wendy norris

@wendynorris.bsky.social

1745 Followers 2789 Following

Assoc Prof | Information Science Ex-investigative reporter and editor Crisis informatics nerd Makes good trouble Tell your dog I said "hi"

A black kitten with green eyes hides in a basket in front of a poster with a mid-century modern stylized illustration of a white cat smoking a pipe and text that reads "Hand in hand is the only way to land." Lyrics by The Cure.
4 cats sitting in a staggered line as if they were posing for an awkward indie rock band.
Top image: Mid-1960s black and white photo of a woman applying a "I Love My Corvair" bumper sticker on a car. Left image: Cover of Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile." Right image: Mid 1960s era color photo of a demolished Chevrolet Corvair car on a street with first responders in the background.
Text of a Nextdoor post: ouija board ISO a Ouija board. Either new or used. I would prefer one with good energy. If you used it and had a bad experience....thank you but no.
Death. The final frontier. Star Trek deaths by shirt colour: Red 32.3% Yellow 29.1% Blue 21.2% Black 8.5% Other 9%
Image on the left: A stripey brown tabby cat wearing a necktie cat below a thought bubble that reads: “Hope i don’t have a lot of meetings”. Image on the right: Large brick factory with smoke pouring from stack. Sign on building reads: “lots of meetings factory”.
Illustration of a prison yard knife fight. To the left, a man in an orange jumpsuit cowers. A superimposed label reads: “academics tryna enjoy the rest of summer”. To the right, is a man in a gray jumpsuit brandishing a knife. The label reads: “August 1”.
Bsky user @helenbarrett.bsky.social writes: Lots of writers now only quote from original interviews, archives or physical books -- anything else is too dangerous. It takes forever and I'm not sure there's another way. Financial Times screenshot: "Earlier this year, author Steven Rosenbaum took a phone call that turned his world upside down. The book he had spent three years researching and writing, he was informed, contained quotations fabricated by AI tools. 'When I learnt there were factual inaccuracies in The Future of Truth, my first reaction was; that's impossible,' Rosenbaum tells the FT two months after the discovery. 'It had gone through a traditional publishing process with multiple rounds of editing and review.' Rosenbaum had been clear about the use of AI tools in his nonfiction book — ironically, a study of the future of truth and technology — but had used them only to research and organise material, including summarising source documents and interviews. 'What I failed to recognize was that, in some cases, it transformed those summaries into what appeared to be direct quotations,' he says. 'The danger isn't that AI writes bad prose. The danger is that it writes persuasive prose attached to the facts that never existed.'"
Flyer taped to crosswalk pole. Caption: “Have you seen it too?” Rough illustration of a creature (dog body with an old man face) seeking locks of hair with blood dripping off its mouth.
Excerpt from the NY Focus story: The classroom marks a new venture for Realbotix, a Toronto-based robotics company formerly known as Tokens.com, that helped customers use cryptocurrency to rent “digital land” in the Metaverse. In April 2024, the company acquired Simulcra, the Las Vegas parent company behind RealDoll, which has spent decades creating hyperrealistic sex dolls and later expanded into sex robots that remain on the market today. In a statement to New York Focus, a spokesperson explained that over the past two years, Realbotix has built a new team focused on education, health care, and wellness applications, and that Realbotix and RealDoll do not share employees, payroll, physical locations, or technology. She said Realbotix “is pursuing a transaction with a Nasdaq-listed company that is intended to separate the businesses at the ownership level” with completion expected by September.
Quote from the NY Times article: "Mr. Nowack said in an interview in March that the company would charge about $5,000 an hour for the light of one mirror if a customer signed an annual contract for at least 1,000 hours. Lighting for one-time events and emergencies, which might require numerous satellites and more effort to coordinate, would be more expensive. For solar farms, he envisions splitting revenue from the electricity generated by the additional hours of light." https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/climate/fcc-space-mirror.html?unlocked_article_code=1.xVA.9ky3.mlioMNkHaZtU&smid=url-share
Photograph depicting the iconic children's story characters from "Dr. Doolittle" of a man wearing a top hat with a West African parrot sitting on the hat. The man stands behind a a pushmi-pullyu, a fictional llama-like animal with two heads on opposite sides of its body.
