Billy
@billyidles.bsky.social
Vancouver. Local Politics. Less Local Politics. Tech stuff.
Interesting to see the Leap Manifesto getting talked about once again in NDP circles just in time for FUD about it to undercut Nenshi the same way it did Notley.
December 9, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Interesting to see the Leap Manifesto getting talked about once again in NDP circles just in time for FUD about it to undercut Nenshi the same way it did Notley.
Reposted by Billy
Worst case: EVs are cleaner than gas cars
Best case: they’re a hell of a lot cleaner.
(BC being close to best case)
Best case: they’re a hell of a lot cleaner.
(BC being close to best case)
EVs beat petrol cars on lifetime emissions — even on “dirty” grids.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.
Battery production is carbon-intensive, but EVs quickly repay that debt and end up 21–71% cleaner over 250,000 km.
We can’t wait for perfect grids: electrify transport and clean the grid now.
December 9, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Worst case: EVs are cleaner than gas cars
Best case: they’re a hell of a lot cleaner.
(BC being close to best case)
Best case: they’re a hell of a lot cleaner.
(BC being close to best case)
Reposted by Billy
The Vancouver Whitecaps get MLS Cup silver medals.
What an incredible season — the first team in the modern era to play in Concacaf, Domestic and MLS finals in the same season.
Lots to be proud of.
What an incredible season — the first team in the modern era to play in Concacaf, Domestic and MLS finals in the same season.
Lots to be proud of.
December 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
The Vancouver Whitecaps get MLS Cup silver medals.
What an incredible season — the first team in the modern era to play in Concacaf, Domestic and MLS finals in the same season.
Lots to be proud of.
What an incredible season — the first team in the modern era to play in Concacaf, Domestic and MLS finals in the same season.
Lots to be proud of.
I’ve been a De Paul hater since Canada played Argentina in the Concacaf nations league a couple years ago and seeing him take dive after dive in this game is only reinforcing that.
December 6, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I’ve been a De Paul hater since Canada played Argentina in the Concacaf nations league a couple years ago and seeing him take dive after dive in this game is only reinforcing that.
Looks like Miami won’t be skipping our anthem today.
December 6, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Looks like Miami won’t be skipping our anthem today.
Did they just call Casablanca a “franchise”?
December 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Did they just call Casablanca a “franchise”?
I’m not a US citizen and I believe the US is weak, regressing, not a global leader.
December 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I’m not a US citizen and I believe the US is weak, regressing, not a global leader.
Reposted by Billy
You will never guess what book this is from.
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
You will never guess what book this is from.
Reposted by Billy
The good news is now that he’s been overthrown in a palace coup, John Rustad is finally free to eat bugs again
December 3, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The good news is now that he’s been overthrown in a palace coup, John Rustad is finally free to eat bugs again
Okay here’s a take that will upset everyone
-the royal proclamation of 1763 applies to the Falklands, requiring the crown to make treaties with indigenous people.
- as such, indigenous groups that visited the islands habitually likely have some claim even if they didn’t live there permanently
-the royal proclamation of 1763 applies to the Falklands, requiring the crown to make treaties with indigenous people.
- as such, indigenous groups that visited the islands habitually likely have some claim even if they didn’t live there permanently
I’m sort of amazed that Falkland Islands discourse has had the staying power it has. I have seen some truly novel takes on this website this week.
Gotta hand it to bluesky, folks did find a different war to relitigate than WWII for once.
December 3, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Okay here’s a take that will upset everyone
-the royal proclamation of 1763 applies to the Falklands, requiring the crown to make treaties with indigenous people.
- as such, indigenous groups that visited the islands habitually likely have some claim even if they didn’t live there permanently
-the royal proclamation of 1763 applies to the Falklands, requiring the crown to make treaties with indigenous people.
- as such, indigenous groups that visited the islands habitually likely have some claim even if they didn’t live there permanently
Honestly one of the things I am most nationalistic about is that the right way to beat a separatist movement is to let them vote and beat them at the ballot box. Canada has beaten the separatists twice democratically we can do it again. Countries that are scared of a vote are soft.
i just find land irredentism so funny, man. would i like it if Quebec or Alberta left confederation? no
would i throw a nationalist fit over trying to reclaim them? also no
would i throw a nationalist fit over trying to reclaim them? also no
December 3, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Honestly one of the things I am most nationalistic about is that the right way to beat a separatist movement is to let them vote and beat them at the ballot box. Canada has beaten the separatists twice democratically we can do it again. Countries that are scared of a vote are soft.
