iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 28/09/2026

Glad to be able to participate in a multi-faith protest and march this afternoon in support of immigrants. Among the leaders who spoke were a Catholic priest, a Unitarian Universalist minister, a reconstructionist rabbi, an imam, a reform rabbi, an Episcopalian minister, and a Catholic bishop.

Selfie of an older white man with glasses and a gray mustache in a crowded protest. He is wearing a black shirt with a minister’s tab collar, a yellow stole with a heart symbol, and a small heart-shaped trans liberation pin. Prominent in the crowd behind him are two Franciscan monks in brown robes. People in the crowd are holding up signs; most can’t be read, but one says “stop ICE violence now.”

1101

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 28/09/2026

When I first saw this comment this morning, it looked like this, and (beyond my control) my immediate thought was “I would call that teal, but maybe she means the landscape?”…

The usual Dr-Manhattan-sitting-in-a-purple-and-pink-lunar-landscape meme, followed by a “view full thread” button, followed by a post saying “You look so pretty in that color of purple!”

030

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 27/09/2026

From one yellow-wall-haver to another! Prost!

A balding white man with glasses and a gray mustache holds a delicate Japanese demitasse near his face. Behind him are a bookcase and two photographs. The room has yellow walls.

260

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 27/09/2026

Since we are speaking of the past, here is a photo from 13 years ago plus one day that my phone decided to show me. Or is this the future? The second photo is from the following month.

A demitasse, with a visible residue of espresso, resting on a saucer on a placemat on a wooden table. There is a sugar cube on the saucer, in a red wrapper that says “HENRI BLANC — Le café du café,” and there is a small spoon resting bowl-down on the rim of the saucer as well.

A photo of a middle-aged man with short dark brown hair and a dark brown beard and mustache, with touches of gray showing. He is wearing glasses with rectangular wire frames, and a collared shirty with a teal plaid pattern. Behind hims there is some greenery and a but of wooden fencing.

060

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 26/09/2026

Was at a fancy mall a while back and, struck by a spiritual mood while in the central courtyard, decided to call the quarters.

000

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 20/09/2026

Always fun to stop at the Hillcrest Peet’s on a weekend afternoon, because the place next door is hoppin’ :)

A smiling white man with glasses and a grey mustache holds up a paper Peet’s cup with a little cappuccino foam visible. He is wearing a blue and grey patterned shirt. Behind him are a few parked cars, and the glassed-in patio of a hoppin’ bar/restaurant.

150

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 15/09/2026

This one is not in the book!

One of Peter Blegvad’s “Leviathan” strips, from The Independent on Sunday, 3 May 1992. The titular character (a verbally adept baby) discusses spirit levels with his constant companion, a verbally adept cat. The strip includes a diagram of the evolution of all objects, starting from the lowly dustball and progressing through the sponge, the brick, the oven mitt, the ocarina, the Wellington boot, the nine-pin, the Venetian blind, the cuckoo clock, the electric fire, and ending at the supreme, sublime spirit level.

130

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 14/09/2026

I was living in England for a few months during the time this strip was being published…

Reproduction of one of Peter Blegvad’s “Leviathan” newspaper comic strips. The title character, a baby, creates and released a nerve gas that kills only tyrants. It kills everyone. The strip ends with an inset of a quotation by G. K. Chesterton: “Children are innocent & love justice: while most of us are wicked & naturally prefer mercy.”

2130

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 13/09/2026

Reviewing work I did 15 years ago so I can finally write it up before AI finds the slides from the talk I gave back then and scoops me! (As if anyone else cares about the question.) The mug is older than that. And I just verified that Stucchi’s no longer exists. :(

An older white man with little hair other than a grey mustache holds a coffee cup near his face. The cup is decorated with a stylized image of confetti falling in front of an Italian flag, with the words “Stucchi’s — Ann Arbor” underneath. He is wearing a black and grey Hawaiian shirt and sitting on a back porch with plants visible in the background.

1130

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 07/09/2026

Reminds me of a local ice cream place’s logo, which I hope has never existed in three dimensions…

A bright red coffee mug, with an image in white on the side showing an anthropomorphized ice cream cone licking a smaller anthropomorphized ice cream cone that it is holding in its hand. The larger cone is encircled by a banner with the words “Mutual friend ice cream”

3133

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 06/09/2026

Back home after a week away at a math conference. It is hot and humid in San Diego, so my son and I are getting iced coffee drinks. He was willing to participate on the condition that no math be involved.

Two white guys, one old and one not, holding iced coffee drinks at an outdoor café with a tree in the background

140

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 06/09/2026

To get to the conference I was at last week, you had to take a boat from Fondue Tower to Pork Roll Island.

