iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The illustrations vere meant to show the versatility of this wonderful new tool. We had no clue how versatile it would become.” www.instagram.com/p/C3iQHutRm1...

Isometric pixel illustration of a Mac as a coffee grinder.

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So we played around with it, and to make a long story short, that encounter on DeHaro Street in San Francisco changed our professional lives. Here is a series of MacPaint illustrations that Rudy did for Apple's Bandley Shuffle, a magazine for Apple employees.

Isometric pixel illustration of a Mac flying with pilot goggles and scarf.

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It smelled like we could make some money, so we said yes. We remember very vividly showing up at DeHaro St in SF, and there’s his little boxy machine with a tiny screen with a big smiley face on it and some kind of device connected to it that looked very much like a mouse that they called a mouse.

Isometric pixel illustration of a Mac in a party mask and blowing a noisemaker.

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Emigre: “In 1984, the art director at Macworld nagazine contacted us and asked if we wanted to try out this new computer called the Macintosh. They seemed eager to get people to use this machine so they could show what it could do and resent the results in their start-up magazine.

Isometric pixel illustration of a Mac as a jukebox.

Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 15/04/2026

Reminds me of the Italian Casas Cantoneiera (housing for road maintenance workers). I took these photos in Sardegna.

Photo of a rundown stucco building with peeling red paint. A sign says "CASA CANTONIERA".

Photo of a rundown stucco building along a roadside with a mountain in the background.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 15/03/2026

Letterform Live afterparty with @laureola.bsky.social & @nicholowry.bsky.social. Nicho is the genuine article. My brother Matt met him at @roadshowpbs.bsky.social in SLC. A year later, and thousands of appraisals since, Nicho recalls what Matt brought, its value, and that he was my brother.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 24/02/2026

The all-time best #AntiquesRoadshow appraisal. (Newport, RI, 2017.)

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 18/02/2026

This is Kevin. He lives on a street near us, and hasn't left the block in 5 years. No one knows where he came from and no one really takes care of him. He just walks around like a neighborhood cat. #Rockridge #RockridgeKevin #Peacock #Peafowl #Birding

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 17/02/2026

Bicycles and rocket ships. Journalist @karenhao.bsky.social on the biggest myth surrounding #AI, live at @hayfestival.bsky.social Cartegena 2026. Her book: Empire of AI karendhao.com

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 10/02/2026

Flickr celebrates its 22nd bday w/ data: blog.flickr.net/2026/02/10/2... Interesting that the Most Used Cameras of 2025 is nearly evenly split between cameras and phones, with many brands represented, showing the platform’s diverse user base. More stats: www.flickr.com/cameras #Flickr #Photography

Graphic showing a macro photo of an insect (credit Dale Harding), a headline (Canon EOS R6) and a list of “Most Used Cameras”:
1. Canon EOS R6 Mark II
2. Sony A7 Ill
3. Apple IPhone 16 Pro
4. NikonZ 6II
5. Samsung Galaxy S23
6. Google Pixel 8 Pro
7. Fujifilm X-T5
8. Olympus E-M1Markll
g. OM SYSTEM OM-1
10. Panasonic DC-G9

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I feel privileged to live in this city & wish to share it with more people of all backgrounds. Which is why we need to build more housing now! Yes, in my backyard: #Rockridge, a transit-connected district near the city core. No, to pretend progressivism that makes exceptions for the wealthy. #YIMBY

A marble wall inscribed with faux-Greek lettering: “Immortal love,
Forever full.
Forever flowing free …
Forever shared,
Forever whole.
A never ebbing sea.”

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Ended the afternoon at Mountain View, our glorious hilltop cemetery, to take in the countless 19th-century monuments and day’s final rays. Then strolled the mystical halls of Chapel of the Chimes. Built by Julia Morgan, one of the country’s first women architects, it somehow combines Gothic & Deco.

Photo of a gravestone topped by a broken roman column. A group of crows flies overhead.

Photo of a sign inscribed in Gothic ornamental framed concrete. The sign reads: Chapel of the Chimes / Columbarium / Crematorium / Niches / Urns.

Photo of an atrium interior with marble walls, an indoor planter filled with tropical plants, and a lozenge shaped opening to a second floor and glass roof. A geometric stained glass window is on one wall.

We walked to the Oakland Main Library which happened to be celebrating its 75th birthday with concerts and cake. The party was filled with folks of every walk of life, tapping feet to a multigenerational jazz quartet. (Yes, this man is wearing a party hat. I think he’s a library administrator.)

Photo of a wood paneled mezzanine. A man in a suit and gold party hat looks over the railing at a balloon archway with balloons spelling “75”.

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Lunch next door at Town Fare, great soul food on Oakland Museum of CA’s sunny midcentury terrace overlooking #LakeMerritt. This public park is people-centered brutalism at its best. A multilayered rooftop garden of concrete & greenery, multiple access points, and endless picturesque views. #OMCA

Photo of a plant-topped concrete colonnade with wood slat roof casting interesting striped shadows below.

