Victoria McIntosh
@vmcntosh.bsky.social
Freelance information & #privacy professional in Halifax, NS. Geek, history & caffeine enthusiast. MLIS, CIPT. I work hard so my pets live the good life. @vmcntosh on the old bird site. Skeets on a little bit of everything.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
You can do this. You can do SOMETHING.
Look up X on the App Store, scroll down to Report a Problem and fill out the form with this information.
January 8, 2026 at 3:04 AM
You can do this. You can do SOMETHING.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Anthropomorphizing language can be cute when applied to your favorite car, but it helps to muddy the discourse when applied to tech sold as "AI". New from me & @nannainie.bsky.social on @techpolicypress.bsky.social -- how to spot & revise away from anthropomorphizing language applied to "AI"
We Need to Talk About How We Talk About 'AI' | TechPolicy.Press
We share a responsibility to create and use empowering metaphors rather than misleading language, write Emily M. Bender and Nanna Inie.
www.techpolicy.press
January 7, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Anthropomorphizing language can be cute when applied to your favorite car, but it helps to muddy the discourse when applied to tech sold as "AI". New from me & @nannainie.bsky.social on @techpolicypress.bsky.social -- how to spot & revise away from anthropomorphizing language applied to "AI"
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
the thing about that “first they came for” poem is that we’re at least halfway through it, and it’s not a very long poem
January 8, 2026 at 2:15 AM
the thing about that “first they came for” poem is that we’re at least halfway through it, and it’s not a very long poem
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
still seeing a lot of chatter about grok and not a lot on how to deal with being targeted. i wrote this last year and it has details on how to document abuse and who to go to for help removing images. 19thnews.org/2025/05/take...
Here’s how you can use the Take It Down Act
The 19th explains how the new law on nonconsensual intimate imagery will be implemented — and how you can request the takedown of explicit images created or shared without permission.
19thnews.org
January 8, 2026 at 12:02 AM
still seeing a lot of chatter about grok and not a lot on how to deal with being targeted. i wrote this last year and it has details on how to document abuse and who to go to for help removing images. 19thnews.org/2025/05/take...
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
There is a long history of runaway shops. If the right to collective bargaining means anything, companies must not be able to shut down in response to unionization without massive penalties. Amazon (in Quebec) and Ubisoft (in Halifax) make enormous profits.
www.ign.com/articles/ubi...
www.ign.com/articles/ubi...
Ubisoft Shuts Down Assassin's Creed: Rebellion Developer Halifax Studio Just Weeks After It Unionized - IGN
Ubisoft has shut down its Halifax Studio, just one month after 61 of its 71 workers voted to unionize.
www.ign.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:10 AM
There is a long history of runaway shops. If the right to collective bargaining means anything, companies must not be able to shut down in response to unionization without massive penalties. Amazon (in Quebec) and Ubisoft (in Halifax) make enormous profits.
www.ign.com/articles/ubi...
www.ign.com/articles/ubi...
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
I'm going to do this tomorrow and I hope you'll do it as well.
In Canada, call or email Evan Solomon and demand he do his job as “Minister of AI and Digital innovation” to stop the CSAM and non-consensual porn. X should be banned in this country.
📞 416-972-2030
📧 evan.solomon@parl.gc.ca
📞 416-972-2030
📧 evan.solomon@parl.gc.ca
Here is a template letter, with alt text for copy-pasting, to send to your state AG, or tweak to send to your reps, etc. It will take two minutes. Find their contact here: www.naag.org/find-my-ag/
January 8, 2026 at 12:57 AM
I'm going to do this tomorrow and I hope you'll do it as well.
Time for a timeline cleanse.
I just discovered the Cool History Bros account on YouTube. 😁 #history #china #asia
I just discovered the Cool History Bros account on YouTube. 😁 #history #china #asia
Cool History Bros
Explore cool myths legends and histories from Asia and the rest of the world.
youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
So I have only just discovered at some vague point in the next couple weeks Google is going to break the way my work email works, and the company has done nothing to alert people to it.
www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/g...
www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/g...
