Yan Basque
@yanbasque.com
Writer, artist and musician. Queer. Critic of technology. Grad student (Information Studies at McGill). (He/him)
https://linktr.ee/yanbasque
https://linktr.ee/yanbasque
Reposted by Yan Basque
Lets face it, this is a good day for oil companies, businesses, and those in the oil sector. Its a bad day for the environment and for reconciliation with Indigenous nations whose lands this thing will go over. As Blanchet stated, this is the official end of Canada's climate commitments.
Ottawa-Alberta agreement clears federal hurdles for west coast pipeline, suspends clean energy regulations
Federal government won’t implement its oil and gas emissions cap, and both sides will consult with B.C. on project, MOU says
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Lets face it, this is a good day for oil companies, businesses, and those in the oil sector. Its a bad day for the environment and for reconciliation with Indigenous nations whose lands this thing will go over. As Blanchet stated, this is the official end of Canada's climate commitments.
Stood in the shower for 15 minutes thinking about organizing systems, then got out and realized I forgot to wash myself. This is what information studies is doing to me.
(I went back in and used the soap.)
(I went back in and used the soap.)
November 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Stood in the shower for 15 minutes thinking about organizing systems, then got out and realized I forgot to wash myself. This is what information studies is doing to me.
(I went back in and used the soap.)
(I went back in and used the soap.)
Reposted by Yan Basque
Every prompt to chatbot software is “generate me some text.” If it generated you some text, it performed its function correctly. It never lies, it never wants anything, it’s text generating software that generates text.
Not wanting to disappoint you so much that it lies is the last quality I want in a computer.
November 28, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Every prompt to chatbot software is “generate me some text.” If it generated you some text, it performed its function correctly. It never lies, it never wants anything, it’s text generating software that generates text.
Reposted by Yan Basque
Canadian weapons, mining interests, and refugee policies are leaving fingerprints on the ongoing genocide in Sudan.
@nisrinelamin.bsky.social, @policingblack.bsky.social and Ismail Adam write about Canada’s role in Sudan’s brutal and escalating war. breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
@nisrinelamin.bsky.social, @policingblack.bsky.social and Ismail Adam write about Canada’s role in Sudan’s brutal and escalating war. breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
In the genocide in Sudan, Canada has a hand in the violence ⋆ The Breach
The massacres of civilians in Sudan are being fuelled by Canadian weapons, mining interests, and refugee restrictions. It’s time for Canada to end its complicity
breachmedia.ca
November 27, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Canadian weapons, mining interests, and refugee policies are leaving fingerprints on the ongoing genocide in Sudan.
@nisrinelamin.bsky.social, @policingblack.bsky.social and Ismail Adam write about Canada’s role in Sudan’s brutal and escalating war. breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
@nisrinelamin.bsky.social, @policingblack.bsky.social and Ismail Adam write about Canada’s role in Sudan’s brutal and escalating war. breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
Reposted by Yan Basque
REALLY chuffed to be invited to @parismarx.com's incredible @techwontsave.us pod to talk about not just the climate harms we face from an uncontrolled data centre expansion but the way companies enacting it seem to think they're cape-wearing climate superheroes -->>>
techwontsave.us/episode/304_...
techwontsave.us/episode/304_...
November 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
REALLY chuffed to be invited to @parismarx.com's incredible @techwontsave.us pod to talk about not just the climate harms we face from an uncontrolled data centre expansion but the way companies enacting it seem to think they're cape-wearing climate superheroes -->>>
techwontsave.us/episode/304_...
techwontsave.us/episode/304_...
I would totally be eating snacks during a deposition lol
“she was eating snacks during the deposition” is an incredibly funny complaint
![Westcott's lawyer also complained about Perry eating snacks during the deposition:
"She should not schedule herself with other people, nor should she have assistants bringing her coffee and chocolate-covered coffee beans, or whatever it was she was doing at her deposition," Andrew J. Thomas said. '
"If she's going to be here [in person], that's one thing. But if she's gonna be on video, we need to know who's around her." The judge responded, "I'm not going to restrict her from getting coffee or snacks.
