I had heard people at #CHI2026 say that they didn't want AI-generated podcasts to be made on top of their work. While this perspective is totally understandable, I thought the podcasts could potentially be useful. But after looking up one of mine, I can't believe this feature was allowed to launch.
Note: Both of these papers provide evidence that many children have mixed reactions to these tools and consider them helpful only in specific, nuanced ways.
Also, I could write a whole piece on the ways I've seen KidsTeam UW kids insult genAI.
Kids are hilarious.
While I can't be at #CHI2026 in Barcelona, I am on two papers looking at how children think about and interact with AI in creative contexts!
programs.sigchi.org/chi/2026/peo...
Also, lots of GAMER Group and KidsTeam UW rep in the @uwdub.bsky.social list:
dub.washington.edu/posts/2026/c...
"To put it bluntly, an X post today receives less than 3% of the views a single tweet delivered seven years ago."
If you think it is necessary to be on Twitter to communicate your fact-based worldview, the reality is that worldview is being smothered.
Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel.
King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.
It's a good moment to unclench your jaw and take some deep breaths.
It won't fix this, but it's probably wise to avail yourself of any emotional regulation tools you find useful.
"History will judge-" let me stop you right fucking there, history doesn't do fucking shit, I'm a historian, let's be clear here: elected officials need to do their fucking jobs, right now, before it happens, or future historians will judge THEM. Everyone knows and knew who Trump was.
The Moon: oh wow you guys decided to come back
Artemis II crew: earth’s haunted
Kids should not be the property of their parents :)
And in case there was any room for doubt, the Republican coauthor of KOSA explicitly said she expects and hopes the bill to make it harder for queer people to connect with each other and find out they're not alone (as Katelyn says she did here)
www.them.us/story/kosa-s...
SHOOTING IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY: A Review of STARSHIP by Tony Watson E~ery on:e in a while a really good, 1nnovat1ve game will appear fro~ a small and relatively unknown desIgn group. Such is the case with Fantasy ~ames Unlimited's Starshia· . !t IS apparent that some goo th1nk1ng and design work went into the cre~tion of Starship. The game system IS excellent and achieves its end as well as entertaining the players with a good "feel" of space contact and engagement. The key word is "contact." Starship is not a game of space combat per se; it is a game of contact. Each of the two players controls one starship in a.situation governed by one of four dIfferent scenario orders with goals kept secret from their opponent. There are four sets of mission orders for both the Interceptor and the Intruder. They range from attempts at peaceful contact to the out and out destruction of the opposing vessel. Levels of victory are determined by comparing the actual outcome of the encounter to.thr~e different categories of c~lter1a: TacticaL, or military vIctory; Strategic, or fulfillment of outlined missioned goals; and Command, or violation of certain orders (such as firing when forbidden to, etc). It is possible for a p~ayer to win a resounding military v1ctory yet still lose because of a failure to fulfill his strategic g?als ~a peaceful contact) and/or vIolatIng orders (firing at the oppo~ing vessel). It is also quite poss1ble for both players to claim a victory since their objectives may be very diverse. The actual mechanics of the game are somewhat like many air wargames, including speed, damage, and weaponry status (which are maintained on a series of tracked charts) .. Sliding counters along the tracks WIll denote changes in the vessel speed, what weapons are armed, shield strength, and any damage the vessel may have accrued. But most important , the tracks kept record of any critical strain that any of the systems have taken. Movement and combat are handled in terms of str…
engineering record, a distance computation chart for each player and one map. There is a set of unmounted counters. for both sides. Rules are in a twenty page booklet that is generally clear and comprehensive. Components are in black and white. Starship is fast paced and plays well. The emphasis is on skill and bluff, outmanuver and good planning rather than luck and certainly one of the better science fiction tactical system around. Starship is $6 from Flying Buffalo Inc., P.O. Box 1467, Scottsdale Az. 85252.
KNOW YE OF STARSHIP FROM FGU?
I'm working through old Space Gamers as prep work for Designers & Dragons 3e, and I came across these curious review of _Starship_ by FGU, distributed by Flying Buffalo.
Unable to find any other reference, on BGG, in catalogs, etc. Anyone have other info on this game?
