Darren Kirby
@dragonbyte.ca
Rural Canadian. Formerly urban Canadian. Stuck in a pothole at the intersection of writing, photography, birds, bees, computer programming, and data science.
I was so excited to solve the Advent of Code puzzles in real time this year, but I've already screwed it up. I was expecting the first puzzle tonight, but it was released last night 😐
So I guess I'll do it now and get ready for puzzle 2 tonight.
#aoc
So I guess I'll do it now and get ready for puzzle 2 tonight.
#aoc
December 1, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I was so excited to solve the Advent of Code puzzles in real time this year, but I've already screwed it up. I was expecting the first puzzle tonight, but it was released last night 😐
So I guess I'll do it now and get ready for puzzle 2 tonight.
#aoc
So I guess I'll do it now and get ready for puzzle 2 tonight.
#aoc
By 'help' she means driving and occasionally mumbling awkwardly at people addressing the table when she went to the washroom.
I had a lovely time at the Greenwood Christmas market with many thanks to @dragonbyte.ca for his help and support.
December 1, 2025 at 12:20 AM
By 'help' she means driving and occasionally mumbling awkwardly at people addressing the table when she went to the washroom.
I'm more likely to encounter Jimmy Hoffa than one of these in the town where I live, but if I were to visit a city, and met one on a sidewalk, if it did not yield to me it would be swiftly kicked into traffic.
Just as you thought food delivery companies couldn't inflict any more misery on society:
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
Instead of using lowly-paid gig economy contractors to deliver groceries, they're replacing humans with robots, who, in turn, force humans off the pavement into road traffic.
November 28, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I'm more likely to encounter Jimmy Hoffa than one of these in the town where I live, but if I were to visit a city, and met one on a sidewalk, if it did not yield to me it would be swiftly kicked into traffic.
Lots of ppl talking about how this is 4d chess, and just a way to get concessions from AB and let the failure of any pipeline fall solely on Smith's shoulders. Even if that's true, and that's a mighty big if, we need to talk about how shitty and unseemly it is for our PM to play games like this.
Mark Carney managed to trade a pipeline that will never get built for meaningful progress on industrial carbon pricing and electricity interties — both of which will get more wind and solar built.
Remember when people thought he wasn't good at politics? www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/27/o...
Remember when people thought he wasn't good at politics? www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/27/o...
The method to Mark Carney’s madness
The memorandum of understanding with Alberta might look like surrender. Look closer
www.nationalobserver.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Lots of ppl talking about how this is 4d chess, and just a way to get concessions from AB and let the failure of any pipeline fall solely on Smith's shoulders. Even if that's true, and that's a mighty big if, we need to talk about how shitty and unseemly it is for our PM to play games like this.
Reposted by Darren Kirby
@dragonbyte.ca made some very good dumplings!
November 27, 2025 at 2:24 AM
@dragonbyte.ca made some very good dumplings!
I guess that's a good idea if you want large numbers of people to not vote anymore. What the actual fuck are these clowns thinking?
BC's democratic and electoral reform committee recommends requiring Elections BC to share voters' contact info (email, phone numbers) with political parties and candidates "under strict privacy guidelines"
To that I say: Ew 👎👎👎
I 1000% do not trust partisans with my personal contact info #bcpoli
To that I say: Ew 👎👎👎
I 1000% do not trust partisans with my personal contact info #bcpoli
November 27, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I guess that's a good idea if you want large numbers of people to not vote anymore. What the actual fuck are these clowns thinking?
And there it is. Just a couple cm, but it's warmed up a bit and has already started melting.
November 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
And there it is. Just a couple cm, but it's warmed up a bit and has already started melting.
We've just started getting our first snow of the year. Very light so far. If it stays like this through the night, I doubt there will be much more than a couple cm.
November 26, 2025 at 1:59 AM
We've just started getting our first snow of the year. Very light so far. If it stays like this through the night, I doubt there will be much more than a couple cm.
This spreadsheet could have been an email.
Please enjoy this list of ways that the NY Times crossword puzzle has clued the word SEXT, it's my sexy gift to you.
November 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
This spreadsheet could have been an email.
