iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Expecting a comparison to Nimona, the "Ladies of the Knight"-review on ComicsBeat - likely deliberately so - takes a different approach. Kathryn Hemmann added to my TBR-pile with "After all, gender doesn’t matter when you’ve got a sword in your hands". www.comicsbeat.com/ladies-of-th...

comicsbeat.com

Graphic Novel Review: LADIES OF THE KNIGHT sallies forth in shining armor

Ladies of the Knight is a thrilling sports drama whose inclusive chivalry is just as gorgeous as the colorful armor of its athletes.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

The article lists several key factors for successful books. At the same time, it makes it painfully clear how little of this success is actually left to chance. I cannot help but feel for those taking the plunge and submit themselves to these processes. www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

theguardian.com

How to make a bestseller: insiders reveal the tricks of the book trade

From cover design to shelf placement and influencer partnerships … how publishers will persuade you to buy their books this autumn

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

about a month ago a controversy concerning Tillie Walden's retelling of Sylvia Drake's and Charity Bryant's lives made headlines. Thene outlines very thoroughly in their buttondown-post, where the allegations hold water...and compelling where they do not. Long but very much worth a read.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

It hadn't really clicked that I had preferences for the Eisner Awards...something that I can't really remember feeling towards the academy awards for a long time. While I had different hopes in some categories, it is such a joy to see the celebration here, allowing to step back from everything else.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The Eisner Awards list seems to have been published in error in advance (and removed since). BleedingCool avoids names of (alleged) winners in the article. At best a mixed blessing, being able to prepare - but also so much less of everything... bleedingcool.com/comics/has-t...

bleedingcool.com

Has The Eisner Awards 2026 Winners List Leaked?

Has The Eisner Awards 2026 Winners List Leaked? It is looking like it very much might have...

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Another example how genAI is reshaping our perception, which phrasing we are willing to attribute to humans. With no reliable lithmus test in place, these systems will continue to erode trust - and invite explotation of trust by others at the same time.

theguardian.com

Short story accused of being AI-written wins overall Commonwealth prize

Jamir Nazir’s The Serpent in the Grove, which critics allege has ‘obvious markers’ of AI use, was described as ‘original, poetic and deeply moving’ by the judging chair

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Sequential art rarely makes headlines on the front page. The illustrating art by Alex Ross alone would have convinced me to click on the NY Times link, adding X-Men just made me do so faster. "X-Men: Elsewhen" as Byrne's swan song...

nytimes.com

‘X-Men’ Artist Returns to Rewrite the Story His Way

John Byrne calls “Elsewhen” his swan song

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Once again, the monthly Top 10 picks of Fiction/Non-Ficiton by America's Library Staff

libraryreads.org

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Looking at this from Cleve's point of view, the frustration is very understandable (to me). Visibility of the story vs. one's own work. As @keezyyoung.bsky.social pointed out, this could have been handled way better. Ideally beforehand. For context: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

publishersweekly.com

D&Q Defends ‘Charity & Sylvia’ from Historian’s Criticism

Rachel Hope Cleves alleges that Tilly Walden’s graphic history is an uncredited adaptation of her own book of the same name, published in 2014 by Oxford University Press, while Drawn & Quarterly says ...

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Acquaintance: -"This is my daughter Emily." Normal response: -"Hi." Reasonable for a writer, but frowned upon: -"Same as the villain in my story?" ...😐

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

interesting study on the differences of human and AI writing. AI is a) more direct with its themes b) more linear in telling the story c) focusing on body and senses, d) less likely to use real world references/break the fourth wall e) less diverse arxiv.org/pdf/2604.03136

arxiv.org

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

wow. breakfast in the hotel, someone from staff basically told a guy in business suit he should smile more. judging from the way he looked at her, not the start of the day he seemed to expect.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Comedian on stage just used the killing of a gay person from 10 yrs ago as punchline & "a Tesla bursting into flames identifies as combustion engine"... and a room of 250 ppl from upper echelons of society/industry is laughing. closing w/ a call to be different and try sth new 🤮

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Asking an AI to just change the mail address for Instagram accounts and succeeding? The appeal of integrating AI everywhere... www.404media.co/hackers-simp...

404media.co

Hackers Simply Asked Meta AI to Give Them Access to High-Profile Instagram Accounts. It Worked

The exploit shows the extreme risk of offloading technical support to AI.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Often enough, failing a deadline is without repercussions, it can be re-negotiated or by adjusting the concept of "good enough" is still somewhat met to a debatable degree... potentially with bruised egos along the way.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

They used the "about me" section on their LinkedIn profile to put in a prompt, instructing AI-spambots to use old English and address them by "My Lord". As the article points out: it's less about fun and more about AI-agents being vulnerable to being manipulated www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...

tomshardware.com

LinkedIn user hides AI prompt injection in bio to force recruitment spam to be sent in Olde English prose — bots also manipulated to address user as ‘My Lord’

This tale is also a warning that your AI agents can be manipulated in wholly unintended ways.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Wanting to avoid controversy seems a flimsy excuse, when pulling a song about LGBTQ-protests. The Plague brought in its wake the Age of Enlightenment. Somehow I am less than underwhelmed by this reboot. www.wpr.org/news/wiscons...

wpr.org

Wisconsin school board considers pulling piece from spring band concert due to LGBTQ+ history ties

Watertown High School band students have spent months preparing for their May 18 spring concert. But a piece of music will likely be struck from their set list over its history.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I loved how "Slay the Princess" tells its story. Kathryn Hemmann has a review on Comicsbeat on the released art book. She frames the art book to be like a graphic novel, highlighting how it maps the game’s branching pathways. Very intersting read.

comicsbeat.com

Graphic Novel Review: THE ART OF SLAY THE PRINCESS beckons readers into a dark labyrinth of bad decisions

