iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 52m

About to drop my ballot at the box. Got it yesterday and it's all ready to go.

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Of 16 climate-related indicators, 7 are at record extremes. Several point to accelerating trends, raising concerns about increasing climate instability. Small encouraging signs emerging, include rapid expansion of renewable electricity and battery storage. 🌎 academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

academic.oup.com

The 2026 state of the climate report: challenges and opportunities

Abstract. Earth’s climate system is moving deeper into uncharted territory. We present the 2026 update of planetary vital signs that track the state of Ear

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 3h

And then they whine and wonder about plummeting birthrates - I mean, who can AFFORD it???

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 8h

I had two kids in the NICU which produced a $10k bill because two insurers both said "not me!" for 36 hours of it. I fixed it by applying the full scope of my skills as civil litigation attorney. It would've cost >$10k to hire me to do it; as a policy matter, I consider that wholly unacceptable.

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James Davis Nicoll @jdnicoll.bsky.social · 10h

Would it not be far more effective to tax the rich sufficiently to maintain bridges and roads?

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 18h

So guess where *I* just was...

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 16/10/2026

Apparently the hot new rationalization in pissy right-wing creator circles as to why they're not as financially or culturally successful as they ought to be is that their IQs are all 30 points too high for the normies to understand their creations, and, oh, honey, I assure you, that's so not it

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David Niall Wilson @davidniallwilson.com · 21h

Just a reminder. There are words that are not quantative. They are absolutes. They are, or they are not. One of them is equal. Another is free. The second you think you can add a limit, or a caveat to either, you aren't understanding them, and you don't believe in them.

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 21h

Make sure to toggle off Deep Search Only!

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Share the phone number. Or ar least where you found it. Please.

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Adam Christopher @adamchristopher.me · 15/10/2026

So the minutes of the @societyofauthors.bsky.social management committee are publicly available, and because I love to procrastinate, I went through them back to January 2025 and couldn't find any mention of this charter. societyofauthors.org/document-tag...

societyofauthors.org

MC minutes Archives - The Society of Authors

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Exactly. They got sorry when they got exposed. They were perfectly happy playing things their way if nobody was looking. But then people turned a spotlight on it all and it all became pitilessly visible, and...

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I suppose the prospect of the Real Names, the moneymakers, publicly rejecting them and walking away... made a difference. I am not betting on a change of heart. If they could have seen a way to keep their cake and eat it at the same time they would probably have hung on like grim death...

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

okay then. New novel out in just over a month. Get it here. www.fantasticfiction.com/a/alma-alexa...

fantasticfiction.com

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Okay, that last line had me in tears.

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Noelle @finallynoelle.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

So we fly a pride flag in our front yard in a very conservative neighborhood and it’s been there for the last few years. Someone put this in our mailbox and my goodness…

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Wagatwe Wanjuki @wagatwe.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

can't take "LLMs are people" discourse seriously when we haven't even convinced everyone that all people are people.

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Not even on Twitter where they could tink dey taw a puddy tat?

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Anna, this is the sort of matter over which heads roll. If you are presiding over the debacle where you're chairing the capitulation of an organization created to HELP WRITERS to the forces that are clearly out to harm those writers... resign now. You are clearly not up to your responsibilities.

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 14/10/2026

"This exploded in our face and now we are going to try to post through it"

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Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Earlier this year the Society of Authors was highlighting their work promoting books created by actual humans. Now they've flip-flopped and embraced the use of AI in the creation of those very same books. Disgusting.

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

There. Is. No. Ethical. Way. To. Use. GenAI. In. An. Ethical. Way. It is all the stolen fruit of a poisonous tree. GenAI has no part to play in a human creative forum. And it is deeply disappointing to see this volte face from the Society of Authors.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 14/10/2026

Simba Kundizeza's statement on his Caine Prize-winning story "The Blue Fighter" is also worth reading—keep in mind, the evidence-free article slandering him was published in The Atlantic to a mass readership and his defense is a tweet to his eight hundred followers

Simba Kundizeza
@S_S_Kundizeza
Statement on The Atlantic article concerning “The Blue Fighter”

I would like to say at the outset that this statement is not in any way a proffer of an explanation or a defense against the allegations levelled against me in the article published by The Atlantic, because I don’t believe the article warrants either. I am however writing because of the level of public interest generated in its aftermath, and out of respect for the people who have supported and championed my writing, as well as my fellow shortlisted writers for the Caine Prize. I want to set the record straight.

For the avoidance of doubt, I wrote "The Blue Fighter." I did not use generative AI to write it. It is entirely my own work.

