Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
@iainrb.bsky.social
Fights cancer with computers in Toronto, Canada. Fan of SF, cinema and various sports. Sort of an ominous robed figure pointing and saying "BEWARE" in a hoarse voice every time AI is mentioned. 🇨🇦/🇬🇧 citizen. Parent, husband, cat servant. He/him.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
i’m so happy for him
November 26, 2025 at 10:48 PM
i’m so happy for him
Great news for cancer research in Toronto!
‘Generosity of this magnitude is transformative’: Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation receives $50M donation
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation is developing a new early detection cancer research centre, which they say will be the 'largest research program of its kind globally.'
www.ctvnews.ca
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Great news for cancer research in Toronto!
This.
Whenever local government reviews the library budget and asks, "Why should we give you money?"
We want the library to be able to say, "Because we provide a valuable service used by many people!"
Libraries are like muscles, using them more makes them stronger. 💪
Whenever local government reviews the library budget and asks, "Why should we give you money?"
We want the library to be able to say, "Because we provide a valuable service used by many people!"
Libraries are like muscles, using them more makes them stronger. 💪
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:46 PM
This.
Whenever local government reviews the library budget and asks, "Why should we give you money?"
We want the library to be able to say, "Because we provide a valuable service used by many people!"
Libraries are like muscles, using them more makes them stronger. 💪
Whenever local government reviews the library budget and asks, "Why should we give you money?"
We want the library to be able to say, "Because we provide a valuable service used by many people!"
Libraries are like muscles, using them more makes them stronger. 💪
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
This is a wonderful story.
Reminds me of when I first made Thanksgiving dinner for my homesick American wife in Cambridge, England in 2008. We invited all our British friends who were most impressed with the concept. 😀
Reminds me of when I first made Thanksgiving dinner for my homesick American wife in Cambridge, England in 2008. We invited all our British friends who were most impressed with the concept. 😀
OK - pie discourse - best pie story:
In 2016, we were living in Andover, in the UK. My wife was assigned as an exchange officer at the Army Air Corps base at Middle Wallop (yes, really).*
The US Army has a tradition: senior leaders, in dress uniform, serve junior troops Thanksgiving dinner.
/1
In 2016, we were living in Andover, in the UK. My wife was assigned as an exchange officer at the Army Air Corps base at Middle Wallop (yes, really).*
The US Army has a tradition: senior leaders, in dress uniform, serve junior troops Thanksgiving dinner.
/1
November 26, 2025 at 4:01 PM
This is a wonderful story.
Reminds me of when I first made Thanksgiving dinner for my homesick American wife in Cambridge, England in 2008. We invited all our British friends who were most impressed with the concept. 😀
Reminds me of when I first made Thanksgiving dinner for my homesick American wife in Cambridge, England in 2008. We invited all our British friends who were most impressed with the concept. 😀
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
November 25, 2025 at 8:23 AM
So this happened in Oslo yesterday. Four articulated buses got stuck in a roundabout.
I saw Tron: Ares in the cinema (with my 10 year old, who loved it) and didn't hate Leto in it? He did an adequate job of playing a robot. 😉
How many movies is Hollywood gonna let Jared Leto tank?
Disney’s ‘TRON: Ares’ Gets Streaming Release Date
November 26, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I saw Tron: Ares in the cinema (with my 10 year old, who loved it) and didn't hate Leto in it? He did an adequate job of playing a robot. 😉
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Nov 25th 3978 - The crew of the Liberty 1 awake from hyper sleep as it crashes onto, a planet inhabited by talking apes.
📽️📅 Planet of the Apes (1968)
📽️📅 Planet of the Apes (1968)
November 25, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Nov 25th 3978 - The crew of the Liberty 1 awake from hyper sleep as it crashes onto, a planet inhabited by talking apes.
📽️📅 Planet of the Apes (1968)
📽️📅 Planet of the Apes (1968)
“You’ll be visited by three spirits”
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
November 25, 2025 at 6:46 PM
“You’ll be visited by three spirits”
The three spirits:
The three spirits:
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
No animation of any kind. No Muppets. No Gremlins. But yes to "Team America: World Police", so they don't have a blanket no-puppets rule.
For a comedy list, the Variety article is strangely afraid of childhood. Out of their 100 films, there are maybe 7 or 8 my 10 year old could enjoy.
For a comedy list, the Variety article is strangely afraid of childhood. Out of their 100 films, there are maybe 7 or 8 my 10 year old could enjoy.
November 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
No animation of any kind. No Muppets. No Gremlins. But yes to "Team America: World Police", so they don't have a blanket no-puppets rule.
For a comedy list, the Variety article is strangely afraid of childhood. Out of their 100 films, there are maybe 7 or 8 my 10 year old could enjoy.
For a comedy list, the Variety article is strangely afraid of childhood. Out of their 100 films, there are maybe 7 or 8 my 10 year old could enjoy.
I have a less optimistic take. We've made "racist" a bad word. But to many people it's only a label. They believe:
1) Racists are bad people
2) I am not a bad person
3) Therefore I am not racist
Thinking about racism on a deeper level would expose the flaws in that belief, so they refuse to do it.
1) Racists are bad people
2) I am not a bad person
3) Therefore I am not racist
Thinking about racism on a deeper level would expose the flaws in that belief, so they refuse to do it.
