New font: OCRmA A rendering of a 9-pin dot matrix font intended for OCR use, specified in FIPS PUB 129 / ANSI X3.111-1986 “Optical Character Recognition (OCR) — Matrix Character Sets for OCR-MA” a lovely font if you don't need lower case or punctuation OCRmA-Regular.zipDownload (github mirror:…

I didn’t even know that there was a 🧻 🇨🇦 until now

When the Italian fashion label Fiorucci paired up with the collectible sticker company Panini in (obviously, just look at them) 1984.

The Canadian Frozen Cranberry drought continues

Do I know anyone who worked on the MicroPython-based web simulator for NumWorks? Got a present for ya: gadgetoid.github.io/upyweb/

I'll summarize this: Mamdani asked NYers to keep air conditioning at 78 degrees. A wave criticism hit online. A MSNBC broadcast pointed out the US Department of Energy recommends that 78 degree figure. Immediately after, the US Department of Energy deleted 6,000 web pages related to energy saving.

Look Mum, No Socket! My NanoLeaf NanoLight LED bulb from 2013 finally gave up the ghost: or did it …? woo! spooky glowing undead lightbulb! The LEDs glowed for several minutes after removing it from the socket. I suspect capacitance is afoot. Although it was absurdly expensive ($45 ; that's about…

Just got a response from Scarborough SW federal Liberal MP Doly Begum about the airport expansion. Aside from delaying 10 weeks (!), the reply is anodyne, impersonal and clearly not written by her. She has been ingested into the Carney machine, and will be no further use to Scarborough residents

In defence of the Jacko film, it's not history project, but an attempt to entertain people and flow money towards the Jackson estate. Not sure "and he's a nonce" would have helped these two objectives, even though, yes he was a nonce. A very funky nonce.

Ice Lolly for breakfast

The Most Canadian Picture ever. This sled thingy was improvised by installers at Dave Rampel Solar farm on Rainy River First Nations land in NW Ontario (it's about 1 km from Minnesota). It was below -35 °C, and the installers were finding that cable ties were shattering from the cold.

Damn, I miss Active Surplus every day ...

okay horrid king assassin bug, you know what to do

Okay. So. Obscure Military Holy Orders. Bear with me on this one: In 1687 the French were aggressively expanding their trade and slavery operations on the Gold Coast. As part of this two young West African boys were sent back to France, most likely as slaves. One may have been called "Aniaba". /1🧵

Someone on the Raspberry Pi forum was telling Raspberry Pi Ltd to change their corporate download links because the user's download script didn't work

Home-made Random Digits I have always meant to do more with the idea of Re-creating RAND’s ‘A Million Random Digits’ but it's a lot of effort for very little return. This week, however, I had a chance to be my own random number generator. A routine medical investigation had me get a couple of…

TIL that Natural Resources Canada sells Radioactive Spruce Twigs and Needles — natural-resources.canada.ca/minerals-min...

It's baby skunk time! #skunks #skunk #toronto #squee

milkshake mole

I'm still thinking about this, unfortunately. The fictional Sprüngli's "Schoggi-Kaninchen" (choco-rabbits) fail to sell, even after he spent all night thinking of his best sales slogan: "Won't Cause Nightmares (probably)". (yes, I know the company's actual history. This ain't it)

50 years after posing as ‘Peter and Jane’ for Ladybird artist Martin Aitchison, these two recreated the scene for me. Her smile!

You may be TECHNICALLY SHOOTING GAMMA RAYS FROM YOUR EYES right now (as well as everywhere else but the former just sounds a little cooler)

I am, unofficially, quite radioactive right now. Managed to make my (completely uncalibrated, For Entertainment Purposes Only) Mighty Ohm Geiger counter squeak out > 70,000 cpm about an hour ago

Things you don't want to hear in a nuclear medicine waiting room: "Oh, is it on fire? I'll put it out, sorry."

So the caffeine withdrawal has gone past the headache stage and is now in the 'uncontrolled sweating with joint pain' stage. Lovely.

fizzy meat.

A plastic bag from Target just blew down our street. Target hasn't been in Canada for 11 years.

Bad comedy skit idea: Herr Sprüngli all mad at Herr Lindt for putting his name foremost in the chocolate company.

Everybody loves our mulberries … (still from a video by my partner) #raccoon #TrashPanda #toronto

Volunteer Responsibility Amnesty Day, 21st June 2026 — volunteeramnestyday.net

This is *exactly* what you think it might be Whistle Echoes Of The Ohio And Mississippi Steamboats, Volume 1 — archive.org/details/lp_w...

I'm not really a car guy, but I think I need to have a lie down now ...

Next Friday I will not be allowed caffeine for 24 hours, so I will be off-the-charts levels of grumpy. I will also be (slightly) radioactive. I recommend being nice to me around that time, unless you wish to deal with a glow-in-the-dark Scottish kaiju with a raging headache.

Here is an alarm clock that wakes you up with an exploding capacitor. github.com/ArcaEge/capa...

Stay weird, Parkway Mall Staples

Show up to Nerd Show and Tell and demo what you are building or try what other people are building. Give your feedback, get inspired, and learn something! luma.com/09784ox0 6 to 9 pm on Thursday, June 18 at Hacklab!

We have a grackle nest in the front garden and baby grackles are tiny perfect fuzzy dinosaurs

@funranium.bsky.social would be proud of me for firmly declining the offer of seeing this industrial laser printer device firing in open air

My network of Wee Scottish Guys in Kansas City know absolutely nothing about this *at* *all* ... England’s World Cup boots stolen before first training session in Kansas City — www.theguardian.com/football/202...

The US secretary of homeland security, who is saying eejit things on television about the ongoing shite in Belfast, has a name that is an anagram of "mainly lemur wank".

Wise the fek up, Belfast.

New font: nic7pin A rendering of a 7-pin dot matrix font, as used by the Epson MX-70 reduced-cost printer from the mid-1980s. note the complete lack of descenders nic7pin-font.zipDownload Name Seiko Epson Corporation is named as “son of EP-101”, for the world’s first compact, lightweight digital…

Allegedly the banned-for-life list from the soon to shutter Parkview Tavern.

Decided this story from my updated Pistols at the LFTH 4th June 1976 study deserved its own post on my new 'Words from the Ether' Substack. On prog/punk entanglements - Sex Pistols, Gryphon and the Gig That Never Happened.

New russian ground attack drone will change the war!

Perhaps the greatest newspaper editorial of all time theonion.com/i-work-very-...

honkses

Mom always joked about how before her funeral, she wanted to go to Walmart one last time. Unknown to me, last night at 10:30pm, my brother, my nephew, my other niece and a getaway driver brought mom’s body to the local store. They wheeled her in, rolled her around, made their escape. Legendary.

Here is the link to participate in the federal public consultation on the future of Billy Bishop airport. There is an online survey, and an e-mail address for long-form comments. Consultation period runs to July 24th. tc.canada.ca/en/corporate...

Give me the most 80s song you can think of "From the very very young to the very very old Everybody now say aye. ..." (The late Anthony Head was a backing singer on that) m.youtube.com/watch?v=mNUa...