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Monika Viktorova

@mviktoro.bsky.social
4.4K followers 869 following 1.1K posts

we fight dystopia by resisting cynicism and apathy #tech #aiethics #humanrights #UBI #booksky #crafts 🇧🇬🇨🇦 she/her | views my own

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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Jenny @nerdyelk.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Can we stop focusing on the booze for this alleged trade deal and focus on the potential loss of Canadians' digital sovereignty???
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
DCapTO @dcapto.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I just found out Ontario will only cover Pap tests every 5 years instead of 2 years. But maybe soon we won’t need to do them at all! 👏👏👏 #ONpoli Reposting with alt text: Portrait of a woman wearing a white lab coat and smiling, presumably Mexican researcher Eva Ramón Gallegos. #HPV
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 21/08/2026
Threatening people with inevitability doesn't work anymore. Overemphasizing the benefits and minimizing the risks doesn't work anymore. Dismissing peoples concerns because they aren't deeply rooted in the technical details doesn't work anymore. The days of steamrolling hesitancy are gone.
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Post a perfect album from the 2000s (2000-2009)
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Me to everyone at this #BIEN congress
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
what if you closed the app and went to your nearest park?
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
jack @j4ck.xyz · 21/08/2026
this is so relatable, Claude
“Thought process is unavailable” error on Claude iOS app
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The absolute irony of this being everyone in the discourse The only antidote is earnestly building bridges
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Toque erasure
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This isn’t event about spreadsheet people discourse but it’s also not not about it
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
P(aul) Frazee @pfrazee.com · 20/08/2026
Just noticed myself doing agent<->agent a lot more, which in Q1 I wasn't sure was going to be useful. Seems like it is? Small post
pfrazee.leaflet.pub
My-agent ↔️ your-agent may actually be useful
Not in a "get hyped" kind of way. More like: oh, yep, I am doing that.
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 20/08/2026
And all of the options in that ecosystem have to be radically different than what people think of as being intrinsic to "AI" today. It is possible to build systems that use data consensually. It is possible to build systems entirely on renewable power. It is possible to build actually open systems…
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Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
fwiw, I have a friend who's a mathematician who has been following AI use in the field and says that it does seem to be useful in some pretty limited and specific cases in finding certain kinds of solutions. So, not transformative, but a helpful tool sometimes. 1
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 20/08/2026
Baffled that none of the spreadsheet people discourse has mentioned this incredible piece of news: windowsreport.com/microsoft-is...
Microsoft Is Retiring Excel’s COPILOT() Function After Just One Year
Milan Stanojevic
Milan Stanojevic Shield
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
News
Reading time icon2 min. read
Calendar icon Published on August 15, 2026

excel copilot function retire
Image credit: Microsoft
Microsoft is retiring the COPILOT() function in Excel, ending roughly a year of testing. According to Message Center MC1454373, the function will become unavailable after September 14, 2026.

COPILOT() allowed users to describe tasks in natural language and receive AI-generated results directly inside spreadsheet cells. Microsoft offered the experimental function to Frontier and Insider customers.

COPILOT() handled text and web-based tasks
The function worked particularly well for tasks involving text summarization, classification, content generation, and web-based information lookup.

Users could enter natural-language instructions directly as part of a spreadsheet formula instead of opening a separate Copilot interface.

However, Microsoft did not recommend COPILOT() for numerical calculations. The company also advised against using it to retrieve information already stored inside a workbook or for content subject to legal and compliance requirements.

The feature required an active internet connection and a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.

Microsoft says the formula is redundant
Microsoft is removing COPILOT() because Excel already provides other ways to access the same AI capabilities.

Users can continue working with Copilot through the Copilot side pane and the Dynamic Action Button (DAB). Microsoft is not removing the underlying AI features from Excel, only the dedicated spreadsheet function.

The retirement comes as Microsoft continues expanding Copilot elsewhere in Excel. The company is adding multi-agent web search to Copilot in Excel, giving the assistant more advanced capabilities for finding information online.

Microsoft is also unifying Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot into a si…Microsoft is retiring the COPILOT() function in Excel, ending roughly a year of testing. According to Message Center MC1454373, the function will become unavailable after September 14, 2026.

COPILOT() allowed users to describe tasks in natural language and receive AI-generated results directly inside spreadsheet cells. Microsoft offered the experimental function to Frontier and Insider customers.

COPILOT() handled text and web-based tasks
The function worked particularly well for tasks involving text summarization, classification, content generation, and web-based information lookup.

