iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

I’m in Morrisons and over the store radio comes The Cramps with Human Fly. Well, that is an unexpected pleasure!

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

That final question. I think about it often and it really seems that the answer is no. To them, Britain appears irredeemably broken and their appeal to voters relies upon them pointing out the ways in order to generate anger and despair. What must it be to live like that?

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Just re-joined the gym. I did 20 minutes on a treadmill, not even running (just fast-ish, up hill walking). Got off dizzy, sweating a bit. I’m more unfit than I thought.

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Given that I am no longer on FB, this is my only social account (bless it). So even fewer (nobody?) will even see that I have posted on my blog. I'm reluctant to keep bothering you with it, but perhaps one last time: I revisit 12 albums from my bloated collection with the goal of 6 in, 6 out. (1/2)

230

Reposted by James MacLaren

Not (A.) I. @aerialeverything.cryptoanarchy.network · 28/08/2025

If you have a teenager in your house, you know how dangerous AI on social media is. Teens tend to live a range of secret lives w part of their metamorphosis into adulthood consisting of spending hours alone & potentially online in their rooms, at an age when social lives hang in delicate balance.

0306

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

The negative impact of this sort of thing on epistemic trust is incalculable. There is a need for serious intervention, which won't happen, of course.

030

Reposted by James MacLaren

Salomé Viljoen @salome.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Just as AI critics need to acknowledge when AI works, AI boosters need to own the fact that much of AI's value prop is stuff like this. AI is profitable when it serves as an accelerant for exploitation and enshittification, and that's obv relevant to evaluating the net social merit of AI

1349

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Another week, another twelve albums. Weird mix but some from off from left field: Factory rejects Miaow!, Animal Collective, killer soul from Lee Moses, folk obscurities Jonathan & Leigh. (Link below)

YouTube video by Lee Moses - Topic

Time and Place

100

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

And again. Twelve albums, seven in, five out. An extended re-consideration of Jeff Buckley's Grace, Sigur Ros, Godspeed, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Japanese Breakfast included. How can you resist? (Link below) youtu.be/A3adFWKE9JE?...

Jeff Buckley - Grace (Official Video)

YouTube video by jeffbuckleyVEVO

100

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

I really dislike the presumption that I want AI services, that they are there by default, and that I have to figure out how to turn them off. I'd far prefer the choice to turn them on if I want them.

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

And here we are again, another tedious post. 12 albums, but 9 through (too many interesting records!) This week includes Marvin Gaye, Ride, Gruff Rhys, Shara Nelson, perhaps the best German album of the '70s. (Link below) jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/26/h...

Shara Nelson - Down That Road

YouTube video by ohnoitisnathan59

000

Reposted by James MacLaren

Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.

125118952740

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Another week, another what have you? Who cares! 12 albums - 6 in, 6 out. Included this week: Status Quo, Lesley Gore, Swans, The Style Council. (Link below)

tackhead - ticking time bomb

YouTube video by Tackhead

110

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Another week, another blah blah blah: Session #102 - 12 albums: 6 through, 5 out, on in the spares. Mixed bag: Strawberry Switchblade, The Stones, Roy Ayers, John Lennon and I change my mind about The Durutti Column. (Link in comments)

100

Reposted by James MacLaren

Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

it is exhausting to live in a world where the news is like “the most soup-brained freakazoid in existence has a completely batshit plan that would send even Wile E. Coyote back to the drawing board. experts say exactly what you, a non-expert who just has some common sense, expect they would say”

191098350

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

A little late but another week, another stupid blog post: 12 albums, 7 in, 4 out, one in the spares. Included this week: Rihanna, Staple Singers, Todd Rundgren, Blur and perhaps the greatest 70s soul you've never heard. (Link below) jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/h...

Manassas (feat. Stephen Stills) - 05 - Bound To Fall (take 2) (1972)

YouTube video by Beat-Club

100

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Can I go to this festival, please?

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

This lays out the problems of AI assistants (agentic AI) and data and privacy so incredibly clearly.

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Hey, I know you don't care but this is the 100th of these posts. I'm still having loads of fun. Anyway, this week 6 in, 6 out. Included are Massive Attack, AC/DC, Barry White, and will Leo Sayer finally get an album through? jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/28/h...

