@bkives.bsky.social Can you remind me where to find the river level in feet James? I cross the railbridge over the Assiniboine every day and this morning, there's a noticable rise in the water level. Islands around bridge piers disappered overnight!

I’m grateful I don’t have to work evenings and weekends but today, I’ll join #ScholarSunday to honour my friend, Raul Pacheco Vega. In “Getting Under the Hood” (2014), Sarah Eddy and @kellyhogan.bsky.social show the connection between active learning and inclusive teaching. One of my fav papers.

@joannelevasseur.bsky.social thx for the follow! In this age of 24/7 AI slop, I’m happy to be connected with real and local journalists 😁

What a terrible loss 😢 I’m so grateful to have known Raul at UBC when he built online and in-person community as hummingbird604. He did social media right, when that was possible. Raul was a connector, using his network to bring people together. Once his friend, you were always his friend.

Kiddo’s graduating from University of Manitoba today. All the #ProudDad feelz 🥲🥲🥲

So I’m watching Berlin on Netflix, the latest in the Money Heist series. Here’s the weird part: with language = English, the actors’ lips match the English. And in original Spanish, their lips match Spanish. They’re not shoot the scenes twice - I think AI is rendering the actors’ lips! 🤮

The boys of Summer are back in town 😁 So are the Jumbo Diamond Dogs, fries, and Angry Fish pilsner! Close game so far between Winnipeg Goldeyes and the Milwaukee Milkmen

@roberttalbert.bsky.social I’m watching the Blue Jays - Tigers ⚾️ game on TV and noticed Grand Valley State University bldg beyond center field. Have you been working across the street from a ball field all this time and I’m just finding out?!?

My wife is unexpectedly out for dinner. Oh dear, what shall I do? Must I BBQ hotdogs, for the second time this week ?!? Yes, I must, I must!

Batters do the new ABS tap tap to turn strikes into balls. Catchers and pitchers tap tap to turn balls into strikes. Is there a situation where a batter would want to turn a ball into a strike? (“Do not walk me!”) What about a catcher turning a strike into a ball? (Why not just IBB?)

Today’s #BlueJays / #MNTwins baseball game could see Jays pitcher Tyler Rogers (6’3”, 180 lbs, age 35, throws R, 0.51 ERA) vs Twins pitcher Taylor Rogers (6’3”, 190 lbs, age 35, throws L, 5.56 ERA)

My institution has developed a set of GenAI guiding principles. IMO, they're rose-coloured wishes, like this one: Validity and Reliability: AI is accurate, consistent, and purpose-driven, supported by ongoing monitoring and quality enhancement. How can we be guided by something that isn't true?

Discussions to fire Red Sox manager probably started weeks ago. Imagine sober second thought before Saturday’s game: “Is there *anything* that could happen in today’s game to make us change our minds?” Red Sox won 17-1. Then they fired the manager and 5 others. That’s baseball, huh? 🤷‍♂️

When I was in junior high and still wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up, a doctor friend took me on a tour of the hospital. Specifically, the children’s cancer ward. Nope, nope, nopety, nope. Math is was instead.

@grimalkina.bsky.social My kiddo just graduated and got his first reall grownup job...as a junior software developer...and I'm all, Oh shit I >really< need to read Cat's stuff more carefully 😂

📣 @shawpsych.bsky.social

Don't you love those unique things about your city? Two big rivers, the Red and Assiniboine, join in Winnipeg (that's why the city is where it is.) Every spring, there's risk of flooding. The height the Red rises is measured in "feet James" on a gauge on James Ave in the oldest part of the city.

Incredible watching #Artemis fall back to Earth. NASA ticker show them gaining about 1 mph every second. They’re currently falling at 13,400 mph (22 000 km/h) 🤯

🌖 🚀 🌎 #ArtemisII

Hey space friends, when do the astronauts board Artemis II? It's only T minu..., uh, L minus 7 hours (c'mon, they're not saying "T-minus 10, 9, ..." anymore 😢) and they're still filling the tanks.

Told my wife I’d like a quiet night at home to watch the #BlueJays home opener. She invited all the kids over and she’s cookin’ up ballpark dinner: hot dogs, chicken strips, french fries, potato chips, beer, pop, red licorice. She’s my MVP ❤️

I was the windsurfing instructor on a vacation charter yacht in the Caribbean. 🌴🐠⛵

@derekbruff.bsky.social I listen to podcasts on my way to work. If an episode inspires me, the next hour is when I have the spark to get things done. Today it's Intentional Teaching about grading. I can act bc you've already posted the transcript 🫡 If you wonder if it's worth it, yes it is!

I’ve got a Nigerian colleague at work. I asked him, how do you say hi to your friends? You say, “how far?” which means how far are you on the road to hell? If you’re doing fine, you say “not far 😁” But if you’re having a shitty day, you droop and shake your head and say “oooh, so far 😖…”

@karencosta.bsky.social Sorry, Karen, not a blurbable post 😂 but I need people to know about your book 📣📣📣 Already shared your @tihe.bsky.social podcast with 2 faculty, and I’ll be encouraging they read Educator’s Guide!

