iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 01/10/2026

Good reading for the train - the new book from Tim Richards

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 30/09/2026

Instagram is a strange place sometimes.

Comments on Instagram post asking to share a post

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 30/09/2026

A #Melbourne transport terminology quirk: for 45 years the only underground railway was the City Loop, so some locals refer to the new Metro Tunnel as “the new loop” - even though it’s not a loop.

A train arriving at a metro tunnel station

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 27/09/2026

Le bus passe dans une heure ? Ce n'est pas bon.

Duo Lingo: translate this sentence: Oh no, the bus arrives in one hour!

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 23/09/2026

I’m fine with them trialling this. I’m less fine with them using American spelling for the word “trialling”. #SpellingPedant

City of Melbourne sign: We’re trialing valet parking

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 23/09/2026

May have miscalculated the shortness of this haircut! ✂️👨🏼‍🦲 (That’s me on the left)

Daniel with very short hair standing next to a sculpture of a man.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 22/09/2026

PTV planner has improved a lot, but still has quirks. You may want to play with the Settings, Max walking time. If it's shorter than it thinks it needs, it'll send you in weird directions trying to avoid a walk. I also notice it seems to want to guide you into the back of Cabrini, not the front?

PTV journey planner, walk from Malvern station to Cabrini Malvern

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 22/09/2026

Google Maps poor PT trip planning. Here it suggested I interchange from the 703 bus to the Sandringham line at Middle Brighton, even though North Brighton would save me 10+ minutes. One theory is it thinks we can't cross the street anywhere except a marked crossing, like in the USA. Yeah nah.

Google Maps showing trip with 703 bus connecting to Sandringham line at Middle Brighton. The lines also intersect at North Brighton.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 17/09/2026

Angry AI people in local newspapers! www.heraldsun.com.au... - Ping Angry People in Local Newspapers

AI image of Monash Aquatic and Recreation Centre, with headline "Feedback halted"

AI image of car parks and "cafe culture"

AI image of "Dustbowl chaos" construction with people in the foreground and a grandstand in the background

AI image of people worried about speeding cars, and a speed hump. Headline "Kids vs cars"

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 16/09/2026

I wonder how long ago Newman’s moved #Melbourne

Old sign on the side of a building: Newman’s have moved

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 16/09/2026

Central #Melbourne seems to be getting new pedal bins

Rubbish bins for recycling and general waste

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 06/09/2026

Sorry not the best ever video, but: dolphins in the Maribyrnong river this morning! #Melbourne 🐬

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 05/09/2026

High-rise at the end of the rainbow🌈🏙️

Rainbow shining on a tall building in the distance

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 04/09/2026

uh oh. Does this mean I'm a robot? 🤖

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 02/09/2026

A quirk for #Melbourne #Myki concession users: you may see a 1 cent fare occasionally. This is because the half-price discounted fare is currently $1.42 (eg rounded down), but the daily cap is $2.85. So if you travel on a third fare in one day, it'll cost 1 cent.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 29/08/2026

No need for the police to waste time on this; the commenters on Facebook have it solved: the bloke is innocent because he's old and white. Case closed.

Facebook post from Eyewatch, Maroondah Police Service Area: Police are investigating an incident on a Belgrave bound train on 15 August. Officers were told two 26-year-old Kensington men were verbally abused as the train travelled through Heatherdale Station about 9.15am. Police have released an image of a man who may be able to assist with their enquiries.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 26/08/2026

Auditor General report on the Suburban Rail Loop just dropped, and the stand out revelation is a secret levy on public transport fares, the cumulative effect of which would mean fares end up about 45% higher. www.audit.vic.gov.au...

Figure 27: Real (today's dollars) indicative daily full fare zone 1 and 2 over time based on an annual increase of 1 per cent for the rail improvement charge

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 25/08/2026

Someone was busy on the trams today #Melbourne

Numerous emails from Wikipedia advising of changes to pages related to Melbourne trams

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 24/08/2026

Is my concept the best most perfect scheme to use? No! Some cities use letters, some numbers, some names, some colours. What I really do hope is that govt is considering the options, because the current practice of using one-to-many terminus stations is far more confusing than it should be.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 24/08/2026

I know I'm not the only one who thinks #Melbourne train line names need simplification. Here's my blog from three years ago today, where I proposed letters (to avoid clashes with trams, and also to ease the transition from terminus suburb names) danielbowen.com/2023...

