Thea's recent activity
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Comment on I miss D&D in ~games.tabletop
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Comment on I miss D&D in ~games.tabletop
Thea Link ParentOne DM I knew ran a west marches style campaign, people were mercenaries and each session was more or less self-contained (some of them stretched over 2-3 sessions, but usually we were done in 1)....One DM I knew ran a west marches style campaign, people were mercenaries and each session was more or less self-contained (some of them stretched over 2-3 sessions, but usually we were done in 1). There was an overarching story for people who paid attention or attended each week, and for people who didn't there was a fun dynamic of filling each other in with details from their notes. The group assembled would pick a job off the job board, and that was the session (usually a monster quest, confronting cultists, a dungeon delve/artifact retrieval, that kind of thing).
It took a lot of pressure off the DM, players could submit encounter ideas which could end up on the job board, and the DM still had his overarching story and could add in the creative details that were important to him. All in all, it was fun! He ran it out of Foundry, which I've gotten used to as a platform, I used it myself when I ran a couple of one-shots for my crew (which just folded! sad times.)
Anyways, just sharing ideas in case it gets someone's gears turning.
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Comment on Eurovision 2025: Austria's JJ wins with "Wasted Love" in ~music
Thea Link ParentI agree! I'm Canadian and I've never watched Eurovision before, but I tuned in to this one because my mom liked the Espresso Macchiato guy and sent me a couple videos from the semi finals. He did...I agree! I'm Canadian and I've never watched Eurovision before, but I tuned in to this one because my mom liked the Espresso Macchiato guy and sent me a couple videos from the semi finals. He did really well too, it was very entertaining!
But if I had to pick my own top 5, would probably be Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, and maybe Malta because it was unhinged.
Bonus mentions to Portugal which I thought was a great song, and Finland - I was initially like "really? is this what we're doing? more of this?" but she won me over. It's a bop. And she put on a show, just mic stands all over the place, none of which were used to hold a microphone.
The staging for the Latvian song gave me chills. The costuming really hit on a 'serpentine siren' vibe, is that what they were going for? I read the write-up that @crissequeira posted on it the other day and was glad to have some extra context!
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Comment on Charli xcx - party 4 u (2025) in ~music
Thea Link ParentIs California Love (1996) a joke to you people? haha :D And although not autotune, Peter Frampton used a talkbox like 50 years ago. I see it as a sort of spiritual predecessor. I see autotune the...Is California Love (1996) a joke to you people? haha :D
And although not autotune, Peter Frampton used a talkbox like 50 years ago. I see it as a sort of spiritual predecessor.I see autotune the same way as I see pedals. It's just a tool that modulates the instrument, whether it's for pitch correction or artistic effect. I don't personally care if artists use autotune to sharpen their pitch, they're still creating music. I use spellcheck when I write papers, it's just another tool to make sure the product comes out the way you intend it to.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Thea LinkBeen an exciting little bit for gaming recently! Deadzone Rogue I have a friend who played Deadzone when it was an extraction shooter - he liked it, the movement is good, sounds are top-notch, the...Been an exciting little bit for gaming recently!