A photo of a ferry ticket held in a white person’s hand. The ticket, written in French, is for a round trip from Tour Fondue to Porqurolles.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 22/08/2026

Thank you, I hadn’t reached the bottom before posting. It does say that, yes. But it seems the author actually does believe these suggestions. He says this on the site’s GitHub:

Screenshot of text with highlights added on the phrases “The text (PT and EN) is NOT Al generated, or Al copied” and “I used Al to revise and expand, but I did not mindlessly copied it.”

The full text:

“Like I said here, here, and in the README. The text (PT and EN) is NOT Al generated, or Al copied, believe it or not, that's actually me 😢.

“I did use Al to build this site, of course. I wouldn't spend hours doing static HTML to mock something, I have better things to do — and I suck at front-end. However, the original version of the text was written by me, it was too short, I used Al to revise and expand, but I did not mindlessly copied it, which would really be hypocritical.”

192

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 22/08/2026

This is perfect. “Don’t be a middleman!” Instead, simply take the text from the AI and “polish it” before passing it on, just like a person (perhaps a man) who happened to be in between the AI and the person with the question — as we might say, “in the middle.”

§ Do this instead

O1 You can use AI. Seriously! It’s a great tool for drafting. Just read what it gave to you, then write your own version, or polish the text. Don't be a middleman between it and the answer.

1321

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 19/08/2026

I really dislike these AI slop accounts that produce crap about math or history. Blocked.

A skeet from an AI slop account named “Felice Mosca Press.” The text:

“Naples, 1839: a professor throws down three geometry problems like a gauntlet.
Behind the duel sits God, kings, and the terrifying question of whether algebra might let just anybody think.”

000

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 16/08/2026

Last week, a friend and I ducked into an antique mall to avoid the heat on our walk, and I found this delicate eggshell demitasse that has many many sages or immortals painted on it. Just finished some non-math obligations today, so I hope to do some math writing and editing this week…

An older white man, balding but with a grey mustache, holds a delicate scallop-rimmed demitasse near his mouth. Some espresso is just visible in the cup. Behind him you see some framed photographs on a yellow wall, and a white IKEA bookshelf.

090

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 09/08/2026

One of the high points of my mathematical career was giving a talk in Luminy in 2014 during which your father had many questions, and after which he gave me a “thumbs up” sign. (And I *think* that was the trip on which we shared some Scotch one evening.) I hope he is well, and wish him the best.

Five people standing at the front of a mostly-empty lecture hall, with laptop computers and pads of paper scattered on the table-tops in the rows of seating. The three large main chalkboards, and four smaller side boards, are covered with writing and mathematical expressions.

2100

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 07/08/2026

This Zippy strip is a quarter-century old now, but I think about it a lot.

100

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 16/07/2026

One way that I have dealt with stress during <gestures broadly> these times has been to play games on my iPad. Since January 1, 2025 my go-to game has been an old kids game (or, at least, a game suitable for kids) called Sprinkle Islands.

Splash screen for the iPad game “Sprinkle Islands.”

100

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 12/07/2026

No coffee in hand ATM. We’re on our way to visit the younger son in Sacramento. While my wife is driving I will think about a challenge problem proposed at ANTS last week…

Selfie of an older white man and woman in a car

3110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 12/07/2026

I used money I earned delivering newspapers (on my one-speed bicycle) to buy a Pioneer SX 780 receiver, and I can still recall the feel of the knobs and the thunk!-ey toggles…

The front panel of a Pioneer SX 780 stereo receiver, circa 1978. It has a lighted analog radio frequency display with some output level monitors, and a whole row of silver buttons, knobs, and toggle switches whose very look tells you that they must have been satisfying to press, turn, and toggle.

160

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 10/07/2026

So far, getting an appropriate reception.

Bottom part of a skeet, showing 102 comments, 64 reskeets that are all quote skeets, 0 likes, and 4 saves.

100

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

So the feedback was simpler…

One column from a table. The heading says “Magma”, and the data is
5274
99453*
2408665*

The unit digits of all three are enclosed in red rectangles, and written annotation says “The numerals in the red boxes should be vertically aligned.”

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

Their next attempt. Oh so close! I feel like I am trying to housebreak a puppy.

A table with 9 columns of data. The numbers in one column are not aligned vertically, but they are close.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

“If these digits are not vertically aligned in your page proofs, then the page proofs are not acceptable.” That should have been clear. But maybe sending them one more diagram will help!

A table in which the numbers in some columns are not aligned. The table is heavily annotated with words and arrows pointing to the misaligned numbers and indicating how they should be moved.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

I don’t even remember what I sent them at this point. They may have sent me two in quick succession, because I had by now been in touch with the head of Springer Nature’s North American math publishing arm. But here was their next attempt.