A Anzac; B Bayside; C Craigieburn; F Frankston; G Glen Waverley; H Hurstbridge; M Mernda; R Ringwood; S Special events; U Upfield

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 24/08/2026

Upgrade works at Brunswick depot mean dozens of trams are stabled in Royal Park, causing route 58 to close. I hope there's a good reason why they didn't store them at the near-empty new Maidstone Depot instead. #Melbourne #YarraTrams

Diagram showing tramway through Royal Park closed

Near-empty stabling at Maidstone tram depot

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 23/08/2026

It took 30 years to completely eliminate the 40 minute waits between #Melbourne suburban trains first imposed as part of budget cuts in 1978. But it's finally done, and we've got a much more useable rail network as a result. Bring on more improvements! Blog: danielbowen.com/2026...

Screens at Flinders Street showing departures on Sunday morning

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 22/08/2026

They could also do with a QR code that works!

The Basic plan of this QR Code has expired

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 22/08/2026

"They want to close Anderson St." *to cars As a semi-regular visitor/shopper in Yarraville, I think the current plan has some issues, but closing the middle section of Anderson St to cars seems like a pretty good idea to me. (Also note the data centre flyer) #Melbourne #MelbsWest

Flyer: "Save our village. They want to close Anderson St. We deserve real consultation."

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 21/08/2026

Good to see they've put new train timetable PDFs online. I'll even forgive the typo! danielbowen.com/2026/08/20/p...

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 20/08/2026

I mentioned playing arcade games at Luna Park. Searching around I found this old pic of the "Funtime Arcade" showing where the video games were located.

Funtime Arcade at Luna Park, with the Scenic Railway track above it, and the Palais Theatre visible in the background. from https://www.facebook.com/groups/stkildaandelwood/posts/2146189135749805/

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 20/08/2026

Here's a good example of why the on-demand PDF train timetables are so bad. This one is missing some services AND it lists many stations more than once, for no reason. It's got three Flinders Streets and five Ringwoods.

Screen grab of PDF timetable for Lilydale line, downloaded from Transport Victoria web site for 28th August to 31st December. Many stations show multiple entries.

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 16/08/2026

I’ve been away interstate for a few days to the city with the railway station with probably the best view in the world. #Sydney

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 12/08/2026

Saw a bloke drop an ear bud onto the track at Caulfield. Oops! The staff might need to get their claw and go fishing. Never try to retrieve something yourself! #RailSafetyWeek2026

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 11/08/2026

The rumours were true. After nearly ten years they’ve reinforced the structure above Armadale station and reinstated the full width of the city bound platform. Read about this saga here: danielbowen.com/2024... #Melbourne

Armadale station showing platform cleared of temporary fencing

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 08/08/2026

It’s taking a while for the traffic lights to get switched on, but genuinely good to see a T junction signalised with three crossings. Many end up with only two, prioritising cars and inconveniencing walkers. #traffic #RoadDesign

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 07/08/2026

The best astronomical photo I ever took. Venus, Jupiter and the Moon, December 2008 🌛

Jupiter, Venus and the moon, together in the sky making a smiley

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 04/08/2026

It’s state election season! Liberals out at #Bentleigh station this morning. #VicVotes #SpringSt

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 04/08/2026

Catching up on posting old photos from ten years ago. From June 2016, level crossing removal works using part of this park made for some curious sights during junior footy training. More pics on the blog: danielbowen.com/2026...

Construction vehicles on a large pile of gravel while kids play football in the foreground

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 02/08/2026

#Paris bus with a very familiar-sounding bell... the same as used on many #Melbourne trams!

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 02/08/2026

From this morning: an incredible time travelling bus.

PTV app shows bus arriving at consecutive stops in 2, 3, 2 minutes

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 31/07/2026

Forcing the Parliamentary Budget Office to use your childish headline - priceless. pbo.vic.gov.au/respo... #VicPol #SpringSt

Election Policy Costing. Cancel the Suburban Rail Loop debt bomb. Requestor: Mr David Limbrick MP. Political party: Libertarian Party

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 30/07/2026

Maybe it’s a Holly Davidson? #RedDwarf

Motorbike with image of Holly from Red Dwarf

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 29/07/2026

Everyone in and watching Victorian politics #Vicpol #SpringSt

Tintin meme: What a week, huh / Captain it’s Wednesday

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 26/07/2026

Spotted yesterday: Tap And Go now covers all existing #Myki train, tram and bus services. But it's an option. You can keep using a Myki card if you prefer. If you see this error, try another card reader. I did, and it worked perfectly. #Melbourne #Victoria

Myki reader showing: "myki unavailable. Use bank card."

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 26/07/2026

Dragonboat racing on the Maribyrnong. Glad we're not a monoculture.🐲🚣 #Melbourne

Dragonboats on the Maribyrnong river, with the city skyline in the background

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Daniel Bowen @danielbowen.au · 21/07/2026

Most escalators out of service at Town Hall station this morning due to power issues. A bit more exercise than I expected! #Melbourne #MetroTunnel

Passengers climbing up stopped escalators

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