@drrainblossom.bsky.social
Reposted
I really appreciate the societal context from which chatgpt arose that Eryk provides in this piece
ChatGPT is 3 years old this week — what was the world like in late 2022, and how did that shape what ChatGPT has become? I wrote about ChatGPT as a pandemic technology, centered on expectations of social isolation in ways that continue to define it. mail.cyberneticforests.com/what-was-cha...
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:21 PM
I really appreciate the societal context from which chatgpt arose that Eryk provides in this piece
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Tim Hortons reminds Campbell’s customers that they also make bad soup for poor slobs
Tim Hortons reminds Campbell's customers that they also make bad soup for poor slobs
TORONTO - Following the news that a top Campbell’s executive was fired after being caught on microphone calling the company’s soups “shit for poor people”, Tim Hortons have released a statement remind...
www.thebeaverton.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Tim Hortons reminds Campbell’s customers that they also make bad soup for poor slobs
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property rights, boo hoo. give us the fast train!
Critics worry about Liberal plan to fast-track high-speed rail | CBC News
In an effort to halve the approval time for Canada’s new high-speed rail network, the Liberal government is streamlining how it expropriates land in a way that some say could compromise property right...
www.cbc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
property rights, boo hoo. give us the fast train!
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we (@marekmcgann.bsky.social and I) have also written about this
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Large models of what? Mistaking engineering achievements for human linguistic agency
In this paper we argue that key, often sensational and misleading, claims regarding linguistic capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) are based …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:10 PM
we (@marekmcgann.bsky.social and I) have also written about this
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Meta was aware that millions of adult strangers were contacting minors on its sites; that its products exacerbated mental health issues in teens; and that content related to eating disorders, suicide, and child sexual abuse was frequently detected, yet rarely removed.
time.com/7336204/meta...
time.com/7336204/meta...
7 Allegations Against Meta in Newly Unsealed Filings
Court filings allege Meta tolerated sex trafficking, hid harms to teens, and prioritized growth over user safety for years.
time.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Meta was aware that millions of adult strangers were contacting minors on its sites; that its products exacerbated mental health issues in teens; and that content related to eating disorders, suicide, and child sexual abuse was frequently detected, yet rarely removed.
time.com/7336204/meta...
time.com/7336204/meta...
Reposted
just learned we won an award for our blog post about Tom Holland and stormwater management.
remember, when you see an article about stormwater management, you repost it. i don’t make the rules.
remember, when you see an article about stormwater management, you repost it. i don’t make the rules.
What Tom Holland’s historic lip-sync showcase taught us about stormwater management
Grab your umbrella and your tights.
neorsd.medium.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:22 AM
just learned we won an award for our blog post about Tom Holland and stormwater management.
remember, when you see an article about stormwater management, you repost it. i don’t make the rules.
remember, when you see an article about stormwater management, you repost it. i don’t make the rules.
Reposted
It's also important to understand bad mayors come from the left and right. The establishment NDP are basically conservatives in their urban approach. See: bunch of downtown Toronto councillors over the years.
If you mention Horwath’s name in this city, howls of dissent rain down. Universal wtaf.
November 13, 2025 at 1:47 PM
It's also important to understand bad mayors come from the left and right. The establishment NDP are basically conservatives in their urban approach. See: bunch of downtown Toronto councillors over the years.
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This is the crux. There is an entire cohort of municipal politician in Canada who actively don't like that they live in cities (reflective of a lot of voters).
Someone really needs to do a ranking of all of the anti-city city mayors in Canada
November 13, 2025 at 1:42 PM
This is the crux. There is an entire cohort of municipal politician in Canada who actively don't like that they live in cities (reflective of a lot of voters).
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“Doug Ford is making people homeless and making the rest of us deal with the consequences. Bill 60 should be called the ‘Create Encampments Faster’ Act,” said Encampment Justice Coalition organizer Diana Chan McNally. www.torontotoday.ca/local/politi...
Toronto housing advocates warn Ford government’s Bill 60 will expedite homelessness
Tenant and housing advocates say changes to the Residential Tenancies Act in Bill 60 will fuel evictions and ‘create encampments faster’
www.torontotoday.ca
November 10, 2025 at 4:29 PM
“Doug Ford is making people homeless and making the rest of us deal with the consequences. Bill 60 should be called the ‘Create Encampments Faster’ Act,” said Encampment Justice Coalition organizer Diana Chan McNally. www.torontotoday.ca/local/politi...
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I think I had underestimated how much men really believe that they are essentially different in character than women are.
November 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I think I had underestimated how much men really believe that they are essentially different in character than women are.
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It’s hip on the left and right alike to hate “liberal feminism” (a term I challenge detractors to define—usually the “liberal” is silent). But the fascists of our moment hate nothing more than the actual liberal feminist ideal: a public sphere where women are equal. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/o...
Opinion | Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace?
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:59 PM
It’s hip on the left and right alike to hate “liberal feminism” (a term I challenge detractors to define—usually the “liberal” is silent). But the fascists of our moment hate nothing more than the actual liberal feminist ideal: a public sphere where women are equal. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/o...
