iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by John Barrett

Nicolai von Ondarza @nvondarza.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"We could go all the way" - Burnham's Europe part in his Conference speech yesterday sounded more cautious than this, where he clearly puts single market, customs union and even rejoin on the table:

bbc.com

Move to rejoin EU among options for UK, says Andy Burnham

The prime minister tells the BBC the current Brexit settlement has caused "more harm than good".

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Keith Stewart @climatekeith.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Now I need to write something that will let me cite a Nature article citing @doctorow.pluralistic.net Maybe Unauthorized Bread, but with solar panels www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Smart energy must address enshittification risks - Nature Energy

Nature Energy - Smart energy must address enshittification risks

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Stefan Pöhlmann @snpoehlm.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🧪Where is SARS-CoV-2 circulating? Below is a collection of useful surveillance sites from around the world - wastewater, genomic and respiratory-virus data - that may help you assess virus circulation in your area and make informed decisions about protection.

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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 22/09/2026

The current El Niño event has now broken previous records. It started in June and is due to last until next year, changing global weather patterns. Read our latest blog ⤵️ www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/re...

metoffice.gov.uk

Record-Breaking El Niño Surpasses Previous Benchmarks

The developing El Niño in the Pacific Ocean, which scientists have been monitoring closely for many months, has now exceeded previous records, making it the strongest event in the observational record...

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Alastair Harper @alastairharper.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Thomas Edison in 1910. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves on this net zero business, lads

Someday some fellow will invent a way of concentrating and storing sunshine to use instead of this old, absurd Prometheus scheme of fire.
I'll do the trick myself if someone doesn't get at it....
This scheme of combustion in order to get power makes me sick to think of—it is so wasteful.... We should utilize natural forces and thus get all of our power. Sunshine is a form of energy, and the winds and the tides are manifestations of energy. Do we use them? Oh no; we burn up wood and coal, as renters burn up the front fence for fuel.
We live like squatters, not as if we owned the property. There must surely come a time when heat and power will be stored in unlimited quantities in every community, all gathered by natural forces. Electricity ought to be as cheap as oxygen, for it cannot be destroyed.
Now, I am not sure but that my new storage battery is the thing. 167

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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

The upshot is that the party that most hates the first past the post electoral system is using it most effectively. The LDs have experience in 2019 of racking up votes with a divisive message and getting very few seats. Some LDs think the Greens and Reform are making the same mistake.

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James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 28/08/2026

Now FREE TO READ – why we need more data centres. I feel like an epidemiologist in February 2020 – the dangerous threat in the near future is so clear, and we need to prepare for it. Please consider sharing it with the data centre-sceptics in your life. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-case-f...

takes.jamesomalley.co.uk

The case for Nightingale Datacentres

Britain isn’t prepared for the looming AI national security crisis

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Reform UK policy is to ban all Hong Kong BNO visa holders from perm settlement, removing it for those who have qualified (40k so far, but 150k+ before the election). It will find this harder if they become citizens before then Labour Gvt prob won't ask BNO visa holders to wait 10 years (but TBC)

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 26/08/2026

They disinvented the VCR. You might think that the reason we don't have VCRs anymore is because VCRs were supplanted by DVDs, PVRs and streaming, but that's not the case. They had it in for the VCR from the very start, and they never stopped trying to kill it. Eventually, they succeeded. 1/

A 1960s family living room in which a mom, dad and two kids are mesmerized by a cabinet-style TV. The image has been altered. The TV has an early 1990s VCR atop it. The TV screen is displaying a cross-sectioned human head with brains and spine on display. A huge fist has materialized in the room, with bloody spiked knuckle-dusters, smashing into the VCR. The oil painting over the sofa has been replaced with a pulp image of a male head, its cranium removed and replaced by a dome. Inside the dome is a red eight-segment VCR clock, displaying 12:00. The background in the painting is a tangle of cassette tape. The whole image's colors have been boosted, giving it an overexposed look.