I’m sort of amazed that Falkland Islands discourse has had the staying power it has. I have seen some truly novel takes on this website this week.
Gotta hand it to bluesky, folks did find a different war to relitigate than WWII for once.
December 3, 2025 at 5:30 AM
I’m sort of amazed that Falkland Islands discourse has had the staying power it has. I have seen some truly novel takes on this website this week.
Reposted by Billy
Reposted by Billy
In politics you are only as good as your word.
Did PM Carney mislead Elizabeth May to get her budget support?
In a minority government you can't afford to be losing cabinet ministers and alienating potential allies.
nationalnewswatch.com/2025/12/01/m...
Did PM Carney mislead Elizabeth May to get her budget support?
In a minority government you can't afford to be losing cabinet ministers and alienating potential allies.
nationalnewswatch.com/2025/12/01/m...
May says voting for budget was 'mistake' and it won't happen again
National Newswatch: Canada's most comprehensive site for political news and views.
nationalnewswatch.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:46 PM
In politics you are only as good as your word.
Did PM Carney mislead Elizabeth May to get her budget support?
In a minority government you can't afford to be losing cabinet ministers and alienating potential allies.
nationalnewswatch.com/2025/12/01/m...
Did PM Carney mislead Elizabeth May to get her budget support?
In a minority government you can't afford to be losing cabinet ministers and alienating potential allies.
nationalnewswatch.com/2025/12/01/m...
Reposted by Billy
Here's a question, are the Vancouver Whitecaps now "Canada's Team" since they'll be representing Canada in the MLS final against Miami?
Or does it only work for Toronto's teams?
Or does it only work for Toronto's teams?
December 1, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Here's a question, are the Vancouver Whitecaps now "Canada's Team" since they'll be representing Canada in the MLS final against Miami?
Or does it only work for Toronto's teams?
Or does it only work for Toronto's teams?
Reposted by Billy
EVERY time this comes up
December 1, 2025 at 3:51 PM
EVERY time this comes up
Reposted by Billy
Oh interesting, whose fault is that?
December 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Oh interesting, whose fault is that?
I’d love to see someone do the math on water consumption of evaporative cooling in data centers vs water consumption that would be needed to generate the power to do it all with air cooling (which is less power efficient).
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 AM
I’d love to see someone do the math on water consumption of evaporative cooling in data centers vs water consumption that would be needed to generate the power to do it all with air cooling (which is less power efficient).
It seems bad that a significant amount of people are polarized against the idea of putting a lot of computers in a building.
December 1, 2025 at 3:48 AM
It seems bad that a significant amount of people are polarized against the idea of putting a lot of computers in a building.
Reposted by Billy
I was trying to track down the source of Gramsci's "time of monsters" quote and found that it's a "mistranslation" (ie he just made it up) by Slavoj Zizek. Gramsci's line clearly translates as "morbid symptoms" instead. Mad that you can just rewrite a famous quote and get it widely accepted.
November 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I was trying to track down the source of Gramsci's "time of monsters" quote and found that it's a "mistranslation" (ie he just made it up) by Slavoj Zizek. Gramsci's line clearly translates as "morbid symptoms" instead. Mad that you can just rewrite a famous quote and get it widely accepted.
Reposted by Billy
Finally tried uv. It’s not just fast: it’s laughably fast.
Like, “this is what should run every kind of package management on a whole computer” kind of fast.
Like, “this is what should run every kind of package management on a whole computer” kind of fast.
November 30, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Finally tried uv. It’s not just fast: it’s laughably fast.
Like, “this is what should run every kind of package management on a whole computer” kind of fast.
Like, “this is what should run every kind of package management on a whole computer” kind of fast.
Reposted by Billy
if you think the problem with our current moment is a lack of humanities I encourage you to go look up what Peter Thiel's degree is in. it is not computer science
You people have got to stop saying this kind of thing. I’m sorry that 15 years ago a CS professor said something obnoxious in a faculty meeting but the idea that humanities degrees are “not tied to capitalism” while STEM degrees are is some of the purest bullshit I’ve ever seen in my life.
November 30, 2025 at 9:16 PM
if you think the problem with our current moment is a lack of humanities I encourage you to go look up what Peter Thiel's degree is in. it is not computer science
At this point I really don’t see any reason why the Gartner hype cycle model doesn’t apply to LLMs, and I think the question is mostly are we at the peak yet or over it.
November 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
At this point I really don’t see any reason why the Gartner hype cycle model doesn’t apply to LLMs, and I think the question is mostly are we at the peak yet or over it.