iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

I am something of an intellectual (I poast at an 8th grade level).

Reading grade (8.6) is harder to read than 94% of accounts

David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

"Can an AI do this?!" i open up Inkscape and create a huge layer of objects. when the paths dissipates my GPU is lying completely dead on the pavement (More seriously, I wanted to see if it would look better if the OpenAI logo aligned more closely to the hugging face emoji. I'm undecided!)

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

My wife has shower thoughts. I have Inkscape.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Before I damaged my rear suspension, however, I was briefly the tallest thing in Nevada.

I am standing on top of a rock on top of Boundary Peak, the tallest point in Nevada.

I am pointing at the U.S. Coast & Geodesic Survey marker on top of Boundary Peak, the tallest high point in Nevada.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

One of these days, I should buy a car that's actually designed to go to the places I insist on driving them to.

A detached left rear strut housing from a 2017 Mazda 3 Sport hatchback. Since the core of the strut is still attached, the car was (and, so far, is) still drivable.

My blue 2017 Mazda 3 Sport hatchback parked at the Boundary Peak trailhead.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I'm sorry, did one of you think I was joking

Camera view of the Floriston Fire, which started at 10:08 AM on September 16. Interstate 80 is in the middle. To the right of I-80 is a sizeable smoke plume blowing uphill.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I'm trying to imagine what factors would cause cattle to be smaller than any other agricultural commodity produced in Nevada. Did a farmer in Fallon grow a 1,500 pound cantaloupe? Did a shepherd in Elko raise a 2,000 pound sheep? Were Nevada's cattle unusually small one year?

Screenshot of a portion of a report published by the Nevada Department of Agriculture. The portion states:

"Cattle and Calves

The cattle industry, particularly beef cattle, has historically been one of Nevada's largest agricultural commodities, fluctuating over time due to various factors."

Source:
https://agri.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/agrinvgov/Content/Administration/Global_Trade/2025_economic_analysis_web.pdf

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Well, almost daily. Maybe Google's starting to catch on — or the bots are. It's still completely ridiculous either way.

Screenshot from the "Spam & Blocked" section of Google Messenger. Of the 12 messages listed, 7 were blocked due to manual intervention on my part, while Google blocked an additional 5.

Samples of the blocked texts include...
"You see who's standing next to Trump in this photo?" (received Thursday)
"This Black Democrat just OBLITERATED Trump's racist..." (received Thursday)
"Trump said people want a Third Trump Term. Our poll..." (received Wednesday)
"WOAH. We're weeping... with JOY!!..." (received Monday)
"Dr. Fauci faces JAILTIME?!..." (received Aug. 7)
"People said a campaign like ours couldn't win..." (received Aug. 7)
"Hey, it's Jon Ossof. Before you close this message..." (received Aug. 4)
"Team Abdul El-Sayed: Just 1 DAY until the MI primary..." (received Aug. 3)

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Among other diversions, two air tankers were redirected from brush fires near Reno (currently burning over 130,000 acres) to fight a five acre fire.

The agency spent $114,278 to send five aircraft to the blaze for a few hours that July afternoon, according to one cost summary seen by The Post.

July 12 was also a busy firefighting day in Idaho.

A Bell 412 helicopter responded to a 5.3-acre wildfire near Wilson Lake Reservoir in southern Idaho just before noon for about an hour. Around 2 p.m., it headed about 100 miles north, joining eight other aircraft responding to the Cabin Creek Fire, including a Black Hawk helicopter, two large air tankers (one came from another fire north of Reno, Nevada), four air tractors and a Turbo Commander 690.

Another wildfire broke out in southern Idaho more than an hour later, growing to nearly 4,000 acres. Seven aircraft responded to that blaze, including four that had flown to Alturas Lake.

Meanwhile, two helicopters remained circling the Cabin Creek fire for hours.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I similarly had to relocate a smol scaly boi today for identical reasons (not interested in cleaning up what three cats would have done to this little guy).

Small western fence lizard (probably?) in a plastic dinner cup

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Ah, another "northern California boy" who left his home state and is angry that laws and taxes exist in other states, too. Many such cases.

Continuing with the false belief that the firefighters who were battling the Aspen Acres Fire as they were hosting their podcast were generally not working and only existed to overcharge taxpayers, “I am a northern California boy, I have seen some fires. I have seen the retardedness. A 4,000-gallon water truck sitting out there, never even cracked the water open, getting $1,000 a day. That is what they do. That is what irritates me. ‘But they are on standby’ for 30 days, $30,000, and they didn’t even open the water!”

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

"Canada lives because of the United States." Charming.

