iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 11m

The real question is whether they'll just keep rolling and 460 years from now we'll swing by Revel Grove for the Maryland Millenaissance Faire.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 37m

Something I didn't appreciate about the Maryland Renaissance Faire until today is that they've been running a 30+ year real time performance of the life and wives of Henry VIII. They started with 1509 and every year the Faire bumps up another year.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It is kind of ridiculous how good the D&D cookbooks are. Third one just came out and, once again, it punches way above its weight for what could have easily been a gimmick. Great recipes, great instructions. Fun fantasy flair.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Increasingly convinced that the real goal of this AI/Tech/Longtermism Cult is to trap the C'tan Shard of the Void Dragon on Mars so that they can worship the Omnissiah in this, our bad Warhammer 40K fanfiction-ass present.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

On a more serious note, the (still slow) recovery of marine mammal populations thanks to the end of large scale industrial whaling means that we will have more frequent encounters with large whales. That's generally a good thing. Sometimes... not so good.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Important piece of marine science nuance: when a shark attacks a human, it's almost always an unintentional encounter. Sharks do not think about you, at all. When a whale strikes a ship, it is almost always intentional. They know us. They understand us. And they remember what we did.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

My Chaotic Neutral D&D Necromancer trying to explain to the party why he's the Lawful Good one because they keep killing things and he's the only one that cares about bring them back.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It was the sadistic murder of mariners at sea that compelled me to write this for the Hill: To rebuild trust in maritime policy, the US must ratify the Law of the Sea thehill.com/opinion/nati...

thehill.com

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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Trump and Hegseth have killed 230+ people on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific with no proof they did anything wrong, no congressional approval, no nothing. Just 2 unhinged fascists ordering our military to commit murder. Vote against all Republicans for the sake of all that is decent.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's so frustrating. 'Weird' was such a great framing because A: you absolutely know these ghouls are huge weirdoes (derogatory) and B: it doesn't work on Democrats because the best response to being called 'weird' (laudable) is "Hell yeah, brother!"

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When Whalefall comes out, Ocean Science Bluesky is going to be amazing. Looks like I'll be in Woods Hole during opening weekend.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Other states besides Texas with voter registration deadlines over the next 7 days: Arkansas, Arizona, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana , Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, South Carolina.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Rural log cabin dweller. I don't know a single parent out here who wouldn't be thrilled at the idea of free day care. The thing free day care offers to stay at home parents is... free daycare! A thing that makes it easier to handle the rest of the homestead chores.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I needed new brushes and, by chance, Turbo Dork just came out with a new set. Synthetic, but allegedly better than most and the whole set is cheaper than two of the tortured weasel brushes I cling to long past replacement time.

A miniature with a set of brushes behind it.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

So far every "compelling use case" I've seen for using AI agents to manage your life is just some version of "what if you could be the 'innie' from Severance?"

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Dr Mark Hartl @drmhartl.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Features the first of two SMARTEX expeditions to the CCZ, a site earmarked for major #DeepSeaMining operations. #smartexccz howdeepisyourlovedoc.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I had thought a lot about how AI slop would make fake ones more likely and had perhaps insuffiiently considered how climate change might make real ones more likely

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Emily Gorcenski @emily.gorcen.ski · 28/09/2026

Here’s the most incredible story you’ll read today. A small plane with four people aboard crashes in a field. Another pilot witnesses it. That pilot happens to be flying a bunch of skydivers. They offer to jump to assist, are given permission. The skydivers happen to be EMTs. Everyone survives.

wisn.com

Skydivers alert emergency crews, assist after plane crashes near East Troy airport

Four people were aboard the single-engine plane when it went down in a cornfield near Carvers School Road in East Troy at about 1:30 p.m.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Finished another weird little guy for my army of just the worst little guys. Technically, the general of my weird little guy army. #Warhammer

Warhammer Gringrack the Loonking mini painted on a custom base.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Deep in their evolutionary history, gastropods underwent a process called 'torsion' in which their digestive track folded back in on itself such that the anus exits directly above the head in nearly all snails. For this reason, I am afraid most snails identify with the Rationalist community.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/09/2026

Hey, ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson here. I’m taking over the account to tell you about my new story. For months, I posed as a problem gambler on DraftKings to test the company's "responsible gaming" safeguards. Spoiler alert: They made me a VIP — and I lost $10K. Here's how it all went down. 🧵

Selfie taken by ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson, a man wearing a backwards baseball cap and an orange T-shirt.

