iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Pathetic and disgusting behavior by @ctvnews-rss.bsky.social. Legacy media leans so hard on their "journalistic integrity" in comparison to streamers and content creators, but when the chips are down, they fold like a cheap napkin.

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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 01/04/2025

Absolutely shameful that CTV caved to a disingenuous right-wing pressure campaign instead of standing their ground. It presents even more red flags about the state of the media in Canada. @rachelgilmore.bsky.social did not deserve to be treated this way.

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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

NEW: A searing editorial in the The Kyiv Independent. “It’s time to say it plainly. America’s leadership has switched sides in the war. The American people have not, and they should speak up. “A president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn’t Zelensky.” @kyivindependent.com

kyivindependent.com

Editorial: A president just disrespected America in the Oval Office. It wasn’t Zelensky

It’s time to say it plainly. America’s leadership has switched sides in the war. The American people have not, and they should speak up. In the past several weeks, the U.S. leadership has demonstrate...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Remember the good old days when the right wing nut jobs pretended that fascists and nazis weren't welcome at the convoy protests? Now they openly celebrate America's decline into fascism and hope to be a part of it.

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Prof Julia Steinberger 🌹🌱🌍 #ClimateAction #Fightfascism @jksteinberger.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity. TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄

NO CHATGPT Or other artificial stupidity: motivation
First, clarity on distinguishing AIs:
Non-generative: grammar aid, translation, dictionary, text-to-audio (e.g. Natural Reader): no problem
As long as you use the appropriate tools (least intensive in data and server energy use).
Why? Because you provide the content. Your brain is doing the most important work
Generative: ChatGPT & Co.
You only supply the prompt, the AI supplies the content.
Why is this delegation of work problematic?
3 domains: ethical, environmental, intellectual engagement.

(Caveat: generative is probably ok for computer programming, where it can be useful and save time. Not relevant to this class.)

1) AI and ethics
Mass theft of all and everything
«learning» on books, articles, blogs, social media, images, music, cultural production, without permission of authors/creators, and leading to their mass joblessness. Profits are not reditributed to originators.
Permanent destruction of the mental health of underpaid precarious tech workers in the Global South (Kenya, Philippines …):
«correction» to avoid production of violent and pedophile contents etc, tech workers are obliged to watch and correct super violent contents for days on end, leading to extreme psychological suffering and trauma, from which recovery is doubtful. No or little compensation (certainly not at the level of the suffering inflicted).
In short, an industry built on theft of real human creation and sacrifice of real human health, profiting a few megafortunes.

2) AI and (un)sustainability

Massive consumption of electricity, water, server capacity for generative AI.
Outcome: keep fossil fuel companies in business, using up new renewable capacity, without any satisfaction of basic human needs.
Massive misappropriation of the finance necessary for climate and ecological action (renewable generation, efficiency and retrofit for buildings, public transit, infrastructures for cycling etc) towards AI industry.
Overall: undermine climate action, reinforce fossil industry, waste resources necessary for human development.

3) AI and intellectual engagement

First, what learning is (or should be) about:
The goal should not (only) be the reproduction of «correct» knowledge,
But mainly personal engagement and experience of thinking about topics of interest. Personal engagement = using one’s own brain.
The most important activity for learning and intellectual engagement is the experience of making one’s own mistakes, by trial and error, corrections based on new ideas, starting over again. Learning to recognise nuances, knowledge gaps, better explanations
This kind of learning is possible only through using your own brain, not AI.
Also, Ais are not «intelligent». At all.
They simply reproduce pre-existing patterns. They «bullshit», invent false references, false facts, false data, simply because those sound plausible. VERY DANGEROUS.
If you learn how to NOT use AI, and how to research facts and data on your own, this will serve you and your communities for the rest of your life.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Trump is testing the tolerance for authoritarianism. Do not obey in advance; encourage others to do the same, especially those with the power and privilege of Google.

A map of the Gulf of Mexico and instructions for sending feedback to Google reporting inaccurate content.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

The farmers who are out tens or hundreds of thousands after Elon reneged on funding contracts don't seem too happy. Trump was only supposed to hurt people they don't like.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I think maybe areas close to the border understand the close ties between our countries, and see Trump's actions as a lack of respect. "Canada will never trust us again - he's wrecked that relationship" is something I heard more than once. Most farmers are decent to a fault - Trump is the opposite.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

I spent today at a farm conference in Western NY state. Expected to hear lots of support for Trump. Instead, in the first hour, had two farmers ask about moving to Canada. Heard nothing all day but sadness and worry about what he's doing to the fed gov't and int'l relations.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

He's burning the books now. We all get that that's what's happening as web pages go dark, right?

