iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 23h

Huh. Today in "always look up the etymology because sometimes you're just repeating a myth but sometimes it's weirder and more incredible than you could have possibly imagined" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/c...

Screenshot of Merriam Webster etymology note for cockamamie:
By the look and sound of it, cockamamie (also spelled "cockamamy") could have something to do with a rooster and the outrageous sound it makes. But in fact, cockamamie is believed to be an altered form of the term decalcomania, which refers to the process, invented in the mid-19th century, of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared paper to surfaces such as glass or porcelain. (The word referring to the picture or design itself, decal, is a shortening of decalcomania.) The word decalcomania comes from French, with décalcomanie combining the verb décalquer, meaning "to trace" or "to transfer by tracing," and -manie, meaning "-mania." Starting in the 1930s, painted strips of paper with images capable of being transferred to the skin were called decals or—in children's slang—cockamamies. Those familiar with today's temporary tattoos will understand quickly that these were regarded by many as silly novelties, lending the word cockamamie the necessary leeway for application to anything ridiculous.

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Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

at splice today got to write about the new/old Cramps album, and how they look a lot more like part of the original rockabilly movement now, from this vantage, rather than a retro exercise. www.splicetoday.com/music/origin...

splicetoday.com

Original Rockabilly Ravers, The Cramps

Gravest Gravy puts Lux and Ivy in context. || Noah Berlatsky

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NerdParker @nerdparker.com · 28/09/2026

I remember walking into class the day we read Bartleby the Scrivener, and my prof said “this is why you’re paying 40 grand for a liberal arts degree. One day you’ll go to a party and someone will say ‘I would prefer not to’ and the people who chuckle are the ones you can probably talk to”.

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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The most important thing I learned in my 20s is that being smart doesn't make you special. Eventually you need to learn to try hard and to enjoy learning to do things you're not immediately good at. It turns out that the people who didn't learn this lesson were reading Harry Potter fanfic.

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rob mclennan @robmclennan.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

sad to hear, via Ben Friedlander, that American poet Beverly Dahlen (b. 1934) has died, // @ampoetryreview.bsky.social @pw.org ;

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Katie Hodges-Kluck, PhD @klhkhistorian.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

**Lights Out Alert Sunday & Monday Nights** Birdcast is estimating 300-400 million birds will be in flight.

From meteorologist Eric Snitil

**Lights Out Alert Sunday & Monday Nights**

"Heads up birders, I would not be surprised if the biggest bird migration night of the year happens over the next 2 nights. Birdcast is estimating 300-400 million birds will be in flight. That is a lot, but the pattern could not be better for migratory birds. A massive area of high pressure will turn the low level winds from the northeast to the southwest across most of the US. The last time we had anything similar to this in the fall was early October last year when a record 1.25 billion birds were in flight. I doubt we get to that level, but I suspect the number will top 500 million especially Monday night which looks to be the bigger of the two nights. You can help by turning off those outdoor lights on big migration nights, and the next 2 nights is about as big as it gets."

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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

every unemployed music journalist wearily shouting IT'S CALLED BABA O'RILEY at the same time

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Andrej @tepid.meme · 08/09/2026

This is a big mood, as the kids used to say

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Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.eurosky.social · 07/09/2026

Far be it from me to perpetuate national stereotypes HOWEVER this is what a proper selection of potatoes looks like. Taken in a small Kerry supermarket with 2 checkouts. I counted 16 different types, sizes, and brands of spud. Which is about right.

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Cate McGowan @catemcgowan.com · 03/09/2026

As I work on "FINAL FINAL ABSOLUTE BEST Draft 5"...

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eileen chengyin chow @chowleen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

She remembered it was August and they say August brings bad luck. But September would arrive one day like an exit. And September was for some reason a lighter and more transparent month. Clarice Lispector (trans. Katrina Dodson) #everynightapoem #september as ever, for my favorite month

red door with latticed peep hole and hand-shaped door knocker (our house in macanet)

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Alexandra Petri @petridishes.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

the year is 2027. gas costs $83 and lettuce is at war with us. however every location on every map now says AMERICA

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Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Make hay while the sun shines…and if you’re in a hurry, hire a helicopter. It costs a Swiss farmer about $3000 an hour to haul hay. Watching this, I was struck by how fast they worked…but at $50 a minute, it made sense. What surprised me was that hay would be worth it. Enjoy your cheese.

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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I see there are many Men™️ who are not archaeologists or specialists in the ancient Near East making prognostications about ancient financial systems and how we behaved in the past and how it applies today and I need them all to STFU and read one book.

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Glossy Planet Lit Mag @glossyplanetmag.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

"Precise movements, perfected by repetition. He’d gone slight over the years, his joints storing the work. Sometimes he read the labels without meaning to. Addresses stuck with him, useless as facts." Read "Extra Minutes" by @catemcgowan.com: www.glossyplanetmag.com/extra-minutes/

glossyplanetmag.com

Extra Minutes - Cult of Productivity 1st Place Winner

Read "Extra Minutes" by Cate McGowan, the first-place winner from Glossy Planet's Cult of Productivity writing challenge.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I am 90% sure my career wouldn't have happened if a couple people hadn't retweeted one of my stories the exact minute they did. You work your hardest, but it's not in your hands. It breaks a lot of people.

