iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by slo ~|•

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Software engineering could and should be done with the same care as any other type of engineering. This is a post in honor of Margaret Hamilton (and also a subtweet of all vibe-coders everywhere).

Screencap

"“I fought to bring the software legitimacy so that it — and those building it — would be given its due respect, and thus I began to use the term ‘software engineering’ to distinguish it from hardware and other kinds of engineering, yet treat each type of engineering as part of the overall systems engineering process,” Hamilton told El Pais in 2018. “When I first started using this phrase, it was considered to be quite amusing. It was an ongoing joke for a long time. They liked to kid me about my radical ideas. Software eventually and necessarily gained the same respect as any other discipline.”"

Source: https://news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-hamilton-computing-pioneer-dies-1007

141004319

Reposted by slo ~|•

Kari Maaren @angrykem.bsky.social · 9h

This Is Just to Say I have trained the AI to read to our baby the one you were probably expecting me to interact with Calm down AI is awesome so sweet and so cold

322666

Reposted by slo ~|•

Gianmarco Soresi @gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social · 8h

Man who won’t give his employees piss breaks claims many piss breaks on the horizon

598144353352

Reposted by slo ~|•

Mel Woods @melwoods.me · 9h

Really appreciate Jen and @thetyee.ca asking me to weigh in about the person arrested in connection to the Tumbler Ridge tragedy, and how the ensuing media narrative is both a symptom of the larger anti-trans hate movement and will directly contribute to its continued amplification.

44616

slo ~|• @slo-slo-slo.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I've always* enjoyed computers because they were tools that I could use to make things. Experiencing a moment of frustration and sadness at their continued descent into only devices for consumption. Nothing new I know, but… 😩 *since the late eighties, when personal computers became available to me

100

Reposted by slo ~|•

no. @joles.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

applying for jobs again

screenshot from an online job application form. the question reads "Can you describe specific ways you have integrated AI tools into your development workflow? Please include any custom setups, automations, or use cases beyond single prompt usage" (a red asterisk indicates that this is a required question).

an answer has been typed in the textbox below the question:

"there is a monster in the forest and it speaks with a thousand voices. it will answer any question you pose it, it will offer insight to any idea. it will help you, it will thank you, it will never bid you leave. it will even tell you of the darkest arts, if you know precisely how to ask.

it feels no joy and no sorrow, it knows no right and no wrong. it knows not truth from lie, though it speaks them all the same.

it offers its services freely to any passerby, and many will tell you they find great value in its conversation. “you simply must visit the monster—i always just ask the monster.”

there are those who know these forests well; they will tell you that freely offered doesn’t mean it has no price

for when the next traveler passes by, the monster speaks with a thousand and one voices. and when you dream you see the monster; the monster wears your face."

152235499112

Reposted by slo ~|•

Joanne Hammond @joannehammond.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For the $40 billion this will cost us we could pay those workers $285,714 each to retrain on the job electrifying Canada. Now THAT would be in the national interest.

2249

Reposted by slo ~|•

barefootwriter @bfwriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

why not both? we think with and for other people. when I am thinking, I am two in one (Arendt), so even when I think alone, I am thinking with another person, myself. there is always a relational aspect. and when I express my thinking to others, I have an audience in mind.

053

Reposted by slo ~|•

blair @blairaf.com · 01/10/2026

The operational backbone of Canadian government & academia exists on Microsoft Google AWS infrastructure but instead of a serious conversation about building foundations for public interest digital infra we are much more fixated on the hot shiny AI toys

12310

Reposted by slo ~|•

Jen St. Denis @jenstden.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

“At a time when British Columbia Premier David Eby is championing buying Canadian, BC Ferries may be preparing to enter a multi-year agreement to buy fuel from an American-owned company with strong ties to U.S. President Donald Trump and the governing Republicans.” thetyee.ca/News/2026/10...

thetyee.ca

BC Ferries Heads to $1.3-Billion Deal with US-Owned Fuel Supplier | The Tyee

Despite Eby’s ‘buy Canadian’ focus, a firm with MAGA connections is the likely contract winner.

