iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 15h

I pay too much rent to keep dealing with this shit

"is this a pigeon" meme with the person as "shitty landlord", the butterfly as "rain falling on my floor from the leaky roof" and the person saying "is this trickle-down economics"

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

juliette @juliette.mastodon.green.ap.brid.gy · 21h

White bikes always make me sad. A child-size white bike makes me want to start a revolution.

norden.social

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Hey privacy nerds can anyone tell me why it seems like all of the companies are updating their terms and privacy policies RIGHT NOW it seems like?

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Look at hom clearly we write ballot propositions in Missouri

Screenshot of ballot form:

"Constitutional Amendment No. 6
Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: • expand the initiative and referendum petition process by making it a fundamental right; • allow courts to revise ballot summaries through lawsuits; • prohibit the legislature from weakening initiative or referendum powers; • prohibit the legislature from changing or repealing laws enacted through the initiative process, or passing laws similar to those rejected by referendum, without approval from at least 80% of both chambers; and • preserve existing majority vote and signature requirements for initiative and referendum petitions? State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings."

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Well, since I have presented it in a talk just now, I made as well "announce" it: my colleague Daniel and I started a company (small-business style, no investors) to commercialize open-source test and measurement hardware related to (flow) batteries. Been getting […] [Original post on social.coop]

Presentation slide titled "We started a company" with two male scientists with white labcoats standing in front of a lab bench with a laptop and experimental apparatus in between them. Image is crudely overlaid with WordArt-style vector images to make it show they have top hats, cigars, and briefcases full of cash.

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Can anyone ID this bug? Found this massive insect in my room this morning, it is around 10 cm long (!) and probably almost 2 cm in diameter at its largest point. In southern France, for context we are in drought and it just rained. A locust? #insects #bugstodon #BackGarden

Big brown long slender bug on white wall with a crack in it

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Rich people when regular folk want walkable cities and functional public transit

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

kralcttam ☕️ @kralcttam.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

Happy Stanislav Petrov day! Today marks 43 years since Petrov decided to wait for confirmation before escalating a missile alert up the chain of command in the Soviet Air Defense, preventing nuclear war. A hero for not trusting automated systems fully […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Second blog post update with some tests from June on all-iron and Cu/Mn chemistry, getting up to speed: dualpower.supply/posts/lab-notebook…

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 25/09/2026

Finally a blog post for the first time in ages - catching up on a backlog! Making imperfect progress. dualpower.supply/posts/lab-notebook…

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

Vendredi 25 Septembre - Critical Mass Lyon 19h - Place Antonin Poncet, 69002 Lyon à tôt ? #CriticalMass #Lyon #BikeTooter #velo #velotaf

Affiche pour l'événement qui montre un vélo hand drawn in brown and orange tones with the relevant information cause I have the flemme of alt text in french

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

RE: sauropods.win/@futurebird/117285779… 💯. As a scientist who remote desktops into my lab PC on my phone at night to watch battery charge/discharge curves in real time. (I should work on my social life I know)

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

[FYI: not trying to personally attack/dogpile, just disappointed] I like some of JA Westenberg's ideas and writing I've read, being exposed to them as they're pretty popular on the fediverse (@ Daojoan@mastodon.social, don't want to @ them here), picked up their […] [Original post on social.coop]

Screenshot that says:

How I AI (Disclosure)
Updated: 20 August 2026

I use Cursor for most coding tasks, and I’ve started experimenting with Grok Bot as the harness for my business. I use Codex and Grok to manage my knowledge base and wiki in Obsidian. I’ve started trialing VidIQ for YouTube as of this month. Cursor is also my go-to tool for formatting ebooks and maintaining versioning for knowledge work using Github and the new Cursor Origins codebase beta. I use Omarchy as my operating system, and increasingly an OS-level harness.

How I Write with AI
I write some posts with zero AI-assistance, and some with Spiral by Every and Codex. Either way, I start by developing the outlines and arguments by hand, deciding what I want to say and how the ideas should fit together. If I’m using AI, I’ll start with Spiral to turn those outlines and arguments into prose; an agent can write a chunk of the initial paragraphs, depending on the piece and the length of my initial input. I edit every paragraph by hand, revising the language, emphasis, and meaning. I then run the edited draft through Codex to identify structural weaknesses, gaps in the argument, and opportunities to improve the piece. I decide which suggestions to accept and make the final revisions myself. The ideas and overall direction are mine, while AI plays a substantial role in drafting the prose and helping me strengthen its structure and arguments.

