iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 8h

Yeah, from my understanding the quality of frozen food has gone up a ton in past decades. Over here that's also for fresh fridge microwave meals, when I was a kid they were pretty disgusting, but now I can get stuff that honestly is at least as good as my own sorry excuse for cooking...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 9h

I think probably if we cooked we could end up at cheaper than €6 per meal... but cheaper than €3 a meal seems crazy. So for us it's an extra €3-6 per meal to get an hour of extra time in the day for other chores. Don't understand why ordering food seems the only alternative for so many here...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 9h

I'm personally really surprised microwave meals haven't been mentioned at all in this discussion. In NL, you can get decent microwave meals for €6-9 and that's been my family's go-to instead of cooking (which neither of us likes or has time/energy for).

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

What are those admin things, if I may ask? Or is it too finicky to describe in a skeet?

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, I can see how you can make the case that generative "art" is a communal harm and that in an ideal world such AI's would not exist. Imo, it's just shitty that art was made forefront of AI generation, when its real social good is going to come from stuff like automation and research.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I'm inclined to agree. I think creatives themselves though can adapt and learn to not use AI and value gaining real skills. What worries me more is the economics, how many artists are now unable to make a living because AI art has replaced all kinds of commissions? I don't have an answer to that...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

... but I've also seen and used it in programming and boring administrative work and it really can help you do a better and faster job if you deploy it properly at things its suited for. Most of the internet discussion is just extreme views on both sides, which is not helpful.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Imho, AI is both a revolutionary technology on par with stuff like the internet or the steam engine... and also been disastrously mismanaged by the people developing it. Nothing radicalises me against AI more than how it's forced onto me on all my devices, and how it's replacing human art...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Imho, the fundamental issue is that "piracy is theft" is a false equivalence. Theft takes from one side, but piracy only adds to the other. Piracy can still be wrong, but it's a different moral calculus. E.g. a sale is not lost if you were never in a position to make it.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm not sure we agree, because I reject the legitimacy of "nonphysical property rights" wholesale. Seeing copyright as only a necessity, and not as inalienable rights proper, fundamentally alters how you think copyright should function. (E.g., minimally to the benefit of creators not corporations.)

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Which is not to say AI infringes copyright for anything other than corporate profit either. Just that I agree clamping on to copyright is not the moral high ground people seem to think it is...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's been strange to see leftists rally around copyright, when I came of political age during the piracy era when it was obvious copyright was foremost a tool of corporate profit and not communal benefit. Copyright is a necessary evil under capitalism. All human culture is everyone's birthright.

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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"The bulk of the military is perpetually deployed on the frontier intercepting raids and launching punitive expeditions in order to maintain the status quo and keep trade lanes open" is a situation the Romans, Han Dynasty, or British Raj would understand implicitly.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Imho, it's less weird so much as ideological fundamentalism working its way through the brain. "I don't just hold an opinion, I'm right. I'm not just right, I'm obviously right. People disagreeing with me is no fault on my part, but malice on their's." I sadly see it everywhere...

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David Schraub @schraubd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

One of my least favorite political narratives is this weird idea that it’s *obvious* how to defeat the fascists and the only reason Democrats don’t do it is because they’re feckless/corrupt/cowards.

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Elaine Treharne @etreharne.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Ignorance comes at a cost. Everpure's 'stuck in the Dark Ages' stereotyping (on left) shows how little they know about the early provision of data (on the right). Why does ushering in technologies mean mocking those upon whose knowledge we build? Clearly, these companies need trained humanists!

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Access through free trade is effectively superior compared to access through conquest. Because of non-zero sum prosperity. A huge reason why the US' alliance system has been so stable and effective in generating prosperity is because it traded (limited) respect for sovereignty for access.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

No, I agree with Brett here. I mean, I'm not an expert, but there's some easy examples like how Russia has immense natural resources, and yet its economy is roughly comparable to the Benelux. From a societal level (NOT that of corrupt leaders) what matters is access, not ownership.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yeah, it's ACOUP. How I put it lacks the nuance, for me the insight there is the tension between prosperity and sovereignty. You can't have both anymore, countries need to balance them against each other. Poor balance in either direction results in national harm in the short or long run.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This means that what's generally advantageous is mutual dependency, as opposed to sovereignty. This creates trade offs that many politicians have been doing a terrible job managing or selling to voters...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Fwiw, imho, I think the foundational issue is that with modern technology, economic growth is functionally limitless and non-zero sum. It is now more profitable to free trade with countries than to try to conquer them (because you or they will destroy everything worth conquering during the war). ...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

One of the most eye-opening things you can do is properly learn about a major (sub-)culture that is NOT mainstream in DC, because then you'll see how ignorant most people in the halls of power are about anything outside that bubble and how they flounder when forced to leave it.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Imho, future historians are almost certainly going to divide these decades as: 1989-2001 2001-2016 2016-????? Like, 2016 is just so obviously a pivot year (even if, like always in history, the origins of what pivoted go way back).

