iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

heyyy this is awkward but i figured someone should tell you… this isn’t an appropriate place to be going down on tony soprano. please take it to the

highway sign for the James Gandolfini Service Area

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

incredible bit from the end of the credits in coyote vs acme

the humane society “no animals were harmed” graphic from the credits of coyote vs acme

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

today you can solve NOWHERE TO BE, my new and conveniently mid-sized crossword puzzle. it’s on @puzzmo.com, home of the very finest crossings known to wordkind

grid preview for “nowhere to be”, a 11x10 midi crossword for puzzmo by me, rob dubbin, edited by brooke husic

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

if the jfk airport bagel boss can recognize five distinct genders, what’s holding you back?

A “breakfast time” sign from the Bagel Boss Deli at JFK airport. It shows neutrally lit photos of: Two Egg Bagel, Mike’s Hot Honey, Big Boss Man, The Brooklyn Bridge, and Blueberry Crumb Muffin.

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

oh no. what a loss, what a legend. RIP dolly parton, our only collab was brief and also you weren't aware of it, but i'll never ever forget it

screenshot of an old tweet from me, rob dubbin

MY MAN: (comes home)
ME: (nervous) how was the stoer
MY MAN: fine
ME: oh thank g —
MY MAN: ran into jolene
ME: oh no
MY MAN: she mentioned you left kind of an intense voicemail

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

just a little update to let everyone know the bear 1) hasn’t come back, even though we’re getting into some of the best games of the ufo50 collection, and 2) officially won’t get ALL the peaches this year unless it finds its way into the house somehow

a bright yellow-orange ceramic colander with sixteen ripening peaches in it

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

we’re up to Attactics now fyi, or “italian tactics” per @selmaleh.bsky.social. tuned in just in time to re-experience @adamconover.net roasting me after i spent three minutes monologuing about playing videogames at work in the context of a broader discussion on local multiplayer

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

first battery change of New Conflict, thought i’d spotlight the rig. what you’ve got here is one of those beefy car-jump starters, wired usb-a-to-c into a steamdeck dock, which in turn powers an elder iphone 6 that can’t install apps anymore and a pill speaker i’d got from a bin labeled “toy museum”

top-down view of a ramshackle bear-deterrent podcasting station. a geniusBOOST car charger powers a steam deck dock, which is in turn connected to an iphone 6 and a pill speaker

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

a foggy sunrise, peaches intact, as the gang finishes up the mortol episode, looks ahead to velgress, and stages a brief discussion on the nature of spoilers in the context of a weekly “book club” format for playing a game that is actually fifty games. quite thrilled my power bank held up all night!

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

another development since 2018 is that now i have a trailcam. so if the bear comes back for more peaches i can at least see my failure on video. also i can check in remotely on how the tree is doing and which game we’ve reached in our discourse. currently we’re discussing barbuta to literal crickets

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

this time, once the shock of being robbed in a sort of cartoon way wore off, i resolved to fight back the only way i knew how: by blasting continuous pods until i could harvest the peaches myself. one big difference from 2018? i have my own podcast now. hope these jerks are ready for a year of UFO50

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

folks, it happened again. bear got my peaches. this isn’t over.

photo of a tall chain-link fence that has been visibly bent over, as if something large and heavy has climbed and then leaned on it

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

hadn't posted pixel swan boy in a while. we'd all do well to remember he exists

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

the good news is that today’s @puzzmo.com crossword (the 1,001st in its history!!) was a collab between me and editor extraordinaire @xws.bsky.social, themed around the bad news, which is that unfortunately someone’s gonna die tonight

preview image for a midi crossword puzzle called “time to get up!” by brooke husic and me, rob dubbin

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

the world cup is a terrible place to be a water bottle

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

imagine you’re a powerade thermos trying to have the biggest hydration day of your life, then this happens

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

well, alan greenspan died. and i can admit that i was wrong: it did not go down like i predicted in my 2012 piece "Alan Greenspan Fan Fiction," published in the "Debt" issue of the now-defunct Longshot Magazine. in the interest of accountability i am posting the full text here

a full-page screenshot of "ALAN GREENSPAN FANFIC", written by me, for the 2012 issue two of longshot magazine. it has a perfectly frumpy portrait illustration by simon lutrin. see next three images for full alt text

First column of the piece: "The ambulatory husk of Alan Greenspan shambled down 6th Avenue,
buffeted in every direction by looks of pity and revulsion from
passers-by. The New York air smelled like soot, piss, and meat,
everything but the sterile comfort of his office, his spreadsheets,
and the mint-flavored denture paste they only seemed to sell in the
Chesapeake Bay area. He missed Washington, where a tangible bubble of
hard-won respect preceded him like the bulletproof glass of his very
own Popemobile.

