iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 16/09/2026

Reading a nice post on why I should go back to Go: blainsmith.com/articles/jus...

blainsmith.com

Just Fucking Use Go - Blain Smith

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 26/08/2026

They disinvented the VCR. You might think that the reason we don't have VCRs anymore is because VCRs were supplanted by DVDs, PVRs and streaming, but that's not the case. They had it in for the VCR from the very start, and they never stopped trying to kill it. Eventually, they succeeded. 1/

A 1960s family living room in which a mom, dad and two kids are mesmerized by a cabinet-style TV. The image has been altered. The TV has an early 1990s VCR atop it. The TV screen is displaying a cross-sectioned human head with brains and spine on display. A huge fist has materialized in the room, with bloody spiked knuckle-dusters, smashing into the VCR. The oil painting over the sofa has been replaced with a pulp image of a male head, its cranium removed and replaced by a dome. Inside the dome is a red eight-segment VCR clock, displaying 12:00. The background in the painting is a tangle of cassette tape. The whole image's colors have been boosted, giving it an overexposed look.

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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 27/08/2026

In case you wanted about 3,700 words on the problems with today's "settlement" that gives Meta way more power over how the internet works than it should have.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/08/2026

The best time to have made Canada digitally sovereign would have been *before* an American president announced his intention to annex Canada and began explicitly deploying America's tech companies to attack his geopolitical adversaries. The second-best time is *now*. 52/

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BlogMyWiki @blogmywiki.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

You can play an early online version of THE MIND CHILDREN text adventure here: blogmywiki.github.io/listenwithot... Move with s, n, sw etc. remember to examine things. You can also ‘save’ and ‘restore.’

Screen shot of white ZX Spectrum style text of an adventure game called The Mind Children

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 21/08/2026

AI is alarming for many reasons: it's a dangerous financial bubble, an environmental catastrophe, and a tool for eroding wages and labor power. But in addition to all that, AI is an epistemic disaster. 1/

The North Pole at night, hand-tinted in blues and purples so it looks more like a moonscape. Protruding from the ice is the cross-sectioned head and neck of a man, his brains on display. Stepping over the leftmost mountains is a killer pulp robot, about to crush the head. Leaning against the rightmost mountains is a sneering, princely toff in a red frock coat, holding a cane that has penetrated the decapitated skull and lodged in the brains.

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Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

NEW: Flock has said for years its cameras don’t identify or track people. We obtained the code for its police AI and rebuilt parts of it. The tool can find witnesses, surface associates, search people by race or physical description, and flag vehicles by how they move. W/ @dell.bsky.social

wired.com

Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code

Flock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to confirm it goes much further than tracking license plate...

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 08/08/2026

Hardly a day goes by without my getting email from someone looking for ways to do good with tech. From computer science students thinking about post-grad careers to seasoned coders with decades of experience, there's an army of hackers looking for a way to turn their expertise into public goods. 1/

The giant head of the Statue of Liberty. Around it are many medieval machines, tended by little medieval rude mechanicals. In the background is a crosshatched architectural drawing of some classical arches and such.

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 07/08/2026

Submitting an online form for a local business, I accidentally fell into the matrix @kevlin.bsky.social

Page of beeps and boops rather than the “thanks for your input” message I was expecting to receive

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Amy Hoy @amyhoy.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

llms only “exist” to give one reply at a turn you: x llm: y then the whole process starts over. there is no continuity. each reply is 100% fresh. the context of your previous “conversation” is included, hidden from you, in every request you make. continuity is an illusion

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Grady Booch @booch.com · 14/07/2026

I say this with all due respect but simultaneously with a rage that can unmake stars, a software-intensive system that “exhibits all the cognitive capabilities that the brain has” is not “a few short years away”. x.com/demishassabi...

x.com

Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) on X

https://t.co/PTeDiv1b6L

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 09/07/2026

Lovely early birthday present with a definitely authentic, hand-written note from @doctorow.pluralistic.net himself. My favourite part is the sketch at the end shows us fighting together with Karl Marx against chatgpt

Cover of Cory’s book “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI”

Hand written note, definitely confirmed to be from the author, wishing me a happy birthday.

Second page of note showing four stick figures: Cory with a sword, me with a lightsaber? and Karl Marx with a gun, all facing off against a horse shaped chatgpt

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Cat Hicks @grimalkina.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Can you, as one person, possibly make a difference in whether an unusual, creative, category-breaking book (a book without a marketing department or a budget behind it) succeeds? Yes you can, and I'm going to tell you why it's a hell of a lot more attainable than you think.

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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 17/06/2026

AI has been foisted upon us, for sure, but one reason it lands with so many is that LLMs *feel like* a solution for loneliness/estrangement/isolation: People who crave feedback and iteration but lack the courage or social capital to get it. Showing a first draft to someone is exposure. /1

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 17/06/2026

Finally going to be checking out this new #OOP fad all the kids are talking about

Teal and black cover of a “new” second-hand hardback copy of “object oriented programming” by Peter Coad and Jill Nicola from Yourdon Press

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Chris Oldwood @chrisoldwood.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Choose pair programming Choose energised work Choose test-driven development Choose short iterations and frequent releases Choose continuous integration Choose refactoring the code to keep the design simple and malleable Choose your future. Choose XP.

