wendy norris

@wendynorris

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

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wendy norris@wendynorris· 29d

When a failed Metaverse cryptocurrency startup makes a baby with a hyperrealistic sex robot company, you get a lifelike AI robot classroom teacher's aide (with no legs) to help students in a struggling, low-resource rural elementary school. I am going to lose my mind.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jul 13

A pitch deck somewhere on Sand Hill Rd: Imagine if we could monetize free sunlight?

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

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jul 2

AI is the pushmi-pullyu of stochastic parrots. Where have I seen this before?

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 24

This 49-foot FREE rubber stamp is next to City Hall in Cleveland. According to the artists, it was a whimsical take on the region's manufacturing hub in rubber production. Locals pretty much see it as a dig on (and unfortunate reminder of) historically corrupt city politics.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 23

In case you missed this. Your post about a Monroe County NY deputy detaining a man at the reflecting pool is making some waves! @rachbarnhart.com is a county legislator and is demanding the sheriff explain why a deputy was sent to DC. Thank you again for your reporting!

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."

From a constituent concerned about a Monroe County Sheriff's deputy being deputized to help the US Marshals. According to MSCO social media post, there is only one. This message explains the problem better than I can.

"Thank you so much for following up. The community has a right to know why Sheriff Baxter is detailing deputies to DC under these circumstances.

The White House has shown no regard to DC residents and visitors nor the National Guard troops that continue to patrol like beat cops far outside of their training and remit. What will the sheriff do if Monroe County deputies are deployed by the US Marshals in violation of their oath? How does this agreement affect morale in the sheriff’s office?

How is Baxter covering the loss of these deputies on Monroe County streets, for how long, and at what cost to tax payers?

My brother is a sheriff’s deputy in another state. My dad was a correctional officer. I am not anti-law enforcement. However , entering into an agreement with this lawless administration that politicizes law enforcement is not right."

Thinking emoji

Text from a Facebook shared post by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office:

"Congratulations to Deputy Dobner for your selection to this esteemed team of law enforcement professionals" in reply to this United States Marshals Service Facebook post:

"Today, officers from 44 state and local law enforcement agencies were sworn in as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals during a special deputation ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. The officers will support the U.S. marshals Service and U.S. Park police in safeguarding upcoming Freedom 250 events celebrating the Nation's 250th birthday. U.S. Flag
emoji.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 21

Let's go!

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 9

Greaaaat. Elder GenX (like me) begin retiring in the 2030s. Y'all finally going to get off your sarcastic dead asses and vote or did workin' for the man finally turn you into this?

Caricature Boomer boss in the movie "Office Space"

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 9

Lest we forget that NSF funding has cratered in academic computer and information science labs where substantial research and scientific apprenticeships advance programming innovations, frontier modeling, informatics, and sociotechnical impacts that AI companies rely on.

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

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 8

What's the over/under that a middle-aged woman did NOT write or approve this headline. Squeezed? 🤬

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."

wendy norris@wendynorris· Jun 5

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!"

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 31

Fail Whale is looking a little rugged these days

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 28

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."

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 28

My foster kitten salute to Harry McClintock! Somebody bunched up the covers to make Big Rock Candy Mountain where the kittens are all hobos, streams of milk flow like rivers, and catnip mice grow on trees.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 27

The signature Rochester NY delicacy called "The Garbage Plate." No. Just no.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 27

C'mon, Hickenlooper. Even I got more time with Marilyn Musgrave at a weird-ass gas station meet-and-greet in Fort Collins back in the day.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 25

Valid concerns about Anthropic "pope-washing" to trick consumers that its AI models/products are more ethical than its competitors, aside. Consider, instead, that Pope Leo's invitation is part and parcel of ancient Catholic gospel forged over centuries: "Let thy foe be hoist by one's own petard."

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 22

WTF! Durbin needs to answer for this.

‪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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 20

Outstanding essay, Karl, which I will share far and wide with my higher ed colleagues. I want to push back on the generational warfare argument that leans uncomfortably into a lazy trope. I’m fortunate to work with Boomers, GenX and Millennials who see the risks. The disconnect is wealth not age.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 19

Angry Fail Whale, raised from the depths by a villainous band of murder hornets, has had quite enough of Bsky instability.

Black and white illustration of the Twitter "Fail Whale" depicting an angry whale hoisted into the sky by murder hornets and barbed wire.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 18

Hey faculty friends in health and human services: Check out this audit of Ontario provincial healthcare providers using generative AI for clinical notes. Your students and your programs are at grave risk of harming your patients/clients. Full report PDF link below. h/t @danmcquillan.bsky.social

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 16

I've used the brilliant @walthickey.bsky.social's comic book analyses on 538 to teach Intro to Python programming for the last 10 years. It made computational data science accessible and fun. Students loved it.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 10

Let's see what American Trappist monk, theologian, mystic, poet, and social activist Thomas Merton has to say about this in his autobiography "The Seven Storey Mountain": Oh no.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 10

Next: AI is comin' fer ya wimmens

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 6

Todd Blanche would like a word about how this technical marvel classifies strip club fine dining.

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."

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 6

And, yet, here once again is Randi and AFT playin' footsie with the techbros in another cash grab. www.404media.co/literacy-in-...

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.

The Literacy in Future Technologies Artificial Intelligence, or LIFT AI Act, would empower the new director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grant awards “on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or a consortium thereof) to support research activities to develop educational curricula, instructional material, teacher professional development, and evaluation methods for AI literacy at the K–12 level,” the bill says.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 3

It's about time that we finally find out who Blanche is *really* working for.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· May 3

It's about time that we finally find out who Blanche is *really* working for.

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Apr 19

It is absolutely wild how Facebook is full of Generative AI ads targeting PhD students. Facebook, that lively platform that’s all the rage for elder Gen Z.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Mar 29

That the OpenAI partnership enrages me more than the ridiculous cost of a buffalo mascot-shaped swimming pool says a lot. I am done with this nonsense. #ResistAI

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.

wendy norris@wendynorris· Mar 22

I conducted a quickie 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. Good grief. Cut it out. All hail the scholars that do their own work.