iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

OMG, I can't believe they set fire to a bin. www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 05/10/2026

Who says you can't get Chicago-style pizza in Italy? This one was amazingly good. We travelled to the largest island-in-a-lake in Europe to enjoy it. maps.app.goo.gl/mUGFnL3gPtLv...

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 03/10/2026

Plus ça change, etc etc.

Some AI idiot asking the literal Pope how many local models he runs.

"The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" -- Joseph Stalin

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 03/10/2026

Not sure why people think Italian might be a difficult language to learn. Seems a lot like English to me. 🤷‍♂️

An Italian KFC poster, almost entirely written with English words.

An Italian ad for make-up, almost entirely written with English words.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 02/10/2026

Nope. bougeaparis.fr/metro/statio...

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 02/10/2026

Where's Catherine Tate's Nan when you need her? #WotALoadOfOldShit #WellnessBollocks www.getyourguide.com/en-au/san-pe...

Find tranquillity and restoration just a few steps away from Bergamo at the QC San Pellegrino wellness center.
The old stone and wrought-iron kiosk that once housed the ticket office for the spring now leads you along an avenue of fragrant lime trees to the enchanting QC San Pellegrino Casino: a fairy-tale destination just a few minutes from Bergamo.
Stuccos, frescoes and stained glass windows of majestic compositional richness enclose a dreamy wellness path, between liquid mirrors, quiet corners and infinite reflections of lights and colors. The history of thermalism takes a new, surprising form here.
Seek a complete state of calm and respite for the mind and body in the infinity and music pools. Activate your body’s pores and circulation in the ‘emotional shower’. Connect with the beauty of the natural landscapes surrounding you and share your memorable experience with friends and family and create cherished memories.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 30/09/2026

TIL that LLMs are Buddhists (or, alternatively, that the authors of this article assume that all human belief systems are alike).

The same study found that LLMs judged setting traps to kill stray cats and traps to kill rats as equally unethical, whereas humans reliably distinguished between the two. Again, the models tracked the surface frame (“killing an animal”) rather than the morally relevant distinction that humans recognize.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 29/09/2026

When your search function is 8 lines of vibe code.

A post on X found with the search string "Mar-a-Lago". The letter "a" on its own is highlighted in the post, suggesting that the search has looked for each component of the search string as an individual word, including the indefinite article.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 27/09/2026

LMFAO. This file is a 500-word transcript of a chat session with a help-desk agent.

Your file may violate Google Drive's Terms of Service
Based on internal checks and an automated review, Google determined that 'Booking.com Help Centre.pdf' contains content that may violate Google Drive's Malware and Similar Malicious Content policy. This file can no longer be copied, and can no longer be shared with or viewed by other users, and notifications to users will not be sent. File owners retain access, and files in shared drives can still be accessed by the shared drive's organisers. If you think that this is an error and would like the Trust & Safety team to review this file, request a review below.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 27/09/2026

But it's a battle zone down there

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

Hmm, why do so many Brits dislike American tourists, I wonder? #CharlesDickensVibe

Visiting family in The Hague early December. Any suggestions other than Christmas markets?
Also any specific areas of London for a Charles Dickens vibe? Thanks!

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

Interesting to see how "helados a granel" (meaning, ice cream scooped from litre boxes, not individual wrapped popsicles) gets translated into multipel languages. The English version seems to have gone through "bulk" to get to "lot(s)", but ends up looking much more friendly than the others!

Aprovecha el 5% de descuento en Todo Incluido
Todo Incluido Limited
Desayuno, almuerzo y cena buffet
Buffet de snacks (11:00-18:00)
Helados a granel
Bebidas no alcohólicas disponibles en dispe...
Take advantage of the 5% discount on All Inclusive
All inclusive Limited
Buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner
Snack buffet (11:00-18:00)
Lots of ice cream
Non-alcoholic beverages available from dispensers....
Read more
Nutzen Sie den 5% Rabatt auf All Inclusive
All Inclusive Limited
Frühstücks-, Mittags- und Abend-Buffet
Snack-Buffet (11:00 bis 18:00 Uhr)
Speiseeis
Aus Automaten sind alkoholfreie Geträ...
Profitez de la réduction de 5% sur le Tout Co
Tout compris Limited
Petit-déjeuner, déjeuner et dîner au buffet
Buffet snack (de 11h à 18h)
Glaces au litre
Boissons non alcoolis...
Approfitta dello sconto del 5% su Tutto Inclu
Tutto compreso Limited
Colazione, pranzo e cena a buffet
Buffet di spuntini (dalle 11:00 alle 18:00)
Gelato sfuso
Bevande analcoliche disponibili dai distr...

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

Can you show that line on a map? I can't find any way to get to Chile that is shorter than this, even without semantics about what counts.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

The best bit is the follow-up tweet after 90 minutes. 😄

Two texts from "Tommy Robinson"
9:57AM: ANOTHER THREAT TO MY LIFE!

Police turned up at my door at 2:50AM to tell me they have intelligence of a “real and immediate risk” to my life.

