After almost a decade working with small, nimble, focused startup teams, here is what I know: building a lean, high-impact marketing team isn’t just about hiring skilled individuals - it’s about adopting the right structure, roles, and strategies to drive results with fewer resources. From my experience and industry insights, the most effective teams are agile, strategically aligned and led by people who know how to get the most out of every dollar and hour invested. Another key element to this is leadership - the most effective teams are lead by individuals who know who to coach, train and work with their teams, and how to get out of the way when they themselves are the roadblock. One reason I love providing fractional marketing support is because I can often bring this experience in to offer powerful lessons in maximizing efficiency, providing leadership and strategic direction without the cost and commitment of a full-time C-suite hire.

When I look at the organizations we work with that outperform, I see a common thread: focused leadership, clear priorities, and an ability to quickly adapt to changing market realities. Learning from fractional CMOs, I know that building a high-performing team requires prioritizing high-impact roles and cultivating systems that make scalability possible - even under tight budgets and resources.

• Lean marketing teams thrive with clear structure and priorities.

• Strategic leadership maximizes impact over headcount.

• Scalable growth depends on smart role allocation and team agility.

A fractional chief marketing officer delivers strategic guidance without the expense of a permanent executive. My experience shows that even on a part-time or flexible basis, this leadership is crucial for clear direction and accountability. I emphasize setting measurable KPIs, prioritizing high-impact campaigns, and ensuring each team member understands their role.

The ability to quickly diagnose gaps in marketing execution and recommend fixes is a core element of fractional marketing leadership. For example, I often start with a hands-on audit of current activities, uncovering inefficiencies or redundancies that drain resources. A strong leader also builds bridges between marketing and other departments, aligning messaging and targets with product, sales, and customer success.

The structure of a lean marketing team must balance specialization with flexibility. I focus on a small core team covering essential functions—such as demand generation, content strategy, marketing operations, and product marketing—while leveraging contractors or agencies for specific projects or peaks in workload.

Below is a sample team structure:

I adjust this model based on company stage and goals, always aiming to keep the team nimble and results-driven.

Connecting marketing activities directly to business objectives is a non-negotiable. I start by mapping marketing goals to revenue targets, pipeline growth, or specific product initiatives. This strategic marketing leadership ensures every campaign and channel supports broader business outcomes.

I use quarterly planning sessions to review what’s working and realign resource allocation. By adopting agile principles, I can quickly pivot marketing tactics if market conditions or company priorities change. This approach keeps the team focused on high-ROI projects and avoids wasted effort on low-impact activities.

I focus on building marketing teams that adapt quickly, minimize waste, and consistently deliver on key revenue targets. High-impact marketing teams rely on precise data, integrated digital strategies, and flexible talent structures that can scale without sacrificing performance.

A lean marketing operation starts with clear goals and measurable KPIs. I set up dashboard tracking for everything from pipeline velocity to conversion rates using CRM and marketing automation tools.

Performance analytics underpin every decision. I regularly review campaign data and funnel metrics, enabling real-time performance optimization and budget reallocation. This approach lowers customer acquisition costs while maintaining lead quality in a competitive landscape.

Alignment between sales and marketing is crucial. Structured onboarding and regular syncs ensure the team understands the go-to-market strategy and channels, enabling cohesive execution across the sales cycle.

Effective demand generation campaigns use a blend of content marketing, digital advertising, and account-based marketing. My strategy often targets high-value B2B SaaS accounts by tailoring messaging to specific pain points and segments.

Conversion rate optimization is a continuous process. I prioritize A/B testing for landing pages and paid ads, regularly refining calls to action based on analytics feedback. This helps move prospects through the funnel efficiently while maximizing ROI.

Strong alignment with sales ensures demand generation doesn’t just fill the pipeline but creates sales-qualified leads. Lead nurturing workflows further enhance the quality of customer acquisition and shorten the sales cycle.

Core Demand Generation Tactics:

• Targeted ABM programs for high-potential accounts

• Multi-channel inbound and outbound lead gen

• Retargeting campaigns to reduce churn

I use a hybrid model that blends internal resources with freelance specialists. This enables rapid scaling and access to up-to-date skills in areas like digital advertising, content creation, and campaign management.

Integrated digital channels—email, social, SEO, paid media—work best when aligned with the core marketing strategy. I employ freelancers where flexibility and expertise are critical, such as managing complex PPC campaigns or producing high-value video content.

Managing freelance talent requires clear briefs, defined outcomes, and robust onboarding processes. Consistent performance review and integration with analytics tools ensure every contributor aligns with broader marketing goals and contributes measurable value.

Your day shouldn’t start with app-hopping. Yet for most of us, it does: open Google Tasks, adjust times in Google Calendar, double-check reminders, scribble a sticky note. Before the first coffee is gone, you’re already overwhelmed.

What if one extension could take all that chaos and translate it into clarity?

Starting the day shouldn’t feel like setting up a command center, but with today’s tools, it often does. To get organized, you might:

• Open Google Tasks to jot down your to-dos.
• Manually enter times and dates for each one.
• Keep Google Calendar open in another tab just to see how your day actually looks.

Even then, the experience is clunky. Google Tasks caps blocks at 30 minutes, making real-time blocking nearly impossible. Instead of clear focus periods, you’re left with a patchwork of disjointed snippets. The result? Constant app-hopping, scattered attention, and no real sense of how your time is being spent. Ironically, the very tools designed to boost productivity end up leaving you scattered before the day has even begun.

The frustration of juggling multiple apps was the spark behind Taskade, a lightweight Chrome extension built to bring tasks and time together in one place. This motivated me to design a tool that integrates to-dos and scheduling into a single, simple flow.

With Taskade, creating a focus block in your calendar automatically creates a to-do item for the day. Every task has a start and end time, a duration, a section, and a color. This makes it easy to see what you’re doing and when you’ll be doing it. The extension sits right inside your browser popup, so you can add, edit, or check off tasks without opening another app or tab.

Key features include:

• Smart Scheduling: Pick a date, start time, and duration; Taskade fills in the rest.
• Unified To-Dos: Each scheduled block also lives in your daily to-do list.
• Sections & Colors: Organize tasks by project or theme, with custom colors for quick visual context.
• Notifications: Get a nightly digest of unfinished tasks straight to your email, so nothing slips through.

By integrating directly with Google Calendar and Gmail, Taskade reduces the need for manual follow-ups and helps users structure their schedules more effectively. Instead of fragmented workflows and scattered focus, Taskade turns chaotic planning into a clear, actionable schedule, no extra tabs, just one streamlined system built to solve the exact productivity frustrations I faced day to day.

