Winston Smith

The heresy of heresies was common sense.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

Actually, the definition of “school” is scholé which means deep contemplation, studying worthwhile subjects, and pursuing Truth, Goodness, and Beauty.

[Peter Kuperman @p_kuperman]

At Alpha School, the job is to make the kid's head an interesting place to hang out. They're going to live there the rest of their life.

That's the best one-sentence definition of school I've ever heard.

Things like this is why I'm building Toronto into the first 1,000+ student Alpha School city. Reach out if you are interested.

[Robert Pondiscio @rpondiscio]

Advocates for knowledge-rich curriculum often speak as though the evidence is finally on their side, and it is. But evidence was never the obstacle. The obstacles are ideological, professional, structural, and political. Many are deeply embedded in the culture of education and in American society itself.

https://t.co/yenGAxnhJP

[Winston Smith @nwp]

@james_xond We have some chairs that are over 100 years old and some other furniture that is close to 100.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

@Stopworkplacebu Yes, based in New Jersey. Worst leadership who pitted everyone against everyone.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

Kinda funny that a few years ago, AI was “Actual Indians,” and then it became real and for a moment replaced “Actual Indians” with “Actual AI” only to grow more expensive than “Actual Indians” who will now replace “Actual AI” (again).

[Winston Smith @nwp]

That fact that we have not killed every last hostile Iranian, maintain absolute control over the Strait of Hormuz, seized every drop of oil in perpetuity, and do it with utter abandon means we are not playing to win and it’s unconscionable.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

I’m going to call this right now. In 15 years we will view Alpha the same way we now view persistent Chromebooks and mobile devices in the classroom, and whole language over phonics. We keep trying to replace the 2,000 year old educational tradition that actually works with new technologies and it keeps proving itself a failure. Bookmark this tweet, revisit it in 2040, and then mourn for the thousands of kids victimized by yet another “innovation.”

[Peter Kuperman @p_kuperman]

Alpha School is building 4 types of high schools: Service, Division 1 Athletics, Entrepreneurship and "get into a Top 20 university" high schools:

Service high schools will be where you do things like spend a year in Africa building an Alpha School and doing your top 1% academics 3 hours a day, but on site on a different continent.

D1 Athletics high schools will be where you spend 5+ hours a day building yourself into an elite college athlete, maybe with professional aspirations. Again, you'll do your top 1% academics in only 3 hours a day, opening up most of your day to be an incredible athlete.

Entrepreneurship high schools like Founders School run by @nateliason will be where you learn how to earn a million dollars in profits during high school, starting at 12 pm, and only after doing your top 1% academics in only 3 hours a day.

"Get into a top 20 college" high schools will have a focus on giving you 40+ hours a week to build a portfolio of Olympic-level (academic) extracurriculars to go along side top 1% academics in only 3 hours a day.

The common theme here is that when it is possible to get a 1560+ SAT and 10+ APs during high school in only 3 hours a day, teenagers can open up their schedule to spend their years doing the stuff they want to at the highest levels.

This is much different than the best private high schools where classes and homework take up so much time that students only have at most ~20 hours a week to work on their passion projects and leadership activities.

Alpha School gives teenagers 2X+ the time, which makes for much more interesting people at the age of 18. That's why I'm building Toronto into the first 1,000+ student Alpha School city. Reach out if you are interested.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

I had not heard of Opendoor but this is the kind of company in which I want to work.

[Kaz Nejatian @nejatian]

I shared this note earlier today with the entire team at Opendoor.

Today we began to say goodbye to our colleagues in India as we wind down our India operations.

Our customers are in America, and that's where our operational work belongs.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

This is what I hoped for, but not what I’m seeing in practice (working inside a company that does tons of offshoring in India). Instead, those of us in the US who were aggressive, learned the most, and really promoted AI, are simply being required to train our Indian counterparts. I had a lot of hope about six months ago, but it’s pretty quickly dissipated. Also, now that the costs of AI are beginning to be more clear, our heavy agentic use is being scaled back dramatically.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

This sounds utterly awful and deeply inhumane.

