iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonty @fairless.xyz · 28/09/2026

*Extreme narrowcasting warning* Y'all ever spent an evening preloading the bearing stacks in a 1970s BMW wheel hub, juggling a blow torch, a freezer, tubs of grease, 1.2m of string, a fish scale, & a pile of tiny 0.05mm shims, and think "y'know what, maybe this DID belong on the scrapheap"? #motosky

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 28/09/2026

Views from an evening run out in the Pentlands, including an unexpected forest doorbridge / floordoor

A green front door with gilt letterbox, laid flat on a forest floor, bridging a small gully. My legs are in shot, standing on the door. I'm wearing bright orange trail running shoes

An arching autumnal beech tree frames the gentle rolling hills of the Pentlands, kissed by the evening sunlight

A road disappears in a straight line away from us towards the horizon, overhung by green trees just turning to autumnal yellows and browns

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 24/09/2026

*Deposition* Lawyer: so you're an experienced cycle commuter, then? Me: oh absolutely L: How often might you forget to pack an essential item? Say, for example, your work shoes? M: *mumbling* L: For the tape, please. M: *visibly flustered* about once a week, OK? Happy? Goddammit.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 23/09/2026

Providing judicious and sensitive feedback to my colleagues

A screenshot of a teams message. It reads 'I feel like that map should be accompanied by one of these'. Below the text is a picture of a triangular yellow warning sign, depicting a hand getting mangled in some gears.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 23/09/2026

🚨 What's that? My Kessler Syndrome alarm is going off again. Linking to this good exploration by @jonkelvey.bsky.social aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/features/und...

aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org

Understanding the misunderstood Kessler Syndrome

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 21/09/2026

Ooh a price update! I wonder if it's going down.

A screenshot of an email header. From Netflix, the title reads 'Price update coming soon'. The body extract reads 'We're here if you have any questions'

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 21/09/2026

Great turnout at #GovCamp Scotland this morning. Time to queue up and build a conference...

A wide, high-ceilinged and well lit room full of people and chairs set up theatre style, with four large projected screens at the front.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 20/09/2026

Morning views at the edge of Edinburgh

Three people sit or stand beneath an arching beech tree, amidst high grass. A sheep path leads through the grass towards them

Vibrant lime-green lines of newly geminated winter wheat in sunlit field

A dog looks towards the viewer from the other side of a long stone tunnel

A small bright red fly agaric mushroom emerges from a tangle of dry grass and leaves

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 18/09/2026

Problem: I got paid money to charge my car earlier in the week when it was windy. Solution: I've got the (non-agile) neighbours' car over and am gonna spend the next 7 hours charging theirs. They get a free 300 mile charge, i make £s, and we all help balance the grid.

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Helen Barnard @helenbarnard.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Inflation hits 3.1%. Energy price cap about to go up to £1723. And some scary predictions of where energy costs might go next year (see next tweet). Foodbanks already see too many people pushed to the brink. We’ll need targeted support to protect people already facing hunger.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 15/09/2026

You may not like it, but this is what innovation looks like

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 14/09/2026

The urge to post 'sickos.jpg' is strong. But then I remember that you and I live in this economy, and this is millions of people's pensions going down the toilet. Screenshot from my current UK company pension (Aviva). This is the *standard option* when joining, not even some tech-focused portfolio.

A screenshot of a 'holdings' table from a pension provider. The top ten holdings are Nvidia Corporation, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, TWSC, Broadcom, Alphabet (again?) Meta Platforms, Jpmorgan Chase & Co.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 14/09/2026

Reviewing some user stories

A screenshot of text in a table. A portion is highlighted, which reads: "As a user I prefer the second prototype tested"

A still from the Disney animated film 'Alice in Wonderland'. A blond girl in a blue dress and white apron leans on a wooden counter, with her palm over her face.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 13/09/2026

Recently I've been struggling to help a couple of internal research teams communicate recommendations clearly. Today I finally read the old doteveryone guide @jukes.ie recommends and... Damn. It's the best thing I've ever read. Tempted to print off 20 copies and scatter them around the office...

doteveryone.org.uk

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 13/09/2026

About time I got rid of those 12-year-old tyres and tried some fresh rubber on this thing #motosky

A front-on view of a white vintage BMW motorcycle sitting in a garage. Both the front and rear wheels are removed, and the front axle rests on a red axle stand.

A three-quarters rear view of a white vintage BMW motorcycle sitting in a garage. The front and rear wheels are removed, and the rear bevel drive and drum brake internals are exposed

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 11/09/2026

I was today years old when I found out @danhon.com is secretly English (complimentary)

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 07/09/2026

Climbed Calton Hill to see out Emii Alrai's 'Guardian'. A colossal fragmented relic of maybe an ancient Sumerian Lamassu. It's good, actually.