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Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 20/08/2026

Leen Valley (Nottingham) Council By-Election Result: 🌹 LAB: 30.5% (-33.8) 🏘️ NPA: 23.2% (New) ➡️ RFM: 18.2% (New) 🌍 GRN: 16.7% (New) 🌳 CON: 8.4% (-13.3) 🔶 LDM: 3.0% (-11.0) Labour HOLD. Changes w/ 2023.

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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

New from 404 Media: we solved which AI company is buying massive shipments of rare books, scanning and destroying them to train AI. We put an Apple AirTag in a rare book, followed it. It ended up at an Amazon facility. Its logo is a dinosaur ripping through a book www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...

404media.co

We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility

We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.

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NeoEonOne @neoeonone.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

An American interviewer asked Count Binface where he stands on the political spectrum.

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Jacky @jacky3344.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

For me the key sentence from that Lauren Leek article is here: "A monoculture is efficient right up until the weather changes." As someone in retail food where the local supply chains are collapsing - that's the important bit. At the moment. laurenleek.substack.com/p/temperatur...

laurenleek.substack.com

Temperature Zero for Culture: Why Everything Is Starting to Look the Same

What 640 London shopping streets, 4,000 Billboard hits, a million films and synthetic AI personas tell us about why everything is flattening into sameness and how to regulate the algorithms behind it.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 30/07/2026

With "surveillance pricing," businesses have finally found something AI can do way, way, *way* better than people: price gouging. 1/

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Sam Learner @samlearner.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

wrote for the magazine about the open source software that underpins our digital lives, how it is being upended by AI code tools, and about maintainers as.ft.com/r/b7f62212-9...

ft.com

Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party?

Our obsession with AI code-writing tools is overwhelming the web’s unsung human caretakers

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Stella Creasy MP @stellacreasy.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

In ten days time with your help we can cap how much money anyone can personally give to a political cause and any chance millionaires can buy our politics. If you agree share this and ask your MP to co sign the amendment. It’s time we made sure it’s democracy not donations that define our future.

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Noema Magazine @noemamag.com · 30/06/2026

The growing number of AI agents roaming the internet will eventually force us to verify what the old web mostly presumed: that there is a morally & legally accountable person somewhere in the chain, @noupside.bsky.social writes. #aiagents #identitytheft

noemamag.com

We Need A Way To Prove Personhood Online | NOEMA

The growing number of AI agents roaming the internet will eventually force us to verify what the old web mostly presumed: that there is a morally and legally accountable person somewhere in the chain.

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Crisis @crisis-uk.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

🚨 Breaking news: from today, it's no longer a crime to sleep rough in England and Wales. The Vagrancy Act has finally been repealed. For more than 200 years, this archaic law criminalised people for sleeping rough or begging. But no more.

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John Barrett @johnwbarrett.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Annual temperature anomaly 1850-2025 for Nottingham, UK. showyourstripes.info/c/europe/uni...

Bar chart showing annual temperature anomaly 1850-2025 for Nottingham, UK. Last four years are the highest on record.

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Molly White @molly.wiki · 08/06/2026

But when voters do find out, the spending can backfire. In Illinois, candidates who called out the crypto money against them won their primaries despite being vastly outspent. Transparency is the only counter to this.

Money involved in this election
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D): Raised $31.4M ($57.8k from industry donors), $412k in outside spending to support ($30.2k from crypto PACs), $3.34M in outside spending to oppose
Juliana Stratton (D): Raised $4.79M ($1k from industry donors), $9.07M in outside spending to support, $10.4M in outside spending to oppose ($9.99M from crypto PACs)
Robin Kelly (D): Raised $3.47M ($2k from industry donors), $1.28M in outside spending to support ($285k from crypto PACs)
Dick Durbin (D): Raised $2.38M
Don Tracy (R): Raised $2.33M
Jeannie Evans (R): Raised $1.28M
Casey Chlebek (R): Raised $202k