[Peter Kuperman @p_kuperman]

How does Alpha School work when doing it from home for a 5 year old?

C3, our youngest, started on TimeBack about 20-30 minutes a day this week.

First, the initial placement assessments were difficult to get through. Some of them were 30-40 questions which is tough for the attention span of a 5 year old.

Once C3 got into the actual learning, it got a lot better.

For language, the Lalilo app is very friendly to a 5 year old. As long as I am there, I can bring him back to the next task and next question. Without me next to him, it would be very tough to make any progress.

For math, the Zearn app works. It is very input heavy with lots and lots of repetition. I do not know if this is good or bad for a 5 year old. C3 can answer all the questions easily. Again, I need to be there to keep things moving forward.

For fast math, the Alpha Numbers App is great. There is a lot of recognition of numbers and training for faster calculation and coming up with answers quickly. C3 is having a lot of fun with it, even when the volume of things to be done is a lot.

For reading fluency, the learning loop involves speaking into a microphone to give the Alpha app answers. I have to be there and point to C3 to start answering at the right time. There are super simple content quizzes and you can see Alpha starting to make the connection between reading and comprehension, even at a super early age.

Everything works, except that without me there 1:1, it would be very difficult to have C3 stay on task for enough time to make progress.

So that’s what it’s like for a 5 yo to work with TimeBack.

I am building Toronto into the first 1,000 student Alpha School geography. Reach out if you are interested.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

@BellaBaddie__ Unsweetened tea, then 50:50, then soda, then unsweetened tea then Thai Tea, then Carmel Frappe, then Carmel Cold brew. It was not a straight line!

[Theo Wold @RealTheoWold]

A lot of people assume that Americans today are capable of something like the D-Day landing.

I don’t see how we can know that. Those men were the product of a uniquely American culture, language, and way of life.

It grew out of generations of “Americanness” that we have spent the last 70 years hollowing out.

We should aspire to grow today the same kind of grit, resilience, and selflessness that those men exhibited.

Never forget the heroes of Normandy, not only because they saved our civilization, but because their lives and their sacrifices exemplify the American culture we must reclaim.

[Rex @R89Capital]

AI is more expensive than Indians

This is a huge dilemma for tech companies

[𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 @txsalth2o]

I'm grateful to women who hyphenate their last names, because you immediately know that they're going to be a pain in the ass.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

Fraud. The word you’re looking for is fraud.

[Tim Young @TimRunsHisMouth]

Why is it that when vote counting goes beyond 1 day, the votes that come in always favor Democrats by a huge margin?

[Winston Smith @nwp]

Disenshittification

[Ken Farnaso @KLF]

Every fountain turned back on brings Washington, DC, a little closer to Pierre L’Enfant’s vision of the capital: not just a place for government, but a grand public city worthy of our country’s great ambitions.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

Shooing a squatter should earn Smith a commendation not a manslaughter charge. @GovStitt, is this California?

[OKIE PATRIOT 76 @okiepatriot_76]

NEW: OKC homeowner charged with manslaughter after shooting squatter

According to court records, Timothy Smith owned the home located near SW 44th and Penn. On May 1, he and his daughter were going to inspect the empty home when they found a man and a woman inside.

Records allege that Smith told them to get out. The man, Justin King, stepped toward Smith, and that is when Smith fired a shot at King.

King was shot in the neck. Days later, he died at the hospital.

At first, police had reported that the incident could have been an attempted burglary. But, days later, after King had died, the Oklahoma City Police stated that the incident was being called a homicide.

Smith was arrested last week and is now being charged with Manslaughter.

Smith was arrested and booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center with a $25,000 bond. He has his preliminary hearing set for June 18th.

[Winston Smith @nwp]

@hthieblot Zdnet, gateway computer

[Brian Cates - Political Columnist & Pundit @drawandstrike]

"OMG, DECADES OF CAREFULLY PLANNED AND CULTIVATED NEGLECT IN DC COMPLETELY RUINED IN LESS THAN A YEAR. WE MAY NEVER GET OVER THIS."

[Winston Smith @nwp]

@mattpocockuk what is the status of Evalite?