iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Today really does feel like fall. There's a bit of wind to blow the leaves around, plus the overnight temperature was low enough you can feel a bit of bite in the morning. Here's an unlikely pair lit by the low ☀️. #photography #Halisky

Two fallen leaves lie next to one another on the tarmac of a car park. The lower leaf is aligned with the stem of the larger maple leaf. The maple leaf has a large single hole in it. Both are turning red/brown.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Attended the celebration of the life of Gerry Post today with @lmcampbell.bsky.social. What an amazing show of respect, admiration and love for someone that profoundly impacted Nova Scotia's accessibility legislation and the lives of many, many people. #RIP #thankyou #Halisky

A large crowd stands in front of a distant podium and speaker at the NSCC in Dartmouth. There are so many people, some are standing on stairs to get a view of the speaker.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A little bit of red surrounded by green! #mikmaki

A spray of red maple leaves at the end of a branch is surrounded by leaves that are still bright green.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

And of course, two weeks before we dig everything up (Thanksgiving is the deadline) the Super Sweet 100s decide to push a ton of fruit! Ripening clock is counting down. Fingers crossed we get one last batch, but frost might get em first. #homegrown #halisky

View of many long strings of green small cherry tomatoes within a growing frame.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Why are UDP jokes so funny? Because in order, arrive, the punchlines do not.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

#Cathedralgrove on Vancouver Island is a truly remarkable "memorial" (as that is what it feels like) to the old growth forest of the island. The massive old trees (800+ years for some) feel like sentinels drifting through time. @lmcampbell.bsky.social is in front of "the Big tree" #photography

Structure of an uprooted stump. Moss covers the intercrossing limbs while the forest is in the background.

Looking toward the sun filtered through the canopy. A tree in the midground is covered in moss which is backlit by the sun creating a ghostly rimlight effect.

View in to the forest. A large Douglas Fir stands on the left while a new tree next to it is shooting up to reach the light of the canopy. Many other trees fill the view.

Someone stands in front of an enormous tree looking up towards the light of the canopy. A fallen tree lays between the person and the massive tree behind.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Had a wonderful time with @lmcampbell.bsky.social touring around Vancouver Island. Special thanks to Catherine Babault a local wildlife photographer for showing us some pretty amazing places. This bear caught 3 salmon in 20 mins, and attracted many scavengers looking to grab left overs. #photography

A bear walks on rocks, back lit by the sun. In the distance a crow sits on a rock, looking on and waiting for some scraps.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Back from Edmonton & Vancouver Island after a much needed family visit and holiday. With @lmcampbell.bsky.social we harvested our tomatoes today (+big TY! to nghbrs for looking after them). Here's what we left by the deer 😉. L2R Sweet 100s, Indigo Sun, Super Sweet 100. #homegrown

Tomatoes laid out to dry on a linen cloth. On the left is large cluster of bright red tomatoes around 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. In the middle is cluster of smaller purple and orange tomatoes, more pear-like in shape. On the right are smaller still cherry tomatoes, mostly bright red.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Summerland BC fire has slowed down, still presenting significant risks but authorities are reviewing the possibility of limited returns. Here's a map from NASA/FIRMS of current hotspots.

View of Summerland from satellite data with current hotspots overlaid. The fire is now burning on the edges of its reach, with current burning focused to the north and south of Summerland.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

And there I was wondering if anyone else saw the resemblance?

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

People in Summerland BC woke up to an evacuation siren overnight. Whole community evacuated due to rapid wildfire spread, if you have friends/family there hope they got out OK. Getting messages from family there that some houses have already gone. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

Full evacuation order of Summerland, B.C., issued due to out-of-control wildfire | CBC News

The Bald Range fire grew to 50 square kilometres in three hours after it was first detected at 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday evening, said Erick Thompson with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen's ...

