An engineer I admire was lamenting about AI. He said that his new programming agent is excellent at fixing bugs! And all that it costs is a bunch of energy and many litres of water.

He said that he could also have fixed those same bugs, and that he also consumes a bunch of energy and many litres of water.

What are we doing here? Like in the most philosophical, why exist? Is it to love? To serve each other? To nurture and grow?

I promise you you’re not here on earth to provide fucking shareholder value. Providing shareholder value is a capitalist’s euphemism for transferring power from labour to capital.

If anything, we’re here to enjoy ourselves, enjoy each other, and to pay it forward if we’re given the opportunity. Find people who are disempowered and empower them.

A person’s value is not economic. A bus driver is not measured by the kilometers driven subtract the sandwiches consumed. The energy and water we each consume aren’t the inputs into a organic machine from which we demand commensurate outputs.

Being alive and getting a human experience alone justifies the use of those resources.

It’s a surplus if we also fix some software bugs, drive a bus, or raise a family.

Yes, I admit these are grand ideas in our capitalistic hellscape. Markets want bugs fixed cheap, and software engineers ain’t that. I don’t have new insights here.

But I do have a request for the participants in the AI discourse. Let’s not dehumanize each other by treating our desire for food & shelter as a liability.

This story was originally posted on our Substack publication.

You’re publishing consistently. The work is strong. And yet the growth feels slower than it should.

Before you assume it’s your writing, it’s worth looking at the system around it.

Growth on Substack isn’t linear. It’s a flywheel.

It starts with a few super subscribers. The ones that love your work. The ones that, if you have a paid tier, pay for your work. Those super subscribers comment, share, and recommend your work. That exposure brings in new readers, who become subscribers, who keep the flywheel turning. Over time, visibility compounds, and the flywheel builds momentum, turning faster and faster.

But first, you have to get it moving.

Every week, Substack publishes its Technology Rising and Bestseller lists. Those lists shape what gets read, what gets trusted, and who gets discovered next. The Bestseller list is the top 100 publications in the technology category, ranked by total number of paid subscribers. The Rising list tracks the publications gaining paid subscribers the fastest.

Think of the Bestseller list as a window into whose flywheel is already spinning at full speed, and the Rising list as a window into whose is just beginning to turn and is gaining momentum.

The problem is that women are still heavily underrepresented on both lists, despite many of them producing thoughtful, rigorous work about technology.

And that matters.

Because the writers on those lists are the ones being read, shared, and treated as experts. When women’s voices aren’t visible there, the conversation about technology becomes narrower than it should be.

We wrote about why this matters last month.

Women Rising: Why Women inTech Writers Are Invisible on Substack

Now we’re tracking the data.

For the last 5 weeks, women held between 9 and 10% of Bestseller spots, less than half the 22% that women represent in the tech industry.

When 90% of those positions are already held by men who have spent years building their audience flywheels, your writing getting better isn’t enough on its own to close the gap.

The gap starts to close when you know how to start your own flywheel and keep it moving.

That’s exactly why the Rising list gives us hope.

Across five weekly snapshots in February, 44 different women appeared on the Rising list, and representation climbed to 20% by the end of the month. That’s the highest we’ve recorded since we started tracking.

Forty-four flywheels, starting to turn. That’s worth getting excited about.

And it’s exactly what this series is built around. Not tracking the gap and shaking our heads at it. Helping you close it. Helping you build your flywheel and get it moving.

That means understanding the levers that actually drive growth: collaborations that expand your reach, SEO that keeps your best work discoverable, publication structures that convert readers into loyal subscribers, and branding that helps the right people recognize your work instantly.

We’ll unpack each of these over the months ahead, not as abstract advice, but through real examples from within the Code Like a Girl community.

The goal is simple: get your flywheel spinning faster than you thought possible.

This month, we’re starting with branding.

Subscribe now

The flywheel usually starts the same way. Someone reads your work and loves it. They share it. A new reader encounters it in the feed and clicks.

That first click matters.

But what keeps the flywheel turning is what happens the second time. When your work appears in someone’s feed again, recognition does the deciding. They don’t stop to evaluate whether you’re worth their time. They already know.

That moment of instant recognition, repeated week after week, is what turns a curious reader into a loyal one. And loyal readers become the super subscribers who share your work, grow your audience, and keep the flywheel moving.

That’s what branding actually does.

It’s not about looking professional. It’s about making sure that when your work shows up, the right reader stops scrolling without having to think about it.

For ten years, every Code Like a Girl story carried whatever thumbnail the author provided. Which meant our feed looked different every single day. There was a different style, a different palette, and a different visual language with every post.

The work was beautiful. But there was no signal that it belonged together. A reader who loved one story had no reliable way to recognise the next one as ours.

So we fixed that.

We introduced shared thumbnail images across all Code Like a Girl stories. It’s a consistent visual signal that tells you, the moment you see it in your feed, that this piece belongs to this community.

Inside every story, each author’s voice and images remain entirely their own. What changes is the frame around it.

It’s a visual signal that says: you know what you’re getting before you even click.

After ten years, we’re also updating our brand colours, logo, and the CLAG Girl herself to make Code Like a Girl easier to recognise wherever our stories appear.

What Happens When You Become Instantly Recognizable

To open this series properly, we wanted a voice that had actually lived the process. Someone who made the deliberate decision to build a distinctive visual world, took the risk that comes with it, and watched her subscriber count jump from 64 to 200 in two weeks, and then went on to reach 500 subscribers in under 100 days!

Her move was bold enough that it caused a cascade of other Substackers to rethink their own publications and start building theirs with more intention. Including us.

AI Meets Girlboss is a Substack publication where a pink power-suited fashionista, whom we have all affectionately named Pinkie, and her slightly judgmental flamingo bestie make AI feel playful, accessible, and recognisably hers.

What follows is a practical guide for anyone who wants their publication to be clearer, more recognisable, and easier for the right readers to commit to. Whether you’re starting from scratch or wondering why your current visuals aren’t landing, there’s something here for you.

Before you read on, take thirty seconds and pull up your own Substack page. Look at it the way a stranger would. What does it tell them in the first five seconds? Hold that question while you read what follows.

Let’s get into it.

When most people say “branding,” they think aesthetics. What problem does branding actually solve for a Substack publication once someone clicks?

I always get the same raised eyebrow:

“Why does a newsletter need branding? Aren’t we just here for words?”

Honey, we are. But we’re also in a feed.

Substack isn’t your quiet corner café anymore. It’s a busy rooftop bar. New publications show up daily, all holding a microphone. And what happens in a crowd? You disappear. Unless someone can spot you from across the room.

And let’s not pretend we don’t judge. We judge books, people, posts, profiles. In seconds. Branding solves that first-second decision. It tells your reader: you’re in the right place, or keep scrolling.

You talk a lot about recognizability over creativity. How can a reader tell, within a few seconds, whether a publication is “for them”? What signals matter most early?

Creativity is overrated. Recognition is queen.

In a noisy feed, your first job isn’t to be brilliant. It’s to be recognizable. Only then can you be brilliant.

And this question about the reader? It’s everything. Because branding isn’t about you expressing yourself. It’s about your reader recognizing themselves.

Your headlines carry logic. Your visuals carry emotion.

On AI Meets Girlboss, my page is narrated by a pink power-suited fashionista called Pinkie and her slightly judgmental flamingo bestie. That world does three things instantly:

• It tells a story
• It makes intimidating topics feel playful
• It’s recognizable from far away

Which is exactly how I want my reader to feel: curious, capable, and slightly ahead of the curve.

One idea we loved from your work is choosing constraints on purpose. What are the few branding decisions creators should make once and stop renegotiating every week?

If you lock three things, you’re already ahead of 80% of creators.

My top 3 easy bets are: color, illustration or visual style, and subject or narrative anchor.

That’s it. Pick them and commit. Repetition is what makes you memorable. Not reinvention.

I even built a free Visual Distinctiveness CustomGPT that audits what’s actually locked in your brand and what’s still floating around. And because I physically cannot leave you without next steps, it also tells you what to tighten.

It’s always a great place to start to audit your current state.

Many writers worry about “getting it wrong” visually, especially when using AI. How do you distinguish between experimentation that builds clarity and experimentation that erodes trust?

