kfwyre's recent activity
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Comment on Taskmaster Season 21, Episode 1 - 'Cube is good.' | Full episode in ~tv
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Comment on Taskmaster Season 21, Episode 1 - 'Cube is good.' | Full episode in ~tv
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Comment on US states are learning the wrong lesson from the ‘Mississippi [reading level] miracle’ (gifted link) in ~society
kfwyre (edited )LinkThis ain't it, y'all. Support for science-based reading strategies is about the only good thing in here. Everything else is... troubling. State takeovers don't work. We know this. "Accountability"...- Exemplary
This ain't it, y'all.
Support for science-based reading strategies is about the only good thing in here. Everything else is... troubling.
State takeovers don't work. We know this.
A 2021 study done by researchers from Brown University and the University of Virginia analyzed over 100 state takeovers between 1989 and 2016. It found “no evidence that takeover generates academic benefits.” In fact, it can take years for schools to return to their previous levels of academic achievement after a takeover.
The study also showed that state takeovers disproportionately target districts with higher concentrations of low-income and nonwhite students, regardless of academic achievement. But another study revealed that majority-Black districts rarely see financial improvement in the years following a takeover.
"Accountability" also doesn't work. This was the driving force behind NCLB which failed to make adequate changes to the point that we're still, decades later, trying to figure out how to make education more successful.
Accountability can, in theory, be useful, but if and only if the systemic factors are ensuring that everything is in place first.
Here is a teacher retention report published just a few months ago from the Mississippi department of education.
There were 3,815 vacancies across grades K-12, with elementary schools having the most unfilled positions at 1,378. Page 12 lets us know that teacher vacancies have risen by 7% from 2021 to 2025, and that vacancies affect roughly 9% of classrooms.
I can also assure you, as someone who lives and breathes this stuff daily, that the 9% of classrooms affected is a vast undercount, because every open position puts strain on the people who actually are working there: higher class sizes, the need to cover extra periods or responsibilities, students who start to check out of learning because they've only got a rotation of substitutes day after day, etc.
It's not that teachers and admins and even school boards aren't being held accountable -- it's that, structurally, we are not even meeting minimums. Does a student deserve to be held back in third grade if they didn't even have a teacher that year? What if they were in a class with a teacher, but that class was way too big because there weren't enough staff? What if they were in a regular size class with a regular teacher, but that teacher was spread too thin? What if the child didn't have a counselor to help them with their emotional needs, or an art class that would have helped them actually like being at school, etc.
I'm going to go ahead and call this article outright disinformation, because this author has apparently worked in education reform for seventeen years and doesn't give any consideration to any of this. In fact, this article reads like it's from 10 years ago, back when people still were beating the "accountability" drum and passively shitting on teachers as if that would somehow fix the systemic problems in education.
This one follows the same well-worn pattern: convey a moral injury (kids can't read), put the source of that on the shoulders of the people in the system (teachers, administrators, school boards, even students), then confidently offer "common sense" solutions that gratify people's need to hold those "villains" to account.
These articles will never outright say that, say, teachers are lazy leeches, but they'll sure as hell insinuate it:
These two accountability requirements made sure that everyone in the system would be in a hellfire hurry to teach children to read. No one wanted children to fail.
Clearly we weren't already caring about teaching children to read. Clearly, without our feet held to the fire, we want kids to fail, right?
Stuff like this shouldn't even pass the sniff test. Has this person ever even MET a teacher? We're a profession filled with people who willfully accept low pay and shitty working conditions because teaching gets subsidized simply by how much we care. And we're a profession where shitty people are more likely a product of being ground down by those factors rather than being shitty on their own. AND we're a profession where even if someone is shitty the likelihood that they'll get ousted is low because there already aren't enough people to fill positions in the first place.
Furthermore, any other profession wouldn't accept this kind of rhetoric, but somehow we're supposed to be okay with it when it applies to teachers. Like, "hellfire hurry" is a totally normal way to want people to be, right? Especially those that work with children, right?
They get away with this because they counterbalance the moral injury against the "villains" in the story, rather than believing that teachers are the single greatest factor that contributes to student success and are therefore essential primary stakeholders in, rather than burdensome obstacles to, learning.
If you're a software engineer being forced to code on an outdated laptop from 2009 that can't hold a charge, while you're down three team members and expected to pick up that slack, all while your boss interrupts you every 10 minutes while you're trying to think, surely you're going to do a worse job than someone with up-to-date hardware, a full competent team with proportional responsibilities, and the freedom to design and solve problems uninterrupted.
