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PapyrusBrigade
@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca
Math & history nerd. Happiest if backcountry canoeing. Housing. Climate. CovidIsAirborne. A better world is possible. Maybe even probable.
#CovidIsAirborne
#Climate
#YIMBY
#HousingIsAHumanRight
#Toronto
#TorontoHousing
#BikeTO
#OnPoli
#TootFinder
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50 Posts
Joined March 21, 2026
Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
Someone stole my teen's backpack (with his laptop inside) yesterday.
He phoned the police non-emergency line to report the theft. Which was answered by an AI chatbot. Chatbot said it would send him a link to the form to fill out. Which it didn't do. When he swore under his breath, the chatbot said it would transfer him to a human. And hung up on him.
He found the online form. Which had a link error.
So he went in person.
At least that's an option for police. As opposed to CRA, for example
Gosh I hate the LLM internet so much. A colleague died a few days ago. Now fake AI-generated obituaries are popping up online, scraped from public information with some sentimental wording slapped on to mimic a real obituary. It's so gross and fake.
#NoAI
Libby Isn't Your Library. It's a Private Equity Asset.
https://unhingedlibrarian.com/research/who-owns-libby/
I went to do a search on DuckDuckGo, and it displayed a message that it had blocked 72 tracking attempts from Libby over the past hour.
Which had me wondering: who owns this app???
OverDrive owns Libby. And OverDrive is owned by KKR, the same private-equity firm that owns Simon & Schuster.
https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/could-kkrs-ownership-of-overdrive-raise-questions-about-simon-schuster-purchase
#Libby #OverDrive #Libraries
Replying to
@mike_bowler@hachyderm.io Since getting a CO2 monitor, I've been much more conscious of the effect of stale air when driving on long trips. Now I know that when I start to feel sleepy, it's invariably a signal to open the windows and let in fresh air.
In hindsight, its kind of astonishing that cars don't include a CO2 monitor for ventilation. Just as you can set the desired temperature in the car, it should also be able to regulate ventilation. I wonder how many car crashes it would prevent.
Boosted by @trending@homestead.social
Lifehack: when searching for general info on the internet now, I adjust the date settings to pre 2024. It seems to filter out the AI slop, and results in much more useful information.
Especially useful for looking up a recipe.
#NoAI
Replying to
The thing that got me was Keller saying: they’re not even going to means test the food.
Means-testing never enters the conversation when we’re talking about subsidized parking.
"The height of Covid"
When I hear that phrase, I think of the seven cholera pandemics. Europe must have breathed a sigh of relief after the 2nd one (1826-1837). I'm sure they couldn't have imagined the 3rd pandemic (1846-1860) would be so much worse. That one finally sparked investments in sanitation -- including Haussmann's renovation of Paris.
(1/2)
#Covid #CovidIsntOver #LongCovid
I'm in Quebec city for a few days. Really impressed by the preponderance of communist and anarchist stickers and graffiti.
This Antifa Bonhomme sticker is really effective. I saw it several times before walking into the touristy old town. It cemented the association in my mind, such that when I saw Bonhomme merchandise, I immediately thought Antifa.
#antifa #QuebecCity
(1/)
I love that there's a guy with a skateboard train giving rides to people around the U of T King's College circle. Its so convivial now that the cars are removed.
Replying to
@GraphicMatt@mastodon.social I'm very wary of this being an initiative peddled by an AI company (https://www.gatekeeper-systems.com/) Traditional speed cameras have done a very good job. Its not at all clear what benefit "AI" adds to it, nor what the hidden costs are.
Replying to
@sparrowsion For me, de-Googling has also involved using cash for more transactions, as a push back against surveillance capitalism.
Excellent detailed writeup by TACT on the #Andes #Hantavirus situation.
"There is evidence of droplet and aerosolized transmission and in closed or crowded social settings it can be enough to sustain a transmission chain when Andes virus enters the right network. That is why a cruise ship, shared cabins, shared dining, narrow corridors, medical care in confined spaces, and international air travel are not background details. They are the transmission architecture."
https://tactnowinfo.substack.com/p/andes-hanta-virus-alert-the-global
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@jeffowski@mastodon.world In a similar vein, I think driving courses should be offered for free in highschool. It's a societal benefit for people to have been properly trained.
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@Cassandra@ottawa.place On "brain fog", I was catching up this weekend with a 30 yr old friend. Several times she said "I can't remember words anymore. That's mom brain for you!".
She's got 2 young kids, and teaches elementary school. She mentioned separately that the kids are always sick.
This stuff really hurts my heart.
Toronto's 1936 heat wave:
The city recorded 3 consecutive days of 40.6 degrees.
People fled to the waterfront, and slept in parks.
"By July 11, the death toll began to rise. Toronto ambulances reported the busiest day in Toronto’s history; hearses discarded years before were brought in to accommodate the enormous demand. Cemeteries hired extra grave diggers. Florists saw higher demand than they had during the First World War."
https://www.thestar.com/gift-redeem?t=f40a62b2-92bb-4fac-bbd2-599c73bb61d0
Replying to
@augieray It is nice to see.
There's a similar lull in Canada, as indicated by Tara Moriarty's Covid tracker.
