iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

True humanity www.npr.org/2007/04/20/9...

Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

I must say thanks to Dept Chair Morgan Adamson, John, Tia, Alix, Jeremy & everyone involved in the search, as well as the wonderful & inspiring students I met on my visit. It's an honor to be welcomed into a dept of brilliant colleagues doing so much exciting work www.instagram.com/macalester_m...

Instagram homepage @macalester_mcst, showing a partial grid of three recent posts: an image of eyeballs for a "Capstone Presentations" event, a post reading "Sonic relationality: coloniality, soundscape, and kinship," and an advertisement for a course titled "Technologies of Mediation: From oral to digital."

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Leon Botstein at the Bard High School program graduation, after advising students that “to get anything done, you’re going to have to dance with the devil.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/n...

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

"It's just a small fortune, Michael, what could it be worth, $40 million?" www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/u...

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

"Poetry without rhyming? Too easy"

Image of text that says '"The Post needs to be a profitable enterprise that stands on its own two feet," Mr. Bezos said in the interview. "Let me tell you why. Because it's a measure of its relevance. If people won't pay for our product, it's not a good enough product. It would be like poetry without rhyming, it's too easy." Below that is a picture of Jeff Bezos sitting in a director chair opposite someone from CNBC interviewing him in a big warehouse that appears to be filled with rocket parts. Behind-the-scenes equipment is visible like video cameras and photo lighting.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

This might be the worst one yet www.instagram.com/reel/DYctHVJ...

Image of an annoying looking white dude in a black robe giving a graduation speech in front of a bunch of blue flags. Title says “Students Boo Scott Borchetta After He Dedicates Graduation Speech to AI Acceptance.”

Subtitle says “AI is rewriting production as we sit here.”

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Please consider joining my students & I for final presentations from our class "Radical Software", hosted by @ridgewoodcommons.nyc Tuesday, May 12, 12-1:40pm Vegan lunch will be served All are welcome Flyer attached (And stick around for the Permacomputing event at 6pm! nyc.permacomputing.net)

Image of a 1990s-era PC on fire. Title text in block letters: "Radical Software". Smaller gray letters to the side: "Tuesday, May 12, 12-1:40pm". Body text in white on a black background states: "In this hybrid theory/practice seminar, students will study the history of political activism using computers, and learn coding techniques related to this activism. We will study political theory & concepts like: innovation, disruption, creative destruction, civil disobedience, Luddism, sabotage & vandalism. We will also examine software as an infrastructure of care, mutual aid, and collective action. Projects will include making your own browser extension & USB keystroke injection attacks."

Below that, in yellow block letters: "Ridgewood Commons"
And below that in white: "5-85 Woodward Ave, btwn Grove & Menahan"

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

www.facebook.com/story.php?st...

Mark Zuckerberg looking very obnoxious in a tight olive colored t shirt giving a presentation standing in front of a projected screen that says in black text on white background “Our mission: Bringing the world closer together”

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I think this is the question. I put up three images for my students at the start of the semester. 1) On the left: In a purely transactional situation, when getting paid for output, get the work done by any means necessary – bracketing external concerns (like environmental impact). Here, an eBike

Three images. On the left, a food delivery worker in an orange jacket on an eBike apparently moving quickly. Caption: "From point A to point B as fast as possible, by any means necessary." On the right, an elite athlete in the Tour de France, in a yellow biker outfit matching a yellow bike, pedaling past a large crowd in front of gothic cathedral. Caption: "Peak performance, within precise constraints." In the middle, four smiling people on stationary bikes apparently in a gym. Caption: "Improving & achieving personal goals by doing it yourself. Teachers as coaches or trainers. Getting comfortable with discomfort; the exertion is the point"

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Yes and … I’ve found there’s as much solidarity as mistrust. In Feb 2017 when Yemeni deli owners shutdown their stores to protest Trump 1.0’s Muslim travel ban, we put up a sign in Crown Heights & got dozens of signatures of support from folks in the neighborhood. (Pic from still early in the day.)

