iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A few days ago as I was having breakfast with the door to the garden open, a squirrel stepped into the kitchen carrying an enormous walnut. I said “No.” and he turned around to find some other place to stash it. This is the only reason I wasn’t bewildered by the bins under the apple tree today.

Closer up: a pair of round green-husked walnuts neatly tucked on the lid.

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Kate Orman @kateorman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This is true and it's tiresome how much it needs saying. We have to respect that people we don't like have the same rights we want to enjoy. Otherwise we're on the road to fascism no matter how "right side of history" we think we are.

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Reposted by Joumana Medlej

For years my Wordpress has just been for announcements, but I've started properly blogging there about writing -- what I'm writing, the craft itself, etc. Fer yer interest: kateorman.wordpress.com

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This is a big update, a full chapter of translated ink recipes with notes. Each contrasted with its '64 word salad version. majnouna.com/2026/09/23/u... Password: 1nf0dumP #medievalsky #inkmaking

Umda 4: Chapter II as it was intended - Majnouna

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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Reposted by Joumana Medlej

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Generative AI is a homogenising technology, which is also one reason why it is particularly beloved by authoritarians. Resisting homogenisation of one's own voice is crucial to creating the kind of variety that keeps society healthy. To do this, we must resist generative AI. Fin.

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Reposted by Joumana Medlej

Steffen Hope @hopesteffen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

When people use generative AI instead of a human proofreader, the very successful marketing of AI as actual intelligence means that more people are prepared to sacrifice their own style & their own quirks for the sake of a clockwork oracle that doesn't know anything but which replicates other texts.

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Preaching to the choir, but this thread!

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Today’s birds. The siskin seems here to stay, the meadow pipit as well, and the mistle thrush is back after her summer break. #birdlove

Screencap from Merlin showing European Robin, Eurasian Jackdaw, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Blue Tit, Eurasian Jay, Ring-necked Parakeet, Common Magpie, Mallard…

… Goldcrest, Dunnock, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Blackcap, Mistle Thrush, Meadow Pipit and Carrion Crow.

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15 (I remember Myspace, but I was on Geocities) and I still use FTP so there.

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It's the worst time of day to post but I'll post it again tomorrow. A big meaty post with recipes translated, each compared to a certain other "translation", just to make a point. majnouna.com/2026/09/23/u... Password: 1nf0dumP #medievalsky

Umda 4: Chapter II as it was intended - Majnouna

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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In my next update I'll post a draft translation of the whole of chapter 2! In its original version, which is much shorter and neater than we've been lead to believe.

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If you watch this know that in every scene I’m somewhere behind the cameras, pulling a face as I have to take the long way around my daily route.

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Bureautrash @fullydecaffeinated.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

When you forget your phone on the windowsill for half an hour early in the morning. Siskin?! Greenfinch! Welcome to the family!

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Reposted by Joumana Medlej

So funny thst AI is better when it relies more on humans, and gets worse the more AI there is. Perfect. Amazing.

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 22/09/2026

Half of these recipes end with "إنه غاية" and I very much regret not being able to render this as "it is the GOAT".

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 22/09/2026

Taking a little break from comparing the order of recipes in different versions of the Umda to start comparing ink recipes and cleaning up/translating their best version. Never say I don't know how to have fun. #editing

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 22/09/2026

Whew! Another Umda update, where I wade through weird scribal decisions and find a surprise cameo from a very different text. majnouna.com/2026/09/21/u... Password: Bedl4m1!1 #medievalsky

Umda 3: Order of Recipes continued - Majnouna

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 21/09/2026

Now that I’ve managed to accidentally felt my star cardigan (the very one I just mended), I got to learn emergency procedures for damage control! Thoughts and prayers? #knitting #snafu

Red knitted cardigan stretched on blocking squares, looking like it’s about to undergo surgery or torture

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 21/09/2026

Whew! Another Umda update, where I wade through weird scribal decisions and find a surprise cameo from a very different text. majnouna.com/2026/09/21/u... Password: Bedl4m1!1 #medievalism

Umda 3: Order of Recipes continued - Majnouna

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 21/09/2026

They're STILL filming on Brasenose Lane and someone behind the counter said "we think maybe Doctor Who" and I'm physically restraining myself not to go up to the counter to say "Guys if there was the slighest chance of that the fandom would already know and this town wouldn't know what's hit it."

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How one man nurtures a network of cricket and community in Beirut

After I visited Sri Lanka during what turned out to be the cricket world cup (2008), I was tickled to stumble on cricket matches played in a parking lot in Beirut on Sundays. It's only today I learned the story. Excellent article! www.csmonitor.com/Perspectives...

csmonitor.com

The gatherings each Sunday offer migrants not only a reminder of home, but also an opportunity to express solidarity and connect with others.

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My stomach just plummeted watching a wrought iron gate being fitted to close off Bath Place! Our shortcut via the Turf! But it turns out it’s just for filming again 😮‍💨 #Oxford

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Fairy tits in my garden 😭 Sorry I mean long-tailed tits, my brain has hard-renamed them!

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