Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
@chestnutfez.bsky.social
Winnipegger. Copy editor in sustainable development. Jets fan, much of the time. YIMBY. Musician for joy, not mastery. Just trying to find good Winnipeg/hockey/literature/language stuff on here.
All vibes positive until further notice.
All vibes positive until further notice.
A worthy read.
People looking for signs of change often assume the change that matters most, the watershed, the rubicon, the turning point will be a dramatic event. But a case can be made that the changes that matter most happen in minds and hearts, and the events follow from that.
Revolutionary Weather (and the Baboon in the Ruins)
Everything changed in the last few weeks. The Republicans, assumed by themselves and too many others, to be unstoppable got stopped again and again. Public opinion manifested in many ways: as an elect...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 PM
A worthy read.
Yikes--be careful out there!
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Yikes--be careful out there!
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
This is also how I judge the History Channel. If it’s about a topic I know, I spot at least one lie per minute watching the History Channel, so it’s horrifying to think how many lies I’d be swallowing without knowing it if I watched about a topic I don’t know.
LLM search results are even worse.
LLM search results are even worse.
Saw an interesting piece of advice recently: ask the AI search engines for an answer in a field in which you are very knowledgeable.
The results will make it clear just how much they get wrong, and how brazen they are about it.
Now, apply that to every subject in which you are NOT an expert.
The results will make it clear just how much they get wrong, and how brazen they are about it.
Now, apply that to every subject in which you are NOT an expert.
Looked up “what mobile parking app do I need for <this town>” - AI summary on Google confidently gave me the wrong answer, which I ignored because **it is wrong a third of the time, about ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING** (according to the last study I read.)
The shit just doesn’t work.
The shit just doesn’t work.
November 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This is also how I judge the History Channel. If it’s about a topic I know, I spot at least one lie per minute watching the History Channel, so it’s horrifying to think how many lies I’d be swallowing without knowing it if I watched about a topic I don’t know.
LLM search results are even worse.
LLM search results are even worse.
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Over the past two years in Winnipeg, 25 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed in motor vehicle collisions. More than one per month.
When do we start genuinely prioritizing safety over vehicle speed in our street design?
When do we start genuinely prioritizing safety over vehicle speed in our street design?
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Over the past two years in Winnipeg, 25 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed in motor vehicle collisions. More than one per month.
When do we start genuinely prioritizing safety over vehicle speed in our street design?
When do we start genuinely prioritizing safety over vehicle speed in our street design?
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Twitter/X's new location-revealing feature quickly exposed that many high-engagement, MAGA-branded accounts posing as patriotic Americans were actually operating overseas, in places like Eastern Europe, Thailand, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was create...
www.nbcnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Twitter/X's new location-revealing feature quickly exposed that many high-engagement, MAGA-branded accounts posing as patriotic Americans were actually operating overseas, in places like Eastern Europe, Thailand, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Murdered by Russians in Ternopil last week
November 24, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Murdered by Russians in Ternopil last week
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Nvidia’s ‘I’m Not Enron’ memo has people asking a lot of questions already answered by that memo
Nvidia’s ‘I’m Not Enron’ memo has people asking a lot of questions already answered by that memo
The Streisand Effect strikes again
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Nvidia’s ‘I’m Not Enron’ memo has people asking a lot of questions already answered by that memo
A scourge.
Consulting firms are becoming even more of a scam. Not a surprise how quickly they went from hiring new grads as analysts for partners to abuse to work 12-16 hour days to make up long papers to back up nebulous claims and exaggerated promises, in favour of AI hallucinations
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 24, 2025 at 2:42 PM
A scourge.
While the perspective is somewhat biased, this is the smartest thing I have read from the Sun in a long time...
Winnipeg’s 2026 budget is being presented as a responsible plan for a growing city. Read on
KASPER: Winnipeg can’t pave its way out of a structural deficit
Winnipeg’s 2026 budget is being presented as a responsible plan for a growing city. Read on
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 11:27 PM
While the perspective is somewhat biased, this is the smartest thing I have read from the Sun in a long time...
