Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
@courtneyvl.bsky.social
Theatre stuff, gnawing anxieties.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Mayor Olivia Chow is introducing fare capping for TTC riders in her upcoming budget. Instead of having to decide whether it makes sense to buy a monthly pass in advance, rides will automatically be free after 47 trips starting next Sept.
December 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Mayor Olivia Chow is introducing fare capping for TTC riders in her upcoming budget. Instead of having to decide whether it makes sense to buy a monthly pass in advance, rides will automatically be free after 47 trips starting next Sept.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Always shocked by people on this site & elsewhere who will @ a working journo or writer, someone whose (in my case) pay hasn't increased in 13 years & who likely live/work precarious lives, with an indignant "paywall" or suggest a non-library workaround cheat. Such raw rudeness, nerve & contempt.
complaining about paywalls when so many journalists are being laid off and there are fewer market incentives to do great reporting and in-depth investigations, data analysis and features is also wild when everyone understands you need to pay for electronics, streaming services, and utilities
December 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Always shocked by people on this site & elsewhere who will @ a working journo or writer, someone whose (in my case) pay hasn't increased in 13 years & who likely live/work precarious lives, with an indignant "paywall" or suggest a non-library workaround cheat. Such raw rudeness, nerve & contempt.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Really want to revisit this because just two days after this was posted, Canada went “oh by the way, here’s this new show about gay hockey players and it’s super horny and our taxes and phone bills paid for this. You’re welcome.” And it’s leaving Americans speechless and in need of a cold shower.
I think if Canada wants to have a strong cultural identity we need to go back to doing what we're best at, making the weirdest fucking TV shows you've ever seen
December 7, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Really want to revisit this because just two days after this was posted, Canada went “oh by the way, here’s this new show about gay hockey players and it’s super horny and our taxes and phone bills paid for this. You’re welcome.” And it’s leaving Americans speechless and in need of a cold shower.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Free Jeremy! That's like one dose of MDMA. Poor guy.
Playwright Jeremy O. Harris has been in the custody of Japanese authorities since last month after being arrested at the airport in Japan on suspicion of smuggling illegal drugs into the country (it was .78 grams of MDMA).
Why are we just hearing about this now?
Full Story: bit.ly/3KF2fcq
Why are we just hearing about this now?
Full Story: bit.ly/3KF2fcq
December 5, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Free Jeremy! That's like one dose of MDMA. Poor guy.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Three horses euthanized at Woodbine last weekend. www.thestar.com/news/gta/thr.... A reminder that this industry is wholly dependent on government subsidy. thelocal.to/breakdown-at...
Breakdown at the Racetrack | The Local
Once a lucrative gambling business, Ontario's horse racing industry is now heavily subsidized by the government. As gamblers turn to online gaming, and ideas about animal welfare shift, a cluster of f...
thelocal.to
December 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Three horses euthanized at Woodbine last weekend. www.thestar.com/news/gta/thr.... A reminder that this industry is wholly dependent on government subsidy. thelocal.to/breakdown-at...
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Nice analysis of AI’s current writing style.
"We are unearthing the echo of loneliness. We are unfolding the brushstrokes of regret. We are saying the words that mean meaning." A great, clarifying, skin-crawling piece on A.I. writing 'style' by Sam Kriss. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...
Why Does A.I. Write Like … That?
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Nice analysis of AI’s current writing style.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Shingrix vaccine don't play
December 5, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Shingrix vaccine don't play
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
December 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning.
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
The real trick here (and I think I know one way they're going to do it) is to distinguish it from all the bits or Neuromancer on film, TV, and music videos for the last 40 years,
Please, Apple, do this one right.
Neuromancer by @greatdismal.bsky.social finally gets a TV series. Could be amazing, but expectations will be high from all of us who read these books when we were young.
Count Zero was a personal fave.
Neuromancer by @greatdismal.bsky.social finally gets a TV series. Could be amazing, but expectations will be high from all of us who read these books when we were young.
Count Zero was a personal fave.
Apple TV's New Cyberpunk Show That Was Called 'Unfilmable' Is the Sci-Fi Event of the Decade
One book-to-screen adaptation that was once thought impossible is finally coming to Apple TV next year--and we couldn't be more excited.
www.cbr.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:39 AM
The real trick here (and I think I know one way they're going to do it) is to distinguish it from all the bits or Neuromancer on film, TV, and music videos for the last 40 years,
🤢🤮
Missed it earlier this year but, tucked into a Toronto Life profile, and mentioned again in The Walrus yesterday, Doug Ford is taking French lessons, friends. (In case people have been doubting his Federal leadership aspirations.) For what other reason(s) would a 61yo begin French lessons?
