Paul Marriott, PhD
@paulmarriott.bsky.social
Montreal-based Senior Principal Pre-Silicon Verification Engineer. I was @pmarriott over on Twitter.
Looking at the map of northern Sweden it doesn't seem there's many of roads and trains that you're claiming. Like Canada, most of the centre of gravity of Sweden is in the more temperate south (which is still north of southern Canada, 59º for Stockholm versus 43.6º for Toronto).
November 19, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Looking at the map of northern Sweden it doesn't seem there's many of roads and trains that you're claiming. Like Canada, most of the centre of gravity of Sweden is in the more temperate south (which is still north of southern Canada, 59º for Stockholm versus 43.6º for Toronto).
Canada has 4x the population of Sweden though.
November 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Canada has 4x the population of Sweden though.
Even if the budge fails to pass and the government falls, there's never any lack of continuity of funding of programs - so it's impossible to have a "shutdown".
November 18, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Even if the budge fails to pass and the government falls, there's never any lack of continuity of funding of programs - so it's impossible to have a "shutdown".
People who believe they were happier 50 years ago probably were ... as they were children at the time and had far fewer things to worry about than they would have had they been adults. I remember the powercuts, the miners strikes, garbage piled up in the streets due to strikes and rampant inflation
November 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
People who believe they were happier 50 years ago probably were ... as they were children at the time and had far fewer things to worry about than they would have had they been adults. I remember the powercuts, the miners strikes, garbage piled up in the streets due to strikes and rampant inflation
We had +30C in Montreal on Sunday - that's around 15C above the seasonal average and an all-time record for October.
October 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
We had +30C in Montreal on Sunday - that's around 15C above the seasonal average and an all-time record for October.
If you continue along the street, turn left at the first light, continue straight and then turn right, you'll find yourself at the train station.
August 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
If you continue along the street, turn left at the first light, continue straight and then turn right, you'll find yourself at the train station.
Tangential comment: I hate seeing elevators that omit 13 for no good reason.
July 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Tangential comment: I hate seeing elevators that omit 13 for no good reason.
We've had chip-n-pin cards here for a long time, even before universal tap was available. Tap-to-pay was also available quite a few years before the pandemic too. FWIW I have a small part in the design of the crypto engine used in ApplePay.
July 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
We've had chip-n-pin cards here for a long time, even before universal tap was available. Tap-to-pay was also available quite a few years before the pandemic too. FWIW I have a small part in the design of the crypto engine used in ApplePay.
And still far from ubiquitous in the USA.
July 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
And still far from ubiquitous in the USA.
Bixi started in 2009 - contactless cards were in use in 2007 in many places, though ApplePay wasn't released until 2014.
July 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Bixi started in 2009 - contactless cards were in use in 2007 in many places, though ApplePay wasn't released until 2014.
If you have a heatpump that's also used for heating in winter, the peak loads then are way higher than the cooling loads in summer. Temp differential in winter is likely 35-40C but in summer is usually less than 10 (though you have to factor in the enthalpy of humidity extraction too).
July 11, 2025 at 7:28 PM
If you have a heatpump that's also used for heating in winter, the peak loads then are way higher than the cooling loads in summer. Temp differential in winter is likely 35-40C but in summer is usually less than 10 (though you have to factor in the enthalpy of humidity extraction too).
Except in the UK there's no grants available if the heatpump can do cooling as well ... which is a bit ridiculous. However, the grants would be better spent on improving insulation and air-tightness as these help both heating and cooling loads.
July 11, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Except in the UK there's no grants available if the heatpump can do cooling as well ... which is a bit ridiculous. However, the grants would be better spent on improving insulation and air-tightness as these help both heating and cooling loads.
Did someone hack your account?
June 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Did someone hack your account?
My fear is the stupidity to the south of us is spreading north (cf Alberta etc.)
June 20, 2025 at 4:22 PM
My fear is the stupidity to the south of us is spreading north (cf Alberta etc.)
Despite the cold, we have the advantage of more than 3 hours of extra daylight in the depths of winter though. Even though we have a lot of snow, it doesn't actually snow very often.
June 16, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Despite the cold, we have the advantage of more than 3 hours of extra daylight in the depths of winter though. Even though we have a lot of snow, it doesn't actually snow very often.
