iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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The Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

LLMs * bring up a lot about unrelated subjects * are afraid of saying "I don't know" * are great at producing literature reviews * produce better work after praise * need to develop research taste So maybe they *are* PhD-level intellects...

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Hey @genmon.fyi! Further to this - do you know if anyone has compiled a good retrospective of BERG? I keep referencing things youse all did (and how you did them) in my current design gig, and it’d be nice to have a tidy, digestible overview somewhere I can point to.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

So very tired. Also would like a sticker that says I WAS A BIG BRAVE BOY AND WENT OUT BEING PROFESSIONAL IN THE WORLD

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

anyone else find their brain re-engineering the toys their kids got for xmas?

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Jenny Holzer @jennyholzer.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

why am I being followed around the internet by ripped tai chi monks

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I have not consciously bought into “the smart home”, but there are some smart devices in here because it’s 2025 and everything has wifi in now. And there is one clear, tangible benefit it has brought to my life: I can turn noisy things off from other rooms when I just can’t be arsed to move.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Presenting: the worst possible (but still useful) AI server! Lives under my desk and does low-ish end LLM inference work. Built out of used parts from ebay for almost exactly 100 quid. Idles at about 20w (should be able to get it down to 4 or 5), peaks at 150w while running inference.

A barebones computer, built out of spare parts, under a desk. A large graphics card is visible on top.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

my feelings when I see people getting exercised over the AI hype train

Bane meme: you merely adopted tech bubbles, I was born in them, molded by them

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

my new jam is playing beloved old drum & bass mixes in my headphones at 80% speed with a massive reverb on, because I am old and my anxiety can no longer cope with the full 170bpm

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Folks! Here’s an interesting niche request. Does anyone have access to a really fast video camera (1000fps or faster), or know someone who does? I’m working on a hardware project, and I need to verify something is updating at the rate it says it is.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

<dr manhattan voice> It is 2001. I am fucking about with computers and listening to Moving Shadow compilations in a music player with cool customisable skins. It is 2025. I am fucking about with computers and listening to Moving Shadow compilations in a music player with cool customisable skins.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

important point raised by taller child this morning: why is it that most cryptids are associated with cold / dark / snow? Where are all the sun-loving strange creatures?

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Jay Springett @thejaymo.net · 17/06/2025

Spoke to the BBC about the future of social platforms: clicks, legitimacy, the alms race, and the collapse of shared ‘now’. BBC R&D’s Projections: The Social Internet report is out now:

thejaymo.net

BBC: Future of the Social Internet Report

A while ago I contributed to BBC R&D's Future of the Social Internet Report, which explores the dynamics of current digital social platforms.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

morning team! So far today I have managed to completely lose both my phone and my keys inside my own house and do my back in. things are going well.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

morning team! what are we using to scratch that Flickr itch these days? By which I mean: somewhere to upload Proper Photos, with some social business but definitely not endless fucking reels / ads / other enshittifications

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

ME (SOBBING): why can’t functions just return things NODE.JS FOR SOME REASON: you fool. you absolute buffoon.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

tapering off antidepressants while on Easter holidays with the family: NOT RECOMMENDED. Zero stars.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

can’t log on to the train wifi until you fill in a brief survey about the state of the toilets. Just normal 2025 things.

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Danya Glabau @allergyphd.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

tfw someone says, "But who is going to TRANSLATE all this hard theory for non-academics???" and the answer is, "Me, I did it!" If you've struggled reading Donna Haraway, standpoint theory, feminist theories of tech, or intersectionality, may I present: CYBORG mitpress.mit.edu/978026254755...

mitpress.mit.edu

Cyborg

This introduction to cyborg theory provides a critical vantage point for analyzing the claims around emerging technologies like automation, robots, and AI. C...

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

@jarkman.bsky.social omg I just saw the new Air Giants thing on @jemimahknight.bsky.social’s insta, IT’S SO GOOD!

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

technologies I have used in interactive live shows, which were totally not designed for this kind of thing: - bluetooth (we were all young once) - mqtt (surprisingly good, especially when bridged with osc) - rfid (meh) - rfid gen2 (actual magic) - spreadsheets (because it’s always spreadsheets)

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

I am greatly enjoying this very thoughtful leaving gift from @tristanfe.bsky.social, @billt.bsky.social, @cubicgarden.com, @mathieutriay.bsky.social et al (so satisfying to type on! a rotary volume knob!), but unfortunately it has turned me into a Man With Opinions About Mechanical Keyboards

An 8bitdo Commodore 64 styled wireless mechanical keyboard

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

ME (in conversation): hey, did you know someone made a computer out of water? 8YO: Dad, please don’t ME: crabs can be a computer too

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

checking in on the cheese shift

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

turning up late to my own leaving do. Honestly, this is kind of perfect.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

@mearm.bsky.social hello! apparently you had a bunch of 7-segment displays to give away, almost a year ago. this is a very long shot, but: I don't suppose you have any left?

