iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Burgess @oceanterra.org · 21h

Reposted by Ben Barclay

Drought-affected areas in Europe have expanded substantially in recent decades. By the end of August 2026, meteorological drought affected around 46% of Europe, with 40% of the affected area under extreme drought, a much larger share than in 2025. See more: climate.copernicus.eu/european-sum...

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 22h

Frigiliana before the crowds arrive - and after they leave.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 22h

Walking through flames: orangutan rescued in Indonesia fires. The orangutan clings to the top of a mostly leafless tree in Indonesia's Borneo, as waves of thick smoke from the forest fires burning below waft over her u.afp.com/SCUr

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Captain Haddock @realcaptainhaddock.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It’s a commonplace that London constituencies often encompass everything from great wealth to deprivation, and Holborn and St Pancras is no exception. Lincoln Inn’s Fields, Bloomsbury, British Museum, Somer’s Town, Camden Town and Kentish Town. And once it was home to a very original development.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Clearly OpenAI etc should be liable for what they unleash There should be no quandary about it

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Hundreds of things, if we had time 😀

After falling into disrepair, The Polygon was demolished in 1890. In the early 20th century, its former location became part of the overcrowded and insalubrious slums of Somer’s Town. Since the late 1920s, the area has been gradually redeveloped, but it remains one of the poorer parts of H & St P.

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In 1831, Torrijos led a failed attempt to overthrow Ferdinand VII, which I described in an earlier thread.

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Many chose exile in London, including José María Torrijos y Uriarte, the Count of Torrijos, a general who had fought in the Spanish War of Independence. In the late 1820s, he moved into the Polygon. This became the centre of the Spanish exile liberal community.

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The French army, known as “100,000 sons of St Louis”, restored his absolute authority and ushered in the “Ominous Decade”, when Spanish liberals faced systematic persecution.

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After the Napoleonic Wars, Ferdinand VII was restored to the Spanish throne, reversing (or failing to implement) the relatively liberal provisions of the 1812 constitution. After being forced into reforms during the Liberal Triennium (1820-23), he brought in help from France.

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A couple of decades later, Charles Dickens rented one of the houses on The Polygon. But the reason I found out about the building was its connection with the Spanish exile community in the 1820s.

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This unusual structure had been built at the very tail end of the 18th century. Some of the first residents, in 1797, were William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. Their daughter Mary, later Shelley, was born there, but Wollstonecraft died less than a fortnight later from complications of the birth.

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But during most of the 19th century, you would have seen a polygonal building. A pentadecagonal one, to be precise. That’s one with 15 sides. It was called The polygon, and it comprised 32 houses arranged around a garden.

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If you walk up Eversholt St towards Camden, along the northeastern side of Euston Station, after passing a Gail’s, a Chinese, some pubs and a matcha coffee place, you reach Polygon Road. An intriguing name, but you won’t see any polygons if you walk down it.

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Shawn Hennessey ☀️🍷 @sevillatapas.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Sherry Week is coming up! With hundreds of sherry events being held worldwide 🥂 Here is mine in Sevilla… #winesky www.sherry.wine/sherryweek/e...

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Jeff Berardelli @weatherprof.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Climate folks… please give this a follow! A new climate comms initiative with Katherine Hayhoe, Bernadette Woods Placky, and Dana Fisher

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Spooky Hallowe'en Name @tgnprofessor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Homeland had a pretty good story that was absolutely finished by the end of season one, then they had to get increasingly contrived to get the characters to keep working together.

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Australia's utility PV curtailment drops to 22% in September as renewables output hits 5.44TWh

"Australia’s utility-scale solar and wind assets generated 5.44TWh in September 2026, up 7% from 5.1TWh in September 2025" But: "Utility PV curtailment fell to 22% of available generation in September 2026, down from 26% in September 2025, while wind curtailment held broadly flat at around 13%."

pv-tech.org

Australia's utility-scale solar and wind assets generated a combined 5.44TWh across the NEM in September 2026.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“.. U.S. trade deficit blew out to $105.6 billion in August ... up significantly from the prior month and now up by $34.4 billion in the past two months. .. Outside of the Liberation Day swings, this is a record.” - Schwab

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yes, it’s nuanced. I know quite a lot of friends’ parents who are comfortably off, and in many cases my friends don’t feel they’ll be as well off in retirement. On the other hand, my generation has (on average), gone out for more meals and drinks, and been on more exotic holidays.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

@pkrugman.bsky.social on AI's crowding out effect: All that money going into building data centers and purchasing foreign produced semiconductors is coming at the expense of investment in everything else.

Change in private construction spending since December 2023

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OK, I've got you. I can see the argument for that, but politically toxic, as you say.

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If you earn more, you have more to spend. How you split that additional income is up to you. You might choose: Higher housing quality (also building up future wealth) Spending on leisure (you plus children) Investing for future pension Other investments Children's education Etc.

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So you're saying pensioners would pay a flat rate of 45% after the personal allowance? That would hit people on lowish pensions harder than higher earners.

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No, I'm not, but a very high income enables you to build up wealth and to have a high disposable income. People live in London on low incomes.

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In addition to other income tax? So 65% on pensioners paying higher rate?

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Agree with that, and the logic of giving all pensioners benefits because the means-testing costs more than the potential savings applies to working-age as well.

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I'm sure they could quite easily spend their pensions if they started going to Michelin-starred restaurants on a weekly basis, bought a yacht and horse, and a couple of expensive cars.

Yes, but the average gross household income for pensioners is still around £35k. So if your parents have much more, others have less. And I think part of it is that people who are used to relative modest salaries throughout their lives, don't suddenly start spending like drunk sailors.

be fixed, but I'm not sure it's helpful to describe pensioners in general as a wealthy group comparable to people on very high incomes. Taxing property more, and property transactions less, would be one way to increase the tax burden on the wealthiest pensioners.

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Sure, but the triple lock is for pensioners right across the income and wealth scale, including those who don't own their own property. Whereas changes which specifically benefit people on more than £100k are by definition only aimed at the wealthy. I agree the illogical tax/benefit thing should...

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Yes, and that's probably quite typical. But £100k is still very much at the top end of the income scale.

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