Users could enter natural-language instructions directly as part of a spreadsheet formula instead of opening a separate Copilot interface.

However, Microsoft did not recommend COPILOT() for numerical calculations. The company also advised against using it to retrieve information already stored inside a workbook or for content subject to legal and compliance requirements.

The feature required an active internet connection and a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
At this rate we’re gonna need to reclaim tech bro and have tech bro walks like we were reclaiming slut in the 2010s There are a lot of people who work in tech who are your ally. I’m hoping we can start building bridges around the issues we agree on instead of re enacting crabs in a bucket
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Brian (Stuttering Loudly) @stutteringloudly.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
If you’re COVID informed, please support / follow @thebeguiling.bsky.social on social media They’re a comic book shop in Toronto that requires masking(they provide a mask when you enter) Anti-maskers targeted them on one of their IG posts Thank you Beguiling for caring about immunocompromised ppl
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Devastated that this isn’t a reference to the musical act thievery corporation who are actually very good I am a thievery corporation booster* * if we’re talking about the music
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Kate Elliott @kateelliottsff.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I recommend this entire thread, and you'll understand why when you get all the way through it. A lovely analysis of human communication.
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Ideally the Ottawa-Alberta MOU would’ve led to enough policy certainty particularly around industrial pricing and carbon markets) to avoid this, but evidently not.
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normal not odd @normalnotodd.com · 20/08/2026
please don’t put it in the skyline that i’m mad
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Great to see @scottsantens.com ‘s panel on AI worker displacement and UBI for tech workers impacted by layoffs
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Love this
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Curious how this plays over time - there’s hype now so we’re seeing a spike of exploration. But sustained use proves out high fidelity workflow migration. There’s also the question of continuous training FWIW Pinterest uses deepseek for its image search and I find it’s garbage compared to Google
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I'm thoroughly convinced every AI stan secretly uses the chatbot feature more than they'll ever admit and believe it's their friend. It's a good explanation for someone going to the mattresses for something backed by all the worst people in the world whom they don't agree with on anything else
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I’m calling this the Ed Zitronification of the financial reporting space and that’s a compliment We need financial reporting that’s engaging and makes people interested in peeling back the layers of how wealth is being gambled at massive scale
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James S. Murphy @jamessmurphy.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This is the former head of admissions at Notre Dame saying, basically, that not all ND students who are legacies or related to donors are dumb but that pretty much all dumb ND students are legacies or related to donors.
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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
well! I wrote about Nvidia’s new plan to juice its earnings www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
theverge.com
Nvidia’s new financial strategy does not compute
“That’s naked sleight of hand, in my opinion.”
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The Globe and Mail @theglobeandmail.com · 20/08/2026
Happening now: Our reporters are answering questions about data centre projects in Canada and the public backlash surrounding them. Submit your questions here www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
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kyle 中和 turner @tylekurner.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
back at @avclub.com asking the important questions, like, why do movies look like that now? spoke to a bunch of cinematographers, colorists, and editors to try to figure out what is going on: www.avclub.com/why-do-movie...
avclub.com
Why do movies look like that now?
Cinematographers, colorists, and camera ops explain how shifting technologies and business expectations are making movies look like that.
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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 20/08/2026
Senators demand answers from TikTok over experiment that disabled safeguards
techcrunch.com
Senators demand answers from TikTok over experiment that disabled safeguards
The safeguard was designed to prevent users from being overwhelmed by harmful content, but TikTok wanted to determine whether it made the app less engaging.
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Prof Deborah Lupton, MPH PhD @dalupton.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... “No one knows why so many younger people are getting shingles these days”. Really? Nothing to do with immune dysfunction following repeated C19, I’m sure 🙄
theguardian.com
At 43, I was fit and happy. Then I developed a nasty – and very expensive - case of shingles | Arwa Mahdawi
Healthy women under 50 are now more at risk of the condition. What I didn’t know is that intense exercise could be to blame and the condition could cost me hundreds of dollars, writes Arwa Mahdawi
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This came up today in the #BIEN40 polycrisis plenary: AI automates parts of knowledge labour, it may even help automate work that can be roboticized. But that’s still a tiny proportion of most work - most work is forms of caring and reciprocal labor that is not remunerated! It’s why we need #UBI
