iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This definitely hits hard. Any casual follower of things military and/or aerospace over the last 30 years should recognize the validity of this XKCD flowchart.

An XKCD Comic. The comic provides a flowchart entitled "Aerospace Engineer Problem-solving Flowchart."

The stages are
1 - START
2 - Could we solve this problem by building giant airships again?
There is a single exiting arrow labelled "NO"
3 - Try other solutions
There are four exiting arrows that leave the edge of the comic to what are no doubt almost anything else imaginable that is slightly practical.

Unlike giant airships.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Well I'm suitably amused. Jessica Jones gave up on being a P.I. and got a law degree. Leaning into her name all the way.

picture of a name plate for a professional office.

reads
Law Office of Jessica Lea Jones - Defender of Justice - Advocate for the People.

The "lea" part of her name is in tiny print oriented vertically between Jessica and Jones.

You cannot tell me that she is not VERY aware of the jessica jones's comics.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Things I don't miss. The commercial large tractor feed dot matrix printer contained within a large acoustic hood. Useful for running off huge daily reports and multiforms. But so fucking loud.

Picture of a dot matrix printer within a large acoustic hood with transparent cover. The inside of the hood is lined with eggshell crate acoustic foam.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This image taken from the article about Apple's semi-intelligent pet-lamp design brought back a flood of memories. As it no doubt did for many people of a certain age range. "The Sims, learning to play through negligent murder." At best. 😉 As the article's caption noted "you know what you did".

Yet another soon to be dead Sim standing immersed in an in-ground swimming pool that has no stairs or ladder to allow them to exit.

Screen shot from one of the many "The Sims" games.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Carvana, we need to talk about your prices. This is a higher price than a 2027 Bolt new off the lot with better batteries, longer range, faster charging, more room, and a warranty. Only advantages are "leather" seats and an upgraded Bose stereo.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Unsupported claims are of course no better than hearsay. Viola

Lock screen of my phone with background set as an amazing painted picture of Lucy in a late victorian white dress lit by an ornate lantern she has raised above her head while Dracula looms out of the shadows behind her, gripping both sides of the back of her chair.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

If nothing else the poster is pretty awesome.

movie poster for Von Ryan's express. The train is exiting the poster to the right having passed out of a tunnel to the left and over a bridge. A man is running behind the train, reaching out to others trying to grab his hand as bullets strike the ground around his feet.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Both of these shows were massively appealing and entertaining, but SG1's approach was so refreshing vs ST:TNG's arrogant "our superior technology that could instantly address your problem tells us you are all going to die - but that is a natural outcome so we'll just watch rather than interfere."

A two part split image.
The upper half features a shot of the core crew of the core crew of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek The Next Generation looking sternly serious.
There is an overlaid text that reads " The prime directive forbids us from interfering. We cannot share our technology."

The bottom half of the image shows the four core cast members of Stargate: SG1, also looking serious.
The overlaid text reads "All of your gods are false. Here, take these guns."

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

A fun discovery, 2008 German humorous cop show Mord Mit Aussich, or as on Amazon Homicide Hills. Genuinely entertaining light fun.

promotional image for the show homicide hills featuring the three core cast members against a backdrop of a misty hilly forest.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

A Strontium Dog miniseries done as prestige sci-fi TV could really rock. Johnny Alpha & the other mutants have lots of solid ethical drama, grim back story, & violent bounty hunting that could leave the Mandalorian in the dust.

Splash image for 2000ad comic strip entitled Strontium Dog.

The image features the heavily armed sci-fi characters with one, Johnny Alpha standing in front of his two partners.

The image is drawn by Carlos Ezquerra.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I absolutely love this Giancola painting envisioning "The Taming of Smeagol." Nothing about it is specifically wrong based on a reading of the text, and yet it is a classic example of "did you paint that scene from that book - oh yeah, all done, real fucking sexy just like you asked - wait what?"

Artistic depiction of a scene from the Two Towers, the second part of the Lord of the Rings by Donato Giancola. The style feels vaguely renaissance and later 19th century at the same time.

Three characters are depicted. Samwise Gamgee is sprawled face down on the ground. A naked and very pallid Smeagol/Gollum straddles his back.
Frodo, the third figure, stands slightly to the side of and slightly behind Smeagol forcefully pulling Smeagol's head back by the hair exposing his throat. Frodo is depicted whispering something into Smeagol's ear.

