Unsupervised Design

  • Raquel and I took in the Thunderbirds game this afternoon after I won free tickets. Half way through the game Raquel said “I think I like sports now!”

    One cool touch was that they had a drum circle before the US and Canadian anthems.

    The Thunderbirds turf and Jumbotron in the Scotiabank Center pregame.
    A drum circle at Center field performing the Mi’kmaq Honour Song before the US and Canadian National anthems
    Post game moment with the team gathered at center to celebrate the win
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  • Apparently it has been 10 years since “this is fine” was published. This meme has deeply embedded itself in my professional life and even taken up a spot on my shelf.

    Plush dog wearing a bowler and holding a mug from the “this is fine” comic sitting on my shelf.

    The original artist posted a great reflection on the impact of this phenomenon on them.

    And it feels like it’s only getting harder. The best I can ask for is for people to simply forget, but the dog persists. So I do what I can and try to keep in good humor and be thankful that I can still do what I do for a living.

    Reflection on a decade from the author
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  • I went looking for a keyboard and mouse combo with multi device support and immediately gave into nostalgia for my university days.

    Wireless black Thinkpad keyboard with little red mouse pointer nubbin sitting on a wooden desk. It is the Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint Keyboard II.
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  • Celebrating the last day of 2022 by taking in a family walk to the outdoor cafe the Bike and Bean to enjoy the very warm day

    A picnic table in front of the bike and bean cafe with the sun high in the sky
    Carrot weather forecast showing that it is 9 degrees Celsius (feels like 7) and a quip of “How many famous people can 2022 kill on its way out the door?”
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  • On Christmas Eve we had a little family outing to the rink and I got to take Gwen for a bit of a spin around in addition to playing some hockey with my cousin’s children.

    Gwen in a red snowsuit sitting in her stroller while I am pushing her around the ice surface of Kentville arena while wearing a hockey helmet and holding a hockey stick in my other hand.
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  • After 3 days of birthday parties, Christmas, and family visits the pups are pretty happy to have a quiet morning.

    Hugo curled up between my legs with Luna laying on top of him in my lap viewed from behind.
    Hugo curled up between my legs with Luna laying on top of him in my lap with a view of their faces.
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  • I am not usually one for “end of year replay” social stuff but getting my Steam replay was definitely satisfying.

    Summary of my Steam activity for 2022. 46 games played, 338 achievements, 558 sessions, 33 new games. Hades, LEGO Star Wars, Spiderman, Halo, and Tape to Tape were the top 5 games played.

  • Sitting in a dog pile in the sun and playing Hades

    Hugo laying on my legs with Luna laying on top of him and my left hand resting my Steam Deck playing Hades on top of both dogs.

  • Took in the solstice sunset with the pups.

    Hugo and Luna standing on the edge of flat water lake as the sun sets behind the clouds.
    Fediverse Reactions

  • It would seem that the FIA is bound and determined to not let FIFA out do them in the “monstrous multinational sport” competition.

    “No political statements” is a political statement.

    FIA bans drivers from making ‘political statements’ without permission

  • It was not as drastic as last time but I had my first haircut in almost 18 months this week. Couldn’t risk Gwen not recognizing me so has to keep it simple.

    Before shot with hair past my shoulders and covering the left side of my face.After shot where the longest hair in the back is neck length and the front is much shorter

  • Even without a rooting interest in either side this World Cup final has been thrilling. Really too bad it will be decided by penalties.

  • As far as Gwen is concerned this may as well be the Infinity Gauntlet with all of the Infinity Gems installed. The moment I fully assemble it she will stop whatever she is doing and come pull it apart and distribute the rings to all corners of the room to keep the house safe.

    Fisher price Rock-a-Stack assembled properly sitting on the play mat
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  • Last night I had the pleasure of seeing my partner perform with the Aeolian Singers in their Endless Spaces concert.

    If you’re HRM and interested in a show this afternoon they have one more performance at 2:30.

    More Info

    Program from the Aeolian Singers choral group concert “Endless Spaces: reaching for light, love, and spirit
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  • A Long and Strange Road 🐦

    I stopped posting to Twitter entirely a while ago and had been cross posting from my blog only for a few years before that. Mostly I was keeping my account for a mix of sentimental reasons and it being an authentication method to some hockey analytics stuff.

    At some point I set a reminder for today to go and grab a screenshot of the 15 year anniversary of joining Twitter. It seemed like forever for something on the internet and somehow important. The last week I kept thinking “will Twitter make it to Tuesday!?!

    Twitter notification saying that I joined 15 years ago and prompting me tweet about it
    We made it 🎉

  • I enabled activitypub support on my site years ago but beyond micro.blog interactions it was more novel than useful.

    Even if it’s short lived it has been fun to see people following me from several mastodon instances in the last week.

    Tire swing on fire.
    Twitter today

  • This summary of current events earned a legit laugh out loud.

  • The news that Kevin Conroy has passed hits hard. He will always be Batman to me and his work is very responsible for my love of comics and Batman.

  • I have no hard data on this but I feel like “Early Black Friday” is new this year. I have been seeing it advertised since before Halloween!!

    I think we should apply the “not before Remembrance Day” rule to all Black Friday sales. (Not to mention that Black Friday isn’t even a thing in Canada)

  • Finally completed my GameBoy Color modification to use a backlit IPS LCD and a clear case. I couldn’t bring myself to use my childhood GameBoy so I had to find one on eBay.

    Backlit GameBoy Color boot screen
    GameBoy Color with clear case playing Donkey Kong
    Pokémon Silver rival naming screen showing that I’ve named my rival “Grant”
    Playing Pokémon and as is tradition my rival is named after Grant