A collection of digital wonders and some other stuff.
Dave and I skipped breakfast and walked about 40 minutes to the Kiyomizu-dera temple. As we explored the area, we found ourselves surrounded by nature and following a path to the top of the mountain. Dave discovered the head portion of a rhino beetle. The decomposers had gotten to it, and it was very smelly. Continue reading "Japan Day 13"
Dave and I went for an early Saturday morning walk. Afterward, we went back to the hotel to meet with Dave s family and then to the konbini (convenience store) for breakfast. Though still early in the day, it was already getting quite hot, so I quite enjoyed the frozen mango slices I picked up there. Continue reading "Japan Day 12"
For my first full day back on Honshu, we set out for a quick convenience store breakfast and then headed to the train station. We were off to Nara Park. After sorting out which train and rushing around to make sure we caught it, it turned out we had a few minutes to read all Continue reading "Japan Day 11"
We headed out early, with all our luggage in tow, to get to the airport in time for our flight from Sapporo to Osaka. Day 10 was a travel day. I wanted to get to The Pokémon Store at the airport for some Japanese Pokémon cards, but it turned out they were all sold out Continue reading "Japan Day 10"
I ended up walking quite a bit on day nine of my trip. We decided to walk to April s daughter s school to drop off some sweets for her classmates as a going away present. The teacher was reluctant to share them, explaining that they don t really give out treats to kids at school, but they Continue reading "Japan Day 9"
On the eighth day of my trip to Japan, I ventured out to the Hoheikyo Onsen located about an hour-and-45-minute ride south of my homestay. April was nice enough to walk me to the station so we could chat a little before I headed out (and let s be honest, she was helping me make sure Continue reading "Japan Day 8"
Dave works out daily. I haven t really been keeping up with a workout routine but when in Rome… or Japan (as the case may be), I got outside and did some various exercises in the improvised street gym that Dave put together. He improvised deep push-ups between two picnic tables, did pull-ups on tree branches, Continue reading "Japan Day 7"
My sixth day in Japan started with a walk to the Sapporo Jazz Festival. We were a little disappointed to find out that despite being advertised as starting at 11:00, not all the venues, and only a few of the vendors, had anything happening until later in the day. So, we made the best of Continue reading "Japan Day 6"
Our first item on the agenda today was to replenish our foodstuffs. Here are a few photos of what s for sale in a Japanese grocery store. Shrimp, some large snails, and more! The melons here are expensive but also extremely tasty. A friend of Dave and April s gifted us one, to all of our delight. Continue reading "Japan Day 5"
Today, I made my way to Sapporo to see my friends Dave and April and their kids. A quick refresher in case you don t know: Sapporo is on the island of Hokkaido while Tokyo, of course, is on the island of Honshu. There is a train that connects the islands, but I opted for a Continue reading "Japan Day 4"
Today, I endeavoured to travel to a Japanese volcano and visit a traditional Japanese onsen. I failed in such a spectacular fashion that it makes this particular report almost pointless. That s not to say I didn t travel. Boy, did I ever travel. I was still feeling worn out from my day at the Disney park Continue reading "Japan Day 3"
The day started with some trepidation: should I really pull the trigger and do a day at Tokyo DisneySea or listen to the voice in my head telling me it would be weird to go to a Disney park alone and that I should do something more worthwhile with my time? The art museums and Continue reading "Japan Day 2"
Before I even arrived at the airport in Saskatoon, good fortune already fell upon me. A mishap at the drive-through caused a 10-pack of Timbits that Andrea had bought for the kids to fall onto the ground. Without missing a beat, the woman at the drive-through insisted it was no problem and that she d get Continue reading "Japan – Day 1"
Back in October, My close friend, Chelsea Matisz gave a wonderful TEDx Talk called, How modern life could affect gut health . Last fall, I had the opportunity to speak at TEDxCalgary about an idea I ve been thinking about for years: the way that many modern struggles stem from the mismatch between the world our gut Continue reading "Dr. Chelsea Matisz on Brain and Gut Health"
It s been 33 years since my childhood trip to Japan and next month, I m going back! My friends and their family are currently on a four month exchange in Sapporo so I m going to stay with them before they head back to Canada. That original trip to Japan was so formative in my life and Continue reading "Japan… Again!"
Against all odds, after a 53 year dry-spell, the Knicks won the NBA championship last Saturday in a dramatic underdog story that will probably be made into one or more Netflix documentaries. Mike Monteiro thought about the series and turned it into a useful metaphor for life: How to Get Out of Bed, which you Continue reading "How to Get Out of Bed"
Today during WWDC 2026, Apple announced it was releasing Siri A.I., a profoundly more capable version of Siri, but when I downloaded and installed the developer beta, Siri A.I. was no where to be seen. After some searching in the settings, I discovered a Try the new Siri button which then said that Siri A.I Continue reading "Siri A.I."
