Nostr notes by PapyrusBrigade

"The team injected antibodies from the Long COVID patients ...

2026-10-20T23:27:05Z

"The team injected antibodies from the Long COVID patients into mice to see if the antibodies could cause Long COVID symptoms. They found that the test mice were more sensitive to pain if they received antibodies from Long COVID patients with chronic pain. Those mice also showed signs of nerve damage linked to chronic pain. Most of the mice that developed balance instability had received antibodies from patients with dizziness."

#LongCovid
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/immune-system-may-attack-nervous-system-some-long-covid-patients

Its great that Albertans voted overwhelmingly to remain in ...

2026-10-20T11:12:25Z

Its great that Albertans voted overwhelmingly to remain in Canada. But disturbing how much the anti-immigrant and antidemocratic punching down has held sway.

Q1: decrease immigration: yes 599k vs 424k votes
Q2: kick unauthorized immigrants off healthcare, school and other social services: yes 517k vs 387k
Q4: charge a fee to non-perm resident use of health & education: yes 439k vs 330k votes
Q5: Proof of citizenship to vote: yes 436k vs 255k votes

https://results.elections.ab.ca/8400

#ABPoli #CanPoli

In response to Desmond Cole's video for The Breach, which ...

2026-10-16T02:11:24Z

In response to Desmond Cole's video for The Breach, which points out that Doug Ford's war on Toronto bike lanes is part of a global right wing fossil fuel led push back against climate actions, Zac Trolley makes an interesting comparison to First Nations pushing back against pipelines:

https://breachmedia.ca/doug-ford-bike-lanes-removal/

#TheWarOnCars #BikeTO #Toronto #OnPoli #ClimateChange #FossilFuels #Fridays4Future

Ugh. I despise zoning setback requirements. When my family ...

2026-10-13T16:55:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…vhwu
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Ugh. I despise zoning setback requirements. When my family travels with me around Toronto, we often call out: "another pyramid!"

Setbacks dramatically increase the cost of new housing. The building is more vulnerable to water and more expensive to heat, with all the corners. And the lower units end up with unsightly pillars inside the living space, which are needed to support the set-back upper units.

If someone wants a setback terrace, awesome. But it's bad policy to require it.

Or the wiindigoo devoured the vampires. "In our Anishinaabe ...

2026-09-26T17:52:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…uh0d
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Or the wiindigoo devoured the vampires.

"In our Anishinaabe stories, the wiindigoo is a giant murderous monster that used to rampage through the north woods, fueled by insatiable greed and a relentless desire for human flesh. Fossil fuel capitalism is like the wiindigoo: a system based on colonization, wastefulness and ravenous greed. It destroys the very source of it's wealth and wellbeing: Mother Earth."

Winona LaDuke: To Be a Water Protector, Rise of the Wiindigoo Slayers

Gosh I hate the LLM internet so much. A colleague died a few days ...

2026-09-22T20:26:52Z

Gosh I hate the LLM internet so much. A colleague died a few days ago. Now fake AI-generated obituaries are popping up online, scraped from public information with some sentimental wording slapped on to mimic a real obituary. It's so gross and fake.

#NoAI

Someone stole my teen's backpack (with his laptop inside) ...

2026-09-21T19:00:00Z

Someone stole my teen's backpack (with his laptop inside) yesterday.

He phoned the police non-emergency line to report the theft. Which was answered by an AI chatbot. Chatbot said it would send him a link to the form to fill out. Which it didn't do. When he swore under his breath, the chatbot said it would transfer him to a human. And hung up on him.

He found the online form. Which had a link error.

So he went in person.

At least that's an option for police. As opposed to CRA, for example

Lifehack: when searching for general info on the internet now, I ...

2026-09-09T12:09:50Z

Lifehack: when searching for general info on the internet now, I adjust the date settings to pre 2024. It seems to filter out the AI slop, and results in much more useful information.

Especially useful for looking up a recipe.

#NoAI

For the 2nd time in a week, an elderly person has come up to me, ...

2026-08-14T14:10:17Z

For the 2nd time in a week, an elderly person has come up to me, after seeing me give cash to "Davey" to say "He doesn't need money. He needs housing. Food. Addiction treatment."

Uh, yeah.

So he sleeps in my yard. I keep a box of supplies out for him. I give him some cash. I talk to him. And I do what I can to advocate for housing for all.

I agree this is woefully inadequate. Our country is rich enough that no one should have to sleep outside.

But here we are.

Subsidize cars, not food! /s Tony Keller wrote in the G&M ...

2026-08-08T14:56:17Z

Subsidize cars, not food! /s

Tony Keller wrote in the G&M yesterday that NY Mayor Mamdani’s city-run groceries are a disaster because it’s just subsidizing food. He points to zoning rules that restrict shop sizes as being a key driver of high food costs.