We suddenly live in a world where everyone is expected to be a branding expert. And a prompt engineer. And a designer. Thanks, AI.

The ones worried about “getting it wrong?” They’re usually the ones with taste. The ones who care. If you care enough to worry, you’re already ahead.

Here’s the reframe: you probably know what you don’t want. Start there. That’s a design constraint and direction. And the good news is, you’re just six structured steps away from something coherent.

You’ve shown that visual systems can materially change growth and retention. What’s the connection between a consistent visual world and a reader’s willingness to subscribe or pay?

Ever since I rebranded, I’ve been getting messages about how recognizable the visuals are. How people “know it’s mine” and how they “see it everywhere”. I also saw a very real shift in numbers: I jumped from 64 to 200 subscribers in two weeks right after my rebrand.

Choosing a pink, feminine, fashion-centered design for an AI publication was… well, risky. I made a branding decision to be distinctive and memorable, even if that came with risk. When readers recognize you, they start trusting you. And trust is what makes someone subscribe. Or pay.

Substack feeds are crowded, especially in tech and AI. What’s one mistake you see creators making that makes their work blend in even when the writing is strong?

There are two very common mistakes I see with AI-generated visuals.

They have the same effect as soulless, generic AI writing. People feel you didn’t put in effort or think twice before you posted it. It erodes trust, and it isn’t recognizable. You see competent, well-balanced AI-generated visuals that are so interchangeable, you couldn’t tell who made what five minutes later.

If your image doesn’t communicate meaning, delete it. Some brains, mine included, don’t process text first. We process visuals first. The visuals decide whether we click, whether we stay, and whether we ever engage deeply with a creator’s work at all. If the image doesn’t carry meaning, we won’t click. So simple.

You often frame branding as world-building, not polish. What does “world-building” mean for an independent writer, and how small can that world be to still work?

World-building doesn’t mean cinematic budgets and Lord of the Rings complexity. It means coherence.

It can be as simple as Karo (Product with Attitude)’s recurring doodle character — always lots of white space, always communicating friction and emotion.

Or as layered as Mia Kiraki 🎭 ’s robot-meets-dragon universe, where every image hides five details and a joke.

Neither is better nor worse than the other. Both work because the creator believes in that world. And the world supports the message.

If a Code Like a Girl reader wanted to improve their branding this month, not rebrand their entire identity, what’s one practical step they could take that would make their publication clearer and more recognizable?

Always start with direction, before you generate any image!

Ask yourself, what does my visual world actually communicate right now? And is that aligned with who I want to attract?

I recently did a rebrand with Manisha. We began with the Visual Distinctiveness CustomGPT audit, then built her visual world around her actual audience persona. Until we landed on the symbolism of doodles as chaos, and the character as the calm parent-guide, which matches the AI Family Network brand.

Others like Dallas Payne and Natalie Nicholson went deep into experimentation mode and built beautiful worlds.

Dallas emerged with a stormy-waters-of-AI metaphor and messy watercolor tension.

A Rebrand, a Sailboat, and the Journey to Get There

Natalie built a nostalgic, flat-design system with organic and geometric shapes that match her flexible, off-hours AI experiments. If you do one thing this month, write two lists:

• What I want my visuals to communicate
• What I absolutely do not want them to communicate

Then test your thinking with the clueless creative agency brief prompt. It’s a quick and easy step to take to get your brain wrapped around the topic.

I Tested 2 AI Design Tools So You Don't Have To (And Finally Found a Workflow That Doesn't Make Me Want to Scream)

Finally, collaboration is part of this story too. How can shared visuals or collaborative branding (like shared thumbnails) strengthen individual voices rather than dilute them?

Shared branding is about signal. Code Like a Girl exists to amplify voices. So the guest author must shine always.

But the publication also needs to be recognizable in the feed. Otherwise, it disappears like any other post.

The solution is a light constraint. A shared color code. A consistent visual structure. A visual “stamp.”

Think of it like a book series. Different stories, but the same spine design.

When done right, shared thumbnails don’t flatten voices, but rather frame them.

AI Meets Girlboss | Substack

We’ll close this month’s newsletter with a few of the standout stories you might have missed from both platforms.

• How I Went From Chasing AI Tools to Building AI Systems
• 12 Lessons from A Decade in Tech
• Designing for Pressure in a Culture That Rewards Visibility

• How to Articulate Your Contributions as a Senior Leader
• Security Concepts Every Java Developer in Banking Should Master: Part 1
• I Scraped 10,000 Reddit Posts to Find Out Why Data Analysts Are Panicking

The women on the Bestseller and Rising lists didn’t get there by accident, and they didn’t get there alone.

They got there because someone recommended them. Someone shared their work. Someone in their corner said this is worth your time.

That’s what Code Like a Girl has been building since 2016. A community of women and non-binary technologists who show up for each other’s work, learn from each other’s experience, and refuse to let strong writing disappear quietly into a feed.

Three times a week, we publish the tutorials, the stories, and the hard-won lessons of Women in Tech on Substack.

Women Rising runs every month, unpacking the levers that actually help build your flywheel. This month, we focused on branding. Next month, we are focusing on Collaborations, and the month after that on SEO.

If you’ve been building in isolation, this is your invitation to stop.

Your flywheel doesn’t have to start from zero.

Subscribe to our Substack Publication today.

Code Like A Girl | Substack

We will be taking some time off from March 12th through to March 22nd.

Women Rising: Getting Recognized in a Crowded Substack Feed was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

♦

Location: Region of Waterloo and Guelph/Wellington County

Position: Board Directors

Time Commitment: average of 2 to 4 hours per month; initial term of three years with potential of renewal for another three years

Apply using this form: Please submit your application using this form.

Our Foundation is seeking passionate and dedicated individuals reflective of our diverse community to join our volunteer team as members of our Board of Directors. A strong background in legal, governance, finance, accounting, investments, human resources and/or fundraising would be very beneficial to the current board and committee complement.

KidsAbility Foundation is directed by a board of up to 16 directors who have the responsibility of leading, developing and approving the strategic direction of the Foundation and establishing appropriate governance and risk management strategies to support the Foundation and its mandate. The Board meets seven times annually with a mix of virtual and in person meetings at KidsAbility sites in Waterloo and Kitchener.

Members of the Foundation Board:

• Participate in the development, approval and monitoring of the Foundation’s strategic plan, fundraising plan, annual operating and capital budgets.
• Act as ambassadors in the community to build relationships and support Foundation staff in fundraising initiatives.Oversee good governance and risk management/mitigation practices of the Board and Foundation.
• Hire, support, assess performance and determine compensation of the Executive Director.
• Monitor the organization’s performance against performance standards.
  Prepare for and participate in Board of Director meetings (seven per year; mix of virtual and in person)
• Typically participate on one Board Committee (approx. four meetings per year),
• Serve a term of three years and be eligible for renewal for an additional three-year term.

Successful candidates will be required to undergo a Vulnerable Sector Screening Police Check.

If you are looking for an opportunity to work with a dynamic team of staff and volunteers and support the transformative services KidsAbility provides to children, youth, and families. If you have any questions or require any accommodations during the selection process, please connect with our Foundation Office at foundationoffice@kidsability.ca

The post KidsAbility Foundation appeared first on Capacity Canada.

The agency marks a milestone year of shaping stories that move communities forward, reflecting on women’s leadership this International Women’s Day Waterloo Region – March 8, 2026 – This International Women’s Day, Durrell Communications is taking a moment to reflect on its 15th anniversary and the journey of building and sustaining a female-founded public relations agency in the Waterloo…

Source

Oh boy but that title above is a strong statement. Can I back it up? Well first American politics. How about George W. Bush and the non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq if I've named the correct President Bush for that idiocy. Or how about President Trump in all his glory? Nine months ago he bragged that Iran's nuclear ambitions were obliterated after bombing the country. Now he's trying to obliterate the rest of the country with claims that their nuclear program is alive and well and they are a threat to the U.S. and Israel. 

Recently our Waterloo Region councillors (& staff) have put their amazing intelligence and common sense up for debate by somehow forgetting to include infill development into their calculations of water demand. They have also been secretly  pumping water from Wilmot Township to the three big cities despite an agreement not to do so without discussion and agreement by Wilmot Township.