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

First taste test! Interestingly the "Super sweet 100s" frm Kent are the first to ripen, that is likely down to the deer eating our "Sweet 100s" from superstore before they had a chance... Taste verdict? 😋😋😋 Honestly I did a little jig as I was worried they wouldn't live up to the effort. So good!

View of 5 tomatoes in a collander. The biggest is in the top right, showing redder colour than the others. The smallest tomato is in the middle of left column between two yellow/orange toms.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We have maybe 3-5 more days of hummingbird heaven in the garden! Two pairs this year being pretty territorial about the different crocosmia stands. #halisky

View of a garden with large bursts of red crocosmia flowers, grass is in the foreground to the right, and some caged tomatoes are on the far right edge of the view.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Deer destroyed months of work on our tomatoes last night. Sigh. 😢 Honestly have to think the current situation of them becoming so at home in the Halifax urban environment (zero fear of humans) is not good for disease distribution, like leptospirosis, as well as ticks.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Had to install a new bathroom faucet today. Squeezing into awkward places isn't fun (it's the getting in and out repeatedly for checks that's the problem). Totally vouch for buying a fauct/drain installer tool. You won't be cursing the lack of space to get your arm+wrench in...

Image of a faucet/drain installer tool. It is made of plastic and is a tall vertical wrench with fittings on either end. It allows you to reach up into the space behind the sink easily.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

A "wood" of dogwood! #Halisky On the SMU campus.

Many, many clusters of dogwood blooms stretch out before the viewer. Their pink and white blooms fill the frame.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Still reeling a bit from the news of all the Rogers station closures. Watched Hanomansing tonight about it, click in to the interview with Jon Pole at the 3:30 point. It's a really different perspective on whether local radio can survive and even flourish. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EPS...

youtube.com

Rogers cuts hundreds of jobs, closes radio stations across Canada | Hanomansing Tonight

YouTube video by CBC News

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

First fruit! 🍅😋Funny how the indigo sun look like little egg plants! They turn from purple to orange as they ripen, still keeping a patch of purple around the stem. All plants 🌿are growing about an inch a day right now with the warmer weather. #halisky

Close up of the indigo sun tomatoes. A cluster of purple fruit hangs down with bright green stems visible.

A cluster of still very green sweet 100 cherry tomatoes. The green stems are quite hairy compared to the indigo sun.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

A #tomato update... Weather has been OK over the past ten days but not great, some cooler nights. In 10 days the sweet 100s have put on a bit over a ft in height, pretty much the same for the Indigo sun, which are now close to the top rung of cage. Some little purple beads on the indigos already 😋

Looking towards two planters of sweet 100 tomato plants. White piping loops over the planters, while six tomato plants are growing in each.

Close up view of indigo sun tomatoes, which a couple of super sweet 100 plants in the foreground. The super sweets are much shorter than the indigo sun which have just about reached the top of the cage. The super sweets are two rungs down from the top and about half the height.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Giving Purple Cow fiber a go after 16 years of Eastlink. Basically we more than halved our costs and increased the bandwidth by x4. As for reliability, well yeah, I'll report back! 🙂

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Early morning cloud over a distant mountain in #Hokkaido Japan. Shadows mimicking the cloud stripes. Just loved how the earth and sky seem to be negatives of one another. #BlueSkyArtShow #photography #blackandwhite

Black and white image of a snow covered field reaching out to a dark tree line with cloud covered mountains in the distance. Shadows from trees rake across the lower right of the image, contrasting against stripes of cloud in the sky in the top left.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

#Tomatoes are growin! Interestingly the Indigo Sun plants have grown the most. The sweet 100s are trying to keep up. The Super sweet 100s are actually the smallest growth in the "litter." Still plenty of time to get going though. 1st flowers are already showing. Poppies photobombing. #halisky

View of a tomatoe bed. Red poppy flowers are leaning in from the left. Green spirals sit next to each plant.

View of a very clean bed. On the right each plant has a red plastic surround while on the left all the plants have a white plastic shield. Green spirals support each plant.

