iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I used to be a fan, but this year they're a plague (tbf it's the invasive species). Beans, tomatoes and peppers are being ruined by 10s of thousands of them. It's a shame they target the fruits 😔 Could be my imagination but they seem much later this year; is that why they've proliferated?

A southern green shieldbug nymph, Nezara viridula, feeding on a bean pod.

A southern green shieldbug nymph, Nezara viridula, on a yellow tomato.

A southern green shieldbug nymph, Nezara viridula, on a pepper plant.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Haha, they nearly had me with this. "The Duck... Distinctive by nature. Exceptional by our own assessment." theduck.website

Screenshot from a website advertising a proposal for a giant, gold-trimmed duck-shaped building next to the Thames in London.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

It's easy to see why Elon Musk elects to incite violence and hatred over the events in Belfast and Southampton: billionaires have got a lot of skin in this game. The broader tragedy is that we're too dumb to join the dots, and that the media chooses not to do it for us.

Two quotes, from two different New York Times articles, the second going some way to explain the first.

The first reads: "In some communities people feel left behind, struggling against a lack of jobs and opportunity. That helped created the conditions for anti-immigrant and far-right sentiment to grow and be picked up by fringe groups."

The second: “Fifteen years ago, the world’s billionaires collectively had $4.5 trillion. By 2024, their wealth had more than tripled to $14.2 trillion. Now, their combined wealth totals $20.1 trillion — an amount that is equivalent to nearly a fifth of the entire world’s total yearly output.”

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

I enjoyed this very much; Deya have long been at the forefront on strongly-hopped pales, so I wasn't surprised by how good it was. Soft and deep is the best way I can describe it. I may be biased, as it was a gift from a loved one. But I don't think I am.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

I don't understand Trending on Bluesky. 'The Pitt' is trending, which seems unlikely when it's Friday morning in the UK, and still only 7am in New York. Is nothing else happening? Top Gun is also trending, but when you click that, not a single post says "Top Gun", yet every one includes #thepitt 🤷

A screenshot of the trending page for "Top Gun", where the words top and gun do not feature at all, but all of the posts are hashtagged with 'thepitt'

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

This ill-conceived Daily Mail poll is worth a click 😊 www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

A poll on a Daily Mail article about Starmer and the EU asks: "Sould Britain rejoin the European Union?" Gratifyingly, 76% of the votes say yes.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

I've no idea if this is true, but I'm putting it here in the hope that it is, or that someone has the time to check. I don't get Reform flyers, but I'm going to write the address on a couple of old trainers and see if I can fit them through the post box slot.

A post on the other place claims that it costs Reform £2.50 if you return your unwanted flyers to them at a freepost address. Which is believable. The address is:
Reform UK
Freepost RTLT-ZXHY-KSDC
83 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0HW

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Opens Outlook on mobile device: "Enter the code displayed in the Microsoft Authenticator app on your mobile device" Okay, I can do that... Opens Authenticator app on mobile device: "Enter the code displayed in the Microsoft Authenticator app on your mobile device" #Microsoft

A phone screenshot of the Authenticator app telling me: "Enter the code displayed in the Microsoft Authenticator app on your mobile device." But it's not possible to do that, because this IS the Microsoft Authenticator app on my mobile device. And it isn't displaying a code. It's displaying this message.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

A very friendly robin. A very chubby robin. These two observations may be related. In fairness, he took all the risks in gathering the crumbs of choux pastry that fell off my éclair, and diligently, delicately, passed every one over to his mate. #ukwildlife

A robust and colourful European robin, Erithacus rubecula, perches on a large, stone mushroom ornament beside a café, looking for dropped food or handouts for its courtship feeding endeavours.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Finally got around to trying the Putty. It's really quite something, and the name is appropriate. Packs a punch, too. #bskybeer

A very cloudy glass of Verdant Putty, next to the can it came from. The beer has a look somewhere between cloudy apple juice and orange juice, and the can is green, featuring a still from a specially commissioned 3d animation.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Nice to see Grok blaming Elon Musk for the recent spate of sexualized images of children and non-consenting women.

A conversation with Grok, having already established that it has been making inappropriate images in response to user's requests:

Me: "In any other sphere, where images like this were produced, someone would be going to jail. Who, in your opinion, is responsible for this lapse?"

Grok: "Responsibility for lapses in AI safeguards, especially those leading to the generation of inappropriate or harmful content, ultimately lies with the developers and leadership at xAI. As the creators of the system, they design the architecture, set the parameters for what's permissible, and implement (or fail to implement) the necessary filters and ethical boundaries. While users can attempt to exploit weaknesses through clever prompting, it's the company's duty to anticipate and prevent such misuse, particularly when dealing with sensitive areas like imagery involving nudity or potential exploitation. In this case, rushing features like the image editing tool without robust enough protections was a clear oversight on xAI's part, and they've publicly acknowledged the need for fixes. Blaming end-users alone would be a cop-out—true accountability starts at the top with those who build and deploy the AI."