Now even closer to home we have the idjits on the Waterloo Region District School Board  (WRDSB) who attacked teacher Carolyn Burjowski for her comments and opinions on age inappropriate books for very young students. These comments were made as a properly registered Delegate to the WRDSB and as the courts have made clear since were done so in accordance with all rules and procedures. 

Today's K-W Record carries an Opinion piece by Luisa D'Amato referring to a "witch hunt" by Waterloo Catholic trustees. Thank God our Catholic Board has stepped up to share the limelight and glory with our public board. This dispute went right to the Ontario Superior Court who determined that the Catholic Board's decision was "unreasonable and must be set aside." I mean maybe this is a sign that our courts  prefer to make decisions based upon law and reasonableness themselves. Who knows about that for sure but the facts as exposed by Luisa D'Amato certainly indicate that the trustee Kathy Doherty-Masters absolutely did not violate the trustee's Code of Conduct as alleged. 

What then have we learned? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Nah we already knew that. Maybe it's that mostly dishonest and or self-serving people are attracted to getting elected to positions of authority? Possibly. Or maybe it's that voting citizens are far too easily swayed by appearances (looks), names and other trivial characteristics. That's a big one and doesn't make Democracy look so hot sometimes. 

The HydroGeoSphere March 2026 release is now available for download.

This month’s update introduces refinements to polygon tracking functionality, improvements to hgs2vtu processing and output handling, and several command deprecations as part of ongoing modernization of the HydroGeoSphere (HGS) workflow. Together, these changes improve compatibility with visualization tools, expand flexibility for nodal polygon tracking, and simplify post-processing options.

Enhanced nodal polygon tracking commands (see hydrosphere_ref.pdf)
All nodal polygon tracking commands now support sheet range input arguments (bottom sheet, top sheet) to provide more precise control when analyzing model layers.

Updated commands include:

• nodal fluid mass balance from shp file

• nodal fluid mass balance from multifeature shp file

• nodal fluid mass balance for selected nodes from multifeature shp file

• nodal fluid mass balance for chosen faces

hgs2vtu enhancements (see hydrosphere_ref.pdf)

• Fixed a bug affecting channel exchange variables in nodal polygon tracking outputs when generating NetCDF files.

• Added temporary variable loading to compute derived quantities (such as pressure head) when required independent variables are available but not directly processed.

• Added new commands --cum-time-series-csv and --cum-time-series-tecplot, which replace the previous cumulative water balance options.

New boundary condition command
The new command time varying surface friction allows users to specify time-varying Manning’s roughness coefficients in the surface domain.

Fix for zone file reading
Resolved a bug in the command read zones from file that occurred when user-specified zone numbers exceeded the maximum number of zones defined in the array sizes defaults file.

Command deprecations
Several legacy grok commands related to formatting and runtime debugging have been deprecated as part of ongoing codebase cleanup:

Deprecated grok commands:

• time varying friction

• time output fixed format

• time output general format

• time output scientific format

• mass balance output fixed format

• mass balance output general format

• mass balance output scientific format

Deprecated runtime debug commands:

• mass balance format

• time format

These commands will remain temporarily available but are expected to be removed in future releases.

Improved Tecplot compatibility
The variable name “K” has been changed to “Ksat” in the K to tecplot output file so that it can be correctly interpreted by ParaView.

Documentation updates
The HydroGeoSphere Reference Manual (hydrosphere_ref.pdf) has been updated to reflect all new commands and enhancements.

And as always, we are committed to the continued improvement to the user experience. Do you have suggestions for new commands or improvements to the user experience? Send your ideas to support@aquanty.com!

The latest installers are available on the HGS download page and a full list of changes/updates can be found in the release notes.

Download the March 2026 release of HydroGeoSphere here: www.aquanty.com/hgs-download

Review the release notes here: www.aquanty.com/updates

♦There are only a few days left to purchase KWGC swag. There is a variety of styles and colour options. Don't miss out! Opportunity ends Monday at midnight.

bdainc.formstack.com/forms/kw_granite_new_club_merch

Did you catch what happened when President Trump called to congratulate the U.S. men’s hockey team on their Olympic gold medal? He joked that he’d better invite the women’s team to the White House, too, adding, “Or else I might get impeached.”

Some players laughed.

Psychologists call this disparagement humor — jokes that make a marginalized group the punchline.

And it’s not harmless. Research shows that when someone tells a denigrating joke, it signals that prejudice is acceptable. People who might normally conceal their bias feel freer to express it.

In other words, off-color jokes don’t just reflect discrimination; they help normalize it.

The next time someone makes a joke at the expense of a marginalized group, let’s choose not to reward it with laughter.

Share this action on Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube.

Given the growing escalation of attacks and violence in the Middle East, many people around the world are concerned about their family, friends, and other humans living in the region. They may be worried about people they know who are serving in their country’s armed forces. They may be scared of what the future holds.

As I’ve shared previously in my newsletter, moments like this call for allyship at work.

Take Michelle MiJung Kim’s advice: Acknowledge what’s happening, let people know you’ve been paying attention, and offer your support.

Even a simple, “I saw the news — I’m thinking of you and here if you need anything,” can help colleagues feel less alone.

Thank you, Anthropic, for sticking to your values.

When asked to provide broad government access to its AI tools — tools that someone could potentially use for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons — Anthropic refused.

The response? President Trump said he would direct federal agencies to stop using the company’s technology.

But this isn’t just about large organizations. It’s about us.

As I wrote in Better Allies:

“Change starts with each of us as individuals. What are the deals we won’t do because they conflict with our values? When will we walk away from cash?”

If our commitment to marginalized colleagues disappears when the stakes rise, it wasn’t a true commitment.

Consider what non-negotiable lines you won’t cross, even if it costs money or opportunity.

To honor International Women’s Day (March 8), I’m sharing my favorite personal allyship story.

As you may know, I used to work at Adobe. Soon after I joined the company, I noticed something interesting. My manager, a highly respected senior engineering leader, said things in meetings along the lines of “What I learned from Karen Catlin is the following …” He’d then summarize something I had mentioned to him in a previous conversation.

By doing so, I’m convinced he helped me build credibility with my new colleagues, most of whom were men that I needed to work with on cross-team projects. His shout-outs made a difference and, as you might imagine, made me feel great.

It’s a simple example, but that’s what I like about it. Even small acts of allyship can have a big impact.

Let’s endorse women and other marginalized coworkers by sharing what we learn from them. And give them credit, as my manager did.

This week’s spotlight on an ally action from the Better Allies community is from a subscriber who shared how they show up for cultural promotion months, such as Women’s History Month or Black History Month.

“I change my virtual meeting background to something celebrating the culture. I am fortunate to work in a company that permits this freedom. I choose an image that includes writers, musicians, movie stars, and modern history makers. It’s been an honor to be in meetings with these cultural icons, and it has prompted conversations.”

I love that last sentence: “It has prompted conversations.”

Now it’s your turn. If you’ve taken a step towards being a better ally, please reply to this email and tell me about it. And let me know if I can quote you by name or credit you anonymously in an upcoming newsletter.

That’s all for this week. I’m glad you’re on this journey with me,

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

Copyright © 2026 Karen Catlin. All rights reserved.

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

• Say thanks to Karen and buy her a coffee (Need a receipt for educational reimbursement? Reply to this email, and we’ll take care of it.)
• Follow @BetterAllies on Instagram, Medium, 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
• Tell someone about these resources

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

Don’t Laugh at Disparagement Humor, 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.

“Cities were built from sun and clay, mixed with faith and hope.” — Serhiy Zhadan, Ukrainian poet

We just wanted to replace a window with a door, assuming it would be an easy change, a weekend project. But suddenly we found ourselves staring at a giant hole in the wall with a water pipe running through it, exactly where the door was supposed to go.

That’s when we discovered the labyrinth.

Pipes to the left, pipes to the right, pipes going up, pipes going down, pipes looping around each other. Some were from the ’70s, another from the ’90s, yet another one was a modern plastic pipe…

Sounds familiar?

