VassB

What will the AI data centre boom mean for Canada? | The Narwhal Sprawling AI data centres — hungry for land, water and power — are coming. Plans the world’s largest, called Wonder Valley, are underway in Alberta

Water-hungry data centres are planned for drought-stricken regions across Canada. What will the AI data centre boom mean for communities? By @savannahridley.bsky.social: thenarwhal.ca/ai-data-cent...

High-Agency Individuals | James Vincent The exhortation to “just do things” is in part a response to the specter of automation.

“Everywhere we look, the world is ceding control to automatic systems that cannot be reasoned with like humans and whose decisions are often inscrutable, interrogated only after the damage has been done.”

Well, there's a jarring sequence of words to read.

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/feat...

Cineplex drip pricing case headed for appeal could serve as warning TORONTO - Cineplex Inc. is headed to court Wednesday to fight a decision — and record $38.9-million penalty — that experts say should serve as a warning for other companies.

"We're watching, and you could get caught, and we will take you to court."

Cineplex is headed to court to fight a decision — and record $38.9-million penalty — that experts say should serve as a warning for other companies.

www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/business/cin...

Can Canada Survive Donald Trump? Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, the country’s future looks less secure than at any time in postwar history.

Under assault from an increasingly aggressive and authoritarian United States, Canada's future is less secure than perhaps at any time in postwar history

Quebec durable goods law comes into effect | Globalnews.ca Quebec measures targeting retailers when it comes to sustainability of goods and planned obsolescence of products comes into effect today.

"Quebec measures targeting retailers when it comes to sustainability of goods and planned obsolescence of products comes into effect today."

Now do...the REST OF THE WORLD.

globalnews.ca/news/1146531...

I miss it already. We had a solid run of 3 hour naps that bifurcated the weekend. It was extremely luxurious.

I think we are in the zone where nap gets dropped. Lots of sleep resistance, nap starts later and later. It’s tricky. At least you can have more adventures in the day.

My advice: “rain party.” Get the rain suit and boots on and go crazy stomping and splashing, make the rain seem super special. Then pray for nap

Tim Hortons raises coffee prices, calls hike ‘more than reasonable’ Canada’s iconic coffee chain is charging more for the drink, reflecting a wider trend of jittery coffee prices.

Prices rising largely as a result of the US imposing tariffs on Brazil, and Brazilian growers not selling to the market, forcing buyers to compete with alternate suppliers.
Prices are not rising because of the size of the deficit, as Poilievre would have you believe.

Is Sports Betting Illegal in Your State? Not if You Call It a ‘Prediction Market.’

Prediction markets like Kalshi, once known for offering wagers on elections, are now in the multibillion-dollar sports betting business and outside the reach of state regulations and taxes.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/u...

Canada’s next sovereignty test: counterfeit people

Chew on it in The National Interest (a newsletter from
@canadianshieldinstitute.ca) w/ original, policy-relevant content on a Canadian platform - we're making sovereignty make sense) bit.ly/3WkKYYd

AI “actress” Tilly Norwood hit the red carpet this week. She’s a reminder that synthetic labour isn’t science fiction (!) and it’s already normalized in various corners of the internet. Can avatars be workers? When? And who gets to decide? PS. Bonkers post from Tyler Cowen below.

Block the deal The future of the global independent music community rests on the merits of their music and the power of choice.

Today the global indie music sector launched a coordinated campaign to block UMG’s takeover of Downtown Music (an indie business bundle spanning the value chain), now under EU investigation.

Love to see consolidation & competition tackled head-on in music 🤘

www.blockthedeal.com

Big tech CEOs have spent more than a decade puffing their chests and saying that they are more like heads of state running global companies with bigger revenues than many countries

… but now they’re all folding to actual government pressure faster than any tinpot dictator has ever folded

DraftKings, Flutter Stocks Sink. Prediction Markets Are Gaining Momentum. The prediction markets Kalshi may be eating into the online sports-betting market led by DraftKings and FanDuel.

It's still underestimated how fast this market is growing. Never mind crypto, this one is fast getting entrenched in the US.
The latest product, parlay bets, is beginning to really cause ripples.
www.barrons.com/articles/dra...

Sports betting but also the movement of being able to bet on everything - every situation being probabilistic and a wager. More common in the US than here. A very weird thing that we legitimized for tax dollars and went overboard with.

Huge opportunity for a progressive politician to come out and promise real, strict rules on sports better. (No advertising, for sure. No apps could work.)

Inviting the ire of the lecherous sports betting companies would probably be a good profile-building exercise.

YouTube Bends the Knee Welcome to the era of Big-Tech capitulation.

wrote a quick one about the tech companies settling lawsuits with Trump. Yes, it’s cowardice. But it’s also an excuse to behave the way they’ve always wanted to (irresponsibly, with no regard for the consequences of their actions). Which, actually makes them a perfect part of the MAGA coalition

Balsillie Prize finalists raise uncomfortable questions for policy makers and citizens Nominated books focus on domestic violence, politics, metals and corporate consolidation

The Big Fix is shortlisted for the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy! Makes the endless hours of agonizing over every word worth it. Helps to have a great co-author: @vassb.bsky.social !

www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/arti...

Announcing finalists for the 2025 #BalsilliePrize for Public Policy — congratulations to:

◢ @vincebeiser.bsky.social

◢ @vassb.bsky.social & @denisehearn.bsky.social

◢ Pamela Cross

◢ Stephen J.A. Ward

$70K winner announced Nov 25 at a live event in Toronto bit.ly/4g8wCDv

Exciting Advances In Copyright Infringement

Another unnecessary reliance on foreign digital infrastructure 👎

Do you use "MyChart" to find out how a test went?
It's owned by Epic Systems, an American private equity firm.
This excellent reporting from CTV is a must read.
www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic...

HC data breaches getting more common as private equity invests (+ monetizes everything, incl your data) /2

This is spot on. Our capitulation to the ‘inevitability’ of AI couldn’t come at a worse time.

Companies should be required to clearly state when audio, video or text is

1) machine-generated
2) machine-processed

Not just news reports, industry white papers or engineering designs, but also legal documents, Facebook posts and TikTok videos.

Opinion: Geography and destiny: Can Canada truly spurn the U.S. and be more European? When Canada faces friction with the United States, we tend to rediscover Europe. Every time, the U.S. pulls us back. Will this time be any different?

My latest in the Globe and Mail:

Geography and destiny: Can Canada truly spurn the U.S. and be more European? www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

Why Corporate America Is Caving to Trump

Why are leaders in media, law and finance not standing up to what many call abuses of presidential power? In an era of “shareholder capitalism, the overseers of ABC and CBS must keep their eyes on the stock price. And by that measure they have been in no position to push back,” Noam Scheiber writes.

Opinion: Canada’s carbon tax is dead. But it’s not dearly departed In a moment when Canada needs to tackle other difficult things, here’s what the tax tells us about how public policy comes to life, why it dies and who’s responsible

I thought the end of the carbon tax unlocked some fascinating truths about politics and policy so I wrote it an obituary. RIP carbon tax: how it was born, how it lived in the world - and what killed it. #cdnpoli
www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/opi...

That seems like such a great way to learn - haven't thought of that. What kind of textbooks do you check out?