patatas

🚨🚨🚨URGENT: Data Centre Moratorium Loophole Alert 🚨🚨🚨 Multiple independent parties are warning of problems with the text of the Interim Control Bylaw drafted by City staff. https://pub-hamilton.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=500398 UPDATE the city has removed this file from the meeting agenda website WITHOUT EXPLANATION. One of our group saved it and I have uploaded it here: https://app-share.mailbox.org/appsuite/api/share/044fd7290e2ef34846688dbe2ef34fd5ae7650b1e03fb05a/1/8/NTQ/NTQvMzI We must act on this BEFORE NOON TOMORROW to save the moratorium. The moratorium’s text, as currently written, refers only to facilities used for the “development” of AI systems, and not AI deployment or inference, which are the most common uses for AI datacentres. We think this is a key oversight, and if adopted in its current form, would result in a loophole bad-faith developers could use to push their projects through. WE CAN STILL WIN, BUT WE MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY: Here’s what to do: Send an email to clerk@hamilton.ca and CC your councillor. Let them know you want the ICBL to cover all uses of AI data centres, including deployment and inference. Remind them that Council made a clear decision when it voted 15–1 to pass Councillor Nann’s motion on June 24, and that the current ICBL draft is not faithful to Council’s decision. Request that your email be included on the agenda for the Council meeting on July 15th. If you are able, please attend the meeting on July 15th at 9:30 am. Deadline to send emails: 12:00 noon TOMORROW, Tuesday July 14th. Thanks Hamilton. Please share this info with friends and family etc! #HamOnt #Steelport #AIDataCentres

out here slaying giants https://breachmedia.ca/inside-the-rising-country-wide-movement-against-ai-data-centres/

@OpenMediaOrg@mastodon.social kinda curious if @tailscale@hachyderm.io has also said anything about this - seems like it would be bad for their business but idk

stumbled upon the OED’s list of Canadian English updates for September 2020, which includes the term “gong show”, as in, “that event was a total fucking gong show” https://www.oed.com/discover/the-ontario-dialects-project-and-canadian-english-in-the-oed/

the earliest evidence for its use is apparently from a 1982 debate in the House of Commons, which feels appropriate https://www.oed.com/dictionary/gong-show_n

@ophiocephalic A lot of the comments are focused on the 'scraping' aspect, which is important of course, but to me the more worrying issue is the reliance on tools created by an entity explicitly aligned with fascism - for "ideology analysis" no less. I'd like to defederate from any instance that thinks this is a good idea. Sunlight required here! @piefedadmin

Shout out to Merriam-Webster dot com for still not putting an AI button, unlike the OED and Collins websites

teaching myself what not to do with git hahahaha … pain

for folks on the #geminiprotocol - here’s a 6x6 boggle clone with a daily leaderboard etc.

just need a browser certificate to play. bug reports/suggestions welcome :)

gemini://gemini.patatas.ca/gobble

gosh, this “sovereign wealth fund” sounds remarkably similar to this proposal from 2024: https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/brookfield-ottawa-major-pensions-being-discussed

#CdnPoli

Fantastic piece by Dónal Gill in Canadian Dimension:

Carney’s AI dream betrays Havel’s warning

Why the NDP should seize the moment to challenge technological determinism and reclaim a humanist politics

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/carneys-ai-dream-betrays-havels-warning

#CdnPoli

Entirely reasonable to expect the holder of the most powerful elected office to not be in a position to personally enrich themselves through decisions they're supposed to be making on behalf of 40 million people.

The Liberals, of course, disagree!

#CdnPoli

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mark-carney-ethics-blind-trust-9.7174747

@JEmphatically looking forward to reading!

I'm told there is a thriving ecosystem of Heated Rivalry fan fic and i am choosing to operate on the assumption that it's simply chock full of hockey-related double-entendres, e.g. "wow, that's some great stick handling" or "two minutes for roughing" or "here he is with the wraparound" etc

Pushback made Ford sell the gravy plane. This one is way more consequential! The least we can do is let him hear it

https://releasedougstexts.ca/

This was quite the read

https://rabble.ca/politics/canadian-politics/on-a-wartime-footing-carneys-new-defence-initiatives-risks-corruption-and-global-conflict/

#CdnPoli

ok so this is a weird one:

I’ve previously pointed out that former Trudeau ambassador to the US, and current member of Carney’s ‘Council on Canada-US Relations’, David MacNaughton, is the President of #Palantir Canada.

But last night I went to find a link showing this, and noticed that his Wikipedia page has been updated. It says he’s no longer at Palantir.

The edit was made by a temporary account which has since been deleted.

MacNaughton’s LinkedIn still says he’s the President at Palantir Canada.

