josh o'kane
@joshokane.bsky.social
"A dogged reporter with a weakness for bad jokes." Business of arts for @globeandmail. Wrote Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy. [email protected]
Reposted by josh o'kane
Oof. Vancouver’s annual Celebration of Light fireworks competition cancelled indefinitely due to funding.
November 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Oof. Vancouver’s annual Celebration of Light fireworks competition cancelled indefinitely due to funding.
Reposted by josh o'kane
Tom Green covered Kurt Vile's "Pretty Pimpin"
Tom Green Covers Kurt Vile's "Pretty Pimpin": Watch
Tom Green! You remember that guy! From MTV! And from Freddy Got Fingered and Road Trip and Charlie’s Angels! If you are too young to remember Tom Green, I truly don’t know why you’re here. You must ha...
stereogum.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Tom Green covered Kurt Vile's "Pretty Pimpin"
Reposted by josh o'kane
Shopify salespeople inflated the value of the deals they were closing amid aggressive quotas and a lack of accountability, sources told me. When management found out, after big deals failed to bring in the numbers projected, they gave staff an ultimatum: own up or be found out.
Shopify rocked by sales fraud scandal that led to ultimatums and firings - The Logic
Shopify salespeople were inflating the value of the deals they were closing. When management found out, they told staff to own up or face the consequences.
thelogic.co
November 24, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Shopify salespeople inflated the value of the deals they were closing amid aggressive quotas and a lack of accountability, sources told me. When management found out, after big deals failed to bring in the numbers projected, they gave staff an ultimatum: own up or be found out.
Reposted by josh o'kane
Reposted by josh o'kane
Nice profile on Home Front by @joshokane.bsky.social Can’t wait for these guys to tour
Edmonton band Home Front recasts punk music while taking its sound in fresh directions
Front man Graeme MacKinnon likens the gradual establishment of the band’s sonic palette to the trajectory of the English band Joy Division
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Nice profile on Home Front by @joshokane.bsky.social Can’t wait for these guys to tour
Scoop from Kate Taylor and I: We obtained two years of auditors' reports for The Power Plant warning that one of Canada's leading contemporary arts venues is at risk of ceasing operations – and this was before the Harbourfront Centre pulled support. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
Toronto’s Power Plant gallery struggles to rebuild finances three years after board shakeup
The contemporary art gallery has cut its programming from three seasons to two and may need government assistance as it works to expand fundraising
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Scoop from Kate Taylor and I: We obtained two years of auditors' reports for The Power Plant warning that one of Canada's leading contemporary arts venues is at risk of ceasing operations – and this was before the Harbourfront Centre pulled support. www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by josh o'kane
Reposted by josh o'kane
So happy One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by the extraordinary Omar El Akkad won last night’s National Book Award for non-fiction (even though, as he said, in his speech, it’s “very difficult to think in celebratory terms about a book that was written in response to a genocide”).
November 20, 2025 at 5:14 PM
So happy One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by the extraordinary Omar El Akkad won last night’s National Book Award for non-fiction (even though, as he said, in his speech, it’s “very difficult to think in celebratory terms about a book that was written in response to a genocide”).
Reposted by josh o'kane
Major Labels Make Milestone Catalogue Licensing Deal with AI Music Startup
Major Labels Make Milestone Catalogue Licensing Deal with AI Music Startup
Here we fucking go, I guess: all three major record labels — Universal Music Group, Sony Music and Warner Music — have made a watershed deal
dlvr.it
November 20, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Major Labels Make Milestone Catalogue Licensing Deal with AI Music Startup
Reposted by josh o'kane
Reposted by josh o'kane
I recommend @joshokane.bsky.social's book Sideways as a great account of the problems the smart city project encountered & how Google/Alphabet dropped several balls in getting it built. The theatre adaptation was hilarious & brilliant too
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/677188...
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/677188...
Sideways by Josh O'Kane | Penguin Random House Canada
From the tech reporter who most closely pursued the Sidewalk Labs fiasco in Toronto, an uncompromising look into what the Google sister company's failure in urban development reveals about Big Tech, d...
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
November 19, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I recommend @joshokane.bsky.social's book Sideways as a great account of the problems the smart city project encountered & how Google/Alphabet dropped several balls in getting it built. The theatre adaptation was hilarious & brilliant too
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/677188...
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/677188...
Reposted by josh o'kane
One of the best baselines ever. So simple but huge. RIP Mani.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2q...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2q...
The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored (Official Video)
YouTube video by StoneRosesVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
One of the best baselines ever. So simple but huge. RIP Mani.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2q...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2q...
Reposted by josh o'kane
Fair to say CRTC's new definition of "Canadian content" (and its expanded points system to unlock funding, which took endless consultation) has been greeted by film & TV industry with disappointment bordering on hostility. And that's just from orgs that'll say anything publicly.
November 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Fair to say CRTC's new definition of "Canadian content" (and its expanded points system to unlock funding, which took endless consultation) has been greeted by film & TV industry with disappointment bordering on hostility. And that's just from orgs that'll say anything publicly.
Reposted by josh o'kane
A group of hospital physicians met for a virtual rounds meeting.
What they didn't realize was that Otter.ai was on the call, too.
They found out when the AI transcriber sent a transcript of the meeting -- patient information and all -- to dozens of current and former staff after the call.
What they didn't realize was that Otter.ai was on the call, too.
They found out when the AI transcriber sent a transcript of the meeting -- patient information and all -- to dozens of current and former staff after the call.
