Finally a Fast Fuzzy File Finder for neovim

Lua 709 Updated Aug 13

Do not be alarmed however. These are professionals fooling around with your groundwater and possibly somewhere down the road your drinking water again. Maybe. If we are lucky. To date they've had thirty-six years to show us what they can do and it's been pathetic. They have made claims as to how many kilograms of chlorobenzene and NDMA they have removed from our former drinking water aquifers which sound impressive. The problem of course is that they are still nowhere near where they have to be for the water to be safe to drink. That is so even by the inadequate standards and lack of parameters tested by the Region of Waterloo and the province of Ontario. 

On-site groundwater pumping has been slipping for the past two or three years. Off-site has been all over the place albeit NEVER even close to the November 2012 promises by CRA and Chemtura (Jeff Merriman) to TRIPLE the volume of pumping. Later they mentioned doubling their pumping but even that has never even come close to being achieved. Isn't it swell when the polluter is in charge of everything and the regulator meekly asks if all is well? 

So the July Progress Report is out and on-site total pumping from wells PW4 and PW6 is a total of 3.2 litres per second. The long term Target is 4.7 litres/second but they haven't hit that since January 2022. That's ONCE IN NEARLY THE LAST FOUR YEARS.  Off-site pumping is even worse. The following off-site wells all have the exact same volume of groundwater pumping last month namely W3R, W5A, W5B, W6A, W6B, W8 andW9. That volume is ZERO !

Bit do not fret. GHD and Lanxess with the usual protection from the MECP say it's O.K.  Let me repeat that: They all say that zero off-site pumping from seven of the eight off-site pumping wells is O.K. Well I don't know about you but when decades of corporate falsehoods and nonsense add up to failure to properly clean both the groundwater and the Canagagigue Creek I remain skeptical.  

This week, I learned about a new kind of bias — one that can impact underrepresented people when they use AI tools.

New research by Oguz A. Acar, PhD et al. found that when members of stereotyped groups — such as women in tech or older workers in youth-dominated fields — use AI, it can backfire. Instead of being seen as strategic and efficient, their AI use is framed as “proof” that they can’t do the work on their own.

In the study, participants reviewed identical code snippets. The only difference? Some were told the engineer wrote it with AI assistance. When they thought AI was involved, they rated the engineer’s competence 9% lower on average.

And here’s the kicker: that competence penalty was twice as high for women engineers. AI-assisted code from a man got a 6% drop in perceived competence. The same code from a woman? A 13% drop.

Follow-up surveys revealed that many engineers anticipated this penalty and avoided using AI to protect their reputations. The people most likely to fear competence penalties? Disproportionately women and older engineers. And they were also the least likely to adopt AI tools.

And I’m concerned this bias extends beyond engineering roles. A study by Moritz Reis, PhD et al. found that physicians who use AI are perceived as significantly less competent, less empathic, and less trustworthy. While their research didn’t explore potential gender bias, Reis told me he believes it is very likely that there are differences similar to what Acar reported.

If your organization is encouraging AI adoption, consider the hidden costs to marginalized and underestimated colleagues. Could they face extra scrutiny? Harsher performance reviews? Fewer opportunities?

Keep reading for some specific actions to take.

Share this action on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, or YouTube.

Before your next performance review cycle, here’s a simple way to help counter the hidden penalty of using AI: Call it out.

As I’ve shared in previous newsletters, Google’s Unbiasing Performance Review Checklists starts with this reminder:

“When making important decisions about employees, like when to promote someone, it’s critical to recognize and address how potential biases can influence the decision-making process.”

The document then describes common errors and biases that assessors make and simple ways to avoid them. Google found that simply reminding people of these biases was enough to eliminate many of them.

We can use the same approach with the AI competence penalty. Before you request peer feedback or start drafting reviews, share Acar et al.’s findings from above, emphasizing it may be happening beyond engineering roles. Let colleagues know that bias can creep in when evaluating AI-assisted work — especially for women and older employees — and that awareness is the first step toward fairness.

And if you have influence over career growth paths, consider adding an “AI Competency” aspect to recognize and reward employees for their work in this area.

Research from BCG shows that junior women lag behind their male peers in awareness of generative AI. Why? Two main reasons:

• They’re less likely to have access to the networks and conversations where generative AI strategy is shaped.
• They’re underrepresented in generative AI pilots and initiatives.

This isn’t a new pattern. Back in 2018, researchers Joan C. Williams and Marina Multhaup published For Women and Minorities to Get Ahead, Managers Must Assign Work Fairly, showing that high-profile, career-advancing assignments disproportionately go to men.

The next time you need someone for an AI pilot, pause and review your selection criteria. Are you drawing from the same familiar names? What would it take to broaden that pool?

If your shortlist is small because few people have the skills you think are essential, consider two moves: Expand your network and create opportunities for more colleagues, especially those outside your usual go-to list, to demonstrate their readiness.

Pilots can open doors, accelerate skill-building, and ignite careers. Let’s make sure those doors are open to everyone.

Acar et al.’s research uncovered another twist: the harshest competence penalties came from non-adopters. Employees who hadn’t embraced AI rated AI-using colleagues more harshly — especially male non-adopters evaluating women coworkers.

One way to chip away at this bias? Turn influential skeptics into curious users. Here are a few ideas:

• Share your wins. “I used the AI assistant to analyze a dataset, and it saved me hours. If anyone’s interested, I can walk through my process at our next team meeting.”
• Credit your teachers. Mention what you’ve learned from coworkers about using AI — and credit them by name.
• Celebrate publicly. Highlight AI-assisted successes in team meetings, newsletters, or demos.

As Acar et al. wrote, “When skeptics see colleagues they respect — not just senior leaders — successfully using AI for real work, their resistance weakens.”

As I wrap up today’s newsletter on the competence penalty facing marginalized and underestimated coworkers who use AI, here’s one more reminder: the AI models themselves can be biased.

Whether the cause is skewed training data (“bias in, bias out”), flawed algorithms, or poor oversight, bias shows up again and again. For example:

• Job recommendation engines favoring one racial group over another.
• Chatbots advising women to negotiate for lower salaries than men.
• Facial recognition tools misidentifying certain races — sometimes leading to false arrests.
• Skin cancer diagnostic AI misdiagnosing patients with dark skin.

Unfortunately, the list goes on.

As your organization embraces AI, assume every output could carry bias (as well as hallucinations). Ask questions. Test the results. Build guardrails. Because fairness isn’t automatic. It’s something we have to design for.

That’s all for this week. I wish you strength and safety as we all move forward.

Karen Catlin (she/her), Author of the Better Allies® book series
pronounced KAIR-en KAT-lin, click to hear my name

Copyright © 2025 Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.

Being an ally is a journey. Want to join us?

• Follow @BetterAllies on Bluesky, Instagram, Medium, Threads, or YouTube. Or follow Karen Catlin on LinkedIn
• This content originally appeared in our newsletter. Subscribe to “5 Ally Actions” to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday
• Read the Better Allies books
• Form a Better Allies book club
• Get your Better Allies gear
• Tell someone about these resources

Together, we can — and will — make a difference with the Better Allies® approach.

Beware the Hidden Penalty of Using AI, and Other Actions for Allies was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Registration for Learn To Curl for fall 2025 is now available. Join us for a fun and comprehensive program to kick-start your curling. Our program is fully coached both on ice and off ice, covering rules, strategy and skills.

