Michael Karanicolas

I didn't jump on this because I didn't want to argue with people, but... yes — Google's AI is not reading your email anymore than they _always_ are. But if you're worried about your privacy with Google? *Don't use their email*! They have literally always been gathering data on you.

re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"

Bay Path University Cybersecurity summit 2025 Professors Scott J. Shapiro & Sean O’Brien discuss AI, Innovation, and the Future of Security at Bay Path's 13th annual Cybersecurity summit.

📺 Watch our Bay Path University #Cybersecurity Summit! We had a packed room & 100+ attendees. I spoke about #TikTok data & #privacy issues and demo'd a #smartphone side channel attack 👻

Our guest speaker was @scottjshapiro.bsky.social of @yalelawschool-yls.bsky.social👇
vimeo.com/1139078347/8...

I remember Trump having a very chummy conversation with Mark Carney when he was first elected. Lots of talk about turning the corner. Then he imposed tariffs.

As soon as Mamdani is in office Trump is going to make some demand (like NYPD supporting ICE raids) and they'll be at each others' throats.

Opinion: With AI, you are now the product: The hidden costs of staying online More platforms are tying data surveillance for AI training as a condition to use services. Canada needs to reject this

In the Globe and Mail, @vassb.bsky.social asks the basic question: Should we just let big tech companies insist that consent to use data for AI training is part and parcel of using their service?

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

The CDC is no longer an authoritative source for citation purposes.

Good riddance.

A generation from now, we're going to be talking about Canada's involvement in the crimes against Palestinians the same way we talk about residential schools today, and it's maddening our leadership can't see that.

Scholastica is just a fancier version of Mailchimp. Why are we even having to pay $6.60, let alone $7.35?

New: Reuters has tallied job losses, suspensions and investigations stemming from the reaction to Charlie Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination. Its findings: More than 600 Americans have been punished, and the figure is likely to be an under-count.

www.reuters.com/investigatio...

eminem petitions to cancel a beachwear co's registration for SWIM SHADY as a trademark for swimsuits, bags, & other swim gear based on his trademark rights in SLIM SHADY

shady alleges likelihood of confusion, false association, & dilution by blurring & tarnishment

What makes a banana republic a banana republic is not any prosecution of the outgoing administration, but baseless, politically motivated prosecution. There is a whole literature which teaches that, if crimes against the public order occurred, failing to prosecute them hastens democratic decline.

When you call out and warn about attacks on academic freedom by the AfD but you are silent on cancellations by @lmumuenchen.bsky.social due to pressure from the CSU and others you have not understood the concept of academic freedom.

The debate over whether this is 'fascism' is a silly semantic one in which a small minority mean 'completed fascist authoritarianism' and the vast majority mean 'the people in power say and do things that demonstrate completed fascist authoritarianism is what they want to achieve.'

This has got to be it right? I know Harvard has a nearly bottomless tolerance for scummy behavior by famous and well-connected men, but even this has got to be over the line, right? Right…?

Border officers detain well-known legal scholar travelling to conference on Palestine | CBC News A prominent academic and former UN special rapporteur says he was detained by customs agents in Toronto while on his way to speak at a conference on human rights violations against Palestinians.

Former UN special rapporteur Richard Falk was detained by 🇨🇦 customs agents and, for four hours, was asked a series of questions about his participation in the conference, his involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and his position on Israel. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Even ignoring the Epstein ties, his admitted behavior should be more than enough for any functional institution to kick him to the curb. This man should not be allowed near students ever again: not at Harvard, not at his local community college.

Larry Summers feels very strongly that the biggest threat to campus safety is pro-Palestinian students, and definitely not creepy 70-year-old professors who condition academic mentorship on students’ willingness to submit to sexual harassment.

Even the language of “caving” lets these schools off too easy. They’re collaborating: participating in and contributing to an authoritarian takeover of higher education.

The Vichy government didn’t “cave” to the Nazis.

This has gotten surprisingly little attention — it's not even on the front page of @science.org right now — but it's really hard to describe what the SAFE Research Act would do to US science and scientists without sounding insane

www.science.org/content/arti...

Boston’s Mayor has to pick up the Christmas tree in person this year because if we shipped it it’d be tariffed.

Boston’s Mayor has to pick up the Christmas tree in person this year because if we shipped it it’d be tariffed.

i know a lot of people have valid concerns about the mods here but you simply cannot be mad that they don't allow death threats lol

Michelle, Mira, Cass & Blaise on the bus in Halifax

Checking out Halifax Transit—same buses as in Boston!

It is kind of weird that the former President of Harvard seems barely capable of stringing together a coherent sentence.

Clearly his mistake was not writing “Everything I said is off the record”.

postdoc/research fellow opportunity for aspiring law profs and legal scholars! If you want to spend some time in Toronto, we have two such open positions (good for up to 2 years) - deadline for applications is March 6, 2026 jackmanlaw.utoronto.ca/sites/defaul...

Funny read for frequent travellers. I had a similar experience going through Moscow many years ago, but there were no english signs and I don't speak a lick of Russian.

I can't fathom the confidence to screw up this badly at Heathrow, and then tell the world it's because the airport doesn't work.

I remember when stories of Gazans handing out sweets on Oct 7 were used to justify Israeli collective punishment.

We had a great discussion with @courtneyr.bsky.social on "Big Tech + Big Brother: Resisting ‘techno-fascism’ and the surveillance state" at the @globalfreemedia.bsky.social World Congress & Media Innovation Festival in Vienna on October 25.

Credit © Ronja Koskinen / IPI