iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by James Oswald

Stop talking about protecting women. We are not children who need your guiding hand. Men need to be accountable for their behavior. When that happens, everyone will be safer. Mind your own damned selves.

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Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · 17h

Btw, the only reason I can do this and other events this autumn is down to the fabulous support I've had over on my GoFundMe. We're closing in on £500, and it'd be great to hit that goal by the end of the week. Please donate and/or share! www.gofundme.com/manage/help-...

gofundme.com

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Not having much luck today. Supposed to be sending four cows to market first thing. Two absolutely refused to load, so they've stayed behind until next week. Message from mart saying I've sent one wrong passport. Looks like a quick trip to Stirling for me. Ah well, that's what audiobooks are for.

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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

With alt text. I know someone who actually did this

kbarton1001
On my first big overseas client conference, I was at a dinner seated next to a drunk client who kept trying to fondle me under the table. I was young, distressed, and had no idea what to do. I moved my legs as far away from him as I could, moving into the space of the man next to me, who then started patting my legs! The Regional Manager was a French woman who caught my eye, gestured for me to go to the bathroom and when I came back had switched chairs with me. What happed next was epic. A few minutes after I sat back down, she raised her hand with his hand captured in hers and announced loudly "Does anyone know whose hand this is? I found it in my lap." There was dead silence at the table. She threw his hand back at him and said calmly "next time I pick it up with my fork." Then she started a new conversational thread and things moved on. After the meeting she found me, gave me a hug, and said seriously "Never be afraid to make some noise. It is their shame, not yours."

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Since I missed September's newsletter, you can have October's a day early, you lucky people you.

mailchi.mp

🐂 News From The Farm - October 2026

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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 30/09/2026

If you’re going to take urgent action to save steel in the UK on strategic grounds, are you really not going to do the same for water?

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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I’m seeing a lot of posts about talking to your sons in light of the Cornell article. And yes. Talk to your sons. Here are some things you should say, based on anti-violence research about what they need to hear:

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I had hoped to go see @robynhitchcock.bsky.social in Glasgow this evening, but alas life had other plans. Hope it's a great gig all the same, and I'll just have to sit here listening to The Confuser instead.

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Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The byline left up there like a head on a spike outside a castle

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Brandy Schillace @bschillace.brandyschillace.com · 29/09/2026

Readers and writers of #BookSky, I got a story for you. Last year, I released a major nonfiction and sequel to an award winning mystery. This year, I released an audiobook on forensic history. But like most authors, I struggle to make sales/get recognition, and am a poor AF. Now the funny part: 1/

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I am halfway through reading this, and let me tell you you're all in for a treat!

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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I find it hard to summarise my opinions on "AI" (a term I really dislike, because it refers to a huge number of technologies that are very different in capability, quality, ambition and design), but I think I'm coming round to something like this: [1/3]

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Suw @suw.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Amazing how the media's still sticking to the 'going rogue' line. This software did not 'go rogue'. Its developers failed to build adequate controls, did not do enough testing, and are entirely responsible for the results.

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Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

2003: whatever you do, don't source your research from Wikipedia. 2026: Wikipedia is the safest online source to start general research from.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This was an excellent read. Red is such a brilliant flawed character.

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J Steele @jsavagesteele.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Not impressed that Sky's pushing an AI-driven show called "The War Game" with a picture of Michael Gove on the thumbnail. You can't show a glimpse of a woman's areola without getting a ban and there's Sky popping up on my laptop with a fully 3D rendered cunt.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This reminds me of the guys who put the zinc roof on my house. They were all French, despite being an Edinburgh-based firm. At lunch they'd fire up the solder burner and use it to cook omelettes. The smell of garlic and in what is now my study was amazing.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Who was it said the love of money was the root of all evil? I forget...

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

You can tell I'm unwell because I've just walked the dogs around the yard while singing 'I Know An Old Lady' quietly to myself. Specifically this version. "She's dead, of course!"

youtu.be

I Know An Old Lady - Jon Pertwee

YouTube video by StuJesNik

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Martyn Waites/CB Everett @martynwaites.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Google plans to bulldoze a wildlife haven in Essex – home to rare species – for a data centre. Sign the petition now to help save it before it’s gone forever 🐝🦋 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

you.38degrees.org.uk

Save Arena Essex- Tell Google to search elsewhere!

  Wedged between the Mar Dyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, the former Arena Essex Raceway is not your usual wildlife haven. Where once stock cars and speedway bikes lined up to cross the fini...

