iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I guess a political movement that's gerrymandering willy-nilly, changing rules to decimate voter rolls of (presumed) opponents, using deepfake AI videos to have opponents say things they didn't, and generally treating democracy as a full-contact sport where only winning matters, then this fits well.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Breaking News: Well-made, self-contained #BBC drama with clear story arcs, a definite end, no postponed denouement, and no requirement for further continuity cancelled after just one series! Outrageous!

Headline from The Independent newspaper on the non-renewal of a TV drama that totally didn't need one and, in fact, closed off the need for one with its fully-realised story arcs

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ouch! Our poor visiting fox 🦊 seems to have picked up an injury. 😢 We'll be keeping an eye out for them now. #GardenFox #InjuredWildlife

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It reminded me to get hold of the similar, if more parochial, table of ocean 🌊 profiles of the elements ... agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... (Although I can't find a more global ocean version of this - does one exist?)

A bitmap version of the central Period Table published in ... https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97EO00148

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

This isn't @theonion.com but it looks like it should be. Credit to Trump for continuing to break the "jumping the shark" record with no end in sight ... thanks to the perpetual credulousness of the US electorate.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Don't you love *eventually* getting to the bottom of a potentially #DeepTime taxonomic mystery that you fleetingly paid attention to 12 years ago and posted to Facebook? (Because that's my jam on Facebook - esoteric 🌊 biological BS to show my high school friends that I remained a total swot.)

Facebook posting. Full text is: " Taxonomy fans - maybe the #Ediacaran fauna didn't all go the way of the dinosaurs ... http://t.co/c0tGsxfRGm "

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A colleague (thanks @ledm.bsky.social) sent this snippet along about the perils of using AI detectors to flush out #LLM ghostwriters. Anyway, it gave me the (obvious) idea of shoving my own 1998 🌊 thesis [*] through #ChatGPT to see if I passed the #Voight-Kampff test 🤖 ...

A snippet of a LinkedIn post talking about the experience of putting pre-LLM thesis text through a AI detector and discovering that it was written by time-travelling AIs

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Eclipse, Southampton, 2026. The first is filtered through the glasses that my partner brilliantly sourced late in the day. The second is filtered through a welder's filter that a fellow eclipse-watcher was kind enough to share.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Why @yougov.co.uk, when questioning on a factual matter for which the answer is known, do you then not inform your respondents of the correct answer afterwards? It's useful to understand how many are ignorant, but not telling them point-blank borders on disinformation. And skips a teachable moment.

One of today's daily questions from YouGov, including the breakdown of the response from polled citizens

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I think we've a lead contender for "Climate Asshat of the Year, 2026" ... Who, except for the most mendacious, rabble-rousing shill, would think that now - while Europe, and even the UK, is on fire - is a good time to downplay the #ClimateEmergency? (All screengrabs from today's @telegraph.co.uk)

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

*Clearly* the missing plot here is the consumption of ice creams (and possibly ice lollies) across this period, which would transparently indicate a relationship between environmental drivers, the resulting poor dietary choices, and excess deaths. The rolling #ClimateEmergency need not be invoked. 🤫

Plot of daily deaths and mean temperature taken from the Interim heat mortality monitoring report, England: May and June 2026 ... https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/interim-heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-may-and-june-2026/interim-heat-mortality-monitoring-report-england-may-and-june-2026

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This flow chart looks very familiar. Could it be that there's a deep symmetry between posting to social media and adding a process to a marine biogeochemistry model? 🌊

A flow chart from Martin et al. (2024; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110870) outlining whether one should include a process in a marine biogeochemical model. Or not. It's mostly *not*.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

It's not like they haven't taken science wildly out of context to pretend they're the good guys before ...

An image from a "CO2 is Life" disinformation campaign misusing basic scientific information about plant growth and CO2 concentrations to justify their core business activity as beneficial to the Earth

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Today in stupid daily questions from @yougov.co.uk ... I'm skeptical about e-scooters being legal on roads (largely because they're often ridden by underage children or irresponsible morons), but if they're made illegal all that'll happen is they'll ride on the pavements and hit pedestrians.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Forgot to add that we (thanks to Alexandra) have an ace infographic to explain the work ...

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

But *where* @microsoft.com Word?!? I know it's my own goddamn fault but a little help, please!

A screengrab of MS Word's "Another comment is in progress" message

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Alternative headline: "Scam artist forces unwilling electorate to pay AGAIN for his grand-standing"

Link to article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn0v9l9x0g8t

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I shouldn't use Grok, but I'm too angry.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

@apod.shinyakato.dev - this better not be about to arrive here! We've had enough in the UK and can't take any more! 🥵 🥵 🥵 apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26062...