YouTube thumbnail for video "The Secret to Success Isn't Genius; It's This One Trait" which appears to use generative AI

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

biblically accurate experience of French administration #France

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

1/x Renewing an existing visa in France---renewal form asks for 10+ documents, none of them are a birth certificate. Response from administration after weeks of delay: "we need your birth certificate, dated from less than 6 months ago." Process of a French person getting a birth certificate […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026

Bandcamp: "pweeeaase spend money on any other day than Bandcamp Friday we missed out on $558,000 in fees fuck why did we start this unprofitable trend how can we stop this"

Email screenshot from Bandcamp:

"On September 4, fans spent over $3.1 million on Bandcamp in just 24 hours, directly supporting independent artists and labels.

That’s what Bandcamp Friday is all about.

But supporting the music you love doesn’t have to wait for a special date. On Bandcamp, artists and labels receive an average of 82% of each sale, and that’s true every day, not just on Bandcamp Friday.

Thanks for supporting independent music all year long"

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

Szymon Bęczkowski @owiecc.sheep.observer · 11/09/2026

I have about 200kg of Electronicon PK16 E50.R16-564N19 560μF 1200V film capacitors. That is half a pallet. Anyone would find a use for them? You just need to pay shipping from DK. #electronics #PowerElectronics #fediGive

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

est-ce que quelqu'un peut expliquer a ce etranger ces secteurs de façon simple/ELI5 ou me diriger vers une ressource utile ? 🙏 #France

Checkbox filter with options:

Secteur de conventionnement

Secteur 1

Secteur 1 avec droit permanent à dépassement

Secteur 1 OPTAM

Secteur 1 OPTAM-CO

Secteur 2

Secteur 2 OPTAM

Secteur 2 OPTAM-CO

Conventionné

Conventionné avec dépassements d’honoraires

Secteur 3 (non conventionné)

Etablissement conventionné

Etablissement non conventionné

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

Putain, the AI-generated ads on YouTube are getting out of control. Someone accidentally forced the US avatar to speak French 😅 I know I have a strong US accent when I speak french but this grates my ears 😭 good thing all that water and energy is going to cure […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

Raphael Mimoun רפאל מימון @raph.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

Reminder that the idea of a boycott targeting *only* Israeli settlements in the West Bank makes no sense. The Israeli government subsidizes the development of settlements & collects taxes on economic activity there, and Israeli society as a whole benefits from […] [Original post on social.coop]

Screenshot of a Haaretz article with the headline "Israeli Government Approves $9M Plan to Expand West Bank Hotel Industry" and the subheading "The initiative will remove barriers to hotel development and offer grants to encourage the construction, expansion and conversion of lodging facilities across the West Bank"

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

jonny (nonvenomous) @jonny.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

> The route to the Clay problem through a smooth force, options c and d in Fefferman’s statement of the problem, is the route Luis and Diego opened and the one Levent and I had quietly chosen to attack. Almost nobody else I know of was working on it. It is not the direction one arrives at in a […]

neuromatch.social

Original post on neuromatch.social

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

hex @hex.kolektiva.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026

RE: kolektiva.social/@igd_news/11714902… I'm gonna bump this again because this is part of what I've been talking about for a long time. The state is withdrawing. People are suffering because the system they depend on is collapsing. We have an opportunity to fill that gap. If […]

kolektiva.social

Original post on kolektiva.social

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026

Free worker co-op event in St. Louis (no personal affiliation) "Join us for a one day FREE convening on worker democracy in St. Louis. We encourage you to attend if you are just dipping your toes into worker democracy or are actively practicing it in your workplace. We’ll have sessions for all […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2026

Shrek but reborn as a dutch oven in Emmaüs (French Goodwill)

Shrek green dutch oven sitting on a shelf at a used goods charity shop over a tile floor. Handles look like little Shrek ears. Item marked as 5 EUR with a marker on the lid

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

File under: good, solvable problems: too many bicycles on the regional train (TER, France, even with the summer-only bicycle reservation system). Thankfully I only had to go one stop. #BikeTooter

Several bikes and helmets/bags hanging vertically from hooks and leaning against the interior of a rail car, taken from perspective of a person holding their own bicycle with handlebars visible

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

Does anyone know how to automatically hide/delete these crosshairs that appear in FreeCAD TechDraw workbench? #FreeCAD #TechDraw

B&W technical drawing showing exploded view of bullet connector and nut on either side of a metal plate with holes, there are crosshairs around the image

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 29/07/2026

#RealTimeCAD #FreeCAD writing the freaking docs takes FOREVER but is also satisfying. Trying to follow Julian Stirling's advice for OSHW docs: don't have any photos, they will be quickly out of date 😆 (am very guilty of this)

Tall vertical screenshot of exploded assembly view of a flow battery test cell from https://fbrc.dev

