James Andrew Smith
@drsmith.bsky.social
Engineering professor at York University
On CBC news they're talking about the rise of RSV season. Yes, they're recommending vaccines. That's great!
No other suggestions to _help_ stop the spread of RSV. If it's airborne, which it appears to be, then, we should talk about that.
Reference: publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/...
No other suggestions to _help_ stop the spread of RSV. If it's airborne, which it appears to be, then, we should talk about that.
Reference: publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/...
November 25, 2025 at 11:11 AM
On CBC news they're talking about the rise of RSV season. Yes, they're recommending vaccines. That's great!
No other suggestions to _help_ stop the spread of RSV. If it's airborne, which it appears to be, then, we should talk about that.
Reference: publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/...
No other suggestions to _help_ stop the spread of RSV. If it's airborne, which it appears to be, then, we should talk about that.
Reference: publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/...
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
The tale of two pita breads: made in EU 🇪🇺 vs US 🇺🇸
7 ingredients vs 20+ 🤯
7 ingredients vs 20+ 🤯
November 24, 2025 at 10:15 PM
The tale of two pita breads: made in EU 🇪🇺 vs US 🇺🇸
7 ingredients vs 20+ 🤯
7 ingredients vs 20+ 🤯
AI Slop and bots are ruining music streaming by @venustheory.bsky.social.
It's a one example of the enshitification of knowledge and art.
I think that the rise of AI-based tools is going to make vetted knowledge and art more and more valuable.
youtu.be/plleJ0Zv0Ww?...
It's a one example of the enshitification of knowledge and art.
I think that the rise of AI-based tools is going to make vetted knowledge and art more and more valuable.
youtu.be/plleJ0Zv0Ww?...
It's Not Just You: Music Streaming Is Broken Now
YouTube video by Venus Theory
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 10:59 AM
AI Slop and bots are ruining music streaming by @venustheory.bsky.social.
It's a one example of the enshitification of knowledge and art.
I think that the rise of AI-based tools is going to make vetted knowledge and art more and more valuable.
youtu.be/plleJ0Zv0Ww?...
It's a one example of the enshitification of knowledge and art.
I think that the rise of AI-based tools is going to make vetted knowledge and art more and more valuable.
youtu.be/plleJ0Zv0Ww?...
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
Ah - here I am actually smiling with my eyes open!
November 25, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Ah - here I am actually smiling with my eyes open!
Apparently 12 kids were absent from my kid's class today.
Maybe it was the lice, right? Or maybe it was the thing that parents were chatting about on the Facebook group.
Maybe it was the lice, right? Or maybe it was the thing that parents were chatting about on the Facebook group.
Another week, another outbreak of head lice at the school. How do we know? Because the school emailed us about it.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
November 24, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Apparently 12 kids were absent from my kid's class today.
Maybe it was the lice, right? Or maybe it was the thing that parents were chatting about on the Facebook group.
Maybe it was the lice, right? Or maybe it was the thing that parents were chatting about on the Facebook group.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
I’m sure I’m gonna get dragged for this, but I think AI is bad. AI has completely ruined Google search and it’s created a lot more slop that needs to be avoided on the Internet.
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
I’m sure I’m gonna get dragged for this, but I think AI is bad. AI has completely ruined Google search and it’s created a lot more slop that needs to be avoided on the Internet.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
There's more pressure than ever to publish. Academic staff are massively overworked. Pay is poor. Precarity is rife. There's little genuine care for one-another's wellbeing, nor accommodations offered. And, instead of addressing systemic harms or demands for free labour, we turn against ourselves.
25 no response out of 30 requests to review!
Drives me mad this selfish behaviour, which I also see as a journal editor. And it's almost always established folk with secure jobs, not least those endlessly brandishing their right-on-ness on social media
Drives me mad this selfish behaviour, which I also see as a journal editor. And it's almost always established folk with secure jobs, not least those endlessly brandishing their right-on-ness on social media
Recently did around 30 requests to ppl who'd published very similar papers to the one I needed reviews for. 3 declines, 25 no response. Please at least decline guys it slows stuff down so much otherwise.
November 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
There's more pressure than ever to publish. Academic staff are massively overworked. Pay is poor. Precarity is rife. There's little genuine care for one-another's wellbeing, nor accommodations offered. And, instead of addressing systemic harms or demands for free labour, we turn against ourselves.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
JFC. The Atlantic, folks.
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 7:19 PM
JFC. The Atlantic, folks.
Any high speed rail in Canada will need to have protected tracks with no level crossings.
Nov 23, 1999: a westbound CN freight train collides with a tractor trailer stuck at a crossing in Bowmanville, Ontario. The CN train pushed the burning wreckage almost a kilometre before it was hit by eastbound VIA Rail Train 68 en route from Toronto to Montreal. 1/3
November 24, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Any high speed rail in Canada will need to have protected tracks with no level crossings.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
Weird how outbreaks are handled differently depending on whether they make public health look bad.
Another week, another outbreak of head lice at the school. How do we know? Because the school emailed us about it.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
November 24, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Weird how outbreaks are handled differently depending on whether they make public health look bad.