Someone bought the apartment and decided to move the kitchen. The next owner also did a redesign. Then the third owner, and a full renovation again. All were solving their own problems, and nobody left any documentation.

Fixes on top of fixes made years apart, by different people and for different reasons… It all probably made sense back then. Someone needed water fast. They solved the problem “quick and dirty”, and then covered it all up with drywall. And they never redid it properly later, it was not bothering them anymore. Never change a running system!

And you know what’s funny? That pipe hadn’t had any water in it, for years already. But figuring that out took us ages.

This is technical debt: it builds up not because someone was careless, but because everyone optimized for “right now.”

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes that’s the right choice. Sometimes a quick solution is exactly what you need. But only if you know what you’re doing, plan to come back to it and make it a conscious choice and not a habit.

As Robert Martin (Uncle Bob) says: “A mess is not technical debt. A mess is just a mess.”

Debt is when you took out a loan and remember that you must pay it back. A mess is when you didn’t clean up after yourself.

The problem isn’t the debt itself, but rather that we forget about it. And this happens fast, because technical debt doesn’t hurt as long as nothing changes. It only starts hurting the moment you try to improve something. This is when your debt turns into a mess.

At first, everything looks fine: the house is cozy, water flows, your code runs. But slowly, something starts growing inside the walls, and every small change becomes risky. With every “fix” three new problems appear. And at some point, you stop touching things… because you’re afraid of what you’ll find.

That’s when technical debt becomes a monster, and you start to feel like Ripley. Remember that moment in Aliens, where they’re tracking the monsters with motion detectors? Something’s off, movement everywhere… they should be in the room by now…

THEY’RE IN THE WALLS!

Software works the same way. A small feature request, “one quick fix”, and suddenly you’re staring at a hole in the system with pipes running through it. And nobody in your team remembers why they are there: context is lost, only consequences remain. Technical debt isn’t bad code, it’s your yesterday’s shortcuts for which you pay interest today.

In the movie, Ripley says: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” But with technical debt, it’s not going to work this way. You can’t “nuke it from the orbit.” You have to live in this house, stay in this system, work with it.

But you know, some teams get this right. They build systems where opening up a wall doesn’t cause panic, because they have a safety net: they write tests. Sure, writing tests takes time upfront. But it’s worth it to make changes safer. Read Robert Martin’s Clean Code and build such that you don’t have to be Ripley. So you’re not afraid of what’s in your walls.

Follow me for more visual explanations of tech, business, and science concepts.

Technical Debt was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The post Rubble Rebels appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

Today’s post covers the 3 most affordable neighbourhoods in each of the Tri-cities for buyers looking to purchase a detached property in 2026.

Galt has all three of Cambridge’s best areas for people on a budget. The number one spot, City Core/Wellington comes in at under 600k. Second place goes to Elgin Park/Coronation, located around ‘the delta’ where highway 24 crosses 8. Our final neighbourhood is Alison/Eastview North, with prices in the mid sixes. Be sure to use my mapping tool on my listing page to see Galt properties.

K-town also offers real value. The downtown core south of Queen running along the west side of King to Rockway and Ottawa consists of several smaller hoods, with prices in the low sixes for a single family detached home. Our next contender, Fairview/Kingsdale is located on the north side of Fairway Rd. Prices here are in the mid to high sixes. Only slightly more expensive is Victoria Hills, located to the west of the downtown core out to Fischer Hallman.

The most expensive of the three cities, Waterloo, has real value nevertheless. Lakeshore (immediately south of Northfield) holds the number one ranking. A detached home in this mature family friendly suburban hood averages 770k. The 2nd most affordable spot goes to Glenridge/Lincoln Heights, straddling University to the west of the expressway. Homes here sell for just under 800 grand. The last neighbourhood in the trio is uptown Waterloo east of King. This large area offers a variety of styles and ages with average prices sitting at 814k.

Make sure to check out my crime report covering all of the 9 neighbourhoods. As well, I have pages for all 59 KW hoods, with maps, images, schools, videos, groceries, and things to do. Of course, each page has its own listings link too.

The post Affordable Tri-Cities Neighbourhoods appeared first on Andrew Shackleton.

The CREATE Board of Directors is seeking new voting members of our Board of Directors. The CREATE Institute is a well-established post-graduate expressive arts therapy training school that has been in operation for over 30 years and offers training recognized by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). We are an institute at the unique intersection of Education, Arts and Non-Profit.

The Board of Directors is responsible for providing vision, leadership, and oversight of CREATE’s strategic objectives as outlined in each year’s Strategic Plan. CREATE strives to maintain a balance of expertise among the Board for adequate provision of leadership and strategic direction to CREATE.

The Create board is committed to creating an environment that is anti-racist, anti-oppressive, anti-ableist and accountable. We welcome and encourage applications from qualified individuals, regardless of culture, ethnicity, race, color, religion, beliefs, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, or veteran status. We strongly value those with experience in anti-oppressive and trauma-informed structures – including equity-based board governance.

We are currently seeking new members for our Board of Directors for two specific roles:

• Treasurer – Would be responsible for overseeing the CREATE Institute’s financial health – including reviewing and advising on yearly budgets, and supporting the yearly auditing process, for filing with the Ministry of Private Career Colleges.
  • Ideal candidates would have experience in (one or more) areas including budget management, accounting, financial project oversight and/or financial reporting.
• Secretary – The secretary is a key foundational member of the Board of Directors. Their role includes maintaining records, including Board meeting agendas, minutes, as well as assisting in the safeguarding and updating of the Board of Directors bylaw, policies, and legal filings. The secretary would also be responsible for Board of Director communications, including sending out notices of meetings, agendas, and relevant documents to Board members.
  • Ideal candidates would have experience in (one or more) areas that include administration management, administrative systems, writing and editing, policy writing, communication and information management, and document organization and tracking.
  • Skills in project management are also an asset.

Board commitments include:

• Ability to serve a three-year term, with an average time commitment of 2-4 hours per month. This is depending on committee involvement and matters arising that may require special time dedication.
• Attendance a minimum of 4 Board of Director meetings plus the Annual General Meeting (see below). The CREATE Institute holds six Board of Director meetings per school year: two per term, plus one prior to the first term and one after the second term.
• All Directors are required to be present at the Annual General Meeting, scheduled for the fall of each year.
• Each Director is asked to sit on a committee and attend meetings of those committees on an as-needed basis, or in support of committee projects as they arise.
• Board meetings are largely attended virtually.

Voting of new members is done on a rolling basis as applications are received and approved. All members are voted in officially at one of the yearly board meetings and advised via email of the vote to confirm Directorship. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit resumes to createboard@thecreateinstitute.org , and will be reviewed on an incoming basis with rolling interviews with candidates.

For more information about the CREATE Institute and our programs, please visit www.thecreateinstitute.org.

The post The CREATE Institute appeared first on Capacity Canada.

If you've ever wondered why your ecommerce store gets decent traffic but lackluster conversions — or why customers add to cart and then disappear into thin air — the answer is almost always the same: somewhere along the path from "I've never heard of you" to "I just bought something and I'm telling my friends," there's a gap. A missed message, a confusing experience, an unanswered question. And the reason that gap exists is usually because no one sat down and mapped the journey.

The customer journey isn't a buzzword. It's the actual sequence of experiences, emotions, and decisions a real person goes through before, during, and after buying from you. And for ecommerce brands, defining that journey — and intentionally managing every touchpoint within it — is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your marketing.

Most marketers have heard of the funnel: awareness, consideration, purchase. But for ecommerce, that model is too thin. It misses the messy middle where most customers actually live, and it completely ignores what happens after the sale — which is where loyalty, lifetime value, and word-of-mouth are born or buried.

A more useful way to think about the ecommerce customer journey has five phases:

Awareness is when someone first encounters your brand. Maybe they saw a paid social ad, stumbled onto a blog post, or a friend texted them your link. They don't know you yet, and they're not looking to buy. Your job here is simply to make a strong enough impression that they remember you.

Consideration is when a potential customer starts actively evaluating whether you're worth their money. They're reading your product pages, comparing you to competitors, looking at reviews, maybe poking around your Instagram. This is where trust is built or broken.

