iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is the ceiling in our otherwise generic fancy corporate hotel. I can’t figure out if it’s intentional because it doesn’t fit the vibe

Large ceiling tiles with spray paint evoking a construction site. The seams are visible, with stains.

741

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Stef Pause @pause.im · 29/09/2026

Fresh what now?? Another great example of @karenmcgrane.bsky.social’s maxim “truncation is not a content strategy”

1279

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

What is going on with this front page that they have ceded the layout to whitespace, surely you could fit some more stories here.

New York Times front page showing a story about the CDC and another about preparation for pandemics. The majority of the page is blank.

120

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I am doing a whole color analysis experiment. You may remember "Color Me Beautiful" from the 1980s. In any case, if you would like to play a game of "which color makes me look better?" I could use some more data: karenmcgrane.github.io/expert-octo-...

karenmcgrane.github.io

Which color looks best on Karen?

041

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

"Snowfall" is a 15 year old article by the NYT that has come to be shorthand for a deeply produced and researched piece with integrated multimedia, especially video, infographics, and audio.

2192

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I sent it to him like "this is interesting!" knowing full well he would be spitting mad and it was an enjoyable hour or so we spent

092

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Where do you fall in your family’s birth order? How do you think that may have affected your personality?

9131

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Len Damico @lendami.co · 01/09/2026

as @karenmcgrane.bsky.social famously says, “truncation is not a content strategy”

193

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Introduce yourself as what almost killed you: Hello, I'm Karen's Cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer with fewer than 10,000 cases in the US each year. I fucking suck!

3110

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

1. Leopards ate my face 2. Main character 3. Everything happens so much 4. Pick a dril tweet I don't believe it's cowardly to say I think there are tweets that have had broader impact, like The Dress, but these I think made a more lasting impact

180

Reposted by Karen McGrane

jon christian @jonchristian.net · 08/08/2026

redditor asking the important questions

Reddit post:

"Can I smoke weed after being shot in the head ?
Cannabis
I was recently shot in the head by a friend of mine ( accident) and this bad bitch wants to match with me after i get out of the hospital will i be okay smoking a blunt or 2?"

542742392

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 06/08/2026

this is what peak user experience looks like. you may not like it, but this is the ideal of interaction design.

3163065

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

This implies he shared it with me at all; he did not. I shared it with him along with my disappointment

070

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I cannot express the degree to which whatever you are hoping or imagining or expecting this candy to be, it is not that

340

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

I made an app, Humanist, to convert PDFs to EPUBs and edit them, but now it has many more features: you can ask your books questions using local/open-weights LLMs, you can manage an e-book library, share between devices, read/take notes on e-books. All AI features optional. LMK if you want to test!

8707

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

One thing that I’ve enjoyed being exposed to as a former New Yorker now visiting is out of home B2B advertising for TV networks. Apparently it’s worth it to run subway or street ads for TV networks.

020

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Who do I know in NYC who would want to meet me and Karen for breakfast in Manhattan on Saturday?

121

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

I'm looking for testers for a Mac app I've built. It's called Humanist, and it's designed to take PDFs and turn them into clean, searchable text (EPUB, md, better PDFs, etc). It's got a versatile editor built in so you can compare the original to the output and correct it. I built it fast & it's fun

5239

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

I am obligated to post this, from my own inbox

New York Gastroenterology Ass... Inb... 8:08 AM

Simple Daily Habits That Prevent Stomach Pain
Say Goodbye to Stomach Pain! Learn Simple Habits Today.
Simple Daily Habits That Prevent Stomach Pain Stomach...

1151

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

My elite strategic consultancy of women dedicated to fucking up the lives of terrible men in small but annoying ways. We'll have an underground lair.

5241

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

It’s slightly strange than in embracing dogs as a preferred pet, we’ve accepted into our households animals that are even more directly obsessed with status* than we are * also snacks, which may be related to status in deep ways we can’t fully see

191

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Tim informed me of this last night and I was like uhhhh perverts? My take is simply that regular people are too precious about what they’ve written and professional writers are accustomed to having their words eviscerated by other people. So don’t ask them for advice.