But we should know, if she's on video, who's in the room.'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7dc2ec7iadso4vahsndlpofu/bafkreicilsa2mjcfol67ypo3di5b6x6a4wljwiqw72nqp6vv2hzdbul3tm@jpeg)
November 27, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I would totally be eating snacks during a deposition lol
“Garbage in, garbage out” has become my most hated phrase of the year.
November 27, 2025 at 1:40 PM
“Garbage in, garbage out” has become my most hated phrase of the year.
Funny how the victims of theft don’t like it and the perpetrators like it.
I think that may be the core division here: if you are an author or an artist the cons of generative AI very likely outweigh the pros for you
If you are a software developer the opposite is true
If you are a software developer the opposite is true
November 26, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Funny how the victims of theft don’t like it and the perpetrators like it.
Sometimes I wish I had more followers and then a 100K account reposts a random thing I said and I realize that, no, it's probably better to be a nobody on social media.
November 26, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Sometimes I wish I had more followers and then a 100K account reposts a random thing I said and I realize that, no, it's probably better to be a nobody on social media.
Ring doorbells are horrible. Suburban neighbourhoods Facebook groups are full of paranoid narcissists posting screenshots of “suspicious” people who happened to walk in front of their house. Truly a community-destroying invention.
Probably the worst of them all is the Ring doorbell.
It’s sold as safety, but it’s much more about fear and paranoia in a box that turns you against your community. The more of them in the world, the worse our neighborhoods get. Don’t help the spiral continue.
disconnect.blog/a-tech-criti...
It’s sold as safety, but it’s much more about fear and paranoia in a box that turns you against your community. The more of them in the world, the worse our neighborhoods get. Don’t help the spiral continue.
disconnect.blog/a-tech-criti...
November 26, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Ring doorbells are horrible. Suburban neighbourhoods Facebook groups are full of paranoid narcissists posting screenshots of “suspicious” people who happened to walk in front of their house. Truly a community-destroying invention.
Reposted by Yan Basque
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
November 25, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
Some of the replies to this post are unhinged!
November 25, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Some of the replies to this post are unhinged!
It's insane to me that there are people I respect who still cling to that website. I can't wrap my head around it.
“.. This is X in 2025: Potentially fake accounts crying at other potentially fake accounts that they aren’t real, all while refusing to acknowledge that they themselves aren’t who they say they are — a Russian nesting doll of bullshit.”
@cwarzel.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
@cwarzel.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
November 25, 2025 at 2:38 AM
It's insane to me that there are people I respect who still cling to that website. I can't wrap my head around it.
Literally the stupidest thing I've read all year. (It's by Matt Stoller.)
November 25, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Literally the stupidest thing I've read all year. (It's by Matt Stoller.)
If we're gonna go to bat for works of fiction written by "problematic" authors, I'm much more inclined to defend the early books in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series than the Harry Potter franchise.
Card's views are so thoroughly fucked up, it's impossible to defend them on any level. And yet!
Card's views are so thoroughly fucked up, it's impossible to defend them on any level. And yet!
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
If we're gonna go to bat for works of fiction written by "problematic" authors, I'm much more inclined to defend the early books in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series than the Harry Potter franchise.
Card's views are so thoroughly fucked up, it's impossible to defend them on any level. And yet!
Card's views are so thoroughly fucked up, it's impossible to defend them on any level. And yet!
Reposted by Yan Basque
'Death Of The Author' isn't "i will pretend the author is dead so i can enjoy this slop"
That framing is to grapple with works that had ambiguous meaning or provide value as products of their time. Joanne has made sure to clarify that she's exactly the bigot who wrote the problematic content in HP
That framing is to grapple with works that had ambiguous meaning or provide value as products of their time. Joanne has made sure to clarify that she's exactly the bigot who wrote the problematic content in HP
Hey yall not what I wanted to do on my birthday but let it be clear
"Death of the artist" is all well & good but you cannot Seperate the art from the artist when the artist is still alive, a terf & every penny they recieve reinforces their beliefs & is used to actively harm Trans folks!
Let it Go!
"Death of the artist" is all well & good but you cannot Seperate the art from the artist when the artist is still alive, a terf & every penny they recieve reinforces their beliefs & is used to actively harm Trans folks!
Let it Go!
