iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 15h

Currently I wish there was an option to dial back jobs. It's like yes, at my best I'm great at solving problems and talking people through the intricacies of data, but sometimes I just want to be the one sorting all the jigsaw pieces into the right box, you know?

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I agree with this. AI art of any type is a novelty at best. When I engage with art I am seeking a specific experience - to see the world from some alternative viewpoint; something with meaning and intention. AI just isn't that, and can't be.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I don't think I will do a drawing challenge this month. Frankly there's enough going on and I don't think the extra pressure will make art any more fun for me this year. I've been doing a Feb/Oct drawing challenge thing for years now so this is a Departure. Still though.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This section of motorway is particularly awful. It's a chokepoint for both Glasgow traffic and traffic leaving Glasgow; it cuts a line through an important part of the city; and most of the surroundings are extremely unfriendly to pedestrians. Even as a driver it's a mess.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

On behalf of readers can I say that manually picking out the human-written books from a host of machine-written slop is not good for anyone?

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Naomi Smith @pimlicat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

WHOOOP!!!!! This is VERY welcome news - PM will announce a process to introduce PR for Westminster elections: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Andy Burnham expected to say he will push ahead with electoral reform plans

Exclusive: Labour conference speech will kick off process that could replace current system with proportional representation

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David Barnett @davidmbarnett.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's never "AI agent breaks containment, cures cancer, does a bit of tidying up and puts the kettle on", is it?

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

They're called "inspecting gender" and they don't think they're the baddies?

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Kind of alarmed at the number of places across the UK where Serious Investment is sorely needed. There's a backlog of undone maintenance and upgrades going back years. Some politician is going to have to bite the bullet and release funds eventually or people will get hurt.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

School holidays, honestly. 13 y o at 2245 - "What are adult parties like?" ... Beat... Me: "Well I remember one when I was about 23 where everyone was enthusiastically discussing the best brand of hoover..." This was supposed to be a boring answer. It's not as boring as bedtime, apparently.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Not dunking on the poster here but I'm starting to think there's actually no imaginary ablism so ridiculous that it doesn't happen. Yes, I have been told that my eyes would get stronger if I wore my glasses less. 'what if the fix is actually the issue' is extremely common brain worms.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I have no training in any of them either. But I am skilled in making inferences from data and this is not that.

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Eleanor Morton @eleanormorton.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Myth busting about Scotland's 'need' for data centres feat. angry moorhen (Follow us on insta at stopaidatacentres.scot)

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Steph Wright @elmosmoe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Absolutely love this from @jessharwoodart.bsky.social that appeared in the @australia.theguardian.com

Comic showing incredible data centres we should support locally across 6 panel - The Local Library, Community Groups, Seed Banks, Local Nurseries, The Pub and Your Brain

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Ted Dunning @bsky.tdunning.com · 25/09/2026

Here's a hummingbird thinking. Big thoughts at the end of the day. #photography #birds @glengrambo.bsky.social

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🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.

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Autistic Realms (Helen Edgar) @autisticrealms.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Highlighting elements across themes that support the monotropism theory of attention within a lived and embodied subjectivity. Discussing the importance of challenging normative expectations of attention for creating neuroinclusive environments, particularly in the workplace. SUPER WORK!

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Abandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George Monbiot

Changes in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Is it actually April? Are we really sure?

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

You know I think the only reason electric vehicles /now/ aren't far and away a better choice than petrol and diesel cars is because the charging infrastructure is still pretty dire. If it was similar to our petrol station infrastructure electric vehicles would be hands down the best choice.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Thing about this is that we're all living in the same economy. So when you start to struggle you look around and find you're the only one still swimming...

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Gary Stevenson @garyseconomics.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Your mental health is getting worse because you live in a hostile economy

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Definitely what we need is to be exposed to a historic AI bubble /and/ massive oil shocks at the same time. That sounds like we're lining up a Really Excellent Economy for next year. Much Strong.

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Jennie Kermode @jenniekermode.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

We know the cost of this imaginary future. No, the machines will not come for us, but if we buy into these ideas then we will be destroying our physical world in exchange for a poor quality virtual one. We don't have to accept that bargain.