Photo of a woman leaning jauntily against a pillar under the colonnade.

Photo of a lake surrounded by trees and buildings. Three white pelicans swim in the lake.

Two people kiss in front of an art deco building (the Alameda Court House). The man wears a kaffiyeh.

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It hosted holiday pageants, Harlem Globetrotter games, operas, and rock concerts. It fell into disrepair, but is now renovated & fully open again for the first time in 20 years. Entertaining tour from architecture historian Scooter Marriner. (This portico by Sterling Calder sports a merman. C’mon!)

Photo of a portico with glazed bas-relief depicting a merman undersea riding on two dolphins, a walrus, sea horses, and decoration.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 17/12/2025

#Oakland is not just underrated, it’s one of the most beautiful & livable cities in the world. @laureola.bsky.social & I spent the day downtown where we witnessed the grand reopening of The Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Our city’s auditorium was built in 1915 as a civic arena and theater.

Photo of a large arena with nearly empty wooden seats and light streaming through five arched windows.

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Seen on the back of a tanker truck on the road yesterday. I am still puzzled.

Back of a large steel tanker truck. Black Helvetica letters attached to the tank read, “AT NIGHT WE HAUL MILK”.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 25/10/2025

If you must use ChatGPT to look something up (you probably don’t), ask it to “always provide citations with answers”. This setting is saved for future chats. Then, at least, you can check the sources, the sources get credit for the content ChatGPT stole.

Screenshot of ChatGPT showing part of a chat. The user prompted “name and link”, and ChatGPT responds:

“Perfect ✅ — from now on, l'll always include inline
citations with the source name and link directly.
Example:
The Eiffel Tower is 330 meters tall (Tour Eiffel -
https://www.toureiffel.paris)”

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 19/10/2025

Near the end of the #SanFrancisco #NoKings march, I ran into a @kpfa.org reporter and got on the air. I’m pretty amped up in this recording, partly because it was loud out there, but also nerves and passion.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 20/08/2025

Please enjoy this goat’s high quality horns and beard. @laureola.bsky.social and I lucked into the East Bay fire-mitigation team on Sunday’s hike. #Oakland #SFBA #Goats

Portrait of a sandy-colored goat with a twisting horn and long beard chewing on a piece of grass.

Wide-angle photo of a large group of goats on grassy field surrounded by trees.

Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 15/08/2025

Fascinating to see how Mastodon reacted to this post. I generally see a similar level of “engagement” on the two platforms, so I think this really shows how Bluesky culture still normalizes the use of problematic platforms (especially Substack!), while Mastodon abhors them.

Screenshot of the same post on Mastodon, where it received 11 replies, 192 boosts, and 179 favorites.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 12/08/2025

Just got this email from @americanredcross.bsky.social a couple weeks after donating blood. Very cool that they can tell you where yours went and who it helped. ❤️

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 08/08/2025

@laureola.bsky.social and I took the slow road from SF to Portland for #TypeCon. There are many sign pics to share, but my favorite thing of all is probably this guy. #Orick #WoodCarving #RoadsideAttractions

A wood carving of a life size or larger man standing on a stump with his hand in the air as if holding something, but he is not. He has an awkward but somehow satisfied look on his face.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 03/08/2025

New Yorkers understand what’s going on in Gaza. www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/7/...

A series of bar charts with the headline, “NYC Democratic Primary Voters Believe Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza”

Question: Do you believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people living in Gaza?

At the top is “All likely voters” responding “Yes, Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza”
78% Yes
9% Don’t know
13% No

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 12/06/2025

my frequent flying apps all in a flock on the home screen

Screenshot of iOS home screen cropped to show three app icons: Bluesky (butterfly), iNaturalist (bird), Merlin Bird ID (bird)

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 09/06/2025

1. I look forward to ridding myself of all Google products. Takes effort, but worth it. There are good alternatives. (Using @fastmail.com for all my personal domains now.) 2. When corps send you this BS about the value of AI, make sure you write back and tell them exactly how much AI means to you.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 24/05/2025

With @laureola.bsky.social at FontShop Berlin in May 2010, one year after our first date.

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Stephen Coles @stewf.com · 19/04/2025

Results map from the #Oakland mayoral election tells you most of what you need to know about who supported #BarbaraLee and who supported #LorenTaylor. For folks who don’t know the East Bay, the purple area is the Oakland hills, where the wealth is.

Map of Oakland with results from the Special Municipal Election (April 15, 2025) for Mayor. Precincts on the west side of the city are mostly orange, on the east side (hills) is mostly purple.

Precincts Reported: 106 of 108 (98.15%)
Candidate Votes
Barbara Lee 47045 (50.06%)
Loren Manuel Taylor 42276 (44.99%)
Tyron C. Jordan 985 (1.05%)
Mindy Ruth Pechenuk 821 (0.87%)
Renia Janeen Webb 784 (0.83%)