iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Sam Matterface voice: Well if there are seven deadly sins in football, Croatia have committed every one of them tonight…and Slaven Bilic can be forgiven a little envy when he looks at the talent England have available.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Insane that on top of this he is also statistically the most impactful defender in all of MLB.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Strong criticism from the Law Gazette piece about the SRA ruling. Many feel SRA's biggest problem already was toothlessness. This ruling clearly would worsen that. Journos should pay attention too; test case is related to SRA investigating how law firms handle libel action.

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Rory Cellan-Jones @rorycj.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Oh my goodness what an emotional experience listening to this edition of The Reunion about 9/11 presented with huge sensitivity by Kirsty Wark

bbc.co.uk

The Reunion - The 9/11 Attacks - BBC Sounds

Kirsty Wark is joined by a group of people who experienced the 9/11 attacks in New York.

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Tommy Tomlinson @tommytomlinson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

So here's a quote from @pablo.show that applies to not only his Clippers investigation but the best of what journalism can be: www.nytimes.com/athletic/756...

"I think that we have the ability to do something that the rest of our culture is yearning for, which is make people who are too rich to care about anything resembling the public interest worry that maybe they need to tell us the truth."

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

IDK @theathletic.com I think it would be overkill to scrap Liverpool entirely for this.

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The best YouTube channel ever made has just dropped another of the best YouTube videos ever made. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGt7...

youtube.com

Johnny Depp's Bed

YouTube video by Bobby Fingers

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This is a thread that takes quite a turn in the final post.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I’m finding all the articles on the q of Harry Kane’s successor for the next World Cup very weird. Kane will only be 36, and there is no way to anticipate who emerges. 4 years before winning the 2018 WC golden boot Kane himself had just scored 2 goals in 13 games on loan at Leicester.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

The epic investigation in the New Yorker by Heidi Blake seems to have lit a fire under UK criminal justice bureaucrats, who'd messed up last time they had a chance to prosecute the Tates (including some pretty horrendous victim blaming Blake recounts). Journalism matters for justice.

newyorker.com

Andrew Tate’s Empire of Abuse

How the defining figure of the manosphere built a fortune—and became a political force—by systematically exploiting women.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

What you call a single strand of fabric, a 🧵

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

I went with my wife knowing what we were in for - sat middle of the front row to mainline it Clockwork Orange style. 10/10 horror film, long live digital fur technology.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

This is amazing on a bunch of levels. Gibraltar aswell! Wild.

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Jared Wade @jaredwade.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

England up 1 deciding to sit back and do nothing with 9 in the box for a half hour against Argentina in the World Cup

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

It was extraordonary to watch this - and then see Tuchel just bring on more defenders. Going all in on a 2 and a 7 when theres three aces on the table.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Thoroughly looking forward to a summer of trying to explain Count Binface to my German friends.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

AI use has become a ubiquitous part of the university experience. But are the guardrails on it working? And what might students miss out on in the age of LLMs? Our latest - produced by John Rogers, presented by Kathryn Claire Higgins. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - Currently, The Artificial University

Can university education survive AI?

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 03/07/2026

European teams in the last 16 of the World Cup: 2018: 9 2022: 8 2026: 7

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

That there are 18 players here and 11 of them are in the current squad is such a cool illustration of how far we've come as a club.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

A man! A plan! A canal! Bellingham!

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

I think this is such an obvious way around the tricky debate over how to reconcile free speech on platforms with rampant libel and misinformation. If you are actively/algorithmically promoting a claim, you should bear more responsibility for it than merely hosting it on an open platform.

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Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Grim. Plenty of research showing public service broadcasting delivers real benefits to health of democracy. Yet here we are, in these polarised times, slowly starving our public service broadcaster.

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Platonic form of televised baseball commentary here. Hypnotic

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I would also say that anyone looking for a name for an exciting new liqueur should browse the surnames of the Curacao squad. Kastaneer, Comanencia and Fonville ideal for superior rums and brandies, Brenet a solid Vermouth name, and who would turn down a fiery shot of Bazoer.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Moment of the tournament so far. Nearly gave a one man standing ovation when I saw the name on the back of the shirt.

