The best of the best this year.

Round of 16 voting starts tomorrow, mid-day some time.

Funny Numbers xkcd.com/3184/

Chapters 2-4 of the late, great UCLA Professor Donald Shoup’s book The High Cost of Free Parking exposed modern parking planning as pseudoscientific nonsense so thoroughly that many states and major cities have thrown out parking requirements entirely.

Or we can ban cars. Protected bike lanes don't sound so bad now, do they?

A recent survey from RAND found more than 1/2 of US students are using AI for school, an increase of 15% this yr compared to just 2 yrs ago. At the same time, 61% of parents believe AI will harm students' critical thinking compared to just 22% of school district leaders.”🧪

My mom's HP printer has a cap on the number of pages she can print a month, on her own printer. The amount of ink isn't the limiting factor — the subscription is. Enshittification should be a capital offense.

Make a Bond movie casual. Live And Let Them Do Whatever, Man

Make a Bond movie casual: Casino Rama

Heroic Dog Saves Family Of 5 From Herb-Roasted Chicken https://theonion.com/heroic-dog-saves-family-of-5-from-herb-roasted-chicken/

"Bike and roll” lanes are used every day by people riding trikes and even mobility scooters (something the province needs to make legal). Victoria’s network lets my wife travel the city freely again." @pentastich.bsky.social #bcpoli #yyj #pwd

Victoria‘s bike and roll lanes make our family’s life better. Our kids don’t know what it means to be stuck in traffic or sit in the back of a car to go everywhere. They know our neighborhood geography and basic wayfinding and will be able to be much more independent as they get older. It’s the best

Adding to this commentary that between ebikes (6+ yrs & 17,000K+ on mine) & the bike & roll network in Victoria, life has indeed changed for the better & become much more efficient. Recently, whizzing to & around shopping areas --- while motorists drove around parking lots looking for spaces.

The days between December 25 and January 1 are the Lanthanides and Actinides of the Gregorian calendar

“If you care about the bottom line, and you care about budgets and taxes, then you should care about urban biking, because it’s a money saver,” he concludes. #MobilityIsEquity dailyhive.com/vancouver/bi...

If you're an urbanist who lives on Southern Vancouver Island, consider joining the Strong Towns Local Conversation for a book club meetup. Talking about difference in approach between ST and TWOC and why both are good/necessary to make progress on building great cities.

This line absolutely slaps. Thanks for writing @pentastich.bsky.social!

“An isolated bike lane is a toy; a useful network of bike and roll lanes is core infrastructure.” I love this commentary on how empowering it is to have choices in your community. It’s also invigorating to know many communities in the region are contributing to a useful network of transportation ♥️

It's been wonderful to see seniors, parents with toddlers, people on electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and others using the protected bike and roll network. The network helps them feel safer and be safer. More network improvements are coming in Victoria and the CRD! #urbanism #safety #yyj

“Even if you don’t use the safe bike and roll network, there are thousands and thousands of your neighbours that do. …a huge thank you to Victoria’s councils — 5 of them — who have made it possible for so many people to bike or roll around our city safely & efficiently. You have changed my life.”

Thanks for sharing, @pentastich.bsky.social My parents (age 80 and 83) have just moved into town, and are now so much more free, down to one car, an e-bike, and a walkable and safe city. I’m so grateful. #yyj #bike #yyjpoli www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...

If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career

It is EXHAUSTING not only being made responsible for coming up with new kinds of assignments for our students; it's also tedious reading op-eds that suggest the core problem is a crisis in teaching. But, as Chris and I lay out here, this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning.

Yes, this!: "this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning" I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.

We need an honest accounting of what this infrastructure actually costs. ​Not just to build and maintain, but the hidden costs like the crashes, the emergency services, and the human hardship. The age of giving car culture carte blanche with our tax dollars needs to come to an end.

Remember the 1920s when nobody was left-handed

"What the industry does is create solutions to problems that never existed in the first place" How long before you'll need a subscription from the bike company (unlock the shifting) to ride the bike you own? www.cyclingweekly.com/news/within-...

Who needs a village when you can have parking lots?

This is one of our favorites!

Votes in the seeding round coming in: Pretty Obvious, Resolved and Unresolved & Police Are Scrambling off to an early lead, with a tight battle for 16th. Top 16 qualify! Voting counts likes & reposts (and comments on IG) across platforms. Round of 16 starts December 27.

This is a revealing look at the relative popularities of the micro-blogging sites.

Found this gem in the archives today. Made me laugh a bit more than I should have...

Good branding is so important these days.

HAPPY FESTIVUS 🗣️💪 Ontario removed the speed cameras… but we have the poles for now! So we embraced it. Introducing the Festivus Pole 🇨🇦 Let’s see it! ✔️ Airing of grievances ✔️ Feats of strength Keep it clean. Keep it fun. 😤Let me begin, people checking 50 lottery tickets at a Gas station at once.

This is right. I would also add: the counter-reaction also obscures how these technologies are actually useful. So we end up with hype and counter-hype but too little institutional change to enable us to deploy technologies in the most socially useful way. See regulation of social media, AI.

It probably aired in Newfoundland half an hour before anyone noticed.

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (April)

Darwin award.

Everyone who has spent time in government probably agrees. Let’s have a meeting to find out.

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (June)

End stage capitalism.

WTF science. I know you get the right answer eventually but …

Betting sites rank this the likeliest winner in the animal category.

Clever if you understand quantum mechanics.

High chance of winning it all.

Most “this years sign the apocalypse is upon us”

highest zeitgeist points

2025 Headline of the Year nominee (November)