A table with 9 columns of data. The numbers in some columns are not aligned vertically. They are thrown out of alignment because some numbers digits to the right of the decimal point and others do not, and because some numbers have asterisks.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

They replied with the attached. You, dear reader, are human (I assume). If you had been editing my paper, and had remember my admonition (“If these digits are not vertically aligned in your page proofs, then the page proofs are not acceptable.”), would you have sent this to me?

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

Some things were now correct! But not everything. So I sent them two images, one showing corrections for what they had sent, and one showing what the result should look like.

A table in which all the numbers in each column are aligned by their unit digit. The unit digits in two rows are colored red, and there are annotations to the table pointing out their alignment.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

What they sent back. (At least they are making it simple for me to add alt text to the images for this thread!)

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

Maybe they are visual learners? So I sent them this. The sentence at the end seems like something any person* could understand and check themselves before bothering me again: “If these digits are not vertically aligned in your page proofs, then the page proofs are not acceptable.” *foolish me

A table with digits in each column nicely aligned. The units digits in six of the columns are red. At the bottom are a few sentences in red:

“Notice how the red digits in each column are vertically aligned.
This is how the table should look.

“If these digits are not vertically aligned in your page proofs, then the page proofs are not acceptable.”

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

I responded, once again using just words, and said: “Also, Table 1 on page 22 is completely unchanged from the first page proofs, and all of its problems remain.” They sent back a third set of page proofs. The headings got moved… but not any of the misaligned numbers!

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

I thought I was being pretty clear in my explanation of what should be changed! Ah, foolish me. I did not understand at this point that AI was involved. Here is what they sent back. “Wait a second!” you exclaim. “That looks unchanged!”

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

In this first go-round, I used their (in)convenient online text-based correction system. Here are 11 of the 73 corrections that I listed.

A lengthy list of descriptions of problems with a table in a set of page proofs, screenshotted from an online corrections system. Here is the text of one typical row:

“In column six, the numbers are not properly aligned.”
“Reset column 6, so that the following digits are vertically aligned with one another: the 4 in 5274; the 3 in 99463; the 5 in 2408665.”

“Do not let the asterisks throw off the alignment of the digits!”

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

Here is what they had in the first page proofs. Note that all of the numbers that I had carefully aligned (so that the reader can quickly understand their relative sizes) are no longer aligned.

120

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

They sent me page proofs for which I had 73 corrections. This was 24-page paper, recall. I will focus here on what they did to a table of data. Here is the table (presented here without title or caption) as I sent it to them in my original draft.

A table with 9 columns of data. The numbers in each column are aligned vertically so that the place values remain constant as you scan down the columns.

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 08/07/2026

Usually, you send a draft to the publisher, they will typeset it and send you page proofs, you correct the (hopefully few and minor) mistakes, and the journal gets published. Not when Straive is on the case! (I would tag them here, but they don’t have an account. OF COURSE they are on X.)

110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 05/07/2026

Went to a friend’s house to celebrate her birthday. That’s Bingley in the lower right.

Seven mostly-older white people gathered on a shady back patio, sitting around a picnic table covered with a brightly colored tablecloth. They each have a cupcake on a plate. A small black-and-white terrier-like fog is looking up from the lower right corner of the photo.

160

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 30/06/2026

David Lynch: <loudly> DID YOU SAY RABBIT?

Detail from a screen capture from David Lynch’s *Inland Empire*, showing the silhouette of a person whose head is that of a rabbit, profiled against a brightly lit door.

010

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 29/06/2026

I edited the photo to add in some lines that help highlight some of the geometry.

A piece of art in a circular red frame, resting on a darker red blanket. The art is geometric, with five-fold rotational symmetry, and consists of yellow oat straws arranged on a dark surface in interlocking fan shapes, all around a small central negative-space pentagon.

Some pink lines have been edited into this copy of the photo to help show that the design can be broken up into 11 pieces: A central pentagon, five squares attached the the sides of the pentagon, and five (non-equilateral) triangles that fill in the spaces between the squares. The interior of each shape is filled with straw that spirals in to the center.

000

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 28/06/2026

Perhaps my #MathSky friends will be interested in the artwork that my wife and I bought at the Carlsbad Art Fair this morning. Made with wild oat straw collected by the biologist/artist who made the piece.

2488

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 28/06/2026

Got a new Adirondack chair for the back yard a few weeks ago. After coffee, will be sending in the final TeX files for my contribution to the AGC²T 2025 proceedings.

2110

Rev. Dr. Everett Howe @ewhowe.com · 27/06/2026

My timeline suggests it. Your job is to make it so.

Scenes from a BlueSky timeline: Jessamyn’s cat photo, followed by Barbara’s reply (“Your cat photography level. OMG.”), followed by an unrelated post from a user whose name has been obscured saying “She just needs Carmen Sandiego’s hat.”

020