iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Marcus P.

POCGamer aka PanzerLion! @pocgamer.com · 29/09/2026

I'm back home from @kamcon.bsky.social, and already looking forward to next year!

Reposted by Marcus P.

POCGamer aka PanzerLion! @pocgamer.com · 27/09/2026

Great Day One at #KamCon2026! ✅ Mapping Presentation ✅ World Building Panel ✅ GM 2400 LOFI Sci-Fi: The Venusian job Solid experience so far! Saw @adventuredice.ca with their huge layout, and got a signed copy of Free Spacer straight from @xophra.bsky.social! Looking forward to tomorrow!

183

Reposted by Marcus P.

POCGamer aka PanzerLion! @pocgamer.com · 21/09/2026

I am at #KamCon2026 this weekend! Saturday Morning: - Map Making presentation! - World Building Panel! Saturday Afternoon: - GMing @jst.bsky.social's 2400: The Venusian Job! Sunday Morning: - #TTRPG panel! - Task Master event! Sunday Afternoon: - Round 2 of GMing 2400: The Venusian Job!

2134

Reposted by Marcus P.

ellen teapot 🇨🇦🏳️‍⚧️ @ellenteapot.ca · 07/09/2026

I almost forgot that it's R2 RapidBus Extension Day!

041

Reposted by Marcus P.

Casey Muratori @cmuratori.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The VOD for my BSC2026 talk "The Root of The Root of All Evil" is now available! It's the spiritual successor to last year's "The Big OOPs", so if you enjoyed that one, join me for one more adventure into the history of computer science: computerenhance.com/theroot

computerenhance.com

The Root of the Root of All Evil

A Brief History of Programming's Most Ambiguous Catchphrase

14211

Reposted by Marcus P.

coldcallsanddice.bsky.social @coldcallsanddice.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

New Eps! Featuring our friend, Rob Sieb board game and TTRPG designer! Talking board games, design and indexing. #podcasting #mindfruitgames #boardgames #ttrpg #roundtable #coldcallsanddice #Games #discussion

023

Reposted by Marcus P.

Jedwin Mok @jedwinmok.com · 02/08/2026

“Don’t believe your lying eyes!”

1141

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

*sigh* Back to back days of bad slopulist transit takes. First the blaming the car lobby instead of accepting that choices society made at large is why we have bad transit. Then transit is bad so we should just make it free instead of trying to make it better www.bostonglobe.com/2026/08/03/m...

bostonglobe.com

Pointing to Massachusetts’s fare-free experiment, Markey, Pressley press for a $25 billion federal free transit plan - The Boston Globe

The proposed legislation points to the success of free bus pilots that federal lawmakers say made Massachusetts a “national leader in fare-free transit policy."

010

Reposted by Marcus P.

Paul Kulig @paulkuligto.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

“Keep mixed traffic streetcars as they were" was always going to result in bad transit.” 👋 Waves in Toronto.

011

Reposted by Marcus P.

Brian F. Kelcey @stateofthecity.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Why it's important that historically-accurate people argue back against the silly "a GM conspiracy killed all the streetcars, just like in that movie" story.

513727

Reposted by Marcus P.

Sean Marshall @seanyyz.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Yep. But it was a conspiracy to corner the bus/tire/fuel market through National City Lines, not so much to destroy streetcars and public transit.

5193

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Sprawly cities built around freeway systems would do better to leverage the freeways they have with a strong network of express freeway buses connected to a strong local bus network before thinking about building rail.

081

Reposted by Marcus P.

Damien Moule @damienmoule.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

The TTC and Transportation Services have seemed indifferent to whether the transit priority schemes they create actually work. Instead they've seemed to focus on whether it fits in a magic box of "dedicated lane" or "transit signal priority". My latest: toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/torontos-s...

54911

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

It is pretty amazing to think that "peak oil" is more likely to be because of the economics superiority of solar and batteries than the depletion of oil reserves

030

Reposted by Marcus P.

Westside Backyard @westside-backyard.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I understand people are really worried about the character of their neighbourhood, so I think it's reasonable that new buildings have the same design standards the neighbourhood had 100 years ago.

041

Reposted by Marcus P.

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Invest in queue jumping infrastructure at intersections on the major arterials. Other urbanists may crucify me but I would even install new slip lanes at intersections to make them more effective. May as well make the best use of a 6-8 lane stroad instead of trying to put lipstick on a pig.

Scott road bus priority at a minor intersection without slip lanes

Bus queue jumping lanes on Scott road with slip lanes.

182

Reposted by Marcus P.

GRIDS Vancouver @grids.reillywood.com · 03/07/2026

🚨 If you want to speak to the Villages proposal on July 14, registration opens at 8:30AM tomorrow 🚨 This is probably the most important item of the year and it could use your support; you should write in too council.vancouver.ca/20260714/phe...

council.vancouver.ca

Public Hearing - July 14, 2026

2104

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

One of the best drama mini series, probably the best work that Eccleston and Craig have done. Not available for streaming in Canada but I'm sure people know how to acquire it. Would love to see a good Canadian take on this, maybe a 1970s-2010s Edmonton, our friends in the west.

