LarissAAAHH
@purlgurly.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.2K following 3.2K posts
She/her/elle. Alto, ADHDer. Interested in politics (esp.TOpoli), stories, disability, food, knitting, geekery, cats. Unrepentant leftie in 🇨🇦
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Picked up my Snaraness again this weekend, I’ve done 8 of 12 pattern repeats (although I think I’m going to add some additional repeats to make it a bit bigger than the pattern) #KnitSky
Photo of a triangular shawl on double-pointed needles. The shawl is knit in teal yarn and has a lace pattern that evokes flowers. It is on top of a floral bedspread.
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Sharp's warning: given the inertia in Canada-US relations, muddling through would likely lead to deeper integration, no matter what's done at the margins, e.g., on trade diversification. Which is entirely consistent with what we're seeing now.
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Let's political science it: Carney's actions are consistent with Mitchell Sharp's First Option, described in 1972: reacting and muddling through Can-US relations (including some light trade diversification and economy strengthening) without changing underlying governance patterns.
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... of the Minister of Industry – in consultation with Public Safety – and not Natural Resources to determine if foreign investments pose a threat to national + economic security, Hodgson's comments are indeed revealing.

No more we "need to fundamentally reimagine our economy" or ....
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From Canada Strong (p. 13):

"A Mark Carney-led government will:

Safeguard our economy and our values and protect Canada from attempts to buy up our businesses,....,critical minerals and other resources by strengthening the Investment in Canada Act"

Leaving aside that it is the responsibility...
Screenshot Front Cover Canada Strong platform
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<steps on soapbox> knowledge isn’t free AI just stole everyone’s work product
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Welcome, new followers. Please add alt text to the images you post. What is alt text? Glad you asked:
A brief thread on alt-text.

Alt text is descriptive text that conveys the meaning of an image. It's designed to make visual content accessible to people with vision disabilities. When a person uses assistive technology such as a screen reader, the screen reader will read the onscreen text aloud 1/7
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr now has 4 home runs this postseason, tying 2015 Jose Bautista for the most in a single postseason in Blue Jays history
There you are, my boys #BlueJays
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I’m still reeling from this article. The whole thing is utterly insane. Are people seeing this? Why does it feel like there are never enough eyes on stories like this? Even Sweden’s Foreign Ministry is treating her account as merely “allegations.” www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/25...
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NEW! For TVO @tvotoday.bsky.social I look at the #BlueJays first playoff run, the "Drive of '85."

www.tvo.org/article/a-mo...
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Here's a bit more about what Canadians think about AI from a survey (n=1500 - census balanced) we conducted earlier this year. bsky.app/profile/soci...
Canadians are split on GenAI’s net societal impact (39% positive, 34% negative, 27% neutral), but unite around key concerns—security and privacy (72%), reliability of information (68%), job displacement (68%), and effects on higher education (68%). socialmedialab.ca/2025/04/08/n...
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Canada has a long history of being surprisingly provincial. However, relinquishing digital sovereignty without a fight represents a strategic misstep in the broader project of nation-building, as technological autonomy increasingly shapes economic security, cultural identity, & political legitimacy.
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The most egregious part of this whole sad affair was that the PMO comms people were emailing us links to his twitter posts all weekend, as if carefully curated posts could somehow replace journalism.
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Statement from the president of the Parliamentary Press Gallery:
Statement from the president of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to Egypt

The Parliamentary Press Gallery was not informed in advance of the Prime Minister’s trip to Egypt to participate in the Middle East Peace Ceremony on Oct. 12 - 13.

The Gallery is disappointed and dismayed at the exclusion of Canadian media from the event and expresses in no uncertain terms that this must never happen again.

It is unprecedented that Canadian media be entirely excluded from a Canadian prime minister’s foreign trip.

Our members bring trustworthy and reliable news coverage free from any political interference to Canadians every day and play a critical role in holding government's accountable to the people that elect them.

Every government, in a healthy democracy, must show a commitment to freedom of the press. In Canada, that includes respect for the vital role the Gallery and its members play. Any event that erodes access, transparency and accountability is a step in the wrong direction.

Mia Rabson
President, Parliamentary Press Gallery
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I know the headline everyone's running with is "erotica" but "we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues" and "we are putting personality back in ChatGPT so it will act like a friend" are diametrically opposed statements

that's the cause of most of the mental health issues
Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
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You know what? I have time today. Let's have a look.
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Feels like it’s been a while since I put my workplace here. This is Skara Brae right now 🏺🧪🌊
Grass of various lengths around and over a 5000 year old stone village. The houses are beside a rocky coast, and the North Atlantic is off to the far right, with ominous rain clouds.
This article about the beluga whales remaining in limbo at Marineland is heartbreaking. And it made me think about our leaders’ collective failure with the climate crisis. Bad decisions were made, someone needs to step up now, but everyone wants to point fingers and no one wants to pony up the $$$
‘We need to get them out’: Beluga trainer fired by Marineland speaks out
The belugas' pools are in desperate need of repair with their painted walls peeling and concrete chunks falling into the water, the former trainer says.
www.thestar.com
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I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.
*Theorizing that the Ganymede Club is affiliated with the Diogenes Club*