iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 7h

After 15 months, finally broke down & ate a Cincinnati chili 3-way.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 12h

Accidental science experiment demonstrates that 30-year-old shoe polish turns into coal.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 16h

Life in Northern Kentucky's OTHER Sin City has lived up to & sometimes exceeded expectations. We came for the gambling & corruption history. What we've experienced has whipsawed us between that lingering history to contemporary urban disinvestment & poverty issues. It's been quite a ride so far.

Workers rehab a long-abandoned apartment building in Covington, Kentucky. Once part of a failed scattered site affordable housing project, the property ended up in the small portfolio of disinvested properties held by a politically connected slumlord.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 21h

Wish me luck: For Halloween I'm costuming up as pioneering stripper & Northern Kentucky roadhouse owner Carrie Finnell. She was best known for her "educated breasts" & her million dollar legs. She's said to have been the first to add tassels to pasties. My shopping list is ... interesting.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Quandary: Do I read about murder and mayhem (history) or do I read about mayhem and murder (politics/current events)? History wins.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I drove by this great Halloween decoration & got a block up the street, then decided to go back for a photo. It's almost as good as the one that lives in my office!

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I think my absolute favorite Blink installation was this wonderful payphone mural highlighted by projected lights.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

The Music Hall projections were among my favorite Blink installations. This is one of the most creative ways I've seen historic buildings incorporated into dynamic artworks.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Remember, playing leapfrog with a unicorn can be hazardous to your health.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Is brunch in his crosshairs if this staple is renamed “American bacon?”

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I just noticed JSTOR has a new, automatically enabled "AI Research Tool" that I quickly toggled to "off."

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Took the new federal AI out for a spin with a question it didn't want to answer. It did tell me to call 911 if I thought it was an emergency. I do think it's an emergency, but 911 won't be able to help.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I think it's broken. Too bad, I was really looking forward to an answer.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hasn't a single power strip designer ever owned a cat? Seriously, on-off switches on top, easily flipped by a cat's paw? I awakened to a dead phone & depleted watch thanks to this mischievous little lady exploring behind my nightstand.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

There'd be less homelessness, better healthcare outcomes, more neighborhood investment. Fewer abandoned buildings would enable cities to focus on assisting with repairs, not condemnation, foreclosure & demolition. Fewer homes in landfills equals better environmental outcomes.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Can you imagine how many of the nation's housing problems might be solved if more people took one simple step: making a will? For the past 6 months I've been immersed in vacant, abandoned & deteriorated housing interviews and research. Most cases begin w/a dead relative, no will & competing heirs.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

More than 20 years using Google Earth Pro ends as Google eliminates desktop version & tells users to export all data before 2027.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Most people can live on a street for decades and never experience a drug raid. Here, they're a regular occurrence. Our neighbor's record of police incidents clocks in at 268 pages (2020-2026): meth busts, domestic violence, crack warrants & one hostage situation requiring an armed response.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

If only Northern Kentucky journos (reporterishes?) could understand the violation of federal law right before their eyes. It's rare that local govts admit in public documents that they failed to comply with an environmental law, yet that's precisely what happened in Covington. Questions asked? Zero.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This isn't your everyday average doorbell. It's attached to a microwave terminal that was a key node in a Cold War communications network that was integral to continuity of government plans in case of nuclear war.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This one photo undermines all of @mcgexec.bsky.social’s long history of social justice advocacy, etc. Posing with the prez of a whites-only historical society w/a whitewashed historical marker & the inconvenient homeless shelter & fence obscured by tarps. Well done, Marc. MoCo voters take note.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The barbed wire next to the homeless shelter is a choice. A different access point, a block away, has no barbed wire.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Did Montgomery County Executive Marc Erich @mcgexec.bsky.social appreciate the irony of dedicating this whitewashed historical marker in front of the Jim Crow RR station that’s behind a barbed wire topped fence separating it from a homeless shelter that serves a mostly Black clientele?

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Someone could easily cobble together a dark DC walking tour: “Democracy’s Decline.” Though there was a protest at the Kennedy Center, sites like this are silent. I wanted to find some poster board & return with a sign that reads, This is Wrong ☝️. Washington exudes fascism. It’s sad and scary.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

As if he’s so fucking proud of this, why can’t people see it up close?

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Has anyone evaluated the legality of federal agencies and their preferred social media platforms? There are a lot of Bluesky users who might benefit from engaging with federal govt. accounts, yet it appears that there is not a single federal Bluesky account.

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David Rotenstein, Curator, Shrouded in Secrecy Archives @davidrotenstein.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

As LinkedIn becomes more like Facebook with more ads & extraneous content, I offer this post that found its way onto my screen.

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