IMPORTANT:

Please bring a clean pair of running shoes for use on the ice each week. If the weather is messy, please wear other footwear and carry the clean running shoes into the building.

Register for Learn To Curl Fall 2025

WELLAND - It wasn't pretty.

Welland, the league's top team and fresh of winning it's third straight pennant, showcased it wasn't taking the foot off the gas pedal, even with its playoff seeding guaranteed.

Every Jackfish starter would record at least a hit, and took down the Kitchener Panthers 17-1 Thursday night.

Much of the story took place on the base path, as Welland would steal bases seemingly at will, swiping eight bags throughout the night. The Jackfish also took advantage of 14 singles on 18 hits overall.

Andy Vargas gave up eight runs (five earned) on nine hits in four innings of work for the loss. He struck out five and walked one.

Jose Dominguez took the win, going three innings of scoreless, hit less baseball for Welland. He struck out two and walked one.

Kitchener's lone run came in the ninth when the game was far out of reach.

The Panthers sit at 16-24 with two games left. They are a game behind Toronto for seventh.

The Maple Leafs (17-23) need to win both of its remaining games to guarantee seventh place, while Kitchener can claim seventh place with a win and two Toronto losses. Kitchener holds the tiebreaker over the Leafs after winning the season series.

Toronto's final two games are a home-and-home with the Brantford Red Sox Friday and Saturday.

Kitchener is in Guelph Saturday at 7:30 p.m. before hosting the Jackfish for the regular season finale Sunday at 2 p.m.

WheelNext Website

30 Updated Aug 15

An extremely fast Python package and project manager, written in Rust.

Rust 64.9k 76 issues need help Updated Aug 15

We’re thrilled to announce a major milestone: Centre In The Square (CITS) in Kitchener has become the first venue in Canada to permanently install the cutting-edge DiGiCo Quantum 852 audio console for front-of-house sound.

• Powerful yet familiar: Built on the trusted DiGiCo platform, the Q852 brings new features—like Mustard processing, preamp modeling, and dynamic EQ—while retaining an intuitive feel for seasoned operators.
• Built for versatility: Whether it’s a swift setup or a complex production—like mixing a band and symphony simultaneously—the Q852 handles it all with ease.
• Future-proofing our stage: The upgrade comes after over a decade with the SD7 console. The Q852 not only meets today’s demands but is also designed to support evolving needs—supporting up to 384 channels and seamless cross-compatibility with other DiGiCo systems.
• Collaborative spirit: This installation was made possible thanks to the leadership of Jeremy Bernard, Head of Sound at CITS, the venue’s long-standing legacy with GerrAudio, and swift, hands-on support from Aligned Vision Group.

“You can’t throw much at the Q852 where it doesn’t go, ‘Yeah, I got you.’”

– Jeremy Bernard, Head of Sound, Centre In The Square

At CITS, our commitment to delivering exceptional performance experiences has always been backed by strong partnerships—and this upgrade is no different. With DiGiCo’s responsive updates, GerrAudio’s trusted service, and Aligned Vision Group’s dedication, we’re more capable than ever of helping artists bring their vision to life.

Read the full article here: Canada’s First DiGiCo Quantum852 Lands at Centre In The Square (via GerrAudio Distribution)

At least for a few short years in the early 1990s both Uniroyal Chemical and the Ontario Ministry of Environment kept their egos and arrogance in check. When they didn't they were apt to get their ass** handed to them verbally by any number of citizens including myself, Susan B., Sylvia, Henry Regier, Shannon and others. I recall a few occasions when Shannon let loose and really put Dr. David Ash in his place.  Citizens were rightfully angry and the guilty parties (Uniroyal/M.O.E.) had to mind their manners with a mixture of lies (sorry we didn't know) and guilt (we'll do better). 

Slowly things began to change as the media as well as locals lost interest. Truthful promises of clean (?) water from Waterloo combined with false promises of remediation calmed people down. Even in those days I knew that most citizens attending were not doing the work necessary to keep informed. Likely the plethora of reports, investigations, monthly meetings and Minutes was intentionally difficult for lay persons to stay on top of so most didn't. This was certainly demonstrated in January 1994 when the APT coordinators ignoring both the known DNAPL facts as well as a DNAPL report written by Sylvia, Glenys and I went along with Sylvia's verbal claims that all was well with DNAPLS, completely contrary to reality.  

In hindsight putting councillors Quentin Martin and Grace Sudden on the UPAC committee was simple reassurance that Uniroyal's interests would be protected and they wouldn't be overburdened by citizen demands. Similarly having Greg Pimento of Sulco as the Chair of UPAC was for control purposes as was later on possibly having councillor Ruby Weber as Chair of UPAC. 

Then I began to notice some oddities. New faces would show up at UPAC meetings simply on the recommendation of one UPAC member. I objected and wanted to know why we weren't all consulted regarding a potential new member. Nobody else really seemed to care. I also noticed that Susan B. was getting friends and neighbours onto the committee again without any formal or informal consultation with the rest of the current members. I also noticed that Rich Clausi and other working citizens including APTE members could never attend the daytime meetings that Uniroyal/Crompton/Susan B. and later Pat McLean so favoured.  Those day time meetings excluded almost everybody and I had to lose a half days pay in order to attend.  That was bullshit and thank you very much Susan and Pat.

Nowadays there are credentialed folks on TRAC who literally don't have a clue as to what went on for the first twenty or twenty-five years of UPAC and CPAC. They are left with asking Lanxess for God's sake as to past history. What a farce! The polluter fully captured the public consultation process long ago albeit with the full support of the M.O.E. and Woolwich Township to their utter shame. The removal of CPAC members in September 2015 at the behest of Chemtura and the M.O.E. to Woolwich Township was the icing on the cake. They now have a tame committee who wouldn't say sh*t if their mouths were full of it which they often are.

Mere tokenism. And of course Susan Bryant had to put her two uninformed cents in by suggesting "...that the work of identifying the contamination on this site (Stroh) remains unfinished until the ditch is tested." Great so that's exactly and all that Lanxess did. They did not take either groundwater samples throughout the Stroh farm nor did they take a serious number of soil or sediment samples. Of the two sediment samples taken in a ditch a quarter of a mile long one of them had a concentration of 2,3,7,8 TCDD (dioxin) thirty times higher than the federal criteria of .85 pg/g. The Stroh property is large. A couple of groundwater samples, a few shallow soil samples with several chemical criteria exceedances within 30 feet of the site boundary with Uniroyal/Lanxess and a couple of sediment samples. I repeat mere tokenism.

And Susan Bryant as she has done for three decades gave it her and the long defunct APTE's blessing. This folks is the very definition of a coopted citizen pretending to speak for the public while defending the indefensible. The Record article indicates that I made a presentation to the planning and works committee in June. I'm not sure if Ms. Gerber is referring to the Woolwich or the Regional works committee. Regardless the fix has been in for a very long time which is how and why mayor Sandy Shantz got rid of me and the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) back in September 2015. She knew that honest and informed citizens would never let the Min. of Environment, Lanxess and the Township get away with this abomination. The title of the Record article is "Watchdogs say not enough contaminant testing near new urban zone in east Elmira" dated July 4, 2020. 

Unsupervised text tokenizer for Neural Network-based text generation.

