Ron Starman
@rstarman.bsky.social
Canadian wanderer interested in all things cyber. Signal: starman.01
Reposted by Ron Starman
Regarding that situation where the man in #Edmonton passed away after waiting 8+ hours in an emergency waiting room, someone on reddit that claims to work in a different hospital commented w/ some insight:
Comment:
www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/c...
Copy/paste of the text:
katb.in/canomalamim
#abpoli
Comment:
www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/c...
Copy/paste of the text:
katb.in/canomalamim
#abpoli
December 25, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Regarding that situation where the man in #Edmonton passed away after waiting 8+ hours in an emergency waiting room, someone on reddit that claims to work in a different hospital commented w/ some insight:
Comment:
www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/c...
Copy/paste of the text:
katb.in/canomalamim
#abpoli
Comment:
www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/c...
Copy/paste of the text:
katb.in/canomalamim
#abpoli
Reposted by Ron Starman
Tesla doesn't recongise Trade Unions.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
December 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Tesla doesn't recongise Trade Unions.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
Reposted by Ron Starman
This Christmas Eve, let us remember that it wasn’t the CEOs and billionaires who saved us during COVID-19. It was the janitors, nurses, cleaning crews, grocery and food workers with their hard, often invisible labor.
December 24, 2025 at 9:16 PM
This Christmas Eve, let us remember that it wasn’t the CEOs and billionaires who saved us during COVID-19. It was the janitors, nurses, cleaning crews, grocery and food workers with their hard, often invisible labor.
Reposted by Ron Starman
Chile has spent a decade oscillating between the center left and the center right. José Antonio Kast’s election is a departure—as well as an echo of a regional trend toward authoritarianism. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
The Right Wing Rises in Latin America
The new President of Chile joins a new class of leaders trying to seize the future by rewriting the past.
www.newyorker.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Chile has spent a decade oscillating between the center left and the center right. José Antonio Kast’s election is a departure—as well as an echo of a regional trend toward authoritarianism. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Reposted by Ron Starman
One final note, for all the people building searchable databases of Epstein files docs.
You can't trust the OCR'd text in these PDFs. The quality of the OCR is decent, but inconsistent -- and on some files, it's missing entirely.
You have to re-OCR them yourself, using something robust.
You can't trust the OCR'd text in these PDFs. The quality of the OCR is decent, but inconsistent -- and on some files, it's missing entirely.
You have to re-OCR them yourself, using something robust.
December 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
One final note, for all the people building searchable databases of Epstein files docs.
You can't trust the OCR'd text in these PDFs. The quality of the OCR is decent, but inconsistent -- and on some files, it's missing entirely.
You have to re-OCR them yourself, using something robust.
You can't trust the OCR'd text in these PDFs. The quality of the OCR is decent, but inconsistent -- and on some files, it's missing entirely.
You have to re-OCR them yourself, using something robust.
Reposted by Ron Starman
Study Finds Touchscreens in Cars Are Distracting, Shockingly
www.vice.com
Study Finds Touchscreens in Cars Are Distracting, Shockingly
twp.ai
December 23, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Study Finds Touchscreens in Cars Are Distracting, Shockingly
Reposted by Ron Starman
Periodic PSA reminder:
Normalize girls and women sticking up for themselves!
(because JC, who else is)
Normalize girls and women sticking up for themselves!
(because JC, who else is)
Tell me again how schools are biased against boys?
"Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled"
apnews.com/article/scho...
"Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled"
apnews.com/article/scho...
Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled
A 13-year-old girl at a Louisiana middle school got into a fight with classmates who were sharing AI-generated nude images of her.
apnews.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Periodic PSA reminder:
Normalize girls and women sticking up for themselves!
(because JC, who else is)
Normalize girls and women sticking up for themselves!
(because JC, who else is)
Reposted by Ron Starman
**Veilid Framework v0.5.0 is live in all the usual places!**
The changelog is too much for a skeet so here's the link: gitlab.com/veilid/veili...
New:
DHT Transactions support
Automatic default record encryption
API level improvements and bug fixes
(Thread with details)
The changelog is too much for a skeet so here's the link: gitlab.com/veilid/veili...
New:
DHT Transactions support
Automatic default record encryption
API level improvements and bug fixes
(Thread with details)
gitlab.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:05 AM
**Veilid Framework v0.5.0 is live in all the usual places!**
The changelog is too much for a skeet so here's the link: gitlab.com/veilid/veili...
