Trout in Plaid
@troutinplaid.bsky.social
Artist. I like living things. I block bots, AI, crypto, people here to make $$$ No consent for AI use of content My ancestors started this mess in 1635 and I'd like to make it right. Insta: @indifference_to_flowers fabrika.wordpress.com troutinplaid.com
Why? "Dr. Dean and his collaborators want to build A.I. that can improve itself with little or no help from humans."
Four Top Google A.I. Researchers Form New Start-Up
Jeff Dean, who for years was one of Google’s most important executives, is leading the new artificial intelligence company with the backing of Google.
nytimes.com
Prediction markets are turning real-world events into tradable assets—and business is booming. Writer Kyle Volpi Hiebert examines why critics say regulators need to step in before the stakes get even higher: https://thewalrus.ca/prediction-markets-corrupt-everything-they-touch/
Hundreds of Albertans shared their concerns last night about the AI data centres Danielle Smith and the UCP are approving without consultation and without environmental assessments.
Unable to articulate the depth of my rage that he vandalized the moon. cbs12.com/news/local/a...
Abandoned SpaceX rocket slams into moon at 5,400 mph, carving new crater
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster that launched from Florida struck the surface of the moon early Wednesday, creating a new crater.
cbs12.com
Many of us have been saying… Refusing to write with/by AI is absolutely a necessary “act of resistance against an ever-dumber world” (not to mention against the tech companies and powers that want to make us pliable, unthinking slaves)
Opinion | I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I. (Gift Article)
It’s bad for your brain and worse for democracy.
nytimes.com
There is, and will be, no deal, no goal to end wars. There are no trade agreements. There is only destabilization of the Middle East, Africa, North America and Europe by the wealthy class to extract from and control the planet as they like.
Absolutely unbelievable how solar power has taken off worldwide during the Hormuz oil crisis. You don't have to hand it to him, but Trump may have done more to finally kick off a global civilization of effete librul solar users than anyone else in the West
SERIOUSLY, WATCH THIS: If you really want to understand how SUVs and pick-up trucks have ended up being MOST of the vehicles out there in cities, and the absolutely HUGE consequences of that, watch this easy-to-watch video by Not Just Bikes. Then share it as much as you can. youtu.be/jN7mSXMruEo
These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us
YouTube video by Not Just Bikes
youtu.be
I do loves me some visual mapping of interconnected information. Think about this every time you use Google AI search or write an email with ChatGPT. Scroll to bottom of the article for the map.
Ajuna Soerjadi 🌸@ethicsofai.bsky.social · last wk.See this Cartography of Generative AI by Estampa for a comprehensive picture of the supply chain, including digital colonialism, raw material extraction, energy and water consumption, exploitation of human cognitive labor, and how it all connects to the use of genAI. cartography-of-generative-ai.net
“All of the speculation and hype around A.I. is hiding the fact that the technology isn’t just large language models or agents or data centers. It is the backbone of a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation.”
Opinion | Want to Fight Back Against Big Tech? Start Here. (Gift Article)
A.I. is a political theory. And it is gobbling up our democracy.
nytimes.com
But sure, keep building those data centers.
@justdeirdre.bsky.social · 4d agoArizona, California and Nevada will be required to curb their use of the water from the Colorado River by about 20 percent over the next two years — and could ultimately face even larger cuts — according to officials familiar with negotiations. wapo.st/4h3waZJ
sprouting in the US. But not yet in Canada. Time for plug-in solar legislation to make the systems affordable in Canada.
Plug-In Solar Panels Are Starting to Sprout in U.S. Backyards
Ten U.S. states have legalized systems that can be plugged into standard wall outlets. The technology typically does not require permits or electricians.
nytimes.com
If useful, here's my attempt to process my feelings about how I feel sadly kinda — or rather very — sick from all this AI fascist nonsense as an academic. 😶🌫️ I'd be pleased if even one person finds something useful because there's something to be said for processing this all together, so, um, enjoy?
Anxiety
Reasoning (and crying) my way through fascist AI-induced anxiety.
olivia.science
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
We need a constitutional amendment to permit limits on campaign expenditures and prevent billionaires from buying elections. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
Elon Musk Plans at Least $100 Million in Midterm Spending to Help Republicans
Elon Musk, a year after a huge blowup with President Trump and the Republican Party, is said to be planning to spend in at least eight states to help them in November.
nytimes.com
See, it can be done ... "Portugal approves 33% windfall tax on oil companies' excess profits" www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Portugal approves 33% windfall tax on oil companies' excess profits
Portugal's government said on Thursday it had approved a 33% windfall tax on extraordinary profits earned in 2026 by oil and refining companies benefiting from an energy price surge triggered by the...
reuters.com
Timnit Gebru@timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 7d ago"As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. futurism.com/artificial-i...
"We remember when people tried to sell us something instead of selling us."
Quicksand
Gen X was right after all.
open.substack.com
Don’t look away. Look up (or something like that). Resist as if your life depended on it. Sadly, that doesn’t require any imagination. And whatever you do, read @sarahkendzior.bsky.social
Quicksand
Gen X was right after all.
open.substack.com
So, I finally did a TED talk, and it got released today. I seem to have been quite intense, but I'm grateful they left in my Trump joke. www.ted.com/talks/bill_m...
Our last, best chance to cool the Earth
We're living through oil wars, wildfire smoke and extreme weather driven by a warming planet. But environmentalist Bill McKibben says one thing is finally going right: the price of clean energy has pl...
ted.com
The US Show Trial of the distinguished and innocent scientist Anthony Fauci reminds me of the Soviet era trials and the McCarthy witch hunts, maybe even the Catholic church trial of Galileo centuries ago. History books will add this dark chapter to the other times when ignorance ran amok.
Again: We need a wealth limit (see full thread below). It's either an upper wealth limit & democracy OR ever-concentrating wealth, oligarchy, & eco-collapse. Distant as it seems, oligarchs will not stop until it's one or the other. The choice is ours. #CDNpoli #USpoli #Inequality #Oligarchy
Shopify CEO appears to endorse giving more votes to wealthy Canadians | CBC News
The billionaire CEO of one of Canada's largest companies has come under fire for seeming to endorse stripping voting rights from some and giving more votes to the ultra wealthy. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke...
cbc.ca
Conor Curtis@conorcurtis.bsky.social · last yr.A limit on extreme individual wealth above healthy, competitive rewards; With any extreme #wealth at the highest end of the spectrum clawed back and shared equally by all. The proposal in my article for @theenergymix.com: energymixweekender.substack.com/p/a-new-fund... #CDNpoli #Canada #USpoli #US
I just learned about this today. Maybe Elmo won't make it to Mars after all. There is so much unregulated space junk in the atmosphere that the debris environment has already become unstable, meaning that efforts to achieve a growth-free small debris environment by eliminating past debris sources...
Kessler syndrome - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
"It is absurd that this is happening (in Canada)...They're running our country now. It's nuts. We need to walk this back fast...This is a coup." @patricklennox.bsky.social "We have to protect ourselves from what's coming across the border"- @maxfawcett.bsky.social youtu.be/1SfrjbRtYzQ?...
The (information) war is already here - Power Lines with Max Fawcett
YouTube video by National Observer
youtu.be