Replying to
@weirdestate I'm puzzled by the price. $1.75M for 4000 sq ft in Berkeley California? I though that was quite a pricey place to live. (I'm in Canada).
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@failedLyndonLaRouchite@mas.to Oh. Well if it turns out I've been wrong about the AI grift, I'll be sure to look you up and offer that apology.
Replying to
@failedLyndonLaRouchite@mas.to Because it's a ruse. I'm fine with purpose built machine learning to help advance research.
But the folks promoting LLM "AI" as the cure-all are the ones cutting science research, environmental protections, education at all levels, and life-saving social programs.
The primary aim of sparkly chatbots is to cut jobs. Bonus side-effects are fraud and propping up fossil fuel use.
The hucksters behind it have no qualms about killing people.
Replying to
@JoBlakely@mastodon.social Hmmm. You know, Beguiling Books (comic store) in Toronto is the only store I know of that still requires customers and staff to wear masks. They might be a good home to carry your zine.
https://www.beguilingbooks.com/
Replying to
@ptoothfish@beige.party Ohhh... It wasn't me, but I'm interested in co-op non shooter game recs!
Replying to
@hamishb When my MEC rain pants disintegrated last year, I bought commercial fishing bib pants to replace them. The ones I got were Neptune line from Grundens. They're nice and sturdy, and the overall design seems better suited for layering.
I recall finding online shops on the coasts that sell to fishers, in both NS and BC.
https://grundens.com/products/neptune-509-bib-pant
Replying to
@dbattistella Wow! I see the Arab American National museum in Dearborn MI has an exhibit of Rajie Cook's called "Waiting for Peace", until August 15, 2026.
https://arabamericanmuseum.org/exhibition/waiting-for-peace-by-rajie-cook/
Replying to
@arroz I was wondering if this school's location could be a case of environmental racism (disproportionate proximity and greater exposure of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities to polluting industries and environmentally hazardous activities).
Seems likely.
From the below, the school demographics are:
42% Hispanic
36% Black
14% 2 or more races
16% White
2% Asian
https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/ohio/dayton-smart-elementary-school-235613
Replying to
@mayintoronto Really good article. I didn't know about the ~30% of workers not covered by workers comp. Nor about the low rate of people seeking compensation from being disabled from workplace injury.
Replying to
@Amgine@mamot.fr Oh I really don't like the smell of this one. Thanks for posting the links. I was really scratching my head over the initial headline.
Replying to
@ausfestivus LOL. I was really hoping the saxophone things were indoor slides. But sadly the seem to be just stairs.
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@Beachbum@mastodon.sdf.org @3TomatoesShort@disabled.social @Ashedryden@xoxo.zone Oooh. Similar story for my husband. Debilitating headaches as a child. He believed them that everyone must feel this and somehow power through. Finally diagnosed with a brain tumour at age 35.
Replying to
@tod@hci.social I thought of an extra question after I finished: CBC Radio or CBC television?
Replying to
@failedLyndonLaRouchite@mas.to That's a bit like saying chattel slavery was worth it because it gave rise to the spreadsheet.
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@lydiaschoch@mastodon.social My rite of spring is to eat a tender green leaf from cherry tree in bloom. At first as you chew on it, it just tastes bitter. But then the cherry flavour comes out at the end. Though, perhaps it resembles bitter almond more. Anyway, I like it as a reminder that the cherries are there, waiting to come forth.
Replying to
@gregatron5@vmst.io I absolutely agree with the author that we are squandering our human resources by not having UBI. I'd argue the same for funding high quality public education.
I'm really scratching my head over microtonal music as being revelatory. There are so many musicians doing this, and so many genres that make use of it, as noted in Wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtonality
Anyway, Brian Abbott plays some excellent microtonal 31 tone guitar. Such as here:
https://redshiftrecords.org/catalogue/2026-releases/tk588/
It's Ontario cherry season!!!
I picked up a mixed flat (half sweet, half sour) at Karma Co-op, plus a large bag of discounted imperfect sour cherries.
We ate one quart of sweet cherries for dessert.
I've pitted 6 cups of sour cherries so far.
Trying out a vegan sour cherry frangipane, and making some banana cherry fruit leather.
Replying to
@mondoweiss I like this succinct definition:
"Colonialism exploits the Indigenous population’s labor and land. Settler colonialism eliminates or seeks to eliminate the Indigenous population to take its land.'
Replying to
@yoboseiyo@retro.pizza Very interesting. The full NEJM article is here. Curious that the ensitrelvir seemed much more effective for the Japan participants than for the US ones.
I wonder whether it will help those who already have long Covid, given viral persistence is one of the theories for LC.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2509306
Replying to
@medieval_illuminations Hah! I did not know the story of Apollo and Daphne: that he chased her so much that she asked her father to destroy her beauty. So dad turned her into a tree.
Which reminded me of one of my favourite demotivational posters from Despair.Com.
Replying to
@Affekt@hachyderm.io @jeffowski@mastodon.world I checked by province in Canada. The only province offering drivers lessons for free in highschool appears to be Saskatchewan.
I took classes offered at highschool, for a fee (by a for-profit driving school), in the 1980s. At my son's school they don't even do that anymore.