Like any side project, building Taskade was equal parts exciting and frustrating. Along the way, I hit a few walls that forced me to rethink how the extension should work. Here are some of the bigger lessons:

• Duration Syncing: One of the first features I wanted was flexible scheduling: sometimes you know the start and end times, and other times you just see the duration. I needed all three fields, start, end, and duration, in order to stay in sync, no matter which one the user edited. Getting Flatpickr to play nicely with both visible and hidden inputs was a bit of a puzzle, but I eventually tied them together so that changing one field automatically updates the others.
• Task vs. Event Mismatch: Not every to-do deserves a time block. Some tasks should live as full events on the calendar, while others are just quick reminders you can tick off. Early on, I treated everything as an event, but that created unnecessary clutter. Splitting the logic between time-blocked events and straightforward to-dos gave users the flexibility to plan their day without overfilling the calendar.
• Toggle vs. Untoggle: I wanted users to know what they hadn’t finished without forcing them to keep a calendar tab open. The solution was a nightly digest email at midnight that lists all unfinished tasks. This introduced a new challenge: users needed to be able to register or unregister their email easily. I built a toggle in the pop-up so people could check or uncheck a box to control notifications. Behind the scenes, the extension sends a summary email right at 12:00 AM, keeping users accountable without requiring the calendar to stay open.
• Section Explosion: Color-coding was another sticking point. I like my related tasks to share a color, so I added a “section” field that remembers the last color you picked for that section. This worked, but users can keep adding endless new sections, most of which would never be reused. To keep things manageable, I switched to a Most Recently Used (MRU) cache: only the top eight sections show up in the list, so you always see the categories you actually care about.
• Default Colors as Progress Indicators: Because Google Calendar doesn’t let extensions programmatically strike through events, I needed a different way to show completion. My workaround was to use colors and symbols: when a task is marked done, the extension changes the event’s color to grey and adds a checkmark to the title. This gave users a clear visual indicator of progress without altering the underlying calendar functionality.

Taskade lives inside a simple Chrome pop-up, but behind that simplicity is a flow designed to make planning feel natural. Here’s how it works:

Open the extension, give your task a title, and choose a date. From there, you can either: Enter a start and end time if you already know your schedule, or Enter a duration and let the extension calculate the end time for you. Whichever field you update, start, end, or duration, the others stay in sync automatically.

To keep related tasks grouped, add them to a section. Each section remembers its color, so the next time you pick “Writing” or “Gym,” it’s instantly color-coded for you. To avoid clutter, only the eight most recently used sections are saved, so your list stays relevant and easy to manage.

Click Create, and Taskade does two things at once:

• Schedules a calendar event with the right time, color, and notes.
• Adds a to-do item for that day in your “Today” list.

If the event is scheduled for a future date, it won’t clutter your current list; it will automatically appear in the to-do list when that date arrives.

Each to-do has a checkbox. When you mark something as done, the extension updates both the to-do list and the corresponding calendar event. The event’s color turns grey, and a checkmark is added to its title so you can see your progress at a glance.

At midnight, Taskade sends a daily email digest (if you’ve enabled notifications). The email lists any unfinished tasks, giving you a fresh start for the next day without losing sight of what slipped through the cracks. Old to-do lists are cleared automatically, so your “Today” tab is always focused on the current day.

While Taskade looks like a simple pop-up, under the hood, it ties together multiple APIs, clever state management, and UX workarounds to create a smooth experience.

The extension relies on the core Chrome APIs for persistence and background work:

• chrome.storage.sync:stores to-dos, section colors, and notification settings across devices.
• chrome.runtime.sendMessage:connects the popup UI with background scripts for creating/deleting events and sending emails.
• chrome.alarms:triggers the midnight daily digest that emails unfinished tasks and clears yesterday’s list.

• Calendar API: used to create, update, and delete events. Completed tasks are reflected by changing the event’s color and prefixing a checkmark.
• Gmail API: powers the daily digest email that arrives at midnight, listing all unfinished tasks so users start fresh the next day.

if (resp?.code === 404 || resp?.code === 410) {
  // Calendar event was already deleted
  items.splice(idx, 1);
  await saveTodos(items);
  renderTodos(items);
  notifyOnTodos("Task deleted — no Calendar event found");
}

When building Taskade, one of the most complex challenges was handling all the different ways tasks and calendar events could get out of sync. For example, if a user deleted an event directly in Google Calendar but the task still existed locally, any attempt to delete or toggle that task in Taskade would throw a 404 notFound or 410 deleted error.

On the flip side, if a task was deleted locally while the event still existed in Calendar, the extension needed to remove the Calendar event as well — but even if that failed, the task itself still had to disappear so the user wasn’t stuck. Another tricky case was when users tried to untoggle a task whose Calendar event had already been deleted.

In that scenario, the safest approach was to unlink and proceed: simply update the local task without making another failing API call. And, of course, there were the unpredictable case like network hiccups or intermittent API errors that required the UI to stay responsive while still keeping data consistent.

The solution was to build around a few key design principles. First, the extension needed idempotent UX, where doing the same action twice would never hurt anything. If Calendar said an event was “not found” or “deleted,” the extension treated that as success from the user’s perspective.

Second, when an event was missing, the task was unlinked by removing its eventId, and I used optimistic updates — instantly flipping checkboxes in the UI and only rolling back if the error wasn’t a missing event — so future actions wouldn’t keep failing.

Finally, I built normalized error responses: the background script always returns a consistent{ ok, code, error } object, so the popup can branch cleanly and avoid confusing or inconsistent error states.

To keep related tasks visually grouped, I added a section field. Each section remembers its assigned color in sectionColorMap. To prevent clutter, I implemented an MRU (Most Recently Used) cache that stores only the top 8 sections, ensuring the dropdown stays relevant.

Because the Calendar API doesn’t allow strikethroughs, I used a color change to grey plus a checkmark in the event title to indicate completion. This lightweight hack provides instant visual feedback in both the extension and Google Calendar.

See this extension in action on youtube.

Taskade started as a lightweight way to merge tasks and time, but there’s plenty of room to grow. Some of the ideas on the roadmap include:

• Cross-Device Sync so your to-dos and focus blocks travel with you from laptop to phone.
• Smarter Suggestions using AI to propose time blocks or shuffle your schedule based on priorities.
• Analytics & Insights weekly summaries that show how you actually spent your time versus how you planned it.
• Custom Themes because everyone’s productivity style looks different, from minimal grey to full-on rainbow mode.

The core principle remains the same: planning should feel natural, not like extra work. Every future feature will keep that in mind. If juggling between tabs, apps, and sticky notes sounds familiar, give Taskade a try. It’s a small Chrome extension with a simple promise: turn chaos into clarity by putting tasks and time in one place. Install the extension, block your first task, and watch your day finally make sense.

If you’re a fellow builder or productivity nerd, I’d love your feedback, ideas, or contributions because the best tools are the ones shaped by the people who use them. Email me to test out the extension.

How Integrating Calendar and To-Dos into One Extension Turns Chaos into Clarity 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 Brawl in the Fall – October 4, 2025 appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

Dear Friend,

As we reflect on the past year, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you for standing with us during a truly pivotal time in our history. It is with deep pride and gratitude that we share our 2024–25 Annual Report – a reflection of a transformative year made possible by your unwavering support.

Almost three years ago, we faced a heartbreaking first: a waitlist for our services. More children needed help than we had the resources to support. But thanks to increased government funding, community partnerships, and donors like you, we increased our capacity and eliminated the waitlist in March 2025. Thanks to this great investment, we now know what a waitlist free annual budget looks like.

Behind this progress is an incredible team of staff and partners who meet each child with compassion and expertise. Together, our team supported 1,088 children and their families, creating space for healing and resilience. It is truly difficult to overstate the positive impact on their lives for brighter futures.

The work ahead is urgent, and we can’t do it without you. We’ve built capacity, and now must protect the long-term sustainability of a waitlist free model. If you can, please donate to our “Child Victims Can’t Wait” campaign.

Your continued investment will help ensure that every child who walks through our doors is seen, heard, and supported when needed most. Thank you for standing with us – and every young survivor who comes our way!

Warmest Regards,
Robin Heald | Executive Director

The post From Waitlist to Readiness | Annual Report 2024-25 first appeared on Child Witness Centre.

I expect a warm welcome from the dumbest councillors (& mayor) who may have inadvertently repeatedly read this Blog over the last few months or even decades (i.e. since May 2010). It is fair to say that on occasion(s) I may have questioned some of  their credibility or adherence to facts when ridiculous fictional versions were more palatable to Uniroyal and successor polluters.  

I have been advised that TRAC will be presenting an update at this Council meeting. It is in response to that update that I have decided to give Council and the public a less lily gilded version than is likely from TRAC. Now don't get me wrong. Just because TAG and TRAC have jumped through lots of unnecessary and irrelevant hoops and loops does not mean that there are not both intelligent people on the committee as well as honest ones. Unfortunately they are in way over their heads with very little honest direction being given by the MECP or Lanxess/GHD.

I will simply be pointing out some of the reasons why the 2028 mandated cleanup has/will fail plus why it could take another thirty, sixty or longer years to get to drinking water standards. 

♦

It looks like cheese, melts like cheese, even stretches like cheese. But it’s not cheese. 

At least, not a cheese made from milk.

Researchers in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph have been working on a “cheese analogue” — a non-dairy cheese — that they are confident is more nutritious and better suited for a variety of cooking applications than many non-dairy cheese products currently on the market.

“This is a new plant-based cheese. A lot of other products don’t stretch or melt, or have [milk-based cheese’s] high nutritional value,” said researcher Stacie Dobson, a Ph.D. student in food science at the university.

“We’re using the fundamental knowledge that we have about plant-protein ingredients to create something that has the desired texture and taste.”

For several years, Dobson has been creating iterations of plant-based cheese and testing them in foods such as grilled sandwiches, striving to perfect the recipe.

For more on this story, visit CBC-KW.

Check out my latest post UG’s non-dairy cheese for grilled cheese from AndrewCoppolino.com.

♦Presented by Runback Brewing. Exciting times at KWGC! Come to the club and watch some exceptional curling - including Candian, International and Granite Club teams!  Use this schedule to plan your visit. The event runs from Sept 17 - 20.
This event will be the first chance to try Runback's two premiere beers; Hogged Rock Light Lager & Broken Broom Hazy IPA.
Don't forget to display (or get) your parking pass.

♦

♦THEMUSEUM’s 22nd Birthday
Sunday, September 28
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Admission by Donation
THEMUSEUM – 10 King St. W, Kitchener

Join in celebrating 22 amazing, colourful years at THEMUSEUM to match their newest exhibition Kaleidoscope. All day activities include treats and drinks in the lounge, a special birthday themed Creation Station, and face painting during the afternoon. There will be a special prize for the first 22 guests who arrive to THEMUSEUM on their birthday!

Click here for more info

♦Fall Harvest Dinner
Thursday, October 9
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
$20
Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church – 19 Ottawa St. N, Kitchener

KW Habilitation invites you to the Fall Harvest Dinner! You can get a takeout meal, or stick around to enjoy the company of others and participate in the raffle for some great prizes. Raffle Tickets will be sold for $1 each or 6 tickets for $5. The dinner includes Oktoberfest Sausage, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, carrots, homemade sauerkraut. Be sure to leave room for the homemade apple crisp and ice cream for dessert. Come join KW Habilitation’s Committee for Excellence for a cozy evening filled with fall flavours and good company as we celebrate the beauty of the season!

Click here for more info

♦22nd Annual Pow Wow
Saturday, September 27
10:00 AM – 5:30 PM
$5
UW Columbia Ice Fields – 220 Columbia St W, Waterloo

This one-day non-competitive celebration of Indigenous heritage features vendors, dancers, and singers from the Waterloo region and beyond. Join together and celebrate Indigenous culture and tradition through song, dance, arts, and cuisine. The Gidinawendamin/Ska’nikú•lát Pow Wow is intended to be a safe, welcoming, and vibrant opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous folks from the UWaterloo community and beyond to gather in celebration of Indigenization, decolonization, and reconciliation.

Click here for more info

♦♦ ♦

Neighbourhood Tree Walk
Monday, September 22
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
FREE – Registration Required
Country Hills Library – 1500 Block Line Rd. Kitchener♦

Dive into learning as you measure and assess the urban trees in your neighbourhood in this hands-on workshop. Discover firsthand how urban foresters and arborists evaluate a tree’s health and the many challenges a tree faces to grow in a city environment. The inventory process reveals the hidden stories of urban trees, showing both the obstacles they face and the vital ecological roles they play in our cities.

Click here for more info

Coffee, Conversation and Lunch
Wednesday, September 24
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
FREE
Rockway Mennonite Church – 47 Onward Ave. Kitchener

Break bread with neighbours, meet friends, and have great conversations!  At this peer-led group, participants are served a healthy lunch while they get to know each other. A take-out lunch is also available for participants who prefer that format.