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

If the pope can Gandalf quote in an encyclical, I think us nerds need not be ashamed to quote onlines. 😆

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CatholicGeekery @catholicgeekery.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Ok, look, this is cringe of me, but genuinely: "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Reading, and writing, are holy. I love reading novels because they tell me something. They say: "this is what someone believed enough to dedicate months or years of their life to say." This is just as true for the trashiest pulp as it is for the highest literature.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

More men should read women's smut. It's a weird thing that we think it's normal for women to watch trash media for men (action, superheroes, Oscar bait) but the reverse is an unthinkable humiliation. I suspect a lot of men would like smut if they had the courage to try.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I have no evidence for this view, but I've been wondering if what IS unique about the present day, is that we've had several generations of society & government working so well (in being peaceful and organised) that people just take for granted that it'll keep on working no matter who they elect.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

JULIET: O comfortable friar, where is my lord? I do remember well where I should be, And there I am. Where is my Romeo? [Long pause] Fuck.

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georgia-lux @georgialux.bsky.social · 17/08/2023

Young man-- there's no need to feel down I said young man-- Pagliacci's in town You can go there-- see the world's greatest clown Now why do- you- wince- so sadly?

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

At the bottom line, complexity that feels great to design is often no better than a dice roll player side. Putting the same effort into adding smoke and mirrors to something simple and elegant often gets you the outcome you hoped the complexity would give but without the complexity.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

One big lesson I learned in my own humble attempts is that complexity == chaos, simply as a rule of nature. Which has the practical result that simpler systems whose outcomes are clearer and more predictable but activate player imagination are >> your great vision of intricately designed complexity.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This and the opening 15 minutes of Kurosawa's Hamlet (Bad Sleep Well) are unrivaled in their own very different ways imo.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Like, this is classic 'aristocrat does not know basic life skills' stuff that has been happening forever, because why would they ever learn to cook or clean or drive a car or any other basic activity if someone else has always and will always do it for them?

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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

if you don't know your own address it's because you specifically don't have to know it. people that detached from reality shouldn't be in a position to drive social policy for those of us living in reality

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Yes, it is fundamental to Tolkien's project and it's success, already in the Hobbit, that he's not just trying to emulate dark age saga's and medieval epics. He's creating a bridge between those, largely abandoned, traditions and contemporary modernity!

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

sliding this link in here in case anyone is like “oh man I really would love to read The Racial Contract but it’s just not accessible!” Also it’s 180-odd pages, and if you’ve not read it, it’ll upend your understanding of the world, and of philosophy, I promise abolitionjournal.org/wp-content/u...

abolitionjournal.org

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

But I cannot stress enough: we have spent decades de-prioritizing and defunding the humanities broadly in secondary and post-secondary education and then we're all surprised-Pikachu-face when we are suffering from systematic leadership failures in exactly those skills and knowledge domains.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

To reiterate, "Only white people are capable of empire, slavery or atrocity" - that only white people can do the worst of sins - is itself still a form of white supremacism that imagines white people as the unique protagonists of history rather than recognizing that all people have agency.

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It's genuinely fascinating that the US president keeps announcing that he just flat out doesn't know what trade is, he legit doesn't appreciate the concept of exchange and instead views economic activity through the lens of a dragon attempting to maximise its gold hoard to sit upon.

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Unwinnable @unwinnable.com · 02/09/2026

Where is the year going? Get our latest nuggets of microcriticism in the September 2026 issue of Exploits, including writing on The Tale of Princess Kaguya and The Odyssey. Buy: buff.ly/AzNU0so Subscribe: buff.ly/LK0CTtF Read @saraclemens.com's essay on Lestat's live rock show: buff.ly/l51eY9i

The cover of the September 2026 issue of Exploits, featuring the art "Zhou Maoshu Appreciating Lotuses" by Kanō Masanobu from the 15th century. The art depicts two people in a boat riding away from a willow tree.

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SPine (tingling) Cellar (OOOoooo) 💀 @pinecellar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I’ve been asked if I was “born a man” by more than a few cis het men during dates due to my lower voice and muscular body (I lift and do pole dancing). Gender policing is fucking ridiculous, dangerous, and makes idiots of all of us.

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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 13/09/2026

"Many of us, rather than regarding voting as one more bit of annoying work that has to be done to keep our governments on track, regard voting as a singular opportunity to express ourselves." (from July 2024) www.liberalcurrents.com/elections-ar...

liberalcurrents.com

Elections Are Purely Practical

Don’t be vain about your vote.

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Sonneveld @sonneveld.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I just finished a patch for Tlon: A Misty Story: sonneveld.dev/tlon/ It's a 1999 point and click adventure game that's notorious for being incompletable due to a bug. There are save game hacks but this is a proper fix with correct exits and everything. Try it out and let me know how you go!

sonneveld.dev

TLÖN: A Misty Story Fix

A fix for the 1999 point and click adventure game TLÖN: A Misty Story.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Starcraft really was just criminally neglected and painfully mismanaged by Blizzard. Like, lots of video game companies would've done even worse. But SC had so much potential and Blizzard clearly did not get it and just squandered most of it.

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Tristan Lee @tristanl.ee · 12/09/2026

hi, imperial power expert here! this is not funny, imperial powers only do this when they’re in extreme distress.

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Without the Norman conquest history would almost certainly be sufficiently altered that for all intents and purposes, the entity we call "Britain" would simply not exist. Basically, it's as sensible as asking if the extinction of the dinosaurs was good for Britain...

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Constant Fractal @nfb42.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

fwiw, I'd argue the real hole in that question is that it posits an effectively timeless entitity "Britain" which just doesn't exist. Everything about modern Britain (and all contemporary nations) that's actually significant is of much more recent origin than 1066.

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