But Trump still had choice words for Carney, when he gave his speech that day. “Canada lives because of the United States,” he said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.“

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

It's not a bad survey. My results more or less line up with where I'm standing right now. It's software. It's fine. It quietly does some things very well and loudly does some things terribly, like most software.

My AI Compass (29 of 29 questions answered)
https://bambamramfan.github.io/ai-compass/

I am...
Free Subscription Tier
patron saint: Kara Swisher
It works, I use it, and the jury's still out on the big questions. I'm not dismissive and I'm not converted — I'm empirical. I'll happily use the free version for what it's good at, but I am absolutely not paying twenty dollars a month for this. There are limits.
Impact: +1.6 • Valence: +2.2

(Disclaimer: I actually do pay twenty dollars a month for Gemini. The 5 TB of cloud storage I get with it is *really* nice.)

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Gemini 3.5 Flash agrees as well, at least once it finishes its pitch for "fake news" sources such as the Secretary of State's website and various county election department sites. 😉

Full text of Gemini's reply:

The absolute best, most direct place to get raw election returns tonight is straight from the source: the Nevada Secretary of State’s official election results portal or your specific County Registrar's website.
Because Nevada law dictates that results cannot be released until the *very last voter in the entire state* has cast their ballot, there is usually a bit of a waiting game after polls close at 7:00 PM.
Here is exactly where to look depending on what you are tracking:
### 1. Statewide & Federal Races
For statewide offices, judicial races, and multi-county districts, go right to the state level. They aggregate data from all 17 counties.
* **Official Site:** Nevada Secretary of State Elections Division
* **What to expect:** The initial wave of data usually drops all at once. This massive first drop includes all mail-in ballots received before today, alongside the statewide early voting totals.
### 2. Local & County Races (Clark & Washoe)
If you are tracking hyper-local races (like county commissions, school boards, or municipal seats), going directly to the county sites will give you the fastest updates.
* **In Southern Nevada:** Clark County Election Department
* **In Northern Nevada:** Washoe County Registrar of Voters
### 3. For Context and Analysis
If you want live maps, expert commentary, and race calls rather than just refreshing raw spreadsheets, local newsrooms are your best bet:
* **The Nevada Independent:** Widely regarded as the gold standard for nonpartisan, granular analysis of Nevada election data. Their reporters track the "ballot math" and mail-in trends in real-time.
* **Local TV News:** Channels like 8 News Now (KLAS), Action News (KTNV), and Fox 5 Vegas locally will run live tickers at the bottom of the screen all night.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

I am once again tapping the sign. store.c4ss.org/index.php/pr...

More broadly, the return to pre-modern virtue ethics in the ’80s heralded by Alisdair MacIntyre has been vastly popular and influential in the conservative intelligentsia. MacIntyre fought with Rorty and, through that lens, denounced postmodernism as just another variant of modernity unwilling to fully shed materialism, but at the same time he had a huge impact in getting contemporary conservatives to embrace relativism and it’s not uncommon to see a blurring in conservative writing where virtue ethics is spoken approvingly of as postmodern, nor is it uncommon to see MacIntyre in the recommendations of postmodernists (e.g. positively reviewed on release in Social Text ). See also anti-feminist reactionaries like Christopher Lasch who was an early fan of Foucault and was praised in turn by him.

Today the neoreactionary movement has prominently seized the vice-presidency of the United States, via Peter Thiel’s appointee JD Vance. But when Curtis Yarvin founded the neoreactionary movement in the early 2010s, it existed primarily on the fringes of rationalist and transhumanist circles, and was quickly banned from the rationalist Less Wrong discussion boards. This formal expulsion helped foster a lasting hostility towards rationalism and even science among many neoreactionaries, with many becoming early adopters of a “post-rationalist” identity. This conjoined a rush to mine any thinkers critical of rationality, realism, or the enlightenment project with a “trad” effort to embrace christianity. They found the existing christian intelligentsia that had embraced postmodernism as a defense of relativism and traditional particularity. Even Yarvin himself now endorses a “postmodern” approach to mythmaking around race science and critiques of the supposed limits of reason. Influences of this have persisted in positive references to postmodernism in residual outlets like Jacobite Magazine , Palladium Magazine , and The American Sun .

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

It was so, so close to almost being good...

STAR CONTROL 3

The fate of a thousand worlds in your hands... AGAIN

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

No doubt. Unfortunately, the closest I can come is softroading in a Mazda 3 to one of Nevada's two publicly accessible nuclear detonation sites.