Many square components exploded vertically along a line with different part colors in isometric view

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 23/07/2026

"Earlier this month, the FHWA quietly removed a set of recommendations — including bike lanes and speed cameras — from a list of "Proven Safety Countermeasures" that have been vetted by agency staff and shown to improve road safety. A DOT spokesperson told NPR in an emailed statement on […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

Danny Garside @da5nsy.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 23/07/2026

@kirk There's a couple of great counter-examples: #Sanford, for example, has a good reputation of using its surplus to support new coops. And Mary Ann Johnson Coop in Tottenham is doing great work in gently cajoling other older coops to use their financial power cooperatively […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Reposted by Kirk Smith, PhD

Danny Garside @da5nsy.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

Hey fediverse! If you've chatted to me in the last year or so (or, frankly, if you've passed within earshot) you'll have heard me talking about the main project I'm part of currently: Perennial Housing Co-op. perennialhousingcoop.uk We're trying to start a new housing coop in NE London […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

Hmm. The unfortunate reality of the Carnot cycle and the need to not boil the fish? "The latest French heatwave has forced the temporary shutdown of three nuclear power stations to avoid the discharge of warm cooling water into overheated waterways." […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

If this isn't bureaucracy in France in a nutshell 😅 Sign outside of a relatively small wind farm giving chronology of the project, translated to English, it reads: 1998 - project starts 2002 - applied for a construction permit 🤞 🦗 ... 🦗 2018 - construction […] [Original post on social.coop]

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

A friend of mine is on strike with his colleagues at the Cancer Research Institute of London. If you can spare a few quid/bucks/euros for their strike fund, they would really appreciate it! www.gofundme.com/f/cancer-researche… "This is the first time in 117 years […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

my armchair public policy take is that the French government should subside vapes and e-cigarettes to reduce wildfire risk 🤦 les français didn't grow up with smokey bear

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

Hey #wildfire "enthusiasts"/community responders/concerned citizens - how do you prepare for wildfires at your home? Where I live now in France we are getting pummeled with fires at a historic rate, I have not seen any community preparedness efforts like I saw in the #California Bay Area for […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

RE: mastodon.social/@RichardMonvoisin/1… Well France is also giving its police even more legal immunity to kill 🫠. French/EU politicians love to criticize the US and its policies (rightfully so) but then turn around and implement policies US fascists would adore. It's […]

social.coop

Original post on social.coop

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 23/06/2026

The temperature of my laboratory is approaching the boiling point of diethyl ether (34.6 C)

Glass thermometer on white background with blue liquid inside indicating around 33.5 C

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 16/06/2026

Anyone have any questions for the flow battery industry players? At the world's biggest flow battery event at the moment! Vanadium, iron, organic systems, system integrators, electrode/membrane/pump manufacturers...

Pamphlet for the International Flow Battery Forum conference

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 13/06/2026

At least someone is benefiting from the race riots in Belfast. Wheelie Good Clean 😅

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2026

For those (such as fleeing US researchers) looking to understand the French academic system, a handy diagram: All credit goes to @anne who made it for me when I moved to France for a postdoc a few years ago!

A handwritten diagram on a white background illustrates the connections between scientific organizations and academic roles. At the top, "CNRS" and "Universities" both "funds" "LABS" (specifically "UMR (unité mixte de recherche)"), while "CNRS" "employs" "Directeur de recherche" and "Universities" "employs" "Professeur des Universités (PU)". "Directeur de recherche" leads to "Chargé.e de Recherche with HDR" and then "Chargé de Recherche", while "Professeur des Universités (PU)" leads to "Maître de Conférence with HDR" and then "Maître de Conférence (MCF)". Blue text in the center says "can supervise Ph.D", this includes Directeur de recherche, PU, and roles with HDR. All these roles sit above a dashed yellow line, with the text "JOB FOR LIFE" in yellow (CDI roles). Below that line, in yellow is written "GO FUCK YOURSELVES LOL" (temporary job contact ie CDD) and the following positions: "ATER... PhD student... Post-Doc... Students...", "and now this new thing inspired by the US: 'Prof Junior' ie limited contract".

Text modified on that provided by @altbot, generated privately and locally using Gemma4:26b

🌱 Energy used: 0.678 Wh

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Kirk Smith, PhD @kirk.social.coop.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

GUI view: all-Fe on the left, in the process of "forming" or whatever we want to call it (getting rid of initial ascorbic acid), on the right Cu/Mn first charge cycle done and starting discharge

Potentiostat user interface windows tiled next to each other showing battery charge/discharge curves and relevant operational parameters. Blue graphs on white UI elements, yellow traces

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