Luke Andrews
@attaboy.ca
Eternal optimist, daily pessimist. Occasionally I write more slowly at https://slowtech.space/
Terrific and uniquely humanizing reporting by @jasmine.bsky.social on data center politics in small town Wisconsin. There’s undoubtedly misinformation involved, but far more apparent is the clumsy and secretive approach of the big companies involved.
No Data Centers In My Backyard
money, power, and populism in the AI buildout
jasmi.news
I saw The Odyssey on Monday, then a remastered version of the 1992 Spanish film Jamón Jamón last night. @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social’s insightful essay helped me realize which one more closely echoes the humour, cruelty, and misogyny of classical Greek mythology.
Listening to Cassandra: Misogyny, Classical and Modern
Last weekend, the film The Odyssey was released and the Tate brothers were arrested in Florida at the behest of the British government, which seeks to extradite them to face a long list of charges. An...
meditationsinanemergency.com
Truly Maple-Leafs-assed ending to this game
Luke Andrews@attaboy.ca · 3w agoThis semifinal is like the New England Patriots vs the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hard to cheer for anyone. But Bellingham seems like a good chap on top of his talent, and England doesn’t seem to have FIFA tilting the scales, so, uh, rule Britannia?
This semifinal is like the New England Patriots vs the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hard to cheer for anyone. But Bellingham seems like a good chap on top of his talent, and England doesn’t seem to have FIFA tilting the scales, so, uh, rule Britannia?
I'm so disillusioned, I almost don't even care who gets the FIFA Peace Prize next year
Great thread about progressive city council candidates worth supporting in the upcoming Toronto election. If you donate, you get a large % of the money back as a rebate. (Albeit after some paperwork and a pretty lengthy delay.)
Damien Moule@damienmoule.bsky.social · last mo.Since the last municipal election, I saved up $1,200 to donate to candidates this election. Here is a🧵that goes through my decision making process and hopefully serves as a donation guide to you if you're thinking about donating (which I hope you do as you can have a disproportionate impact) 1/
In the Toronto Star, @stephenmaher.bsky.social pulls no punches drawing parallels between the USA of 1776 and of you know who
Stephen Maher: Trump is closer to the vision of America’s founding fathers than Canadians think
The patriots who gave birth to the USA were not the heroes that US history shows us
thestar.com
Canada may have lost today’s game, but we collectively got to boo Gretzky on the screen, so it’s still a moral victory.
When it’s time for penalties
What a match between Netherlands and Morocco. Between two such evenly matched teams, Netherlands deserves the loss if only for those unforgivably heinous warmup shirts.
The “referee view” camera shots in the World Cup broadcasts are such a novel idea in theory and such a motion sickness nightmare in practice. 🤢
Nothing like watching the Mets try to field a routine single to make you feel better about the Blue Jays
Brent Maguire@bmags94.bsky.social · last mo.lolMets
7 local democracy hacks to not feel totally helpless in Doug Ford (& cipher-like Liberal MP caucus) Toronto. Finished on the throne of representative democracy for the people. My weekend @thestar.com column.
Shawn Micallef: Doug Ford’s attacks on Toronto got you down? Try these 7 local democracy hacks to feel less helpless
There effective ways to overcome the feeling of helplessness as a result of recent moves to take away local democracy in the province.
thestar.com
Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · last mo.The glamorous Lerici bureau of the @thestar.com is now closed as I hit send (as the nonni read peppa pig outside the door to toddler who wants to go to the beach).
Random reminder that Toronto Council timidly suggested once that they might, might trim the police budget and in response the police implemented a decade-long refusal to enforce traffic laws.
Matt Elliott@graphicmatt.com · last mo.Councillor Burnside, a former cop, says the number of tickets written by police officers declined by 90% over a ten-year period. He says the city needs to "look at strategies" for getting police to do more traffic enforcement.
Political ideology is the strongest predictor of Messi-Ronaldo preference. Authoritarians who like short-form video are more likely to think Ronaldo is the GOAT.
Hard to disagree with anything the NDP leader is saying here.
Avi Lewis@avilewis.ca · 2mo agoPrime Minister Carney says the war in Iran was "worth it". I want to know who he thinks it was worth it for.
I too watched The Matrix with my adolescent son recently, and he asked, clearly a little spooked, “How did they know about AI in 1999?”
Rusty Foster@rusty.todayintabs.com · 2mo agoHere in the distant future, what dystopia did we end up with? The Dumb Matrix. www.todayintabs.com/p/the-dumb-m...
“Your Appliances Got Worse On Purpose” — including the wild stat that Americans spent 43% more on appliances in 2023 than 2013 (inflation-adjusted!), because appliances are so much less reliable.
Your Appliances Got Worse On Purpose
Dozens of brands, five or six owners, and a fridge built to quit just after the warranty does.
worseonpurpose.com
“What if ranch dressing really is delicious?” On the weirdness of the USA through the eyes of others. flaminghydra.com/issue-583/?g...
World of wonders / Clip joint
Ian Williams on the pleasures of hosting tourists; Amy Chu takes a risky chance
flaminghydra.com
The federal government is running a public survey on Billy Bishop Airport expansion so they can say they consulted with people, but the questions are designed to elicit positive responses about the economic impact, while framing concerns around “what would make airport expansion ok with you?”
Public consultation on the future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport
Consultation collecting feedback on the future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport
tc.canada.ca
Alex Bozikovic@alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 2mo ago“Public consultation” on Billy Bishop expansion. These survey questions suggest to me that this is a done deal. tc.canada.ca/en/corporate...
Smart stuff from @vassb.bsky.social about AI shopping. They promise to remove the hassle and get you deals, but the agents don't actually have to prioritize your best interests. It's very obviously a bait-and-switch, but what are we going to do about it? thewalrus.ca/ai-shopping-...
Your AI Shopping Assistant Is Selling You Out | The Walrus
The bots promise to get the best deals. Studies say they mostly find pricier, sponsored options
thewalrus.ca
The risk from AI is not that it will become super-intelligent and plot to destroy humanity. The risk is that it has no intelligence at all, and yet people will offload responsibility to it for important decisions before it’s ready, without adequate safeguards.
Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis is absolutely nuts: hackers are hijacking high-profile Instagram accounts by simply asking Meta's AI chatbot to change the email on the account. Meta's AI does it, hacker gets password reset code, they're in. A staggering security issue www.404media.co/hackers-simp...
The whole city breaths a huge sigh of relief. Esti has been found! (Please take down all pictures, let’s leave the kid alone.)
Missing Toronto teen found safe after nearly two-week-long search, police say
Esther first went missing from Earl Bales Park in North York on May 15.
thestar.com
In which @shawnmicallef.bsky.social offers righteous fury about our city’s often infuriating smallmindedness
Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 2mo agoGive up your dreams. Sorry in advance, I wrote a column about the new island ferry names that evolved into a column about the state of the islands, erosion, Toronto council’s fecklessness & Doug Ford’s jets. It’s going to be a bad summer on the Toronto Island.