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

This is a great, illuminating thread, but can we just look at that 25% royalty on eBooks/Audio? It's industry standard and publishers will not budge on it (I've tried!), which means for the contract life they earn 3x as much as the author on a product with no printing/distribution/return costs.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Looked at that list. I’ve maybe seen a whole season of six of them, one or two episodes of perhaps six more. Clearly not the target audience.

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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 25/09/2026

And I finally realised, when she said it, how much it matters to be unclassifiable, because it's another word for human.

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TransActual @transactualuk.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Can you help us reach more people than ever before? Respond to our Trans Lives Survey today, and share on your social media, so we can get a full picture of the experiences and views of trans people in the UK. form.typeform.com/to/BRppksJ3

A pink and blue graphic with a black and white cartoon of some people on the bottom.

Text reads: TransActual is launching its biggest survey for the trans community yet!

TRANS LIVES SURVEY

2026

We want to hear about your experiences as a trans person living in the UK.

It's quick, anonymous, and will help us campaign for our community!

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Petition to have one of these fitted around every 'AI' techbro's neck...

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Bloody Scotland-acquired lurgy continues. Bored of it now.

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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 24/09/2026

Saw a woman on TikTok who said she quit corporate at age 46 to become a beekeeper because “I would literally rather get stung by 10,000 bees than write ‘per my last email’ again” and you know what? I respect that

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CL Hellisen @clhellisen.com · 24/09/2026

The Shape of Monsters is finally out in print and ebook from Tor UK! If you're here for a dark gothic fantasy with all the broken people, twisted dynamics, mages, murder and monsters then you have gone through the correct door Get it now from your favourite bookshop

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Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Ada Lovelace Day is coming up again on 13 Oct and, as you know, these days it is almost entirely unfunded. I've been invited to speak at or attend a few events, all of which I've said yes to because the mission won't further itself. I'm also still writing my report...

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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Extremely tired of articles that put all the onus of an AI’s bad actions on the AI itself instead of the human beings who made the garbage and should be held accountable!!!

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b𝚘օO𝚘ₒts @bootsmcgoot.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I will be thinking about Angrypennies forever

Tumblr post from user kat: i had a dream last night that the entire world used a currency (?) called angrypennies which as the name implies are obtained by experiencing anger. the stronger and more intense your anger was, the more angrypennies you'd gain. an all-consuming rage would earn you more than a slight irritation, etc. so people were always searching for ways to fuel their anger and purposefully keeping themselves angry all the time because they wanted to earn angrypennies. unclear if angrypennies could be exchanged for goods and services, or if they were just a collectible.

anyway, as if this wasn't heavy-handed enough, at one point british comedian greg davies appeared and explained that angrypennies couldn't be worth feeling angry all the time. this was a real revelation to dream-me and i was finally able to break free of the angrypenny grind and allow myself to experience emotions other than anger.

it goes without saying that i will be using the word angrypenny as if it was part of the common vernacular instead of a term that my dreaming brain conjured up i.e. "he's all about the angrypennies" (derogatory way to refer to a guy who searches for reasons to be angry and possibly lacks introspection)

Posted on 19th June 2026

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RJ BaHarker @rjbarker.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Hey hey friends. You can ore-order INCY WINCY, Mal and Jackie's second adventure from Bookshop.org , 23-27 September and save 20% with the code: SEPT20 Each sale supports real independent bookshops in the UK. If you liked A NUMBERS GAME, you will LOVE this.

uk.bookshop.org

Incy Wincy

Malachite Jones is still keeping up his double life as a pretend psychic and unwilling detective aided by his best friend, Jackie. The last thing he wants is a missing person case, let alone two. Exce...

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The nights are fair drawing in now.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Introduce yourself as what almost killed you. I'm a swarm of angry wasps, boiling out of my disturbed nest on the steep bank of a remote Highland burn.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Tea. For the love of god, tea!

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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

your da shouts at hotels and your mum lives in Piddington

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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Most housing benefit goes to private landlords. A big chunk of universal credit subsidises underpayed workers. The so-called welfare bill could be seriously reduced by fixing these underlying issues, not cutting actual welfare.

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CL Hellisen @clhellisen.com · 21/09/2026

REMEMBER KIDS It's only cannibalism if both parties are human. Otherwise it's just lunch.

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James Oswald @sirbenfro.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

She's all grown up now! But why the fuck is Palestine spelled 'Palest*ne' in the subtitles? It's not a fucking swear word.

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