iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Jackson O'Lantern-Brien @sprobeforebros.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

GREG DAVIES: seems like a kind of a shit task. Everyone just seems like they're going home normally. ALEX HORNE: well before you say that let's have a look at how Odysseus did. cut to panel of AJAX, MENELAUS, AGAMEMNON, and DIOMEDES who are all staring at ODYSSEUS with his head in his hands

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Hagen Blix @hagenblix.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Increasingly starting to think that a certain hostility to literacy, LLMs and the mass surveillance structures all have to be thought together

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The Hoff Crab is neither a crab nor is it David Hasselhoff. It is a Yeti Crab, which is neither a Yeti nor a Crab but a sub-group of Squat Lobsters, which are not lobsters, they're Anomurans, like Mole Crabs, which are neither moles, nor crabs.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Glenn Fleishman @glennf.com · 15/08/2026

I am in the last days of the modest Kickstarter for Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, a hardcover reprinting of a book of my work on SHOUTY CAPS, curly quotes, a 10,000-year website archive, the resurgence of letterpress, and more! www.kickstarter.com/projects/gle...

kickstarter.com

Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It, 2nd Edition

A collection of Glenn Fleishman’s reported articles on type, printing, and language, now available in a hardcover, offset edition.

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Chris Packham @bleedbuild.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Ooooh carbon monoxide

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Woke up from a dream (Nightmare?) this morning. The toy that was all the rage with the kids was “my little Tony” dolls. I had to exorcise this thought, I'm so sorry.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

more mr. spice guy @juniorhoncho.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

clown getting the end of his handkerchief caught in a lathe and standing there doing a big exaggerated frown as it flies out of his pocket for like a full minute

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

80+ mph on the interstate? People aren’t driving like gas is expensive yet

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Sarah Z @sarahz.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

I know it's a silly jokey joke, but people REALLY need to stop anthropomorphizing their boyfriends. "My boyfriend told me" your boyfriend didn't "tell" you anything. "My boyfriend thinks..." your boyfriend can't actually think or feel; just output a convincing simulation of it based on probability 🙄

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

This is one of the curlers on the USA Paralympic curling team and I told him today that he should post about his Paralympic experience on BlueSky because people on BlueSky get very excited whenever anybody doing anything cool in the world posts through it on BlueSky instead of other websites

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

there are a lot of people working in the government right now who want to intentionally trigger an apocalypse to create the conditions for the return of jesus christ and I know how crazy that sounds but its absolutely true

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

JP Antifa @jasonpaul.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

"As a marginalized group we’re used to these things, and we’re used to going around them and finding ways around. I think it’s so important, more than ever, to still uplift and celebrate our students." That's it. That's the statement.

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Getting the brass ring only to have the entire park rot out under you. The Millenial & GenX experience

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Measles in America is Happening Again

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

I said it before, will say it again -- generative AI fetishizes "ideas" while sneering at effort, execution, and education. That, despite Gen-AI being built on and out of other people's effort, execution and education.

terribleminds.com

A.I. and the Fetishization Of Ideas

In writing and in dispensing my (very dubious, probably shady) writing advice, I am often keen to note that ideas are bullshit. Most writers treat them like precious gems when really, ideas are lik…

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 09/12/2025

There’s this idea that I’ve been pondering for a bit that’s probably yet another Everyone Will Yell At Me thing, but… I don’t think that pointing out that AI is full of inaccuracies is an effective tactic at getting people not to use it. It’s based on cultural context that not everyone shares…

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

First up: scientists said it couldn't be done. But we put our logo on a scroll, and then got a mouse to hold it while riding a lobster. Be wowed: merl-shop.co.uk/shop/curiosi... Original artwork from @uorspeccoll.bsky.social.

A mug and a coaster are adorned with an artwork of a mouse riding a lobster, holding a scroll decorated with the device of The Museum of English Rural Life.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics" guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation

Basic light pollution diagram showing four different streetlight set ups ranging from more light pollution on the left to less light pollution on the right. The most pollution option, labelled "very bad" is a street lamp with a round uncovered bulb on top, making a sphere of light in the air. The next option, labelled "bad" has a tiny cap on top, that limits the upward pollution a bit. The "better" option is mostly uncovered on top, limiting pollution above the streetlight. The final option, labelled "best" has a full shroud overtop, limiting the light to only below the streetlight, where it is needed for pedestrians and vehicles.

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

You’d be p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶i̶e̶r̶ more profitable if you smiled more

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Would it be an ettobrella in Japanese?