Gmail preparing to drop POP3 mail fetching
: It's January 2026, and Google is finding innovative new ways to make one of its services worse
www.theregister.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:25 PM
So I have only just discovered at some vague point in the next couple weeks Google is going to break the way my work email works, and the company has done nothing to alert people to it.
www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/g...
www.theregister.com/2026/01/05/g...
Meanwhile closer to home 😬
A live grenade was found at 153 Pitt St, Sydney (Cape Breton) and rendered safe by police. Scene cleared, no ongoing risk to the public.
nsalert.alertable.ca#/details/202...
#NovaScotia #CapeBreton #EmergencyAlert #PublicSafety #NSAlert
nsalert.alertable.ca#/details/202...
#NovaScotia #CapeBreton #EmergencyAlert #PublicSafety #NSAlert
January 7, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Meanwhile closer to home 😬
He absolutely wants to invade more countries.
Trump: "I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion. This will allow us to build the 'Dream Military' that we have long been entitled to."
January 7, 2026 at 10:28 PM
He absolutely wants to invade more countries.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Sometimes all you can do is make the world 0.0000000000001% less awful by being a good person and it feels very meaningless but it’s also the only thing that really matters
January 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Sometimes all you can do is make the world 0.0000000000001% less awful by being a good person and it feels very meaningless but it’s also the only thing that really matters
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
The right to data portability will be examined by the CJEU for the first time.
January 7, 2026 at 1:10 PM
The right to data portability will be examined by the CJEU for the first time.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
INVESTIGATIONUsing easily accessible advertising data, Le Monde was able to pinpoint the identities, home addresses and daily routines of several dozen people working for sensitive official entities.
www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/ar...
#adtechharms
HT @wchr.bsky.social
www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/ar...
#adtechharms
HT @wchr.bsky.social
How French spies, police and military personnel are betrayed by advertising data
Using easily accessible advertising data, Le Monde was able to pinpoint the identities, home addresses and daily routines of several dozen people working for sensitive official entities.
www.lemonde.fr
January 7, 2026 at 11:49 AM
INVESTIGATIONUsing easily accessible advertising data, Le Monde was able to pinpoint the identities, home addresses and daily routines of several dozen people working for sensitive official entities.
www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/ar...
#adtechharms
HT @wchr.bsky.social
www.lemonde.fr/en/pixels/ar...
#adtechharms
HT @wchr.bsky.social
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
On one hand I’m worried about the snacks cabinet and on the other hand I’m worried about WW3. I don’t even have hands
January 7, 2026 at 6:39 AM
On one hand I’m worried about the snacks cabinet and on the other hand I’m worried about WW3. I don’t even have hands
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
I gotta find a way to spend less time paying attention to what's going on because all of it is completely insane and I can do very little about it
January 6, 2026 at 10:11 PM
I gotta find a way to spend less time paying attention to what's going on because all of it is completely insane and I can do very little about it
Sorry boys; still not nearly as stylish as obelisk cut stone, and that’s heck of a lot cheaper.
Tech bros are really eager to colonize your neck.
January 7, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Sorry boys; still not nearly as stylish as obelisk cut stone, and that’s heck of a lot cheaper.
This should be very obvious at this point, but if you consider yourself an artist don’t post that art on X.
If you still for some reason post your art on Twitter - they added "edit" button to every image, which opens AI prompt letting anybody to modify it and post as their own.
January 7, 2026 at 1:48 AM
This should be very obvious at this point, but if you consider yourself an artist don’t post that art on X.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Our updated PIA guidance helps institutions assess privacy risks in line with Ontario’s laws and best practices, before new initiatives get underway. It’s a practical resource to turn to whenever you’re planning or implementing a new project. https://ow.ly/V8Uy50XRWEi
January 6, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Our updated PIA guidance helps institutions assess privacy risks in line with Ontario’s laws and best practices, before new initiatives get underway. It’s a practical resource to turn to whenever you’re planning or implementing a new project. https://ow.ly/V8Uy50XRWEi
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
He was one of the greatest athletes to come from Nova Scotia.
