Chris Knowles
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tarrenam.com
Chris Knowles
@tarrenam.com
1.2K followers 370 following 850 posts
Christian, indie game developer of optimization puzzle game Hexahedra. Blogs about geekery and Christianity at the same time.

Former RuneScape engine dev at Jagex.

Hexahedra: https://s.team/a/1248420
Blog: https://blog.tarrenam.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Chris Knowles
zaratustra.bsky.social
August 29, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
mattseybold.bsky.social
Anybody who’s still advocating putting these tools anywhere near a school is not doing so despite the cognitive collapse they cause, but because of it.

dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...
Abstract Using 30 months of panel data on 26,811 Chinese students in grades 7-12, we study how generative Al affects homework productivity and learning. The data combine monthly closed-book exams, high-school and college entrance exams, and homework scores and completion time across nine subjects. We exploit staggered Al adoption in a difference-in-differences design. Al adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months. High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. The losses are largest in social science subjects, followed by STEM and languages, and are especially large for junior students, high-achieving students, and boys. The learning losses are concentrated among roughly 80% of Al users whose behavior is consistent with homework outsourcing, as indicated by exceptionally short homework completion time coupled with high homework scores. Al users who maintain similar homework completion time as non-Al users experience small learning losses.
August 21, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
ohlookbirdies.bsky.social
"Is this lens better, or this one?"

- Optometrist

"Is this lens worse, or this one?"

- Pessimetrist
September 6, 2024 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
hthrflwrs.bsky.social
i think this is a contender for the stupidest line of code i've ever written
August 21, 2026 at 7:32 PM
tarrenam.com
If you see this, post a magic user.

#Nerdlings
Cassie, female gnome wizard by Reaper Minis, painted with blue robes and purple trousers. She has red hair, glowing yellow eyes, and is casting a spell. She's standing on grey flagstones, and her casting is creating a red/yellow circle with runes on the ground. She's carrying a staff in her right hand, and she has a large potion on her belt.
August 8, 2026 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
kdlc.bsky.social
i added the fun counter and now the game is so much more fun
July 19, 2026 at 9:59 AM
tarrenam.com
Kid called David decides he doesn't like the 1980s or having his own spaceship.
philkensebben.bsky.social Mike McPhil @philkensebben.bsky.social · Jul 16
Farmer wanders around. Meets some friends. Comes home. #blutoid
July 16, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
garro30k.bsky.social
Count Binface, ready to serve as a bounty hunter in my Necromunda Collection.

#CountBinface #Necromunda #Nerdlings
Count binface miniature by troublemaker games, painted by myself.
July 15, 2026 at 7:47 PM
tarrenam.com
Who was the best metalworker in ancient Rome?

Pliny the Welder
July 14, 2026 at 9:53 PM
tarrenam.com
The Eurostar, being in space, was never part of the EU.
July 5, 2026 at 12:49 AM
tarrenam.com
I am once again asking folks who write game guides to learn the difference between east and west.
July 4, 2026 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
andycruns.bsky.social
Mini of the month - John Blanche

Entry 13 by @tristanwelsh.bsky.social

Gob Emperor on the Golden Throne

#Nerdlings #MiniOfTheMonth
A goblin is sitting on the golden throne, based on the classic John Blanche artwork of the Golden Throne. Many cables are plugged into the goblins head who is also sporting a nifty mechanical left eye. The throne is covered in purity seals, skulls, candles and even a little rat at the front. It's painted in a variety of brown, orange, red and sandy tones with a lot of texture. A servo skull is on the right hand side, holding an open book. The backdrop is a hand painted depiction of many cables in the same colour scheme A goblin is sitting on the golden throne, based on the classic John Blanche artwork of the Golden Throne. Many cables are plugged into the goblins head who is also sporting a nifty mechanical left eye. The throne is covered in purity seals, skulls, candles and even a little rat at the front. It's painted in a variety of brown, orange, red and sandy tones with a lot of texture. A servo skull is on the right hand side, holding an open book. The backdrop is a hand painted depiction of many cables in the same colour scheme A goblin is sitting on the golden throne, based on the classic John Blanche artwork of the Golden Throne. Many cables are plugged into the goblins head who is also sporting a nifty mechanical left eye. The throne is covered in purity seals, skulls, candles and even a little rat at the front. It's painted in a variety of brown, orange, red and sandy tones with a lot of texture. A servo skull is on the right hand side, holding an open book. The backdrop is a hand painted depiction of many cables in the same colour scheme A goblin is sitting on the golden throne, based on the classic John Blanche artwork of the Golden Throne. Many cables are plugged into the goblins head who is also sporting a nifty mechanical left eye. The throne is covered in purity seals, skulls, candles and even a little rat at the front. It's painted in a variety of brown, orange, red and sandy tones with a lot of texture. A servo skull is on the right hand side, holding an open book. The backdrop is a hand painted depiction of many cables in the same colour scheme
July 1, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
garyalexander.bsky.social
We have lots of (correct) criticisms of generative AI from a labor perspective. But here's a management one, too: You can and will discipline labor. Human beings can be manipulated through material and psychological incentives. But what if your "workers" are software owned by another capitalist?
cait.bsky.social cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · May 1
the chatgpt reddit is the funniest place on earth and they don't even realize it
r/ChatGPT u/sterslayer • 5h ChatGPT got 100 times worse overnight I have a great system, I manage most of my projects, both personal and business, through ChatGPT, and it worked like clockwork. But since this weekend, it's been acting like a lazy, sneaky child. It's just cutting corners, not generating without tons of prompting and begging, and even starting to make things up ("I'll generate it right away", then nothing). It's also gotten quite sloppy and I can't rely on it nearly as much as before. If it's the business objective to reduce the number of generations, this is not the way to do it. This just sucks for users. It's honestly made me pretty sad and frustrated, so much so that I'm now considering competitors or even downgrading. Really disappointing. We had something great, and they had to ruin it. I tried 03, much better than this newly updated 4o, but it's capped and just works differently of course, it's not quite as fast or flexible. So I'm ranting I guess - am I alone or have you noticed it's become much worse too?
May 1, 2025 at 7:40 PM
tarrenam.com
Shady Merchant: I'm setting up a new shop and giving out free samples! Would you like a totally normal healing potion?

