iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 1h

I think you're spot on. It also empowers you to respond to sensible arguments showing the error in your ways by just saying "you don't know what is good for you".

050

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 1h

I love how IT administrators are all "watch out for strange things on your computer" but when their enterprise management software decides to change name and start popping things up for user input they don't consider that something staff should know about. Yes, I will report it as malware 😏

000

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 2h

Mōrena koutou - Just a reminder that the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Conference 2026 is fast approaching, just over a month away. There's still plenty of room for attendees, and we have a super cool programme of speakers for you. Please boost - we'd love even more friends!

nzic2026.eventsairsite.com

Speakers

The organising committee are currently developing an amazing 2026 Conference programme.

012

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 14h

Yaaaaaaaas queen! 👑💖

030

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 17h

Have a go? Can't know unless you try and I'm pretty sure it's not just about science

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 21h

I should have given the caveat that I have no actual expertise in INNs, this is just what I've gleaned over time because I get way too interested in systematic things.

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 23h

Even the very structured IUPAC naming has regional pronunciation (amide -> ah-mid vs. ay-mide). That's before you consider that an INN could as easily contain chemistry as a placename. Who would know! This paper appears to explore some of the issues with INNs journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

journals.plos.org

Patient Safety in Medication Nomenclature: Orthographic and Semantic Properties of International Nonproprietary Names

Background Confusion between look-alike and sound-alike (LASA) medication names (such as mercaptamine and mercaptopurine) accounts for up to one in four medication errors, threatening patient safety. ...

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 23h

The way INNs are built means they have similarities to other words that may not always be evident to all users and the influence of that on the intended pronunciation is opaque. In your e.g., I identify "azo" as coming from chemistry, but I could find you chemists who would pronounce it differently

100

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 23h

I think the short answer is no. The guidelines for INN are linked. They do have some advice on pronunciation (pp 21), but nothing very specific. Not necessarily helpful. I'll bet there is an intended pronunciation, and regionally attempts to enforce one for safety's sake, but probably mostly vibes

who.int

Guidance on INN

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yeah. They're really making headlines!

060

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Did you hear about the corduroy pillows?

151

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Frankly, I think a large proportion of academia is pretty shit on all big picture issues. Blinkers on and not a murmur of complaint unless their pet project is disturbed. 😮‍💨

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When your music is rizzing you... No you're a hawt boi... 😏

A photo of the Oboe part for Vaughn Williams' Sea Songs. Under the Oboe label is the french translation "Hautbois", and when you think about that... It looks a little like hot boy

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If you had just satisfied your own curiosity this thread wouldn't exist for others to see. It's a win win ☺️

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

For sure, but equally this was academics so there are students getting polar opposite messages from supposed experts. My message is that the individual who puts info into an LLM is responsible for whatever then happens to it, but I'm not sure that is generally agreed with 😮‍💨

011

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The response I've had when suggesting to colleagues that AI use guidelines (for undergrad teaching) should include advice on copyright (don't put in what isn't yours) is that "the ship has sailed". 😐 I think that this attitude is fairly prevalent unfortunately.

210

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"The work" 😂😂 I just figured that anyone with branding that silly would have to have a pronunciation guide. xkcd.com/2819/

xkcd.com

Pronunciation

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Branding that suggests coffee, spelling that is analogous to low-fi. Bizarrely both are half right. Ko like low or no, fi like fee or the end of coffee. 💩💩💩 help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/art...

help.ko-fi.com

Beginner FAQs

Just getting started on Ko-fi? Here are some quick answers to help you earn, share your page, and make the most of Ko-fi’s features. ❤️ How do I start earning on Ko-fi?Start turning your passion in...

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I keep seeing people talking about electrons and getting all excited before I realize they're talking about elections and while that makes a lot more sense I can't help but feel a tad bereft

192

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Academics: "I'm a super serious expert in my field, and it's quite amazing" Also Academics: "Herp derp, this student's name is one letter of from a celebrity LMAO"

020

Reposted by Ben Dickson

🐶🐙Dr. Caffiend☕️😷 @captcaffiend.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

If anyone in Auckland/waikato/bay of plenty is going away over summer and would like me and the doggos to look after your place …let me know. Would prefer a longer stay (eg 6 weeks or so) but shorter might work too

0710

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Significant enough that I should crack a cold one and join you in celebration?