He dared a sidelong glance at a "Going Out of Business" sign, taking
comfort from the market's time-honored ability to self-correct. He
stood taller at the sight of a homeless man, knowing the invisible
hand would soon sweep him and his ragged cardboard sign into the
nearest rain gutter with the rest of the garbage. He frowned at yet
another long-legged girl's obliviousness to his presence,
rationalizing it away as a predictable failure of demand to meet
supply.

Waiting for a light to change, his mind wandered. Audra, his loyal
assistant, had spent nearly half the previous week ensuring his
Wikipedia page showed a portrait from his glory years in the late 80s,
when his facial muscles could still hold up an eyebrow and his neck
retained some structural integrity. The vandals had kept replacing it
with a more current photo that made him look like the larval form of
some gelatinous space creature.

As he crossed 55th another sour stare intruded into his peripheral
vision, and inwardly he seethed. They knew nothing of him, these
morons. Nothing of his work, nothing of his history. He had grown to
despise Homo Sapiens, a species of walking, talking, and fucking
livestock who it had fallen to him to corral and to discipline. He
much preferred the company of Homo Economicus, the rational actor of
his models, who never failed to live up to expectations and certainly
never generated an economy-crushing housing crisis without permission."

Second column of the piece: "He wondered what it would be like to have sex with a rational actor,
and concluded to his satisfaction that the intercourse would be
sensible.

His thighs ached. Already he regretted his decision to walk to Brian
Williams' studio from the St. Regis instead of taking the car they'd
offered him. Why did he ever expose himself to people, least of all
New Yorkers? Here everyone wanted something, everyone felt like he
owed them. Just yesterday a banker had confronted him in the hallways
of Goldman Sachs to criticize a money-supply adjustment he'd made in
1997, that had lost him however many millions and forced him to
withdraw a bid for a plaster cast Picasso had made of Man Ray's penis.
It only served to further curdle the blood around what stubbornly
remained of Greenspan's heart.

But he wasn't dead yet. He was 85 and kicking, and still hadn't turned
down a television appearance. Sometimes afterward he'd even pop a
Viagra, preparing his wife with the codephrase "tonight I'm raising
the interest rate." He never worried she'd tell anyone, because Andrea
Mitchell was a journalist of integrity and they'd signed an ironclad
off-the-record agreement.

Greenspan flipped through the pages of his formidable intellect,
focusing on the topic he'd been asked to discuss and marshaling such
time-tested phrases as "market exuberance" and "fiscal
self-regulation." His last time on"

Last column of the piece: "...Meet the Press he'd flipped it
around to "fiscal exuberance" and "market self-regulation," and
mentally congratulated himself for keeping it fresh.

That was when he felt the wet splash on the side of his face, a hard
thud followed by a tumble down his neck and chest. The hand he put to
his cheek came back red -- no, not blood, ketchup. He shot an
accusatory glance at the hotdog now splayed across the sidewalk, then
held its gaze rather than gape after his assailant.

The second hotdog hit him square in the right shoulder, leaving a
bright yellow streak on his grey poplin suit. Against his better
judgment, he looked up and saw the cart: twenty feet away, on the
corner of 53rd, next to a strapping backwards-capped lummox already
winding up for another pitch. Greenspan's hand went into his pocket
and gripped his Medal of Freedom, for strength.

"THIS ONE'S FOR FOX NEWS, MOTHERFUCKER!", his tormentor hollered, as
the third boiled missile struck the bridge of his nose with a pungent
splash. Greenspan blinked sauerkraut from his eyes, confusion joining
the gathering mixture of pickling agent and tears. His hand groped
vainly toward the street corner. "No, that's incorrect, I'm not --"

But a crowd had formed around the cart by now, the vendor gleefully
arming the lot of them with all-beef projectiles, and Greenspan's
protestations were drowned out by their jeers of "Evil Aussie
bastard!" and "Thanks for fucking up the Wall Street Journal!" and a
surprisingly organized chant of "RUUU-PERT! RUUU-PERT! / MUSTARD ON
YOOOOUR SHIRT."

Panic set in. Delirious, Greenspan sunk to his knees, then to his
side. The steady hail of hotdog fire had become a sort of calming
shiatsu massage over his body, and he almost felt sleepy, almost felt
at peace.

A pigeon landed on his shoulder, and then another. Soon it was only feathers."

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

“forget them picks” — josh hart

mikal bridges in a sparkly tshirt holding the trophy they give to the nba champion

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

look ma we're in the @wonderville.nyc newsletter! get ye over there and play our gambling-free slot-machine game A JACKPOT OF SKULLS on the dedicated pico-8 cabinet for the next three months. summer of skulls, baybeee

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

thrilled to announce that A JACKPOT OF SKULLS has been selected for @wonderville.nyc's next pico-8 residency! for the next three months you can play our slot-machine storygame on a dedicated cabinet at the best arcade in NYC, and by extension the entire world. try not to sunder your realm this time?