The first Canadian-born boxing champion and the first-ever Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.
His name was George Dixon.
This is his story.
🧵1/10
The first Canadian-born boxing champion and the first-ever Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.
His name was George Dixon.
This is his story.
🧵1/10
January 6, 2026 at 2:01 PM
He was one of the greatest athletes to come from Nova Scotia.
The first Canadian-born boxing champion and the first-ever Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.
His name was George Dixon.
This is his story.
🧵1/10
The first Canadian-born boxing champion and the first-ever Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.
His name was George Dixon.
This is his story.
🧵1/10
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
My father used to tell me stories about how in the USSR the history books were edited and altered every year and everyone was supposed to nod and smile and pretend that nothing had happened and the "new history" had been there all along.
Just sayin'.
Just sayin'.
White supremacists successfully rewrote history after the Civil War, so much so that today people deny what the slave states had proudly proclaimed back then: it was about slavery. And now this group is rewriting history today. They are lying. They are liars. They are liars.
January 6, 2026 at 10:16 PM
My father used to tell me stories about how in the USSR the history books were edited and altered every year and everyone was supposed to nod and smile and pretend that nothing had happened and the "new history" had been there all along.
Just sayin'.
Just sayin'.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
one takeaway from the grok noncon porn thing is that much of the media just isn't interested in an issue they can't pretend has two sides or that doesn't give them an opportunity to shit on the left. Also it would be uncomfortable to justify remaining on twitter after acknowledging it
January 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM
one takeaway from the grok noncon porn thing is that much of the media just isn't interested in an issue they can't pretend has two sides or that doesn't give them an opportunity to shit on the left. Also it would be uncomfortable to justify remaining on twitter after acknowledging it
This so much. There’s a lot of problems going on that make more sense when viewed through decades of education & literacy cuts.
There is a TikTok going around that I think is suggesting women ask a date/prospective date to just choose a paragraph for the man to read out loud. Dude has problems reading and kinda ragequits. Makes me despair and think of:
* 3-cueing
* low US level of functional adult literacy
* 3-cueing
* low US level of functional adult literacy
January 6, 2026 at 9:06 PM
This so much. There’s a lot of problems going on that make more sense when viewed through decades of education & literacy cuts.
Late 2026 resolution - act with more confidence.
If there are billionaires and world leaders who can act without a thought in their brain, surely I can take what I do have and fake the rest.
If there are billionaires and world leaders who can act without a thought in their brain, surely I can take what I do have and fake the rest.
January 6, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Late 2026 resolution - act with more confidence.
If there are billionaires and world leaders who can act without a thought in their brain, surely I can take what I do have and fake the rest.
If there are billionaires and world leaders who can act without a thought in their brain, surely I can take what I do have and fake the rest.
Reposted by Victoria McIntosh
So this should probably be raising more alarms, no? Even if US authorities only gain access to data of EU travellers (a worrying prospect on its own), who will attest that they are indeed travellers? US authorities? I hope we'll not just take them by their word.
The US might soon get access to Europeans’ biometric data – like fingerprints and facial scans – which it wants to keep allowing visa-free travel to the country. EU governments have already given their OK to start talks.
Read my article at @euractiv.com:
www.euractiv.com/news/eu-coun...
Read my article at @euractiv.com:
www.euractiv.com/news/eu-coun...
EU countries gear up to let US tap their citizens’ biometrics | Euractiv
US wants fingerprints and facial scans for visa-free travel, EU governments cave
www.euractiv.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:59 PM
So this should probably be raising more alarms, no? Even if US authorities only gain access to data of EU travellers (a worrying prospect on its own), who will attest that they are indeed travellers? US authorities? I hope we'll not just take them by their word.