iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Right. I guess that’s obvious on second thought. “Counter” culture is by definition the minority part of the culture.

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“You have the right to bear arms but not to arm bears”

020

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I don’t know if it was “good” but some of the bits have wormed their way into my brain. Also it essentially got cancelled by 9/11 so that’s neat.

160

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I’m old enough to remember when this was called an “enthusiasm gap” and talking heads would prattle on about it for weeks.

020

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This will be a thread of essays I recommend to students in my creative nonfiction workshop:

743289

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Can we get the lingo straight? I’d suggest AI spend is what all the tech companies are doing when they build data centers. I think this a chart of AI purchasing? Or maybe AI revenue. The AI spend is still (inexplicably) sky rocketing.

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Oh so fine-tuning is a problem for cosmology but it’s fine when you do it??

160

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You’re now king of Switzerland. Those are the rules. It’s just like a sword in a stone.

31931

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Totally. Has strong Kawhi in 2017 vibes

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Any suggestions on what to read or who to follow?

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

IEA chart of installed solar panel capacity vs past forecasts. Can’t find the more up to date version.

060

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Not to sound like an Old but god damn I’m exhausted from subscribing to things to watch ball. Can we do a strike until they put ball on Old Television?

010

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yeah Mystics could just sign a vet free agent this offseason

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Is there a WNBA trade machine? Kiki Iriafen for Napheesa Collier. Who says no?

110

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Just saw a commercial for Bosch refrigerators featuring Guy Frierie (!) pulling a quart (?!) of strawberries out of the fridge (!!) and biting into a berry with an audible crunch (!!??). In case my snarky punctuation isn’t clear, don’t put your strawberries, tomatoes or basil in the fridge.

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Join me over here in the world that refuses to learn who or what “Tracey” is. It’s nice. We’re going to grab snacks later.

Tweet from Prisonculture reading

“Tracey wants the attention he's getting. In fact, like everything else, he's monetizing it.”

120

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Tracey wants the attention he's getting. In fact, like everything else, he's monetizing it.

211617

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Good article but I would have a small quibble with the honorable representative from Utah. ALEC was testing this out in Wisconsin back in 2010. www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07...

Wisconsin ALEC Bills
Tort Reform: Making it Harder for Injured Americans to Sue
Wisconsin Omnibus Tort Act: One of Governor Walker's first actions upon
taking office was to push a package of

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Was explaining to a work friend who recently moved here from California that having good regular seasons and losing in heartbreaking fashion in the playoffs is a Minnesota Sports Tradition. 😫

220

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I cannot begin to tell you how disinterested I am in a text that begins “Amy Klobuchar here.”

41315

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I used to work as data analyst in hospital and doctors had this same issue. “I want a list of all my patients that have xyz complication.” And how do you define ‘my patients’? “The computer should know that already!” Ok buddy. Sure. Let’s “ask” the computer. 🙄

1240

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I think it’s basically the same biases in tech that led to the whole “there are no child care locations on Google Maps until 2015ish.” The stuff that seems “natural” to a single guy (always guys) in his 20s in an urban setting with no familial obligations making 200k a year …. isn’t.

031

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

And how many politicians were quoted in that Microsoft press release? Zero. Mayhap a lesson therein. /fin

000

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Fine. This is fine. “With our Fairwater datacenter now fully operational, Wisconsin is now home to the world’s most powerful supercomputer,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft. … there are nearly 550 full-time employees on-site…” news.microsoft.com/source/2026/...

news.microsoft.com

Microsoft completes construction on first datacenter facility in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin - Source

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

And guess what fad they got in on at the start of 2023? Microsoft will buy the land for $50 million, some of which will be used to reimburse Foxconn for releasing its rights to the land. …. Foxconn will [not] play any part in operating the data center itself. www.theverge.com/2023/4/7/236...

theverge.com

Now everyone claims Microsoft will build a data center on the Foxconn land in Wisconsin

Microsoft is buying the land for $50 million and will invest $1 billion total to build a data center in southeastern Wisconsin.