Spending by crypto- and AI-focused committees
FairShake (crypto)
Total spending $9,866,091
to oppose Juliana Stratton in the primary
$9,866,091
Protect Progress (crypto)
Total spending $434,834
to oppose Juliana Stratton in the primary
$119,643
to support Raja Krishnamoorthi in the primary
$30,183
to support Robin Kelly in the primary
$285,008

Money involved in this election
La Shawn Ford (D): Raised $653k, $2.48M in outside spending to oppose ($2.48M from crypto PACs)
Anthony Driver Jr. (D): Raised $249k, $564k in outside spending to support
Danny Davis (D): Raised $101k
Kina Collins (D): Raised $54.9k
Chad Koppie (R):
Patricia Easley (R):

Spending by crypto- and AI-focused committees
FairShake (crypto)
Total spending $2,475,780
to oppose La Shawn Ford in the primary
$2,475,780

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David Whitley @mrdavidwhitley.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Treating any communication platform that algorithmically selects which content to put in front of a user as a publisher, and legally responsible for that content, is the screamingly obvious solution that will deeply upset maybe seven companies and make life considerably better.

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Joe Lynch @joeykins82.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I've been screaming for a long time that no-one is taking the sheer scale of online radicalisation through X, Facebook and YouTube seriously because it's happening to so many people at once. Those platforms are actively suggesting and pushing misinformation on to people, and we do nothing about it.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 16/05/2026

As Baldur Bjarnason writes, under Trump, America "first turned on their trading partners, then their allies in Europe, and then they delivered one of this century’s biggest economic and energy crises to their allies in Asia": www.baldurbjarnason.com/2026/the-old... 9/

baldurbjarnason.com

The old world of tech is dying and the new cannot be born

Writing at the end of the world, from Hveragerði, Iceland

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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

We were lucky (so far) with the Hantavirus outbreak. Next time we may not be. @who.int @ecdc.europa.eu and teams in South Africa & elsewhere responded very well, but 🇺🇸 is missing in action. My article in @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/pol...

prospectmagazine.co.uk

We were lucky with Hantavirus—next time we might not be

The outbreak aboard a Dutch cruise ship offers vital lessons for the inevitable next pandemic

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Solid Evidence @solidevidence.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

BA.3.2 is strange is so many ways. It's now 17 months old, which is really quite old for a COVID lineage. Every so often there is a sweeping lineage that displaces everything in circulation, but when that doesn't happen the existing 'clans' fight it out with each other. 1/

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Mike Honey @mikehoney.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Across Europe, 18 countries report Patient age data with their samples. Among children (0-17), BA.3.2.* was at 58% (n=250), vs 19% among adults (n=342), so a ~3X higher rate among children. 🧵

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/04/2026

If there's one FAQ I get Q'ed most F'ly, it's this: "How do you get so much done?" The short answer is, "I write when I'm anxious (which is how I came to write nine books during lockdown)." The long answer is more complicated. 1/

A male figure in an inner tube, floating down a river. The figure has been altered. He now has a zombie's head, and his skin has been tinted green, with large, suppurating sores oozing out of his skin.

Image:
marsupium photography (modified)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2.8_hours_later_-_Zombie_Apocalypse_(14315382305).jpg

CC BY-SA 2.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

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Dan O'Hara @skeuomorphology.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I'm fascinated by this fake disease experiment, conducted to see if AI chatbots would pick up on and regurgitate fake science www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real

Bixonimania doesn’t exist except in a clutch of obviously bogus academic papers. So why did AI chatbots warn people about this fictional illness?

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Antonia Bance MP @antoniabance.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

From today, statutory sick pay is paid from the first day of illness And it’s paid to every worker, including the lowest paid, who previously got nothing Long held goals of the labour movement - realised by a Labour government

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Matthew Pennycook MP @matthewpennycookmp.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Too right it does. In 26 days' time we will: ✅Abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. ✅Introduce periodic tenancies. ✅Limit rent increases to once a year. ✅Ban rental bidding and rent in advance. ✅Make discrimination against renters who have children or receive benefits illegal.

