iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 7h

Art sites now flooded with nil-quality “AI art”, most of which is pushing people into purchases of said artwork, is genuinely disgusting. Firstly, prompt jockeys, you’re not artists. Secondly, art can exist without a commercial context. Not everything has to be a commercial transaction.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

AI is useful for just one thing: if someone you’re dealing with deals with a problem by saying “I’ll ask chatGPT” (or equivalent), they’re a moron who shouldn’t be trusted.

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Rob Arnol @robertarnol.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Morning. ☕️

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The Mistral CEO says that the whole furore about AI safety is actually a fake debate to cover up the negligence of the “leading” AI companies, who deployed without adequate safety and guardrails. I think he is 💯correct in this assertion, and in the reason for this debate and its timing.

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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Who’s ready for No Kings? We’re getting an early start on making signs! ✊💚

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Been reading the fascinating story of the ILLIAC IV supercomputer. While it’s a train wreck of problems, and never met its design goals, it seems to have had a ridiculously outsized impact on computer architecture. Next: the ILLIAC III, which was a weird pattern recognition computer.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Disney Plus updates its subscriber agreement to allow advertisements even on “ad free” premium services. The moment I see an advertisement on any streaming service, I can it.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I loathe the AI bros, but why are questions about Services Australia’s diligence and monitoring of what appears to be a proof of concept run by a rapacious foreign corporation with multiple allegations of data theft?

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Is Albanese also a “polite fascist”? I actually think this reel makes some fascinating points about Carney, calling him a polite fascist, but these observations apply even moreso to Albanese and his disappointing government. www.instagram.com/reel/Ddd1nsS...

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

With the possible exception of organized slavery, yes it is. This is the same group of people who viciously and abusively defended “intellectual property” for decades, and now want to pretend it doesn’t exist to train their AI models. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

arstechnica.com

Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history”

Microsoft, OpenAI emails reveal fear of AI “doom loop” killing news orgs.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I could not agree more, but what this reveals is a deep seated disagreement within the “Liberal” party, with the Howardian old guard (as gross as they were) facing off the cretins who think Australia just needs a Trump.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

GOOD! The Albanese government, despite a massive majority and clear mandate for change, has been an ethical and policy disappointment. It’s tiny, scared and compromised by money and the Murdoch stooge-scum it has largely employed as media advisors.

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The Mouthy Renegade Writer @mouthyrenegade.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Our health care system in America is disgusting. A clear indication that our government doesn't give a fuck if we live or die.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

BTW, this is an absolutely fascinating subject. Imagine, just after the last glacial retreat of the ice age in the Holocene our Greenlandian era ancestors, having just figured out keeping livestock, needed to leave us a warning we would instinctively understand.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It’s so funny that the ABC portrays this as One Nation vetting policies failing, rather than their vetting policies working exactly as designed. One (Fascist) Nation. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...

abc.net.au

One Nation volunteer previously promoted neo-Nazi ideologies

A One Nation volunteer at a WA by-election was found by a tribunal to have previously promoted racist and neo-Nazi ideologies.

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𝖼𝗋𝗄Ⓥ @crk5.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Australia's pre-colonial population estimate has been revised, the number of Indigenous people on the continent was at least twice as large as previously thought. Diseases and settler violence caused an estimated 2.06 million to die after the arrival of the First Fleet www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...

abc.net.au

Impact of colonisation on First Nations people far greater than previous estimates, research finds

Australia's Indigenous population was up to seven times larger before colonisation than previously estimated, but was devastated following the arrival of Europeans, new research reveals.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Is it just me, or are Aldi special buys really boring lately? There was a time when they’d have interesting things, like 3D printers or unusual tools, but it now seems like the same generic stuff which repeats every 6 months. Started during COVID, but in the last year gotten much worse.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I have lived in both good and bad local councils in sydney, but OMG, in terms of ineptitude and lack of service, the ACT government beats them all. I went to book the single bulk waste collection we get, today, and look at the available dates! Pathetic.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Research that shows evangelical Christians both approve of AI and trust it to make major life decisions for them seems to me to be a very “water is wet” finding. They’re people used to being told they don’t need to think, being preyed upon, and they love avaricious sociopaths.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

U.S. car companies call for a ban on Chinese made vehicles. I mean, it’s not like U.S. cars are popular anywhere outside North America, and their single innovative company was taken over by a Nazi-saluting fascist con-artist, so I guess a ban is the only way they’ll compete.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Just saw Canavan’s latest comments on toxic masculinity, and schools having an “anti-boy agenda”. In a country which includes Pauline Hanson and the Beetrooter, the title of most ignorant politician is hotly contested. But I think thick Matt has won the prize.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Shitler has just strong armed Apple into changing Lake Ontario to Lake America, but doesn’t seem to understand they’ve only done it in the USA. Here in Australia, it’s kinda funny… (Apparently Alphabet didn’t need strong arming, they just pathetically complied.)

