iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Happy MLB #PostSeason to all those who celebrate! ⚾️

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Got home late from work, no choice but take-out from the local burger joint. Now my whole house smells like fries and Dairi-Wip Fatboys. Terrible, terrible tragedy 😉

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

On my commute thru the downtown, my bus has 3 short blocks to cross 5 lanes from curb to left-turn lane. Tentative drivers ease left, relying on tiny gaps, generosity of drivers, and waves of thx out the window. Aggressive drivers crank the wheel, floor it, and you better get TF outta the way 😂

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

My institution has a paramedicine/EMT program. They meet in one of our active learnign classrooms so I just dropped by to see if a new instructor set up. Year 1 students dressed in crisp, clean jumpsuits and shiny boots. They look so proud walking around campus, as they should be 😊

010

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

@wilnerness.bsky.social I have a question, probably >not< worthy of the DLF mailbag: Where can I find the rockin' Take Me Out To The Ballgame you play at the beginning of the podcast?

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

1. Montréal 2. Steinbach - Growing up in Winnipeg, Steinbach was the town where all the Mennonites lived and sold cars? “Steinbach,The Automobile City”

110

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

My neighbour said, rather disparigingly, that our street can be a thoroughfare for *some people* between the Seine and Red Rivers. (Unhoused folks often find refuge living in greenspaces along the banks.) Hmm, I thought, like people have been doing for 10,000 years when they *portage la prairie*?

Google Map of my Winnipeg neighbourhood. A dashed green line connects the Seine River and -- imagine that! -- the closest point of the Red River which is also very near the junction of the Red and Assiniboine. That junction, known locally as The Forks, has been a meeting place and trading place for Indigenous people for thousands of years. It is why Winnipeg is where Winnipeg is.

110

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Echoes from a century ago when downtown Winnipeg was the center of industry. The Can•D•Man reminds us Nutty Club can fulfill all our candy, nuts, peanut butter, and pancake syrup needs! Manitoba Historical Society has all the deets! www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/s...

Big ‘ol 5-story stone and brick building in downtown Winnipeg. Giant letters painted on the building announce (in all-caps) “NUTTY CLUB CANDIES - NUTS”
The next line is very faded but you can still make out “PEANUT BUTTER - PANCAKE SYRUP” Finally, there’s a painting of “CAN•D•MAN”, a jaunty man with a top hat and a body made of candy canes.

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

@anthonyfloyd.ca You're always pretty up on Vancouver civics and planning. Heard anything about Major League Baseball coming to town?

100

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Philanthropists halt donations to museum bc they object to an exhibit? Selfish, intolerant but 🤷‍♂️ it’s their💰. What pisses me off is how easily they get media coverage proclaiming their perspective. And Winnipeg’s elite w “Nothing about us without us” posters? 🤬 More like “Everything about us now!”

011

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Sunday morning brain buster. 12 cinnamon buns. 2 people eat 1-1/2 buns each for breakfast. How many days will it last? Shades of “a train leaves Chicago…” 😂

100

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Watching them finish the outside of this building and thinking, if that cherry picker had some smarts, I bet the worker could toggle left right up down and the bucket would move parallel to the wall. Prolly just need distance and angle between base vehicle and wall? Oh, and bucket/wall gap.

Photo from across the street of an apartment building under construction. A construction worker is in the bucket at the end of a very long hydraulic arm that stretches, uh, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 YIKES stories above the wheeled base on the ground. No, thank-you!

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Can't wait to catch The Odyssey this weekend.

Still from the movie, Field of Dreams. Seven old timey baseball players are emerging out of the cornfield on a perfectly manicured baseball diamond

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

your baseball pitcher name is your grandfather’s first name and the last thing you bought David Picture Hook (Pitcherhook? Terrible name for a pitcher!)

120

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Wasn’t it Andy Pages who bowled over Kiki and stole the World Series winning hit from Ernie Clement? Ernie’s all-star play to get Pages out at first must feel just a little extra good for Ern-dog! Woof! #BlueJays

051

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Interesting comment from @wilnerness.bsky.social following #BlueJays near no-hitter. Broadcasters didn't say "no hitter" because tradition, jinx, legit fear of online vitriol. But paying viewers and listeners deserve to know something special is happening. I'm with Mike: tell us it's a no-hitter.