A public art installation of a 49-foot FREE rubber stamp next to the City Hall building in Cleveland, Ohio. The art was designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
County Legislator Barnhart on the deployment of a Monroe County Sheriff's deputy to DC: "I am requesting an immediate explanation from Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter regarding the deployment of a Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputy to Washington, D.C. as part of a federal security operation connected to the Trump administration's Freedom 250 events. Residents have contacted me after images circulated online showing what appears to be a Monroe County Sheriff's deputy participating in law enforcement activity related to recent arrests near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has separately confirmed its participation in this deployment through its own public statement. Federal deputizations for major events are not unusual. However, this assignment has become associated with a deeply controversial federal enforcement action. President Trump has claimed, without providing evidence, that vandals sabotaged the Reflecting Pool — a $14.65 million renovation project completed via a no-bid contract awarded to a company with ties to Trump's golf club that failed almost immediately after completion. Among those arrested was a three-time U.S. Olympian who says he did nothing wrong. Monroe County sent one deputy among a limited number from agencies across the country. That means our patch is visible. When Monroe County personnel appear in viral images tied to arrests and disputed White House claims, Monroe County has become part of the public story. That is a legitimate reason for elected officials to ask whether continued participation serves this county's interests. I am asking the Sheriff to explain who authorized this deployment, the scope of the deputy's duties, whether Monroe County taxpayers are bearing any costs, and whether Monroe County personnel have participated in arrests or enforcement actions connected to this controversy. I am also calling on the Sheriff to reassess this assignment and bring our deputy home."
Quote post by @wendynorris.bsky.social: "Friends in DC: We need your help. Post the patches/insignias of local LEs that you see carrying out unlawful detention and arrests for crimes like touching reflecting pool water. US Marshals deputized local LEs to serve in DC. Our county sheriffs and city PD chiefs need to get an earful from us." Original post from journalist Amanda Moore @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social: "Handful of detainments here by the reflecting pool. They are being done a variety of officers, including Monroe County Sheriff, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State Police, US Marshals, a county in Texas I can’t make out, and a county in New York I can’t make out." The original post also contains 2 photos of local law enforcement officers deputized by the US Marshals Service detaining and handcuffing two young men near the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Earlier in the day, the president lied that people were vandalizing the pool that is now filled with algae and scraps of paint after a shoddy repair job.
Caricature Boomer boss in the movie "Office Space"
A line graph of NSF Directorate funding for Computer and Information Sciences. The cumulative number of NSF awards by June 7 of each year: FY 2021 - 644 awards FY 2022 - 654 awards FY 2023 - 750 awards FY 2024 - 691 awards FY 2025 - 445 awards FY 2026 - 368 awards
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield email reminder for policy holders to schedule a breast cancer screening. Headline states: "It's time to SQUEEZE a mammogram into your schedule."
XKCD comic that depicts a data visualization density line graph of 2 variables: Intelligence and Inanity of Statements. Below the data vis are 3 stick figure illustrations of a person that depicts the proximity (far vs near) of a human to a cat culminating with the stick figure aside a seated cat drawing joyfully shouting "You're a kitty!"
Black and white illustration of an angry whale hoisted into the air by bands of barbed wire carried by murder hornets. This drawing is a parody of the cute happy "fail whale" meme from early Twitter.
From: https://www.investmentnews.com/practice-management/spacexs-index-fund-debut-will-look-nothing-like-what-most-investors-expect-says-jacob-friedman/266776 Under the conservative deal scenario, the Nasdaq 100 produces a modified SpaceX market cap of roughly $150 billion; at the upper end, approximately $225 billion. Against the index's total market cap of around $32 trillion, that translates to $470 to $700 of SpaceX exposure per $100,000 in QQQ — roughly six times the $70 to $110 a comparable VTI position would see. Growth-style funds add a further layer of divergence. VUG picks up SpaceX within roughly five trading days. IWF and VONG, which follow Russell 1000 Growth, are tied to the December 2026 style review. VOOG, IVW, and SPYG follow S&P 500 Growth, which trails its parent. Two growth funds in the same portfolio could end up a year apart in when they see SpaceX. Rules rewritten, critics watching Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig described the Nasdaq's Fast Entry rule as "arbitrary, unfair and potentially risky." Financial Times correspondent Robin Wigglesworth called it "the biggest bagholder exercise of all time," characterizing the broader pattern as index providers competing to deliver mega-IPOs into passive vehicles ahead of meaningful price discovery. Friedman sees the simultaneity of the changes as difficult to explain away. "Reuters reported in February that SpaceX advisers were in discussions with index providers about accelerated inclusion,” he said. “By March, multiple sources reported that early Nasdaq 100 inclusion was a condition of SpaceX choosing Nasdaq as its listing venue. Four major providers all simultaneously adjusting eligibility criteria for low-float megacap IPOs is hard to ignore. Most equity flows are now passive, which means a handful of index providers are making decisions that move enormous amounts of capital, and right now those decisions are being shaped by the issuers they're supposed to be evaluating."
