oh, to be undone

what about "i'd live for you" romances? what about "i never thought i'd be worth the work it would take to piece myself together"?

they died after being attacked in a bathroom.

hey “gender criticals”? this child’s death is as much on you as it is on your conservative attack dogs.

The injuries they received were from having their head slammed against the floor multiple times.

For reasons that remain unclear, Owasso High School refused to call an ambulance for 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who died from their injuries in the hospital the next day.

Nex couldn't even get themselves to the nurses office without help.

Owasso PD confirm no fight was reported to them before the teen’s parent told them.

The police were not even told about the violence that happened by the school. In the U.S., where the police can often be in school buildings and are called frequently when fights break out.

Their funeral required a gofundme, and it begins by misgendering them in multiple ways. Most articles use their deadname, even the ones that use they/them pronouns. Apparently, the family were the ones who shared their nb identity and pronoun preference, so at least they had some supportive family members.

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Cooking with flavor bootcamp (used what I learned in this a LOT this year)

Beekeeping 101

Learn Interior Design from the British Academy of Interior Design (free to audit course - just choose the free option when you register)

Video on learning to read music that actually helped me??

How to use and sew with a sewing machine

How to ride a bike (listen. some of us never learned, and that's okay.)

How to cornrow-braid hair (I have it on good authority that this video is a godsend for doing your baby niece's black hair)

Making mead at home (I actually did this last summer and it was SO good)

How to garden

Basics of snowboarding (proceed with caution)

How to draw for people who (think they) suck at art (I know this website looks like a 2003 monstrosity, but the tutorials are excellent)

Pixel art for beginners so you can make the next great indie game

Go (back) to school

Introduction to Astronomy (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Principals of Economics (high school course - free textbook w/ practice problems)

Introduction to philosophy (free college course)

Computer science basics (full-semester Harvard course free online)

Learn a language

Japanese for Dummies (link fix from 2022)

Ukrainian

Portuguese (Brazil)

American Sign Language (as somebody who works with Deaf people professionally, I also strongly advise you to read up on Deaf/HoH culture and history!)

Chinese (Simplified)

the government does nothing for the silent dead, the humble dead, the polite dead. a dead body is shoveled into the ground and forgotten by the next business quarter.

safety regulations are not written in the blood of silent, disposable victims. they’re written in the blood of those who split their knuckles and screamed their throats raw for a better world.

Sometimes, genuinely, rules do become outdated because technology changes or usage changes; sometimes, rules are ported wholesale from one location to another without thinking about whether the fact that the new location is a massively different latitude makes, for instance, whether something freezes at -20C moot or not.

The new girl: what’s film?

Me: … film. Like… film that goes in a film camera.

New girl: what’s that mean?

Me: … before cameras were digital.

New girl: how did you do it before digital?

Me: format?

New girl: yeah what do I do?

Me: you… put the usb in. Then you make a new folder on it and rename it with (name, date, location)

New girl: but how do I do that?

There’s a lot of assumed technical literacy because we had a whole generation brought up on desktop computers, but now it’s one that was brought up on phones, tablets, and chromebooks. Phones are easier to use, but that means the users have never had to work around the daily problems presented by most desktop environments.

Much of the back-end architecture will soon be more difficult to maintain, as those with the expertise retire or when the one guy volunteering to update a niche corner of some minute software function that holds up ¼ of the computer world dies.

While products are made to be “easier to use” now, which has made them more accessible, they aren’t made to last, contributing to tech pollution / e-waste. Many consumers don’t know how to upgrade or repair their own tech…if they are upgradeable.

Which brings me to my next point.

I bought a new low end laptop recently. Not chrome book, but actual Windows PC laptop. I haven’t had a personal computer for a while and with a lot of expectation to “return to the office” because COVID’s over, right? *heavy eye roll*, I wanted something cheap and portable. I found a deal because a lot of low end laptops are being discounted because school children aren’t remote now. I was actually looking for refurbished but found what I wanted cheaper new, sadly.

Finding one that I knew would run the software I needed or that wouldn’t be bogged down just with Windows? A challenge. You’ve got to know what RAM, HDD vs eMMC vs SSD, cores, age of processors, and all those specs mean.

Finding one that wasn’t Windows in “S mode,” a bullshit mode that locks you into the Windows app / store for ALL software (where they take a cut of each purchase)? Even more challenging.

When I booted it up…I imagine most people just click yes through things because why not, just want to get right to it, right?

The amount of privileges I had to decline because of targeted data collection, for ad preferences and other nefarious reasons; the number of easy-to-miss “no thanks” options to decline enrollment in bloatware; the number of things that wanted me to launch the free trial, where they could automatically enroll me into a monthly PAID subscription and could report failure to add a credit card to pay for it to credit agencies (!); many of these presented as the “recommended” or default option… ASTOUNDING.

And then I still had to go into system settings and turn off additional data tracking that they didn’t even present during set-up, along with bloatware bullshit programs they wanted to always run at start-up. Because I knew where to go and find that stuff. Don’t even get me starting on fucking Cortana.

Technology has gotten bad. Even 10 years ago, it was a couple simple agreements not to pirate, using software at your own risk, etc. and that was it.

