iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I had a hearing test in Morpeth today and took a walk along the river afterwards Here's Cormorant on the Wansbeck. They didn't turn round to look at me, but it's quite a nice rear view.

A cormorant (large black bird with a fan tail and orange/grey beak) spreads its wings while standing on a wooden plank in shallow water.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 13/10/2026

I can't remember an option to share my name. Was this introduced later or did I miss it?

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 13/10/2026

I can believe they'll end NHS waiting lists. By ending the NHS.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 13/10/2026

I recently posted about a book by Ursula Le Guin, and found that a friend (also male) was re-reding her books. I also enjoy many other female authors, Kate Moss's "The Winter Ghosts" one that springs to mind. It just isn't true either that men don't read or don't enjoy female authors.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 12/10/2026

I expect the same happened with all the pro Reform UK stuff too.

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Northumberland Wildlife Trust @northwildlife.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Thirteen goats have arrived at our Hauxley site to carry out essential maintenance over the coming months. www.nwt.org.uk/news/goats-help-shap…

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 11/10/2026

Yes that will certainly help, but it sounds like banking and payment infrastructure is another weak point — and one which will hit them sooner.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 11/10/2026

I say "Attributed to" because evidently it was first said by a French writer, Hippolyte Roux-Ferrand, but referring to Russia rather than the USA.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 11/10/2026

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between" - Attributed to Oscar Wilde. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026... Looks like theyre heading back to barbarism. #USA #Trump #Execution

theguardian.com

‘Medieval’ and ‘disturbing’: US plan to livestream execution elicits global condemnation

Pentagon said execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be broadcast live

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 09/10/2026

I've been seeing a lot of horses acting cutely over the last few days! #wSocialPics #Horses #Northumberland #UK

Two horses enjoying themselves at a ford, one being ridden and the other led.

Horses appearing for form ab orderly line. Four are standing but a fifth at the 'back of the queue' is sitting down.

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

Have Vibram soles reduced in quality drastically recently, or have I been sold counterfeit Scarpa boots? They used to last for years, not start to disintegrate after two. #vibram #scarpa #counterfeit #hiking

Scarpa boots with Vibram soles coming apart at the heel.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 07/10/2026

When I say "it's up to you", art depicting the devas is a form of devotion. What matters is the intent. If you feel that making an image with two tusks is your best and right for you, then Ganesha will accept it as your best effort.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 07/10/2026

It's up to you. A broken tusk is part of the standard iconography, there are multiple stories and meanings: www.templepurohit.com/ganesha-brok... It also signifies the insignificance of imperfection. As remover of obstacles, Ganesha could fix his tusk if he desired, but an imperfection is perfect!

templepurohit.com

Why Ganesha has one Tusk? The Story of Ganesha's Broken Tusk - TemplePurohit - Your Spiritual Destination | Bhakti, Shraddha Aur Ashirwad

Ganesha is often portrayed with a broken tusk - Ekadanta. There are 3 main stories that tell us why? Ganesha and Bhagwan Parshuram, Ganesha and Veda Vyas, Ganesha and Moon.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 07/10/2026

Boulmer beach and sugar sands today. Now that the summer season is over it's nice and empty again, only a handful of people there. #WSocialPics #Northumberland #UK

A view across the now largely empty Boulmer Beach. The sand is damp, it rained overnight but now there's a clear sky with white clouds.

A rocky section separating Boulmer Beach from Sugar Sands. The water is very clear and the sea quite still.

A view down to Sugar Sands from a track at the top of the hills. A rocky headland just out into the sea, behind that it's Boulmer Beach

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 07/10/2026

It's a big disappointment for people who want a realistic environmental party. I mean what's the point of defining Zionism to a narrow meaning and then proposing a motion on that meaning — absolutely guaranteed to lead to misunderstanding. And the elimination of Israel? Yes it needs reform, but..

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 06/10/2026

A broken tusk? One of his names is Ekadanta, single tusked.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 06/10/2026

I was asked to generate a QR code for the local u3a website. I tried several online generators and all said they generated a QR code but actually generated a redirect — they could track users or even send them to a different site in future. In the end i used a desktop app. #QrCode #u3a #security

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 06/10/2026

Ripe and ready - if it means ready in a couple of weeks maybe. Tesco have got to be kidding! #Tesco #GreenBananas

Green unripe bananas described as "ripe and ready", from a Tesco delivery.

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Wow. This stuff does what it says on the .. bottle! Much hotter than I expected, with a nice taste of chilli and ginger. #hotsauce

A bottle of East End "very hot green chilli sauce".

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Stefan L. Couper @stefancouper.wsocial.eu · 06/09/2026

If you’re enjoying #W support it by leaving a review on your App Store. It’s the least we can do to say thank you to those who invested to give us a #Sovereign, bot-free #Social app where real people interact. #FEU #EuropeanTech

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Spectacular clouds over Rothbury this morning. #sky #clouds #rothbury #northumberland #uk

A large grey cloud (lenticular?) above an amber -tinted cloudscape. Oh the foreground forested hills.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 02/10/2026

Yes we could do better, but I wouldn't want to go down the path of lying, and giving opposite messages to different people.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

I saw this in the Brexit campaign, when they didn't have the AI capabilities. Whereas my Facebook feed was full of messages about Turkey joining and immigration, a colleague had a feed talking about equal opportunities for friends in India being able to come here as easily as someone from Greece.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

A lot of its down to carefully targeted propaganda from Farage's friends in Washington and the Kremlin. ....

