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Jun 5, 2023: Training Peaks integration with Apple Workouts in WatchOS 10 is a big deal! I’ve been creating custom workouts on my watch for a while now. This …
Jun 5, 2023: I like the new design direction in WatchOS 10. I always wanted the Siri watch face to work and this new approach seems similar and, hopefully, will …
Jun 4, 2023: Milton Sprint Triathlon 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️ That was fun! Really well organized, friendly racers, and great weather. There were 466 racers, though other than the parking lot, it didn’t …
Jun 3, 2023: I enjoy the packing. Helps calm the pre-race nerves
May 30, 2023: I find “compress the history of the universe or humanity down into a number line” projects compelling. This one is particularly well done …
May 30, 2023: ☎️ 😱 Living dangerously for seven years with a corporate phone For seven years now, I’ve been living dangerously by only using my corporate phone for everything. I knew this was wrong, yet couldn’t …
May 29, 2023: 🚨Warning🚨 Contains highly addictive substances. Open with extreme caution
May 28, 2023: Finished reading: The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss is a good second book in the series. The long, imaginative fantasy narrative is …
May 26, 2023: 🥱 This justifies a nap
May 25, 2023: 🎵 Simply the Best by Tina Turner was a staple in my childhood home. My Dad had one of her concerts on VHS and watched it frequently. For this song, in …
May 21, 2023: 🏃♂️Nice zone 2 run with some pickups
May 21, 2023: Lettuce seeds are germinating. We might have lots of salads to eat in a few months
May 18, 2023: Finished reading: An Emergency in Ottawa by Paul Wells is a good, short read on a very consequential period in recent Canadian history 📚
May 17, 2023: On two occasions I have been asked, “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?” …
May 15, 2023: 🎵 Don’t Test the Pest by Pest Control will give you the kick in the pants that you might need to get going
May 15, 2023: 🎵 Perhaps In Sides is Orbital’s best album? I could listen to The Box, Pt. 2 on repeat for a while
May 15, 2023: Finished reading: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells is another fun, short Murderbot story. I like that these are staying simple and sarcastic📚
May 10, 2023: Best feature of the hotel: two fresh pancakes with the press of a button
May 9, 2023: Finished reading: Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson is fascinating. The importance of a seemingly small incident is really well explained and …
May 9, 2023: Finished reading: The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef includes some good tips for keeping an open mind and incorporating constructive feedback 📚
Apr 22, 2023: Glow in the dark mini golf
Apr 22, 2023: 📺 Star Trek: Picard (Season 3) - ★★★★☆ Definitely the best of the three seasons. Leverages a lot of nostalgia which is okay with me. Nice to clean up …
Apr 16, 2023: So impressed with this team. My niece has been great in net. 🥅🏒
Apr 10, 2023: Finished reading: A Beginner’s Guide to the End by B. J. Miller and Shoshana Berger. I’m grateful that I didn’t need to read this …
Apr 9, 2023: 🎵 10,000 gecs - 100 gecs - ★★★☆☆ A good workout album: fun, quirky, and upbeat
Apr 9, 2023: 🏃♂️ Good trail on today’s long run. Fun to slog through mud on occasion
Apr 8, 2023: We enjoyed the Stranger Things Experience. A fun mix of live, interactive action and pre-filmed material.
Apr 1, 2023: A nice view for my cycling avatar that makes me keen for winter to end. I’m looking forward to riding outside again 🚴
Mar 31, 2023: Day 31: Practice
Mar 30, 2023: Day 30: Mirror
Mar 29, 2023: Day 29: Slice
Mar 28, 2023: Day 28: Prompt
Mar 27, 2023: Day 27: Support
Mar 26, 2023: Day 26: Instrument
Mar 25, 2023: The whimsy of Zwift distracts from the difficulty 🚴♂️
Mar 25, 2023: Day 25: Spice
Mar 24, 2023: Day 24: Court
Mar 23, 2023: Day 23: Chance
Mar 22, 2023: Day 22: Insect
Mar 21, 2023: Day 21: Tiny
Mar 20, 2023: Day 20: Houseplant
Mar 19, 2023: Day 19: Analog
Mar 19, 2023: 📺 Servant (2019) - ★★★☆☆ A good show. Relies pretty heavily on creepy mood, rather than plot, and dark humour.
Mar 19, 2023: Finished reading: The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul is full of great content. I was much more cerebral in my youth and have been externalizing …
Mar 18, 2023: Day 18: Portico
Mar 17, 2023: Day 17: Early
Mar 16, 2023: Day 16: Road
Mar 15, 2023: Day 15: Patience
Mar 14, 2023: Day 14: Horizon
Mar 13, 2023: Day 13: Connection
Mar 13, 2023: Finished reading: The Last Druid by Terry Brooks. I’ll confess to reading this only to finish off the entire Shannara collection. This is the fourth …
Mar 13, 2023: 🎵 Citizen of Glass - Agnes Obel - ★★★★☆ Haunted by faeries
Mar 12, 2023: Day 12: Shiny
Mar 11, 2023: Day 11: Gimcrack
Mar 10, 2023: Day 10: Ritual
Mar 9, 2023: Day 9: Together
Mar 8, 2023: Day 8: Walk
Mar 7, 2023: Day 7: Whole
Mar 6, 2023: Day 6: Engineering
Mar 5, 2023: Time for a refill 🥃
Mar 5, 2023: Day 5: Tile
Mar 4, 2023: Day 4: Zip
Mar 3, 2023: Day 3: Solitude
Mar 2, 2023: Day 2: Weather
Mar 1, 2023: Day 1: Secure
Feb 28, 2023: Lucy is done for the day 💤
Feb 26, 2023: Finished reading: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is really good. I enjoyed the characters, world building, and narrative structure. I’m …
Feb 26, 2023: I found a new favourite Tequila at a tasting last night: El Tesoro Añejo
Feb 25, 2023: I’m looking forward to another season of The Joy of Why podcast. Great science content and Steven Strogatz is an enthusiastic host
Feb 20, 2023: Finished reading: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal is a fantastic alternative history of the space race. The sexism and racism in the …
Feb 18, 2023: 📺 Shining Girls (2022) - ★★★☆☆ A good mix of mystery and suspense with time travel and multiverse plot
Feb 11, 2023: Never a circle, but always delicious
Feb 4, 2023: Finished reading: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir was great fun. We should have more enthusiastic high school science teachers as heros in our stories📚
Jan 30, 2023: Well, guess I had a good sleep! Today is a rest day. So, peak performance includes sitting around and catching up on some TV 😀
Jan 28, 2023: 🎶 After a last scrobble on Dec 4 2007, I’ve resurrected my Last FM account and connected it to the Albums app. This should encourage me to …
Jan 28, 2023: 📺 Season 1 of The Peripheral is good. I remember enjoying the book, but not enough of the details to worry about spoilers or notice any changes made …
Jan 26, 2023: What I think about when I say goodbye to my beloved dying pet But it was still deeply upsetting. My eyes started to water just writing about it. The …
Jan 24, 2023: Finished reading: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe by Sean Carroll. I really appreciated this book. Starting from high school math, Carroll leads you …
Jan 22, 2023: Currently reading: All the Math You Missed by Thomas A. Garrity. I’m looking forward to this challenge 📚
Jan 22, 2023: Finished reading: Life Is Hard by Kieran Setiya is a good, pragmatic book about how philosophy can help you navigate difficult times. I appreciate …
Jan 20, 2023: Rules are for bad people - Paul Wells I was going to say Hussen should table one of two things: every piece of communications material that was ever …
Jan 20, 2023: 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️ I’ve cancelled my Strava subscription. This isn’t directly caused by the price increase (though a 100% increase is big!), …
Jan 19, 2023: Articles like “We will never be able to live on another planet. Here’s why” highlight an important tension. As a fan of science fiction, …
Jan 18, 2023: 🎵 GMT - Jamie xx Remix - Oliver Sim - ★★★★☆ Thanks to the new HomePod video for reminding me of this song.
Jan 18, 2023: 📺 Echo 3 (2022) - ★★☆☆☆ Decent entertainment: well made and acted. The story was relatively straightforward, until the last episode, which started to …
Jan 18, 2023: 📺 The Boys (Season 2) - ★★★☆☆ Not quite as good as season 1, though still entertaining and outrageous
Jan 16, 2023: I was feeling a bit worn out. So, skipped this morning’s swim and slept in. This did wonders for my Readiness To Train score, which hadn’t …
Jan 15, 2023: 🍿 Turning Red (2022) - ★★★☆☆
Jan 12, 2023: Finished reading: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A fun read. I really liked the structure of alternating each chapter between fantasy and sci-fi, …
Jan 11, 2023: Finished reading: Perhaps the Stars by Ada Palmer. A satisfying ending to the Terra Ignota series. I really enjoyed this series, though it can be a …
Jan 5, 2023: 🎧 The Essential Sam Harris is a well done, comprehensive set of podcast episodes that dive into the details of specific topics, including artificial …
Jan 4, 2023: 🎧 Interstellar jazz from Hyper Dimensional Expansion Beam will wake you up
Jan 3, 2023: 📺 Slow Horses seasons 1 and 2 are both great. I enjoyed the sarcastic competence of the rejects at Slough House
Jan 1, 2023: Started 2023 with a polar bear swim 🥶. 0°C air temperature and 2°C in the water. Now we’re huddled by the fire to warm up 🔥
Dec 31, 2022: My 2022 focussed on fitness. Strava helpfully summarizes this as over 4,000 km travelled with 1,600 🏃♂️, 2,500 🚴♂️, and 100 🏊♂️. Plus 🏋️♂️ and …
Dec 28, 2022: 🏃♂️ Nice run along the river. I’m glad it has warmed up a bit
Dec 27, 2022: 🎶 I listened to a lot of Nils Frahm this year. Slightly biased, perhaps, by his most recent album being over three hours long
Dec 26, 2022: Precarious
Dec 26, 2022: Great additions to my reading list. Family knows me well 📚
Dec 24, 2022: Reading more books in 2022 📚 I read many more books this year than in recent, past years. Although this was intentional, I’m glad it worked out. I really cut back on my various …
Dec 24, 2022: Finished reading: Network Effect by Martha Wells. Murderbot is great! I’ll happily keep reading any books in this series 📚
Dec 21, 2022: Waiting for the train
Dec 20, 2022: Finished reading: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. This series has been really entertaining so far📚
Dec 19, 2022: Computation with marbles 🧮🧐 I’ve been interested for a while now in better understanding the underlying mechanics of computers. I’ve also been keen to do something …
Dec 18, 2022: Spotted on today’s run
Dec 18, 2022: 📺 Although I was entertained by The Rings of Power, I agree with Bret Devereaux’s criticisms of the show that left it feeling hollow
Dec 17, 2022: 🎧📺 A fun episode of the Strong Songs podcast about the great Andor TV series
Dec 13, 2022: Festive moose
Dec 11, 2022: Finished reading: I wanted to like The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen by Linda Colley. The main thesis is that as societies became more complex and …
Dec 11, 2022: 🏃♂️ Running in fresh snow can be nice. The ambient noise of the city is muffled and the snow cushions your foot striking the ground ❄️
Dec 7, 2022: Finished reading: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Well worth reading. I appreciated the absence of giant, apocalyptic battles and the focus …
Dec 6, 2022: 🎄Decorating
Dec 3, 2022: 🏃♂️ I expected the rain on today’s zone 2 trail run. The hail and wind gusts were a surprise. Hard to hold zone 2 while being pummelled by ice! …
Dec 2, 2022: 📺 I’m looking forward to season 2 of Slow Horses. Season 1 was a surprise favourite for me
Dec 1, 2022: 🏃♂️An easy, zone 2 run today. Almost dark by 5pm
Nov 30, 2022: Likely doing this a few times today 😴
Nov 28, 2022: 📺 Outer Range on Amazon Prime is pretty good. Mysterious and creepy with great Wyoming scenery. As with many shows like this, I worry that the premise …
Nov 28, 2022: 🎵 A moody soundtrack to my afternoon
Nov 28, 2022: The legal test the government must pass: not was it right, but was it reasonable? The Constitution, it is said, is not a suicide pact. I would say it …
Nov 27, 2022: 🏃♂️ I’d planned for an easy zone 2 run this morning. Picked the wrong running group though. Time to update my zones anyway. I likely shouldn’t be …
Nov 26, 2022: Time for a stout
Nov 26, 2022: Getting tense
Nov 26, 2022: Saturday night
Nov 26, 2022: Rediscovered Maybe It’s Me by Treble Charger in my music library. Instantly transported back to undergrad at university. I’m always …
Nov 26, 2022: The new Checklists search attribute in Apple Notes is really helpful for my weekly reviews. I’ve setup a smart search that shows all of my recent …
Nov 22, 2022: Finished reading: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark. A fun, short story📚
Nov 18, 2022: How much does a Triathlon cost? 🏊♂️ 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️💰 Other than knowing if I was physically capable of finishing, the main source of uncertainty when I signed up for my first triathlon was how much it …
Nov 16, 2022: Winter has arrived ❄️
Nov 15, 2022: Finished reading: Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge. A fun mix of murder mystery and sci-fi, in which groups of people emerge from thousands of …
Nov 15, 2022: Finished reading: A Short History of Canada by Desmond Morton. Somewhat like vegetables, I know that reading about national history is good for me, …
Nov 10, 2022: As a public servant for 15 years (and counting), I enjoy Yes, Minister on the BBC. More accurate than we’d like to believe #mbnov
Nov 9, 2022: I’m enjoying these Yoga for Every Runner sessions in Apple Fitness. I’m certain that mobility is important for staying active 🏃♂️
Nov 8, 2022: Although it is 8ºC outside, the household consensus is that we’re still warm enough inside. We’ve never gotten this far into November without turning …
Nov 5, 2022: Curious wind patterns have pushed all of the leaves on the back deck into a narrow pile
Nov 2, 2022: Neighbours dropped off a surprise feast of mini sandwiches for mbnov
Nov 1, 2022: I figured waiting until the last minute for the first day of mbnov would provide inspiration for a clever post. I was mistaken
Oct 31, 2022: Lucy is helping again with candy distribution. Hard to get a stable photo, her head is swinging around to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells 🎃
Oct 28, 2022: Finished reading: Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey. I’ve enjoyed each book in the series and this one was not an exception 📚
Oct 27, 2022: Best tree on the street 🍁
Oct 23, 2022: Black Lab Brewery 🍺
Oct 19, 2022: Rival Consoles' new album Now Is is out and well worth listening to 🎧
Oct 18, 2022: Finished reading: Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer. A really interesting book that explores the surprisingly …
Oct 18, 2022: Transitions
Oct 18, 2022: I’ve been trying out more of the radio features on Apple Music. At least two features would help out: some way to mark episodes for later …
Oct 17, 2022: Lucy has settled into the couch
Oct 17, 2022: Are rising profits fueling inflation? - The Hub There are of course important issues to explore and debate when it comes to the level of competition …
Oct 15, 2022: As we move into Fall weather, time to switch to indoor riding. The setup is a bit cramped, but I have coach Lucy to keep me company from the couch 🚴
Oct 13, 2022: A Day in the Life Photo Challenge: Walking to the dentist with unsettled weather in Toronto, Ontario 🇨🇦 at 15:57
Oct 12, 2022: I’ve registered for the Ironman 70.3 in Muskoka 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Oct 9, 2022: Long runs are great in Fall weather 🏃♂️
Oct 4, 2022: After putting up with this nonsense of cables for too long I put in an hour of work and tidied everything up. A good example of how something that …
Oct 3, 2022: Finished reading: Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, 1) by Brandon Sanderson. I really enjoyed this one. An interesting origins mystery, well …
Sep 24, 2022: A three hour and seven minute album from Nils Frahm! Definitely on the ambient end of the spectrum and good for staying in the zone 🎶
Sep 24, 2022: Morning rides are getting chilly 🥶
Sep 20, 2022: Finished reading: Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke. A classic sci-fi story. Hard to believe it was written in 1953 📚
Sep 20, 2022: I’ve enjoyed a couple of Time to Run sessions. The coaches are relatively restrained, while offering useful tips, and the music fits in well. …
Sep 18, 2022: Our worries that the morning glories wouldn’t recover from the replacing of the fence were unfounded. They’re as exuberant as ever.