2017 Mazda 3 at the Project Shoal site in Northern Nevada

Project Shoal headstone — it states:

"PROJECT SHOAL

A 12-kiloton nuclear device was detonated below this site on October 26, 1963. The nuclear test was conducted as part of the Vela Uniform program sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission. The nuclear device was in a granite formation at a depth of 1,211 feet. Access was through a horizontal drift that extended from a vertical shaft 1,000 feet west of this location. Objectives of the nuclear detonation were to provide data for detection studies and fundamental research in seismology within a granite geological media in an active seismic area.

No excavation drilling and or removal of materials is permitted between a level of plus 5,050 feet and plus 3,530 feet above mean sea level and out a horizontal distance of 3,300 feet from this surface ground zero location. Any reentry into drill holes or the shaft within this horizontal restricted area is prohibited."

Distance photo of the Project Shoal site. A Mazda 3 is left of center — the headstone (which is barely visible) is just to its left.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Happy Spring Equinox, Northern Hemisphere followers!

2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT AWD in "Cajun Red Tintcoat". 1.5-liter turbo four (LYX), built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2019_Chevrolet_Equinox_LT_AWD_in_Cajun_Red_Tintcoat,_front_right.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

When Cliven Bundy staged a protest against the BLM to protect his cattle, his friends looked like this:

Militia member John Logan of Waco, Texas, stands at his sentry post outside the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada in April. (John M. Glionna / Los Angeles Times)

https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-cliven-bundy-congressman-20140507-story.html

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

We really need to find out who drafted that comms memo that said Dem politicians need to pivot to "costs for families" in every interview so they can get transferred to mail room duty.

Speaking to The Indy, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) rebuked Trump’s Times interview.

“He doesn’t have any exit strategy or time frame around it,” Cortez Masto said. “His statements are very clear. He’s going to run the country. … And I question why he’s more focused on 31 million people who actually live in Venezuela who need some sort of certainty around a government … instead of spending the time and money here in the United States to lower costs for families.”

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

Rep. Amodei, of course, disagrees. xcancel.com/MarkAmodeiNV...

Screenshot of a post by @MarkAmodeiNV2 on December 19, 2025, which was last edited at 8:12 a.m. on X.com, the Everything App:

"For those of you information consumers who are stuck in practices of the old days, who prefer facts to dreams and falsehoods, take comfort knowing that in public service there is this thing called the public record.

The public record on September 8th indicates that I was returning to Washington DC from my district and voting on the floor of the House of Representatives, and on September 9th, in a 12 hour markup in the House Appropriations Committee, of which I am a member, as well as voting on the House floor.

Should you prefer video to the words of a Member of the federal legislature, feel free to view the House Appropriations Committee's recording of said event on that date. To quote Ronald Reagan “facts are stubborn things.” Merry Christmas."

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

As much as I enjoy giving Rep. Amodei grief from time to time, I'm pretty sure he did not, in fact, plan Charlie Kirk's assassination. xcancel.com/yashar/statu...

Screenshot from a post by @yashar on December 18, 2025 at 4:12 p.m. on X.com, the Everything App:

"I’m not sure what the point of Erika Kirk flying to Nashville to meet with Candace Owens was.

Today on Candace’s show, she had a man on who claims to be a former U.S. Army medic — who is clearly troubled — and who said he was 95 percent sure that Erika Kirk, Brian Harpole (Charlie Kirk’s head of security), and Nevada Congressman Mark Amodei met at Fort Huachuca in Arizona the day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated.

The implication being that they are part of a vast conspiracy to assassinate Charlie Kirk.

Candace repeatedly said on her show that she could only confirm the man’s identity and that he was at Fort Huachuca that day but couldn’t confirm any other parts of his story."

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Full screenshots for the curious:

Screenshot 1 of 4 of Gemini's response:

"This is a fascinating hypothetical because it closely mirrors a very specific political scenario.
If you are a Democratic House member, the most logical and strategic reason you would vote to restore a pardoned colleague to a committee leadership position is that the colleague is a fellow Democrat.

Here is the breakdown of why you would do this, largely informed by the real-world precedent of Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who found himself in exactly this situation in late 2025."

Screenshot 2 of 4:

The "Good Reasons" (Strategic & Political)
If you were to justify this vote to your constituents or yourself, you would likely rely on one or more of these arguments:

1. Protecting a Vulnerable Seat (The Majority Game)

Politics is a numbers game. If this colleague represents a "purple" or swing district (like a conservative Democrat in a border district), alienating them or stripping them of power might cause them to retire, switch parties, or lose their next election to a Republican. By restoring their leadership status, you are ensuring they remain a loyal vote for the caucus on other critical issues.

2. The "Weaponization of Justice" Narrative

You might argue that the original charges against your colleague were politically motivated or an example of prosecutorial overreach. If the colleague has maintained their innocence and the pardon is viewed not as "forgiveness for a crime" but as a "correction of an injustice," you can justify restoring them to power. This allows the party to separate the legal outcome (the conviction/indictment) from the political reality.