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Last week, I moved to St. Boniface, the French neighbourhood of Winnipeg. It’s the oldest part of the city, full of clues about French Catholic settlement and Riel Rebellion. I’m enjoying the bilingual signs, like this one: la Promenade Taché / the Taché Promenade 😂

Two large, stone monuments sit next to each other along a sidewalk that follows the tree-lined Red River in the background. One monument says “PROMENADE TACHÉ” and the other says “TACHÉ PROMENADE “

021

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

@bkives.bsky.social Can you remind me where to find the river level in feet James? I cross the railbridge over the Assiniboine every day and this morning, there's a noticable rise in the water level. Islands around bridge piers disappered overnight!

100

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

@joannelevasseur.bsky.social thx for the follow! In this age of 24/7 AI slop, I’m happy to be connected with real and local journalists 😁

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

What a terrible loss 😢 I’m so grateful to have known Raul at UBC when he built online and in-person community as hummingbird604. He did social media right, when that was possible. Raul was a connector, using his network to bring people together. Once his friend, you were always his friend.

030

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Kiddo’s graduating from University of Manitoba today. All the #ProudDad feelz 🥲🥲🥲

Out-of-focus pic of a sea of graduates. Black robes, white stoles, square mortar boards. Kiddo’s in there somewhere!

160

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

So I’m watching Berlin on Netflix, the latest in the Money Heist series. Here’s the weird part: with language = English, the actors’ lips match the English. And in original Spanish, their lips match Spanish. They’re not shoot the scenes twice - I think AI is rendering the actors’ lips! 🤮

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

The boys of Summer are back in town 😁 So are the Jumbo Diamond Dogs, fries, and Angry Fish pilsner! Close game so far between Winnipeg Goldeyes and the Milwaukee Milkmen

Blue Cross Park, home of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, from 16 rows above the Goldeyes dugout on the third base line. Emerald green grass, caramel-coloured dirt, and bright white chalk lines.

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

@roberttalbert.bsky.social I’m watching the Blue Jays - Tigers ⚾️ game on TV and noticed Grand Valley State University bldg beyond center field. Have you been working across the street from a ball field all this time and I’m just finding out?!?

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

My wife is unexpectedly out for dinner. Oh dear, what shall I do? Must I BBQ hotdogs, for the second time this week ?!? Yes, I must, I must!

010

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Batters do the new ABS tap tap to turn strikes into balls. Catchers and pitchers tap tap to turn balls into strikes. Is there a situation where a batter would want to turn a ball into a strike? (“Do not walk me!”) What about a catcher turning a strike into a ball? (Why not just IBB?)

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Today’s #BlueJays / #MNTwins baseball game could see Jays pitcher Tyler Rogers (6’3”, 180 lbs, age 35, throws R, 0.51 ERA) vs Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers (6’3”, 190 lbs, age 35, throws L, 5.56 ERA)

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

My institution has developed a set of GenAI guiding principles. IMO, they're rose-coloured wishes, like this one: Validity and Reliability: AI is accurate, consistent, and purpose-driven, supported by ongoing monitoring and quality enhancement. How can we be guided by something that isn't true?

010

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Discussions to fire Red Sox manager probably started weeks ago. Imagine sober second thought before Saturday’s game: “Is there *anything* that could happen in today’s game to make us change our minds?” Red Sox won 17-1. Then they fired the manager and 5 others. That’s baseball, huh? 🤷‍♂️

010

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

When I was in junior high and still wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up, a doctor friend took me on a tour of the hospital. Specifically, the children’s cancer ward. Nope, nope, nopety, nope. Math is was instead.

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

@grimalkina.bsky.social My kiddo just graduated and got his first reall grownup job...as a junior software developer...and I'm all, Oh shit I >really< need to read Cat's stuff more carefully 😂

110

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Don't you love those unique things about your city? Two big rivers, the Red and Assiniboine, join in Winnipeg (that's why the city is where it is.) Every spring, there's risk of flooding. The height the Red rises is measured in "feet James" on a gauge on James Ave in the oldest part of the city.

A graph showing the height of the Red River is 13.11 feet James on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

The horizontal axis is labeled by the date, from March 1 to April 12. The vertical axis is the height of the river above "Baseline winter ice level" and runs from 0 to 25 feet. Three special heights are marked: River walk (8.5 feet James) is the height of the public sidewalk at the nearly Forks park. A Minor flood occurs when the height is 15 feet James. 20 feet James and higher is Major flood territory.