C++ 11.2k 2 issues need help Updated Aug 13

By Gabriel Fonseca, Founder, Blackwood Consulting
Originally published as a Member Feature for the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce

In Waterloo Region’s fast-paced business landscape, where startups, manufacturers, and service firms are juggling growth, tech adoption, and talent retention, productivity often gets reduced to a numbers game:

More meetings booked
More content published
More projects shipped

But the most productive organizations aren’t the ones doing the most.
They’re the ones doing the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.

That’s not just an operational challenge.
It’s a strategic one.

Why Strategy Is the Most Overlooked Form of Productivity

Strategy is often mistaken for lofty visions, five-year roadmaps, or polished slide decks. But real strategy is far more grounded, and arguably more radical than people think.

Strategy isn’t about dreaming bigger. It’s about choosing smaller, on purpose.

I define it simply as:
“The prioritization of limited resources against a crowded field of options.”

Most teams don’t lack effort, creativity, or tools.
They lack the discipline, and often, the foresight, to make hard choices about where not to deploy them.

But that discipline depends on more than courage. It depends on clarity.

Before You Prioritize, You Need a North Star

Teams can’t prioritize effectively without a clear, shared understanding of what success looks like right now.

Start with questions like:

What specific outcome matters most this quarter?
What does “winning” look like for the business and our customers?
What is the key constraint—revenue, retention, brand trust, capacity?

Not sure what your constraint is? Start by asking:

Where are we currently seeing friction or failure to scale?
What are we always saying “if only we had more of”? (time, money, talent, attention)
What keeps resurfacing in retros and leadership check-ins?

Clarifying your primary constraint is what gives your strategy teeth. Without it, prioritization becomes a guessing game, or worse, a reflection of internal politics rather than actual business needs.

If you can’t answer these clearly, your prioritization process will become reactive.
Strategy starts with focus, and focus starts with alignment on the goal.

What Happens When Strategy Is Missing?

Teams stretch themselves thin across conflicting goals
Initiatives start strong, then stall quietly
Leaders chase symptoms instead of root problems
Momentum dies in a sea of well-intentioned activity

Without clear prioritization, productivity turns into performance—a simulation of progress that doesn’t actually compound.

Busy doesn’t equal effective. But many teams are rewarded for being visibly overwhelmed.

“But We Can’t Afford to Say No,” Or Can We?

A common pushback:
“We can’t afford to say no to that many things.”

But here’s what’s often overlooked:
Trying to do everything is already costing you.

That cost just hides in harder-to-measure places:

Burned-out teams
Slower execution
Missed targets
Inconsistent growth

Saying yes to everything is often driven by fear:

Fear of missing out
Fear of disappointing stakeholders
Fear of seeming unambitious

Saying yes to everything is the most polite form of sabotage. It looks agreeable, but quietly destroys focus.

Making hard trade-offs doesn’t shrink your ambition.
It protects your momentum.

Real-World Example: Doing Less to Grow More

We worked with a technology company juggling 17 active initiatives across sales, marketing, product, and customer success—all labeled “top priority.”

Despite massive effort, growth had stalled. No one could explain why.

We ran a two-day strategy alignment sprint:

Surfaced all active initiatives and mapped them against real constraints
Defined what success looked like for the quarter
Scored each initiative on impact, effort, and risk
Made hard choices: cut, pause, or fully commit

They narrowed to five initiatives, and focused execution on just two:

A pricing model overhaul
A revamped sales onboarding process

The results?

Average deal size grew by 26%
Sales ramp time dropped by 40%

They didn’t work harder.
They stopped working on what didn’t matter.

I’ve seen this play out over and over: cutting initiatives almost always drives more performance, not less.

Yes, their team and market conditions helped, but it was focus that created the space for execution to succeed.

Strategic Trade-Offs: Choosing Between Good and Good

The hardest choices aren’t between good and bad—they’re between two good things.

You may face:

A long-term product bet vs. a short-term revenue win
Customer expansion vs. operational sustainability
Brand growth vs. speed to market

Here, the right decision depends on your strategic goal and current constraint.

Ask:

Which path best addresses our limiting factor right now?
What bet aligns with our identity and future positioning?
What’s the cost of deferring one option?

When everything looks good, the best strategy is the one that moves you forward, not sideways.

Great strategy feels risky in the moment, and obvious in hindsight.

From Theory to Practice: A Focus Framework

Apply this thinking with your team using these steps:

List Every Active Initiative
Projects, goals, campaigns, internal efforts, across departments. Capture everything.

Define the Current Strategic Goal
What does success actually mean this quarter? Be precise.

Score Initiatives on Impact, Effort, and Risk
Use a simple 1–5 scale. Be honest, especially about pet projects.

Cut, Pause, or Commit
If it’s not a “clear yes,” it’s a candidate to pause or drop.

Align the Team Around Fewer Priorities
Share the final list. Clarify what’s in and what’s out, and why.

This isn’t just prioritization.
It’s momentum protection.

Dealing with Pushback: How to Say “No” Without Burning Bridges

Deprioritization carries risk—political, emotional, and reputational. But you can navigate it with clarity and empathy:

Be transparent:
“We’re making this change to stay focused on the highest-impact work this quarter.”

Provide closure:
Sunset paused projects intentionally. Don’t let them disappear silently.

Revisit, don’t erase:
Frame paused work as “not now,” not “never again.” Document clearly for future cycles.

Involve stakeholders early:
Use structured feedback to ensure key voices are heard before decisions are final.

Sample language for saying no:
“This idea has merit, but based on current priorities and capacity, we’re choosing to focus elsewhere this quarter. Let’s revisit in our next planning cycle.”

Deprioritization isn’t rejection. It’s strategic respect.

Deprioritization is a leadership skill, and it gets easier with practice.

Strategy in Complex, Political, and Constrained Environments

Let’s be real: This is harder in some contexts.

In nonprofits, government agencies, or early-stage startups, priorities are shaped by:

Board mandates
Funders’ expectations
Policy frameworks
Existential urgency

In these settings, focus can’t always be purely internal or purely rational.
Strategy here requires more than logic—it requires leadership:

Bringing stakeholders into alignment
Navigating sensitive trade-offs
Creating space for long-term thinking in short-term environments

Want a practical approach? In one nonprofit we supported, leadership used a strategy sprint to align board, funders, and staff on a single priority for the next six months: improving donor retention by 15%. By isolating that constraint and unifying around it, they protected frontline teams from overload, and earned more trust from funders than they had with broad, scattered effort.

In complex systems, strategy is less about control, and more about coherence.

Strategy Isn’t What You Say, It’s What You Cut

The most strategic organizations don’t have more ideas.
They’re just more deliberate about choosing fewer, and seeing them through.

Saying “no” to a promising idea, a legacy product, or a well-liked initiative is hard.
But delaying that decision is still a decision—one that quietly drains momentum.

And yes, for teams who’ve experienced repeated pivots or shifting strategic goals, this can feel like whiplash.

This is where consistency and transparency matter most. Even if the strategy evolves, the decision-making process should remain stable.

That means clearly explaining why changes are being made, and how new choices relate to past ones.

Otherwise, teams disengage not because the vision isn’t clear, but because it doesn’t feel durable.

Four Questions to Refocus Your Strategy

If your team feels busy but stuck, start here:

What are we solving for this quarter?
Which constraint is actually limiting growth?
Which initiatives have no clear ROI path?
What will we NOT do, even if it’s tempting?

