Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
@iainrb.bsky.social
Fights cancer with computers in Toronto, Canada. Fan of SF, cinema and various sports. Sort of an ominous robed figure pointing and saying "BEWARE" in a hoarse voice every time AI is mentioned. 🇨🇦/🇬🇧 citizen. Parent, husband, cat servant. He/him.
Shelter (2026) sounds fun, but it's basically Jason Statham Mad Libs:
An [OCCUPATION] in an [AREA] rescues a girl from [DANGER], unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on [LOCATION], compelling him to face his turbulent history.
😀
An [OCCUPATION] in an [AREA] rescues a girl from [DANGER], unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on [LOCATION], compelling him to face his turbulent history.
😀
February 10, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Shelter (2026) sounds fun, but it's basically Jason Statham Mad Libs:
An [OCCUPATION] in an [AREA] rescues a girl from [DANGER], unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on [LOCATION], compelling him to face his turbulent history.
😀
An [OCCUPATION] in an [AREA] rescues a girl from [DANGER], unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on [LOCATION], compelling him to face his turbulent history.
😀
"Dad says he liked it better when you had to communicate by mail, and you knew you wouldn't hear back from anybody for at least a week." --- Calvin & Hobbes
If you have to physically put a piece of paper in the mail, you stop and think if you *really* need to. Reducing friction has its downsides.
If you have to physically put a piece of paper in the mail, you stop and think if you *really* need to. Reducing friction has its downsides.
I often think about this in terms of email. When I did my undergrad in the 90s, none of my profs used email. It just wasn't how they communicated with students and colleagues.
Now, my working day is filled with emails but I don't think I'm a better historian than my undergrad profs because of it.
Now, my working day is filled with emails but I don't think I'm a better historian than my undergrad profs because of it.
Not surprising from a historical perspective, at all. "Labor saving" technology never actually reduces the amount of work that people are expected to do. It increases it. That's because A) work is fundamentally a social relationship and B) technological innovation creates new problems to be fixed
February 10, 2026 at 11:12 PM
"Dad says he liked it better when you had to communicate by mail, and you knew you wouldn't hear back from anybody for at least a week." --- Calvin & Hobbes
If you have to physically put a piece of paper in the mail, you stop and think if you *really* need to. Reducing friction has its downsides.
If you have to physically put a piece of paper in the mail, you stop and think if you *really* need to. Reducing friction has its downsides.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
*my biggest and most exhausted sigh*
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
February 10, 2026 at 2:55 AM
*my biggest and most exhausted sigh*
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
"As AI Enters the Operating Room, Reports Arise of Botched Surgeries and Misidentified Body Parts"
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
This idea - that "we just work that way too" - seems to be a popular one with some AI boosters, and with some other scientists too. Like we just fill in the next word based on probabilities. I think it's not just wrong, but dangerous.
February 9, 2026 at 11:36 PM
This idea - that "we just work that way too" - seems to be a popular one with some AI boosters, and with some other scientists too. Like we just fill in the next word based on probabilities. I think it's not just wrong, but dangerous.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
... he's been talking about sending humans to Mars for TWENTY YEARS and this absolute human waste bag just realized that orbital dynamics is a thing
February 9, 2026 at 11:58 PM
... he's been talking about sending humans to Mars for TWENTY YEARS and this absolute human waste bag just realized that orbital dynamics is a thing
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Since the early days of the space program, astronauts have quarantined before missions because any illness could be disastrous. It’s eminently logical — not “extreme” — for athletes who’ve trained their WHOLE LIVES for one event to take similar precautions in order to stay in peak physical condition
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy. n.pr/4akK70l
Olympic Covid restrictions are gone, but some athletes still self-quarantining
For most people, the pandemic days of masking are behind us. In certain corners of the Winter Olympics, though, things still look a lot like they did in Covid times. Some athletes are taking extreme measures to stay healthy.
n.pr
February 9, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Since the early days of the space program, astronauts have quarantined before missions because any illness could be disastrous. It’s eminently logical — not “extreme” — for athletes who’ve trained their WHOLE LIVES for one event to take similar precautions in order to stay in peak physical condition
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
For believing what you do, we confer upon you a rare gift, these days—a martyr's death.
