March 8, 2025

Discourse Rulez!

I just wanted to state that Discourse rules! I like everything about it, and my grad students are taking to it quickly. Most of them have already signed up and are taking care of their bootstrapping assignment. I’m thrilled! My network was down yesterday morning for several hours for “maintenance” (thanks, Cox) and would lose connectivity periodically for the rest of the day, but that has been the only hiccough so far. Today has been pretty good so far.

My scary email from Mailgun.

That said, it may be working too well, as I have already gotten two warnings (and “account disabled”—thanks for using the words “probation” and “disabled”!) from Mailgun. I’m allowed 1000 messages a month with the basic account, and I’ve already exceeded that in a few days. I was going to upgrade my account, but paid subscriptions begin at $50 a month—which I’m not paying. After looking into it, Mailgun seems to charge per email over 1000, something like ¢0.0001 per email. I can probably afford that. We’ll see.

As usual, some of my students are anxious. This is understandable. I’ve been trying to assuage their anxiety as they express it, but I wrote a post to help. Several have already begun asking questions in my help category, and I have been doing my best to answer them ASAP. Some discomfort and dissonance are necessary for growth, but I want to be there to help. I’ve also been trying to grade as I go along. It’s work, but if I stay on top if it, I may just keep my sanity. Most students have begin their work, but I am still waiting on several. These early worker will have a much easier time in the long run.

Even though I’ve been busy, I feel accomplished this week. I hope that feeling lasts.