These are hard questions.
But they separate busy teams from productive ones.

Final Thought

Productivity isn’t about maximizing output.
It’s about minimizing misalignment.

If your strategy doesn’t make execution easier, faster, and more confident, it’s not a strategy.
It’s a theatre production in slide format.

Decide what matters.
Cut what doesn’t.
That’s the real productivity most organizations are missing.

The post Blackwood Consulting: Strategy is the Productivity most Organizations are Missing appeared first on Greater KW Chamber of Commerce.

• ♦ 17bf6cc

  Tweak and cleanup some go to commands

♦♦Waterloo Busker Carnival
Thursday, Aug 21 to Sunday, Aug 24
Various Times
FREE
Various Locations

Get ready for street shows you won’t forget! See acrobats, comedy, fire acts and more. Take a break between shows to grab some carnival food, shop local vendors, and enjoy the midway rides. The Carnival will be taking place in three locations, Waterloo Public Square – 75 King St. S, Waterloo, Regina street between Erb St. and William St. and the City Hall Parking lot – 100 Regina St. S, Waterloo. There’s something fun around every corner!

Click here for more info

♦Under the Canopy – A celebration for the future
Saturday, Aug 23
2:00 AM – 4:00 PM
FREE
Waterloo Park – West Side Under the Canopy of Trees

Join your neighbors in appreciation of the magnificent Old Oak Tree with crafts, music, and refreshments. The MacGregor Albert Community Association and Uptown Waterloo North Neighbourhood Association are happy to be coming together to host this party in the park for all ages! We’re very grateful to have received funding from TD Parks People Grants for this public park event. Come and celebrate with us!

Click here for more info

♦Caribana Ignite
Friday, Aug 22 and Saturday, Aug 23
Friday 6:00 PM
Saturday 11:00 PM
FREE
Carl Zehr Square – 200 King St. W, Kitchener

Caribana Ignite features a stunning street theatre presentation and street party that showcases the true essence of carnival. The event features a family glow party at Carl Zehr Square on the Friday starting at 6:00 PM and a parade on the Saturday starting at 11:00 AM. The parade will dance their way down King St. in Kitchener from Frederick St. to Francis St. You will find the hottest up-and-coming carnival designers and the diversity and vibrancy of the Caribbean, all in this one celebration.

Click here for more info

♦♦ ♦

Rockin It At Rockway Welcome Back BBQ
Wednesday, Aug 20
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM♦
FREE – Registration Required
Rockway Centre – 1405 King St. E, Kitchener

Join us on the Rockway Centre Patio for our welcome back to fall BBQ. Enjoy live music by The Flamingos and a free BBQ! Seating is limited, please bring your own lawn chair if possible.

Click here for more info

Campfire Concerts
Wednesday, Aug 20
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
FREE
Waterloo Public Square – 75 King St. S, Waterloo

Join us for the final Campfire Concert of the season. Enjoy the indie rock style of Miranda Journey at 6 PM followed by a blend of poetry and pop/rock from Mandippal at 7 PM. Grab a seat on a nearby patio or gather around the and listen to the live music being performed by these local musicians.

Click here for more info

Patio Music Series: Ben Rollo
Friday, Aug 22
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Pay What You Can
TWB Brewing – 300 Mill St. Kitchener

Ben Rollo is a talented multi-instrumentalist. Ben’s songs have been played on CBC Radio, as well as on over 20 stations nationwide. No tickets or reservations needed — just good vibes, great beer, and live music. Pay What You Can to help us better support and compensate our amazing local musicians.

Click here for more info

Big Fall Clothing Swap
Saturday, Aug 23
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
$5
Church of the Good Shepard – 116 Queen St. N, Kitchener

Wild Love Vintage is hosting another clothing swap and this one’s going to be a big one! I can feel it!! Come trade your unloved (but good condition) clothing and small housewares for something new and awesome! There is a $5 entry fee that will be donated to Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. Empty every drawer and finally let go of all those things you were saving for “someday” and find something you will love today!

Click here for more info

Schneider Creek Porch Party
Saturday, Aug 23
1:00 PM – 7:00 PM
FREE
Peter St. Kitchener (near Peter and Bruder)

Live music on porches and in the park. Everyone is welcome! Come for live music, market, food, and activities. Bring lawn chairs and the whole family. There is lots to do and see! Parking available at Courtland Public School.

Click here for more info

♦

♦ It was a beautiful day in the neighbourhood of Downtown Kitchener. It was a Tuesday at Kitchener City Hall when a group of friends got together to enjoy music, games and fellowship. The City of Kitchener’s Live at Lunch concert series was producing the jamming tunes in the square. Pictured on the left, you can see the incredible dance moves of Felipe (left), Simon (middle) and James (right). Their dance moves were so fantastic, it caused others nearby to join in.

Also in attendance was Jeremy who enjoyed a game of Corn Hole with James. There was a Giant Jenga and Giant Chess game that others were playing as well. Lots of people enjoyed the beautiful sunshine, kids cooled off in the wading pool and nearby restaurants made for lots of delicious lunch options. There’s still a couple weeks left where you too can come out to Kitchener City Hall and enjoy the Live at Lunch Concert Series. Come out on a Tuesday or Thursday from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM – the last one is August 30.

Click here for more info

The post August 13, 2025: What’s Happening in Your Neighbourhood? appeared first on KW Habilitation.

The post Rock Rascals appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

COTERC (Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation) is a not-for-profit protecting tropical ecosystems by empowering the next generation of conservation scientists.

Tropical ecosystems are under threat from a range of human disturbances — and we still lack the necessary knowledge to intervene and protect biodiversity that is critical to society’s survival.

Over the past 33 years more than 2400 early-stage researchers have visited our biological station in Costa Rica — publishing groundbreaking research on some of the least understood species in the world.

Given our geographical location in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and our laser-focus on high quality research and conservation we’re ready to lead the way in the fight against biodiversity loss.

Join us in protecting tropical biodiversity.

Dr Tom Bregman, Chair of COTERC

COTERC provides immersive learning experiences that deepen comprehension and appreciation of tropical ecosystems. We do this by:

• Training the next generation of conservation scientists: We inspire and empower early-stage researchers to support their development and maximise their contribution to tropical biodiversity conservation.
• Deepening understanding of ecological communities: We baseline and track changes in biodiversity — with a particular focus on the impact of local, international, and global human activities on vulnerable and endangered species.
• Creating awareness of tropical ecosystems: We communicate research findings and stories from the station to influence local ecosystem management and generate interest in protecting biodiversity amongst the broader public.
• We work closely with the local government ministry responsible for protecting the national park and wildlife refuge that we work in — providing them with up-to-date knowledge of the local ecosystems to inform their planning and practices.

COTERC is looking for a highly experienced, senior fundraising professional to join us and lead our grant-development efforts in the wake of a renewed emphasis on organizational growth and impact.

Over the past 12 months we have reviewed our approach to driving change and are in the process of setting a new three-year strategy.

The Director of Grants will oversee all our engagement with grant-making foundations — building relationships and developing opportunities for restricted and unrestricted fundraising.

Reporting to the Chair of the board, the Director of Grants will join the board and empower other board-members and staff to effectively improve our financial position.

This is an exciting time to join COTERC with the opportunity to lead the ongoing transformation and growth of our grant-seeking approach.

