Mastodawn

Provided some feedback on a couple federal <Canadian> issues -

I know it is super hard and expensive, but they should think about moving everything to gc.ca and canada.ca domains - it is hard to determine, when sending feedback to a given part of the government, "is this REALLY a government site?"

Just filled out a Surveymonkey for Transport Canada. Took a while to figure out that ourcommons.ca is legit.

Richard Audette 4d ago

Perfect weather in Toronto today. Picking up a sandwich at Viet Sub (Dundas/Spadina) on my ride down to the lake. #biketooter

Richard Audette 6d ago

Just read a post with an interesting idea - using LLM guardrails (designed for safety) for evil.

Use case:
- You are writing malicious code
- You think someone will scan your code for malicious behaviour with an LLM
- SO, you include material in your malicious code that will trigger the guardrails in the LLM (eg: text about biological weapons), such that the LLM doesn't analyse the text and identify the malicious code

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Richard Audette 6d ago

"In 1921, farmers James Muirhead, W.J. Buchanan, Roy Risebrough, W.C. Snider, and John Brummel criss-crossed the area in Roy’s new-fangled Model T Ford, collecting signatures for a petition requesting secession from York.
....
After the boundaries were redrawn to include this new group, the bill was passed on June 13, 1922. The Township of North York was incorporated as a separate municipality on July 18 of the same year, with a population of less than 6,000 people."

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Richard Audette 6d ago

"The problem was that North York didn’t actually exist until 1922. Prior to that, the area had simply been another part of the Township of York,but as the twentieth century progressed the farmers found themselves increasingly marginalized as municipal council ignored their concerns to focus on Toronto’s urban issues. In 1915, there was only one farmer left on council. By 1919 there were none, despite the fact that the farmers were paying nearly 25 percent of the taxes collected by the township."

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Richard Audette 6d ago

I move to Toronto in the early 2000s, shortly after North York was amalgamated in 1998.

One thing I learned in this book was that, long before... North York was actually severed from York Township.

Richard Audette 6d ago

Just finished Willowdale
Yesterday's Farms, Today's Legacy
By Scott Kennedy

Really interesting - it describes the period of the suburb I live in from land grants from the crown up to residential development post WW2 - the families that cleared the land and built farms.

This area is now full of condo towers - it's just amazing to think of the transformation over the past 80 years. The book highlights a few of the original homes that remain.

#Willowdale #NorthYork

Richard Audette 6d ago

TV. Watching 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed' (Apple).

Really enjoying it - I love it when I care what happens next to characters - in this case, the lead is awesome - and I love the lead detective.

Some CBC coverage:
https://www.cbc.ca/arts/commotion/why-audiences-are-divided-on-maximum-pleasure-guaranteed-9.7213497

"Tatiana Maslany makes it work because her performance is always hanging on to some emotional honesty. Like, the chaos of the plot just works because of the chaos of her emotions that wrap you in."

Why audiences are divided on Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed | CBC Arts

Guest host Amil Niazi talks to film critic Radheyan Simonpillai and culture critic CT Jones about the new series, and why it's so polarizing for some audiences.

CBC

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Richard Audette Jun 7

I posted asking about it... "coming soon" - maybe will revisit then.

Richard Audette Jun 6

On Social media... going back to early Facebook, there were things I really liked. The network thing was cool - but generally, not a fan of the walled garden, building someone else's property - I love the idea of "protocols, not platforms" - why left there long ago, and why I'm here.

Always open to new things - I signed up for https://gandersocial.ca/ , which is built on AT / Bluesky. It is not clear how to use it on my PC / browser, which is where I spend my time...

Gander: The Social Media You Want, Built in Canada

Fun, private, and ethical. We're changing the way social media is done around here, all without your personal data taking an unexpected trip down south.

Gander Social