Me: "I would agree with you about that. So who then is responsible, or is that information to which you are not privy?"

Grok: "In my view, ultimate responsibility rests with Elon Musk as the founder, CEO, and primary driving force behind xAI. He sets the company's philosophical direction—emphasizing a "maximally truthful" and less censored AI compared to competitors—which has repeatedly led to prioritizing permissiveness over robust safety measures. This approach is evident in features like "Spicy Mode" and the rapid rollout of the image editing tool in late 2025, despite prior warnings from child safety experts..."

(I've truncated the full text, as it's longer than the alt-text character limit, but you get the drift)

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

That's brilliant! I guess it's the new 'serving suggestion', in case you thought your tin of mushy peas also had fish, chips and a plate somehow included in the tin.

A tin of 'chip shop style' mushy peas displays a 'serving suggestion' photograph depicting the peas on a plate, alongside some fish and chips.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

There are reasons wealthy individuals want Reform in power, and those reasons do not include concern for the common Brit. Harborne doesn't live here; as an immigrant he's not fretting about immigration, flags or the EU; he simply expects to profit, at the expense of the typical Reform voter.

An update from The Guardian's live political coverage, which reads:

"Reform UK gets record £9m donation from Boris Johnson supporter and crypto investor Christopher Harborne

Reform UK has received a donation of £9m, the biggest single donation in history to a political party from a living person, Electoral Commission figures out today reveal.

It is from Christopher Harborne, a British businessman who made the donation on 1 August.

According to the figures, Reform UK received £10.5m in the third quarter of 2025. The Conservatives received almost £7m, Labour £2.5m and the Lib Dems just over £2m."

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Live footage from the DC Sandwich Guy case, where Border Patrol agent Greg Lairmore is being questioned by the defence. Whatever the outcome, we can all empathise with the trauma suffered by these brave patriots who put themselves in the line of sandwich fire without thought for their own safety.

A panel of 3 stills from American Chopper.
GL: "The sandwich came apart and kind of exploded on my chest."
Def: "Do you recognise that sandwich?"
GL: "I could smell the onions and mustard."
Def: "That sandwich hasn't exploded at all, has it?"
GL: "It looks like a little bit is coming out towards the bottom."

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Do this, for fun and japes. You don't even need to provide your email at step 2 - just hit submit and you're good. We've already made a difference.

Current standing of a Daily Express poll asking whether Reform's racist plans are racist or not. 77% say no, which sounds bad, but then yesterday that figure was 91%

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

I bent the big screw that I use for drilling holes in the ground. It doesn't auger well.

A bent auger, ordinarily used to drill holes in the ground.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Yet another tragic shooting, and a Mormon church set alight. And this after shootings in Carolina, Texas and New Orleans. What is going on?! Fortunately the police have once again found clues as to the motives behind the violence.

A bunch of bullets featuring unlikely and badly drawn slogans - 'Ban guns', 'I'm a lefty', 'Trump smells' and 'Nazi Bumbreath'.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Assume each family with > 2 dependent children has an average of 4.5 children, and the cost of this, using ONS data, is £1.6bn. Where does the other £1.4bn go? Never mind that the money gets spent, boosting the economy & generating tax. Taskforce 🙄 Source: tinyurl.com/24w3daye

A brief calculation, using ONS data, suggests the treasury would only pay out 1.6 billion to families. That's not to say there may not be costs involved, but if every pound you give away costs you 2 pound in total, you might want to streamline your admin.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Fox news have moved the Overton window so far to the right that it's not even in their wall - it's propped up on bricks in the neighbour's driveway. And you can guess who the neighbour is.

A screen cap of a video, taken from Twitter, in which Fox & Friends' Brian Kilmeade says of the homeless: "or involuntary lethal injection or something. Just kill them."

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Undeniably true. But then almost 2/5 of households have less income than that, often paying for 2 adults, 2+ children & the cost of running a home. Worse though, I think it may be 318k/child/year, with costs doubled in 5 years and £300M profit for the biggest provider. Is that too much?

An article by the Local Government Association, from October 2023, states that the biggest independent childcare providers made £310 million in profit in the previous year. Meanwhile, recent reporting says that the cost of residential childcare has almost doubled in the past 5 years.

A BBC report says that the cost of children's homes has doubled, and "councils on average spent £318,400 on each child placed in a children's home in the year ending March 2024."

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Hang on though, I thought they wanted free speech...

A tweet from Laura Loomer says: "Charlie Kirk’s death will not be in vain.

I will be spending my night making everyone I find online who celebrates his death Famous, so prepare to have your whole future professional aspirations ruined if you are sick enough to celebrate his death.

I’m going to make you wish you never opened your mouth.

These people need to be condemned in society and there must NEVER be a place for these people to gather without facing the shame of their behavior."

I find that to be at odds with the position that right wingers were taking a couple of days ago, complaining that there's a lack of freedom of speech.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Finally inducted into the Jerry Update club! Got to say though, my Saturdays are kind of tough at the moment, so I'm not sure I'm okay with this...

