iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 10/10/2026

Stumbled across a smart documentation approach in an open source repo today: issues that are deliberately left open.

Screenshot of GitHub issues. The issues are labelled with "leave open"

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Peter Sloman @pjsloman.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Fair play to John Healey, who managed to time his 5.5-week break from government to coincide exactly with the World Cup

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 20/07/2026

Feeling slightly bored after the end of the World Cup, so consoling myself by deciding to follow the Nations League. We're nearing an era of perpetual football: a major tournament every year (alternating men's and women's) and now the men's Nations League to fill some of the winter.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 18/05/2026

Too often, outsourcing comes at the expense of our services and the workers who keep them going. If you want public services to work for people, not just profit, sign the Record of Support for Labour’s insourcing pledge. www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/of...

megaphone.org.uk

Official Record of Support: Back the Biggest Wave of Insourcing in a Generation

Outsourcing companies frequently compete to win public contracts by reducing costs: it's a race to the bottom on the pay, terms, and conditions for their workers. This has a knock-on effect for servic...

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Kate Klonick @klonick.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Holy shit. Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

The cable, sent to all U.S. missions on December 2, orders U.S. consular officers to review resumes or LinkedIn profiles of H-1B applicants - and family members who would be traveling with them - to see if they have worked in areas that include activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others.

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language. It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 17/11/2025

1/ This seems like a good accessible intro to AI psychosis: youtu.be/MW6FMgOzklw?... (caution: the guy has had controversies in the past) This is the paper he's referring to in the video: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.10970 Key takeaway: it can affect anyone, not just people with pre-existing conditions.

youtu.be

AI Is Slowly Destroying Your Brain

YouTube video by HealthyGamerGG

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Cat Hicks @grimalkina.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

Construct validity is the missing dark matter in big tech research about developers. Once you see it, you never unsee it.

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Piccalilli @piccalil.li · 05/11/2025

You might think “boring” but seriously, this is a masterpiece. www.nan.fyi/database

nan.fyi

Build Your Own Database

A step-by-step guide to building a key-value database from scratch.

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Martin Donath @squidfunk.com · 05/11/2025

Zensical – a modern static site generator. We're excited to release @zensical.org, our new SSG that is compatible with Material for MkDocs: – 5x faster rebuilds – Modern design – Blazing-fast search Read the full announcement on our blog: squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater... A thread ⬇ 1/7

squidfunk.github.io

Zensical - A modern static site generator - Material for MkDocs

We are thrilled to announce Zensical, our next-gen static site generator that addresses and overcomes the technical limitations of MkDocs

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 05/11/2025

1/ The creator of Material for MkDocs has released a new static site generator and accompanying themes, @zensical.org : squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-mater... Loads of info in the post about what, why, and timelines.

squidfunk.github.io

Zensical - A modern static site generator - Material for MkDocs

We are thrilled to announce Zensical, our next-gen static site generator that addresses and overcomes the technical limitations of MkDocs

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Sarah Drasner @sarahedo.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Reliability is sort of like a stomachache. It’s hard for people to really appreciate not having issues until you have issues.

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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 04/09/2025

Bryce is back from holiday and in fine spirits it seems. on.ft.com/4naOi3t

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Andy Bell @bell.bz · 27/06/2025

Back in the day, Twitter used to be really good if I set up a thread to connect freelancers with clients. Let's see if Bluesky can do it. Clients: if you're looking for freelancers/contractors, get in the comments Freelancers/contractors: get in comments Everyone else: boosts appreciated

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Julia Evans @b0rk.jvns.ca · 28/06/2025

we've already sold 1000 copies of The Secret Rules of the Terminal since it came out on Tuesday!! so to celebrate I'm giving away 1000 copies to anyone who can't afford to buy one. You can use code BUYONEGIVEONE to get a free PDF copy if $12 USD is a lot for you. wizardzines.com/zines/terminal

The Secret Rules of the Terminal, by Julia Evans - The cover illustration depicts three people doing arcane terminal magic in a temple with a smoking censer in the background. Each of the three people has curly brown hair and light brown skin. They are all wearing dresses, billowing cloaks, and utility belts with keyboard symbols on them. The one on the left holds a palette of paints and a brush. The one on the right has a staff with a $ symbol on it and a starfish at the top. The one in the centre has a sword and is reading from a book whose cover says “>_” and “./”, which rests on a lectern with a smiling snake wrapped around it.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 24/06/2025

1/ Could we all solemnly swear not to be too judgemental of each other about AI? Because I've got a horrible feeling I know what the next impossible hiring trend is going to be: you'll need enough AI on your CV to get past the pro-AI people, but not so much that you deter the anti-AI people.