YouTube video by Princess Nokia

TOMBOY - PRINCESS NOKIA

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

I'm in Ireland for a wedding (which is nice), but such is my commitment to the pointless folly of my blog that I have completed it anyway. This week 5 in, 5 out and 2 in the spares, with a very mixed selection. It includes Ministry, T Rex, Marianne Faithfull and Massilia Sound System. (Link below)

The Bangles, Susanna Hoffs - Hero Takes A Fall (Official Video)

YouTube video by TheBanglesVEVO

100

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Another week, another blog post. Eight out this week - including a few that are decent but just not favourites. Included are: Whiskeytown, Elton, Luxuria, Grobschnitt. By sad coincidence, Sly Stone was up this week - perhaps his best album. (Link in comments)

Sly & the Family Stone - Stand! (Live)

YouTube video by ShoutFactoryVEVO

100

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

A little late. A few big albums jettisoned this week but no regrets. Amongst albums considered: SAULT, The Cranberries, Michael Chapman, Pink Floyd and Depth Charge. jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2025/06/08/h...

020

Reposted by James MacLaren

more mr. spice guy @juniorhoncho.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

but if i'm not allowed to feed artists into my artist killing machine it's going to be basically impossible for the machine to keep killing artists. is that what you want?? and before you answer keep in mind this is a very expensive machine

778582570

Reposted by James MacLaren

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

“Without widespread theft, my industry can’t survive” is an argument against your industry surviving, and is not an argument for allowing widespread theft

11863712039

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

I’ve just rewatched the pilot for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It’s even better than I remembered. An incredible cast: MTM, obviously, Cloris Leachman, Ed Asner.

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I have two thoughts to this headline: first, a deeply sarcastic ‘yeah, sure…’; second, ‘great, so what bullshit are you going to dump on us now?’ Either way, unimpressed.

000

Reposted by James MacLaren

Keith Decent @keithdecent.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

The big “why do you hate AI?” Thread got comments and quotes turned off, but here’s the main reason I hate AI: It’s being developed by the worst people on the planet solely to enrich themselves at the expense and labor of the world’s vulnerable populations. Everything else stems from that

3251981736

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

There's something very dispiriting about an un-social media.

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

I agree with the points made here, but I think it's only the tip of the iceberg. Our increased dependence on online spaces, the fragmentation of the media, the gig economy, amongst other things, further extend the degree to which we are estranged from each other.

observer.co.uk

We’re becoming strangers – but not just because of immigration | The Observer

Independent journalism | News, culture & style | Investigations, analysis, features, ideas, recipes, newsletters & podcasts that make sense of the world

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Another week, another 12 records. Very soul and funk based this week, although a couple of perhaps shock confessions. I don't know. Included are Kool and the Gang, Bettye Swann, New Order, Kompakt's The Field. (Link in comments)

100

I’ve literally just finished @mariaressa.bsky.social’s book, How to Stand Up to a Dictator (excellent, by the way). In the final pages she lists values needed to stand up to fascism. Amongst them: Empathy. Obviously I thought of Musk’s comment that empathy is the fundamental weakness of western civ.

100

Here's a link to my stupid blog where I try to whittle down my collection by half. It's not going well. Link in comments.

100

Were other eras as obsessed with distinguishing and categorising generations as much as nowadays (Boomer, Gen X, Millennials, etc.)? It seems very 21st century. It don't recall other periods doing it, but perhaps I'm wrong.

The Pretty Things - Private Sorrow (French TV 1968) HQ

YouTube video by faceless banana

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I'm trying to shift my attention from Facebook to Bluesky - to ween myself off the former. It's hard because, at bottom, they're quite different.

000

I’m just coming to the end of Maria Ressa’s book, which is chilling and inspiring in equal measure. I recommend it highly.

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

I was reviewing some of my older blog posts. Most of them are fine but I did enjoy revisiting this one jameswriteslife.wordpress.com/2021/06/20/7...

jameswriteslife.wordpress.com

7 Disaster Movies

In which James outlines his seven favourite movies concerned with global catastrophe and huge fatalities

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Can’t imagine what could go wrong…

000

James MacLaren @maclaren.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Three things that are hard: nails, calculus and making a good double album.