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Daniel Dockery @dandock.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

My wife said this to me just now and then said "You should post that"

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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

The Machine Learning applications I have used for 26 years to process satellite data on my laptop/ desktop that require 0 stolen data or extra power or anything other than my attention+ expertise is NOT "AI" stop conflating the two

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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

sometimes I get to have fun at work www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

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Cate McGowan @catemcgowan.com · 20/08/2026

Me, right now, at 1:06 a.m.

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R.E.M. @remhq.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

“It’s Monday. It’s going to be over 100 degrees in Athens today, & I’m packing for a tour that will encompass nine time zones, three or four climates, and two seasons. I’m looking at my suitcase in horror wondering what to pack. The first Drink The Sea show is August 30th, stretching into November.

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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Thankfully Turnitin's planned change in terms to use all student content for AI development has been forced back. But the big Q remaining is: How did getting a degree from universities worldwide become conditional on students agreeing to the end user licence agreement of an *edtech company*?

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Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think Mandela was talking about surfing.

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Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Are you interested in Ann Radcliffe? Women in Gothic and Horror? Trans horror? Writing workshops with amazing people? You can get it all for one online event. Come to as much or as little as you like! 22nd and 23rd August www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1993974113...

eventbrite.co.uk

'More Terrors Than Her Reason Could Justify': An Online Gothic Conference

On 22nd and 23rd August we celebrate 200 years of Ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications and marginalised genders in the Gothic!

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 15/08/2026

Week 32 of my stitch-the-news daily news diary included: A hard hat A banner A yoyo A catering truck A decoy A Propaganda Barbie A pair of binoculars

Embroidered icons representing

A hard hat for a judge's order to stop construction on the White House renovations
A banner for Trump's new DOJ pick and his face on the building
A yoyo for wildly shifting stock and oil prices in the wake of the Iran War
A catering truck for revelations about Trump's secret ride on a plane
A decoy for the cabinet officials who got left behind unknowingly on what they thought was the president's plane, but which he abandoned because of attack threats
A Propaganda Barbie for Karoline Leavitt's resignation in the wake of the plane debacle
A pair of binoculars for new investigations revealing Trump's surveillance of independent organizations

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Cate McGowan @catemcgowan.com · 13/08/2026

I feel like I'm an expert in so many disparate fields!

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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

the thing about X and Threads and Bluesky is that every time I look at X I worry that someone is trying to annihilate my mind and every time I look at Threads I worry that they already have

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Ramin Nasibov @nasibov.me · 12/08/2026

If you missed the solar eclipse, this is what it looked like:

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optimisticsoap.bsky.social @optimisticsoap.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Libraries make us a harder target for authoritarianism. Equal access to info, ideas, and space that doesn’t require a purchase to belong. Also: using the library means money stays in your community instead of streaming out to Amazon. 📚 What’s checked out on your card right now?

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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My latest essay, which is a bit of a love letter to books but is also about cattle, an underrated 30-year-old film and the things I dislike about the internet. You can read the full thing here with a very inexpensive paying subscription or a slightly less inexpensive one: www.tom-cox.com/summe/

My brilliant, inspiring pal Meg (she's in the essay too) holding up a quote by Richard Powers which says, "The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. the only thing that can do that is a good story."

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laura olin @lauraolin.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

pretty good tattoo option too

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Cate McGowan @catemcgowan.com · 08/08/2026

An army travels on its stomach.

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Erik Gregersen @ctgriffes.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

As an adaptation of Homer’s epic, the Honda Odyssey is a complete disaster. With its roomy cabin and rear entertainment system for the kids, the minivan foregrounds concerns that only arose with the American nuclear family and say nothing about the brutality that underlay the Bronze Age.

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Heather Hill @rollin-academic.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

3) when I told a therapist that I was having negative feelings about my boss who was giving the primo shifts to my male coworker "would you say you don't like men?"

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bill doyle @billjondoyle.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

dear people— you really HAVE to be smarter than this to survive the next couple of decades seriously

really, really obvious AI image of the devil’s tower— i mean, come on, people: you’re making the magic donkey cry!

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 05/08/2026

Jane Austen used 'however' at the beginning of a sentence, and so can you.

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Yayger @yayger.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Cats are fucking weirdos, man! 😂😂😂

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Cate McGowan @catemcgowan.com · 03/08/2026

A true masterpiece. Bar none.

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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The godmother of punk Patti Smith met Pope Leo XIV this morning.

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🍁🇨🇦Team Canada Forever🇨🇦🍁 @teamcanadaforever.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

France calls out the U.S. at a UN meeting: “The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia. Isolated. And the world no longer listens to it.” U.S. representatives stormed out of the meeting. Well said France! 👏🏼🇫🇷👏🏼

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 31/07/2026

pleased to announce the Winner of Bluesky

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Kathryn Tewson @kathryntewson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

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