Click here for more info

Waste Reduction and Creative Art
Saturday, October 25
Registration Opens Thursday, September 25
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
FREE – Registration Required
Pioneer Park Library – 150 Pioneer Dr. Kitchener

This creative workshop is focused on reducing household waste and raising awareness about broader environmental impacts. Learn about simple actions you can take to reduce waste. Then create a textured painting using repurposed materials like stamps or paper scraps. Be sure to sign up as soon as registration opens as this workshop has a limited number spots available.

Click here for more info

Oktoberfest Family Treasure Hunt
Saturday, September 27
11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Canned Goods Donation
Fairview Park Mall near Hudson’s Bay – 2960 Kingsway Drive, Kitchener

Get ready for a fun filled day of Oktoberfest excitement that everyone will love! Follow the map to find the treasure and be entered to win the Grand Prize! Enjoy Oktoberfest entertainment, crafts, photo station and a special Root Beer Keg Tapping Ceremony. Special performances by Erick Traplin and The Silly People. Come and join in the fun!

Click here for more info

Waterloo Region Climate Fest
Sunday, September 28
1:00 PM – 6:00 PM
FREE
Gaukel Block – 44 Gaukel St. Kitchener

Be a part of Waterloo Region’s first ever Climate Fest – organized by the community for the community! Meet like-minded neighbours and organizations or learn more about how to be friendly to our planet. There will be performances, workshops and food. Come celebrate climate solutions with people from all corners of the Waterloo Region.

Click here for more info

♦

♦The Hangout at Grant’s Cafe was at Tiny Home Takeout’s Hunger No More on Sunday, September 14. Volunteers from The Hangout were able to share information about picking up free Cob’s Bread on Tuesdays and some fun events that are coming up as well. Hunger No More is so much more than a fundraiser for Tiny Home Takeout. It is a celebration of food, community and inclusion. It is about making sure no one is left out, and no one goes hungry.

The volunteers got to meet and hang out with so many awesome people. It was great chatting and playing games with everyone. We even saw some friends we made at The Hangout’s Summer Markets there. Volunteer Ann had so much fun, they said “Make sure you put me down for next year too!” It was a nice hot day, but luckily we were next to the free ice cream stand! If you missed us there this year, don’t worry, we are having food, community and inclusion every Tuesday and Thursday morning at The Hangout – Where Community Happens.

Click here for more info

The post September 17, 2025: What’s Happening in Your Neighbourhood? appeared first on KW Habilitation.

If a file with real customer information is accidentally sent to the wrong person. Your heart will stop. But then you remember something crucial: the data is anonymized. No one can identify a single person from that file. And then you will sleep soundly that night.

That’s the power of good data anonymization. It lets you use data without fear. You keep all the valuable insights and patterns but remove all the personal details. It’s like using a blur tool on someone’s face in a photo. You can still see what’s happening in the picture, but you can’t identify the person.

Here are the five techniques I use every single day to keep data safe and useful.

This is my daily workhorse and my first choice. It’s like assigning a secret code name to everything. You take personal stuff, like a person’s email, and replace it with a fake number or word.

• Think of it like this: It’s like using a code name for a secret agent. “James Bond” is a pseudonym for his real identity. The mission’s real, but his name is not.
• When I use it: Every time I need to understand what customers do or teach a computer how to learn (Machine Learning Model).

John Doe becomes just ‘A1B2C3’. I don’t know who John is, but I can still follow his every move with this ID.

This method reduces the accuracy of certain details. You group numbers together.

• Consider it this way: Instead of saying “I’m 33,” you say “I’m in my 30s.” Although the exact number is not disclosed, it is reasonably close. This is the same as stating that someone lives “in the north part of town” without giving their exact address. You get the idea without all the details.
• When I use it: Specific details like your age, income, or address are replaced with a broad range. Therefore, instead of saying “25 years old,” we would say “20–30 years old.” This maintains the usefulness of the data while protecting your privacy.
• How it operates

You only display a small portion of the information and conceal the majority. For example, limiting someone to seeing just the final four digits of your phone number rather than the entire number.

• Think of it like this: You know how on a receipt, your credit card number shows up as a bunch of stars with just the last few digits? Like **** **** **** 1234.That’s basically what this is — hiding most of the info but leaving just enough to be useful.
• When I use it: You hide most of the information and only show a small part of it. Limiting someone to view only the last four digits of your phone number instead of the complete number is one example.

My favourite method is this one. When you can make fake data that behaves just like the real thing, why use the real thing? We refer to this as synthetic data.

• Think of it like this: It’s a movie stunt double. Although it mimics the actor’s appearance and actions, the double is not the real star. The film still looks fantastic.
• When I employ it: The original data can be used for software testing, data sharing with outside partners, or training AI models when it is too sensitive
• Simple Python code can be implemented using the Faker library.

This method ensures that each individual in your dataset is obscured by a sea of similar-looking people.

• Think of it like this: aIf every individual in a police lineup is an identical twin, you cannot choose one particular person out of the lineup. You need a crowd of lookalikes.
• When I use it: For publishing detailed health or financial research data.
• How it works: You make sure that any combination of traits (like age + zip code + gender) appears in at least k records (e.g., 3 records). So, if you see a 32-year-old woman in zip code 10028, there are at least two other 32-year-old women in that same zip code in the data. You can't tell which is which.

You don’t need to learn all of these at once. Start with one.

This week, pick one dataset you use for testing. Try the Code Swap (Pseudonymization) technique on the name or email column. See how it feels to work with data that can’t hurt anyone.

It’s the easiest way to start sleeping better at night. I know I do.

5 Data Anonymization Techniques I Use Every Day was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I am of course referring to recent events in which Lanxess, via third parties of course, have reversed positions on both off-site DNAPLS and other sources to the Elmira Aquifers contamination.  It is now in writing that besides Uniroyal Chemical and Nutrite/Yara as polluters of the Elmira Municipal Aquifers; Varnicolor Chemical can now be added to the list of miscreants. Four or five different chlorinated solvents (DNAPLS initially) released at the ground surface through spills, sloppiness and sometimes intent made their way through aquitards and shallow aquifers downwards and into the Municipal Upper Aquifer. This is as per the Minutes of that idiot Allan Deal's (GHD)  public presentation last September and includes 1,1 dichloroethene, 1,2 dichloroethene, trichloroethene, vinyl chloride and dichloroethane. 

