Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 6h

Thank you, Dragan! I hope to see you soon in Potsdam at ATD.

Reposted by Fiona Charles

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 23h

“If you get hit by a car travelling at 50km/h, you’ve only got a 1.5-in-10 chance of surviving. If it’s going 30km/h you’ve got a nine-in-10 chance.”

“But it was not enough to put up a sign that says 30km/h…there also needed to be design changes to slow down traffic.”

Speed is always a factor.

Switching 50km/h speed limits to 30km/h would protect cyclists while barely affecting commutes, research finds

One expert says a cyclist hit by a car travelling 50km/h has about a one-in-10 chance of surviving, while at 30km/h it is a nine-in-10 chance

www.theguardian.com

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 6h

APTN Investigates @aptninvestigates.bsky.social · 7h

Ann Maje Raider is executive director of the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society (LAWS). She helps support Kaska families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in the Yukon.

Justice for my Sister - Watch here: youtu.be/h_tzi4-pnu8?...

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 8h

That would be a hard “no”. I’ll stick with Mac, thanks.

Tom Warren @tomwarren.co.uk · 10h

This is the future of Windows. Microsoft wants to rewrite Windows to turn computers into AI PCs that you talk to. It's now bringing AI features to all Windows 11 PCs today, in a bid to convince you to talk to your PC and let AI control it. Full details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/799768/...

Microsoft wants you to talk to your PC and let AI control it

Copilot Voice and Vision are now rolling out.

www.theverge.com

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 9h

Glorious Fall mornings when Amka & I go out to the garden before breakfast to play ball

A garden with a brown wooden fence, fallen leaves, and a rusted iron peacock on a table. The pale blue sky above filled with golden branches of black walnut leaves lit by the sun.

A dark grey standard poodle against a background of deep green ivy, looking intently at the photographer, with her orange ball among fallen leaves on the ground.

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 12h

The best—and most fun to do—interviews are conversations. Keith Klain interviewed me yesterday for his Quality Remarks podcast

qualityremarks.com/qr-podcast-f...

QR Podcast – Fiona Charles | Quality Remarks Keith Klain

Fiona Charles is an absolute legend in the software testing world and I had the honor of sitting down with her to discuss tech ethics, the human side of technology, her adventures with Jerry Weinberg,...

qualityremarks.com

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 1d

Award-winning pain researcher here. This is not something that can be done. Hope this helps.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

“In nursing homes, neonatal units, and ICU wards, researchers are racing to turn pain—medicine’s most subjective vital sign—into something a camera or sensor can score as reliably as blood pressure.”

AI is changing how we quantify pain

Artificial intelligence is helping health-care providers better assess their patients’ discomfort.

www.technologyreview.com

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you James! Of course we don’t need a special day to celebrate Elisabeth Hendrickson and @lisacrispin.bsky.social — but how nice that we have one to remind us!

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 3d

www.thestack.technology/jeep-softwar...

I’ve seen several posts recently about a general decline in sw quality. True? I dunno. I do know from decades of experience why big bang software releases are a really lousy idea. (Also I’m happy to have an 11-yr-old car that never gets sw updates.)

Jeep software update bricks vehicles

“Please exercise extreme caution”

www.thestack.technology

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

I’m sorry for the growers and makers. But you get who most voters in your country voted for. Other ppl may have odd notions about “polite” Canadians—till you kick us & find out we’re just as chauvinistic as any country’s ppl.

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

“Our Thanksgiving is timed with the harvest”. So it is. Here’s a jar of newly dried sweet Blush tomatoes from my own little harvest, which continues in spite of a couple of frost warnings last week.

Half-litre jar of dried tomato slices, gold in colour, tinged with deep pink.

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

“This shift may reflect a broader sentiment that U.S.-imposed tariffs are unfair, prompting consumers to support their domestic industries or seek non-U.S. products in response.”

Ya think?

American spirit exports to Canada 'plummeted' 85%, says U.S. trade group | CBC News

American spirit exports to Canada "plummeted" 85 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States calling the situation "very troubling" as consumers in ...

