iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Naomi Kritzer @naomikritzer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

No one is disposable, including the canary ❤️🦜✊

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The new season of Slow Horses is off to a great start. (Also, wow, it's been a good while since I've seen an artful establishing shot in a TV show).

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Trout in Plaid @troutinplaid.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Send a message to your #ptbo councillors that you support @joylachica.bsky.social's motion for a moratorium on AI data centres until their impact has been studied and proper zoning bylaws are in place to manage scale, energy and water use, emissions, noise, vibrations, light pollution and toxicity.

peterborough.stopthedatacentre.ca

Stop the Datacentre

A datacentre can be heard several kilometres away.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I am working more than a full time job this semester. I will be sustained through the wonders of the Hardcore Medieval Party Mix: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaRN...

youtube.com

Medieval Music - 'Hardcore' Party Mix

YouTube video by VacnaPaul

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I've gotta run a welcome event for about 30 students in the same program, but in different years. I thus ask the necessary, brave question: Does anyone know any ice breakers that are actually good?

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Nice bread and trains conspicuously missing from the strategic priorities/tech transfer list!!!

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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

All nationalism is fake but "we founded an independent country because we were angry about the prevailing price of oil and natural gas and disagreed with federal policies regarding pipeline investment" is even faker than usual.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Guys I think we shouldn't have elected a banker...

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Nick Tsergas @nicktsergas.ca · 15/09/2026

Ontario is still writing its rules for datacentres. But Ford's pitchdeck for foreign investors explicitly markets Hamilton’s waterfront for deregulated AI datacentre development, including "sovereign" AI opportunities." Sovereign AI. Built for foreign investors. With no rules. #HamOnt

"Ontario — Your investment partner," reads the title of an investment prospectus circulated by the Ontario government at Mark Carney's private investment summit of 200 foreign CEOs

relevant section: "The Steelport site is undergoing
master planning following M5 Industrial zoning.
Commercial opportunities are expected
to be announced in Q4 2026, with Phase 1
construction anticipated to commence in 2027."

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I have a piece in this issue with Brian Sutherland looking at the different ways AI researchers have tried to tackle the climate impacts of their own research (+ how degrowthers are offering some neat critiques from the margins) sciencetechnologystudies.journal.fi/article/view...

sciencetechnologystudies.journal.fi

Making sure you're not a bot!

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Laser @stefanlaser.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Our special issue in Science and Technology Studies is live: “Across the Layers of Planetary Matter, Data Infrastructures, and Knowledge Production”. #sts This is an attempt to rethink the digitized world as a planetary entanglement. sciencetechnologystudies.journal.fi/issue/vie…

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I'm back in Europe in Nov and I have booked myself into another ~night train~. This one has Japanese cubical hotel style sleeping pods---let's go!

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jess m. ☕🍂 @jametc.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I need you all to promise me that when this all happens, you never stop clowning them. Never ever. no matter how much they plead for understanding or try to pretend they were never into it, don't ever let them fucking forget

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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

First Senakw doing compulsory YIMBYism on Vancouver, now this, nothing but respect for Indigenous power

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Official over being mistaken for a student. How many elbow patches do I have to wear?

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yaoi gagarin @mel.bzky.team · 07/09/2026

fucked up that nigel farage is a brexiteer and pro-crypto. makes it hard to criticize him, what with him being eurodivergent and a miner

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Markham Hislop @markhamhislop.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Ottawa's New Data Centre Copies Trump's Policy Prof Anne Pasek of @Trent University with plenty of info Canadians need to know about AI/data centres. Eg the US can compel US companies operating in Canada to disclose your data. #uspoli #cdnpoli youtu.be/oAyy_n4ur5c

youtu.be

Ottawa's New Data Centre Copies Trump's Policy

YouTube video by Energi Media

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Helping to collate candidate opinions on data centre moratoria/bylaw reviews in Peterborough. We are off to the races, with only pro-moratorium opinions so far... peterborough.stopthedatacentre.ca/election-tra...

peterborough.stopthedatacentre.ca

Election tracker · Stop the Datacentre

Think there should be rules for AI datacentres? Us too.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

My take on the feds' new AI data centre framework: It's basically just a copy of Trump's rate payer protection pledge. It rebrands voluntary corporate pledges as if they were government mandates. They're not. They're pinkie promises, and they're already falling short. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

cbc.ca

Want to build a data centre in Canada? These are the federal government's new expectations | CBC News

The federal government has announced a new framework outlining key expectations for responsible data centre development, as politicians and companies grapple with public pushback to the infrastructure...

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

We're looking to recruit a PhD student at Trent to do some experimental community engagements with UNFCCC climate docs. Are you a theatre kid at heart? An aspiring policy wonk? A climate comms nerd? We have funding for you--Come work with us! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

Funded Position in Environmental Humanities Approaches to Global Climate Change Policy

Funded Position in Environmental Humanities Approaches to Global Climate Change Policy Two researchers at Trent University (Anne Pasek and Stephanie Rutherford) are recruiting a new PhD student for ...

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Diami @diami.myatproto.social · 01/09/2026

Chapter 1 of Capital summarized.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I want some to, gonzo journalism style, have a year where they exclusively publish and present at obvious scam venues. What would it be like to keynote at the Second International Conference on Biotechnology and Recycling? Especially if I know fuck all about that topic? Who else would be there?