Meanwhile Shaun Micallef writes that Toronto is being unfair in restricting subsidized on-street parking for new multiplex residents.

Taken together, one could conclude it’s right and natural to subsidize parking. Ruinous to subsidize food.

#NoAI #SamAltman ...

2026-08-01T13:40:59Z

#NoAI #SamAltman

I biked down to #Biidaasige park to check out the new expansion. ...

2026-07-31T23:24:52Z

I biked down to #Biidaasige park to check out the new expansion.

This is the park I was thinking we should have had at Ontario Place, instead of the spa monstrosity.

It's really big. Lovely views westward now of the city skyline. And such a nice job sectioning the park into different "rooms" using hills and paths, and the meandering mouth of the Don river. I spent a good long while sitting by a marsh, watching fish and dragonflies.

https://www.canadianarchitect.com/torontos-biidaasige-park-to-expand-with-10-new-acres/

#Toronto

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This was exactly my conversation with my husband last night. ...

2026-07-29T15:19:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…m85h
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This was exactly my conversation with my husband last night. Though extended more generally.

One would think that with the world burning, there would be some sort of state of emergency. A widespread agreement that everything needs to change.

But all continues. Full speed ahead on new pipelines. New AI datacentres. All while churning out giant cars, and car-dependent developments, while fretting about the price of gas.

Like we're accelerating towards a wall.

Oooh. I didn't know about the Studio Ghibli architecture ...

2026-07-28T13:39:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…7xvl
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Oooh. I didn't know about the Studio Ghibli architecture book. I see my local comic book store has it in stock, and will check it out. From the snapshots online, it looks quite engrossing.

Libby Isn't Your Library. It's a Private Equity Asset. ...

2026-07-12T09:57:54Z

Libby Isn't Your Library. It's a Private Equity Asset.

https://unhingedlibrarian.com/research/who-owns-libby/

I went to do a search on DuckDuckGo, and it displayed a message that it had blocked 72 tracking attempts from Libby over the past hour.

Which had me wondering: who owns this app???

OverDrive owns Libby. And OverDrive is owned by KKR, the same private-equity firm that owns Simon & Schuster.

https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/could-kkrs-ownership-of-overdrive-raise-questions-about-simon-schuster-purchase

#Libby #OverDrive #Libraries

Oh no! I realize belatedly that “day pass” on a Toronto ...

2026-06-21T14:45:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…9wmc
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Oh no!

I realize belatedly that “day pass” on a Toronto Bikeshare bike doesn’t allow you to ride it all day for a flat $15 fee.

“Day pass” means you can ride the bike 90 minutes at a time.

So now my niece has overage charges, as we blithely kept it with us for 5 hours without docking.

And now for my political venting. 1) I had told my niece she ...

2026-06-21T13:29:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…frer
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And now for my political venting.

1) I had told my niece she could easily use Bikeshare on the island for the day. But it no longer accepts credit. App only. And signal strength is terrible on the island. Several folk walked in circles, phones aloft, trying to get enough signal to download the app. No Bikeshare for folk without smartphones. Stupid decision.

2) There were thousands of people enjoying the island. Curse Doug Ford for wanting to destroy Toronto's own cottage.

#ToPoli #OnPoli

I had a lovely time on Toronto Island biking with my niece and ...

2026-06-21T13:20:22Z

I had a lovely time on Toronto Island biking with my niece and her kids. She came in from Oshawa on the GO. $10 day pass (kids under 12 are free).

We met them at Union and walked together to the ferry. They brought 9 yr-old's bike on the train. The 5 yr old rode with me on the tandem. And niece rented a Bikeshare on the island.

The kids found a frog and a turtle, and tried out every wrong turn in the hedge maze. First time biking there for them. Next time, canoes.
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#Toronto

"Davey" brought us an injured pigeon today. First in a ...

2026-06-08T02:05:49Z

"Davey" brought us an injured pigeon today. First in a while.

Davey has been living on the street for at least a year. He's maybe 25? He likes to build with wood, and talks in a fast jumble.

He brings the birds to us; the cats to another woman.

This year he's started sleeping in our yard a few nights a week. So now I leave a small box of provisions out. Toiletries. Fruit. Granola bar. Water. A bit of cash. And a small tarp.

He worries about the animals, and I worry about him.

My teen has a #Framework laptop, which he takes to school every ...

2026-05-21T12:41:56Z

My teen has a #Framework laptop, which he takes to school every day. Last week, the screen broke (from being stepped on). He went online, ordered a replacement display kit. It arrived yesterday. He sat down with the video instructions to swap out the screen. And... done!

#RightToRepair is awesome.

Someone is going around painting St George's cross in my ...

2026-04-08T14:36:39Z

Someone is going around painting St George's cross in my Toronto neighbourhood. Often covering up "free Palestine" messages.

Seems like an ugly white supremacist call to me.