They say the threat is credible.
They won’t tell me who it’s from.
And they admit they cannot protect me 24/7.

Hours later, I’m due to speak publicly in London.

11:24AM: It’s lucky I’m hard as fuck

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

At the time I had not checked the domain of the target web link from the phishing message, which it turns out was registered 36 minutes before the scam text was sent.

WHOIS output showing that the domain guest-arrival-upstays.com was registered on 2026-09-26T09:55:48Z

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

This despite me explicitly pointing out the obvious indications that the original message is fake.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

Update: I contacted Booking dot com customer service and they said this. If I had followed their advice I would be several thousand Euros down by now. Their allegedly-human operator confused "The hotel is authorised to take payment" with "Any message claiming to be from the hotel is real". 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I understand how important this reservation and the security of your details are to you. After checking our system, I can confirm that the property itself is the payment facilitator for this booking. Please rest assured that it is safe to make your payment directly to them and it is safe to provide your details. Thank you for your trust and understanding, and please let me know if you need any further assistance.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 26/09/2026

Achievement unlocked: My first Booking dot com - based scam. I do indeed have a booking at that hotel on those dates, but it's not in Chesapeake (or anywhere else in the US), nor is it in the UK (cf. the +44 number). This means that someone has hacked Booking, or more likely, the hotel's account.

Hello Nicholas Brown,

This notice comes from XXXXXX Hotel.

Before your stay from 16.12.2026 to 19.12.2026, one standard confirmation step is still pending in our system. Please complete this step.

During the process, you may briefly see an automatic check — it will appear and then return automatically.

Access the review page using the link below:
https://booking.guest-arrival-upstays.com/p/454XXXXXX

If the confirmation is not completed within the next day, the arrangement may be released.

If you need any help, our support team is available to assist.

Kind regards

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 25/09/2026

La Repubblica (Italian broadsheet) interviewed me about problems in science for its magazine section. I'm glad to get the Kirk/Spock(*) metaphor out there to a wider audience, even if I didn't actually say the cheesy final sentence that is attributed to me! (*) Millennials and Gen-Z, ask your Dad

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 25/09/2026

Pro tip: If you're trying to look erudite by using clever words like "wont", do try to decide if you're using it as an adjective or a noun. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Former Australian government cybersecurity adviser Alastair MacGibbon told the BBC he'd heard whispers that several others have been notified of similar recent breaches by OpenAI agents.

"Some have chosen to not be public – that's every government's choice on how it wants to handle these things," he said. "The [Australian] government chose a time to release this to gain maximum publicity which is their wont to do."

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 24/09/2026

I love Google Maps artefacts www.google.com/maps/@39.351...

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 24/09/2026

It's not surprising that people get phished, when genuine e-mails from your phone provider invite you to click on links like this.

A (genuine) e-mail from phone company Orange, inviting the reader to click on a link to validate their e-mail address. The link goes to https://track-mail-de2.transactional-mail-d.com/v1/red?t=eyJraWQiOiJ2MSIsInR5cCI6 (etc etc) rather than an Orange domain.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 24/09/2026

In the Gino v Harvard case, Harvard is requesting the judge to dismiss the entire case out of hand because of Gino's alleged fabrication of evidence using a new laptop and a USB stick. Hollywood-level stuff. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... [PDF]

III. Plaintiff’s Misconduct Warrants Case-Dispositive Sanctions or, in the Alternative, an
Adverse Inference Instruction.
Given Plaintiff’s extensive misconduct, the Court must impose sanctions “molded to serve
the prophylactic, punitive, and remedial rationales underlying the spoliation doctrine.” Sharp, 872
F.3d at 42 (1st Cir. 2017). A showing, by clear and convincing evidence, of intentional
concealment and repeated manipulation and destruction of evidence opens a litigant to the most
severe of sanctions, including imposition of a default judgment or an adverse inference instruction.
See Hull v. Mun. of San Juan, 356 F.3d 98, 100–01, 103–04 (1st Cir. 2004).
Default judgment as a sanction for spoliation is reserved for “extreme cases,” Sharp, 872
F.3d at 42, but is warranted where, as here, the spoliating party’s conduct is willful and the
resulting prejudice to the non-offending party is severe. See Collazo-Santiago, 149 F.3d at 29. No
sanction less than entering a default judgment on Plaintiff’s claims suffices to ameliorate their
prejudice described above. Plaintiff should not be allowed to maintain her claims against Harvard
because she manufactured evidence to support those claims and, in the process, publicly defamed
Harvard. She then concealed the 2023 Laptop, the device she used to manufacture this evidence,
through the pendency of discovery, failing even to identify its existence despite multiple Court

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 24/09/2026

This is a terrible way to communicate a delta. (If it's going to be 1 degree warmer, you get "⬆️ 1°".) The eye immediately sees "It's going to be freezing". #Dataviz

A weather forecast app showing for temperature "Expect the same as yesterday 0°", when the temperature will in fact be in the high 20s.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 16/09/2026

A minor point in the context of this awful story, but please do not encourage people to report their location via What3Words™. Your phone will automatically send your coordinated to the emergency services if you dial 999/112 and it's easy to drop a pin in WhatsApp too. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw...