010

Reposted by Marcus P.

Shane Carrow @shanecarrow.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

By this logic the UK should also be disconnecting all their heating during the winter

1153

Reposted by Marcus P.

Brendan Dawe @dawe.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

So I was curious about this game for Canada, and limiting it to the Big Six metro areas you'd have: 54 Toronto (skipping recent rail-stitutions) 439 Montreal IX (BRT) R4 Vancouver (99 actively being converted to automated metro) MG Calgary (more or less the Green Line) 105 Ottawa(?) 8 Edmonton

2123

Reposted by Marcus P.

Jeff Gerstmann @jeffgerstmann.com · 19/06/2026

Here it is, the final episode. And with that, every NES game released in North America has been ranked! See you next Friday for a new console, let's do it again! youtu.be/B-BrCnfHCgI

youtu.be

The Grand Finale: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Episode 146)

It's time to rank the final NES game: Super Mario Bros. 3. SIGN UP FOR FREE ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/jeffgerstmann HOT LINKS: BlueSky! https://bsky.app/profile/jeffgerstmann.com Instagram!…

3655067

Reposted by Marcus P.

Cariad Heather @cariad.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Nice to see that @theb1m.bsky.social not only fumbled on basic research about a recent video on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension, but they interviewed a local crank and cited him as an expert. I am certain that this is engagement bait, but nonetheless I'd expect B1M to get some facts straight.

A horrid map of the SkyTrain system mislabelling the Canada Line as the Broadway Subway, missing parts of the existing Expo Line, and does not include the actual Broadway Subway extension.

8484

Reposted by Marcus P.

august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 16/06/2026

"transit trips along this corridor is local" should be viewed less as a guiding principle for new transit in toronto (& other cities') and more as an indictment of the current state of transit, limiting the kinds of trips people are willing to take. good transit serves a diversity of trips.

2172

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

And I thought Google/Facebook had the best demographic targeting

030

Reposted by Marcus P.

Westside Backyard @westside-backyard.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Help me out here – does she say anything in this interview? Like, I can't tell that she actually answered a single question.

471

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

On one hand I'm sorry that Condon and his magical land use thinking is being exported from Vancouver, on the other the more he is out of town the better.

060

Reposted by Marcus P.

Kristian @kristianblais.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

In honour of the opening of the new Anse-à-l'Orme (A3) branch, here is the REM overlaid other Canadian cities. I tried to roughly centre Gare Centrale with the centre of the city to convey just how much high-quality, automated rail has been built in such a relatively short period of time!!

The current two branches of the REM imposed over Toronto, with Gare Centrale roughly lining up with the intersection of Bloor and Yonge. The A1 branch (that terminates in Brossard) extends past the Beaches and into the lake, just south of Birch Cliff. The A2 branch to Deux-Montagne extends well into Mississauga, terminating around Erin Mills parkway, north of Eglinton Ave. The newly opened A3 branch would extend all the way into southern Oakville, close to Sixteen Mile Creek.

The current REM laid over Metro Vancouver, with Gare Centrale centred around Granville Station. The A1 branch extends into West Vancouver and terminates west of Mount Seymour. The main branch extends roughly parallel with the existing SkyTrain ROW, branching out around Edmonds. The A2 branch extends into Surrey and terminates around East Newton. The new A3 branch reaches into Coquitlam, terminating in Port Coquitlam.

The REM overlaid Ottawa, with Gare Centrale roughly lining up with Parliament station. The A1 branch extends east up to the boundary of Orleans. The other two branches extend west, with A2 terminating west of Stittsville, and the new A3 branch extending into farmland.

The REM laid over Edmonton, with Gare Centrale centred over Churchill Station. The A1 branch extends north east along Fort Road, terminating in the Horse Hills area. The other two branches run south of the city, with A2 terminating in farmland southwest of the airport, and A3 terminating due south of Leduc.

1115037

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Ok let's just ignore shutting down a brand new transit line 6 months after opening "Early ridership figures [...] about 20,000 daily weekday riders" Sorry, about 20,000 rider, so Line 6 is under 20,000 riders per day then less than half of what the 36 did prev. www.metrolinx.com/en/news/line...

metrolinx.com

Line 6 Finch West weekend closure for system upgrades

Line 6 will close May 15-19 for system upgrades – here's what you need to know

320

Reposted by Marcus P.

Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 09/05/2026

I get the sense this is the worst fate that could possibly befall US transit construction execs – that after putting pen to paper, trying something new to America, learning from others to save a few hundred million or billion dollars, they’ll have to do it again in 20 years for another problem

3233

Reposted by Marcus P.

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 08/05/2026

ST's blithe dismissal of ALR based solely on the Canada Line shows a lack of seriousness to tackling high costs. There are many forms of automated rail out there to examine. ST should do that examination rather than this mad rush to scale back the ST3 projects that we voted for and are paying for.

5427

Reposted by Marcus P.