Then there is the decades old lies about DNAPL presence at observation well OW57-32R in which DNAPL was both inadvertently drawn to surface from 33 metres below ground where it sat on top of the Municipal Aquitard (MAT) and initially identified as DNAPL. That was walked back in following statements and reports as Uniroyal/Chemtura realized their error (strategic versus factual). This location was beside the Howard St. water tower and in fact pumping well W4 was also located right there for the express purpose of pumping high concentrations of dissolved chlorobenzene from the sub-surface. In fact W4 pumped more chlorobenzene from that one location than all the other off-site pumping wells together. This location likely did not have as much DNAPL as say near the on-site wells OW88 -8 &  -19 or pumping well PW4 hence it may be possible that decades of pumping at W4 significantly reduced the DNAPL presence.  Again ironically it was the idiot Allan Deal who showed us this with his chart and later Minutes of his presentation.. 

Well of course in the ensuing months and a very few TRAC meetings no TRAC members have brought up these astounding developments because they generally don't know crap about the history of the site they are allegedly observing/monitoring. Susan Bryant may not have forgotten but she sure as hell doesn't want to remind anyone of her decades long stance as a DNAPL DENIER along with the rest of the guilty parties. Off-site DNAPLS including chlorobenzene are now admitted (tentatively at least) by Jesse Wrighte (Arcadis)  near First St., Union St. and Howard Ave..  As well  Varnicolor Chemical had both DNAPLS and LNAPLS in their groundwater along with the DNAPLS at W4, OW57-32 and area (water tower). 

Multiple additional sources to the destruction of our drinking water aquifers plus off-site DNAPLS making a difficult job much harder, perhaps impossible. These belated revelations are because of the coverup and corruption of the polluters, the Ont. Min. of Environment and of local politicians (councillors). 

The luxury housing market in Waterloo Region continues to balance itself as we move into fall 2025. Both single-family and attached luxury homes are showing steady demand, but with some shifts in price trends, days on market, and sales ratios that buyers and sellers should pay attention to.

The single-family luxury segment is currently classified as a Balanced Market, with a 17% sales ratio in August 2025.

• Median luxury sales price: $1,229,950
• Median days on market (DOM): 30 days (up from 23 in August 2024)
• Sale-to-list price ratio: 97.44%
• Most active price band: $3.6M–$3.99M, where the sales ratio hit 100%

While overall sales were slightly lower year-over-year (44 sold in August 2025 vs. 56 in August 2024), inventory also dipped to 252 active listings, keeping the market in balance.

The demand sweet spot appears in the higher-end bracket, suggesting that ultra-luxury homes are finding motivated buyers despite longer days on market in other ranges.

Attached luxury properties — including townhomes and condos over the $700K benchmark — are also in a Balanced Market, posting a 20% sales ratio.

• Median luxury sales price: $749,800
• Median days on market (DOM): 23 days (down from 31 last year)
• Sale-to-list price ratio: 100%
• Most active price band: $820K–$839K, with a perfect 100% sales ratio

With 23 attached homes sold out of 113 on the market, this segment is moving faster than single-family luxury, especially in the mid-$800K range.

• Sales volume: Both single-family and attached luxury sales dipped compared to 2024, but inventory also decreased, softening the impact.
• Pricing: Median prices held relatively steady, with only minor fluctuations (-2% YoY for single-family, +3% YoY for attached).
• Buyer behaviour: Buyers are still paying close to (or at) asking price, signaling confidence in property values despite economic headwinds.

• For buyers: Luxury homes are staying on the market longer, giving you more time to negotiate. However, in the most desirable price bands, competition is still fierce.
• For sellers: Pricing strategically is key. Overpricing will result in extended days on market, while properties listed in the “hot” brackets are selling quickly at or above list.

The post Waterloo Region Luxury Real Estate Market Update – September 2025 appeared first on Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Agent - The Deutschmann Team.

There’s a story we keep telling in startup culture: to be accepted, you must first suffer.

Not just work hard. Not just commit. But suffer.

Lose sleep. Skip fun. Collapse your life into one long sprint. Eat the same delivered meal every day. Show the world how much you’re willing to endure, and maybe then you’ll be taken seriously.

The Wall Street Journal recently profiled a new wave of San Francisco founders living out this script — 90-hour weeks, pod housing, gifting employees mattresses to keep at the office. They treat exhaustion like a badge of honour. Suffering, in their minds, is the milestone.

Here in Waterloo, there’s another variation of the same trap. Instead of measuring suffering, we measure belonging: the right advisor, the right fund, the right accelerator, or, more recently, the right event. We chase permission, thinking validation comes when someone important says yes.

But neither suffering nor permission is the real milestone. Building is.

This month, Waterloo launched its first-ever Tech Week with more than 100 panels, meetups, workshops, and parties organized by the same students who run Hack the North. BetaKit’s coverage captured the scale: thousands of people showing up, dozens of organizations pitching in, and a student-led team reviving the sense of community many of us have been missing.

The organizers, students like Jasmine Jiang and Ian Korovinsky, tapped into a real hunger in the community. They heard stories of the “awesome events” Waterloo used to have, and they brought that energy back.

And it worked. Interest snowballed. Event submissions poured in. People wanted to be part of something bigger.

That’s what events do at their best: they inspire, they connect, they remind us that we’re not building in isolation.

I am thankful they took the initiative to make it happen.

Here’s the danger: confusing inspiration with progress.

Events can give you ideas, but they can’t replace the hard work of building. Just like attaching your name to a funder doesn’t prove traction, and just like skipping sleep doesn’t guarantee success, attending Tech Week doesn’t mean your startup is any closer to solving a problem.

The milestone isn’t who you met or where you were seen.

It’s what you built.

It’s who used it.

It’s who paid for it.

That’s the only acceptance that matters.

Why does the myth of suffering stick around? Because it’s easy to measure. Hours worked. Meals skipped. Vacations cancelled. These numbers feel tangible in a way that early customer conversations don’t.

But building is not about suffering; it’s about clarity. It’s about the quiet, persistent work of solving problems that matter.

And Waterloo has always been at its best when it leaned into that ethos. Builders, not performers. People who cared less about how hard they looked like they were working, and more about what they were actually making.

Events like Waterloo Tech Week are a sign of momentum. They remind us of the density of talent here. They give us reasons to collide. They should be celebrated.

But after the panels are over and the parties fade, the question remains: What did you build?

That is where progress lives. Not in permission. Not in suffering. Not even in belonging. But in creation.

So let Tech Week be your spark. Feel the energy of the room, take the inspiration home with you, and then sit down to do the real work.

Because Waterloo’s energy is real.

Now build something with it.

