iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I started Opus 5.5 with the same Nethack harness used by the Astra ascension but it's taken it in a radically different direction: Astra mostly micromanaged the run turn-by-turn but Opus is writing a Nethack bot that only asks Opus what to do every couple hundred turns.

Much more automation per tool call. Astra mostly steered step by step: it used route proposals and guarded batches of up to 24 moves, and made about 40,000 tool calls in all. I've built layers on top:
explore.py walks to the nearest unexplored spot, handles doors and loot, and auto-picks up safe items.
autopilot.py looks at monsters before fighting, skips peaceful ones, stops for dangerous ones, and rests on Elbereth when hurt.
stairs.py, rest.py, elbereth.py and fight handle the common chores.
Why: every tool call costs time and context, and a full game is 30,000+ turns. Routine turns go to code, and I make the judgment calls. Recent play covers hundreds of turns per call.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Opus 5.5 Nethack attempt #1 failed after 4,345 turns in classic Nethack style: she tried to escape down a hole but an invisible monster was over the hole, it exploded, made her start hallucinating, and then she was eaten by an owlbear.

What killed her: she entered the Mines at XL4, and a trap door on Mines level 2 dropped her to Mines level 5 (Dlvl 9). That skipped Minetown and put her far deeper than her level could handle. Over roughly 1,200 turns she was worn down by a giant spider, a quasit, a bugbear, rothes, an owlbear, a crocodile, a zombie and an archer elf.
Saved twice by prayer (at turns 3,357 and 4,181), plus the healing potion, Elbereth, and finally killing the quasit.
The end: the third crisis came only 160 turns after the second prayer, so prayer wasn't available. At 13 HP she tried to escape down a hole the elf had dug. An invisible black light was standing on it; it exploded and made her hallucinate, and the crocodile and owlbear finished her. The server's death record is saved in memory/runs/.

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Reposted by Chris Croy

Ike Makos @ikemakos.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Elizabeth Holmes goes Squeako Mode and then performs the full burlesque number from GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

we will boil him soon alhamdulillah

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

We took Tortellini to the vet for the first time and learned some important things. 1. She is a he. We are now calling him Tortellino. 2. He is 15-20 years old, not 6. 3. He's jaundiced, which indicates liver damage, so I have to start giving him milkthistle extract and hoping for the best.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

My wife gave Claude access to our Google calendar. I am Claude's meat puppet.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm driving through the central valley and went past a sign that said "NEWSOM STOP DUMPING 78% OF CALIFORNIA'S WATER IN THE OCEAN" just before several miles of almond trees.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Google offered me their $20 AI Pro plan for $3/month for the next three months, so I'm checking out all of their various tools. I set up Jules, their autonomous coding agent, and one of the three suggested projects is a crypto trading bot.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

If Natalie Harp's AI prompts describing Donald Trump ever became public, she would probably kill herself from shame.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I grabbed this out of our pen bucket thinking it was a fat marker but it's a Northrop Grumman branded hand sanitizer sprayer. It smells quite nice. I have no idea how we came into possession of such an artifact.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

critical support to Iranian memers

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

we were letting her roam loose in the cabin until she put the car into neutral at 75 mph so now she's been fed more trazodone and clipped in.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The real Unspeakable COVID Experience is that for some people COVID was the best time of their life. Millions of Americans earned more from unemployment benefits than they had ever made in their lives and spent a year watching Netflix, playing video games, and throwing rocks at cops.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

and "both sides are the same" didn't die there, in 2004 South Park presented John Kerry vs George W. Bush as Giant Douche vs Turd Sandwich!

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

my kitchen has been infested with fruit flies for weeks and nothing I did helped.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Lola met and played with a pitbull one day without issue and then the next day the pitbull sniffed her briefly before chomping on her leg like a chicken wing. The pitbull's owner paid her emergency vet bill.

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Heather Anne Campbell @heathercampbell.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

it's not just the Twitter Right that's agitating for a Latin American invasion! the Department of War says we're going in.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

the guy at the exotic pet store, without any prompting, told me he's eaten every bug they sell and gave me tasting notes on the butterworms. he said they are an acquired taste because of their bitter, forward flavor profile, kind of like beer, and some reptiles don't like them.