Sep 17, 2022: Finished reading: Shift by Hugh Howey. I’m not sure that Wool needed this prequel. Part of the enjoyment of the first book was the mystery of how …
Sep 14, 2022: The hanger for my rear derailleur broke on my commute this morning. So, a shortened ride, along with a minor crash when the freed derailleur ended up …
Sep 10, 2022: Fun ride to Unionville today 🚴♂️
Sep 9, 2022: Finished reading: Exit Strategy: The Murderbot Diaries (The Murderbot Diaries, 4) by Martha Wells. I’ve enjoyed each of these novellas, though the …
Sep 9, 2022: Ten questions about the hard limits of human intelligence | Aeon Essays Despite his many intellectual achievements, I suspect there are some concepts …
Sep 9, 2022: I’m enjoying the Really Specific Stories podcast series from @martinfeld. I’ve been listening to podcasts for a long time now and hearing people …
Sep 5, 2022: Finished reading: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers is a charming story about a human and a robot on a quest to find purpose 📚
Sep 3, 2022: Finished reading: Plague Birds by Jason Sizemore is quite the story: advanced AIs living in people’s blood, genetic manipulation run amok, the …
Sep 3, 2022: An early start for today’s ride to avoid the heat and catch the sunrise 🚴♂️
Aug 28, 2022: Finished reading: Among Others by Jo Walton is very good. A celebration of SF, despite being about magic and fairies📚
Aug 28, 2022: Back in the city for today’s run. A bit strange after all those quiet, hilly cottage runs
Aug 26, 2022: Relaxed and happy
Aug 25, 2022: Found some rapids on today’s run 🏃♂️
Aug 25, 2022: The Kobo Libra 2 is great for cottage reading 📚 As a follow up to my earlier post, now that I’m on the eleventh book of my vacation, I can confirm that the Kobo Libra 2 is exactly what …
Aug 25, 2022: Finished reading: Although the book is unfinished, I enjoyed Starlight by Richard Wagamese. The theme of appreciating the land resonates well with my …
Aug 24, 2022: Ominous clouds for today’s swim
Aug 24, 2022: A fun Upgrade episode on automation with Jason Snell, Federico Viticci, Rosemary Orchard, and Matthew Cassinelli 🤖🎧
Aug 24, 2022: Finished reading: Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman is an engrossing book about students that escaped from East Germany during the Cold War, only to then …
Aug 23, 2022: Finished reading: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan was a perfect vacation read. A long and immersive fantasy story with both familiar elements …
Aug 23, 2022: Back on the gravel roads for today’s run
Aug 21, 2022: Nice run along the James Cooper Lookout Trail, despite some tough terrain 🏃♂️
Aug 20, 2022: Finished reading: Although I was initially confused by the plot of Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, once I got into the story I enjoyed it. A …
Aug 19, 2022: Rays of light
Aug 18, 2022: Looking for a beaver lodge 🦫 We’ve seen a beaver swimming from one end of the lake to the other, most evenings at our rented cottage. Today we paddled out to investigate. We found …
Aug 18, 2022: Different running route today to find some unpaved roads and justify packing my trail shoes on the vacation 🏃♂️
Aug 17, 2022: Finished reading: Arriving Today by Christopher Mims is a very interesting look into the logistics network that we all take for granted with an …
Aug 17, 2022: Nice to get out for a long swim 🏊♂️
Aug 17, 2022: Interesting to hear William MacAskill on two of my favourite podcasts (Mindscape with Sean Carroll and Making Sense with Sam Harris). Although …
Aug 16, 2022: Finished reading: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a delight. A strange and fascinating story that is unlike anything that I’ve read recently 📚
Aug 15, 2022: Finished reading: Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey is a solid start to a new Expanse story. Although I like the mystery surrounding the alien …
Aug 14, 2022: Around here you run hills, whether you want to or not
Aug 13, 2022: Misty morning for an easy run 🏃♂️
Aug 12, 2022: Finished reading: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson is a fun parallel worlds story with lots of plot twists 📚
Aug 11, 2022: Such a delight to swim in a nice, deep lake 🏊♂️
Aug 10, 2022: Finished reading: Shipstar by Gregory Benford isn’t nearly as ambitious as Bowl of Heaven, the first book in the series. Although there are several …
Aug 9, 2022: Lucy is settling into cottage life
Aug 9, 2022: Finished reading: I enjoyed The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel by Helene Wecker. Great writing and interesting characters, set in 19th century New York, …
Aug 8, 2022: Tranquility
Aug 5, 2022: I’m enjoying the Time Management for Mortals series by Oliver Burkeman on the Waking Up app. A nice extension of his Four Thousand Weeks book 🎧
Jul 30, 2022: Finished reading: The Nova Incident by Dan Moren is an entertaining mix of espionage, action, and sci-fi. I’ve enjoyed all of the books in this series …
Jul 30, 2022: I’m aligned with the views of the Incomparable panel on recent Star Trek: Discovery is disappointing, Picard is frustrating, and Strange New Worlds is …
Jul 28, 2022: Reunification day! Kids are back from a month at summer camp. Tanned, relaxed, and happy
Jul 27, 2022: Finished reading: Although I was already familiar with many of the details, A Series of Fortunate Events by Sean B. Carroll was a brief and …
Jul 24, 2022: My annual cottage vacation is imminent and a favourite part is reading books by the lake. In past years, I’ve packed a pile of library books. …
Jul 13, 2022: Very difficult for me to not enjoy Star Trek Picard, given my nostalgia for TNG. That said, season 2 was only okay. The scenes with Q were all great …
Jul 9, 2022: Season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was really fun. I enjoyed the return to mostly self-contained episodes and appreciated the modest fan …
Jul 2, 2022: Lucy would like some pizza
Jul 2, 2022: Tremblant 70.3 Ironman notes 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️ After a few days of recovery, and before I forget, here are a few notes on the Tremblant 70.3 Ironman. The short version (given there’s lots of …
Jun 27, 2022: The Ironman 70.3 in Tremblant was a fantastic experience! Gorgeous course – though you really have to like hills – and really well …
Jun 23, 2022: Yikes, quite the cliff at kilometre 52!
Jun 12, 2022: Season 3 of For All Mankind starts off strong! One of my favourite shows of the last few years and I’m looking forward to this season 📺
Jun 11, 2022: My longest bike ride yet: 105 km. Tough, but fun. Good to have a strong crew pulling me along 🚴
Jun 10, 2022: Great Vance Joy show that featured a rainbow after a short rainstorm 🎶
Jun 6, 2022: Although a small thing in the context of the WWDC announcements, I like the upcoming changes to the Workout app in WatchOS 🏃♂️
Jun 5, 2022: A big thank you to my race crew for their support at today’s triathlon.
Jun 3, 2022: First time using the new bike rack.
Jun 2, 2022: I think this is everything!
May 28, 2022: Finished reading: I really enjoyed The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. A fun mix of espionage and supernatural with a good sense of humour 📚
May 19, 2022: Day 19: Breakfast indulgence: scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado, and cheese 📷
May 18, 2022: Day 18: No longer random puzzle pieces 📷
May 17, 2022: Day 17: Hold 📷
May 17, 2022: Unwanted house guests
May 15, 2022: Day 15: Prairie clouds 📷
May 12, 2022: Day 12: Tranquility 📷
May 11, 2022: Day 11: Maroon sign of spring 📷
May 10, 2022: Day 10: For several years, we’ve participated in a fundraiser for Pancreatic Cancer Canada that sells pots of purple pansies 📷
May 9, 2022: Day 9: Magnolia blooms are imminent 📷
May 9, 2022: Finished reading: Although surprisingly little actually happens with the plot in Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers, the characters and world …
May 8, 2022: Day 8: Toronto Union Station 📷
May 7, 2022: First outdoor ride on the new bike. Great to be out of the basement, though I swallow fewer midges on Zwift 🚴♂️
May 7, 2022: Day 7: We appreciate and enjoy our provincial parks 📷
May 6, 2022: Day 6: Cloud silhouette 📷
May 5, 2022: Day 5: Earth 📷
May 4, 2022: Day 4: LRT tunnelling at _Thorn_cliffe Park (bit of a cheat on the prompt) 📷
May 3, 2022: Day 3: One of my experimental setups in grad school was a tinfoil room with a hive of bees 📷
May 2, 2022: Day 2: The oldest photo in my library is of my grandfather in his navy uniform from 1945 📷
May 1, 2022: Day 1: Ran up a lot of switchbacks to get to the top of Signal Hill in Newfoundland 📷
May 1, 2022: The Toronto Half Marathon was great! So nice to be out for a proper group event again. And I had a wonderful race crew for cheers and end of race …
Apr 30, 2022: Tomorrow’s race will be fun! I haven’t been in a proper event for awhile 🏃♂️
Apr 15, 2022: Finished reading: Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb Trilogy Book 2) by Tamsyn Muir is really imaginative and well written. I found it rather confusing …
Apr 10, 2022: Severance is fantastic. An intriguing premise, with great acting, and careful attention to detail in every episode. Well worth watching
Apr 9, 2022: COVID and Readiness to Train 🦠🏃♂️🚴♂️🏊♂️ With two school-age kids, this seemed inevitable: All things considered, my symptoms aren’t too bad, which I’m grateful for. Nonetheless, …
Apr 7, 2022: The weirdness of Raised by Wolves shifted from intriguing to distracting between seasons 1 and 2. Although the second half of season 2 was better than …
Apr 3, 2022: Although it seems like a luxury, $70 for always dry shoes is worth it. Especially with spring weather 🏃♂️
Apr 2, 2022: Happy Lucy
Apr 2, 2022: Completed an FTP test this morning. Important to do, though super challenging 😓🚴♂️
Mar 30, 2022: I’m letting my Pinboard subscription expire. I’ve added 3,500 bookmarks since 2010 and the service was valuable when actively engaged in …
Mar 29, 2022: New trail running shoes 🏃♂️ I added a new pair of running shoes to my closet: Saucony Switchback 2. They are a lightweight trail shoe with the BOA Fit System (rather than laces) …
Mar 27, 2022: Don’t forget to tie your shoes
Mar 27, 2022: Just fixed a small issue with my Elite Suito bike trainer: the magnets stopped working, so the resistance couldn’t be automatically adjusted. …
Mar 24, 2022: I’m really enjoying these videos by Mark Lewis on fitness and motivation I appreciate his message of only striving for above average and …
Mar 21, 2022: Finished reading: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse is a great story about a monster hunter on a Navajo reservation after a climate apocalypse📚
Mar 19, 2022: Finished reading: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi is a fun “soldiers in space” book with some interesting ethical concepts📚
Mar 18, 2022: Finished reading: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers is really good. A strong emotional core with an intriguing sci-fi structure📚
Mar 16, 2022: Busy morning so far
Mar 13, 2022: One of the highlights from last night’s Stout Beer Festival: Beeramisu Imperial Stout from the Third Moon and Bellwoods breweries
Mar 12, 2022: Although I was disappointed to miss out on attending Micro Camp March 2022, I’ve enjoyed catching up on the videos. A nice diversity of topics, …
Mar 8, 2022: I think I liked season 1 of Raised by Wolves? A curious mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that overall was more about mood than plot. I’m not …
Mar 1, 2022: Integrating MindNode, Reminders, and Mail 🗺 ✅ 📧 I’m still using MindNode for task management. Seeing all of my tasks, projects, and areas of focus on one mind map has been really helpful, …
Feb 26, 2022: As a follow up to my post about swimming with an Apple Watch, I’ll note that the watch only records activity when your arm is moving. So, things like …
Feb 24, 2022: Pancakes for dinner
Feb 21, 2022: Indoor cycling 🚴♂️ The last piece of my training setup was an indoor bike trainer. Canadian winters aren’t great for outdoor cycling (-20ºC with a blizzard just a …
Feb 19, 2022: A fun one
Feb 18, 2022: A good one on a cold night
Feb 17, 2022: Finished reading: As with the first two books in the trilogy, The Saints of Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton is a fun sci-fi story about humans fighting …
Jan 28, 2022: Finished reading: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is an entertaining mix of computer nerds, ancient rituals, cryptography, and a …
Jan 27, 2022: I’m fortunate to have a nice bike storage room at my office. Something happened there today that prompted the facilities manager to send us the list …
Jan 22, 2022: New bike 🚴 I knew going in that a first triathlon requires a lot of planning and gear, especially when you don’t have any equipment. Given that the cycling …
Jan 22, 2022: Finished reading: Salvation Lost by Peter F. Hamilton is fun. Part 2 of the Salvation trilogy and a great humans fighting back against powerful aliens …
Jan 17, 2022: There’s been some shovelling today ❄️
Jan 17, 2022: Lucy is enjoying all this new snow ❄️
Jan 16, 2022: Finished reading: The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian is a fascinating and very well written overview of the current state of AI research. I was …
Jan 15, 2022: Bike sizing 🚴♂️ I’ll be spending many hours and a reasonable amount of money on a bicycle over the next few months. To be efficient, comfortable, and injury …
Jan 8, 2022: As a benchmark for upcoming training, my coach had me run a 5k time trial. This is also useful for determining my heart rate training zones. I started …
Jan 8, 2022: Listening to Apple Music Activity Playlists for a week 🎶 As an experiment, I spent the past week listening only to the Activity Playlists in Apple Music. So, whatever I was doing, I picked the most closely …
Jan 4, 2022: My first swimming workout 🏊♂️ I’ve been in a pool with my Apple Watch before, though only either to splash around with the kids or with a beer at an all-inclusive resort. Today was …
Jan 3, 2022: Time to stop tracking my personal life ⏰ Through 2020, I built up an ornate system for tracking my time for both work and personal projects (like this one for reading). For most of 2021, I …
Jan 3, 2022: Finished reading: The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom is a compelling, brief story about faith and redemption 📚
Jan 2, 2022: Finished reading: This seems to be the consensus, so I won’t belabour the point: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is a powerful book. If …
Jan 1, 2022: Lucy has resolved that 2022 will be the year of more food
Dec 29, 2021: As an update to my earlier post about using MindNode for task management, I’ve refreshed my areas of focus and projects for work. I still find …
Dec 29, 2021: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin is a really interesting story about two different worlds and a physicist that tries to bring them back together. …
Dec 24, 2021: I sincerely hope this will not become a new Christmas tradition
Dec 24, 2021: A good time to reread the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 🎄
Dec 23, 2021: Finding a Triathlon coach 🏊♂️ 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️ When I ran a marathon several years ago, my training plan was just to go for countless long runs. Now that I’m older and wiser, I’m going to be more …
Dec 23, 2021: Breaking in my new shoes with some hill sprints 🏃♂️
Dec 22, 2021: A Christmas classic
Dec 22, 2021: Although a time and concentration commitment, I enjoyed this 3Blue1Brown video. Showing how to approach a problem from a computational or …
Dec 21, 2021: After 2.5 years of faithful service (which, honestly, is far too long), I’ve updated my trusty Sauconys with a new pair. The red is a bit flashier …
Dec 21, 2021: Post COVID-booster recovery run 🏃♂️ 🦠💉
Dec 20, 2021: Getting our COVID boosters
Dec 19, 2021: How to fix the disaster of human roads to benefit wildlife | Aeon Essays Unbelieveable: …about a million individuals of all species are killed …
Dec 19, 2021: I’m slowly making my way through Pragmatism, and Other Essays by William James and was amused to see: I offered this as a conciliatory olive-branch …
Dec 19, 2021: A long run with fresh snow is a great start to a Sunday 🏃♂️❄️
Dec 19, 2021: Looks like someone went for an inadvertent swim 🥶
Dec 18, 2021: The great unfollowing 😱 Inspired by @cedevroe’s semi-regular purges, I’ve gone through my many services and unfollowed, unsubscribed, and deleted everything. And, I mean …
Dec 17, 2021: I listened to each song on Pitchfork’s 100 Best Songs of 2021. Although I downloaded a dozen or so songs, the vast majority of them didn’t appeal. …
Dec 15, 2021: Improving my running with a gait analysis 🏃♂️ In preparation for Tremblant, I had my gait analyzed to find out if there are any issues with my running form. I found the process surprisingly …
Dec 14, 2021: I really like the idea of Screen Time and want to use it to manage my behaviour. And then I get something like this: apparently I stared at aeon.co (a …
Dec 14, 2021: After likely too much deliberation, I’ve registered for the Ironman 70.3 in Tremblant. Although “only” half an Ironman, it is still …
Dec 5, 2021: A good, long article on the James Webb Space Telescope that includes both details on the telescope and explains the science that makes it so exciting
Dec 3, 2021: Classic, having finally settled on Apple Notes, Craft has announced an eXtensions Developer Platform that is tempting me back. I’m glad …
Nov 28, 2021: Bowl of Heaven by Gregory Benford and Larry Niven is quite expansive in scope and imagination. A fun, easy read with some big ideas 📚
Nov 28, 2021: First snowstorm run of the season ❄️ 🏃♂️
Nov 21, 2021: Urban trail run 🏃♂️
Nov 20, 2021: 2021 iPhone Home Screens My iPhone Home Screen continues to evolve and, now that we have Focus Modes, I’ve made some further adjustments. From left to right, I’m using three …
Nov 20, 2021: I really enjoyed season 1 of Foundation. Definitely a departure from the books, which was totally necessary. The companion podcast was interesting too …
Nov 18, 2021: The moon trying to break through the clouds
Nov 17, 2021: The Strong Songs Year Three, In Review episode is a good summary of a fun season 🎧🎶
Nov 16, 2021: I picked up Artifact by Gregory Benford at my local used bookstore on a whim. I’m glad I did. It is a fun mix of archaeology, theoretical physics, and …
Nov 14, 2021: Integrating Micro.blog Highlights with Apple Notes 📒 Now that I’m committed to using Apple Notes, I wanted a way to download my Micro.blog Highlights into Notes. I like using Bookmarks as a read-it-later …
Nov 11, 2021: I’m enjoying the redesigned Waking Up app. The new design is much cleaner and easier to use. The original design was interesting when the app debuted. …
Nov 9, 2021: Okay, these automated email signatures are getting silly. I just got a meeting invite with 6,000 characters in 500 words. None of which were actually …
Nov 6, 2021: Lessons from using Apple Notes for three months Back in September, I committed to using Apple Notes for three months. The goal was to focus on my use cases for writing, rather than fiddling with new …
Nov 5, 2021: Inner Symphonies by Hanna Rani & Dobrawa Czocher has been really helpful this week 🎵
Nov 4, 2021: A fun discussion on the Mindscape podcast with Christopher Mims about the interconnected industrial ecology
Nov 3, 2021: I enjoyed Revenant Gun: Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee. A fitting end to the trilogy📚
Nov 3, 2021: I’m standardizing on using Micro.blog Bookmarks as my read it later service. To make this easier, I’ve created a Shortcut for sending links from …
Nov 3, 2021: On the Internet, We’re Always Famous in the New Yorker is well worth a read The most radical change to our shared social lives isn’t who gets to …
Oct 31, 2021: Lucy is ready to help with Halloween 🎃
Oct 31, 2021: Day 31: Home 📷
Oct 31, 2021: When Star Trek: Voyager originally aired, I was too distracted with grad school to pay much attention to it. Many years later, thanks to @jean’s …
Oct 31, 2021: MacStories' Comprehensive Guide to 250+ of Apple Music’s New Mood and Activity Playlists is a great resource for a rather opaque feature. …
Oct 30, 2021: Day 30: Red 📷
Oct 30, 2021: Switching to iCloud+ Custom Email Domain 📧 I’ve switched my personal email over to Apple’s custom email domain with iCloud Mail. A roughly ranked list of reasons for the switch is: …
Oct 29, 2021: Railway City’s Jumbo is a good, though bitter, IPA 🍺
Oct 29, 2021: Day 29: Cycle 📷
Oct 29, 2021: This new song from Jack White will wake you up 🎸🥁
Oct 29, 2021: Remarkable, scientists have measured time dilation in a cloud of atoms and found that the time experienced by the atoms at the top of the cloud is …
Oct 28, 2021: Day 28: Underneath 📷
Oct 27, 2021: The first two episodes of Invasion on AppleTV+ are intriguing
Oct 27, 2021: Day 27: Chaos of a toddler. This is how I found him one morning 📷
Oct 26, 2021: Day 26: Bliss for me is the family relaxing on a dock, reading books, during summer vacations 📷
Oct 25, 2021: Day 25: Gravity 📷
Oct 24, 2021: Day 24: So many connections. I have to admit that I’m surprised it actually works 📷
Oct 24, 2021: Although I’m generally aligned with longtermism, this essay in Aeon points out important (if slightly hyperbolic) tradeoffs that have to be …
Oct 23, 2021: Great weather for apple picking 🍎
Oct 23, 2021: Day 23: Lots of meaning to discern when playing Codenames 📷
Oct 22, 2021: Murderbot is one of my favourite characters from the past couple of years. So, this origin story from Martha Wells was fun to read
Oct 22, 2021: Day 22: Having a rest with friends 📷
Oct 21, 2021: Day 21: An impressive space at the foot of a mountain 📷
Oct 20, 2021: Day 20: I’m looking forward to resuming winter sports 📷
Oct 19, 2021: Day 19: Mirror in a lake 📷
Oct 19, 2021: Morning arising 📷
Oct 18, 2021: Day 18: Lucy is finished for the day 📷
Oct 17, 2021: Day 17: No need for a compass when hiking in the city, just follow the sound of traffic 📷
Oct 16, 2021: Day 16: Rotation 📷
Oct 15, 2021: Day 15: Ethereal 📷
Oct 14, 2021: Day 14: My favourite wheels as a kid 📷
Oct 13, 2021: Day 13: Lucy is a couch animal 📷
Oct 12, 2021: Day 12: Rock legends 📷
Oct 11, 2021: Day 11: Hygge 📷
Oct 10, 2021: The cansim R package is really helpful 📦 📊 Statistics Canada has a wealth of data that are essential for good public policy. Often a good third of my analytical scripts are devoted to accessing …
Oct 10, 2021: Day 10: The bridges of my morning run 📷 🏃♂️
Oct 9, 2021: Day 9: Swinging through the trees is safe with this gear on 📷
Oct 8, 2021: Day 8: A benefit of a twilight run is that the sidewalks are clear 📷
Oct 7, 2021: Day 7: Spice 📷
Oct 6, 2021: Day 6: Street 📷
Oct 5, 2021: Day 5: The toys are watching, always 📷
Oct 5, 2021: Although A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine isn’t as remarkable as A Memory Called Empire, I still really enjoyed it. Some of the …
Oct 4, 2021: Day 4: Sharp dressed boy 📷
Oct 3, 2021: Day 3: Majority votes are rare in Canada these days 📷
Oct 2, 2021: Added this to my “brains are fascinating” note: How memories persist where bodies, and even brains, do not It seems that a 44-year-old …
Oct 2, 2021: Day 2: Lightning up the Dark 📷
Oct 1, 2021: Day 1: Touch 📷
Sep 26, 2021: Fathoms by Rebecca Giggs is about so much more than whales. Beautifully written, Giggs uses whales to talk through society, culture, environmentalism, …
Sep 25, 2021: We had fun solving CluedUpp Games The Ripper mystery with these serious looking investigators
Sep 23, 2021: I really enjoyed the Foundation books as a kid and thought it might be fun to read them along with the new Apple TV show. I know they’ll diverge and …
Sep 21, 2021: Two things to note: 1) Clearly the totalling is off and 2) How can the app for my robot vacuum be in the top 10?