The painting is book accurate and yet immensely horny in a way the book scene most certainly is not.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Hooray, now realtors are doing entire AI-generated rooms and backgrounds for houses. I find that office chair unsettling.

an image of a bedroom reconfigured as a home office using gen-AI by a realtor.

It looks convincing at first. But then you note that the office chair is a beast with two backs that allows you to somehow sit on both sides of the desk simultaneously.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

For a dive into Buffy to see if it is all that it was all nigh on 30 year old happy memories might make it, I think perhaps the season 1 finale remains perfect in terms of ropey special effects combined with hip young thing dialog, and really hard hitting character work, esp. by SMG and ASH.

Three still images from the scene at the emotional heart of the final episode of season one of buffy the vampire slayer. She has just overheard two other characters discussing a prophecy that she WILL die in an encounter in the next day.

each image is a close up of sarah michelle gellar, the first and third with added text.
1 "Giles, I'm sixteen years old."
2 no text
3 "I don't wanna die."

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Realtors man. "Welcome to this charming 3-bedroom, 1-bath home filled with potential and ready for your personal touch. Located in a rapidly growing historic neighborhood surrounded by new development, this property offers both character and opportunity."

Decaying condemned house surrounded by trees with boarded up windows and a roof coated in several years of leaf litter.

The building's exterior is visibly rotting in places and there is a large red public notice of condemnation attached to the door.

To say that the image is jarringly at odds with the breezily positive description posted by the realtor is to engage in near-surrealist levels of understatement.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Best thing about traveling to my not particularly local dealership for service.

Close up image of a red disposable cup resting on a park table. The cup is from Raising Cane's, a fried chicken fingers "restaurant" chain

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

This is the way. When will America be able to get what it needs.

Screen capture from The Simpsons with a teen worker pushing a cart and telling a foreground celebrity that "Your purified water and fried chicken skins are here."

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I genuinely don't understand. If Iran's high-altitude air defense has been erased why do you need to spaff away high-end limited inventory stealth missiles designed to penetrate dense integrated air defenses. I assume the high-pitched squeal in my ear is PACOM's soul dying, not tinnitus.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Specifically, this guy. Not the Kennedy pastiche.

Frame from 1980s comic Elektra: Assassin drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz featuring a US President who looks a lot like a fused caricature of Nixon & LBJ, but tinier.

The figure is in his pajamas listening to an opponents campaign advertisement with his figure on a box with a red button alluding to the notion of the president having his finger on the nuclear button.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Democrats constantly try to be clever by proposing cutting yet more taxes for momentary political gains, but then they'll be whining that there isn't enough money to pay for progressive policies, & no support for increasing taxes. How about making gas prices less important. Lvl 2 chargers for apts.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Where's Ronny Cox when you need him.

A still image from the first Robocop movie with Ronny Cox in a very 1980s suit standing in front of a large, heavily armed ED-209 robot.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Haven't listened to this in years, maybe a decade or two, and god damn, Sinead O'Connor's debut album was amazing. 19 yr old knew a good thing when he heard it. Every song was fantastic. Plus there were a bunch of 12 inch singles from the album that were also absolutely top-shelf.

Picture of the "not North American" album cover for Sinead O'Connor's 1987 debut album "The Lion and the Cobra".

O'Connor is centered in a brightly washed out double exposure image wearing a blue singlet with crossed arms, probably screaming as she appears to be defensively recoiling and looking to her left.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

So weird to see someone confusing English-Scots culture with 20th C Dutch diasporic culture in Southern Africa. I guess you can take the Boer out of apartheid, but you can't take the apartheid out of the Boer.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Tip for anyone but the grubbiest people. You CANNOT spend too much time cleaning the steering wheel of your proud new acquisition.

A picture of a used paper-towel covered in large dark brown stains resulting from an effort to clean the 9 & 3 position on the steering wheel of a freshly acquired car with only 29,500 miles.

And there are more where this one came from. Last owner was definitely not a 10 & 2 driver.

The paper-towel is resting on a granite counter-top.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

To mark the passing of James Van Der Beek I celebrate the most entertaining show I watched him in. The wondrously self-deprecating "Don't Trust the B in Apt 23." He was hilarious as a rich celebrity utterly indifferent to those around him except for how they made him shine brighter.

promotional image for the TV Show Don't Trust the B in Apt 23.

