iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I've always thought that Israel is grateful to Hamas and Iran and so on and vice versa, that they have long required one another to validate each other's monstrous policies and behavior.

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In fact, all claims about "rogue" AI are simply lies. All these widely reported incidents are due to deliberately empowering a system with destructive capabilities, telling it in general terms what to do, and then feigning surprise at its obedience and at the easily predictable outcomes.

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All claims about LLM/GenAI sentience and/or danger are intended to increase techbro corporate power and wealth through their association with a supposedly autonomous and terrifying but somehow absolutely essential tech that in fact no one needs.

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This is a good way to distinguish the terms. Zionism is basically Israeli nationalism + some other cultural patterns. I think of nationalism as toxic, but it is common worldwide and is not criminal in itself. In principle Zionism isn't necessarily criminal. In Israeli practice it is monstrously so.

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

Good news: @sfwa.bsky.social's Recommended Reading List once again lives! The general public and SFWA members can sort the list to see what SF/F novels, stories, poems, comics, scripts and games are receiving the most love and attention from the org's writers. 1/ www.patreon.com/jasonsanford...

patreon.com

Genre Grapevine: Good News as the SFWA Recommend Reading List Returns | Jason Sanford's Genre Grapevine

When Professor Farnsworth in Futurama says "Good news everyone!" it's rarely good news for his Planet Express crew. But in this case, the ne

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

LADY BRACKNELL A thoroughly experienced French maid produces a really marvellous result in a very brief space of time. I remember recommending one to young Lady Lancing, and after three months her own husband did not know her. JACK And after six months nobody knew her.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I wish I had the confidence to just write a chapter in French like that....

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

For no particular reason, two of my novellas: The Demons of Wall Street - first in a noir urban fantasy series. Demons in the financial industry. Pâtissier et Étranger - mashup of baking romance, spy thriller, and science fiction set in 1967 Paris. At the usual online stores.

The Demons of Wall Street cover: wall street images overload with demon sigil

Patissier et Etranger cover: spy silhouette comprising mille-feuille and cafe au lait, paris scene, ufo

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you see this, recommend a short book. The Apple-Tree Throne by Premee Mohamed.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you see this, recommend a short book. Black Helicopters by Caitlín R. Kiernan.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Maybe if they start supporting progressive policy and stand up for civil rights and the rule of law and generally decide to fulfill their oaths of office I might consider it. But the odds against that happening are slim to none for most of them, including all of Dem leadership.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The arguments in that article appear to relate to current systems and technologies which indeed are not and cannot be sentient. Arguments against machines ever being sentient, e.g. those of Searle and Penrose, boil down to magical thinking or nonsensical quantum handwaving.

Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think in general there's no reason a computer can't be sentient, but: a) no way in hell is an LLM sentient. b) it's absolutely insane to ask a Christian theologian to consider the possibility because it is plainly contrary to scripture and thousands of years of received theology.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

futurism.com/artificial-i... One can certainly hope, anyway. Remember how badly all the analysts including the biggest investment banks in the world misjudged the horribly implemented metaverse.

futurism.com

It's Looking Possible That Zuckerberg Is Accidentally Committing Corporate Suicide

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg is tripling down on hyperscale AI at a pivotal moment for the financial future of the tech industry.

Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCM-... So blow me like a Kennedy, burn like the sun I will be the bullet, baby, you'll be the gun Rock me like a senator, kidnap the judge But you're gonna have to torture me to shut me up Here come the cats

youtube.com

Here Come The Cats

YouTube video by Waitress - Topic

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Beware the Jabberwock, my boy, The claws that catch, the jaws that bite(r), Avoid the Jub-Jub Bird And Shunn the idjit crackpot writer.

Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Boggles the mind sometimes, the tortuous gymnastics involved in distinguishing one little country from its neighbors. Funny how Ireland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal, all further west than the UK and all on the ocean, are still European though, isn't it?

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"Whistling in the dark is not the method of true philosophy" -WVO Quine

Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Too bad it's missing Rennes-le-Chateau. That would be perfect.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

US patent 10,040,551 from IBM: "Drone Delivery of Coffee Based On A Cognitive State Of An Individual" A drone carrying a cup of coffee overflies a group of people, and, determining which person appears to be the sleepiest, descends to offer them a cup.

