IDC Industry Insights
“After identifying dozens of safety issues with trains that carry potash between Canada and the U.S., the American railroad regulator rejected Canadian Pacific request to replace human inspectors with automated ones.” : theijf.org/article/cpkc...
CPKC’s automated replacement for human inspectors missed dozens of defects: U.S. agencyTransport Canada already allows the automated checks deemed not ‘consistent with railroad safety’ in U.S.theijf.org
Update: Google just sent me a statement saying it is “rolling back” this AI feature that let anyone make completely bullshit satellite images. Comes after our demos of the tool and those from OSINT researchers. One of the worst AI tools I’ve ever seen bsky.app/profile/jose...
Joseph CoxNew from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...
New from me: Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work. Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true: even a lifetime of striving doesn’t offer a realistic prospect of feeling you’ve “made it”.
Today’s column is on the quiet shift from a society where one’s economic standing was mainly determined by income, to one where wealth does more of the talking. This changes incentives, status, beliefs in fairness, and imo helps explain why many feel the system is broken www.ft.com/content/6a35...
We’ve moved from income world to wealth worldPassive wealth gains increasingly matter more than earnings for one’s standing in societywww.ft.com
I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:
How to plant a nuclear plant in IranThe question is: what on earth is Google doing?www.digitaldigging.org
Counterpoint: The pre-Trump system was a lot more balanced, sovereign, and transparent than what we are seeing today.
Foreign AffairsOn the latest episode of “The Foreign Affairs Interview,” Robert Lighthizer argues that the free trade system should be thrown out and replaced with one that is more balanced, sovereign, and transparent. https://bit.ly/4fEp5wb
US AI investment inched up to another record high in data released this morning, exceeding a $450B/yr pace for the first time It's now the largest single category of US physical investment, more than single-family homes, factories, power plants, and more
Huge news out of Mississauga. After 80 years of operation, oil refining at the Mississauga Lubricants Centre will cease operations by next year. The Dallas-based owner, HF Sinclair, said they will maintain a presence on site for research, blending operations, and packing / supply chain / logistics.
Canada’s largest base oil producer to end refining after 80 years in Mississauga | INsaugaA landmark industrial site on Mississauga’s waterfront is entering a new era, with the facility historically known as the Clarkson Oil Refinery set to end its oil refining operations after more than 8...www.insauga.com
A massive giveaway from Carney to Big Tech. Elbows up to punch yourself in the face, I guess. www.thewirereport.ca/2026/07/28/b...
BREAKING: Ottawa to scrap all contribution requirements for U.S. streamers - The Wire ReportIn a recent letter to the Federal Court of Appeal, the government outlined its intention to “eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services and to provide government funding to repl...www.thewirereport.ca
‘Anthropic described the project as “our effort to disruptively scan all the world’s books” in an internal memo, which noted “we do not want it to be known that we are pursuing this project”.’
Eli ValleyDystopia www.news.com.au/technology/o...
An interview with the man who set his data to self-destruct if his phone was searched by law enforcement: "I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people against protecting their data and their privacy." www.404media.co/the-governme...
‘The Government Hopes To Set a Precedent’: An Interview With the Man Charged for Allegedly Wiping His GrapheneOS PhoneThe U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to ...www.404media.co
Impossible to put into words how useless Gmail search is. No wait, these guys did it!
"Europe is tackling the cloud oligarchy. Why isn't Canada?" New op-ed by Curtis McCord and I where we build on Parting Clouds, our Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project report in the @financialpost.com financialpost.com/technology/e...
Europe is tackling the cloud oligarchy. Why isn't Canada?In Canada and Europe, the big three hyperscalers — Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet — control more than 70% of the cloud market. Find out morefinancialpost.com
I looked at the census data for PhDs in Canada ~10 years ago. I discovered that your odds of being a full-time academic if you hold a PhD were worse than your odds of playing in the NHL if you played in the OHL. (<20%) www.signal49.ca/product/insi...
Inside and Outside the Academy: Valuing and Preparing PhDs for Careers - Signal49 ResearchA PhD is a prerequisite for an academic career, but fewer than 20 per cent of Canada’s PhDs are employed as full-time university professors. The majority of PhDs are employed in a wide range of reward...www.signal49.caSevaat this point if an undergrad asks about jobs in academia I nudge them toward something more practical like shark assassin
"Polymarket listed almost 20 questions related to the wildfires burning up Southern California. How many acres will the Palisades Fire burn by Friday, three days after it ignited on a Tuesday? Will the Palisades Fire reach Santa Monica by Sunday?" @thatsmohrlikeit.bsky.social:
Will betting on wildfires lead to arson? - High Country NewsFire survivors say using prediction markets to gamble on wildfire is “morally reprehensible.”www.hcn.org
PressProgress has been put in a pretty dire financial situation because of a major lawsuit, so while this wasn’t exactly a total surprise for me, I didn’t think it would come to this so soon.
Donald Trump has gained more wealth in 18 months as president than during the last 60 years of his career. His l net worth has increased by l $4.2 billion since 2025 and is now at $7.8 billion, per to Bloomberg.
it probably works best as a Calvin bit but I believe I speak for many people when I say I would read the shit out of a fully committed Tracer Bullet story from Watterson no question he could pull it off
Luke Steuber💯
For many years, people didn’t randomly film others in public—not because we didn’t have the technology, but because the social contract said you didn’t do that. That’s why Meta is going full court press on their PR and celebrity endorsements. They remember how people ran google glass outta town.
FWIW, Meta was fully aware of how these glasses would primarily be used. The glasses were designed to erase consent, and that is why they exist. Anything that they do that suggests they want to ameliorate this use is an attempt to win the PR battle and manipulate public opinion.
Meta Desperately Trying to Ban Creeps Misusing Its AI "Pervert Glasses"Meta is vowing to crack down on creeps misusing its Ray Ban smart glasses. Whether it will be enough to regain trust remains to be seen.futurism.com