But: The Logic’s David Reevely reported in Jan 2026 that MacNaughton now works at CIBC, and British Columbia’s lobbyist registry now lists Sameer Vadera as the “senior officer” at Palantir Canada, a change that occurred on Aug. 27th, 2024.

(paywall on The Logic, use “view page source”) The Logic: https://thelogic.co/briefing/former-ambassador-david-macnaughton-joins-cibc-as-strategic-advisor/

BC Lobbyist registry: https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=4472&regId=56579398#responsibleOfficers

MacNaughton now works as a strategic advisor in the office of the CEO at CIBC, as of January 2026, according to a CIBC press release.

The press release talks about MacNaughton’s experience as an ambassador and work at StrategyCorp, but not his time at Palantir, during which the ethics commissioner found that he broke the law by trying to take advantage of his former government position to advance Palantir’s business interests.

Reevely’s piece also notes “neither MacNaughton nor Palantir responded to inquiries” when asked about whether MacNaughton still works at Palantir.

Upshot: it sounds like he no longer does.

But assuming that’s the case, it’s pretty wild that his LinkedIn hasn’t been updated to reflect this, esp. with all the heat that Palantir is deservedly getting - not to mention how bad it looks for the Canadian govt to have such close links to the company.

It’s also astonishing that, as far as I have found, no one reported the change until nearly 18 months after it happened.

Regardless, it’s still extremely concerning to have even the former head of Palantir Canada on your PM’s advisory council. #CdnPoli

and here’s a more serious clip of Canada’s AI Minister Evan Solomon saying that the problem with biased algorithmic systems is simply that they’re not transparent enough. Newsflash: other data about you can serve as a proxy for race or gender, so ‘transparency’ is insufficient. Solomon is just parroting industry talking points. #CdnPoli youtu.be/WAd-Seg2rJE

HIGHLIGHTS from the AI panel at the 2026 Liberal Party of Canada convention, feat Minister Evan Solomon, world-class ding dong

https://youtu.be/pYFeG0KxxRs

#CdnPoli

@stux@mstdn.social also, solving puzzles is fun

ok wrote a gemlog post about it - feel free to @ me about it via your own tinylog on the #geminiprotocol :)

gemini://gemini.patatas.ca/posts/tinylog-aggregator.gmi

RE: https://social.patatas.ca/objects/3a3bfb6f-34cc-431d-af12-6e4b0c4a3a4e

implemented a super basic tinylog aggregator CGI script on my #geminiprotocol capsule, and already had a couple folks start a conversation with me about it via their own tinylogs :D

I really love how low the technical barrier to entry is for doing fun stuff on that protocol. gemini://gemini.patatas.ca/gtl-reader.gmi

@H4Heights The thought's crossed my mind too, but ultimately I think the most likely explanation is that this is just who Carney is. His whole life he's been someone who works on behalf of capital. People seem to forget that he was a *Harper appointee* to the BoC. His first legislation as PM was cutting taxes for the rich, followed by dropping the DST (a gift to the Silicon Valley elite he clearly feels a kinship with, judging by his book). Since then there have been a series of bills to expand the surveillance state, increase border restrictions and militarization in general, push through extractive projects, weaken or outright scrap environmental rules, and hack apart the public sector. IMO Carney has always been a ruthless operator. But he's also cultivated a certain level of charm and grace, which makes it genuinely hard to see him as someone happy to play footsie with fascists. But here we are. I've for sure also wondered if he'll show up in, say, the Epstein files — his wife's connection to Ghislaine Maxwell is not a secret — but honestly, I think it's possible he's exclusively horny for money. @JPK_elmediat @dyckron @SnowyCA

@JPK_elmediat Just one problem: Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program. Both the IAEA and the CIA agree on this. Carney is repeating US and Israeli propaganda. He's running cover for their lies while pretending to call for cooler heads. @SnowyCA @dyckron

@admin@mastodon.slightlycyberpunk.com oh cool, turns out Golumbia did write about Jim Bell in Cyberlibertarianism, was just flipping through the pdf copy that’s on my to-read list

@admin@mastodon.slightlycyberpunk.com Ughhhh This does sound vaguely familiar though. I was thinking maybe David Golumbia wrote about this mf but he's not mentioned in The Politics of Bitcoin afaict @mattsheffield@mastodon.social @timjan@social.linux.pizza

@timjan@social.linux.pizza thanks for the nightmare fuel! @mattsheffield@mastodon.social

@pinakographos Möbius prick

(Update: it's on the linktree now. Thanks!)

@avilewis@mstdn.ca Would be happy to share this, but your linktree doesn't list this account. Need some form of verification that this is you/your campaign, please and thank you :) (edit: linktree seems to have been updated :) Welcome to the fedi, Avi!)

@quillmatiq@mastodon.social @bedirthan@dice.camp Fair point, BridgyFed should probably just remove bsky.social from their bridge @scottjenson@social.coop @Gargron@mastodon.social