As we near Ash Wednesday I remember, fondly, the Ash Wednesday I spent staying with some pagan friends who made me watch The Wicker Man the night before... something which definitely came to mind as I was being reminded of my mortality at church the next morning.
February 9, 2026 at 4:09 PM
For believing what you do, we confer upon you a rare gift, these days—a martyr's death.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Macbeth: SHIT
February 9, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Macbeth: SHIT
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
the radium metaphor for AI really is good
It's an even more apt one in that, circa 1920, you needed to put radium into everything to get attention/funding. If you didn't have a way to do that then, by jiminy, you damn well better find a way to work the word "radium" into the name of your product/service/company.
Bullshit never changes.
Bullshit never changes.
February 9, 2026 at 5:18 AM
the radium metaphor for AI really is good
Congratulations Seahawks. Not the most exciting game to watch, but a well deserved win. 🎊
February 9, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Congratulations Seahawks. Not the most exciting game to watch, but a well deserved win. 🎊
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Seriously, tell me my game doesn’t look more fun 😆
and way more murder
and way more murder
February 9, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Seriously, tell me my game doesn’t look more fun 😆
and way more murder
and way more murder
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
It’s so much weirder than other Big Institutions destroyed by VC, because the Hudson m’s Bay Company essentially *created* the nation state of Canada. Survived for 355 years only for late capitalism to devour it. It’s so so so much more strange than Toys R Us or whatever.
minor drama:
a year ago, the historic Hudson's Bay Company was destroyed by venture capitalists, and they were the traditional olympic outfitter. The company was of course evil but they came around to acknowledging their history in their later years, and the 2018 olympic outfit was fire:
a year ago, the historic Hudson's Bay Company was destroyed by venture capitalists, and they were the traditional olympic outfitter. The company was of course evil but they came around to acknowledging their history in their later years, and the 2018 olympic outfit was fire:
February 8, 2026 at 11:48 PM
It’s so much weirder than other Big Institutions destroyed by VC, because the Hudson m’s Bay Company essentially *created* the nation state of Canada. Survived for 355 years only for late capitalism to devour it. It’s so so so much more strange than Toys R Us or whatever.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
This burrowing owl is having more fun than anyone watching this game. #SuperbOwl 🪶
February 9, 2026 at 12:42 AM
This burrowing owl is having more fun than anyone watching this game. #SuperbOwl 🪶
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Funny as always seeing comments on Super Bowl commercials we can’t see in Canada
a group of people are gathered in a forest with a blurred image of a man standing in front of them
Alt: a group of people are gathered in a forest with a blurred image of a man standing in front of them
media.tenor.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Funny as always seeing comments on Super Bowl commercials we can’t see in Canada
I read STAND ON ZANZIBAR about 25 years ago and remember being impressed. It might just be time for a reread.
Also STAND ON ZANZIBAR is essentially the first cyberpunk novel (15 years or so before Neuromancer) and feels incredibly relevant to the modern age. Content warning, some 60s misogyny and racism baked in though it's trying to be better.
February 9, 2026 at 12:21 AM
I read STAND ON ZANZIBAR about 25 years ago and remember being impressed. It might just be time for a reread.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
“Oh, did a sportsball happen?” I whisper smugly from my vantage point on a distant cliff, the sounds of celebration in the village far below just barely audible over the lonely wind whipping my tattered cloak
February 10, 2025 at 4:10 AM
“Oh, did a sportsball happen?” I whisper smugly from my vantage point on a distant cliff, the sounds of celebration in the village far below just barely audible over the lonely wind whipping my tattered cloak
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
people who say that all creative endeavor can be replaced with AI probably need to reckon with the fact that all televised sports events with human athletes could easily be replicated by high-definition computer-animated simulations….and yet we don’t do this and no one seems to want to.
February 8, 2026 at 7:26 PM
people who say that all creative endeavor can be replaced with AI probably need to reckon with the fact that all televised sports events with human athletes could easily be replicated by high-definition computer-animated simulations….and yet we don’t do this and no one seems to want to.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
41 years ago:
Witness (US)
While protecting an Amish boy – the sole witness to a brutal murder – and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when...
1985-02-08
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9281
Witness (US)
While protecting an Amish boy – the sole witness to a brutal murder – and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when...
1985-02-08
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9281
February 8, 2026 at 11:57 AM
41 years ago:
Witness (US)
While protecting an Amish boy – the sole witness to a brutal murder – and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when...
