Gary Smith
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garysmith.bsky.social
Gary Smith
@garysmith.bsky.social
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🍁
Web development: garysmith.ca
Writing: decompiling.ca
Painting: citypainter.ca
Travel: gotaway.ca
How Big Tech killed literary culture
unherd.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:20 PM
I worked at IBM in the late 90s, during Gerstner's reign. I'm surprised now to see how young he was when he became CEO of such a large corporation. He was a big promotor of ecommerce, the division I worked under, at a time where many old-school tech people still saw the internet as a mere fad.
Louis V. Gerstner, Who Revived a Faltering IBM in the ’90s, Dies at 83
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:04 PM
The Indeed algorithms are doing great!

(The job was a very poor match for me, indeed).
December 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Shame. I remember being very surprised coming across this in 2003, and spending a long time on the bridge watching the surfers.
One person died at Eisbachwelle in over 50 years and the city removed the wave. ~5000 people have been killed by cars in Munich since the discovery of Eisbachwelle and yet…
Munich’s surfers foiled again as authorities remove access to famous river wave
The city has removed a beam that local surfers placed over Christmas to recreate the Eisbach wave after it vanished in October
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
(cjhorrocks2)
Canadian artist John Kasyn
“At the Break of Dawn (Sackville Street, Toronto)”.
December 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Finally, Toronto and beautiful Edinburgh have something in common. I wish it was not this particular thing.
Bus journey times being 'killed by congestion' in cities
The industry warns that traffic jams are slowing average bus speeds and are calling for more priority measures for buses.
www.bbc.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by Gary Smith
December 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
Missed that yesterday was 25 years since Kristy MacColl died tragically.

youtu.be/qSkN4EXhBR8?...
Fairytale of New York (feat. Kirsty MacColl) [Top of The Pops Dec 1987]
YouTube video by ThePoguesOfficial
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
December 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
A pedestrian was killed by the driver of a massive SUV while crossing the street on the Lower East Side on Thursday night. buff.ly/Pp5HbJ6
Pedestrian Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver on Crowded Lowest East Side Street - Streetsblog New York City
The driver kept going. EMTs took the badly injured woman to Bellevue Hospital, where she died.
nyc.streetsblog.org
December 19, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
They survived wildfires. But something else is killing Greece’s iconic fir forests
They survived wildfires. But something else is killing Greece’s iconic fir forests
In the Peloponnese mountains, the usually hardy trees are turning brown even where fires haven’t reached. Experts are raising the alarm on a complex crisis
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Silver lining to a terrible trend: maybe worry around this sort of thing will help diminish social media usage, which is terrible for all of us.

Why am I here?
How a single meme can jeopardise your trip
Social media posts deemed dangerous or offensive can increasingly lead to visa denial or online backlash. Here's what global travellers need to know.
www.bbc.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
Don't steal pies this Christmas.
December 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
Down the right alley, from the right angle, York rewards you with collaged history.
December 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
No morals, zero ethics. You can't earn money from something while pretending you are not responsible for the horrible negative consequences of it. Crypto ATMs, sports betting, Gen AI, vapes, oversized pickup trucks, there are so many examples of this phenomenon. Private profit, public consequences.
How a Circle K became a hub for crypto scams | CNN
Circle K has made millions by renting space to crypto ATMs – even amid mounting evidence that the machines are playing a key role in international fraud schemes.
www.cnn.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
Looking north on Yonge Street from a ship just south of The Esplanade in Toronto, 99 years ago today - Dec. 15, 1926

📸: Toronto Public Library

#otd #OnThisDay #1920s #skyline #city #torontohistory #yongestreet #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
December 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
Houses on Gerrard Street, Toronto, circa 1918

Artist: Lawren S. Harris (1885-1970)
Medium: Oil painting, on board

#lawrenharris #winter #snow #1910s #oilpainting #torontoart #art #artist #torontohistory #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
December 14, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Fair, but this piece should at least acknowledge how many employers heavily automate the hiring process, including the use of AI to filter resumes. Some even force candidates to conduct interviews with AI that analyze their every verbal and physical tic. Both sides need to commit to being human.
December 11, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more."

This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular.

pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...
December 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM