iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Barney Stringer

e.w. niedermeyer @niedermeyer.online · 29/09/2026

where other AI companies have to keep insisting that they're sorta trying to destroy humanity, Meta Platforms knows that actions speak louder than words

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

“Bus Stopping” indeed! The 94 down Oxford Street feels like it’s been a main axis for most of my life. I’m now making the journey for what may be the last time ever before pedestrianisation (laudatory)

Indicator board on a bus, reads rather prophetically “Oxford Circus Station - Bus Stopping”

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Fresh seafood BBQ at Shepherd Bush market is fantastic Choose your fresh fish at Brothers & Cousins fishmonger stall, take it to the Grill Masters stall to cook, visit Oasis juice stall while you wait Can’t recommend it enough

A red snapper fish, beautifully seasoned and grilled

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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I want the Prime Minister to look into a TV camera and say the RNLI are heroes, that we do not change policy by street violence in this country, and that he expects any criminal action to face the full force of the law. That's it. That's all he has to do.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Fair point, I guess on a) you’re saving transmission capacity by generating locally and b) you’re not just investing in generation, you’re benefiting as “landowner” (roof owner) rather than paying a farmer

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Wow, no, looks amazing! Was admiring the Courtauld Gallery’s “Stare Case” the other day. Now I need to find the Nelson and Miles staircases to complete the Somerset House set

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David Robson @davidotley.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Rain.”

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

How much we take for granted even compared to 30 years ago, such is the curse of false nostalgia.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I don’t mean to disrespect the sun or anything (like, I mean I’d really miss it if it got angry with me and was suddenly blotted out or something!), but this is too damn hot

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

The Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Hayward Gallery is a lot less gruesome once you realise how much it looks like really good sorbet

Anish Kapoor sculpture at the Hayward Gallery, London. Looks like a congealed mass of blood. Or does it…?

“Gelato”, Anish Kapoor, 2016. Mixed media - blackberry and sugar

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Beautiful evening to cycle through central London

Sunset view west along the Thames from Southwark Bridge in London

And east from the same place. The Shard and Tower Bridge, with a cyclist wizzing by

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Sorry for your loss Mark. She has left a lovely legacy in Aber Valley - the reserve was looking beautiful this week, and popular with so many visitors. Our little fencing project would surely have been her idea. Run on behalf of the reserve by the then British Trust for Conservation Volunteers

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

One more pic - this is looking down the line of the fence we built. One solitary old post still standing. On the left, inside the fence, the trees have grown up, on the right it’s still just bracken Simple measures work. No tree planting needed, just keeping out grazing sheep and letting nature go

The dividing line between forest regrowth and continued grazing. Fences work

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Also, you need to know about box struts! Wire fences are not just nailed to posts, they’re strained in tension from the corners (so climbing a fence with feet on the wire can ruin it!). It’s a clever & incredibly strong corner post - pull the top, and the strut pulls the bottom, keeping it upright

A box strut fencepost. The horizontal post and diagonal staining wire make this incredible strong. Image from https://www.wirefence.co.uk/brace-fence-post/

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Me too! Toyed with the idea for a few years, and retired this year so thought it would be a lovely first trip. Sharing lots of memories with one of my oldest friends along the walk. And the wood surpassed my expectations, was a lovely spot.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

So now only one thing left now, which is to contact Ordnance Survey and ask them to correct their map Here’s our little square of fenced off woodland, roughly an acre. But it’s mostly oaks, so should be marked with the deciduous tree symbol not the coniferous one.

Our square of fencing and woodland on the OS 1:25,000 scale map. But wrongly marked as coniferous rather than deciduous woodland

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Exactly. No replanting, just keeping out the sheep and deer, and letting nature take over. Nearby there was a newer square fenced off, that’ll one day do the same

A new fence. So far it looks pretty much the same inside, just longer grass, but one day this will be woodland

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Alas not. After the walk I’m now looking for a pint!

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

So my new hip lasted the trip - the furthest I’ve walked in years. Hip replacement surgery is a genuine miracle. And the Aber Falls (Rhaeadr Fawr) at the end was lovely. Go to north Wales.

The waterfall was lovely, as was the weather

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We built a fence to stop overgrazing and allow regrowth. Carrying heavy posts, wire and tools up the mountainside. Here’s what it looks like outside the fence, and what our fence posts look like now

Beautiful moorland, but this is not a natural landscape, sheep stop woodland growing

Rotten fencepost and wire on the ground. But it’s job is done now

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We made it up there! And found the site. What was just boggy bracken back when we built a fence on the mountainside, has since regenerated into a lovely woodland of 40-year-old trees, filled with birdsong. The project worked, and these trees will outlast me by many lifetimes

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Well both Llandudno and Conwy Castle live up to their reputation. Very nice

The Llandudno seafront. A pretty row of buildings with a dramatic headland behind

View of Conwy castle from the tower. There’s a lot of it left

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The trip back then was fun but quite eventful (I ended up spending a night in Bangor hospital) This time round, the challenge will be my hip. Just three months ago I had a total hip replacement. Can I now climb a (small) mountain? Who knows - let’s find out!