Why do racists hate being called racist? They don’t respond in the same way to being called bigots or xenophobic. I think it’s because they know at some level that racism is fundamentally, deeply wrong, because even their broken moral compasses point at the immorality of it.
November 25, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I have a less optimistic take. We've made "racist" a bad word. But to many people it's only a label. They believe:
1) Racists are bad people
2) I am not a bad person
3) Therefore I am not racist
Thinking about racism on a deeper level would expose the flaws in that belief, so they refuse to do it.
1) Racists are bad people
2) I am not a bad person
3) Therefore I am not racist
Thinking about racism on a deeper level would expose the flaws in that belief, so they refuse to do it.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
No "The Death of Stalin". No "The Full Monty". No Ghostbusters! I'd really like to hear their explanation of why Fargo counts as a comedy and Ghostbusters doesn't.
And Sideways is not the best comedy directed by Alexander Payne, let alone the 14th best comedy of all time.
And Sideways is not the best comedy directed by Alexander Payne, let alone the 14th best comedy of all time.
The movie listed at #1 is so incredibly misplaced that it calls into question the veracity of the entire list. It belongs on the list, yes, but SO MUCH further down. An absolute, credibility-wrecking flub. Boo, @variety.com! Boo!
variety.com/lists/best-c...
variety.com/lists/best-c...
The 100 Best Comedy Movies of All Time
Variety's list of the 100 best comedy movies of all time includes 'Annie Hall,' 'Pretty Woman,' 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Young Frankenstein.'
variety.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:49 AM
No "The Death of Stalin". No "The Full Monty". No Ghostbusters! I'd really like to hear their explanation of why Fargo counts as a comedy and Ghostbusters doesn't.
And Sideways is not the best comedy directed by Alexander Payne, let alone the 14th best comedy of all time.
And Sideways is not the best comedy directed by Alexander Payne, let alone the 14th best comedy of all time.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
#OTD in 1859, Charles Darwin published his landmark work, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life". Our understanding of life and living things has never been the same since. #Darwin #Evolution #OriginOfSpecies 🧪
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
#OTD in 1859, Charles Darwin published his landmark work, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life". Our understanding of life and living things has never been the same since. #Darwin #Evolution #OriginOfSpecies 🧪
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
me: ok six weeks left of 2025 let's get stuff done!
my brain cells:
my brain cells:
November 13, 2025 at 8:56 PM
me: ok six weeks left of 2025 let's get stuff done!
my brain cells:
my brain cells:
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Canada is releasing a set of stamps celebrating the nation's graphic novelists.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
November 21, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Canada is releasing a set of stamps celebrating the nation's graphic novelists.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
ME: (On sofa with blended fruit and yogurt drink.)
KID: How's this movie?
ME: Huh? I'm watching football.
KID: No, how's this movie?
ME: It's a football game, not a movie.
KID: How is THE SMOOTHIE?
ME: Oh. Very tasty, thank you.
😀
KID: How's this movie?
ME: Huh? I'm watching football.
KID: No, how's this movie?
ME: It's a football game, not a movie.
KID: How is THE SMOOTHIE?
ME: Oh. Very tasty, thank you.
😀
November 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
ME: (On sofa with blended fruit and yogurt drink.)
KID: How's this movie?
ME: Huh? I'm watching football.
KID: No, how's this movie?
ME: It's a football game, not a movie.
KID: How is THE SMOOTHIE?
ME: Oh. Very tasty, thank you.
😀
KID: How's this movie?
ME: Huh? I'm watching football.
KID: No, how's this movie?
ME: It's a football game, not a movie.
KID: How is THE SMOOTHIE?
ME: Oh. Very tasty, thank you.
😀
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Me, when an in-person event at work next week clashes with the Packers-Lions game. 😉
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Me, when an in-person event at work next week clashes with the Packers-Lions game. 😉
A movie that takes place where you're from.
(Early David Cronenberg and one of the few feature films set in Edmonton.)
(Early David Cronenberg and one of the few feature films set in Edmonton.)
November 24, 2025 at 5:12 AM
A movie that takes place where you're from.
(Early David Cronenberg and one of the few feature films set in Edmonton.)
(Early David Cronenberg and one of the few feature films set in Edmonton.)
A movie that takes place where you're from.
(I had to creatively interpret "from" since there are very few films set in Edmonton, Canada.)
(I had to creatively interpret "from" since there are very few films set in Edmonton, Canada.)
November 24, 2025 at 4:35 AM
A movie that takes place where you're from.
(I had to creatively interpret "from" since there are very few films set in Edmonton, Canada.)
(I had to creatively interpret "from" since there are very few films set in Edmonton, Canada.)
Me, when an in-person event at work next week clashes with the Packers-Lions game. 😉
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Me, when an in-person event at work next week clashes with the Packers-Lions game. 😉
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
I keep coming back to this
November 23, 2025 at 11:00 PM
I keep coming back to this
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
People who adore the LLM-machine, that by design has no concern for truth, must have no concern for truth
November 23, 2025 at 4:15 PM
People who adore the LLM-machine, that by design has no concern for truth, must have no concern for truth
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
That code runs is no guarantee it is any good
LLM-generated code runs or it doesn't—what truth do you need?
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
That code runs is no guarantee it is any good
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Tell me you’ve never worked on a production software system without telling me you’ve never worked on a production software system
LLM-generated code runs or it doesn't—what truth do you need?
November 23, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Tell me you’ve never worked on a production software system without telling me you’ve never worked on a production software system