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ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me
@ubisurv.net
4.3K followers 2K following 2K posts

David Murakami Wood (DMW)
Canada Research Chair in Critical Surveillance & Security Studies
Director, CSS/Lab, uOttawa
Co-editor-in-Chief, Surveillance & Society
Surveillance / Security / Cities / Technology / Human Rights / Environment
https://ubisurv.net .. more

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Sociology 28%
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ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · Nov 24
For those just arriving here, I have 3 starter packs (bsky only allows 150 people/pack):
1. #Surveillance Studies Starter Pack (full): go.bsky.app/HYGu6oX
2. #Surveillance Studies Extension Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/HoDHyNe
3. Critical #SmartCities Starter Pack (growing): go.bsky.app/H1Xd6SL

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

jacobsilverman.com
Jacob Silverman @jacobsilverman.com · 11h
Interesting piece examining how Chinese policymakers don't seem to care about AGI and think about the utility of AI differently than American counterparts desperate to win "the AGI race."
open.substack.com/pub/highcapa...
Does China care about AGI?
Chinese tech leaders and researchers talk openly about AGI. But Chinese policymakers don't seem focused on the "race to AGI" like in the US.
open.substack.com

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 12h
@virginiaheffernan.bsky.social: "With the Epstein files, we’re confronted with exactly what all the Edge men [...] did with the intellectual territory they seized [...] the would-be intellectuals [...] converged on nothing less than the ideology of Mein Kampf."

www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-bi...
The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science
Edge - Jeffrey Epstein's favourite intellectual salon - was sold to me as a gathering of the world's finest minds, writes Virginia Heffernan. The files reveal it was something far darker: a decades-lo...
www.thenerve.news

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 14h
They sound like Battles... but they look like Yayoi Kusama doing Dada.

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 1d
No surprise to find out that it was Žižek who basically invented this mangled quote...

Reposted by Michael Zimmer, David Murakami Wood

reckless.bsky.social
nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 1d
Here’s @jp2e.bsky.social pointing out the obvious: Ring’s still partnered with Axon, which is still partnered with ICE www.theverge.com/report/87932...
Ring’s Flock breakup doesn’t fix its real problem
Birds of a feather
www.theverge.com

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

mcnees.bsky.social
Robert McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 1d
"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." —Carl Sagan

Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The "pale blue dot" photo. It shows three or four colored beams of light – optical artifacts – passing from the left side of the image to the right. The background is dark, empty space. In the topmost light beam is a single pale blue pixel. That's Earth. Sagan's quote is printed on the image. It reads ""We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history..."

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 2d
I am pleased that the #EU is finally speaking out openly against the #BoardofPeace... but unfortunately this still doesn't mean that it has a coherent strategy for a future #Palestine.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Bitter dispute between Trump and EU over Gaza’s future breaks out into the open
EU’s head of foreign policy claims ‘Board of Peace’ is vehicle for Trump with no accountability to Palestinians or UN
www.theguardian.com

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 2d
On a side note, George Adamski has to have been one of the most low-effort UFO cult leaders, even if his influence was short-lived. With stories of trousers unlike our own and a few really half-arsed fake photos, he didn't even seem to put the work into being a convincing abductee and prophet...

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 2d
I've already listened to this twice. 😄 One of my dad's favourite bands, and the one major mod band I had never really cared much about (unlike say, The Kinks or The Small Faces) despite enjoying some of their songs. But this episode taught me that The Who weren't really what I had thought... 👍

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Emily Grubert, David Murakami Wood , and 3 more

ketanjoshi.co
Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2d
New drone footage from @floodlightnews.org - the fossil methane power plant Musk built specifically to create abusive and racist material on his social media website is still wildly breaching EPA regulations even after a ruling against using them -->>>

floodlightnews.org/thermal-dron...

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, John R. Hutchinson, Aaron Sojourner , and 1 more

disabilitystor1.bsky.social
Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 3d
"The richest man in the world posted about how the white race was under threat, made allusions to race science or promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy content on 26 out of 31 days in January"
Watching this sentient bath slime radicalize himself has been terrifying.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January
Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts
www.theguardian.com

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
And who could argue with that? The claim that France is making is that she said that "Israel" is the common enemy of humanity, a clearly false claim that doesn't stand a second's scrutiny.

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
This is very bad news for the #EU #GDPR and #AIAct. How has a platform capitalist lobbyist been allowed to get to such a position? #digitalrights

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
#UN special rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, is one of the few people of complete integrity in the world. Why is #France trying to manufacture a deliberately and transparently false reason for demanding her resignation? #Israel #Palestine #Gaza
www.newarab.com/news/france-...
France calls on UN rights rapporteur Albanese to resign
France demands UN Palestinian rapporteur Francesca Albanese resign over comments accused of targeting Israel and sparking international controversy.
www.newarab.com

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
Yes... www.techpolicy.press/irans-case-s...
Iran’s Case Should Put an End to Illusions About Digital Sovereignty
Iran’s case shows why digital sovereignty won’t solve internet shutdowns or unchecked private dominance over digital infrastructure, writes Azadeh Akbari.
www.techpolicy.press

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
👍 It's a really difficult issue to handle for lecturers, because as teachers with all the different accommodations and personal circumstances we have to handle, we can hardly challenge students wearing glasses! Plus: we are not cops, and we do not want to be cops.

