iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Jandal really innovating out in these Tāmaki streets (kicks for scale)

Photo of a single, angled black line spray painted onto sidewalk utility access lid to form Jandal’s iconic tag

Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Mike Jones @mikejonesphd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Updating a course reading list for an archives and information management subject. The week with the most broken links so far? Digital preservation 🙃

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

"Retro tech is not about nostalgia. It’s about resistance. Evading the technologies of capture, attention hacking, and dispossession. Resisting the forced hardware upgrades, the shuttered platform logins, and myriad forms of “progress” sold to us as the next new thing to appease the shareholders."

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Much richer article penned by an actual human about a month ago (thanks Sammy!) perhaps best summed up by film critic @danslevin.funeralsandsnakes.net: “Streaming's been around long enough now that we're starting to realise the rot of it...”

rnz.co.nz

The viewers ditching streaming 'rot' in favour of DVDs

A survey suggests streaming subscription numbers are down, and film critic Dan Slevin reckons “we’re starting to realise the rot of it”.

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

...the LLM's diminutive tone, describing the physical world as an "enduring curiosity," is a bit much, and the whole thing is old news, but the data viz may be of some mild interest for media nerds:

Data viz of google search trends related to physical media, showing the largest spikes for film cameras around December

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Not sure exactly what level of SEO purgatory this is?...

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Irony meter off the charts that this piece about the resurgence of physical media is labeled "Sponsored Content by Google Trends" but here we goooo...

stuff.co.nz

A blast from the past: Why Kiwis could be bringing back CDs and Vinyl

Search interest data might be showing streaming fatigue is setting in

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Frank Pasquale @frankpasquale.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

“Part of recognising our humanity is accepting with humility and wisdom the ways that our power is limited and the ways that we should limit ourselves. A limitation is not always the same as an impediment to advancing and flourishing.” www.ft.com/content/3404...

ft.com

When humility is proof of our humanity

Self-imposed limits need not be impediments to a fulfilling life

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Catherine D'Ignazio (she/her/ella) @kanarinka.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

MIT spent $3 million on 500 AI-capable surveillance cameras while laying people off, shutting down libraries, and canceling journal subscriptions. In this article, 4 faculty & I discuss our new arts initiative to celebrate surveillance and repression on college campuses: fnl.mit.edu/how-we-learn...

fnl.mit.edu

How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Campus Surveillance – MIT Faculty Newsletter

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Cilla Wehi @cillaw.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A new special issue is out, all about invertebrates, in NZ journal of zoology, including the research behind this great story- www.rnz.co.nz/news/regions...

rnz.co.nz

Big boom for Wētāpunga population celebrated

New Zealand's heaviest insect has been taking big steps toward a population boom, with the success of a ground-breaking breeding and conservation programme.

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Daniel Solis @danielsolis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This week's t-shirt is a very silly joke for fans of linguistics, Ghibli, and milky drinks. #WeeklyTshirt #Ghibli #Boba danielsolis.threadless.com/designs/kiki...

A black spikey shape wearing a red bow and riding a witch's broom.
A blobby shape filled with milk and tapioca balls, with a red spiral stripped straw.

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Tze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Good article with the correct amount of @laragreaves.bsky.social touching on the self-selective nature of the recent exodus: You leave cos of no jobs, & everything NZers are traditionally proud of when abroad is being destroyed, while suffering as a migrant under rising xenophobia now infecting NZ.

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Chicago Manual 1st edition (1906) guidance on writing numbers

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

spring vibes i n the southern hemisphere this week #Tāmaki

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Danielle, Petty Hate Machine @dimsie.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Here is what I mean by sandwich generation: I have to repeat everything twice to both my children and my mother because the former are wearing headphones and the latter is going deaf

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

borrowed a legit button-making machine and loosed the kids on a pile of weird academic journals and print copies of @theonion.com and other sundry ephemera — the one on the left is made from the tattered inner sleeve of an old 45 💜

2 buttons on a backpack, one reading “abc records” the other reading “the internet down!”

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 26/08/2026

The first known use of 'nine-to-five' as an adjective was in 1927. The first known use of 'nine-to-five' as a noun was in 1975.