Still from today's Astronomy Picture of the Day: "SDO Observes a Coronal Mass Ejection"

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Gratuitous BORIS-2 photo (IYKYK)

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Not even to get paid by us to clean-up our mess? Our 2024 coastal #OAE study specifically flagged that the best locations were in the #GlobalSouth and that they *might* be able to cash-in. What we wrote to qualify this is weak given traditional exploitation, but there *could* be a revenue stream. 🌊

A plot showing a colour-coded ranking of coastal sites for OAE mCDR potential. Red coloured regions are the best 50% of locations, while blue coloured regions the worse 50% of locations. (There are some subtleties in this plot that the paper explains better.)

Text: As an aside, it is noticeable that much of the OAE capacity simulated here lies within marine areas associated with “Global South” nations. This potentially opens up a new revenue stream for such countries, but also raises the spectre of exploitation by developed nations (cf. fisheries; Belhabib & Le Billon, 2022), so any such use of OAE should require proper engagement with local communities and authorities (e.g., Gurney et al., 2021).

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

@microsoft.com - Does this screen serve any purpose whatsoever? I've yet to notice any change despite years of making different choices. I tick the box and say "Yes" purely as a Pavlovian reflex to Windows dialogues, but without any conscious expectation that, this time, things will be different.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Translated: Uninhibited moron who needlessly started the latest round in decades-long fight between implacable foes begs for them to knock it off as realisation dawns that a painful "forever war" is annihilating his polling.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Two can play at that game ...

A Reform campaign image altered using Gemini AI to impose an appropriate new background. In this case, to a Hieronymus Bosch hellscape.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Is there maybe, like, a made-up symbol that you can use to make this easier? I know that didn't work out all that well for Prince, but maybe second-time lucky? (Here's what Copilot suggested ...)

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

*Exactly* like the A-Team!

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Humans really are the worst.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

For reference, I think this is a before and after for last night's Moon. Now, is this my phone just applying context independent AI filtering, or is it using context dependent "reimagining" based on its training data?

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I took a snap of the Moon last night using my Pixel 10 Pro's 100x zoom capability (10x optical + digital). Looking on the screen, the image was extremely messy and noisy, but the result was pretty impressive. After the AI post-processing, all I've done is crop to a square for Instagram.

A picture of the Moon taken from my back garden using my mobile phone

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I suspect I'm not the only person to do this today ... #RoboPope

ChatGPT prompt and response. Prompt: "Beyond administrative tasks, what sort of sector-specific roles could AI play for religious organisations such as the Catholic Church?"

Summary response from ChatGPT on specific tasks AI would be well-suited for in the church ...

1. Theological and Doctrinal Analysis
AI could rapidly analyse and cross-reference centuries of Church teaching to support theological research and doctrinal clarification.

2. Canon Law Support
AI could assist with interpreting canon law, locating precedents, and helping process legal and tribunal cases more efficiently.

3. Pastoral Guidance Triage
AI could answer routine faith questions, recommend spiritual resources, and direct people to clergy when human care is needed.

4. Liturgical Preparation Support
AI could help clergy prepare homilies and liturgical materials by supplying relevant scripture links, commentary, and seasonal context.

5. Historical Archive Preservation
AI could digitise, restore, translate, and analyse historical Church documents to improve access and scholarship.

6. Global Language Mediation
AI could enable accurate translation and communication across the Church’s many languages and cultural contexts.

7. Ethical and Social Policy Modelling
AI could simulate likely social outcomes of emerging technologies or policies to inform Church ethical teaching.

8. Vocational Discernment Assistance
AI could provide reflective guidance tools for people discerning religious, marital, or lay vocations.

9. Institutional Risk and Integrity Monitoring
AI could detect patterns indicating safeguarding, governance, or financial problems before they escalate.

ChatGPT response on what AI probably shouldn't do for the church ...

What AI probably shouldn’t do

Theologically, there are roles the Church would likely resist delegating:

- Hearing confession
- Giving sacramental absolution
- Issuing doctrinal rulings
- Acting as spiritual director without human oversight
- Replacing homiletic discernment entirely

Catholic theology places strong weight on embodied human mediation, sacramentality, and personal conscience formation. Those don’t map cleanly onto machine systems.

So the likely future is:

AI as an extraordinarily capable ecclesial instrument, but not a spiritual authority.

