iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 4h

I've got a mate who did the crust punk - indie - techno journey (he's still a techno dj now) so I imagine there were a few others like that.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 11h

Thanks! It's a good thread. We're hoping for cheaper electricity here so that it can be financially viable to make iron here. Although it's going to be hard to compete on cost with being based in a desert with solar and batteries but there are other advantages to being here!

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 12h

Would I be right in saying these are all specifically added to *electricity* bills rather than "energy" generally?

120

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I don't really remember much about Maradona but yeah, Zidane as a 10 behind Kane would be interesting.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, clearly "there's a massive investment crash in the US" is equally as big if not bigger than "all the cash is going into AI"

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, easily. No one else is even close as a 9.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Nothing says "I take this social obligation seriously and respectfully" than telling everyone that you get an AI to do it for you.

020

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

England player that is obviously, Messi is in my lifetime as well, along with people like Iniesta or Maldini.

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

He's the closest I've seen in my lifetime to being classed among the world all-time greats. Just glad he's finally getting some appreciation now, as a Spurs fan was worried he'd continue to be underrated forever.

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Absolutely love a stew. There was a pub in Liverpool when I lived up there (The Hole in the Wall maybe?) that used to do great scouse really cheap that I think is a bit of a missed opportunity for pubs in the UK. Love it in Spain when you get a free tapas of callos in a bar.

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, when there was news a while back about a bowling alley the other end of the street from Max's possibly closing down there were *so many* journalists commenting I was like "Oh wow, you *all* used to live round here"

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Can you train it to shut down Windows?

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

His place is so good. Used to live 5 minutes walk from it. Was funny after it became really popular he put a note saying basically "thanks and all that but unfortunately I had to register for VAT so that's why the prices have gone up"

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

These days they'll arrest you and throw you in jail just for saying you're going to blow up an airliner. These days.

0140

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I mean anyone who doesn't disown the policy (eg Polanski) should be asked repeatedly if organisations which explicitly support a two state solution - such as the EU and the Church of England - are racist, and if so what the consequences for their racism should be.

081

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I think you'd want a supermajority for many reasons, not least to finally convince the Tories that being anti-EU is a vote loser.

030

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

You're going to get the tax on large-footed children soon enough.

030

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Lady Victoria Hervey, that is a name I haven't heard since FHM circa 2000. Obviously she's a Reform supporter now.

Former model and current Reform supporter Lady Victoria Hervey

270

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I do have to say I caught a couple of episodes and it was decent. Not my cup of tea but way more interesting than a lot of reality stuff and nowhere near as stupid as it sounds.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yeah, that's an insane statement. The Spanish people I know on benefits live fine, obviously not rich but fine to have a drink and tapas in a bar. If you get made unemployed you get like 80% of your salary. If I was unemployed in the UK for 6 months I'd be homeless.

031

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yes, it's an incredibly brutal business despite the money, especially nowadays. The psychological aspect must be hard to cope with.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yes, definitely agree, that's what I meant by logistics. Can still get big cost reductions, just not solar panel and battery levels of cost reduction.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yes, heat pumps are, as the name suggests, pumps and so are extremely mature technology already. A lot of the reduction in costs of those other technologies is improved materials, manufacturing etc and there isn't much scope for that in heat pumps. Logistics costs will come down though.

120

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Extreme cognitive dissonance. They consider themselves anti-racist so if they're declaring something racist then that thing is immediately beyond the pale. It's too hard thinking about what the full consequences of that are (not least for their anti-racism) so best just to ignore it.

030

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The issue isn't whether they work or not, the issue is that the right wing elite in the UK has gone totally insane.

2330

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

They should do the same with Chelsea as well, crazy that they're allowed to keep their cheating titles just because the new owners owned up to it.

130

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I mean not only had he built a bomb, he had also built his own weaponry *and* bought more ingredients for different types of bombs. As someone who used to make explosives as a job and seen far too many pictures of what happens when people FA with them I am entirely happy with a very long sentence.

040

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Absolutely bizarre how the far left's geopolitics has not evolved an inch since the 1970s.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

English people generally don't think that (I am also not English by Braverman's definition). We're certainly far less of that view than most other European countries from experience.

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

From experience I would guess it's the gamification effect of trying to maximise regenerative braking being easier on tyres and brakes.

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Also in the other guy's shoes it must be annoying that their foolproof strategy of buying assets in other countries is unravelling at the exact same time as there's a war threatening their livelihood.

050

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Just dusting off my "scenarios in which nuclear wars start" book from the 80s.

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

30 Mbps I just measured on my laptop in case anyone is interested.

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If for whatever reason you don't want a contract you can get 5g broadband for less than £30 a month on a rolling basis now. Not as good as cable yet but Virgin et al. lock you into 2 years.

100

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I mean it also applies to large parts of interwar Europe. Greece and Turkey for example both saw very large population movements (and massacres) of ethnic minorities. And it's impossible to separate the existence of Israel from the fact that Jews were caught up in all this.

120

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yes, agree with that. I think fashion might end up in a similar situation:

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I also have trouser issues with the fashion industry:

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Of course she knows there are millions of Andys picking their clothes up from clearance bins but does she regard those clothes' designers as performing a uniquely human artistic endeavour? Likewise do those Andys care about the human input in their design at all?

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Like how does Miranda feel about those countless jobs between her and Andy's cerulean sweater? It's obvious how she feels about Oscar de la Renta and Yves Saint Lauren, but not clear about anyone below let alone the ones who designed the clothes in the "tragic casual corner" where Andy got hers.

artdepartmental.com

The Devil Wears Prada Cerulean Sweater Monologue

The Devil Wears Prada cerulean sweater monologue performed by Meryl Streep stands alone as its own star of the beautifully designed comedy.

120

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

When I was thinking about this divide the thing that popped into my head was Meryl Streep's cerulean sweater monologue from The Devil Wears Prada. It's a speech about the importance of design but raises some questions in the age of AI.

110

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

But other than the explosions, the radioactive leaks, the cost overruns and the fact that no one can successfully build them they're a great idea right?

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You can do some crazy things by extending exponential growth trends years into the future. Poland will on GFC to Covid growth trends overtake the UK and France in GDP per capita some time mid 30s and by mid 40s be richer than Netherlands and Norway. Some things may happen in the meantime though.

020

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is part of the general bad vibes isn't it? We have this in London as well. The suspicion that all this investment into building from money abroad is somehow a quid pro quo for underhand dealings.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yeah, a crisis response starts to wear thin when it's basically the exact same crisis that happened four years ago. What are they going to say in 2030 - "gosh, no one could've foreseen hostile actors leveraging our vulnerability to supply chains they control to try and achieve their goals"?

020

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Also people need to read every quote from Man City (and their "sponsors" who just so happen to be owned by the same people) in the context that this is what they're planning.

000

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Anyone wondering how the Man City thing is going to go needs to look back at the quotes in the original leak that lead to this: "rather spend 30 million on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue [Uefa] for the next 10 years” and “the destruction of their rules and organisation”

theguardian.com

The Manchester City case shows us how the global mega-rich now expect to operate with impunity | Jonathan Liew

When transnational alliances have scarcely been weaker, the way the club was allegedly run offers a bleak vision of a world driven by brute power and wealth, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

121

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A Klingon with curtains would look really weird.

010

Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm not entirely sure this is true about specifically music tbh. Obviously there are a lot of people who are into bands, proactively choose their music etc. But I think a lot of, maybe even most, people are just happy to stick on the music box and have music come out.

100