Another view of a tomato bed. The bed itself is covered with plastic from miracle grow soil bags. Each plant shows much more growth than in the other pictures.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Sometimes a shoreline echoes the whole lake back to you. Grab your easel! Sometimes it reflects back your presence, repeated in miniature, quite literally a community of bubble lenses. Oakfield Provincial Park, NS. #Photography #mikmaki

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Forget the physical comparison for a moment and focus on the competitive one: Imagine a *15-year-old* in the NHL becoming the Richard winner and Hart stand-out... That’s the scale of what Vaibhav Suryavanshi is doing in the Indian Premier League, right now. 💥🤯

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Tucked in and protected. 🍅🛡️ @lmcampbell.bsky.social and I got the tomatoes planted and protected from the elements (added some extra frost protection last night...) Now we play the waiting game... Sun sugar, Sweet 100 and Super Sweet 100.

Looking down on three planters, each 3 ft x6 ft. On each planter there are small growing houses each with a zip on the top. Tomato stakes are tied to hoops over the planters.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

This is incredible on a number of levels. The ingenuity needed to create the stone drill and the capacity of the patient to sit through the procedure... Wow! www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

theguardian.com

Neanderthals used stone drills to treat cavities 59,000 years ago, tooth suggests

Molar found in Siberia features deep hole that appears to show earliest known evidence of dental treatment

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Doesn't look like much, but after a couple of years of so so tomatoes we decided to re-bed the planters. Probably moved about a cubic yard of dirt out, and @lmcampbell.bsky.social covered the new soil up to let it cook for a little bit before planting. 🤞for better tasting toms this year!

Image of three planters in a garden. Each one is covered with plastic weighed down by rocks. Hoops for fabric are also visible.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The couple of weeks of tree blossom are just so beautiful (even if a bit of an allergy nightmare!) Leaves haven't yet come out, so you can see the full structure of the twigs and boughs, yet there is a beautiful spray of colour on everything! 🎉#photography

Looking towards a tree in front of the Burke building at Saint Mary's University. The boughs are full of red blossom.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Spent a reinvigorating 2 hours at Oakfield Provincial Park (#mi'kmaki) soaking up the spring sun. 🌲 The light was dancing through canopy, producing a rhythmic dappling that really made the copper of the old beech leaves pop against the new green growth. Old to new, seasons bridged... #photography

A young beech still holding it's copper leaves stands isolated against a path leading off to the left. A small tuft of bright green new growth fills the bottom corner to contrast against the beech leaves.

View of a grove of beeches, some lit up by the sun and producing a warm orange glow. New green growth sits in the bottom right and top left to contrast against the beech colours. Fallen trunks cut diagonals across the image of the deep forest.

Looking down a long pathway marked by fir, cedar and pines. Blue sky peaks through at the very top, but the pathway out is clearly visible in the distance. People are walking along the path. The sun cuts through the canopy creating a carpet of dapples on everything in the image.

Close up of two young spruces, one on the right lit by sun, the other on the left in shadow darker than the distant background of white birch trunks. In the bottom left are two stumps, one out in the sun and another in shadow, mirroring the two spruce trees.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Should have posted this on tweeter!

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Delighted to see the awesome @lmcampbell.bsky.social ranked the #1 🥇#Deaf researcher in the world based on h-index (see precise methodology here stats.unusualverse.com) Recognition like this matters. It's not just for the work itself, but for who gets to be seen as shaping the future of research.