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

And yet when I, a credentialed expert in agriculture, tried to engage you regarding misinformation you've published regarding food and farming, the response was crickets. So what gives?

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

The challenge is to overcome the disinformation by addressing what makes it "feel" true/desirable rather than treating it like an information deficit. Telling disinformed voters that they're wrong/stupid plays right into the populist appeal of the Cons/PPC.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

This is kind of about the LA fires but really about so much more. Definitely worth the watch. Please consider supporting @rachelgilmore.bsky.social too - my resolution for 2025 is to invest in independent media: we've seen where expecting news for free leads us. open.substack.com/pub/rachelgi...

open.substack.com

LA fires bring out the big ol' liars

Jerks and grifters are taking advantage of this horrific tragedy to make a buck or get some clout -- or is it, in some cases, about something else?

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Black Cloud Six @blackcloudsix.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Mr Angus is the only person of substance saying what needs to be said to Trump and his odious ilk. More, much more, of this please.

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Charlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

My editorial piece in @nationalobserver.com We are not in ordinary times. We are in Trump times. The clock is ticking down on the arrival of the chaos machine in Washington. Canada is staring down a political tsunami but we're too busy to notice." www.nationalobserver.com/2024/12/27/o...

nationalobserver.com

Stand up to the bully

Canadians want reassurance people in Ottawa are ready to defend our values against Donald Trump's tirades. It is deeply disconcerting this is not happening.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

OK, I guess I know too many excellent scicommers who refuse to work with GLP due to their extreme bias, ethical breaches, and bigotry. And some of the worst status quo warriors who regularly feature there for the same reasons. They may aggregate some decent content, but I can't ignore the rest.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

By primary sources, I'm not referring to scientific publications, just media outlets that pay their writers and respect the integrity of their work. It's not a high bar. Also, if by "that person sucks," you're referring to Jon, he's the founder and Executive Director of GLP.

media.tenor.com

a woman says they 're the same picture while sitting in front of a window

ALT: a woman says they 're the same picture while sitting in front of a window

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Speaking as a former writer for GLP, it's hugely problematic. Whenever possible, I avoid them & find the original source. Along with routinely scraping and editing content without proper attribution, often misrepresenting the original context/intention, there's the racism: bsky.app/profile/jenn...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

available to both organic and conventional growers (she also neglects to mention that conventional growers still use copper products too). Again, her claims lack accuracy and omit crucial context, as other experts in the field have also pointed out. bsky.app/profile/wyow...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Toxicity is determined by both number/rate of application and persistence. Copper needs to be applied more often because it breaks down more quickly. That breakdown means it poses basically no risk to consumers (another fact she conveniently omits). However, there are now better biofungicide options

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

And here she clearly implies that there is a two-tier approach to regulation. Check out the EPA Pesticide Registration website she links to - it's a totally false claim. Anyone familiar with pesticide use and regulation would recognize it as complete nonsense.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Yes. "Organic pesticides" is a misnomer - the EPA and PDP make no such distinction (there are synthetic pesticides approved for organic use - another factual error). Inclusion in the PDP is a risk-based assessment - claiming that they "exclude organic pesticides" is conspiracy-theory level thinking.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

The copper sulfate she references is a algaecide, not a fungicide (like mancozeb). She's cherry-picking data and making faulty comparisons, as explained in the article I linked:

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

How looking at my info and looking at her sources before continuing to argue with me then? You keep saying, "she provides sources." But she doesn't have any sources linked to support the claims I disputed. If you see otherwise, please share them here.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Not demanding anything? This was you yesterday, wasn't it? bsky.app/profile/dale...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

The original claims were hers, and I disputed them - the burden is hers, and you claimed she had sources. I pointed out the lack of sources, and provided further support for my concerns. You're somehow still saying she's right and I'm wrong based on the volume of content she creates?