The trainspotting meme about “choose life”

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Still places available for my final Refactoring out-of-hours workshop on Saturday June 20th at 09:45 BST/GMT+1 £99 + VAT for two packed hours of turning nasty code into maintainable code without the fear or the fires! www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

tickettailor.com

Essential Code Craft - Refactoring – Zoom, Multiple dates and times - Tues June 16th & Sat June 20th £99 + UK VAT Refactoring is a foundational skill for software developer...

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Finally, July 7-9, my flagship 3-day Code Craft workshop - 17 years in the making - goes on its final voyage. I appreciate this one will require your boss's approval. But it's HALF-PRICE until midnight tonight if you book online if you can expense it. codemanship.co.uk/codecraft.html

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

If your employer won't invest in training you in software engineering fundamentals, I'm running out-of-hours workshops especially for self-funding learners. Coming up: May 12 & 16 - Specification By Example May 19 & 23 - Test-Driven Development Register here: www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

tickettailor.com

Codemanship

Codemanship – Professional-quality, reasonably-priced instructor-led training workshops for self-funding software developers investing in the...

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Rhianna Pratchett @rhi.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Happy birthday, Dad. Wish you were here. You’d know what to do. Or at least you’d know what to write. ❤️

Terry and Rhianna Pratchett dressed up for the launch of Dodger in 2012.

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 27/04/2026

Thought for the day: Paper plans don’t necessarily need to compile without error.

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Improve communication, build shared understanding & reduce avoidable rework with Specification By Example. Live out-of-hours training for self-funding developers, product managers, UX designers, testers and other software design stakeholders. May 12 & 16 www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 17/04/2026

Zohran Mamdani is so unamerican he wants the country of Iran to be Mayor of New York after him #sad

Screenshot from insta of Mamdani saying “When I ran for mayor…”

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 15/04/2026

Really enjoying the new productivity gains in Microsoft Teams where you can now reply to yourself with handy suggestions @kevlin.bsky.social #Perfect #Great #ThankYou

Redacted teams conversation with three suggested responses but no response from the other person that should prompt them.

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

In software development, the limits of team size are the limits of effective coordination - whether it's a team of humans or AI agents. Don't act surprised. We've known this for more than 50 years. codemanship.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/t...

codemanship.wordpress.com

The Mythical Agent-Month

Psst. If your boss won’t invest in training you in Test-Driven Development, I’m running out-of-hours workshops on April 7 and 11 specifically for self-funding learners. £99 + UK VAT. One of the mor…

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Jason Gorman @jasongorman.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Test-Driven Development has shortened lead times, improved reliability and reduced recovery times for thousands of teams, with and without AI. Get a hands-on introduction to TDD next week for just £99 + VAT. That's about 1 month of Claude Max. www.tickettailor.com/events/codem...

tickettailor.com

Essential Code Craft - Test-Driven Development – Zoom, Multiple dates and times - Our new Essential Code Craft training workshops are aimed at software developers who are self-funding their profession...

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Twonks @twonks.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

The Jetsons lied to us

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

In honor of Mr. Rogers’ birthday, here’s your regularly scheduled reminder that the quote of his you keep sharing, that in times of crisis we should look for the helpers, was for his audience of children. We’re adults now. We’re supposed to *be* the helpers.

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Ron Jeffries @ronjeffries.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/03/2026

RE: mastodon.social/@GeePawHill/1162181… Quite possibly your last opportunity. Recommended.

mastodon.social

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 11/03/2026

For everyone who enjoys a null reference exception, take a moment to mourn the passing of Tony Hoare en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Ho...

en.wikipedia.org

Tony Hoare - Wikipedia

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

So apparently grammarly stole my fuckin identity

Expert Review
All suggestions
SM
Shannon Mattern
Professor of Anthropology and expert in infrastructures and maintenance cultures; author of Maintenance and Care
SJ
Steven Jackson
Associate Professor of Information Science, key theorist on maintenance and 'broken world thinking'
NE
Nathan Ensmenger
Historian of computing, expert on legacy software and the sociology of programming; author of The Computer Boys Take Over
MH
Marie Hicks
Historian of technology, expert on gendered labor and institutional persistence in computing; author of Programmed Inequality
HS
Helen Sword
Professor and expert in academic writing, author of Stylish Academic Writing
JW
Joseph M. Williams
Writing scholar and co-author of Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace

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tante @tante.cc · 03/03/2026

The answer to problems in sociotechnical systems is not always "more software", "better software" or "open source software". A lot of the time the best solution is _less software_ and sometimes even _no software_.

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Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work. This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public. Please spread the word. 🧵 1/4

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Paul Lukas has outdone himself today, and I've been reading him since 1994. No piece could be more Lukasian. There's no paywall on it and it's just delightful. open.substack.com/pub/paulluka...

open.substack.com

H-Bomb: A Frank Lloyd Wright Typographic Mystery

The famed architect made a surprising error on one of his most notable buildings — or did he? A deep dive to uncover the truth.

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 19/02/2026

@misterabk.bsky.social reminded of the audiobook of Wind in the Willows read by Kenneth Williams. Two audio tapes and so much more cosy and with less Pan

Inlay card for the audio tape for Wind in the willows

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Mallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 17/02/2026

People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology

She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

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Omg. WTF is Happening? @lalahaenzy.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

preorder To Catch A Fascist today, in stores on Tues, let’s make this thing a bestseller www.simonandschuster.com/books/To-Cat...

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Derek Graham @deejaygraham.github.io · 01/02/2026

All my old bands got back together without me?!?

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