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alexis simpson is confused by display name changes @amutepiggy.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Morpheus: You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. me (42 years old): which one is ibuprofen

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

This one goes out to all my #emfcamp pals: I’m mulling a project which would require sourcing a bunch (as many as possible) of used / scavenged 7-segment LCD displays. Where would you hunt for such things?

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Yoz Grahame @yoz.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

I recently started coaching people in less-technical roles because of all the Imposter Syndrome around this shit, especially when they talk to engineers “I don’t code, I’m really dumb” YOU’RE NOT DUMB. If anything, your brain’s probably better than mine because it isn’t full of fucking Javascript

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

And what direction did this room of artists and producers, culture sector workers, creative technologists, writers, researchers and policy makers think AI policy should take? The words we heard were: Shared governance Empowerment Literacy Labelling and transparency Localism Resistance

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

And now @mialeslie.bsky.social @ifow.bsky.social, academic Julia Bell from Birkbeck, and BBC creative technologist @prehensile.bsky.social on different aspects of the real world of creative practice, facilitated by @drkatedevlin.bsky.social

Four people sitting behind a table with a banner that says RAI behind them

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

is there a spa treatment where they take out your spinal column and all the muscles in your back and just let you flop about a bit? I think I’d like that.

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Careful Trouble @carefultrouble.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

How should the new government approach AI and creativity? Join creative practitioners, researchers, and industry representatives to shape the future of AI policy for the creative industries. 🗓️ Tues 19th November ⏲️ 12:00 - 16:00 📍 The Lowry Hotel, Salford, UK Tickets available: lu.ma/q03v8qrb

lu.ma

Creating Policy Futures: A Responsible AI and Careful Industries Unconference · Luma

A half-day unconference, sharing and shaping ideas for artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the cultural and creative industries. We’ll identify and discuss…

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 14/09/2024

one of the things I was never told about life in my 40s: I have become a headache aficionado, capable of recognising the nuances and subtleties of many different types.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 02/09/2024

good morning new followers! I wondered where you were all coming from, then I spotted that @jukes.ie had put me on one of his starter kits, so thanks for that 😀

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/02/2024

Morning folks. What are we all reading? As The Other Place decoheres into endless bad faith actors and adverts for AI pyramid schemes, I need to rebuild my feeds. What newsletters / blogs / indies / etc are we reading for interesting & insightful tech / arts / digital culture commentary & analysis?

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/11/2023

u know ur listening to too much experimental bullshit when ur laptop fans spin up instead of the music starting and u don’t even notice

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/11/2023

pinpointing the exact publishing time of news commentary in my head by precisely which bit of the openai kerfuffle they’re reporting

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Bill Thompson @billt.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Over in the day job, the BBC R&D Advisory Team has just published a really fascinating piece of research into tech trends, with the great title 'Things are not normal' h/t to @prehensile.bsky.social , the main author and cat juggler. www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2023...

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Georgina Voss @gsvoss.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Very happy to have done a tiny amount of behind-the-scenes gesturing on this - @prehensile.bsky.social 's excellent foresight report for/from BBC R&D - 'Things Are Not Normal' www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2023...

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Ian | Founder & Firestarter @cubicgarden.com · 20/10/2023

Things are not normal... from BBC R&D's @prehensile.bsky.social A great report on emerging technology through the lens of public service values Download the whole beautifully designed report here - www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2023...

bbc.co.uk

Projections: "Things are not normal"

R&D's Advisory Team publishes its first foresight report, evaluating future technologies and trends.

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Andy Kelly @ultrabrilliant.xyz · 25/09/2023

This Romeo + Juliet interactive CD-ROM is a real time capsule of late '90s graphic design.

A screenshot from the Romeo + Juliet CD-ROM.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/08/2023

if you’d told me in ~2006 that I’d still be brute-forcing my way through CSS 17 years later and, moreover, that it would be to make a print document behave itself, I would have laughed at you. Laughed! And yet here we are.

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Silver Machine Neil @mrgrunshaw.bsky.social · 06/07/2023

How does one find the good people here? So far I’m following 3 people, all of whom I’m in a group chat with called ‘wizards’.

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Henry Cooke @prehensile.bsky.social · 23/06/2023

modern parenting is seeing a stupid meme on instagram and saving it for later because you know kiddo will enjoy it

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