Reposted by Darren Kirby
The weather will be turning next week and if you have somewhere warm and safe to go, don't take that for granted. So many people in our community are not so fortunate. The money I'm raising will ensure Bissell can continue to offer services and supplies to those in need.
Please donate if you can!
Please donate if you can!
November 22, 2025 at 2:45 AM
The weather will be turning next week and if you have somewhere warm and safe to go, don't take that for granted. So many people in our community are not so fortunate. The money I'm raising will ensure Bissell can continue to offer services and supplies to those in need.
Please donate if you can!
Please donate if you can!
Reposted by Darren Kirby
Fact check: No, U.S. oil tankers do not pass through the Hecate Strait. Elizabeth May shows exactly why the tanker ban exists, and why protecting it matters.
November 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Fact check: No, U.S. oil tankers do not pass through the Hecate Strait. Elizabeth May shows exactly why the tanker ban exists, and why protecting it matters.
I'm not going to shame the person who posted this meme (without alt text), but rather, offer a counterpoint:
They don't extort money, they ask politely for it. Maybe if some of you cheap bastards who've been using Wikipedia for 15+ years sent them some, they wouldn't have to....
They don't extort money, they ask politely for it. Maybe if some of you cheap bastards who've been using Wikipedia for 15+ years sent them some, they wouldn't have to....
November 17, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I'm not going to shame the person who posted this meme (without alt text), but rather, offer a counterpoint:
They don't extort money, they ask politely for it. Maybe if some of you cheap bastards who've been using Wikipedia for 15+ years sent them some, they wouldn't have to....
They don't extort money, they ask politely for it. Maybe if some of you cheap bastards who've been using Wikipedia for 15+ years sent them some, they wouldn't have to....
Or we could buy defective-by-design F35s with remote kill switches from fascists. I guess Carney will need to ponder the options a bit longer.
Sweden keeps sweetening the deal!! #Canada
The Swedish manufacturer of the Gripen fighter jet, SAAB, says 10,000 manufacturing and research jobs could land in Canada if Ottawa adds the aircraft to its military fleet.
www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...
The Swedish manufacturer of the Gripen fighter jet, SAAB, says 10,000 manufacturing and research jobs could land in Canada if Ottawa adds the aircraft to its military fleet.
www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...
Swedish manufacturer says 10,000 new jobs could soon come to Canada
The Swedish manufacturer of the Gripen fighter jet, SAAB, says ten thousand manufacturing and research jobs could land in Canada if Ottawa adds the aircraft to its military fleet.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 14, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Or we could buy defective-by-design F35s with remote kill switches from fascists. I guess Carney will need to ponder the options a bit longer.
Reposted by Darren Kirby
@davidebybc.bsky.social
We don’t want this coming through our province. This sounds a bit like Carney and Smith are going to walk all over BC.
We don’t want this coming through our province. This sounds a bit like Carney and Smith are going to walk all over BC.
Carney tells business crowd a new pipeline project is 'going to happen' (Alberta)
Carney tells business crowd a new pipeline project is 'going to happen' - Alberta News
Prime Minister Mark Carney came close to telling a Bay Street audience today that he will secure a new pipeline for Alberta, offering his strongest endorsement yet of the idea.
www.castanet.net
November 7, 2025 at 8:34 PM
@davidebybc.bsky.social
We don’t want this coming through our province. This sounds a bit like Carney and Smith are going to walk all over BC.
We don’t want this coming through our province. This sounds a bit like Carney and Smith are going to walk all over BC.
I've spent the last two days hunting down a bizarre bug in my C code. I finally found it, and it was caused by my own dumbassery. All I can say is:
When you re-write a section of code the correct way, make sure you remove the kludges you put in to make it work when you wrote it the incorrect way.
When you re-write a section of code the correct way, make sure you remove the kludges you put in to make it work when you wrote it the incorrect way.
November 1, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I've spent the last two days hunting down a bizarre bug in my C code. I finally found it, and it was caused by my own dumbassery. All I can say is:
When you re-write a section of code the correct way, make sure you remove the kludges you put in to make it work when you wrote it the incorrect way.
When you re-write a section of code the correct way, make sure you remove the kludges you put in to make it work when you wrote it the incorrect way.
Unlike so many other once great institutions, the PSF can't be bought by fascists.