David Friedman s essay on the power of rhyme: The Best Thing About the Satanic Panic. For readers too young to remember, the Satanic Panic was a widespread moral panic in the late ’80s and early ’90s where some people believed that Satanic cults were abusing children and influencing pop culture through things like heavy metal Continue reading "Would a Satanic Panic by Any Other Name Sound as…
Stephen Colbert s run at the late show is over and it got me thinking about the tiny backwards message that he put into his 2007 audiobook, I Am America (And So Can You). So I updated my old posting about it from Shockwave Flash to instead play mp3s.
I was collecting signatures for Corb Lund s Water Not Coal petition on Tuesday when a lady blurted out at me and a couple of other people that were there to sign. Maybe Alberta should just join the United States! she jeered. Clean water and separatism aren t the same issue at all, and one of the Continue reading "The Case for Canada"
A couple months ago we had a ferocious wind storm that toppled over our neighbours giant spruce tree. It was one of those double trunk trees, so actually only half the tree fell over. It still left quite the impression. The neighbours had the rest of the tree taken out within the week. Last Friday, Continue reading "Fall Guy"
Michael: As a popcorn musical, Michael is an undeniable Thriller. As a work of biography, however, it’s Bad — and quite possibly Dangerous. Oscar Goff, Cambridge Day Animal Farm: Some adaptations, it seems, are far less equal than others. Liz Declan, Screen Rant Super Mario Galaxy II: We all have a finite amount Continue reading "The Bad Review Revue"
Last week marked 40 years since the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. PBS Newshour sent a couple of reporters into the exclusion zone for an update on the site, including a look at the drone damage done by Russia in 2024 during the Ukraine war. (Previously, and more previously.)
On Thursday, Apple reported all time high revenues for their second quarter: “Today Apple is proud to report our best March quarter ever, with revenue of $111.2 billion and double-digit growth across every geographic segment,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone achieved a March quarter revenue record, fueled by such extraordinary demand for the iPhone Continue reading "Apple Earnings Q2 – 2026"
YouTuber Hank Green has published an excellent tool to see view Artemis II photos and media in chronological order. There is even a small diagram on the right hand side that shows where Artemis was when the photos/videos/audio were recorded. He also put out this video essay describing process of putting it all together.
Rumours that Tim Cook might leave his CEO role Apple this year have been swirling for quite some time but today, writing on Apple s newsroom, Cook broke the news that he s becoming executive chairman of the board and also shared that John Ternus will take over as CEO in September. Tim Cook: Today we announced Continue reading "Tim Cook Leaving Apple"
Just a day or two ago I was looking for Federico Viticci s Frames shortcut (previously) and noticed it hadn t been updated since November of 2024. I wondered if he just stopped updating it but today was delighted to find Federico posted a long awaited update: Today, I’m very happy to introduce Apple Frames 4, a Continue reading "Federico s Apple Frames 4 Shortcut"
The 3D simulation in the video below from The Overview Effect compares Artemis II s flight path with its predecessor Artemis I as well Apollo 8. It also goes into a little depth about how the moon s orbit affects the earth with the path it takes fluctuating through an 18.6 year long cycle floating around the Continue reading "Comparing Flight Paths of Artemis II to Apollo 8 and Artemis I"
NASA has a Flickr album full of new images from the Artemis II mission. Just look at these beautiful photos: (via Kottke)
On Wednesday, the Artemis II took off for the moon. I watched the launch with Ian. Here s a replay from NASA s livestream: Later we called my dad to talk about his memory of watching previous moon landings. He explained that during the first moon walk, he went outside and took a picture of the moon. Continue reading "Artemis II Mission Blasts Off"
There is a new version of my recipe app in the App Store today and with it a new icon. As well a dark mode version: There have been a lot of new features since the app was first released and I m very pleased with how things have progressed. If you give Mercury a try Continue reading "Mercury 1.0.6"
This morning I woke up to news that Apple has approved my new recipe app, Mercury. The special thing about Mercury is that it harnesses on-device A.I.1 to import recipes from your favourite recipe sites. The app also sports an achievement reward system that tracks user actions in app and provides 35 different awards. There Continue reading "Mercury Recipe App"
I’ve been having some major problems with the site over the past few days. Three nights ago I discovered that all the posts newer than January 15th from the last week were being wiped each day1. The errors started after I updated the Jetpack plugin and while that doesn’t prove anything, I was never happy Continue reading "Milner Stats"
