iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 08/06/2026

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.

Tim Cook stands centered beneath Apple Park’s large rainbow arch installation on a sunny lawn, with trees and a blue sky in the background.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 08/07/2025

Always a good feeling.

Three sailboats glide across a calm ocean under a vivid golden sunset. The largest sailboat is in the foreground, slightly right of center, with its tall mast and American flag clearly visible. Several silhouetted passengers are aboard, standing or sitting as the boat moves gently through the water. Two smaller sailboats are farther back, sailing toward the horizon in a line with the setting sun. The sun is bright and nearly centered in the sky, casting a wide, glowing reflection across the rippling water. The sky fades from deep orange near the horizon to a darker amber above, and the entire scene is bathed in warm, golden light.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 19/03/2025

An Android acquaintance is trying to explain the concept of an “Emoji Kitchen” to me, and we’ve determined that it’s vaguely analogous to whatever the hell Genmoji are supposed to be on iOS—only, the latter appear to be an order of magnitude more abominable thanks to the marvels of machine learning.

A screenshot of an RCS chat conversation between two people. The first person, using an Android device, sends an Emoji Kitchen sticker labeled “Poodle House.” The sticker depicts a pink doghouse adorned with sparkling blue gemstones and a blue bone decoration above the entrance. The second person, using an iPhone, responds with a Genmoji result for the same prompt, which is a surreal, unsettling fusion of a poodle and a doghouse. The Genmoji features a small, stone-textured doghouse with a wooden door, but instead of a normal roof, the upper part is morphing into a cartoonish poodle’s face, complete with big eyes, floppy ears, and fluffy fur. The dog’s paws and tail protrude from the sides of the house, making it look like a cursed chimera of architecture and canine. Below the Genmoji, the iPhone user sends a message in a green chat bubble that reads, “Okay, this is body-horror.”

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 13/02/2025

I was reminded today of a passage from The Once and Future King that feels pertinent to these troubled times.

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you.”

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 06/02/2025

I discovered this by accident the other day when I was searching for a clip of the legendary Concorde shot from the notorious 1990 misfire The Bonfire of the Vanities, and came across the film in its entirety under the official WB imprimatur.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 31/01/2025

I’ve been thinking about this scene from a 2018 episode of The Good Fight a lot lately.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 10/12/2024

Red Matter’s depiction of Saturn’s moon Rhea is wildly inaccurate but agreeably picturesque.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 07/12/2024

That’s the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. I flew over it just the other day. A friend of mine helped design the trackers that hold and position the mirrors.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 07/12/2024

The 2D capture doesn’t do it justice, but this depiction of the surface of Triton, with Neptune looming massively on the horizon, is genuinely thrilling. I’m not a big puzzle-game person in general, but the contemplative pace and emphasis on exploration really lend themselves to VR.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 05/12/2024

I’m feeling pandered-to in the best possible way right now. (I can still only manage a couple of hours with this thing strapped to my face before I begin feeling pukey though, and I’ve never experienced motion sickness before in my life.)

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 04/12/2024

Still getting the hang—literally—of this whole virtual reality thing. Sony’s implementation is slick and fiddly at the same time. I wish there were more dedicated experiences on the platform. Something along the lines of Journey for the PSVR2 would slap.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 10/11/2024

1994 was the year I rightly became acquainted with multimedia on my PowerBook Duo 280c: Myst; LucasArts (Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge); the Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual; Microsoft Encarta.

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 10/10/2024

It’s giving V'Ger. 🖖

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Raza Syed @raza.wtf · 14/11/2023

Somehow this isn’t a Midjourney prompt.

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