Sep 20, 2021: Federal Election Day here in Canada 🗳 🇨🇦. As a public servant, I have no public opinion about the parties. I do think, though, that we have a civic …
Sep 19, 2021: We celebrated 21 wonderful years of marriage with an extended weekend at the Sir Sam’s Inn near Haliburton. We had gorgeous weather and lots of …
Sep 19, 2021: A good reminder to experiment with my coffee setup: How to enjoy coffee | Psyche Guides
Sep 18, 2021: Found some tranquility
Sep 18, 2021: Nice view from a hike to the top of a hill
Sep 17, 2021: Currently reading: Fathoms: the world in the whale by 📚
Sep 16, 2021: I’ll be hanging out here for the next few days
Sep 15, 2021: Surprising no one here, I’ve realized that I spend far more time thinking about systems for my notes than in actually taking notes. To add some …
Sep 13, 2021: Advanced voting 🇨🇦
Sep 12, 2021: A happy 97th birthday to my wonderful grandmother! Such an inspiration to us all
Sep 9, 2021: Back to school with a mixture of excitement and nervousness
Sep 7, 2021: I certainly wasn’t expecting Nils Frahm’s next album to be a dub record!
Sep 7, 2021: Ball hockey fans
Sep 6, 2021: I’m enjoying Watch the Sound With Mark Ronson, a series on music production with episodes on topics like reverb, synthesizers, and sampling
Sep 5, 2021: Restocking some essentials 🥃
Sep 4, 2021: Currently reading: A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, 2) by Arkady Martine 📚
Aug 29, 2021: I really enjoyed Salvation by Peter F. Hamilton (book 1 of the Salvation Sequence trilogy). A fun blend of sci-fi, detective novel, and alien invasion …
Aug 29, 2021: A new game on the iPad: try to guess what term Photos is searching for in Spotlight. Here’s an example where I’m launching Overcast and …
Aug 27, 2021: My Micro Camp sticker has arrived and looks great! Thanks @burk!
Aug 21, 2021: Black Lab Brewery has some great beers, plus I enjoy the branding
Aug 18, 2021: Our epistemic crisis is essentially ethical and so are its solutions Before you know it, people have starkly different views on the matter, and their …
Aug 15, 2021: This book caught my eye at the local used bookstore: Pragmatism and Other Essays by William James 📚
Aug 15, 2021: Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors is an interesting mix of reflections on solitude, the importance of conservation, …
Aug 14, 2021: Although I only caught day 2 of Micro Camp 2021 live, I really enjoyed the talks. I’ll catch up on day one in a couple of days.
Aug 11, 2021: Currently reading: Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors 📚
Aug 8, 2021: Readiness To Train with the Training Today app 🏃♂️ I’m trying to sequence my workouts in a more systematic way to avoid overtraining. I’ve found Training Today really helpful in determining …
Aug 2, 2021: Excession by Iain M. Banks is a great read with a fun mix of space opera, humour, morality, and mystery 📚
Jul 28, 2021: A great video on the Standard Model of physics
Jul 27, 2021: Really well done and fascinating video on The Sounds of Space
Jul 27, 2021: Currently reading: Excession by Iain M. Banks 📚
Jul 27, 2021: The iPadOS save dialog for MS Office has become confusing. I can never figure out which of these “Documents” folder is my documents …
Jul 19, 2021: Back in the office after a 13 month gap and spotted my first PPE vending machine on the commute. A sign of how things will be after COVID-19 🦠 😷
Jul 16, 2021: Mortal on Amazon Prime is good. A nice take on the Thor myth that doesn’t adopt the Marvel spectacle style (though that style is good fun)
Jul 11, 2021: A nice run along Taylor Creek 🏃♂️. Except for the hill up to Lumsden Ave near the end; that part was horrible
Jul 10, 2021: I’ve been using the iOS betas for just over a week. The new Focus feature is as useful as I’d hoped. Being able to change notifications …
Jul 8, 2021: Currently reading: The Little Drummer Girl: A Novel by John le Carre 📚
Jul 4, 2021: A quiet run along the beach this morning. Certain to be much busier this afternoon 🏃♂️
Jul 3, 2021: The Tomorrow War is totally ridiculous. And, I watched it anyway
Jun 29, 2021: Finished reading: Matter (Culture) by Iain M. Banks. This was a straightforwardly entertaining read 📚
Jun 29, 2021: A misty run this morning 🏃♂️
Jun 27, 2021: Humid out there 🥵. Good thing there was a breeze by the river 🏃♂️
Jun 20, 2021: Second vaccine doses administered! 💉 👍
Jun 18, 2021: Might as well try another one from Kensington Brewing
Jun 18, 2021: Trying out a new (to me) brewery: Kensington Brewing
Jun 14, 2021: This episode of the Mindscape podcast was a nice mix of my interests in math, politics, and voting theory
Jun 13, 2021: Finished reading: The Strategy Paradox: Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And What to do About It) by Michael E. Raynor 📚
Jun 8, 2021: Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson is a good second book in the Mars trilogy. So much great detail, you really get a strong sense of Mars as a place …
Jun 8, 2021: I’ve listened to a few Spatial Audio songs on Apple Music and I’m impressed! If you listen to a familiar song, you can really notice the …
Jun 8, 2021: Switching from Agenda to Craft, for now 📅🗒 In my corner of the internet, there’s a well trodden, twisted path of searching for the one true notes app. I’ve reached a fork in the …
Jun 7, 2021: The new Focus feature in iOS 15 looks promising. I already hide and show home screens based on context and this looks like it will help make this even …
Jun 5, 2021: After thinking it over for a few years, Lucy has finally decided to try the outdoor couch
Jun 1, 2021: Thanks to a wifi range extender, I’ve improved my office location
May 29, 2021: I now live with two teenagers
May 23, 2021: Sleep Evolved Before Brains. Hydras Are Living Proof. | Quanta Magazine It appears that simple creatures — including, now, the brainless hydra — can …
May 20, 2021: Starting the long weekend a day early
May 20, 2021: Andrew Potter: My fellow Gen Xers don’t appreciate our great gift: we were ignored - The Line In retrospect, it is obvious that the Gen X …
May 20, 2021: A good “in the zone” song: Persona
May 19, 2021: Kids are vaccinated!
May 19, 2021: Michael Geist is doing excellent work on Bill C-10: There are at least three points emphasizing. First, no other country in the world uses broadcast …
May 18, 2021: Great weather for a short run 🏃♂️
May 17, 2021: An interesting observation from my coach today: We must stop searching for progress through punishment
May 17, 2021: Why modern Buddhists should take reincarnation seriously | Aeon Essays: Thinking about reincarnation today is, first of all, a reminder of the …
May 17, 2021: Assuming this is true, great news that Ontario’s summer camps for kids will be allowed to open again. My kids really need this (their parents …
May 16, 2021: I’ve found my new power up song 🔥 🏃♂️ 🎵
May 16, 2021: Fleeting confirmation that spring weather has arrived
May 15, 2021: Clever: Scientific efforts to shed light on the prehistory of clothes have received an unexpected boost from another line of research, the study of …
May 2, 2021: Currently reading: Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson 📚
Apr 24, 2021: First vaccine dose administered! A very efficient process.
Apr 24, 2021: An excellent For All Mankind season finale. I’m looking forward to season 3 and further divergence from our timeline
Apr 17, 2021: Well S2E9 of For All Mankind certainly ended on a cliff hanger! How are they going to wrap all this up in just one last episode? 📺 🚀
Apr 16, 2021: Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman takes a conversational approach to math, saying as much about how mathematicians think as it does about the math. …
Apr 14, 2021: There are some great observations about data in Why the Pandemic Experts Failed that apply in any context. I won’t spoil the list, other than to say …
Apr 14, 2021: Life Is About What We Can Do For Each Other - RyanHoliday.net All of this is a way of dodging the reality of the choice in front of us: Can you …
Apr 10, 2021: I’m looking forward to starting Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman 📚
Apr 5, 2021: Happy Easter from Lucy
Apr 3, 2021: Currently reading: Limitless by Jim Kwik 📚
Mar 31, 2021: I’ve reached the F barre chord stage of my guitar lessons. A tough spot! 🎸
Mar 26, 2021: Thanks @jean! Stickers arrived
Mar 23, 2021: Currently reading: Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday 📚
Mar 22, 2021: Humble Pi by Matt Parker is a very entertaining book about math errors. His irreverent personality really comes through and the stories make the …
Mar 21, 2021: Cookies!
Mar 18, 2021: Lucy with her dog-walking friends
Mar 18, 2021: Currently reading: Humble Pi by Matt Parker 📚
Mar 17, 2021: I’ve enjoyed listening to one of David Whyte’s poems each night before bed in the Waking Up Contemplative Action track. A good way to …
Mar 16, 2021: The Light of All That Falls by James Islington is a great end to The Licanius Trilogy. I was in the mood for an immersive fantasy series and these …
Mar 13, 2021: Lucy gave up before we even started our One Academy Everest class
Mar 7, 2021: Wow, S2E3 of For All Mankind has a really powerful scene about parenthood. Very well done
Mar 6, 2021: Night skiing
Mar 5, 2021: Currently reading: The Light of All That Falls by James Islington 📚
Mar 1, 2021: The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers is great. I really enjoyed the characters and the sense of family on the Wayfarer. Definitely …
Feb 26, 2021: Frustrating how everything goes haywire when updating AppleID passwords. HomePods become unresponsive, messages can’t be delivered, and other subtle …
Feb 24, 2021: I can relate to Lucy’s perspective on the day
Feb 21, 2021: Great day for skiing! Wore out the kids by the end. They’ve been inside too much recently 😀
Feb 20, 2021: Fantastic to have season 2 of For All Mankind out. I really enjoyed season 1 and this new season looks promising
Feb 20, 2021: Currently reading: The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers 📚
Feb 18, 2021: Super exciting that Perseverance landed safely on Mars. We need more of this kind of good news and human achievement.
Feb 16, 2021: Seven and a Half Lessons about the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett is a charming, short book about how our brains work and our misconceptions about them …
Feb 12, 2021: Currently reading: Seven and a Half Lessons about the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett 📚
Feb 12, 2021: Qawa imperial stout with coffee and chocolate from Bandit Brewery. A good beer for a frozen night
Feb 12, 2021: If you’re interested in how algorithms are affecting us, Hello world by Hannah Fry is a great read. Rather than explain how algorithms work, Fry …
Feb 6, 2021: A fascinating, weird, and unsettling conversation about the differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain on the Making Sense …
Jan 31, 2021: A great, long article on the use and development of COVID models. Plenty of lessons for modelling in general, especially when human behaviour is …
Jan 31, 2021: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a very imaginative and entertaining mix of sci-fi and horror 📚
Jan 29, 2021: Lucy wants to know when it will warm up from -15°C 🥶
Jan 27, 2021: Star Trek: Picard is a flawed show that did a great thing — it gave TNG a proper ending I agree with Matt Gurney’s take: So Picard, really, is …
Jan 24, 2021: Despite some fair criticism, I enjoyed Tenet. Had to watch it twice to make sense of it though.
Jan 23, 2021: Blueprint by Nicholas Christakis is an interesting book about universal feature of our societies (the social suite) and how they are based on …
Jan 23, 2021: Perhaps nothing @help can do about this, but figured worth asking. Bookmarks aren’t extracting article titles for Quanta Magazine
Jan 23, 2021: Making waffles
Jan 23, 2021: 🥶🏃♂️
Jan 22, 2021: An interesting experiment: a favourite David’s Tea infused into a favourite Beau’s beer. I like it!
Jan 20, 2021: Trying a new coffee. A nice change from my usual dark roast.
Jan 20, 2021: The addition of table support to Agenda is very welcome.
Jan 18, 2021: Currently reading: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 📚
Jan 17, 2021: Delightful when text aligns across lines, yet also frustrating when the alignment is so slightly off
Jan 16, 2021: Choosing a podcast player 🤔🎧 There’s been a fair bit of discussion over on Micro.blog about podcast players recently. I’ve switched among Overcast, Castro, and Apple …
Jan 12, 2021: Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery was entertaining. Despite some awkward plots that were perhaps necessary to get to the right ending, they really did …
Jan 12, 2021: I absolutely agree that Facebook has been a major contributor to the mayhem we see in politics these days. I also have significant concerns with how …
Jan 10, 2021: Transforming boxes of components into a gaming PC 📦🕹 Like any 12-year old, my son is pretty keen on gaming. As an all Apple house, his options were a bit constrained. So, we decided to build a PC from …
Jan 7, 2021: A nice tribute to Neil Peart in Rolling Stone Magazine 🥁
Jan 6, 2021: I appreciate Sam Harris' call for competence and compassion in his most recent podcast episode
Jan 6, 2021: Having spent countless hours in grad school arguing about frequentist and Bayesian statistics, I appreciate Richard D. Morey’s take on the importance …
Jan 6, 2021: My experiment to avoid Twitter for a week has now grown to two weeks. I’m surprised by how much I don’t miss it. I thought that it was a …
Jan 4, 2021: Scheduling random meetings with a Shortcut ⚙️🗓 Staying in touch with my team is important. So, I schedule a skip-level meeting with someone on the team each week. These informal conversations are …
Jan 3, 2021: Currently reading: Blueprint by Nicholas A. Christakis 📚
Jan 2, 2021: Of the 30 books that I read this year, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine was my favourite fiction book. And, What is Real by Adam Becker was my …
Jan 2, 2021: Lost in Yesterday by Tame Impala was my most played song released in 2020 And Phoebe Bridgers was my favourite artist Thanks to Federico …
Jan 1, 2021: I enjoyed season 1 of The Man in the High Castle. A suitably realistic alternative history with an intriguing mystery of the strange films. I’ve …
Jan 1, 2021: Currently reading: Ego is the enemy by Ryan Holiday 📚
Dec 31, 2020: 20 Macs for 2020 was a fun series and, overall, I agree with the ranking. Strictly for nostalgic reasons, I would have included the PowerBook G3. This …
Dec 29, 2020: The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato is an effective description of how our economy is constructed by decisions and assumptions over time. By …
Dec 28, 2020: Year of the Tangible Inspired by Coretex, I’m declaring Tangible as my theme for 2021. I’ve chosen this theme because I want to spend less time looking at a screen and …
Dec 25, 2020: Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅
Dec 22, 2020: Quite disconcerting that I don’t know how or when I cracked the screen on my Apple Watch. The top left half still works, so not completely broken 😢
Dec 19, 2020: Three episodes in and I’m really enjoying season 5 of The Expanse 🚀🪐📺
Dec 14, 2020: I’m very happy that Tripping with Nils Frahm is released. Great music for working at home with headphones 🎧🎹
Dec 6, 2020: Currently reading: The Value of Everything by Mariana Mazzucato 📚
Dec 6, 2020: I’m catching up on 20 Macs for 2020 and just listened to the episode on the iMac G4. Brought back vivid memories of two intense months of …
Dec 5, 2020: This video from Matt Parker on Excel is fantastic. Be sure to keep an eye on the chyron
Dec 5, 2020: MindNode is the best mind mapping app for iOS Continuing my plan to update App Store reviews for my favourite apps, up next is MindNode. MindNode is indispensable to my workflow. My main use for …
Dec 3, 2020: I’m really looking forward to the live album Tripping with Nils Frahm being released soon. I’m impressed with how well he can translate …
Nov 30, 2020: Learning that Growl is retiring after 17 years really reinforces the notion that the legacy of a good project is so much more than just the code and …
Nov 29, 2020: As the COVID lockdown continues, I miss being a pedestrian in the city. There’s nowhere to go! #mbnov
Nov 28, 2020: I like the approach that Sean Carroll describes in this episode about being a science advisor for a movie. Rather than telling the director that their …
Nov 28, 2020: We need a better system for our masks. We start the week off with a nice, clean stack and then they disperse all over the house throughout the week. …
Nov 27, 2020: I really like the imagery of the idiom “on the horns of a dilemma”, especially since it emphasizes the point that both choices are …
Nov 26, 2020: Taking a few minutes to listen to A Place by Nils Frahm really helped adjust my motivation to get back to work on a frustrating project #mbnov
Nov 25, 2020: I never want to answer a call from someone I don’t know. So, I really like the “silence unknown callers” feature in iOS #mbnov
Nov 24, 2020: In looking for a good use of provision, I found this song by Kevin Morby. Listening through his catalogue and enjoying the mellow mood #mbnov 🎵 🎧
Nov 23, 2020: Currently reading: The obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday 📚
Nov 23, 2020: DayOne continues to be an excellent way to capture my daily thoughts. Documenting each day’s achievements has really helped me keep momentum on …
Nov 22, 2020: I wanted to avoid using the word border in a political context and was reminded how much I enjoyed Borderline by Mishell Baker #mbnov 📚
Nov 21, 2020: Winter is coming #mbnov
Nov 20, 2020: Well, if you worried that AC/DC was going to fade away, they’re back with a new album that rocks out as much as any of their other albums #mbnov …
Nov 19, 2020: Feeling nostalgic, thanks to NPR Tiny Desk Concerts releasing this Yo La Tengo show from their archives
Nov 19, 2020: I’m fascinated that it’s possible to figure out how many regular polytopes there are and I have Milo Beckman to thank for putting together …
Nov 18, 2020: I quite like my dependence on a morning coffee and the ritual of making it #mbnov
Nov 18, 2020: Oops, need to train myself to actually post my #mbnov content on the right day
Nov 16, 2020: A fun memory from last year. I look forward to when we can gather as a family again #mbnov
Nov 15, 2020: I really enjoyed To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. A little jewel of a space exploration story that really captures the spirit of …
Nov 15, 2020: Lucy likes to supervise breakfast
Nov 15, 2020: Many good ideas on balancing uncertainty with fiscal rules in Navigating Uncertainty in Ontario’s Budget
Nov 15, 2020: What Is a Particle? in Quanta Magazine is a good overview of current answers to what seems like a simple question
Nov 15, 2020: Apple really wants you to know that it loves the Mac just how it is. Or perhaps more accurately, as embodied in its latest computers: just how it is, …
Nov 15, 2020: The zip line across the lake was far with a great view #mbnov
Nov 14, 2020: Our pumpkin wasn’t too spooky this year #mbnov
Nov 14, 2020: We had great fun Tree Top Trekking! The view from the top of the trees was great, especially given the weather.
