iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Some small town restaurants try too hard: huckleberry-glazed chicken breast,wrapped in prosciutto, with a poblano cream sauce in a trout.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Tenacious efforts by conservationists created the protected wilderness areas that I love. The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is extraordinarily wild, rugged, and beautiful. My enduring gratitude to Dave Knibb and collaborators who secured its protection. www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoor...

seattletimes.com

How Seattle’s ‘backyard wilderness’ was born — and the threats it faces now

A look back at how the Alpine Lakes Wilderness was established 50 years ago and its legacy today.

001

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Wired up some vaccine refrigerator telemetry to Jev tonight. Made a hello-world for classifying faults. Initial results are promising so next step is to introduce Jev to a half terabyte of labeled telemetry data in influxdb.

210

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I've been circling this conclusion somewhat warily for weeks, but I'm finding it very hard to talk myself off this ledge.

040

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Life was much simpler when bsky was beefing about the Adirondacks.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This post has become a dunk contest, but global health impacts are directly constrained by national development challenges, including the public sector technical capacity. "Just spend the money on medicine," ignores that many countries have (e.g.) barely functioning vaccine logistics systems.

100

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Spanish tortilla tonight. Ofc with onions, you base creatures.

Tortilla de España is a golden disk of egg, potato, and onion, not unlike a frittata. It rests on a rectangular cutting board, with rich browning from the pan.

120

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Peer through this framing of bestiality to see the MAGA position on rape.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I don't need flybrained WP editorials to be mad at George Mason econ grads. That's been cool since before Gutenberg.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This week surfaced a lot of people who are living in 2025 with respect to the capabilities of frontier AI models. Multiple posts referring to LLMs as glorified toasters is a purely ideological stance. Ethical and sociological judgments aside, the "AI:LOL" position has been overcome by events.

020

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

RLHF effluence? Oh, you mean politics.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This is a quite good thread to read after you've listened to Ajeya Cotra (METR) discuss the Hugging Face incident.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Listen, officer, I'm telling you that they looked like ordinary sunflowers -- friendly like. I gave them directions to rubygems_dot_org but I didn't know what they were planning.

001

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

The Idaho Confederacy was stalled on SE Division, unable to take the river. The WARegon Alliance (as it came to be known) fortified the bridges, energized by a constant flow of espresso and frequent cries of "Remember Sun Valley!"

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

From Western Montana to Southwest Oregon, the entire PNW was cloudy and wet all weekend. I fled to east-central Idaho to meet a couple 12k mountains.

A rugged gray mountainside streaked with orange rock rises above a forested basin, with green farmland and distant ranges visible in the valley beyond.

Rolling golden hills glow in low sunlight beneath a dark stormy sky, their color reflected in calm water in the foreground. Like a velveteen rabbit. Photo credit: Nate A.

A gravel road lined with sagebrush leads toward a broad mountain range under a deep blue sky with puffy white clouds.

A bearded man reclines against gray boulders, wearing a hooded sun shirt over a cap and bright pink pixelated novelty sunglasses. He's trying to muster the energy to be enthusiastic about sitting on the summit, but he's looking tired and disconnected. Photo credit: Nate A.

111

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Looking up from my streetside dining table, I saw a kaleidoscopically dressed man walking along the sidewalk towards my party. Our eyes connected. He said, "Yes, boring white people, I see you." And, dear reader, I felt seen.

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

My model is throwing LaTeX \rightarrow at me, but I've been immune to modus ponens since Lewis Carroll.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I don't even know what "older than bones" is supposed to mean and geologic time dunks have been passé since the Silurian. Anyway, here's a mountain photo from a few years ago.

A hiker in a red jacket with a large gray backpack and ice axe stands on a snowy ridgeline, looking back over his footprints toward a fog-shrouded summit. A corniced edge drops off to the right into a forested valley under heavy gray skies. He's thinking "The Adirondacks are small"

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Cascades summit with kids

Three young men, resting and eating snacks on the top of a rocky mountain summit. They sit on big blocks of granite, wearing long sleeve sun shirts and climbing helmets. One man holds a bag of goldfish crackers. The other is eating pizza from a ziplock bag. These are both approved summit snacks.

130

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

brookings partisans only make these sounds when they are very stressed

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Some posts just stir the imagination.

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

I'm in discussions this morning about opening the straight tomorrow. Not much traction with the cat (yet!) but the dog seems open to it.

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I'm not—with all disrespect—bowing to the—lazy, Vichy—AI backlash against the em-dash — vowing to use it more frequently and even (especially?) incorrectly, as early man intended -- in his abundant wisdom - okay pal?

020

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This is the Car Dealer --> Blockchain Grifter --> U.S. Senate pipeline in the flesh.