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Reposted by Monika Viktorova
Fun @funkelly.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
the good news is that, for at least the foreseeable future, these humanoid robots can be easily defeated by utilizing any number of foiling tactics demonstrated in your run-of-the-mill looney tunes cartoon.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 20/08/2026
laughed so hard at this one there are genuine tears in my eyes
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I’ve been a bit quiet on here of late but wanted to share that I’m at the 40th annual #BIEN Congress happening today and tomorrow in #Toronto I’ll be speaking about #AI and its role in the polycrisis, and why we need #UBI more than ever If you’d like to tune in, zoom link is 👇
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 20/08/2026
In the meantime, you can access the censored Amnesty reports on gender critical groups here. Make sure they cannot erase these documents from the internet. Like a snowball. dn711306.ca.archive.org/0/items/amne... A growing threat. archive.org/download/rep...
dn711306.ca.archive.org
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Alright new H-Mart drink day 2: this one’s called “Jasmine Flavored Lemon Tea Drink” Tastes like a lightly sweetened bottle of Jo Malone perfume - interesting, but wouldn’t buy again 6/10
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
По принцип на Евровизия дледам само хайлаитите ама тази година станах стан #бангаранга Невероятен боп, лятото официално започна youtu.be/EltgrumKJfk?...
youtu.be
DARA - Bangaranga (LIVE) | Bulgaria 🇧🇬 | Grand Final | Winner of Eurovision 2026
YouTube video by Eurovision Song Contest
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
A friend has a rule that every time she goes to Nations (iykyk #TO) she tries a new type of fruit she’s never tried before Decided to apply this to my post-yoga H-Mart snack runs, but for drinks Starting off with Asahi Calpis (?? what a name) 7/10, vague lemony flavor & sparkly #newdrinkreview
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sdepye.bsky.social @sdepye.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This is the second case I’ve read about like this in the last month. This one right here at home. This should alarm everyone. wapo.st/41uBvjN
wapo.st
‘That wasn’t me’: How facial recognition led to a woman being jailed for 6 months
Kimberlee Williams, who lived in Oklahoma, was jailed after being accused of crimes in Maryland, a state she told investigators she had never visited.
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Casey Lawrence @myexplodingpen.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
My Review of Super Canucks: An Anthology of Canadian Small-Town Superheroes, edited by Matthew Del Papa & Andy Taylor medium.com/reviewsday-t... Full disclosure: I have a story in this anthology, so my review is tinged with pride at having been part of this project. 🤍🍁🤍
medium.com
SuperCanucks is Here to Save the Day
Review of An Anthology of Canadian Small-Town Superheroes, edited by Matthew Del Papa & Andy Taylor
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 14/04/2026
If you haven’t heard about it yet, the youths are super into IRL human interactions, no AI, and “physical media” (vinyl! DVDs! tapes!) right now and it’s glorious. Like there are 20yo influencers that just read old paper books and talk about feelings.
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Show me a picture that captures your essence
Selfie of a woman with medium length brown hair walking with her small shorthaired dog
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Anuj Ahooja @quillmatiq.com · 14/04/2026
2024: "The endgame is not Mastodon, Bluesky, or Threads. The endgame is finding communities on the web and following them all on the best platform for you." Aging pretty well, honestly. Probably going to age even better as time goes on.
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Was at a panel today where a participant pointed out that a lot of small to med sized nations have no capacity to prepare for the current state of AI enabled cyber threats let alone Mythos For govs where employees still use personal emails for official comms or systems lack 2FA, there is a reason
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maple cocaine @maplecocaine.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Everyone knows the economy is doing great. I dont know why homelessness is up and a record number of people are working 2 jobs, but that has nothing to do with the economy. The economy is a chart with a line going up, not that other shit. Grow up
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Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
I personally think not safe to remain in any personal relationship with anyone who is using LLMs to analyze your relationship, make conclusions about your motives, or determine how to treat you. I think this is beyond red flag—it should be an immediate dealbreaker.
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 14/04/2026
The index of consumer sentiment isn't broken; models that try to predict it just don't have the right input variables. I fix that and find that, yes, high nominal price levels explain why the vibes are so off. It's the prices, stupid www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-04-14...
gelliottmorris.com
It's the Prices, Stupid
Consumer sentiment is at an all-time low because prices are at an all-time high. Consumer sentiment isn't broken, popular government data is just incomplete
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Monika Viktorova @mviktoro.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Notable precursor to the "we should redistribute wealth" paper from OpenAI this week
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Lum @brokentoys.social · 13/04/2026
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