iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Spending just 10 minutes relying on an AI tool impairs the user's ability to focus and persist with difficult tasks. The findings backed up anecdotes and survey findings in recent years: An overreliance on AI for answers erodes our cognitive fitness. #AI vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/using-a...

vcresearch.berkeley.edu

Using AI for Just 10 Minutes Erodes Your Ability to Persist at Hard Things | Research UC Berkeley

A UC Berkeley researcher raises profound questions about how we interact with artificial intelligence in daily life.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

A study of 93 countries finds happiness is positively associated with cat density (and negatively associated with toxoplasma gondii exposure) even after accounting for wealth and health factors. #News #Research #Cats www.sciencealert.com/scientists-f...

sciencealert.com

Scientists Find a Surprising Link Between Cats And Happiness Across 93 Countries

If you're looking for a boost of household happiness, then you might want to consider getting yourself a cat.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I watched the premiere episode in 1966.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

False narratives is a normalized, political tactic rather than a secretive operation. 90% of the people generating it in 2024 didn't hide who they were. And they used false narratives BOTH to undermine the opposition and to inflate their own side. #News #Politics www.psypost.org/how-politici...

psypost.org

Republican-aligned actors issued nearly three-quarters of fact-checked 2024 election hoaxes

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, politicians and anonymous users openly used disinformation as a campaign strategy. A new study reveals who spread these hoaxes, how they shared them, and wh...

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Reposted by Michael Marek

MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 30/09/2026

Here's footage of Jack Smith at the Iowa vs. Maryland game on February 3rd, 2024 btw

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The El Niño may be the worst in >1,000 years. It will pump heat into an atmosphere already too hot fromhuman-caused global heating. Past El Niños caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. This one is leaving the past ones in the dust. #News #Climate www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.com

‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak

‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will have a huge impact on communities across the world

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is a long read, but in a nutshell, American sentiment has shifted to the LEFT under Trump.. Mainly due to Democratic and Independent voters... And the two major parties are much more polarized than they used to be. #News #Politics www.psypost.org/as-america-s...

psypost.org

As America shifted left under Trump, emotional hostility widened the partisan gap

During Donald Trump’s first presidency, American public opinion broadly shifted leftward. But a new study reveals this "liberal rebound" was accompanied by surging emotional hostility between politica...

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Voters asking about candidates "are unknowingly being served partisan talking points in the guise of neutral news summaries." They are citing partisan websites masquerading as independent local news outlets nearly half of the time. AI is dumb! #AI #News #Politics www.politico.com/news/magazin...

politico.com

‘Pink Slime’ Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms

Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots’ responses about key races.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Badlands National Park to be specific.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Of course, with that lighting, we can't tell whether the future ship has been painted white, like it's supposed to be.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Past emissions from the top 178 oil, gas, coal and cement producers, will continue impacting our environment for decades to come. Therefore, new legal battles about who is accountable should be expected for many years. #ClimateChange #News www.washington.edu/news/2026/09...

washington.edu

Past emissions from top polluters will continue warming the planet for decades to come | UW News

A new University of Washington study shows that past emissions from the top 178 oil, gas, coal and cement producers will prolong warming and increase the odds o

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A Pentagon report says over-reliance on AI tools contributed to the deaths of a least 123 Iranian children. Plus outdated intelligence, "compressed war planning," and gutted civilian protection units that never reviewed the target site. #AI #Pentagon www.latimes.com/world-nation...

latimes.com

Inside the U.S. 'kill chain' that destroyed an Iranian school

Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Researchers examined the ideological stance of AI large language models and discovered they tend to mirror the user's political views. So, when users rely on AI for critical thinking about controvercial issues, they don't get critical thinking back. #AI #News www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

eurekalert.org

Artificial intelligence acts as an ‘ideological chameleon’ and may deepen political polarization, study finds

Researchers evaluated 21 language models, such as GPT and Gemini, and found that they all alter their discourse to align with the user’s bias, potentially functioning as echo chambers.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

#Facebook suspended my account for a little while this morning. It came back pretty quickly when I appealed, but I can't imagine what I might have done to flag a "community standards" issue. I like/comment some and manage a couple of organizational pages, but I rarely initiate new posts anymore.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

At least 39 congressional candidates report paying for an OpenAI subscription this election cycle. Two said explicitly in filings that they had used the subscription for advertising (which is prohibited by OpenAI policies). #AI #News #Deepfake www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...