Deadzone Rogue
I have a friend who played Deadzone when it was an extraction shooter - he liked it, the movement is good, sounds are top-notch, the weapons feel nice to use, all good things. The extraction shooter got shut down (not sure why but if I know anything about extraction shooters it was either cheaters or low pop). A week or two ago he gets a notification that Deadzone Rogue is now active - it's a roguelike but set in space. He got me a copy so we could give it a try and you know what, it's really, really fun. There's a story mode, interesting game modes, there are tons of little story-related easter eggs to find around the world (and some of it is cheeky! I like it), the guns are great, there are augments and mods and upgrades you can do that let you customize your experience or focus different damage sources/types - it's just a lot of fun. We've been playing about a week and I've already logged 17 hours in it. I also think it's really cool that they adapted it into a different game mode rather than just abandoning it altogether. Definitely check out a stream if it sounds interesting to you, I have been surprised and delighted by how much I like it.Dune Awakening Playtest
I got in on the playtest this past weekend and it was pretty good! I'm not sure I'll buy it, but it's definitely an interesting game and I enjoyed playing it. The character creation isn't bad, although it's unfortunate you spend time adjusting sliders and then they throw a full-face helmet on you (your face is visible during cutscenes). The mechanics are interesting, there's a research/building/crafting system that's fun to tinker with, you can build a base which I love doing. They call it a Survival multiplayer as oppose to an MMO and that is fair - you do not have to play with others, but you CAN. You will likely come across other people in the world, you will see their bases around the map, you'll bump into them at outposts, and apparently there's an end-game PvP mode that I didn't get to. I did get eaten by a Sandworm and I was mortified because I had JUST gotten the good gear and when you're sandwormed you don't get to collect your backpack. The world is gorgeous - the skybox particularly. The Survival aspect is manageable - health and stamina of course, but you also have to manage gear quality, energy for your base, exposure to the sun, and of course your hydration. You don't need to eat or sleep. Bases run on generators and are protected from other players by a shield which the generator powers - if your generator runs out of fuel, your base shield goes down - an interesting way to keep people engaged in the game. I didn't read/watch Dune, but I still found it easy to more or less track what was going on in this world and who my character was in it.Fortnite
I give up. I really wanted to like the Star Wars season but I just don't. Looking forward to the new season where it's less likely that I will be gunned down North by Northwest style by a 12 year old in an X-Wing.Elder Scrolls Online
Getting ready for the new update, which will introduce subclassing. I already have some ideas for adding a warden line to my templar healer (although I've heard healers are basically being nerfed... we'll see, I'm a healer main and that would be devastating to me) and templar lines to my other healers. This is a huge update and it's going to be chaos for the first few weeks when it drops. I've spent the last little bit getting skill points on my characters so I can unlock the subclass lines when it drops.Oblivion Remaster
I'm working on it! I didn't play the original, but as a newly-adopted Elder Scrolls nerd (Skyrim in 2020, ESO beginning 2021) I wanted the experience. My friends speak very highly of it and I'm excited to be jumping in! Still early game (just closed my first gate) but I'm enjoying it so far. The skies are beautiful, and as a location - I remember always hearing about how beautiful Cyrodiil is but my primary exposure to it being ESO, I was always like it's beautiful, sure... but it's not Summerset - now playing Oblivion, I can say Cyrodiil is BEAUTIFUL. I'm really impressed with how everything looks. And the Deadlands locations, they did a really good job of making it look hopeless and scary, and the wells (wells? the spires of fire) within the gates are visually spectacular. -
Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentI think at that point it's just an assignment. The point of discussion board posts is to read what others have posted and to let it influence your thought process and insights on the course...I think at that point it's just an assignment. The point of discussion board posts is to read what others have posted and to let it influence your thought process and insights on the course materials. If responses are going to be locked until you post, might as well just make it a dropbox assignment that's viewable by the rest of the class.
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Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentIt does come down to money, and yep that's pretty depressing. I'm fortunate that where I work we have a lot of leeway to be able to propose and test new models and approaches, and I have a...It does come down to money, and yep that's pretty depressing. I'm fortunate that where I work we have a lot of leeway to be able to propose and test new models and approaches, and I have a portfolio that is absolutely open to innovation. If a pilot project is successful, it can be implemented more broadly. So far, I've been successful in two major projects that have been adopted institution-wide, which is great - I'll take any progress I can get! Education is a massive, hulking machine, trying to nudge it in new directions is a whole thing.
In your example, it comes a bit down to what are the outcomes of the course - if it's a history class, the outcomes should be primarily based on history. If the assignment requires public speaking or dramatization but you're not being assessed on those things (which you shouldn't be, it's not a business/rhetoric course or a drama course), they're the vehicle not the destination and students could be given an alternative assignment. It's pretty easy to be accommodating!
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Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentI respect that, and I think that it speaks to the strength of the course materials and your interest in the content that you still remember essay questions that got you REALLY thinking. That's...I respect that, and I think that it speaks to the strength of the course materials and your interest in the content that you still remember essay questions that got you REALLY thinking. That's exciting. That's the point of education, and those are the moments I love - when things click and you put the knowledge to use and it's just works and it's fantastic.
I still post that exams aren't a good assessment tool for several reasons - chief of which that I've been navigating in my career recently, that they not accessible and cause undue stress in a good number of students. Exams will typically form about 30% of a final grade in my experience - people panic. For people who don't do well with strict timelines, don't do well under pressure, or who need support with memory recall, it's a miserable experience. Me personally - I'm great at tests. Always a strong student in that respect. But it's not for everyone, and I've seen people fail courses not because they didn't do the work or didn't understand the material, but because the assessment tool didn't work for the way they process information and share it back, or that it caused so much anxiety that they couldn't function in the days leading up.