170

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

From what I was led to believe, I thought The Pitt was going to be like the gay sex hockey show but with medicine, but instead it's just really a lot of medicine

360

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Ian Petrie @icpetrie.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Pleased to announce I have a new name

Salutation of email from Penn's College of Arts & Sciences reads

"Dear =LEFT(A133,FIND(" ",A133) - 1),"

12457

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Yeeted a chunk of mine, good riddance

030

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

He doesn't know we have to pay his friends to hang out with him

On the left, Boo Boo, a Jack Russell Terrier owned by Orzo's dog walker. On the right, Orzo, a dog who looks innocent but is actually a terrorist. The two dogs are seated in lawn chairs with a small table, surrounded by plants starting to bloom, as if they are waiting for someone to bring them snacks and a drink.

2121

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Blue sky nice ghost @rajandelman.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I hate every bot I see. From gpa to gpt

2945811063

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

One of my most hated enemies loves Miami and I feel validated that it is the worst place on Earth

010

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

One of my most hated enemies loves Miami and I feel validated that it is the worst place on Earth

000

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

It is my birthday, I am 54. The big round number birthdays matter to everyone, but being born on 4/4 the ones that end in 4 are special to me.

13400

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

@jacobharr.is Jake I keep meaning to message you. I need your help deciphering the back of the Cheez-its box again. Next time I am downstairs I will take a picture.

111

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

He's saying this becuase I found out he had hash browns I didn't know about, possibly the worst marital crisis we've ever overcome. He's trying to save face now.

290

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

We had a spirited debate I was confident I would win about the number of lakes in our respective states. Minnesota puts it on the license plate! Land of 10,000 Lakes! We have butter named that! Turns out if you question the definition of a "lake" Minnesota is really not all that competitive.

050

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

SOME DOGS HAVE JOBS, ORZO. You don't have a job. You don't have any money. You don't even have thumbs.

050

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

RIP Daniel's Bagels, the last real one. It was right next door to a Dunkin and I would get a bagel from Daniel's and an iced tea from Dunkin (it's good! actually brewed!) Once in line saw a tourist order a bagel at Dunkin and almost physically accosted her but then minded my own business.

030

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

I had to ask "Are these bagels getting better or are my standards getting lower?" The answer is "both." They are decent bagels, for Philly.

131

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Tim has gotten me to care about professional football and basketball but I had to tell him I draw the line at college sports. I will make an exception for his primary rivalries but otherwise he can't make me care.

020

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

This is my preferred seat, particularly for long distance travel. You can lean up against the wall and sleep and it isn't cold. I would deliberately check seat maps in order to confirm I could find this seat. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/u...

nytimes.com

Seat 11A: The Windowless Inside Joke at 30,000 Feet

070

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 01/03/2026

Hostile information architecture

0192

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

I can confirm this is real, just took my own screenshot

Press Releases
Rutherford Statement on Operation Epic Furry

110023

Reposted by Karen McGrane

World IA Day Philadelphia @wiadphilly.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Think WIAD Philadelphia won't be enough community and nerd stuff? Don't worry! IAC is back in Philadelphia this April, and look! One of local faves @karenmcgrane.bsky.social is co-conducting a workshop! Find more details at theiaconference.com.

054

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

In general, I believe that when you fly an American carrier back to the US the food is better because it’s coming from a supplier in your departing country. This American flight from Italy has really put that theory to the test. Italy! Your food is supposed to be better than this!

150

Reposted by Karen McGrane

Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

I'm leading a reading group on liberal-to-lefist ethics in the European antifascist tradition (think Weil and Arendt to Gramsci and Fanon). We're reading one short book a month w/ongoing discussions from now until December. No pressure! If you're interested and a mutual, DM me for a Slack invitation

2165

Karen McGrane @karenmcgrane.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I have been in this hotel for two weeks and I am almost to the point where I can consistently choose one of the (many, MANY) light switches to turn on the light I want. Maybe up to 90% accuracy, starting from near zero. We leave Friday, maybe tomorrow I’ll figure it all out.

050