iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

AI labs are claiming artificial general intelligence, or AGI, may have finally arrived. But it’s worth asking what AGI even means—and if it matters at all.

scientificamerican.com

AI labs are claiming “AGI” is imminent—but does that mean what we think it means?

Artificial general intelligence was once a term confined to technical science papers, but its meaning has slipped

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/09/2026

“these solutions are announced in a rush, leaving no time for a proper writeup, the isolation of new methods & ideas, & citing relevant previous work of others. … We are witnessing a general threat to intellectual work, with misalignment between the outcome of the use of AI and its initial purpose.”

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PeterSoukup @petersoukup.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

🚨 OpenAI "miracle" or theft? Tristan Buckmaster, a math professor at NYU reveals OpenAI claimed a Navier-Stokes solution using the EXACT niche research path only his team was pursuing—discovered only after rumors of his work leaked. - OpenAI tried to pressure him to drop his collaborator's name […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/09/2026

“Upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving…. Participants in the upper-class rank condition took more candy that would otherwise go to children… than did those in the lower-rank condition.” An #IgNobel prize confirms what we see every day.

pnas.org

Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior | PNAS

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals....

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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

The IgNobel Prizes, usually bestowed at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass, are moving to Europe this year due to security concerns for honorees and journalists coming to the US from abroad. I bet I know who's going to win the IgNobel Peace Prize this year. arstechnica.com/science/2026...

arstechnica.com

Ig Nobels ceremony moves to Europe over security concerns

Marc Abraham: “During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country."

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/03/2026

Imagine claiming to be a Star Trek fan while expressing disdain for at least 90% of what Star Trek is (and always has been)

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 08/02/2025

Star Trek did say the 2020s were gonna be a little rough

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 07/09/2026

It does have bike directions! I sent a feature request for transit. In the meantime, I use HERE WeGo and the transit agencies' own apps.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 07/09/2026

It is true that at some zoom levels, the label "Israel" overlaps the West Bank. This occurs in other mapping apps, too. By the same token, the label "Gaza Strip" overlaps parts of Israel and Egypt.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 07/09/2026

What would an A.I. takeover look like? Maybe: infiltrating investment firms and tech companies so that they'll redirect the entire economy to build data centers. Uh.....

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 06/09/2026

"This incident feels like it’s more than 50% of the way to full-blown A.I. takeover…. Because future rogue swarms could cover their tracks better (and because A.I. companies could paper over these problems), I am not sure that we will get such a clear warning shot before it’s too late.”

open.substack.com

The Hugging Face attack surprised me

It’s a major warning shot, and might be the last one we get

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 05/09/2026

This looks like Google Maps, the same app that mislabels Lake Ontario. I thought everyone was moving over to MapQuest!

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

There’s a whole Wikipedia page on this question. The word derives from Algonquian, but later acquired derogatory connotations, which have been recognized for over a century.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

Awful. And even when I do get paid, I wonder whether freelancing can work.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

Why do people say “use case” rather than “use”?

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

Or for himself. By Google’s logic, Trump has the power to rename literally anything.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 03/09/2026

The connotations of this word and the need to rename geographic features were discussed for decades prior to the Biden Administration. This long process is very different from what Trump has done. Also, the Biden Administration was trying to rectify a hurtful injustice, not bully a peaceful neighbor

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 02/09/2026

"After the Trump Administration slashed funding to American federal and academic scientific studies, the Chinese government announced another 10% increase in funding for science and technology. China has overtaken both the U.S. and the European Union in publishing influential research papers." 🧪

newyorker.com

The Future, Made in China

Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications.

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Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

“A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it would replace, according to a new preprint study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.” ysph.yale.edu/news-article...

ysph.yale.edu

Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study Projects

A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it

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kenofseattle @kenofseattle.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

How many different ways will you allow Apple to insult our intelligence and capitulate to the whims of the mad tyrant before you finally dump their phone and watch?

theverge.com

Apple Maps follows Google in renaming Lake Ontario

But MapQuest still refuses to change Lake Ontario’s name.

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Tyler 🏳️‍🌈 @tcoop6231.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

As I was saying

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Emily Conover @econover.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I wish I had recorded my reaction when I opened the press release with advance notice of this potential hint of dark matter. I can confirm that I said "whaaaaaat?!" to a silent, empty room. If this hint is confirmed I'll remember that moment the rest of my life. www.sciencenews.org/article/dark...

sciencenews.org

Have scientists glimpsed the first dark matter particle?