I also think that the environment around exams is stress inducing - no books, no notes, no food or drink except maybe a water bottle, complete silence - ideal circumstances for some, and a sensory-deprived nightmare for others.
I always come back to what is the point of education. The point is to share knowledge. What is the point of assessment - to ensure students are obtaining and retaining the knowledge and can apply it practically. What is the point of that knowledge and practical application - to apply to their daily practice/careers/research/further study. Learning is like lifting weights - a little bit of stress does help the process, but too much and you break things. I've seen too many students break and give up not because they didn't understand or didn't have good ideas, but because the system was too rigid and too unnecessarily stressful for them to participate.
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Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentOnline learning is its own animal, and it's a mistake to try and replicate classroom learning on a 1:1 basis. There are discussions and courses and studies going on now to figure out how to...Online learning is its own animal, and it's a mistake to try and replicate classroom learning on a 1:1 basis.
There are discussions and courses and studies going on now to figure out how to improve online learning, and what it comes down to is that it needs to look foundationally different.Discussion board posts - unless it's a topic people really care about, you're going to get "I agree! Really thoughtful, thanks for posting" - this is where rubrics come in handy, you have to actually post something with insight that speaks to the course materials and learning. An "I agree!" post would get a reduced grade from me when I teach, which would be backed up by the rubric.
What I try to do with my posts is make them a little bit cheeky. They're not hard-shelled academic - they're insightful, supported by course materials and citations, but they're conversational. That makes it easier for people to create a response with content. That said, I still hate doing it and would like it to be over please and thank you. (Spring '26... just a few more terms!)
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Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentI work post-secondary, and despite the fact that there are many fully developed brains in the class, attention is still at a premium. I remember doing my undergrad sitting in 3 hour lectures and...I work post-secondary, and despite the fact that there are many fully developed brains in the class, attention is still at a premium. I remember doing my undergrad sitting in 3 hour lectures and it's like - how did I even do that. I have to talk myself into watching any video that's longer than 25 minutes anymore, but I sat for 3 hours to listen to a lecture about Literariness in Theatre? Can't imagine.
Respecting student's time, but also respecting their own processes and interests. The way many school boards (k-12) are formulated is so highly regimented and standardized that it doesn't give students a chance to reflect on their skills or the role they want to play as they get older. You've got a good practice in being mindful of their capacity for attention.
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Comment on Will the humanities survive artificial intelligence? in ~tech
Thea Link ParentYes it is on the rise and yes it is unprecedented. There have been a few blips over the years where a new tech gets introduced, students use it, institutions get wind of it, institutions put in...Yes it is on the rise and yes it is unprecedented. There have been a few blips over the years where a new tech gets introduced, students use it, institutions get wind of it, institutions put in policy/tech to bar it, students adjust and move on. Buying past student papers, quiz and exam question-sharing sites, those kinds of things - they happened, but they were not as frequent as AI in the current climate.
Assignments are supposed to be to assess your knowledge and learning in the subject. I agree it shouldn't be busywork and ultimately is just supposed to be a check-in that you've absorbed the information and can put it to use in a practical way. Tests are stupid, exams (even open book) are stupid, don't even get me started on scantron sheets, and personally I will praise the day when I (completing an advanced degree in -you guessed it - education) no longer have to do a discussion board post and reply to two colleagues' posts. Overall I think education has lost the point of itself, and students are cheating because they don't see the value in the assessments as a tool to share what they've learned. And students don't care about the argument 'you're only cheating yourself' because at the end of the day they just want their credential and to get the heck out of there.
Assessments should be respectful of students' time, gifts, and learning styles. In my courses, I try to have a final assignment where students have a ton of leeway - just show me that you've learned, what you've learned, and that you can apply it, and I don't care how you present it. I get some essays - some people really like writing essays and are good at it, go nuts! I've gotten artwork back, stand-up comedy bits, slam poetry, rap, one video where a girl did a walk in the forest and talked for like 12 minutes - it takes longer to grade, but if you have fewer assessments that are fair, respectful to the students' capabilities, and meaningful to their learning, they will do them and do well as long as they're engaging with the course materials.
