Olivia Atwater
@oliviaatwater.com
Whimsical historical fantasy author and satirist. Wary of faeries and fond of pineapples. Author of Half a Soul. Wife of Nicholas Atwater. She/her. 🇨🇦
https://oliviaatwater.com
https://patreon.com/atwater_authors
rep: Christabel McKinley @ David Higham
https://oliviaatwater.com
https://patreon.com/atwater_authors
rep: Christabel McKinley @ David Higham
I just assume these days that some CEO with confirmation bias will decide to ignore the results and deploy something they’ve already programmed anyway. I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised, but MORE prepared to be gone.
January 10, 2026 at 1:59 PM
I just assume these days that some CEO with confirmation bias will decide to ignore the results and deploy something they’ve already programmed anyway. I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised, but MORE prepared to be gone.
Oh, I did. I just have no trust left, so I’m getting ahead of the curve. I’d rather already know which alternative I want and have it downloaded, then be pleasantly surprised if I get to wait before using it.
January 10, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Oh, I did. I just have no trust left, so I’m getting ahead of the curve. I’d rather already know which alternative I want and have it downloaded, then be pleasantly surprised if I get to wait before using it.
In the case of my workplace, it was mostly ignorance, I think. But the client did not want to hear that what they wanted was illegal, and that was the real problem.
January 9, 2026 at 10:03 PM
In the case of my workplace, it was mostly ignorance, I think. But the client did not want to hear that what they wanted was illegal, and that was the real problem.
There’s a mechanism in STEM for pushing out people with reasonable objections. I was asked to violate privacy laws by collecting data from phones without permission with an app. Pushing back took a lot of work, and that was at a LIBERAL company. Anywhere else I would have had to quit.
January 9, 2026 at 9:05 PM
There’s a mechanism in STEM for pushing out people with reasonable objections. I was asked to violate privacy laws by collecting data from phones without permission with an app. Pushing back took a lot of work, and that was at a LIBERAL company. Anywhere else I would have had to quit.
A lot of what you’re saying here are things I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s some relevant philosophy from Burke on the nature of language and how it can be corrupted to meaninglessness iirc, and it’s become very relevant. Saying magic words with no actual meaning has become a normal thing.
January 9, 2026 at 7:32 PM
A lot of what you’re saying here are things I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s some relevant philosophy from Burke on the nature of language and how it can be corrupted to meaninglessness iirc, and it’s become very relevant. Saying magic words with no actual meaning has become a normal thing.
I don’t believe it was an accident that a queer instructor in a liberal-leaning degree (technical writing was a subset of English) gave us that warning, while a tech professor laughed at the idea of ethics being his problem.
January 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
I don’t believe it was an accident that a queer instructor in a liberal-leaning degree (technical writing was a subset of English) gave us that warning, while a tech professor laughed at the idea of ethics being his problem.
I took a data mining course. Asked the instructor whether we would be covering the ways that people might ask us to abuse these skills and when we should put our foot down.
The professor said: “We will not be covering ethics. That’s not my job.”
He was incredibly contemptuous as he said it.
The professor said: “We will not be covering ethics. That’s not my job.”
He was incredibly contemptuous as he said it.
January 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
I took a data mining course. Asked the instructor whether we would be covering the ways that people might ask us to abuse these skills and when we should put our foot down.
The professor said: “We will not be covering ethics. That’s not my job.”
He was incredibly contemptuous as he said it.
The professor said: “We will not be covering ethics. That’s not my job.”
He was incredibly contemptuous as he said it.
And I have NEVER forgotten. Not once.
But compare to my masters degree—Information Systems Security, at Concordia University in Montreal, by the way. (They deserve the shame of what I’m about to say.)
But compare to my masters degree—Information Systems Security, at Concordia University in Montreal, by the way. (They deserve the shame of what I’m about to say.)
January 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
And I have NEVER forgotten. Not once.
But compare to my masters degree—Information Systems Security, at Concordia University in Montreal, by the way. (They deserve the shame of what I’m about to say.)
But compare to my masters degree—Information Systems Security, at Concordia University in Montreal, by the way. (They deserve the shame of what I’m about to say.)
“These documents are immaculately written” he told us. And they were. The had clear, step-by-step instructions. No ambiguity.
They also never directly mentioned death or human beings.
“Never forget that the skills I’ve taught you can be used to enable dehumanisation” he warned us.
They also never directly mentioned death or human beings.
“Never forget that the skills I’ve taught you can be used to enable dehumanisation” he warned us.
January 9, 2026 at 6:26 PM
“These documents are immaculately written” he told us. And they were. The had clear, step-by-step instructions. No ambiguity.
