Dane Peterson
@danep.bsky.social
🖖 ❤️ 🌈 👬🏻
IT and DevOps.
Generally located somewhere between 5,000 and 12,000 ft.
@danep@mastodon.online
IT and DevOps.
Generally located somewhere between 5,000 and 12,000 ft.
@danep@mastodon.online
So far, we only upgraded my husband's. I've stuck with our OLED Switch for the minimal amount of handheld play I do, and we share the Switch 2 on the TV.
He also plays a lot handheld and appreciates the larger screen.
He also plays a lot handheld and appreciates the larger screen.
December 20, 2025 at 12:26 PM
So far, we only upgraded my husband's. I've stuck with our OLED Switch for the minimal amount of handheld play I do, and we share the Switch 2 on the TV.
He also plays a lot handheld and appreciates the larger screen.
He also plays a lot handheld and appreciates the larger screen.
It's definitely a significant upgrade, especially if you play a lot on the TV.
The originals looked good, but the S2 versions of BotW and TotK look absolutely gorgeous, with much crisper graphics and smoother frame rates. HDR makes a notable difference too, especially on our QD-OLED TV.
The originals looked good, but the S2 versions of BotW and TotK look absolutely gorgeous, with much crisper graphics and smoother frame rates. HDR makes a notable difference too, especially on our QD-OLED TV.
December 20, 2025 at 12:18 PM
It's definitely a significant upgrade, especially if you play a lot on the TV.
The originals looked good, but the S2 versions of BotW and TotK look absolutely gorgeous, with much crisper graphics and smoother frame rates. HDR makes a notable difference too, especially on our QD-OLED TV.
The originals looked good, but the S2 versions of BotW and TotK look absolutely gorgeous, with much crisper graphics and smoother frame rates. HDR makes a notable difference too, especially on our QD-OLED TV.
Plus the knife has a lot more tools, including a small wood saw.
And any compass small enough to fit on a walking stick is basically a toy. It's not useless, but you want something better and easier to read if you need to do map+compass orienteering. (Also prefer one with declination adjustment.)
And any compass small enough to fit on a walking stick is basically a toy. It's not useless, but you want something better and easier to read if you need to do map+compass orienteering. (Also prefer one with declination adjustment.)
December 11, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Plus the knife has a lot more tools, including a small wood saw.
And any compass small enough to fit on a walking stick is basically a toy. It's not useless, but you want something better and easier to read if you need to do map+compass orienteering. (Also prefer one with declination adjustment.)
And any compass small enough to fit on a walking stick is basically a toy. It's not useless, but you want something better and easier to read if you need to do map+compass orienteering. (Also prefer one with declination adjustment.)
One would also be better served by dedicated items of known quality made by reputable suppliers, anyway.
My Victorinox that I got when I was 9 is still perfectly useful three decades later. And I only needed to replace my Suunto compass a couple years ago after 25 years of use.
My Victorinox that I got when I was 9 is still perfectly useful three decades later. And I only needed to replace my Suunto compass a couple years ago after 25 years of use.
December 11, 2025 at 8:37 AM
One would also be better served by dedicated items of known quality made by reputable suppliers, anyway.
My Victorinox that I got when I was 9 is still perfectly useful three decades later. And I only needed to replace my Suunto compass a couple years ago after 25 years of use.
My Victorinox that I got when I was 9 is still perfectly useful three decades later. And I only needed to replace my Suunto compass a couple years ago after 25 years of use.
And they didn't even bother to use a stock photo. Just generated some parrot shit.
December 11, 2025 at 7:41 AM
And they didn't even bother to use a stock photo. Just generated some parrot shit.
We love our municipal ISP, Nextlight. 1Gbps symmetrical for $70 a month, and reliability so good that we now assume our equipment is at fault on the rare occasion that we have a service issue.
So much better than any private ISP we've ever had.
communitynets.org/content/next...
So much better than any private ISP we've ever had.
communitynets.org/content/next...
NextLight in Longmont, Colorado Expands Beyond City Borders | Welcome to Community Networks
Longmont, Colorado’s community-owned NextLight broadband network has now crossed north of Colorado Highway 66, outside of city limits. Longmont officials say this latest expansion is being financed en...
communitynets.org
December 9, 2025 at 12:44 AM
We love our municipal ISP, Nextlight. 1Gbps symmetrical for $70 a month, and reliability so good that we now assume our equipment is at fault on the rare occasion that we have a service issue.
So much better than any private ISP we've ever had.
communitynets.org/content/next...
So much better than any private ISP we've ever had.
communitynets.org/content/next...
And it's not in corporate interests to alienate this huge client base, either for nebulous/dubious profit motive.