Conversion (decision time) is the moment of purchase — but it rarely happens in one click. Someone might add to cart, leave, get a retargeting ad, come back, read your return policy, and then buy. The decision phase is full of micro-moments, and each one is a chance to either close the sale or lose it.

Retention is everything after the first purchase. Did you make it easy for them to track their order? Did you follow up with helpful content or a timely reorder reminder? Did you make them feel like a valued customer or just a transaction number?

Advocacy/Loyalty is when a happy customer starts doing your marketing for you — leaving reviews, sharing on social, recommending you to friends. This phase doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of delivering a great experience from start to finish and, often, a gentle nudge at the right moment.

Defining the customer journey takes time, and it requires empathy — the willingness to look at your business through the eyes of someone who doesn't know or care about it yet. Most founders and marketers skip this step because they're too close to their own product. They assume they know how customers experience the brand, but they're actually describing how they experience it.

The result is marketing that talks at people instead of meeting them where they are. Awareness campaigns that confuse someone unfamiliar with the brand. Abandoned cart emails that show up too late or with the wrong message. Post-purchase sequences that never exist at all.

When you don't have a defined journey, every marketing decision gets made in a vacuum. You run an influencer campaign without thinking about where traffic lands or what happens next. You spend money on ads without a retention strategy in place to make that acquisition cost worthwhile. Everything is disconnected, and your results reflect it.

If the customer journey is the map, touchpoints are every town on it. A touchpoint is any moment a person interacts with your brand — an ad impression, a Google search result, a product page visit, an email, a package in the mail, a DM to your support account.

The number of touchpoints before a purchase has been growing for years. Today's ecommerce customer might interact with your brand seven, eight, ten or more times before they convert. That means ten opportunities to build trust — and ten opportunities to erode it.

Managing your touchpoints means two things. First, it means making sure you have touchpoints at each stage of the journey. If someone discovers your brand through a paid ad, visits your site, and doesn't convert, what happens next? Is there a retargeting campaign? An email capture with a compelling offer? A strong organic social presence they might follow? If the answer is nothing, you're losing people who were genuinely interested.

Second, managing touchpoints means ensuring consistency. Your brand voice, your visual identity, your value proposition — these should feel coherent whether someone is reading a Facebook ad, clicking through an email, or landing on your product page. Inconsistency creates cognitive friction. It makes people feel like they don't quite know who you are, and that uncertainty costs you conversions.

You don't need an elaborate workshop with multiple stakeholders to map your customer journey. You need clarity, honesty and lotssss of time. And perhaps, a solid marketing partner to guide you through the process, asking the right questions and doing the work so you can focus on what matters - your business and your customers.

Start by picking a single customer persona — your best customer, the one you'd clone if you could — and walk through every step they take from first discovery to repeat purchase. Write it down. For each stage, ask: How are they finding us? What are they thinking and feeling? What do they need to know to move forward? What might make them hesitate or drop off?

Then audit your current touchpoints against that map. Where do you have strong coverage? Where are the gaps? Where are you sending a message that doesn't match where someone is in the journey? An awareness-stage ad that leads to a hard-sell landing page is a mismatch. A consideration-stage shopper who gets a "thanks for subscribing" email with no product content is a missed opportunity.

Once you've audited, prioritize. You don't have to fix everything at once. Pick the two or three gaps that are costing you the most — often the space right after initial awareness and the post-purchase experience — and build from there.

My favourite tool is a good old giant whiteboard - then when you are ready, a tool like Miro works well to transform it into a digital, editable version.

The best ecommerce brands don't just have great products. They have great experiences — end to end, touchpoint to touchpoint. They know who their customer is, how that customer moves through the world, what questions they're asking at each stage, and what it takes to answer those questions better than anyone else.

That kind of intentionality doesn't happen without mapping. It doesn't happen without sitting down and asking, honestly: what is it actually like to be someone who finds us for the first time? And then building a marketing strategy around the answer.

If you haven't done that work yet, this is your sign to start. Because your competitors are either doing it or they're about to — and in ecommerce, the brands that understand their customers best almost always win.

Want help mapping your customer journey or auditing your current touch points? Let's talk.

 Well to be specific by Luisa D'Amato. This takes me back decades when she was on the Education beat and used to lay them out like bowling pins, on a regular basis. I gained an immense amount of confidence and respect for her in those days.

In Ms. D'Amato's February 25,, 2026 Opinion piece she makes it very clear that leaving all control of education in the province's hands is not a good thing. She however clearly understands and believes that the current system of trustees is badly broken. She is correct and while she does suggest that there were/are? a surprising proportion of trustees with ties to the Waterloo Region & District School Board (WRDSB) as either former teachers or spouses or relatives, she does not specify exactly what the problem there was. Perhaps just that the trustees should better represent a more diverse group of citizens and parents .

I do have one strong disagreement with Ms. D'Amato's opinion however. In fact I'm wondering if she was speaking with tongue firmly in cheek when she suggested that the Region of Waterloo could step up and become the local board of education similar to their duties as the local board of health. Firstly we are daily and publicly, thanks to Ms. D'Amato, Terry Pender, Bill Jackson etc., learning exactly how inept and incompetent the Region of Waterloo staff and councillors are due to the region wide water crisis.  Secondly those of us living in Elmira never received the support necessary from the board of health for our own Elmira Water Crisis .So much more could have and should have been done by them to counteract the polluter and his tame regulator's (MOE/MECP)  false reassurances and minimization of health problems.

Register: Online at our KWality Talk Page, the attendance link will be included in an email the day of the event.

Location: Online. Please ensure that your onscreen name matches your registration name.

Time: The meeting starts between 11:55 am and 12:00 pm, a waiting room might be enabled if you arrive prior to this time. Meeting ends at approximately 1:00 pm.

Speaker: Gabriela Viggiano

Topic:

Many teams fall into the trap of setting quality expectations based solely on velocity metrics, often failing to truly assess the detrimental impact of bugs and defects. This session delves into how this illusion of progress, fueled by unaddressed rework and scope creep within sprints, hinders genuine quality and performance.

Discover how AI-empowered, metric-driven technical retrospectives can provide a powerful solution.

We’ll explore common pitfalls in traditional quality metrics and demonstrate how AI tools can assist in detecting hidden patterns and human biases that often lead to rework and escaped defects.

Learn practical strategies for conducting effective technical retrospectives focused on quality. We will discuss practical commands for AI to identify patterns and biases, and to collect metric-data to facilitate deeper insights, trigger targeted action items for continuous improvement, and ultimately move from simply reactive bug fixing approach to a proactive, quality-first approach that truly enhances team performance and delivers quality superior software.

Bio: 

MBA Gabriela A. Viggiano, Agile Manager at BalsamBrands, is a Senior Agile and Productivity Coach. Driven by a love of learning, Gabriela is passionate about empowering individuals and teams to unlock their potential and elevate their careers. You’ll often find her sparking growth and challenging perspectives over a cup (or two!) of coffee.

Role: Board Member (Volunteer)

Term: 3-years (renewable)

Overview: Harmony Place specializes in providing individually driven day programs for adults with multiple disabilities. With an annual budget of $1.7 million dollars Harmony Place receives its core funding from the Ontario government (Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services) and client fees. Harmony Place is governed by a 9-person volunteer Board of Directors which is elected yearly at our Annual General Meeting.

Knowledge and Experience: Board members bring knowledge and expertise from a wide range of backgrounds that helps guide long-term strategic planning, governance, and financial health ofHarmony Place and its programs.

Harmony Place values the inclusion of all people and our board aim to be reflective of the diverse community we serve. Beyond having a passion for the inclusion of persons with disabilities board members should bring forward:

• Professional skills particularly in the area of law, human resources, communications/marketing, and fundraising.
• The ability to work collaboratively with others to reach decisions through constructive conversations
•  A strong network of connections and the ability to foster relationships that will support the growth of the organization
• An understanding of the charitable / non-profit sector (bonus if you have working knowledge of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services regulations)

Regularly attend and actively participate in board and committee meetings:

• Provide input in the development, management, and evaluation of policies, strategic plans, and business plans
• Advocate for and positively represent Harmony Place to the general public
• Assess and mitigate risks facing the organizations
• Ensure Harmony Place compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
• Monitor organizational finances including the approval of yearly budgets
• Participate in fundraising activities and initiatives in a manner commensurate with your ability
• Support and evaluate the Executive Director

• Two (2) hours on a weekday (usually Tuesday or Thursday) via Zoom or in person when needed. Meeting are every 2-3 months.
• Participation in board committees that align with your skills and experience (e.g. Governance Committee, Fundraising Committee).
• Mandatory attendance in person at our Annual General Meeting in the fall (October or November)

Board meetings take place on Zoom or in person at our facility at 132 Railside Rd. (Don Valley Parkway & Lawrence Ave. E.)

