iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

My least favorite gym machine. It's supposed to give me a better ass. I miss cycling.

Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

2 of the 27 Enphase microinverters failed in my home's solar system, so those two panels weren't working. No one is monitoring for this failure, I only happened to notice by accidents. Parts under warranty, I paid for labor. Was pretty simple, took the guy 15 […] [Original post on tech.lgbt]

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

GitHub's dark pattern for cancelling sponsorships unseemly. They already make it hard to even get to this page, why make it harder to click the cancel button?

Screenshot of GitHub UI. "Update Sponsorship" is a big green button. "Cancel sponsorship" is a tiny link in a smaller font

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

I loathe targeted advertisements but I have to say, Facebook is awfully good at it.

As ad for dill pickle flavored meat sticks

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

The Sacramento subreddit has a funny ongoing meme about the weather.

16 seasons of Sacramento, with descriptive names. We are currently in "false fall".

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

Fresh new CAPTCHA hell from Google (as seen on Reddit)

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Another day, another PG&E outage. 1567 customers. Absolutely calm perfect weather.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

The people building complex text user interfaces astonish me. Claude Code just made me laugh out loud when it rendered a QR-Code in block graphics for me to scan on my phone.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

I signed up for California's new data broker opt-out system. It seems to be working, at least sort of. 118 of 660 data brokers have deleted my data. 410 still haven't responded to my request but I think that's expected, it's a slow rollout. The "opted out" are […] [Original post on tech.lgbt]

Donut chart showing disposition of my request.

A sample of surveillance companies that have deleted data about me

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2026

Acquiring a SuzyQ cable, some hack that unlocks newer Chromebooks so you can install Linux on them.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

I am in love with Thai salted fermented crab: (ปูเค็ม / Pu Khem). I only ever see it in papaya salad where it brings some serious funk.

image of grocery package of salted fermented crab.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026

Another day, another fast spreading wildfire within a few miles of my house.

Photo from my back yard showing smoke and plane

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026

Heard a plane circling overhead, looked online to see which fire this one was spotting and how close it was. Not a fire plane! A Waco, an open cockpit biplane, out giving joy rides to folks at the Nevada County Fair.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

There's this trend in sans font faces to have a lowercase _u_ with no stem on the right, just a round bowl. It looks good and distinctive but impairs my readability! Anthropic Sans and AirBnB Cereal both do it.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

@phanpy on my Android tablet the toolbar at the bottom covers the new post button. It does still work but it's very hard to hit it.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2026

Making the finest American cuisine for my visiting Parisian friend.

Mississippi pot roast in a vintage Crock-Pot

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2026

Isn't this lovely? A watercolour from ?1920? by Gösta Adrian-Nilsson

A sailor. He is sexy with a nice basket.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

Our plane does have this cool old logo though. Air France or really Air Orient.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026

Mykonos / Μύκονος today, my first time here in 30+ years. Still beautiful, still a bit overwhelmingly touristy. I am sorry I didn't get out to Delos this time, that was memorable.

View of the old town center from the harbor

A charming courtyard with a couple of old wells

A church with a red door, a tired tourist, a curious cat.

Ken and me at cocktails last night on the ship

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026

The Palace of the Grand Masters of Rhodes is a bit of a mixed bag: impressive building, not much in it. But the mosaics are astonishing, ~2000 year old Roman floors from Kos.

Medusa. I love the geometric motif here.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026

This morning was a walk around the old part of Rhodes / Ρόδος and a visit to the Grand Master's Palace. The same Grand Master as in Malta: I've been following the Hospitallers around from Amalfi to Rhodes to Malta. Perhaps I should stop in Acre as well!

A view of the Palace of the Grand Master's from my ship in the habor

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026

Obligatory panorama shot of the harbor under Fira / Φηρά

A stitched image showing roughly 60 degrees of view

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026

After a day at sea we made it to Santorini. It's sort of overwhelmingly touristy but uniquely beautiful as a caldera island.

Selfie from top of cable car with my cruise ship

Decorative paving from a church in Pyrgos / Πύργος

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

Malta is also striking for being built almost entirely out of yellow limestone, one of the country's only natural resources.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

St. John's also has two Caravaggio paintings. I was really struck by this St. Jerome. Caravaggio is known as the bad-boy homosexual Baroque painter and has lots of erotic images of young men. Here St. Jerome is quite pious and elderly but also is painted with a sensuality that is the gay male gaze.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

One neat thing is the floor of the cathedral is almost entirely intricate marble tombstones for knights buried underneath. With fascinating graphic design, also inscriptions telling poignant stories. You can browse them in this map view.