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

I can see your point. Certainly joining the Schengen would be beneficial. However, pragmatically I think it would be better to join first, then put the case, rather than to risk a "no" vote from people who will believe the propaganda about Turkey joining and all moving to the UK.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

It's (probably) not a stumbling block if we wanted to join Schengen, though of course that's second-guessing the Irish intentions. They might like the tighter security of being an island and having passport/ID controls. It does mean that we don't have to accept it as part of rejoining though.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

We wouldn't be able to join Schengen even if we wanted to, unless Ireland did the same. Both the UK and the EU signed up to no border between Northern Ireland and the ROI, as the Brexit negotiations demonstrated no agreement could be made that didn't hold to that principle.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

It seems to me that the division caused by Brexit is still here. I suspect that with encouragement by American and Russian bots it will last for a long time.

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Random thought: A female werewolf would be a wifwolf. #etymology #randomthoughts

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 01/10/2026

The article seems to say that because there were confused reports at the time, it must be a false flag operation. Could it have been a false flag? it's a possibility, but neither the target, method, or the execution make it seem likely. Is there any evidence? No. www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/20...

thecanary.co

Gaping holes in Israel's 'FlyDubai' false-flag pantomime mocked

Israel's 'FlyDubai incident,' so ridiculous it took only hours to be dismantled, despite efforts of UK media and politicians to shore it up

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 28/09/2026

A therm 1 lakh British Thermal Units, of course!!!

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 28/09/2026

An absolute masterpiece of making it hard to compare two values by The Guardian. By my calculations the UK price is 12% lower, but I'm far from certain! #metric #badReporting #obscureUnits www.theguardian.com/business/liv...

Text:
European gas prices are also rising this morning . The benchmark Dutch contract is up 2.9% to €74.185 per megawatt hour (MWh), while the the British front-month contract is up 2.7% to 184.64 pence per therm.

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

RE: toot.wales/@thebaywindowgirl/117275… Will I ever learn? I'm thinking of choosing something by Ursula Le Guin for my book group choice next year— possibly The Lathe of Heaven. Yes probably divisive again. Definitely giving me plenty of scope to start things rolling with a […]

mastodonapp.uk

Original post on mastodonapp.uk

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

It's that time of year when the sky looks pretty when I take my evening walk. #rothbury #northumberland #uk

The sky above Addycombe ridge showing a pink tinge.

The sky above the stone bridge at Rothbury now showing an orange red

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 25/09/2026

I'm in! I don't often have crisps but I'll get a pack of pickled onion or salt and vinegar if I can't find that. #CrispSandwich

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 24/09/2026

I can see issues with this Government considers £11 monthly UK broadband fee to fund BBC TV www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/20... It becomes in effect a regressive tax, possibly pushing people to mobile and satellite if not included. Also what about people in remote areas without a mobile signal?

ispreview.co.uk

Government considers £11 monthly UK broadband fee to fund BBC TV

The Government is reportedly considering the introduction of an £11 (monthly) "Home Internet Levy" on existing consumer broadband bills to replace the existing

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

A little dragon on the path along the river at Warkworth. #dragon #art #warkworth #northumberland #uk

A small green dragon, probably ceramic, fixed to a fence on what looks like a miniature doorway

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026

I've noticed that a lot of AI voices in the UK mimic extremely bored sounding women. One of Waze's has an RP accent, but sounds like she's entirely fed up: "one mile ahead, roadworks". I can just imagine a follow-up "Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they've got me announcing roadworks!"

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 13/09/2026

Sorry, judging by your other pictures I think I was wrong about this one.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 10/09/2026

It doesn't look natural, the sign is much clearer and doesn't look naturally lit. I suspect this is a photoshop

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

RE: fosstodon.org/@novelwriter/11721891… The epub export looks good. I also like the flatpak format, so much easier to install and support on my machine. I haven't worked out how references work yet, but it looks as though each reference needs a heading or they all get mixed […]

mastodonapp.uk

Original post on mastodonapp.uk

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

Oh, I get it now. You have to split into separate files - the split by heading's useful. After that you can click on a date and the references show you all the scenes that happened then.

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Chris Brooking @chris108.mastodonapp.uk.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

I'm going to complain to Pizza Express for not letting me give no tip when paying by card. In the UK if you give a tip by card it will have income tax deducted, and if it's paid straight through payroll national insurance too. Some companies also deduct "processing fees", though I understand […]

mastodonapp.uk

Original post on mastodonapp.uk

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 04/09/2026

OK, this is what I was getting at. You are saying "I don't want people of non white European heritage here" but until this last comment, not making it obvious.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 04/09/2026

If you look at almost any major European city you will see a lot more diversity than your curated subset. Many of them two or three generations European.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 04/09/2026

If they tried to implement it, this would have all the incongruities that South African apartheid had - someone reclassified as black after medical treatment darkened their skin, two siblings being classified as different races, etc.

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 04/09/2026

If you're going to be racist then don't try to obfuscate it. What this is saying is "we don't want anyone who doesn't match fall within these racial parameters". #racism #inclusivity #multiculturalism

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Chris 108 @chris108.wsocial.eu · 03/09/2026

This is clearly straight out of Trump's book. Maintain the right to lie in the press and social media, at the same time surprising truthful reporting. These are the people who want the UK to be "Belarus on Thames", an arse-licking subsidiary to Trump's America. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Reform UK bans three journalists from its conference after critical reporting

Guardian City editor Anna Isaac among those who had credentials to cover event declined

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