iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 28/09/2026

Any time we hear "AI did this and this", it's not proof programs are becoming sentient, but that the humans deploying said AI did this (which is generally failing to deploy proper sandboxing measures to prevent an AI from going against security) It's not the AI that's rogue, it's the company

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I never thought I'd end up agreeing with a piece of the background in Neal Stephenson's _The Diamond Age_ (a book I literally hate): people read the same newspapers. The diagnosis of epistemic fragmentation/isolation seems spot-on, even if the book's solution (Neo-Victorianism) seems bonkers to me.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The whole web of posts about this is interesting; I'd like to flag the Iron Law of Institutions (www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/... ): "the people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself."

tinyrevolution.com

A Tiny Revolution: Democrats And The Iron Law Of Institutions

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Star Wars (the original, not the "A New Hope" retcon).

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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

You may find this content disturbing…

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 20/09/2026

"My opponent wants to hire creeps to inspect your daughter's genitals if she wants to play soccer. I wouldn't trust him or any hired weirdo from his pedophile-protecting party alone in a room with any kid." Go on the offensive, you cowards! It's not that hard!

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

If you're a Dem who thinks you'll gain something by going anti-trans, look at Gallup's "most important problem" and Fox News' "most important issue" polling and see where trans issues rank. Whoever told you going anti-trans is a savvy or necessary move spends too much time on X and should be fired.

Gallup polling. "LGBTQ rights" moves between 0 and 1%.

Fox news polling. Wokeness/transgender issues at 0%.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I am reading (and enjoying) the final Laundry novel (_The Regicide Report_) by @cstross.bsky.social -- and for some reason I have the "What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor" stuck in my head...

Photo of 2 lines of text from a printed book:
"What am I going to do with the vampire vicar?
Quite a lot, as it turns out..."

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

When the powerful playact powerlessness it is always a ploy to avoid accountability.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Perfect example of where the Bonus Panel should have been in the main comic. 😆

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I'm re-reading @theodoragoss.bsky.social 's Athena Club books and this popped up in the Far Side archive (www.thefarside.com/2026/09/10) and it's remarkably on the nose.

A Far Side cartoon with the caption "The curse of mad scientist's block" - a scientist stands staring at a blackboard, chin in hand. A brain and a face float in jars behind them. The blackboard has a bunch of crossed-out ideas: "Put a gorilla brain in a cow's head", "Switch Mr. Rodger's brain with a maniac's"; "Take my cousin's brain, inject it with the DNA from a wolverine and toss it"; "Build a giant robot, install some serrated mandibles on the end of"; "Take a giant squid and cross"....

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mave @mave.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

No one is coming to save you. However, someone is coming to stand in front of what you want to look at in the grocery store

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Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 08/09/2026

liberal democracy is not a luxury. liberal democracy is the magic beast that ran the table on fascism and communism and totalitarianism. we did not do this by giving up on liberal democracy and embracing evil. we did this by sticking to our most dear principles.

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 08/09/2026

I have received news of a perfectly named cafe located on the waterfront of Nova Scotia's capital, if you know what I mean

"Broken Man cafe" sign on a big plate glass window, through which one can see cafe tables and chairs and backs of people's heads. In the distance, a sign indicates that this is Pier 22 on the Halifax waterfront

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Philosophers often bring up the "principle of charity": a willingness to assume good faith in an interlocutor and treat them accordingly. It's good to do in many circumstances. But it is worth formulating a principle of not being a fucking mark. If not during the rise of fascism, then when? 12/

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Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

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The Onion @theonion.com · 07/08/2026

Antichrist Rolls Eyes Throughout Peter Thiel Lecture theonion.com/antichrist-rolls-eyes-…

Antichrist Rolls Eyes Throughout Peter Thiel Lecture
‘This Guy Has No Idea What He’s Talking About,’ Says Son Of Perdition

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 27/07/2026

PIN Number ATM Machine UPC Code LCD Display We regret to inform you that this phenomenon has a name: RAS Syndrome. Redundant Acronym Syndrome…Syndrome.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Now I work down at the car wash, where all it ever does is rain

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Holy crap, read the whole thread. (Kevin Kruse clapping back at Stephen Miller.)