Nov 13, 2020: Please wear a mask! They really do help. #mbnov
Nov 12, 2020: Rather than turn up the heat, I decided to wear a sweater. I likely won’t be able to get away with this much longer, as the temperature keeps …
Nov 11, 2020: Currently reading: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers 📚
Nov 11, 2020: Says by Nils Frahm is both a great song and today’s #mbnov word of the day
Nov 10, 2020: Finished reading: Breath by James Nestor. A great book about the importance of breathing. Full of interesting stories that certainly convinced me to …
Nov 10, 2020: The latest news on a promising COVID-19 vaccine is great news. Especially for my elderly grandmother, who is very keen to get out of her apartment and …
Nov 9, 2020: I hope we can return, some day, to politics being a force for good, instead of division #mbnov
Nov 8, 2020: I’m not sure what binds them so closely, though I treasure it #mbnov
Nov 7, 2020: Our lungs inflate with fresh air at the top of the ski hill #mbnov
Nov 6, 2020: Puzzling through the outcomes of a wild week with the help of a lager 🍺 #mbnov
Nov 5, 2020: I often miss the days when I had to stoop down to pick up my kids for a hug. Though I’m very proud of the teenagers they have become #mbnov
Nov 4, 2020: Hexagons are the Bestagons is good fun
Nov 4, 2020: Yesterday’s #mbnov word “astonish” would have been a great one for today, given how near the US presidential election is today
Nov 3, 2020: Every year I’m astonished by the first snowfall #mbnov
Nov 3, 2020: “We follow this new type of leader through upheaval. Because we have confidence. Not in their map, but in their compass” Amy C Edmondson, …
Nov 2, 2020: Currently reading: Breath by James Nestor 📚
Nov 2, 2020: Having just finished a collection of quick, urgent projects, I’m looking forward to some time to concentrate on the big picture #mbnov
Oct 30, 2020: A couple of episodes in and I’m enjoying Long Way Up on Apple TV+. Relying on electric vehicles really adds to the adventure
Oct 25, 2020: Rouge River hike
Oct 24, 2020: An impressive attempt to visualize the standard model of particle physics by Quanta Magazine
Oct 20, 2020: More quantum weirdness: tunnelling particles can exceed the speed of light
Oct 14, 2020: Some great colours on the neighborhood trees 🍁🇨🇦
Oct 13, 2020: For my “A Day In The Life” photo, here’s a look out my window at a beautiful Fall day here in Toronto, Canada at noon
Oct 12, 2020: A great day for apple picking 🍎 🌳
Oct 10, 2020: A nice hike through Crother’s Woods
Oct 9, 2020: This agenda shortcut from Matthew Cassinelli is a useful way to start my day. I modified it to include flagged reminders and just have it appear as …
Oct 8, 2020: Data Governance Sponsor recruitment I’m very excited to be recruiting for a Data Governance Sponsor to join my team and help enhance the use of good data analytics in our decisions …
Oct 6, 2020: Although waiting can be annoying, How to Wait Well makes some good points: Waiting pulls us into the present unlike any other experience of time. In …
Oct 3, 2020: If you’re at all curious about physics, I strongly recommend you consider watching Sean Carroll’s Biggest Ideas in the Universe. Well …
Oct 2, 2020: I’m listening to The Jungle by Plants and Animals a lot this week 🎧🎵
Oct 2, 2020: I continue to enjoy these posts on A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry. This one starts a new series on iron and steel production.
Oct 2, 2020: Using Shortcuts automation to automatically switch my watch faces has really helped enforce the work/personal transition. A simple, yet effective …
Oct 1, 2020: Supporting my favourite apps with App Store reviews 🎖 I’ve been negligent in supporting some of my favourite apps on the App Store. In many cases, I reviewed the app a few years ago and then never …
Sep 30, 2020: Optimizing urban mobility by shifting from prediction to adaptation is a good example of how complexity theory can help solve practical problems
Sep 30, 2020: My current theme song: Everyday is exactly the same. Just the chorus though, some of the verses are pretty bleak!
Sep 27, 2020: We enjoyed playing Letter Jam. A nice mix of strategy, cooperation, and language
Sep 26, 2020: We really enjoyed our time at Bass Lake Provincial Park. Fresh air, campfire pizza, and a hike along the lake were a great escape 🏕
Sep 24, 2020: The widgets in the new Fantastical 3.2 are great. Having my calendar events and scheduled tasks in the same widget is really helpful
Sep 22, 2020: The toddler discovered Lucy’s tail. He’s amused, she is not 😀
Sep 22, 2020: Trying out a new iPhone Home Screen 📱 With the release of iOS 7, I’m reconsidering my earlier approach to the Home Screen. So far I’m trying out a fully automated first screen …
Sep 22, 2020: Back to school
Sep 13, 2020: There’s a good distinction made in Is Your Chart a Detective Story? Or a Police Report? between visualization as explorations of data and …
Sep 10, 2020: Evidently I haven’t been in the office for a while! Should take me a full day just to catch up on Dilbert.
Sep 9, 2020: In defence of “poisonous" models ☠️🧮 Skipping past the unnecessarily dramatic title, The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation does make some useful points. As seems …
Sep 7, 2020: I enjoyed The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington. A reasonably complex plot with mystery and adventure, along with some good characters. The …
Sep 6, 2020: Owen is excited to get the Nintendo Switch Ring Adventure. Staying active during COVID-19 has been difficult and this should help 🏃♂️🎮
Sep 5, 2020: My favourite part of the run along the Grand river 🏃♂️
Sep 4, 2020: Catastrophe drives evolution. But life resides in the pauses | Aeon Essays is a good overview of why the pace of evolution ebbs and flows over time
Aug 31, 2020: Fascinating: They found that for individual cells, this power minimum hovers around a zeptowatt, or 10−21 watts. That is roughly the power required …
Aug 25, 2020: I miss this view already
Aug 25, 2020: Lower Decks is great fun for this Star Trek fan 🖖
Aug 22, 2020: Never did catch those ducks
Aug 21, 2020: Still getting along
Aug 12, 2020: We’ve tired out the dog
Aug 9, 2020: Feels like a vacation
Aug 3, 2020: Poured rain all day yesterday. So we’re a day late for the Highland Yard run. We didn’t want to miss supporting this important cause!
Aug 1, 2020: In the lake within a few minutes of arriving
Jul 31, 2020: I’m ready for my vacation to start!
Jul 27, 2020: Even though I knew how it ends, Free Solo is still an intense movie. I appreciated how Sanni (Alex’s girlfriend) and the video crew became important …
Jul 26, 2020: Reading Shortcut for the iPad 👓⚙️ I haven’t yet adopted the minimalist style of my iPhone for my iPad. Rather, I’ve found that setting up “task oriented” …
Jul 19, 2020: Reflection journal in Day One with an Agenda assist I’ve been keeping a “director’s commentary” of my experiences in Day One since August 2, 2012 (5,882 entries and counting). …
Jul 17, 2020: Skipping past the dramatic title, Our remote work future is going to suck makes important points about the risks of remote work. These are all …
Jul 17, 2020: Some unfortunate formatting in the CBC’s otherwise well done coronavirus tracker. At first glance, that’s a really big number
Jul 16, 2020: A small thing, but I’m finding the automatic conference call link detection in Fantastical is saving me a great amount of effort, given my days …
Jul 15, 2020: The novelty of all of us working from home is wearing off
Jul 14, 2020: The Aleph Extraction by Dan Moren is a fun read and worthy sequel to the great Bayern Agenda. The mix of cold-war thriller and sci-fi setting is …
Jul 11, 2020: A scary, but important, conversation on the Making Sense podcast about the threat of nuclear weapons
Jul 9, 2020: Different watch faces for work and home watchOS 7 has some interesting new features for enhancing and sharing watch faces. After an initial explosion of developing many special purpose watch …
Jul 7, 2020: I added a HomePod to the newly renovated house. The sound quality is definitely as good as advertised and I appreciate the Apple Music integration 🎶. …
Jul 3, 2020: Our Home Renovation Is Complete! We’re very excited to move back home
Jun 24, 2020: Owen had his virtual grade 6 graduation with PJs on the bottom half
Jun 24, 2020: Decision-Making in a Time of Crisis is a good article on the danger of confusing bad outcomes with bad decisions. As advocated in the article, …
Jun 12, 2020: I’m really enjoying these unapologetically nerdy posts on the logistics and tactics of Middle Earth armies.
Jun 10, 2020: The Last Emperox by John Scalzi is great fun and a fitting end to the trilogy 📚
Jun 9, 2020: We’ve compared our predictions of the 2019 🇨🇦 election to the actual votes. Overall, we were within 5% with no obvious geographical biases, …
May 31, 2020: I don’t remember being so organized on Wednesday 😀✅
May 27, 2020: Happy birthday to my favourite son!
May 24, 2020: Photosynthesis is a pretty elaborate game with more strategy than you might expect from trees ☀️🌲
May 23, 2020: There’s sure to be a good caper behind this busted safe in the middle of the woods
May 21, 2020: Happy birthday to my favourite daughter!
May 18, 2020: Lucy couldn’t quite manage the last burpee challenge in today’s One Academy Collision class
May 7, 2020: My favourite gym has a charity event on Saturday supporting Nellie’s Shelter for women & children. If you’re new to One Academy, your …
May 3, 2020: I’m really enjoying these Biggest Ideas in the Universe videos from Sean Carroll. Sufficiently nerdy to be interesting without getting too detailed.
May 2, 2020: Lots of good 90s music nostalgia on this Incomparable episode
Apr 27, 2020: China Miéville’s Perdido Street Station is intensely creative and very entertaining 📚
Apr 22, 2020: A big thanks to Brie and Paul for the homemade masks!
Apr 15, 2020: I'm not analyzing COVID data, though I'm impressed with Ontario's open data I’m neither an epidemiologist nor a medical doctor. So, no one wants to see my amateur disease modelling. That said, I’ve complained in …
Apr 15, 2020: Apple’s Mobility Trends tool is intriguing. Curious to see that transit declines early, quickly, and the most. Makes sense, I suppose, given that …
Apr 12, 2020: What is Real by Adam Becker is a great book on the measurement problem in quantum physics. Becker writes very clearly about the actual physics of the …
Apr 10, 2020: Simple brew tea shortcut Since I’m mostly stuck inside these days, I find I’m drinking more tea than usual. So, as a modification of my brew coffee shortcut, …
Apr 8, 2020: A small change to my quarantine home office with large ergonomic impacts: I’ve added a Lamicall iPad stand. Much better and more flexible …
Apr 5, 2020: I hadn’t expected to see gas below $1/L ever again 🚗
Apr 4, 2020: Quarantine home gym weights 💪
Apr 4, 2020: A simple Shortcut for tracking workout time I’ve been tracking my time at work for a while now, with the help of Toggl and Timery. Now that I’m working from home, work and home life …
Mar 31, 2020: The face you make when you’re dealt 23 damage in one round
Mar 29, 2020: A good day for board games
Mar 29, 2020: I’ve found the Eno’s new album Mixing Colours really helpful while working from home under quarantine with the rest of my family. 🎧
Mar 27, 2020: I enjoyed Star Trek Picard. A fun mix of nostalgia, new characters, and interesting story. Plus Patrick Stewart really is a great actor. I’m glad they …
Mar 26, 2020: 2 kg of coffee should keep me going in quarantine for a while ☕️
Mar 26, 2020: A sentence I never expected to write: A big thank you to my sister for delivering much needed toilet paper while I was in quarantine. A messy …
Mar 25, 2020: A hopeful sight in the backyard
Mar 25, 2020: A big thank you to One Academy for live-streaming exercise classes. Definitely helping my mental health, as I continue to be quarantined in a small …
Mar 23, 2020: Our hastily constructed office in the rental house is working out okay. Mine is on the left. Fortunately I can perform almost all of my work with an …
Mar 19, 2020: My new coworker is demanding more walking meetings
Mar 18, 2020: Can’t seem to get rid of these phantom email messages in iPadOS
Mar 11, 2020: Counterpart is one of my favourite TV shows over the past few years. So, great that The Incomprable podcast did an episode on the two seasons 📺
Mar 11, 2020: Vacation has begun!
Mar 2, 2020: Early signs of spring
Feb 29, 2020: Chilly, but fun ⛷ 🥶
Feb 23, 2020: Moses Boyd’s Dark Matter has a great, diverse sound. Well worth a listen 🎶
Feb 23, 2020: Figured out how to turn on the fireplace at the rental and Lucy has a new favourite spot
Feb 19, 2020: She Has Her Mother’s Laugh by Carl Zimmer is a thorough, detailed, and fascinating book about heredity. I appreciated that Zimmer expanded heredity …
Feb 16, 2020: I’ve found mind maps really helpful recently and, so, enjoyed the Sweet Setup’s Mastering Mind Maps course. The course includes some helpful workflow …
Feb 12, 2020: Happy Darwin Day! I hope your day evolves in a way that optimizes your fitness 🐠🐢🦍😎🤖
Feb 12, 2020: A school strike is a great excuse to play video games with friends
Feb 8, 2020: A great sunny day for skiing
Feb 5, 2020: As a lapsed academic scientist, I really appreciate the courage that Laskowski shows here in both retracting several papers and explaining what went …
Feb 4, 2020: A nice perk of the rental house is the much larger backyard. Certainly good for the dog.
Feb 3, 2020: We’re moving out for a big renovation. So, let the kids draw on the wall and smash it with a hammer.
Feb 2, 2020: Entering the chaos phase of moving
Feb 1, 2020: Busy feet
Jan 31, 2020: The release of the very good Fantastical is another opportunity to reflect on App Store pricing. I simultaneously support app developers asking for …
Jan 30, 2020: I’ve enjoyed the new The Joy of X podcast from Quanta Magazine with an episode on black holes and one on pure math. The focus is more on the …
Jan 29, 2020: Anyone else having trouble with the Siri watch face on WatchOS 6? It used to be pretty good at surfacing useful items. Now all I get are Breathe, …
Jan 28, 2020: I enjoyed reading this article on solitude in the woods and can particularly relate to: this anxiety, which amounts to a sort of cost-benefit …
Jan 27, 2020: Interrupting the usual feed content with a work announcement to say that I’m hiring. Anyone interested in cultivating a culture of evidence for …
Jan 26, 2020: Although difficult to choose, Death’s End by Cixin Liu is the best book of the trilogy. Incredibly imaginative and immense in scope with a hopeful …
Jan 25, 2020: Some heavy snow flakes today
Jan 24, 2020: There was a raccoon in our office ceiling making all sorts of noise and commotion. As soon as the peanut butter trap was setup, the raccoon vanished. …
Jan 23, 2020: I upgraded from an iPhone 7 to 11. Now I’m back to having the best phone in the house, which is how it should be. I felt strange (jealous?) when my …
Jan 22, 2020: An interesting article on neurons being more complicated processors than originally thought: Neural Dendrites Reveal Their Computational Power - …
Jan 21, 2020: After 13 years in our house, we’re starting a big renovation that requires moving out. I’m amazed (though shouldn’t be) at how …
Jan 20, 2020: A good historical perspective on the Hubble constant: How they pinned a single, momentous number on the Universe
Jan 19, 2020: A good article on the importance of concentration: Playing chess is an essential life lesson in concentration
Jan 18, 2020: There are smiles under those scarves ⛷ ❄️
Jan 17, 2020: Our records management team is holding a “clean desk” contest to promote good practice. Here’s my before image: And, thanks to …
Jan 16, 2020: Brew coffee shortcut Shorcuts in iOS is a great tool. Automating tasks significantly boosts productivity and some really impressive shortcuts have been created. That said, …
Jan 15, 2020: With the hope that some public accountability will help, I’m declaring a 30-day ban on my use of the following sentence phrasing: Something, …
Jan 14, 2020: I’ve listened to more Rush in the past few days than in the last several years. I regret neglecting their music and am glad to have them back
Jan 13, 2020: This Micro Monday I’d like to suggest @Dominikhoecht for a good mix of interesting photos, parenting observations, and geekery.
Jan 12, 2020: Something Deeply Hidden by Sean Carroll is the best kind of non-fiction: engagingly written, sophisticated enough to take the audience seriously, and …
Jan 11, 2020: I find it amusing that the Universe Splitter app is categorized as entertainment: it splits the entire universe with the tap of a button! Should at …
Jan 10, 2020: Farewell to Neil Peart. His music has been part of my life from the start. 🥁😢
Jan 10, 2020: Things cost more than they used to I’m delivering a seminar on estimating capital costs for large transit projects soon. One of the main concepts that seems to confuse people is …
Jan 9, 2020: This Strong Songs episode on Stairway to Heaven is a fun listen and insightful analysis of a classic song 🎙
Jan 8, 2020: I finished Season 3 of The Leftovers, a fascinating exploration of loss, love, and family. Well worth watching if you like mysterious plots and …
Jan 7, 2020: I really enjoyed this Mindscape podcast episode with Dan Dennett 🎙
Jan 6, 2020: The snow wasn’t great, but still nice to get out for a ski this weekend.
