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 · 30/09/2026

I'll add to the chorus of "same here!"

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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 · 29/09/2026

Got it. So when you've finished a jar do you say "chow down" 😊🥁

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Not to mention the polinators!

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

4 sure. But we'll give em a few days on the vine yet.

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

Indeed even green they have a hint of sweetness

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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

It is crazy busy during 10am-4pm. Recommend arriving about an hour after sunrise if you want to have some light filter through. We got there for 7:00am at the end of August and things were pretty quiet.

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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 · 01/09/2026

TY! The amazing thing about this location is it not only has salmon, there are bushes and bushes of berries as well. It's bear heaven.

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

TY! Actually have some of the bear eating the salmon but I like the crow in the background on this one.

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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

In terms of taste - hands down the Super Sweet 100s from Kent are the sweetest tasting, but they are really very small cherry tomatoes. The Indigo Sun from Sprstore are actually really nice too, sweet and good texture. They take a **long** time to ripen on the vine. The Sweet 100s (Sprstore) are OK

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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

Interesting! We have some "Indigo sun" which are taking a loooong time to ripen!

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

Thanks, yes they are all out of the evacuation zone.

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

And arguing that climate change doesn't exist. We had a wildfire 4 km from us last year, there was one 30 km from my hometown in the UK and now my brother-in-law has likely lost his place. Not to mention Spain, France. And the super El Nino hasn't even really got going yet.

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

Here's a video (credit embedded) taken on Hwy 97 which runs alongside Okanagan Lake and through the east side of Summerland. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5kM...

youtube.com

Summerland Bald Range Wildfire Jumps Highway 97

YouTube video by ExNews Okanagan

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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 · 07/08/2026

Curious to see where you end up. @lmcampbell.bsky.social and I have enjoyed seeing your balcony garden pics.

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

And one slightly disappointing outcome - tried one of the "sweet 100s" from superstore which honestly don't look like cherry toms. And well, they're OK, taste pretty good but a bit "meally." Perhaps needed a little more ripening... But feeling Kent varietals won this year.

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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 · 01/08/2026

Incredibly there is no route out of this without the sides actually sitting down and speaking to one another in value sets that are not incommensurate. So as long as one side or the other wants to build a hegemony AI basically ensures a stalemate of mutually assured bullshit.

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

We're all talking abt the "AI bolus" - government wants detailed descriptions of precise changes in curriculum, faculty respond with marginal and AI directed discussions that produce 20+pages, administration submits and government puts through another AI to reduce down to bullet points.

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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

We used bobbex on the planters, they basically totally ignored it. One of my neighbours was more sensitive to it than the deer... sorry only half laughing. More seriously that should tell you how adjusted to urban environs they have become.

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

Just one? 🫠More seriously, I am not upset at the deer, but at the same time this is not a natural interaction and it likely has to end badly with deer being run over or leptospirosis.

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

Tried bobbex. 😣 Look, my heart aches for urban environs, but I have to make a "don't feed the ducks post" for deer. We all agree feeding ducks ruins their instincts, so why is letting 150lb deer habituate our yards viewed as humane? It just leads to fearless aggressive deer, coyotes, & car strikes.

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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 · 16/07/2026

This is the precipitation we are here for...

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Rob Thacker @robthacker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Going full on with microgreens on a shelf stack. That sounds weirdly IT, but anyway, starting to realize that food security is a thing of the past.

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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 · 09/07/2026

Thanks it's kinda crazy that science files ran for 21 years...

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

I had a blast doing it, genuinely enjoyed the interaction with curious people. Glad you enjoyed it too.

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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 · 08/07/2026

Was there today. Really, really hard to watch happen. My heart goes out to some really talented people at 95.7 who were a joy to work with for 11 years. I genuinely think call-in radio matters for municipal discussion, but hey I'm an old fogey now.

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

We wondered initially if the super sweet 100s would look any different from the sweet 100s... Turns out the leaf structure is visibly different. Along side the increased flower production these the super sweets are clearly a distinct varietal.

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

One interesting note, of the three varietals we have planted, sweet 100 (from superstore), super sweet 100 (from kent) and indigo sun (from superstore) the super sweet 100s have by far the largest number of flowers. We can even envisage the plants struggling under the weight of future fruit...

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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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