18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people:
18f.org

META will end fact-checking and rely on community notes, like X does. Confirms:

- Social media ≠ Journalism
- Golden age for disinformation
- Social media giants play politics
- Real journalism is all about fact-checking

Brace for disinfo dumpster fire. Read, follow, support real journalism

Happy new year! Just dropped a new episode of #LetsThinkDigital!@ryanandrosoff.bsky.social talks to Dr. Alexis Wichowski about the ways big tech increasingly acts like a state in its own right. Down to establishing diplomatic relations.

youtu.be/5dPbg4GogCQ

On YT and on your podcast app. #pitech

Excited to share the first of a 2-part deep dive into Estonia's digital journey in our latest Let's Think Digital podcast episode! Estonia looms large in the digital government conversation despite being a small country. What led to it becoming a global digital government leader? LetsThinkDigital.ca

Welcome to Estonia (with Liisa-Ly Pakosta, Ville Sirviö, and Siim Sikkut) | Episode 26 YouTube video by Let's Think Digital

Why has #Estonia been able to leapfrog much larger countries when it comes to #DigitalGov? On today’s episode of #LetsThinkDigital, @ryanandrosoff.bsky.social dives deep into this remarkable story. #pitech

youtu.be/jJ9Tl4c-uUo

Ft. Liisa-Ly Pakosta, Siim Sikkut, Ville Sirviö

The City of #Toronto is celebrating 15 years of #opendata with the Toronto Open Data Awards! Nominations close tomorrow: open.toronto.ca/toronto-open...

Inside Bluesky’s big growth surge After adding millions of new users in weeks, the company tells Platformer that it will quadruple the size of its moderation team

Here's a conversation between @caseynewton.bsky.social, @jstarr.bsky.social, and myself on Bluesky's surge in users, the challenges of scaling up moderation as we grow, and our collaboration with Thorn on enhancing child safety.

www.platformer.news/bluesky-grow...

Islamophobic governments have a new weapon – AI and algorithms are the new surveillance state Adele Walton discusses the threats of new tech technologies and how artificial intelligence and algorithms are the new surveillance state

"The War on Terror has coincided with the explosive rise of Big Tech, and this is no coincidence."

Great article - with practical recommendations and resources too by @adelewalton.bsky.social with illustrations by Heedayah Lockman for Shado Mag

shado-mag.com/opinion/isla...

Alex and I had a great time chatting with @ryanandrosoff.bsky.social about what's next for digital gov in Canada :)

Thanks to @annahirschfeld.bsky.social & Alex MacEachern from @publicdigital.bsky.social for speaking with @ryanandrosoff.bsky.social! Listen to all the episodes at letsthinkdigital.ca, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

A lot of digital transformation projects get held up due to risk aversion. How do we get past that? On the latest episode of the #LetsThinkDigital our guests share their insights from their new report: A Radical How for Canada.

Watch or listen at thinkdigital.ca/podcast/the-...

#civictech #pitech

If you’re hesitant to “be political” as a scientist, another way to think about this is that you’re not becoming political. Politics came for you. Whether you like it or not.

While individuals w/ narcissism and superego deficiencies may rise to power effectively, their reality-testing capacities diminish once they consolidate their position.

This leads to erratic behavior, difficulties in achieving goals, & paranoid defenses.
www.jstor.org/stable/37922...

A new version of the drake equation Star formation is key for life, and a different version of our universe could make more stars.

“The short answer is no, we are not in the most likely of the universes,” said Daniele Sorini, an astrophysicist at Durham University. “And we are not in the most life-friendly universe, either.”

That tracks…

@arstechnica.com

doi.org/10.1093/mnra...

Rainbow border and white background, with a picture centre of three smiling people under a Racing Pride pride hub tent. Text reads: Racing Pride is bringing the rainbow to Bluesky! Championing LGBTQ+ visibility, community and education in motorsport.

Hi! We’re Racing Pride and we champion LGBTQ+ inclusion in motorsport, from grassroots to Formula One!

We launched in 2019 and currently have partnerships with 5 F1 teams. Be part of our community and our movement! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏎️

In case anyone is interested I made a feed of any post that shares an academic journal article

Fred Vasseur laughing at Toto Wolff at a press conference.

Fred laughing at Toto while Toto squirms and filibusters a question about the FIA is gold #F1 #LasVegasGP

Anyways thanks for reading if you got this far. Just some random morning thoughts before I start the day.

It also makes me think about how our privileged Western societies are still stuck in the gravitational pull of the trauma that is the pandemic. And we have to find a way to break free. But I'm also hopeful that we will break free, because there is another way of being. We just have to get there.

For me that's important, because I feel like I'm slowly but surely having the ability to look forward, and fight for the future, instead of being tugged to the past. And there are a lot of fights to fight. I'm finally breaking free into interstellar space.

But as I was walking home after dropping the kids off at school, looking at the leaves falling to the ground, the sidewalk still shimmering from an overnight shower, it felt like my current stresses and anxiousness ('cause face it the world is still fucked up) were no longer from the pandemic.

It also forced me to seek mental health support which allowed me to question toxic behaviours I had instinctively placed value in. But 4 yrs on, and a year after the WHO declared an end to the health emerg, I was still reeling. (And to be totally clear, COVID still is here, so get vaxed and mask up)

The pandemic fucked me up in all kinds of ways, exacerbating a lot of my issues and traumas that I had successfully repressed for decades. I became more insular, quick to anger, my anxiety and depression (which I didn't even realize I had) shot through the roof. Wasn't a great partner. I was afraid.

Illustration of the heliosphere bubble with interstellar space outside of it. Credit: NASA

In our solar system there is a place called the heliopause. A point where the force of our sun is no longer dominant, where the solar winds are free. It's tough to know where this is, but it happens. I've started to think about how my own mental health struggles passed its own heliopause. 🧵

Oops spoke too soon. Looks like they posted it on F1TV!

No weekend warmup @f1tv.bsky.social? #F1 #lasvegasgp

If you understand this, then a very happy GIS day to you, friend!

Built to Fail Governments are not bad at adopting new technologies on accident. The processes that support the adoption of new technology were built to fail. Understanding this is the first step to fixing them.

I think this is the best thing that I've ever wrote about government technology and #CivicTech. I refer to it constantly, and I often share it with people who are new to the space. I wrote it over 10 years ago and I think everything in it is still true. civic.io/2014/06/18/b...

Graph of daily Bluesky posters with big step increase on Oct 17

Looking at @bsky.app stats. bsky.jazco.dev/stats. Exponential growth makes sense but what happened in Oct 17 for that huge step increase?

Someone mused about a feed of every academic article posted to Bluesky...so I made one :) (work in progress...) #AcademicSky