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

I may have time to answer any other specifics later, but allow me to point out the confirmation bias at play here: you're demanding that an expert in the field disprove (with a higher degree of evidentiary support) claims originally made by someone with no expertise (but a larger platform/influence)

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

With regard to her claims about "two-tier" regulation and oversight at the EPA, she did link to the EPA site, so please go there (or anywhere) and show me any reference to how a pesticide for organic use is evaluated for registration and use any differently: www.epa.gov/pesticide-re...

epa.gov

Pesticide Registration | US EPA

This site provides resources for an individual or company wanting to register a pesticide active ingredient or pesticide product in the United States. Features: a manual (blue book), other guidance, a...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

I also went back to Dr. Love's article, and found zero sources to support the claims I've corrected. Her claims are mostly recycled from an old SciAm blog post that is debunked in the article(s) I linked here. bsky.app/profile/rwal...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Thanks for a good discussion - I think we would find a very large number of things to agree on, and your students are lucky to have a prof who cares so deeply. Have a great day - time for me to focus on some work!

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

That's really awful to hear - I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I've also repeatedly called out the fear-mongering of people like RFK, Oz, and Food Babe over the years. It's unnecessary and counter-productive.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Production systems (organic, regenerative, conventional) exist on a spectrum, and every system and instance has benefits and drawbacks - there are always going to be tradeoffs and compromises. So in my mind, the point is to be fair and accurate, to respect diversity and choice, and work together.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Not sure what you mean by "post" - I'm referring to the article/blog post she linked to, and a number of her BlueSky posts (what do we call them now - I keep wanting to say "tweets"!) that shared statements from it.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

From my perspective, her post addresses pesticide residues concerns at the consumer level. I agree with her - for most consumers most of the time, residues on either type produce shouldn't cause health concerns. My issue is that she uses false and misleading claims to support that argument.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Bringing a GE seed variety to market is tightly-regulated (although increasing less so as time goes by). But once the variety is approved and the products enter the market, there's no distinction. All farmers have to follow the same federal and state regulations. Organic standards add an extra layer

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Where was the level of testing for "GMO foods" a topic of debate? Yes, when first introduced GE seed varieties underwent extensive testing to ensure these novel organisms didn't pose a threat to food safety. That's a matter of "novel" vs traditional seed breeding not GMO vs organic food.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

And to be clear, I absolutely share the same fears about what the incoming admin could do public health and food/ag policy, not just in the US, but globally. Advocates for sustainable, science-based agriculture need to be pulling together, not fighting the same old propaganda wars from decades ago.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

It does relate to this post. Sorry there's not an easier way to find it, but here's a link to one reply, and it might be easier to find more by following her original thread and viewing my responses. I guess I should compile it into a blog post or something. bsky.app/profile/rwal...

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Hi Dale, check out my replies to her from a couple of weeks ago for a detailed breakdown and supporting evidence. I'm a Certified Crop Advisor as well as a licensed pesticide vendor, so unlike @drandrealove.bsky.social I am professionally, legally, and financially accountable for my statements.

Rob Wallbridge's Certified Crop Advisor and Pesticide Vendor Certification Course certificates.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Hi Jesse, if you scroll down in my replies from a couple of weeks ago, I detail several false and misleading statements, with supporting information. Check them out, and I'd be happy to answer further questions.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Her posts on this topic are riddled with factual errors and missing context. Unfortunately, she has no expertise or training in this area that would allow her to detect the biases in her source material. Worse still, she refuses to accept new information. It does a terrible disservice to "scicomm."

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

I'm not demanding a reply, but correcting the blatantly false and misleading statements that I pointed out previously would go a long way in maintaining your credibility as a science communicator. The ability to acknowledge and correct errors is a key distinction between science and disinformation.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

The farther the better as far as I'm concerned!

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Let's say ten for one. And we'll need more room!

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Not Alberta, just some Albertans. They're free to move to Texas or another state of their choosing.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Dear U.S. States, We're now accepting applications for additional provinces. A free jug of maple syrup to the first ten respondents!

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

It's longer than a TikTok, but worth 10x its length in any series of reels you're likely to watch today. Time to grow up and come back together, Canada.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Nice to see @kelseybanks.bsky.social join just in time for the annual sharing of our mutual appreciation for EDM!

"Chill Melodic Electronic Progressive House" - you tell me!

"Wanderlust Vocal Trance" - sounds about right.

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Rob Wallbridge @rwallbridge.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

And now for something completely different. #SpotifyWrapped

My top artists and songs. Lots of EDM, with some Taylor Swift and The Killers thrown in for good measure.

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