iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 11/08/2026

It's a shame Tim Horton's stopped existing all of a sudden. Where am I going to get breakfast now?

Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 22/07/2026

This question is on the following page, so respondents can't see it coming. Unless the question order is randomized, which I doubt.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 22/07/2026

This survey is SO BAD. Like "when did you stop beating your family members" loaded questions bad. Assuming adoption with no way to say "We are not adopting" is just depressing.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 19/07/2026

Really, I'm only a menace to myself with this. But a menace none the less. I colour-coded my writing vault too.

A nicely colour-coded Obsidian Graph view of ~100 or so notes, showing links between them. The colours are based on categorization, the grouping a mix of Zettelkasten and PARA note systems. It's very nerdy, unfortunately for me.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 06/07/2026

Still pleased with this. Authors: Without any context, what's the first line of your current WIP?

Just outside the cold midnight glow of amethyst street lamps, four toughs wrongly thought had a banker cornered in an alley.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 24/06/2026

I've learned to color-code the graph. I may soon go mad with power.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 17/06/2026

Writing note graph for comparison. It's so much worse than you know.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 17/06/2026

I've been using Obsidian for my writing for a while but now I have one for work notes. How embarrassing for me.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 11/06/2026

Oh they really aren't getting any user uptake are they

A screenshot of an ad, served on a Google Pixel phone, promoting a bundle of YouTube Premium Lite with Google AI Pro.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 21/04/2026

The only available optimistic take; this pain is temporary. The trouble is, it's self-inflicted pain and the gap between "was-good but couldn't grow" and "will be good but hurts my life now" might be too long for a lot of people. 6/6

Owens, the transit advocate, is hopeful. The new system makes adding routes and stops easier than before, and further expansion possible so long as the political will and willingness to increase the transit budget is there.

“The basis of the transit master plan, to triple the number of Winnipeggers with access to frequent service, lay the foundation of a new structure for transit, for expansion in the future, has happened,” he said.

“What happens next is really something that we have to decide together.”

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 21/04/2026

Subways? Subways that don't take up road space? Subways that don't interact with traffic? Those subways? (This actually made me stop reading and panic-laugh at my desk for five minutes) 5/6

Radstrom said the cuts in those neighbourhoods were designed to emulate the light-rail transit and subway systems that inspired Winnipeg’s new route layouts. Better spacing creates smoother, faster service, he explained.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 21/04/2026

This right here? This is exactly what we were worried about. We had concerns (in the community org sector) about the overhaul causing issues in already challenged neighbourhoods, and that seems to be borne out here. Further charts show context for why this one is so damn bad. 4/6

A breakdown of which regions in Winnipeg lost the most stops per kilometer, showing a dee bias against downtown/North End communities by design.

Left-hand explanation of the image: Before the overhaul, Winnipeg had about 11 bus stops per square kilometre. That’s dropped to about seven stops per square kilometre city-wide, according to the Free Press/Narwhal analysis.

The city cut about 2.5 stops for every square kilometre, but those changes weren’t made evenly.

Downtown and north end neighbourhoods — especially Point Douglas and Inkster — lost between two and three times as many stops as the city-wide average, while suburbs like Transcona and Fort Garry South, which have grown rapidly in recent years, saw the fewest stops removed.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 21/04/2026

I, too, who have never had a driver's license in my life, was looking with envy at drivers (in rush hour no less) a few times over the winter. This is a bad omen for transit. 3/6

From the above-linked Narwhal article, snippet reads: University of Manitoba Students’ Union president Prabhnoor Singh has three words to describe the transit transformation: “a complete disaster.”

His own commute from his home in north Winnipeg to the university has jumped from one bus and 60 minutes to a nearly two-hour journey with three transfers.

Now, he chooses instead to drive 40 minutes to get to campus.

“It just shows you how much of a difference this has created, and overall, we haven’t heard much positive responses from our students,” he said.

Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North) said he’s been fielding phone calls, e-mails and questions from stressed constituents since the overhaul.

“One of my constituents actually got his driver’s licence and got a truck because of the bus changes,” Lamoureux said in an interview following a riding town hall last month, adding residents have expressed a “very real … anxiety” about the new system.

Lamoureux describes his riding as largely working class, filled with students and an above-average concentration of young people. It also houses some of the neighbourhoods found to have above-average stop losses.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 21/04/2026

Actually, reducing stop numbers DOES result in worse service from an accessibility point of view. This is THE core tension in the system as it is now, in my opinion: Accessibility vs Reliability. And the latter ain't good. 2/6

From the above-linked Narwhal article, snippet reads: “There was definitely a decrease in the number of bus stops, but that doesn’t translate into worse service. The thing that makes a difference to people is, how frequently does the bus come and how reliable is it?”

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 15/04/2026

I guess I'm a smoothie guy now

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 09/02/2026

Sure this looks like it costs a penny per user, but when you're - say - Discord, and have 200 million users, that's still a 2 million dollar bill. ONE TIME. How often do these expire? How often do they fail. How many users -register- per month, then never use or pay?

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 03/02/2026

A little character description.

A screenshot of text, reading as follows:
To make things worse, Laiet immediately recognized the style of the man’s clothes - long, green coat hiding thin-fitted trousers and a fine yellow silk shirt - until he recalled it was a similar look to the ambassador from Blackmoar he had met in the capitol before coming here. Could he be Moarish? Holding such a high office here in the South? It wouldn’t be the first time an immigrant from the Northern Duchy made a name for himself, but given the current situation with Blackmoar itself, Laiet was surprised the man hadn’t been removed from his place of trust and authority if that was his birthplace.
Unless he’s being used for intelligence. Yes, that would fit at least.
Which meant only the sword was still out of place. Even for the man’s current station, it bordered on ostentatious. Gold crossguard, made for looks rather than function; fine red cord on the handle, wrapped with more golden wire. Gems set into both the crossguard and pommel. You could fund an army for a month on that sword alone.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 25/11/2025

There is only one account location I can trust on the hellsite, and I barely even trust that despite its current accuracy.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 18/11/2025

Watching a video and all I can see is this painting which has come off its hooks, but also the lamps which would cover portions of it *anyway* even if it hadn't, and the worst part is that it isn't cantered between the window frames. I wish I understood my own wiring with this stuff.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 13/09/2025

Thinking about this whole 'computer madness' thing again.