Emii Alrai's 'Guardian' sculpture. A collection of large fragmented blue-green chunks are attached to a metal framework, raised atop a large plinth. They are loosely aligned to give the impression of an archeological reconstruction of the colossal barrel-chest of a bull. The central sculpture is surrounded by six urns, made of similar material, raised alongside it on pillars.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 06/09/2026

Spending Sunday afternoon picking up groceries and corrupting the citizenry with questions like 'what if bikes were long'

A blue Larry Vs Harry e-Bullitt cargo bike parked against a dark grey wall. Two large panniers are bulging on the back.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 04/09/2026

Still got it baybee

A screenshot from https://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/ : So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica? Quiz complete! 19/20. Excellent! You really know your fonts!

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 01/09/2026

Genuinely kinda thrilled Swan Boy and I wear the same kicks

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 30/08/2026

Huh. That's not the bit I wanted to move.

A chunky 8mm L-shaped hex key, with a noticeable twist in the end.

Detail of an engine. A rusted filler plug, indicated with a long screwdriver, in the side of an aluminium motorcycle gearbox. It's a 1980 BMW R80/7 airhead motorcycle transmission.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 29/08/2026

It's wisteria summer pruning day! 🌱 Here's your annual update on the two overgrown pea-mutants that climb up my house. We had loads of flowers this year, and explosive growth in the summer. The hot weather suited them, it seems. Now they're tidied up a little, ready for autumn.

A blooming wisteria growing across a house frontage, around a front door a front window. The cascading racimes are white or light purple, and grow down from bunches of lime-green leaves just coming in

A house frontage with two verdant green wisterias climbing up the front wall, surrounding a front window. The wisteria are overgrown, with thin whippy tendrils climbing up the front wall.

A house frontage with two verdant green wisterias climbing up the front wall, surrounding a front window. The wisteria in this photo are a little neater, with most of the overgrown bits pruned off and tidied up.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 28/09/2024

nobody will remember: - your salary - how busy you were - how many hours you worked people will remember: - that one time you signed off an email 'Jongy' - the team group chat that was renamed 'Jongy' for like a month - the birthday cake that had 'Happy Birthday Jongy' written on it, 2 years later

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 28/08/2026

Imagine an archeologist. Now look at the fit on Archeologist Ernesto Olazo from Lima. Tony Robinson and Time Team could have put in a little more effort, huh.

youtu.be

Remains of 16th-century hospital that treated sailors discovered in Peru

YouTube video by euronews

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Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Most British thing ever is for the day it becomes legal to fit solar extremely easily to your home is the day the sun finally disappears after three months.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 26/08/2026

Oh no way, it's #internationaldogday?! I've got one of those. Look at it.

A large white poodle-looking dog with short-cropped curly hair sleeps on her back on a grey sofa. Her head hangs off the sofa.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 24/08/2026

"Teaching project" is probs what James Bond writes on his visa applications, right?

A WhatsApp message, which reads: "Work has asked me if I can take over a teaching project in Kenya next month! My summer of travel might not be over yet"

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 23/08/2026

I know there's lots going on in the world, but look at this lovely thing I built

A top-down view of a vintage white BMW R80 airhead motorcycle, with a short police seat, red rear rack and engine guards, and a red bar pad. It's parked on a brick driveway in the morning sunshine

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 22/08/2026

Alright. I reckon this project is done. Full teardown and rebuild from the crankshaft up, taking this leaky, lumbering 46yo ex-police bike and turning it into a tight, responsive daily rider. Pretty happy with that.

An archive photograph of a white BMW fully-faired airhead motorcycle in 'Authority' trim, with accompanying policeman and all their equipment laid out infront of the bike. It's not my actual bike, but representative of how it would have been kitted out from new.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 21/08/2026

Babe wake up they made a new sickos guy

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 18/08/2026

My most correct opinion is that the OG accoustic LvH Bullitt is the best looking cargo bike bar none. Don't @ me

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 10/08/2026

JONTY used HAND! It's not very effective... Cleverly managed to dislocate my thumb and tear some important hand meat this weekend, and now it's Monday and I have to do my email job. Oh no.

A hand, with a thumb braced with orthopedic support, rests on a keyboard. It doesn't look like it's going to be very effective.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 09/08/2026

My UN-affiliated, climate scientist big bro used to work quietly behind a desk in Zurich. But In the last three months he's had some kind of Jack Ryan-style field-ops transition, heading to Lima, Islamabad, Milan, London etc. Worrying stuff, coming from the boy who needed velcro shoes until age 12.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 03/08/2026

Transported a single tub of butter back from the village shop. Idk if society says you NEED a car for this, but they certainly seem to prefer using one.

View down from the saddle into the front cargo platform of a Long John-style front loading cargo bike. A small tub of butter is strapped to the platform.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 03/08/2026

The environmental storytelling in this apocalypse movie is a bit on the nose

London centric
London's first month without rain
Plus: There's nowhere to bury the dead • London wants to keep its money • When will it stop being so damn hot • Who is to blame for turning off the air conditioning?
Jim Waterson and Polly Smythe
Aug 03, 2026

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 02/08/2026

Chance of me attending an event with an AI generated flyer: 0% Chance of me attending an event with a flyer made with wax crayons: 100%

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 28/07/2026

Idk who needs to see this, but: after six months of incredibly frustrating intermittent E020 errors on the Larry Vs Harry #cargobike motor, I certainly did. Did not realise this was adjustable! So easy. youtu.be/g39Wj6jR94s?...

youtu.be

How to tighten a Shimano Steps battery(to fix E020 error)

YouTube video by CycleDifferent

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 27/07/2026

A v interesting angle on the AI hype cycle I hadn't clocked before. From the very smart Nikhil Suresh. "...we have executives around the world nervously pointing guns at each other... watching everything gradually spiral out of control" ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mani...