Another week, another outbreak of head lice at the school. How do we know? Because the school emailed us about it.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
November 24, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Another week, another outbreak of head lice at the school. How do we know? Because the school emailed us about it.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
As for the cases of sickness that have kids coming down with fever that are going around? Not a peep.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
few sounds on earth are more terror inducing than the highly infectious-sounding cough of a small child with a respiratory illness
Finally boarded my plane to Oslo and I am sitting in front of a child who appears to be suffering from an acute case of plague
I guess I am being punished for something
(Thank God I had a N-95 mask)
I guess I am being punished for something
(Thank God I had a N-95 mask)
November 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
few sounds on earth are more terror inducing than the highly infectious-sounding cough of a small child with a respiratory illness
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
People who adore the LLM-machine, that by design has no concern for truth, must have no concern for truth
November 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
People who adore the LLM-machine, that by design has no concern for truth, must have no concern for truth
You know you’re in Québec when the hotel breakfast bar has a basket of real maple syrup.
Not « sirop de poteau » (fence post syrup). The real deal.
Not « sirop de poteau » (fence post syrup). The real deal.
November 23, 2025 at 12:48 PM
You know you’re in Québec when the hotel breakfast bar has a basket of real maple syrup.
Not « sirop de poteau » (fence post syrup). The real deal.
Not « sirop de poteau » (fence post syrup). The real deal.
If the AI tool that university management deploys can't cite its sources better than a hung-over undergrad after an overnight shift restocking groceries, then the AI should be shelved.
We need to do better.
We need to do better.
To all university managers thinking that AI is a good thing, take note.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
November 23, 2025 at 11:33 AM
If the AI tool that university management deploys can't cite its sources better than a hung-over undergrad after an overnight shift restocking groceries, then the AI should be shelved.
We need to do better.
We need to do better.
Fights like the Xhekaj-Mermis one during the Habs-Leafs game last night are one of the big reasons why the PWHL is better hockey.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2JU...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2JU...
Canadiens' Florian Xhekaj, Maple Leafs' Dakota Mermis Trade Blows In Fiery Bout
YouTube video by SPORTSNET
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Fights like the Xhekaj-Mermis one during the Habs-Leafs game last night are one of the big reasons why the PWHL is better hockey.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2JU...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2JU...
To all university managers thinking that AI is a good thing, take note.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
This is the 2nd time a major government report from Deloitte has been found to contain errors likely generated by AI.
First in Australia and now, as The Independent has confirmed, in a major healthcare policy paper for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli #AI #deloitte
First in Australia and now, as The Independent has confirmed, in a major healthcare policy paper for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli #AI #deloitte
A major healthcare policy paper commissioned by @govnl.bsky.social government from Deloitte at a cost of $1.6 million, cites research papers that don’t exist, making it the second major government policy paper called into question in as many months. #nlpoli #AI
theindependent.ca/news/lji/maj...
theindependent.ca/news/lji/maj...
November 23, 2025 at 4:02 AM
To all university managers thinking that AI is a good thing, take note.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
The reputational damage of fuck ups like this is not worth it.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
Will PRIVATIZING Canadian MEDICARE WORK?
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
November 22, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Will PRIVATIZING Canadian MEDICARE WORK?
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Researchers compared 25 wealthy countries.
The more each relies on FOR-PROFIT COMPANIES to deliver healthcare
...the WORSE LIFE EXPECTANCY gets.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Yeah, I don’t think that “Poutine Time” is the number one brand.
Maybe in the dubious “frozen poutine” category that no self-respecting Canadian would be caught eating.
Maybe in the dubious “frozen poutine” category that no self-respecting Canadian would be caught eating.
November 22, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Yeah, I don’t think that “Poutine Time” is the number one brand.
Maybe in the dubious “frozen poutine” category that no self-respecting Canadian would be caught eating.
Maybe in the dubious “frozen poutine” category that no self-respecting Canadian would be caught eating.
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
Grizzly attack on 11 kids & teachers in BC.
“one teacher jumped in front of the bear to allow the children to get away…he jabbed the bear’s eyes with his fingers and that’s how he was able to… how the bear just left him.”
“That teacher was later airlifted from the scene.”
Teachers are heroes.
“one teacher jumped in front of the bear to allow the children to get away…he jabbed the bear’s eyes with his fingers and that’s how he was able to… how the bear just left him.”
“That teacher was later airlifted from the scene.”
Teachers are heroes.
Teachers fight off grizzly bear attacking schoolchildren
A grizzly bear attacked a group of elementary schoolchildren and their teachers on a walking trail Thursday in British Columbia, injuring 11 people,
mynorthwest.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Grizzly attack on 11 kids & teachers in BC.
“one teacher jumped in front of the bear to allow the children to get away…he jabbed the bear’s eyes with his fingers and that’s how he was able to… how the bear just left him.”
“That teacher was later airlifted from the scene.”
Teachers are heroes.
“one teacher jumped in front of the bear to allow the children to get away…he jabbed the bear’s eyes with his fingers and that’s how he was able to… how the bear just left him.”
“That teacher was later airlifted from the scene.”
Teachers are heroes.
Why not January 6?
BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene announces she is resigning from Congress. Her last day in office will be January 5, 2026.
November 22, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Why not January 6?
Reposted by James Andrew Smith
If this happened anytime in the 1990s or early 00s, it would be *the* scandal of a presidential term, and news of it would result in immediate resignation and the launch of Congressional investigations. Today, it's just one of a handful of outrages OF THE DAY.
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 8:47 PM
If this happened anytime in the 1990s or early 00s, it would be *the* scandal of a presidential term, and news of it would result in immediate resignation and the launch of Congressional investigations. Today, it's just one of a handful of outrages OF THE DAY.
Important points about the changing journalism landscape.
AI is changing the relationship between journalist and audience. There is much at stake | Margaret Simons
AI is changing the relationship between journalist and audience. There is much at stake | Margaret Simons
There is no point pretending that change is not happening, or that it can be avoided. But these are the risks we must address
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Important points about the changing journalism landscape.