The Calgary Herald posted a story about the Fake Recall1 yesterday, in which I was quoted: I’m not aware of anyone actually being able to sign the petition, said Jeff Milner, a Lethbridge-East resident. Milner was part of a group who had submitted a petition of their own to recall Neudorf, a United Conservative Party Continue reading "Fake Recall in Lethbridge"
You can spin magnets above a copper surface and create a board that hovers, albeit not very high, but it does hover or you can freeze a superconductor and have it float above a magnetic track and also get a hover effect. The dream of course is to get a hoverboard that bounces under your Continue reading "Colin Furze’s Magnetic Hoverboard"
Yours truly in an interview with Bridge City News today:
Despite the heartbreaker this morning watching Canada take silver medals after losing to the United States 2-1 in three on three overtime, nevertheless, we have much to be grateful for. This thoughtful article about watching the olympics in Ukraine keeps things in perspective. The tone of the Ukrainian Olympic coverage is humane. Like other national Continue reading "Watching the Olympics in…
Melania: “The significance of Melania isn’t the contents of the film so much as the fact that it happened. It’s not impossible that it might be evidence in an impeachment trial. And in any case, it is an important document in the decline of American public life.” — Robert Hutton, The Critic How to Make Continue reading "The Bad Review Revue"
In a post last year, I linked to Cabel’s Wes Cook talk but today he’s filled in some of the missing details about photographing and recovering the mural. I love this so much. After learning about “Vision 2020” from a collector the McDonald’s initiative which, as a I note in the talk, you did Continue reading "Cabel Sasser on Photographing the Wes Cook McDonald’s Mural"
Apple’s earnings report today shows that the company is not slowing down with iPhone still bringing in all time records for revenue. From Apple News Room: Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 first quarter ended December 27, 2025. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent year over year. Continue reading "Apple Earnings Q1 – 2026"
I didn’t get to run the recall petition that I wanted, but I am going to take part in the petition to stop coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Here’s Corb Lund in an interview explaining why we should care: See coalpetition.ca to sign up.
I’ve been busy making updates to my app Five O’Clock Somewhere and today the newest version 1.0.4 has been approved and is available on the US and Canadian app stores. This new version includes maps of the various locations where it is currently happy hour! If you enjoy the app, please consider adding a review.
American director Rian Johnson has published a collection of his tv and movie scripts on his website and is encouraging folks to “[p]rint them, share them, [and] act them out with your friends.” A small charter school took the script from Knives Out and adapted it to a play, and performed it with Johnson in Continue reading "Download and Print Scripts from Rian Johnson"
The newest version of my cocktail recipe app, Five O’Clock Somewhere, is available on the App Store. This version has some minor bug fixes and capitalization standardization throughout the ingredients.
Today I officially became an iOS indie app developer. My first ever published app received final approval and is now available for free download now in both the US and Canada iOS app stores! Five O Clock Somewhere celebrates the universal tradition of the happy hour by connecting you with locations around the world where it s Continue reading "Five O Clock Somewhere"
I found this on the Lethbridge subreddit: Nathan Neudorf says notwithstanding clause “the most democratic action the legislature could do” Presumably this is an email response to questions about the democratic-ness of using Section 33, the notwithstanding clause, to rob teachers of their rights. It says: Thank you for your email, I appreciate the opportunity Continue reading "Most Democratic…
From Thomas Lukaszuk on BlueSky: .@elections.ab.ca .@ElectionsAB Why are Elections Alberta accredited canvassers for the separatists’ petition required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the separatists? What are their canvassers not to disclose? What are they hiding? Is this not a transparent democratic process? #ableg [image or embed] Hon. Thomas A. Lukaszuk (@lukaszukab.bsky.social)…
It s a bit embarrassing to admit it, but the thought of the US attacking Canada is something that s been on my mind for the first time in my life. Not that I think we are in any immediate threat, there will be a lot of other significant moves to make one truly frightened nevertheless the Continue reading "Thoughts"
The 2025 edition of our Three Seconds Everyday video is up. This year I didn t render out a one second version, but it s surprisingly watchable at double speed, if you don t mind the audio. I have to thank Andrea for picking up a few of the days that I happened to miss.
Happy new year! Here are my most view posts of 2025:1 Stairway to Heaven Backwards Full Lyrics: 8,297 Secret Hitler Print and Play: 6,210 Laughing Wild — by Christopher Durang: 4,120 Home page / Archives: 2,960 Laughing Wild — by Christopher Durang: 891 Apple Photos How to view all unnamed faces Solved: Continue reading "Top 10 Posts of 2025"