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Earth Journalism Network @earthjournalism.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

⏰🌊 Reminder! Join our free webinar on Oct 6 to sharpen your skills for covering deep seabed mining — one of the world's most elusive industries. Learn how to cover this murky, fast-moving beat: loom.ly/5TpGe78

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

There are a lot of cogent criticism of this response, but also, if you just hand a Ferrari to someone who "knows how to drive" they are going to wrap it around a tree, if you're lucky.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Every couple of years the GOP picks a random left wing dude with a nice niche following and absolutely loses their mind over him. He seems like a decent enough guy, but I have never heard him mentioned once outside the right wing echo chamber.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Library D&D night DMing for a table of extremely creative 10-year-olds continues to be the best night of the month.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is exactly where I am landing. All these anhiliationist cults, from AI to Apocalyptic Evangelism, are just excuses for not taking meaningful action on the real actual threats facing our world that we have to live with.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Happy Old Diver Day to those who say... nothing!

Tombstone for Augustus McGuire (Old Diver) who died September 1913 offshore of Ocracoke island.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I know we've had a lot of election cycles of "is it finally time for Blue Texas?" and all polls are wrong (but some polls are useful), but polls like this mean the GOP is going to have to fight for Texas, and that means less resources for other races. Make them fight for every seat.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Loom. I replayed it with my daughter recently and the game is still pure magic. LucasArts had an amazing run.

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Dr. Dawn Wright @deepseadawn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This story of the resilience and courage of a young pelican, who "asked" at a NOAA lab for help, and GOT it, is my feel-good story of the month 🥺 🦑 🌊 🧪 wapo.st/4roaN8r

wapo.st

Scientists heard a knock at the door. It was a pelican in need of help.

“This is kind of just a once-in a-lifetime experience,” said marine researcher Annsli Hilton.

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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

He is not wrong. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported 68 attacks that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law" - United Nations Special Rapporteur on U.S. Killing “Narco-Terrorists” at Sea www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

30 years ago the idea of an athlete participating in sports betting was so taboo that they made Michael Jordan play baseball.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

100 million years ago a chunk of ocean basin uplifted to form the island of Cyprus. Within this formation were copper deposits made by ancient hydrothermal vents. As they mined these vents, the people domesticated a small feral predator to control rodents. The first record of domestic cats.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The deal is "historic" in-as-much as it is functionally the same as the 1951 treaty.

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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

whoooo wants to go to grad school for MOLLUSK SYSTEMATICS? Please, someone do it, our malacologist is retiring soon

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026

part of this is obviously national political conditions but don't underrate the extent to which a bunch of these incumbent republicans have never had to run a competitive general election campaign and basically do not know how to do it

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It's probably better framing to think off these guys as 19th century robber barons than some scions of New Tech. They're running the same boring playbook and we don't even get railroads out of it.

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is the funniest feature of Book Hive.

screenshot showing the Wicked and the Warped as the most popular book I've read this year and Geopolitics of the Deep Oceans as the least popular.

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Senator Tim Kaine @kaine.senate.gov · 17/09/2026

This is a massive mistake. The Chesapeake Bay plays a critical role in Virginia's economy and seafood industries, and we must take steps to protect the waters and shores of the region. I'm going to do everything I can to fight this. www.wboc.com/news/trump-a...

wboc.com

Trump Administration repeals Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order

President Trump is repealing an executive order from 2009 dedicated to protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

COBRA Webinar – Sep 29, 2026 3–4:30PM EDT Deep-Sea Mining Sediment Plumes, Dr. Thomas Peacock (MIT) This presentation reviews the current state of knowledge for plumes from polymetallic nodule, seafloor massive sulfide, and cobalt-crust mining operations cobra.bigelow.org/cobra-webina...

cobra.bigelow.org

COBRA Webinar - September 29, 2026 - COBRA: Crustal Ocean Biosphere Research Accelerator

COBRA Webinar Series, September 29, 2026

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

If you’re in the Washington, DC area join me the Monday of Thanksgiving week to celebrate the launch of my second book. Ocean geek chic dress code.

Flier for my event noting that it will include a brief presentation from me followed by book sales and signings

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Julian Jackson @allatsea.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This research paper correctly (IMHO) argues that #Deepseamining🪸⛏️ would only ever likely be additive to terrestrial mining -and therefore not offset any of the woes of terrestrial mining -(a simplistic argument that proponents make). www.nature.com/articles/s44...

nature.com

The false promise of deep-sea mining - npj Ocean Sustainability

npj Ocean Sustainability - The false promise of deep-sea mining

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Andy Whitmore @more-whit.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"On a day marking the anniversary of the United States agreeing to respect Samoan property rights, the Trump administration had announced it was proceeding with a plan to allow deep-sea mining in the waters of American Samoa" grist.org/energy/deep-seabed-mining-pacific-trump-guam-guerrero-samoa/

grist.org

She governs a US territory. But she has no say in who mines its waters.

Modern-day colonialism is enabling Trump's deep sea mining ambitions in the Pacific.

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