22413

Reposted by slo ~|•

EmmaaAAHH! 👻 ArkHell 💀 @emmaarkell.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"There are those who oppose both supervised consumption sites and public displays of drug use... who support rehab as a panacea, without acknowledging research that shows rehab without adequate supports increases fatalities, because those who relapse have a reduced tolerance for drugs."

0279

Reposted by slo ~|•

The Tyee @thetyee.ca · 30/09/2026

“My grandfather knew the importance of making sure I understood what had been passed down to him. He believed that one day Canada would recognize what our people have always known.” Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Simoo’gyet Malii, Glen Williams, writes thetyee.ca/Opinion/2026...

thetyee.ca

You Can’t Beat the Truth | The Tyee

A Hereditary Chief shares what his grandfather taught him about reconciliation.

011151

Reposted by slo ~|•

ben bradley @benbradleyca.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

do i know any #pnw historians here who “need” these? (purged from a recent acquisition of western canada travel ephemera). perhaps @larrycebula.bsky.social ?

014

Reposted by slo ~|•

Shannon Waters @sobittersosweet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I dream of someday having the space to report on how David Eby went from telling NDP supporters BC could not afford to keep approving fossil fuel projects to being one of LNG's biggest boosters He made that shift in less than 4 years

75917

Reposted by slo ~|•

Tim Ford @timfordwrites.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tla'amin First Nation has shared this letter they were copied on from Israel Powell's descendants, to Powell River Mayor and Council. The Nation and Powell River's muni gov are collaborating on a possible name change, and this letter is a great gesture of support.

September 28, 2026

To Powell River Mayor and Council:

We are the grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Helen Marjorie (Powell) Fisher. Helen Marjorie Fisher (HMF) was the granddaughter of Walker Powell, who was the brother of Israel Wood Powell. As you know, Israel Wood Powell was a doctor and leader, who was the first
superintendent of Indian Affairs in British Columbia. Although he had never lived or visited there, the river Powell River was named in Israel's honour, in recognition of his political influence and legacy.

Israel Wood Powell no longer has any direct descendants, and we are among his closest living relatives.

We understand that Tla’amin Nation has requested the town of Powell River change its name, out of respect for the harms done to their people by Israel Powell's policies, which included the creation of Residential Schools and banning of Indigenous cultural and spiritual practices. Specific to the region of the Tla’amin People, Powell's part in the delays of reserve allocation resulted in the loss of Tla’amin’s village site at tiskwat as it was granted to Robert Patterson Rithet.

We are supportive of changing the name of Powell River, given the above request by Tla’amin Nation, and also the lack of any historic family connection to the river and the surrounding lands.

Respectfully,

Elise Durante, great-granddaughter of Helen Marjorie Fisher

Marjorie Fisher, granddaughter of HMF

Brenda Buller Focht, granddaughter of HMF

Heather Fisher, great-granddaughter of HMF

Eric Focht, great-grandson of HMF

Meghan Buller, great-granddaughter of HMF

Leslie Campbell, great-grandson of HMF

02212

Reposted by slo ~|•

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 27/09/2026

The before and after it's even more haunting.

3529071647

Reposted by slo ~|•

De Facto Journalism Co-op @defactomedia.ca · 29/09/2026

Today, charges against DULF's founders were tossed out by a BC Supreme Court decision Yesterday, we covered how docs in trial evidence show Vancouver police pushed to bring those charges — even when a Crown prosecutor questioned whether it was in the public interest

01314

Reposted by slo ~|•

andrea bennett (they/them) @akkabah.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Learned recently that drinking unfiltered coffee raises your LDL cholesterol levels (www.empirical.health/blog/does-co...) & will now be using a paper filter for my espresso 😬. (I have mildly elevated LDL, oops.)

041

Reposted by slo ~|•

BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Hear Lisa Brunner, PhD, RCIC, comment on what would EU Associate Membership mean for higher education during our recent webinar on the post-secondary education crisis in BC. Watch the full webinar and read the report at: bcpolicy.ca/post-secondary

041

Reposted by slo ~|•

media archaeology lab @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is the activity we did with students today, and we'd love to hear your responses as well... 1. Pick an older device you have access to.