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

last night i had the privilege of congratulating my former colleagues and forever friends on landing an incredible 11-year run at @colbertlateshow.bsky.social. took frankly too many pics to fit into one post so i just picked one of them at random

me in a grey blazer, light blue shirt, and purple-and-grey-striped tie next to stephen colbert, recently of television, wearing a grey suit with a dark shirt, with a lively wrap party in the background. a corner graphic says "The Last Show with Stephen Colbert"

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

this feels like winning some kind of time lottery

screengrab of the embedded ArtButMakeItSports post comparing kevin durant’s and lebron james’s heads to Study of the Heads of Two Old Men where I am the first fave in

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

LA! on april 16 you can come play our new sheep-counting game and hear music get recorded for it live. together Nick Sylvester and Jon Natchez will form the first ever dnbnb ensemble (drum n bass n bassoon) plus actual (gorgeous) dyed wool pieces in the gallery... RSVP here laylo.com/smartdumb/dq...

A cute oval-round pixel sheep taking up the full bottom 2/3 of an event poster whose text reads:
counting sheep
new work by
rob dubbin + garrett miller
& dalis davidson
smartdumb
2700 w ave 34
la ca 90065
opening
thursday april 16 5-7pm

A dusky pixel sky filled with various flying sheep (via carpets, balloons, rockets) on an event poster whose text reads:
counting sheep
new work by
rob dubbin + garrett miller
& dalis davidson
smartdumb
2700 w ave 34
la ca 90065
opening
thursday april 16 5-7pm

A sample of Dalis Davidson's beautiful dyed wool art as background of an event poster that reads:
counting sheep
new work by
rob dubbin + garrett miller
& dalis davidson
smartdumb
2700 w ave 34
la ca 90065
opening
thursday april 16 5-7pm

An outside view of the square concrete facade of the smartdumb gallery in glassell park, with a starkly angled chemtrail overhead, as background of an event poster that reads:
counting sheep
new work by
rob dubbin + garrett miller
& dalis davidson
smartdumb
2700 w ave 34
la ca 90065
opening
thursday april 16 5-7pm

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

took me a second to remember @thebeliever.net doesnt always put its cover portraits next to the stories they come from

a portion of the cover of the believer magazine that shows the headline “TAKING DOWN LAROUCHE” next to a drawing of an aquatic dinosaur

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

*song exploder voice* and now, in its entirety, the 2026 Independent Games Festival Awards. run and hosted by @karriebear.bsky.social, co-directed by @teddydief.com, co-written by me. gotta be one of the strongest fields i've seen, congrats to all the devs and juries! www.youtube.com/live/rLbzERI...

Karrie Shao stabbing Andy Schatz with a scimitar onstage at the 2026 IGF Awards, Karrie lunging forward as Andy fires a confetti-cannon "blood" effect behind him

AP Thomson accepting the 2026 IGF Excellence in Design award for Titanium Court as Teddy Dief, who presented the category, holds the trophy itself in the background

Composer Austin Wintory playing accordion onstage at the 2026 IGF Awards, accompanied by a musician on recorder

Vocal performers Sarah Elmaleh and Cissy Jones standing onstage opposite each other at the 2026 IGF Awards, preparing to name the festival's honorable mentions. Caption "So yeah, let's honor some mentions." Sarah is putting on sunglasses

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

thought i’d missed my chance to hang with @writnelson.bsky.social at GDC but bumped into him at the last second

a vertical sign reading “UNIQUE SCAFFOLD”

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

hey gdc: come to the picnic tables in the park in the next ~hour if you want an ass-kicking* *free STARFRIENDS deck with bonus disc

your humble poster in sunglasses and cap, throwing the deuce behind an artful pile of starfriends decks

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

here's the moment from IGF rehearsals yesterday when @karriebear.bsky.social stabbed Andy Schatz onstage for the first time with the full confetti blood effect, and i knew it was gonna be a special night

Karrie Shao on the IGF stage executing a perfect scimitar lunge into the "Shakespearean arm-hole" of Andy Schatz, who is making a perfect "I just got stabbed" face, as red confetti explodes behind him

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

the IGF awards mean a lot to me! i've participated in them over the years as a judge, juror, dev, and above all a fan. what an honor to work on the ceremony itself with @teddydief.com and @karriebear.bsky.social, who are both absolute powerhouses, to celebrate these games and the folks who make them