110

Reposted by Benson

Damnatio Memoriae @victorzilla.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

delice de bourgogne

1121

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I was productive today. So productive that I completely missed the thread with the Royal Navy's top authority on democracy (laudatory).

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

lmao and also: this errand is the explicit charter of Trump's cabinet secretaries.

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I watch Jaws every couple years because it's almost perfect. "Seen one eat a rocking chair one time," is such a great line. Peak absurdity. Deadpan delivery.

030

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

ruin a book by adding a word: 1984 fashions

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Torn between creating a polymarket account to bet against orbital data centers or go long on suppliers of high-conductivity, pitch-based carbon while cornering the market on origami artisans (deployable structures engineers).

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

A mountain of vaccine syringes. Nairobi, Kenya.

010

Reposted by Benson

Zach Rabiroff @zachrabiroff.com · 15/03/2026

"Bunch of guys obsessed with Ancient Sparta can't beat the Persians at sea" was probably one of the known-knowns, come to think of it.

1239271030

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Cascadia region in chorus: don't threaten us with a good time.

010

Reposted by Benson

Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I'd be seriously very happy with either combo of Ossoff/AOC

1958838

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Traveling, so I'm catching up on the great but ancient (3d) discourse on revenge and deterrence. We need to feel safe: Maslow, tapping the pyramid-shaped sign, saying: "Once people have air and water, the next thing they need is public trials."

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Mobile immunization clinic at the national strategic cold store. Abuja, Nigeria.

A white box-truck labeled "MOBILE CLINIC" with a red cross and "END POLIO NOW" branding parked against a wall, bearing text noting it as a gift from The Rotary Foundation and Rotarians of Nigeria and India. Stacks of blue insulated vaccine cold boxes, some marked "National Strategic Cold Store," are piled to the left and in front, with a spare tire and wooden pallet leaning against the truck's rear. A wall-mounted air conditioner unit and a generator sit nearby on an interlocking-brick paved lot. Abuja, Nigeria

020

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Folks, gas station popcorn is never the right call.

010

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I spent Independence Day on the West Ridge of Mount Stuart in the Cascades Range. This one made me feel so small.

A climber wearing a bright orange backpack walks towards white granite ledges. In the background loom dark and sharp rock spires.

A climber wearing an orange shirt, white helmet, and blue backpack ascends a steep snowfield with ax and crampons. A wall of broken granite rises in the background.

Staring up the climbing route below the summit of Mount Stuart. A pink rope trails down from a climber high above. The climber is facing away from the camera, among docks of giant granite blocks, contemplating the next move.

Seen from high above, dying light of day illuminates two rugged mountain peaks. On the horizon, the sunset is brilliant, purple, blue, orange, and yellow. The silhouette of the massive Mount Stuart casts a shadow in the sky

160

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Father's Day: started / ended

A cluster of brightly colored tents sits on a peninsula of broken rock. A glaciated slope rises in the background towards a mountain peak. Blue sky and white clouds.

A white bowl holds strawberries, whipped cream, and an almond cake: an approximation of strawberry shortcake. A glass of water sits nearby.

020

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

did we try ivermectin in the reflecting pool yet?

010

Reposted by Benson

Casey133k⭐⭐ @casey133k.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

OK now seeing the world cup played in our stadium has the FOMO hitting hard

151

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Elmo has learned To not pick favorites For online consumption But the Knicks have sumtin' And Spurs ain't nuttin'

110

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Acceptable chat groups: - Mountains - Dogs, dogs, and a cat - Sports and the papacy - Check your priors w/ Ursula Le Guin - Armed uprisings 1775-1825

000

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Stymied. Rebuffed. Spurned. A little over 2000 feet of gain in 4 hours before a humbling retreat: the most unrelenting bushwhack and routefinding challenge (cliffs) I've ever experienced. Soaking wet. Wild Dare peak, Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley, Washington State.

A person is scrambling through a dense, misty evergreen forest. Viewed from above, looking down a steep slope, we see the person wearing a bright orange, long-sleeve shirt, a while helmet, tan leather gloves, and a gray backpack.

The terrain is rugged and overgrown, covered in lush green undergrowth, ferns, moss-covered logs, and forest debris. Tall conifers rise into a fog that softens the background, giving the scene a moody, atmospheric quality. The lighting is soft and overcast, suggesting damp, wet conditions typical of the temperate forests in the Pacific Northwest.

091

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

I just had my first exposure to the Fireflies AI note taker. After it attempted to invite itself to all my meetings, it prevented me from downloading the summary of the meeting that it teased as being available. That bullshit isn't fireflies: it's lice.

111

Benson @benson.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

John Doerr's Measure What Matters challenge (impossible).

000