msn.com

MSN

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

As you read this story, remember that the "lowest unit rate" rule applies only to over-the-air broadcasters, not streaming, cable, social media, etc., advertising. I support it for official candidates, not for rich PACs. #FCC #Advertising #Broadcasters #SCOTUS www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/cour...

scotusblog.com

Court grants request from Republican groups to pause ruling, for now, on political broadcasting rates

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Gallup Poll says 89% of respondents believe that corruption is widespread in US government. The perception of government corruption is now higher in the U.S. than at any point in the past two decades and outpaces most other countries, including advanced economies. news.gallup.com/poll/713933/...

news.gallup.com

Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

Perceptions of government corruption in the U.S. hit a record high in 2026, with broad agreement across partisan lines.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I rarely go anyplace I've never been before. If I need a map, it's only for the last few blocks. Paper works fine. No need to watch political propaganda while navigating. #Maps #Ontario

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

“Over a million people” have clicked LinkedIn's "seems like AI slop" button that premiered less than a month ago. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia... #AI

theverge.com

Over 1 million people have clicked LinkedIn’s AI slop button

Stopping slop.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

2027 looks to be the hottest year, globally, in human memory. The effrects of the growing powerful El Niño will almost certainly be aggrivated because of the human-caused spike in global temperatures. #Climate #ElNino #HottestEver www.bbc.com/weather/arti...

bbc.com

El Niño set to be 'strongest in living memory', says Met Office

Scientists say the growing El Niño weather pattern is an "unprecedented event" and means 2027 is likely to be the world's hottest year on record.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Updated my laptop MS Office installation from Office 2019 to Office 2021 today, for $35 one time. I don't pay software subscriptions and I like software that still works when there is no internet. Nothing looks different, but I get another couple of years of updates. #Microsoft #Licensing

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Sturgis Rally Week is either a bunch of accountants and insurance agents cosplaying as outlaw bikers for one week a year... Or outlaw boikers cosplaying as insurance agents and accounts for 51 weeks a year. #Sturgis #SouthDakota

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

July was the hottest month since recordkeeping began in the US Lower 48 states, a bit hotter than the Dust Bowl’s July 1936. One or two hot days is not evidence of human-caused climate change, but it is happening more and more often, which IS clear evidence. #Climate apnews.com/article/hott...

apnews.com

Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the contiguous United States set a record for its hottest month ever in July.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Hail today. Not quite enough to cover the ground. Had our car under the carport of an absent neighbor. #Weather #Hail

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

The new salt block for deer is in place, with the remnants of the old one on top. #Deer #Salt

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Google Search traffic to publishers (websites) fell 34% over the past year. Search Engine Optimization no longer exists, as a practical matter, because a lot of people never get past the "AI Summaries." #AI #Google www.axios.com/2026/07/31/g...

axios.com

Publishers are losing Google traffic as AI answers replace links

It's time to start anticipating the shift to an LLM world.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Google thought it would be great to allow people to add AI images to Google Earth, until they saw the Eiffel Tower collapsed and the Great Pyramid dropping into a sinkhole. Who would have guessed? Now Google is backtracking. #Google #AI blog.google/products-and...

blog.google

Transform any place with Nano Banana in Google Earth

Custom images — generated from Google Earth satellite, aerial, and 3D imagery — help you redesign any location.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Insects have six legs and segmented bodies. Arachnids (spiders) have eight legs and a non-segmented body. People lump them together, but they are not the same thing.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

“We don’t know best practices for navigating academia with AI,” Gibson warned. “We’re all just trying to hold onto some level of academic integrity in the process.” AI test question answer: “Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon.” #AI futurism.com/future-socie...

futurism.com

Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible

A professor used white font to hide instructions to throw off students using an AI chatbot to cheat on their midterm.

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Anyone, including a computer, can read a book that was obtained legally. Bit Anthropic admits to using pirated books to train its AI. It is also infringement when the AI spits out large amounts of copyrighted text (not part of this case). #AI #Copyright #Settlement apnews.com/article/ai-a...

apnews.com

Judge approves a $1.5B Anthropic settlement over pirated books used to train the Claude chatbot

A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement involving AI company Anthropic. The company will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book for using pirated copies to train its C...

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Michael Marek @mmarek.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Words of wisdom: When the temperature is over 90F, "accidentally" spraying yourself with the garden hose is not necessarily bad. #Wisdom #Summer #Heat #Water

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