Dec 28, 2019: Bob Boilen’s Top 20 Albums For 2019 is a good list
Dec 27, 2019: Where to start? 📚
Dec 26, 2019: We take Boxing Day seriously here as a day of relaxation. So, I’m disappointed to have exceeded my 0 minutes target. The spike around 2 was when …
Dec 25, 2019: The Labo VR kit is great fun to build and play
Dec 23, 2019: I’m most certainly in the target demographic, so perhaps not surprising that I enjoyed For All Mankind. I like these sorts of alternative …
Dec 23, 2019: The Stiehl Assassin by Terry Brooks is okay. Given this is the last series he plans to write, I’m curious to see where he takes the fourth book. …
Dec 22, 2019: Great fun with my siblings last night on our annual Christmas dinner adventure. Storm Crow Manor was very entertaining with nerd-themed drinks.
Dec 15, 2019: I declared podcasts bankruptcy and recovered with a better curated subscription list 🎧👍
Dec 15, 2019: Declaring podcasts bankruptcy Podcasts are great. I really enjoy being able to pick and choose interesting conversations from such a broad swath of topics. Somewhere along the way …
Dec 12, 2019: A mind bending discussion on the Making Sense podcast: what we perceive as reality is only a “user interface wrapper” that natural …
Dec 3, 2019: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an imaginative literary romance novel wrapped in a time travel espionage …
Dec 2, 2019: Gamer
Nov 25, 2019: I’ve just bumped up my monthly support of CANADALAND to the next tier. Plenty of great content that I’m happy to pay for.
Nov 24, 2019: Great fun at the Axe Pancreatic Cancer fundraiser last night! Thanks to everyone that joined us to raise money to support two promising clinical …
Nov 20, 2019: A cool visualization and exploration of the network of scientific papers
Nov 9, 2019: As a daily AeroPress user, I enjoyed watching this documentary on its origin and culture
Nov 8, 2019: I finally got my flu shot and hope you did too 😷🦠
Nov 5, 2019: A great conversation between Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins on the Making Sense podcast. Nice to hear Dawkins talking about evolution again.
Oct 28, 2019: Several catchy songs on Joseph Arthur’s new album Come Back World
Oct 27, 2019: Recursion by Blake Crouch is an entertaining time-travel, multiverse story. Distinct from his previous Dark Matter novel, but with the right kinds of …
Oct 21, 2019: With an agent based model you can explore interesting scenarios. Our latest post models the 🇨🇦 election with another Liberal scandal, new …
Oct 19, 2019: At my son’s soccer game, but I’m not that familiar with the game. Anyone know what position he’s playing in this picture?
Oct 18, 2019: Axe Pancreatic Cancer is back! Join us to throw axes, drink beer and wine, and raise money for pancreatic cancer research. Early bird tickets are sold …
Oct 17, 2019: We’ve been using our agent-based model to analyze the upcoming Federal election here in Canada. Now that we’ve generated our predictions, we’re going …
Oct 17, 2019: My “Best Dad” mug has been recalled. Apparently it may break when filled with hot liquid, which is exactly its function. Hopefully this …
Oct 15, 2019: Task management with MindNode and Agenda For several years now, I’ve been a very happy Things user for all of my task management. However, recent reflections on the nature of my work …
Oct 14, 2019: Stranger Things season 3 is fun with 80s nostalgia and familiar characters. Not as delightfully creepy as season 1 though.
Oct 13, 2019: Nick Cave’s song Hollywood is quite potent, particularly given the recent death of his teenage son 😢🎧
Oct 12, 2019: RStats on iPad Among the many good new features in iPadOS, “Desktop Safari” has proven to be surprisingly helpful for my analytical workflows. RStudio Cloud is a …
Oct 12, 2019: Thanks to Run the Jewels 3 for providing a much-needed boost on today’s run 🏃♂️
Oct 12, 2019: Fall has arrived
Oct 11, 2019: Thanksgiving weekend begins with the traditional excessively long and slow drive on the 401
Oct 10, 2019: With Category Theory, Mathematics Escapes From Equality - Quanta Magazine Ultimately, you will build an infinite tower of equivalences between …
Oct 10, 2019: Thanks to a recommendation from @verybadwizards I read and very much enjoyed Ted Chiang’s short story “Anxiety is the Dizziness of …
Oct 8, 2019: After 20 years and four cars, the Darwin Fish on the back of our car has disappeared. Hopefully it wasn’t ripped off by a zealot! Replacements …
Oct 7, 2019: An unexpected and welcome surprise in the latest Byword update #rstats
Oct 5, 2019: I enjoyed The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu. Very inventive, though definitely some grim parts, as you might expect for the second book in a trilogy. The …
Oct 4, 2019: As Canada’s federal election campaign gets increasingly ridiculous, I’d like the political parties to know that I’ll vote for …
Sep 25, 2019: Two great Mindscape episodes in a row about climate change overcast.fm/+S_7kXRI8…
Sep 24, 2019: I enjoyed Borderline by Mishell Baker. A good mix of fantasy and realism with compelling characters 📚
Sep 23, 2019: All Armed on Nils Frahms’ Encores 3 EP revived my (barely) dormant obsession with his music. His work rewards focused and patient listening. Hard to …
Sep 21, 2019: Our family data plan was close to the limit, so I called Rogers to temporarily add some data. They ended up offering unlimited data for $15 less per …
Sep 21, 2019: The past, present and future of climate change from The Economist is a good overview of GHG emissions and what we should do about them. Some excellent …
Sep 16, 2019: One of my great hopes for Apple Arcade is that it will end the seemingly endless requests from my children to buy virtual gems
Sep 15, 2019: The Untold Story of NotPetya, the Most Devastating Cyberattack in History is well worth a read. Really puts the dangers of cyber attacks in context.
Sep 11, 2019: Of Monsters and Men put on a great show in Toronto.
Sep 9, 2019: I declined an offer to provide a lecture on Transport Economics. I’m dissapointed, since I’ve enjoyed these opportunities before. However, …
Sep 7, 2019: Grandma’s 95th Birthday. Her vitality is inspiring.
Sep 3, 2019: I really enjoyed this Strong Song episode on one of my favourite songs: Paranoid Android 🎵
Sep 3, 2019: Grades 9 and 6
Sep 2, 2019: The Fall by Neal Stephenson is well worth a read. The concepts about consciousness, computer simulations, and death were fascinating, along with the …
Aug 31, 2019: Owen conquered his first #spartantoronto race
Aug 31, 2019: Very fun and very muddy #spartantoronto race
Aug 27, 2019: We often think of fungi or other microbes as not particularly intelligent. This study goes to show that across these networks, one of the reasons they …
Aug 22, 2019: My vacation transition in Screen Time: Reading on the dock Thursday and Friday Starting to pack on Saturday and traveling on Sunday Then Monday …
Aug 13, 2019: Go Karts!
Aug 9, 2019: Waiting for the thunderstorms to pass ⛈
Aug 8, 2019: Admittedly I didn’t have high expectations, but the First Formic War series from Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston is pretty good. Not as …
Aug 7, 2019: Paddle boat for three
Aug 4, 2019: Another great @highlandyardrace, in support of Places for People. An extra thanks to @boshkungbrewing for the refreshing, post-race beer
Aug 1, 2019: Chips in the paddle boat
Aug 1, 2019: Lucy the lifeguard
Aug 1, 2019: Kids have settled into cottage life
Aug 1, 2019: Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston is a promising start to the prequels for Ender’s Game. Some similarities with the Expanse series, …
Jul 30, 2019: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is fascinating and concerning. I knew sleep was important, but not that it is so essential to health, memory, and …
Jul 26, 2019: Conscious by Annaka Harris is a fascinating overview of the science of this mysterious process. Her description of panpsychism was particularly …
Jul 25, 2019: The Good Place is a fun, clever show, once you get past the first few episodes 📺
Jul 21, 2019: The Bayern Agenda by Dan Moren is a fun sci-fi espionage story. Well worth a read 📚
Jul 15, 2019: The Red Rising sci-fi trilogy is solid, page-turning entertainment. Nothing high-concept and sometimes that’s all you want 📚
Jul 14, 2019: Visitors Day at Kilcoo
Jun 28, 2019: Off to camp for a month!
Jun 26, 2019: High school is next!
Jun 22, 2019: Fun visit with Great Grandma
Jun 19, 2019: This CBC story is disheartening: while nearly two-thirds of Canadians see fighting climate change as a top priority, half of those surveyed would not …
Jun 19, 2019: Better Oblivion Community Center is a good listen 🎵
Jun 17, 2019: Fun mayhem downtown today for the Raptors parade. This was as close as I could get. 🏀🦖
Jun 16, 2019: Lucy is ready for @rrrroutley to drop his rib
Jun 15, 2019: Great fun at the #spartantoronto race
Jun 11, 2019: Switching to summer weather mode ☀️
Jun 10, 2019: If you’re at all interested in mindfulness, I recommend checking out the Waking Up app. The guided meditations and lessons are very helpful.
Jun 9, 2019: My iPhone Home Screen My goal for the home screen is to stay focused on action by making it easy to quickly capture my intentions and to minimize distractions. With …
Jun 8, 2019: Consolidating my internet content Like many of us, my online presence had become scattered across many sites: Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and a close-to-defunct personal …
Jun 8, 2019: An entertaining David Gray show, as always
Jun 3, 2019: Some great images of maps from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century in First You Make the Maps
Jun 3, 2019: Second place finish in the relay. Next up: City finals! 🏃♂️🏆
May 27, 2019: Happy 11th Birthday Owen!
May 23, 2019: Chernobyl on HBO is well worth checking out. Once you’re hooked, the associated podcast is a great companion
May 21, 2019: Happy birthday Emma!
May 16, 2019: Going Critical is a great overview of diffusion in networks
May 11, 2019: Happy birthday to Kelly! 🎉
May 11, 2019: This conversation with Stuart Russell on the After On podcast is a fascinating discussion of important topics in AI 🎙
May 11, 2019: Emma and her puppy
May 5, 2019: I found The Strange Order of Things by Antonio Damasio surprisingly difficult to read. This Mindscape episode was a much more accessible introduction …
May 5, 2019: The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene is a fascinating and clearly written tour of the many multiverse theories. Really mind bending stuff 📚
May 4, 2019: Morbid Stuff by PUP is oddly cheerful, nihilistic punk rock itunes.apple.com/ca/album/…
Apr 27, 2019: Seems like an unnecessarily precise monthly fee
Apr 24, 2019: A great discussion about Incredibles 2 on The Incomparable podcast. I agree with the overall assessment that it had many great moments, but …
Apr 14, 2019: The mystery of computation, as something our brains do, is well described in this Aeon Essay
Apr 3, 2019: Backups I’m very keen on backups. So many important things are digital now and, as a result, ephemeral. Fortunately you can duplicate digital assets, …
Apr 2, 2019: Wonderfully rich detail in the 5 podcast series from Brady Heywood on Apollo 13 🎙
Apr 1, 2019: The Travellers finale is a very satisfying ending to a great TV series 📺
Mar 30, 2019: There are useful lessons in this discussion of statistical significance for any evidence-informed process. There’s no magic number, uncertainty …
Mar 28, 2019: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is a great book with an intriguing main character, compelling plot, and fascinating world building 📚
Mar 28, 2019: Interested in transportation demand modelling and geospatial analysis? I’m looking for a Manager, Modelling & Geomatics to lead a team of …
Mar 24, 2019: Garry Kasparov: The 8-year-old chess champion’s story is quintessentially American Talent is universal, but opportunity is not, and talent …
Mar 16, 2019: This is a great example of using the tidyverse for graph analysis #rstats
Mar 16, 2019: A good reminder to choose your models carefully when trying to prove something
Mar 16, 2019: An interesting article about changes in our perspective on Neanderthals. They are no longer primitive brutes
Mar 16, 2019: Cool research showing that embryos use an optimal Bayesian decoder to coordinate development
Mar 14, 2019: A timely article on how Pi led to infinity and calculus
Mar 10, 2019: Although I’m late to reading Michael Lewis' The Long Short, it’s hard to believe it is non-fiction. The story of the sub-prime mortgage …
Mar 10, 2019: Thanks to @t_rig for the great goodr sunglasses
Mar 10, 2019: Emma’s hair has gone curly
Mar 8, 2019: Great to be back at the Royalton! 🏖
Mar 7, 2019: This was a really good episode of the Mindscape podcast all about the multi-worlds theory of quantum physics
Mar 7, 2019: Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking is a fun book. Clear and concise answers to some important questions, written with …
Mar 2, 2019: Lots of fresh snow today
Feb 24, 2019: Although I’m disappointed the Counterpart wasn’t renewed for a third season, the second season ended really well. Definitely one of my …
Feb 20, 2019: Finished reading: Wool by Hugh Howey 📚
Feb 17, 2019: I’ve been intrigued by Stoicism for a while now and How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci is a great introduction to the ideas and practices of the …
Feb 16, 2019: I find these attempts to generate quantum theory from simple postulates fascinating, even though I barely understand them
Feb 14, 2019: School ski trip 🎿
Feb 13, 2019: I committed to a 🚴 challenge before checking my results to see if it was reasonable. So, had to conduct some excessive #rstats to see if I was in …
Feb 12, 2019: Commiting to a Fitness Challenge and Then Figuring Out if it is Achievable My favourite spin studio has put on a fitness challenge for 2019. It has many components, one of which is improving your performance by 3% over six …
Feb 8, 2019: After just two episodes, I’m definitely enjoying season 2 of Star Trek Discovery more than season 1. There were good parts of season 1, but …
Jan 29, 2019: After four great ski days, we rested our legs in the hot springs today
Jan 27, 2019: Another great ski day
Jan 27, 2019: The Nugget Squad
Jan 26, 2019: Another glorious day
Jan 25, 2019: A great first day on the mountain!
Jan 19, 2019: Warming up ⛷
Jan 19, 2019: -20 degrees, but there are smiles under the scarves ⛷
Jan 17, 2019: I’m keen to adopt an iPad first approach. This MacStories article is a good primer and motivator www.macstories.net/stories/t…
Jan 11, 2019: The long nightmare of the 24-hour internet outage is over…
Jan 8, 2019: For awhile now I’ve been meaning to get serious about automation on iOS. The Siri Shortcuts Field Guide from @macsparky is a great, …
Jan 7, 2019: Ed Harcourt’s album Beyond the End has been great headphone music for at work 🎶 itunes.apple.com/ca/album/…
Jan 5, 2019: Fun to be back ⛷
Dec 28, 2018: #CozyLife
Dec 27, 2018: Another Christmas dinner
Dec 27, 2018: Good advice from a philosopher on how to disagree constructively: Many of my best friends think that some of my deeply held beliefs about important …
Dec 26, 2018: The Barchef project is delicious
Dec 25, 2018: Out for a Christmas stroll
Dec 25, 2018: The Kano computer is a great product. Fun and easy to build with lots of good built in software.
Dec 24, 2018: Merry Christmas
Dec 24, 2018: A quiet, snowy run today.
Dec 7, 2018: Preparing the tree
Dec 4, 2018: Here’s some “behind the scenes” geospatial analysis I used in a recent @PsephoAnalytics post. This was a good excuse to experiment …
Dec 4, 2018: Spatial analysis of votes in Toronto This is a “behind the scenes” elaboration of the geospatial analysis in our recent post on evaluating our predictions for the 2018 mayoral election in …
Nov 27, 2018: Our predictions for the recent election in Toronto held up well. We were within 6%, on average, with a slight bias towards overestimating …
Nov 14, 2018: Sean Carroll’s Mindscape podcast is one of my new favourites 🎙
Nov 12, 2018: Seems like something to strive for these days: it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence …
Nov 9, 2018: Interested in analytics and transit planning? I’m looking for an Analyst to help Metrolinx generate and communicate evidence for project …
Nov 6, 2018: 4th Axe Pancreatic Cancer fundraiser Thanks to generous support, the 4th Axe Pancreatic Cancer fundraiser was a great success. We raised over $32K this year and all funds support the …
Nov 3, 2018: Raising funds for pancreatic cancer research by throwing axes. Great fun!
Oct 27, 2018: Fascinating to think of creating cognitive scaffolding for elephants aeon.co/essays/if…
Oct 22, 2018: We’ve completely retooled our approach to predicting elections to use an agent-based model. Looking forward to comparing our predictions to the …
Oct 21, 2018: Found the exact spot we first met! Who knew it would lead to this
Oct 12, 2018: Cold medication
Oct 9, 2018: Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark is a fascinating book on an important topic. AI’s implications for society are profound and require significant debate. …
Oct 6, 2018: I appreciate innovation in beer, but this one went too far for me.
Sep 29, 2018: Great fun at the #fivepeaks Earth Run in the Rouge
Sep 23, 2018: Hiking Balsam Lake Provincial Park
Sep 22, 2018: Warming up at Balsam Lake Provincial Park
Sep 13, 2018: We had fun meeting the author Dav Pilkey and getting a signed copy of Dog Man. I really appreciated his patience with spending several hours talking …
Sep 8, 2018: Enjoying great sour beers at #sourpalooza
Sep 6, 2018: Ready for Pentatonix
Sep 5, 2018: Axe Pancreatic Cancer tickets are available now! This is a very fun event for a great cause. Early Bird tickets are selling quickly. So, if …
Sep 4, 2018: Ready for school
Sep 2, 2018: Fixing a hack finds a better solution In my Elections Ontario official results post, I had to use an ugly hack to match Electoral District names and numbers by extracting data from a drop …
Aug 1, 2018: Cousins
Jul 30, 2018: Vacation
Jun 22, 2018: Ready for Vance Joy
Jun 13, 2018: Ready for Imagine Dragons
May 12, 2018: Biking the Don Valley trail
May 4, 2018: Farewell Ron
Feb 15, 2018: Ski day
Jan 7, 2018: Good morning
Dec 25, 2017: Merry Christmas
Dec 9, 2017: Out at the theatre
Dec 9, 2017: Wood is stacked and ready for winter
Nov 19, 2017: Elections Ontario official results In preparing for some PsephoAnalytics work on the upcoming provincial election, I’ve been wrangling the Elections Ontario data. As provided, the data …
Nov 15, 2017: All lit up for #WorldPancreaticCancerDay a whole day in advance
Nov 5, 2017: Finance fixed their data and broke my case study The past few years, I’ve delivered an introduction to using R workshop that relied on manipulating Ministry of Finance demographic projections. …
Nov 1, 2017: Organizing
Oct 31, 2017: Sack of candy
Oct 31, 2017: Scarecrow and the ninja
Oct 8, 2017: Apple picking
Oct 2, 2017: A happy cross country runner
Oct 1, 2017: A workflow for leaving the office Sometimes it’s the small things, accumulated over many days, that make a difference. As a simple example, every day when I leave the office, I …
Sep 26, 2017: Another tribute to Labrador and Newfoundland dogs
Sep 25, 2017: Lovely day in St. John’s
Sep 25, 2017: Home of the Lab
Sep 17, 2017: Celebrating 17 years of marriage with @kroutley by snoozing in a hammock at @steannesspa
Sep 16, 2017: Gorgeous day for a pre-massage hike with @kroutley at @steannesspa
Aug 31, 2017: Charity donations by province This tweet about the charitable donations by Albertans showed up in my timeline and caused a ruckus. Albertans give the most to charity in Canada, 50% …
Aug 26, 2017: Fun at the Ex
Aug 5, 2017: Great fun at the cottage
Jul 30, 2017: Now Owen is hooked too
Jul 30, 2017: Now she’s reading on the lily pad. Relentless
Jul 30, 2017: Teaching the cousins how to play video games
Jul 30, 2017: Summer reading
Jul 25, 2017: Cool dude
Jul 25, 2017: Enjoying the cottage
Jul 20, 2017: Vacation officially started
Jul 15, 2017: Reunited!
