John Kenney

Tree for Boston has arrived! 🎄

Every year, Nova Scotia gifts Boston a tree in gratitude of our support after the 1917 Halifax Explosion.

This 54 year tradition was extra special this year as @mayorwu.boston.gov helped cut down the tree in Nova Scotia.

Join us Dec 5: boston.gov/holiday-lights

I’m back, birches.

Remembering to forget Editor’s Note: Matt Stickland has been in the military for 10 years and deployed to Libya in 2011 on HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN.     On November 11, as a country we will gather and remember…

If you go to a ceremony today, please remember why you're there.

There is no such thing as neutral technology because technology by definition exists in the context of humans, and humans are not neutral by any means.

As soon as there is a desire for other people to use a technology - which is pretty much given in our economic state - neutrality is impossible.

Crystal Palace secure their place in this season's FA Cup final, beating Aston Villa 3-0 at Wembley.

"Government should be run like a business" okay fine, let's be specific then. Do you mean the kind of business that:

- has hidden fees, like airlines, so the price they advertise is way less than what you actually pay?
- makes you jump through hoops to unsubscribe?
- denies most of your claims?

one of my biggest beliefs about tech in government is that it simultaneously needs to

- stop being sidelined
- stop being idolized

it is currently both, & we now have a stunning example how vulnerable this makes governments to bad technology actors - but less dire vulnerability is there every day

1/ Here's my take on what's happening with DOGE.

I've got fed experience through contracting with Health & Human Safety, Head Start, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and DOD. I get brought in when people need to get shit done. Other people here have way more experience than me.

There's such a tone of sadness to the CBC reporting right now. Adrienne Arsenault says, “I feel like the whole country, all of us, are getting both a history lesson and a politics lesson and an economics lesson and a lesson in heartache.”

Opinion: Will artificial intelligence really fix Ottawa’s troubled Phoenix pay? Public Services and Procurement Canada has been testing a virtual assistant tool that uses AI to speed up the backlog-clearing process for Phoenix pay

🗞️ Our latest @theglobeandmail.com opinion piece: Will artificial intelligence really fix Ottawa’s troubled Phoenix pay?

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/46b24b2...

There’s a lot to be excited about in the blueprint for modern digital government — Laura Yarrow Last week was quite the ride. We kicked the week off with our Secretary of State (SoS), Peter Kyle, announcing the new Digital Centre, and blueprint for modern digital gov at the GDS office in Londo...

This week I sat down and wrote some thoughts down on the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government. Tldr? : Exciting, bold, and hugely ambitious. Bring it on. www.laurayarrow.net/blog/theres-a-lot-to-be-excited-about-in-the-blueprint-for-modern-digital-government

Notable Sandwiches #121: Montreal Smoked Meat Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where I, alongside my intrepid editor David Swanson, move through the fragrant boughs of the variegated grove...

Today's column is a loving ode to the smoked meat sandwich of Montreal, and their literary bard, the Canadian-Jewish novelist Mordecai Richler: buttondown.com/theswordandt...

How I Survived: Land and Northern Histories of Residential and Day Schooling In spite of the distance from familiar people and places and the structured and colonial world of residential and day schools, institutionalized children found ways to sustain relationships with Land,...

ICYMI:

"Almost without exception, Survivors talked about the places they were born and raised. They described the Land that nurtured them and their relationships with Land." - Crystal Gail Fraser and @jdunkin.bsky.social

niche-canada.org/2025/01/09/h...

#envhist #cdnhist #indigenous

DHS Unveils Playbook for the Deployment of Artificial Intelligence by the Public Sector | Homeland Security DHS released the “Playbook for Public Sector Artificial Intelligence Deployment,” an innovative guide designed to help government officials improve the delivery of services through the responsible and...

DHS Unveils Playbook for the Deployment of Artificial Intelligence by the Public Sector. See www.dhs.gov/news/2025/01...

25 Ideas to Keep Your Music Scene Alive in 2025 A list of ways music fans can support the music we love and the grassroots ecosystem it relies upon.

What are you doing to support the music you love?

Thanks to everyone who suggested ideas and improvements to my initial list

#music #independentmusic #gigs

YouTube video by AI for the rest of us The impact of AI: Why I have no idea what it'll be, and neither do you! | Dave Rogers

The impact of AI: Why I have no idea what it'll be, and neither do you! www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBCS... (my talk from last November at @aifortherestofus.live)

🥰🙏 I don't promote my book as much now that I work in government, but I did write one & I believe it's still pretty useful as we enter a time of major shifts & messy information in both government & tech

www.goodreads.com/book/show/55...

best shoegaze of 2024

get a headstart on tomorrow's awards ceremony with this comprehensive playlist of all my favorite songs from 2024
#shoegaze

The Godfather Part II is a New Year’s Eve movie

I’ve received three complaints about this playlist

👋🏻 and HNY, Sean! 🎉

Are there people in other countries named Gord, or are all Gords Canadian?

The January transfer window is now open.

The haunting beauty of fireworks in the fog.

View from the top of a mechanical hockey table

I’m busy for the rest of the night. Knitting to stop me from biting my nails
#WorldJuniors
#TeamCanada 🇨🇦
#ItsOnlyAGame
#TheyreJustKids

YouTube video by Touch and Go Records "The End's Not Near" by The New Year

Sitting in the dark with a glass of wine listening to 'The End's not Near' by The New Year 🎶

This is (actually) fine 😅
youtu.be/WqZzFvONbIs?...

My advice for the incoming new year

Good to see some progress here. 👏

The algorithmic transparency records from #UK #PublicSector organisations has 📈 increased in number from 9 > 23 records in the past month. 🤔

www.gov.uk/algorithmic-...

If you see this post a concert picture you took this year.

Pulp
30/05/24
Barcelona - Primavera Sound

YouTube video by Northeast Archaeological Research Built Heritage Attrition in Halifax, Nova Scotia

#Halifax, #NovaScotia is changing rapidly.

We have to act fast to preserve the best of our architectural inheritance before it disappears forever.

An update from the Halifax Memory Maps Project:
www.mapsofmemory.com

youtu.be/YNNp0W_Ltzs