iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

HUman gruEL. Clue's in the name.

Saw a great play earlier. It's called The Void. A dystopian sci-fi work, set on a ship around Titan 130 years in the future. It's on tour and you should check it out. I really enjoyed it. The stage craft was superb - better than sone films I've seen. Also the first play I've seen with a full score.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Several years ago I joked that we'd have a real-life version of The Running Man by 2050. My estimate might have 20 years too far in the future.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Like the Marge Simpson portrait of Monty Burns.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

A partial manager? So, one that's lost a leg or something...

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

We've essentially allowed the views of the countryside, where the open green spaces serve to highlight and contrast the grey oppressive nature of urban living, to be behind a paywall.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Your point about the loss of the view got me thinking about how the frenzied high-rise building in Manchester is serving to create a wall around the city, that separates it from the countryside. Those inside only see the wall, while those who can afford to live in the wall get the views.

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Reposted by Darren Shaw

Homebrew Electronica Show @showhomebrew.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🎃 👻 🧙 One last fright ! The 6th, and final Homebrew Horrorthon coming this Halloween night.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Must be a big house if it's got fields inside it...

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

If you put up CCTV cameras you have to also put up a sign - of a minimum size - informing people they're being recorded (and IIRC by whom, with contact details). We should make the wearers of smart glasses do the same. Have them wear the same size sign whenever they're wearing their glasses.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Python can't go quick enough. It's become the PHP of languages - shoehorned into everything and everywhere that it has no place being. I also despise its use of whitespace for flow control.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

That every one us can relate.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Or it suffers from a lot of phone snatching.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

School near me plays the Raiders of the Lost Ark theme over their external PA.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Our "anonymous" surveys always ask for which team you're part of. It's never bothered me if they can identify me from my answers, I'm quite happy to say the exact things in person. But, as another reply says, nothing ever changes. They're nothing more than a tick-box exercise.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Work have sent me our new AI policy to read. Might just get Copilot to give me the quick summary.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You should speak to your IT department and get them to make it the default desktop wallpaper. You'll massively increase employee wellbeing.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sadly, it doesn't have to be good. It just has to be memorable enough - for whatever reasons - that you can recall the name of the product.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's Bandcamp Friday, so I'll give this a little bump. It's my five-album retrospective of tracks from 1999 to 2011. Electronica, IDM, DnB, nightmare fuel - these albums cover it all. Pay what you want - starting at zero dollarpoundeuros, so you can get these for nowt! anexium.bandcamp.com

anexium.bandcamp.com

Anexium

Anexium started as a musical project in the latter half of the 1990s by Darren C Shaw. Taking influences from the early 90s rave scene, the nascent braindance scene and a love of the slightly odd, the...

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Same with anyone riding with headphones on.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I've done similar. I made the manager ring the supplier and give them the 32+ character password over the phone. It's obviously a security risk to send it by any other method...

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

With the future of Rochdale's iconic (or some may just call them memorable) College Bank flats still to be decided, I took a wander around and shot some photos before they go (or change). Descriptions in the alt-text. Check the full gallery here - www.anexium.com/photos/colle...

A photograph of the Mitchell Hey block. Shot quite square on, the block rises out of the trees at the base of the image, rising towards the top of the frame. The picture is black & white and in portrait orientation. The flats with their balconies make up two parallel columns up the building. To their right, making a fifth column (in an architecture way, not an colluding with the enemy way) are bricks - an usual choice for many tower blocks nowadays but quite common when these blocks were built. There is staining on the bricks where the mortar has repointed and started to leech. In the background, the edge of the Dunkirk Rise block peeks out.

A lower shot of the Holland Rise block. It looks quite squat in this image, and being only 15 stories high it is lower then 4 of the other blocks. Behind the block you can see the edge of the Mardyke block - another of the 15 storey blocks. In front of Holland Rise is the walkway that goes over the garage road and on to the Underwood block. There are trees to the left side of the image, these are what shield the plazas between the blocks from the road the passes the flats.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Worked at a place where one of the repairs guys spent his days fixing up a house he'd bought. Got sacked for it. He appealed the dismissal on the basis that "no-one told him that he wasn't allowed to fix his own house with work equipment on work time". His appeal was rejected.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I doubt there's an international football team who can go from the opposing penalty area back to their keeper faster than England.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I've done some new smoke and flash pictures. Check out the full gallery here - www.anexium.com/photos/smoki... #photography #smoke #flash #art #pareidolia

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I thought it was now a legal requirement that Maisie Adam did all advert voiceovers.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Meat in the middle. Chips around the edges.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

That's great, except not all (good) developers are contributing to open source. Some, for example, might be keeping their work closed so they can earn some pennies from it in the future. Some might not even code outside of work. You've got the right idea, just implemented badly.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Today I learned that "open until 10pm" is actually a synonym for "we've left the lights but all fucked off home, so actually, we're closed". Which is fair enough if you're an off licence, but less so if you're a FUCKING PHARMACY.

