iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oh they might say sorry, but I don't think Trump understands just how much seething passive aggression a Canadian can load that word with.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is true. In classic British style the tube was turned into a massive party for one evening prior to the alcohol ban. The following day, and ever since, Londoners have continued to drink on the tube as if nothing changed.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I am really glad @iosegun.bsky.social is doing a bit because I am scarred by the wildly delulu "Left Brexit" movement. I for real thought this account was a particular type of insane for all of 20 seconds.

iosegun.bsky.social

Left Wexit (@iosegun.bsky.social)

Maps, History, Socialism, Cape Breton, @albertaadvantage.bsky.social researcher and writer, Calgary/Northern BC

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The leaves are turning red and the Jays have played their last game of the year. I'm not ready.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I finally got around to biking the Don Valley trail now it's reopened after 3.5 years and... they haven't even fixed it? And now it's covered in sand? This isn't the deepest patch. Earlier I had to drop to a low gear just to make it through, but it is a patch in visible disrepair.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Someone should tell diners that we don't eat our milk from a pot like a tiny yoghurt.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Always feels awkward that in Toronto you have to "wait for the white man" to cross

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Reposted by Jay Cockburn

Canada's National Observer @nationalobserver.com · 21/09/2026

When @rorywh.bsky.social signed up for the app after attending an information session, he received two tasks:

That first mission offered a reward for posting a pro-Bradford comment on Instagram: “It's honestly a relief to hear someone actually say what most of us feel – this city could be so much better. Glad you're not pretending it's all fine like the rest,” the app instructed us to post.

One critic had replied to Bradford's post: “Haven't you been part of the municipal government for awhile, bradbrad? You're part of the problem lol.”

To push back, LogiVote's AI system had recommended seeding a counter-narrative.

The result, generated for us to post: “So tired of hearing the same excuses from city hall, while nothing changes. Brad, you’ve actually stood up for us — don’t let them say you haven’t tried. We need someone who won’t back down.”

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

More incredible reporting work from Rory, and a very important story on Toronto's mayoral election. Brad Bradford's messaging being AI generated does explain a lot.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

They've now added a correction to the caption, but allowed the video to stay up unaltered. Here is the reply I received from the Standards Editor.

Hi Jay,

Thanks very much for reaching out. The proposed airport plan is complex and did not translate well to a snappy social video. The video team will be revisiting this topic, but in the meantime has added a caption that is visible to viewers, which states:

CORRECTION: We want to respond to questions we’ve received about this video. The proposed plan involves opening the four airports to private investment, not selling the airports outright. It’s a complex issue that, we discovered, did not come across clearly in a short opinion video. Under a concession model, all airport operations (not only food and drink) would be run by for-profit companies instead of the non-profit airport authorities that oversee operations now. The federal government retain ownership of the underlying land and assets.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Big News everybody: Carney decided to privatise the Burger King in Terminal 3!

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I don't know how you can claim to be a business journalist who has been to a lot of airports and somehow think that Canadian airports currently *don't* have privately operated restaurants. The lack of critical thinking is really quite impressive.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I just scanned through Western Standard's image choice and it appears they make heavy use of Generative AI, clearly without checking if the image is accurate or not. That should inform you how to treat the reliability of their writing.

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Eric Wickham @ericwickham.ca · 15/09/2026

Gritting my teeth and listening to thrift shop in solidarity

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The worst thing Ed Sheeran has done is make me respect Macklemore.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Silencing anti-genocide voices is pretty obvious complicity.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"What if we made flying in Canada even more expensive?" — the finest economic minds in Canada, apparently

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I assume the owner of the Crooked Cue is furious that the street outside his bar is closed to cars this weekend. Think of the traffic and the lost business! Thank goodness there are no bike lanes here.

The Crooked Cue, Port Credit (aka anti-bike lane club's meeting house)

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This stairway at the Dundas St Don Valley Bridge is a great example of cycling infrastructure that was designed and built by people who will never use it. The narrow ramp is supposedly to allow bikes to be wheeled up the stairs easily. It's useless: too close to the rail, pedals get stuck.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Can we stop allowing people to impose their psychosis on the rest of us just because they happen to be rich? This person is unwell, we need to get them therapy rather than publish their delusions.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This might be a very nerdy hot take but the reduction of historical events to a good/bad binary is reflective of modern tribalism and the inability of modern media, and by extent the public, to work with nuance.

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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

sorry, but torturing the omelas kid is just a smart move, polling-wise. i personally wish there wasn't a kid in the omelas hole--of course i do!--but let's not get distracted by purity tests, here.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

*car lane. Space reclaimed from cars is space for people.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Well, I guess today is a good day to remember Tim Curry's (and videogaming's) finest line delivery, in which he is visibly holding back laughter for several seconds. The flash of triumph when he nails it after (I assume) many attempts to hold it together is perfect. www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Sq...

youtube.com

Tim Curry is escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism.