Jul 1, 2017: `#canada150
Jun 30, 2017: Goodbye Emma!
Jun 30, 2017: The campers are ready!
Jun 28, 2017: Grade 6 graduation
Jun 22, 2017: When Metrolinx Planning goes to an offsite
Jun 21, 2017: TTC delay data and Friday the 13th The TTC releasing their Subway Delay Data was great news. I’m always happy to see more data released to the public. In this case, it also helps us …
Jun 11, 2017: Owen’s ninth birthday party
Jun 10, 2017: Sports car
May 28, 2017: Smells like spring
May 27, 2017: Got any food?
May 27, 2017: Owen’s birthday cake
May 27, 2017: Owen is 9!
May 22, 2017: Family bike ride
May 18, 2017: Back at the Old Mill. This time for a conference instead of a wedding.
May 15, 2017: New bikes
May 14, 2017: Boy and his dog
Apr 13, 2017: Forest walk
Apr 9, 2017: Coming out of hibernation
Feb 19, 2017: Happy kids
Feb 16, 2017: Lazy river
Feb 16, 2017: Nice start to the day
Feb 13, 2017: Ready to relax
Feb 11, 2017: Skiing with Grandad
Feb 9, 2017: A boy and his dog
Nov 6, 2016: Successful AxePC 2016 event Thank you to all the participants, donors, and volunteers for making the third Axe Pancreatic Cancer event such a great success! Together we’re …
Oct 17, 2016: Axe PC 2016 We’re hosting our third-annual Axe Pancreatic Cancer event. Help us kick off Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month by drinking beer and throwing …
Jun 19, 2016: Sticky fingers
Jun 19, 2016: Ribs with a fork
Jun 19, 2016: Ribfest with @megccase
Aug 17, 2013: The Ex
Aug 9, 2013: Last campfire of the vacation
Jul 31, 2013: Woodsman
Jul 30, 2013: Wilderness
Jul 29, 2013: Peaceful spot
Apr 21, 2013: Kites are out
Apr 19, 2013: My new view.
Mar 2, 2013: Birthday breakfast in bed
Feb 10, 2013: Fun in the snow
Feb 8, 2013: The view from Frost
Jan 3, 2013: Scarf
Jan 3, 2013: Winter trek
Nov 18, 2012: Good view
Nov 18, 2012: On the streetcar, heading towards the Santa Claus Parade
Oct 7, 2012: Nice to see Calgary’s big sky again
Sep 2, 2012: Nice view
Sep 2, 2012: Riding elephants
Sep 1, 2012: Thanks @cocothebike and @rrrroutley the Woodford Reserve is great
Aug 23, 2012: Our final camp fire
Aug 23, 2012: Turtle? Riding
Aug 23, 2012: Whale riding
Aug 22, 2012: Canoe trip to get Popsicles, for lunch!
Aug 21, 2012: Weather is turning nasty
Aug 21, 2012: View from the bike trail
Aug 21, 2012: Summer chairlift
Aug 21, 2012: Top of the ski hill
Aug 18, 2012: LEGO hands
Aug 18, 2012: Cloudy day
Aug 17, 2012: Hiking with Emma
Aug 17, 2012: Sunny, but windy
Aug 16, 2012: Lounging on the dock
Aug 16, 2012: Canoe trip
Aug 15, 2012: Sunset
Aug 14, 2012: Catching Monarch caterpillars
Aug 12, 2012: Vacation
Aug 5, 2012: The groom is ready
Jul 29, 2012: Premises protected by childhood innocence
Jul 14, 2012: Mirror image
Jul 4, 2012: Owen’s Mini Avengers
Jun 19, 2012: Waiting for the dog walker
Jun 17, 2012: And now, Emma has princess stickers
Jun 16, 2012: Ribfest
Jun 16, 2012: Finally set up Owen’s Christmas present from Uncle Chris ( @rroutley ) and Aunt Melissa ( @cocothebike )
Jun 14, 2012: Thinking of story ideas
Jun 13, 2012: The Squinkie Show, complete with judges
May 26, 2012: Typewritter
May 26, 2012: Stonefields Heritage Farm
May 21, 2012: Happy birthday Emma
May 21, 2012: Fish
Apr 10, 2012: Emma’s Easter treats
Apr 9, 2012: Guarding the BBQ
Apr 8, 2012: Easter bunnies
Mar 31, 2012: Bowmore 12
Mar 31, 2012: Motorcycle
Mar 25, 2012: Outdoor gymnast
Mar 25, 2012: Spring intruder
Mar 23, 2012: Late-night guest
Mar 22, 2012: Exciting potential of a new notebook
Mar 21, 2012: Getting sleepy
Mar 21, 2012: PJ Socks
Mar 21, 2012: Bikers
Mar 13, 2012: This part of the commute always puts the daily stresses in context
Feb 12, 2012: Emma turned a slipper into a monkey mobile
Feb 5, 2012: Traffic jam
Feb 5, 2012: Building a metropolis
Feb 5, 2012: Keeping busy
Feb 4, 2012: Toronto sunset
Feb 4, 2012: Caitlynn’s birthday
Jan 8, 2012: Ready for the move
Dec 31, 2011: Sleeper
Dec 31, 2011: Watching Cars 2 on the MacBook
Dec 30, 2011: Burger and pint
Dec 30, 2011: Squirrel
Dec 30, 2011: Bird feeder
Dec 29, 2011: Kelly’s pear, Gorgonzola and arugula pizza
Dec 28, 2011: Reading
Dec 27, 2011: Mariposa Barbie
Dec 27, 2011: Finn McMissle
Dec 27, 2011: Waiting for breakfast
Dec 25, 2011: Carbs
Dec 25, 2011: Kelly’s first turkey
Dec 18, 2011: Emma passed Red Cross level 2 swimming
Dec 17, 2011: Christmas outfit
Dec 16, 2011: The office
Dec 14, 2011: Elf
Dec 10, 2011: Bottom of the tree is getting crowded
Dec 10, 2011: Teddy
Dec 10, 2011: Owen’s proud of his decorating
Dec 10, 2011: Decorating the tree
Dec 10, 2011: Decorating
Dec 10, 2011: Christmas tree is in the house
Dec 7, 2011: Policy Tools of Government
Dec 4, 2011: Toy eyes
Dec 4, 2011: Little toys
Dec 3, 2011: Brunch
Dec 1, 2011: Christmas pot luck
Dec 1, 2011: Santa and Emma
Dec 1, 2011: Santa and Owen
Dec 1, 2011: Walking to school
Nov 30, 2011: Snow
Nov 26, 2011: Auchentoshan
Nov 25, 2011: Good food
Nov 24, 2011: Good morning
Nov 12, 2011: Public storage
Nov 12, 2011: Packed
Nov 12, 2011: Storage
Nov 6, 2011: Watching Emma swim
Nov 5, 2011: Ice cream
Nov 5, 2011: Dinner is served
Oct 30, 2011: Pumpkin designed by Emma
Oct 29, 2011: Climbing the rope ladder
Oct 29, 2011: Sliding
Oct 29, 2011: Slide
Oct 29, 2011: Bring Owen to the playground and he wants to read his library book
Oct 29, 2011: Looking for books
Oct 25, 2011: Mumford and Sons have arrived
Oct 25, 2011: Setting up for Mumford and Sons
Oct 23, 2011: Ready for Halloween
Oct 23, 2011: Nice outside
Oct 23, 2011: Pooh bear
Oct 23, 2011: Blocks
Oct 22, 2011: Caitlynn and Elmo
Oct 16, 2011: Go Andrew!
Oct 15, 2011: Ready for winter
Oct 10, 2011: Hammock
Oct 10, 2011: Sign says “No jumping from bridge”
Oct 10, 2011: Hugs
Oct 10, 2011: Juice
Oct 9, 2011: Thanksgiving party
Oct 8, 2011: Thanksgiving ice cream
Oct 8, 2011: Cleaning out the closet.
Oct 6, 2011: #VoteON
Oct 4, 2011: #ESRICanadaUC
Oct 2, 2011: Warmth
Oct 2, 2011: Henry
Sep 27, 2011: Emma’s library
Sep 27, 2011: Emma’s grade 1 desk
Sep 27, 2011: Fridge is broken. So, Licks for dinner.
Sep 25, 2011: Cupcakes
Sep 25, 2011: Bulldozer
Sep 25, 2011: Garlicfest
Sep 25, 2011: Kilns
Sep 25, 2011: Map of Toronto’s rivers
Sep 18, 2011: Owen’s busy night finally caught up with him.
Sep 18, 2011: Emma’s kicking the ball and Owen’s pushing the baby stroller
Sep 18, 2011: Playing ball
Sep 17, 2011: Found a forest
Sep 17, 2011: Lunch time
Sep 17, 2011: Gorillas
Sep 17, 2011: Cichlids are always a highlight
Sep 11, 2011: Princess shoes
Sep 11, 2011: Princesses
Sep 11, 2011: New sweater from Gram
Sep 10, 2011: Slide
Sep 10, 2011: Kite surfers
Sep 10, 2011: Windy and sunny
Sep 10, 2011: Out for breakfast
Sep 9, 2011: Well earned this week
Sep 9, 2011: Butterfly face paint
Sep 6, 2011: Ready for Grade 1
Sep 5, 2011: Waiting patiently for cookies
Sep 5, 2011: Kite flying
Sep 5, 2011: And, new shirt for Owen from Aunt Susie
Sep 5, 2011: Emma decided to change into matching tights
Sep 5, 2011: Thanks for the new dress Aunt Susie
Sep 4, 2011: Bath time
Sep 4, 2011: Cupcake
Sep 4, 2011: Happy birthday to Aunt Susie
Sep 4, 2011: Cupcakes
Sep 4, 2011: Cleaning up after thirsty kids
Sep 4, 2011: Ready to pounce
Sep 4, 2011: Collecting snails
Sep 4, 2011: Playing in the backyard
Sep 3, 2011: Finishing off the ice cream
Aug 31, 2011: Waiting for a treat
Aug 30, 2011: Curls
Aug 29, 2011: Busy night
Aug 27, 2011: Swing
Aug 27, 2011: Motorcycle
Aug 27, 2011: Splash Pad
Aug 21, 2011: Storm is clearing
Aug 19, 2011: Chicken fingers
Aug 19, 2011: Pasta
Aug 19, 2011: Hotels are fun
Aug 17, 2011: Back of the streetcar
Aug 16, 2011: Commuter
Aug 14, 2011: Reunited with our puppy
Aug 14, 2011: Water levels are down about four feet. Boathouses are up on dry land.
Aug 13, 2011: Ice Cream
Aug 12, 2011: Canoe ride
Aug 12, 2011: Goggles
Aug 12, 2011: Sand castle
Aug 12, 2011: Testing the water
Aug 12, 2011: Lounging on the beach
Aug 12, 2011: Blue sky is back
Aug 10, 2011: Unsettled weather
Aug 10, 2011: Story time
Aug 9, 2011: Marshmallows
Aug 9, 2011: Storytime
Aug 9, 2011: Frog
Aug 9, 2011: Looking for fish
Aug 9, 2011: Sky is clearing
Aug 9, 2011: Hula hoop
Aug 9, 2011: KD Pasta
Aug 8, 2011: Lunch on the deck
Aug 8, 2011: Found a swing
Aug 8, 2011: They’ll be in the lake all week
Aug 7, 2011: Moon
Aug 7, 2011: Freezies
Aug 7, 2011: Ready for the cottage
Aug 6, 2011: Toy train
Aug 5, 2011: Zoo was fun
Aug 5, 2011: Water park
Aug 5, 2011: Cichlids
Jul 23, 2011: Refreshed
Jul 16, 2011: Pine Point
Jun 25, 2011: Tree climbing
Jun 25, 2011: More forklift
Jun 25, 2011: Fork lift
Jun 19, 2011: Concentrating
Jun 18, 2011: Corn
Jun 18, 2011: French fries
Jun 18, 2011: Ribfest
Jun 18, 2011: Lounging
Jun 12, 2011: Hoodie
Jun 12, 2011: Reunited
Jun 12, 2011: Tired Owen
Dec 19, 2010: Decorating the tree
Dec 19, 2010: When children decorate
Dec 19, 2010: In an online world, there are many more of us to watch them than there were of them to watch us. The technology was bound to work against those who …
Dec 18, 2010: After all, what could more certain (or cherished!) than your tough-minded, critical and enlightened self? Science, the cruel stranger - The Globe and …
Dec 16, 2010: Toronto’s latte classes may look down on you if you move to Guelph. But these days, even Guelph’s got latte. A tale of two Torontos - The Globe and …
Dec 11, 2010: It was time for some “blue collar” people to run city hall – says a millionaire putting the seals of office around the neck of another millionaire. …
Dec 6, 2010: Last, there should be appointed a Minister of Opportunity Costs, whose sole responsibility would be to remind his colleagues around the cabinet table …
Dec 2, 2010: Insist that a single percent of risk is 1 percent too much when it comes to terror and American lives, and then demand that those who feel otherwise …
Oct 31, 2010: Halloween 2010
Oct 27, 2010: Toronto’s newly elected mayor identified that anger and the anxiety. Rob Ford fed into it and preyed on it, telling voters in the simplest terms …
Oct 11, 2010: Southbrook Pumpkin Patch
Oct 7, 2010: Most Canadians are simply not disturbed by the questions they are asked on the mandatory long-form census. There is no groundswell of opposition. …
Aug 30, 2010: Todd Houston, Ironman
Aug 28, 2010: Smoothies
Aug 26, 2010: Lake Okanagan
Aug 26, 2010: Airplane
Jul 21, 2010: How in the world did we get to the point that filling out the long form census is just too much to ask? I frankly cannot remember if I, personally, …
Jul 21, 2010: I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the …
Jul 17, 2010: To turn statistical methodology into a political controversy, a government has to really screw up. But to make statisticians shriek and flap their …
Jul 15, 2010: Then we will see an economic life closer to our biological environment: smaller firms and no leverage - a world in which entrepreneurs, not bankers, …
Jul 15, 2010: MP Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister, says that the trial will be the first of a child soldier in modern history and that such a trial is …
Jul 10, 2010: So, no new tax; no money flowing back to government to spend; no vast new bureaucracy springing up to burden the taxpayer (Stewardship Ontario was, …
Jul 8, 2010: A staple of collective self-awareness, the census is our national mirror. Arbitrarily and without debate or justification, Conservatives are blurring …
Jul 4, 2010: Rice Krispies
Jul 1, 2010: “Keeping the Bees” on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks
Jun 30, 2010: So what we have is a federal government that keeps asserting assumptions that almost all experts think are wrong, that says its critics in the PBO are …
Jun 27, 2010: Haircuts
Jun 21, 2010: It became known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect — our incompetence masks our ability to recognize our incompetence. But just how prevalent is this …
Jun 8, 2010: Although centralized control of messaging has been a growing feature of federal governments – indeed, governments in many democracies – nothing in …
Jun 6, 2010: Bee swarm
Jun 3, 2010: Public service vs. Academics I recently participated in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto on the career transition from academic research to public service. I really …
Jun 2, 2010: Emma’s new Ariel doll
May 11, 2010: Snake Oil? The scientific evidence for health supplements www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snak…
May 10, 2010: Mother’s Day Brunch
Mar 19, 2010: The previous prime minister was called Mr. Dithers because Paul Martin could never make up his mind. Stephen Harper, it seems, can’t stop changing …
Mar 19, 2010: In other words, you are starting to matter. From prorogation and ten percenters, to anger over CIDA cuts and changes to the anthem, the grassroots …
Mar 9, 2010: via Bathroom breaks could wait during gold-medal match
Mar 8, 2010: Good Medicine Magazine – Health vs. Pork: Congress Debates the Farm Bill
Mar 8, 2010: Expressing a gold-medal performance in public-sector efficiency by the number 1, the economists scored all other competitor countries as percentages …
Mar 7, 2010: Funny Grandpa
Mar 7, 2010: Back to work
Mar 6, 2010: Early Spring Stroll
Mar 6, 2010: Our Healthy Princess
Feb 27, 2010: Meeting Baby Caitlynn
Feb 10, 2010: Science is not a cold body of facts, but an organized system of inquiry, discovery, evaluation and learning. Science not only welcomes the correction …
Feb 8, 2010: It is time, finally, to learn from our mistakes. While global leaders focused single-mindedly on cutting fossil fuel use by promising to cut carbon …
Feb 8, 2010: Welcome to the fun house, friends. The 21st century is going to be the most dangerous and the most complicated (and the most exciting and dynamic) …
Jan 31, 2010: Secretly, I suspect, we technologists quite liked the idea that Normals would be dependent on us for our technological shamanism. Those incantations …
Jan 29, 2010: In the New World, computers are task-centric. We are reading email, browsing the web, playing a game, but not all at once. Applications are sandboxed, …
Jan 26, 2010: A great episode of Quirks and Quarks with slime moulds that can build engineering networks and photosynthetic sea slugs. There’s a very funny line in …
Jan 24, 2010: But we should cut the creationists a little slack, because every new bit of evidence, every discovery, is a nightmare for them. Take the ark. The …
Jan 22, 2010: When the Illinois study looked at cases where engineers had taken the time to labor over sophisticated energy models, it found that 75 percent of …
Jan 21, 2010: From brutal brooding to retrofit-chic Our offices will be moving to this new space. I’m looking forward to actually working in a green building, in addition to developing green …
Jan 21, 2010: Owen Watching Cars gallery.me.com/mroutley A short video of Owen’s commentary while watching Pixar’s Cars movie. He’s really keen.
Jan 20, 2010: The danger in all this is not just a corruption of science but also an emasculation of politics. The key debates about climate change are political, …
Jan 20, 2010: When a party, like an individual, is guided by fear, then courage is banished, convictions are buried, and politicians will talk but not say much. Or, …
Jan 10, 2010: In the end, though, the rules do matter - it’s just that obeying them doesn’t. They need to be there to create a tension between conservatism and …
Jan 9, 2010: In Our Time - History of the Royal Society www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hi… A great series on the history and influence of the Royal Society.
