iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I remember seeing something that said the main reason some kernels don't pop is because the shell gets cracks—sometimes just microfractures—and the water gets out. And if there's not enough moisture trapped inside the kernel it can't pop. So, that's both impressive and lucky.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The bad and good of this to me is Hållander never get a fair shot to show he can play, IMHO. Not under Sullivan, and then again under Muse (because of all the extra forwards). As bad defensively as Edmonton is, I'd hope Hållander actually gets a 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 chance now. Don't hate it, just unsure about it.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

All these corporations would make their games by burning ivory and Bengal tiger hide if it'd save them a few dollars. Disgusting but not unexpected.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's only a brief pre-season and not even a full real period, but Robertson seems a lot more defensively responsible than we were made to believe.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I'm sure your human disguises are great, but that gimmick has been done a bajillion times. There aren't many robots kicking ass on stage, though.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A lot of teams clearly dropped the ball letting him fall to 11th overall. I'm not sure how many spots up he should've gone, but getting him at 11th was highway robbery.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

It's brilliant design, because even all these years later my brain goes "A loop! That's so cool!"

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Metroid We had a Coleco·Vision before an NES. And while I do love the more colorful Nintendo games, Metroid felt so radically different. It was dark and moody. It was sci-fi. It didn't hold your hand and tell you what to do. I loved it immediately, and it's been my favorite franchise my whole life.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Mr. Sinister serve the same role as Professor X or Magneto had potential, but it was completely squandered. And I hate that the game is so mediocre, because even though I've been out of the game since the PS3, Ratchet & Clank 1&2 are 🐐 games, IMHO, and I hate to see Insomniac falter like this.

static.klipy.com

Ratchet power cell dance

Alt: Ratchet & Clank power cell dance, where they mimic Jak & Daxter

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I'm a big fan of asymmetrical hockey jerseys. I like how one sleeve has bands on the cuff and the other doesn't. That's one of the biggest reasons I hated seeing Atlanta fail in the NHL (again).

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

True. Wish they'd just do a RoboPenguin, maybe in white.

Photo of a chest shot of Martin Straka in the classic Robo Penguin jersey.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I'm tired of the blue jerseys. It was a lot of fun in the original Winter Classic, but that was enough IMHO.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I saw people insinuating Söderblom is all but guaranteed to be cut because he was with Team C today. *The facts are he screwed up, read the schedule wrong, and was late. So they demoted him from Sid's group to the fringe prospects group for the day.

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Reposted by Matthew Malenich

Drew but 10/5/26 Simple @drewphish.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I am so over the military porn and forced patriotism at sporting events.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Then have it as a difficulty/accessibility option. I think Souls-likes should have an easy mode, and games like this should have a "stop telling me what to do" mode.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I don't have any current systems, but the last time for me was finally beating Raven Beak in 𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I was watching Charlie play it last night and I hate the fucking writing. It's not just a problem with 𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦. I've seen it in tons of games. But the on-the-nose hand-holding kills me. *something happens you can't possibly miss* The dialogue: "Looks like I have to [do obvious thing]." 🤬

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I was watching Charlie for a bit last night and he tested that out. It was just like people said: it's a cutscene with fake QT events. 🤦🏻

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Which is even weirder when you take the salary cap explosion into account. If all this money's flowing into the league, wouldn't that correlate to the hockey fan base growing at least a little since the late '00s?

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

2K kicked EA's ass so bad back in the day, EA made backroom deals to put kick them out of the NHL and NFL markets. Football's the same way. 𝘌𝘚𝘗𝘕 𝘕𝘍𝘓 2𝘒5 is still the best football game ever made, by a wide margin.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

𝘕𝘏𝘓 94 gets all the press. I get it. But I personally think 𝘕𝘏𝘓 96 is far superior in almost every way. Almost. 96 doesn't have those player stat record cards. But even if it was 𝘕𝘏𝘓 94 with all the stuff I mentioned, I'd buy that the second it was available.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I think this is just gaming in general. From Atari all the up to the PS3, there were huge, obvious leaps between systems. But now... yeah, the PS5 does look a lot better than PS3, but is it the same kind of jump between the PS1 and the PS3? I don't think it's anywhere close.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I'd be over the moon if there was a version of 𝘕𝘏𝘓 96 (the Genesis one) that had Be A GM mode, AHL/ECHL/ etc. teams, the draft, create a team, etc.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The romanticization of it always irritates me. "This wouldn't happen if the enforcer rule was removed. In the '80s—" I watched hockey in the '80s. It was brutal. People would elbow your best player in the face, with the ref and the other team's best fighter staring right at them, a few feet away.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This is also part of the reason I'm not sold on this idea that Florida is an unstoppable force now, and they're just going to punch and illegal check to the head their way to another Cup.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Good luck. I was in DC for a couple days back in 2011. The (just back in the league) Jets were in town, so I figured what the hell, I'd take in a Caps - Jets game. I'm 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 getting promotional e-mails, 15 years later. I went to 𝐨𝐧𝐞 game.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Besides being poor, this is also why I own a Toyota MR2 Spyder. It looks cool. It's fun to drive. But it's also rock solid mechanically because it's a friggin' classic Toyota.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Optimus has seen some shit 😵‍💫

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

AGI has (for shareholder and stock manipulation purposes) arrived!

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

But I'm not even talking about McGroarty. He had a second article like a week later where he re-drafted everyone. And after the surprising rookie season Kindel had, Pronman still said Kindel was still taken way too early, and should've went 19th instead of 11th. Wonder if he's even seen Kindel play.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

That's Corey Pronman, who's an idiot. He even doubled down on the Kindel thing. He did a re-draft 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 the prospect ranking article, and dropped Kindel from 11th to 19th. Not sure what his problem is. Did Kindel sleep with girlfriend or something? It's weird.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I remember him going hard about trading Malkin in 2015 and how the window had closed. Then, a few years after the back-to-back Cups, he finally addressed it and said, about trading Malkin, that he was wrong then, but he's right now. It's so weird how he won't let that go.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

→ So, I sent in an e-mail. I said something along the lines of, "You said [business stuff], and ESPN thinks Limbaugh is a liability because he'll drive people away." He read it on air, then complained no one could explain 𝐰𝐡𝐲 Limbaugh was a liability. 🙄

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

He gets mad when you use his own logic against him. This is going 𝘸𝘢𝘺 back, but one day his was on some rant about how businesses do what they think will make them money, and everyone needs to accept that. Then, the next day, he was all indignant that ESPN fired Rush Limbaugh "over politics." →

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

One time I went to a Caps vs. Jets game in DC. I wore a vintage Whalers jersey, to avoid any unwanted Pens vs. Caps stuff. Didn't matter. I got several "Winnipeg sucks" chirps. It wasn't until later that I realized a few dummies thought the 'W' in the Whalers logo stood for Winnipeg. 🤦🏻

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Reposted by Matthew Malenich

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

One way you know Dolly Parton lived life the right way: I don’t think anyone’s going to get fired for accurately quoting Dolly Parton today.

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Matthew Malenich @axl-warpshaft.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Every job I've had working for someone else that's how it goes. The more capable you prove you are, the more crap they have you do without additional compensation.

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