New:
DHT Transactions support
Automatic default record encryption
API level improvements and bug fixes
(Thread with details)
The changelog is too much for a skeet so here's the link: gitlab.com/veilid/veili...
New:
DHT Transactions support
Automatic default record encryption
API level improvements and bug fixes
(Thread with details)
Reposted by Ron Starman
once again, i'll suggest that perhaps the reason the broad public thinks democrats are weak is that when confronted with situations that demands that democrats loudly and proactively stand up for their values, democrats shirk from the fight
August 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
once again, i'll suggest that perhaps the reason the broad public thinks democrats are weak is that when confronted with situations that demands that democrats loudly and proactively stand up for their values, democrats shirk from the fight
Reposted by Ron Starman
WOW. They're not going to air their special on CECOT. I'd like to know who made this decision, and whether the federal government had a hand in it.
December 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
WOW. They're not going to air their special on CECOT. I'd like to know who made this decision, and whether the federal government had a hand in it.
Reposted by Ron Starman
As a Canadian with universal healthcare, I don't understand why so many Americans continue to put up with this. I really don't.
Our system isn't perfect but it doesn't leave us bankrupt, homeless or ill because we can't pay medical bills or premiums.
Our system isn't perfect but it doesn't leave us bankrupt, homeless or ill because we can't pay medical bills or premiums.
December 22, 2025 at 12:13 AM
As a Canadian with universal healthcare, I don't understand why so many Americans continue to put up with this. I really don't.
Our system isn't perfect but it doesn't leave us bankrupt, homeless or ill because we can't pay medical bills or premiums.
Our system isn't perfect but it doesn't leave us bankrupt, homeless or ill because we can't pay medical bills or premiums.
Reposted by Ron Starman
Was the survey done in-house? Or by a respected provider?
Was the data weighted? Did they use quotas?
The tables and figures were done in Excel. Who produced them and what are their qualifications?
We need these and other answers before we take the Alberta Next numbers seriously.
Was the data weighted? Did they use quotas?
The tables and figures were done in Excel. Who produced them and what are their qualifications?
We need these and other answers before we take the Alberta Next numbers seriously.
December 21, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Was the survey done in-house? Or by a respected provider?
Was the data weighted? Did they use quotas?
The tables and figures were done in Excel. Who produced them and what are their qualifications?
We need these and other answers before we take the Alberta Next numbers seriously.
Was the data weighted? Did they use quotas?
The tables and figures were done in Excel. Who produced them and what are their qualifications?
We need these and other answers before we take the Alberta Next numbers seriously.
Reposted by Ron Starman
When I ask LLMs to summarise my own work, within two or three turns, it stops doing that, says what it reckons is the most statistically likely combination of words, says I talk about things I don't and misattributes either someone else's work to me, or my work to someone else.
Trust it? Fuck off!
Trust it? Fuck off!
December 21, 2025 at 7:40 PM
When I ask LLMs to summarise my own work, within two or three turns, it stops doing that, says what it reckons is the most statistically likely combination of words, says I talk about things I don't and misattributes either someone else's work to me, or my work to someone else.
Trust it? Fuck off!
Trust it? Fuck off!
Reposted by Ron Starman
I will keep saying this.
If you bought a calculator and it EVEN ONCE told you 2+2=5, you’d throw it out and demand a refund.
If you had an employee who lied confidently to you, and was easily caught, you’d fire them.
LLMs are the untrustworthy calculator and the confident liar.
Fire them.
If you bought a calculator and it EVEN ONCE told you 2+2=5, you’d throw it out and demand a refund.
If you had an employee who lied confidently to you, and was easily caught, you’d fire them.
LLMs are the untrustworthy calculator and the confident liar.
Fire them.
suspect a big reason why many academics and others who work in areas where getting facts RIGHT is key are disinterested in using LLMs for research:
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
December 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I will keep saying this.
If you bought a calculator and it EVEN ONCE told you 2+2=5, you’d throw it out and demand a refund.
If you had an employee who lied confidently to you, and was easily caught, you’d fire them.
LLMs are the untrustworthy calculator and the confident liar.
Fire them.
If you bought a calculator and it EVEN ONCE told you 2+2=5, you’d throw it out and demand a refund.
If you had an employee who lied confidently to you, and was easily caught, you’d fire them.
LLMs are the untrustworthy calculator and the confident liar.
Fire them.
