iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I've seen this picture ~100 times today and can't get enough. Every single frame is perfect in its own way - I can't pick a favourite.

020

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

"No, please, no, not our beloved national treasure, the Greater Toronto Airports [sic] Authority!" Pearson is and has always been mess, and is currently one of the most expensive airports to fly out off in the OECD.

111

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I want to read a Foundation-style historical fiction series of the Collegium Correctorum, the college of correctors, a secret learned society say c1435-1650 worried about the printing presses' safety risks (initially around untruths and errors) and attempting to influence events.

110

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

James McLeod @jamespmcleod.ca · 13/07/2026

I think an interesting thing about politics right now is that there are a lot of people who want an emotionally satisfying experience from their politicians. This is very often at odds with pragmatism. You see different versions of this at all points on the political spectrum.

11479

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Al Merose @al.merose.com · 06/07/2026

Sneak peek: I implemented a 3 layer MLP that predicts the fashion MNIST dataset using SQL (with my own autograd impl inside the database). Apparently einsum notation is better expressed as a JOIN. github.com/xqlsystems/x...

github.com

xarray-sql/benchmarks/nn.py at claude/xarray-sql-mnist-demo · xqlsystems/xarray-sql

An experiment to query Xarray datasets with SQL. Contribute to xqlsystems/xarray-sql development by creating an account on GitHub.

2585

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

This is a great, strategic set of donations. And Damien is right - given how important these races are, what it takes to raise an important amount of money is surprisingly modest. I've matched his first donation and will work on the others.

081

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

arr @arr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.

436153764207

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

This interpretation is wrong and backwards. Good apps were really expensive to make, and were only feasible if they were going to appeal to masses. Reducing the cost means more is produced, _and_ each one can be for a small audience that _really_ wants it vs tonnes of people who _kinda_ want it.

171

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Halifax Regional Municipality @hfxgov.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The municipality is hosting a Scan-a-thon event at the Keshen Goodman Library on Saturday, June 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Scan-a-thon is an annual event that offers residents an opportunity to contribute personal photos to the municipal archives. Details: www.halifax.ca/home/news/re...

0105

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Have to say, "for coders who don't want to code" could be an interesting marketing campaign for (say) the Claude Excel plugin, or other "End user programming" applications.

100

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

In every academic book there is a secret second book hiding in the footnotes. Sometimes it is the first draft that had migrated there to escape the revisions. Sometimes it is the author's tortured secret rebuttal of their own claims, and sometimes it is the incipient form of the their next book.

441556278

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Melissa Bowman @dtkmelissa.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

"We have produced generations of adults who can name the Prime Minister but not their ward councillor. Who follow a federal budget with more attention than a municipal capital plan that will determine whether their water main gets replaced before it fails." Local politics matter. #WRpoli

lenispooner.substack.com

The Meeting That Decided Your Street (You Weren’t There)

Municipal elections shape your street, your water, your housing costs, and your neighbourhood’s future. Across Canada, the 2026 cycle is already starting. Here is what is being decided, who is decidin

13916

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

We forget how long it took people to learn how to use search engines. People who were good with card catalogs were actually at a disadvantage. Now we’re in the same situation; people familiar with Google just want to type in « write a project management software » and expect a good answer

092

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Ryan Moulton @moultano.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Generational tweet that might even spawn a school of architecture.

Cairo Smith:
There's a common misconception that Brutalist buildings were unpainted, but thanks to microscopic analysis of the exteriors we can now recreate what they looked like in their prime.

17494461744

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

In Canada there's a growing movement to get rid of algorithmic pricing - but a longer-running, more insidious, and more consequential problem has always been algorithmic advertising. It hollows out media, toxifies politics, and entrenches US-based personal-data-collection oligopolies.

010

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Kevin Wilson @kwilsonhfx.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I've detailed those process to people and no one believes me. "You have to tell them how to do it right, and what will happen when they don't. Then you have to let them eat it. Just absolutely lose teeth over it"

091

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Crystal Lewis @cghlewis.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I was asked to speak with a graduate class today about research data management. I was asked, "How do people become convinced that beginning data management early on in a project is worth it?" Me: "Suffering. They usual have to suffer first." 😅

1855183

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Aaron Sterling @aaronsterling.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I think there's almost a 1:1 skill transfer from mentoring people to skilled LLM use. If you can supervise and train someone skilled & confident but with big blind spots, you can use an LLM well. Patience, clear instructions, expecting things won't be perfect on the first try, build skill over time.

1494

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I knew it intellectually, but getting an e-bike showed me _viscerally_ how wildly battery technology has advanced. My (pretty heavy!) pedal-assist bike and I (pretty heavy!) have tooled around a few hours up hills that were otherwise daunting and this battery that I can easily hold is still ~100%.

020

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Abby @arobertswrites.com · 15/04/2026

Trying to explain St Augustine to the pope, the former head of the Augustinian order, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Augustine, on his way back from celebrating mass at the Basilica of St Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, overlooking the site where Augustine lived is peak Adult Catholic Convert.

12064841988

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

John Voorheis @johnvoorheis.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

I think it's really an underrated moral issue (let along a political economy one) that we've sort of let scams and scam adjacent activities (sports betting, car dealerships, most retail interactions with skilled trades, crypto, etc) pervade the economy from top to bottom.

22879187

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

It’s very simple, everyone. By setting up 50 public-run grocery stores (fine, whatever), one for every 800,000 Canadians, at a cost of $7M each to set up (??) and $6M/yr to run (???) this will cut $60B (???) a year off of Canadian’s grocery bills. Elementary arithmetic.