On a trip overseas, I had the privilege of a meeting with one of the Fortune 500 executives mentioned at the beginning of the post, who will remain anonymous so that they are not executed by firing squad by their board. As we were chatting, it became clear that they were very switched-on and technically competent, and they also happened to be at a company that had committed to the usual battery of exorbitant claims about their recent innovations – we’ve 100x’d our productivity, AI is the future of everything, I am but a vessel for OpenAI to make love to my wife. You know, normal things. But since I had them there without any microphones around, I asked why this was being repeated without opposition. Was it just sales fluff?

The answer was a lot more interesting. It was partially ridiculous sales material being delivered to an easily excitable audience, but this was not the dominant factor constraining honesty. Executives at their customers were saying absurd things about achieving 100x productivity, and this meant that if any executive at the vendor said that these gains were not plausible, it would undermine the credibility of the customer’s executive, be perceived as an attack (or heresy), and possibly result in an enterprise contract cancellation. And getting enterprise contracts cancelled because you wanted to opine on something that doesn’t really matter to your organisation’s mission is a great way to get fired.

But this company was also a major player, of the kind that signs enormous enterprise contracts with other companies. So presumably there is another vendor that has sold to them, and their CEO is worried that saying something sane will contradict this executive, and very quickly we can see how we can have executives around the world nervously pointing guns at each other, not wanting to be shot first but also watching everything gradually spiral out of control6. This is to say that we’re facing a coordination problem around executives being honest arou…

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 27/07/2026

Huh. Gary on LinkedIn is arguing that solar is not 'homegrown' energy, and we rely on overseas governments for the components. He's got nothing against solar though. I wonder if he has any secret ties to... Oh hey look at that.

A Linkedin post from Gary Forsyth, Director at Gary J Forsyth Energy Consulting Ltd:

Someone in your PR department needs to think about the "Homegrown energy" trope. UK Solar panels are imported from;
- Jinko Solar - China
- Longi Solar - China
- Trina Solar - China
- JA Solar - China
- Canadian solar - Canada (funnily enough!)
- Astroenergy - Chint Group - China
and so on - it's pretty much China all the way.
There's no mass market manufacture of solar panels in the UK. China dominates the silicon ingot and wafer market.
Nothing against solar. I think it has it's place in the energy mix, but we rely on overseas companies and overseas governments (especially China) for supply. Nothing about that is "homegrown". It's bought in.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 09/07/2024

Sorry I missed the team call this afternoon, I was re-reading the emails I sent yesterday to make sure I sounded cool and easygoing and didn't use any exclamation marks

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 15/07/2026

Finally dropped the oil out of this, and it's packed with glitter. My actual face: 😨 My guess: PO got hit w/the '£2k o-ring' issue these old BMW airheads suffer from, starved the crankshaft of oil, and spun a conrod big end bearing. Time for open heart surgery. If it's bad, could be a total loss 😔

A white BMW r80/7 motorcycle, partially stripped down, standing in a garage.

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 13/07/2026

Finding it hard to concentrate on work after my hols so I'm trying out the pompodouro method. 20 minutes work founding porcelain factories in Sèvres, 5 mins break.

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Nicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Solar's sharp rise continues. As of April 2026, global solar capacity now exceeds 3 terawatt. 1 gigawatt → 1 terawatt: 20+ years 1 terawatt → 2 terawatt: 33 months 2 terawatt → 3 terawatt: 19 months

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Jonty @fairless.xyz · 08/07/2026

My sister is looking after the dog while we're out of the country. So the dog is suddenly getting extremely long and interesting walks every day, along with frequent complimentary photoshoots. We are increasingly concerned that the dog will regret our return.

Two dogs, one large white, one small brown, sit on a paved area looking at the camera. The iconic red Forth Rail Bridge arches across the Firth of Forth in the background.

A large white dog stands on a graffitied concrete abutment in the bright sunlight, looking attentively at something of camera and to the left.

A large white dog sits on a bench in bright sunlight, tongue hanging out and ears blowing in the wind. The bench is on a heather covered hillside. A stone wall and distant green hilltop is visible in the background.

A large white dog, tail aloft, walks across a wide expanse of sand at sunset. The sun is behind it, and the dog's shadow extends long towards the camera. The sea and a distant beach wall are visible in the background.

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ahdok @socksandpuppets.com · 04/07/2026

One of the outcomes of every UBI trial I’ve seen is people pick up new skills like *crazy*. It’s so much easier to study or learn a new trade when you don’t spend 90+% of your energy every day putting food on your table.

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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The reason there are no more good ideas in tech is that every office has these "low odor" whiteboard markers. Ten years ago, every Design Thinking session participant was way more creative because they were strung out on marker fumes.

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