Fully committed to not buying anything from the US #FuckOff51stState but I’ll make an exception for something as unique as this: An Educator’s Guide to ADHD by @karencosta.bsky.social

@analog-ashley.bsky.social @grimalkina.bsky.social By this time next year 🤞 I'll be living in my new house. Sad to leave behind my Little Free Library, though. Well, until this morning when I listened to you talking having a party to open yours! I will build a new one! We will have ☕🍩!

Podcast guest: “I use GenAI to align my learning outcomes and assessments, and create syllabus to support the alignment” 😳 THAT is the part of your job you find tedious and outsourced?!? Why did they pick you to teach the course? What parts of teaching do you feel are worthy of your time?!?

I listen to half a dozen podcasts about teaching in #HigherEd and every one of them is about gen fucking ai 😫 Podcasters, you’re not earning my attention because your topic is fresh and shiny, you’re losing my trust because there are so many others things I want to learn about.

Tried something new at a Teams meeting. I wanted input on 4 topics. I needed to label the topics but 1,2,3,4 or A,B,C,D impose undeserved, artificial hierarchy or importance. So I asked people to post in the chat, starting with (polarbear) (moose) (bison) (bunny) and the chat erupted with 🐻‍❄️🫎🦬🐇!

I pass a place everyday on my way to work called Plato’s Closet. And everyday I wrack my brain wondering if it’s some kind of, what, metaphor? allegory? allusion? like Hercules’ Gym or Demeter’s Bakery.

I bought a 1960’s cabinet that I’m transforming into a bathroom vanity for my new Midcentury Modern house. I found this inside. Can you guess the cabinet’s original purpose?

Glad-II-ator: Mehximus Whatevus

This bed is tooooo hard. This bed is tooooo soft. This best is juuuuust right...

I was in a meeting with some electrical engineering technologists yesterday and one said he's not worried about AI or Terminator or Skynet. He said without humans to maintain and repair the data centres, Skynet would be down in a month 😂

slightly diminish a game Connect Three

Hmm, am I gutsy enough to try this at work? “Sorry I’m late to the meeting. I didn’t want to come.”

Sometimes I feel bad that I can't quote passages of poetry like many others can. What beauty and joy and mystery is missing from my education and life? Then remember I can quote this. It's poetry with layer after layer of meaning. lim 𝑥→𝑎 𝑓(𝑥)=𝑓(𝑎) if ∀ε>0 ∃δ>0 ∋ |𝑥-𝑎|<δ ⇒ |𝑓(𝑥)-𝑓(𝑎)|<ε

TIL (thx @apod.shinyakato.dev !) this horizontal halo of sunlight is called a parhelic circle, complete with rare 120° parhelia.

We're renewing our programs in Civi, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering Technology. We'll get to learning outcomes and instructional methods eventually but we're starting with assessment, and Grading for Growth by @dccmath.bsky.social and @roberttalbert.bsky.social is our guide. /2

@pbarmby.bsky.social I had a dream last night about an idea for a sci-fi book. The dream also included, “You should send it to Pauline” so here it is: /2

Swedish meatballs at IKEA on December 27 is >not< a tradition my family needs *blurg*

@anthonyfloyd.ca @roberttalbert.bsky.social @derekbruff.bsky.social @icpetrie.bsky.social @shawpsych.bsky.social Merry Christmas, dads! Joy’ll be a little diff for me. For the first time, my kids will spend Xmas morning at their partners’ places. They’re so happy and their joy is my joy. But still 🥲

Spent the morning in the basement workshop turning a big slab of lumber into many, many small and precise pieces. Building another one of these dining room lights for my new house! #HappyPlace

My institution is developing the next 5-year strat plan. They've identified 3 North Stars to guide one aspect. The astronomer in me cringes. The North Star (singular) is a great metaphor. It's unwavering and visible as we twist and turn. But 3 North Stars? Irreparably breaks the metaphor IMO.

I just finished reading William Gibson’s Neuromancer series for the first time. You’re reading along, yep, cool, uh-huh, hmm and then it hits you: he wrote this FORTY years ago! Gobsmacking to think he just imagined all these things. Highly recommend, and be prepared to be confused and astounded!

I will not use my new laser level on my Christmas tree. I will not use my new laser level on my Christmas tree. I will not use my new laser level on my Christmas tree. I will not use my new laser level on my Christmas tree. Oh, c’mon, of course I will 🤣

@bonni208.bsky.social Congratulations, Bonni, on 600 episodes of @tihe.bsky.social! As well as sharing 600 conversations, don’t forget you’ve lifted the spirits, confidence, and careers of 600 #HigherEd colleagues, mine included. Thank-you!

Incredible sundogs in chilly Winnipeg today, with a feature I’ve never seen before! *Horizontal* band of light - parallel to the horizon - nearly 360 deg around, with bright concentrations more than 90 deg from the Sun (I should’ve measured the angle!) Is this some kind of double sundog OMG!

I'm working with a new instructor. She asked me about my background. I said I have a PhD in math and she said, "ooo, you're so smart!" FUUUUUUck She's a Ph.D and P.Eng teaching Civil Engineering in English, not her first language! I hate how #HigherEd and our society made her say that.