iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 01/10/2026

Is that truck big enough?

Panel truck labeled "Christian JUNK REMOVAL"

Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 24/08/2026

If you take AZ-90 north from Sierra Vista and cross I-10, you come to this in Benson, Arizona: maps.app.goo.gl/s9KgsJhjs1YE...

Signs for end of AZ-90 and intersection with W Dark Star Rd.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 02/08/2026

From ch 2 of Laurent & Perry, Hypnosis, Will & Memory: A Psycho-Legal History.

Section on animal trials from Laurence & Perry's 1988 book on hypnosis, will, and memory.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 16/07/2026

The one I could never find despite thinking I should be able to find it was this one; I'm guessing the pattern of dark rock is hidden in shadow on StreetView.

Rock in the Grand Canyon with light and dark patterns, dark could be Vishnu schist and light could be Zoroaster granite if I'm not mistaken.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 16/07/2026

My favorite one that was really hard to find but very satisfying to find was this photo of a bighorn sheep on a rock (photo from Julie R):

Bighorn sheep on a large rock in the Grand Canyon.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/07/2026

34 years before Jim Bell's Assassination Politics.

Claire Willett post about Agatha Christie book The Pale Horse from 1961.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 19/06/2026

CSI just had its 50th anniversary conference in Buffalo. Most of the old-timers are unfortunately gone, but Bill Nye, Michael Mann, Peter Hotez, Mary Roach, and many others were there on stage. Carson was a CSICOP and Randi supporter but wasn't a CSICOP Fellow. Took this photo at JREF HQ in 2009.

Personal note from Johnny Carson to James Randi about seeing John Edward on Larry King, saying "on the gullibility scale, Larry is second only to Montel Williams".

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 19/06/2026

My infosec one is much lower, which is a little surprising since I have some publications and there was a time in the 90s when I got quoted in publications a fair amount. Misses the last 11 years of my career at a much more globally well-known Fortune 100 company.

42 strength / top 95%: Claude Opus 4.8 says information security professional with experience in network security and infrastructure, having worked at companies including Global Crossing.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 19/06/2026

Surprisingly high weight compared to other more prominent people I've seen posting their results.

GPT-5.5 says: American eskeptic, writer, and Internet security professional known for work with the Phoenix Skeptics and skepticism publications. 728 strength / top 4%

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 14/06/2026

Believers' perceptions of skeptics.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

1982 ExxonMobil memo accurately predicting CO2 emissions and potentially catastrophic events.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

Recently deceased prominent skeptics.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

Bem photo from when Hyman was reviewer for DARPA remote viewing program.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

Martin Gardner and Randi in the middle.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

Some historical photos from early CSICOP. BF Skinner and Sagan in lower left.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

Poster on how the main promoter of the Varginha UFO case, the "Brazilian Roswell," changed his mind.

From ufology to skepticism - a case for reason and intellectual virtues

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 12/06/2026

A poster on how bogus "learning styles" pseudoscience is prevalent in US universities.

Half of higher educational institutions in the US endorse the debunked theory of learning styles.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 22/05/2026

Before Yahoo and Google was Yongle.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 17/05/2026

Here's Claude on Gemini's review of rsync-client (which I fed into an existing conversation of Claude's review of the same code). The existing error message text also was fine and didn't require any adjustment.

Recommendation
Don't apply any of Gemini's suggested fixes. This assessment shows the danger of trusting AI security reviews without verification:

Claim 1: Confidently described code paths that don't exist
Claim 3: Suggested a "fix" that would reintroduce a known bug you'd already addressed in this conversation
Claim 4: Pattern of hallucinating syntax errors
Claim 5: Suggested a "fix" that would weaken security

The earlier Gemini review of rrsync did find one real critical bug (the glob/brace expansion bypass), but this review of rsync-client.pl appears to be mostly confabulation with technical-sounding but incorrect reasoning.
Your code is correct as-is. The only thing I'd consider is making the error message for permission mismatches clearer that special bits would also cause failure (which is intentional), but that's purely cosmetic.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 17/04/2026

Seems implausible in its absoluteness; should we also say Phineas Gage's violent behavior was not caused by his brain injury or "Mr. Oft"'s compulsions were not caused by his brain tumor? I think it is almost certainly false that no DV is caused by mental illness, directly or indirectly.

"you are not a violent abused BECAUSE you have mental health issues. You can be a violent abuser who is ALSO mentally ill. The mental illness is not the cause of your domestic violence."

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 24/03/2026

Economist article from February, pre-war, headline still holds.

Americans have no idea what Donald Trump wants from Iran

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 21/03/2026

Still have these stickers and this button, among other things from those days.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 22/01/2026

Google AI has a problem with time. Confuses Alain Robert's ascent of Taipei 101 with Alex Honnold's that hasn't happened yet.

Alex Honnold's climb of Taipei 101, a live event in January 2026, took him nearly four hours, longer than his anticipated two-and-a-half hours due to challenging weather (wind and rain) and his injured elbow, despite the climb being mentally easier than El Capitan but physically demanding.
Key Details of the Climb:
Actual Time: Almost 4 hours.
Anticipated Time: Around 2.5 hours.
Conditions: Wind, rain, and an injured elbow made it tougher than expected.
Building Difficulty: Described as physically challenging due to the overall load and slippery steel/glass, but not as technically difficult as some rock climbs.
Event: A live Netflix special, Skyscraper Live, broadcasted the ascent.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 14/01/2026

QAnon crank gives bogus award for fabricated event to bribe-taking abusive disorder-generating criminal.

Image says Catholics for Catholics is giving a Protector of America Award on January 22 to Tom Homan, "Presented by Gen. Michael Flynn and Catholics For Catholics in recognition for rescuing 62k migrant children from human trafficking and restoring law and order in America."

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 26/12/2025

so ISIS wasn't already defeated?

Donald Trump on Truth Social, Jul 15, 2023: "We defeated ISIS, and I was the first president in decades who didn't start a war. We had peace through strength!"

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 24/11/2025

Phoenix Zoo selling ads to the Institute for Creation Research.

Ad for dollar day at the Institute fire Creation Research.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 18/10/2025

The Dude (one of several spotted).

Protester dressed as The Dude from The Big Lebowski, with sign "This aggression will not stand, man."

Opposite side of sign: "I do mind. The Dude minds."

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 13/10/2025

Here's the post I'm responding to, I've blocked the guy after another dumb exchange.

Posted has some anti-Islam memes and main text says "We agree we disagree. Christopher Columbus was a Christian. Our forefathers were Christian. Our laws are based on Christian principles. The truth, facts and evidence proves it. The Quran itself says all other religions and their followers are to be destroyed. Islamists need to be deported."

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 27/09/2025

Google AI continues to impress.

AI Overview says "Maui's land area is approximately 727 to 735 square miles, making it larger than the state of Rhode Island, which has a land area of about 1,033 square miles. So, Maui is smaller than Rhode Island."

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 31/08/2025

only ever got to see them once live, 11 Dec 1985 at the "Party Gardens", formerly the Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Phoenix. No wax figures remained, but I think there was still a carousel there that used to have celebrities on it.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 11/08/2025

bsky.app/profile/econ...

Graph from Economist shows significant drop-off in Republican support for same-sex marriage.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 16/07/2025

Oh, here's one in screenshot form.

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Jim Lippard @lippard.org · 20/06/2025

What does this logo mean? This is Phoenix's Project Reset (projectresetaz dot org) at 2521 E Thomas Rd., very close to where Kinfolk Home Loans used to have their "ditch the woke banks" signs.

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