The graph itself is a line graph showing the water level has been rising steadily from just above 0 feet James at the beginning of March to 13.11 feet James on Sunday, April 12, 2026 at 12:00:00 am.

The City of Winnipeg is the source of the data and the graph appears in the Winnipeg Free Press on Monday, April 13, 2026.

230

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Incredible watching #Artemis fall back to Earth. NASA ticker show them gaining about 1 mph every second. They’re currently falling at 13,400 mph (22 000 km/h) 🤯

172

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Hey space friends, when do the astronauts board Artemis II? It's only T minu..., uh, L minus 7 hours (c'mon, they're not saying "T-minus 10, 9, ..." anymore 😢) and they're still filling the tanks.

100

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Told my wife I’d like a quiet night at home to watch the #BlueJays home opener. She invited all the kids over and she’s cookin’ up ballpark dinner: hot dogs, chicken strips, french fries, potato chips, beer, pop, red licorice. She’s my MVP ❤️

060

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I was the windsurfing instructor on a vacation charter yacht in the Caribbean. 🌴🐠⛵

010

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

@derekbruff.bsky.social I listen to podcasts on my way to work. If an episode inspires me, the next hour is when I have the spark to get things done. Today it's Intentional Teaching about grading. I can act bc you've already posted the transcript 🫡 If you wonder if it's worth it, yes it is!

120

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

I’ve got a Nigerian colleague at work. I asked him, how do you say hi to your friends? You say, “how far?” which means how far are you on the road to hell? If you’re doing fine, you say “not far 😁” But if you’re having a shitty day, you droop and shake your head and say “oooh, so far 😖…”

030

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

@karencosta.bsky.social Sorry, Karen, not a blurbable post 😂 but I need people to know about your book 📣📣📣 Already shared your @tihe.bsky.social podcast with 2 faculty, and I’ll be encouraging they read Educator’s Guide!

000

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Fully committed to not buying anything from the US #FuckOff51stState but I’ll make an exception for something as unique as this: An Educator’s Guide to ADHD by @karencosta.bsky.social

Photo of the cover of “An Educator’s Guide to ADHD” by Karen Costa

141

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

@analog-ashley.bsky.social @grimalkina.bsky.social By this time next year 🤞 I'll be living in my new house. Sad to leave behind my Little Free Library, though. Well, until this morning when I listened to you talking having a party to open yours! I will build a new one! We will have ☕🍩!

Photo of my Little Free Library. It's a rectangular box built around a stainless steel medicine cabinet. The Library is about 2' wide, 3' high, and 1' deep and it sits on two sturdy 4x4 posts. It's Christmastime and the Library has twinkly lights, decorations, all covered in a peaceful sprinkling of snow. There's a "Little Free Library" sticker on the door and some holly.

140

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Podcast guest: “I use GenAI to align my learning outcomes and assessments, and create syllabus to support the alignment” 😳 THAT is the part of your job you find tedious and outsourced?!? Why did they pick you to teach the course? What parts of teaching do you feel are worthy of your time?!?

050

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I listen to half a dozen podcasts about teaching in #HigherEd and every one of them is about gen fucking ai 😫 Podcasters, you’re not earning my attention because your topic is fresh and shiny, you’re losing my trust because there are so many others things I want to learn about.

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Tried something new at a Teams meeting. I wanted input on 4 topics. I needed to label the topics but 1,2,3,4 or A,B,C,D impose undeserved, artificial hierarchy or importance. So I asked people to post in the chat, starting with (polarbear) (moose) (bison) (bunny) and the chat erupted with 🐻‍❄️🫎🦬🐇!

020

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I pass a place everyday on my way to work called Plato’s Closet. And everyday I wrack my brain wondering if it’s some kind of, what, metaphor? allegory? allusion? like Hercules’ Gym or Demeter’s Bakery.

110

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

I bought a 1960’s cabinet that I’m transforming into a bathroom vanity for my new Midcentury Modern house. I found this inside. Can you guess the cabinet’s original purpose?

I can’t say exactly what this is or I’ll give away the mystery. I’m holding a red plastic, circular disk, maybe inch and a half in diameter. The disk isn’t solid, though. There’s a hole in the middle and then three curved, springy arms connected around the middle hole.

341

Peter Newbury @polarisdotca.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Glad-II-ator: Mehximus Whatevus

000