iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I don't think I ever bought a single! I was very much a Prog nerd and too pretentious for singles. Still am really! I'm trying to think back on it as to the first album I bought rather than received as a Christmas / birthday present. Probably the Sky2 double album, that I still have.

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Source for that graph?

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I'm guessing he's just trying to draw out the costs in the hope the BBC will eventually settle out of court to make it go away and he can claim victory? But to be fair I don't even know what a 'deposition' actually is!

Well, we'll see how balanced it is when it comes out.

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I don't think she's involved: they're using archive material and her published words only. She'll have been given right to reply but probably no more than that. We'll have to wait and see whether trans voices are included.

There sure is a vocal response! They're all assuming it'll be positive towards her, although I suppose they would only be happy with a position that demonised her unrelentingly. The fact that she's not involved gives it a chance of being objective. I'm looking forward to it.

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Listening to Newscast, it seems the question the PM asked is whether Russia had *tried* to interfere. Not whether they had succeeded or whether any successful interference had an actual impact on the result.

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Certainly do! Never played KSP but I have spent some time in Orbiter. I think we need to know what the maneuver actually was to know whether my criticism is valid.

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

In Apollo 13, when they do their course correction on the way back (which was also massively over-dramatised), the ship is thrusting *towards* Earth. I'm pretty sure it should be thrusting to one side. Though thinking about it, I could be wrong.

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Not historical but in Project Hail Mary, he puts 2 test-tubes in a centrifuge next to each other. You'd only do that if there was a balancing pair opposite. Which there wasn't.

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It's also satire. Really satisfying satire. But still satire.

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And probably also not true. I'm sure there's been an impact but there are several of these graphs floating about and none of them have verifiable sources.

Hard agree on all of that, and thanks for not taking my pedantry the wrong way.

Technically, they're not disbelieving there was Russian interference, they are disbelieving that there was an effect on the outcome. The UK security service said there was interference but didn't say whether it had any effect. I can see any reason to believe it wouldn't, but maybe that's just me.

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Is it not labelled? I've got some filters on my feed to exclude things like furry, anime and manga and that's helped to get rid of a lot of icky stuff.

bryan newbold @bnewbold.net · 07/10/2026

Reposted by Ali

ah damn, RIP Margaret Hamilton. she took safety-critical software engineering seriously, and got people to the moon and back. news.mit.edu/2026/margare...

old photos of a woman (Margaret Hamilton) standing next to a tall stack of books (printouts of Apollo space mission software source code)

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Well no, I do believe the things that I am saying, so it's not bad faith. But I also agree that much AI is a massive waste of resources and it's a pandora's box that may end up being a net negative.

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The WWW was developed at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee to enable researchers to share findings and collaborate on research, there was no profit motive whatsoever. The technology was made available for free and the running costs were born by the institutions.

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The average person isn't paying for GMail, Facebook, YouTube, Xitter, Bluesky, TikTok, etc etc etc. Most of those were not profitable from the start. 'The internet' was not built to be profitable, it was built by governments, universities etc. Note though, I'm just being contrarian here.

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The companies are trying to get you to use *their* AI over the competition's AI. It's just the same as ISP floppies through the letterbox. People & companies *are* using AI, that's why there's so much AI slop. It's sort of a by-product.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Are you saying none of those things were promoted or advertised?

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Hotdogs are actual dogs Shooting stars are actual stars Urinal cakes are actual cakes. Semantics is a very weak argument if it's the only one you have.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Stick insects pretend to be something they are not. That appears to be your original comparison.

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Could some of the least well remembered be due to tricky spelling? I have no excuses either way, only played it once and only got 5! But bad spelling did stop me getting double that.

I came here to check this had already been posted. Good job sir.

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It's the same philosophy that has checklists in theatre and counting things in and out. Simple procedural changes like this have dramatically reduced the amount of 'stuff' left accidentally inside patients.

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The Power and Limits of Classification — A 32-Year-Old Man with Abdominal Pain | NEJM

From the study linked by the source (www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....), one recommendation is to record sex at birth as a separate item in the records. This would probably have prevented the issue. Medical settings are one area where it is important that a person's actual sex is clear.

nejm.org

A 32-year-old transgender man, presenting with severe lower abdominal pain and hypertension, is classified as a man who hasn’t taken his blood-pressure medications. When examined several hours late...

And yet she was also recorded as male on her notes. I don't know about the US but in the UK, lots of overworked people are involved in a person's care. Maybe the 'M' in the notes misdirected one or more of her subsequent carers?

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Ah I see. Yes a tragic case, quite possibly caused by the mislabelling.

Ah, ok. That explains the thread after the deleted post. Thanks. What was the original story / thread he was replying to?

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Post 'removed by auther'. Can you give us some more background?

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Is this satire? Because if so. It's brilliant!

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

At the other end of the scale, in 5 minutes, I could only get 5! Would have been higher if I'd know how to spell some of the names but still single digits.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Even Fox? That's impressive!

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

They didn't take CDs, DVDs or memory cards. You can still buy and use those things. And though I agree with you in part on software, if there are ongoing dev/maintenance/infrastructure costs, a subscription model makes sense.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Ok so I think we're talking about the slide rule then. But they've been around for a few hundred years. So let's say 1920s.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I'm guessing 70's. Although I suppose even the slide rule might have provoked that preface? The assumption of a male student is telling.

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Obvs I don't want to come across as intolerant: he can do what he likes with his appearance, dress & name. But seeing his company mugshot, I don't think he'll ever be honestly mistaken for female and I don't see the need to pretend that he is.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This email was sent company-wide by our HR director. I work remotely and am unlikely to encounter E** but I'm wondering whether I should respond, asking for assurances that he'll be using male/neutral facilities as he may make other staff uncomfortable in the female ones.

Hi all, please see the important announcement below from F** T**

I have some very personal news that I’d like to share with you all. I’m Transgender that means I’m actually a woman and always have been. Up until recently my name, body and demeanour did not reflect this reality. I have decided to tackle one of the last places that I have not been able to be myself fully, that being here at work. Being able to be myself properly will help me be far happier and greatly improve my quality of life. Fundamentally, I’m still me, just now I’ll be a more content and positive version of me.

I would be very grateful if you could accept me for who I am and if you can, support me while I go through this emotionally tough time. I accept that some of you will take time to adapt to my new name and pronouns and that is fine, I understand it can be challenging and mistakes will be made. Going forward please can you call me E** and use She/Her pronouns to refer to me as that is who I really am. Using this name and pronouns will go a long way to supporting me.

Thank you in advance for your support and respect.

Exx

I will finish the email saying

As you can imagine, this announcement has not been easy for E**, but she recognised that it was important to be her true self and be open with her colleagues in C**. S** and the Executive Leadership Team have whole heartedly committed to supporting E** on her journey and we are pleased that C** has an environment and culture where difficult life events and choices can be shared freely and accepted without fear of recrimination. We hope that whatever your personal views are of E**’s transition, you too will accept E**’s choices and provide her with the respect and support that she will need in the coming months. Thank you.

On a practical note, C** are supporting E** by changing her email address and system details, so please note this if you need to contact her.

If anyone has any questions or concerns relating to this please contact me.

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Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Thank God (or rather, all the engineers, scientists and supporting roles) for that. When I saw that first image I thought we might have another Hubble moment!

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I wonder whether *her* views have changed over the period?

Ali @astromaker.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Yeah. Don't know why I'm bothering. it's like arguing with flat-earthers.