Anyways, that's my soapbox for the day. It's a developing thing, but yeah the one problem is students are cheating using AI and the other problem is mainstream education as an institution sucks and needs significant systemic change.
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Comment on Everyone is cheating their way through college in ~tech
Thea Link ParentI work post secondary, I can chime in. There are issues that come with insisting on pen and paper exams - one being accessibility, the other (bigger) issue being that exams are an objectively...- Exemplary
I work post secondary, I can chime in. There are issues that come with insisting on pen and paper exams - one being accessibility, the other (bigger) issue being that exams are an objectively terrible way to assess learning in a course. They're convenient (especially if they're a scantron sheet, lowers the evaluation component significantly), but they are high-stress (bad for accessibility), focus only on memory recall (again, bad for accessibility), and do not take into account real-world skills like being able to find and use resources to obtain correct information. Unless you are planning on going into a job where you expect to be writing short and longform answers to things, they don't necessarily test your skills. Assessment types are vehicles, and mainstream exams are a carriage, gotta get with the times.
One thing that we've been playing with is switching what gets done in class and what gets done at home. Lecture materials are almost always posted online anyways at my institution, so students can do the lecture component and required readings at home instead of working on assignments. This leaves class time available for things like group project work time, group discussions, and assignment work time.
There are additional social issues at work here - one being that the learning should be the point, but the system is so highly dependent on good grades, and attainment has been so narrowly defined and actualized in educational settings that it creates an environment where attainment is primary and learning secondary. We're trying to find both assignment types and assessment models that flip that around, e.g. growth mindset models, single point rubrics, etc. We're also teaching students how to use AI effectively rather than to not use it at all - they're going to use it, so here are acceptable and unacceptable uses for academic and professional purposes (because it will carry forward to the workplace.)
Where alternative assessment types gets fiddly is when you work in scale - if you have a class of 120-150 people and one prof and 2-3 TAs, it's a lot of time to be grading many assessments all the time. In class components can be assessed in real time, which reduces the load on faculty AND reduces the amount of fluff work for students.
Long story short: it's new, we know, we're working on it, it's hard, and the system has to be willing and open to change in order for us to be able to react to new tech so we can keep learners educated and current.
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Comment on I think I don’t like Pokémon anymore in ~games
Thea Link ParentI'm not a Mac girl, so I did a bit of digging. There are a few videos on YouTube that have steps to play Elder Scrolls Online on an M1 Mini. You can 100% get Skyrim on Switch. I also checked if...I'm not a Mac girl, so I did a bit of digging. There are a few videos on YouTube that have steps to play Elder Scrolls Online on an M1 Mini. You can 100% get Skyrim on Switch. I also checked if you can run Steam on an M1 Mini - Google says yes, but you would know best! And if that's the case it will open up the Oblivion remaster that's being announced today (which is one of the reasons why it's a great time to jump in!)
That said - if it's not your type of game, I get it! I recommended it because the games generally have good replayability, sprawling worlds, and if you like a bit of grind (just not the same grind over and over for 20 years) Elder Scrolls Online has a lot of achievements and item/set collection tasks that can be done. Skyrim has a skill system to work through, which is a lot of fun to play with and max out. I'd recommend to check out a stream to see if it's your thing before actually snapping it up though (especially for ESO) - and it should be going on sale in June for Steam Sale/new content drop, as a heads up!
Here's the YouTube video I found that describes playing ESO on a Mac M1. He goes through some trial and error which is probably a good process to observe before deciding to jump in.
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Comment on I think I don’t like Pokémon anymore in ~games
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Comment on Blackfrost - The Long Dark II | Announcement trailer in ~games
Thea LinkI'm excited about this! I always said that The Long Dark would be such a different experience if you could even just have one more person there - one person to make sure the fire doesn't go out...I'm excited about this! I always said that The Long Dark would be such a different experience if you could even just have one more person there - one person to make sure the fire doesn't go out and one to go out and grab food or look for more wood; one person to go fishing, one person to fix gear. The Long Dark was always hard for me to play just in the sense that it's so bleak and desolate, but I think I would try it out if I can convince a friend or two to roll in with me!
