iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/10/2026

The aversion to property taxes to fund it perplexes me. The most progressive way to raise revenue save for income taxes. Works just fine elsewhere. Somehow there is a belief that people will notice other taxes less.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 28/09/2026

Do I read that right as 10 airframes to be parted out?

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Tommy Siegel @tommysiegel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

how AI can reduce your email workload: a helpful guide

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 18/09/2026

Not just 'run an airport good' (which I assume is a direct quote from the act which created airport authorities)

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 18/09/2026

Can write performance targets into the contract. Half the exercise is having the government decide what it values and write down those targets. One reason the French use the arrangement so much for their utilities--they found them much harder to govern compared to their public for profit entities.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 18/09/2026

And are partners in redevelopments like LaGuardia’s terminal B. 1 out of 4 as a success isn’t a successful model imo. And as a regular YVR user there certainly are pain points and future needs that will challenge any investment / service / fee balance.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 18/09/2026

Vancouver was so well run at a point in time they ended up spinning off their arm which entered into concession agreements to run airports elsewhere. Which is now owned by various infrastructure funds. They run Kamloops, Moncton, Hamilton and Fort St John’s airport under concession agreements.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 16/09/2026

Offices being secured too I’ve heard.

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Kevin Milligan @kevinmilligan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Well, I guess they chose the 'do tighter co-operation and tag that as Associate Membership' route. As I said a few days ago, that's likely fine. Closer co-operation with likeminded countries is great. My objections were to full EU membership, which is a beast of a different colour.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 08/09/2026

It's all going to lead to us having to learn about the Common Agricultural Policy. I thought I had left that in my EU politics undergrad classes!

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Anyways. Momentum is subject thermodynamics—needs to be constantly fed and right now our system only rarely supplies the various inputs to sustain it. Then bemoans the lack of it. Campaigns are certainly trying. The absence of a large wave at this phase of the campaign is just obeying the law and:

static.klipy.com

Homer Obeys Laws of Thermodynamics

ALT: Homer Obeys Laws of Thermodynamics

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Municipally without an all time accessible voters list presents its own unique challenges.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Getting to 80,000 accessible doors once or twice, then the other 130,000 behind enter phones is a significant people power challenge especially in the late spring and summer if people aren’t being primed about the importance continually—even by with subtle shifts of non-election issue coverage.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

That you can’t target for issue aligned people well digitally to avoid another Cambridge Analytica, and many services close the door entirely on political advertising is another barrier. Door knocking to build momentum is similarly hard - a chicken, egg problem.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Campaign period began. Finances also have their changing influence. Getting to 10 touches with a voter is pretty expensive when mail dropping the city is $100k a round, television doesn’t reach and digital can eat tens of thousands of dollars with little to show for it. Harder to raise big $ too.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Spinning up the momentum flywheel requires many different inputs. Air-war only never did the job on its own but it was an important part, and didn’t start on Labour Day or after the official

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Rewarding signs of momentum with a bit of sustained coverage and attention helps to cultivate the concrete horse race numbers many crave.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Did it help serve media owners and advertisers interests by influencing editorial decisions? Likely. Even with those potential negatives, in my view, it created for candidates a much greater opportunity to springboard and to compete. And the public was still in the centre of it.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Whether the old media environment’s gatekeeping function was better is in the eye of the beholder of course. The old Dale Carnegie quote ‘act enthusiastic and you will be enthusiastic’ is a big part of it. Was momentum in the past cultivated to an extent? For sure.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Plenty of less polarized groups also eschew anything that looks like electoral politics for a variety of reasons and then bemoan the lack of a movement to take up their cause.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

It’s all quite hard for candidates, and part of the reason for continued growth of polarization that is more apparent at other levels of government (access to alternative media ecosystems, already organized groups that are enthusiastic about engaging in electoral politics if aligned).

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Coverage helps turn potential catalysts (like the AI protests this cycle) into sustained political activity, by looking for and highlighting the political leadership (and good ideas!) in the story instead of it being the political equivalent of a streeter—great content but not much there there.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Momentum isn’t just people and fundraising, it is a flywheel with media coverage, which could in an alternative world reward prepared candidates, well presented ideas, and timeliness. Which helps grow that mass movement you’re looking for, ramping up volunteer time and fundraising.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

to provide limited coverage on a ramp up overtime even when campaigns are doing their darnedness to be newsworthy. If a campaign is trying to generate momentum via media before the ramp a lot of the time receptor capacity or willingness just isn’t there.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

10 page City Sections being widely read going away, plus the slow decline of local tv news is one thing and the other is editorial decisions

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 02/09/2026

Thread incoming. Having been through a spring and summer from the campaign side multiple times, including this time, in a party system & outside: it is really hard to get or demonstrate any momentum in our modern media environment.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 21/08/2026

Been playing with YYC-Banff new rail corridors. I started with a Kananaskis and a Stoney station near the hotel to see what happens. Then progressively removed stations to see which paths emerged. Then greatly weighted to a YYC north route to see what happened.