Now? Waiving rights, arbitration, hidden terms that could leave you owing money if you don’t uninstall it, data collection to link accounts and literally track every move / your exact location / your usage, attempts to personalize ads through your specific searches, inability to block cookies unless you download a Google app!?, four pop ups for every website, as the default?

It is scary how much tech that was designed to increase productivity and make life easier has become yet another way for corporations to track us, sell to us, and sell their data on us, even potentially incriminating us.

Oh, and heaven forbid you know what you’re doing and try to upgrade or repair your equipment yourself. Warranty voiding? Should be illegal, may be illegal in some areas, but they still tell you it’ll void your warranty. Good luck finding the parts. Using non-OEM parts will void the warranty too…by design.

Windows Vista era to

deal with this bullshit.

General basic safety

How to avoid ransomware, malware, hacks, and how to maintain good data privacy.

https://www.getsafeonline.org/

^ this has intermediate information (as well as beginner info) that I think people who grew up on the internet benefit most from (so it won’t tell you what a phone is, or how to press the power button to turn on a computer). I recommend all sections the personal section under the top drop down (except the one aimed at children).

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafety/

Same deal as above, with quizzes and additional topics.

https://www.digitalliteracyassessment.org/

^ this one is mostly video and audio which some people might helpful

HTML

https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp

W3schools is a well known free resource for coding. I recommend HTML because it gives basic website building capabilities, so you can create a neocities website for example or even edit your Tumblr theme. You can also learn CSS (used with HTML to make prettier websites) and Python (used to make programs).

Touch typing

Touch typing is using the home row on keyboards. It allows people to type faster than pressing individual keys one at a time, like on a smart phone.

https://www.typingclub.com/

This site has lessons, and honestly looks much nicer than the program I learned to use touch typing with.

https://www.how-to-type.com/touch-typing-lessons/how-to-type-home-keys/

This site has lessons and practice tests and speed tests to measure progress. In middle school I was taking a practice test about three times a week and a speed test once a week for about fifteen minutes each time, if that helps.

—

These three areas are the main things people were taught in computer literacy courses.

I also recommend checking your local library or other educational resources (like local colleges, your current college/highschool/middle school etc, the college you graduated from). These can have in person instructors which can be super helpful. Feel free to send me any questions and stuff, if I don’t already know I’ll try to find out and share where I found it!

Helpful things I’ve done with my windows computer to make it safer/more efficient:

Installing Malwarebytes/enabling windows defender

Creating a backup of my computer on a hard drive

Setting permissions for apps to start on startup

Getting a password manager

Installing a web browser that isn’t chrome

Changing old passwords into better, more secure passwords- especially websites that have debit card info

Found in a 120 year old time capsule.

And then do it again, and again, and again.

in love is just choosing love

over and over.

in love is just choosing love

over and over

this man makes me fear that i’ll be shoved into a taffy machine at the slightest provocation 

This comes as part of the new superintendent Mike Miles reform program, New Education System (NES). Currently, there are a total of 85 schools that have joined Miles’ program, and of those, 28 campuses will lose their librarians. The district said they will have the opportunity to transition to other roles within the district.

The remaining 57 NES schools’ librarians will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, according to the district.

Retired HISD Teacher in Charge of Library, Lisa Robinson, believes the library is full of some of the greatest stories ever told.

‘It was such a joy to help them find the perfect book,’ said Robinson.

She said those stories are now ripped to shreds.

‘My heart is just broken for these children that are in the NES schools that are losing their librarians,’ said Robinson.

Librarian positions have been an ongoing debate in HISD. Robinson said the former superintendent, Millard House II, made efforts to keep library staff.

‘The mandate for librarians had been put back in place. With one swipe of a pen that has been destroyed,’ said Robinson.

Superintendent Mike Miles said students are behind on reading levels, especially in 4th grade.

Former HISD Librarian and Manager of Library Services, Janice Newsum believes eliminating librarian positions could hurt reading performance even more.

‘When students engage in reading as an activity of choice, they are not only building that reading muscle, but they are also developing their vocabulary they are understanding a bit about the world that exists outside their block radius,’ said Newsum.

Mayor Sylvester Turner believes the move is unacceptable.

‘You don’t close libraries in some of the schools in your most underserved communities, and you’re keeping libraries open in other schools,’ said Turner.

‘Our less fortunate students are the ones that suffer the most; primarily because many of them live in situations that are reading deserts. They don’t have access to the reading materials. They don’t have a choice in the reading materials that they are given to read,’ said Newsum.

The district said the libraries will not be closed, just used for different purposes.

Some of the library spaces will now be turned into ‘Team Center,’ designed for students to work individually or in teams throughout the school day. Students with behavioral issues will also be placed in the Team Center where they will be able to join their class virtually.

The libraries will now be available to students who are dropped off at school before classes begin or after school before they go home.

KPRC2 reached out to the superintendent’s office for comment about why eliminating librarian positions are necessary. District officials said Superintendent Miles will be taking questions during his family event at Sugar Groove Middle School on Thursday at 6 p.m. He will have another family event Saturday, July 29 at West Briar Middle School at 9 a.m.”