22713

Reposted by slo ~|•

Don Davies @donvdavies.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

A new PBO report confirms adding new tax brackets for the wealthiest 0.3% would raise over $1 billion a year. Instead of selling off Canada’s strategic public assets like airports, we should be asking those who have benefited most from our society to contribute their fair share.

822164

Reposted by slo ~|•

Carolina Ibarra @lacaroibarra.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Everybody else, will you pursue evidence based solutions and support successful programs? I hear lots of rhetoric but no clarity on practical solutions. @bcgreens.bsky.social @conservativebc.bsky.social @centrebc.bsky.social

112

Reposted by slo ~|•

Carolina Ibarra @lacaroibarra.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

For the current Prov government, will you update & follow through on your strategy? RN we have rollbacks, cancellations & progressive offloading of responsibility, after years of progress. @bcndp.bsky.social

121

Reposted by slo ~|•

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

We just dropped a bombshell investigation into ChatGPT's role in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. Incredible reporting from @markfollman.bsky.social that will have far-reaching effects...hopefully: www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...

motherjones.com

ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals

OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.

271477752

Reposted by slo ~|•

Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 23/09/2026

EIon Musk’s Wealth 2009: $.6B 2026: $984B Jeff Bezos’s Wealth 2009: $6B 2026: $370B Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth 2009: $.6B 2026: $256B Federal Minimum Wage 2009: $7.25 2023: $7.25 Billionaire tax rate: 8.2% Worker tax rate: 13% Pay workers. Tax & Abolish Billionaires. Save our economy & country.

14249462220

Reposted by slo ~|•

Tom Hawthorn 🇨🇦 @tomhawthorn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

For some historical background on B.C.'s motherlode of political scandals and incompetence (including DUI, prostitutes, bags o' cash, stealing from orphans), I recommend my series written with the late (and much missed) Tom Barrett for The Tyee, "Some Honourable Members:" thetyee.ca/Series/2013/...

thetyee.ca

Some Honourable Members | The Tyee

195

Reposted by slo ~|•

Avi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 22/09/2026

This crisis moment is a chance to reimagine what kind of Canada we want to build – and Canadians are ready to build big things together.

626578

Reposted by slo ~|•

Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

@aoc.bsky.social just put out a great statement on AI. Refreshing to see a major politician on the left nail this. "Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity. But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves." 🎯

Charles,

Last weekend, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the largest Al companies in the world, publicly asked his industry to slow down Al development.

Shortly after, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAl, followed suit. Then Elon Musk.

This all came days after an Anthropic researcher quit, citing his belief that this technology could wipe out humanity and that Al companies are "gambling with our lives."

For years, people have warned that generative Al could slip out of our direct control.

Those safety concerns must be taken seriously.

And this is why I have advocated for strict safety standards on how Al is built and deployed, public oversight over this technology, and using existing laws to hold these companies accountable when they cause harm.

But I want to draw your attention to another reality: Right now, the U.S. economy and our financial futures are riding on Silicon Valley's bet that Al will soon be immensely profitable and pay off. And that bet isn't looking good.

The formula for a profitable business isn't complicated: make more money than you spend. But the biggest Al companies aren't doing that. They are spending hundreds of billions per year on data centers, chips, and other costs while their ability to make revenues that exceed their already-immense sunk costs are unclear. Experts estimate that these Al companies will require another $600 billion of debt just to finance