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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

A media outlet is claiming that it has no papertrail or institutional knowledge of who wrote a piece it published seven months ago.

ConservativeHome cannot now find a record of exactly who sent them an article by Caroline Dinenage in November 2025," it said in a statement. "However, it was received in the usual manner, subject to our usual processes, and we believe the article to be genuine, sent in good faith, and remains on our website as a record of

that day"

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

On this whole list I think the most satisfying word is lucor. Though "candific" and "vigify" are the most fun.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

This squad also ties with the 2020 European Championship squad statistically in the category of "Hendersons", with two players called Henderson. 6 squads have one player called Henderson.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

That squad and this squad are tied for the most ever callups for players outside English football in a major tournament squad. One other squad has 4 - the 1988 Euros, which had Lineker at Barca, Chris Woods at Rangers, then Hoddle and Hateley at Monaco.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

5 players in England's expected World Cup squad based outside England (Kane, Bellingham, Rashford, Toney and Quansah). Last time England took a team to a tournament with that many was Bobby Robson in 1990, when 4 players played for Rangers and Chris Waddle played for Marseille.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Man this was totally wrong. I always thought Henderson was basically there as a coach but the balance of the squad means that he is the only 6 on the plane who isn't Declan Rice. Which seems like a bit of a gamble! But can understand why Tuchel wanted the extra attacking option instead.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I do think the him v Henderson is a false binary. Henderson is there to play a unique role. I would be surprised if he is actually the main backup 6 - presumably no Wharton is a sign that one of Garner and Scott has made it in.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Wharton not going to the World Cup is such a shame for both player and team. He is a brilliant and unique midfielder of a flavour that is perennially underrated. Intense competition for places clearly - but he's unlucky and I think England could really have used him.

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Martin Calladine @uglygame.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

In a piece of excellent news, The Londoner has had a libel action against it thrown out. And yet even this pre-trial win took six months and £40,000 in legal fees. The government must action on Slapps. www.the-londoner.co.uk/we-won-our-d...

the-londoner.co.uk

We won our defamation case!

The judge has thrown out Claudio Di Giovanni’s lawsuit, calling it ‘plainly an abuse of process’

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Unreal how much they could have reduced the cost if they'd just built it all at Super Off Peak times and rates

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Lex Roman @lexroman.com · 18/05/2026

“audience development and related marketing needed to be a really big deal for everyone in journalism, and I didn’t understand that very few really good journalists were aware of that” @craignewmark.bsky.social www.niemanlab.org/2026/01/crai... @sarahscire.com

niemanlab.org

Craig Newmark explains why he’s pulling back on funding journalism

One question he says other funders should ask:

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

what else would I be on Bluesky for though

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Also I am not anti the 51 percent model - I think it sucks that there are clubs that subvert it. And there are clubs like Union where that fan engagement is the central ingredient in their success. All I mean is that teams like RB and Hoffenheim exploit different advantages of their setups.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Even if like 80% of the answer is just that old East Germany is not that big and populous.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Yeah I think thats a fair point! Loads of nuance to this that is both beyond my expertise and the limits of a skeet. Basically the only strong opinion I have is that I think asking why the former East German states have so few Bundesliga teams is a fun starting point to think about this stuff.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I think there are also advantages from a management perspective (look at RB) from having a big external funder that can make unilateral decisions, rather than being a true 51 percent club. Those kinds of clubs are easier to find in the west

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

I think my general point is that football is just a nice side door into some of these trends. I would guess that things like endemic organisational dysfunction might be linked lack of these superstar local businesses that keep clubs out of spirals of mismanagement, reflect aspects of the divide.

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Robert Nicholson @rbnicholson.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

So I had a quick google around - looks like Dresden has a great deal more income than Elversberg but also more overhead, so they actually have fairly similar budgets when it comes to their playing staff (in the region of 9 mil a year for Elversberg, 12 mil a year for Dresden).

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