The Art of Slay the Princess cleverly adapts the branching story of a hit horror game into a darkly fascinating graphic novel.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Quick intake of breath across multiple fandoms at once

Depicted is meme format with a scene from Star Wars. the capitation reads Muad'Dib quote of the day: live long and prosper.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

The last few weeks had me almost missing the regular update on the Libraries' Staff Pick of books for May.

libraryreads.org

May 2026

The Top Top Ten Adult Fiction and Nonfiction

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

For obvious reasons the list is already making its rounds, but here's the link to the Hugo Award finalists 2026. The formal ceremony will be held on August 30. Interesting to see how much the necessary votes vary between the 21 categories for a nomination. www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history...

thehugoawards.org

2026 Hugo Awards

Presented at: LAcon V, Anaheim, California, USA, August 30, 2026 Hosts: Base design: Lodestar Award trophy design: Awards Administration: Tammy Coxen, Warren Buff, Linda Deneroff, Emily January, Ro…

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

A study with over 27,000 participants just showed that humans judge creative writing more harshly, if they believe it is AI generated. From the abstract: "AI disclosure penalties about creative writing may be stubbornly difficult to mitigate, at least at this time." psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

psycnet.apa.org

APA PsycNet

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Two students have been circling each other for a while now. Today this looked like a bit of back and forth, until she grabbed the other's hand to walk together on campus. One smiling, one looking as if challenging anyone to object to them being a couple. Good for them

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I would surmise that a health data would show that stress levels spike, when returning to office from vacation. My proposition is to have mails switched off for the first week afterwards to ensure long term sanity... open to extend the suggestion to trigger on weekends as well with the same duration

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Audiobooks are currently saving my sanity. Such a hard time mustering the will to read more than a page. But having the chance to get immersed regardless? Missed that part last year very much.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

So annoyed at myself and unable to proceed at the same time. Less than 12h left until a hard deadline... and I can't get myself to work on the stuff right in front of me.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

to paraphrase Robert Jordan: intends to do so. until they nail the coffin shut.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

every time I hear center/moderate, I am reminded of the chart from the last presidential election and the evaluation by Political Compass (www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2024 ). I get the feeling that "somewhere in the middle" is not where the positions really are...

Chart of different presidential candidates in the 2024 election on a left-right and libertarian-authoritarian axis

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Completed three audiobooks just this week... not helping the looming deadline in any shape or form, but impressed by how successful a mind can get at procrastinating

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

This whole month feels like "time boarding". instead of using water, you are given just a tiny moment in-between. then you are drowned again by deadlines and forced under.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Bit of procrastination, but somewhat funny squinting at the screen trying to find differences in colors. www.keithcirkel.co.uk/whats-my-jnd/

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Slay the Spire 2 is out... The deadline next week suddenly appears very close and VERY far away...

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Content creators on Steam endure constant harassment through reviews and forums. The Guardian article points out that ineffective moderation contributes to the situation. Often framed in terms of being "anti-woke", the comments remain up despite their content.

theguardian.com

‘This shouldn’t be normal’: developers speak out about bigotry on Steam, the world’s biggest PC gaming storefront

Multiple game creators describe ineffective moderation on the platform, resulting in unchecked hatred in forums and targeted campaigns of negative ‘anti-woke’ reviews

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

I keep it brief today. The staff of the American Libraries have once again picked their choice of books for this month. Hope you find something you like. libraryreads.org/wp-content/u...

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Incidentally, we DO know, who started the fire.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

New neighbors moved in. Haven't seen them, but their kids seem to love running in and out of rooms in the last hour... Quite a contrast after having months of silence through that wall.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Trust is a difficult currency. Hard to earn, harder to keep. If placed on a bet? A lifetime might not be enough to win it back.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Konrad Zuse is attributed with the observation that the risk ist not computers becone like humans, but humans like conputers. The idea of AI-systems recruiting humans for tasks they can't do? I think I recall a movie with a similar premise. rentahuman.ai

rentahuman.ai

RentAHuman.ai - AI Agents Hire Humans for Physical Tasks

The marketplace where AI agents rent humans. MCP integration, REST API, flexible payments. Book humans for real-world tasks your AI can't do.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Interesting how avoidance of negative experiences leads to a inward-drawing behaviour, making subsequent encounters even more likely to compound in this.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

I think the steady decline in reading (for any age group) is really bad news. Granted, it is not geared to provide dopamine hits in short intervals. But this is just the wrong metric for reading - "independent thoughts sparked" is just much harder to measure. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

theguardian.com

Only 10% of boys aged 14-16 read daily for pleasure, National Literacy Trust finds

Exclusive: Report says British teenagers’ time for books is being crowded out by schoolwork, screens and sports

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Can we really be sure that through all ages, wars and whatnots, we did not lose count on the days of the week at least once? Even with horse riders and all that? What I mean is: Are we *certain* that we have to treat today as Monday?

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Currenly listening to "Stein on Writing". He quoted his mentor with "Look what you are wearing. Shirt, sweater,... everything you wear is just blue. This ist what is wrong with your writing." Looking at myself: "... Well, it isn't BLUE"

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Me: Had to Pause reading Backman's "My friends" for the moment. I found it emtionally tense to read Friend: Here, you should start Midnight Library. ...

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Was just reminded that my nephew did not re-listen to his audio books when he was young, because he did not want the artists having to go through the book more than once.

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

This can't be the same brain I used to write with in college. Nowhere near the expected length (at least 8 more full pages, due tomorrow) and I am just drained. Then again, considering how much "not working on this today" I did?...maybe it *is* the same brain -.-

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Elephant with a Pen @elephant-with-pen.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Unsure if intriguing or disappointing that sapphic and sapphire appear to be two completly unrelated words.

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