They also never directly mentioned death or human beings.
“Never forget that the skills I’ve taught you can be used to enable dehumanisation” he warned us.
They also never directly mentioned death or human beings.
“Never forget that the skills I’ve taught you can be used to enable dehumanisation” he warned us.
That’s encouraging to hear. I’d begun to despair about the NDP, but it’s nice to be reminded that their individual MPs tend to take actual feedback, even if their overall strategy is a little wobbly lately.
January 9, 2026 at 6:11 PM
That’s encouraging to hear. I’d begun to despair about the NDP, but it’s nice to be reminded that their individual MPs tend to take actual feedback, even if their overall strategy is a little wobbly lately.
These days, I’m drowning in mealy-mouthed corporate lies, to the extent that I just assume the opposite of whatever their latest statement is. I honestly don’t even know why we bother with the pageantry anymore. Does anyone actually still believe these statements?
January 9, 2026 at 6:07 PM
These days, I’m drowning in mealy-mouthed corporate lies, to the extent that I just assume the opposite of whatever their latest statement is. I honestly don’t even know why we bother with the pageantry anymore. Does anyone actually still believe these statements?
Anyway, the most damning lie of all is now, and always has been, “we just want to protect children”.
Anyone supporting this nonsense should be brutally reminded at every turn who they’ve chosen to support and how they’ve treated children. Queerphobic people should have it screamed at them.
Anyone supporting this nonsense should be brutally reminded at every turn who they’ve chosen to support and how they’ve treated children. Queerphobic people should have it screamed at them.
January 9, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Anyway, the most damning lie of all is now, and always has been, “we just want to protect children”.
Anyone supporting this nonsense should be brutally reminded at every turn who they’ve chosen to support and how they’ve treated children. Queerphobic people should have it screamed at them.
Anyone supporting this nonsense should be brutally reminded at every turn who they’ve chosen to support and how they’ve treated children. Queerphobic people should have it screamed at them.
Honesty is the most basic building block of a functioning society, and now that we’re seeing it publicly collapse, people are suddenly realising that it did, in fact, matter.
January 9, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Honesty is the most basic building block of a functioning society, and now that we’re seeing it publicly collapse, people are suddenly realising that it did, in fact, matter.
I actually love pineapple and pepperoni (rarely also with mushrooms). Something about the sweet and slightly spicy clash really does it for me.
But then again, I AM obsessed with pineapples in all things.
But then again, I AM obsessed with pineapples in all things.
January 9, 2026 at 5:37 AM
I actually love pineapple and pepperoni (rarely also with mushrooms). Something about the sweet and slightly spicy clash really does it for me.
But then again, I AM obsessed with pineapples in all things.
But then again, I AM obsessed with pineapples in all things.
”Woof.”
“Ici, on woof en français.”
“Ici, on woof en français.”
January 8, 2026 at 8:08 PM
”Woof.”
“Ici, on woof en français.”
“Ici, on woof en français.”
I am 90% sure that she adopted the dog here, but if a French citizen adopts a child, doesn’t it gain nationality? These are the important questions.
January 8, 2026 at 5:51 PM
I am 90% sure that she adopted the dog here, but if a French citizen adopts a child, doesn’t it gain nationality? These are the important questions.
That dog was far too well-behaved to be French Canadian. We don’t take orders well in Quebec. 😂
January 8, 2026 at 3:20 PM
That dog was far too well-behaved to be French Canadian. We don’t take orders well in Quebec. 😂
I want you to know, on this day of all days, that I had a coworker—originally from France—who regularly brought her French bulldog to work with her. This being Quebec, the dog naturally responded to French commands.
She was, in short, a French French bulldog.
She was, in short, a French French bulldog.
January 8, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I want you to know, on this day of all days, that I had a coworker—originally from France—who regularly brought her French bulldog to work with her. This being Quebec, the dog naturally responded to French commands.
She was, in short, a French French bulldog.
She was, in short, a French French bulldog.
In the end, I settled for an M-chip, since Apple has yet to go overboard into optimising for AI (and because that might change at any moment due to stupidity, I figure sooner is actually better than later).
January 4, 2026 at 11:09 PM
In the end, I settled for an M-chip, since Apple has yet to go overboard into optimising for AI (and because that might change at any moment due to stupidity, I figure sooner is actually better than later).
I do have a laptop that I keep loaded with Linux, but there's software I need that only works on Mac, unfortunately.
January 4, 2026 at 11:07 PM
I do have a laptop that I keep loaded with Linux, but there's software I need that only works on Mac, unfortunately.