For a winter comparison, that's fair. For a summer one, we're more like the south of France as Montreal is the same lattitude as Grenoble (used to have colleagues in Ottawa, Montreal, Grenoble and Portland, Oregon - all within a 1/4 degree of lattitude!).
June 16, 2025 at 5:32 PM
For a winter comparison, that's fair. For a summer one, we're more like the south of France as Montreal is the same lattitude as Grenoble (used to have colleagues in Ottawa, Montreal, Grenoble and Portland, Oregon - all within a 1/4 degree of lattitude!).
But northern Finland is way colder Montreal in summer - typical maximum in July is only 18C versus 27C in Montreal.
June 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
But northern Finland is way colder Montreal in summer - typical maximum in July is only 18C versus 27C in Montreal.
Average temps in January: Helsinki -1C/-7C - Montreal -4C/-11C ... and I have to correct the July figures - Montreal is now 27C/18C versus Helsiniki's 22C/14C. Vast difference in daylight hours too. Summer solstice: Helsinki 18:55:50 versus Montreal 15:41:05 and winter: 5:49:02 versus 8:42:14
June 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Average temps in January: Helsinki -1C/-7C - Montreal -4C/-11C ... and I have to correct the July figures - Montreal is now 27C/18C versus Helsiniki's 22C/14C. Vast difference in daylight hours too. Summer solstice: Helsinki 18:55:50 versus Montreal 15:41:05 and winter: 5:49:02 versus 8:42:14
To be fair, Helsinki's climate is really not like Montreal at all. It's warmer in winter and cooler in summer by quite a long way. Montreal is a continental climate whereas Helsinki is more maritime, but cold due to being further north. Av daytime high in July: Montreal 26, Helsinki 22. 1/2
June 16, 2025 at 4:25 PM
To be fair, Helsinki's climate is really not like Montreal at all. It's warmer in winter and cooler in summer by quite a long way. Montreal is a continental climate whereas Helsinki is more maritime, but cold due to being further north. Av daytime high in July: Montreal 26, Helsinki 22. 1/2
There are many different methods of "AI". AlphaZero (that can play Go, chess and other games) does not use generalized pre-trained transformers (such as are used in LLMs like GPT), but deep learning and can self-train. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaZero
AlphaZero - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
June 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
There are many different methods of "AI". AlphaZero (that can play Go, chess and other games) does not use generalized pre-trained transformers (such as are used in LLMs like GPT), but deep learning and can self-train. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaZero
I thought I read the gov is going to defy the courts? www.montrealgazette.com/news/provinc... This is clearly criminal contempt IMHO.
Despite court ruling, Quebec to maintain 33% tuition hike for out-of-province students at McGill, Concordia
“It’s not up to the Quebec government to guarantee financial accessibility to studies for non-Quebecers,” the Education Ministry says.
www.montrealgazette.com
June 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I thought I read the gov is going to defy the courts? www.montrealgazette.com/news/provinc... This is clearly criminal contempt IMHO.
I spent time in Munich - the CMA is about the same size as Montreal and is served by 8 Sbahn lines with 16 termini - service is continuous with good frequency, not just at rush hour. Then there's trams, buses, U-bahn etc. etc. We are so so far behind here. Let's not forget the REM de L'est fiasco.
June 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I spent time in Munich - the CMA is about the same size as Montreal and is served by 8 Sbahn lines with 16 termini - service is continuous with good frequency, not just at rush hour. Then there's trams, buses, U-bahn etc. etc. We are so so far behind here. Let's not forget the REM de L'est fiasco.
True - but once you go out of the central area, the quality of service declines precipitously. In the notjustbikes video, the author gave up trying to get to some place in the West Island by public transport ... and the horrors of the Exo stations on the south shore cannot be understated.
June 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
True - but once you go out of the central area, the quality of service declines precipitously. In the notjustbikes video, the author gave up trying to get to some place in the West Island by public transport ... and the horrors of the Exo stations on the south shore cannot be understated.
That's really a tiny fraction of the 4.6 million people that live in the Montreal CMA though. The good parts are indeed good, but they are really the exception for most of the CMA. Suburban transit is a joke compared to similar sized CMAs in Europe (eg Munich).
June 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
That's really a tiny fraction of the 4.6 million people that live in the Montreal CMA though. The good parts are indeed good, but they are really the exception for most of the CMA. Suburban transit is a joke compared to similar sized CMAs in Europe (eg Munich).