Due to our renewed focus on growth and impact, we have created two additional roles — Director of Marketing and Director of Fundraising — who will oversee financial income and broader outreach but be expected to work closely with the Director of Grants.

• Responsible for developing a fundraising strategy focused on grant-making organizations.
• Responsible for developing and achieving agreed fundraising KPIs for restricted grants.
• Responsible for writing and sharing targeted fundraising materials.
• Responsible for engaging foundations and other grant-making organizations to support COTERC financially.
• Responsible for evaluating the success of fundraising activities.
• Input into the development of a long-term organizational strategy.
• Input into the development of a marketing strategy and messaging principles.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build and articulate COTERC’s position and impact in a persuasive and compelling way.
• Have strong leadership skills, with experience of working at a senior/director level.
• Be self-motivated and a good team player who gets things done.
• Be a natural collaborator, creating buy in through influence and persuasion, with an integrated communications and engagement approach.

• Experience engaging and fundraising from foundations and other grant-making organizations (essential).
• Experience of building fundraising strategies and turning them into action (desirable).
• Knowledge of the space that COTERC operates in (desirable).
• Experience working at a not-for-profit, or organization seeking to grow with limited resources (desirable).

• Location: Flexible (our current board members live in Canada, US, and the UK).
• Salary: N/A (volunteer role).
• Time commitment: 2 to 3 days per month (monthly committee meeting lasting two hours and time to complete tasks).
• The Director of Grants will join for an initial two-year term with an opportunity to renew.

• Contributing to an important cause: Understanding and protecting tropical ecosystems is not just important for preserving biodiversity but is essential in protecting the future of humanity.
• Opportunity to make a difference: As the new Director of Grants for COTERC you will have the opportunity to drive the growth of a highly impactful charity. We have achieved so much without a systematic grant-seeking approach — with the appointment of an excellent candidate we expect to level-up everything we do and create new opportunities to grow and drive impact.

To apply for the position, please send an up-to-date CV and cover letter (collectively no more than four pages) to chair@coterc.org

The cover letter should explain your motivation for the role, and how your skills and experience fit the person specification.

Interviews will be conducted remotely as soon as appropriate candidates apply.

At COTERC, we value diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and are committed to having a team with a diverse set of skills, experiences and abilities.

If you would like to have a chat to learn more about this role before applying, please contact Dr Tom Bregman at chair@coterc.org

The post COTERC- Director of Grants appeared first on Capacity Canada.

♦

COTERC (Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation) is a not-for-profit protecting tropical ecosystems by empowering the next generation of conservation scientists.

Tropical ecosystems are under threat from a range of human disturbances — and we still lack the necessary knowledge to intervene and protect biodiversity that is critical to society’s survival.

Over the past 33 years more than 2400 early-stage researchers have visited our biological station in Costa Rica — publishing groundbreaking research on some of the least understood species in the world.

Given our geographical location in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and our laser-focus on high quality research and conservation we’re ready to lead the way in the fight against biodiversity loss.

Join us in protecting tropical biodiversity.

Dr Tom Bregman, Chair of COTERC

COTERC provides immersive learning experiences that deepen comprehension and appreciation of tropical ecosystems. We do this by:

• Training the next generation of conservation scientists: We inspire and empower early-stage researchers to support their development and maximise their contribution to tropical biodiversity conservation.
• Deepening understanding of ecological communities: We baseline and track changes in biodiversity — with a particular focus on the impact of local, international, and global human activities on vulnerable and endangered species.
• Creating awareness of tropical ecosystems: We communicate research findings and stories from the station to influence local ecosystem management and generate interest in protecting biodiversity amongst the broader public.
• We work closely with the local government ministry responsible for protecting the national park and wildlife refuge that we work in — providing them with up-to-date knowledge of the local ecosystems to inform their planning and practices.

COTERC is looking for a highly experienced, senior fundraising or business development professional to join us and lead our fundraising efforts in the wake of a renewed emphasis on organizational growth and impact.

Over the past 12 months we have reviewed our approach to driving change and are in the process of setting a new three-year strategy.

The Director of Fundraising will oversee all our fundraising activities with corporates and HNWIs. The chosen individual will also support the Director of Grants in developing restricted fundraising proposals.

Reporting to the Chair of the board, the Director of Fundraising will join the board and empower other board-members and staff to transform how we build capacity to deliver our mission.

This is an exciting time to join COTERC with the opportunity to lead the ongoing transformation and growth of our fundraising approach.

Due to our renewed focus on growth and impact, we have created two additional roles — Director of Grants and Director of Marketing — who will work closely with the Director of Fundraising to achieve our development goals.

• Responsible for developing a fundraising strategy — that pays particular attention to the role of HNWIs and businesses to the financial growth of the organization.
• Responsible for developing and achieving agreed fundraising KPIs.
• Responsible for writing and sharing targeted fundraising materials.
• Responsible for engaging HNWIs and businesses to support the organization financially.
• Responsible for evaluating the success of fundraising activities.
• Input into the development of a long-term organizational strategy.
• Input into the development of a marketing strategy and messaging principles.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build and articulate COTERC’s position and impact in a persuasive and compelling way.
• Have strong leadership skills, with experience of working at a senior/director level.
• Be self-motivated and a good team player who gets things done.
• Be a natural collaborator, creating buy in through influence and persuasion, with an integrated communications and engagement approach.

• Experience of building fundraising strategy and turning it into action (essential).
• Experience engaging and fundraising from businesses and HNWIs (essential).
• Understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility and impact investment trends (desirable).
• Knowledge of the space that COTERC operates in (desirable).
• Experience working at a not-for-profit, or organization seeking to grow with limited resources (desirable).

• Location: Flexible (our current board members live in Canada, US, and the UK).
• Salary: N/A (volunteer role).
• Time commitment: 2 to 3 days per month (monthly committee meeting lasting two hours and time to complete tasks).
• The Director of Fundraising will join for an initial two-year term with an opportunity to renew.

• Contributing to an important cause: Understanding and protecting tropical ecosystems is not just important for preserving biodiversity but is essential in protecting the future of humanity.
• Opportunity to make a difference: As the new Director of Fundraising for COTERC you will have the opportunity to drive the growth of a highly impactful charity. We have achieved so much without a true fundraising expert — with the appointment of an excellent candidate we expect to level-up everything we do and create new opportunities to grow and drive impact.

To apply for the position, please send an up-to-date CV and cover letter (collectively no more than four pages) to chair@coterc.org

The cover letter should explain your motivation for the role, and how your skills and experience fit the person specification.

Interviews will be conducted remotely as soon as appropriate candidates apply.

At COTERC, we value diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and are committed to having a team with a diverse set of skills, experiences and abilities.

If you would like to have a chat to learn more about this role before applying, please contact Dr Tom Bregman at chair@coterc.org

The post COTERC – Director of Fundraising appeared first on Capacity Canada.

by Marguerite Bellec

Imagine you’re about to start a brand new game.
(cue Tyra Bank’s voice)
Two beautiful avatars stand before you. One is the same gender as you IRL, and one is opposite.

Which one do you pick?

Most players think this is just an aesthetic choice, but science suggests otherwise.

When you jump into a video game, your avatar isn’t just a fun costume idea, it can actually influence how you think, feel, and act in the game. This is called the Proteus effect, where the look and traits of your character shape your behaviour and even your success. But there’s more going on inside your head, too.