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
In addition, I know from conversations just in the last few days that these glasses (and other wearables like smart rings) are likely already being used to cheat in assessed oral class participation (which many of us have increased because of the massive use of LLMs for written assignments).

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 3d
Essential reading: www.tni.org/en/publicati...
Fascism | Transnational Institute
Fascism and the far right are on the rise. TNI’s 14th State of Power report looks behind the news headlines at the underlying reasons for their rise, the economic interests that support them, the ways...
www.tni.org

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

corporateeurope.org
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) @corporateeurope.org · 3d
🤯 The MEP Aura Salla, a former Meta lobbyist, will be leading the Digital Omnibus.

The Digital Omnibus already closely mirrors Big Tech lobby demands.

Now a former Meta lobbyist will be in charge of the largest roll-back of digital rights in the EU’s history 😳

corporateeurope.org/en/2026/01/a...
Article by article, how Big Tech shaped the EU’s roll-back of digital rights | Corporate Europe Observatory
In a new analysis we trace Big Tech's fingerprints on the Digital Omnibus proposals - a major deregulation of EU digital laws including the GDPR and the AI Act. They are helped in this attempt by the ...
corporateeurope.org

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 4d
Just a reminder that one of the worst consequences of the current breakdown of internationalism, and turn to sovereigntism, nationalism and authoritarianism on the one hand, and accelerated techno-capitalism on the other, is likely to be the failure to deal with the #climatecrisis.

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

sustainable2050.bsky.social
Kees van der Leun @sustainable2050.bsky.social · 4d
If humans keep heating the planet with greenhouse gases, the climate swing could lock Earth into a hothouse trajectory, as parts of the system feed on their own momentum, even if emissions are reduced later.
insideclimatenews.org/news/1102202...
Accelerated Global Warming Could Lock Earth Into a Hothouse Future - Inside Climate News
Scientists say warming is increasing faster than at any time in at least 3 million years. There is no guide for what comes next.
insideclimatenews.org

Reposted by Sarah Roberts, David Murakami Wood

runalongwomble.bsky.social
Runalong Womble @runalongwomble.bsky.social · 4d
An interesting read www.theguardian.com/news/2026/fe...
Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong
For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, David Rothschild, Holger Nehring , and 7 more

tyleraking.com
Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 4d
According to multiple NYT sources, it wasn’t even military personnel at Fort Bliss that fired an anti-drone laser at alleged cartel drones. It was CBP who used the weapon on loan from DoD against a child’s party balloon they mistook for a drone. The Pentagon gave CBP an anti-aircraft weapon.

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

roddenberryfdn.bsky.social
The Roddenberry Foundation 🖖 @roddenberryfdn.bsky.social · 4d
In her @newscientist.com column, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein did not mince words: Elon Musk has misunderstood the point of Star Trek.

The idea that a heavily corporate and militarized approach to exploration will create a prosperous future? Illogical.

@chanda.blacksky.app
"We aren’t taking very good care of [Earth], but that could change. For me, that’s what Star Trek is all about. Not the promise of a high-tech future where we escape our world, but rather one where we learn to respect the incredible spaceship that is our home planet." -Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Reposted by David Murakami Wood

dell.bsky.social
dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 4d
Ring is first and foremost a scheme to charge Amazon customers to deter crime that costs Amazon (not the customers themselves) billions annually in refunds, returns, double shipping, and customer service overhead.

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 4d
Nick Bostrom is going to be so disappointed… trillions that do not exist will never live!

Reposted by Nina Jankowicz, Sarah Roberts, David Murakami Wood

joshsternberg.com
Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 4d
OpenAI fired one of its top safety execs, on the grounds of sexual discrimination, after she voiced opposition to the controversial rollout of AI erotica in its ChatGPT product.

OpenAI told her the term was related to her sexual discrimination against a male colleague.

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Exclusive | OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination
Ryan Beiermeister, who served as the vice president leading OpenAI’s product policy team, had raised concerns about the upcoming launch of erotic content.
www.wsj.com

Reposted by Jonathan Wolff, Steven S. Smith, Rosemary A. Joyce , and 15 more

phillewis.bsky.social
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 4d
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
A photo of gallup

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 4d
However, as you can tell, this was all at the margins of mainstream economics, or entirely outside it, partly because folks like me were not actually economists. What the #RethinkingEconomics folks have done is break the discipline open from the inside. And how we need this!

ubisurv.net
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 4d
Later, 1996-97, when I did my MSc in rural environmental management at Newcastle, I got ecological economics into the program and designed a whole new module, Alternative Approaches to Rural Development that incorporated various strands of alt-economics, and co-taught it for few years after.