iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 30/12/2025

From the same manual. I'm not really sure what kind of "Network Services" they expected us to connect this machine to.

A diagram of a video player user interface with the title “Network Service” and four boxes representing services (they are labelled XXXXXX, XXXX, XxxXxxx and XXXXXX. There is also a button labelled Settings near the bottom.

Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 30/12/2025

The manual for my "new" early 2010s era DVD player has the following amazing illustration. Of course primary video is for watching dinosaurs, people talking is relegated to secondary video.

A representation of picture-in-picture video done as a line drawing. Inside a box labelled “Primary video” there is a T. rex. In a box in the top right corner there are two people facing each other talking. It is labelled “Secondary video”.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 09/11/2025

I finally got to watch Weapons (2025). Really happy to finally have a night to see it. sechilds.ca/weapons-2025.html

A hand holding up a copy of Weapons (2025).

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 30/10/2025

Good on the University of Guelph. I guess this is one case where it's more efficient to give food rather than cash. www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/arti...

Dried beans donated to the Guelph Food Bank. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News). The beans are held by one person, hands making a bowl. They are wearing gloves. The beans are different sizes and colours. The background is out of focus.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 27/09/2025

When I created my UV index charts back in the summer, I didn't foresee the problem that the bars would all be yellow and therefore the white labels would be unreadable. #DataVisualization #matplotlib #python

A UV Index chart created with matplotlib for today, showing the maximum around 2 pm at 4.9. The graph has green (low uv index) and yellow (medium uv index) lines.

A 7Day Max UV index chart created with Matplotlib showing the maximum index for the upcoming week. It is generally just below 5 with the lowest bar being below 4. All the bars are yellow and have white labels making it hard to read.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/09/2025

I had those comics back when I was in high school and I still have a soft spot for them. #TMNT

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Book 2 by Eastman and Laird. It has the 4 iconic turtles on a New York rooftop in their original comic incarnation.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/09/2025

It'll be safe to go to Toys R Us, right? There won't be anything I'll just have to buy. #TMNT

In box action figure: Fugitoid from Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is a grey robot with yellow eyes. It houses a human consciousness (not visible).

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 20/09/2025

I finally got to climb the Pioneer Tower thanks to #DoorsOpen I feel like I've got to do a KW tradition. #Kitchener #kwawesome

View of people lining up to go into Pioneer Tower, from the top of the tower.

Me at the top of the Pioneer Tower waving.

The Pioneer Tower. If you look closely I am at the top!

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 20/09/2025

A little bit of a lineup for going up Pioneer Tower. #DoorsOpen #kwawesome

Pioneer Tower, a tower with stones on the exterior, windows and a weather vane that is a covered wagon.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 30/08/2025

Made me think of this old joke:

An old school Magic: The Gathering card called “The Goggles”, an artifact that cost 5 colourless mana. They can be tapped to “Do Nothing”.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 25/06/2025

For a two-bedroom apartment: Vancouver $3,170; Toronto $2,690; Ottawa $2,490. www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quoti…

Chart from Statistics Canada showing the average asking rents for 2 bedroom apartments in the largest CMAs. For 2025Q1, Montréal $1,930; Ottawa-Gatineau (QC part) $1,680; Ottawa-Gatineau (ON part) $2,490; Toronto $2,690; Calgary $1,920; Vancouver $3,170.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 25/05/2025

Happy 5 1/4 inch floppy disk day to those who celebrate!

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/05/2025

When the GO Train is delayed by 20 minutes, you get some strange departure signs.

Digital departure board at a GO Transit station shows the 16:11 Kitchener train on Platform 3, with stops at Bramalea, Brampton Innovation District GO, Mount Pleasant, Georgetown, Acton, Guelph Central, and Kitchener. The next train to Union departs at 16:00. The screen includes bilingual construction info and a current time of 15:54.

GO Transit digital departure board displays two upcoming trains. On Platform 2, the 16:00 train to Union Station stops at Bloor and Union, with 10 coaches. On Platform 3, the 16:11 train to Kitchener stops at Georgetown, Acton, Guelph Central, and Kitchener, with 12 coaches. The screen includes bilingual safety messaging and shows the current time as 15:59.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 04/05/2025

May the Fourth be with you. Happy #StarWars day. I was given this book last year. I remember reading at least one of the Han Solo books awhile ago.

Cover of Brian Daley’s Han Solo Adventures with Han, Chewbacca, Jabba the Hutt and the Millenium Falcon on the cover.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 19/04/2025

Kitchener-Waterloo needs this. The worst part of my commute is when the train arrives in Kitchener and many cars fight to get in and out of the train station parking lot. Region must also ensure those living in the Victoria Street encampment have a place to go. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kit

The region has shared this artist rendering of what the transit hub could look like when completed. (Region of Waterloo). It shows both the GO Train and ION train, a terminal building and walkways.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 15/04/2025

Brampton Transit, which is an integral part of my commute, gets a nice shoutout from Bloomburg. For a city of 700,000 an average weekday bus ridership of 226,500 is pretty impressive. The Züm bus is my connection to the regional rail system and has fare integration with it.

