iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Never heard of dungeons, but inscryption not quite right (beat it on console, a bit too story/linear for the quintessential good mobile game lineup)

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I played it on Steamdeck when it first came out, may be good to revisit!

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It's actually 147hr on mobile, but the other hours were from a previous install of the game where I lost the progress. (Also about 50-60 hours on the Switch version, but who's counting)

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

After ~2 years and 102 hours, I finally got through level 20 with every Slay the Spire character (except the last one, which I pretend doesn't exist). Other than Balatro, is there another mobile game in the same stratosphere, or do I just wait for the phone release of the sequel?

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A detailed breakdown of Trump's "great escape" on a catering truck, from Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman, @jamie-leventhal.bsky.social, Simon Ducroquet, Yuliya Parshina-Kottas, and me. Free gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/u...

See How Trump’s Secret Air Force One Swap Unfolded (Gift Article)

The extraordinary subterfuge was aimed at protecting an American president who has been in Iran’s cross hairs for years.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

We're hiring a temporary/freelance OSINT reporter (contract runs from end of Aug/start of Sept through end of year) on the Visual Investigations team at the @nytimes.com. Come work with me! You must be US-based, and pay is on same scale as full-time hires. job-boards.greenhouse.io/thenewyorkti...

job-boards.greenhouse.io

Open-Source Reporter, Visual Investigations (Temporary)

New York, NY

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Just saw someone write that their wife was being "Hippocratic" for having unfair double standards

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The Pentagon removed the names of 4 servicemembers who died in Jordan from their official list of Iran war casualties. They explain that this is because "their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April." Free gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/u...

Number of U.S. Troop Deaths in Iran War Appears Lower on Pentagon Website (Gift Article)

Three military officials and a Pentagon spokesman gave conflicting explanations for why the number of Americans killed in the Iran war had changed.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

From October 7 until the recent restrictions being placed, we actually had a better view of Gaza through satellite imagery than most anywhere in the world, due to extremely frequent high-resolution imagery (their 50cm Skysat captures) released by Planet.

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New, from me and @ckoettl.bsky.social: Iran has attacked at least nine U.S. military sites in the last two weeks, destroying radar sites, personnel areas, hangars, and other structures, and killing at least three service members. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/w...

What Visuals Show About Recent Damage to U.S. Military Sites in the Middle East

Video footage and satellite images reveal new details about Iranian strikes on U.S. targets during the latest flare-up in fighting.

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But really I just really overestimated the amount of fandom Sorokin would have, especially with a long series like this one. It seemed like it'd inspire at least one Russian guy with too much free time to catalogue every introduced member of the 23,000 character on a Wiki to keep them straight

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(I know these tweets are geared for like 7 people who will ever read this)

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I never struggled with novels with eight different Sergeis and Sashas, but I am constantly trying to remember if these nonsense names are new characters or recurring from one book to the next.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I'm about 2/3 through Sorokin's Ice trilogy, and have spent about an hour of my time leafing back through to track all the characters. I was devastated to not find any fan project listing out each character to keep them straight. I have no trouble tracking real names, but Ig, Kha, Adr, Kti, Em?

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We're hiring at The New York Times Visual Investigations team! Role is for a Video Journalist -- someone with strong video production skills first & foremost, plus digital investigation + reporting experience. Pay: $113-145k Job is in NYC, in-person. job-boards.greenhouse.io/thenewyorkti...

job-boards.greenhouse.io

Video Journalist, Visual Investigations

New York, NY

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There is audio from a few other places but none that show anything

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No, that's just some car that got freaked out from the gunfire. That's the same SUV you see peeling out in the video that has all the yelling/gunfire. ICE agents shot him (out of sight of the cameras), then his car rolled down the intersection, with the SUV swerving to avoid hitting his Kia.

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Homeland Security (@DHSgov) on X

ICE claims that Guerrero "attempted the flee the scene", and in a statement delivered to some Congressional members, had tried to "weaponize" his vehicle. There's no video that supports or opposes this claim, and no body cam footage was filmed. x.com/DHSgov/statu...

x.com

On July 13, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM ET, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. An illegal alien departed the resid...

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I've seen some people claim that this pawnshop CCTV footage shows the car trying to run over ICE agents. Actually, this was filmed after Joan Guerrero was already shot and likely incapacitated, with the car moving at a very slow speed as ICE agents tried to halt it in the road.

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There are no available videos showing the moment of the shooting -- only the audio of the yelling immediately before the five shots were fired, and CCTV from a pawnshop showing the car rolling down the road ~4-5 seconds after the gunshots.

