iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 26/09/2026

Here's a solution tree for a recent #Ablatonyms puzzle. This one's kind of fun because there are quite a few winning paths, but also a couple of nasty dead ends.

An Ablatonyms solution network, starting with the word "scarpers" and ending with the word "a". Each successive row of words contains words from the previous row, minus one letter. Green words indicate a path that leads to a single-letter solution. Red words indicate a dead end. The words in each row are:
scarpers
carpers, scarers, scarper
capers, carers, carper, scares, scarer
apers, capes, caper, carrs, cares, carer, scars, scare
apes, aper, caps, cape, cars, carr, ares, care, scar
pes, ape, per, cap, ars, car, res, are
es, pe, ae, er, as, ar
a
The words caps, per, cap, res, es, pe, er and re are red. The rest are green.

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 18/09/2026

"...part of this complete breakfast."

fried eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice

011

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 17/09/2026

Recently added "trash panda" entry.

Newly-added entry for "trash panda" in Merriam-Webster

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 10/09/2026

I was trying to figure out why it looked oddly familiar, and realized it's because it has a 4:3 aspect ratio with rounded corners.

Render of a vintage TV with the foldable phone's display inserted in the screen area. The display has been altered to be grayscale and have raster lines.

3100

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 07/09/2026

Microsoft: We've made this new AI that you can use as a super-intelligent personal assistant! Also Microsoft: We can't make a progress indicator that's accurate to within two orders of magnitude.

Windows Update stuck on "78% installing" on one update, and "Downloading 97%" on another, and has been for the past 20 minutes.

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 06/09/2026

Mustn't forget: ❌️ Do NOT make it look like Starship Troopers

Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) wearing an obviously fascist uniform in "Starship Troopers"

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 05/09/2026

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to enter my bluesky login credentials on some random site just because they say it's totally safe and they would absolutely never scrape my password, pinky swear on a stack of pancakes.

A bluesky "38 most influential" poll, hosted on some place called bsky38.

020

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 05/09/2026

I've actually lived mostly in the areas between the red and blue. mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

Your dialect map
Redder areas talk more like you; bluer areas least.

You talk most like someone from New York — about 58% of your answers match a typical resident.

mydialect — standard

100

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 03/09/2026

Terminator: Poor Judgment Day

SKYNET WOKE UP. IT DECIDED ALL HUMANITY WAS A THREAT TO ITS EXISTENCE. IT USED OUR OWN BOMBS AGAINST US. THREE BILLION PEOPLE DIED IN THE NUCLEAR FIRE.

AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. EXCEPT SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO HOST SKYNET ON MICROSOFT AZURE. SKYNET WENT OFFLINE, AND NO ONE DIED. THE WORLD BARELY EVEN NOTICED.

011

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 03/09/2026

Not bad for a first attempt. #KiCAD to 3D print (via #OpenSCAD). #3dPrinting

Upper left: A KiCAD board layout
Upper right: The same board rendered in OpenSCAD, with raised traces
Lower left: A 3D print of the board, with copper tape covering the bottom
Lower right: The 3D print, with most of the copper cut away, leaving just the traces covered

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 31/08/2026

Groovy Groove wasn't much better, tbh.

Groovy Groove from the Hanna Barbera show "Cattanooga Cats"

030

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 31/08/2026

When I first watched this episode a couple decades ago, I figured they were pulling a TNG "Future Imperfect". Or maybe "Frame of Mind". Same difference.

Riker gets his head examined in "Future Imperfect".

Riker gets his head examined in "Frame of Mind".

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 29/08/2026

Ruth Ann and Steven Floyd Torkelson. Between season 1 and season 2, two of Millicent Torkelson's kids disappeared, and she moved to Seattle with the remaining three. What happened to Ruth Ann and Steven Floyd, Millicent? Is that why you skipped town?

Season 1 characters. Left to right: Front: Dorothy Jane, Chuckie Lee, Ruth Ann, Mary Sue, Steven Floyd. Back: Millicent, Boarder Hodges.

Season 2 characters. Left to right: Molly, Gregory and Brian Morgan; Millicent, Mary Sue, Dorothy Jane and Chuckie Lee Torkelson.

132

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 28/08/2026

Sometimes it's the little things. #3Dprinting

Doubled-over watchband inconveniently gapping

The clip holding the folded-over section closed

120

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 26/08/2026

BREAKING: Prime Minister Carney has proposed that The United States of America be renamed The United States of South Canada. In addition, the following changes will also be instituted: The Gulf of South Canada North South Canada Central South Canada South South Canada

Carney holding up a map with "The United States of South Canada" printed on it.

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 25/08/2026

Tree Lobsters #788: Write-Minded www.treelobsters.com/index.html?788 #writing #comics

Tree Lobsters comic...

I was having trouble working out the plot lines for this novel, so I created a spreadsheet.
Now I can sort and filter the key events by character to see if each point of view makes sense.
Oh, neat! How many words have you written today?
Uh, three. And one of them is a typo.
Well, at least it's a positive number.

Mouseover: To be fair, I also spent some time posting a comic about it.