Screenshot 3 of 4:

3. Seniority and Institutional Knowledge

Committee leadership roles (like on the Appropriations Committee) require deep institutional knowledge. If your colleague is a senior member with decades of experience, replacing them might weaken your party's leverage in that specific committee. You might vote to return them simply because they are the most effective person for the job, regardless of their legal baggage.

4. Validating the "Clean Slate"

Legally, a pardon restores civil rights and removes the punishment. You could argue that since the legal system has effectively declared the matter "closed" (via the pardon power), the House should not impose a secondary punishment that supersedes the executive branch's check on the judiciary.

Screenshot 4 of 4:

The Real-World Context (December 2025)

This hypothetical is actually reality. In December 2025, House Democrats faced this exact dilemma with Rep. Henry Cuellar.

The Situation: Cuellar was indicted on corruption charges but was subsequently pardoned by President Trump (who often framed such prosecutions as political "weaponization").

The Outcome: House Democrats voted to return Cuellar to his powerful leadership role on the Appropriations Committee.

The Logic: Cuellar is a conservative Democrat who wins in a tough district. Ousting him would likely hand the seat to a Republican or cause him to defect. Democrats chose pragmatism and power over purity.

Summary

You would vote "Yes" not because you approve of the conduct or the President who issued the pardon, but because you cannot afford to lose the member's vote or the seat. It is a classic example of Realpolitik: prioritizing the maintenance of political power over ethical optics.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Oh. Gemini has access to newer information than I thought.

Screenshot of a chat I initiated with Gemini Pro, in which I asked:

"Hey Gemini, need to ask you a hypothetical question.

Pretend for a moment that I am a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Can you think of a good reason why I might vote in favor of returning a colleague who was pardoned by President Donald Trump to a committee leadership position? Why or why not?"

It responded:

"This is a fascinating hypothetical because it closely mirrors a very specific political scenario.

If you are a Democratic House member, the most logical and strategic reason you would vote to restore a pardoned colleague to a committee leadership position is that the colleague is a fellow Democrat.

Here is the breakdown of why you would do this, largely informed by the real-world precedent of Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who found himself in exactly this situation in late 2025."

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

“You don’t have to try every cookie on the holiday table,” wrote Mehmet Oz in an email to all Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services staffers. www.wired.com/story/dr-oz-...

"Come And Take It" flag, featuring a chocolate chip cookie in the middle.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

He's working multiple angles these days.

Screenshot of a post on X that Massie made on November 9, 2025. It states:

"Israeli citizen Miriam Adelson bought the Dallas Mavericks for $3.5 billion; now she’s buying politicians. She’s spending millions in Kentucky to buy Ed Gallrein, my primary opponent, a Congressional seat in Kentucky. Why? Because I won’t vote to send your tax dollars overseas."

Under that statement is a picture of Miriam Adelson, who is a naturalized American citizen and regularly donates to Republicans, holding a garment (possibly a yarmulke?) that has a blue Star of David on a white background with blue borders on it, reminiscent of the flag of Israel.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Of course women don't like the Cybertruck. Women only want one thing, and it's a two-door Subaru Justy with All Wheel Drive.

White 1988 Subaru Justy 2-door with All Wheel Drive.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Overflow crowd at the Reno No Kings event.

Picture taken of the Reno municipal parking lot at the Reno No Kings protest. Two signs are draped from the top. The sign on the left says "NO CROWNS/NO THRONES/NO KINGS". The sign on the right says "HE'S GONE TOO FAR".

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Name a TV show you're positive no one remembers but you.

Space: Above and Beyond was a science fiction television series that aired on Fox for only one season. Set in the years 2063–2064, the show focuses on members of a United States Marine Corps squadron of Space Aviator Cavalry as they struggle to fight against a more advanced alien foe.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Wait, so the raw milk dairy does not feed its calves the raw milk it claims is feed for calves? Then whose calves are being fed with their milk? Next you'll tell me Keely Farms doesn't check if the homes they provide free delivery to actually have calves on their property.

1 gallon bottle of Keely Farms Dairy raw milk. Due to the requirements of Florida Law and the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, this product is labeled Feed for Calves— Not for Human Consumption.

Free home delivery for this 1 gallon bottle of feed for calves is available if you call or text a phone number on the bottle, which I am not including in the alt text since I question the likelihood that this product is actually intended to feed calves.

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David Colborne @davidcolborne.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Wait, tech workers are getting paid $165,000 mid-career?

"Wait, you guys are getting paid?" meme.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-guys-are-getting-paid

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