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Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.com · 17/09/2026

It was confirmed yesterday that the centre left coalition won the election in Sweden As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

"You should trust us, we'll do the right thing just because it's the right thing!" - Paraphrasing Sam Altman who is trying to find a less catchy version of 'Don't be evil'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

OpenAI's Sam Altman says world 'right to be afraid' but 'should trust' AI firms

Sam Altman and other tech CEOs say there are incentives to limit advancements in AI, as fears grow over the threats it poses to humanity.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A rose in gouache. I don't do flowers much so this was a wee change of pace.

A painting of rose flower, partly opened and facing upwards, in a dark pink with a blue background. It's sketchy in the sense that there are visible brush strokes and the edges aren't cleanly finished, but the flower has depth and dimension.

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Claire Cullingworth @ccullingworth.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This made me smile, attached to an ordinary cast iron drainpipe on a house in Durham. #TinyJoys

A cast iron drain pipe going down the side of a white-painted house. A crest of red feathers and a bright orange beak made from something solid have been attached around it. It looks remarkably like "Feathers McGraw", the evil criminal penguin from The Wrong Trousers.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

So this is probably already a thing that just wasn't really on my radar, but my present reading material has made me think about the concept of 'information density' and how key it can be for my reading experience. Some examples...

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4u1e.bsky.social @4u1e.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

As the thread goes on to say, we *should* worry about it, but because of careless use of automation and chatbots, not because Skynet has become self-aware. As always, worth reading the whole thread.

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

1/x On September 11, 2001 Coast Guard Lieutenant Michael Day, aboard the Sandy Hook pilot boat New York, keyed his radio: "All available boats. This is the United States Coast Guard. Anyone wanting to help with the evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governors Island." #maritimehistory

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A Demon Named Sam Kurd @samkurd.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Burnham: The conditions for a Scottish Independence referendum would be exactly the same as for Northern Ireland. Swinney: Great, let's discuss the legal framework for a Scottish Independence referendum. Burnham:

Jessica Lange in American Horror Story saying "There's not going to be a Scottish Independence Referendum you stupid slut"

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

So let me get this straight - if we think there's a majority then we get a referendum on independence. But how would we figure out if there was a majority?? Polls are probably not convincing enough. I think we're looking at annual "d' you want another indyref" referendums.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Will take tiny bites if thankfulness if anyone has any. Need to balance out the bad news.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I feel like there's a microSF story here.

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Micah @rincewind.run · 05/09/2026

he does, eventually, get a comprehensive list of the harmless creatures on Not Australia it is, and I am giving you the entire list verbatim, “some of the sheep”

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

If you've ever wondered why all the studies showing that it's more expensive to have homelessness as a society than it is to end homelessness, I think this is the reason. The whole thread is good too.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

You know, the witches are the Discworld books that deal with story and narrative. But it just occurred to me that this is one of... I don't know, certainly three? Vimes books in which the plot is very explicitly resolved by Art. I'm thinking of Thud, Snuff and the Fifth Elephant.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Well I knew Amazon was bad but this is a whole revelation. Like their labour practices are worse, I get that, but it's the sheer balls-out corruption! If you want to start understanding how Amazon is screwing you even if you never use it, this is a good place to start.

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It fails to recognise that individualised stockpiling ahead of a major shortfall creates a monstrous inequality of outcomes. Some families would be fine, as long as they can protect their stores from looters. Most would not. Social breakdown would happen in days. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

Britain’s food supply is precarious – and Trump’s chaos is spreading. I have a plan. Do you? | George Monbiot

I’ve started a stockpile, but that isn’t the answer. If crisis strikes, the government needs a strategy to protect us all, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

One of the people I silently apologise to every so often because back then I didn't get it. Probably I still don't fully get it, I'm a Scottish white lady. But I'm more aware, and I see the ways I was encouraged to underestimate black people. Another is Prince.

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Ooh, just saw a bluetit investigate one of the bird houses in the garden. The one that spent most of the summer full of bees though. No idea what's in there now, i have been generally leaving it alone...

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Dr Joanna McKenzie @jobob.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Except the reason they're always white is because it has been common practice to require that in the planning permission system so they show up less against the sky.... Hence deliberately being less visible to birds.

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Fergus Murray @oolong.co.uk · 01/09/2026

There are so many awful things about the anti-trans moral panic, but one of the *saddest* bits about it is the way that it's poisoned the water for feminism. I *hate* that I see suffragette colours and it immediately makes me suspicious, for example. 'Women-only space'. 'Red Tent'. Red flags now.😖

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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Can't get a moment's peace on this bloody planet.

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