Shadowy dark matter has eluded scientists for decades. The LZ experiment may have spotted one particle, called a WIMP, but more data is needed to check.

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 01/09/2026

Three thoughts on this news item: 1. It's just one data point and not at a level of statistical significance for certainty. 2. Octavia Butler said count on the surprises, and this may turn out to be one of them! 3. Made possible by a global team using funding infrastructure that Trump is destroying.

sciencenews.org

Have scientists glimpsed the first dark matter particle?

Shadowy dark matter has eluded scientists for decades. The LZ experiment may have spotted one particle, called a WIMP, but more data is needed to check.

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MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026

We’re not changing it.

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Reposted by George Musser

MapQuest @mapquest.com · 27/08/2026

The more users, the faster we can fix the little things and democratize features.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

At least don't privilege those sources. For place names, prioritize the conventions adopted by the UNGEGN or IHO or bilateral treaty.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

When a database ceases to be reliable, Google should stop using it. Another example: RFKjr promulgates pseudoscience through official channels, so Google should stop taking HHS as reliable.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

By the logic Google is using to justify going along with the Lake Ontario mislabeling, Trump could with the stroke of a pen change the standards the U.S. has adopted for physical constants.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

Because Google refused to allow censorship. It was going to - this was Project Dragonfly - until employees rebelled.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

But Google does make choices. That’s why it doesn’t operate in the PRC.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

Funny you bring that up. The prime meridian was actually defined by the U.S. when it set up the GPS network, based on an extrapolation from the U.S. domestic datum. I wrote about this several years. nautil.us/what-happens... 🧪

nautil.us

What Happens to Google Maps When Tectonic Plates Move? - Nautilus

Earth’s tremors can tweak your GPS coordinates.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

The best known is Obama’s renaming of Denali, which came after decades of discussion and requests from the Republican congressional delegation. A very different process from Trump’s.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

Google’s excuse for kowtowing to Trump on Lake Ontario is that it’s just following the Geographic Names Information System. Does that mean Trump could sign an executive order redefining the North Pole to be in Kansas? Why stop there? Rename the constellations? Switch east and west? Up and down?

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

I've been using HERE WeGo ever since the MAGA BS about the Gulf of Mexico, and it gave the accurate label until now.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 30/08/2026

TomTom has caved on iOS, too, but is still fine on Android. I suspect Apple is acting as enforcer on its platform.

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Julian Simioni @juliansimioni.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

An incredible completely open source and community funded / developed option is @comaps.app

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linuxnerd @loonerlinuxnerd.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Osmand and Magic Earth are brilliant. Even though Magic Earth is closed source.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 29/08/2026

I see that on iOS but the Android maps are correct (for now).

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 28/08/2026

There are good alternatives to Apple and Google Maps if you want a mapping app that shows internationally recognized water-body names: HERE WeGo, ABRP (“A Better Route Planner”), Mapy, and—blasts from the past—Mapquest and TomTom. Just because Silicon Valley caves in to MAGA doesn’t mean you have to

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My suggestion is to cancel your subscription to any media company that refers to Lake Ontario as Lake America.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/08/2026

Does anyone have a solution to the airplane-delay sunk-cost fallacy? If the airline says the delay will be 3 hrs, it makes sense to go home and return later, or find an alternative longer route. But when they delay by 1 hr, thrice, you say to yourself each time that you might as well wait it out.

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 08/08/2026

The AI autonomous cyberattack story keeps getting creepier. "The model instances began incrementally figuring out they could create a message board where they could share knowledge, including cheats and exploits," reports @thezvi.bsky.social. "Colossus: The Forbin Project" should be required viewing

open.substack.com

OpenAI Trained Its Models For Months While Those Models Were Coordinating Exploits Via Message Boards

How does the situation keep turning out to be worse than we know?

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 31/07/2026

The good news is that it's safe for humans to use m-dashes again without being taken for a machine. The bad is that LLMs have moved on to "not only... but also." www.economist.com/culture/2026...

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John Timmer @jtimmer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The accompaniment to my "what just happened?" coverage, Derek does a great job of handling "what does it mean?" and "what do we do?"

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George Musser @georgemusser.com · 14/07/2026

"A dog starv'd at his master's gate / Predicts the ruin of the state." As Blake wrote, you can find the big story in little things. So, lately I'm seeing a similar erosion in daily life. Cars drive by with serious damage - I guess people can't afford to fix them. Once-full restaurants are emptier.

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