The solution for this isn't for your boss to breathe down your neck harder or for them to, say, install surveillance software to make sure that you're really actually doing what you're supposed to do. You're not going to get blood from a stone, especially when that stone's working conditions are already sucking it dry, and especially not when, as previously mentioned, the stone is a vacancy in the first place.
If you ever come across articles like this in the future, I encourage you to do what I do, which is to be on what I call the "poverty lookout" -- that is, see what the article has to say about poverty (if anything).
We know that poverty is the main factor behind educational inequality in the US:
To determine what accounted for the correlation, they controlled for racial differences in school poverty and found that segregation no longer predicted the achievement gaps. That meant the association between racial segregation and the growth of achievement gaps operated entirely through differences in school poverty.
This is passively admitted in the article, where the author has to qualify that Mississippi is in first place only after its devastating poverty is taken into account:
From 1998 to 2024, fourth-grade reading and math scores in my home state—the nation’s poorest—rose from among the worst in the country to among the best. When adjusting for demographic factors such as poverty, we’re in first place.
This makes the "win" a statistical one, but it lessens its real-world significance quite strongly. Saying "our students are doing great when we ignore the effects of their extreme disadvantage" isn't exactly a glowing review of the situation, and I tend to bristle at examinations of issues that "control for" poverty as if that's simply another variable we have to consider instead of a problem, if not THE problem, in and of itself.
Does the author even talk about how addressing poverty might improve education? Not a chance. Instead, she trots out a tired, outdated canard:
Aiming higher wasn’t on the agenda, because state and local leaders believed that Mississippi kids were too poor to make real progress.
The "soft bigotry of low expectations" model of looking at poverty has been out of vogue since at least NCLB, because it tried to frame the impacts of poverty as arising from people's perceptions about poverty rather than the material conditions of poverty itself. Poverty is a dearth of resources and opportunity, and changing the expectations for success in those conditions without changing those conditions themselves is completely ineffective.
This is one of the big things that we learned from NCLB's failure, and it's a shame that we keep seeing it pop up again and again like we don't already know. It's particularly frustrating when it's coming from someone like this author who leads an educational nonprofit and should, in theory, know this better than anyone.
This article reads like someone who's either been asleep at the wheel for years now, or who is consciously pushing for reforms that won't be effective. Neither is a good look.
I hate to be so negative on her, but I'm also, I feel, holding her to the same standards that she wants to hold everyone else to. She’s lobbying for science-backed solutions yet hers fail to meet that same bar.
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Comment on Humble Choice - April 2026 in ~games
kfwyre Link ParentI was so focused on Ubisoft shenanigans that I completely forgot to praise Proton this month. Thanks for keeping the tradition alive!I was so focused on Ubisoft shenanigans that I completely forgot to praise Proton this month. Thanks for keeping the tradition alive!
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Comment on I turned my Kindle into my own personal newspaper in ~tech
kfwyre LinkYour timing on repurposing an old Kindle truly couldn't have been better.Your timing on repurposing an old Kindle truly couldn't have been better.
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Comment on Amazon killing purchasing, borrowing and downloading books for older Kindles in ~tech
kfwyre (edited )LinkI knew this day would eventually come, but I'm still not happy about it. I have an old Kindle 4 that I use exclusively to de-DRM books that I buy that I can't buy elsewhere. I fully realize that a...I knew this day would eventually come, but I'm still not happy about it.
I have an old Kindle 4 that I use exclusively to de-DRM books that I buy that I can't buy elsewhere. I fully realize that a lot of these I could just get by other means, but I genuinely do like buying books, and I also like that I know I'm getting a good, direct copy (rather than an ebook that has played a telephone game through different formats and is often subpar as a result).
Part of me wants to just buy a newer used Kindle so I can kick the can down the road and keep doing what I'm doing, while part of me wants to finally admit that there's no honor in trying to do things the "right" way -- especially when Amazon has been trying to amp up their DRM lockdown.
Also, I've plugged this before, but it's probably worth a re-mention: I primarily buy my books through Kobo now, but I de-DRM everything and upload it to BookFusion, which is essentially a bring-your-own-files cloud reading platform.
I absolutely adore BookFusion. I cannot recommend it enough. I've got my whole library set up through it, and it's where I now do all of my reading.
If you're looking to exit the Amazon ecosystem and don't mind doing a little bit of legwork to get your library up and running, it's excellent.
