iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Stu Montagu

Mara Wilson @marawilson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I don’t think I’m ever going to get the appeal of pivoting to video for podcasts. I’ve been listening to podcasts for 20 years, and never once have I thought, my God, I need to SEE these people! I’m on a walk or doing the dishes, I don’t need video.

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James Nalton @jdnalton.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

One and the same for some time, though those running the game remain out of their depth in many aspects of this. I've covered this regularly in my Morning Star columns over the years and wrote this back in 2023.

IN SELLING itself to the highest bidders, which now happen to be sovereign states, rich monarchies and the tools of exploitative global capitalism, top-level football has entered the world of politics by default.

From the economic politics of capitalism to the geopolitics of state ownership and the increased intertwining of the two, football is part of these systems because it is now owned, directed and influenced by them.

Combine this with its own inherent political geography and power dynamics, created by various divisions, tournaments and confederations within a global structure, plus its links to society, communities, businesses and its own economy and workforce, and football is now almost a branch of political science itself.

In recent years, the sport has increasingly sold its way into the realms of other branches of politics, such as economics and international relations.

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Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026

A key component of the Cambridge Analytica outrage was your friends subjecting you to data theft without your consent or knowledge. Facebook is running the same playbook on your text messages. Even if you’re not on Meta properties, they’re ingesting your interactions.

Aten installed Muse on both his iPhone and a Mac mini that he uses to test out various Al agents and tech. It took Meta a single day to begin "helpfully" pitching article ideas based on texts he'd sent to a podcast co-host.
When he asked Muse how it got the information, it said that it read banners from incoming texts. But that's not true, either.
After doing a little digging, Aten says Muse synced 187,000 lines from his Messages database, despite Full Disk Access being Off.

Unless Aten is the most popular person on the face of the planet, I sincerely doubt he'd gotten 187,000 lines of text in roughly 24 hours. What happened is that, without permission, Muse went into the app and downloaded the information.
He had not given Muse permission to access Messages, and full disk access was not enabled. It just went ahead and uploaded those texts anyway.
Muse can take "unexpected actions" indeed.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Think that would be something that would smooth the edges in terms of concerns about him. Any evidence that he's actually a really good footballer and we just need to get the best out of him is helpful to keeping criticism sensible.

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Neil Atkinson @knoxharrington.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Manchester City supporters (and the people of Manchester) should be furious. Because the first people who have had the piss taken out of them is them. Even now the City statement takes the piss. You are meant to back this pile of bullshit, it says. You are meant to back it unquestionably.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tricky afternoon here for Disguised Funding Scheme FC.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Finished it off this week and couldn't agree more with this. The writing feels like real people being funny with their mates, the acting is great and the ending is really well executed.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

@jamesskelly.bsky.social I'd never heard of Terry Reid until a few days ago. Had a great weekend diving into some of his stuff. Love those stories of musicians all the legends love that aren't as famous as they should be.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

New one from me about how supporters can tend to under-appreciate what they already have and how the league seems to be tending towards more errors and less perfection: halfspacehacks.substack.com/p/the-grass-...

halfspacehacks.substack.com

The grass is greener...in other stadiums.

Does familiarity breed contempt for some supporters?

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I'm not saying they are consciously making choices of what to say that feeds into it, but the drama around those clubs is what fuels their profiles. "Liverpool soild and unspectacularly edge out Team X" does not do numbers. Every time LFC aren't smashing someone it feels like we're losing badly.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This is great stuff. Love a good football history podcast and these guys are consistently excellent. African football, geopolitics and Marxism. Yeah, wildly surprising it's my bag.

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The Anfield Wrap @theanfieldwrap.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

'The likeability and the results, progression, points on the board, will continue to be linked, one will be the other. And it isn't as simple as giving everything.' ✍️ @knoxharrington.bsky.social's review… 👉 Read here: mailchi.mp/theanfieldwr...

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I make that six goal contributions from Cody Gakpo in around four full games of football. Almost as if he isn't as terrible as some people repeatedly told us he was last season. #lfc

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

but I can’t believe we’ve now got to the point of feminism which explicitly says “only women can do childcare”, well done everyone

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

…can female staff change boy babies’ nappies? what is her actual objection here, does she think all care should be segregated by sex or does she think all men are sex offenders

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Hang on, can male staff change boy babies’ nappies? Or no nappies at all? Can men change their own babies’ nappies?