120

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Hey Matt Gurney, I’ve got a great new personal finance/banking app - it’s awesome, just finishing coding it up just for you. Dare you to reject it!

030

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

This is why progressives win in Toronto but never Really Win. Instead of saying "Bradford's support proves we should have moved on platform doors sooner," you leave the issue out there for him to own, and in six months you'll complain that a transit safety and efficiency issue is 'right-coded.'

3396

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I want a 100-car funereal motorcade of city vehicles for Peter Clark's procession the way we do for cops. I want the roads closed, the City flag flown at half-mast, and it to be covered on the radio the way we do when a police officer dies.

1910

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

So $175 for ~18 months is interesting from an Alberta politics point of view, yes? Windfall profits and AB gov’t flush with cash, but huge consumer pain; too short a timeframe and too much uncertainty to justify investment/jobs other than some debottlenecking/optimisation? Does that sound right?

100

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Elixir of Progress @elucidating.extradimensional.space · 15/02/2026

Half joking: This is what it's like to be a senior technical leader.

3605

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Tim Querengesser @timquerengesser.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

“Effectively, when we approve neighbourhoods that we know operate at a net loss, we are approving future tax increases.” edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n... TLDR: If you're against allowing established neighbourhoods to densify faster and with more intensity, here's an alternative way to grow.

edmontonjournal.com

Net-loss new neighbourhoods mean higher taxes, warns Edmonton councillor

New Kettle Lakes neighbourhood structure plan will need tweaking just to be revenue neutral, says O-Day'min coun. Anne Stevenson.

0137

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

In The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), the rich protagonist whose wealth allowed him such a life of leisure that he orchestrated a robbery simply out of idle boredom had a personal wealth of $4 million (~$35 million today)

000

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

"Way more people should be in charge of something mundane they’re held accountable for" is one of my hobby horses. Viscerally understanding how hard it is to get and keep five people coordinated well enough to get the weekly inventory counts done right cuts down on a lot of magical thinking.

192

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Thorne 🌸 @ens0.me · 03/02/2026

the whole point of technology is to subvert "the natural order," because the natural order is disease and decay and suffering and famine

532155

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Get the Canadian government off of X. www.ditchx.ca will give you a letter for Treasury Board (which sets communication policy across GoC) or individual ministries for mailing (no stamp!), emailing, and even quick talking points for phoning. Letters now updated to include the raid in Paris.

ditchx.ca

Get the Government of Canada Off X

Write to your MP and cabinet ministers about moving official government communications off X to platforms that support democratic values.

021

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

"Maybe the city's full" says the man living in a 2.7 million dollar house on Palmerston, while sipping $170 scotch after defeating a multiplex proposal across the street. www.pressreader.com/canada/toron...

2035579

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Johan Nohr @nohr.se · 01/02/2026

Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly

92166194815

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I hope that folks in European democracies understand that there are no longer friendly nations, but friendly political movements. It's our job to support liberal democracy around the world, especially when they're under assault from anti-democratic movements at home.

6468106

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Pete @peeete.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Cars simply don't work in our climate.

181

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

“..Hello? .. yes, I would like to pause my subscription to Snow™️…. Yes, but you see we already have quite a lot… ”

A picture of sliding glass doors to a balcony, with Snow about a metre up the door, with drifts higher and lower

120

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

As with the rest of the disinformation crisis, important to understand this as a demand-side problem as well as a supply-side one. On some level people *know* these are lies and choose them freely anyway.

1226

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Most of the moral messaging in children's television programming when I was a kid was utterly uncontroversial at the time, and would be attacked as woke indoctrination today.

355565887

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Alright folks, it's live. Get the Canadian government off of X. www.ditchx.ca will give you a template letter for Treasury Board (which sets communication policy across GoC) or individual ministries for mailing (no stamp!), emailing, or quick talking points for phoning.

ditchx.ca

Get Government of Canada Off X - Write to Your Member of Parliament

Write to Canadian government officials urging them to move official communications off X (Twitter) to protect democratic discourse.

0811

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

ditchx.ca

Get Government of Canada Off X - Write to Your Member of Parliament

Write to Canadian government officials urging them to move official communications off X (Twitter) to protect democratic discourse.

0811

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Visiting my parents in their late 70s; power station for charging stuff in power outages was on fritz. Kept resetting every few seconds. Spent 2 hrs trial-and-erroring settings via a downloaded app & Bluetooth so I could keep it up long enough to get it on WiFi and install an OTA firmware update.

110

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

If you want to push the government of Canada to get off X, mail Treasury Board rather than the minister leading the AI charge: (QTing to add context I forgot to include)

013

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

If you want to push the government of Canada to get off X, mail Treasury Board rather than the minister leading the AI charge: (QTing to add context I forgot to include)

013

Jonathan Dursi @ljdursi.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Hey Canadian folks - keep mailing Evan Solomon about Grok. But the Treasury Board Secretariat, led by Shafqat Ali, that sets government policy on communications through their « Policy on Communications and Federal Identity » including social media. My draft letter (suggestions welcome) follows:

120

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Micah @rincewind.run · 08/01/2026

banning X is a national security issue for every country, plain and simple its explicit goal is to amplify and empower the largest Nazi-adjacent party in every country in which it operates it is also the largest deepfake porn generator in the world this is not a difficult call to make

2652411813

Reposted by Jonathan Dursi

Sharon 🪳🌹 @sharonk.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

we also really need to prevent the mindset that posting is a form of political action, short of actually going outside, because so many people think aggro'ing enemies online is the same as building a public, imo

1873093