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
November 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM
In Monrovia, California, protesters are purchasing 17¢ ICE scrapers from Home Depot and immediately returning them to create long lines and slow down the entire store. Their aim is to disrupt sales and convey a message opposing ICE raids occurring in their neighborhood.
Really great news!
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Really great news!
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Yes! This is so important! Machine Learning is doing wonderful things like mapping Martian craters and analyzing microbe genomes. LLMs are a very specific form & it’s them doing these huge amounts of harm. I also sometimes say “Gen AI”
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Yes! This is so important! Machine Learning is doing wonderful things like mapping Martian craters and analyzing microbe genomes. LLMs are a very specific form & it’s them doing these huge amounts of harm. I also sometimes say “Gen AI”
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
New research shows that asking “how” questions can boost curiosity and reduce polarization. It’s another piece of evidence supporting what I wrote in my book about the power of “how” questions to foster more productive dialogue.
toddkashdan.substack.com/p/a-curiosit...
toddkashdan.substack.com/p/a-curiosit...
A curiosity intervention to increase open-mindedness and reduce political polarization
The Washington Post details research from our new curiosity intervention
toddkashdan.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
New research shows that asking “how” questions can boost curiosity and reduce polarization. It’s another piece of evidence supporting what I wrote in my book about the power of “how” questions to foster more productive dialogue.
toddkashdan.substack.com/p/a-curiosit...
toddkashdan.substack.com/p/a-curiosit...
Useful advice!
“A dozen AI raters…who check an AI’s responses for accuracy and groundedness, told the Guardian that, after becoming aware of the way chatbots and image generators function and just how wrong their output can be, they have begun urging their friends and family not to use generative AI at all”
Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI
When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Useful advice!
Yikes
granicus.com this is the government service that was hacked, and they run infrastructure for a lot of state and federal agencies
Granicus | The Citizen Experience Platform for Government
Citizen Experience Platform Transforming How Governments Serve. Granicus technology connects 330M people & 7,000+ government organizations.
granicus.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Yikes
Ugh
I’m getting more and more of these too. It’s depressing.
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Ugh
This thread ... 😂
oh my god i take it back, grok is amazing
November 20, 2025 at 10:14 PM
This thread ... 😂
omg this THREAD
oh my god i take it back, grok is amazing
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 PM
omg this THREAD
Agreed--great overview of Winnipeg's myopic planning.
Great opinion piece in today's @winnipegfreepress.com from @mmarginet.bsky.social
More cars and more roads are not the solution.
www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...
More cars and more roads are not the solution.
www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/anal...
Opinion: Finding a better option than bigger roads
When facing complex problems, governments often reach for the simplest and most familiar solutions. In Winnipeg, that tendency shows up in how we plan for growth of our transportation network.
www.winnipegfreepress.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Agreed--great overview of Winnipeg's myopic planning.
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Finding a better option than bigger roads. "Many civic leaders appear unable to imagine growth without increasing car dependence....Winnipeg already has more kilometres of roadway per resident than many comparable cities in Canada, and far more than we can afford to maintain." t.ly/FdA7d
Opinion: Finding a better option than bigger roads
When facing complex problems, governments often reach for the simplest and most familiar solutions. In Winnipeg, that tendency shows up in how we plan for growth of our transportation network.
t.ly
November 20, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Finding a better option than bigger roads. "Many civic leaders appear unable to imagine growth without increasing car dependence....Winnipeg already has more kilometres of roadway per resident than many comparable cities in Canada, and far more than we can afford to maintain." t.ly/FdA7d
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Another THEY DID THIS specimen. (I want all the damage manifested in all the ways clearly laid at their feet.)
November 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Another THEY DID THIS specimen. (I want all the damage manifested in all the ways clearly laid at their feet.)
Reposted by Chestnutfez 🇨🇦 he/him
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
As the lawyer who represents Peguis says--"history repeating itself." Indeed.
$10M deal gives Winnipeg developer control of land from First Nation he advised www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
$10M deal gives Winnipeg developer control of land from First Nation he advised | CBC News
A former golf course north of Winnipeg purchased with money Peguis First Nation received as reparation for broken treaty promises is now mostly in the hands of a property developer who used to advise ...
www.cbc.ca
November 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
As the lawyer who represents Peguis says--"history repeating itself." Indeed.