iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Lin @robertl.in · 15/09/2026

www.wsj.com/business/med...

Author whose 2 million dollar book deal was derailed by AI concerns says he's innocent - WSJ (August 4th 2026)

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 13/09/2026

"In all honesty, though, anyone who lacks that level of arrogance is unlikely to become a novelist." - Murakami

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 11/09/2026

blog.metalabel.com/dark-forests... Dark forests and the new internet

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 10/09/2026

As a time capsule art piece this is interesting! #25YearsAgoLive x.com/25YearsAgoLive

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 09/09/2026

The end of the human internet

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 08/09/2026

Synchronicity. If the Universe wishes you to succeed, then it will conspire for you to succeed. Novelist as a Vocation by Murakami.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 06/09/2026

Murakami on novelists 😂 "Almost all [novelists] live under the assumption that 'my way is right while virtually all other writers are wrong'."

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 04/09/2026

Received my Osprey Nebula 32L today! (REI is currently offering them on sale!!) Ty, @pds.dad for the recommendation!! Love how it looks and looking forward to trying it out!! 🥳🎉 (I'm currently contemplating walking across the country Jack Reacher-style and this is the backpack I would use!! 🎒🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️🚶)

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 04/09/2026

rayne fisher-quann quoting the famous Walter Benjamin line: "Fascism sees its salvation in giving the masses the ability to express themselves in lieu of granting them their rights." It's so true: everyone's expressing themselves 24/7 every day nowadays but none of it is going anywhere.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 27/08/2026

x.com/cremieuxrecu... Married women, single women, and single men mostly make the same income. Married men far outearn everyone else though. Obviously, we can discuss causation vs correlation but imo it is massively causation. Speaking as a man, once I got married, my entire worldview changed.

Married women, single women, and single men mostly make the same income. Married men far outearn everyone else though. Obviously we can discuss causation vs correlation but imo it is massively causation. Speaking as a man, once I got married, my entire worldview changed.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 25/08/2026

There are direct flights from CVG to ATL for as low as $14!! I would attend this! (And I'd onebag it with my Osprey Nebula 32L!! 🥳🥳🥳)

Screenshot showing direct flight from CVG to ATL for $14 on frontier.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 25/08/2026

www.wsj.com/politics/pol... Steve Davis cites Armageddon (1998) as the reason he pursued engineering. I have a living file where I keep tabs on everyone who publicly cites Armageddon (1998) as having a massive, life-changing influence on their life trajectory. I call it my "Armageddon file".

Steve Davis cites Armageddon (1998) as the reason his pursued engineering.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 24/08/2026

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in action. Language shapes everything! > The Wakashan Indians of the Pacific Northwest have a construct in their language that requires "evidentiality" to distinguish if its direct exp, inference, conjecture, or hearsay. Src: x.com/timourxyz/st... h/t: @timour.bsky.social 🫡

The Wakashan Indians of the Pacific Northwest have a construct in their language that requires "evidentiality" to distinguish if its direct exp, inference, conjecture, or hearsay.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 20/08/2026

Maybe I'm just following the wrong ppl on bsky but one thing I love ab X is how I learn amazing new things on it. Content-wise (my feed, at least), X is 💯 more diverse. I don't check X every day but every time I do, I'm wonderfully surprised w/ new knowledge. I'm going to start sharing my favorites.

