iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 26/08/2026

Introducing: Whisper Map, the map that somewhat creepily whispers the name of all visible countries, volume weighted by proximity to screen centre. Sound ON! 🔊 whisper-map.netlify.app

020

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 16/08/2026

Anyway, I made a font with all the quadkeys as ligatures. So, here, I type "03032" to incrementally get to the quadkey showing Nova Scotia, and you could do the same for any location on Earth. First, it shows glyph "0", then the "03" ligature, and so on until the "03032" ligature. Pretty neat, huh?

032

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 16/08/2026

Yet another font thing. Remember quadkeys? They split map tiles into quadrants 0 (top left), 1 (top right), 2 (bottom left), 3 (bottom right), and add more digits as you zoom in. E.g., Nova Scotia falls in quadkey 03032 at zoom 5. #gischat #geography

Map showing quadkey 03032, which covers the province of Nova Scotia.

140

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 15/08/2026

Still kinda obsessed with font images. Made a script that generates a jigsaw puzzle of shape N x M from any image. Not sure why I bothered with the jigsaw puzzle tabs, they don't really do anything. Video shows me typing A-Y (25 letters, 5x5) with the custom jigsaw font.

010

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 15/08/2026

You can check out the actual font containing QR codes here: qr-wikipedia-font.netlify.app. Notice that the QR codes are literally html text, not images.

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 14/08/2026

DYK you can embed pretty much any image directly in a font? Here I’ve made a font where each capital letter’s glyph is a QR code that leads to that letter’s Wikipedia page.

110

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 12/08/2026

Completely unrelated to yesterday’s handmade dovetail, today I made some sturdy shop shelves held together with routered dovetail housings #woodworking

Four wooden boards laid parallel with two perpendicular boards clamped above, delineating a rectangular in which the router will run

A long wide dovetail groove has been routered across the four parallel boards

A complementarily dovetailed board has been fitted in the groove

The full shelf with a dovetail housing at each end

050

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 11/08/2026

Good improvement with attempt #2.

Hand holding two scrap pieces of wood dovetail joined together

150

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 11/08/2026

A little loose, but overall happy with first attempt at handmade dovetail #woodworking

Hand holding two pieces of wood, joined at the corner with a relatively loose dovetail joint

3150

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 27/06/2026

Does anyone else think about the shape of the Netherlands?

A cursed map of the Netherlands with an eye and mouth superimposed, making it look like a face

120

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 27/06/2026

This happens more often than I thought I would (being dominated in a chess game, then winning with a surprise checkmate ending), and it’s teaching me bad life lessons. Maybe planning and consistent quality don’t matter that much if you can just figure it out in the end? 😅

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 16/06/2026

Another example of AI trying to kill me

AI chat: “how long after eating can you swim? You can swim immediately after eating. The idea of waiting 30 to 60 minutes is widely considered a myth.”

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 15/06/2026

This type of sneaky checkmate when you’re clearly losing makes chess so worthwhile

Chess win probability chart showing white clearly losing for most of the game and then a big spike at the end of the game.

310

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 12/05/2026

I survived the Bermuda Triangle, twice. 😅

An image of an in-flight map showing the aircraft entering the Bermuda Triangle

030

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 11/05/2026

The next one will be probably be a congratulations about this important milestone, but I’d never know

020

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 23/04/2026

The province is making it very nearly impossible to reduce yard waste (i.e. fuel accumulation) through burning. My municipality is in moderate restriction and it’s raining. The only times it hasn’t been in moderate restriction, everything was too wet to burn.

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 23/04/2026

Just following up on this important topic, this is an ice scraper, not a hoe.

Image from Big Mistakes where character Morgan holds several types of shovels, plus an ice scraper.

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 19/04/2026

There's a well defined schedule for oil maintenance: 1x per day for a week, 1x per week for a month, 1x per month for year, 1x per year after that. Anyway, I made an app for those reminders (axe-scheduler.netlify.app). Input parameters, generate a calendar file (.ics) for schedule X years out:

110

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 19/04/2026

Getting my axe (Gransfors Bruk Outdoor Axe) onto a proper maintenance schedule. 1. original axe 2. sanded (120 & 180 grit) 3. touch up head (I very lightly sanded any blemishes, probably bad) 4. oiled head and handle with boiled linseed oil

touch up head (I very lightly sanded any blemishes, probably bad)

oiled head and handle with boiled linseed oil

100

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 18/04/2026

It’s a shame that there’s no market for artisanal kindling, because it’s pretty satisfying to make

A photo featuring a wheel barrow full of artisanal kindling

030

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 18/04/2026

Wow, a ferry from Vancouver to Halifax is a long route

News text, including, “More electric ferry services are being announced in cities from Vancouver to Halifax.”

141

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 10/04/2026

Nova Scotia nanny state already hampering my burning (everything is literally too wet to burn btw)

Nova Scotia burn restrictions map. Most of the map is under moderate burn restrictions.

010

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 01/04/2026

Hear me out, Heineman is available most nights and he doesn't even train as a pitcher... #bluejays

mlb pitching stat, showing catcher tyler heineman's era = 22.50 while pitcher brendon little's era = 47.25

110

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 04/03/2026

Need to update a field's data type (i.e. re-create a feature class) in an enterprise geodatabase feature layer published to #ArcGIS Portal. #schemalocks

Interstellar meme showing astronaut, and text, "this little maneuver's gonna cost us 51 years".

120

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 24/02/2026

The numbers coming out of Washington today are suspect (source: ESPN)

Image showing mlb spring training standing with Washington record 3-0 and win percentage 1.167 (source: ESPN)

010

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 15/01/2026

Hello darkness, my old friend.

dreaded generic error 999999 message from arcgis

220

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 12/12/2025

Warning: this social media post contains a warning about a news story that contains a warning about a photo of a dead goose under a photo of multiple dead geese

010

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 18/11/2025

Can’t look at cloudflare outage because cloudflare

Cloudflare.com can’t be reached because cloudflare

130

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 02/11/2025

Nova Scotia Rocks. Straight crack.

A big rock with two very long straight cracks

000

Darren Wiens @darrenwiens.github.io · 26/10/2025

Attempting to do some comparison shopping on log splitters, and Canadian Tire specs are pretty much useless. One showing 50" (4+ feet!) max log diameter, another showing 3". 🤔