iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 9h

Huh. Today in "always look up the etymology because sometimes you're just repeating a myth but sometimes it's weirder and more incredible than you could have possibly imagined" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/c...

Screenshot of Merriam Webster etymology note for cockamamie:
By the look and sound of it, cockamamie (also spelled "cockamamy") could have something to do with a rooster and the outrageous sound it makes. But in fact, cockamamie is believed to be an altered form of the term decalcomania, which refers to the process, invented in the mid-19th century, of transferring pictures and designs from specially prepared paper to surfaces such as glass or porcelain. (The word referring to the picture or design itself, decal, is a shortening of decalcomania.) The word decalcomania comes from French, with décalcomanie combining the verb décalquer, meaning "to trace" or "to transfer by tracing," and -manie, meaning "-mania." Starting in the 1930s, painted strips of paper with images capable of being transferred to the skin were called decals or—in children's slang—cockamamies. Those familiar with today's temporary tattoos will understand quickly that these were regarded by many as silly novelties, lending the word cockamamie the necessary leeway for application to anything ridiculous.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 18h

And with that, I'm off for the rest of the day. I don't know about you, but the news feels so bad-weird to me that I'm having trouble getting my head around it... Going out for soup dumplings and noodles with the family 🎉🥟🍜🎂🎉—celebrating another trip around the sun for yrs truly.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 18h

In today's post—ty @lifewinning.com . And a felicitous 1st page to open to! 33 Thomas St. was a stop as my friend Robin & I biked across NYC summer 2025. She's been inside!!!

33 Thomas is probably one of the more haunting-looking buildings on the city landscape. Another AT&T Long Lines building, it was completed in 1974 at a time when many of the operations previously performed by switchboard operators had been automated into machine tasks

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 21h

Leaves are starting to turn.

Maple tree with some gold and orange foliage. Most leaves are still green.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Speaking as one who is moved by cave art and is heartsick about the likely Fed vandalism in the Lower Pecos, THIS!

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sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The problem with AI art is that it's human only in the sense that Soylent Green is people.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Seconding syrphid/hoverfly!

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Love me some Doug and Augie!!!!!

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Also v excited about @debcha.bsky.social 's upcoming TACTILE!

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Ethan Hein @ethanhein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Excited to learn that @debcha.bsky.social is writing another book because her last one, How Infrastructure Works, is a banger

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Deb Chachra @debcha.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Some news: I’m (officially!) writing another book, tentatively titled TACTILE: MATTER, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE WORLD WE MAKE, working again my brilliant editor @armadilloproxy.bsky.social at @riverheadbooks.bsky.social. I wrote a bit more about it at my newsletter: buttondown.com/metafoundry/...

Publishers Marketplace
Deal Report

TACTILE
By Deb Chachra
Imprint: Riverhead

Materials scientist, design educator, and author of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS Deb Chachra's TACTILE, an articulation of the irreplaceable value of the material world and why the ways we interact with physical objects matter more than ever in a digital age, to Courtney Young at Riverhead, in an exclusive submission, by Zoe Pagnamenta at Calligraph (world).

Rights: tdussel@penguinrandomhouse.com

Non-fiction: Science/Technology

September 22, 2026

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

She's not wrong! Then again, neither are you.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

OMG! Was just thinking about STI Blixen!! Obv bcause of your youtube ep. I still like West With the Night/Beryl Markham tho 🙃.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Some of the voters with the ability to weigh in on the Senate race, unlike in other states!

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Absolutely superb. I knew about the Hut Tax (centuries ago I got an ecomomics degree) and rinderpest (I like when diseases are eliminated), but the other plagues were new to me. Thank you! Also, anyone who gets too swoony about Out of Africa should be required to watch this ep.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Ooo the Happy Valley set! Time for a re-watch of White Mischief!! *goes immed to Sarah's youtube*

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Today is World Cassowary Day! The 12yo likes specificity so of the 3 species he’s declaring a Southern Cassowary Appreciation Day. Personally I appreciate that they are terrifying. Endangered in Australia there remains a healthy population in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

enviroblog.net

World Cassowary Day 2026: Celebrating the Rainforest's Keystone Gardener 🎥

Every 26 September, conservationists, schools, zoos and nature lovers mark World Cassowary Day — a chance to celebrate one of the planet's most extraordinary birds and spread the word about why it mat...

