Senior research associate @kate-ro.bsky.social writes for @thewalrus.ca about the potential implications of Canada’s proposed Bill C-22 for future data-sharing agreements with foreign law enforcement agencies. thewalrus.ca/trump-wants-...

This. Do you stop in the middle of a busy car lane in traffic??

Good stuff over at TKF last week (the University of Toronto's annual internal IT conference)... It's not just about tech, it's about cognition, about ethics, about law, and most importantly... about the people that make this place work.

Crushed to read the news that Tony Stella has passed, a truly phenomenal and prolific artist, one of my absolute favorites

The short and long form have purpose, please take the time to do it. Can read this from @lindsaytedds.bsky.social too deadfortaxreasons.wordpress.com/2026/05/05/l...

what's the best deftones song and why aren't you answering with this music.apple.com/us/album/min...

"In the fullness of time, we’re going to have to change how we make software, how we share our code, how we evaluate trust in the entire supply chain of creating technology. Our assumptions about risk and vulnerability will have to radically shift."

Having become the parent of a public school child in Toronto recently (under THIS provincial government 🤢) is definitely becoming my joker moment.

"[Meta] benefited tremendously from the circulation & presence of journalism on their platform... for them to turn off a core feature of our democracy in protest of democratic legislation is an affront to our sovereignty." @taylorowen.bsky.social on C18 podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t... Obvs!!!!!

Made by my brilliant and weird friend @stefanmacdonald.bsky.social. Saw it last week & loved. Check it out!

"European universities have spent a decade handing students free credits for US clouds and Microsoft 365 accounts, while quietly de‑emphasizing fundamentals of infrastructure operations... public and private organizations are now struggling to hire engineers to build and run local platforms."

the viability of many right-wing intellectuals and intellectual spaces is enormously dependent on the largesse of reactionary billionaires and foreign governments, who help them circumvent a marketplace of ideas where they would otherwise post extraordinarily poor sales

Tech companies say that LLMs work better if they remember things about you. But people may find themselves “insulated from the truth by the very tools they use to seek it.” @aisvarya17.bsky.social for Tow and @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/tow_center/c...

One actually incredible way to start writing as a human being in the age of AI is to use phrases like "telephonic chat." From www.harpersbazaar.in/amp/celebrity/story/belgian-designer-isla-maria-van-damme-is-busy-living-in-the-moment-1067718-2024-08-09

Apropos of nothing, Jimmy Iovine would talk to Tom Petty for two to four hours a night on the phone, seven nights a week "for at least four to five hundred days in a row." (c. 1980).

Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I think it would be good for society if prisons had lots and lots of librarians idk.

"She brings beauty and meaning to the everyday, demonstrating that everyone deserves access to well designed public space,” commented the jury. 🫂 🤗 😭

The Gold Medal is the highest honour that the Institute can bestow in recognition of a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian architecture.

"The government has painted itself into a corner with industry-approved talking points about becoming an energy superpower, despite overreliance on exports to the US, an energy sector largely controlled by American interests and consistent projections pointing towards declining fossil fuel demand."

"This environment in which we're suspicious of each other is illiberal. Liberal theorists assumed that our rights were going to be enjoyed in community." "How to Become an Algorithmic Problem" w. José Marichal on @techpolicypress.bsky.social, such a great episode!! 🎧 www.techpolicy.press/podcast/

Did you know that the City is conducting a survey about the future of street furniture in Toronto? The current contract expires in the summer of 2027 and a new vendor & furniture will be picked. Take the survey to have your voice heard. #TOpoli ca.mar.medallia.com?e=90006671&d...

Good morning from under a giant pile of snow! I wrote about agentic AI and a bot that wrote a hit piece about a engineer after he rejected its code. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

My most toxic trait is muttering MFA codes out loud in shared spaces.

It’s true that saying something meaningful about any number of real-world issues — there are so many to choose from — might come at a cost But you can’t participate in a profession that prioritizes your voice, and then be appalled when people expect you to use it buttondown.com/NinaWatchesE...