Waterloo’s Energy Is Real. Now Build Something With It. was originally published in Who You Calling a Jesse? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The post GRR Community Night appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

I find it difficult not to throw up at TRAC meetings based upon the almost reverence given to opinions of bought and paid for client driven fibbers. It is also difficult to sit there and listen to the bought and paid for "experts" who don't know crap about the history of the site or the history of the errors and misstatements constantly being both repeated and new ones formulated.

The bottom of page 7 in the June 19/25 Minutes is an admission that creek banks at Uniroyal/Lanxess are still eroding dioxins and DDT into the Creek. Gosh doesn't that make Lanxess dirty polluters as well? They've been on site and in control for what seven years now?

Supposedly the shutdown of off site pumping (other than E7)  is to determine the extent of "rebound" of contaminant concentrations after pumping ceases. So far the company are talking out of both sides of their mouths regarding secondary sources such as "back diffusion". First of all I'm tired of the dirty polluter being the one who defines any word whatsoever. Please truck off Lanxess. I suspect that Lanxess and the MECP simply want to reduce pumping even more and allow the former Uniroyal site to simply leak, ooze and dilute their toxic load by sharing it downstream, downgradient in the aquifers and finally into the atmosphere.

There will also be an alleged peer review of the Creek's Risk Assessment. Sure we were all born yesterday as this firm and consultant are colleagues/peers/co-conspirators? of Hadley Stamm (Lanxess) who is simply the female version of Nathan Cadeau.

Just a normal day at the office of disinformation and dysentery on behalf of Lanxess Canada.

The post September Special! appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

The post September Special! appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

An transformer based LLM. Written completely in Rust

Rust 2.1k Updated Sep 17

The Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce nominees for the second annual Small Business Awards presented by BDC – a premier event in Waterloo Region dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the outstanding achievements of small businesses in our community. It will take place on Wednesday, October 22 during BDC Small Business Week and this prestigious event aims to continue to honor the entrepreneurs and small business owners who drive innovation and contribute significantly to our local economy.

The Small Business Awards highlight exceptional businesses across 7 award categories and features a formal awards ceremony and networking opportunities.

For more information or to purchase tickets for this event please visit: beagala.ca

Exceptional Small Business Awards

• Arise Wellness
• Aura-La Pastries + Provisions
• Blown Away Glass Studio
• Branches in Balance Counselling Ltd
• Brentwood Livery
• Bright Light Content
• Colour Blend Co.
• Ctrl V Waterloo
• Diana’s Divine Escape, Mobile Spa
• DistribuCloud Technology Services
• Divonify
• Embark Physical Therapy Inc
• Food 4 Kids
• Four All Ice Cream
• Grazing Daisy
• H2R Business Solutions Inc.
• Ink Den
• Meal in a Jar
• Murdoch Travel
• Rock Solid Masonry Repair
• Segment Agency Inc.
• Turbo Techs Appliance Repair
• Vanessa’s Cuisine

Solopreneur of the Year

• Ashley Close – Realtor
• The Dessert Artist
• Grazing Daisy
• Jamila Kyari Co.,
• Janelle Joy Studios
• KW Chair Massage
• Nigerian foodie hub
• Octant Executive Advisory Group
• Reilly Sales Consulting
• Reimagine Leadership
• Soul Matchmaking
• ToldbyHarris

Skilled Trades

• Integrity Drains & Plumbing
• James Ball Plumbing and Heating
• JemTech
• JJMFG Contracting Inc.
• Waterloo Garage Doors

Service Excellence Award

• Blown Away Glass Studio
• Bright Light Content
• Ctrl V Waterloo
• Embark Physical Therapy Inc.
• Food4Kids Waterloo Region
• FoodZen
• Marycuterie
• Plural Digital Agency

Event Impact Award

• Digimillennials
• Harp & Fin / HF Events
• The Last Minute Gallery
• Mind Model AI
• Octant Executive Advisory Group
• Ontario Disability Employment Network
• Princess Cinemas

Entrepreneur of the Year

• Arise Wellness
• Digimillennials
• Enabled Talent
• Ink Den
• Marycuterie
• Vanessa’s Cuisine
• Worm Wrangler

Employer of the Year

• BuildSafe – Construction Safety Services Inc.
• DistribuCloud Technology Services
• Driverseat
• Fo’Cheezy Food Truck
• H2R Business Solutions Inc.
• Jemtech

Winners will be announced live at the event on Wednesday, October 22th, 2025. Winners are never notified ahead of time.

Small businesses are the backbone of our community, the Small Business Awards is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on these hardworking individuals and organizations that make a positive difference every day. We are thrilled to celebrate their achievements and contributions.

The post Nominees Announced: 2025 Small Business Awards appeared first on Greater KW Chamber of Commerce.

• What: Multicultural Festival of Elmira ♦
• When: 11:00am to 6:00pm on Saturday 20 September 2025
• Where: Gibson Park
• Location: 17 First Street West, Elmira, Ontario Map
• Online: heartsopenforeveryone.ca/multicultural-festival-of-elmira/
• Contact: info@heartsopenforeveryone.ca

Free Entry – All Are Welcome

Performances by Christin Dennis – Peg and Darrel – Two Families Band – Los Hijos de Tuta – Nii Osabu – Korexion – Moka Band – Tracy Lee – El Ceibo – Culture Philippines of Ontario

with MC Jahmeeks Beckford and DJ Gury Gury

♦

• What: National Day of Action: Draw The Line – Waterloo ♦
• When: 2:00pm to 3:00pm on Saturday 20 September 2025
• Where: Waterloo Public Square
• Location: 75 King Street South Map
• Online: drawtheline.world

♦

Cross-Canada Day of Action to call on the Carney government: Put people over profit. Build a green, sustainable future, not more pipelines. Fund our communities, not the war machine. Cut military spending. Uphold Indigenous sovereignty. Stop sending weapons to Ukraine, start negotiating. Stop sending weapons to Israel. End the genocide in Gaza. In recognition of Peace Week. The world needs peace, climate action, justice & cooperation.

• What: Public Event: Canada and the Genocide in Gaza ♦
• When: 7:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday 19 September 2025
• Where: Room 106, Schlegel Building, Wilfid Laurier University
• Location: 75 University Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario Map
• Contact: Tamara Lorincz tlorincz@dal.ca

Join us for a free, public presentation about Canada’s complicity in the ongoing Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people with Dr. Peter Eglin & Yves Engler. What global rules are Canada & the U.S. following arming Israel? What are the possibilities for peace?

Moderated by Tamara Lorincz, PhD candidate, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Books will be available for sale.

In recognition of Peace Week. All welcome!

• Dr. Peter Eglin, Professor Emeritus of Wilfrid Laurier University and author of the new book “Analysing the Israel Effect in Canada: A Critical Auto-Ethnography”.
• Yves Engler, author of “Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid” and NDP leadership candidate.

