iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Apple Music's algorithmic radio stations and playlists are "fine" but they have some excellent human-curated playlists. That's where I discover a lot of music. The radio shows on Apple Music are also amazing for just finding unique mixes. Soulection radio is a fun one.

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The expectation that everyone be trust a handful of algorithms is how we end up with a society that has zero taste and a mediocre country song breaking all the records. It's so bad that Rolling Stone assumes everyone must have heard of the song, and those that claim otherwise are just performing.

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I'm excited for all 3 updates. Apple TV is much needed, and adding two more HomePods to a home theater system will be really interesting.

Alaska Public Media @alaskapublic.org · 22h

Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

Meet Backpack, your 2026 Fat Bear Week champion. Backpack is 20 years old, weighs about 1,000 pounds and got his nickname because, as a cub, he loved riding on his mom's back across the Brooks River.

akpub.io

Meet Backpack, Fat Bear Week’s chunky champ

Backpack went from hitching a ride on his mom’s back to cross the Brooks River to winning the hearts of fat bear fans around the world.

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Enjoyed the iPhone 18 Pro Max, but I can say with confidence there is very little you'll miss when switching to iPhone Duo.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23h

Siri Intelligence was something from around 2018. Also, thankfully, that's one dinner Tim Cook didn't attend, nor did Apple sign the document. Unless something weird happens, it's still Apple Intelligence and Siri AI. Apple isn't about to change its branding.

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

“Well, you see, I have to stay on the White Supremacist Child Porn Rape Victim Doxxing site because that’s where my community is”

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Wesley Hilliard @hilli.tech · 20h

Sorry, I didn't get to travel the world or anything, so the photos I took in testing are nothing to write home about. Though, I'm quite happy with the product photography I took throughout! Next stop, iPhone Duo.

Wesley Hilliard @hilli.tech · 20h

4,000 words and plenty of photos coming tomorrow for my iPhone 18 Pro Max camera testing. Can't wait for everyone to read it!

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

ceej @ceej.online · 29/09/2026

Mr. President.... China, they.... it's bad. They just announced Ultra Intelligence

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Wesley Hilliard @hilli.tech · 30/09/2026

Apple is now the leader in artificial intelligence because all of the other sycophantic dipshits rebranded to "super intelligence" after orange-flavored dementia told them to.

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Meta Muse appears to read your Apple messages and upload them to the cloud even if you explicitly tell it not to: appleinsider.com/articles/26/...

appleinsider.com

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The difference between Apple and Meta's government relations: Apple: changes nothing, repeats years-old promises, gives token trophies Meta: allows hate speech, ditches human moderation, calls it "super intelligence" the second they are told to They are not the same.

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If you want an artist that exists in the 2020s and sounds like something from classic country, go check out Margo Price: music.apple.com/us/album/hard...

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Not really feeling that "American spirit" that drives the entire concept of Country music.

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Modern country sucks (with rare exception). It sounds like pop filters and acoustic guitars. I like some Country pre-2000s and a couple of more recent songs, but the whole genre basically doesn't exist for me. I tiptoe close to country when alternative has some bluegrass twang, but that's about it.

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Apparently, if you go look at the Apple Music Charts, some lady named Taylor Swift has some songs on a new album release holding the top spots, followed by Choosin Texas. This is such a music hole for me I didn't know there was anything new from Swift. lmao. Though, I do know who Miranda Lambert is

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Wesley Hilliard @hilli.tech · 27/09/2026

wtf is "Choosin Texas" These kinds of folk are always wild to me. I don't let algorithms rule how I listen to music, so no, the trends and media coverage never really affected whether or not I heard a song. Filing this under "Spotify ruined music" because it feels related.

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

Expanding thoughts on weird Apple reporting in my newsletter. Shorter one today, I'm due at a pumpkin patch. www.hilli.tech/hillitechs-new...

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Wesley Hilliard @hilli.tech · 27/09/2026

Expanding thoughts on weird Apple reporting in my newsletter. Shorter one today, I'm due at a pumpkin patch. www.hilli.tech/hillitechs-new...

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Thanks, I was grabbing for dynamic and it escaped me.

This feature was announced by Google before, and was done by humans then in testing too. You don't want it, I don't want it, but Meta is pushing it again. Why do they think we need these kinds of features?

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Hey, look, my Apple Watch Ultra 4 review. If you'd like to see more about how I'm using the new Apple Health, check out my previous newsletter. I'll have more to say about it soon on AppleInsider. www.hilli.tech/hillitechs-new...

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It's complicated. If Apple was as desperate and insane as these other companies, wouldn't they have blown billions on unnecessarily developing their own frontier model? Wouldn't they be claiming stupid "hacks" and rogue AI? Apple feels like the only company behaving sanely these days tbh.

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Rollin Bishop @rollinbishop.com · 24/09/2026

Idk, I see the industry struggling to come up with ideas, many tech CEOs saying "we'll let the user decide what the feature is for" while Apple ships products people like and features people use. The Apple Watch stuff is weird on its face, but if there's demand, at least Apple's is private.

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

i am going to regret what this is going to do to my inbox but it's The Busy Time so: if you're a freelancer that covers games and don't ALREADY hear from GR+ editors on the regular, hit me up: rollin dot bishop at futurenet dot com

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Everything you need to know about Meta Connect: don't use Meta products

AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026

Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.

apnews.com

https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d

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Reposted by Wesley Hilliard

Aftermath @aftermath.site · 22/09/2026

Goodbye, Lara isn't "losing chess to a dog" levels of queerbaiting, but it is just as disappointing: aftermath.site/goodbye-lara-y...

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It varies person to person, some think it's less isolating and even helps with motion sickness. Either way, you're going to be very aware of the edges of the headset in your view, so I think it's rather distracting. Blocking out the light at your nose in Vision Pro could make you get sick too. YMMV

I have a feeling the discourse around these silly Meta "VR" "Glasses" will be especially unhinged.

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Apple came in with Apple Vision Pro, defined where the market was going, then took a step back. As all of the competitors scramble to chase the future Apple laid out, Apple is waiting for the technology to get good enough to truly iterate. Let Meta and others make the mistakes for them.

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The tech coverage is even more embarrassing, with journalists carrying water for Meta. Calling these "glasses" is disingenuous at best, and they're even repeating the silly claim that "holograms" are coming. wtf All the while, Apple Vision Pro in the headline gets the clicks I guess. 🤷‍♂️

Apple Vision Pro is the easy headline, but Meta's VR "glasses" are more akin to XReal's offering than anything. They're a display connected to an external compute. It'll be interesting to see Apple tackle this form factor in 2028 or so.