Corporations act evil for money, not just for the sake of it. And the ability to sell add-on subscriptions and such is worth a lot more than training on a bunch of middle school essays.
Corporations act evil for money, not just for the sake of it. And the ability to sell add-on subscriptions and such is worth a lot more than training on a bunch of middle school essays.
December 8, 2025 at 9:06 PM
And it's not in corporate interests to alienate this huge client base, either for nebulous/dubious profit motive.
Corporations act evil for money, not just for the sake of it. And the ability to sell add-on subscriptions and such is worth a lot more than training on a bunch of middle school essays.
Corporations act evil for money, not just for the sake of it. And the ability to sell add-on subscriptions and such is worth a lot more than training on a bunch of middle school essays.
If you have evidence that laws are being violated, you should definitely report that to someone.
But just claiming that they're being violated without any proof or evidence is silly. FERPA is taken pretty seriously.
But just claiming that they're being violated without any proof or evidence is silly. FERPA is taken pretty seriously.
December 8, 2025 at 9:05 PM
If you have evidence that laws are being violated, you should definitely report that to someone.
But just claiming that they're being violated without any proof or evidence is silly. FERPA is taken pretty seriously.
But just claiming that they're being violated without any proof or evidence is silly. FERPA is taken pretty seriously.
Google is nobody's friend, and I'm not really interested in defending them. But we need technology in schools for lots of things that teachers and students want to do (and need to do, including lots of state testing).
So we really need to approach these topics on a factual basis.
So we really need to approach these topics on a factual basis.
December 7, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Google is nobody's friend, and I'm not really interested in defending them. But we need technology in schools for lots of things that teachers and students want to do (and need to do, including lots of state testing).
So we really need to approach these topics on a factual basis.
So we really need to approach these topics on a factual basis.
Releasing in 2019, the gen2 device you have came with a promise of 8 years of updates (Auto Updates - AU), through 2027. The 2029 date is an extension from the original promise.
December 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Releasing in 2019, the gen2 device you have came with a promise of 8 years of updates (Auto Updates - AU), through 2027. The 2029 date is an extension from the original promise.
This is actually a revision up on the updates for this machine, not down. The 10 year AU was introduced in 2024 and retroactively applied back to 2021 devices. Older devices were also included past the end of their previous AU cycle, at the cost of Android apps.
blog.google/outreach-ini...
blog.google/outreach-ini...
December 7, 2025 at 2:21 PM
This is actually a revision up on the updates for this machine, not down. The 10 year AU was introduced in 2024 and retroactively applied back to 2021 devices. Older devices were also included past the end of their previous AU cycle, at the cost of Android apps.
blog.google/outreach-ini...
blog.google/outreach-ini...
I can't speak to this school, but moving equipment out on a cycle is standard practice. 5y is a common replacement cycle. Last school sold them to a refurbisher; the one before that sold them to the community. Desktops, cart laptops, teacher, and admin devices all went on a set schedule.
December 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
I can't speak to this school, but moving equipment out on a cycle is standard practice. 5y is a common replacement cycle. Last school sold them to a refurbisher; the one before that sold them to the community. Desktops, cart laptops, teacher, and admin devices all went on a set schedule.
Most schools don't really get big volume discounts. The $300-330 was basically the MSRP. This was also true for the older $250 ones.
You can go to Dell's site right now and get their 8GB Chromebook for $300 as a consumer (same price as our orders). It's $370 for the convertible.
You can go to Dell's site right now and get their 8GB Chromebook for $300 as a consumer (same price as our orders). It's $370 for the convertible.
December 7, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Most schools don't really get big volume discounts. The $300-330 was basically the MSRP. This was also true for the older $250 ones.
You can go to Dell's site right now and get their 8GB Chromebook for $300 as a consumer (same price as our orders). It's $370 for the convertible.
You can go to Dell's site right now and get their 8GB Chromebook for $300 as a consumer (same price as our orders). It's $370 for the convertible.
Gemini in Gmail is also a paid feature only, and as such, unavailable to minors in WfE.
The current "smart reply" feature uses a completely different sort of model (smaller, simpler, more rote) that's been around for years, but which they rebadged as "AI" because it's the trendy thing.
The current "smart reply" feature uses a completely different sort of model (smaller, simpler, more rote) that's been around for years, but which they rebadged as "AI" because it's the trendy thing.
December 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Gemini in Gmail is also a paid feature only, and as such, unavailable to minors in WfE.
The current "smart reply" feature uses a completely different sort of model (smaller, simpler, more rote) that's been around for years, but which they rebadged as "AI" because it's the trendy thing.
The current "smart reply" feature uses a completely different sort of model (smaller, simpler, more rote) that's been around for years, but which they rebadged as "AI" because it's the trendy thing.