AI bot recorded doctors’ meeting, sent patient info to current and former hospital staff, watchdog says
The transcription tool recorded the meeting on behalf of a physician who no longer worked at the hospital
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:15 PM
A group of hospital physicians met for a virtual rounds meeting.
What they didn't realize was that Otter.ai was on the call, too.
They found out when the AI transcriber sent a transcript of the meeting -- patient information and all -- to dozens of current and former staff after the call.
What they didn't realize was that Otter.ai was on the call, too.
They found out when the AI transcriber sent a transcript of the meeting -- patient information and all -- to dozens of current and former staff after the call.
Reposted by josh o'kane
Woman Jacob Hoggard Was Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Reveals Her Identity in New Documentary
Woman Jacob Hoggard Was Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Reveals Her Identity in New Documentary
For the first time, the woman disgraced Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard was convicted of sexually assaulting in 2022, has revealed her
dlvr.it
November 19, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Woman Jacob Hoggard Was Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Reveals Her Identity in New Documentary
Here's @irenegalea.bsky.social on the expanded definitions of Canadian content for the digital era: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
CRTC expands definition of Canadian content applied to broadcasters and streamers
Regulator to recognize a broader number of creative roles in its points system and introduce a bonus for content based on Canadian literature
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Here's @irenegalea.bsky.social on the expanded definitions of Canadian content for the digital era: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
"Since 2023, expenses have grown and vastly outpaced revenues, leading to losses of more than $1.2 million over three short seasons." exclaim.ca/music/articl...
Riverfest Elora Shutters Operations After 15 Years │ Exclaim!
"The gap between what it costs to deliver a world-class festival experience and what is financially viable has grown unbridgeably wide"
exclaim.ca
November 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
"Since 2023, expenses have grown and vastly outpaced revenues, leading to losses of more than $1.2 million over three short seasons." exclaim.ca/music/articl...
Seems we're about to see a high-profile test of ticket marketplace owners' argument that laws capping resale prices will push sellers, then buyers, into black/grey markets
Can't imagine US making this move, but if UK succeeds, Canadian provinces might(?) take note pitchfork.com/news/ticket-...
Can't imagine US making this move, but if UK succeeds, Canadian provinces might(?) take note pitchfork.com/news/ticket-...
Ticket Resale for Profit to Be Outlawed in United Kingdom
A long-promised government crackdown on touts and resale platforms is set to be unveiled this week
pitchfork.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Seems we're about to see a high-profile test of ticket marketplace owners' argument that laws capping resale prices will push sellers, then buyers, into black/grey markets
Can't imagine US making this move, but if UK succeeds, Canadian provinces might(?) take note pitchfork.com/news/ticket-...
Can't imagine US making this move, but if UK succeeds, Canadian provinces might(?) take note pitchfork.com/news/ticket-...
Reposted by josh o'kane
SCOOP: Alberta intends to allow doctors working in the public health care system to simultaneously offers services in a parallel private market, according to draft amendments obtained by The Globe and Mail
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
Alberta plans to allow doctors to deliver public and private services
Draft legislation would establish a model for medicine unlike any other in Canada
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:20 PM
SCOOP: Alberta intends to allow doctors working in the public health care system to simultaneously offers services in a parallel private market, according to draft amendments obtained by The Globe and Mail
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber...
Reposted by josh o'kane
Researchers tried plugging every possible phone number into WhatsApp's web app. They found they could collect 3.5 billion users' phone numbers, plus photos for half and profile text for more than a third, the biggest personal data exposure ever by some measures. www.wired.com/story/a-simp...
A Simple WhatsApp Security Flaw Exposed 3.5 Billion Phone Numbers
By plugging tens of billions of phone numbers into WhatsApp’s contact discovery tool, researchers found “the most extensive exposure of phone numbers” ever—along with profile photos and more.
www.wired.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Researchers tried plugging every possible phone number into WhatsApp's web app. They found they could collect 3.5 billion users' phone numbers, plus photos for half and profile text for more than a third, the biggest personal data exposure ever by some measures. www.wired.com/story/a-simp...
For the weekday crowd: I spent some time at the Philadelphia Art Museum last week, vibe-checking the scene in the aftermath of Canadian director Sasha Suda's dismissal: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
Controversial rebrand hangs over Philadelphia Art Museum as fired CEO sues
In the wake of the high-profile dismissal of former National Gallery of Canada director Sasha Suda, museum staff say rebrand was unnecessary and ‘bewildering’
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:35 PM
For the weekday crowd: I spent some time at the Philadelphia Art Museum last week, vibe-checking the scene in the aftermath of Canadian director Sasha Suda's dismissal: www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by josh o'kane
Health Canada convened an independent expert advisory group in 2020 to provide guidance on safer supply. Health Canada heavily redacted its final report, but unredacted version obtained by CBC shows the expert group said drug crisis is driven by prohibition and recommended expansion of safer supply
November 16, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Health Canada convened an independent expert advisory group in 2020 to provide guidance on safer supply. Health Canada heavily redacted its final report, but unredacted version obtained by CBC shows the expert group said drug crisis is driven by prohibition and recommended expansion of safer supply
Reposted by josh o'kane
Reposted by josh o'kane
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson wins the Writers' Trust prize for nonfiction. Just started her stunning Theory of Water and I highly recommend it if you want to drop everything you're doing and think of nothing but the meaning of "sinter." www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2533-t...
Theory of Water
www.haymarketbooks.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson wins the Writers' Trust prize for nonfiction. Just started her stunning Theory of Water and I highly recommend it if you want to drop everything you're doing and think of nothing but the meaning of "sinter." www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2533-t...