A short poem, titled "We Had No Glory Days"

It reads: Those of us who came first
Conquered no old nations
We had no bad habits
Left by our forebears

Instead we meandered
From rich island to rich island
Across an archipelago of opportunity
Building no bridges

We founded the lands you know
By accident
And forgot to teach you
About the dark forest we left behind

Now we are the shoulders you stand on
But you'll never know it
We bowed our heads to hide ourselves
From your dancing feet

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 01/09/2025

Something longer, with some oomf.

Screenshot of a passage from my work-in-progress novel. It reads:
There was a glow at the mage’s wrists - bangles, two at each hand, bracelets carved from crystal. The green of emerald and soft yellow citrine at his right; amethyst purple and a deep blue Lacinus couldn’t place at his left. He couldn’t see the symbols carved across their surface from this distance, but on bangles so thin they wouldn’t be complex, so the man couldn’t be working artillery magic at any real strength. He must have simply prepared for this kind of street brawl.
The banker had to act quickly. Antimagic needed time, and Lacinus had none. What I wouldn’t give for Grevault’s talents right now! His cousin had always been the better of them at creating barriers. For now, he’d have to guess at the mage’s method of attack.
Lacinus dropped the knife, put both hands on his sword, twisting to drive the point between cobblestones. A large malachite sat on the sword’s pommel as a counterweight, its surface made smooth by a thin lacquer of lunar glass. He exhaled on it just as the mage’s focus completed; a spear of fire struck the air barely an arm’s length before Lacinus’ face, an expanding flash passing through his hastily erected barrier as the force of it dissipated. The alley itself rang like a giant bell. Where the barrier met brick walls to either side, flame licked the stone, scorching and melting it.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 18/08/2025

I am almost precisely "commercial Compact Disc" old, and always will be And I hate it because I, too, am a redundant format.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 11/07/2025

Tell that to the sky, Via Rail

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 03/07/2025

Google Maps does NOT have accurate routing data for the new Winnipeg Transit system. If this is how you plan routes, don't trust it right now.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 03/07/2025

Winnipeg: "Open up Portage & Main, connect the city again!" Also Winnipeg: "Let's make it unfeasible to get from City Hall to Portage Place unless you know the Arcane Symbols and can recite the proper cantrips."

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 05/06/2025

Welp, they're at it again.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 04/04/2025

The third real killer was just bad management. I recall a problem where CC bought a huge number of plasma TVs, right before the manufacturer chopped their prices, leaving the company with a huge accounting problem; assets on books with more value than their potential sell-through revenue.

From the Medium article linked in a post above, the image is text which reads: "Finance Management is a must. Circuit City had a poor financial management, and did not have enough cash flow or liquidity to survive the economic downturn. It also had a high debt load, and could not secure enough financing or credit to continue its operations. It also made some unwise decisions, such as spending too much on stock buybacks and dividends, and not enough on capital expenditures and inventory."

A search result snippet from Google, focused on a Wikipedia article about Plasma displays for televisions. It reads in part: "In late 2006, analysts noted that LCDs had overtaken plasmas, particularly in the 40-inch (100 cm) and above segment where plasma had previously gained market share."

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 04/04/2025

Cutting its highest earning staff was meant to be an efficiency measure, but it ruined the ENTIRE team's investment in the institution itself. No boat moves without sailors, no business moves without staff who have care.

From the Medium article linked in a post above, the image is text which reads: "Quality over Quantity. Circuit City made a fatal mistake when it fired its most skilled and loyal employees in 2007, in an attempt to cut costs and boost profits. Doing so resulted in a loss of expertise, morale, and customer satisfaction. It also damaged its reputation and culture, and created a gap that its competitors exploited."

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 04/04/2025

CC cut appliances because of the insanely narrow margins. However, the sheer revenue weight of that category kept its credit rating in a particular place, so it could do the rest of its business. No credit rating, no profit centers. No profit centers, no trade/business. Allies matter.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 02/04/2025

Something about this feels significant.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 19/03/2025

This heading in my research notes may unintentionally be the most metal phrase I've written in the last decade and the worst part is I can't -really- explain why without becoming an unskippable cutscene.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 16/01/2025

Getting jump-scared with Gemini this afternoon sucked. This is where to turn it off, not just for a user, but for the whole 'organization' even if it's just yourself.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 24/12/2024

Why does everything believe it's worthy of a year in review these days?

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 16/12/2024

Unless I end up brainworming my way through it before January.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 13/12/2024

Me: "This story's probably going to be about 3k words long, not bad" Also me, proving I have an estimation problem:

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 10/12/2024

Every time I read this description, I feel like it's more outdated, but I also don't care because it's never changing.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 07/12/2024

It's (probably?) not what you meant, but this is the energy "going feral in the lux hotel" gave me.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 30/11/2024

The whole prologue, frankly, but especially the opening line.

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Ian M Rountree @ianmrountree.com · 29/11/2024

LITE Wild Blueberry Pancake Breakfast accomplished. It always feels overwhelming, but seeing so many folks from the community support our work is worth it. Already looking forward to how we can make next year bigger and better. (More pictures will be up on LITE's social media channels later.)

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