Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦

I was astonished, yesterday, talking to a friend in Ottawa. Me: "wait! Did you just say your daughter uses … a pencil? At high school?" 😵‍💫 Friend: "oh yes. The teachers are bringing pencil and paper back to counteract [other educational trends]." 😯 I admit, I didn't expect that. Bravo! 💐 "As AI use rises, some profs go back to pens and paper" Sorry, paywalled … Ottawa Citizen https://ottawacitizen.com/news/pens-and-paper-carleton-professors-students #noAI #education

I just … I … Wtf is even happening here? (Gestures at the whole damned planet). #sigh

👆 … oh, this documentary has a sense of humour. For example: a celebration of Bitcoin, using … a huge balloon? 🤣

😱 "The Ottawa-based German-Canadian billionaire founder & CEO of Shopify, one of the biggest companies in the country, is under fire once again for online comments suggesting: people who don't earn an income should not be eligible to vote in elections, & that high earners should have more electoral power than middle- & low-income voters." https://flipboard.com/@blogto/blogto-8o12e3orz/-/a-VnNts89-SH6hg1e12nI0kg%3Aa%3A3332572087-%2F0

@NatureMC@mastodon.online @hamishb@mstdn.ca Update (bad news): "After millenia as a carbon sink, over a third of Arctic Boreal region turns into carbon emitter." https://www.downtoearth.org.in/climate-change/after-millenia-as-a-carbon-sink-over-a-third-of-arctic-boreal-region-turns-into-carbon-emitter

#MECFS #longCovid "A crash can feel like it arrives without warning. Then, the last thing anyone should have to do is search frantically for answers.  This Guide was built for exactly that moment.  Developed by our clinical team, it offers practical, plain-language guidance for patients, their support networks, & medical providers on managing a crash & learning the art of preventing them." Download or view online: ME/CFS Crash Survival Guidebook - Bateman Horne Center https://batemanhornecenter.org/education/mecfs-guidebook/

"Nuclear power is a very expensive way to generate electricity & the small modular reactor is even more expensive." "designer … says smaller reactors can overcome some of that cost disadvantage because they require less machinery …: water circulates through the reactor w/o powered pumps, emergency cooling functions use gravity & natural circulation … However … Darlington is the design's first deployment, [so] those projected savings haven't yet been seen in a commercially operating unit." 😡

@Furthering@convo.casa my experience: Clarity addresses fear. Addresses, not eliminates. Fear serves a function. Action, apart from prior clarity, may mask or defer fear … be sure it will come back, asking for attention, as soon as we try to relax. An Internal Family Systems perspective: a fear needs to be *heard* and treated with respect. Once we create a dialogue or connection with it, new ways to help that fear relax can emerge. Then, fruitful action can be designed, if still needed. #IFScoach

Wow: 4.5 *centimetres* of rain forecast for Wednesday! Compare with 4mm on Tuesday and Thursday. #Toronto #dlwx

So, I'm wondering why this was just a *yellow* heat alert! #toronto #heatwave @maleve@zeroes.ca https://zeroes.ca/@maleve/116921681345272241

Do consider: might different working agreements for extreme heat days keep your team safer, more sustainable? "Extreme heat increases the risk of workplace injuries across Canada: Today in The Conversation Canada, Nick Turner from U. of Calgary, & Julian Barling & Kaylee Somerville from Queen’s U., examine how heat affects workers’ attention, judgment, balance and reaction time. Routine tasks can become more dangerous for those working indoors & outdoors." #heatwavehttps://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-increases-the-risk-of-workplace-injuries-across-canada-288068

I really enjoy my personal "Canadians" #mastodon list.*

Thanks, folks, for improving my day.

• if you're looking for a way to improve your mastodon experience, try using a client with "lists" or "columns" & start by making a list of your favs. Check it first, before checking your timeline! So Much Better! Then make specialised lists you can ignore on bad days (in my case: US news. 😁 ) Remember to turn off the notification bell on accts you put in lists, to not also see them in your timeline!)

👀 yikes! Maybe knowledge doesn't safeguard us from misinfo? "Recently, a team … set out to test how the 'illusion of truth effect' interacts with our prior knowledge. Would it affect our existing knowledge? They used paired true and un-true statements, but also split their items according to how likely participants were to know the truth … Their results … suggest that prior knowledge won’t prevent repetition from swaying our judgements of plausibility." https://mstdn.fname.ca/@crispius/117043121364507783

@aburka@hachyderm.io @SnoopJ@hachyderm.io @regehr@mastodon.social @dan@discuss.systems @dev@discuss.systems eggcellent!

Meta wants to develop *continuous* recording on their spy glasses. "It’s pretty easy to connect the dots between these two stories. Mark Zuckerberg wants anything and everything he can on you, and he doesn’t care how it’s used once he has his paws on it and his data centers crunching it. The privacy implications are certainly real, even if you don’t use a Meta product but fall within camera or microphone range of someone who does." 😨 @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social https://mastodon.social/@WarnerCrocker/116896124132245951

Yaaay! Another smoke-free night! Open the windows!