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Reposted by Darren Shaw

Robin Rimbaud - Scanner @scannerdot.com · 20/09/2026

Amazing to hear what is probably the earliest live recording of British electronic beat combo Autechre, in Rochdale for Darrell Fitton's birthday party 1990 youtu.be/M70jmp-RCeY?...

youtu.be

Autechre - AE_LIVE_ROCHDALE_221290

YouTube video by icari

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We get people - well over 30 - using those kinds of photos for their Teams avatar at work. Worse stiill, we get them submitting the same kind of picture for their ID badge. Nothing says professional than a heavily cropped image of you three sheets to the wind in a greek nightclub. From 5 years ago.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Shot some smoke photography the other night. Wasn't a huge success - couldn't get the smoke to bloom nicely - but I'm happy with how these three came out. Bit of colour correction applied.

It's a colourfully lit close-up of smoke trails. They're swirling in front of a black background. The lower left quarter is a reddish-orange, while the upper-right quarter is a sharp blue. It's a great example of fluid dynamics and could look like a nebula photograph that NASA may release.

It's a colourfully lit close-up of smoke trails. They're swirling in front of a black background. The upper and lower thirds are a reddish-orange hue, the centre third a sharp blue. There's a flash of blue in the top-left corner. It's a great example of fluid dynamics and could look like a nebula photograph that NASA may release.

It's a colourfully lit close-up of smoke trails. They're swirling in front of a black background. These are mostly red as they fade backwards, with the front most swirls taking on a blue hue. It's a great example of fluid dynamics and could look like a nebula photograph that NASA may release.

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Reposted by Darren Shaw

Twonks @twonks.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Skip intro

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Well that's a new fear unlocked...

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

As a child I thought that if you held in a sneeze your eyes could pop out of their sockets. As an adult I'm still not convinced it couldn't happen.

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Reposted by Darren Shaw

Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Nothing predicted the future of the internet more accurately than Nathan Barley.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

It's still there. Not as front-and-centre as it probably should be, but you can find it in their profile. Click on the "joined" link.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

So you're honestly suggesting that Gary765441561771 isn't a real person? But he's got a flag in his profile, declares himself to be a "patriot" who "tells it like he sees it", and follows GBNews and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

All wrestling shows should have a dog.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Or, how about "If you'd set off when you said you were going to you wouldn't need to drive like a knob" Or "All you're doing is increasing the time you'll wait at the next set of lights" Or "Driving fast won't let you outrun those thoughts. Yes, those thoughts"

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

For my 1000th post, I'll give this a little bump. Five albums! 70+ tracks! 50+ unreleased until now! Ronseal naming convention! Pay what you want - if times are hard, you can get them for free! You'll not find a better deal! anexium.bandcamp.com

anexium.bandcamp.com

Anexium

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Reposted by Darren Shaw

Dean McPhee @deanmcphee.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A few photos of the gear used to record 'Northern Earth'.. 1. Pedalboard + Microbass Porchboard kick drum 2. Fender Telecaster & Fender Hotrod amp/speaker 3. Logjam rattlebox snare drum, slide and eBow 4. Crossover, DI and Preamp 5. Active 18" Subwoofer 'Northern Earth' is out now in record shops

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The BBC radio plays with Harry Enfield as Dirk are really good too.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Just had a complete brain-fade and couldn't remember their names. Tried to get Google Lens to identify them. It quite confidently asserted that it was Newman and Baddiel... Gotta love AI, eh? (My reaction to such an incorrect answer jogged my brain into revealing it's Trevor and Simon)

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Fine, I'll stop wearing my Nirvana t-shirts.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Is "this house" the House of Lords and you're Boris's daughter who's not his daughter?

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I tried that using a set of scales. Suffice to say I'm very much no longer welcome at that delicatessen.

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Darren Shaw @anexium.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I didn't think I led a particularly sheltered life, but I'd never heard of picky bits until an anon opin from a couple of weeks introduced it. Is it something regional that's become popular because of a TV programme or something?

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