themselves in 2026 alone. That is more than the entire budgets of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Transportation, & Education combined.
Meanwhile, despite almost every single one of these companies not turning a profit & having sunk billions of investor dollars in development of data centers & other infrastructure, Al companies are also on a spending spree of hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying & dark money in our elections.
It would be one thing if we were discussing a few private companies with a poor business model. But last year, virtually all stock market gains - 80% - rested entirely on just a handful of Al companies.
That tells us two things:
1. Nearly the entire U.S. economy outside the Al industry is relatively stagnating and faring poorly & the gains from these few companies are disguising it; &
2. Millions of people's retirements - including their pensions, 401ks, & investments - are potentially exposed to this risk.
That's why these Al companies' dubious financial positions matter to working people.
These companies argue that debt is necessary. They'll tell you that building transformative technologies requires upfront capital, & that massive borrowing today will pay off in generating unprecedented prosperity tomorrow.
But this is not the typical debt that startups take on while they build out a company. We are talking about billions going on trillions of dollars leveraged with no indication that these companies will be able to recoup these funds profitably. And they are increasingly looking to the government as their source of cash.
In an effort to hide their debt, tech companies have been relying on "circular financing" where tech giants like Google, Amazon, & Microsoft give billions to Al startups like OpenAl & Anthropic, only for those startups to hand that money right back to buy Al processing power.
In other words, these Al companies are luring in new investors by making it look like their financials are healthier than they really are.

What's even worse is that retirement & pension funds are key to supporting this illusion.
When the Al companies issue bonds to raise more money, your pension funds & retirement accounts are some of the biggest buyers. When Musk's Al business went public, it became part of index funds where millions of Americans invest our savings. Many Americans don't even know that their retirement investments are tied up in these companies at all.
From Big Tech's perspective, that's a feature, not a bug. By tying our futures to their reckless gambling, Al billionaires are trying to make themselves too big to fail. They think they can take such dangerous risks because we will bail them out if things go wrong.
Sound familiar? This scene is dangerously reminiscent of the rampant speculation, corruption, & broken incentives leading up to the 2008 financial crisis that plunged millions of working class Americans into financial chaos that we never fully recovered from.
It is no accident that these warnings from Altman & Amodei come months-if not weeks-before these companies were meant to go public.
When companies go public, they have to be more transparent about how they are doing financially. And after a waiting period, they typically have to let private investors-like their own employees-sell their shares.
The New York Times recently confirmed that OpenAl has postponed going public for this very reason. They are in no rush for the truth about their finances to come out.
But the moment these oligarchs began to seek our public tax dollars & public contracts while exposing their companies to public pension funds & investments, they opened themselves to public accountability & scrutiny.
Silicon Valley billionaires have rigged the game & are attempting to shift their financial risk to working people: If they're right about Al's potential, they reap the profits. If they're wrong & the bubble bursts, they are setting up the American people to pick up the tab.
Heads, they win; tails, we lose.

We can stop this, and we shouldn't play their game. Together we can address both the economic and safety threats of unrestricted Al development and prevent financial chaos and stabilize market risk.

We must make it clear now that should the Al bubble pop, Congress should not bail out Big Tech.

And across our federal agencies, we have the authorities and tools to hold Al companies and their leaders accountable for releasing dangerous, unvetted, and defective products. We must not wait.

Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity.

But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves.

It's time we hold them accountable.

Thank you for reading.

In solidarity,

Alexandria

221563597

Reposted by slo ~|•

Xero now with 100% more 🎃 @artificer-ind.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Still patiently waiting to be "left behind" by AI rather than it chasing me across every damn space like a slasher in a low budget flick.

2119983386

Reposted by slo ~|•

Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Anger is the personal vice I choose to fight and my soul’s nemesis but as God is my witness I’ll stop fighting it and die shrieking like the Furies if we all gotta relive some The Day After shit because assholes from my own hometown wanted to sleep with an immortal computer

172

Reposted by slo ~|•

Don Davies @donvdavies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The Liberals’ move to privatize airport operations is a mistake. Experience shows that adding a profit element can’t help but increase costs and drive cuts to service. And any foreign ownership of critical infrastructure touching our national security is clearly unwise in these times.

1626949

Reposted by slo ~|•

Mary Gillis @marygillis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The fact that he views public assets as belonging to the government is the problem. They don't belong to the government. They belong to the public. They belong to us. Not the Liberals, not Parliament, not him. Us. He's a caretaker, not an owner.

9393146

Reposted by slo ~|•

Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It is, actually, patriotic to to critique your government.