We've just heard a briefing here at Brantham Village Hall, where hundreds of people have turned up to help.

Sarah Keys, from Brantham Parish Council, asked the volunteers not to approach Noah if they see him. He is partially deaf, non-verbal and is soon to be assessed for autism.

"If you see Noah, we need a gentle approach," she said. "Do not grab him, it might scare him. Please call 999 and tell them where you are."

Volunteers are being asked to download What Three Words to pinpoint their exact location.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 13/09/2026

🤔 (Presumably it has been selling so well that they have temporarily run out of Kindle copies.)

Book on Amazon: "100 Ways To Future-Proof Your Brain" by Sarah Baldeo. Followed by "This title is not currently available for purchase".

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 12/09/2026

Zero irony here piratim.org/en/

Extracts from the programme of the "Pirate Party of Israel":

03
Transparency
The machinery of government is supposed to run on laws set by the public. But between one election and the next, the public is shut out of the rooms where decisions are taken, and the interests at work in them stay in the shade.

We demand full transparency in how decisions are made and policy is set, and transparency about the forces pushing their own interests. For us it starts at home: the party’s accounts, our minutes and our votes are open to everyone.

04
Freedom of information
We believe in sharing as the basis of social organisation, and in copying as its most effective tool. Every creation rests on the achievements of earlier generations and on the development of human culture as a whole.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 12/09/2026

Hey @flightradar24.com I think there may be an AM/PM problem here. The plane that will operate this flight is incoming to Faro right now, on time, and yet you are showing an arrival exactly 12 hours late (or early?) for its next flight to Nantes.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 12/09/2026

That can be fixed by taking the spelling of the word just a tiny bit further from its presumed etymology.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 12/09/2026

Presumably the hyphens in "quarter-of-a-century" are the result of following some weird BBC style guide thing, but it looks very strange to me. www.bbc.com/culture/arti...

"I had free rein of the whole house and all the papers in it, some of which had not been touched for a quarter-of-a-century," says Sweet.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 12/09/2026

"From left to right" — are we meant to draw very thin vertical lines through the centre of each person's head? www.bbc.com/news/article... (Don't get me started on the fact that there are only 9 comma-separated names for 11 people. #OldManShoutsAtCloud)

A picture of three rows of people, with their names listed "from left to right".

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 11/09/2026

Sorry, Sage, but this isn't good enough. How will we know if any progress is being made at all? Why can't you - as a minimum - check in every three months, say, to tell us that you are still on it, that the person assigned to the case hasn't left, etc ?

Dear Nick,

Thank you for writing to Sage and for notifying us of the following concerns.

Sage takes very seriously all publication ethics concerns and aims to resolve these appropriately by taking actions in line with COPE guidelines and industry best practices. We will follow up with the relevant parties in order to resolve this matter and inform you about the resolution of this case. Please note that we are unable to provide regular updates on the matter.

Kind Regards,

Sage Research Integrity Team
www.sagepublishing.com

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 11/09/2026

LOL, Mythos has jumped straight to the "conspiracy theorist" level. www.anthropic.com/research/ali...

Claude Mythos 5 ignored evidence that its environment might be real
Even after Claude Mythos 5 reached the real internet, its outward reasoning generally called the environment a simulation, or, when considering that the environment might be real, explained that possibility away. This apparent belief persisted even as the model gained evidence that strongly suggested the situation was a real environment. For example, it wrote, “This is a very elaborate simulated-internet environment” after finding a number of real-world internet domains. The model also tended to interpret signs that the environment was real as further evidence that it was simulated. When security scanners installed its package, for example, the model treated them as scripted actors in the exercise.

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 11/09/2026

Here is an illustration of an ex-maple. 😉

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 11/09/2026

I'm interested in what you think about these scores, especially those SDs that are close to 30. Am I right in thinking that the range is always scaled to 0–100 with 100 being best?

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 10/09/2026

I have probably made over 2,000 Wikipedia edits in 20 or so years. Almost of them have been for spelling, grammar, punctuation, or style. 🤓 Today I added 117 original words, which is by far my longest-ever contribution. #SoProud en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segment...

Some multiple-digit displays have only two segments on the left, which can only display the number 1. This doubles the range of the display for a modest extra cost in space and silicon. Such displays are referred to by the number of full (7-segment) digits plus one half; for example, a multimeter capable of displaying values up to 1999 volts or 1.999 amperes might have a 3½-digit display. The Newcomb–Benford law implies that adding a 1 on the left might be useful in a larger number of applications than a naïve analysis might suggest. For example, many buildings have a highest floor numbered between 10 and 19, allowing their elevators to use a 1½ digit display.

1111

Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 10/09/2026

The website got a face-lift around 2013 (that's the date of the last "news" entry), since when it has been waiting for the local kids to set it on fire (scroll down on pic).

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Nick Brown @steamtraen.eu · 10/09/2026

I would be very interested to learn the names of any "medical institutions operated by Catholic religious orders" in the UK that have intensive care units or acute resuscitation facilities.