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Happy Chuseok to all! I love all harvest festivals.

Scopely Explorer announced on the 28th that it will host the 'Pikachu's Autumn Picnic 2026' event in South Korea, introducing Pikachu in an orange hanbok for the very first time in the country. The event is split into a region-specific autumn picnic and a nationwide Korean outing.

First, the 'Pikachu's Autumn Picnic 2026' event will run from September 18 to October 11 across select areas in Jongno-gu and Jung-gu, Seoul, as well as the HiKR Station at Incheon International Airport. During this period, the orange hanbok-wearing Pikachu, celebrating traditional Korean aesthetics, will make its debut appearance through raid battles, field research, and timed research rewards.

screenshot of a moon phase app showing a full moon today

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

There are a bunch of good movies leaving the Criterion Channel EOM and my ILL of The Rouse came in yesterday, so I'm v well supplied with hunker-down-for-the-storm* activities. *is it a noreaster? is it a tropicalish storm? ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Tempted to zip down to the beach to watch waves and surfers. It being a Saturday, though, I probably won't. Too many other folks will be doing the same thing.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Ok I lied. Going to try for a hanbok Pikachu.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Not saying that a bunch of second and third tier preps folding will have the impact that a higher ed crisis might, but some of these schools are important to the local economy.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Also prep schools (oops, INDEPENDENT schools), at least in New England. Quite a few have a significant ESL population—kids who are paying full boat plus addl fees to polish language skill before US college. No college? Why bother!

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Quote-skeeting with the only song that, imho, holds a candle to Prisencolinensinainciusol: youtu.be/FhAfXTzR2rQ?...

youtu.be

WKRP End Theme

YouTube video by 11db11

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I thought I recognized the song from @dieworkwear.bsky.social 's clip, and I did! Yay, me? Definitely yay, Prisencolinensinainciusol!!

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.

10381172815

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Chris Cantwell @cdc29.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My first post explores the people John James #Audubon enslaved, and so far as I've been able to tell this may be the first time these names have been put to print. My hope is that it is the first of many post on the histories behind the birding world /end avianamericana.substack.com/p/a-is-for-a...

avianamericana.substack.com

A is for Audubon

Or, what how I spent my summer vacation.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Look at the size of that bumble's aster! #nativeplants

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

seasonal analogy: katmai bear:salmon::me:late season tomato sandwich

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Can't wait to dive in—just now opening to a page at random: ❤️🙌🤜🤛

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Good mail day! I'm probably too old to build & ride a tall bike (I take too long to heal nowadays), but "just make stuff you're passionate about" is always a welcome message.

The cover of the Zenga Bros. "Be a Fool".

Interior pages of "Be a Fool", showing a human perch.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

1) this should not be happening to the FiL 2) scumbag LePage voted for and enabled it

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James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

First ballot entry into the "leopards eating faces" Hall of Fame:

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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

As shocking as this case is I know @czedwards.bsky.social is shaking their head at the same thing I am - this is some PISS POOR MONEY LAUNDERING. Check 1001 of a brand new account? Jesus we used to be a proper country.

A check made out for
$150,000 to Susan Collins’s
PAC, check number 1001

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

TX:Whattaburger::NM:Blake's::CA:In-N-Out

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Child: This is my first time meeting a mayor. Mamdani: Wow, have you ever met a prime minister? Child: No Norway PM Jonas Gahr Støre: *walks over*

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The 70s Guy @stevenw888.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Born 22 Sept 1943, Toni Basil, US singer actress & dancer (1982 US No.1 single 'Mickey'). She worked as David Bowie's choreographer on his Diamond Dogs tour & on his Glass Spider tour. In 1980 she choreographed, and co-directed with David Byrne, the music video for "Once in a Lifetime". #ToniBasil

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

this is full of meaning

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Second vote for Leroy & Lewis. And onagiri at Asahi Market.

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John P @drhypercube.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

All hail Count Louis Zborowski! youtu.be/Qlh_P4K_zzU...

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