An old man with a scythe contemplating the sun above

A jubilant chubby older man with a scythe holding an hourglass as if it were a glass of wine

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

The highlight of yesterday in Malta was a visit to St. John's Co-Cathedral, the main church of the Knights of Malta. It is remarkable for being almost entirely a consistent Baroque design from one man. It is sumptuous.

A view of the main church from the right side

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

But the Grandmaster's Palace also has these extraordinary 1710 Gobelins tapestries depicting exotic scenes from Africa, India, and the Americas. Just opened and newly restored and they are astonishingly beautiful. The racism and colonialism inherent in this […] [Original post on tech.lgbt]

IIRC the label identified these people as "Indian" and I don't even know if they meant Asia or North America. It's not realistic, in any event, but it is fascinating. See also the various animals and fishes.

More exoticism, I think this was meant to depict the Americas despite the elephant. The main thing I noticed was the chili pepper at bottom.

An idyll of a hunting scene: the Americas?

These are all hung together in one dense room, it is astonishing. [not my photo].

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

The Grandmaster's Palace is a bit of a mixed bag. But it's interesting for the extraordinary wealth the Hospitallers commanded for much of their rule.

A floor decoration for the Republic of Malta

One of the nicer hallways with remarkable stonework

One of many historical frescoes, this more gruesome than most

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

Malta has this unique history of a megalithic culture from around 3000 BC that built enormous temples, some of the oldest freestanding buildings in Europe and without precedent on the mainland.

Pits are also common, but the plant structure is an unusual thing. This object is highly decorated and it's not clear what its function is.

They had a distinct style of sculping very obese people. Without heads, it's presumed the heads were made separately and attached

An intricate stonework that sure seems like an altar of some sort

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 28/06/2026

Now we are in Malta for two days. It's a really weird and interesting country, particularly the period the Order of St John ran things 16th-18th century as a sort of religious / corporatist fiefdom. It's also beautiful with honey-colored limestone and everything so Baroque and tidy.

A corner in Mdina, the sculpture is dedicated to thanks for being spared the Plague and promises 40 days of indulgences for every Hail mary

One of the streets of Valetta, on a square grid

Another Valetta street with a fine His Master's Voice sign

View over the countryside of Malta from Mdina

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 27/06/2026

Sicily today! Our cruise ship is parked by Taormina, a hilltop town. My main activity was enjoying wines at Gambino, a winery up on Mt. Etna. Also a stop in the oddly named village of Linguaglossa.

Wine regions circling the volcano of Etna. Our winery was at 2 o'clock, #7 "Petto Dragone"

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2026

Today we are in Amalfi. It is beautiful but we are having a hard time with the heat and the tourist crowds. We usually do not travel in summer!

Duomo di Sant'Andrea Apostolo, a fabulous facade

Fontana di Sant' Andrea, remarkable for its commonplaceness

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 24/06/2026

Made it to Italy! Our first night was at La Posta Vecchia, a lovely seaside hotel in a villa restored by J. Paul Getty in the 1960s. It's decorated with some beautiful pieces including this fine Piranesi map, the Ichnographia Campi Martii. There's a small museum […] [Original post on tech.lgbt]

A sitting room with remarkable furnishings

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

You know mostly desktop Linux has been a joy but then you run into things like this that remind you it's still not ready for civilians. Printing: still sucks in 2026.

Printer dialog with baffling driver choies.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026

We liked our last cruise so much we're going on another. This time to Italy, Malta, and Greece. I'll be sharing postcards in this thread. They will also be on a nicely formatted web page.

Cruise map. Stops are: Rome, Naples, Amalfi, Sicily, Malta, Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos, Nafplion, Athens.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2026

After I'm done talking to Gemini for some task it helps me with I give it a final status update. Ostensibly I'm doing this for its long-term memory and my own, in case I revisit the conversation. In fact I've anthropomorphized the AI enough it seems only polite to […] [Original post on tech.lgbt]

A Rick & Morty gag about a robot whose purpose for existence is passing butter.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2026

RIP David Hockney. One of my favorite of his works, Pearblossom Hwy., 11 - 18th April 1986, #2.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2026

I'm using AI for everything all the time now but keep having to remind myself to be careful to verify what it asserts. Some errors are easier to spot than others.

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2026

One fun thing about Linux Desktop is there's a diverse world of experimental UIs. Here's a list of some 20 window managers, for instance. Most of these probably have fewer than 100 users, and some are written in languages I've never heard of. But I bet some have some good ideas!

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Nelson Minar @nelson.tech.lgbt.ap.brid.gy · 06/06/2026

I'm sort of OK with people using gen AI to make images to promote events. But they way they all end up looking _like this_ kills me.

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