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

this venn diagram question on my comms intro course worksheet is doing a lot

Venn diagram of communication and technology including examples, moving left to right, of laughter, TV, and jackhammer — with this discussion question:

It seems obvious what the term "communication technology" means, but on closer inspection, both "communication" and "technology" are pretty slippery concepts! So this diagram might at first appear straightforward:
...but other terms are difficult to place! Is an alphabet a
"technology?" Are LLMs "communication?" Please think of a couple more tricky cases like this and explain why they might fit different places within the diagram

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 02/08/2026

I wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works. Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

that should go on the Annual Review for 2026-2027 for sure

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

“The problem dates back to the early 2000s when…publishers withdrew their NZ distribution warehouses to invest in Australia…[which] was, at first, considered no big deal…Books were commonly airfreighted at the low, low price of about 50 cents per kilo…That all changed with the coming of the plague…”

newsroom.co.nz

Publishers 'self-sabotaging' NZ books

An investigation into the biggest threat facing NZ bookstores

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

truly wild thing for a mayor of a major city to email a journalist www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361... cc @columjournreview.bsky.social @poynterinstitute.bsky.social @niemanreports.org

Email screenshot reading:

From: Wayne Brown
<
>
Subject: Re: Ponsonby News - link to July's issue
Date: 3 July 2026 at 5:48:50 pm
GMT+12
To: Martin Leach
<
>
If you are just going to publish Mike Lee bagging me then your paper will die
Wayne
Sent from my iPhone

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I think there’s a lot for Critical AI to learn from the mass society / propaganda roots of comm studies — and radical publishing + radio — of the early 20th c; the TV critics + radical media collectives / community media centers of the 60s + 70s…

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sami 🔵 @hellosami.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I made a website that lets you cut out old magazines from the internet archive (or any PDFs you own) and make collage art out of them: ✂️ clipart.studio

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

this is a wholeass hybrid genre that could’ve been, or might be — anachronistic in the best way, if not timeless… 💙 @kidkoala.bsky.social

youtu.be

4 bit Blues

YouTube video by Kid Koala - Topic

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 10/06/2026

breaking new frontiers in the english language, in a faculty meeting on every academic's favourite topic (how to do expense reports properly) I just heard a person use the word "workflow" as a verb

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

It's been evident for a while that 95bFM would not continue to have a physical home at the University of Auckland. This morning, after a lot of work, they announced that the station will be moving to a new home on K Road. It's the right place. 95bfm.com/news/were-mo...

95bfm.com

We're Moving!

95bFM has announced it will relocate to Karangahape Road by Friday, 31 July 2026, marking a major new chapter in the station’s nearly six-decade history. After a long search for a suitable new home, 9...

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Laurie Winkless @lauriewinkless.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I am *delighted* to have a new article in @spectrum.ieee.org - this one is all about Assoc Prof Te Taka Keegan's work. He's developing sovereign AI to aid in the protection and revitalisation of specific dialects of Te reo Māori spectrum.ieee.org/indigenous-a...

spectrum.ieee.org

Māori AI Voice Puts Language Ownership Back In Community Hands

Several projects around the world are working to develop indigenous-owned AI models

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

intended to get the most basic alarm clock but this joystick adjusts +/- so I really had no choice

Small, green digital clock shaped like a retro game console (next to a fork for scale)

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Can’t totally shake the dystopian suspicion that some decisionmakers would be happy to abdicate responsibility and let it rip

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

proposed NZ law allows Ministry of Social Development "use of an automated electronic system…to make any decision, exercise any power, comply with any obligation, or take any other related action under any specified provision, with appropriate safeguards."

rnz.co.nz

Proposed law could see government use AI to make decisions about people's benefits

Coalition parties say the proposed law would make welfare system administration more efficient.

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

had some 3rd year uni students cry-laughing yesterday about the thunderous sucking sound produced every time they look at LinkedIn

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Reposted by Ethan Plaut

Sol Messing @solmg.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

New in Nature: LLMs give "the party line" in the languages of authoritarian regimes. This works when they control the media, which feeds pretraining data. We show more state control over the media means less critical LLMs. 6 studies spanning 38 languages & 13 models. Details ↓

Scatter plot of 38 countries plus China showing the proportion of LLM responses favorable to the regime in the local language vs. World Press Freedom Index score. Lower press freedom predicts more regime-favorable responses; all production models pooled.

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Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

“…hallucinated references disproportionately assign credit to already prominent and male scholars, suggesting that LLM-generated errors may reinforce existing inequities in scientific recognition…” 🧪 arxiv.org/abs/2605.07723

arxiv.org

LLM hallucinations in the wild: Large-scale evidence from non-existent citations

Large language models (LLMs) are known to generate plausible but false information across a wide range of contexts, yet the real-world magnitude and consequences of this hallucination problem remain p...

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