its_me_xiphos
@its_me_xiphos@beehaw.org
- Comment on A Witcher Expansion? In 2026? 3 days ago:
Gotta keep it alive since Netflix is actively trying to kill it.
Joking aside, great to see a game like this get new content.
- Comment on Students Are Learning Less and Getting Higher Grades Because of AI, Study Finds 2 weeks ago:
Former professor here!
Students these days are fucked. Professors are fucked too. I’ll keep this brief and give you three quick observations:
- US, Canadian, and UK students are increasingly under pressure to pay more for everything. When you need to choose between working to pay rent and studying, you outsource to AI. Student athletes are, by far, the worst due to the exploitation opportunity athletics programs view them as. Practice more, study less, shop it to AI.
- Student evaluations caused me more pain than anything else. I won a student curated Teacher of the Year award at my university. I’m good at teaching and love it. My student evals were from the ones that got bad grades. Those students spent more time challenging a C or below than actually studying. I know other professors grade inflate just to avoid bad evals and lost time. The eval system needs reform.
- The rapidity in the decline in critical thinking, writing, and problem solving skills is shocking. One moment that sticks with me was when a student insisted Flint, MI didn’t have a water problem but a political leadership problem. OK, fair, explain. They just stared at their laptop blankly. Started typing. Read a chatgpt response. That stuck with me. They probably heard a talking point or used AI for their question and had zero understanding of the situation at all.
- Comment on The Internet has no benches: on building free public infrastructure for enjoyment 2 weeks ago:
Neocities.org is.mynnew favorite surfing the web activity.
- Comment on The AI Backlash Could Get Very Ugly 2 weeks ago:
I have an internal morality, economy, and democracy check:
Does Steve Bannon, Steve Miller, or Russell Vought think it’s a good idea? If yes, it’s terrible and will hurt everything and everyone but them.
- Comment on Android is getting a big AI overhaul in 2026 2 weeks ago:
I will buy a used Pixel for this from a third party.
- Comment on Android is getting a big AI overhaul in 2026 2 weeks ago:
This coincides with my former university pushing a very biased survey on how we will use AI! Coincidence? Yes.
But seriously, fuck this noise. Killing our brains, our environment, and our privacy.
- Comment on Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of May 10th 2 weeks ago:
Windrose but I’m hitting the “this got repetitive fast” stage and am starting to return to my classic RPGs. I’ve fired up an oldie but a goodie from the glory days of Bioware - Dragon Age: Origins. Dark high fantasy RPG. Absolutely loved it when it came out and I’m revisiting it. Its a little wonky compared to similar contemporary games like BG3 but oh so much fun.
“Enchantment? Enchantment!”
- Comment on ‘Close to zero impact’: US study casts doubt on effect of phone ban in schools 3 weeks ago:
That is an excellent breakdown. I’m glad I’m not the only one noticing these posts. Poor data analysis being published or claims taken at face value.
I interacted with the Guardian editorial team once in the UK. I had a dataset on academic censoring and we were focusing on sharing the qualitative responses. All seemed on the up and up but we never moved forward for a variety of reasons with the story. Editors and the journalist were great. Tough questions, good insight, etc. Seemed like a good outlet. But that was earlier 2025 and in less than a year, I read that trash we are discussing.
- Comment on ‘Close to zero impact’: US study casts doubt on effect of phone ban in schools 3 weeks ago:
This paper is of the same caliber as all of those cigarettes are safe papers from the 70s. Funded propganada with a PR firm plying it to a willing news source.
As an aside, is the Guardian becoming a shit rag? Lately (last year or two) I’ve noticed a huge dip in their quality.
- Comment on ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere 5 weeks ago:
When I’m tired this is my shortcut. I usually edit them out in drafts but miss a few in my substack posts. I am more machine now than man I guess.
- Comment on ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere 1 month ago:
Nailed it.
- Comment on The blue light from your phone isn't ruining your sleep 1 month ago:
You, dear user, are my spirit animal now.
- Comment on Used EV sales spike alongside gas prices 1 month ago:
No worries. 39,000 CAD.
- Comment on Used EV sales spike alongside gas prices 1 month ago:
Got a Chevy Bolt used with a battery replacement after their warranty debacle. They had a glut of them due to that. Never looked back. It got me, realistically, 200+ miles of range. I never had a problem. No mechnical, no range issues, nothing. I’ve never had a flawless car experience.
If you have the ability to charge at home or reliably at work, get an EV. There is nothing to fear.
- Comment on US tech firm Oracle cuts thousands of jobs as it steps up AI spending 1 month ago:
Hopefully he can dock in the UAE and use AI to repair the crater that was a data center.
- Comment on US tech firm Oracle cuts thousands of jobs as it steps up AI spending 1 month ago:
I despise LinkedIn for being the shitty veneer covering corporate brain rot speak.
- Comment on ‘The era of invincibility is over’: the week big tech was brought to heel 1 month ago:
Wtf is uo with the Guardian lately and these headlines? They are invincible. That fine is a pittance. Thats a get out of jail free card.
- Comment on Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of March 29th 1 month ago:
Dropped KCD II after they replaced localization translators with AI.
Back to BG 3!
- Comment on Solar is winning the energy race - The world’s cheapest power source is scaling at warp speed, pushing coal, gas and nuclear aside 1 month ago:
Holy crap. Do you live in a bitcoin server farm? Thats insane.
- Comment on US bans any new consumer-grade routers not made in America 2 months ago:
I’m calling it now - Palantir and others of their ilk will be the ones leading this nonsense.
- Comment on Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power 2 months ago:
Circling around to say I thought about this over the last four days. In brief, my perspective that you can have a surveillance apparatus and a contemporary democracy in the 21st century were misguided. You are right.
- Comment on Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power 2 months ago:
That’s a fair set of arguments.
- Comment on Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power 2 months ago:
That’s a good read, thank you for sharing. I do not believe that a lack of privacy and surveillance are a given. You can have a strong Democratic state with surveillance, if you have strong privacy guarantees and the means to enforce them.
This is a much larger discussion, but your article and point are well taken.
- Comment on Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of March 15th 2 months ago:
Valheim again. I need some calm meadows music.
- Comment on Explain it like I'm 5: Why is everyone on speakerphone in public? 2 months ago:
The future is now fellow old man (my joints hurt just typing this). If it helps, I remember the comforting noises of a 14.4k modem connecting me to the world wide web.
- Comment on Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power 2 months ago:
Take anything Palantir says about democracy as either a dog whistle or a threat. Palantirs product is mass surveillance and criminal behavior prediction (location, whereabouts, movement patterns). That’s authoritarian, but not necessarily antidemocratic. You can still vote and be a democracy withass surveillance, don’t conflate it.
Where the anti Democratic comes in is using that surveillance to prevent people from exercising their right to vote and manipulating their information so they vote how you want. That’s what Palantir is enabling.
Its nuts on accurate their name is in spirit. Almost commendable.
- Comment on Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power 2 months ago:
A Labyrinth reference? Glorious.
- Comment on Android: sideloading blocked and open source updates withheld to twice a year 2 months ago:
Reading this makes me realize how ignorant I am on all things tech.
- Comment on Explain it like I'm 5: Why is everyone on speakerphone in public? 2 months ago:
The Kardashians and any reality show that needs to showcase a phone call for the audience. That is exactly how this all got to the level it did. People who watched and were raised on that media learned to use a phone like that and do.
That’s my theory.
- Comment on We’re Training Students To Write Worse To Prove They’re Not Robots, And It’s Pushing Them To Use More AI 2 months ago:
Which is a tragedy. Many reasons pertaining to why that is the exception.