Player Character: Why doesn't this healing potion stack with the others in my inventory?

Shady Merchant: Gosh, I don't know, it's definitely a TOTALLY NORMAL healing potion!
June 18, 2026 at 7:09 PM
tarrenam.com
Image entitled "9 Steam Games I Want To Spread" I built this using the link in the quoted post. The games are: Last Train Outta' Worm Town Dorfromantik Can of Wormholes Uplink Hexahedra Pacific Drive Solas 128 Shadowrun Dragonfall Director's Cut Heaven's Vault
June 18, 2026 at 12:49 PM
tarrenam.com
This isn't "monitoring WiFi to work out who you are online".

This is identifying you, physically, at a location by analysing WiFi radio signals.
June 18, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
tripleshot31.bsky.social
The irony is they are replacing all their non-union humans with agents run by a single organization that can demand changes in wages (aka token costs) overnight without bargaining.
June 11, 2026 at 3:40 PM
tarrenam.com
I absolutely do NOT want a phone that can be bricked remotely by the manufacturer.

Whoops, we bricked your phone because we mistyped the ID of a stolen one.

Whoops, we bricked your phone because an oppressive regime told us to.

Let it be MY phone, please.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Met police chief calls for law to make stolen phones ‘unusable bricks’
Home secretary also urged to force tech firms to share data on stolen devices and if they are reactivated
www.theguardian.com
June 11, 2026 at 11:18 AM
tarrenam.com
Doctor Who, but the Doctor regenerates into a 300lb pro wrestler who solves problems with his signature move, the Sonic Piledriver.
June 10, 2026 at 6:12 PM
tarrenam.com
QP a GIF of your favourite Pokémon (wrong answers only).
June 9, 2026 at 5:08 PM
tarrenam.com
The Cerebral Puzzle Showcase ends later today - Hexahedra will be 50% off for the next 6 and a bit hours, so grab a copy while it's going cheap!

store.steampowered.com/app/1248420/...

@puzzleshowcase.bsky.social

#gamedev #indiegame
Image with the Hexahedra logo in the centre and, behind it, a faded version of the title screen background showing a cube being worked on by various factory devices - a laser, a spray painter, a heater setting fire to it, a panel remover taking the lid off to reveal the contents. Around it, the official Cerebral Puzzle Showcase artwork, which incorporates images from many other puzzle games, such as a Portal turret and Baba from Baba Is You.
June 4, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
tarrenam.com
Hexahedra will be taking part in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase on Steam, 28th May to 4th June! And it just might be discounted!

store.steampowered.com/app/1248420/...

@puzzleshowcase.bsky.social

#indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
Image with the Hexahedra logo in the centre and, behind it, a faded version of the title screen background showing a cube being worked on by various factory devices - a laser, a spray painter, a heater setting fire to it, a panel remover taking the lid off to reveal the contents. Around it, the official Cerebral Puzzle Showcase artwork, which incorporates images from many other puzzle games, such as a Portal turret and Baba from Baba Is You.
May 26, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Chris Knowles
puzzleshowcase.bsky.social
Looking for your next favourite puzzle game? Check out the "Hidden Gems" category at the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. There you'll find highly rated games with fewer than 20, 50, 150 and 500 reviews.

store.steampowered.com/sale/Cerebra...
May 29, 2026 at 1:02 PM
tarrenam.com
Post someone bald!

(I have the *perfect* army for this...)

#warhammer #paintingminiatures
Front view of a metal Necron Lord, with a Staff of Light in his left hand, and pointing with a huge clawed right hand. He's painted primarily in Leadbelcher with joints in Brass Scorpion, with a glowing ribcage and the Staff of Light painted in Naggaroth Night, Xereus Purple, Alaitoc Blue, and Lothern Blue. His cloak has the same purple to blue transition. He's on a desert sand base with a spring of withered grass by his right foot. Rear view of the same model, showing more of the cloak.
May 27, 2026 at 11:52 AM
tarrenam.com
Hexahedra will be taking part in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase on Steam, 28th May to 4th June! And it just might be discounted!

store.steampowered.com/app/1248420/...

@puzzleshowcase.bsky.social

#indiegame #indiedev #gamedev
Image with the Hexahedra logo in the centre and, behind it, a faded version of the title screen background showing a cube being worked on by various factory devices - a laser, a spray painter, a heater setting fire to it, a panel remover taking the lid off to reveal the contents. Around it, the official Cerebral Puzzle Showcase artwork, which incorporates images from many other puzzle games, such as a Portal turret and Baba from Baba Is You.
May 26, 2026 at 5:07 PM