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Between 2020 and 2023 they followed every fad: - masks and then ventilators during COVID - networking equipment with Cisco during the streaming wars - electric cars because why not? Honestly it’s exhausting. Just read the summary on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconn...

en.wikipedia.org

Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park - Wikipedia

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Of course it’s very real for some people. “There was a bit of evilness to all of this,” said Kelly Gallaher, a Mount Pleasant resident and vocal critic of the project. “The kind of things they pulled really did traumatize a lot of people.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020...

theguardian.com

'They demolished my house for this?' Residents outraged by the Foxconn factory that fizzled

In Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, families were forced out for a huge hi-tech plant – but three years later, it still hasn’t been built

110

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Jump ahead to 2020. It’s Foxconn’s performance art era: “I was there and it’s not real. I mean, it’s not. This is something I can’t talk about ever again, because people think you’re crazy, like none of this could ever happen. How could this happen in the US?” www.theverge.com/c/21507966/f...

theverge.com

Inside Foxconn’s empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises in Wisconsin

The two-year charade that upended people’s lives

110

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It’s January 2018. Months before the midterms and the Sconnies are already pissed. Special election for statehouse: “[Dem] Schachtner won in a landslide. In 2016, Donald Trump carried the same district, SD10, by nearly 20 points.” theintercept.com/2018/01/19/w...

theintercept.com

Stunning Special Election in Wisconsin Shows Scott Walker's Foxconn Deal Isn't the Political Winner It Was Sold as

Democratic wins in Tuesday's special election showed that the Wisconsin governor's Foxconn project isn't the political winner it was sold as.

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

2017: If you’re making up numbers why stop at $10 billion? “It’s not just about $10 billion,” [Foxconn executive] Woo said. “After we finish, there will $30 to $40 billion invested in this great county and in this great state.” badgerherald.com/news/wiscons...

badgerherald.com

Foxconn announces plans to build factory in Racine County

Taiwanese technology company Foxconn announced Wednesday its intention to build a long-awaited electronics factory in the Racine County village of Mount Pleasant. After months of budgetary debates ear...

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I got some time to kill. Come back with me to 2017 and the last time this dingleberry tried to sway a midterm with a Foxconn plant to make LED screens in small town Wisconsin. 🧵

121

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This is such an unbelievably, historically unserious bad take from Steven Levy, the light from bad takes would take a million billion years to reach it. www.wired.com/story/war-br...

wired.com

War Bros Didn’t Always Rule Silicon Valley

Some say that tech was always about the money and the military. Don’t buy that argument.

515344

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

How did we ever confuse "not wanting to wear a suit" with having an *actual* counterculture politics beyond being high or co-opting meditation. Very very few of these people actually had a **political** orientation that backed up their techno-practices

3969

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Did something happen against the Mystics?

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Goddamit I just caught up with Olivia Rodrigo and Charlie xcx. Are they just going to keep inventing new music singers for the rest of my life??

040

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

AI in general or chat-oriented LLMs? Many many uses of Ai/ML vision identification in cosmology, medicine, virology, archaeology, basically any field where it’s easy to generate images but impossible for humans to review them all. Not to mention the whole protein folding thing

000

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

dan sinker @dansinker.com · 21/09/2026

The best way to fight back against the Paramount/Warner Brothers merger is to support independent artists, journalists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and everyone else who has been walking a very hard path to putting things out into the world.

121212382

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I can only think of True Blood. What else ya got?

100

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I often think how 9/11 essentially bailed out Hollywood writers. Whole new stereotype to plumb for enemies of the people. The rise of zombie and vampire shows in the 2000s is an is an interesting counter example in my opinion. Not really sure where all that came from.

8312

concretize.bsky.social @concretize.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

There was a lot of chatter on Signal here in Minneapolis during the ICE occupation to the effect of “my friend is catfishing an ICE officer and she says that tomorrow they will be doing xyz”. I never saw that confirmed but it felt pretty truthy at the time.

160

Reposted by @concretize.bsky.social

Adam Miller @ajm6792.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Get vaccinated for Steve and others who cannot

312331