A Brampton Transit Züm express bus on the side of the road near the Torbram bus stop. You can see the heated shelter behind the bus.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 12/04/2025

Reminding myself how much I suck at this (almost) 40 year old game.

Title Screen for Ghosts ’N Goblins with a score of 3600.

Elite Systems Ltd Presents
Ghosts ’N Goblins
Programming by Chris Butler
Graphics by Chris Butlet
Sound Effects by Mark Cooksey

Copyright 1986 by
Japan Capsule Computers UK Ltd.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 11/04/2025

COFFEE BELIEVE AND FRIENDS NOTHING IS A PERFECT BLEND IMPOSSIBLE

Two identical wooden decorations one says “Coffee and Friends: A Perfect Blend” and the other says “Believe Nothing is Impossible”.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 09/02/2025

In Terminator Zero there is a terminator with a crossbow built into their arm, and I'm loving that for them.

A animated Terminator in a police uniform with a helmet. A crossbow that is a part of their arm.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/01/2025

Thanks to the folks at @humberarb.bsky.social for leading the walk for International Squirrel Appreciation Day. We appreciated some squirrels and they appreciated us humans.

An Eastern Grey Squirrel, black in colour, sits on a snowy log watching the group of people (off camera) watching them.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 04/01/2025

An amazing visit to the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory today. They are always very helpful and it's great to go someplace warm on a cold, snowy day.

A butterfly or moth sits on the muntin of a four pane window that reveals a winter scene outside.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 17/12/2024

Early GO train commute this morning.

View from the window of the GO train showing the sign for the Kitchener station. You can see the reflected train car interior. The train station is just a couple of buildings and a platform.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 24/11/2024

It was my first time seeing this mosaic on the side of the Clay and Glass Gallery.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 24/11/2024

It was a grey day, but it's always nice to come back to this lake.

View from the Northeast side of Silver Lake, with the Perimeter Institute on the left side.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 24/11/2024

This weekend's visit to Waterloo Park.

Waterloo Park way-finding marker with Silver Lake in the background.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/10/2024

An amazing first full day at #CIRPA 2024 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Great presentations and conversations and plenty to take back to our institutions. #CIRPA2024 #InstitutionalResearch

The banner at the Fredericton Convention Center, showing the Canadian Institutional Research and Planning conference name.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 17/10/2024

I can't believe that the CIRPA 2024 conference is almost here. I'm really looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues old and new in Fredericton. cirpa-acpri.ca/conferences/2024-fre… #CIRPA #CIRPA2024 #InstitutionalResearch #highered #PSE

Banner for the CIRPA 2024 conference in Fredericton, NB. Students of Data, Data Serving Students. Inspiring a culture of student success through data empowerment. October 20-23, 2024.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 17/10/2024

I'm still completely obsessed with Utopia Must Fall, a game descended from Missile Command, tower defence games, Space Invaders, and even Centipede. I love the vector art. pixeljam.itch.io/utopia-must-fall

Screen shot from the game Utopia Must Fall with various attacking aliens being shot at with a green railgun.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 12/10/2024

Spooky season continues with a watch of Late Night with the Devil. This is my kind of horror movie. And yes, the narrator at the beginning IS Michael Ironside.

Movie poster for Late Night with the Devil. It shows a talk show host with his head on fire.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 11/10/2024

A new donut place opening up nearby. Whether for good or ill, surely an omen of great import.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 29/09/2024

A video about the Northern Pike. fishyfishyfishtimes.tumblr.com/post/7580924...

A picture of a Northern Pike swimming. Text below reads “The Pike is a Happy Fish”, a translation of “Hauki on iloinen kala.”

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 21/09/2024

Now that I finished the Water Outlaws, I can finally listen to this podcast episode. (I read the other two books previously.) www.theincomparable.com/theincompara...

Cover of the Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang. The cover features a warrior on horseback.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 17/09/2024

I sqeaked in to the first 10% of users.

First 10% 10 million Blue Sky users image. User number 772858. Stephen Childs @sechilds.bsky.social. Joined August 29, 2023.

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Stephen Childs @sechilds.ca · 02/05/2024

I didn't know this existed until I biked up there from my place in the Beaches and wondered what this amazing building was. www.tumblr.com/wuts-good-ga...

A view of the R.C. Harris water treatment plant looking out onto the lake.

It is a large art deco style building that is better looking than a water treatment plant has any right to be. It is sometimes known as the Palace of Purification.

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