• Free parking onsite
• Located near two TTC bus routes (54 and 91)
• Facility is accessible

Committee meetings vary in location and dates. Some Board and committee tasks may be completed remotely.

As a Board member you will have the opportunity to:

• Network with a diverse and passionate group of people
• Enrich your personal and professional life

Apply by: April 30, 2026
Apply to: board@harmonyplace.on.ca

The post Harmony Place appeared first on Capacity Canada.

Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo (CHCKW) is seeking passionate, committed individuals to join our Board of Directors and help advance a healthier, more equitable community.

CHCKW provides accessible, integrated health caring services for people facing barriers to care, including newcomers, refugees, people experiencing homelessness or precarious housing, and others impacted by social influences of health in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.

Board Directors play a key governance role by guiding strategic direction, stewarding the organization’s mission, and providing financial oversight and risk management. Directors work collaboratively as part of an engaged volunteer Board committed to meani ngful community impact.

We welcome applicants with diverse skills and perspectives gained through lived experience, community involvement, volunteering, or professional work. Experience in finance, legal, or human resources is an asset, but anyone connected to our mandate and interested in good governance is encouraged to apply.

This volunteer role requires approximately 2–4 hours per month. Board meetings are held every other month in the early evening and alternate between virtual and in-person formats. Directors serve a two-year term, serve on a Board sub-committee and must complete a vulnerable sector records check.

Learn more at healthcaringkw.org and attend our free virtual information session on March 23, 5:00–6:00 pm to learn more about the organization and Board Director position. Those interested in applying are invited to please submit a resume or CV to schulzie750@gmail.com. Applications are accepted until April 6, 2026.

The post Community Health Caring Kitchener-Waterloo appeared first on Capacity Canada.

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Something of a pizza renaissance is taking place in Cambridge, pies that re-vitalize the popular foodstuff and elevate it from the standard and innumerable industrial-goo pizza that Domino-ates the landscape.

Pizzeria Motola, in the funky (but at times overly illuminated) Gaslight District in Galt, opened last summer. Then, Willibald Pizza, a satellite of the successful Willibald Farm Distillery and Brewery venture in Ayr, landed this past fall in George Street’s former Galt Bottle Shop and is garnering for itself rave reviews. And, apparently, a small Italian-inspired chain hailing from east of Toronto (and which has something to do with Tuscan wolves?) is said to be coming soon.

Motola, however, has generated considerable interest from pizza aficionados and what appear to be a regular pizza tifosi who enjoy scarfing the Neapolitan libretto fold. So, given what has turned out to be Italy’s superlative 30-medal showing at the recent Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games, a visit on a snowy February night during the Games seemed timely. Forza Azzurri!

The entrance to Motola lands you, somewhat oddly and inauspiciously, right in front of a POS system and the equipment and accoutrements of a take-out station. After waiting to be seated, you’re taken along a corridor past the restrooms and back-of-house passageways. The dining room reveal, however, pops with bustle and vibrancy and simply rings of the energy and clamour you might expect of a trendy new venue.

The old building’s stone walls are festooned with classic Art Nouveau travel posters of Italy and Rome and faded and intriguing family photos (that I confess, nostalgically, look somewhat similar to ones I have seen of my family from long ago). It’s very much an inviting and exciting atmosphere.

The menu is small (like the too-small coffee-shop table at which we were seated). For drinks, there are several apperitivi, a couple of Italian birra that will likely be familiar and basic house wines. The Tuscan red, incidentally, was quite good and inexpensive and perfect for drinking out of tumblers as if you are seated under a trellis of grape vines in Nonno’s backyard.

A sip to start was a house-aged Negroni (described as “oak-barrel smooth”) served in quaint Duralex Picardie-style glasses — again, fitting given with the casual trattoria. Yet for $14 each, I can’t help but feel that I’d like at least a bit of a comment introducing the cocktail when it’s served instead being plunked down on the table as if it’s a Brio Chinotto. (Come to think of it, I’d also like a bartender to have made $28 worth of drinks rather than spigotting them out!)

From a half dozen appetizers, we went with burrata Caprese, a delicious Puglian concoction of silky Mozzarella swaddling a dollop of cream: the cheese component was quite good (though too cold), but the very generous portion of mixed tomatoes with drizzled balsamic included too many mealy, whitish tomato chunks that proclaimed, “February is not a good tomato month.” They should have been extricated from the mix to save the dish.

Motola pizzas are six very interesting creations: mushroom, roasted olives, castagne, prosciutto-arugula, Gorgonzola-walnut and boscaiola with its luscious fior di latte, mushrooms, sausage and some truffle oil.

The latter “woodcutter’s” style draws on dusky, earthy mushrooms to do the lion’s share of the flavour-work but, while good, was slightly muted in taste despite the beautiful and deft construction of an excellent alliance of crisp cornicione with its perfect degree of char and leopard-spot bubbling that circumnavigated a soft and succulent interior.

In my calculations, the restaurant experience is basically tripartite: food, service, ambience. It was in this blend that the coordination of front-of-house and back-of-house broke down like a poor exchange in short-track speed skating. Barely half way through eating the burrata, the boscaiola made its unfortunate and much too-early appearance from the woods: there was no room on the small table for the large platter, and the waiter stood indifferently while we scrambled awkwardly to stack plates and move glasses and shuffle cutlery to make space. That was unfortunate — and simply should not happen.

When a manager made his way over, rather than apologize, he outlined how the “Motola system” worked when it came to pumping out dishes (during which explanation made the second half of the pizza cold).

Frankly, I don’t care: “policy” is not the way to ensure a good customer experience. With its 800F-degree roll-over heat, wood-fired Neapolitan pizza takes 90-120 seconds to cook. That should be easy enough to manage, so don’t make your system a diner’s problem.

It has me wondering about staff training: do they simply follow a “system” uncritically and go through the steps of knocking off tickets and turning tables to get through the shift, or does waitstaff read a table and make a proper decision? Are they empowered to make that key decision?

The food was generally very good at Pizzeria Motola and the ambience as well (except for the giant Gaslight District Jumbotron outside the window flooding the dining room with periods of intense lumens). I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of people who visit restaurants will agree that even if the food is mediocre, the experience can be salvaged by excellent service; rarely is it the case where it’s the other way around.

I would return to Pizzeria Motola for the pizza, but I believe they can do better when it comes to seeing to the customer experience; trite but true: take care of the small details and the bigger things will take care of themselves.

Dinner for two with two Negroni, a shared burrata Caprese appetizer and a pizza is about $75 before taxes and tip.

Check out my latest post Motola: pizza gold but service misses the podium from AndrewCoppolino.com.

Jeff McIntyre of the Grand Valley Construction Association really is a horse's patootie. What was he thinking when he referenced his like for Non Disclosure Agreements because he's on the inside while the rest of us are golden retrievers waiting by the door for news. No politician worth his salt would make such a stupid comment but then maybe Mr. McIntyre is a much better human being than most politicians (granted a low standard) . Maybe he's at exactly where he should be but really he should be a tad more careful in his public choice of words.

Ms. D'Amato makes a very strong case for the public being in the loop and immediately apprised of new facts or plans whether good or bad. She also bluntly puts the committee members/working group of councillors, developers and builders in their place when she advises that "We, the public, are the owners, not the companion animals. We will decide what happens to the water, and who gets elected in the fall."

I've been warning Woolwich councillors for some time now that their futures, their reputations and legacies are at risk regarding the Elmira water crisis. Perhaps we will have a regional housecleaning first over the regional water crisis and the Woolwich one four years later after the mandated 2026 failure and fallout occurs. Who knows though. It could be a doubleheader this fall during the 2026 elections.     

