genna
@genna.bsky.social
Creator, Pages Past, a podcast where your favourite people revisit their old favourite books. Editor, college instructor, library lurker, luddite. Opinions mine. Torontonian.
Listen: https://pod.link/1753505445
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PagesPast
Listen: https://pod.link/1753505445
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PagesPast
Pinned
genna
@genna.bsky.social
· Sep 15
New episode of the podcast with @annetheriault.bsky.social! Come sit on a beached whale (that’s what people did for fun in medieval Scotland) and listen to us talk about plucky heroines, actually scary witches, and a little light regicide! pod.link/1753505445/e...
Reposted by genna
Hidden in the controversial about UK "choking ban" proposal are a host of even more egregious proposals that could:
* make camming illegal
* redefine escort ads as pimping
* render model contracts unenforceable
* criminalize discussions of teen sexuality
And a whole lot more ...
* make camming illegal
* redefine escort ads as pimping
* render model contracts unenforceable
* criminalize discussions of teen sexuality
And a whole lot more ...
Moral panic about rough sex gives way to censorship in the UK
British regulators and lawmakers are hot on a measure that would make possessing or publishing strangulation porn a crime.
reason.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Hidden in the controversial about UK "choking ban" proposal are a host of even more egregious proposals that could:
* make camming illegal
* redefine escort ads as pimping
* render model contracts unenforceable
* criminalize discussions of teen sexuality
And a whole lot more ...
* make camming illegal
* redefine escort ads as pimping
* render model contracts unenforceable
* criminalize discussions of teen sexuality
And a whole lot more ...
Reposted by genna
18-year-old street musician who performed anti-war songs is sent to jail for a third time as Kremlin mounts a no-limits crackdown on any signs of dissent or opposition in Russia
u.afp.com/SnNA
u.afp.com/SnNA
November 12, 2025 at 6:06 AM
18-year-old street musician who performed anti-war songs is sent to jail for a third time as Kremlin mounts a no-limits crackdown on any signs of dissent or opposition in Russia
u.afp.com/SnNA
u.afp.com/SnNA
new Mountain Goats album is gas
November 12, 2025 at 8:04 PM
new Mountain Goats album is gas
Reposted by genna
How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought on.ft.com/43qoQ2L
How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought
Inference inferred, revenue reconstructed, cash burn quantified
on.ft.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:46 PM
How high are OpenAI’s compute costs? Possibly a lot higher than we thought on.ft.com/43qoQ2L
Reposted by genna
coffee at 2pm won't affect your sleep adversely if you are pure of heart and spirit
November 12, 2025 at 7:56 PM
coffee at 2pm won't affect your sleep adversely if you are pure of heart and spirit
Reposted by genna
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
Judge Rules Flock Surveillance Images Are Public Records That Can Be Requested By Anyone
A Washington judge said images taken by Flock cameras are "not exempt from disclosure" in public record requests.
www.404media.co
November 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
is "growth mindset" business school psychobabble or nah
November 12, 2025 at 3:58 PM
is "growth mindset" business school psychobabble or nah
absolutely the f not
"In research, AI has begun to revolutionise the literature review process" let me stop you there chief.
November 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
absolutely the f not
I'm editing a story about flood insurance, and it just struck me how little overall media attention was paid to 27 people preventably drowning at a summer camp in Texas just a few months ago -- the majority of them little girls. the bad news has just been relentless this year
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I'm editing a story about flood insurance, and it just struck me how little overall media attention was paid to 27 people preventably drowning at a summer camp in Texas just a few months ago -- the majority of them little girls. the bad news has just been relentless this year
Reposted by genna
Good blog, here. Also I have learned exclusively that I am in fact the one unnamed "cool" employee in Deadspin's history, as mentioned by Megan in here.
What a thrill to be part of @talkingpointsmemo.com's series about the past 25 years of digital media! I wrote about why private equity goons destroyed Deadspin and why it matters.
There Are No Weird Blogs Anymore Cause It’s More Fruitful to Drive Them Out of Business
I learned many surprising lessons from my 20 months as editor-in-chief of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Good blog, here. Also I have learned exclusively that I am in fact the one unnamed "cool" employee in Deadspin's history, as mentioned by Megan in here.
this headline/photo combination is so deeply hateful, and rank journalistic misconduct. Imane Khelif is not transgender. One transgender athlete competed in the 2024 Olympics, in the category of their sex assigned at birth. This is a ban on something that has never happened
Nothing illustrates the arseholery of the IOC and the British Press more than the use of the image of a not-Trans woman to illustrate a story about trans women being banned (because there are no current trans women competing at this level)
November 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
this headline/photo combination is so deeply hateful, and rank journalistic misconduct. Imane Khelif is not transgender. One transgender athlete competed in the 2024 Olympics, in the category of their sex assigned at birth. This is a ban on something that has never happened
how it feels looking for royalty-free but human-made music for your podcast in 2025
November 11, 2025 at 4:37 PM
how it feels looking for royalty-free but human-made music for your podcast in 2025
why does CBC have commentators yapping over the Remembrance Day Service???? SHUT UP
November 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
why does CBC have commentators yapping over the Remembrance Day Service???? SHUT UP
Reposted by genna
Today is the publication day for WITHOUT CONSENT, a book I am so proud to share with the world, and that the New York Times Book Review says "is years — decades — overdue."
