Gary Smith
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garysmith.bsky.social
Gary Smith
@garysmith.bsky.social
390 followers 280 following 1.2K posts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🍁
Web development: garysmith.ca
Writing: decompiling.ca
Painting: citypainter.ca
Travel: gotaway.ca
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garysmith.bsky.social
Locals celebrate new produce store in Kensington Market focused on affordability
‘It's not a vape shop, it's not a marijuana shop — it's something that really serves the neighbourhood,’ said one local activist about the opening of Kensington Vegetables and Flowers
www.torontotoday.ca
January 12, 2026 at 12:29 AM
garysmith.bsky.social
How Big Tech killed literary culture
unherd.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:20 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
How Spain and Portugal have changed in 40 years in the European Union
Spain and Portugal celebrate four decades since joining the European Economic Community on Thursday. But what has changed in the two countries since then?
www.euronews.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:21 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
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
garysmith.bsky.social
The Indeed algorithms are doing great!

(The job was a very poor match for me, indeed).
A snippet of an email from Indeed.com that tells me a job "could be a great match" for me, and then a paragraph later tells me is is "a poor match".
December 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
Shame. I remember being very surprised coming across this in 2003, and spending a long time on the bridge watching the surfers.
davidho.bsky.social David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 15d
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
richardrichards47.bsky.social
(cjhorrocks2)
Canadian artist John Kasyn
“At the Break of Dawn (Sackville Street, Toronto)”.
December 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
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
bodegacats.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
shawnmicallef.bsky.social
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
canadahealthwatch.ca
Moderna secures up to $54.3 million funding for bird flu vaccine from global coalition https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-secures-up-543-million-funding-bird-flu-vaccine-global-coalition-2025-12-18/

More news → CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
A sign marks the headquarters of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine maker Moderna in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., April 28, 2022
December 20, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
nyc.streetsblog.org
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
theguardian.com
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
garysmith.bsky.social
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
bucksarchives.bsky.social
Don't steal pies this Christmas.
December 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
lemoustier.bsky.social
Down the right alley, from the right angle, York rewards you with collaged history.
Photo of a series of upper parts of buildings and chimneys, all close together and looking layered. In the distance is the golden sunset-lit tower of York Minster, echoed in the foreground by a church window. The sky is blue.
December 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
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
jeremyhopkin.bsky.social
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
jeremyhopkin.bsky.social
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
garysmith.bsky.social
Fantastic Canadian art.
painter. art lover. teacher on Instagram: "Some exciting news to share: my painting 'What the Hurricane Left Behind II' has been purchased by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and will be part...
32 likes, 6 comments - ireneduma_art on December 12, 2025: "Some exciting news to share: my painting 'What the Hurricane Left Behind II' has been purchased by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador...
www.instagram.com
December 13, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
caminodesantiago.bsky.social
Ce village de 1 370 habitants où trois quartiers médiévaux échappent aux 20 000 pèlerins ...

https://www.le-journal-catalan.com/ce-village-de-1-370-habitants-ou-trois-quartiers-medievaux-echappent-aux-20-000-pelerins-de-compostelle/134412/

Le clocher tors émerge …#compostelle #camino #buencamino
Ce village de 1 370 habitants où trois quartiers médiévaux échappent aux 20 000 pèlerins de Compostelle
Dans la vallée du Lot, Saint-Côme-d’Olt dévoile son plan circulaire unique sous la brume matinale. Le clocher tors émerge comme une spirale de pierre dorée au-dessus des toits ocre. Pendant que 20 000 pèlerins de Compostelle photographient l’église gothique, trois quartiers médiévaux sommeillent dans l’enceinte fortifiée. Ces ruelles pavées cachent 27 monuments historiques que même […]
www.le-journal-catalan.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
Dollarama CEO / Working Class Hero
Domestic suppliers increasingly pushing for price hikes: Dollarama CEO
Dollarama Inc.'s chief executive has been raising his eyebrow at price increases several Canadian manufacturers and suppliers are pushing for.
ca.finance.yahoo.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:20 PM
garysmith.bsky.social
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
garysmith.bsky.social
People are waking up to the fact that new vehicles are the Great Canadian Money Suck
Vehicles are a classic example of the conflict between needs and wants
www.theglobeandmail.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Gary Smith
nkalamb.bsky.social
"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...
The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI (permalink) Last night, I gave a speech for the University of Washington's "Neuroscience, AI and Society" lecture series, through the university's Computational Neuroscience Center. It was called "The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI," and it's based on the manuscript for my next book, "The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI," which will be out from Farrar, Straus and Giroux next June:
December 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM