Author Archives: Robert Basil

Euphemism Effort

From The Tyee: The United Conservative Party government must be encountering stiffer opposition than it expected to its plan to make Alberta North America’s dumping ground for the artificial intelligence data centres that citizens most everywhere else are organizing to … Continue reading

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We don’t have the luxury to ignore it

Not long ago we removed our AI newsfeed. That topic’s ubiquity made it not just unnecessary but de trop, as the French like to say. Nonetheless, our colonization by artificial-intelligence platforms won’t stop any time soon if ever. Starting three … Continue reading

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“public interventions”

From Alex Cooke at Fstoppers: Walk past a certain bus stop near Meta’s London headquarters and you see a glossy campaign shot: Kylie Jenner in a pair of the company’s smart glasses. Step to the side and the poster becomes … Continue reading

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A Street Photography community

The day I started these new feeds, I came upon a video in Fstoppers by Peter Forsgård, a photographer from Helsinki, Finland, discussing what street photographers could learn from the musician Brian Eno. I watched it twice, the second time taking … Continue reading

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Our news feeds

We’ve added some arts-focused news feeds here, and taken down the ones for “Artificial Intelligence” and “Social Media Policy,” topics that are painfully ubiquitous practically everywhere else. Our “Graphic Novels” news feed is filled with tributes to Marjane Satrapi, creator … Continue reading

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The chorus

A favourite part of my morning is reading international news sites. I’m struck that it hardly matters what’s going when it comes to the prevailing tones they convey: China: We are all squared away. Russia: You just wouldn’t listen. USA: … Continue reading

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Head down

I understand how those of us living in Canada might not be mollified by CBC’s assurance that 99.9% of Canadians won’t be affected by the USA’s proposal to require “five years worth of social media information” from “visa exempt” countries … Continue reading

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“The end started slowly then happened all at once.”

‘Sad day’ as Langara pauses journalism program indefinitely. It really is. Langara has always had very fine, experienced instructors teaching in its Journalism Credential and Diploma programs. From the Vancouver Sun: “Journalism schools across the country have seen dropping enrolment … Continue reading

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Heavy morning rotation

It’s not true din without a diverse display, which we don’t really provide in my corner of the world. — — — — — My longtime staples: The New York Times (despite everything), The NewYorker, Atlantic (itself a din), and … Continue reading

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Apropos

Clarissa is not alone. On X writer Tyler A. Harper darkly assesses university administrators’ embrace of AI. “A lot of the push for AI (therapists! health care professionals! tutors!) is predicated on a tacit acceptance that the broken institutions cannot … Continue reading

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