iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

From James Marriott in @thetimes.com "The encounter will remind viewers how much stranger right-wing politics has grown over the past decade. Rees-Mogg was once unsurpassed as a reactionary oddball; Carlson managed to make him seem almost conventional."

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Rental rates for supertankers take off due to Middle East wars bsky.app/profile/lemo...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

On BBC iPlayer, “Children of the Blitz” is a bit too long but the last 15 minutes is particularly moving where they describe their own feelings about the bombing of Germany and their fears for the future

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Reposted by Brian Probert

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"We find a significant and highly robust empirical relationship between gender conservatism and protectionism," since 2008, extending across parties and sexes and "robust to the inclusion of controls meant to isolate gender conservatism from other expressions of conservatism."

cambridge.org

Gender-Role Traditionalism and Opposition to Trade in the United States | PS: Political Science & Politics | Cambridge Core

Gender-Role Traditionalism and Opposition to Trade in the United States

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just learnt the French for “heat pump” bsky.app/profile/lemo...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

We have been leafleted by Restore. Didn’t know there was an imminent election but the positive is that their standing would make it harder for Reform

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

@nytimes.com highlights a surprising supply chain issue in defence procurement

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

the models will likely convince people that everything is fine. They will be increasingly optimized to seem aligned. We will create proxy metrics to measure alignment, and they will go up … but the models will know they are being tricked and will still behave nicely docs.google.com/document/u/0...

docs.google.com

Personal Statement on AI Risk

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Reposted by Brian Probert

Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Haven’t listened to this but I did read the article and that was a very well considered discussion podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

How, Exactly, Could A.I. Destroy Humanity?

Podcast Episode · The Political Scene | The New Yorker · 17 September · 54min

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Unless you know a lot of AI people, best skip straight to the “Comments” section www.pacingthefrontier.com?ref=explainx

pacingthefrontier.com

Pacing the Frontier

A statement from over 1000 employees of frontier AI companies

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Haven’t listened to this but I did read the article and that was a very well considered discussion podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

How, Exactly, Could A.I. Destroy Humanity?

Podcast Episode · The Political Scene | The New Yorker · 17 September · 54min

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Drawback of Watching Politics Live in real time is that I can’t fast forward over Lee Anderson

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Asterix artwork auctioned for €1.5 million bsky.app/profile/lemo...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Ian Frazier and Samy Burch on “Coyote vs. Acme” www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This comment about AI running amok breached @thetimes.com guidelines. I’ve no idea why I always think of the Monkey’s Paw where the protagonist makes a wish for £50 only to receive it as compensation for the death of his son in an industrial accident

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

from keypublishing.com After the deciding that 51 H bombs could kill 25% of the USSR population the USA amassed 32,193 adding up to 14,037 Megatons. Polaris was developed in only 2 years and a partially-built attack sub was stretched by 130 ft to carry 16 missiles. Weak on Soviet weapons though …

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Why is it that an AI can write a thesis but the Barclays chatbot is a total moron?

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Reposted by Brian Probert

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

One astonishing thing about modern life is that 1 in 4 people worldwide still don't have access to safely managed drinking water, while 1 in 3 of us flush our toilets with drinking water.

who.int

Drinking-water

WHO fact sheet on water: key facts, access to water, water and health

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

@wellerstein.bsky.social This is on sale in the UK. Authors are not identified so I’m not sure if you contributed. It has a lot of interesting articles

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

This 1965 classic gets reprinted for some reason

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

A diner on the next table at the pub lent me a pair of eclipse glasses so I was able to catch a quick glimpse of the crescent sun

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

The future has arrived in the form of an ip phone handset and I’m hoping this will fix a problem we’ve had with our international calls randomly hanging up. It cost £20 compared to — as I recall — £45 I paid for the first phone I was able to own outright after BT was privatised back in about 1984

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

For comparison, British First Class stamps are now £1.80 or about $2.40 bsky.app/profile/wash...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

@financialtimes.com I'm having trouble identifying these characters. Bill Sikes is ok and is it Cruella DeVille? But who are the others?

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Cupcake binge -- but it's only once every 250 years

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Keir Starmer is going one better than this and getting rid of juries altogether for inconvenient cases bsky.app/profile/walt...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

My Right Wing Archetype Political Profile: You have a weak affinity to the Libertarian and the Free Marketeer. Your overall right-wing affinity is 12%. Take the quiz here: www.edrith.co.uk/p/discover-y... moryscarter.com/vespr/starpl...

edrith.co.uk

Discover your right-wing archetype profile

A right-wing archetype political quiz

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Copilot misidentifies an Eastern Pheobe. I think ... Problem seems to be in image recognition. Unlike Copilot, I see a long tail pointing downward and a bird perched on an exposed branch

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Great Blue Heron struggling with its lunch

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Time have excelled themselves with this special edition on the history of Monopoly. Even includes period photos of the original locations in Atlantic City

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Started using CoPilot instead of Siri to identify bird pics. It's far superior, giving reasons for its identification. Also you can supply multiple pics of the same bird if they are of poor quality. Apparently it makes more use of the location data too. Siri suggests birds never seen in Connecticut

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Trying to photograph a marsh wren When an opossum walked onto a log right at my feet

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Somalian Referee refused USA visa for undisclosed reasons bsky.app/profile/lemo...

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

East Point Audubon, Maine is in a spectacular location

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Snowy Egret Bookends at Hammonasset Beach State Park CT

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Four ghostly great egrets at Stratford CT

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

King's speech presents the British attack on the jury system

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Reposted by Brian Probert

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) has introduced a bill to strip federal funds from any group that promotes jury nullification -- or, as my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social puts it, "dares to educate citizens on the historic conception of the criminal jury as an institution designed to prevent injustice."

cato.org

Lawmaker Wants Jurors Kept in the Dark—and She’s Conditioning Federal Funds Upon It

For generations, the endurance of American liberty has depended on the silent, unwavering resolve of everyday citizens seated in the jury box.

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Brian Probert @brianhprobert.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron at Stratford CT

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