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Comment on A liar who always lies says “All my hats are green.” in ~science
Thea Link ParentWhen I was a kid, there was a game called MindTrap that was a lot of lateral thinking puzzles on a cassette tape with a supporting booklet. I can't say how many are/would be the gruesome ones...When I was a kid, there was a game called MindTrap that was a lot of lateral thinking puzzles on a cassette tape with a supporting booklet. I can't say how many are/would be the gruesome ones you're talking about... maybe check the age on the box if it still exists! For me, I know there are lateral thinking puzzles that have "solutions", but to me a correct solution is one that is cogent given the situation and objects/people in play. The point is to consider all the evidence and come up with a logical solution - whether it matches the solution listed or not is one thing, the important piece is that the solution uses all of the factors in play and shows an ability to think creatively and extrapolate information to form a hypothesis. That's the fun part!
When I was a kid I also had a subscription to a monthly book called Puzzlemania - a bunch of logical and thinking puzzles that are 100% age-appropriate for kids. I looked them up and they're still around, although they only ship to the US.
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Comment on Surviving the Titanic - dining on Carpathia in ~food
Thea Link ParentI think it's ok to feel that way. The thing about content creation is that, even when it's earnest and well-done, there are still elements of transaction and performance, so the noodle-caboodle...I think it's ok to feel that way. The thing about content creation is that, even when it's earnest and well-done, there are still elements of transaction and performance, so the noodle-caboodle attitude that a lot of creators adopt to make their audiences feel at-ease can contrast really starkly with darker or more tragic content elements.
Professionally, I have to do a lot of presentations and lectures that discuss traumatic information and historic events, and I can tell you that there is a balance you need to strike. It's challenging and people aren't very good at it because it's uncomfortable and no one wants to be in an uncomfortable place. But you notice when it doesn't quite sit right, and I think that's what you picked up on here. I love Max's videos, and haven't watched this one yet, but I can imagine what you mean.Sidebar - my great great aunt was on the Carpathia and in a weird twist of events, her steamer trunk from that voyage was dropped off at my house last week for me to send to my mom. It felt significant and a little strange to have an actual artifact from that event in my house.
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Comment on Kobo for a casual reader in ~books
Thea Link ParentI also got the Kobo for ability to link to my library card through Libby. Before I had my e-reader I was very much like the original poster here - I would read maybe 5-10 books a year. I got the...I also got the Kobo for ability to link to my library card through Libby. Before I had my e-reader I was very much like the original poster here - I would read maybe 5-10 books a year. I got the Kobo in April and I'm on track for 50+ books this year. I love reading, so it's been a quality of life improvement for me. I can also add books I already have through Google Drive, or load it up with a few academic articles before a long car ride. My one criticism is that it's a pain in the ass to add notations, the keyboard types very slowly and doesn't intuitively switch between caps/lowercase, but if you're not a note-taker it's not an inconvenience.
All in all, given the ability to make the choice again I would definitely buy a Kobo, but other peoples' mileage may vary.
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Comment on Is all language linear to a native speaker? in ~humanities.languages
Thea Link ParentThere is a rule on order in English, and we adhere to it even if it's not explicitly taught. It goes - non-physical/opinion-based quality, size, age, shape/physical quality, colour, origin,...There is a rule on order in English, and we adhere to it even if it's not explicitly taught.
It goes - non-physical/opinion-based quality, size, age, shape/physical quality, colour, origin, material, type, purpose.E.g. the weird, green French spoon, not the French green weird spoon. The rough plastic cup, not the plastic rough cup. There may be some room for variation, ( e.g the beloved, sharp, old sewing scissors, could be the old, sharp, beloved sewing scissors, but not the old, sharp, sewing, beloved scissors) but this is the pattern it tends to follow. "The blue new car" sounds strange to native English-speakers, but "the new blue car" sounds correct. People learning English will know this as "OSASCOMP".
The things we do within our own languages that we don't even realize - it's interesting, isn't it!
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Comment on Looking for adventure(-ish) games to play alongside my 8 years old in ~games
Thea Link ParentI got the new one and started playing it too - it's cute! I haven't been able to finish it because of "being an adult" and "having responsibilities", but I'm looking forward to playing it again...I got the new one and started playing it too - it's cute! I haven't been able to finish it because of "being an adult" and "having responsibilities", but I'm looking forward to playing it again for sure!
If you decide to give Foundry a shot feel free to reach out. I have a list of the modules that are useful to look into and don't mind sharing info!