Scientists have found that men’s and women’s brains respond differently to gaming, especially in how they react to game-related cues. These differences could help explain why some people, particularly males, might be more prone to gaming addiction.

But here’s where it gets interesting: players using female avatars killed more enemies, regardless of their real-world gender. That’s pretty surprising, especially given the usual stereotypes about men being more aggressive in games. Researchers think this could mean players — male or female — project combat-oriented qualities onto female avatars. This could be due to shifting media portrayals (such as many TV shows from Vikings to The Last of Us to Chief of War) that show women as assertive, skilled, and battle-ready (albeit with perfect hair and makeup, whatever the situation).

So time to see where you fit.

A fascinating study on Fallout: New Vegas found that players who used an avatar matching their gender performed better in certain parts of the game, specifically in completing quests and discovering new locations. This own-gender bias suggests that when players see themselves reflected in their avatar, they feel more connected and immersed, which boosts focus and success.

For example, female players using female avatars explored the game world more thoroughly while male players using male avatars completed quests more efficiently.

However, this advantage didn’t extend to combat; the number of enemies or NPCs defeated didn’t depend on whether the avatar’s gender matched the player’s.

One twist in the Fallout study was that female avatars were linked to higher numbers of kills, no matter the player’s gender. This flips old stereotypes about male aggression in games on their head. Why might this be?

One suggestion that we mentioned before is that players may unconsciously assign more aggressive, combat-ready traits to female avatars, reflecting changing media where female characters are no longer just “damsels in distress” but fierce warriors. Research indicates, for example, that between 2015 and 2020, the number of female protagonists in videogames doubled from 9% to 18%. This rise in female representation in gaming and other media (e.g., female lead actors in US films increased by 21.6% between 2011 and 2021) may have shifted how players perceive female avatars.

But also the single-player nature of Fallout means social expectations tied to gender might be less influential than in online multiplayer games, freeing players to express a wider range of behaviours through their avatars. Another study by Yee et al. involved PvP (player vs player) combat in an online massively multiplayer online game, in this case, World of Warcraft. The perceived virtual presence of other physical world users might have influenced player behaviours by reinforcing societal expectations regarding gender and aggression (e.g., males being stereotypically seen as more aggressive), which might not apply in an offline setting.

Beyond the avatar effects, a fascinating study by Dong, Wang, Du, and Potenza looked at how men’s and women’s brains respond differently to gaming cues, which might explain why males are often more vulnerable to Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). The study scanned recreational gamers’ brains before and after a 30-minute gaming session and found key differences in how reward and motivation areas reacted:

• Right Striatum: This region is central to processing rewards and motivating goal-directed behaviour. Men showed stronger activation here before gaming, and this was linked to higher self-reported cravings for gaming. Women showed less activation, suggesting males are more sensitive to gaming-related rewards.
• Right Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC): Also more active in men before gaming, this area is involved in addiction-related behaviours like craving and relapse, hinting that men’s brains may respond to gaming cues in a more “addiction-like” way.
• Medial Frontal Gyrus (MFG) and Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): After gaming, men showed greater activity in these regions linked to addiction and impulse control, suggesting their brains may work harder to regulate cravings and behavior.
• Left Thalamus: Men had larger changes in this region after gaming; the thalamus is tied to motivational drives, reinforcing the idea that gaming cues trigger stronger craving responses in males.
• Other Regions: Males showed more activation in areas linked to motor control and memory retrieval, suggesting their brains may be more primed for gaming skills and recalling game experiences.

In short, these neural differences point to biological mechanisms that may make males more vulnerable to problematic gaming, even though men and women generally have similar gaming skills.

• Choosing an avatar that matches your gender might boost your game success by increasing immersion and motivation.
• Female avatars may encourage more aggressive play, signalling a shift in how gender roles play out in gaming worlds.
• Male gamers’ brains respond more strongly to gaming cues in reward and craving centers, potentially increasing addiction risk — something game designers and players should be mindful of.

While these studies shed light on how gender influences gaming at behavioural and brain levels, there’s still much to explore. Future research will need to:

• Test how these findings apply across different games and multiplayer settings.
• Use controlled experiments to confirm whether avatars actively change behaviour or if players pick avatars that fit their style.
• Investigate how diverse gender identities beyond the binary experience these effects.
• Understanding these dynamics can help developers create games that are more inclusive, enjoyable, and healthy for everyone, no matter who you play as or how your brain plays back.

www.researchgate.net/publication/387455094

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1875952124001332

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30272247/

🎮 Would You Beat More Bosses as a Girl? was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record had an excellent article by reporter Terry Pender titled "The rules change every day".  The sub-title of the article is "Retired urban planner Kevin Eby watches his work get "wiped out" across Waterloo Region. Mr. Eby "...oversaw smart-growth plans for the Region of Waterloo that led to high density development along the light-rail corridor."  My somewhat basic understanding of planning principles during that time frame was to reduce urban sprawl into the rural areas outside the settlement areas (K-W, Cambridge, Elmira, Breslau, Wellesley, Ayr etc.). This was to protect trees, forests, farmland, waterways and other natural areas while practicing "infill" within our towns and cities.  Actual development whether new homes or even industrial/commercial projects as much as possible should be built inside the current town and city borders albeit in the appropriately zoned areas. 

That was then and now we have a Progressive Conservative idiot and former drug dealer as our Premier whom I would suggest is less stupid, arrogant and dogmatic then President Donald Trump. There that is my ringing endorsement of Mr. Ford. He has tried to sell parts of our Greenbelt to his developer friends. He has gutted environmental protections by removing many new projects from environmental oversight. He ordered our Regional Council to sign Non Disclosure Agreements regarding an attempted surreptitious land assembly of 770 acres of prime farmland in Wilmot Township. He has extended settlement boundaries here in Waterloo Region "...that rewarded developers and speculators who long supported the Conservative government". These extended settlement boundaries conveniently included the contaminated Stroh and Martin farms located east and south of the former Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira which has been leaking and leaching parathion, lindane, NDMA, dioxin/furans, DDT, PAH etc. for about  the last eighty years.

Fortunately mental geniuses calling themselves politicians, without any formal environmental training or degrees, who have absolutely zero informal training as well say otherwise. Asking polluters and their fellow travellors their opinions on the Elmira "clean up" gives them confidence in supporting both the pathetic non cleanup and the necessary political coverup required to support it. This is the bottom line. Politics trumps everything including proven facts, principles and the lessons of history.  Good planning means nothing when Sandy Shantz says so along with Karen Redman and along with Doug Ford.  Common sense, care and respect for our natural environment mean nothing when our self-serving politicians say so. Human health being decimated by cancer, climate change, air, water and soil pollution  mean nothing when politicians do what they do best which is to lie about these issues. 

Our politicians will be the most likely end of the human race here on earth.

.  

Which is interesting when the only person with as much time (?) albeit much less technical understanding has only recently decided to be dressed for the public meetings versus a bathrobe in bed from the comfort of her home. Even when she lived in Elmira versus K-W she had started skipping meetings in person enjoying the convenience of Zoom . As far as time considerations while I've spent time researching both past and current technical data and reports she has spent her time networking, socializing and building political support for the status quo here in Elmira, Ontario. Many, many years ago I thought that that combination of our skills could bring us a successful cleanup. Susan's deviousness, back stabbing, manipulation and penchant for self-promotion destroyed that.