Timour's great post about the different architectures of different languages on X.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 15/08/2026

California would be the world's 4th largest economy if it were a separate country Source: www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeau... At $4.1 trillion annual GDP, that puts it ahead of both India ($4.03 trillion) at #5 and Japan ($3.91 trillion) at #6!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 15/08/2026

Jeff Bridges is apparently a musician too! His words: "All the guys in Nashville are using [Suno] now. Instead of going into the studio and paying, you know, $10,000, they can do this for nothing, man." (Source: x.com/chrisfirst/s...) Every day, I see more creators embracing AI. It's the future!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 14/08/2026

Visited Cleanlites on the west end of Cincy today to recycle my broken Dell monitor! Got to the office at 2:50p and the front door was unfortunately already locked but then when I walked to the loading dock, I met a nice man called Kyle who took my monitor for free! (Normally costs $10.) TY, Kyle! 🙏

I visited Cleanlites today on the west side of Cincinnati and they took my broken Dell monitor in for recycling!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 13/08/2026

After digging up my yard today, I discovered giant rocks+garbage sitting under the grass!! In software development, I'm accustomed to people talking about technical debt. But honestly, there is debt everywhere. House construction, highway construction, etc. All debt is buried beneath the surface!!

Giant rocks and garbage just sitting under the grass!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 12/08/2026

If you ever get a chance, Sam, I strongly recommend visiting the "Gateway to the West" in St Louis, Missouri!! That is where back in the day we considered the West began!! 🙂 (Which makes Ohio being "the Midwest" more understandable!)

Gateway to the West arch in St Louis Missouri!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 12/08/2026

Tomorrow, the digging begins! There's a leak somewhere in the water line under my yard so I'm determined to excavate the area myself tomorrow to determine the leak's origin. This is the joy of home ownership - buying tools for the job, rolling up your sleeves, and doing it yourself!! Yes, we can!🪏🪏🪏

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 08/08/2026

Hi @pfrazee.com @dholms.at not sure who to report this to at @bsky.app but on my Samsung Fold 7 mode when I've unfolded, the caption screen no longer renders the alt text correctly.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 08/08/2026

Discovered a new kind of lactose free, 2% milk that's sold at Target! Lactose free, 2%, 13 grams of protein, 120 calories per serving! For the past week, I changed my routine and crashed hard after the seventh day of change. After getting back on protein and LMNT electrolytes, am feeling better.

Fairlife milk at Target! Lactose free, 2%, 13 grams of protein, and 120 calories per servicing!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 04/08/2026

In adulthood, it takes much more effort to stay in touch with friends. Consequently, we've scheduled quarterly catch-ups! (The key is to just plan recurring syncs in advance!) I'll be seeing W in a few weeks and just began listening to this yesterday. Very memorable so far. Excited to chat ab it!

Listening to My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante on Libby

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 26/07/2026

For anyone who's unaware, YouTube offers a bunch of movies that's free to watch!! Currently watching State of Play (2009). I've also watched a few of The Purge movies and Dredd (2012) as well. Dredd (2012) with Karl Urban is fantastic though - super-reccomend watching it!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 24/07/2026

Goodbye, Fox! I literally only subscribed to you for a month for this year's World Cup coverage (which was great!) FWIW, while I had it, the streaming service worked well! I was able to watch all of the games seamlessly on my desktop and mobile. 👌 Great work with the WC coverage this year!! 👏

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 23/07/2026

WSJ Opinion | Democratic Socialists Get Scandinavia Wrong The far left is telling supporters that the Nordic region is a socialist paradise. Not quite. By Mary Julia Koch - July 16, 2026

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 21/07/2026

I spent an hour on a Google Meet call earlier tonight so didn't hit my >1 hour target for the day. Still, not bad! Am going to continue decreasing daily phone use this week! Am feeling good about it!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 18/07/2026

England is ahead 4-2 right now and it is the most tenuous lead I've ever seen. 😮 This is turning into the greatest game I've ever watched though. Will England hold on? Or will France make the biggest comeback ever in World Cup history? I genuinely can't believe what I'm seeing right now. 🤯🤯🤯

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 15/07/2026

Making sure kids safely get to school in the dark is critical! I just looked this up quickly and it appears like plenty of other places in the world are able to successfully do it. (Eg. Finland) It'll be important for kids to wear clothing with reflectors on them. If others can do it, we can too!!🚶🚶‍♀️

Claude explaining how kids in other countries walk to school in the dark.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 13/07/2026

The British leading the way in democracy! You love to see it!! Count Binface could make history.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 12/07/2026

What a time to be alive right now. UFC McGregor vs Holloway 2 and Argentina vs Switzerland quarterfinal in extra time tied at 1-1!! Simultaneously!!