Infrastory @infrastory.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

To finish off our first week, we have a post on one of the biggest problems facing modern infrastructure projects. open.substack.com/pub/infrasto...

open.substack.com

Engineering Problems and Phone Call Problems

Perhaps sometimes we really should just phone it in

2358

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

It looks to me the biggest rapid transit needs in Toronto are 1) E/W line downtown, Ontario line is ok for this but needs to connect to Line 2 in the west 2) Eastern N/S line. Ontario and Scarb. ext. help the east but a Ontario line extension to Sheppard or further is needed in the long term

Map of the most ridden bus lines in Toronto

100

Reposted by Marcus P.

KamCon @kamcon.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Storytellers, Dungeon Masters, and secret keepers GM applications are now open for KamCon 2026 Get a full KamCon pass when you run two RPG sessions at KamCon Look forward to hearing your tales echo thought the halls September 25-27 Apply Now: register.cardboardconnect.com/kamcon/2026/...

KAMCON 2026, GM application are open!

image of a man running an ttrpg

021

Reposted by Marcus P.

Oh The Urbanity! @ohtheurbanity.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Why is Patrick Condon

2604

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

5 more minutes on UBC to Arbutus, 5 more Arbutus to VCC, 10 more VCC to Lougheed, 10 more Lougheed to Lafarge and suddenly a quick trip from one end of the entire Metro area to to the other turns into a slow slog no one wants to do.

160

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Yet another reason I am so happy that BC doesn't have a ward system for municipal governments.

070

Reposted by Marcus P.

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Romantically reminiscing about slow and infrequent interurban services that wouldn't even serve the two main universities isn't a solution. NA cities that has kept their streetcars/interurbans have made compromises doing so and we are probably better off with the SkyTrain reusing the useful sections

261

Reposted by Marcus P.

JackTatt 🇨🇦 @jacktatttran.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I’m not convinced about the Eglinton East/Scarborough East Rapid Transit/LRT. I honestly think a larger network of curb and median BRT on Eglinton Esst, Ellesmere, Morningside, Sheppard East, and Markham would do more and am not convinced LRT will offer a meaningful improvement over buses in TO.

4173

Reposted by Marcus P.

Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Two incorrect models of land and housing Left: land values and density increase 1-1, so land cost per sqft of housing is constant. This assumes perfectly elastic demand for land. Right: land prices are constant as density increases. This assumes zoning is not a constraint. 1/

Meme from Patrick Condon claiming that increasing density by 4x merely increases land prices by 4x, with no saving in land cost per sqft of housing.

Image from pushtheneedle, showing that when land prices are constant as density increases, the land cost per home falls with density, which reduces the price per home.

2132

Reposted by Marcus P.

Mark Shaw 🇨🇦✌️🇪🇺 @markshawtoronto.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Top transit priority should be fixing the speed of the Finch West LRT and the entire streetcar network (slowest in the world) Why ask for money to build another LRT line that will also suck.

1152

Reposted by Marcus P.

august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 06/04/2026

surrey is at the current terminal of the expo line (20+ km away from downtown vancouver) and you'll see trains running every few minutes, lots of people getting on/off. makes you really think what a grade-separated rail line from toronto to mississauga city centre, for example, could do.

crowded platform at surrey central station, trains every 5-7 minutes

4458

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

To put things in perspective for people from Toronto who don't realise how fast the SkyTrain is. The Expo line will take 65 minutes, roughly the same time the Berrie line will take from Aurora/Newmarket with infill stations. Only 15min longer than VMC to Union on line 1 during peak hours.

0122

Reposted by Marcus P.

fern k hahn @fernkhahn.com · 14/03/2026

what happens when your rail transit planning doesn't account for the possibility of buses being useful

3709

Marcus P. @reluctantaxe.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I didn't think that people lived long enough to have had a membership in the Asiatic Exclusion League

020

Reposted by Marcus P.

august 🍂 @auguststreet.ca · 31/03/2026

some parts of line 5 prove that a street median light rail can be fast when you design with one variable in mind: how frequent the LRT needs to stop along its route. (also, not pointlessly installing risk-averse CBTC on a street railway)

2213

Reposted by Marcus P.

Alex Wenzel @alexwenzel.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

For some reason, lots of Americans believe that rail transit is inherently more useful and reliable than buses. We need to address this somehow because we have a lot of road space and buses and their dedicated lanes are cheap. There isn't a path to broad transit usage without them.

While some residents are ready to put an end to the extra hassles the streetcar brings to the roadway, many others have come to rely on it and are mourning its impending loss. With less than two weeks until its last run rattles down the Hopscotch Bridge, riders are reflecting on the role it played in the corridor — and making alternate plans to get around.

Henry Sattlewhite lives on the eastern end of the H Street/Benning Road Line and frequently takes the streetcar to go grocery shopping, visit Family Dollar, and see his doctor. When the line shuts down on March 31, he thinks he’ll take the bus, but isn’t sure. “My doctor told me to catch the 90 bus, whatever… catch it and come back home,” Sattlewhite said. But he isn’t confident. “I don’t know what we’re going to do now.”

3145