It would be nice if some other governments kicked in some cash to make up the loss.
It would be nice if some other governments kicked in some cash to make up the loss.
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 28, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Unlike so many other once great institutions, the PSF can't be bought by fascists.
It would be nice if some other governments kicked in some cash to make up the loss.
It would be nice if some other governments kicked in some cash to make up the loss.
Capitalism, whether motivated by pure greed or the hand of autocratic leaders, will claim every good thing, every human achievement, package it in an enshitified form shackled by artificial scarcity, and make it defective by design, simply to generate more capital.
pluralistic.net/2025/10/20/p...
pluralistic.net/2025/10/20/p...
Pluralistic: The mad king’s digital killswitch (20 Oct 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
pluralistic.net
October 20, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Capitalism, whether motivated by pure greed or the hand of autocratic leaders, will claim every good thing, every human achievement, package it in an enshitified form shackled by artificial scarcity, and make it defective by design, simply to generate more capital.
pluralistic.net/2025/10/20/p...
pluralistic.net/2025/10/20/p...
So cool that you can be summarily executed by a foreign military for being 'suspected' of stuff. Stuff that doesn't even come with a death sentence when convicted in that foreign country.
U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says
In a social media post, the president said the people aboard a boat were "suspected of smuggling drugs for an unspecified group" his team had labeled "terrorists".
In a social media post, the president said the people aboard a boat were "suspected of smuggling drugs for an unspecified group" his team had labeled "terrorists".
October 14, 2025 at 7:31 PM
So cool that you can be summarily executed by a foreign military for being 'suspected' of stuff. Stuff that doesn't even come with a death sentence when convicted in that foreign country.
Reposted by Darren Kirby
Today's the day! Hope to see you at City Farmer in Vancouver this afternoon, October 4 from 1-3 pm. I'll bee selling books for $30 each and of course, I'd bee happy to sign them for you!
October 4, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Today's the day! Hope to see you at City Farmer in Vancouver this afternoon, October 4 from 1-3 pm. I'll bee selling books for $30 each and of course, I'd bee happy to sign them for you!
You best start believing in dystopian futures, Miss Turner... you're in one!
a man in a pirate hat is holding a monkey on his shoulders .
Alt: A man in a pirate hat is holding a monkey on his shoulders . The man is Captain Barbossa from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.
media.tenor.com
September 29, 2025 at 3:39 PM
You best start believing in dystopian futures, Miss Turner... you're in one!
Six Mile Pub in Victoria just responded to a (complimentary) google review I left there about 8-9 years ago haha. Said they'd love to hear more about our experience. Honestly, other than eating there once, I don't recall much.
September 26, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Six Mile Pub in Victoria just responded to a (complimentary) google review I left there about 8-9 years ago haha. Said they'd love to hear more about our experience. Honestly, other than eating there once, I don't recall much.
I've been hacking on this fairly regular, and at 7000+ LoC it is turning from a toy-lisp into a full-blown R7RS Scheme implementation. It has garbage collection, full 'numeric tower' implementation, lists, vectors and bytevectors, partial Unicode support (chars but not yet strings).
#scheme #lisp
#scheme #lisp
Yesterday morning I started writing a Scheme-flavoured Lisp implementation from scratch. Just now, after 1050 lines of cryptic C code (I never want to type 'l_val' again), I have a REPL that is able to correctly do basic arithmetic 😆
September 25, 2025 at 2:02 AM
🐝🐝🐝
Where do bumble bees build their homes? Where do they spend the winter? And how do you protect bumble bees if their nests * overwintering sites are almost impossible to find? Join us to get all the answers! 🐝
🗓️Oct 2 at 10am PT / 1pm ET
🔗Register for this free event: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
🗓️Oct 2 at 10am PT / 1pm ET
🔗Register for this free event: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
September 23, 2025 at 6:45 PM
🐝🐝🐝
To be historically accurate, that cassette needs to be an 8-track. And it's either Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton duets or perhaps the Statler Brothers.
September 19, 2025 at 8:32 PM
To be historically accurate, that cassette needs to be an 8-track. And it's either Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton duets or perhaps the Statler Brothers.
Guess where we are...
September 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Guess where we are...