This story did not appear out of nowhere; it has a concrete, documented history. Its genesis was during my LOATAD Black Atlantic Residency in Ghana. While there‚ I read a poem by vangile gantsho titled “my father's hands․” I was inspired by this poem to write a story about my family's experiences in Zimbabwe‚ including my father leaving his accounting profession and the hardships my family faced as a result․ Other aspects of the story‚ including characters and the setting‚ are drawn from events in my own life․

There is also a clear chronology to the story's development. I sent the completed first draft of the story to vangile for feedback on May 15‚ 2025․ I then submitted the story to The Shallow Tales Review on May 27‚ 2025․ Fiction editor Nzube Nlebedim accepted the story on June 10‚ 2025‚ and it went through the standard editorial process. vangile then provided her feedback to me on June 25‚ 2025․ On the same day Nzube also provided editorial feedback to me․ In an email dated June 27‚ 2025‚ I sent the final draft and requested that the editor preserve the formatting of an epigraph in the story as originally submitted by vangile as a courtesy to her․ The story was published on June 30‚ 2025․

The Atlantic article seems to question the story's authorship by comparing its style to my other writing. As writers we develop recurring interests, but we don’t produce work from a single fixed template. My debut novel, “Freelance”, and the story titled "The Whistleblower" published in Transition Magazine in 2021 which is referenced by Ms. Vara, are thrillers dealing with political intrigue. "The Blue Fighter," however, is a deeply personal story about economic collapse and familial relationships. The voice shifts because the subject matter demands it. To suggest that a writer cannot write in different styles or genres, or improve his writing substantially after five or more years fundamentally misunderstands the craft of writing.

The motive for my supposedly using AI to generate the story is equally difficult to understand. I was under no obligation to write “The Blue Fighter”. I was not commissioned to produce it, nor was I paid a fee for its publication. The decision to submit the piece for consideration for the Caine Prize was made by the editor of The Shallow Tales Review months after its publication. I therefore didn’t write the story with any guarantee that it would be submitted, let alone win anything. The idea that I would have somehow written the story with the express intention of entering and winning the Caine Prize, despite the inherently competitive and uncertain nature of the prize, conjures up a motive that simply did not exist.

"The Blue Fighter" is my work, and I stand by it completely. I'm grateful to vangile for her inspiration, to The Shallow Tales Review for giving the story a home, and to the Caine Prize judges for recognizing the work on its merits. I’m also heartened by the numerous messages of solidarity from fellow writers and readers, and to Adrienne Ingrum and Regina Brooks at Serendipity Literary Agency for their support throughout.
I look forward to continuing to work with the Caine Prize team, and to celebrating this recognition with the people who helped bring this story into the world.

Most importantly, I will continue to write.

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John Scary Name Cullen @nellucnhoj.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

A reminder for those at the back.

A redraw of the i nice panel from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman snaps a rifle in two over his knee.

He says "THIS is the weaponnof the enemy. We do not NEED it. We will not USE it."

I've replace the rifle with a plank of wood labelled "AI Slop"

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Not from me, my brother from another mother. Not from me. I deeply, deeply concur.

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A Meatwad on Elm Street @wrenispinkle.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

can’t stress enough how much I hate the idea of “leasing” phones and watches I’m going to buy a phone and use it for 8 years or until Apple screws me and stops making updates for it. Fuck anyone who is enabling this horrible new trend of never owning anything free and clear

apple.com

Apple Upgrade launches in the United States

Apple Upgrade — a new hardware leasing program — is now available on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations in the United States.

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

...if you're local (ish) to me, and especially if you're interested in a preview of the new novel (I'll have early copies!) do save the date...

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MeteorBlades @meteorblades.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

In 1974, after a rash of night assaults on women in Israel, a govt minister suggested a curfew to keep women home after dark. Prime Minister Golda Meir said, ”But it's the men who are attacking the women. If there's to be a curfew, let the men stay home, not the women.'"

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

My husband and I used to nip any incipient (and stupid) squabble by one of us yelling "butterknife!" Or just point to the one we had framed in a shadowbox frame hanging in our kitchen. Why, yes, there IS a story. 😀

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Why can't hackers ever hack into US healthcare systems and erase medical debt. Why go after food?

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Done and done, years ago, back when hubs and I were still in Florida, we regularly went to a local park with peanuts. One of the squirrels practically climbed into my LAP.

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David C Bell @moviehooligan.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

If you’re wondering what the vibe is going into the midterms the New England fall fair I went to today had a crochet guillotine for sale.

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Cohen is a Ghost @skullmandible.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

"how were people writing 10 page papers before AI???" we were smarter than you. you could've been smart, too. but you sold your brain for nothing

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

And it's usually the animal who pays the price for human folly...

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

So were we. Those in whose direction the line was addresses smiled tightly, caught one another's eye, raised eyebrows. It was amazing how UNWELCOME we all felt at that moment.

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Laura Anne Gilman @lauraannegilman.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

For everyone who has patiently (so patiently) been waiting, there is a new essay up at Patreon, free for all subscribers www.patreon.com/LAGilman/pos...

patreon.com

Survivorship | Laura Anne Gilman

Survivorship by Laura Anne Gilman on Patreon. Join Laura Anne Gilman's community for exclusive content and updates.

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

... just as glad, today, i don't have THAT LINE. I pass the test, and remain Galadriel... /2

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I remember a mass signing at a con once where as usual most of us were lucky if we got a handful of fans and where Salvatore's line stretched the length of the hall. One of the rest of us said they WISHED they had that line, and a passing con staff said, then you should write those books... /1

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AlmaAlexander @almaalexander.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I can do a good discombobulated chicken noise...

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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Animaris Rex is an 18-metre-long walking 'beach animal' propelled by the wind, created by Theo Jansen as a fusion of art and engineering. Original post

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