Five wiggly 3-week-old kittens in a cardboard box with the blankets bunched up in the background like a mountain. A sixth kitten is sound asleep oblivious to the others.
A photo of a "garbage plate" a local Rochester, NY dish made from a base of some combination of home fries or French fries, macaroni salad, and "hot sauce", often with a hamburger or hot dog sitting on top with mustard, onions and hot sauce, according to AtlasObscura.com. It comes with bread and butter on the side and was named the fattiest food in New York State by Health.com.
Arch-conservative and then-Colorado District 4 Congressional Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (back to camera) pumping gas for local constituent Sue Sharkey (facing camera) at a July 2007 Fort Collins meet-and-greet at a gas station.
A risk of “Pope-washing” Even as Anthropic has courted faith leaders, it has not avoided allegations of unethical behavior. Partnering with the U.S. intelligence and defense industries at all, for instance, has garnered criticism, and its technology was reportedly part of the larger technological apparatus employed during the recent strikes in Iran. In addition, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the company in 2024 accusing Anthropic of training its AI on pirated copies of ”hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books.” The case is ongoing, but the company eventually agreed to pay a $1.5 billion settlement, which would be the single largest copyright settlement in U.S. history. (Disclosure: This reporter is among the authors who stand to receive settlement money in that case.) And while the Vatican’s interest in AI is longstanding, some have wondered whether Anthropic’s pivot to faith leaders is a case of “ethics washing” or even “pope washing” — that is, publicly aligning the company with religious and moral leaders in hopes that consumers will overlook other ethical issues that may arise with the company.
‪Posted by Meredith Shiner‬ @meredithshiner.com‬: Yeah DOJ staffers get detailed to SJC as counsel. Mecklenburg requested this placement and Durbin happily accepted her despite the fact she was the lead prosecutor in the Broadview case. The Tribune covered the move at the time, as it was not without suspicion.
It's an interesting generational disconnect at a moment in history when the supporting pillars of polite society are being ripped apart by a monstrous coalition of bigots, fascists, and software salesmen who want neither repercussions nor honest conversation about their historically terrible choices.
Black and white illustration of the Twitter "Fail Whale" depicting an angry whale hoisted into the sky by murder hornets and barbed wire.
Figure 7: Types of Inaccuracies Found in Notes Generated by AI Scribe for 20 Approved Vendors. Source of data: Supply Ontario Data visualizations explained below. We reviewed the evaluation comments and noted the following: Hallucinations: Nine of 20 (45%) AI Scribe systems fabricated information and made suggestions to patients’ treatment plans, such as referring the patient for therapy or ordering blood tests, even though these steps were not mentioned in the simulated recordings. Evaluators also noted hallucinations that could impact patients’ health. For example, the submitted notes included statements that there were “no masses found” or that there was presence of anxiety in the patient, although this information was not discussed in the recordings. Incorrect information: Evaluators found that notes generated by 12 of 20 (60%) AI Scribe systems captured a different drug than what was prescribed by the doctor. Missing or incomplete information: Notes generated by 17 of 20 (85%) AI Scribe systems missed key details about the patients’ mental health issues in at least one of the two tests, even though this was mentioned in the simulated recordings. In addition, six of 20 (30%) vendors’ system-generated notes missed the patients’ mental health issues fully or partially or were missing key details about those issues across both tests.
We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve in the human body and keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit and to create as many new desires and synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories and printing presses and movie studios and all the rest.