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City Duo @city-duo.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Following #Vancouver council’s stinging rebuke, the controversial 2030 Barclay proposal has returned with substantial revisions that largely address past public feedback. Yet, not even free food from Mr. Tube Steak could calm its opponents who dominated its open house. #VanRe

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 09/08/2026

Would maybe a hypothetical 41st SkyTrain make more sense? It isnt a slam dunk either way given current travel demand as indicated by how many seats to and from UBC travel via SW Marine. It would certainly be much much longer than extending from Arbutus.

Map of Vancouver comparing the fastest trip to UBC using the current transit system and two proposed SkyTrain lines. The city is divided into 250-metre squares. Green, covering most of northern and central Vancouver, indicates that the previously proposed Broadway–10th line is fastest. Purple dominates southern Vancouver and identifies areas best served by the new Joyce–41st line. Small blue pockets, mainly in western Vancouver, show where current transit remains fastest.

The new line is drawn in purple and white dashes. It begins at Joyce–Collingwood, serves Kingsway and Joyce, then turns west along 41st Avenue through Rupert, Clarendon, Victoria, Knight, Fraser, Main, Cambie, Oak, Granville, Arbutus, Macdonald, Dunbar and Camosun. It then angles northwest through Wesbrook and Gray, Agronomy Road and the UBC Hub. The earlier Broadway–10th line appears as green and white dashes farther north.

The Broadway–10th line is fastest across 54.4% of the modelled city, the Joyce–41st line across 39.5%, and the current system across 6.1%.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 09/08/2026

Where will UBCx be faster for people in Vancouver heading to UBC?

Map of Vancouver comparing travel times to UBC on the existing transit network with a hypothetical Millennium Line extension. The proposed line connects VCC–Clark to UBC through ECU, Main, Cambie, Oak, Granville, Arbutus, Macdonald, Alma and Sasamat.

Vancouver is divided into 250-metre squares. Green squares show areas where the extension is at least two minutes faster, with different shades indicating the most useful transfer station. Green dominates northern, central and eastern Vancouver, especially around the Main, Cambie and Granville corridors. Blue indicates the existing network is faster and covers much of southern and southwestern Vancouver. Gold marks trips within two minutes of equal and appears mainly along the transition between these areas.

The extension is faster in about 65% of the modelled city. The analysis allows Expo Line passengers to transfer at Commercial–Broadway, travel through VCC–Clark and continue toward UBC.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 09/08/2026

Inbound to UBC bus seats in morning rush hour.

Map of UBC and western Vancouver showing scheduled bus-seat capacity entering UBC during an average morning peak hour, 6:58–8:58 a.m. Four numbered circles mark the boundary crossings. Southwest Marine Drive is busiest, with 1,560 seats per hour on routes 49 and R4. University Boulevard and West 10th Avenue carries 1,158 seats on routes 4, 14 and 99. West 16th Avenue carries 654 seats on routes 25 and 33. Chancellor Boulevard, the westward continuation of West 4th Avenue, carries 576 seats on routes 44 and 84. Thick blue lines trace transit corridors across the peninsula. UBC lies to the left and Vancouver to the right, separated by a dashed municipal boundary. The four crossings provide a combined 3,948 scheduled seats per hour toward UBC; figures represent available seats, not observed passengers.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 09/08/2026

Also built one to show the walk shed of the high-ish frequency network in Vancouver. And then how that would change with upgrades to 5 closest to high-ish frequency frequencies. (It would cost about $10 million to upgrade those routes, not counting any potential offsetting revenue).

Map of Vancouver showing areas within an 800-metre routed walk of transit meeting the frequent-service standard. Blue coverage forms broad east–west bands across downtown and northern Vancouver, and across much of the southern half of the city. Smaller blue areas appear around Marpole and Renfrew-Collingwood. Red indicates underserved population and is concentrated in a wide central band, the West End, northeastern Vancouver and portions of the southern city edges. Black lines and white dots mark qualifying transit corridors and stops. An estimated 396,099 residents, or 59.4 percent, are covered; 271,173 remain underserved.

