#introduction I'm new to the #fediverse brought here from the hard fork podcast. Only been here a day and I'm loving it. I'm a #professor of #geography my research interests include #climate and #weather. My passion is teaching students and advising graduate student theses. If you need any help or advice writing or publishing your thesis reach out. My biggest hobby is adventure #motorcycling but more recently I've had my hands full with our two kids so I do a lot of #diy and #baking
Chewie
boosted
This post might seem like it's about #brightspace (the #lms the #suny system is forcing us all to use), but it's actually about having bosses who hold you in such contempt that they can't even be bothered to explain why they paid millions of dollars for a product that doesn't work while telling you to use it or else.
Today's Brightspace issue: hundreds of questions with images (trapped within BS's little walled garden of impenetrable database locations) that appear only as placeholders, but might or might not render when placed into a student quiz. The odds seem so far to be about 50/50.
There is no way to know which items are affected *even when I edit each of the hundreds of items by hand*, because I see this placeholder for MOST of the questions but then the students sometimes see the image. Sometimes not.
It's silent failure. No flags, no checks, no indications of what's wrong. No way to know if any changes will fix things.
Other silent failures: BS will cheerfully tell you it has imported your 5,000 or so items (painstakingly created over the past decade) from your previous LMS--which was also mandated--and then just *won't tell you* that hundreds or thousands of them did not import because BS simply choked and pooped or because BS doesn't even have the functionality to use those question types.
I fucking hate this LMS, but I really hate the fact that the people in charge think so little of me and 30,000 of my colleagues that they shove shit like this at us and tell us to pretend it works.
#professor #rant #highered #broken #shittydesign #baddesign #badsoftware #capturedmarket
MIT professor shot at his Massachusetts home dies
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly08y25688o
#HackerNews #MIT #professor #shooting #Massachusetts #news #tragedy #crime #investigation
Good day all. It's been a crazy day for me and honestly, I almost forgot, BUT tomorrow I'm talking with the absolutely intimidating @evoterra !
For those that don't know, Evo is an #OG #Podcaster from way back in 2004. Co- #authored #Podcasting For #Dummies way back in 2005. Ran Podiobooks.com from 2005–2015. Hall of Fame class of ‘22. #Professor of podcasting at ASU since 2025.
Watch the show live:
#Owncast #Livestream - https://stream.firesidefedi.live
After the show:
#Peertube #VOD - https://video.firesidefedi.live
#Castopod #Fedicast - https://audio.firesidefedi.live
#Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@btfree_org
All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live
#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree
If you're enjoying the show, please consider supporting our new nonprofit btfree.org at https://givebutter.com/btfree. We're currently running https://tubefree.org which is a moderated peertube open for signups right now!
Neil Brown
and 1 other
boosted
Good day all! More fun coming up this week on #FiresideFedi ! All times UTC-4
2025-10-15 1400 - @JenJen - 🔞#Adult #Content 💖She/Her/They/Them✨ 40 💚 Pan 🌱Vegan 🇸🇪 Full-time #Comicatrix in the #UK #indiecomic scene 🎨 Gouache/Watercolour Artist ☕ ADHD/Dyscalculia
2025-10-17 1500 - @evoterra - OG #Podcaster from way back in 2004. Co-authored #Podcasting For Dummies way back in 2005. Ran Podiobooks.com from 2005–2015. Hall of Fame class of ‘22. #Professor of podcasting at ASU since 2025.
Watch the show live:
#Owncast #Livestream - https://stream.firesidefedi.live
After the show:
#Peertube #VOD - https://video.firesidefedi.live
#Castopod #Fedicast - https://audio.firesidefedi.live
#Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@btfree_org
All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live
#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree
If you're enjoying the show, please consider supporting our new nonprofit btfree.org at https://givebutter.com/btfree. We're currently running https://tubefree.org which is a moderated peertube open for signups right now!
Good day all! More fun coming up this week on #FiresideFedi ! All times UTC-4
2025-10-15 1400 - @JenJen - 🔞#Adult #Content 💖She/Her/They/Them✨ 40 💚 Pan 🌱Vegan 🇸🇪 Full-time #Comicatrix in the #UK #indiecomic scene 🎨 Gouache/Watercolour Artist ☕ ADHD/Dyscalculia
2025-10-17 1500 - @evoterra - OG #Podcaster from way back in 2004. Co-authored #Podcasting For Dummies way back in 2005. Ran Podiobooks.com from 2005–2015. Hall of Fame class of ‘22. #Professor of podcasting at ASU since 2025.
Watch the show live:
#Owncast #Livestream - https://stream.firesidefedi.live
After the show:
#Peertube #VOD - https://video.firesidefedi.live
#Castopod #Fedicast - https://audio.firesidefedi.live
#Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@btfree_org
All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live
#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree
If you're enjoying the show, please consider supporting our new nonprofit btfree.org at https://givebutter.com/btfree. We're currently running https://tubefree.org which is a moderated peertube open for signups right now!
This post might seem like it's about #brightspace (the #lms the #suny system is forcing us all to use), but it's actually about having bosses who hold you in such contempt that they can't even be bothered to explain why they paid millions of dollars for a product that doesn't work while telling you to use it or else.
Today's Brightspace issue: hundreds of questions with images (trapped within BS's little walled garden of impenetrable database locations) that appear only as placeholders, but might or might not render when placed into a student quiz. The odds seem so far to be about 50/50.
There is no way to know which items are affected *even when I edit each of the hundreds of items by hand*, because I see this placeholder for MOST of the questions but then the students sometimes see the image. Sometimes not.
It's silent failure. No flags, no checks, no indications of what's wrong. No way to know if any changes will fix things.
Other silent failures: BS will cheerfully tell you it has imported your 5,000 or so items (painstakingly created over the past decade) from your previous LMS--which was also mandated--and then just *won't tell you* that hundreds or thousands of them did not import because BS simply choked and pooped or because BS doesn't even have the functionality to use those question types.
I fucking hate this LMS, but I really hate the fact that the people in charge think so little of me and 30,000 of my colleagues that they shove shit like this at us and tell us to pretend it works.
#professor #rant #highered #broken #shittydesign #baddesign #badsoftware #capturedmarket