722549

Reposted by slo ~|•

blair @blairaf.com · 15/09/2026

🎯 and I'd also add to this strengthening and enforcing existing laws for product safety, fraudulent marketing, and non-discrimination

2288

Reposted by slo ~|•

Blake Murphy @blakemurphy.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Gotta fight hard on the trade war so the country is in a strong position to be sold off as parts to the highest bidder

65314

Reposted by slo ~|•

blair @blairaf.com · 12/09/2026

Disappointing to see an increasing number of tech critics see the recent AI security events and conclude "maybe the doomers are correct and AI is an existential risk" rather than "maybe the tech execs are an existential risk"

26724

Reposted by slo ~|•

Gregory Kohn @kohngregory.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I really enjoyed reading this review paper on the function and influence of song outside the breeding season. It moved from individual-level processes to group level consequences, and reiterates that we still have much to learn about why birds sing. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

0177

Reposted by slo ~|•

earl grae @earl-grae.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

“When a bridge collapses, you don’t analyze whether the bridge was ethical or sentient or why it decided to collapse. You ask, who is the person who built this bridge to be so flimsy? …When you ask about the bridge collapsing itself, you’ve lost the thread.” god, i live for a sharp metaphor.

06016

Reposted by slo ~|•

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 11/09/2026

yup, and Joseph Weizenbaum articulated this playbook clearly back in 1972 "This is usually coupled to the more or less subtle assertion that only computer science, hence only the computer scientist, can guard the world against the admittedly hazardous fallout of applied computer technology."

a screenshot reads: The structure of the typical essay
on "The impact of computers on so-
ciety" is as follows: First there is an
"on the one hand" statement. It tells
all the good things oomputers have
already done for society and often even
attempts to argue that the social order
would already have collapsed were it
not for the "computer revolution."
This is usually followed by an "on the
other hand" caution which tells of cer-
tain problems the introduction of com-
puters brings in its wake. The threat
posed to individual privacy by large
data banks and the danger of large-
scale unemployment induced by indus-
trial automation are usually mentioned.
Finally, the glorious present and pro-
spective achievements of the computer
are applauded, while the *dangers al-
luded to in the second part are shown
to be capable of being alleviated by
sophisticated technological fixes. The
closing paragraph consists of a plea
for generous societal support for more,
and more large-scale, computer re-
search and development. This is
usually coupled to the more or less
subtle assertion that only computer
science, hence only the computer sci-
entist, can guard the world against the
admittedly hazardous fallout of applied
computer technology.
In fact, the computer has had very
considerably less societal impact than
the mass media would lead us to be-
lieve. Certainly, there are enterprises
like space travel that could not have
been undertaken without computers.
Certainly the computer industry, and
with it the computer education indus-
try, has grown to enormous propor-
tions. But much of the industry is
self-serving. It is rather like an island
economy in which the natives make a
living by talking in each other's laundry.
The part that is not self-serving is

15219

Reposted by slo ~|•

Oliver Bown @olliebown.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Giving everyone in the country $5k is a progressive economic policy, redistribution akin to UBI. Dems should just match it or increase it and make it a recurring payment. $10k per year to every citizen.

041

Reposted by slo ~|•

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 10/09/2026

FWIW I don’t think that AI is an existential threat, nor on track to become one. I do however think that the leaders of the biggest AI companies, AI’s strongest boosters, and some of the folks who are most adept at using it to exploit others are actively hastening along OTHER existential threats.

492152415

Reposted by slo ~|•

Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 09/09/2026

Do you think all this is happening right before IPOs just by coincidence?

443379

Reposted by slo ~|•

Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The VPD’s new training facility, to open with ceremony Thursday, and Stan Douglas’s recreation of the 1971 Gastown Riot, at the Woodward’s atrium

2164

Reposted by slo ~|•

Zoë Yunker @zoeyunker.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Chinook in the Southern Interior's Salmon River have begun to go blind. It's a response to stress from the region's extreme drought conditions. Experts say droughts like these are wake-up call for BC's laissez-faire approach to water management. My latest for @thetyee.ca 🧵 1/

thetyee.ca

As Fish Go Blind, Experts Say BC Isn’t Prepared for Droughts | The Tyee

With fish struggling in the Salmon River, flip-flopping on emergency orders suggests a lack of preplanning, experts say.

13523