Jan 9, 2010: To Bee or Not to Bee : The Nature of Things www.cbc.ca/documenta… An interesting discussion of bees with excellent footage. The documentary …
Jan 6, 2010: Christmas Excitement
Jan 4, 2010: Good candidates for elimination from political language http://tgam.ca/GA7 (via @globeandmail)
Jan 3, 2010: Top song of 2009 in the Routley household? Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas. Clearly the kids have too much control over the music. #fb
Dec 30, 2009: Canada deserves both a government willing to stand up and defend their decisions and a functioning parliament with mature debate.
Dec 29, 2009: Our current response to terrorism is a form of “magical thinking.” It relies on the idea that we can somehow make ourselves safer by protecting …
Dec 29, 2009: International human rights, it seems, are something the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stands ready to impose on others, but not on …
Dec 29, 2009: Irresponsibility might seem to moralists an unsatisfactory condition for an adult, but in practice it can be a huge relief. Being foreign: The others …
Dec 28, 2009: The case for building green has rarely been made more clearly. “It’s very simple,” explains Stuart Bowden, senior vice president of software company …
Dec 27, 2009: History has exploded from the least likely corners; spurious events unsettled our surest expectations. The 2010s will be volatile, unpredictable, …
Dec 16, 2009: Why do these people keep bugging us like this? Does the spirit of scientific scepticism really require that I remain forever open-minded to denialist …
Dec 5, 2009: Good overview of the consequences of the Climatic Research Unit emails for climate policy http://instapaper.com/zWfgti9R (via @globeandmail)
Dec 1, 2009: Back in the good old days when the bargain was firmly in place, it would have been highly inappropriate for a bureaucrat to do as Richard Colvin did …
Nov 26, 2009: Interesting discussion with philosophy professor Mark Rowlands. The first third on the differences between humans, dogs, and wolves, and the last …
Nov 25, 2009: Four good questions regarding Afghan detainees http://tgam.ca/EO4 (via @globeandmail)
Nov 24, 2009: Thank goodness for civil servants who breach the walls of government secrecy and obfuscation and speak out for principle, knowing they will be subject …
Nov 20, 2009: One teaspoon of honey, about 21 grams, contains 16 grams of sugar, or 60 calories. It takes 12 bees their entire foraging lives, combined flying time …
Nov 20, 2009: They’re playing lullaby versions of classic Led Zeppelin tunes at Owen’s daycare. Sound very strange, but intriguing. #fb
Nov 20, 2009: RT @rhh: And of course, now we know exactly why the Tories have been so frantically trying to muzzle Colvin http://bit.ly/J9XQW
Nov 19, 2009: RT @rhh: Tory’s torture defence: bafflegabble: http://bit.ly/jEg17
Nov 18, 2009: Mesmerizing visualization of the decline of empires http://bit.ly/258w38 (via @boingboing)
Nov 18, 2009: I swear the tens of thousands coming out of these (PhD) programs, they’ve got no street smarts whatsoever. They know lots of mathematical theorems – …
Nov 18, 2009: The Canadian TV industry isn’t naturally an economically viable ecosystem where each player can succeed on its own and still fulfill a cultural …
Nov 18, 2009: Canada has left its children with little protection for the first pandemic in 41 years. Is this what Canadians wanted from their heralded national …
Nov 18, 2009: Forget fevers and sniffles. For working parents across the country, the most stressful flu symptom this fall may be that tense breakfast-table …
Nov 17, 2009: To the extent that we have any infrastructure policy at all, it is badly disjointed, dysfunctional, often doing more harm than good as it serves the …
Nov 17, 2009: Inspiring story of Captain Trevor Greene http://bit.ly/4k15Ui (via @globeandmail)
Nov 16, 2009: Partisanship, the desire to do as much damage to the other guy as possible, the dramatically diminished focus on the public interest in favour of the …
Nov 12, 2009: Healthcare is responsible for 8% of all CO2 emissions in the US http://instapaper.com/zGkjkf8f
Nov 12, 2009: Good to see these detailed analyses of the Federal stimulus money http://tgam.ca/D5b (via @globeandmail)
Nov 12, 2009: The new guide to citizenship could be a very interesting read, even for Canadian citizens http://tgam.ca/D8O (via @globeandmail)
Nov 12, 2009: More commentary on road tolls for Toronto. This warrants serious discussion. http://tgam.ca/D5x (via @globeandmail)
Nov 11, 2009: Toll roads are inevitable and likely a good public benefit http://instapaper.com/zmfr7d8k
Nov 10, 2009: “Activism disguised as science” on the BPA ban http://tgam.ca/DYf (via @globeandmail)
Nov 10, 2009: Canada talks boldly about free trade but does nothing to achieve it http://tgam.ca/DYg (via @globeandmail)
Nov 9, 2009: Appreciating the sustainability theme here at the Toronto Forum for Global Cities
Nov 9, 2009: RT @aradwanski: Smitherman confirms in our interview that he’s leaving cabinet, running for mayor. http://tinyurl.com/ybsnuxn
Nov 4, 2009: We like to think that all great events have great causes, and obviously long-term political, economic and military forces shaped the Cold War – and …
Nov 4, 2009: This is precisely how the character of a country becomes fundamentally degraded when it becomes a state in permanent war. So continuous are the …
Nov 2, 2009: It rarely matters who is on your side; what matters is who is against you. Unlike Gloria Loring, you don’t need a friend and you don’t need a lover. …
Nov 1, 2009: Most Canadians probably fall into a middle group. They’re sensible people who don’t like being sick, care for each other and take reasonable …
Oct 31, 2009: Now, people waiting in queues will be questioned about why they are there - their likely response being that the health authorities have for months …
Oct 29, 2009: Looking back over human history, rationality has been the anomaly. Being rational takes work, education, and a sober determination to avoid making …
Oct 29, 2009: A vast majority of professionals are in “emergency scanning” mode. Their self-management consists of checking for and acting on the loudest …
Oct 26, 2009: Where’s the remotest place on Earth? - New Scientist: Fantastic image and an interesting research project.
Oct 25, 2009: 200 years ago, economists made a prediction, and we got it wrong. “Big deal” you might say. But it was a big deal; a much bigger deal than some …
Oct 23, 2009: While good design practices are valuable, the fact remains that every design decision we make is a guess. Designing the User Experience at Autodesk: …
Oct 22, 2009: Better Place envisages a convenient network of charging outlets and battery-swap stations that will be tied together with software that makes it …
Oct 16, 2009: The committee’s diagnosis was stark: the market, left to its own devices, is failing to deliver. Consumers are not buying energy-efficient appliances …
Oct 14, 2009: The Lost Prestige of Nuclear Physics www.thenewatlantis.com/publicati… For better or worse, the United States has come to depend on …
Oct 8, 2009: Denmark makes you green with envy - The Globe and Mail www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opin… We could learn a few things from the Danes.
Oct 7, 2009: What scientists face today is “almost disgraceful … The bureaucrats want to get a hold of the money and ask for business plans. Now do you think that …
Oct 7, 2009: Emacs Installation on Windows XP I spend a fair bit of time with a locked-down Windows XP machine. Fortunately, I’m able to install Emacs which provides capabilities that I find …
Sep 14, 2009: Is Canada broken? www.theglobeandmail.com/news/poli… “We are in a continuous election campaign with no discussion of issues,” observes Ned …
Sep 7, 2009: Emma is very happy with her new bike and is quite a fast rider.
Aug 13, 2009: On our ferry trip across to PEI, we caught the attention of the boat’s captain. He was kind enough to let us visit the bridge and take some …
Jul 31, 2009: Owen’s enjoying the trip.
Jul 27, 2009: Yelled at by the owner of the Inlet Cafe in Mahone Bay for some spilled Owen cheerios. Not family friendly, despite the high chairs and …
Jul 24, 2009: Out-of-office messages are set, let the vacation begin! Two weeks on a family road trip to the Canadian east coast.
Jul 24, 2009: But using federal dollars for infrastructure has two powerful political advantages. It gives taxpayers something tangible for their money. And it …
Jul 24, 2009: Earlier in the 20th century, governments treated public money with the same puritanical respect that people generally treated their own money in a …
Jul 22, 2009: Owen loves being outside (via Flickr)
Jul 21, 2009: Impressive. Japan commits to 20 kW solar panels on all of their 32,000 public schools by 2020 http://bit.ly/CBzsF
Jul 18, 2009: Just tried a Galt Knife Old Style beer from Grand River Brewing. Quite tasty.
Jul 18, 2009: Owen’s first (captured on film) steps: http://gallery.me.com/mroutley#100189
Jul 18, 2009: This is right http://bit.ly/XDNA3 I’ll vote for the party that proposes a credible plan to increase taxes and cut spending.
Jul 17, 2009: eHealth Ontario is controversial. But, having just copied my information dozens of times for routine paperwork, we need electronic records.
Jul 17, 2009: What makes these service stoppages all the more irritating is that they are unnecessary. Elected politicians can – if they have the nerve – remove the …
Jul 15, 2009: Wow, $10,800 per kilowatt of power capacity for nuclear http://is.gd/1zZU9 (via @timbray)
Jul 13, 2009: Interesting read on the health effects of wind turbines, with a comparison to coal and nuclear http://bit.ly/S51fv (via @globeandmail)
Jul 12, 2009: Family stroll around the neighbourhood. Quite nice outside, if somewhat chilly.
Jul 8, 2009: Property rights: the Nisga’a pave the way www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opin… Engaging in commercial activity doesn’t make someone …
Jul 6, 2009: Restarting Apple Mail fixes my Notes synchronization problem with the iPhone. Repeat every couple of days.
Jul 4, 2009: Replaced stolen electric mower with a manual reel mower. Requires a bit more effort, but works quite well and is much quieter.
Jul 1, 2009: Lounging by the kiddie pool after a walk through the park.
Jul 1, 2009: Registered for Toronto Hydro’s peaksaver program. My air conditioner is going to join the semi-smart grid and reduce peak load.
Jun 30, 2009: http://www.gigatonthrowdown.org/ identifies building efficiency as the lowest cost pathway to achieve 1-gigaton CO2e reduction by 2020.
Jun 27, 2009: Bizarre. Someone broke into our garage & stole the landmower, leaving behind more valuable things. Didn’t even take the electrical cord.
Jun 25, 2009: Discomfort of my recent capitulation to IT was greatly reduced by #GTD guide to Outlook 2003. Saved hours of fiddling. http://bit.ly/GyObv
Jun 24, 2009: Instapaper Pro 2.0 released! Excellent. This is one of my top three iPhone Apps and these look like important changes.
Jun 23, 2009: Looks like an interesting article on data mashups in R: http://bit.ly/IEyg9 Could be a good excuse to use R at work (via @timoreilly)
Jun 21, 2009: Canada LEED projects The CaGBC maintains a list of all the registered LEED projects in Canada. This is a great resource, but rather awkward for analyses. I’ve copied these …
Jun 12, 2009: Playing with a dump truck (via Flickr)
Jun 11, 2009: Perhaps my last academic paper? http://bit.ly/32P2B Two manuscripts and several datasets left, but no resources to do anything with them.
Jun 10, 2009: I’ve been curious about this abandoned bank on Yonge Street. Jonathan Castellino has some great pictures of the interior. (via …
Jun 3, 2009: I was given an opportunity to propose a measure to clarify how and on what basis the federal government allocates funds to STI - a measure that would …
Jun 3, 2009: Every day is ‘science day' I was given an opportunity to propose a measure to clarify how and on what basis the federal government allocates funds to STI - a measure that would …
May 28, 2009: The kids have a great time together, which is fantastic.
May 27, 2009: TheStar.com | World-beating bureaucrats www.thestar.com/comment/a… My research compared the achievements of Canadian public service and …
May 26, 2009: Math and the City judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/1… A good read on the mathematics of scaling in urban patterns. I had looked into using the Bettencourt paper …
May 22, 2009: Mama Earth Organics I’m certain that paying attention to where my food comes from is important. Food production influences my health, has environmental consequences, and …
May 20, 2009: When it comes to the Canadian economy, Obama may as well be PM www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s… An important discussion of how US energy …
May 19, 2009: Commercial air travel, like many other industries, is lubricated by cheap oil. Mr. Rubin, the former chief economist of CIBC World Markets, has now …
Mar 26, 2009: globeandmail.com: Natives, Bay Street form country’s biggest farm www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s… … in Saskatoon today, Bay …
Mar 19, 2009: Goodyear's Religious Beliefs vs. Evolution Our minister of science continues to argue that his unwillingness to endorse the theory of evolution is not relevant to science policy. As quoted by …
Mar 18, 2009: Old Growth Media And The Future Of News www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/2009/03/t… If only there were some institution that had a reputation for …
Mar 17, 2009: @globepolitics: Canada says it has legal obligation to prevent Abdelrazik from travelling: Other terrorism suspects have returne.. …
Mar 17, 2009: CBC.ca | The National | High-Minded Hypocrisy www.cbc.ca/national/… Rex Murphy is great at this. His main point is certainly right: we …
Mar 16, 2009: Another good shot of Owen (via Matthew Routley)
Mar 16, 2009: This picture always makes me smile. (via Matthew Routley)
Mar 16, 2009: These companies couldn’t succeed by doing, so how are they supposed to succeed by planning? globeandmail.com: America’s monumental failure of …
Mar 13, 2009: globeandmail.com: The latest outrage: Just say no www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s… But here’s a surprise for Stephen Harper. …
Mar 13, 2009: Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? Gene Weingarten Reports. …
Mar 11, 2009: Poor Ceiligh – she certainly is good natured.
Mar 11, 2009: A rare shot of Kelly with both kids. If only we could get Owen and Emma to look at the camera simultaneously.
Mar 5, 2009: Sure, science isn’t that exciting. It tends to offer up steady, incremental bits of knowledge rather than miraculous cures, and there remain a lot of …
Mar 4, 2009: Daring Fireball: Observations, Complaints, Quibbles, and Suggestions Regarding the Safari 4 Public Beta Released One Week Ago, Roughly in Order of …
Mar 3, 2009: My plea to all Internet commentators is to at least step up to a certain level of wit and discourse when you publicly disagree, and to challenge the …
Feb 27, 2009: If you’ve ever played ‘Chinese whispers’, what comes out the end is usually gibberish, and more or less when we speak to each other we’re playing this …
Feb 25, 2009: Death Sentences Review Death Sentences by Don Watson is a wonderful book – simultaneously funny, scary, and inspiring – that describes how “clichés, weasel words, and …
Feb 25, 2009: In finance, you can never reduce risk outright; you can only try to set up a market in which people who don’t want risk sell it to those who do. But …
Feb 23, 2009: Omnivore After seventeen years as a vegetarian, I recently switched back to an omnivore. My motivation for not eating meat was environmental, since, on …
Feb 18, 2009: The first rule of reading a federal budget is this: When a round number such as $1-billion appears, it means the government (a) picked the number from …
Feb 17, 2009: The best readers are obstinate. They possess a nearly inexhaustible persistence that drives them to read, regardless of the circumstances they find …
Feb 17, 2009: Physicists and mathematicians often stretch their imaginations by considering what the world would be like if some of their basic assumptions and …
Jan 31, 2009: So 2009 will be a squalid year, a planetary hostage situation surpassing any mere financial crisis, where the invisible hand of the market, a good …
Jan 30, 2009: The Arab states invest their oil fortunes in the craziest things, from the proposed Mile-High Tower in Jiddah to the indoor ski resort in dry-as-dust …
Jan 30, 2009: CBC Tapestry interview of Sam Harris. He explains the dangers or religion, especially religious moderates. He’s always worth listening to.
Jan 29, 2009: The only agency that regularly finances large-scale science in Canada was shut out of Tuesday’s federal budget, putting at risk thousands of jobs and …
Jan 24, 2009: Scientists across America are celebrating the passing of the Bush administration as the end of a dark age, a bleak stretch in which research budgets …
Jan 15, 2009: No one is suggesting Darwinism has all the answers to social questions. Indeed, with some, such as the role of hierarchies, it suggests there is no …
Jan 15, 2009: Ontario is taking its first baby steps to position itself for the coming revolution in electric cars by backing a California high-tech company that …
Jan 5, 2009: Instapaper Review Instapaper is an integral part of my web-reading routine. Typically, I have a few minutes early in the morning and scattered throughout the day for …
Dec 24, 2008: This country has an immense opportunity to reinvent itself with this budget and transform itself into a “green economy.” But if this metamorphosis is …
Nov 4, 2008: Yesterday I would have ranked country music as one of my least favourites. Now, thanks to CBC Radio 3, I’m a big fan.