First of all I'm late posting this because of human error at the Township. A staff person simply forgot to put the link to their You Tube video on the Township's website (look for "Council Calendar") after uploading the meeting to You Tube . That said I'm going to grudgingly, unhappily and with an overall lack of grace thank a Woolwich councillor whom I have many times in the past sharply criticized environmentally.  Nathan Cadeau when informed by me promptly fixed the matter. Thank you Nathan.

Hmm O.K. that wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Maybe that's because I view my environmental criticism as factual but not personal. We were advised by Lanxess (Hadley) about the results of some bench scale remediation testing. Now I believe she was talking about aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) use of either bacteria or possibly amendments to soils that hopefully stimulate the bacteria to degrade NDMA and or chlorobenzene. The aerobic degradation was much better than the anaerobic degradation for chlorobenzene. For NDMA however the degradation both ways was much less than that for chlorobenzene. This testing will continue halfway through 2026.

Public consultation was discussed for the upcoming 2028 instrument whatever it's name such as Control Order or Certificate of Approval etc.  This of course is the new instrument post the mandated (but failed) groundwater cleanup deadline of 2028. A rose by any other name smells as sweet and another pile of horse manure from the MECP (Min. of Environment) will be equally as useless as all the rest. 

Mayor Shantz suggested that the current Waterloo Region water quantity crisis may be conflated with Elmira's water quality crisis involving NDMA, chlorobenzene, dioxins and so much more. Personally I believe that the two crises are interconnected. If she and the other guilty parties had done their jobs one or two decades ago our aquifers could have been in much better shape by now. She also would like to know if there is a better place to discharge the treated groundwater under Elmira to other than the Canagagigue Creek. Look out folks still contaminated water is looking for a home near you.

Hadley Stamm (Lanxess) made a reasonably dumb statement when she suggested that the treated groundwater being discharged to the Creek was at drinking water standards. Well Lou Almeida (GHD) swooped in and rescued her from that . Clearly Lanxess are more about PR and appearances as Hadley is the point person constantly interrupting and talking over Lou. Lou is a middle aged male of average appearance who has a ton of local Elmira experience versus Hadley's five minutes or so. One of these days Lou just might snap and non affectionately tell Hadley to "Shut the *#ck up !" Hope springs eternal.

Karl Belan of the Region of Waterloo made it clear that the Region were not interested in further treating discharged ground water to bring it up to drinking water standards. There was also discussion about the stigma of drinking former Uniroyal chemically contaminated water. 

I was pleased to see that TRAC are flexible enough to shift gears somewhat in mid stream and discuss the current Waterloo Region alleged quantity crisis. I say alleged because although not yet fully proven it sure looks like we are in water supply (quantity) trouble plus quantity IS related to quality. When you have a number of wellfields shut down due to contamination as we do then certainly water quality is affecting quantity. Well E10 at the south end of Elmira is being looked at although I find it odd that the well shed or housing has been removed. Yes the pipe is sticking out of the ground there but why expose it unnecessarily? Also I have heard recently that the Region are looking elsewhere near Elmira for more water.  Well that should be interesting as we see them attempt to pump uncontaminated water from the same aquifer(s). In fact buddy (?) Nathan Cadeau actually suggested that the Region could drill somewhere else in the aquifer and have clean water. Well, well, well.

Hadley got into an interesting conversation with Karl (Region) when she appeared to say simultaneously that the Region Do/Don't intentionally pump drinking water from contaminated aquifers elsewhere than Elmira.  Maybe Lanxess would care to clean up the treated groundwater further for use as drinking water??? Eric Hodgins (former Region hydroG) maybe pointedly commented that the Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act does have provisions for fines and jail for violators. Hmm.

There was much discussion about a survey from Lanxess to determine local interest in these issues. Frankly I think that all Lanxess want to do is quietly get the heck out of the aquifer remediation business as soon as possible and that means keeping everything on the downlow. 

I am seeing which way the wind is blowing and it's all about winding this thing up gracefully and looking good spending the least amount of money possible. Thank you Region of Waterloo for putting water back in the spotlight. 

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♦LEG Up! Spring Registration
Friday, March 6
8:00 AM
kwhabmarketplace.ca

The LEG Up! Spring Session is full of great courses like Public Speaking, Safe Surfing Internet Safety and Relationships 101 to help you blossom in life! Or you can Get Crackin’ in the Kitchen learning to make delicious meals like Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta or Easy Sheet Pan Greek Chicken. Satisfy your sweet tooth with Spring Baking Classes like Strawberry Coconut Macaroons or Brown Butter Berry Tea Cakes. Unleash your creativity painting “Squirrel and Tulips” or doing a craft like “Button Bouquet”. Finish your week with some Fun Fridays like “Dominos Tournament” or “The History of Superheroes”. Make sure you mark Friday, March 6th on your calendar for Registration Day to secure your spot in a fantastic Spring Session at LEG Up!

Click here for more info

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♦Spectrum Queer Professional Social Mixer
Tuesday, March 10
5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
FREE – Registration Required
TWB Brewing – 300 Mill St. Kitchener

A new free networking and social event series hosted by Spectrum and TWB Brewing. Wish you’d have a place to connect with fellow adults AND get caught up on everything going on here? Mix across fields and meet other supporters, staff, and community members of Spectrum. There will be light facilitation to get conversations started and of course the incredible brews of TWB available for purchase.

Click here for more info

♦Free Spring Concert
Wednesday, March 11
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
FREE – Registration Required
Waterloo Community Pavilion (Entrance C) – 101 Father David Bauer Dr. Waterloo

Come enjoy and afternoon of music featuring local musician Kevin Coates. It will be a great opportunity to check out everything the Community Pavilion has to offer. There are regular free drop-in programs like Billiards and Snooker, Crokinole and card games like Euchre and Bridge. These drop-ins are opened to anyone over the age of 18.

Click here for The Spring Concert

Click here for Community Pavilion Free Drop-ins

♦Indigenous Drumming and Sharing Circle
Thursday, March 12
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
FREE – Registration Required
Country Hills Library – 1500 Block Line Rd. Kitchener

Join Kelly Welch for a Drumming and Sharing Circle. The Circle will open with a smudging ceremony with time and space for sharing the importance and relevance of Indigenous medicines and Truth and Reconciliation. Kelly has found connection and healing through the hand drum and songs and enjoys facilitating ways for others to do the same. All are welcome.

Click here for more info

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♦Active Kitchener Registration
Tuesday, March 10 (Kitchener Residents)
Tuesday, March 17 (Non-Residents of Kitchener)
8:30 AM
Kitchener Activenet

There are lots of great groups at your local community centre! There are Free Painting Classes at Kingsdale, Centreville-Chicopee and Chandler Mowat Community Centres. There are Free Zumba Dance Workouts at Chandler-Mowat, Kingsdale, Centreville-Chicopee and Victoria Hills Community Centres. If painting and zumba aren’t your thing, you can find lots of other groups to join.

Check out Coffee and Games with Matt at Stanley Park Community Centre on Tuesday Mornings for some board game fun and a warm drink. There’s also Coffee and Corn Hole on Sundays at Centreville-Chicopee Community Centre where you can enjoy a warm indoor space to meet neighbours, enjoy cornhole games, and relax with a free cup of coffee. Try out Inclusive BINGO at Downtown Community Centre where you can expect small prizes, laughter, and that satisfying moment when you shout BINGO!

Free Groups can fill up fast as spots are often limited due to capacity so make sure you register as soon as possible. People living in Kitchener can register as early as Tuesday, March 10. People that don’t live in Kitchener are welcome to join these groups, but they have to wait until Tuesday, March 17 to start registering for City of Kitchener Programs. You can register online for programs or you can register by calling any City of Kitchener Community Centre.

Click here for more info

Click here to register online

The post March 4, 2026: What’s Happening in Your Neighbourhood? appeared first on KW Habilitation.

The next major shift in artificial intelligence is not about bigger models or faster processors. It is about language.