'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling says 'a ton' of fans are 'still with me' after trans remarks
J.K. Rowling addressed her controversial comments about transgender women on 'The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling' podcast, saying many 'Harry Potter' fans were 'grateful that I'd said what I said,' and ...
share.google
November 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
'Death Of The Author' isn't "i will pretend the author is dead so i can enjoy this slop"
That framing is to grapple with works that had ambiguous meaning or provide value as products of their time. Joanne has made sure to clarify that she's exactly the bigot who wrote the problematic content in HP
That framing is to grapple with works that had ambiguous meaning or provide value as products of their time. Joanne has made sure to clarify that she's exactly the bigot who wrote the problematic content in HP
Reposted by Yan Basque
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
I think the shortest version of why LLMs are an anti education technology is that education is fundamentally about making shared context to understand ourselves, each other, and the world
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
And by design LLMs destroy shared context
"No hallucinations."
Forgive me if I have doubts.
Forgive me if I have doubts.
Today @anthropic.com released PubMed integration for Claude. No hallucinations. Just real science, real data. As a beta tester, this has been game changing— a supercharged research tool. Here are 6 prompts that will transform how you search the literature. A 🧵
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
www.anthropic.com/news/claude-...
Claude for Life Sciences
Discover how Claude accelerates life sciences research with new scientific connectors, skills, and improved performance for drug discovery and clinical work.
www.anthropic.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"No hallucinations."
Forgive me if I have doubts.
Forgive me if I have doubts.
Watched this recently and had similar (less coherently articulated) thoughts and feelings.
"These are young men who love without qualification or care for gender norms—time and again Ponyboy observes and remarks upon his brothers’ and friends’ beauty. It’s not sexual, but can be if that’s how you want to read it."—@alishamgl.bsky.social on S.E. Hinton! www.rogerebert.com/features/rig...
November 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Watched this recently and had similar (less coherently articulated) thoughts and feelings.
Obsessed with this interview with Oneohtrix Point Never, in which casually mentions of Derrida's Archive Fever. (Didn't know Lopatin has a degree in archival studies.)
"I wanted to capture the emotional register of an era where everything is archived but perpetually slipping away." Hell yeah!!
"I wanted to capture the emotional register of an era where everything is archived but perpetually slipping away." Hell yeah!!
Tone Glow 195: Oneohtrix Point Never
An interview with Daniel Lopatin about including the ugly and banal in his music, being inspired by film and sculpture, and his new album 'Tranquilizer' (2025)
toneglow.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Obsessed with this interview with Oneohtrix Point Never, in which casually mentions of Derrida's Archive Fever. (Didn't know Lopatin has a degree in archival studies.)
"I wanted to capture the emotional register of an era where everything is archived but perpetually slipping away." Hell yeah!!
"I wanted to capture the emotional register of an era where everything is archived but perpetually slipping away." Hell yeah!!
Reposted by Yan Basque
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
"Which left me wondering: what is the point of activism that celebrates hypocrisy? Or of journalism that doesn't tell the whole truth?"
Excellent question.
Excellent question.
Given that the words "information integrity" were followed by, effectively, science denial in the #COP30 text, that is not a win but rather a co-opting of the language folks are trying to use to fight climate disinfo. drilled.ghost.io/there-can-be...
There Can Be No Information Integrity Without Scientific and Political Integrity
I'm just back from COP30 in Belém and it is making me feel crazy to watch so many climate advocates and reporters declare the final text coming out of it a victory. It's true that the final text inclu...
drilled.ghost.io
November 23, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"Which left me wondering: what is the point of activism that celebrates hypocrisy? Or of journalism that doesn't tell the whole truth?"
Excellent question.
Excellent question.
Reposted by Yan Basque
Given that the words "information integrity" were followed by, effectively, science denial in the #COP30 text, that is not a win but rather a co-opting of the language folks are trying to use to fight climate disinfo. drilled.ghost.io/there-can-be...
There Can Be No Information Integrity Without Scientific and Political Integrity
I'm just back from COP30 in Belém and it is making me feel crazy to watch so many climate advocates and reporters declare the final text coming out of it a victory. It's true that the final text inclu...
drilled.ghost.io
November 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Given that the words "information integrity" were followed by, effectively, science denial in the #COP30 text, that is not a win but rather a co-opting of the language folks are trying to use to fight climate disinfo. drilled.ghost.io/there-can-be...
Reposted by Yan Basque
🤖🫧
November 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
🤖🫧