1985-02-08
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9281
Witness (US)
While protecting an Amish boy – the sole witness to a brutal murder – and his mother, a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when...
1985-02-08
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/9281
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
At least microwave meals have nutritional value. It's more like boasting you can serve 100 plates of papier-mâché in the time the Michelin chef makes one meal.
I don't want to eat even one plate of papier-mâché. Michelin food is great, but even a basic sandwich is infinitely better than that slop.
I don't want to eat even one plate of papier-mâché. Michelin food is great, but even a basic sandwich is infinitely better than that slop.
February 8, 2026 at 7:11 PM
At least microwave meals have nutritional value. It's more like boasting you can serve 100 plates of papier-mâché in the time the Michelin chef makes one meal.
I don't want to eat even one plate of papier-mâché. Michelin food is great, but even a basic sandwich is infinitely better than that slop.
I don't want to eat even one plate of papier-mâché. Michelin food is great, but even a basic sandwich is infinitely better than that slop.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
This. Absolutely this.
They are in an imaginary competition, believing the most art, the most boons wins.
“You can’t gatekeep your talent, I am the creator now”
It’s pathetic.
They are in an imaginary competition, believing the most art, the most boons wins.
“You can’t gatekeep your talent, I am the creator now”
It’s pathetic.
The whole article is repulsive but this passage is at the core of it. She has no interest in writing books, she wants to win some kind of competition that nobody entered
February 8, 2026 at 4:33 PM
This. Absolutely this.
They are in an imaginary competition, believing the most art, the most boons wins.
“You can’t gatekeep your talent, I am the creator now”
It’s pathetic.
They are in an imaginary competition, believing the most art, the most boons wins.
“You can’t gatekeep your talent, I am the creator now”
It’s pathetic.
Thread. As a reader, suppose I read 50 books a year. Are there 50 humans writing books I'd like to read? Why, yes there are! So what's the point of automating the process?
5000 units of book-shaped product are not 100 times better than 50 books written by humans. In fact they're worthless to me.
5000 units of book-shaped product are not 100 times better than 50 books written by humans. In fact they're worthless to me.
I'm going to win.
February 8, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Thread. As a reader, suppose I read 50 books a year. Are there 50 humans writing books I'd like to read? Why, yes there are! So what's the point of automating the process?
5000 units of book-shaped product are not 100 times better than 50 books written by humans. In fact they're worthless to me.
5000 units of book-shaped product are not 100 times better than 50 books written by humans. In fact they're worthless to me.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 2023. It’s a dark and rainy day in Portland, Oregon, and I felt the need for some color in my life. I think this fits the bill. #Photography #Architecture #Interior #Paris #France 📷
February 8, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Sainte-Chapelle, Paris, 2023. It’s a dark and rainy day in Portland, Oregon, and I felt the need for some color in my life. I think this fits the bill. #Photography #Architecture #Interior #Paris #France 📷
"Is this variant real or an artifact?"
(Specifically, an artifact of reading the 3 billion DNA bases in the human genome by aligning 150-base snippets, which works remarkably well but presents some challenges of interpretation.)
(Specifically, an artifact of reading the 3 billion DNA bases in the human genome by aligning 150-base snippets, which works remarkably well but presents some challenges of interpretation.)
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Will this make the reader throw up in their mouth a little?"
"Will this make the reader throw up in their mouth a little?"
February 8, 2026 at 1:30 AM
"Is this variant real or an artifact?"
(Specifically, an artifact of reading the 3 billion DNA bases in the human genome by aligning 150-base snippets, which works remarkably well but presents some challenges of interpretation.)
(Specifically, an artifact of reading the 3 billion DNA bases in the human genome by aligning 150-base snippets, which works remarkably well but presents some challenges of interpretation.)
We found Scrapheap Challenge on Prime!
Introducing the kid to a proud tradition, of British blokes in overalls building unlikely contraptions. 😀
Introducing the kid to a proud tradition, of British blokes in overalls building unlikely contraptions. 😀
February 7, 2026 at 10:56 PM
We found Scrapheap Challenge on Prime!
Introducing the kid to a proud tradition, of British blokes in overalls building unlikely contraptions. 😀
Introducing the kid to a proud tradition, of British blokes in overalls building unlikely contraptions. 😀