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Tadonic the Flautulent @tadonic.bsky.social · 4d

@smithsonianmag.bsky.social The Only Recording of Woody Guthrie Singing the Protest Song ‘Deportee’ Has Been Released for the First Time
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...
#music #WoodyGuthrie #protest #Deportee #recording #folk #FolkMusic #folksong #AI #artificialintelligence #restoration

The Only Recording of Woody Guthrie Singing the Protest Song 'Deportee' Has Been Released for the First Time

The singer-songwriter recorded the audio on a reel-to-reel tape machine in his apartment in the 1950s. Now, the previously unheard song has been restored using A.I. audio technology

www.smithsonianmag.com

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Ify Nwadiwe @ifycomedy.com · 5d

I think we really should stop using antifa and just fully say anti-fascist and get them saying they are against anti fascism. Using antifa is giving them some distance and I genuinely think some of their base don’t even know that’s what it stands for.

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

Very cool! An excellent tool to push back at the anti-bike lobbies and our pro-car-at-all-costs Premier. Every Canadian city should have them #kingston #cycleKingston

Observing The City @observingthecity.bsky.social · 5d

Did you know Toronto has 15 permanent bicycle counters around the city? I have created a portal that should be updated monthly when the city updates their open data. It's live now at: observingthecity.ca

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 6d

New from me on @autonomynews.co: The popular abortion pill resource Plan C relaunched this week with a new design that better displays the many, many options for medication abortion in all 50 states

Autonomy News @autonomynews.co · 6d

The online abortion pill guide @plancpills.bsky.social has been redesigned to make it even easier to learn where to get pills, including at no cost. The redesign comes as state officials have threatened investigations and potential lawsuits against the organization.

An Autonomy News exclusive:

Exclusive: Plan C Doubles Down on Abortion Pill Info Amid Political Attacks

The online abortion pill guide has been redesigned to make it even easier to learn where to get pills, including at no cost.

www.autonomynews.co

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Nick Tsergas @nicktsergas.ca · 4d

I'm sure this would be "digitally sovereign" much in the way all the grapes at Loblaws are "grown in Peru."

ANALYSIS | Why OpenAI wants to help Canada build homegrown artificial intelligence | CBC News

OpenAI wants to help Canada build a sovereign digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence, putting the country in a tough spot as it tries to distance itself from overreliance on U.S. tech comp...

www.cbc.ca

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

Important we respond to this government survey, even if we suspect we’ll be ignored. We certainly will be if we don’t speak up.

Bloody Mary (mirror entity, not cocktail) @marygillis.bsky.social · 4d

I did this, took like 30 min.
Points I kept hammering: domestic cloud, regulations around copyright and likeness rights, focusing on machine learning with concrete, real world uses (creating new drugs, etc), the damage done by slop, the need to listen to AI experts who are realists, not boosters.

Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel) @nicomaramckay.com · 8d

Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military.

If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Glennyrodge @glennyrodge.bsky.social · 4d

Please name who did this. If it’s you, give yourself 10 cool points.

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

It was a poor attempt at humour.

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

American Fietser @americanfietser.bsky.social · 5d

A perfect illustration of which "lifestyle" actually imposes itself on public space, public safety, and the public purse.

Jfrisco @jfrisco.bsky.social · 5d

Hold my beer...

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 4d

Well, exactly. I’m (kinda sorta) reconciled to believing 6 impossible things before breakfast & so far I *think* I know which ones to believe. But what happens when it’s lots more than 6? And deepfakes will only make this worse. I hate to think there is nowhere but the rabbit hole.

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Reposted by Fiona Charles

Dale Smith @journodale.bsky.social · 4d

ICYMI, my @xtramagazine.com column: The premiers violating your Charter rights don't want the courts to weigh in #canqueer #cdnpoli

The premiers violating your Charter rights don’t want the courts to weigh in | Xtra Magazine

When it comes to the Notwithstanding Clause, premiers opposed to the federal government’s factum are showing their true colours

xtramagazine.com

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 5d

Um—happy Thanksgiving?

Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 6d

Walked into a Canadian Tire and no longer know what holiday season we’re celebrating anymore

Grim Reaper plays heavy metal guitar next to a display of Christmas trees

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Fiona Charles @fionaccharles.bsky.social · 6d

www.kingstonist.com/news/politic... Yes indeed. And I want to know where that “70%” of customers number came from. Who did VIA ask? When? I’m a customer, as are many of my friends, and you didn’t ask us. Hard not to believe this isn’t a number pulled out of the air.

City Views – VIA Rail needs better training to serve all of its passengers – Kingston News

(Kingston, Ontario) Kingston’s civic leaders are understandably furious over their recent snub by the nation’s passenger rail service.

www.kingstonist.com

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