Matthew Johnson

21 years ago, we never would’ve dreamed the CN Tower would light up for #MediaLiteracyWeek! 💗 If you're in Toronto, look for the magenta and teal lights or watch live Tour CN Tower: https://www.cntower.ca/live-views

Media have social and political implications Media have commercial considerations #DMLKeyConcepts

Most of what parents hear about kids and gaming is fear. The research tells a much more balanced (and much more useful) story. When parents get curious and get involved, gaming becomes something families can share instead of fight about. #parenting #videogames youtu.be/qRgzlDyR3Gg?...

Classic.👇 This is YOU antivaxxers, separatists, climate change deniers, etc. People who believe conspiracy theories overestimate how many others agree www.psypost.org/people-who-b... From study: "...stronger own conspiracy beliefs are associated with overestimating conspiracy beliefs in others."

Failed haberdasher sorry for Men Without Hats

My kids are sick of me saying this, but when I was growing up in Ottawa they still sent logs down the Gatineau to the mills. I never saw any log drivers, but I did see jams every now and then so somebody must have been there to break them up!

Today is International Animation Day. For decades, the National Film Board has revolutionized animation. There are many great films but my personal favourite is The Log Driver's Waltz. Created to foster national unity, it is beloved. This is the story. 📸NFB 🧵 1/7

My hot take of the day: I really enjoyed CRYSTAL LAKE, and I also don't want there to be another season of it gizmodo.com/will-these-c...

"I want people to take fantasy and science fiction seriously" * monkey's paw curls inward *

A Study of 40 COVID and flu outbreaks on planes found infection risk was highest near infected passengers. • N95 masks prevented almost all new infections • Surgical masks filtering 50% of particles cut infections by 85%, versus 35% from doubling clean air • Ventilation alone may not be enough

Looking for ways to bring #MediaLiteracyWeek home? Parent Central brings together resources to help families talk about the digital world, build media literacy skills and navigate online life together. Explore it here: https://ow.ly/sJw25101kho

A reminder, because it is almost that time of year: More children are killed by cars on Halloween than any other day of the year, by far. www.vox.com/future-perfe... If you're a parent, I hope you'll do what you can to keep kids safe. If you're driving on Saturday, PLEASE exercise extra caution.

Good morning Ottawa and other Ontario municipalities! Let's go vote!

Grateful to coffee this morning. Thank you coffee.

Happy birthday, Lawren S. Harris. 🏔️ Born on this day in 1885, Harris was a founding member of the Group of Seven. He brought a growing sense of abstraction and spirituality to his depictions of the natural world, seeking to express something beyond what the eye could see.

This year's #MediaLiteracyWeek is right in the middle of an election period across Canada! Heading to the polls? Check out our guide to getting better political and election news: https://ow.ly/hcbg5100fYA

Help kids level up their privacy skills for #CyberMonth2026! Data Defenders is a free interactive game for Grades 4–6 that teaches kids how personal information is collected online and how they can protect it. Play: https://ow.ly/EUEw50ZZPvO

This NFB short has lived rent-free in my head for about 50 years now.

Furthering @scottmccloud.bsky.social's quest to put eyes on everything

The Boy and the Duck

Me and @matthewfjohnson.bsky.social talking about the problems with the Canadian governments approach to #generativeAI

I guess we finally know what state Gotham is in.

There's no statute of limitations on murder in Iraqi law, so in theory this case is still open

I've read several stories on this and not a SINGLE ONE explains how Superman's powers would be different there

The first rule of conspiracy club: Any evidence that refutes the conspiracy is part of the conspiracy.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies For Tax Purposes

Rooftop bee A-piary ROOFtop bee A-PIA-ry ROOFtop bee A-PIA-RY

📹 purrfectocatlounge

In our course and book _Calling Bullshit_, we posit that If something seems too good, or too bad, to be true, it probably is. Now as a college professor I'm pretty confident that overreliance can AI can harm our thinking ability, but just ten minutes of use? Let's dig into this this study a bit.

I reanalyzed the CDC data behind the LGB “free fall” headline. It rests on a change in bisexual identification among one grade, in one wave, of one survey. Gay or lesbian identification did not change significantly. Calling it a "free fall" is sensational and just gives bad actors talking points.

Partisans have wildly inaccurate perceptions of outgroup members. But a 10 minute conversation with a “outgroup” chatbot can correct these false beliefs and reduce partisan hostility. We summarize 7 new intergroup studies in our latest newsletter www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/september-...

Watching over and over as my comic-artist brain melts. Seeing all the raw artifice like this, without the cleanup passes and cell painting, reveals how animation is literally magic.

These two skeets are a good example of how complex a question "compared to what?" is. Comparing total spending to growth in spending gives us a different perspective than looking at either alone.

This is a thing confirmed by research, to an extent. It’s also why ensuring content shows up in retrieval and in training data is the new battleground.

Addiction has become the default framework for interpreting problematic social media use. It shapes how it is measured, discussed, regulated, and what support young people are offered. But does it match the experiences of young people who report feeling addicted to social media? 🧵(1/7)

You're never too old to get excited about seeing a really big tree.

It’s a frustrating case, but I have yet to see any theory of “not a fair use” that doesn’t completely obliterate most extant fair uses in its wake.

Always fun to see someone reach the "retreat and claim victory" stage

When you're ticked off and a friend sends you something to make you feel better. 🐑🔊

Respiratory virus activity remains low in Canada, but is starting to rise. Vaccine programs are now rolling out. 🇨🇦

Seems like it should be part of the "are phones ruining the kids" debate that every marker of teen mental health has improved since 2021 www.cdc.gov/yrbs/youth-h...

Thread: Two different versions of this AI-generated image purporting to show President Trump and his assistant Natalie Harp kissing went viral this week, generating millions of views across multiple platforms. Despite being fake, this wasn't a straightforward AI image to debunk. I'll explain why.

ATTENTION THE BEST THING ABOUT AUTUMN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IT IS TIME FOR TINY DOGS IN TINY SWEATERS