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Posts by Chris McKenzie

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Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here's How to Use It. 40 Google features to find exactly what you need, the alternative search engines that do things Google won't, and the reference desk framework underneath all of it.

This is a great list of techniques for getting real information out of a Google search and avoiding AI slop and paid results.
(One thing not included is that if you add "-ai" to a search, you block the AI summary) cardcatalogforlife.substack.com/p/google-has...

4 weeks ago 2144 1015 57 112

Thank you very much for this! It is very useful.

It looks like the link doesn't work if you try to access the 8.5 x 11 from the site.

3 weeks ago 0 0 0 0

I hadn't heard of this project before, and I just checked it out. This will be very useful indeed. Thank you!

2 months ago 0 0 1 0
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You Can Stop Making Practice Apps Now Stop guessing-and-checking kids into oblivion. Start teaching them.

"You Can Stop Making Practice Apps Now" by @mrzachg.bsky.social does an amazing job of explaining exactly what has been bothering me for so long with "educational games" and "educational apps". The majority of them aren't designed to actually teach.

mrzachg.substack.com/p/you-can-st...

4 months ago 0 1 0 0
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Child-Centered Digital Environments To Support Rights, Agency, and Well-Being - Cyberbullying Research Center Discusses new key takeaways to inform child online safety practices for schools, families, communities, and society at large.

Brand new report just released! A product of our international working group's focus on optimal online safety approaches that support children's rights, agency, and well-being! I share my key takeaways in a new piece here: cyberbullying.org/child-center... #FrontiersinDigitalChildSafety

9 months ago 5 2 0 0

And for good reason! I really enjoyed listening to it. Congratulations on getting out the first episode. I'm looking forward to the next ones.

10 months ago 1 0 0 0

I also find that they are so used to having assumptions made about their tech use that they can be quite receptive to that approach. It opens up great conversations with them.

And they also appreciate helping to come up with other ways of finding what they need, rather than being told what to do.

10 months ago 1 0 0 0

🎙️Screen Sense - new podcast with me and @shuhbillskee.bsky.social, is launching next week! Two psychologists (and dads) talking honestly about what it means to raise a family in a screen-filled world - with science, real stories and zero guilt. Launching 13th June. screensensepodcast.substack.com

10 months ago 31 14 2 0

This is such a great book - it’s the one I recommend to everyone interested in how tech affects our lives. No scaremongering, cherrypicking evidence, or other nonsense. Just really good nuanced and evidence based discussions of the core issues with tech. Easy to read & I loved the audiobook!

11 months ago 8 2 1 0
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The yellow paperback edition of Unlocked is out today! It’s been a whirlwind of a first year, but I’m so glad that it’s out there. If you’ve read it, I hope you’ve found something reassuring and useful in it.

11 months ago 15 2 2 2

Use our "X Misleading and Manipulated Media Dashboard" to see other examples of fake Mark Carney pics. (Just type Carney or Grok into the search bar.) cn.deepfakestracker.org

1 year ago 57 25 3 0
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How to identify misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (ITSAP.00.300) - Canadian Centre for Cyber Security How to identify misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (ITSAP.00.300)

🇨🇦 Canada & beyond

How to identify #misinformation, #disinformation, and #malinformation

www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/...

1 year ago 180 122 4 4

“when WaPo’s opinion pages are being gutted and tech CEOs are seeking pre-approval from authoritarians, the line between “tech coverage” and “saving democracy” has basically disappeared. It’s all the same thing.”

Well said.

1 year ago 117 13 2 0
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Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not) While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recogn…

Wrote up something about Techdirt's recent coverage, and why (whether we like it or not) we need to be a "democracy blog" now, rather than just a "tech" blog (not that we've ever been just a tech blog).

This story is *the* story and it impacts everything else.

www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/w...

1 year ago 4033 1284 112 247
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Trudeau: "I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don't want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally. We don't want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically."

1 year ago 29863 7725 698 627

I get annoyed when Canadian news services publish news on their websites, and it's video only. I'm often not able to watch a video. For me a written article is much easier to access. Ideally both would be available. Or at least, if a video is up first, please add a short written piece later on.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

“How do I use technology to bring out the best in these humans?”

My goodness this is missed so often.

1 year ago 2 0 0 0
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In Edtech, You Either Bet On Teachers Or You Have To Build One No one has built one yet.

Dan Meyer understands tech, teaching, and kids' brains better than most people, including most teachers. Almost every student-facing AI tool in edtech sucks, and this post explains why. substack.com/home/post/p-...

1 year ago 4 1 1 0

I'll try this question with students soon to see how it works with them as well.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0
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The great thing about the question is that it isn’t just flat out asking you to think about your emotional reaction. People can roll their eyes when asked to think about their emotions. It’s a more interesting way of getting at the same thing, and a more interesting way can have more uptake.

1 year ago 0 0 1 0

And it doesn’t mean I want awful things to be true. It’s about believing something or not because it makes me feel better. Maybe by justifying my current beliefs feel, maybe my making it seem like I can to take less responsibility than I should be, or maybe by making me less scared than I should be.

1 year ago 0 0 1 0

I have been asking myself this question lately as a way to check what my emotional response is to information, and by becoming more aware of my emotional reaction to information, I am interacting with that information in a new light, which has been a fascinating experience.

1 year ago 0 0 1 0

I was reading @garwboy.bsky.social Dean Burnett's book "Why Your Parents Are Hung-Up on Your Phone and What To Do About It". I read his tip to avoid misinformation online: "Ask yourself, 'Do I want this to be true?'"

And for the past couple of days, I have been thinking about this tip a lot.

1 year ago 1 0 1 0

New article in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health!
We disentangle limitations in research on digital harms in youth to inform recommendations for studying impacts of rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence.
Open link until 11th March:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kTwe8Mut2...
🧵 Summary below
1/12

1 year ago 21 11 1 3

Thank you for creating this starter pack! Apparently I'm seeing it two months after you created it, but today seems like the perfect day for it to come my way.

1 year ago 1 0 0 0

Here is a Canadian Poets Starter Pack! 🪶💐🩷

If you're a Canadian poet and I've missed you, comment below, and I'll add.

(Also, if I made a mistake in adding you to the list, let me know, and I'll remove you!)

Please share so folks coming to Bluesky can find their people!
go.bsky.app/JbjXoTN

1 year ago 158 85 81 11

I definitely value quality writing about these topics for exactly that reason, and for my own enjoyment too.

1 year ago 1 0 0 0
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Oh. Fiction that helps spur ideas is also allowed.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

And why wouldn’t my first ever BlueSky post have a basic spelling error that is just sitting there, glaring at me.

1 year ago 0 0 0 0

and a selection of essays and articles by @orbenamy.bsky.social, @candiceodgers.bsky.social and others.

What else should I add?

1 year ago 0 0 1 0