Tom Weatherburn

Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War

Imagining that the climate battle is about *information* -- that those who have good information will act; that those who aren't acting must be lacking information -- has been utterly disastrous for decades now, but advocates & pols can't seem to break out of it.

Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.

Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...

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I’m not sure he understands it’s quite helpful for the LPC when American Fascists mimic the rhetoric of our Conservative Party.

As a spatial/maps guy I’m absolutely fascinated by the concept of a large world model. It feels like the next step in what GIS/spatial data science folks have been doing for decades

The Godmother of AI on jobs, robots & why world models are next | Dr. Fei-Fei Li Spotify video

Increasingly find myself listening to @drfeifei.bsky.social as a source of credible (understatement!) and insightful info about AI. This episode of @lennysan.bsky.social’s podcast is a great example.

open.spotify.com/episode/35Aa...

It's not a foolproof plan but every political debate from now on should be a Normal Guy competition. Ask them to describe grocery shopping in detail. Talk about what it's like to have a friend

What Happens to TDSB’s $20 Billion Worth of Land Under Provincial Supervision? | The Local The TDSB is one of Toronto’s largest landowners. When the province took over the board, it also took over its subsidiary that manages its properties—and it’s not saying what’s next.

When the province took over the Toronto District School Board, it also took over the subsidiary that manages the TDSB’s $20 billion worth of land. As @wendyglauser.bsky.social‬ writes, critics fear repercussions not just for schools, but also for whole neighbourhoods.
thelocal.to/tdsb-takeove...

Mr Rogers doing a bad job drawing a house but saying it doesn’t matter

Like this motherfucker was cooking with this one

A good enough reason to spend lots of time doing art is just that it’s fun to do art

My first Starter Pack! The Canadian urbanism and planning community on here is growing. Give these folks a follow. Some well known faces … and some you should get to know! (please re-post!) go.bsky.app/AEYL7FZ

Heading into a glorious time for local fruit in #Toronto. Peaches, pears and plums all looking good.

www.mapto.ca/maps/the-fru...

#topoli #ediblecity #map #mapping #gis #dataviz

Thanks for posting! Love this account

The news on 9/11…

IME teaching juniors how to teach AI to do better means both juniors and AI learn to write better code

Would love to see same results on less experienced devs

Feel this deeply. The injustice!

It’s open! Feels like there should have been a party. Did I miss the party?

New from me at TVO, on Toronto's disappointing sixplex vote and the prospects for the feds and Mayor Chow to get it back on track. Spoiler: she'd still need to use strong-mayor powers, but not in the way you might think. www.tvo.org/article/anal...

And wonder why their kids can't afford to live near them, and why the local school closed so their grandkids couldn't live nearby anyway, etc etc etc

Great portfolio! 👍

not using strong mayor in the name of upholding democracy relies pretty heavily on the premise that the current system is actually democratic. If w had prop rep and actual vote parity it would hold sit a lot better w me

Consumer spending and after-tax incomes both fell in May, adjusted for inflation. #NumbersDay
Full data: www.bea.gov/news/2025/pe...

what’s funny is that if pro-cuomo centrist democrats were less myopic they might see that mamdani was running the kind of campaign that could help rebuild the party brand — accessible with an outsider persona and a focus on “kitchen table” issues.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

With CBC now having called all ridings it's time for the land-vs-people-vote animation.

Your Home Without China We analyzed import data to show where Americans may see product shortages, fewer choices and price increases.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How quickly does a neighborhood change?

Exposition Park has been ground zero for double duplex development in LA, with more development happening here than anywhere else in LA.

This image illustrates development that occurred in the two square mile section immediately West of USC:

The key chart right now:

Usually US economic pain is cushioned by falling bond yields and a strengthening dollar, which mean lower interest rates and more spending power for consumers.

This time we’re seeing the opposite, meaning the pain will be amplified.

Spring 2025

What happens on Parliament Hill can feel far removed from people's daily lives. @thelocal.to is doing what it does best, covering this election from the neighbourhood level.
Get to know your candidates; they're meant to represent you. thelocal.to/spring-2025/