iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 19/05/2026

There was some question about it.

Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 25/07/2025

The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George went to San Diego Comic-Con! @thecomicon.bsky.social. PBS kids! @pbs.org @kpbssandiego.bsky.social

Two young men are posing in costume at a San Diego Comic-Con. The person on the left is dressed as the Man in the Yellow Hat from the Curious George series, wearing a full yellow outfit with a tall, pointed yellow hat. The person on the right is wearing a brown monkey onesie costume, resembling Curious George. Both wear lanyards with badges reading “Dexter” and their names. Behind them is a large, cartoonish Bilbo the hobbit statue from the 1970s animated version holding a walking stick, standing on a wooden barrel. The background shows a bustling convention floor with recognizable booths, including Marvel and Dark Horse Comics.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 24/05/2025

“Sending these to shareholders in the annual report isn’t quite what we meant by preparing a self-review.”

Black-and-white single-panel cartoon. A young employee in a beanie faces her manager across a desk. The manager holds an “I DID THAT” decal and a tall stack of reports rises behind her. Caption: “Sending these to shareholders in the annual report isn’t quite what we meant by preparing a self-review.”

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 20/05/2025

What a fine time I had discussing changing US dialects with Maxx Fuller, Adam Llorens, and Paul Millgate, on Fox 9 in Eden Prairie, MN, using this article filled with the linguists who did the actual work as a springboard. Video: www.fox9.com/video/1643884 Springboard: apnews.com/article/migr...

Two people are shown on a television news set. A man with an Afro hairstyle and a yellow shirt sits on the left, smiling, with a laptop in front of him. A man with short hair and a grey t-shirt sits on the right, also smiling. A chyron reads, “COME ON Y’ALL! REGIONAL ACCENTS SLOWING DECLINING.”

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 14/05/2025

“Ice piracy” is when a glacier "steals" ice from a neighboring one, a multi-decade change. It is considered fast in the context of ice sheets, which move at glacial speeds and geological scales, after all. tc.copernicus.org/articles/19/...

Photo of Hubbard Glacier's ice front. Text overlay reads ‘ice piracy’ in orange. A small black pirate flag with a skull and crossbones is edited onto an ice peak.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 12/05/2025

My favorite programming term of the week is the walrus operator from Python. := It lets Python grab a value and give it a short‑term label in one move, inside another action.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 11/05/2025

In word-hunting this week, came across a Hindi idiom: उन्नीस‑बीस का फ़र्क़ (unnīs‑bīs kā farq), also expressed as उन्नीस‑बीस का अंतर होना, which literally means “the difference between nineteen and twenty.” It's a quick way to say “there’s hardly any difference” or “only a hair’s breadth separates the two.”

Stylized graphic dominated by the large Hindi words ‘उन्नीस’ (Unnees - nineteen) and ‘बीस’ (Bees - twenty) in yellow Devanagari font with dark teal accents. The full phrase ‘उन्नीस-बीस का फ़र्क’ (Unnees-Bees ka Fark) is completed with ‘का फ़र्क’ in smaller teal script below, all set against a red patterned background with colorful floral/paisley designs.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 09/05/2025

Somebody had legible index cards.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 15/11/2024

In the tradition of the prophet Muhammad, I have to cut off the bed linens so as not to disturb the cat.

A sleeping calico cat, eyes covered by a paw, lying on a quilt.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 10/06/2024

Make sure to buckle in your loved ones. Photo: a burrito run.

A white plastic bag, handles knotted at the top, in a car seat with the safety belt fastened around the bag. The are items in the bag but it is unclear from the photo alone what they are (but we know from the social post that they are burritos). The bag has "THANK YOU" several times and "Have A Nice Day" printed on it in red.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 21/05/2024

DELIGHTFUL. www.tumblr.com/stingrayextr...

An image of a Tumblr post by "stingrayextraordinaire" that shows many handwritten misspellings of "tragedy." The poster has commented, "«Another year, another group of my delightful ninth graders trying to spell the word "tragedy" for their Romeo and Juliet assignment.»

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 17/04/2024

Who was the editor who used international variants on the word "Lamb" as names in examples in that New York Times Style Guide? Examples attached. Was it Allan Seigal or William Connolly or someone else?

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 09/03/2024

I'll be on Red River Radio out of Shreveport, Louisiana, helping to fundraise for that great community radio station tomorrow, Saturday, March 9, at 9 a.m. Central Time. www.redriverradio.org/contact-us Support your local public radio!

Donate TODAYI Fund Drive

REDRIVERRADIO

KDAQ KLSA KBSA KLDN KTYK Shreveport Alexandria EI Dorado Lufkin Tyler 89.9FM 90.7FM 90.9FM 88.9FM 100.7FM Voice of the Community

redriverradio.org

800-552-8502

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 16/01/2024

For seasonal cold sufferers, from 1875. archive.org/details/heal... DIAGNOSIS OF A COLD. (According to the theory of Dr. O. W. Holmes.) I Moan, Sigh, Groan, I sneeze-- I wheeze Cold chills Like rills Creep o'er. Red nose Redder grows, When it blows- And how sore!

DIAGNOSIS OF A COLD.
(According to the theory of Dr. O. W. Holmes.)
I
Moan,
Sigh,
Groan,
I sneeze--
I wheeze
Cold chills
Like rills
Creep o'er.
Red nose
Redder grows,
When it blows-
And how sore!
Forever more,
As it seems,
In day dreams;
And at night,
Swollen, tight as a tick,
And as hard as a stick.
Most makes you feel sick!
Stitch in side,
Mouth open wide
To catch a breath;
Ears stopped like wool,
Roaring chock jam full.
Mind stupid as any fool,
Brain dull as a rusty tool,
I am tired almost to death,
Catching, snatching for breath.
But, ah! just here my doctor comes,
My dear doctor (and poet) O. W. Holmes,
And says, "Dear sir, your lungs are gaining,"
Because he notes I am growing more diffuse,
In course of all my grumbling and complaining
In tbe quantity of syllables I use;
This being the essence of his later creed,
That people naturally write as they have breath to
read.
If it were a lady patient, in this style he would
greet her :
"Do you respire, s, m., c.m., or long particular
m

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 22/12/2023

Hey! That's me introducing "cromulent" as the word of the day! www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-da…

Grant Barrett looking up with a caption that says "Hi, I'm Grant Barrett."

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 12/12/2023

The Dictionary.com team chose our 2023 word-of-the year: "hallucinate," in the artificial intelligence meaning of producing unexpected false information and presenting it as if true. content.dictionary.com/word-of-the-…

A rendering by Nigel Sussman of the concept of artificial intelligence hallucinating, showing a colorful connection of a head-shaped world, computers, wires, cities, and circuits.

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 23/11/2023

Make your 2023 words-of-the-year nominations! bit.ly/23WOTYNOMS

AI-generated colorful banner with the words "2023 words of the year"

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Grant Barrett @grantbarrett.com · 17/07/2023

this is third in line to inherit everything I own

A back-scratcher with a metal end fashioned like a claw.

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