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Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

If you were too young in 2003 here is what Bush told the American people: 1) The Iraq War won’t cost a lot of money 3) We won’t need a lot of troops 4) We’ll bring peace and freedom to Iraq 5) We’ll find WMDs 6) We’ll be welcomed as liberators 7) It will be easy 8) It won’t take long All lies.

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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Breaks are part of working, not a reward for working.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 17/06/2025

1/ A surprising amount of government admin. My last passport renewal was quick and easy. So is setting up as a sole trader. Tax returns are probably as painless as they realistically can be. And the fact most people don't even have to do tax returns is nice.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 10/06/2025

1/ 'How to write for AI' is a question that comes up repeatedly. TL;DR and resources 🧵 #ai #documentation #technicalwriting

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Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 10/06/2025

Stop believing that your brain peaked in your 20s... it's not true but it might become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you stop challenging it www.ft.com/content/5d47...

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nitasha tiku @nitasha.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

A lot of people say generative AI shouldn't infringe on copyright. These researchers actually tried to do it. The result: an 8 terabyte dataset of text that's openly licensed or in the public domain & 7 B parameter model that performs as well as Meta's Llama 7B www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

washingtonpost.com

Analysis | AI firms say they can’t respect copyright. These researchers tried.

A new effort using only openly licensed data may have implications on thorny policy disputes around copyright and AI

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 31/05/2025

The more time I spend with Kapa AI (RAG chatbot for your docs sites and communities . . . plus a bunch of other useful stuff) the more impressed I am.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 25/05/2025

Cursor won't let you use it unless you agree to it learning from your code. You can turn this off later . . . but why can't you refuse at this stage? Anyhow, I just set a new personal record for shortest software trial.

Screenshot of Cursor modal. It explains that by default Cursor learns from your code, but that you can turn this off in settings.

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Build Awesome (11ty) @11ty.dev · 16/05/2025

Try out the new interactive Playground component on the docs home page: www.11ty.dev#try-eleventy... That’s right: we’re running Eleventy in the build and in the browser. This unlocks many more exciting options for Eleventy projects — stay tuned!

A screenshot of the 11ty.dev home page playground, with panes for Code editing, output preview, input and output files, and view source option!

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 12/05/2025

I don't think I've ever seen a supposedly fluffy piece go this harsh. Someone at the FT (a) really doesn't like Altman, (b) is really confident in their lawyer, and (c) recommends Zitron's, erm, worrying article on the potential of OpenAI to pretty much destroy everything.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 20/04/2025

This is one of my biggest pet peeves.

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Gentlemen of the Hàn (Three Kingdoms 1994 fansubs) @hanzhonglang.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Hi all! New English Subbed episodes (68-77) of the Three Kingdoms 1994 have arrived! I hope that you have been excited for the penultimate batch! Well, here we go again! This batch features Zhuge Liang and his exploits to uphold the Han dynasty! gentlemenofthehan.wordpress.com/2025/04/16/r...

gentlemenofthehan.wordpress.com

RoTK 1994, Episodes 68-77 English subs release!

MKV (softsubs) (Best quality, recommended to watch with MPV, Kodi, VLC, or MPC-BE player)Torrent: 1 , 2Direct Download: 1 (Contains the most up-to-date files, as well as patches for torrent users) …

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 17/04/2025

I'm surprising myself with how often I'm laughing while reading SPIN Selling.