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Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

Jordan Kurella @jordankurella.com · 29/09/2026

hey all!!! this Wednesday, which is tomorrow, i'll be at @storyhour.bsky.social with @megelison.bsky.social !!!! holy carps!!! you know you wanna attend this one. free author readings online, to refill the creative well! 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern youtube.com/@storyhour2020

youtube.com

Story Hour

Every week, an hour of speculative fiction short stories, narrated by the authors. From horror to weird to hard SF and everything in between; from newly published authors to seasoned pros and multiple...

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Premee Mohamed's secondary-world noirish spy thriller "Wickhills" is great! Tense plot, fantastic setting, moral ambiguity, realistic characters. And the MC's control is a manticore. What more could you want?

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Many happy returns of the day! I'm touting Pâtissier et Étranger, my historical baking-romance (Paris 1967), spy thriller, and science fiction mash-up. Inspired by Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire. Available from all the usual online shops. brigidsgatepress.com/product/ptis...

Pâtissier et Étranger cover: silhouette of spy with gun incorporating the Eiffel tower, a mille-feuille, a cup of coffee, and a UFO

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Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

Effie Seiberg is a spooky Cyborg @effies.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's my birthday! My birthday wish is for you to share your favorite work from this year and I'll boost it. Here's mine, "The Metamorphosis". Becoming disabled might feel like Kafkaesque horror, but there's a beautiful path to acceptance and a good life. Also there's sloths. gavagai.com/posts/3894

gavagai.com

gavagai

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Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is my favourite Borges story.

The Witness by Borges and translated by ANTHONY KERRIGAN

In a stable lying almost in the shadow of the new stone church, a man with
gray eyes and a gray beard, stretched on the ground amidst the animal
odors, meekly seeks death like someone seeking sleep. The day, faithful to
vast secret laws, continuously displaces and confounds the shadows in the
wretched stable. Outside stretch the tilled fields, a deep ditch filled up with
dead leaves, and the tracks of a wolf in the black mud where the woods
begin. The man sleeps and dreams, forgotten. The bells calling to prayer
awake him. In the kingdoms of England, the sound of the bells is already
one of the customs of the afternoon, but the man, while still a boy, had
seen the face of Woden, had seen holy dread and exultation, had seen the
rude wooden idol weighed down with Roman coins and heavy vestments,
seen the sacrifice of horses, dogs, and prisoners. Before dawn he would be
dead and with him would die, never to return, the last firsthand images of
the pagan rites. The world would be poorer when this Saxon was no more.
We may well be astonished by space-filling acts which come to an end
when someone dies, and yet something, or an infinite number of things,
die in each death—unless there is a universal memory, as the theosophists
have conjectured. There was a day in time when the last eyes to see Christ
were closed forever. The battle of Junín and the love of Helen died with
the death of some one man. What will die with me when I die? What
pathetic or frail form will the world lose? Perhaps the voice of Macedonio
Fernandez, the image of a horse in the vacant space at Serrano and
Charcas, a bar of sulfur in the drawer of a mahogany desk?

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

LADY BRACKNELL Dead! When did Mr. Bunbury die? His death must have been extremely sudden. ALGERNON [Airily] Oh! I killed Bunbury this afternoon. I mean poor Bunbury died this afternoon. LADY BRACKNELL What did he die of? ALGERNON Bunbury? Oh, he was quite exploded.

Beth Cato @bethcato.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

My cozy mystery Cheddar Luck Next Time is on sale in the UK & US through October 4th! 1.99 for Amazon ebook. Autistic (like me) lead character! Oodles of cheese! Chonky orange cat! Sequel out in February! amzn.to/3ZlFfnR [promo link]

A green book cover is bold against a red background. Amazon Kindle deal for Cheddar Luck Next Time $1.99 limited time offer: 28 September- 4 October 2026.

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Reposted by Laurence Raphael Brothers

FieldExplores (Gator Days) @fieldexplores.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Secret Ingredient - Gator Days

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Ha! But Moonchild was not as bad a novel as you might think considering that Crowley wrote it....

Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

IMO it means the AI did what we told it to and we're pretending it's autonomous because that makes it seem more powerful and us too as a result.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Remember, they're not trying to build AGI first. They got handed LLMs and decided to exploit them for maximum wealth. It doesn't matter to them if they destroy their companies or indeed the world along the way. But they've already won the personal wealth game.

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Laurence Raphael Brothers @lrb.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Nope, but I'll look it up, thanks.