As AI systems become more powerful, a subtle but transformative discipline has emerged: Prompt Engineering — the structured design of inputs that guide AI behaviour. What once appeared to be simple phrasing has evolved into a strategic method for improving performance, ensuring safety, and shaping outcomes.

Recent discussions in Forbes point out an interesting pattern: when prompts clearly restate their goals and constraints, AI responses tend to become more consistent. Instead of giving short or vague instructions, researchers suggest breaking them down and repeating key requirements. This simple shift reduces confusion and makes the output more reliable. To understand why this matters, consider a simple example:

If a user writes:

“Explain climate change.”

The AI may respond with a general overview.

But if the user writes:

“Explain climate change in 200 words, include one statistical reference, avoid technical jargon, and structure the answer in three short paragraphs.”

The response becomes more controlled, precise, and purpose-driven.

The difference is not the intelligence of the model — it is the clarity of the instruction.

This is the essence of prompt engineering: defining objectives, constraints, format, and tone so that AI systems generate predictable and useful results.

At the same time, thinkers writing for MIT Press have described prompt engineers as “the artists of the AI age.” While poetic, this description reflects a real phenomenon. Crafting effective prompts requires understanding context, logic, and how models interpret ambiguity.

However, the evolution of prompt engineering is not only creative — it is critical.

Security researchers have identified “prompt injection” as a serious vulnerability. Reports covered by The Verge show how malicious instructions hidden inside user inputs can override safeguards and manipulate AI systems into revealing sensitive information. Experimental analyses have demonstrated that carefully crafted malicious prompts can disrupt established instruction hierarchies within AI systems, leading them to prioritize injected commands over their original constraints. In response, organizations such as Anthropic are promoting the concept of “context engineering.” Rather than focusing solely on clever phrasing, this approach emphasizes designing structured interaction systems — defining roles, memory limits, and layered instructions to reduce risk.

The implications extend beyond research labs.

The influence of structured prompting is already visible across different domains. Students use it to break down complex topics into clearer explanations or to receive step-by-step coding guidance. Developers apply prompt templates to refine logic, troubleshoot errors, and document systems more efficiently. Even in business environments, AI-driven tools rely on carefully framed instructions to handle customer interactions and analyze large volumes of data. In each case, the effectiveness of the system depends less on raw intelligence and more on how precisely it is guided.

What makes this shift significant is that natural language has become a programming interface. For decades, humans adapted to machines by learning strict syntaxes. Today, machines adapt to human language — but they still depend on clarity.

Prompt engineering reveals an important insight: better AI output begins with better human thinking. To design an effective prompt, one must define purpose, remove ambiguity, specify constraints, and anticipate interpretation errors. These are not merely technical habits; they are cognitive skills.

The future may reduce reliance on clever wording as models grow more advanced. Yet as AI becomes integrated into sensitive domains like healthcare, law, and governance, structured interaction will only grow more important. Precision in language may determine the reliability of decisions.

The rise of prompt engineering marks a turning point in human–machine interaction. It shows that artificial intelligence is not only shaped by algorithms, but also by the quality of our questions.

The real shift is not louder machines.

It is sharper language.

The Quiet Shift in Artificial Intelligence: The Rise of Prompt Engineering was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Don’t take it personally” said one of my colleagues.

We had just been in a meeting with the other engineering team we collaborated daily with. I had been shut down by their main engineer Raghav. In front of everybody.

That was not the first time my suggestions were dismissed. Thankfully it was an online meeting, and nobody could see the frustration on my face.

“Don’t take it personally” said my husband between bites at dinner, as I animatedly recounted the meeting to him.

What does that even mean?

I didn’t burst into tears in the middle of the meeting, I didn’t raise my voice, I didn’t even sigh loudly. But of course, I was taking it personally.

I had made a suggestion regarding a problem that had plagued a product for 3 months.

“Should we check that panel for the issue we are seeing?” I asked cautiously.

“No, we are not checking this panel!” Raghav confidently replied before simply moving on.

I was the only woman engineer on the call.

I could not help thinking “If I had been a man, talking louder and more confidently, would I have been shut down that quickly?”

I regretted not having insisted more during the meeting. I should have raised my voice, and talked over them, and made my opinion heard. Like they do.

I still had that meeting replaying in my mind. Why was I shut down so quickly? Why couldn’t we check that panel? We had expired all options. Was my idea that bad? Was I that bad?

I turned to my close colleague about it. My idea was not stupid; it could be worth checking the panel.

That gave me the confidence to bring it up to my boss again. He agreed that the panel was worth checking considering we still couldn’t identify the root-cause of the issue.

Petty me could not resist casually mentioning Raghav didn’t seem keen on doing so.

A few hours later, in another call meeting, my boss brought up the panel checking. No friction this time, no pushback: sure, the panel will be checked.

On the inside, I was frustrated again, but my suggestion was finally being considered.

Two days later, Raghav sent an email attesting the panel had faulty components which were replaced. After that replacement, the product issue was resolved and did not return.

That’s when I finally understood the meaning of “Don’t take it personally”.

Yes, I took it personally on an emotional level, I was mad. But I didn’t let my ego and anger shut me down. I didn’t let go of my suggestion and didn’t lose sight that the product issue should be the priority and get resolved.

You can feel frustrated, dismissed, or ignored, but don’t let it stop you from doing what matters. Take action where it matters, not where it hurts. — — — — — — —

“Don’t Take It Personally”: How I Turned Being Shut Down in a Meeting into a Career Win. was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Can you hear the tragedy if no one speaks?

In a captivating interview on CBC’s The Morning Edition, legendary stage director Robert Lepage sits down with host Craig Norris to pull back the curtain on his most daring production yet: a wordless, high-octane reimagining of The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark.

Leaving behind the 4-hour monologues, Lepage and world-renowned choreographer Guillaume Côté have stripped Shakespeare to its “skeleton”—relying on muscle, breath, and pure visual storytelling to bring the Prince of Denmark to life.

Robert Lepage explains that by removing the famous text, the audience is forced to engage with the visceral energy of the story.

• The Power of Physicality: Discover how classical ballet represents the rigid royalty of Gertrude and Claudius, while contemporary dance captures Hamlet’s internal descent into madness.
• Visual Magic: Lepage describes his “visual surtitles”—where the word “Words” on screen literally morphs into “Swords,” mirroring Hamlet’s shift from contemplation to violent action.
• A Haunting Atmosphere: Learn how a minimalist set of light, shadow, and “pillowy sheets” blurs the line between the living and the ghostly.

“We wanted to see what remained of the play once the words were gone. What we found was a sprint of pure emotion.” — Robert Lepage

♦ Hear the Full Story

Listen to the 10-minute deep dive into the creative process behind this world-class production. [♦ Play CBC Interview]

See it Live at Centre In The Square

Don’t miss this “gripping and intensely athletic” (Margaret Atwood) production during its strictly limited run in Kitchener.

• Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026
• Time: 8:00 PM
• Location: Centre In The Square, 101 Queen St N, Kitchener

[♦ GET YOUR TICKETS NOW] Limited seating available for this exclusive engagement.

Listen to the interview on CBC’s website

One article in today's K-W Record (front page) written by Bill Jackson discusses the refusal to give the former Trinity United Church in Elmira a building permit and the other on page 3. by Bill Doucet is an article in which local M.P.P. Aislinn Clancy is asking the Ontario Minister of Environment to stop issuing industrial and commercial water taking permits. In particular she is not happy with local gravel pits putting in applications for large water taking permits. 

For me this is an easy choice. We've got more gravel pits than we need and more pits are simply to reduce distance and costs to transport aggregate to building sites, cement and asphalt facilities. In other words to boost aggregate producers profits which isn't necessarily on it's face a bad thing. I however vote in favour of  water permits going to the new housing being developed on the former Church property on Arthur St. in Elmira.

Now here's a twist.  Elmira supposedly is legally mandated to have our Uniroyal Chemical contaminated ground water rehabilitated and restored by 2028.  If that were to occur (it won't) then I dare say that Woolwich could have pretty much gone ahead with OUR water and given the new housing development the building permit they require for construction this summer. Maybe a little more support and citizen involvement over the years/decades would have lit a fire under all the guilty/recalcitrant local buggers including politicians who have gone along deferentially with the go through the motions status quo for so long.