The same Vancouver map after improving routes 25, 100, 9, 16 and 80. Existing frequent-transit coverage remains blue. New coverage is green and fills much of the former central gap, creating a broad east–west belt across central Vancouver and additional north–south connections. Green also expands coverage through northeastern Vancouver, Renfrew-Collingwood, Marpole and the southeastern neighbourhoods. Remaining red gaps are smaller and more fragmented, chiefly around the West End, parts of the southwest, central-east pockets and the city’s outer edges. Existing routes are black; improved routes are dark green. Coverage rises to 529,854 residents, or 79.3 percent, leaving 138,418 underserved.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 09/08/2026

Playing with GTFS and AI — building some great maps that would have been really hard to do no that long ago. Here is Vancouver and lower mainland, transit by frequency in the am peak.

A wide regional transit map of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley during the morning peak. Pale blue water and off-white land form a quiet background. Transit routes appear as branching lines whose thickness and darkness increase with scheduled seated capacity. Blue represents TransLink; green represents BC Transit.

The densest cluster is around downtown Vancouver, shown again in a large inset at the upper left. Heavy blue lines radiate east and south through Vancouver and Burnaby, then branch toward Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam and Langley. A prominent blue rail corridor follows the Fraser River east through Maple Ridge to Mission. Thinner routes form street-grid patterns across the region.

Green service is much sparser. One long diagonal route—the Fraser Valley Express—links the Abbotsford area with Coquitlam. Smaller green networks cluster around Abbotsford and Mission near the map’s right edge.

A legend along the bottom pairs progressively thicker blue and green strokes with hourly capacity ranges from under 100 to over 5,000 seats.

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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 30/07/2026

LinkedIn is introducing new ways to reduce low-quality AI-generated posts, including a “seems like AI slop” reporting option. It's also replacing its own AI writing feature with a proofreading tool.

techcrunch.com

LinkedIn adds a button to report AI-generated 'slop' | TechCrunch

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 28/07/2026

Yup. From a progress report on parts of the agreement.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 28/07/2026

Rejecting their own plans. Renegging on their agreements with others.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 28/07/2026

I wonder what is lost with the HAF Fund now:

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 15/07/2026

It won’t happen until demand warrants, so we have to hope we’re a couple years ahead of the game and have vehicles on hand when we need them. Instead of just complaining about having shorter platforms than the Skytrain. 2/2

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 15/07/2026

Can totally run the system with 2 minute frequencies and 4 minute branch frequencies without changing the track. Two things though: do we have enough trains to do so? I doubt it. And, do we want to fund the extra frequencies? I also doubt. Since the P3 makes both of those choices explicit 1/2

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 14/07/2026

Can't discount that in particular the author benefits from more consultations and workshops and charettes etc instead of fast decisions. Also much of a generation of urban development professions were taught a certain way and propagated that thought and it is really hard to change

static.klipy.com

Mitchell And Webb: Are We The Baddies Sketch

ALT: Mitchell And Webb: Are We The Baddies Sketch

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Mike Flannigan @mikeflannigan.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Canada has passed the 1 million ha area burned mark. Still below the 10 year normal for area burned for this time of year. However, 2026 just passed 2024 that turned out to be a very active year. Expect an active summer fire season and possibly an extended fire season going well into Autumn.

Area burned in Canada by year and date
https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en/summary

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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Every time the United States blows up another campaign finance law, I think of the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling in Harper v. Canada. decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-...

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 26/06/2026

Its a long time ago, but the banner was in the period when they were showing why the President's first term was failing and how he couldn't even advance his moderate agenda

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The Voyageurs @thevoyageurs.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Icky, ucky, stinky, stupid Switzerland #allezlesrouges #canmnt

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 23/06/2026

It’s crazy the provinces don’t just outlaw this practice, even if also have to have the Feds on the follow on issue of grocery chains owning full retail developments long term while enforcing exclusivity.

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 19/06/2026

How to distinguish between applied economics and 52.0601 Business/managerial economics who knows?

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Kyle Olsen @kyleolsen.com · 19/06/2026

Social sciences, as data in Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) is based on CIP, which classifies as Primary groupings (image 1) social and behavioural, then 45. - Social sciences then 45.06 - Economics and then (image 2)

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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Unpopular opinion: I think we should go back to build subsurface metros whenever feasible. With 10% of what we save in civils compared to a deep tunnel, we can put in fancy architecture Pictured : Debourg, line B, Lyon, a few steps below surface, no mezzanine.

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