There is no active TRAC (Technical Remediation Advisory Committee) member quite frankly who has a clue what has gone on over the decades. Don't get me wrong. There are a number of very smart and educated TRAC members but they are at a huge disadvantage when being manipulated and obfuscated to by Lanxess's staff and consultants. Many of the lies and deceptions are decades old and many of the issues even precede Sebastian (2011) who is the best of a bad lot.

I will be sending all the guilty parties copies today of my previous two Blog postings (Aug. 8 & 9/25) titled " East Side DNAPLS As Well" and " Almost By Definition We Have DNAPLS On The Stroh Farm".  Please note carefully that these titles are referring to two different locations. The first posting referring to East Side DNAPLS is referring to DNAPLS on the east side of the former Uniroyal Chemical and current Lanxess property.  The second posting of course refers to the Stroh property which is a farm further east of the entire Uniroyal/Lanxess property.

"Guilty Parties" by the way refers to the usual suspects namely Woolwich Township, MECP, GHD, Lanxess, Region of Waterloo, TRAC unfortunately (too compliant, deferential and overwhelmed).

Gatel, L., Tremblay, Y., Picard, A., N'da, BA, Frot, B., Therrien, R Cloutier, V., Barbecot, F. (June 25, 2024). Vulnerability of the Saint-Charles drinking water source: portrait of the groundwater resources of the St-Charles River watershed and their links with surface water. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/179b86fca3cd4e828026660ad292cfe7

“In this model, water flows are modeled in two dimensions on the surface and in three dimensions in the subsurface environment. ”

Gatel, L., Tremblay, Y., Picard, A., N'da, BA, Frot, B., Therrien, R Cloutier, V., Barbecot, F. (June 25, 2024). Vulnerability of the Saint-Charles drinking water source: portrait of the groundwater resources of the St-Charles River watershed and their links with surface water. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/179b86fca3cd4e828026660ad292cfe7

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ARCGIS STORY MAP.

We’re pleased to highlight this research effort, which focuses on understanding the vulnerability of the Saint-Charles River drinking water source and characterizing the groundwater resources that support it. Presented through a public-facing ArcGIS Story Map, this project delivers an accessible summary of a detailed hydrogeological study that integrates field measurements, geochemical analyses, and numerical modelling to evaluate the watershed’s current and future ability to provide safe, reliable drinking water for the City of Quebec and its surrounding municipalities.

The study area spans the 344 km² watershed upstream of the Château d’Eau intake on the Saint-Charles River, a critical source of drinking water for Quebec City and surrounding communities including Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury, Lac-Beauport, Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, and the Wendake First Nation. With increasing urbanization and growing concerns over chloride contamination from road salts and reduced streamflow during low-flow periods, the study was initiated to better understand the linkages between groundwater and surface water and to assess potential vulnerabilities across seasons and hydroclimatic conditions.

To achieve this, researchers compiled and updated geological and hydrogeological data originally developed through the PACES-CMQ project. This update involved improving data resolution and precision at the watershed scale, while significantly expanding the scope to include surface water processes. The study applied a rigorous methodology that included new water quality and quantity monitoring installations, isotopic and geochemical characterization of groundwater and surface water, and the development of integrated conceptual and numerical models. These models were used to simulate the coupled dynamics of surface and subsurface flow, allowing researchers to explore transient behaviors of the hydrologic system and identify periods or zones of heightened vulnerability.

Of particular importance is the study’s alignment with Canada’s multi-barrier approach to drinking water protection, which emphasizes source-to-tap safeguards. By identifying key recharge areas, understanding baseflow contributions, and monitoring the impact of anthropogenic pressures, the research directly supports long-term water management and protection efforts in the Saint-Charles watershed. The integration of field data with a coupled surface–subsurface modelling platform, such as HydroGeoSphere (HGS), enabled the research team to simulate flow paths and groundwater residence times, helping to characterize the delay and distribution of recharge sources that ultimately feed the Saint-Charles River.

Using HGS, researchers constructed a digital model of the Château d’Eau water intake catchment, incorporating land use, geological features, and daily climate inputs at a spatially distributed scale. The model calculates water movement in two dimensions on the land surface and in three dimensions in the subsurface, solving the equations governing hydrological and hydrogeological processes. This comprehensive simulation framework allowed the team to assess how water flows through the watershed under different environmental and climatic scenarios—supporting their investigation into groundwater-surface water interactions and identifying areas of potential vulnerability in the drinking water supply.

Presented as a narrative map for broader accessibility, the Story Map distills complex scientific findings into a user-friendly format that allows residents, stakeholders, and policymakers to explore the spatial and hydrologic realities of their drinking water source. It emphasizes that while regional-scale modelling offers critical insights into water resource dynamics, local-scale issues still require site-specific studies for effective management and decision-making.

This work provides a foundational portrait of water resource vulnerability in Quebec City’s principal watershed and reinforces the role of integrated science and modelling in informing sustainable water management under changing land use and climate pressures.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ARCGIS STORY MAP.

In this issue:

• • Community and Connection: Building Belonging Together
  • An Early Learning Update
  • Growing Community, One Row at a Time (An update from Our Farm)
  • The Belonging Collective Community Calendar

The post Summer 2025 Newsletter! appeared first on KW Habilitation.

♦The image to the right, entitled Skyline of Calgary, is courtesy Wikipedia and is used in accordance with their Creative Commons license.

With the re-release of The Night Girl, there comes promotion, and I'm excited to get working on giving this book the best re-launch it can have. I've already invited you all to the afternoon mingle (with cake!) at Words Worth Books on Saturday, August 30. Next Friday (the 15th), I'll be flying into Calgary to attend the When Words Collide science fiction and fantasy convention.

Look for my books at the Shadowpaw Press booth, and I may be along to sign copies, and I have an autograph session of my own, and I will be a panellist at a presentation. I'll be speaking alongside Konn Lavery and Onyx Shelton in a panel moderated by Erik D'Souza entitled The Names of Things.

As is stated on the panel promotion: "You have a story idea, you have a plot, you have characters, but what are their names? What's the name of the street they live on or their hometown? Or the neighbouring town? Or the other continent in their fantasy world? Names are important. They suggest a history and a unique set of characteristics that add spice and background to your tales. Learn about different approaches, benefits and potential pitfalls." So, if you want to hear our thoughts on how we name things, whether we explore the languages behind the names, or just wing it, come on out at 9 a.m., Mountain Time on Sunday, August 17 (note corrected day). We'll be in the Sheraton East room.

While at When Words Collide, I'll be supporting Edmonton's bid to host WorldCon in 2030. I'll be taking part in their bid party, reading alongside Brendan Myers and Regina M. Hansen online in the Daspletosaurus Zoom Room, 5 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday, August 16. For more information, check out Edmonton's Virtual Bid Party page here. I must say, I love the dinosaur theme of the online party.

Finally, on Sunday, August 17, starting at 2 p.m. Mountain Time, I will be signing copies of my books alongside author Kelly Siskind, so if you're at When Words Collide, I hope you'll stop by and say hello.

Otherwise, I'm looking forward to checking out the other panels and activities at the convention, and exploring Calgary a little. It's been a while since I've visited this fair city, and I'm looking forward to the camaraderie and creative atmosphere that conventions like When Words Collide provide.

A few months ago, I sat on a call while a senior executive announced, “We’ll prepare for the future of work in the next five years.” I nearly laughed. The future was already here.

It was the designer two seats down, checking Slack while ChatGPT drafted their meeting notes.

