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ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me
@ubisurv.net

David Murakami Wood (DMW)
Canada Research Chair in Critical Surveillance & Security Studies
Director, CSS/Lab, uOttawa
Co-editor-in-Chief, Surveillance & Society
Surveillance / Security / Cities / Technology / Human Rights / Environment
https://ubisurv.net .. more

Political science 39%
Sociology 28%
Pinned
For those just arriving here, I have 3 starter packs (bsky only allows 150 people/pack):
1. #Surveillance Studies Starter Pack (full): go.bsky.app/HYGu6oX
2. #Surveillance Studies Extension Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/HoDHyNe
3. Critical #SmartCities Starter Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/H1Xd6SL
"John Quigley, senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, pointed to the “data center frenzy” as the primary driver of higher electricity prices for households"

Definitely a strong consensus among researchers that data centres *do* make bills higher
AI data center 'frenzy' is pushing up your electric bill — here's why
Energy-hungry data centers that underpin artificial intelligence are contributing to higher residential electricity bills, say experts.
www.cnbc.com

With 42M people, #Jakarta is the world's largest city, according to new UN figures. Former #1, #Tokyo, is 3rd and estimated to decline in population still further in the future. #GlobalCities #WorldCities

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Jakarta overtakes Tokyo as world’s most populous city, according to UN
The rankings were changed after the UN used new criteria to give a more accurate picture of the rapid urbanisation driving the growth of megacities
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Göran Bolin

I don't believe in any god but I appreciate the sentiment and the ethics and politics that flow from it in Pope Leo's statement #AI.
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com

#Bahrain continues to claim "sovereign immunity" in appeal to #UK Supreme Court in case that has "wider implications for how authoritarian countries use digital #spyware to monitor and potentially harass political dissidents living in the UK."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Bahrain to argue at UK supreme court it has immunity from surveillance claims
Gulf nation is accused of placing monitoring software on computers of two dissidents living in London
www.theguardian.com
The judge due to rule on the proscription of Palestine Action is swapped last minute for a panel that includes a judge with a history of working for the government and another who ruled in favour UK selling jets to Israel.
Accusations of a “stitch-up”. novaramedia.com/2025/11/25/a...
A ‘Stitch-Up’: Palestine Action Case Gets New Judges | Novara Media
The judicial review of Palestine Action’s proscription has been thrown into turmoil by a last-minute change. A new panel of judges includes one with a long history of working for the government and an...
novaramedia.com

#OpenAI is blaming the victim. This company should be shut down.
“OpenAI’s court filing argued that the harms in this case were at least partly caused by Raine’s ‘failure to heed warnings, obtain help, or otherwise exercise reasonable care,’ as well as the ‘failure of others to respond to his obvious signs of distress.’”
OpenAI denies allegations that ChatGPT is to blame for a teenager's suicide
Adam Raine's family sued the AI company in August. On Tuesday, OpenAI said in a new court filing that it isn't responsible for the teen's death.
www.nbcnews.com
A Supreme Court judge ruled the former Brazilian president’s legal appeals have been exhausted on.ft.com/3XeOgNj
“OpenAI’s court filing argued that the harms in this case were at least partly caused by Raine’s ‘failure to heed warnings, obtain help, or otherwise exercise reasonable care,’ as well as the ‘failure of others to respond to his obvious signs of distress.’”
OpenAI denies allegations that ChatGPT is to blame for a teenager's suicide
Adam Raine's family sued the AI company in August. On Tuesday, OpenAI said in a new court filing that it isn't responsible for the teen's death.
www.nbcnews.com
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
on.ft.com

“Private pilot”? Who is this guy? Sam Altman’s chauffeur?
Grateful to The Verge for publishing my essay on why large-language models are not going to achieve general intelligence nor push the scientific frontier.

www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
Gaza after the ceasefire is defined by the ‘yellow line’ — drawn by Israel, and dividing the strip in two.

Our evidence suggests that Israel seeks to make the line permanent, as ‘reconstruction’ plans normalise this new stage of Israel’s occupation: frames.forensic-architecture.org/gaza/ceasefire

Oh no, not him too…
Apple is anti-union.

Tesla is anti-union.

Amazon is anti-union.

McDonald's is anti-union.

Starbucks is anti-union.

Google is anti-union.

Walmart is anti-union.

These mega-corporations aren’t on workers’ side and their actions make it painfully clear.

If you go to popular family movies to be surprised by novel plots then I really don't know what to say!

Nah. Rogue One is top three. But I agree that Solo should be much higher - the only recent movie that captures the Saturday matinee feel of the originals.

If you see this, post your getaway vehicle:

Any US attack on #Venezuela would be illegal. It doesn't matter if the US invents fake designations of the Venezuelan government as a "cartel" or a "terrorist organization." The crime of aggression is one of the core crimes in International Criminal Law: www.coalitionfortheicc.org/crime-aggres...
The Crime of Aggression | Coalition for the International Criminal Court
www.coalitionfortheicc.org

(sorry, typing on the phone makes for multiple weird mistakes)

Some people can round this - listening to the 500 songs podcast the other day, I discovered that Vince Guaraldi developed a whole specific piano technique to accommodate did small hands

I know the feeling. I look at Jimi Hendrix’s hands, and think that even if I had 1/10th of his talent, I still wouldn’t physically be able to get anywhere near 1/10th of what he could do.

Anyway, I’ll stick with trying to play semi-adequate versions of Lightning Hopkins… 😁

I don’t know but if it’s that hard, he might have used a different tuning… almost every older blues player used idiosyncratic tunings.

Officials at the University of Houston used Dataminr to surveil students, while University of Connecticut administrators voiced concerns over protests against a military contractor and major donor.
How Corporate Partnerships Powered University Surveillance of Palestine Protests
Internal emails reveal U.S. universities’ playbooks for cracking down on the student movement for Palestine.
interc.pt
The perception of Canada has soured as news about fossil fuel subsidies, an LNG project, a gas pipeline and even reports about a new bitumen pipeline all landed during the climate negotiations. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/24/o...
A tough climate summit for Canada
Labeled the "Fossil of the Day" at COP30, Canada faces accusations of pulling back climate policies while pushing forward fossil subsidies and projects. But the committee seemed particularly stung by ...
www.nationalobserver.com