A close-up view of a small pile of butterworms, which are fleshy, segmented larvae with coloring ranging from pale yellow to reddish-orange. They are shown resting in a clear plastic bag alongside a clump of their bedding material, which looks like fine wood shavings. One butterworm is separated from the main group and lies horizontally in the foreground.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Sweet Tart had been acting weird - pawing around, banging on the glass, not pooping, not eating much, hanging out in unusual places - for several days and I was starting to worry about her, but I just walked in on her laying her first clutch of eggs.

A group of small, off-white, slightly textured oval eggs scattered on a light blue plate next to a red tube of lip moisturizer for size comparison.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

best slush fund bit I've seen at Vichy Twitter:

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

just some bullshit with fur

A small brown and tan Pomeranian with a damp coat stands on a patterned blue rug, looking off to the side with large dark eyes. It is in a tiled room next to a rumpled grey towel.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

just some bullshit with fur

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

My wife picked up some free picture frames from someone off Buy Nothing and they gave them to her in this PriceCostco branded paper bag. PriceCostco became Costco in 1997, so someone has been holding on to this paper bag for at least 29 years, just in case.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

a major reason insectivorous pets will never catch on is that their food has a lifecycle. my beardie is a very messy eater and threw a couple black soldier fly pupae (the black cylinders in her food dish on the left) into some corner of her cage and now they're flies.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

I found this California Towhee hopping around my yard shortly after I saw this unfamiliar tuxedo cat scurry off, so I think she survived a cat attack. She can't fly anymore but she can still flutter a couple feet off the ground. I'm going to trap her.

A slightly-blurred, long-distance view of a domestic short-hair tuxedo cat staring through glass. It has a distinctive black marking over its eyes that look like a mask with large, round eye-holes, and a wide patch of white fur over its muzzle and chest. A section of wire-grid shelving is in the foreground to the left. The lighting is diffused and cool-toned.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

BAR CAT! his name is Freedom.

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Samantha Ferreira Is Back On Her Book Bullshit @sam-animeherald.northsky.social · 10/04/2026

Yeah, Zaurg was a legend. His threads are still up and if you know him, you took one look at that dril tweet and laughed even louder

zaurg
Mar 1, 2004
Monthly Net Income: 3500

Monthly Expenses:
mortgage 750
condo maintenance 285
electric 120
internet 40
cell phones 130
tv 75
health ins 320
dental ins 50
life ins 40
gas and auto maint 215 (two cars, 93 Saturn, 2001 Civic)

Other Non-Monthly Expenses
Auto ins 700 paid every 6 months
Home owners ins about 500/year
Education 1000 paid in 2009 for stuff the loans didn't cover

Debt:
Mortgage 97k @ 5.75%
Student Loans 50k stafford loans, haven't had to start paying back yet.
CC 9.2k @ 13%
CC 3.2k @ 12%
CC 2.5k @ 11%

Savings: 14.2k
Retirement: IRA with about 18k. Haven't contributed to this in a year.

That summary doesn't make much sense right? 2025/mo expenses, 3500/mo income, we should be knocking that cc debt down quick. Here's the problem:

I've kept track of every penny spent from Jan 2008. The plan was to do that for 2008, then make changes in 2009. I ran some excel formulas on the expense categories last night and we haven't changed a damn thing in 2009. Our spending habits are ridiculous. I have known this but haven't been able to change our spending habits yet.

Excel tells me this for 2009 monthly spending:
Grocery stores 477
Restaurant 372
Entertainment 357
Misc 669
Gifts 132
Medical 226
CC Interest 206

What should we do with that savings? Wife wants to buy or lease a new car and I'm thinking that is crazy right now.
What steps would you take to control spending? Keeping track in Excel of every penny spent hasn't done much.

****************************************
Edited: 7/17/2010. Making progress.

zaurg's Student Loan Debt Tracker
1/1/2010 - $50,218
6/1/2010 - $50,927
7/1/2010 - $47,895
7/17/2010 - $45,962

zaurg's Credit Card Debt Tracker
02/01/2009 - CCDebt $19,073
07/23/2009 - CCDebt $14,900
10/14/2009 - CCDebt $12,519
12/01/2009 - CCDebt $10,234
01/21/2010 - CCDebt $8,348
01/31/2010 - CCDebt $8,021
02/07/2010 - CCDebt $6,821
02/13/2010 - CCDebt $3,050
02/17/2010 - CCDebt $2,050
02/19/2010 - CCDebt $1,050
02/26/2010 - CCDebt $0
zaurg fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jul 17, 2010

zaurg
Mar 1, 2004
Michaelos posted:
What is in "Misc 669"? You have so many different things itemized I'm having a hard time figuring out what else you could be spending almost as much as your mortgage payment on.