The cast are standing with their backs to a red door.

JVDB is standing at far left trying to look as arrogantly perfect as he can.

Its a really funny show - go stream it.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

$8 for a baggie of ten (?!) small flat ribbon cables, and a half hour of my time, and my Viofo dash cam receives power and GPS coordinates again. Satisfying, if annoyingly fiddly work for the blunt-fingered. Saved $150.

Picture of a small transparent plastic bag containing nine 60mm 10-pin flat cables resting on a black desktop.

Obviously it would be better if Viofo's didn't burn out their internal power-data cables, but at least I'm set for when the camera unaccountably fritzes out the replacement cable I installed.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Looking back through old footage on my dash cam and this Atlanta gem popped up. How can you possibly think that this is okay? Note, there were no humans associated with this abandoned vehicle to be seen anywhere.

Screen capture from a dash cam showing a car with a missing right front wheel, lifted up on a floor jack, with some tools lying on the ground.

Which isn't inherently unusual, except for the car being abandoned in the middle of the road, specifically squeezed on the far left side of the inner travel lane, right up against a dedicated turning lane, on a three lane road (well, three on this side of the road), maybe three car lengths before a traffic light controlled intersection.

At least they set out an orange traffic cone a couple of metres before the rear of the abandoned car. There is an unobstructed driveway immediately to the right of the vehicle.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I mayn't be an electronics whizz, but I'm pretty sure that this is a strong example of "Well, there's your problem." It's a known problem that older Viofo dash cams lose the ability to receive power or coordinates from their still functioning GPS bases. I guess this ribbon inside the camera is why.

A close up picture of a length of flat ribbon cable extending from a partially disassembled dash cam resting on a black table.

There are ten pins visible, nie of which are gold coloured surrounded by white plastic. One pin appears to be burnt with a trail of discolouration extending up the cable.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Lamington booty, courtesy of the Australian Bakery Cafe in Marietta, GA. Now, if I could persuade them to make pink ones.

A plastic container filled with 8 tasty lamingtons resting on a Mongolian lamb fur blanket.

Lamingtons are a delicious treat of sponge cake chopped into cubes and then dipped in chocolate sauce and shredded coconut, in that order.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

As I grind through yet another year of working every day of the holidays (for reasons) I keep my energy up as best I can. It can't all be happy hardcore.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Favourite Christmas movie by far. I can be a sappy fellow at times.

Bill Murray in black suit wearing a top hat with a bunch of mistletoe on the brim from the closing scene of Scrooged, surrounded by the rest of the cast.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

Trump administration apparently now channelling Jerry Lundegaard.

William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo (1996) with the subtitle "I'm cooperating" from a scene in the movie where he is VERY much not cooperating with the police inquiry into his extremely illegal activities.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

I have this little fella coming in the l and am more than a little excited. Perfect for summing up how things are going.

Photograph of a happy little dumpster fire night-light taken from an amazon user review.

The "dumpster is depicted with one half-led open with a gout of fire pouring out while it has two simple eyes and a little smile on the front panel.

The entire object is lit from within and rests on the counter of a dimly lit kitchen.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

It’s incredibly disappointing that the USA and UK are determined to, collectively, commit themselves to a real-life re-enactment of one of Father Ted’’s funniest episodes. It’s not funny in the real-world, and at least the good father knew racism was not okay & he shouldn’t be doing it.

Screen shot from an episode of 1990s Irish comedy tv show Father Ted of an older man in glasses and an overcoat in a rural setting looking over a fence and observing “i hear you’re a racist now, father.”

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Got hold of some British Cadbury Flake bars and was reminded again of the smooth chocolatey goodness of genuine British Cadbury products. In contrast to most USA Cadbury products which are produced by Hersheys with the same dry gritty mouth feel of all their “chocolate” with a nauseous aftertaste.

Close up picture of an unwrapped Cadbury flake chocolate bar propped against another wrapped example on a white table.

The wrappers are bright yellow with “flake” written on the side in large blue letters.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

The sun was shining through the window onto the floor of my office today, because it’s that time of year when the angles are right. And I was reminded of how much I miss my little gray menace. 18 months w/o Anyanka. One month for every year she was with us.