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sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Amazing that this man can perfectly execute both of the Great New York Expressions - Italian AND Jewish

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Heather Anne Campbell @heathercampbell.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

@catsofyore.bsky.social this seems relevant to your interests: a friend just posted that they found this book in their attic: www.abebooks.com/Little-Kitte... -- there's a lovely dedication page, too:

Dedication page:

Dedicated to all the little kittens who posed for the pictures in this book

Note: These unusual photographs of real kittens were made possible only by patient, unfailing kindness on the part of the photographer at all times.

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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/05/2026

Report: Dad Wants To Show You Where Fuse Box Is theonion.com/report-dad-wants-to-sh…

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Did he just admit that he doesn't understand the difference between "censure" and "censor"?

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Our cats feel attacked - no, wait, they don't care.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14/05/2026

this truly is the thing that makes the united states exceptional, and right wingers hate it so much they want to destroy it

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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters

All you do is take all the sex out, and use little short words, and little dumb ideas, and don't be too scary, and be sure there's a happy ending. Right? Nothing to it. Write down. Right on.

If you do all that, you might even write Jonathan Livingston Seagull and make twenty billion dollars and have every adult in America reading your book.

But you won't have every kid in America reading your book. They will look at it, and they will see straight through it, with their clear, cold, beady little eyes, and they will put it down, and they will go away. Kids will devour vast amounts of garbage (and it is good for them) but they are not like adults: they have not yet learned to eat plastic.

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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Just a reminder that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was called, "An act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States."

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Cullen @hellocullen.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

every time someone's like Claude deleted this or Claude convinced a teen to kill themselves I picture a mischievous french guy

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

I know how to spell "travel", but I constantly typo it as "trasvel". I support Google Travel Search, so you can see how this might be a problem.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

We must apply Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Broadly.

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Cecilia Nemo @cecilianemo.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This reminds me of my argument on crypto. “If they have to advertise it at the Super Bowl, it’s not money. You ever see an ad for dollars on TV?”

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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

This is a valid point: whenever you see this sort of high-pressure sales tactic turned on a technology, you can be CERTAIN that it's a fake—actually useful new tech sells itself! And don't underestimate the effectiveness of FOMO as a tool in the hands of a con artist.

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SlacktivistFred @slacktivistfred.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The opposite of secular government is sectarian government. Sect, singular. Religious nationalism is like Highlander: In the end, there can be only one. It leads -- always and inevitably -- to Emo's Golden Gate Bridge joke, but with tiers of citizenship and state-sponsored violence.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/04/2026

you don’t have to know much world history to look at this map and immediately see why the entire western hemisphere has birthright citizenship

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The Onion @theonion.com · 01/04/2026

New Season Of ‘Bridgerton’ To Feature 2 Women Falling In Love, Breaking Up, Forming Punk Band theonion.com/new-season-of-bridgert…

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The Editorial Board @editorialboard.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

According to this tradition, the religion of conservatives is authentic and worthy of respect while the religion of liberals is not quite authentic and undeserving of attention. The result is a political discourse that attributes to all religions the beliefs of the most conservative religions.

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

“How is diversity a strength” well it’s better than racist dumbass homogeneity, you see

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Tell Your State To Pass This Model Law to Protect Your Elections From ICE. NOW. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/tell-...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Tell Your State To Pass This Model Law. NOW.

I’ve gotten a number of helpful responses to my post from earlier...

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Bex Luther @superbreeze.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

[Sade voice 🎵]

A picture of a packet of instant mash mix titled "smooth mashed potato"

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SlacktivistFred @slacktivistfred.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Oil-change place had the waiting-room TV streaming Bob Ross. Genius. I did their little survey and gave them a perfect score. 5 out of 5. 5 happy little trees.

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JD (not that one) Paul (not that one) @rantingnerd.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

There's a reason my (very techie) friends' chat room has a channel called "computers were a mistake".

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SlacktivistFred @slacktivistfred.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

One ironic thing about this round of Ten Commandments laws is that the same places mandating posting [their re-written version of] the Ten Commandments are also restricting teaching about slavery, and well, like “I am the Lord your God, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT OF EGYPT, OUT OF THE LAND OF SLAVERY.”

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