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An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.
October 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.
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Actually, he’s still very much like Trump, and is scandal-ridden and corrupt, but he badly wants to be Prime Minister of Canada and he thinks this is the way to get there.
In his first campaign to lead Ontario, Ford started out as a Trump-style populist. But tariffs changed his view and he is now a consistent thorn in the U.S. president's side.
Who is Doug Ford, the Canadian politician pushing Trump's buttons?
In his first campaign to lead Ontario, Ford started out as a Trump-style populist. But tariffs changed his view and he is now a consistent thorn in the U.S. president's side.
n.pr
October 28, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Actually, he’s still very much like Trump, and is scandal-ridden and corrupt, but he badly wants to be Prime Minister of Canada and he thinks this is the way to get there.
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chan is married to mark zuckerberg, who has helped more than most to destroy US public health & biomedical research capacity, so pardon me if i roll my eyes
Priscilla Chan reveals the piece of health advice she ignores.
In the full interview, Chan discusses how she plans to cure all diseases by the end of the century, how she’s always been a nerd and why she almost transferred out of Harvard. 🎥 on.wsj.com/43o4O8S
In the full interview, Chan discusses how she plans to cure all diseases by the end of the century, how she’s always been a nerd and why she almost transferred out of Harvard. 🎥 on.wsj.com/43o4O8S
October 24, 2025 at 2:01 AM
chan is married to mark zuckerberg, who has helped more than most to destroy US public health & biomedical research capacity, so pardon me if i roll my eyes
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Ford just put every renter in Ontario into an even more precarious position. This is a clear and present danger to the 1.7 million renters in Ontario.
In particular, they want leases to no longer necessarily remain in effect indefinitely, so that landlords have more options for creating tenant turnover.
Current situation in left-hand column, proposal on the right:
Current situation in left-hand column, proposal on the right:
October 23, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Ford just put every renter in Ontario into an even more precarious position. This is a clear and present danger to the 1.7 million renters in Ontario.
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I think it's kind of nasty and reductive to refer to mature women who marched today as "wine moms and grandmas," even when it's said in admiration or support
October 18, 2025 at 10:48 PM
I think it's kind of nasty and reductive to refer to mature women who marched today as "wine moms and grandmas," even when it's said in admiration or support
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Political parties must shift immediately and dramatically to the left to avoid alienating these frustrated and abandoned young women. Am I doing this right?
Our recent poll found that women 28 and younger skew substantially more left than the national average. Nearly 80 percent of Gen Z women want abortion to be legal and seven in 10 want gender-affirming care to be accessible for trans adults.
Gen Z women are the most liberal group in the country
On issues like abortion and gender-affirming care, women 28 and younger skew substantially more left than the national average.
19thnews.org
October 18, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Political parties must shift immediately and dramatically to the left to avoid alienating these frustrated and abandoned young women. Am I doing this right?
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It's actually the best, and I will be taking no further questions at this time.
October 18, 2025 at 4:51 AM
It's actually the best, and I will be taking no further questions at this time.
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the big problem with this 1984 CHILDREN OF THE CORN movie (what i’m watching) is that it starts out strong with some truly gnarly kills and then just completely loses its momentum. if your movie begins with kids slitting the throats of old people then you gotta keep escalating!
October 17, 2025 at 12:57 AM
the big problem with this 1984 CHILDREN OF THE CORN movie (what i’m watching) is that it starts out strong with some truly gnarly kills and then just completely loses its momentum. if your movie begins with kids slitting the throats of old people then you gotta keep escalating!
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the problem isn't the money. it's the power. and also they used the money to get the power but that's not important
“The problem with billionaires isn’t that they’re hoarding money that would otherwise pay for a Scandinavian social utopia. It’s that their money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.”
Billionaires Are Hoarding Power, Not Money
Billionaire money has become a source of wildly distorted political power that allows a few men with extremist views to wreak havoc on the rest of us.
www.liberalcurrents.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
the problem isn't the money. it's the power. and also they used the money to get the power but that's not important
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Canadians are so upset with the United States & Trump that this year they are boycotting Thanksgiving & holding their own this weekend, calling it, "Canadian Thanksgiving".
They are PISSED.
They are PISSED.
October 10, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Canadians are so upset with the United States & Trump that this year they are boycotting Thanksgiving & holding their own this weekend, calling it, "Canadian Thanksgiving".
They are PISSED.
They are PISSED.
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The basic structure of so much commentary, some in the guise of academic study, reduces to:
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
October 9, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The basic structure of so much commentary, some in the guise of academic study, reduces to:
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
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It is hard not to connect these observable features of “academic” work on AI to the collapse of faculty governance in universities. Even academics in the midst of *doing* academic work *about* their academic work write as if they have no real choices about the material context in which it occurs.
October 9, 2025 at 12:04 PM
It is hard not to connect these observable features of “academic” work on AI to the collapse of faculty governance in universities. Even academics in the midst of *doing* academic work *about* their academic work write as if they have no real choices about the material context in which it occurs.
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A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.
October 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.