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Because Doug Ford does not want me, specifically, to find happiness he held a press conference on the one day I was trying to take off for vacation in order to announce a extremely vague plan-to-make-a-plan about data centre regulations www.nationalobserver.com/2026/08/13/n...

nationalobserver.com

Ford to municipalities opposing data centres: 'Either we do it, or Donald Trump's going to do it'

Ontario's premier was in Guelph at a provincial data centre to announce the province’s framework for its Data Centre Playbook, which is open for public comment for 30 days.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Reposting, in part, to appreciate this excellent robot costume, used to excellent effect at an Amazon community information session. The heroes we need.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

My first PhD student successfully defended today!!!! This part of the job is very, very nice!

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Neil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This is brilliant from @ellecordova.bsky.social She has penned The Anthem for the Age of AI. Amazing how many major concepts she touches in this short song. I especially appreciated her call to reject the vision of AI manifest destiny offered up by AI evangelists and their useful allies.

youtube.com

Data centers

YouTube video by Elle Cordova

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Nick Seaver @nickseaver.website · 06/08/2026

reminds me of what Helmreich calls "informalisms" here: journal.culanth.org/index.php/ca... The question in anthro of science is often whether the metaphors are just for public communication (whether that's simplifying or gaslighting) or if they reflect/inform how practitioners actually think.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

AI for All: First as promise, then as threat

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Cool news! A network of smart people in ON/QB won a huge grant to set up a global environmental humanities network for critical perspectives on climate politics and sustainability. We'll be recruiting a PhD student at Trent soon with a nice pot of funding :) sshrc-crsh.canada.ca/en/competiti...

sshrc-crsh.canada.ca

Award recipients for Partnership Grants—Stage 2: October 2025 Competition

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

A lovely way to spend your evening would be to curl up with your knitting/physiotherapy exercises/cat (yes I am getting old) and get all the gossip on Hamilton's data centre moratorium campaign. These organizers got further than anyone else in Canada has yet + have a ton of great lessons to pass on.

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Nick Tsergas @nicktsergas.ca · 23/07/2026

The datacentre debate is spreading across Canada. Are you a city councillor wondering what you can do to protect your community. Or maybe a very cool person who wants to stop one or more datacentres?

Image promoting webinar discussing Hamilton, Ontario’s datacentre pushback, the story and tactics.

July 27 at 7pm. Info in thread.

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Nick Tsergas @nicktsergas.ca · 23/07/2026

Join us, with @nrindernann.bsky.social, @apasek.bsky.social and more friends for a tactical dive into what went down in Canada's first datacentre battleground. Monday July 27 | 7-8pm est Zoom: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Panelists include Hamilton city councillor Nrinder Nann, who championed Canada's first proposed moratorium on AI datacentres, journalist Nick Tsergas of stopthedatacentre.ca, and Anne Pasek, Canada Research Chair and expert on tech-policy.

The zoom link is in the post.

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I spoke on Alberta radio last week, coming in after the Minister of Technology and Innovation. It's nice when you get to directly fact check politicians! But also, check out his metaphor about 'digital refineries', which combines many of my special interests... podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/d...

Nate Glubish:
“One of the questions I get asked all the time is, ‘Nate, why don’t we build more refineries in this province to add value to our natural resources and capture more wealth that is created by our natural resources for the benefit of Albertans?’ And a second question I get asked all the time is, ‘Nate, why don’t we build more pipelines to get our natural resources to global markets?’ These projects are essentially digital refineries and digital pipelines. If you think about it, we’re taking natural gas and we’re adding value to it in creating electricity. Then we’re taking electricity and we’re creating value from and creating intelligence. And we’re taking intelligence and adding value to it in creating AI technologies and platforms that are then exported globally through fiber. So the data centre is the digital refinery. The fiber is the digital pipeline. This is essentially a way for Albertans to benefit from their natural resources in a time when the rest of Canada is making it very difficult to build pipelines to move the hydrocarbons themselves. We can instead convert them into a much higher value final product and export them to the entire planet.”

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Marta Zboralska @marta-zboralska.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I have held one of these awards and would be happy to share my experience if anyone is looking for advice (it was wonderful).

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shaun @shaunvids.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

"why does the UK change leaders so often?" there are diminishing returns wrt how long each vessel can house thatcher's spirit. by the end of the century we'll be getting through 1000 prime ministers a day

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Anne Pasek @apasek.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

hahaha... ok so I teach science communication classes, and now I have an example about the importance of message discipline. Sometimes the glib thing you mention in passing to a reporter becomes part of the byline... www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

New York is pausing new data centres. Could that happen in Canada? | CBC News

More companies are looking to Canada to build out hyperscale data centres meant to power AI, launching a debate over whether the facilities are a net benefit for the country. Here's a look at whether ...

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T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Reminder that Carney has cut funding for Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and Indigenous Services. And he has rolled back climate protections, abandoned emissions targets, and is building more pipelines.

Carney:

"The wildfire situation has escalated significantly over the last three weeks across the country, and particularly in Northwestern Ontario.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their communities, not knowing if their homes will survive.

On behalf of Canadians, I want to thank the brave firefighters, first responders, Indigenous and local leaders who are working tirelessly to keep people safe.

Our government is in close contact with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous partners and stands ready to provide any additional support as needed."

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Hester Blum @hesterblum.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I wish I could tell you that I have consumed any other culture/thought about anything else in six months but I haven’t, and here’s a little bit about why. Thanks to @publicbooks.bsky.social and anyone who has allowed me to talk at them about HR and MD: www.publicbooks.org/heated-rival...

publicbooks.org

“Heated Rivalry” Is the “Moby-Dick” of Canadian Gay Hockey Shows - Public Books

The literary genre of contemporary MM romance realizes an imagined world that Melville was trying to write into being.

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