Picture of a book. The text reads: I've also heard it suggested that customers mistrust high-tech sales people, so they feel more comfortable with someone who holds back and tries to understand the implications than they do with someone who jumps in with premature and often inappropriate solutions. The plausibility of this explanation is strengthened by the joke: What's the difference between people who sell used cars and people who sell high-tech? Answer: People selling used cars KNOW that they are lying.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 13/04/2025

~5hrs to do all the "easy" bits (and write up notes of course 😛) Now on the hunt for a true Snagit alternative.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 13/04/2025

It's my annual "can I finally move to Linux" day

Photograph of my desk and computer. There are USB drives scattered around.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 09/04/2025

Just realised that at my last job I deleted more docs than I added. Oddly proud of that.

Screenshot of my GitHub contribution graph for n8n's docs repo. It shows I added 228357 lines, deleted 251472.

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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Martin Wolf is not messing around here www.ft.com/content/d96d...

The debate over whether to take Trump literally or seriously is over. He has now learnt how to be the tyrant he always wished to be.
That took a while. But, with the help he has received, he is there. His administration is engaged in a comprehensive assault on the American republic and the global order it created. Under attack domestically are the state, the rule of law, the role of the legislature, the role of the courts, the commitment to science and the independence of the universities. All these were the pillars on which US freedom and prosperity rested.
Now, he is destroying the liberal international order. Soon, I presume, Trump will be invading countries, as he proceeds to restore the age of empires.

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 03/04/2025

“As a doctor, an important way I sustain and deepen my relationships with my patients is by writing about them. This is the very process that the AI scribe asks me — or forces me — to give up.”

statnews.com

Every doctor is a writer: On the end of note-writing and meaning-making in medicine

“As a doctor who is very much a writer, I feel a sense of dread and even grief at this new option (or pressure) to outsource my note-writing to AI,” writes Christine Henneberg.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 03/04/2025

1/ Thinking first, AI second deborahwrites.com/blog/thinkin... An approach to using AI that ensures you benefit from it, without damaging your thinking skills. There's growing evidence that over-reliance on AI damages critical thinking and other key skills.

deborahwrites.com

Thinking first, AI second - Deborah Writes

An approach to using AI that ensures you benefit from it, without damaging your thinking skills.

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His Skeletoncy, the Ghoul of Hell @timhodgson.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

It is 2002. I am 18 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2008. I am 24 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2020. I am 36 years old. We are in a once-in-a-generation economic crisis. It is 2025. I am 41 years old. We are in a—

image of watchmen's doctor manhattan, a superhero who is entirely blue and nude, sitting on a rock, small in frame, on what is depicted to be a very pink version of the surface of the planet mars. he looks pensive.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 02/04/2025

1/ I'm sloooooowly making my website homepage a little more visual (WIP, not live yet) I am not enjoying this process. Why can't everyone just stick to text? 😅 I am seeing the value of AI for feedback though.

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Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

The full report by the Tony Blair Institute is out, in which they detail how copyright should be "rebooted" in the AI age. It reads like a big tech lobbying document. I hope they will be asked serious questions at its launch in London today. Some very brief highlights: 🧵 1/8

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Daniel D. Beck @ddbeck.com · 01/04/2025

Reminder: It's April 1st, so there are going to be a bunch of dumb things on the computer today.

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 01/04/2025

I got a free little book from a marketing event. It's about how to generate warm leads, using the product the book is promoting (of course). So we have a book about warm leads . . . designed to generate warm leads . . . for a product that generates warm leads. 🐢 🐢 🐢

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 31/03/2025

1/ It is possible to hold four opinions simultaneously (confusingly numbered thread incoming)

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Deborah Barnard @deborahwrites.co.uk · 31/03/2025

I'm fully aware of the relevant xkcd, but today someone is REALLY wrong on LinkedIn, in a way that means I need to quickly re-evaluate quite a significant purchase, and my goodness could people just try and be right on the internet for a while?

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⭑ salma @whitep4nth3r.com · 28/03/2025

I was very interested to read the 2024 DORA report, in particular the section about AI adoption. I wrote up my thoughts on AI and productivity, and how whilst we feel like AI is making us more productive, the data tells a different story. And no, I did not use AI to summarise the report data.

toddle.dev

Does AI really make you more productive?

Most developers are using AI for speed and productivity. But at what cost? Could AI be sacrificing software delivery metrics such as efficiency and stability?

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