If anyone's interested in it and has any questions, I'm happy to answer them. I'm not paid by the company or anything -- I'm just a really happy customer that's delighted that all of my ebooks from all of my different sources now live under one roof (and all get the same first-class treatment).
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Comment on NASA’s Artemis II crew flies around the moon (live broadcast) in ~space
kfwyre Link ParentThat first dashboard in particular is great! Thanks for the link. I shared it with my students and some other teachers.That first dashboard in particular is great! Thanks for the link. I shared it with my students and some other teachers.
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Comment on Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" as his threatened attacks on Iranian infrastructure loom ahead of deadline in ~society
kfwyre (edited )LinkLest anyone think Trump alone is the issue, or that “he didn’t really mean it” or that “it was just a negotiation tactic,” here’s what our very own Senate Republicans had to say about Trump’s...Lest anyone think Trump alone is the issue, or that “he didn’t really mean it” or that “it was just a negotiation tactic,” here’s what our very own Senate Republicans had to say about Trump’s genocidal threat:
Iran would be wise to take President Trump at his word.
They can choose the easy way or the hard way.
EDIT: I should mention that I found this because I specifically searched for Republican officials’ responses to Trump, thinking, naively, that they would have some pushback for something so egregiously over the line.
Joke’s on me. All I got was this Axios article (mirror) featuring a measly two Republicans and one Independent condemning his statement, followed by the statement from the Senate Republicans that I linked showing strong support.
Shame on me for believing there’d be a line too far for them. Clearly there isn’t.
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Comment on Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" as his threatened attacks on Iranian infrastructure loom ahead of deadline in ~society
kfwyre Link ParentAgreed. If I gave the proportional amount of anger to all of this, I would have spent the last decade completely pissed off, all of the time. And for what? It’s simply not sustainable. At some...Agreed.
If I gave the proportional amount of anger to all of this, I would have spent the last decade completely pissed off, all of the time. And for what?
It’s simply not sustainable. At some point I have to throw up my hands, acknowledge that I’m powerless over what he’s doing but have some say over what I do, and prioritize the latter.
I’ve spent the last decade doing that instead, and even that has been fucking exhausting.
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Comment on Donald Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" as his threatened attacks on Iranian infrastructure loom ahead of deadline in ~society
kfwyre Link ParentI agree with you, which is mortifying, because it means I accept the premise that our president could be goaded into genocide on account of mean tweets. It’s an idea that, in a normal world, would...I agree with you, which is mortifying, because it means I accept the premise that our president could be goaded into genocide on account of mean tweets.
It’s an idea that, in a normal world, would sound completely absurd. Utter nonsense.
Unfortunately we live in this fucking fun house mirror of a distorted reality in which that is an all too plausible outcome. I hate it here.
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Comment on Humble Choice - April 2026 in ~games
kfwyre (edited )LinkWarning: If you're potentially interested in the DLC for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, then activating the base game included in this bundle might work against you. Long-winded Explanation: Ubisoft...Warning: If you're potentially interested in the DLC for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, then activating the base game included in this bundle might work against you.
Long-winded Explanation:
Ubisoft games tend to be sold in different tiers with different combinations of DLC (for example, Valhalla has the Base Game, as well as "Deluxe", "Ragnarok", and "Complete" editions each at separate price points). If you buy the Base Game and later want the content for the Deluxe Edition, you have to buy those addons separately.
Pretty standard, right?
Well, Ubisoft usually discounts the different editions of their games significantly more than they discount their DLC upgrade paths. Furthermore, buying a "lower" edition of a game locks you out of buying a higher full edition later. So, if the Complete Edition later goes on sale, you're not able to buy it if you already own a lower version.
What this looks like is that the base game will often go on sale for quite cheap (Valhalla was recently $6), but if you buy that game, it will end up costing you significantly more to get all the piecemeal DLC later than it would had you simply bought the discounted Complete Edition in the first place.
Additionally, sometimes DLC is locked to higher editions and isn't available separately. Valhalla has an "Ultimate Pack" that's only available via the Deluxe and Complete Editions -- you can't get it on its own.
As such, the best way to get a full Ubisoft game with all DLC is usually to wait for the Complete Edition to go on deep discount, rather than buying the cheap base version and trying to upgrade it later -- sometimes because it's more expensive, and sometimes because it's literally not possible to get the complete game if you didn't get it all upfront.
The one caveat I'll give to this: to their credit, base Ubisoft games tend to have a LOT of content, so it's perfectly possible to buy just the base game and have a ton of fun with it on its own. The base game for Valhalla has a whopping 60+ hour average on HowLongToBeat, for example. So if you're unconcerned about the DLC, then getting the base game for cheap is often a great deal.
