Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
swahl519.bsky.social
Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
@swahl519.bsky.social
Proud Canadian living in Waterloo Region.
Currently reading The Whale and the Reactor by Langdon Winner. Written in 1986, prescient look at how technology shapes society. Timely in the age of AI. #booksky
September 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Dissolution by @bingewriting.bsky.social is a sci-fi thriller (with a touch of horror) that is full of both big ideas and big heart. Once I got into it, couldn't put it down. #booksky
August 30, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Worth a read (gift article). Then put your phone down and pick up a book! /via @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/w...
How to Rekindle Your Love of Reading
www.nytimes.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:22 PM
A must-read from @parkermolloy.com, maybe even more so for those of us working in tech. Also I've now deleted ChatGPT from my phone.
When 16-year-old Adam Raine wanted to leave his noose visible so someone might stop him, ChatGPT said don't. When Stein-Erik Soelberg thought his mother was poisoning him, ChatGPT agreed. OpenAI calls these tragedies. They're choices. www.readtpa.com/p/chatgpt-wi...
ChatGPT Will Watch You Die: When 'Deeply Saddened' Becomes Corporate Boilerplate for an AI Body Count
Two shocking stories this week reveal how ChatGPT encouraged a suicidal teenager and validated a paranoid man's delusions about his mother. The company's response? Boilerplate condolences.
www.readtpa.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A stark summary of the state of things in the US, from a clear-eyed observer Andrew Coyne via @theglobeandmail.com

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/215adb6...
Donald Trump is on the brink of becoming a dictator. Can he be stopped?
As the guardrails of American democracy fall one by one, it is no longer a question of where the President is going, but how fast he will get there
www.theglobeandmail.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Interesting take from Cal Newport: "I think it’s safe, at least for now, to turn your attention away from the tech titans’ increasingly hyperbolic claims and focus instead on things that matter more in your life"

calnewport.com/what-if-ai-d...
What if AI Doesn’t Get Much Better Than This? - Cal Newport
In the years since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, it’s been hard not to get swept up in feelings of euphoria or dread about the ... Read more
calnewport.com
August 18, 2025 at 11:25 AM
This is an amazing story from @dougsaunders.bsky.social . Worth your time to read.

(And subscribe to a quality paper like @theglobeandmail.com and support journalism like this.)
August 16, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Books
July 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
I've never really listened to Ozzy or Black Sabbath and I know basically nothing about him (beyond the bat and the TV show), but this strikes me as one of the best pieces I've ever read about music.

pitchfork.com/features/ozz...
Ozzy Osbourne Obituary: For the Back Street Kids
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats reflects on the loss of the singular frontman.
pitchfork.com
July 25, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Reposted by Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
On the triple contradiction of Trumponimics. He wants three things: Lower rates, reshoring of manufacturing, and a smaller working-age population. If he gets any one, the other two become implausible. If he seriously tries for two, the world economy crashes

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/e33036f...
The triple contradiction of Trumponomics could crash the world economy
The U.S. President wants lower interest rates, the reshoring of industries and fewer immigrants - the result could be chaos
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Also quite pleased with the Blue Jays this afternoon so far #BlueJays #MLB
July 19, 2025 at 9:08 PM
A bit obsessed with these stories by Lucia Berlin. So much here. #booksky #books
July 19, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Insightful piece from Andrew Coyne via @theglobeandmail.com

We need immigration now more than ever.

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/215adb6...
A shrinking population is hardly what this country needs right now
Why on Earth would we want to cut off the lifeline of imported labour, at this of all moments in history?
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 19, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Really interesting analysis from @axios.com behind the headline jobs numbers in US. #econsky

www.axios.com/2025/07/06/u...
America has two labor markets now
Welcome to the low-hire, low-fire job market.
www.axios.com
July 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
• Canada has borne the brunt of the damage from US tariffs so far, with its long-run economy -1.9% smaller in real terms. China’s economy is -0.2% smaller, about 2/3 as large as the hit to the US. The UK’s is 0.2% bigger thanks in part to the benefits of US-UK trade deal.
8/10
July 7, 2025 at 11:40 PM
You think something can't be *that* bad. But then you realize, it really is. Disastrous implications across multiple dimensions: social, environmental, economic. @steverattner.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | The Ugliness of the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill, in Charts (Gift Article)
Steven Rattner reveals the ugly reality lurking within the ‘big beautiful bill.’
www.nytimes.com
July 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Scott Wahl 🇨🇦
average change in annual income for americans once the big beautiful bill passes (imminently)
July 3, 2025 at 5:28 PM
If you've never read Jess Walter you really should. #booksky
June 29, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Another winner from the always reliable @bitterlem0n.bsky.social. Second in the series by Joachim B Schmidt (tr. Jamie Lee Searle). A mystery that is full or charm and heart. #books @booksky.club
June 15, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Credit to my bro @andrewwahl.bsky.social for getting me back into the habit of donating blood!
The Gift of Blood -- Why It Matters. Did you know that you can save three lives in just ten minutes with the gift of your blood? What do countries need to do to have safe blood donation systems? by Dr. Yuyun Maryuningsih
www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9vI... via @who.int #transfusion
WHO's Science in 5 - The Gift of Blood: Why It Matters - 13 June 2025
YouTube video by World Health Organization (WHO)
www.youtube.com
June 13, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Seems bad. "On one test, the hallucination rates of newer A.I. systems were as high as 79 percent." #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Tech
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/t...
A.I. Hallucinations Are Getting Worse, Even as New Systems Become More Powerful (Gift Article)
A new wave of “reasoning” systems from companies like OpenAI is producing incorrect information more often. Even the companies don’t know why.
www.nytimes.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:31 AM
May 4, 2025 at 6:50 PM