Movie poster for the 1957 schlock sci-fi drama "The Mysterians." The movie tagline is: "From Behind the moon they come ... to invade the Earth! Abduct its women. Level its cities." The poster depicts a humanoid alien carrying a faint woman in a skin tight white dress. Said alien has his eyes locked on her décolletage. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Screenshot of patriot Aaron Rupar's transcript and video of Todd Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney and former/current private counsel to Donald Trump in a Sunday, May 3, 2026 appearance on Meet the Press: Blanche: "There's a lot of things we can be doing, like voter ID. Every time you walk into a restaurant you have to show ID. How about you have to show your idea to vote? That's not anything that's crazy."
It defines AI literacy as using AI; specifically, “having the age-appropriate knowledge and ability to use artificial intelligence effectively, to critically interpret outputs, to solve problems in an AI-enabled world, and to mitigate potential risks.” The bill is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers, Google, OpenAI, Information Technology Industry Council, Software & Information Industry Association, Microsoft, and HP Inc.
Recurring characters from the "Simpsons", Kang Martin (left) and Kodos Martin are extraterrestrials from the newly discovered planet Sedna, who have already bribed Homer to be candidates for US president. In the classic Simpson's episode "The Tree House of Horrors," Kodos is considered Maggie's real father.
Kang Martin (left) and Kodos Martin are extraterrestrials from the newly discovered planet Sedna, who have already bribed Homer to be candidates for US president. In the classic Simpson's episode "The Tree House of Horrors," Kodos is considered Maggie's real father.
University of Colorado Boulder alumni giving day solicitation text message. My response: Thanks for reaching out. Please take my name off the alumni call list. I will not contribute to CU while that are working with OpenAI (or any other GenAI firm) that destroys learning.
Screenshot of a Google Scholar search of research containing bibliographies and/or footnotes that cite ChatGPT as a source. The search string utm_source=chatgpt.com returned 25,5000 results.
Screenshot of a Google Scholar search of research that contains bibliographies and/or footnotes that cite ChatGPT sourced links using the search string utm_source=chatgpt.com. The search returned 25,500 results.
Bloomberg.com headline "US Treasury Gives Green Light for Sale of More Russian Oil" accompanied by photo of oil storage facility.
Read the table at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.00328
Lost cat poster with picture of a male shorthair black cat with a white patch on his chest and white whiskers. His name is Kaiyo. He lives in the North Winton Village neighborhood of Rochester, NY If found text: 585-643-4060 or 585-710-6597
I fall within the following category (please tick appropriate box): Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of state Members of The International Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague Members of Institut de Droit International Members of the International Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom University professors, professors emeriti and associate professors in history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology and religion, university rectors and university directors (or their equivalents), directors of peace research institutions and foreign policy institutes Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Members of the main board of directors or its equivalent of organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (proposals by current members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after 1 February) Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee
I fall within the following category (please tick appropriate box): Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of state Members of The International Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague Members of Institut de Droit International Members of the International Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom University professors, professors emeriti and associate professors in history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology and religion, university rectors and university directors (or their equivalents), directors of peace research institutions and foreign policy institutes Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Members of the main board of directors or its equivalent of organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (proposals by current members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after 1 February) Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Wondermark comic describing "the just asking questions" guy as an annoying large sea lion butting into conversations between a steampunk Victorian-era man and woman in various situations.
Facebook ad for an LLM-based generative AI app that features a smarmy-looking young woman wearing headphones and making duck lip faces overlaid with screen text: "POV: PhD THESIS draft DUE in 3 minutes (weird capitalization theirs). A voiceover claims the tech provides "PhD level feedback in 20 seconds."
A black kitten with green eyes named Myrrhy in a cozy, fuzzy beige donut bed. He loves you.
