remains non-functional for me). It’s also great for when your friends have multiple Steam Decks and you can easily trade off casting between them.
They really should start making the Steam Link again. With how well the Deck is doing, I have no doubt they would be in demand.
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 14 in ~games
kfwyre LinkSteamWorld Heist is 93% off over at Fanatical. I've played and enjoyed several other SteamWorld games but haven't actually picked up this one yet. If anyone here has played it and can give it an...SteamWorld Heist is 93% off over at Fanatical.
I've played and enjoyed several other SteamWorld games but haven't actually picked up this one yet. If anyone here has played it and can give it an endorsement (or a warning) let us know!
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 14 in ~games
kfwyre LinkUmurangi Generation is 90% off on Steam. The game is hard to describe. It's got Jet Set Radio aesthetic vibes mixed with Tony Hawk-style level-based objective gameplay, only instead of...Umurangi Generation is 90% off on Steam.
The game is hard to describe. It's got Jet Set Radio aesthetic vibes mixed with Tony Hawk-style level-based objective gameplay, only instead of skateboarding to pull off tricks, you're a photographer lining up shots.
I'll be honest: I didn't love it myself, but I can definitely see why people do like it. It's not that it's a bad game -- it just wasn't for me.
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
kfwyre LinkThe Council - Complete Season is 90% off. The first episode is free so anyone interested can get a feel for it before buying.The Council - Complete Season is 90% off.
The first episode is free so anyone interested can get a feel for it before buying.
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentWorth noting: the game just had a big update/patch. Among the changes are two that I think are pretty noteworthy. First, the gamepad controls were improved and the game was optimized, so it should...Worth noting: the game just had a big update/patch.
Among the changes are two that I think are pretty noteworthy. First, the gamepad controls were improved and the game was optimized, so it should theoretically run better on the Steam Deck. Second, choosing "easy" for the mission difficulty at the beginning of the game now gets you waypoints.
For anyone who hasn't played the game, it stayed faithful to the original (almost to a fault) in that the levels are labyrinthine mazes and you are given little direction about where to go and what to do next. It's easy to get lost or forget where you're supposed to be going. Adding waypoints is a major modernization and quality of life update.
-
Comment on How do you organize your phone's home screens and apps? in ~tech
kfwyre (edited )Link ParentAgreed. I’m still baffled that Apple, which prides itself on smooth, elegant, “just works” functionality for its devices, still relies on the downright awful “jiggle mode” for reorganization on...Agreed. I’m still baffled that Apple, which prides itself on smooth, elegant, “just works” functionality for its devices, still relies on the downright awful “jiggle mode” for reorganization on the iPhone. It’s cumbersome and frustrating.
I’d love to have an organized phone, but every time I try I end up stopping because the method for getting there is so bad.
-
Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
kfwyre LinkSlay the Spire is 75% off on Steam (which is a historical low). Anyone with an active Humble Choice subscription can get an additional discount if they get it via Humble instead. Is the game worth...Slay the Spire is 75% off on Steam (which is a historical low).
Anyone with an active Humble Choice subscription can get an additional discount if they get it via Humble instead.
Is the game worth it?
Yes.
-
Comment on Texas is replacing thousands of human exam graders with AI in ~tech
kfwyre (edited )Link Parent/r/teachers is a genuinely valid insight into the broad experience of teaching in America, but it's also a toxic complaint fest that likely does more harm than good. I had to stop going there for.../r/teachers is a genuinely valid insight into the broad experience of teaching in America, but it's also a toxic complaint fest that likely does more harm than good. I had to stop going there for my own mental health.
I don't mean this as a dig at anyone complaining on r/teachers. I genuinely feel for them. I cannot stress this enough: the people that post there are my peers and share my lived experiences. I wish the best for them, and what I'm saying here is not a complaint about them or their conduct. Also, anyone here familiar with my post history knows that I've complained plenty about American education at large, so I'm definitely personally guilty of what I'm sanctioning.
The big problem with r/teachers isn't any one person on there. The problem is essentially the reddit model as it gets applied to teachers: r/teachers collects and amplifies all of the worst complaints from across the country, which tacitly encourages connecting them all together so that you can't not generalize. A complaint about a specific student becomes an indictment of all students and parents and underfunded schools and bad administrators and so on.
There's a special kind of sadness and heartbreak that nearly every American teacher goes through as they realize, over the course of their career, just how "big" education and all of its facets are and how powerless we individuals are against their incredible inertia. This is just something you sort of have to accept in the career because it's a genuine lived reality. People enter teaching as idealists and they leave it as the worst kind of realists.
r/teachers constantly surfaces that powerlessness -- a feeling which is entirely valid -- but it continually reinforces it from every angle, over and over again, creating a broad, interconnected mesh of despair. Repeatedly dwelling on that isn't healthy. I see the subreddit as a sort of communal catastrophizing, and even when people are genuinely right in their assessments of situations and their complaints, I still think it's counterproductive to collect them and use them as a sort of force multiplier. Holding on to hope as a teacher is hard enough, but reddit's mechanisms as they play out in r/teachers make it nearly impossible.
Again, I cannot stress this enough: I do not mean this as a dig at them in the slightest. I absolutely get where they are coming from, but the subreddit is a way of picking at a wound instead of trying to let it heal.
I, personally, am a better, happier, more well-balanced teacher when I'm not reading the content on r/teachers.
-
Comment on Texas is replacing thousands of human exam graders with AI in ~tech
kfwyre Link ParentTeacher here. I am somewhat certain that I'll see AI supplant much of what I do within my lifetime, if not before my retirement. I ultimately think my job will be safe as someone who teaches...Teacher here.
I am somewhat certain that I'll see AI supplant much of what I do within my lifetime, if not before my retirement.
I ultimately think my job will be safe as someone who teaches in-person, which is where AI implementation would be weakest, but I can forsee a not too distant horizon where screen-based learning is much more normalized and prioritized, led by an AI instructor who can act and respond to things in real-time. It will lecture and instruct and lead activities and evaluate students' work and whatnot, and students will type/speak questions that it'll answer.
I can also forsee a future where my role becomes more of an in-person custodial role to students who all individually interact with their own personalized AI teachers through their devices. I'd essentially be a teacher's aide to a classroom of students all being taught by their own AIs.
Lol, I actually agree, but as a name it has some panache to it that kfmountainpass doesn’t. 😂