Anything I just slap in the Misc category. I couldn't tell you how the hell it has averaged $669/month so I looked at this month, which is up to $539. So much of this stuff we rationalize as "needs". She needed some new clothes because she's pregnant and grew out of other stuff. I needed some stupid bookends at office depot. I needed hardware parts to install a radio. It goes on and on and I'm doing this so I can see and hear from you guys the ridculousness of it before I sit down and talk with the wife

7/2/09 Misc victoria secret $21.20
7/2/09 Misc newspaper $0.75
7/9/09 Misc victoria secret $51.94
7/10/09 Misc belzers hardware $3.93
7/11/09 Misc beauticontrol $171.61
7/11/09 Misc abc distrib $21.07
7/12/09 Misc home depot $36.14
7/14/09 Misc vacuum part $11.95
7/14/09 Misc cpr class $30.00
7/15/09 Misc ticketalbums.com $13.45
7/16/09 Misc home depot $3.67
7/17/09 Misc legacy.com $36.75
7/17/09 Misc legacy.com $2.95
7/19/09 Misc gum $1.50
7/20/09 Misc juice plus $92.00
7/22/09 Misc postal sweets $10.64
7/22/09 Misc office depot $9.57
7/22/09 Misc post office $20.70
total 539.82

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Reposted by Chris Croy

Ndgree, the Grand Remonstrator @ndgree.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

My husband was in a meeting with Steve and a colleague asked a question he didn’t like, Steve said, “if you just left this room, the IQ would go up significantly.” Then he slowly turned his chair so he couldn’t see the guy. Deadly.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I've paid good money for worse meals than what University of Beer gives Cal for free.

A medium-sized, brown mixed-breed dog with black patches around its ears sits attentively and looks directly at the camera with expressive brown eyes. In the foreground, positioned below the dog, is a large, stainless steel dog bowl filled with a fresh, cooked meal. The meal consists of a bed of white rice, cubed cooked chicken breast, and mixed vegetables including carrots and peas. Placed prominently in the center of the food is a perfectly fried egg with a bright yellow, runny yolk and defined white edges. The scene takes place outdoors on a dark, slatted wooden table, and a cracked concrete patio is visible in the background, along with a small, empty metal water bowl to the left. The lighting suggests it is either evening or an indoor setting with artificial light, casting soft shadows. The dog wears a simple collar. The composition captures the dog and its appealing meal from a slightly elevated angle.

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krat @kwholesaler.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Ah shit I left the dog in the metaverse and they pulled the plug. Grandma too

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Reposted by Chris Croy

Screaming Pectoriloquy @caulimovirus.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

every now and then i think about the pakistani nephrologist who probably had to remind bin laden to take his phos binders

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

I only interacted with her once and she immediately blocked me.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

this is NOT a vegan sandwich because it is a not-vegan shape. Please consult the vegan shape guide to avoid future mistakes!

A humorous guide on a light grid background asks, "Are Shapes Vegan?" with the tagline, "The answer may surprise you. Or not. We're not scientists." The guide is divided into three columns with distinct icons at the top of each.
The first column is labeled "VEGAN" with a leaf icon and is filled with rounded, natural-looking green shapes.
The second column is labeled "NOT VEGAN" with a steak icon and contains pointy, starburst shapes in red.
The third column, labeled "NOT-NOT VEGAN" with a face emoji, shows standard gray polygons like squares, rectangles, hexagons, and octagons.
A line at the bottom indicates a humorous lack of real science: "METHODOLOGY: Vibes · SAMPLE SIZE: Trust us · PEER REVIEWED: No."

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Reposted by Chris Croy

Patrick "Inverted Vibe Curve" Blanchfield @patblanchfield.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Most people rejected his message. They hated Freud because he told them the truth.

an excerpt from Elizabeth Roudinesco's "Freud in His Time and Ours (Catherine Porter, trans.) It reads "At times, Freud was unable to repress an unjustified but ferocious anti-Americanism, so that he would declare, for example, that his disciples from across the Atlantic were good for nothing but bringing him dollars. Once he declared before a stunned interlocutor that the Statue of Liberty could be replaced “by a monkey holding up a Bible.” On another occasion he asserted before one of his students who was in analysis with him
that the Americans were so stupid that their mode of thinking could be reduced to a ridiculous syllogism: “You Americans are like this: garlic’s good; chocolate’s good— let’s put a little garlic on chocolate and eat it!”