That distinction is probably where the Church would draw its line.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

It's not immediately clear to me how a duck 🦆 will help with the old station roof at Woking Station ...

Sign reads: "Fragile roof covering: use duck or roof ladders ..."

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I want to know who this "Comrade Ogilvy" was who was rather skilfully inserted into this photograph. While I missed him on my first glance, once you spot the joins and note the shadow on his face that only he has ... Does anyone know who this mystery man is, and - more importantly - who he replaced?

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

I was particularly intrigued by this accompanying photograph showing a rather dapper James not long after he joined NIO. Partly because it shows a very male oceanography very different to the one my career has mostly taken place in, but mostly because the photo has a substituted face in it!

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Reform winning Havering would be a case of nominative determinism were the council in Scotland.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I don't know if we even do stuff like this on @bsky.app but, for those who celebrate, ... May The Fourth Be With You #StarWars #MayTheFourth #AIArt

AI generated abstract artwork based on a self-taken photograph. Shows a stylised version of the Star Wars character Princess Leia Organa.

AI generated abstract artwork based on a self-taken photograph. Shows a stylised version of the Star Wars character Ahsoka Tano.

AI generated abstract artwork based on a self-taken photograph. Shows a stylised version of the Star Wars character Reva Sevander, Third Sister.

AI generated abstract artwork based on a self-taken photograph. Shows a stylised version of the Star Wars character Hera Syndulla.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

First up, an overview from our PI, (Dapper) Dan Jones ...

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Adrian Glover of the @nhm.org kicks off the #SMARTEX project's science / policy meeting on #DeepSeaMining ...

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Overfamiliar adventures in science reviewing ... 1. Woefully wrong field ✅ 2. Implausible turnaround time ✅ 3. Journal you've never heard of ✅ Surprise - it's #MDPI!

A screengrab of the following text taken from an email soliciting a review: To publish the latest research without delay, we ask that reviews are completed within 1 week; however, you may accept and suggest an alternative completion date at the following link:

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Reader: these topics are not related. @forbes.com - I think you need to work on the way your advertising "breaks the fourth wall" by nonsequituring from a serious article into clickbait about quackery, Khols (who?) and stools 💩 (FFS!).

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Nothing says "totally legit" like a (self-described) "renowned international journal" using a gmail address for submissions ...

A snippet from an email soliciting submissions to a "renowned international journal" ... that seems to be run out of a gmail account

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

One definitely gets the impression that the "markets" are as thick as pig sh*t if they *still* don't understand what kind of asshat they're dealing with here. I thought they were supposed to be our omniscient overlords who understood the world in ways us mere mortals could not?

Headline: Business - Oil price rises as markets question durability of Middle East ceasefire

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Also, nice to see the Israelis informing a nation's citizens to avoid public transport (= civilian infrastructure = war-crime appropriate infrastructure) ... via an online post that they can't possibly receive because they're in the middle of a record-breaking internet outage. Nice.

Reporting of the Israeli military "warning" Iranian citizens via a medium that they can't actually use.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

I don't recall hearing which term in the Drake Equation the ongoing Artemis mission is specifically addressing.

Guardian headline and subtitle : "Chance of alien life ‘goes to heart’ of space missions, Nasa chief says
Jared Isaacman says odds of evidence we are not alone are ‘pretty high’ four days after Artemis II rocket lifted off"

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

For completeness, here's the "before" ...

The top glass panel after it was originally created but before it was fired in the kiln.

All three glass panels after they were originally created but before they were fired in the kiln.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Super-pleased with how my glass works turned out after several hours at several hundred degrees in the kiln of my tutor. Lacking inspiration, my theme was an anti-Viridis colour map.

Three mounted glass panels in a frame and displayed in a garden.

Close-up of the top mounted glass panel from the frame.

Close-up of the middle mounted glass panel from the frame.

Close-up of the bottom mounted glass panel from the frame.

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

At this point there is literally no #AprilFools gag that I could be told about the US tomorrow that I would not take at face value. Another thing this #OrangeAsshat has messed up for us.

An AI image of a batshit-o-meter running from 0 to Trump

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

I don't think that the slogan "Reform Will Fix It" has quite the ring to it that Farage thinks it does ...

Screen grab of Reform rally in Sunderland

AI art of "Nig'll Fix It" channeling an altogether different "Fix It" ...

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Andrew Yool @dryool.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Cowards, eh? And this from "President Bone Spurs" too. Who'd have thunk it?

Screengrab from the Guardian showing the headline "Trump calls Nato allies 'cowards' ..."

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