Photograph of a sleeping gray cat lying on a much lighter gray carpet in a patch of sunlight.

There is an overladen bookshelf immediately behind her.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Z Nation had this covered years ago. Seriously, he’s 77 and there is no reason whatsoever to believe that he still has any serious interest in finishing the last two books. An enslaved zombie is the only way you’re getting a draft before 2050.

George R. R. Martin in Zombie makeup gnawing on a hardcover copy of the final book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Promise of Spring.

His zombie has been discovered at a book signing. Someone has taped a sharpie to his hand so that he can “sign” copies of the book.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

31 years man, feeling OLD today. Still an utterly amazing album.

Album cover image for the trip-hop band Portishead’s 1994 debut album Dummy.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Genuinely impressive. Blue Origin pulled off a first stage recovery on their second flight.

Image of blue origin new Glenn rocket’s first stage successfully landed on a barge in the middle of the ocean.

The image is somewhat grainy, no doubt due to debris blown onto the camera.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

And to follow on from my previous post, what do i mean by horrifying? Check out this nonsense from the three-cueing founder. He is proudly describing teaching children to not read words on a page.

He brought up the example of a child who comes to the word "horse" and says "pony" instead. His argument is that a child will still understand the meaning of the story because horse and pony are the same concept.

I pressed him on this. First of all, a pony isn't the same thing as a horse. Second, don't you want to make sure that when a child is learning to read, he understands that /p/ /o/ /n/ /y/ says "pony"? And different letters say "horse"?

He dismissed my question.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Finally got my protection up and running again after a few years following an unfortunate “the metal ring broke” incident. Important to have in these challenging times. Every little bit helps. Evil is abroad.

Closeup picture of a man’s fingers and thumb holding a keyring bundle taking care not to show off any of the key edges.

The focus is a globular Turkish ward against the evil eye with pretty silver attachments at top and bottom to allow it to be secured that was a gift from aTurkish friend many years ago.

It looks a touch more “look at my collection of eyeballs” than might be considered entirely ideal.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

If you are going to class up your palace with gold you need to go ALL IN. Not naming any names.

Image of the hall of mirrors in the palace of Versailles.

There are gold statues, and extensive gold trim on the ceiling, which is entirely painted in various allegorical figures.

It’s all a bit extra in a18th century way yet somehow still tasteful.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

As we gallop through our re-run of the shop-money crisis this seems particularly NOT GOOD. Involuntary “donations” are presumably the next step.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

How long until the Trump administration seeks assistance from Liz Sherman & Abe Sapien in its War on Frogs. They have relevant experience.

Comic book image of bureau of paranormal research and defense agent Liz Sherman incinerating a group of frog-men that are surrounding her using her Vril energy powers.

The artist is Karl Moline.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

I really don't know how they managed to cast Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi in an incredibly conventional and cheesy British sitcom, but whoever was behind the effort was a genius. Watching Gandalf & the Master playing off each other as super campy old lovers dreaming of never-were careers is gold.

Image of Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi, both elegantly dressed, standing in front of a red patterned wall in a promotional image for the British TV show, Vicious.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Big shout out to this movie. The folks making the core knew what it was and weren’t afraid to lean in.

Glorious variant movie poster for The Core with Hikary Swank, Aaron Eckart, etc.

Poster features the Golden Gate bridge being destroyed. At least its not New York.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Sad, cos it really looked great & drove well.

Side view of a sonic blue colored 2006 Ford Focus ZX5 hatchback parked beside the road.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Let’s just say, was definitely not entirely age-appropriate for me at the time, but things were a little looser back in the day, especially if you were with your mum.

Movie poster for the film Saturn 3, a seriously weird 1980 sci-fi movie starring Kirk Douglas, Farah Fawcett, Harvey Keitel, and a disturbingly horny robot.

The poster features a large image of Fawcett in what might be described as a Barbarella-inspired Dominic outfit with the faces of the other stars in the background.

Shit was weird. But it’s generally available on prime. NOT for kids.

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mkbinder.bsky.social @mkbinder.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I miss her so. Sixteen months now.

A grey cat sleeping on the carpet in a patch of sunlight. There is a bookshelf behind the cat and a loose copy of a history of the Titan II missile lying on the floor beside her.

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