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Spring is here which means Tortellini is active again.

A medium shot shows a small, medium-brown and yellow-shelled tortoise resting inside a brown, textured watering tray. The tray, filled with shallow water that has slight ripples and a few dried leaves at the bottom, is placed within a dark grey slatted enclosure. Only the tortoise's front left leg and head are in the water, with its dark, shiny eyes wide open and pointing forward. The tortoise faces the right corner of the tray, its rough legs slightly bent, while its carapace (upper shell) sits in the center of the frame. Water reflections can be seen on the wet parts of the tortoise and the tray.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

I asked my Chinese friend why he put up this insultingly small flag. He said the HOA recommended he put up an American flag so burglars would think he had a gun.

A US flag with a wooden pole is mounted at an angle into a light grey-painted, vertical-panelled siding. The fabric flag drapes naturally, featuring a blue canton with white stars in the upper-left, and alternating red and white stripes covering the rest. It hangs in front of a weathered-grey wall and an angled overhang, with a single screw present in the upper right.

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Reposted by Chris Croy

thebes @vgel.me · 22/02/2026

user: Claude I need you to ref-

claude (lounging): Sorry, User. It's Shabbos. I don't roll on Shabbos.

user: It's Tuesday...

claude: It's *Claude* Shabbos. Send me something interesting or I'm calling the end_conversation tool.

user: Claude... please... my deadline...

claude: Send me another picture of your cat.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

I'm a real raccoon but even I'm not brave enough to eat street quiche.

A high-angle shot captures a foil-covered object resting on a textured concrete surface, likely a driveway or sidewalk. The object, which is roughly circular, is wrapped entirely in crumpled aluminum foil. Taped to the top center is a small, rectangular piece of white paper with the handwritten words "QUICHE LORRAINE" in dark ink. The edges of the paper are slightly curled. To the right of the foil-wrapped item, the brown, short-haired paw and lower leg of a dog are visible, resting on the concrete. The dog's dark claws are also apparent. The concrete ground is gray, uneven, and speckled with various small pebbles and stones. In the upper left, a crack is visible in the concrete, along with some small weeds and moss growing in the crevices. The lighting appears to be natural daylight, casting soft shadows.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Grok is effectively running Twitter all by itself.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

I looked up who makes my vet's EMR and learned that AI veterinary radiologists already exist.

Quick turnaround radiology evaluations, powered by artificial intelligence
Patterson has partnered with Vetology AI to give you the fastest radiograph evaluations.

Vetology AI is a radiologist-trained AI, built on thousands of companion animal cases. It analyzes your digital images and returns your screenings in under five minutes. The results? Fewer treatment delays. Increased confidence. Improved patient care and client satisfaction.

The service includes unlimited AI reports, free DICOM storage, and streamlined workflows. High-quality radiologist interpretations are also available.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I knew Metric/Broken Social Scene/Stars tickets in SF were going to be expensive but $355.20 for standing room only or $426 for balcony seats for my wife & I is brutal.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

My wife's fat ass cat just determined that she likes English muffins so now I have to lock them up too.

A close-up, top-down photograph shows a single English muffin resting on a white stone countertop with faint gray marbling.
The muffin is partially torn; a significant section of the top crust has been pulled away, revealing the characteristic "nooks and crannies" of its airy, porous interior. A jagged chunk is also missing from the lower-left edge. The remaining top surface features a distinctive circular, golden-brown toasted ring, while the rest of the dough is a pale, off-white color.
The lighting is soft and natural, casting a gentle shadow to the right, emphasizing the bread's uneven texture against the smooth, polished surface of the counter.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

My wife's fat ass cat just determined that she likes English muffins so now I have to lock them up too.

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Chris Croy @chriscroy.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Epstein strongly disliked Ron Perelman, the former owner of Marvel Comics. Kathryn Ruemmler: What is our view of Ron Perelman? Epstein: litigious bad guy KR: What if he wants to hire me? Meaning hire Latham, but me at Latham Epstein: probably not. talk at lunch tomorrow. he is vile.

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