X-ray of my new titanium hip. Recovery has been remarkably quick. But is it enough for hiking?

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Reposted by Barney Stringer

Richard Brown @richardbrown.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Also beautiful green floor. Serpentinite, I think.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I know we all love to hate Euston Station, but I do like the way the roof floats above the walls Squint and it’s a kind of grim version of Ronchamp

An underexposed photo of the interior of Euston. A narrow sliver of light separates the roof from the walls. Tbh not really anything like Le Corbusier’s chapel

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

They say the best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago… so I’m off on a mini adventure to fact-check that 40 years ago this summer, as a sixth-former, some friends and I volunteered on a conservation project in Snowdonia (Eryri) Now we’re heading back to climb a mountain and see whether it worked…

View down the tracks on an above-ground Tube platform. A lot of vanishing perspective going on - symbolic perhaps?

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Too be fair, and as a counterpoint, I’m now in a Chinese supermarket (in London), where the shelves marked “ethnic” have Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce and ketchup! So I guess it can work both ways…

Aisle of a Chinese supermarket in London, labelled “Oil, Spices, Sauces” and “Ethnic”

The “ethnic” shelf in this London store consists of ketchup, HP sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Caribbean hot sauce

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Yes, I’d really like to know what’s going on here. Supermarkets don’t do anything by accident. Have Blue Dragon paid more to be on a higher shelf in the “normal” aisle? Were they required to do different packaging to get onto both aisles? Sounds like we do need @grocerynerd.bsky.social

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I notice Thai Sriracha manages to be a crossover here, although only makes it to the “normal” sauce aisle under a non-threatening, westernised “Dr Will’s” branding And interesting that British brand Blue Dragon manages a foot in both camps, but with slightly different products

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Interesting - this only makes me want that long read more

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Can someone write a deep dive on what ends up in the “World Food” aisle vs just normal supermarket aisles, and how. Because at the moment it sometimes feels like we’re just “othering” East Asia, and I have questions…

Supermarket shelves on an aisle just called “sauces”. They are from, or styled from, many places including Mexico, Thailand, Caribbean, USA, South Africa…

Shelves in the same supermarket, in a separate aisle specially labelled “World Foods”. The sauces all seem to be from East or Southeast Asia

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

If it had always had this weight limit, no-one would now seriously suggest we need to add motor traffic, any more than they would with the Millennium or Hungerford bridges Now we need to take the AV pod proposal seriously, to fill the public transport gap

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Great news - Hammersmith bridge stays open for cycling & walking A fashionable YIMBY view of “just knock it down & rebuild already” ignores that there’s no conceivable way that would be a good use of hundreds of millions of pounds Status quo bias is so powerful. But status quo here has changed now

bbc.co.uk

Hammersmith Bridge vehicle plans axed over £300m cost

Hammersmith and Fulham Council now plans to focus on repairs to maintain walking and cycling access.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Thanks Joe. And likewise, glad our paths crossed. I’m leaving work but will still be on here

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Thanks Mike. Good luck with the inquiry, hope you go out on a win!

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

That’s it. Work’s done for good. Now when’s the next match…?

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Thanks Killian! A trip to Dublin definitely on the list…

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Thanks Jim! Mixed feelings as there’s been so many interesting times, and lovely colleagues. But I’m also really looking forward to what’s next

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Personal news… I’m retiring next week 22 years in the same job - but wow did it change in that time! So pleased to see Quod & Socio-Economic team in such a strong position and in such good hands Great things ahead for the company’s new generation I’ll now be spending more time with my passport..

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

A goal for Saints in the World Cup! 🔴⚪️ #CANBIH

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Everyone on X and elsewhere who called for a violent response should be charged with incitement. Everyone involved in the pogrom should be locked up with exemplary sentences. Govt should make it clear that will be the response in future anywhere else. Enough.

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Barney Stringer @barneystringer.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Love how panicked these guys are when they see the time What are they late for?

A pedimental relief sculpture of rampant horses flanking a clock. The horses are absolutely terrified. Just swivel eyed and open mouthed, flailing in shock as they look at the clock. It’s at the Household Cavalry Barracks, Hyde Park, London

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