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Ashwin Varma @ashwinvarma97.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Oh my god, this is my job!!! I can finally add something back to all the people who’ve given me knowledge

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ironeconomist.bsky.social @ironeconomist.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This is such incredible abject nonsense. If the straight stays closed ordinary people will have to use less oil and gas. Price is the fairest rationing mechanism that incentivises people who can to switch and to reduce consumption.

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David Osborn @safedavid3.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

🚨🚧🚨🚧🚨🚧🚨🚧🚨🚧🚨🚧🚨 CATA Press Release following publication of Baroness Hallett’s report: tinyurl.com/CATA-PR-Apr-... MAJOR WINS for CATA (and true scientists everywhere!) Complete vindication (see thread below) BUT There were some major omissions (see Press Release) /1 of 23

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David Osborn @safedavid3.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Members of CATA’s Executive Team attended publication of the report on 19 March 2026 and previewed the report. We quickly realised that most of our primary goals had been achieved: - Airborne/aerosol transmission accepted - IPC Guidance flawed - AGPs ‘dead in the water’ /2 of 23

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Slow Ways @slowwaysuk.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Planning a walk this Easter? Why not make it a #SlowWays hike!? The Slow Ways network includes over 10,000 routes that stretch for neatly 150,000km. Thanks to people across Britain, this map shows the 2,382 routes that have been triple-checked and verified. Plan a walk here beta.slowways.org

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Chris Curtis MP @chriscurtis94.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

After YouGov retracted their poll on young people going to church more, I wrote about why polling young people, especially young men, has become increasingly challenging. It's a growing problem, and the market research industry needs to respond. chriscurtismk.substack.com/p/young-men-...

chriscurtismk.substack.com

Young men, bad data and moral panic

Before we build another national conversation around what young men supposedly believe, it is worth asking whether the data underneath it is any good.

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Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.eurosky.social · 29/03/2026

I’ve been thinking about how inequality in the UK has if anything declined in recent years and yet the perception seems to be that it’s going up. This IFS charts offers a clue as to why ifs.org.uk/living-stand...

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War on the Rocks @warontherocks.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

An extraordinary cybersecurity risk has spread across the national security community. It did not arrive through a breach, but through the tools everyone is already using.

warontherocks.com

Your Defense Code Is Already AI-Generated. Now What?

Somewhere in a defense ministry, someone is drafting a policy on whether to permit AI-assisted software development in defense procurement. The sentiment

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Ryan Hisner @ryanhisner.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

You have to wonder for how long we will continue seeing infections from 2020 continue to show up (in absurdly high quantities) in wastewater. 1/16

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Cat in the Hat @catinthehat.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

You can listen to part of Louise Jones-Roberts’ interview on @lbc.co.uk radio below ⬇️ In this clip, she talks about her confusion over UKHSA’s explanation of how meningitis spreads. She says “things don’t quite add up” because it was transmitted a lot more easily than suggested…

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Greedling @greedling1729.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

...But there is hope for a better Internet, ironically due to tariffs! @doctorow.pluralistic.net pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/3...

pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: The Post-American Internet (01 Jan 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

This is cool. The Government is set to allow plug-in solar, low cost solar panels that families can buy at supermarkets and put on their balconies or outdoor space. "In Germany over a million have been sold, helping households with energy costs and reducing dependence on fossil fuels."

gov.uk

Government to go “further and faster” in becoming energy secure

The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 14/03/2026

To combat bird flu spread, other countries have authorized poultry vaccines. The U.S. hasn’t, amid political and economic pushback. Without a vaccine, experts say the virus poses an escalating threat: “The minute it transmits to humans, it’s done.” (Published Nov. 2025)

propublica.org

What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic

Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vacci...

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Corporal Frisk @corporalfrisk.com · 11/03/2026

The question was raised how bad a task would it be to clear the Strait of Hormuz if it was mined. The answer is "pretty bad".

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Solid Evidence @solidevidence.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

The most prominent cryptic lineage in the world right now is from Lincoln, Nebraska. It's a B.1 infection (about 5 years old) that has been detected in their wastewater every week for about the last 18 months. Sooo.... 1/

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