Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 18h

If we had actual places to party past 2.30am, that would already go a long way to discourage that 🫣

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 1d

Up now: raves! Councillor Paula Fletcher wants the city to do more to shut down the late-night parties in the Port Lands and along the Don River. She says the ravers are making a big mess and destroying the ecosystem. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Agenda Item History 2025.MM33.19

secure.toronto.ca

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 18h

Doesn't sound like this is gonna have any teeth but good direction!

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 1d

No one else comes to the defence of the consultant class. Matlow's motion to reduce the use of external consultants and prioritize internal resources CARRIES 22-1.

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 18h

Rare relatable Holyday moment, don't we all wish proposals at City Hall were better

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 1d

Councillor Stephen Holyday says the no-stopping zones will hurt local businesses on this part of Bathurst. He says improving transit travel times isn't worth the trade-off for local biz. He wishes the proposal were better.

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 18h

It never ceases to amaze me how business owners are often so caught up in their class identity that they're willing to cut into their own profits

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 1d

Letter attached to item from the Casa Loma Residents Association expresses opposition to the no-stopping restrictions. "How are customers to shop there if there is No Stopping between 2 pm and 7 pm Monday to Friday and 12 pm and 7 pm on weekends?" they wonder. www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis... (PDF)

www.toronto.ca

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 18h

Glad we're fighting the good fight, lol

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 1d

Councillor Cheng moves to request the cops do more enforcement blitzes on e-scooters.

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 1d

you tell'em, Olivia!

Matt Elliott @graphicmatt.com · 2d

"My message is simple: don't speed, and you won't have to pay any fines," says Mayor Olivia Chow on her support for the speed camera program.

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 4d

This is great!

As a sidenote, a 46% ~return on investment~ is actually not even that impressive when it comes to stuff governments can spend money on. Public transport projects tend to have extremely high RoIs, for example. Government spending is good, actually!

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 4d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 8d

Not holding my breath for universities, especially Ivy League suckers, to do the right thing

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 8d

First Trump blackmailed universities into suppressing free speech. Now he’s bribing them with taxpayer dollars to enforce his agenda. Corruption and authoritarianism, plain and simple.

No university should cave to this blatantly unconstitutional coercion.

Trump offers top universities funds if they boost conservative ideas

Brown and MIT among nine schools told to back conservative views or risk losing federal support, sparking free speech fears

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Björn Jörges

Centre of Integrative and Applied Neuroscience @yorku-cian.bsky.social · 9d

Please join us. A @connectedminds.bsky.social
Conference at the York University Student Centre. October 6th, at 3 PM. Opening keynote address by Dr. Michael Inzlicht from University of Toronto.
#neuroscience @jdcrawford.bsky.social @bjorges.bsky.social

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Reposted by Björn Jörges

Jose M. Casas 'two-' 🇦🇷 🏴‍☠️ @josemariacasas.bsky.social · 10d

Estamos adoptando la ia en nuestras universidades sin un análisis serio al respecto? Corremos detrás del hype sin pensar en sus consecuencias y siendo víctimas de la estrategia comercial de grandes empresas?

@olivia.science et al. plantean distintos puntos 👇

zenodo.org/records/1706...

Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these col...

zenodo.org

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 11d

lol okay apparently these stickers are a consequence of participatory budgeting and not Moise's idea 😂

(as I found out in the ever-engaging City Hall Watcher by @graphicmatt.com newsletter!)

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · Jul 29

Nooooooo, I saw it and was like "nah I don't have to dunk on this US small car-centric town mayor" BUT THAT'S MY FUCKING COUNCILLOR!! In mf Toronto!!!!!

GIVE US MORE BIKELANES GODDAMMIT!!!

Chris Moise @chrismoise.ca · Jul 28

My team and I are installing Walk Your Bike or Scooter decals across Ward 13 to make our sidewalks safer and more accessible for all. These decals help prioritize pedestrian safety, especially in high-traffic areas. Thank you to everyone for sharing their input on where to install these decals.

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 12d

and tbh I should be in hell for my data management skills, this folder is a fucking mess

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 14d

writing letters of recommendation is a special kind of hell

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 13d

Think is I don't even hate admin, but FINICKY admin........ oooooofffff!!!