120

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm always perplexed by this idea that the earth travels round the sun faster if you're a dog 😉

020

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Indeed no, I was really thinking about less serious change (which is often beimg blown out of proportion and that's the main entertainment). Very much a part of a laugh so you don't cry vibe. For absolute clarity, I am not amused by redundancy.

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There's a lot of institutional change happening at Waikato right now, so plenty of opportunity for popcorn and entertainment. Academics don't like change. Change can be good or bad. Institutions inevitably bungle change. Put these three together and enjoy! Better living everyone 😏

150

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Sans the top two lines in the speech bubble this would totally be a T-shirt I would wear while teaching 😅

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I recently realized that I've been telling people my youngest is 7nfor 2 years now. She turns 9 this month 🫣🫠 Lilja, party hard but stay safe!🚨📢 🐶🎶⚡

150

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Eeep I dropped this " somewhere along the way

020

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Funny story there. I was going to say "Happy 7th Birthday Lilja, but I feels too old so then I second guessed and thought it was a 1, which seemed unlikely and then pushed Reply instead. Seeing the full image again it's obviously 7, so felicitations Lilja, you survived 7 years of mom. 🫰

330

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And we're judging you, but in a mostly good way 😅

120

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Could be, you'd know if you'd met him, he's a character. Seems like he must have been talking about someone else and the similarities are coincidental, this was someone he had gotten to know quite well.

000

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Haha, twas too good to be true! Just someone I know who lives in a similar area (based on ferry patronage), surrounded by bush and who spoke of a young couple next door with some french connection (IIRC), might have even been a psych reference but I'm fuzzy on that.

100

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is an extremely long shot, but it would be the most NZ thing ever... you don't happen to live next door to an elderly architect named John? My brain has just pulled together a whole bunch of random data points and the probability seems better than successfully navigating and asteroid field

100

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I finally got frustrated enough with a slow Windows experience to try turning off all the animations and holy frijoles, nevermind speed... I'd forgotten how much I like the clean and simple experience of things just happening. Why did I ever think I even wanted those animations!?

030

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

WFH due to school holidays, and *humble brag* current background noise is a flute and a violin doing their thing and I didn't even tell them to practice! 😍

040

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Rick Westhead's book "We Breed Lions" is a really good look at this case, and the culture around it. It's eye opening for normies, and by normies I mean people who have never considered to sex (consensual or otherwise) in front of friends isn't a great team bonding experience.

000

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I know the feeling. I feel bad even suggesting it because I know I'm overloaded, and I think this is actually one of the big issues. The burden vs. resource ratio of actual grassroots is higher than an astroturf, and so it goes.

020

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Is there some sweet soul with the spoons to start RAAPA (Real-parents Allied Against the Parents' Alliance). Love them or hate them, these people are fairly successful at starting astroturfed, and presumably the best counter to that is real grass-roots?

141

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I shouldn't forget Grant Smolenski at MS3 Solutions who came to the party in a big way with protein MS wizardry, facilitating our characterization of FGly conversion, one of the pivotal contributions of this study. Better sciencing everybody ☺️

010

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Gah! Autocorrect got me. It's Melani - No E, not Melanie just setting the record straight on which one is the typo.

000

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Arylsulfatases are fascinating enzymes with the somewhat bizarre inclusion of an aldehyde (or its hydrate) in their active site. Just the kind of puzzle to intrigue a chemist, and it's fantastic to have colleagues in molecular biology to humour me.

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My first UoW MSc student Melani kicked this off with the support of Adele Williamson and Will Kelton, and when the biology didn't behave we took a hard right turn. When Melanie finished, Adele, Will and Tapasya Pal took up the reins and drove this over the line, and for that I'm eternally grateful!

200

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I have a fun situation where my first and last names combined for a fairly common surname, and email systems the world over seem to be very good at chopping people's first name off. In addition to the spam spam, I get a LOT of genuine misdirected email, some of it very important 🫠

110

Ben Dickson @drbenomycin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Update: I also haven't read any Act or NZ First policy, but also happy to file it in the wire mesh cylindrical filing cabinet

020