It was in the product manager quietly testing a new AI feature during the “budget updates” agenda item.

And it was the developer at the end of the table, reviewing code written by an AI and trying to decide whether to refactor it or frame it as “experimental.”

There is no “future of work” moment anymore. We are already in it, and it’s wearing noise-cancelling headphones in a corner, trying to finish a sprint ticket before lunch.

By 2030, 40% of today’s skills will be outdated. Almost 60% of workers will need re-skilling, and one in five will not get it.

That’s not some distant problem. It’s happening quietly now while most teams are still deciding if “AI” deserves its own Jira label.

Every conversation about AI in organizations seems to start with: “Which tools are we using?”

It’s an easy question because tools feel safe.

You can budget for them.

You can roll them out.

You can tick the box that says: We’re doing AI.

But an AI mindset has nothing to do with tools.

You can buy the most advanced platform on the market and still fail to shift the way your organization thinks, which is how you end up with expensive software nobody logs into after week three.

Last week, I joined the FIFTY panel remotely, a gathering of design, product, and tech leaders who compare notes on what’s actually working inside their organizations. Think less “keynote with inspirational stock photos” and more “group therapy for people trying to bring AI into complex systems without losing their minds.”

What came through loud and clear was this: the teams thriving right now are the ones with curiosity, critical thinking, and the confidence to lead without certainty.

And no, you can’t just add those to the training budget. They’re built over time, in how leaders set expectations, how teams are encouraged to question things, and whether they’re trusted to act when the answer isn’t obvious.

That’s where design leadership matters.

Because if AI can automate the craft … the pixel pushing, the production, the outputs … what’s left for design?

• Problem framing (which AI will happily skip for “efficiency”)
• Ethical thinking (still a human-only feature, for now)
• Leading teams and organizations through complexity (without looking like you’re herding cats)
• Designing value in context, not just filling the screen with something clickable

AI will not erase design. But it will strip away the surface and expose what really matters: how we make sense of complexity, shape outcomes, and create value in context.

If the first half of this article was about how organizations think about AI, from the obsession with tools to the missing mindset and the real value of design, then the next couple of years will be where those ideas are tested in practice.

AI will continue to appear in workflows. It will not arrive as a hostile takeover, but more like a polite handshake. It will sit alongside us, ready to take on the heavy lifting, while we nod politely and double-check everything it produces.

In strategy, there will be a strong temptation to let AI run the research and surface patterns in minutes rather than days. However, the real work, and the part the FIFTY panel kept returning to, will be deciding which patterns matter and which are simply shiny noise. That choice requires curiosity and critical thinking, not just a bigger dataset.

In research, the time saved on synthesis will only be valuable if it is used to ask sharper, more insightful questions. AI can point out what is present in the data, but it cannot decide which findings are worth taking to your CEO or which ones will actually shape a better product.

Visual design will feel its first noticeable change. Instead of starting with a blank artboard, we will have three “perfectly fine” layouts ready instantly. The skill will be in refining them so they feel intentional, rooted in context, and not like the AI has just discovered Bauhaus on Pinterest and decided to make it a brand religion.

Content will probably be the first discipline to fully embrace AI assistance. It can create a workable draft in seconds and a legally questionable one in roughly the same amount of time, which is why human oversight will remain essential.

For leaders, this is the moment to set the tone. Curiosity should be encouraged, but AI must not be allowed to become the shiny distraction that pulls everyone away from delivering genuine value.

By this stage, AI will have moved past its awkward introduction. It will feel more like a colleague: helpful most of the time, baffling at others, and occasionally suggesting something so strange that the whole room stops to look at it.

Strategy will move faster, but also become more chaotic. AI forecasts will change weekly, and the role of leadership will be to keep teams aligned without forcing them into constant, exhausting pivots. This is where the idea of “leading without certainty” from the FIFTY panel becomes real. Decisions will need to be made without having all the answers, and leaders will need to keep teams focused despite the ambiguity.

Research will shift toward “AI piloting.” The quality of the output will depend heavily on the quality of the input. Framing the problem in the right way will matter just as much as collecting data. Human researchers will still be needed to spot cultural nuance, emotional subtext, and behavioural patterns that algorithms misread or overlook entirely.

Visual design will involve working with systems that are capable of managing themselves, but “self-managing” will not always mean “self-aware.” Designers will need to know when to step in, ideally before the product quietly rebrands itself in a style trend nobody asked for.

Content will focus on maintaining brand voice and consistency at scale. The risk will be a slow drift toward bland, generic language that sounds like every other AI-generated copy in circulation.

Leaders will need to balance speed with substance. Delivering quickly will not impress anyone if the work ignores the context, ethical implications, or actual user needs.

A decade from now, AI will be embedded into almost everything we do. At that point, we will either be talking about it as the best thing that has happened to design or explaining why creativity quietly left the building.

In the utopian version, AI takes on repetitive and time-consuming tasks so humans can focus on what is uniquely ours: ethics, creativity, and meaning. Strategy shapes organizations that are sustainable and adaptable. Research connects vast datasets while protecting fairness and privacy. Visual design becomes adaptive, expressive, and culturally fluent. Content shapes AI-human communication with empathy and clarity.

Leadership embeds design into the heart of decision-making and builds teams that thrive in complexity. The mindset the FIFTY panel spoke about, with curiosity, critical thinking, and the confidence to lead without certainty, becomes so normal that it no longer needs to be named.

In the dystopian version, efficiency is the only goal. Strategy reacts to machine predictions without vision. Research becomes a rubber stamp for biased outputs. Visual design is reduced to tweaking AI templates and fixing errors after launch. Content spends more time cleaning up AI mistakes than creating anything meaningful.

Leadership focuses on chasing metrics instead of shaping culture. Curiosity and critical thinking quietly disappear from job descriptions, and creativity walks out the door for a role in a coffee shop that still values human interaction.

Yes, understanding AI tools will be important. However, the skills that will keep you relevant are the ones AI cannot convincingly imitate. These include seeing systems rather than just screens, making ethical trade-offs, helping teams adapt without losing their humanity, learning and unlearning continuously, and telling stories that make complex ideas resonate.

AI might be able to produce something that looks like good design. Deciding what matters, why it matters, and how it should live in the world will still be our responsibility.

The organizations that succeed will not simply hire for these skills. They will grow them. They will invest early, build cultures that adapt, and encourage teams to design with AI instead of resisting it.

I think about it like a garden. You can buy mature plants and place them in the soil, but if the environment is wrong, they will not thrive. You must care for the environment, feed the soil, water regularly, and adapt to the weather.

Teams are no different. No amount of AI skill will flourish in a culture that cannot support it.

The most future-proof professionals will be the ones who blend human strengths, such as judgement, empathy, and ethics, with AI capabilities. That combination takes time to grow and cannot be automated.

So here is my question for you. In your team or organisation, are you preparing people to work with AI, or are you simply waiting for them to figure it out on their own? Because the future is not a meeting in five years. It is happening now, in the work you are doing today.

Thank you so much for reading my article. I hope you found it engaging and valuable. If you enjoyed it, a clap would tell me I resonated with you. For more articles like this, consider following me on Medium. You can also subscribe to receive new articles directly in your inbox. Also, connect with me on LinkedIn to catch my latest articles in your feed or chat.

AI Won’t Take Your Job. Bad Leadership Will. was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.