UFC 329: Holloway vs McGreggor 2 and the World Cup game!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 06/07/2026

England prevails 3-2! Congrats to the English! What a game!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽️

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 06/07/2026

11 minutes of stoppage added!! The English are currently hanging on by a thread!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 06/07/2026

England under siege for the next 15min!! Down to 10 men too!! What a game!! The last time the English was under siege like this was the Luftwaffe Blitz in 1940-41!! 🙀🙀🙀 Can England survive the onslaught?!?!? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽🇲🇽⚽

England under siege for the next 15min!! Down 10 men!! What a game!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 06/07/2026

Kane buries the PK!! 3-1 England!! What a game!! They're down to 10 men though!! It's going to be a siege!!

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 05/07/2026

Went to the Red, White, Blue Ash fireworks event tonight. Traffic control leaving the event was the worst I've ever experienced in my life, for any event I've ever been to. Fireworks were from 10-10:30p. It took 75min afterwards to leave the parking lot. I'll never be going to this event ever again.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 05/07/2026

Happy 250th birthday, America!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🥳🥳🥳

Supercharged today and got the America's 250th birthday badge! 🥳🇺🇸

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 04/07/2026

Cabo Verde is making an excellent case for expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. This absolutely phenomenal. Against all expectations, it is 2-2 in extra time right now. I am thinking about actually visiting Cabo Verde now. I literally did not know this country existed until this World Cup!! ⚽⚽⚽

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 03/07/2026

Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but I feel VAR actually makes the World Cup worse. A beautiful thing about soccer was there was always some degree of dumb luck ab what the refs did or did not see. (Maradona's "hand of God" play being the canonical example of this.) My heart goes out to Croatia.❤️

CR7 couldn't believe Croatia'a last-minute goal. (Which was ultimately called back because of VAR.) I genuinely wonder what was going through his head at this very moment in time.

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 02/07/2026

Congrats to the USMNT! Under siege for the final 40 minutes of the game, one man down and finishes with a clean sheet!! What a game!! What a show!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💪💪💪

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 30/06/2026

I've lost ~8 pounds of weight over the past two months since the beginning of May. I started at ~169 lbs and am down to 161.8 lbs as of this morning. My ultimate goal is to get to 155 lbs which at my height should put me at ~15% body fat. For anyone trying to lose weight, a connected scale rules!! 💪

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 21/06/2026

robertlin.substack.com/p/68-in-this... Finally got to writing my monthly dispatch for May today! (I'm going to try posting these sooner than as late as I have been, moving forward.) When I reflected on May though, I realized I'd watched a lot of theatrical movies w/ some great life advice+messages.

Joseph Jackson: "In this life you're either a winner of a loser."

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 19/06/2026

www.reddit.com/r/worldcup/c... This Reddit post's so heartwarming to me. International tourists visiting our great nation+loving America! This is what's real!! Watching the WC has reminded me that most of the international community actually loves America once they're here & meet us. Touch grass!!🇺🇸

Ecuador fans put an Ecuador shirt on the Rocky statue in Philly

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 14/06/2026

On X there is a German called Freddy who's visiting America for the first time for the World Cup with his friends and his tweets are hilarious. I love how he's experiencing America in all our glory. Taco Bell, Waffle House, Wendy's, Buc-ees!! Welcome, Freddy!! 🇺🇸🤝🇩🇪

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Robert Lin @robertl.in · 13/06/2026

So excited for UFC Freedom 250 tomorrow night at the Whitehouse!! 🥳🎉 www.wsj.com/politics/tru...

A 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel arch known as ‘the claw’ serves as the centerpiece of the UFC event. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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