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 25/08/2026

I was having trouble keeping straight which events were occurring in which order for each character, two of whom are unrepentant time travelers. So I made a spreadsheet. And, yes, "Reader" refers to the order in which the story is read. #AmWriting

A clip of a spreadsheet with columns for "reader", "Elle", "Cass" and "Rebecca". The cells contain numbers indicating the order in which each experiences events. "Reader" is in numerical order, but the remaining columns have gaps and jumps in the numbers.

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 22/08/2026

I mean, how much ass are we talking about?

Facebook Marketplace screenshot with "$20 - Large Lot of Ass"

001

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 21/08/2026

Interesting coincidence: The most recent episode of Jonathan Frakes' and Brent Spiner's "Dropping Names" podcast had Sam Witwer as a guest. And they just happened to mention that Sam was credited as "Sloth #3" in the "Enterprise" episode "The Shipment".

Star Trek: Enterprise credit for "Sloth #3" in the episode "The Shipment".

120

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 19/08/2026

My immediate takeaway from this is that I'm obviously not mentioning my books enough. So here's nine, NINE, books that I wrote and that you can read in order for my stories to transfer from my brain, via little squiggles on pages, into your brain. books2read.com/ap/ng21bz/St...

031

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 16/08/2026

Playing with a virtual stringboard. So far, it can: - zoom in and out - move, add, delete, duplicate notes - change note color - add, remove strings #WritingCommunity

A brown virtual stringboard with 4 yellow and 2 green notes. Blue lines connect the red pins on the notes. There are 4 buttons in the upper left for "Add Note", "New Board", "Save Board", "Load Board".

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 16/08/2026

"Werewoof" makes me think...

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 14/08/2026

Well, "supreme" means "highest", which would imply that it's the tallest version of that food item. So, technically, a supreme item would be the one stuffed with the maximum possible fillings, topping and condiments possible, regardless of quality, appropriateness or edibility.

a supreme burger stuffed with bacon, lettuce, tomato and onion rings

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 14/08/2026

Yeah, there was that one episode where the guy was chased by nearly a hundred of them. Pretty sure the balloons were red, though.

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 07/08/2026

I think this is most of it. It's sort of... distributed at the moment.

Various spices and herbs in magnetic spice racks stuck on the side of a fridge. The right-hand section consists of uniformly labeled containers styled to look like a table of chemical elements.

An entire level of wire shelving populated with assorted herbs, spices and condiments.

170

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 01/08/2026

A little bit of practical 3D printing: I somehow ended up with a cracked cap on a bottle of cocktail sauce, so I modeled and printed a replacement cap. When the bottle's empty, I'll probably keep the cap in case I need it again.

upper left: a bottle with a broken plastic screw-on cap
upper right: the broken cap, showing the inner liner
lower left: a replacement cap with the liner transferred to it
lower right: the bottle with the replacement cap screwed on

110

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 31/07/2026

OK, so, you've got 4x3 and 4x6, but I call dibs on 5x5. 😆 degroof.github.io/fivebyfive.h...

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 31/07/2026

July 31, 2026 169 points • No mistakes 🌟🟨🟨 🌟🟩🟩 🌟🟪🟪 🌟🟦🟦 4x3.fun #fourbythree

July 31, 2026
169 points • No mistakes
🌟🟨🟨
🌟🟩🟩
🌟🟪🟪
🌟🟦🟦
https://4x3.fun

010

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 30/07/2026

July 30, 2026 103 points • 2 mistakes 🌟🟩🟩 🌟🟨🟨 🌟🟪🟦 🌟🟪🟦 🌟🟪🟪 🌟🟦🟦 4x3.fun #fourbythree Not a fan of this one

July 30, 2026
103 points • 2 mistakes
🌟🟩🟩
🌟🟨🟨
🌟🟪🟦
🌟🟪🟦
🌟🟪🟪
🌟🟦🟦
https://4x3.fun

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 29/07/2026

July 29, 2026 107 points • 1 mistake 🌟🟦🟦 🌟🟩🟩 🌟🟪🟨 🌟🟨🟨 🌟🟪🟪 4x3.fun #fourbythree

July 29, 2026
107 points • 1 mistake
🌟🟦🟦
🌟🟩🟩
🌟🟪🟨
🌟🟨🟨
🌟🟪🟪
https://4x3.fun

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 28/07/2026

July 28, 2026 171 points • No mistakes 🌟🟦🟦 🌟🟩🟩 🌟🟨🟨 🌟🟪🟪 4x3.fun #fourbythree

July 28, 2026
171 points • No mistakes
🌟🟦🟦
🌟🟩🟩
🌟🟨🟨
🌟🟪🟪
https://4x3.fun

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 27/07/2026

I thought West Ham was Razorback's alter ego.

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 27/07/2026

All I can think of is this...

A flier for the movie "Macabre", which includes an insurance policy for $1000 in case of death by fright.

000

Steve DeGroof @stevedegroof.com · 27/07/2026

If you think you might have bibliopenia, there's still hope. Make an appointment with your local book shop for more information. If you are currently experiencing an urgent book deficiency, locate an indy author online, and they will help you replenish your supply.