Aside from this being a totally unhinged thing to do, it betrays such an obvious disdain for workers: that they have zero right or power to debate or resist *any* working conditions, and that they must simply go around begging to sell their labour on the market to literally any bidder.

This is, like, actually really cheering me up. LFG!!!!!!! 📣

I cannot stress enough that homelessness is caused by policy levers primarily at the provincial level. And AMO's new report shows it: homelessness in Ontario rose 8% last year, with 85,000 people becoming homeless. 20,000 were youth and children. Horrifying. globalnews.ca/news/1161124...

Reminded again of this bit from Raymond Williams's Modern Tragedy: 'violence and disorder are institutions as well as acts. When a revolutionary change is lived through, we can usually see this quite clearly. The old institutions, now dead, take on their real quality as systematic violence and

Really neat project by @wattenberg.bsky.social & @viegas.bsky.social on how/why AI makes inferences and predictions... their bot reveals assumptions in real time & how it builds its "image" of a user. So useful for the ongoing challenge of AI interpretability. cyber.harvard.edu/story/2025-1...

The Narwhal is suing the RCMP to protect press freedom for all Canadians, and our case will be heard in a Vancouver courtroom beginning next week. We’re counting on your support as the case unfolds, so here’s what you need to know. 🧵

Kaplowwwie!!! We can have nice things* *commute times

I come to you with vulnerability but also *some* (moderate) expertise and a genuine interest in today's information ecosystem. Why isn't there anything about the new Robby Hoffman special (Wake Up) produced by John Mulaney on YouTube search results? Clips? A trailer? A preview? Help me understand. 🙏

For your pleasure I wrote up the news that apparently the University of Austin is not a great place to work: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

Here's a bit about what we're working on at #UofT in the higher ed & tech space with @drdonnakidwell.com leading the way... and it was my pleasure to write about it! ⬇️ Aligning, collaborating, and dreaming big for a secure, scalable and ethically governed technology environment for all. 🔮🤖🌿

"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls." time.com/7335723/auto...

Follow for the latest in edtech and IT in higher ed!

Since Christmas is around the corner, a reminder that Wikipedia has a store. And the profits go to a project billionaires hate, so you're buying an object and getting free spite.

So, you want to breach some Charter rights? Apparently quite a few Canadian politicians do. Post from @jaredwesley.ca comes with this handy-dandy flowchart. drjaredwesley.substack.com/p/why-use-th...

Populations on whom Canadian governments have used or threatened to use the notwithstanding clause, allowing them to override Charter rights: - trans and nonbinary kids - religious minorities - homeless people - teachers edmontonjournal.com/news/politic...

What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?

"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk

Here's the biggest PSE story you haven't heard yet: the Canada Student Grant for low-income students is being cut from $4200/year to $3000/year as of next August. It's implicit in the budget tables but the government is too chickenshit to actually say so directly.

I’m so tired of Doug Ford being the Mayor of Toronto. 🤦🏽‍♂️ Apparently he forgets that he’s supposed to run the Province of Ontario. Can’t even elect him out, because the other parties, voters can’t get their shit together. 😔 #ONpoli #TOpoli

Almost twice as many Canadians see immigrants as being unfairly scapegoated and most believe that we should continue to welcome newcomers while fixing housing and healthcare shortfalls. Source: broadbentinstitute.ca/research/shifting-borders/

give it up one time to our patron saint before game 5 begins

I guess a bunch of extremely talented and respected actors saw the cinematic masterpiece THE PROPOSITION (2005) and said, "Sure, John Hillcoat! I'd love to be in TRIPLE 9" (2016). Lol!!!! I've never seen such a disjointed, nonsensical hot mess in my LIFE. This has been movie reviews with Jovana.

I can't believe they want BOTH parents to have full-time jobs, be serious.

"And I feel strongly that we have a social contract by living together, that we do need to look out for each other. And fortunately, looking out for yourself equally looks out for others." I agree with Halperin. Vaccines are part of our social contract. I had to top up my measles one too.

Whenever I hear "New South Wales" I think, like... you can't have both, you know? Are you new or are you south?