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Watching #MOTD this morning and the post match analysis from Danny Murphy is about Fulham being defensively suspect. That's one hell of a main takeaway from a football match with these numbers.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Cheers James, appreciate it. No idea how much time I'll have to keep it up when I move into whatever my next job is, but just wanted to get back into the habit of writing some stuff, and maybe build a little following.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

So good, mate. He's been superb in these first few games and after presumably having his head halfway out the door it's great professionalism.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

That's four times in two games and ten minutes that Gakpo has turned possession with 1% of a chance/threat into a goal or huge chance. Brilliant start to the season for #lfc.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It'll be interesting to see what shape the defence takes in possession with this selection. Araujo as a normal RB or does he tuck in to make a three and let Kerkez bomb on up the left.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

New one from me about some of the madness of the summer transfer window. Come for the football, stay for the references to 1970's Roboticists and sub-prime mortgages. halfspacehacks.substack.com/p/artificial...

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

New one from me looking at the signing of Araujo, the defensive depth at the club, and leaning into some positivity as #LFC head into the new season. halfspacehacks.substack.com/p/and-then-the…

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

No matter how many brilliant goals he scored, and how many clips of his incredible technique there are, him pressing the ball and the keeper into the net in the FA Cup semi-final v City is still my go-to memory that sums him up the best. Absolute warrior. #lfc

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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Really concerning news about Qatar 2022 whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais, who was abducted by the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) today. This message was sent by his family. Abdullah was meant to testify on allegations of forced labour at the 2022 WC at a US hearing on 20 August.

"Abdullah Abdullah Ibhais was abducted by the General Intelligence Directorate (GID) in Amman few minutes ago.

Abdullah is supposed to have a voluntary disposition in the United States on the 20th of August 2026, where he is scheduled to testify as a witness. This deposition is part of a pending U.S. District Court case concerning allegations of forced labor and human trafficking associated with the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Abdullah has just got his visa yesterday, the 6th of August 2026, from the U.S Embassy in Amman.

Abdullah was threatened with prison before by the (CID) officers, if he insisted to continue his advocacy concerning his case, or concerning the issue of workers conditions in Qatar.

His house was searched and he was almost arrested on the 21st of May 2026, before the arrest force received a phone call and left his house.

Abdullah’s passport was confiscated for two months between the 10th of May and the 1st of July 2026, in order to ban him from taking place in the same disposition that was supposed to take place virtually in the U.S Embassy in Norway, on the 30th of May 2026. Abdullah was then supposed to participate in Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), organized by Human Rights Foundation (HRF) on the 1st and 2nd of June 2026.

When Abdullah previously confronted his interrogators in the (CID) that they are acting upon a Qatari request; they never denied or challenged him on this."

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James Butler @piercepenniless.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This is an attempted lynching, which will be treated with much less seriousness then pensioners holding up Palestine Action placards.

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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Did Britain accidentally become a place where a convicted Neo Nazi who harassed an MP in a really horrifying manner can expect hugely more robust defence from politicians and media against criticism than, say, Gary Lineker can? I would say, no: this was deliberately inflicted upon everyone.

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Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Both the Thiel/Palantir scandal, and the Mandelson/Deripaska scandal lead back to one figure — Jeffery Epstein

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Chris Smith @bychrissmith.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

New on Always Liverpool | On preparing to return to Anfield for another season. A lot of heart went into this one. Shares and subs appreciated.

alwaysliverpool.substack.com

Returning to Anfield for another season: The magic and the melancholy

It's almost time...

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Started a little side-hustle for some writing. If you enjoy my contributions to @theliverpoolway.bsky.social pod then give it a look.

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Neil Atkinson @knoxharrington.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Huge respect as ever to London's relentless commitment to being the very best place in the world for a drink from 12-4 and degrading as though there is a half life every hour on the hour thereafter.

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Sachin Nakrani @sachinnakrani.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

On the day Mohamed Salah joined Trabzonspor, a reminder of the sacrifices he made and sheer bloody-mindedness he displayed to make it in the first place, via this exclusive extract from Melissa Reddy’s latest book for @sport.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/202...

theguardian.com

Mohamed Salah’s story of success and sacrifice: ‘Chasing a dream I had to reach’

In this exclusive book extract, Melissa Reddy documents the Egyptian King’s sacrifice and dedication to make his vision a reality

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

It's going to sound like sour grapes coming from fans of #LFC but that price for Diomande seems wild. He's played 3,256 minutes of club football in his short career. That's around 36 90s. Luckily he's going to play under a manager that loves taking the time to develop young talent.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Never mind Dan, It's always good to get positive feedback. Not sure how much content I'll be putting out early on but we'll see how we get on.

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Stu Montagu @halfspacehacks.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Been feeling like I want to get back into some writing for a fair while now, so if you enjoy my general take on the world of football then have a look and see if you fancy subscribing:

halfspacehacks.substack.com

Get in, no time to explain!

Okay, fair enough, maybe some context is required...

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