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 13d

😂😂

Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 13d

It definitely is! Still somehow doesn't translate into me enjoying it... I guess it's also cause it's a fairly new type of text for me that I'm not super used to producing

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 14d

writing letters of recommendation is a special kind of hell

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 14d

Okay but that's a great song

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 15d

Even if anyone wanted this feature (I don't) I can't imagine an LLM would be the best tool for it???

Nicole Hennig @nic221.bsky.social · 15d

Introducing ChatGPT Pulse https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-pulse/ (only for Pro users for now) #AI #ChatGPT

Text Shot: Today we're releasing a preview of ChatGPT Pulse to Pro users on mobile. Pulse is a new experience where ChatGPT proactively does research to deliver personalized updates based on your chats, feedback, and connected apps like your calendar. You can curate what ChatGPT researches by letting it know what’s useful and what isn’t. The research appears in Pulse as topical visual cards you can scan quickly or open for more detail, so each day starts with a new, focused set of updates.

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 19d

How strange that LLMs can't do a thing they were never even designed to do in the first place

Prof Mike Yearworth @mikeyearworth.bsky.social · 19d

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

www.computerworld.com

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Reposted by Björn Jörges

𝕍∃, Cyber closed shell syndrome relief fund coordinator @vortexegg.com · 19d

Was this not… what critical AI researchers have been saying this entire time?

Prof Mike Yearworth @mikeyearworth.bsky.social · 19d

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

www.computerworld.com

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Reposted by Björn Jörges

Ben Valen, M.S. (they/he) @benmvalen.bsky.social · 20d

Check out our review paper published at PSPR! 🙂

Sara Emily Burke @saraburke.bsky.social · 21d

Forms of Psychological Bias Against Transgender Women and Men and People with Nonbinary Gender Identities -- now online at Personality and Social Psychology Review.

Main article: doi.org/10.1177/1088...
Preprint: doi.org/10.31234/osf...

#SocialPsychology #IntergroupBias #Transgender #Nonbinary

Forms of Psychological Bias Against Transgender Women and Men and People With Nonbinary Gender Identities - Sara Emily Burke, Alexandria Jaurique, Benjamin M. Valen, Natalie M. Wittlin, Mackenzie L. M...

Academic The present review examines bias against transgender women and men and bias against people with nonbinary gender identities. A central contention is th...

doi.org

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 21d

And if I cant be a sexy murder poet what then fuck am I supposed to do with myself

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 21d

I don't think I can successfully be a sexy murder poet if its a triad

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Björn Jörges @bjorges.bsky.social · 22d

Opp, can't believe I hadn't signed yet!

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 24d

New people are signing our open letter almost everyday, and it is so heartening to see. Especially good to see familiar names sign.

openletter.earth/open-letter-...

Open Letter: Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia

openletter.earth

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Reposted by Björn Jörges

Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 23d

I mourn a communal ideology of vaccination that promoted universal vaccine uptake as a way to offer protection to everyone, including those who can’t get vaccinated.

It really feels like the anti-vaxxers won with their focus on individual choice with no regard for the harm it would cause others.

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 23d

Here are the first vaccine recommendations issued by the West Coast Health Alliance, which includes California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii:

Consensus WCHA 2025-2026 Respiratory Virus Season
Immunization Recommendations
Age/Condition COVID-19 Influenza RSV
Children • All 6-23 months
• All 2-18 years with risk fa tors
or never va inated against
COVID-19
• All who are in lose onta t with
others with risk fa tors1
• All who hoose prote tion1
• All 6 months and older • All younger than 8 months2
• All 8-19 months with risk fa tors
Pregnancy • All who are planning pregnan y,
pregnant, postpartum or
la tating
• All who are planning pregnan y,
pregnant, postpartum or
la tating
• 32-36 weeks gestational age2
Adults • All 65 years and older
• All younger than 65 years with
risk fa tors
• All who are in lose onta t with
others with risk fa tors
• All who hoose prote tion
• All • All 75 years and older
• All 50-74 years with risk fa tors
1. COVID-19 va ine is available for persons 6 months and older.
2. Prote t infants with either prenatal RSV va ine or infant dose of nirsevimab or lesrovimab.

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