♦

• ♦ 6ce6dec

  This should be an empty string

• ♦ 767b3e0

  This is no longer relevant

• 18 more commits »

• ♦ fc822d3

  v0.3.2

• ♦ ae3f865

  Bump google-genai to latest

• ♦ c3a92b3

  Can use more tests for file stuff

• 4 more commits »

• What: The Encampments ♦
• When: 6:30pm on Tuesday 30 September 2025
• Where: Princess Twin Cinemas
• Location: 46 King Street North, Waterloo, Ontario Map
• Online: princesscinemas.com/movie/the-encampments
• Tickets: $14.25 princesscinemas.com/movieshowtime/showtime-for-the-encampments-playing-sep-30-2025-at-645-pm-princess-twin
• Contact: wrfriendsofpalestine@gmail.com

Join us for the premier screening in our community of The Encampments. This 2025 movie is a documentary on the anti-genocide movement and the challenge of protecting the call for free speech. It is a US movie that shows thew student encampment initiative that was ignited by Columbia State University and spread quickly to many universities including University of Waterloo. Following the movie there will be a discussion and opportunity for questions.

Admission : Regular prices for tickets, get yours early in September, they will be available on line at the Princess website.

♦Zatoun Olive Oil will be available at this event supported by Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine.

♦

Not seen since the Vietnam War, a student movement which rocked the world.
The genocide in Gaza ignited the passion of a generation of students.

The Encampments is a 2025 American documentary film about the 2024 Palestine solidarity campus encampments at Columbia University and other university campuses during Israel-Gaza war.

The Encampments is lauded for “its sense of contemporary and historical detail, owed to both footage shot by the filmmakers, as well as by the protesters themselves.” The Columbia Daily Spectator called the film a “testament to the strength of the community born within the student-led pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, and how hope and belief can grow, even in the face of institutional backlash” and offers an “insightful and intimate look into what happened within the gates, well beyond mainstream coverage.” Also, from Hyperallergic, the online arts magazine, The Encampments “extricates the movement from the grips of mainstream and conservative media narratives and places it back in the hands of its organizers.”

The encampments and the students challenged the big money donors, politicians, administrators and police as had not been for two generations. Relying on false accusations, trumped up charges, student expulsions and intimidation and brutal police force, the establishment was left naked for all to see.

Film will be followed by conversation / Q&A with members from local universities.

USA | Workman and Pritsker | 85 minutes | English

an online comment:

The students always lead the way. Will we be brave enough to follow their example? We must, or any of us can be the next person to be disappeared by our government for voicing dissent.

The Encampments is one of the most vitally important docs I can remember. Citizens of America (and the world) must watch this to see what our universities, police and government are doing to suppress peaceful cries for justice. The footage that was captured is stunning. This is what actual journalism looks like.

Don’t be afraid to speak up. You’re not alone. We need everyone in this fight. Please watch this film.

Hope to see you at the film, please share with family and friends. Princess Cinema needs our support to encourage screening of more films on or about Palestine. Thank you.

In solidarity and peace,
Irene,
Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine

♦

Standing resolutely on a Plantagenet hilltop at the corner of Old Highway 17 and Du Comte (the fact that it is “old” #17 just seems to make things all the more resolute), Patati Patata et Bar Laitier will celebrate its 35th anniversary in spring 2026. The stand is closing soon, but you still have some perfect fall weather left to check it out in 2025, if you haven’t done so.

More than a third of a century is a very long time for a food operation, so kudos to owner Chantal Lapensee and family for weathering the vagaries of the economy, pandemics, winter closures, evolving customer tastes and the general see-saw that is running any sort of business.

Lapensee, a teacher and school principal by training, and her husband Alain Chartrand, a former Air Canada employee, bought the chip stand in 1991. For a variety of reasons, they sold the business a year later only to buy it back again after a period of time.

“It’s my baby!” Lapensee says, of the family business. “It’s me and my husband and two daughters, also teachers, who work nights and weekends during the summer along with ten other employees.”

The stand itself had been moved to a couple of different locations by a previous owner over the years, but the variety of goods on the menu – “this, that and the other” you might say to which the phrase “et patati et patata” alludes – has been a longstanding one too.

You file up the stairs – there are often cars lining the street and people queued to order at the window – pay for your food and take a small wireless pager that buzzes and lights up to inform you that your order is coming out the side door for you to pick up. I’ve been to several very busy casual upscale pubs where you are armed with a similar pager but not a chip stand. There’s some parking space and a few picnic tables with umbrellas on the property.

On the menu, you’ll find hamburgers (including one that mimicks The Big Mac), whistle dogs, chili dogs and pogos, in addition to a hot chicken sandwich.

This is not a Nashville-style breaded cayenne-spicy hot chicken sandwich made famous at joints like the OG venue Prince’s Hot Chicken (and one of the late Anthony Bourdain’s favourites) but rather something that seems like a U.S. lunch-counter deli throwback along with its hefty cousin the hot hamburg sandwich….

Check out my latest post Hot chicken sandwich, pulled pork poutine from AndrewCoppolino.com.

DDT was manufactured in both companies/countries.  Chlorobenzene is a significant part of the process. There is also a benzene plume at Montrose Chemical similar to Uniroyal/Elmira. Both sites have identified chlorobenzene DNAPL also known as free phase DNAPL. Both sites have identified residual chlorobenzene DNAPL. Both sites apparently have client driven consultants with a firm grasp on both fantasy and the bottom line.

Differences include the stratigraphy. Montrose Chemical has between 235 and 250 feet of sand, silt, clay etc. in their aquitards and aquifers all above Bedrock. Uniroyal/Elmira has approximately only 100 feet of aquitards and aquifers with sand, silt, clay & gravel above their fractured Bedrock Aquifer. The Gage Aquifer beneath the Montrose Chemical site in California begins at 175 feet below ground surface and is sixty feet thick and is contaminated with both dissolved chlorobenzene AND free phase chlorobenzene DNAPL. Here in Elmira we are to magically believe that the free phase chlorobenzene DNAPL didn't go below the Municipal Aquifer at worst, a mere 45-65 feet below ground surface. Recently it sounds as if Lanxess are walking that back to no free phase DNAPL past the Upper Aquitard (UAT) which is ridiculous. 

DDT is poorly soluble in water (very low) in both locations however it is very soluble in chlorobenzene in both locations. DDT is likely in California (Montrose Chemical) to become a mobile contaminant in groundwater after it has dissolved in the chlorobenzene.  It should be the same in Elmira (Uniroyal) although here in Elmira we also have dioxins dissolving and moving in groundwater with chlorobenzene.