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Kiribati and Naoero have a good point. How can Australia and New Zealand criticise China over missile testing, but be fine with the U.S. doing essentially the same thing? Let’s have some consistency in our foreign policy. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...

abc.net.au

Australia pushes for condemnation of China’s missile test

Australia and Palau want to issue a formal condemnation of China's missile test in the Pacific in July, but not all countries in the region agree.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Sanity check me, folks: I’ve owned a Suzuki Swift Hybrid since Nov 2024. It has no spare tyre. It has had four punctured tyres, and I’ve had to replace all four tyres at least once each. Am I unreasonable thinking this is absolutely insane? Suzuki is one of the most awful companies to deal with.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

If ST:SNW remakes “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”, this little guy is the perfect casting!

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

When I was promoted to CTO, I had a private plane company contact me to ask whether I was in the market for Learjet leases. My employer begrudged putting me in economy, so nope! But today I was called to ask whether I wanted to own a plane. I’ve flown aa A22 Foxbat, but I’ll take an A380.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’m just checking home affairs’s website for a friend visiting, trying to understand the ETA 601 visa conditions. For being one of the most expensive visas in the world, it sure isn’t being spent on decent website design! What a terrible user experience!

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Latest ChatGPT advert says you should use it because it doesn’t… judge you? Interesting take, as the company logs everything so someone sure might. It’s not like these companies have any commitment to privacy or intellectual property (of others).

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Excuse my cynicism, but Australia has a horrific issue of violence against women, and the first instinct of this useless government is yet another porn ban? There are so many direct things we could do, which would have provable and direct benefits in saving women’s lives. Porn bans are performative.

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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

🤡🤡🤡🤡

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Very sad to read that actor Michael Keating, who played Vila in Blake’s 7, died back in April. Of the main male cast only Stephen Pacey (Tarrant) and Brian Coucher (Travis) remain. Michael was a lovely man who was so unlike his character, and I had the honour of having a dinner with him in 1987.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

It’s really surprising just how much high performance computing architecture, as we implement it in 2026 from smartphones to supercomputers, was pioneered in a small handful of 90’s companies. Leading that list are just three now dead companies: DEC and SGI.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Starting to see some companies toning down their AI marketing, as lots of people are now paying attention to the man behind the curtain. It’s becoming pejorative, at least to people who have a functional understanding of reality, which doesn’t seem to include most corporate “leaders” in 2026.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

There is no “war in Gaza”. There is a genocide in Gaza. Anyone who uses the term “war in Gaza” needs to have anything else they say analyzed closely, as it’s a fundamentally dishonest assertion.

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Dr Sally @drsally.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Have Sydneysiders heard that the Sydney marathon is going to play host to 40 IDF murderers. Tell Tony Burke they shouldn’t be allowed in Not into the marathon and not into Australia

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Ugh. “Soon the temperature will drop to minus 400 degrees.” ST:SNW 4x06. (1) it’s two hundred years in the future, they’re not using fucking Fahrenheit. (2) if they were using metric, that’s below absolute zero. Come on, Star Trek! Basic stuff.

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𝕯𝖆𝖓🍂🎃🕸️ @arepublic86.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This is what a real leader says.

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For the Love of Missy @missybbbobtail.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The difference between dogs and cats is that dogs do absolutely nothing to mask their clinginess while cats pretend it's just a coincidence they're in the same room as you 99% of the time.

Jinx the tabby bobtail cat standing in her scratching box. A slight smile is in her face.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

RIP, Tim Curry. Too many iconic roles to name.

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

One for the computer scientists (and probably the ones who did C or Assembler, which means you likely were not a recent grad). www.instagram.com/reel/DaY0U1S...

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Ian Farquhar @ianfarquhar.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Reading about the Burley Griffins, and Jørn Utzon, and the story of Blue Poles, and the frustration of 19th century British bureaucrats undermining enforcement of anti-slavery laws by colonial bureaucrats, Australia in 2026 makes perfect sense. It’s a place where the corrupt and mediocre thrive.

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