Prompts are not used as training data. They're also very explicit about that. And it's not just about trusting them. Feeding prompts into training data doesn't work. Interacting with a model is a whole separate thing from training it. And prompts don't make very good input anyway.
December 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Prompts are not used as training data. They're also very explicit about that. And it's not just about trusting them. Feeding prompts into training data doesn't work. Interacting with a model is a whole separate thing from training it. And prompts don't make very good input anyway.
While the Stochastic Parrots are awful, and while Google often behaves unethically, the answers to these questions are public info.
Google is also bound by FERPA and other regulations when operating on behalf of the school and especially serving minor users. The regs are honestly pretty decent.
Google is also bound by FERPA and other regulations when operating on behalf of the school and especially serving minor users. The regs are honestly pretty decent.
December 7, 2025 at 10:41 AM
While the Stochastic Parrots are awful, and while Google often behaves unethically, the answers to these questions are public info.
Google is also bound by FERPA and other regulations when operating on behalf of the school and especially serving minor users. The regs are honestly pretty decent.
Google is also bound by FERPA and other regulations when operating on behalf of the school and especially serving minor users. The regs are honestly pretty decent.
Google has explicitly stated that they do not train models off of Workspace data unless an admin has specifically opted in.
Gemini is not available to users under 18 in Workspace for Edu, and adding it appears to require a separate paid license alongside the free WfE subscription.
Gemini is not available to users under 18 in Workspace for Edu, and adding it appears to require a separate paid license alongside the free WfE subscription.
December 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Google has explicitly stated that they do not train models off of Workspace data unless an admin has specifically opted in.
Gemini is not available to users under 18 in Workspace for Edu, and adding it appears to require a separate paid license alongside the free WfE subscription.
Gemini is not available to users under 18 in Workspace for Edu, and adding it appears to require a separate paid license alongside the free WfE subscription.
The ones at that price point are a bit underpowered, as far as long-term use, but let's be serious, a non-underpowered laptop isn't going to last much better in the hands of a teenager for four years.
They're far from perfect, but they're much more capable and useful than people claim.
They're far from perfect, but they're much more capable and useful than people claim.
December 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
The ones at that price point are a bit underpowered, as far as long-term use, but let's be serious, a non-underpowered laptop isn't going to last much better in the hands of a teenager for four years.
They're far from perfect, but they're much more capable and useful than people claim.
They're far from perfect, but they're much more capable and useful than people claim.
We were very glad we had them when we needed to go fully remote in April 2020. And they served well in that role, as they did in our HS 1:1. (So did iPads, but the physical keyboard was much better for MS/HS students.)
The management was so much lighter touch for me than iDevices, too.
The management was so much lighter touch for me than iDevices, too.
December 7, 2025 at 10:18 AM
We were very glad we had them when we needed to go fully remote in April 2020. And they served well in that role, as they did in our HS 1:1. (So did iPads, but the physical keyboard was much better for MS/HS students.)
The management was so much lighter touch for me than iDevices, too.
The management was so much lighter touch for me than iDevices, too.
Early models only got a promise of 5 years of support, though that got extended to 6.5 on our oldest models to cover some devices through an extra two school years. (Those were $250 apiece.)
They're far from perfect devices, but as far as outfitting kids with computers, they're a good value.
They're far from perfect devices, but as far as outfitting kids with computers, they're a good value.
December 7, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Early models only got a promise of 5 years of support, though that got extended to 6.5 on our oldest models to cover some devices through an extra two school years. (Those were $250 apiece.)
They're far from perfect devices, but as far as outfitting kids with computers, they're a good value.
They're far from perfect devices, but as far as outfitting kids with computers, they're a good value.
I administered them at a school.
Ours were $300-330 apiece. They outperformed iPads (esp in durability) during their first years in service. And Google repeatedly extended the EoL date while we owned them, on nearly all models. They never reduced it.
Some of these claims just seem afactual.
Ours were $300-330 apiece. They outperformed iPads (esp in durability) during their first years in service. And Google repeatedly extended the EoL date while we owned them, on nearly all models. They never reduced it.
Some of these claims just seem afactual.
December 7, 2025 at 10:13 AM
I administered them at a school.
Ours were $300-330 apiece. They outperformed iPads (esp in durability) during their first years in service. And Google repeatedly extended the EoL date while we owned them, on nearly all models. They never reduced it.
Some of these claims just seem afactual.
Ours were $300-330 apiece. They outperformed iPads (esp in durability) during their first years in service. And Google repeatedly extended the EoL date while we owned them, on nearly all models. They never reduced it.
Some of these claims just seem afactual.