The other caveat I'll give (even though I promised only one above): everything I've written is all speculation based on Ubisoft's past practices. It's not a guarantee, and I could end up being totally wrong in this case.
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Humble Choice - April 2026
April 2026's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games. Steam Page OpenCritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB Assassin's Creed Valhalla 83 67 / 68...
April 2026's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.
Steam Page OpenCritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB Assassin's Creed Valhalla 83 67 / 68 Win 🟨 Playable 🟨 Gold Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion 70 68 / 63 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria 60 71 / 80 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum Until Then 82 95 / 98 Win ✅ Verified ✅ Native Planet of Lana 81 93 / 93 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum Artisan TD N/A 81 / 72 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum The Procession to Calvary 79 95 / 97 Win, Mac, Linux ✅ Verified ✅ Native Buddy Simulator 1984 78 78 / 94 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?
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Comment on Tildes Book Club schedule 2025 - 2026 in ~books
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of April 6 in ~society
kfwyre LinkTrump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimesTrump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimes
“We are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously,” he said in prepared remarks that were amplified by the state department’s social media accounts.
There is little debate among legal experts that such an attack on the life-supporting infrastructure for 93 million Iranians would constitute a war crime.
“Such rhetorical statements – if followed through – would amount to the most serious war crimes – and thus the president’s statements place service members in a profoundly challenging situation,” two former judge advocate general (JAG) officers, Margaret Donovan and Rachel VanLandingham wrote on the website Just Security on Monday.
“As former uniformed military lawyers who advised targeting operations, we know the president’s words run counter to decades of legal training of military personnel and risk placing our warfighters on a path of no return.”
They noted that Trump’s boast that he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”, and the order by his defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, to show “no quarter, no mercy” were not just “plainly illegal” but they also represented a rupture from the moral and legal principles that US military personnel had been “trained to follow their entire careers”.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 30 in ~society
kfwyre LinkTrump to Iran: "Open the Fuckin' Strait" or face bombing Tuesday I saw a screencap of his message, and I reflexively assumed it was fake. I hate that I was wrong.Trump to Iran: "Open the Fuckin' Strait" or face bombing Tuesday
I saw a screencap of his message, and I reflexively assumed it was fake. I hate that I was wrong.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 5 in ~games
kfwyre LinkHouse Flipper is free to keep on Steam until tomorrow, as a promo for the upcoming House Flipper Remastered Collection. I played this for a couple of hours a while back. It's one of those janky...House Flipper is free to keep on Steam until tomorrow, as a promo for the upcoming House Flipper Remastered Collection.
I played this for a couple of hours a while back. It's one of those janky chore simulator games that are satisfying to play because fighting entropy is eminently satisfying for some reason. Even though the jank is fully expected in this sort of game, it eventually wore away at me and I stopped playing it as a result.
Hopefully the Remaster smooths over some of its rough edges, as I'd honestly love to give it another go. I find games like this sort of meditative and a nice thing to sink into after a long day at work.
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Comment on RAYE - Click Clack Symphony feat. Hans Zimmer (2026) in ~music
kfwyre LinkHer new album is STUNNING. It's been a while since pop music has seen a force as strong as her.Her new album is STUNNING.
It's been a while since pop music has seen a force as strong as her.
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RAYE - Click Clack Symphony feat. Hans Zimmer (2026)
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Comment on Donald Trump says it's 'not possible' for the US to pay for Medicaid, Medicare and day care: 'We’re fighting wars' in ~society
kfwyre LinkSo we’re finally admitting it’s a war and not just a “military action”?So we’re finally admitting it’s a war and not just a “military action”?
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Comment on Suggest media in which the antagonist is an idea or an abstract concept rather than a person or intelligent entity in ~talk
kfwyre Link ParentIt’s pretty much entirely atmospheric and existential dread. I’m not a huge horror fan (especially if there’s anything gory), but I loved this.It’s pretty much entirely atmospheric and existential dread. I’m not a huge horror fan (especially if there’s anything gory), but I loved this.
Great start! I’m excited for another series.
I’m unreasonably into “A 👏 POL 👏 O 👏 GY 👏 AC 👏 CEP 👏 TED 👏” as a moment.
Also I did image search Joel and Kumail, but only to see what ranking the shirtless pictures were on Kagi rather than Google. It was for science, I swear!