Teddy Dief in the foreground on the IGF Awards stage, taking a group selfie as I leap into the air in the background, with Karrie Shao positioned in the middle distance as if to catch me. we all look fantastic

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

it turned out MOSS got posted on hacker news and made the top ten, so a lot of people found this weekly challenge and it’s been a bit of a clown show all day. essentially we clowned ourselves. a real thomas clown affair.

nine pixel clowns, seven of them in a similar blue-purple-red palette, two super doing their own thing

nine more pixel clowns, again seven of them in a similar blue-purple-red palette, two super doing their own thing

nine pixel clowns, eight of them in a similar blue-purple-red palette, one super doing its own thing

~five pixel clowns, four of them in a similar blue-purple-red palette, two super doing their own thing

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

new MOSS weekly challenge, "But Doctor..." is up. this clown has a problem and honestly doesn't seem very on top of solving it, so it looks like that's on you. play.moss.town/weekly/but-d...

The weekly challenge prompt for MOSS, a pixel painting tool. A basic drawing of an empty face with a clown ruffle. Title is "But Doctor..." and description is "This award-winning famous clown (name withheld for litigious estate reasons) needs to get ready for their show, even though they are a little sad. Can you help?!"

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

this is one of those "put it out there and see what happens" projects, honestly! it has some neat light social bits, like a weekly challenge where everyone gets the same starting canvas, palette, limited brush set, and prompt. first week's topic: "this wasn't supposed to happen" (original L, mine R)

the friendly MOSS mascot character, a pink gumdrop with yellow lichen stippling, on a glitchy plaid background of cyans, magentas, and yellow-greens

the background plaid has converted to blocky pixels. the character now has huge blue muppety eyeballs and a beak, along with yellow-magenta feathers overhead. a thick handwritten lower-third caption says "chickn'd"

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

thanks to the @romchip.bsky.social stream chat for collaborating with me on this hourlong ZZT creation, in which you upstage dan rather at conveyor-belt sushi. here it is in its entirety.

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

they say don’t meet your heroes, but what about getting interviewed by your editors? well, i’m happy to say in this case it went great. here’s me interviewed by @xws.bsky.social for the puzzmo newsletter about my february mini crossword residency! link.mailer.puzzmo.com/view/65959cc...

BH: What inspires you to make a crossword?

RD: LOL, I'd say right now my primary inspiration is having to make 28 of them in 28 days.

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

day 3 dawns on my puzzmo mini-crossword residency…. turns out that when there are only 10 total clues in a puzzle, you can kiiiind of coax them all into sort of relating to each other. it’s WORKING TOGETHER www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2026-...

preview image for “Working Together,” a 5x5 mini crossword puzzle on puzzmo.com

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

one hour at the starfriends factory (in one minute)

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

heyyy STARFRIENDS production decks have cleared customs and are headed to the warehouse for fulfillment! in celebration/panic, @garrett.bsky.social and I are in the @brainfruit.bsky.social discord live-drawing unique Starfriends for our highest-tier backers. come and hang: discord.gg/xjR6xXUt?eve...

a hand-drawn three-eyed Starfriend named "dr. tricycle"

a hand-drawn star-shaped Starfriend named "default"

a hand-drawn one-eyed Starfriend with a conical horn named "partycorn"

a hand-drawn asymmetric Starfriend named "kilter"

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

i guess one reason i enjoy reading about sports is the occasional perfect sentence like “Carneiro's huge leg shined again”

screengrab of an espn story, paragraph reads “So many of the Rebels' stars made big plays Thursday night. Chambliss threw for 277 yards and a touchdown and used a great 19-yard scramble to set up Ole Miss' last go-ahead touchdown. Lacy rushed for 103 yards on just 11 carries, reentering the game after his hamstring injury and grinding out tough yards. Leading receivers De'Zhaun Stribling and Harrison Wallace III combined for nine catches and 117 yards, while junior Cayden Lee came up big (five for 67) and Wright had three huge catches, all in the second half. Carneiro's huge leg shined again. On defense, Suntarine Perkins had 1.5 sacks, and linebacker TJ Dottery and safety Wydett Williams Jr. made big plays early during Miami's last drive, which could have been remembered differently with a different ending.” with the sentence “Carneiro's huge leg shined again.” highlighted

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sincerely, rob dubbin @robdubbin.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

happy new year everybody, i bring you the first great timeline juxtaposition of 2026. congratulations to @bijan.bsky.social and @unormal.bsky.social

a post by bijan stephen with a pic of a lime next to a screwdriver that's been turned into a pipe. caption "happy new year!!! for my first act i made a pipe out of a lime with a screwdriver." self-reply from bijan, "wow flavored...." followed by an independent post by brian bucklew, "happy new year, you scurvy seadogs!"

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