On a closed gate over a storefront, a sign is taped up reading “We support our Yemeni brothers + sisters,” with a sharpie on a string, and many names of support are written on the sign.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I really try to stay away from RMP but I will wear this comment as a badge of honor. It seems I’ve had at least some success in my efforts to craft coursework that discourages AI use

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Dohahahaha😢 AI is going to kill us all

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Very pleased to have successfully run the gauntlet that is SCMS applications. Very much looking forward to presenting on "System, Space, Market, Subject: Mediating Neo(il)liberalism" with irikalinka.bsky.social, Haiying Li (www.linkedin.com/in/haiying-l...), and @moiraweigel.bsky.social. #SCMS2026

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Wanted to hear this original conversation so I looked it up. I didn't realize it's from 2023. Also I think the above transcription is a little off. Here's the NPR transcript – sounds more correct to my ear & less combative. Apologies for reposting without first checking. www.npr.org/transcripts/...

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

I’ve had similar conversations with people about writing my book. … They went in similar directions.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Using the word “redlining” in an article about a tennis match featuring a Black player, 𝑖𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, sure is a choice www.nytimes.com/athletic/658...

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

ayooo. Shots fired. LFG NY. Delgado for gov Quick, check out this op-ed before NYT turns on him when he starts winning www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Movie you've watched more than six times with a gif.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

AI has thoroughly destroyed search. I'm trying to find a short story with some keywords & Google AI responded to my query by just making up a story that fits. Of course, the most disgusting thing is the LLM probably pilfered this from the actual story but I still can't find the one I'm looking for

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

They are doing their jobs, but they are not just (h/t @joelhs.bsky.social)

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

wow you’re right. Never knew these existed. Another angle shows that it’s behind a fence. Thanks for pointing that out!!

Another angle on the same photograph earlier in this thread shows the burning object behind a large fence and looks like a blackened ‘dummy plane’ for fire drills.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

We’d just touched tarmac at #ORD so I opened the window & saw this across the runway. What the heck Stay safe out there #SCMS2025!! #ChicagoOHare

Photograph out the window on left side of an airplane shows the wing, and beyond it across a parallel runway, a medium-sized fire with plumes of black smoke and a crane spraying water.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Hello friends, Please welcome @maketheroadny.bsky.social to Bluesky. They've decided to leave the old site.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Visual representation of your entire pathetic life

image widely circulated online of bright yellow exploded SpaceX rocket bits streaking across a dark blue sky, illuminated a pale orange by the burning debris.

Tweet from Elon Musk of a wooden utility pole appearing to be held up by a lot of duct tape with a caption that reads “Visual representation of the Social Security database.”

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

How could you work at The Economist and write these two sentences in the same paragraph? “As a family man and part-time pastor at a local church, he was not the type to do anything reckless … In fact, he had made a lot of money trading cryptocurrencies.”

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

It's in the constitution bro. Why does the press so willingly participate in ceding the narrative?

Screenshot of Washington Post news item. Headline: "Trump eyes privatizing US Postal Service, citing financial losses." Subheading: "Trump feuded with the mail agency in his first term. Privatizing it could shake up consumer shipping and business supply chains." Main image is the arm of a man holding a few envelopes, reaching to a blue mailbox with a yellow taxi behind it on an urban street, presumably New York City.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Is your neoliberal trash magazine useless?

Screenshot of an article from The Economic. Headline and lede read “Is your master's degree useless? New data show a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money.” Includes image showing a dark backlit silhouette of 5 students graduating in gowns and mortarboard hats.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

"Some don't want our country run by a fascist, authoritarian regime with no checks & balances, so to be a legitimate news source, we must also include opinions from folks who DO want a fascist, authoritarian regime with no checks & balances" says very media literate person who owns a major newspaper

Black on white text reads: "If we were honest with ourselves, our current board of opinion writers veered very left, which is fine, but I think in order to have balance, you also need to have somebody who would trend right, and more importantly, somebody that would trend in the middle," Soon-Shiong said, adding that he's already spoken to candidates he hopes to add to the Times' editorial roster.

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 10/06/2024

So telling about what he thinks civilization is that he feels posting rapey memes and weed jokes will counteract its corrosion

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 16/02/2024

The Downloads folder of someone trying to stay up-to-date on university holidays in the year 2024

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 13/01/2024

Anyone who complains about the reinvention of wheels only pedals around with two of these on their velocipede right?

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Rory Solomon @rorshock.bsky.social · 16/08/2023

… who are actually in fact our previous overlords.

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