Reposted by Ron Starman
By now any news outlet that directly quotes trump or trump officials in headlines without fact checks & context is intentionally spreading propaganda.
Justice Department officials were protecting victims by removing images from files tied to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Blanche Says Pulling Trump Photo From Epstein File Was Justified
Justice Department officials were protecting victims of Jeffrey Epstein when they removed several images from agency’s release of files tied to the notorious sex offender, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
bloom.bg
December 21, 2025 at 5:13 PM
By now any news outlet that directly quotes trump or trump officials in headlines without fact checks & context is intentionally spreading propaganda.
Reposted by Ron Starman
Trump once called for Russia to illegally release Hillary’s emails. I call for America to legally release the full Epstein files.
December 20, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Trump once called for Russia to illegally release Hillary’s emails. I call for America to legally release the full Epstein files.
Reposted by Ron Starman
“The reality is that there are those outside our borders who appear determined to harm Canada by spreading disinformation about our country and sowing division among our citizens…”
#ableg #cdnpoli
www.brandonsun.com/opinion/2025...
#ableg #cdnpoli
www.brandonsun.com/opinion/2025...
Opinion: A divisive wave of disinformation
In late October, I was in a hotel in Alberta, doom-scrolling social media when a video posted by former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk appeared on my Facebook feed. He and I have never met, bu...
www.brandonsun.com
December 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
“The reality is that there are those outside our borders who appear determined to harm Canada by spreading disinformation about our country and sowing division among our citizens…”
#ableg #cdnpoli
www.brandonsun.com/opinion/2025...
#ableg #cdnpoli
www.brandonsun.com/opinion/2025...
Reposted by Ron Starman
The push for the TikTok ban was bipartisan and stupid. But the Trump administration's goals for the ban have always been crystal clear: to place control of TikTok in the US in the hands of people chosen by and indebted to Trump.
December 19, 2025 at 12:32 AM
The push for the TikTok ban was bipartisan and stupid. But the Trump administration's goals for the ban have always been crystal clear: to place control of TikTok in the US in the hands of people chosen by and indebted to Trump.
Reposted by Ron Starman
The US TikTok sale has been signed. The company will be controlled by a joint venture including Oracle, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi-based MGX. Adding a UAE company really makes it clear that this was never about national security concerns.
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
Scoop: TikTok signs deal for sale of U.S. unit after yearslong saga
The deal would end a yearslong saga to force TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the company's U.S. operation.
www.axios.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:35 PM
The US TikTok sale has been signed. The company will be controlled by a joint venture including Oracle, Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi-based MGX. Adding a UAE company really makes it clear that this was never about national security concerns.
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
www.axios.com/2025/12/18/t...
Reposted by Ron Starman
Reposted by Ron Starman
A fundamental question that a bunch of LLM cheerleaders don't seem to be considering is what happens when there are no actual experts because everyone outsources tasks to LLMs and trusts they've got it right. If no person can validate the output, the output can't be validated.
May 28, 2025 at 5:16 AM
A fundamental question that a bunch of LLM cheerleaders don't seem to be considering is what happens when there are no actual experts because everyone outsources tasks to LLMs and trusts they've got it right. If no person can validate the output, the output can't be validated.
Reposted by Ron Starman
FAR be it from me to be hyperbolic, but at this point what's the point of Alberta having a fucking Charter at all
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Alberta Legislature passes bill invoking Charter override for 4th time | CBC News
Alberta's governing United Conservatives stayed up into the early pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning to pass a bill that marks the fourth time in under two months they have used the Charter's notwith...
www.cbc.ca
December 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM
FAR be it from me to be hyperbolic, but at this point what's the point of Alberta having a fucking Charter at all
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Ron Starman
60 minutes of the failing fake news CBS will interview Marjorie Taylor Greene tonight. She can still go to hell. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
December 7, 2025 at 8:58 PM
60 minutes of the failing fake news CBS will interview Marjorie Taylor Greene tonight. She can still go to hell. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Reposted by Ron Starman
What's interesting is for all the good work that goes into hybrid threats and FIMI in Europe, including at official institutions, I don't know if anyone has done an analysis of officially leaving X or any other platforms--this would be a great policy project for a research team.
December 7, 2025 at 9:18 PM
What's interesting is for all the good work that goes into hybrid threats and FIMI in Europe, including at official institutions, I don't know if anyone has done an analysis of officially leaving X or any other platforms--this would be a great policy project for a research team.