I can’t defend preclearance, I’m avoiding the US due to an aversion to landing in El Salvador. But I am mystified that the US admin thinks *threats* are a good tool to apply to Canada. It is probably the worst strategy you can imagine. Like the geese, we don’t care, and we will despise you more.

It’s a pyramid scheme for tech investors. Good luck* * I am not genuinely wishing them luck. They’re all fools and deserve to lose their shirts, pants, and any other clothing.

If you see this, post a bridge. (I know I always use this pic, but what a bridge she is. Thanks to the EU for funding it.)

"In the context of work, we refer to this phenomenon as “workslop.” We define workslop as AI generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task." hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...

Matches my experience closely; I think it’s more actively harmful than “slop” implies — it’s the toxic waste of the workplace. morungos.com/2025/08/17/m...

Bonkers. Basically a complete takeover of open source by Shopify. I deleted my account a while back, but this has me seething. I will not pay through Shopify again ever.

If you want something done properly, do it yourself. I’m not gonna wait around to be raptured, I’m off into the wilderness to experience a small slice of heaven.

apologies if this is how you find out

Darn it, now I have to dump all my acetaminophen and switch to paracetamol.

Sherry Turkle’s phrasing was “evocative mirror” and I like that one. It always says more about the perceiver than the technology. Folks who think LLMs are smart are indiscriminate, those who think they’re the new Industrial Revolution don’t know anything about the old one, and so on.

1. This is not a landmark study 2. It is barely a study at all 3. It badly misunderstands validity 4. Validity is not binary 5. Corporate AI folks need to read more

Yesterday's 🪶 birds, a #Halisky selection. We have here: a ruffled grouse, a great blue heron, a common merganser, a wood duck, and a northern harrier. A good day out.

My most Gen X complaint is that this question ignores our existence.

I’ve worked alongside folks from PwC. They are great at marketing their corporations. Three months after they have the contract, they swap most of the staff flor clueless fools. All you pay for is PowerPoint and corporate talking points. I and my peers, we are much cheaper and know what we’re doing.

US Ambassador threatens to tariff, annex, and bomb Canada if anti-American sentiment doesn't improve

Peacefully having lunch by a lake and a heron decides to land on a group of sleeping ducks. Chaos erupts.

Red squirrel population thriving on Isle of Wight and could almost double, study finds

Reminder: The existence of these in most Scottish supermarkets and corner shops is proof that anyone shilling for the notion that multiculturalism can't work on this island is a charlatan

What we're seeing in the "don't sign up for protests" discourse is what Paulo Freire described as the convert's failure to trust the knowledge of the oppressed. As the convert tries to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, they refuse to let go of a world where they were the authority by default.

Celebratory bird pic, from yesterday. A turkey vulture sighting for #Halisky. Amazing to see these things here. 🪶

Yesterday was my 18th anniversary of being diagnosed with cancer. To ‘celebrate’ I went to a beautiful lake in the wilderness to take photos of water scorpions, fishing spiders, red mites, caddisfly larvae, and all sort of creepy crawlies that live in, or around, the lake.

It always amused me, ironically, that the basic premise of Bentham’s Panopticon is that it’s symmetric. It enables scrutiny of those in power. Today’s version is asymmetric. We don’t get to see power being wielded. It’s what Goffman called an involvement shield, but for the powerful.

Trump says Putin has 'let me down'. 'He's let me down.' Says the reason he thought it would be so easy to solve was because of his relationship with Putin. 'Wars are a different thing, things happen opposite to what you thought.'

This is a very good read 👏

i have been coming back to this again and again.

Stowaway Italian kitten finds forever home in N.S. after transatlantic voyage #Italy to #NovaScotia Canadian official who discovered Grim the kitten decided to make him part of his own family /1 thread www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Chatting with a colleague setting up an ethics course and realizing that no way could you teach Philippa Foot's "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect" - the article which established the "trolley problem" - in the US today. How can you teach ethics in an era of censorship?

At this point I’m just waiting OpenAI to rebrand as Omni Consumer Products.

Those apples that were in the wild, they are now preserved.

Share your favourite covers as a timeline cleanse

So you know how there's a running gag about trying to run old school Doom or Wolfenstein on things never intended to run video games? This guy has managed to code a web server that runs from a disposable vape 🤯 bogdanthegeek.github.io/blog/project...

The lifestyle liberals want.

Won’t say much on this but… What’s being demanded is not free speech. It is tolerance. This is the paradox of tolerance at work. I choose not to tolerate. Time to make a choice. Choose wisely.

It is unconscionable that Canada still regards the US as a safe country. This is straight up totalitarian and we need to accept refugees from this regime.

(Wildlife) Many nests are beginning to empty as the Nova Scotian official bird, the osprey, begin their winter migration.  Returning in the spring, these beautiful birds primarily feed on fish, making them true maritimes!

Essential reading: “AI Scraping of OA Content Warrants a Collective Response” doi.org/10.21428/ae6... from @punctumbooks.bsky.social

Best pie - Eccles cake Best ice cream - French vanilla Best doughnut - Irn Bru doughnuts Best bar - Caramac (late lamented) Best cake - Parkin Best other -Aberdeenshire butteries

Happy 40th birthday to Don’t Stand Me Down Always thankful to Jack Hazan, the team and Kevin Rowland’s vision for the 3 films This Is What She’s Like/Knowledge of Beauty/Listen To This Beautiful Brilliant & Timeless 💜

One of my two favourite records from the 1980s, but it’s timeless in a way. I play it all the time. It’s an experience, and every time it still gives all the feelings.

A small girl common yellowthroat flew against our window and stunned herself. The neighbourhood tomcat strolled by a few minutes later, fortunately not seeing her, doing a big spray on the bush three feet away. She’s gone into the undergrowth now — hopefully she’ll chill and fly off soon.

The much-loved words of the UK's #shippingforecast are deeply etched into #British DNA. They remind us of our #maritime history, our North Atlantic geography, & and are a daily prayer to the #Weather Gods. #BlueSkyArtShow #Home #original #painting #watercolour #art janetomlinson.com/products/sai...

Tasted the first autumn olive of the year — tree that was close to water — and it was promising. Shame that most are struggling. Like last year, I’ll happily strip every damn berry I can find from these invasive, but delicious, fruit. The sparkling white wine it made was superb.

A cognitive psychologist explains why you learn when the work is hard and how researchers are trying to identify when artificial intelligence is a brain booster and when it risks becoming a brain drain.

Kind of intriguing that a huge part of this — ant-inspired optimization — doesn’t even get a mention because it’s not really neural networks. That’s the problem. Modern science is now fashion.

I asked the detective handling my complaint if the 3 of us could go for a bike ride as a resolution. The officer isn't qualified to ride a police bike. So I offered to provide bikes. Can't be authorized to ride a non-police bike while on duty. Can't do the complaint off duty.

Apparently, it's bad luck to mention a "MacBook" in a software company. You have to call it "the Scottish laptop".

I’m gearing up to conduct a workshop Nov 26 on Surviving Ethical Challenges in Tech at the Agile Testing Days conference in Potsdam, so now seems like a good time to re-air this little guide.

you know how it goes