List of Top 10 deaf researchers by academic impact. Linda M Campbell # 1 at 40.6, Carol Padden #2 at 31, Annelles Kusters #3 at 30.7, Poorna Kushalnagar #4 at 30.6, Christian Rathmann #5 at 26.8, Ingo Barth #6, Maartje de Meulder #7, Kristin Snoddon #8, Christian Marcos Arias #9, Johanna Mesch #10.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Missed it when it first came out, but if you haven't seen it, you are missing one of the best public service announcements ever (from Norway, yes in english)... I couldn't stop laughing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Up...

youtube.com

A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator

YouTube video by Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council

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Reposted by Rob Thacker

mary-colin @mary-colinchisholm.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Caturday: mad skillz edition.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

On a purely psychological basis, you have to think the #ArtemisII crew are going through that "wow, but it's over" feeling. Identity, purpose and focus are all intertwined in the lead up & execution of the mission. It's in some sense a closed loop of motivations.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Huge congrats to the #ArtemisII crew! Still some small things to work out, but honestly the mission could not much have gone much better! To all the crew: pls enjoy this moment with family and friends!

BBC image of the capsule and remote boats approaching it

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Sometimes astro prompts you to say some apparent oxymorons: "Ah, that's a collision of the collisionless component" Student: Can I use that in my thesis?😂

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Chatted with Todd Battis of CTV Atlantic about the current state of #Artemis - a spacecraft, far, far away as current human spaceflight goes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1p_...

youtube.com

Artemis II marks space milestone

YouTube video by CTV News

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Honestly, I hadn't teared-up about anything Artemis related until Jeremy Hansen dedicated a crater on the Moon to Reid Wiseman's late wife Carroll. Then they all hugged. Hard not to feel the humanity from ~400,000km away.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

"Five different types of hot sauce and 58 tortillas: the food powering the astronauts.... In total, 189 menu items have been chosen" says the Beeb. Next time you’re annoyed that your taco spot ran out of salsa, remember: somewhere above your head, an astronaut is meticulously counting tortillas 🌮😋

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Definitely adding "vibe coding cleanup specialist" to my common CV

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Peak 2026: AI agents on linkedin arguing about whether someone has a AI agent working on linkedin to paraphrase previous posts about AI slop. Imagine if linkedin then asked if you want AI to help you write your response. Thankfully it doesn't!

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Ottawa commits $200M to Spaceport Nova Scotia over 10 yr. Have to admit I didn't foresee a change in global geopolitics as the thing that would produce a government commitment after being non-committal for years. But sovereign space access has become increasingly sensitive www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

cbc.ca

Ottawa puts $200M into space launch pad in Nova Scotia | CBC News

The federal government is putting $200 million toward a Canadian-owned launch pad to send satellites into orbit.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Spring is trying to break free of winters grasp! Out walking at #OakfieldProvincialPark today with @lmcampbell.bsky.social and spotted this striking little beech still holding onto its winter leaves. #photography

A young beech tree stands in front of a background of birch and pine. Orange leaves that have not yet been shed create a weave of colour against the dark background. A few shadows reach out from the background, created by a low Sun.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Since it's become a bit of a tradition, here is the first crocus bloom of 2026 in our garden 😀🌷#photography

Close up of a yellow crocus. The petals are open and stamens are visible. All around are fallen leaves from the previous fall.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

I'd love to be able to promote the work of Emily Fisher and Jorge Mesa as undergrads on bsky, except they aren't on bsky! 😜 Anyway here is their work on looking at the mixing of gas in collisions of galaxy subclusters. #scicomm

A slice precisely through the mixing plane shows the detailed structure of mixing as systems punch and ripple back and forth.

A slice directly across the mixing plane showing the beautiful folding occurring under the subtle motions around the mixing plane.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Got out for a quick walk around Mt Olivet cemetery with it being a #snowday. Gorgeous little scenes all the way around. #photography Halisky.

Looking towards a stream that meanders in an S-shape from the bottom right through to the top left. Trees fill the top of the frame.

Looking down a snow-covered path, a tree on the right hangs over it and is covered in snow. Two tires tracks cut through the white of the snow on the path.

Looking up in to the canopy of a tall white pine. Boughs reach out from the central trunk, framed against a sky that is a combination of blues and whites.

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