Just … wow. Ontarians: this is the minister responsible for emergency preparedness. I.e. for responding to forest fires. 🤦‍♀️ Utterly embarrassing. Via @TorontoLife2019@flipboard.com https://flipboard.com/@torontolife2019/the-latest-from-toronto-life-17kr6o49z/-/a-ddIrXDNwT9WO952kdQMG0A%3Aa%3A3263836667-%2F0 #onPoli #cdnPoli #cdnPolitics #wildfires

"Bill C-12, passed in March, limits refugee claims, speeds up removals and case closures, and gives the government broader authority to pause or alter visa, study permit, and work permit processing. It builds on earlier measures, including the 2002 Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States—which was expanded in 2023 and … [bars] those arriving from the US at official land crossings from claiming refugee status in Canada." In: The Walrus https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-immigration-policy-is-hypocritical-and-damaging-says-gabor-mate/#immigration #cdnPoli

"in Ottawa, the federal gov't is rolling back Canada's climate commitments … [saying] with everything our country is facing, this is what it takes to become strong and self-reliant. 

My message is this:

👉 You cannot build a stronger country on the ashes of its communities.

Resilience doesn't mean looking away from reality. … I refuse to accept that we have to choose between a strong Canada and a safe one."

• Marit Styles, leader of the Ontario NDP

https://youtu.be/ltwvWKD8Bwk?si=XdqbXJOkU6Xcs0UK #wildFire #ONpoli

Aha, I got lucky! My hold at the library of N. K. Jemison's award winning "The Fifth Season" just became available, in time for a nice lazy holiday. Yay!

😡 In case you don't get it … this jerk negates the whole purpose of that parking setup. People using mobility devices would be foiled by this asshat, as there is not room for them to get out of their vehicle and into their, say, wheelchair or scooter. #RUDE and mean. Via @RantingCanuck@mstdn.ca https://mstdn.ca/@RantingCanuck/116994845848158136

It's particulary viscious, that the *government* want to *impose* testosterone testing and supplementation, to make military men more 'manly'. Consent is not just for women. Suppressing consent is narcissist bliss. 🤬 Via @aaron.rupar https://www.threads.com/@aaron.rupar/post/DbN5BgsFW7x

Live map of active wildfires in Canada 😳. Via https://fireradar.ca/ . #wildfires #canada #ontario

You know, I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed my re-watch of #StarTrek Voyager nearly as much, 10 years ago. But now, with all I've learned about trauma, identity, consent, and psychology in general - and given the insane times we live in (war) - there are so many resonant themes explored. And I love how episodes often end without "resolving" a key ethical or moral question. Tho', in there with all the empowered-women storylines, there's still Roddenberry's weird misogyny. (Ex: Seven's costume 😖).

Oh dear 😖. I'll translate, for Canadians: "Private or Medicare?" Via @ralphruthe@troet.cafe https://troet.cafe/@ralphruthe/116895503675476448

Only 11 AM and already 37°c in #Toronto. (With humidity, feels like 43°c !) I was heading to the post office, but … nah. Will do it once the sun starts setting.

How to .avoid cyclosporidia parasite on foods: https://zirk.us/@ShaulaEvans/116954142301918004

@chroma@raccoonisland.social @glyph@mastodon.social oh! I assumed they meant "start from scratch and hand craft them." And I understand why, now, that possibility has lost its attraction. The thrill of discovery is probably polluted.

#TIL: Degaussing That weird thing we did on IBM370 terminals when we were distracted or bored. I never really knew what it was. 😂 Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing

The quilt is taken, but I downloaded the quotes to use on postcards to politicians 👍 @inarticulatequilter@mastodon.art https://mastodon.art/@inarticulatequilter/116937975823439792

@Cassandra@ottawa.place fyi I cleaned up this photo of my own poster, and made another version of it, with space to write in your own topic. I like @vlrny@disabled.social's postcard idea, and I'll make up some postcards with the blank version, and use them to harass my MP and the PM, since postage is free to parliament. Feel free to join me.

"#Ontario: major changes to auto insurance July 1, 2026.

Ford govt … says will lower premiums.

In reality … many critical protections are no longer automatic coverage [but] optional extras, creating serious gaps for drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, & transit users.

… Hidden impacts:

A serious crash could leave you w/o … income support while you recover.

You may have to pay medical or rehab expenses & wait for a lawsuit to resolve."

• from the Reddit link https://mstdn.ca/@hewer_of_code/116952790570379348

Sounds like Idi Amin level of mental disease. “The streets are about to be blocked off in August so that cars can drive at 190 miles an hour down Pennsylvania Avenue—a street that’s made for 25 miles-an-hour limits," Tomazin said. “It’s quite bonkers, actually, but this is the president.” https://mstdn.ca/@JonChevreau/116927281222255655 #usPol

Apparently, this ecru colour is now being called "Apricot". What?!?

Here’s How To Archive Online Content, And Why You Should "At least some of what you can currently view online will disappear in the future. There may not be anything you can do to stop the content from disappearing at its original location, but we can all play a role in keeping it online in an archived format. …" https://www.readthemaple.com/heres-how-to-archive-online-content-and-why-you-should/

Argh. New app from Canada Post: p "Please verify your identity using government issued ID." Yeah … 🖕😡 nope, nope, no way.

😨 hail? "Yellow Alert: Thunderstorm #toronto #dlwx Conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms that may be capable of producing strong wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain. What: Wind gusts up to 110 km/h. Quarter to ping pong ball sized hail. Rainfall amounts 25 to 40 mm. When: Beginning near noon into this afternoon. "

Here's your morning smile :-). Sound on! https://mindly.social/@PhilSalkie/117001027196044752

@kevinrns@mstdn.social @JonChevreau@mstdn.ca … 👀❗ "Canada gets 20 to 90 new fires a day that grow quickly, because the forest is dry." 😢

"ChatGPT’s new finance feature lets the AI chatbot take a look at any bank or similar accounts you care to open up for inspection." 😨😨😨 Absolutely Not! https://newsbeep.org/@uk/116847989140608514