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From @devonlum.bsky.social, Allison McCann, and Tim Ouillette reporting out of Maine, and me and @leanneabraham.bsky.social regrettably not reporting out of Maine.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

New: Our visual analysis of the ICE shooting in Maine, from the available video and audio available. There is no footage showing the shooting itself, but we obtained audio near the scene from immediately before the vehicle rolled into an intersection. 🎁 Free Gift Link www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...

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Deep analysis of the 20+ videos we collected showing the events around ICE chasing and then killing Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. From a whole bunch of people on the byline & me. 🎁 Free Gift Link: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/w...

Videos Shed Light on Pursuit Before ICE Killing in Houston (Gift Article)

Surveillance footage obtained by The Times shows ICE agents driving aggressively in unmarked vehicles, but the moment of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo remains murky.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Mexican Man Killed by ICE in Houston Was Not the Target, they were searching for a Guatemalan in a different white van Free gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...

Mexican Man Killed by ICE in Houston Was Not the Target

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

The best survey and brief history of U.S. restrictions on commercial satellite imagery you'll read, from @ckoettl.bsky.social : (🎁 Free Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/i...

What U.S. Restrictions on Satellite Imagery Mean for Iran Reporting

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

r/Epstein started filling my feed at some point, and now I can't stop reading these schizoposts

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

It's just a gift because I did the link (it's paywalled for anyone without a gift link). I get 10 of them per month!

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Reposted by Aric Toler

Alex Boyd @alexboyd.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

This is so fascinating because it does a basic thing so very well: laying out clearly what is known, how it's known--and where the gaps are. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death and His Final Days in Jail

New evidence, new interviews and the fullest investigation yet into the question of whether he killed himself.

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Reposted by Aric Toler

Paul Graf @paulginva.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

This is by far the best, most detailed story I've seen about the last days and hours of Epstein's life.

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Anyways, if you've read this far into this thread, you may as well read the actual story, which is far more compelling to read than me. I've just focused on the visuals, but there's way more. Again, free gift link to it here (or buy the Sunday paper and get it there) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein’s Death and His Final Days in Jail (Gift Article)

New evidence, new interviews and the fullest investigation yet into the question of whether he killed himself.

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Guards were working double-shifts regularly, everyone was constantly calling out, literal teachers and clerical workers were being pulled to work duties due to a lack of staffing. A guy working at the time of Epstein's death was on his third (!) consecutive shift.

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If anything, the piece will give you a feel for the conditions at the MCC. I, like most others, figured that Epstein was being housed at a state-of-the-art, closely monitored facility where he was watched extremely closely Nope! He got put in general population when he first arrived!

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There are a million anecdotes and revelatory bits of information in this piece, and I recommend you spend a half-hour to sit down and read it sometime this week. (This part in particular had me actually laugh out loud when I read it)

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If you watch the CCTV in full context it becomes less mysterious. Officer Noel does her rounds in all 6 blocks, then goes toward the laundry area. About a minute later, you see the "orange blur" going up, then another minute later, Noel descends the L block staircase to her desk.

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The last time we can see any movement toward the L block before Epstein's body was discovered in the morning is seen with the infamous "orange blur" -- a brief bit of orange that goes up the stairwell at 10:39pm. It's been the subject to endless conspiracies & speculation.

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But "theoretically" is doing a lot of work here. There are still a lot of logistical challenges with this, and all the prisoners that we spoke to didn't hear any sort of struggle or see/hear another person enter the block that night.

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This leaves the third entrance: a door that connects to a room with laundry in between the SHU and the guard elevator. It's theoretically possible that someone, like a ninja, could sneak through this door, hug the wall, get up the stairs to the cell without being recorded.

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If you've seen any footage from that night, you've seen the 10th floor camera looking down at the SHU. It recorded the entire night, thankfully. It captured anyone who was coming into the SHU from the visitor's entrance or the 10th floor guard station entrance.

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We have three cameras that recorded the night of Epstein's death: one that continuously recorded from the 10th floor looking down at the SHU common's area, and spotty coverage from one at the 9th floor visitor elevator and one at the 10th floor guard station.

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There were three ways into the SHU: through the 10th floor maximum security guard station (1), through the visitor's 9th floor entrance (2), and through the laundry room/guard entrance (3, though the floor plan is missing the door for some reason).

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In short: Epstein was on the L-block, the upper tier of the two-tiered structure on the 9th floor. The middle area (commons) is sandwiched in between the tiers. The only path to his cell is up the stairwell in front of the guard station.

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The Epstein files gave us a clear perspective on the layout of Epstein's cell and how the lines of sight match up to it, along with camera coverage to see anyone go toward or away from his cell block. Helmuth built a detailed 3D model of the entire unit as well.

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There's a lot of amazing reporting in there, but we also really tried to give a familiarity of the architecture and layout of the Special Housing Unit (SHU) in the jail. It's a character in its own right in the story of Epstein's death.

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