#OnPoli
#OnPoli
December 3, 2025 at 1:54 AM
🤢🤮
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
"We’re terrified that if she remains in an environment that is so hateful that she might follow the path of so many trans people and spiral into depression and self-harm. So we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Here's how families are fighting to survive Trump’s war on trans kids.
Here's how families are fighting to survive Trump’s war on trans kids.
"We're going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe"
How families are fighting to survive Trump's war on transgender kids
www.motherjones.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
"We’re terrified that if she remains in an environment that is so hateful that she might follow the path of so many trans people and spiral into depression and self-harm. So we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe."
Here's how families are fighting to survive Trump’s war on trans kids.
Here's how families are fighting to survive Trump’s war on trans kids.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
I have so much respect and appreciation for the city staff who are doing their absolute best in a hostile environment to deliver on cycling network expansion for Toronto.
‘It’s not a loophole:’ Toronto has plans to install 20 km of new bike lanes despite provincial legislation
Toronto has found a way to install 20 kilometres of new bike lanes while still complying with provincial legislation that places significant restrictions on new cycling infrastructure.
www.ctvnews.ca
December 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
I have so much respect and appreciation for the city staff who are doing their absolute best in a hostile environment to deliver on cycling network expansion for Toronto.
Oh I love this. Oh theatre kids.
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
December 1, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Oh I love this. Oh theatre kids.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
In the week since we published our investigation into possible freelance scammer “Victoria Goldiee,” Local editor @nickhunebrown.bsky.social has heard from journalists around the world who’ve had their own run-ins with “Goldiee.” thelocal.to/fallout-from...
The Fallout From Our AI Freelancer Investigation | The Local
A conversation about the future of journalism in a world of “Victoria Goldiees.”
thelocal.to
November 30, 2025 at 8:11 PM
In the week since we published our investigation into possible freelance scammer “Victoria Goldiee,” Local editor @nickhunebrown.bsky.social has heard from journalists around the world who’ve had their own run-ins with “Goldiee.” thelocal.to/fallout-from...
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Learning With AI Falls Short Compared to Old-Fashioned Web Search
In virtually all the ways that matter, getting summarized information from AI models was less educational than doing the work of search.
buff.ly
November 30, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Hey @eanjay.bsky.social didn't this happen on a show you worked on in the 70s?
incredible quote lol
November 29, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Hey @eanjay.bsky.social didn't this happen on a show you worked on in the 70s?
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
November 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.
November 28, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Pedestrian struck by motorist on Parkside a block from the speed camera that vigilantes kept tearing down that caused ford to remove them from all Ontario. Drive as you wish Ontario. Nobody matters. This is what you voted for.
Speed cameras have been gone for a few days. Some asshole is drag racing up and down our street. Thanks Doug!
November 28, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Speed cameras have been gone for a few days. Some asshole is drag racing up and down our street. Thanks Doug!
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
I'm not interested in "I told you so."
A lot of people voted Liberal because they were terrified of Poilievre and his gang. I get that.
But Carney's who we got, he's being a weak leader, pushing policies that are harming the vast majority of us and it's time to just admit he sucks and push back.
A lot of people voted Liberal because they were terrified of Poilievre and his gang. I get that.
But Carney's who we got, he's being a weak leader, pushing policies that are harming the vast majority of us and it's time to just admit he sucks and push back.
Mark Carney drops Trudeau-era climate measures in energy deal with Alberta
Mark Carney drops Trudeau-era climate measures in energy deal with Alberta
rime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government is scrapping plans for a major national climate policy and immediately suspending another in Alberta alone, as part of a wide-ranging accord that softens
www.thestar.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I'm not interested in "I told you so."
A lot of people voted Liberal because they were terrified of Poilievre and his gang. I get that.
But Carney's who we got, he's being a weak leader, pushing policies that are harming the vast majority of us and it's time to just admit he sucks and push back.
A lot of people voted Liberal because they were terrified of Poilievre and his gang. I get that.
But Carney's who we got, he's being a weak leader, pushing policies that are harming the vast majority of us and it's time to just admit he sucks and push back.
Reposted by Courtney Ch'ng Lancaster
This afternoon, I informed the Prime Minister of my decision to resign as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Minister responsible for Official Languages, Minister of Nature and Parks Canada, as well as his Lieutenant in Quebec.
You can find my full statement below.
You can find my full statement below.
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 PM
This afternoon, I informed the Prime Minister of my decision to resign as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Minister responsible for Official Languages, Minister of Nature and Parks Canada, as well as his Lieutenant in Quebec.
You can find my full statement below.
You can find my full statement below.