Andrew Biro
@andrewbiro.bsky.social
690 followers 380 following 130 posts
Politics professor & AUFA member at Acadia U. Critical theory, environmental politics, political economy, media/cultural studies. Also dad jokes and TML complaints. Co-author of Organizing Nature (UTP 2023).
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Reposted by Andrew Biro
earlofedgecombe.bsky.social
If you think you know why US newspapers died, this feature documentary now streaming for free on PBS might surprise you. It wasn't the Internet. Newspapers were specifically targeted by vulture capitalists.

I composed the score for the film, which features electric cello & Crowfoot guitars.
Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink
A handful of journalists rebel against a hedge fund that is gutting newspapers nationwide.
www.pbs.org
Reposted by Andrew Biro
patrickdunleavy.bsky.social
Peter Atwater
“With each passing day, the AI space looks more and more like the USA’s home mortgage securitization at the peak of the 2007-8 housing bubble with its overlapping series of capital conveyor belts.”
andrewbiro.bsky.social
jakevig.bsky.social
"Kids! come down for dinner! The ham and bananas hollandaise is ready!"
Old 1970s dish of food for ham and bananas hollandaise
Reposted by Andrew Biro
rezekjoe.bsky.social
Just posting this. Everyone knows why.
Text of the fourth amendment “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
andrewbiro.bsky.social
Fans of Smashing Pumpkins will enjoy this
oregonzoo.bsky.social
let the gourd times roll
Reposted by Andrew Biro
architectgp.bsky.social
This is spot on. Our capitulation to the ‘inevitability’ of AI couldn’t come at a worse time.
Screenshot of a paragraph of this essay.
Reposted by Andrew Biro
parismarx.com
Full support to Canada Post workers in the face of more attacks not just from management, but now from the government too.
parismarx.com
It’s absolutely right that workers walk off the job in response to the government taking a chainsaw to Canada Post.

If we lose the unique national infrastructure the postal service has, it will never be rebuilt. We should be using it to expand services to the public, not nickel and diming it.
Canada Post workers walking off the job after government demands reforms | CBC News
The union representing Canada's postal workers has called for a cross-country strike in the wake of the federal government announcing major reforms to Canada Post.
www.cbc.ca
andrewbiro.bsky.social
Today’s schedule:
King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail)
Sophocles (Antigone)
Marcuse (1st half of Essay on Liberation)
andrewbiro.bsky.social
Congrats to @dalfaculty.bsky.social on their new agreement ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
dalfaculty.bsky.social
DFA members accepted the agreement/back-to-work protocol. @dalhousieu.bsky.social also ratified. Faculty will be back in the classrooms/labs with students Tuesday. Thanks to our members for their resolve, to students for their support and to unions across Canada for having our backs. #KeepDalStrong
Reposted by Andrew Biro
swilua.bsky.social
you don’t understand bro, if we didn’t lie, no one would buy our product 😩
Consider the implications if ChatGPT started saying "I don't know" to even 30% of queries
- a conservative estimate based on the paper's analysis of factual uncertainty in training data. Users accustomed to receiving confident answers to virtually any question would likely abandon such systems rapidly.
andrewbiro.bsky.social
Mondays are my busiest teaching day this semester. Today’s schedule:
9;30: Socrates (Apology)
11:30: Kant (What is Enlightenment)
1:00: Adorno (Society)

I’ll be the guy in the hot dog suit saying “we’re all trying to find the person who did this”
Reposted by Andrew Biro
dkmunro.bsky.social
“Instead of ‘democratizing intelligence,’ as Mr. Solomon claims, we are witnessing a kind of collective brain damage. The Minister of AI should be mitigating those risks, rather than naively championing the tech behind it all.”

🎁 link

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/7ff7d5d...
Canada’s new Minister of AI must not be naive to its harms
AI is not just being deployed to expand human understanding, but to systematically subvert it as well
www.theglobeandmail.com
andrewbiro.bsky.social
Happy first day of classes, to those who celebrate
Syllabi for “Introduction to Law, Politics and Government” and “Introduction to Political Theory”
andrewbiro.bsky.social
So, you’re saying it would be bad to insist that all emails from students start with this?
Reposted by Andrew Biro
authorsguild.org
A federal court ruled that ANTHROPIC illegally copied MILLIONS of books to train its AI.

All authors and publishers whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from pirate websites are subject to receiving compensation. This could involve your work.

For more info: authorsguild.org/news/anthrop...
"Graphic with 'Anthropic' logo on left, circuit-like design. Right text reads: 'Authors: You May Be Part of This Class Action Lawsuit. Anthropic AI Lawsuit Explained.' Modern, tech-themed design."
andrewbiro.bsky.social
So disrespectful, and shows an incredible lack of confidence in their “final” offer!
Reposted by Andrew Biro
csaulnier.bsky.social
« Over 90% of the flight attendants voted to strike with a mandate of 99.7%.This is almost unheard of & indicates overwhelming member support for the union and their bargaining committee. They want the right to bargain a new and fair agreement and they are willing to strike until they get that. »
This is the moment to defend the right to strike in Canada - CCPA
The ongoing strike by CUPE flight attendants at Air Canada has sparked a moment in the Canadian labour movement. Unions across Canada have been pledging their support for CUPE flight attendants and sh...
www.policyalternatives.ca
Reposted by Andrew Biro
psac-afpc.bsky.social
The right to strike is fundamental to fair bargaining. By forcing Air Canada flight attendants back to work, the government is trampling over those rights. PSAC is in solidarity with CUPE. We reject the use of Section 107 and will support workers who defy it.

psacunion.ca/solidarity-c...
Solidarity with CUPE: Protect the right to strike and bargain fairly
<p>PSAC is in solidarity with CUPE Air Canada flight attendants refusing the government’s back to work order as they fight not only to be paid for the work they do, and the legal right to bargain…
psacunion.ca
andrewbiro.bsky.social
The evolution of this group over the last couple of decades has really been something to behold
Reposted by Andrew Biro
nikthomas.bsky.social
First ever Canadian University with major professional and research programs to threaten faculty with lockout.