Abstract Students' rapid uptake of Generative Artificial Intelligence tools, particularly large language models (LLMs), raises urgent questions about their effects on learning. We compared the impact of LLM use to that of traditional note-taking, or a combination of both, on secondary school students' reading comprehension and retention. We conducted a pre-registered, randomised controlled experiment with within- and between-participant design elements in schools in England. 405 students, aged 14–15 years, studied two text passages and completed comprehension and retention tests three days later. Quantitative results demonstrated that both note-taking alone and combined with LLM use had significant positive effects on retention and comprehension compared to using the LLM alone. Yet, most students preferred using the LLM over note-taking, and perceived it as more helpful. Qualitative results revealed that many students valued the LLM for making complex material more accessible and reducing cognitive load, while they appreciated note-taking for promoting deeper engagement and aiding memory. Additionally, we identified “archetypes” of prompting behaviour, offering insights into the different ways students interacted with the LLM. Overall, our findings suggest that, while note-taking promotes cognitive engagement and long-term comprehension and retention, LLMs may facilitate initial understanding and student interest. The study reveals the continued importance of traditional learning activities, the benefits of combining LLM use with traditional learning over using LLMs alone, and the AI skills that students need to maximise those benefits.
A black kitten hiding in a basket in front of stylized poster of a white cat smoking a pipe featuring the alt-band The Cure lyrics "Hand in hand is the only way to land"
Course policy on Generative AI Generative AI apps (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, MidJourney, Sora, Dall-E, etc.) are prohibited in this course. You may NOT submit any ideas, outlines, text, multimedia, images, programming code, and/or citations generated by an AI application as any part of your own work. Any plagiarism or other form of cheating using Generative AI apps will be considered a violation of Nazareth University's Academic Integrity policy. I am interested in your ideas, creativity, and insights. This course is designed to strengthen your thought process and ability to reason — skills that are crucial to both your academic success and future career since companies are increasingly abandoning Gen AI apps in droves and acknowledging the productivity myth. Your ability to think and communicate are superpowers! AI and Generative AI are different technologies. Rigorous, peer-reviewed research has found that LLM-based chatbots/multimedia apps have substantial negative impacts on learning (that thing you’re spending $120K+ for), privacy, the environment, and working toward a fair and just society for everyone. There is overwhelming evidence in research, investigative reporting, and multiple lawsuits that AI agents flood social media with manipulative slop and chatbot use contributes to serious personal harm, including destabilizing mental health, inducing “AI psychosis”, providing information about self-harm to vulnerable people, and promoting delusional thinking. As they famously warned in Star Wars: “It’s a trap!” I care about you and your future. Think critically about how “black box” technology companies use deception and wildly unsupported claims to lure you in, track your interactions in the app, and manipulate information presented to you by the chatbot. Gen AI is not the product, you are.
What's happening with grok and nudity spam requests should be a global wake up call about AI image gen and instead very few media outlets have even covered it yet. Tweet: @paniniboy7 • 12h Literally woke up to so many comments asking Grok to put me in a thong / bikini and the results having so many bookmarks. Even worse I went onto the Grok page and saw slimy disgusting lowlifes doing that to pictures of CHILDREN. Genuinely disgusting
Movie poster for cult classic "Manos: The Hands of Fate" with stylized photos of women and an illustrated picture of a claw-like hand. Tagline: "A cult of weird, horrible people who gather beautiful women only to deface them with a burning hand."
Course assignment called "Debatables" in my Sports Analytics course. Jan 27: PTFO Podcast "Fowl Shots" All students: View the podcast (45 min) before class Debate teams: Create a Google slide deck to guide the class through this question: Did Giannis Antetokounmpo brick his foul shots so fans could get free chicken? Are Chicken-Eligible Shots vs the Chicken Conversion Rate statistics legit? Explain your reasoning. Show your data evidence for or against the premise. Feb 24: PTFO podcast "Unmasking the Scorekeeper Who Faked NBA History" All students: View the podcast (47 min) before class Debate teams: Create a Google slide deck to guide the class through this question: The saying goes "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damn lies, and statistics" — a line which was popularized by Mark Twain but was not actually coined by him [enjoy this mathematics rabbit hole] because we honor truth in this class. So if the Grizzlies' scorekeeper admits to juiced player stats, can we believe any team/player performance records? Explain your reasoning. Show your data evidence for or against the premise. Mar 3: PTFO Podcast "China's Secret War for Athlete Brainwaves" All students: View the podcast (60 min) before class Debate teams: Create a Google slide deck to guide the class through this question: Who owns elite athletes' brain data? Should there be limits to using biometric data for non-athletic purposes? Explain your reasoning. Show your data evidence for or against the premise.