Oct 15, 2008: Fantastic photos of the Sun, via The Big Picture
Oct 15, 2008: The Food Issue - An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief www.nytimes.com/2008/10/1… Michael Pollan describes the upcoming food crisis in an …
Oct 14, 2008: Election 2008 Like most Canadians, I’ll be at the polls today for the 2008 Federal Election. In the past several elections, I’ve cast my vote for the party with the …
Oct 13, 2008: But the Black-Scholes model is quite different. It uses a model of the future to describe the present. In the absence of this model, or some …
Oct 10, 2008: A Map of the Limits of Statistics In this article Nassim Nicholas Taleb applies his Black Swanidea to the current financial crisis and describes the strengths and weaknesses of …
Oct 5, 2008: Without God - The New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/… Steven Weinberg provides a great overview of the tension between science …
Oct 5, 2008: Globe and Mail: Incremental man A detailed and fascinating portrait of Stephen Harper. As the article points out: The core of any government reflects the personality of the prime …
Sep 19, 2008: A New Bank to Save Our Infrastructure - The New York Review of Books www.nybooks.com/articles/… A proposal to create a new institution to fund …
Sep 18, 2008: Dan Gardner . Harper economics www.canada.com/component… Dan Gardner interviews Harvard University economist Gregory Mankiw on climate change …
Sep 16, 2008: The cycles in economic fashion show how far economics is from being a science. One cannot think of any natural science in which orthodoxy swings …
Sep 8, 2008: kung fu grippe - Better www.kungfugrippe.com/post/4858… This is an excellent post by Merlin Mann and something I’ve been thinking about a …
Sep 6, 2008: Senate Report on “Emergency Preparedness in Canada” www.parl.gc.ca/39/2/parl… This report is well worth a read just for the direct …
Sep 5, 2008: globeandmail.com: Half-truths and zingers on the campaign trail www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s… I wonder about this too. Why do politicians …
Sep 5, 2008: The ’80s: Were They Really That Bad? : NPR Music www.npr.org/templates… NPR’s All Songs Considered provides an entertaining …
Sep 5, 2008: Even before the writ has dropped, the Tory campaign has made clear its intention to portray Mr. Harper as a minivan-driving hockey dad from the …
Aug 7, 2008: Is it really good for future generations - the alleged beneficiaries of this deluded parsimony - to pass down a clapped out wreck of a town in need of …
Aug 6, 2008: Only when significant numbers of people lived downtown, planners believed, could central cities regain their historic role as magnets for culture and …
Aug 6, 2008: Many hospitals put the drugs “on reserve,” but an apparent cure-all was too tempting for some physicians, and the tight stewardship slowly broke down. …
Aug 6, 2008: Ask a Kandahari what he wants from his government and you’ll get a familiar answer: not vast ideas but practical solutions to everyday problems …
Aug 6, 2008: Success in the sciences unquestionably takes a lot of hard work, sustained over many years. Students usually have to catch the science bug in grade …
Aug 6, 2008: globeandmail.com: We must green the market www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s…
Aug 5, 2008: On Language - Me, Myself and I - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com/2008/08/0…
Aug 2, 2008: Ontario is not Alberta, and the philosophy that provincial rights should be paramount has always had to compete with a powerful sense that Canada …
Aug 1, 2008: BBC NEWS | Magazine | No time to think? news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/maga…
Jul 29, 2008: Unfortunately, it’s all pure bunk. To get serious about energy policy, America needs to abandon, once and for all, the false promise of the hydrogen …
Jul 29, 2008: Bridges Still Crumble, a Year After the I-35 Disaster - The Lede - Breaking News - New York Times Blog thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/2…
Jul 29, 2008: The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear - NYTimes.com www.nytimes.com/2008/07/2…
Jul 28, 2008: The café operates on the honour system: Grab what you want, drop your money into an old streetcar fare box next to the doughnut counter and waltz out. …
Jul 27, 2008: At least since the invention of television, critics have warned that electronic media would destroy reading. What is different now, some literacy …
Jul 27, 2008: … the result will be an open culture of trust which gives scientists a real incentive to outsource problems, and contribute in areas where they have a …
Jul 27, 2008: Patrick Watson Reading up on the upcoming Polaris Music Prize reminded me of Patrick Watson, last year’s winner of the prize. His “Close to …
Jul 26, 2008: At one moment the patient experiences a painful phantom limb; at another he sees a mirror image of his intact hand and the pain disappears How the …
Jul 26, 2008: Toronto, in my opinion, is uniquely a city of neighbourhoods, and the most important person in my job is the neighbourhood cop. globeandmail.com: …
Jul 23, 2008: Stop the presses! Crime rates are falling A typically clear analysis from Jeffrey Simpson on the divergence between the actual rate of crime and the …
Jul 22, 2008: It is one of Canada’s pathetic ironies that the two provincial premiers least concerned about greenhouse gas emissions govern the provinces most at …
Jul 22, 2008: One might suppose that such a recurrent chain of blunders would gall a politically potent segment of the population. That it has evidently failed to …
Jul 21, 2008: Stoooopid …. why the Google generation isn’t as smart as it thinks Times Online I think this is a legitimate problem. How do we teach children …
Jul 21, 2008: globeandmail.com: New law puts green screen on government decisions www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s…
Jul 20, 2008: My new favourite photo of the kids
Jul 20, 2008: www.instapaper.com Fantastic tool for keeping track of content to read. Especially with the offline access from the Apple App Store application.
May 28, 2008: Kelly and I are very happy to announce the arrival of Owen Bruce Routley. He arrived Tuesday morning just after four weighing a solid 8lbs 8ozs. …
Jun 23, 2007: Stuck in the middle A recent press release from the federal government entitled “Making a Strong Canadian Economy Even Stronger” contains a sentence that …
Mar 30, 2007: Creationists and their old tricks TVO’s The Agenda had an interesting show on the debate between evolutionary biology and creationism. Jerry Coyne provided a great overview of …
Mar 21, 2007: Stikkit from the command line Note – This post has been updated from 2007-03-20 to describe new installation instructions. Overview I’ve integrated Stikkit into most of my workflow …
Mar 16, 2007: Yahoo Pipes and the Globe and Mail Most of my updates arrive through feeds to NetNewsWire. Since my main source of national news and analysis is the Globe and Mail, I’m quite happy that …
Mar 7, 2007: Stikkit Todos in GMail I find it useful to have a list of my unfinished tasks generally, but subtley, available. To this end, I’ve added my unfinished todos from Stikkit to …
Feb 19, 2007: DabbleDB My experiences helping people manage their data has repeatedly shown that databases are poorly understood. This is well illustrated by the rampant …
Jan 31, 2007: Stikkit-- Out with the mental clutter I like to believe that my brain is useful for analysis, synthesis, and creativity. Clearly it is not proficient at storing details like specific dates …
Jan 7, 2007: Mac vs. PC Remotes I grabbed this image while preparing a new Windows machine. This seems to be an interesting comparison of the difference in design approaches between …
Nov 30, 2006: Plantae's continued development Prior to general release, plantae is moving web hosts. This seems like a good time to point out that all of plantae’s code is hosted at Google Code. …
Nov 29, 2006: Text processing with Unix I recently helped someone process a text file with the help of Unix command line tools. The job would have been quite challenging otherwise, and I …
Nov 3, 2006: Images from the Hinode spacecraft Japan’s Hinode spacecraft has started taking pictures of the Sun. The detail of the shots is amazing and gives a sense of the Sun’s structure.
Nov 2, 2006: Edward Burtynsky documents our impacts on the landscape through extraordinary photographs. In this presentation at TED he describes his motivations …
Oct 31, 2006: Stern Review on the economics of climate change The Stern Review has been in the news recently for predicting that global warming could cost up to $7 trillion if not addressed soon. Of course, this …
Oct 8, 2006: Climate change and public relations This article in the Guardian explores the use of public relations firms by big oil companies to fight against the science of climate change. …
Sep 19, 2006: Principles of Technology Adoption Choosing appropriate software tools can be challenging. Here are the principles I employ when making the decision: Simple: This seems obvious, but …
Sep 19, 2006: TED-- Hans Rosling An excellent presentation regarding the use of country statistics. The visualizations are particularly effective.
Sep 11, 2006: Resumes & Spam Filters Since I’m looking for work, I found this post rather interesting. They’ve applied a spam filter to resumes to automatically filter through candidates. …
Jul 12, 2006: The Canary Project-- Global Warming Documented in Photos The Canary Project is an intriguing idea. They are documenting the effects of global warming through pictures. Since many people, apparently, don’t …
Jul 11, 2006: RSiteSearch I’m not sure how this escaped my notice until now, but `RSiteSearch` is a very useful command in R. Passing a string to this function loads up your …
Jul 11, 2006: R module for ConTeXt I generally write my documents in Sweave format. This approach allows me to embed the code for analyses directly in the report derived from the …
Jul 7, 2006: CBC Radio 3 The CBC Radio 3 podcast is an excellent source for independent, Canadian music. They have recently added a playlist feature that helps you search for …
Jul 6, 2006: expand.grid Here’s a simple trick for creating experimental designs in R: use the function expand.grid. A simple example is: treatments which produces: …
Jun 7, 2006: Burning your money Burning our money by Marc Jaccard is a useful overview of some policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, this article is …
May 24, 2006: Heart of the Matter CBC’s Ideas has been running a series of shows on heart disease called “Heart of the Matter”. Episode 2 is particularly interesting from a statistical …
May 23, 2006: Plantae resurrected Some technical issues coupled with my road-trip-without-a-laptop conspired to keep Plantae from working correctly. I’ve repaired the damage and …
May 22, 2006: Competitive Enterprise Institute The Competitive Enterprise Institute has put out some ads that would be quite funny if they weren’t so misleading. I imagine that most viewers can see …
May 16, 2006: Google Importer Google Importer is a useful Spotlight plugin that includes Google searches in Spotlight searches. This helps integrate your search into one interface, …
Apr 20, 2006: Google calendar Google Calendar has been featured in the news recently, and for good reason. Many of us have wanted access to a good online calendar program. One of …
Apr 14, 2006: An Inconvenient Truth This looks like an incredibly important film. I hope it breaks all of the box office records.
Apr 13, 2006: Analysis of Count Data When response variables are composed of counts, the standard statistical methods that rely on the normal distribution are no longer applicable. Count …
Apr 10, 2006: Getting Evolution Up to Speed There’s a common notion that our technology has slowed, or even stopped, human evolution. Evidently, this is not true as researchers have found many …
Apr 9, 2006: SSHRC and the theory of evolution This is quite a surprise, McGill University’s Brian Alters had his proposal to study the effects of intelligent design on Canadian education rejected …
Apr 7, 2006: Deschooling, Democratic Education, and Social Change Matt Hern provides an interesting podcast available from Canadian Voices. He considers the 150 year history of compulsory state education and asks …
Apr 4, 2006: Desktop Manager I’m convinced that no computer display is large enough. What we need are strategies to better manage our computer workspace and application windows. …
Mar 27, 2006: Managing project files As I accumulate projects (both new and completed), the maintenance and storage of the project files becomes increasingly important. There are two …
Mar 24, 2006: Sun grid Sun’s new Grid Compute Utility could be a great resource. As I described in an earlier post, running simulations can be a challenge with limited …
Mar 19, 2006: Automator, Transmit, and Backup The Strongspace weblog has a useful post about using Transmit and Automator to make backups. One challenge with this approach is backing up files …
Mar 15, 2006: Remote data analysis My six-year old laptop is incredibly slow, particularly when analysing data. Unfortunately, analysing data is my job, so this represents a problem. We …
Feb 24, 2006: Rails, sqlite3, and id=0 I’ve spent the last few days struggling with a problem with Plantae’s rails code. I was certain that code like this should work: class …
Jan 16, 2006: The Globe and Mail-- Constitutional reform How about a constitutional right to a healthy environment? The Constitution of Canada guarantees its people important rights, such as freedom of …
Jan 16, 2006: Taxonomy release Plantae now supports the addition and updating of species names and families. A rather important first step. Now onto adding character data to make …
Jan 15, 2006: plantae foundations I’ve made a variety of important changes to plantae’s foundations. For the curious they are: Converted the webserver from apache to LightTPD. LightTPD …
Jan 4, 2006: Plant breeding systems and pollen dispersal This book of about 600 pages is written to provide practitioners of pollination biology with a broadly based source of methodologies as well as the …
Jan 4, 2006: Sexual interference within flowers of Chamerion angustifolium Hermaphroditism is prevalent in plants but may allow interference between male function (pollen removal and dispersal) and female function (pollen …
Jan 4, 2006: Effect of population size on the mating system in a self-compatible, autogamous plant, Aquilegia canadensis (Ranunculaceae) In self-compatible plants, small populations may experience reduced outcrossing owing to decreased pollinator visitation and mate availability. We …
Jan 4, 2006: The effect of protandry on siring success in Chamerion angustifolium (Onagraceae) with different inflorescence sizes Protandry, a form of temporal separation of gender within hermaphroditic flowers, may reduce the magnitude of pollen lost to selfing (pollen …
Jan 4, 2006: Correlated evolution of dichogamy and self-incompatibility-- a phylogenetic perspective Historically, dichogamy (the temporal separation of gender in flowering plants) has been interpreted as a mechanism for avoiding inbreeding. However, …
Jan 4, 2006: The consequences of clone size for paternal and maternal success in domestic apple (Malus x domestica) Clonal growth in plants can increase pollen and ovule production per genet. However, paternal and maternal reproductive success may not increase …
Jan 4, 2006: Responses to selection on male-phase duration in Chamerion angustifolium Protandry (when male function precedes female) can enhance fitness by reducing selfing and increasing pollen export and outcrossed siring success. …
Jan 4, 2006: Beyond floricentrism -- the pollination function of inflorescences Mating by outcrossing plants depends on the frequency and quality of interaction between pollen vectors and individual flowers. However, the …
Jan 4, 2006: Pollen and ovule fates and reproductive performance by flowering plants Pollen and ovules experience diverse fates during pollination, pollen-tube growth, fertilization, and seed development, which govern the male and …
Dec 24, 2005: Idealized, Inaccurate but Successful-- A Pragmatic Approach to Evaluating Models Jay Odenbaugh provides an interesting article entitled: Idealized, Inaccurate but Successful: A Pragmatic Approach to Evaluating Models. He describes …
Dec 24, 2005: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Sierra Club Speech Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. gave a speech at the Sierra Club’s National Convention and Expo on September 10, 2005 in San Francisco. The transcript is …
Dec 7, 2005: Breakpoint regression In my investigations of ovule fates, I’ve needed to estimate regression parameters from discontinuous functions. A general term for such estimates is …
Dec 7, 2005: Evolutionary Theory Sean Rice’s Evolutionary Theory is an excellent journey through the mathematical foundations of evolutionary biology. The book covers a wide array of …
Dec 2, 2005: Managing Email I recently lost control of my email. The combination of mailing lists, alerts, table of content notifications, and actual email from friends and …
Oct 28, 2005: iTunes remote control The current setup at home is that I’ve added all of our music (several thousand songs) to our Mac Mini and then send it through AirTunes to the home …
Oct 23, 2005: Combining pdf files Recently, I needed to combine several pdf files into one. The The Tao of Mac has a discussion of how to do this and I’m posting the code I used here …
Oct 13, 2005: Evolutionary ecology diagram I have used this diagram of evolutionary ecology in a wide variety of contexts. In the hope that it may be useful to others, I have made it available …
Oct 10, 2005: Plantae In collaboration with Jana and Steve Vamosi, I have started a new project called Plantae. The goal of this project is to create a community website …
Sep 28, 2005: Intelligent design in the classroom Now that intelligent design is back in the Canadian news, we should consider (again!) the consequences of teaching intelligent design in the …
Aug 19, 2005: The Onion on Intelligent Falling theory The Onion on Intelligent Falling theory: “David Pescovitz: The Onion brilliantly parodies Intelligent Design believers: KANSAS CITY, KS—As the …
Aug 13, 2005: Inflorescence architecture Mating by outcrossing plants depends on the frequency and quality of interaction between pollen vectors and individual flowers. However, the …
Aug 13, 2005: Trade-offs between clonal & sexual reproduction Clonality is very common in flowering plants, but its consequences for sexual reproduction have rarely been explored. While clonal growth can increase …
Aug 13, 2005: Temporal separation of gender Dichogamy, the temporal separation of gender within a flower, is widespread throughout the angiosperms, occurring in over 250 families. There are two …
Aug 13, 2005: Population size The outcrossing rate is a fundamental attribute of plant populations that determines population genetic structure, individual plant fitness, and …
Jun 13, 2005: Vector assignment in R As I use R for data analysis and simulations, I become more comfortable and proficient with the R/S syntax and style of programming. One important …
Apr 14, 2005: Image uploads A particular challenge with maintaining a weblog is the uploading and resizing of images. The process involves choosing the correct images, creating …
Mar 14, 2005: Podcasting & the CBC The CBC has begun an experiment with podcasting. I’m impressed with the progressive approach to technology that the CBC has adopted and hope they …
Jan 29, 2005: Quirks & Quarks Quirks & Quarks is the CBC’s excellent science program. I usually download the mp3 archives of the show on the weekends and listen while I walk …
Jan 23, 2005: Astronomy pictures on the Desktop The “Astronomy Picture of the Day” is a source of fantastic images. To take advantage of this resource, I went looking for a way to automatically set …
Jan 1, 2005: Heritability of male-phase duration These data measured the genetic architecture of male-phase duration in Chamerion angustifolium. There are three files in the archive used to estimate …
Dec 11, 2004: Climate change and public relations A recent column in the Globe & Mail reminded me of our Federal Government’s plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: the One Tonne Challenge. This …
Nov 18, 2004: Google Scholar Yet another useful site from Google: Google Scholar. The site provides an interface for searching the scientific literature with typical Google ease. …
Nov 7, 2004: JSTOR import script I’ve written a script that imports a JSTOR citation page into BibDesk. To use the script, I suggest adding it to your script menu. Then, with the …
Oct 20, 2004: Ecology Retreat, University of Calgary Routley, M.B. Measuring the male gain curve. Ecology Retreat, University of Calgary Download
Sep 29, 2004: The Crusade Against Evolution An interesting read from Wired News – The Crusade Against Evolution. In addition, the Panda’s thumb has been following and carefully dissecting the …
Sep 12, 2004: Pollinator networks Plants are sessile and, consequently, many species rely on pollinators for mating opportunities. However, pollinators do not necessarily visit every …
Jun 3, 2004: Society for the Study of Evolution meetings 2004 Routley, M.B., L.D. Harder, & S.A. Richards. Ovule fates. Colorado State University Download SSE2004.pdf
Apr 14, 2004: Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology There’s a powerful approach to modelling called dynamic state variable programming, covered in Dynamic State Variable Models In Ecology by Clark & …
Apr 6, 2004: Journal abbreviations Until recently, I was able to use journal abbreviations in all of my manuscripts. Consequently, my .bib file contains only abbreviations in the …
Apr 4, 2004: Seed size I have been investigating issues of ovule and seed development recently. One question that has come up is: How much variation is there in seed size? I …
Apr 1, 2004: Confronting models with data The Ecological Detective by Ray Hilborn and Marc Mangel is an excellent source for learning how to analyse ecological data with sophistication. …
Jan 9, 2004: Character assignments in phylogenetic analyses In some recent research (http://public.me.com/mroutley/SIandDichogamy.pdf) I had to make inferences about families based on character states of the …
Nov 21, 2003: Reference management I have been working through my references and papers trying to regain some control over the literature. Being reintroduced to the tedium of reference …
Nov 19, 2003: Seed set of dichogamous plants Description: These data are the average seed set estimates for dichogamous and adichogamous Chamerion angustifolium at different inflorescence sizes. …
Nov 12, 2003: Ecology Division Seminar Series, University of Calgary Routley, M.B. The evolutionary significance of being one gender at a time. Ecology Division Seminar Series, University of Calgary Download …
Sep 4, 2003: Siring success of dichogamous plants Description: These data are the average siring-success estimates for dichogamous and adichogamous Chamerion angustifolium. Siring success is estimated …
Sep 4, 2003: Pollen deposition after single bee visits in the field Description: These data are pollen counts from stigmas after single bee visits in populations of Chamerion angustifolium from Montana. Pollen was …
Sep 3, 2003: Pollen removal after single bee visits in the field These data are pollen counts from anthers before and after single bee visits in populations of Chamerion angustifolium from Montana. Pollen was …
Jul 11, 2003: Floral Integration Unrelated to my “official” thesis work, I have been thinking about floral form and its influence on plant fitness. As an excuse to start a discussion …
Jun 3, 2003: Society for the Study of Evolution meetings 2003 Routley, M.B. & B.C. Husband. Responses to selection on protandry in Chamerion angustifolium (Onagraceae). Chico, California Download