A photo of the cover of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones.
The entry for the Reek of Wrongness in the Tough Guide.
Found one of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones books at Twice Sold Tales today.
Apparently there's an updated one from 2006... I should do a meta TTRPG game...
"You know, so many of these books are so much the same that I could write the guidebook for the country they happen in." - DWJ
For those interested in the academic research of role-playing games, we have just released our latest issue of the International Journal of Role-Playing (17!).
221 pages of work, all for advancing knowledge about this medium.
journals.uu.se/IJRP/issue/v...
Yearly reminder: look with your eyes, not your hands.
(I love the blossoms and the community... But not the people blocking the walkways and damaging the trees to get the "perfect" shot or take home a souvenir.)
Ok, this gets at a MUCH deeper thing: a failure to pass down the keys. None of us 50+ folks got here in isolation, we had, generally, larger extended families & more robust webs of churches/clubs/3rd spaces where we could casually ask older people everything and anything, big and small.
This article tells the story of what researchers have been going through over the past 14 months. As funding dries up, professors struggle to keep people employed and to keep doing the work.
The Trump Administration is destroying so much science in this country.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/u...
We hosted our first in-person Research Fair since before the pandemic. With nearly 90 project posters displayed around the room, researchers & community members joined for questions, lighting talks & conversation about their recent research endeavors. #researchmatters ischool.uw.edu/news/2026/03...
We told you this is what they were doing. Now here's the proof that this regime and "DOGE" in specific used "AI" tools to summarize and flag grants and grant applications as "DEI," based on a list of keywords. And this "ctrl+f w/ extra steps" bullshit completely circumvented congressional oversight.
If you're in Seattle and want to hear about some of the findings from the poster I presented this past summer, I have a new poster. (It's preliminary findings from this study, we're writing a journal article.)
Come to the @ischool.uw.edu Research Fair tonight to see the updates! And more!
Yay @jasoncyip.bsky.social !
We need to understand economic inequality from children’s perspectives. Screenshot of article - full text available in the link.
Jason Yip is an author of a comment article out now in @nature.com Communications Psychology. The authors call for more interdisciplinary research to better understand how children are affected by income inequality, which is on the rise. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
“Just because you are outside of your home doesn’t mean you have consented to having a random bozo collect your face and your name, the latter of which can enable them to search for your digital presence or even home address. The act of existing in public should not carry those risks.”
A vibrant, wide-angle photo of a colorful outdoor mural promoting the "Super Bowl LX Apple Music Halftime Show." The mural is painted on a long blue wall in a sunlit, tropical setting with real palm trees and bright pink bougainvillea flowers cascading over the top. The artwork features a playful, surreal collage of cultural and football-themed elements: Central Text: The Apple Music logo in bold yellow and red 3D lettering is flanked by "SUPER BOWL LX" above and "HALFTIME SHOW" below. Iconic Imagery: Large illustrations of a golden trumpet, pink sunglasses, maracas, dominoes, and a cup of coffee with a musical note in the foam. Football Elements: Brown footballs are depicted growing on palm trees like coconuts and resting on the ground. Foreground: A young girl in a yellow dress walks along the sidewalk in front of the mural, passing a small goalpost illustration where a green parrot is perched. The overall aesthetic is warm, festive, and celebrates a fusion of Latin-inspired culture and American football.
I'm going to do a thread of all the references and context behind Bad Bunny's performance and what it means for Puerto Ricans to see this on the biggest stage.
The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.
Follow along!
Really great thread!
Wrote about Bad Bunny and how after more than a century under U.S. rule, after attempts to erase our national identity, after the man-made crises and natural disasters that have befallen our people, in the face of every challenge, seguimos aquí. We’re still here.
www.thecut.com/article/bad-...
Someone is going to write a dissertation about this half time show and I will read it.
Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
Wepa!
No entiendo muy bien el español puertorriqueño (hay muchos cambios fonéticos) pero entiendo bastante bien el ritmo, el sentido, y la alegría de esa actuación musical.
All this preamble to the Benito concert. My goodness.
Several Bluesky posts in a row about disliking the dunkin' ad.
The feed is united in dislike of this ad.