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Halloween costume idea this spoooooky season: a follow-up question from Isaac Chotiner

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 01/10/2025

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

A reminder that this is what the path to a full ban on vaccines looks like. No one is banning vaccines for everyone overnight. Just like with abortion, they will carve off one group at a time and hope the those still eligible respond with gratitude and self-interest instead of anger and solidarity.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Q. Pheevr @q.pheevr.ca · 19/08/2025

The heartbreaking thing about this is that there’s already a proven way to invest lots of money in a knowledge machine that produces unforeseeable results that include fantastically profitable ideas (and some life-saving ones) and generally benefit society and this machine is called a university

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Credit to @kjhealy.co for the transcript, and to ChatGPT for being a PhD level expert

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 08/07/2025

On one side are con men, fabulists, fascists, investors, and cultists (or some combination of those descriptors), with no regard for the amount of destruction they create as long as they profit. This is why there are sides.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 08/01/2025

Build it

A Sci-Fi US rail map, with lots of stops, from https://ggwash.org/view/230/sci-fi-coast-to-coast-high-speed-rail-network. This is a Sci-Fi map, which takes some artistic license on the relative locations of different cities, and also solves the tricky problem of train travel across the ocean. Dream big.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 23/06/2025

To be honest, I don't really care what you *say*; I never really do. But don't write like you run a boardinghouse in Tilling in 1923 unless you run a boardinghouse in Tilling in 1923.

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

These new mail trucks were designed with consideration of others in mind. Their looking silly follows the shocking regulatory failure that has allowed modern trucks and SUVs

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

I *highly* recommend this labeler. It will out people for following Yglesias, Singal, Wu, and now also Vance. It’s a great way to know who you’re engaging with. bsky.app/profile/for....

bsky.app

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Julia Angwin @juliaangwin.com · 12/04/2025

The morning after the election, I had a panicked thought: “My threat model is wrong.” I’d been giving privacy advice for years, but my counsel would not protect against an authoritarian president seeking revenge against political enemies. Tyranny was going to require a new threat model.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

I find “people don’t actually know how things work” has a lot of explanatory power. I don’t mean this in a holier-than-thou way. I’m only vaguely aware of how my microwave or the car radio work. A lot of modern life is assuming the functioning of complex tech and models.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 25/03/2025

Photo Umit Bektas. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/w...

Police spray tear gas in the face of a still protester in a gas mask, standing opposite them with arms crossed. A line of riot cops forms the backdrop.

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Nicole Chung @nicolechung.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

“I have to wonder what you are saying about your life if even you can’t be bothered to think about it…. To farm out this task, of all tasks, to a machine is deeply disheartening…. it’s a broader degradation of our memories and our humanity.” @tmcallister.bsky.social

nytimes.com

Opinion | Sorry, Sam Altman, A.I. Is Not Good at Real Writing

When we let computers write our stories, we lose something essential.

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🌈Dr. Frizzle @swilua.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Someone needs to take away all the psychedelics from Silicon Valley. It is irresponsible to use them without proper training in the humanities

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 01/03/2025

This is tragic. Anyone who was familiar with 18F knows those were some of the real heroes of government, who helped make government tech/digital services better for the public. They were doing real work that DOGE pretends to do, but is too ignorant to know how to do.

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Dear Manager, this week: I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox

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Reposted by Austin Reid, Ph.D.

Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

For decades, the US government has painstakingly kept American science #1 globally—and every facet of American life has improved because of it. The internet? Flu shot? Ozempic? All grew out of federally-funded research. Now all that's being dismantled. 1/ www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/21/1...

technologyreview.com

The foundations of America’s prosperity are being dismantled

Federal scientists warn that Americans could feel the effects of the new administration's devastating cuts for decades to come

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Scott Gottlieb, MD @scottgottliebmd.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

We’re experiencing perhaps the worst flu season in 25 years, with severe cases also rising, and young children and seniors faring the worst. One in six of all ER visits in the 0-17 age groups are now for influenza. www.cdc.gov/fluview/surv... h/t @cmyeaton.bsky.social

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

A cruel king and an idiot Grand Vizier? Time to start Ottoman-posting. The Ottomans were big on execution, but a condemned Grand Vizier could save his life by outrunning the executioner

smithsonianmag.com

The Ottoman Empire’s Life-or-Death Race

Custom in the Ottoman Empire mandated that a condemned grand vizier could save his neck if he won a sprint against his executioner

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Austin Reid, Ph.D. @austinreid.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Nothing is more dangerous than this kind of permission structure

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