This Feasibility Study (Montrose Chemical) has varying time estimates for major cleanup. They are between 3,100 and 5,800 years. I suspect that we can do better here in Elmira (Uniroyal) albeit all guilty parties do appear to be doing their best to achieve those time frames.

♦I came into the city today to take part in Toronto Mike's podcast. I'd like to thank him for making me feel comfortable and welcome as our conversation went out live to the Internet. He's clearly an old hand at this, as I was guesting on his podcast's 1,761st episode, but he treated me fantastically well, making me feel like a celebrity. He took the time to research my background and came up with new, interesting and nicely challenging questions that got me to speak about the heart of my writing, as well as my influences, including my mother.

And it was also the perfect venue to talk about The Night Girl. As you can see from Toronto Mike's studio, this is a man who loves Toronto and grew up in the thick of things in the eighties and nineties. We shared memories about the Blue Jays' first World Series win, my love of Doctor Who, and the gigantic tonal shift TV Ontario took every Thursday at 7 p.m. as we switched out from The Polka Dot Door to Tom Baker's opening credits. These days were exactly the sort of thing that was at the back of my mind when I wrote The Night Girl, and it was wonderful to share time with a kindred spirit.

Seriously, check out the episode, and check out his podcast. Many interesting epsiodes with fascinating guests await.

One thing Mike and I discussed was the golden age of blogging, before social media sucked our audiences away with their addictive algorithms. We talked about how some of the great things about the early days of our current Internet are already lost, and apropos of that, I'll draw your attention to changes happening on the Transit Toronto YouTube Channel.

Basically, we're moving, opening up a completely new channel to eventually house our current video library and all new videos. This is not something we particularly want to do, and it comes with the cost of complete demonetization (at least, until we bring over enough subscribers and gather enough views to monetize the new channel). Unfortunately, thanks to decisions made at the dawn of YouTube, we have no choice.

Because the account was built around 2010 on an e-mail that no longer exists, that sat on a domain that is no longer under our control, the current YouTube Channel can ONLY be controlled by my Gmail address. If any of the over half-dozen individuals who currently now help out making videos for the channel want to post, I'd have to give them access to my Gmail account. If something were to happen to me to cause me to lose access to the Gmail account, the YouTube Channel would effectively be locked up.

Can we appeal to YouTube to fix this? No, because I'm not officially the site's owner, I'm just the guy the site's owner appointed as the manager. And since the site owner is no longer reachable (because of the e-mail issues described before), I can't do anything to add partners or participants to the channel, and YouTube simply won't accept my e-mails as proof that they need to do something to fix the problem.

It's hilarious the amount of frustrating bureaucracy you can encounter outside of a government setting.

So, we start over, completely from scratch, and hope that we have enough subscribers willing to make the migration to get us on our feet again. Oh, well. It sucks, but this move ensures the ultimate longevity of Transit Toronto's online video library.

If you want to help, please go to the new Transit Toronto channel and like, share and (most importantly) subscribe. You can also consider becoming a paid supporter of our Patreon account. Either way, enjoy the classic old videos we'll be porting to the new site in the weeks to come, as well as the new videos we'll continue to produce..

The email's title was the worst thing a tech person could see.

URGENT: Potential Data Exposure.

A junior developer on my team had made a simple mistake. They sent an analytics file to an external vendor for testing. But the file wasn’t just test data. It contained real customer information with names, email addresses, and purchase histories for over 1,200 real people.

For one terrifying hour, we thought it was over. We thought we’d have to face our customers, the media, and huge GDPR fines. I pictured my project, which we’d built for two years, getting shut down completely.

Then, our lead security engineer walked into my office. “Relax,” he said. “I think we’re okay. The data was anonymized.”

That’s when I became a huge believer in hiding personal data. It didn’t just save our project; it saved our butts. It stopped a huge, embarrassing problem and saved us a ton of money. Let me tell you how we did it, and how you can do it too.

Before that day, I thought anonymization was just a checkbox for the legal team. I was wrong.

Think of it like this: Using raw data is like sending a friend a photo of your driver’s license. Using anonymized data is like giving them just the zip code from your address. They get the valuable information they need without any of your private details.

Our breach wasn’t a disaster because the data we sent was treated. The real customer names were replaced with unique codes like “User_7b7Xq9.” The email addresses were masked, showing only the domain like “***@gmail.com.” We had turned all the personally identifying information into useless tokens.

The vendor got the data patterns they needed. They could see that “User_7b7Xq9” bought a red jacket after looking at boots. But they had absolutely no way of knowing that “User_7b7Xq9” was actually Jane Smith from Ohio.

That scare taught us to build anonymization into every project from day one. We follow three simple rules.

The biggest lesson was to never use real data for testing or development. We now have a strict rule: production data and non-production data must be separated. Any data used for testing, sharing with vendors, or analytics must be run through our anonymization tool first. No exceptions.

Anonymization isn’t something you do just once at the end. We made it part of our daily workflow. It’s baked right into our data pipeline. Whenever data is copied or moved, our automated tools check it and anonymize it if it’s going to a less secure environment. This automation is what saved us. The developer didn’t have to remember to anonymize; the system did it for them.

This is the most important step. You can’t just hide the names and call it a day. You have to ask: “Can I still use this data?” and “Is it truly anonymous?”

We test it by building simple machine learning models. We train one model on the real data and another on the anonymized data. If the anonymized model’s predictions are almost as accurate, we know we did it right. If the accuracy drops, we know we anonymized too much and removed the useful patterns.

You don’t need a huge team or expensive software to start. You can begin with simple, free tools.

For a small team, start with a Python library like Faker or Presidio. With just a few lines of code, you can create realistic but fake data for testing.

This code creates a list of customers that look real but are completely fictional. It’s perfect for building new features without touching a single real customer record.

That email was the most frightening moment of my career. But it was also the most educational.

We didn’t have to send 1,200 apology emails. We didn’t get a fine. The project didn’t get canceled. We simply called the vendor, confirmed they deleted the file, and that was the end of it.

The best part? Our project’s data insights didn’t suffer at all. The anonymized data was still incredibly valuable for spotting trends and training our AI models. We kept the power and lost the risk.

Protecting your data isn’t about not trusting your team. It’s about building a system that is safe by design. It’s about making sure a simple, human mistake doesn’t turn into a company-ending crisis.

Start small. Take one customer dataset this week and try anonymizing it. The peace of mind is worth it.

We Had a Breach: How Anonymization Saved My Project was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.