Another first day of school
After a great summer full of a trip to Campbell River and two air force bases, my aviation mad kid is back in school.
Ten year old approved Jambalaya (but not really)
This isn't jambalaya... it is nowhere near jambalaya. But my ten year old actually ate it despite the fact that it broke a few of her Ten Food Commandments. I would like to thank the academy, my Acadian grandmother and the powers that be for blessing me with the gift to prepare a dish worthy enough of getting her to eat a vegetable. To celebrate this accomplishment, I will publish the recipe.
When a Default Becomes a Dependency - Google Maps and Lake America
Google Maps did not break its API when Lake America appeared on Canadian websites. But it did expose something more important: an optional localization default had become part of the application’s dependency surface. That changes how developers should think about region settings, third-party data and the risks hidden inside seemingly harmless defaults.
Shake the Lake 2026: Regina has a gem of a festival
My first trip to Shake the Lake featured excellent performances from Wide Mouth Mason, Headpins, Smash Mouth and 54-40, but the festival itself may have been the biggest surprise. Great sound, thoughtful organization and a beautiful venue make this one of Regina's best music events.
The other side of Canada’s founder exodus
Canadian founders are increasingly building successful companies in the United States. Looking at Y Combinator, Silicon Valley and the Dominion List suggests that American ecosystems may be pulling founders in just as strongly as Canadian policy pushes them away.
Going to visit my Dad
My kid and I will be in Campbell River soon for vacation. My kid is ten and when I was ten I went out there to visit my grandparents too. Now, I am the parent and she is the one going on a trip to see her grandparents. I am going to see my dad. Times and roles change.
On Dick Dale and Duane Eddy
Dick Dale and Duane Eddy approached guitar sound as both musicians and experimenters. Their pursuit of tone, volume, space and technology helped shape ideas that later guitarists would continue to push in very different musical directions.
The Ancient Ways Still Work - Why Modern Web Debugging Still Starts at DNS
A reflection on Apache, Nginx, DNS, modern web abstractions and why older debugging tools like dig, curl and openssl still matter. The article uses a farmyard analogy to explain why a domain is an address into a complex operation, not the operation itself.
More Performance Testing - NumPy versus PyArrow
A follow-up to the Lahman baseball benchmark using 18.2 GB of NYC Yellow Taxi CSV data. PyArrow was faster in all 48 file-level comparisons, but the real lesson is still about data shape, absolute time, and choosing the right tool for the work.
A short guide to using generative AI in fantasy baseball
Practical guidance for using generative AI in fantasy baseball, including avoiding overengineered draft tools, handling data scraping responsibly, and using chat to challenge research assumptions before writing code.