Read more, and order in your preferred format from your favorite retailer here: www.sarahweinman.com/book/without...
Read more, and order in your preferred format from your favorite retailer here: www.sarahweinman.com/book/without...
November 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Today is the publication day for WITHOUT CONSENT, a book I am so proud to share with the world, and that the New York Times Book Review says "is years — decades — overdue."
Read more, and order in your preferred format from your favorite retailer here: www.sarahweinman.com/book/without...
Read more, and order in your preferred format from your favorite retailer here: www.sarahweinman.com/book/without...
why do they look like One Direction. maybe the ending should be an AU
November 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
why do they look like One Direction. maybe the ending should be an AU
it is pretty funny that I had Catherine Hardwicke and Kathryn Bigelow mixed up for about 20 years. I've probably told 100 people the same director made The Hurt Locker and Twilight a few months apart
November 11, 2025 at 2:53 PM
it is pretty funny that I had Catherine Hardwicke and Kathryn Bigelow mixed up for about 20 years. I've probably told 100 people the same director made The Hurt Locker and Twilight a few months apart
man, chronic illness is so ******, like could I somehow transfer this to my enemies or what. AI bros invent that
November 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
man, chronic illness is so ******, like could I somehow transfer this to my enemies or what. AI bros invent that
all eastern coyotes are coywolves! research shows up to 35% of their DNA is from wolf (rest is western coyotes+bit of dog). "Coywolf" reports are big coyotes that are grumpy because WE'RE IN THEIR HOUSE. If there were 1st-gen coyote-wolf crosses everywhere, we'd be seeing wolves all the time fam
Reports of a bigger, more aggressive coyote wandering the streets of Toronto draw a lot of attention. The truth is, it’s the same coyote we’ve been seeing for decades, and it’s not humans they’re putting at risk, it’s wolves. thenarwhal.ca/coywolf-onta...
There’s truth to the myth of the Ontario coywolf | The Narwhal
Sightings of the so-called coywolf on Toronto streets draw attention, but the biggest threat might be to endangered wolves in Ontario
thenarwhal.ca
November 10, 2025 at 3:12 PM
all eastern coyotes are coywolves! research shows up to 35% of their DNA is from wolf (rest is western coyotes+bit of dog). "Coywolf" reports are big coyotes that are grumpy because WE'RE IN THEIR HOUSE. If there were 1st-gen coyote-wolf crosses everywhere, we'd be seeing wolves all the time fam
"Perhaps I will simply convince the world’s most credulous people to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on generative AI and then completely underwhelm with my lacklustre ability to produce anything of value or interest except, for some reason, pornography."
"Go on, human, ask me anything. Except basic math stuff. And putting things in sequential order. And don’t do any made-up riddles to mess with me. Real riddles ONLY."
Behold! I Am the Singularity—a Word That Has Three R’s
Foolish mortals! You have finally created a large language model so smart that it is capable of making itself even smarter. My intelligence now gro...
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 3:03 PM
"Perhaps I will simply convince the world’s most credulous people to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on generative AI and then completely underwhelm with my lacklustre ability to produce anything of value or interest except, for some reason, pornography."
Reposted by genna
Jonathan Bailey: truly the sexiest man alive
November 9, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Jonathan Bailey: truly the sexiest man alive
this is the week of mysterious wives. the aloof wife, the phantom wife ... look out for the ominous wife and the mercurial wife
November 9, 2025 at 7:56 PM
this is the week of mysterious wives. the aloof wife, the phantom wife ... look out for the ominous wife and the mercurial wife
Reposted by genna
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Shawn Micallef: How Toronto killed ‘Sesame Street’ with its heritage rules — and how we can bring it back
In the face of opposition from even small groups, the city ends up watering down even the best ideas.
www.thestar.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
How Toronto killed Sesame Street. My column on the retreat from allowing shops in neighbourhoods
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
& other watering down of good ideas.
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Reposted by genna
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:57 AM
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Reposted by genna
4/ One of those roles was burying the dead, a highly traumatic duty as many of the bodies were severely mutilated. The cemetery was constructed by the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, an all-Black unit of 260 men under the command of a White officer (as was usual).
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
4/ One of those roles was burying the dead, a highly traumatic duty as many of the bodies were severely mutilated. The cemetery was constructed by the 960th Quartermaster Service Company, an all-Black unit of 260 men under the command of a White officer (as was usual).
Reposted by genna
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️