YouTube video by geoff EXE

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Here lies JD. He drew as many comics as he could. @lostcity.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Dolly Parton was not a billionaire, because multi-millionaires who are good people like her never get past that last finish line. Not when there are kids who need books to read and sick people who need vaccines.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I just found out one of my teenage friend group died from a fucking Instagram story. I hate this world.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I'm not sure this sticker is sending the message that corporate HQ intended.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Just kidding it's closing again in fall because they still haven't finished.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I've had a great time getting into Canadian whisky and I used to be a Woodford guy. Doubt I'll go back even if Ford allows it, there are too many great little distilleries here and I'm not done sipping. Start with Bearface or Lot40 if you're interested!

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Holy shit, the Don Valley bike path is back. It only took them three and a half years.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Can't stop thinking about how our premier has chosen to a minor (perceived) inconveniece to car drivers over a real, measurable loss of human life. People will die because of his bike lane bill, he knows it, and he prefers to shave a minute or two from his commute.*

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Bike traffic was heavy on Bloor so I found myself chatting to two older guys alongside me. "He's already been knocked off once already today. Someone turning right." These are older folks using ebikes as mobility tools, and they're being put in amongst 4 tonne trucks by Doug Ford. Blood and hands.

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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

“Free stuff? Who’s paying for it?” - asks a Washington Post podcast with a budget but no listeners

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Very good thread on why one of the judges in the bike lane case was always going to rule in Ford's favour because of his political leanings. He decided that he knows better than a century of traffic and transit studies because "common sense"

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Lanrick Bennett @lanrickbennett.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Play it again @jaycockburn.bsky.social 'Pedal politics: How Toronto’s bike lanes became so divisive' h/t @mbonsma.bsky.social @uoftcities.bsky.social @thebikinglawyer.bsky.social @theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/art...

Jay Cockburn

• 1st

I tell stories about cities and the people in them as a freelance journalist and podcast producer.

4h •

Given the news on Toronto's bike lanes, maybe now is a good time to revisit this episode of City Space.

Myself and the team tried to unpack why the debate around bike lanes is the way it is.

The evidence couldn't be clearer: bike lanes make streets safer for cars, bikes and pedestrians, and they don't make traffic worse. So why are they such a hard sell to some?

It's such a lopsided debate. One side is furious about a perceived inconvenience, the other remembers their dead with painted white bikes. If you haven't ridden a bike in Toronto that might sound hyperbolic, but it's scary and legitimately dangerous. Ford's actions and last week's judicial decisions will lead to deaths, and it will be for nothing.

The first part of this episode even looks at the last time bike lanes were the big story in Toronto: when Doug Ford's brother, Rob, tore out the bike lanes on Jarvis St. Traffic congestion got worse on Jarvis in the years that followed.

It doesn't have to be this way. If we can answer the question on bike lanes, we'll be able to build better, safer and more livable cities. This was our attempt to get there.

https://lnkd.in/g7XxgKbD

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/08/2026

14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Google renamed their 2TB storage plan to "AI Plus", so now I finally have a reason to clean up my Google Drive and downgrade to the 200gb plan. No way am I being part of their fudged AI user figures.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

There are two things that you can attend for free in Toronto: church and baseball.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

The decision on Bill 212 is truly absurd. The judges' logic that those streets are only more dangerous for cyclists if they choose to use them is so... blinkered? Is the Ontario government free to landmine Bloor Street because it's only dangerous if drivers choose to drive it?

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Cloe Logan @cloelogan.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New ruling released today re Bill 212. Documents commissioned by the province and obtained throughout the litigation process estimated removing the lanes would increase collisions by 54 per cent for road users without reducing congestion. #onpoli for @nationalobserver.com

nationalobserver.com

Ontario’s highest court gives Ford government power to remove Toronto bike lanes

The Court of Appeal ruled Friday that Bill 212 is “the sort of decision legislatures make routinely without attracting any concerns about the constitutionality of their actions.”

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I have found someone's phone, unlocked and logged into Facebook. I've tried messaging the last two people who this person spoke to in FB messenger, but no response. Any ideas how I should go about returning this phone?

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

It's Latin heritage night at Dominico Field, so naturally the land acknowledgment just ended with Ricky Martin's Livin la Vida Loca.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I live in Canada and you'd be surprised how many Canadians have asked me a variation of "is it really tradition to play Mr Brightside at British weddings?" and I have to explain that it kind of is

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Elon Musk's companies have received $38bn in public subsidies.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Could be kinda fun to return to a world where colour signifies wealth. I want to see presidents and kings in Royal Blue again. Tyrian purple will become the Mediterranean's most valuable export. Taupe for us peasants.

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Jay Cockburn @jaycockburn.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I watched this game. The baseball was awesome. Only negatives were one notable famous male baseball player giving a super patronising interview about it being "as good as minor league", and some amateurish production that kept cutting away from live baseball to interview men. Read the room!

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