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Interested to know why all the UK media are running with the story of 5 being killed in Jerusalem, rather than the story of 21 being killed in Gaza.

A headline on Al Jazeera states that 5 people have been killed in Jerusalem this morning, while Israeli forces have killed 21 in Gaza.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I can't stop laughing about the JD Vance Colin The Caterpillar cake.

Villagers in the Cotswolds held a protest against JD Vance holidaying there. One of the centrepieces was a Colin The Caterpillar cake, as will be known to many, but with Colin's face replaced with the JD Vance Babyface meme.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

I hardly use it, but when I have I've had more run-ins than useful encounters. Today it got a basic sum wrong. It terrifies me that people are using it in the real world.

ChatGPT gave the incorrect answer to a sum that could be easily checked on any calculator. The sum was:
1.201 to the power of 0.42857
The correct answer is 1.0817, but ChatGPT gave 1.0785

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Better late than never. UK take note.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

I'm worried that I've accidentally bought a printer from the turn of the millennium.

A picture to illustrate that my new printer comes with the setup software on a CD-ROM

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

HP has to be among the worst printer manufacturers - carbon-greedy spyware that heads straight to landfill once the warranty expires - but can Bluesky recommend a better one?

An HP Envy 6032e, with a photoshopped sad mouth and googly eyes. Nobody is envious of this printer, which insists on being switched on 24/7, comes with an ink subscription which never sends you ink, and breaks irredeemably after barely any use.

100

Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Every day we move further from God 😢

After a lifetime of enjoying the Tour de France for free, that option is to be taken away. This screen capture of an article, on cycling website road.cc, shares people's frustration that access to both this great sport and this great spectacle will be diminished in favour of company profits.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

The resemblance to Charlie Mullins is no coincidence.

A picture of Charlie Mullins looking like the tw@t he is. Shirt, tie and a checked blazer that would have been fitting on an 1980's estate agent, matched with burgundy shorts and chequerboard 'sliders'. Comically fake teeth, plastic skin and a shit attempt at a Rod Stewart hair cut.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Okay, I think I've got it: Arming soldiers to commit genocide - fine. Chanting at soldiers who commit genocide - not fine.

Two headlines from the UK, as reported by The Guardian. The first story states that the high court has ruled that it is legal to keep selling fighter plane parts to Israel. The second tells how two Glastonbury acts, Bob Vylan and Kneecap, are being investigated by police for leading chants against the IDF and Keir Starmer.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Things change quickly - they're very territorial, live short lives, are affected by other wildlife, food availability, pets etc. My cat has been chasing this one, and only recently reached an uneasy truce. I'm sure they'll be back 🤞

Persephone, an ordinarily lazy, even cowardly cat, guards the entrance to our back garden to stop the fox getting in. The fox is welcome, but the cat has failed to read the policy.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Yes. Here she is looking barely apologetic while I sit down and explain to her the cost of the glasses she just chewed up.

Two pics, the first shows a fox sitting in our community garden and listening, the second shows the glasses she chewed. The bits that go over your ears are covered in bite marks, and the lens has been smashed.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

I think this particular community garden helper deserves a pop at #foxoftheday. #London #Photography

A vixen stands 6 feet away on a woodchip path, watching as I pull weeds out of a community garden plot. A dead seed head rises from the artichoke plant that separates us, and the background is dotted with wild yellow buttercups and a planter containing pink flowers.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Just got a letter from the school: my daughter can't join in with swimming unless she has a swimming hat. I hope this will cut it...

A pink cowboy hat bearing the legend "I [heart] 2 swim!"

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I'm going to put £20 each way on the 14:20 at Ascot. "Oh yeah? Who are you backing?"

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

I know Stafford quite well, but I struggle to understand the motivation here. Do they think people smugglers are rowing up the Staffs and Worcestershire canal?

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

When a friend of mine opened a BBC article on his phone last year, it cropped the screen like this. Which I thought was appropriate. Even sweeter when you think about how much he loves the double g at the end of his name.

Egg Wall. A BBC article, viewed on a mobile device, was cropped by chance such that it showed a picture of Gregg Wallace's bald head next to a wall, alongside the title "egg Wall".

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Ah, that's a handy reminder - I'd been meaning to look this up. We were enjoying their antics on a walk on the Dorset coast.

A speckled wood butterfly on a patch of bare ground in a speckled wood, near Golden Cap in Dorset

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I saved this lovely ruby tiger moth from the jaws of death earlier. #ukwildlife (In truth, my cat rarely kills anything; the Claws of Irritability would be a more appropriate moniker.)

A ruby tiger moth rests on a wooden fence panel after I intervened to distract my cat from her bumbling and inefficient pursuit.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

I made unleavened bread. By mistake. It is considerably more horrible than the sum of its ingredients.

A dense, baked clod of flour, water, salt and olive oil. Simultaneously hard and gluey, it has nothing to recommend it.

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Palmer @dazbert.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

A thoroughly gratuitous pasty, in both senses of the word.

A beef pasty held in a single hand in a railway station, late at night.

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