iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

bjmacke @strangelove.net · 23/09/2026

The satellite imagery for the park is pretty trippy. It's on my short list of geolocation puzzle ideas.

Aerial view of Field of Corn from April 2024.

Aerial view of Field of Corn from September 2021.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 21/09/2026

There is a small co-brand on the back right "pocket"

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 23/08/2026

Alternatively, I do wish this fate upon them.

Single panel comic from The Parking Lot is Full, by Jack McClaren and Pat Spacek.

Main image has a solitary person in a trench coat looking past the fourth wall, wide eyed with panic. Around them are uniformly dressed characters, darker, also in trench coats but also wearing hats. The ones facing the main character are all focused on moving past them. The ones behind the character are looking back at the main character with the ones farther to the right looking more fantastical and ghoulish.

Caption:
Little-known Fact #839: There are only twenty-three people alive today, and you're one of them; everyone else you know just *looks* human to lull you into not searching for the other twenty-two. Lonely? You *should* be.

Copyright 2000, The Parking Lot is Full

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 07/08/2026

A local squirrel, for a brief period of time, learned what it's like to be a squirrel in Thailand.

Close up photo of a half eaten chili pepper still on the plant. Around it is the rest of the plant and two green and untouched peppers. The plant is a bird's eye chili, or Thai chili.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 05/07/2026

I've finally learned my lesson that this button should never be clicked.

Bluesky's "Show more replies" button that is really doing you a massive favor by hiding the really bad replies.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 04/06/2026

A bit of mild poll shaming

Screen capture of a question from the 2026 North Star State Poll. The question starts, "If you had to choose just one," and the answer format is multiple choice.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 20/05/2026

Humans cannot hear plants screaming, but you can visualize it.

Image from a VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) sensor, showing readings from the past 24 hours. Title says it's in a basement and is labelled "Mini Greenhouse". Last reading was 2 minutes ago and the index is 279.0.

The line on the graph is mostly stable from noon yesterday to 11:30 today. The right side of the graph has a near vertical line from around 75 to a peak at 300.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 14/04/2026

Blaine's local newspaper confused about what downtown Blaine looks like.

Picture from an article from the "Minneapolis [sic] Star Tribune" with the title, "In Blaine's massive development of new downtown, local restaurant fears being pushed out". Photo under the headline is of downtown Minneapolis.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 02/02/2026

True, though the above image is the most recent public comment I could find on the council's page. Here's the angle from December in the newer chambers.

Screen capture of the Minneapolis City Council meeting from December 9,2025. The speaker is, ironically, wearing an orange beanie. Bystanders/observers are in the background.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 02/02/2026

It's definitely not council chambers, this would be the camera angle for a public comment:

Screencap of a speaker at the January 15th, 2026, Minneapolis City Council Meeting. At the center is a speaker at a podium with a small microphone. In the background are bystanders/observers.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 02/01/2026

Writing headlines is a dying art

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 11/11/2025

Oh, yeah, we're just a few years away from a full semantic web.

Google Gemini confusing "stray cats (roaming felines)" with "Stray Cats (Rockabilly band from the 80s-90s)". Text reads: The Image shows a group of stray cats resting on what appears to be a Bitcoin mining operation." Images are of the band Stray Cats.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 25/10/2025

It's *close* but not quite:

Screen capture from Google Earth with a white distance circle centered on the Minnesota State Capitol with the edge at the 3M headquarters. There's a yellow line connecting the Minneapolis Downtown Post Office with the same 3M headquarters building. The midpoint for that line is unmarked but in the Dale-Como-Western area of St. Paul.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 30/07/2025

One of the wildest TILs I've had in a long time

Picture of text from a Wikipedia disambiguation page

Text is as follows:

NERV may refer to:

NERV, a fictional organization in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise

NERV Disaster Prevention App, a Japanese emergency warning app whose branding is inspired by the Neon Genesis Evangelion fictional organization.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 19/06/2025

Law of the Excluded Middle

Image from a supermarket ad showing two containers of roughly the same size. One on the left is Kraft Real Mayo, on the right is labeled "Not Mayo".

Text on the bottom says:
Kraft Mayo 22-30 oz or Not Mayo 15 oz, select varieties

4.99

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 21/05/2025

@roberttalisse.bsky.social Feel free to correct/sanction me, but I may have discovered what could be coined as a Talissean Congruity:

A screen capture from a Wikipedia article for the philosophical term "Defeater". Notable is the redirect at the bottom pointing at a hardcore punk band of the same name. That Robert Talisse, philosopher and noted appreciator of punk and punk-adjacent music, would have a toe in both genres makes this a remarkable coincidence.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 12/05/2025

Food science is a science because it asks if you "could" make something rather than if you "should" make something.

A snip from a local supermarket ad. Ad copy is for a joint promotion between Miller Brewing and Kellanova for beer-inspired Pringles crisps. There is a lot of "graphic design is my passion" in this ad, so bear with me.

Near the top right is a superimposed forearm and hand, with a Miller Lite can added to the grip. Below that is a classic kettle grill, with photoshopped flames, two cans of the cross-promoted crisps to the right. On the left is a grilled and trussed chicken with black pockmarks added for effect. In an attempt to suggest a can of Miller Lite, label out, was inserted into the cavity of the chicken; the arteur has photoshopped the can and label into the bottom of the chicken.

Overlaying on the left are, in an array of fonts, the phrases "fire up" "summer flavor" and "limited time only".

On sale now at your local Hy-Vee for $2 a can. Not beer, just crisps.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 11/03/2025

I know there's a reason for it, I just don't need to see the performative act.

Screenshot of the Bluesky mute interface. The pin emoji is blocked forever.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 08/03/2025

I was searching for a quote, and Google failed on multiple levels. This was in furtherance of a joke about character named "Thomas Thomas".

Screenshot of a Google AI response. Text reads "Humbert Humbert's first name is Humbert, and his last name is also Humbert."

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 25/02/2025

It's probably facing west because the crest of the slight hill on 66th is roughly in the same spot when compared to Google Maps

Screenshot of a Google Street view. On W 66th St, facing west. Imagery is from August 2021.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 09/02/2025

Remarkably not the oldest photo of a pizza restaurant. This one is from 1960:

Stefano's Pizza Palace and Holland Liquors (1960)
316 Cedar Ave.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 07/02/2025

The Guggenheim thing was the corkscrew for a parking ramp on 4th Street.

A screen capture from Google Street View, taken in 2011, of a ramp in downtown Minneapolis. The structure has since been replaced by a mixed use high-rise.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 30/01/2025

See a black cat in a sunbeam? You're obligated to post a photo of her. Sorry, but those are the rules.

Portrait of a black cat, full body, sitting on a glass table. She is lit with direct sunlight from the left, resulting in her eyes narrowing to tiny slits. Backdrop includes a fireplace and wood floors.

Hashtag: #CatsOfBluesky

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 24/01/2025

I've started to look up the locations in the photo bot's posts. Most of the buildings featured don't exist, and sometimes the streets are gone too. From Google, the Mobil station was apparently renovated into a car repair shop some time before Aug 2007. The buildings here appeared after Oct 2016.

Screen capture from Google Street View. Image is from September 2022 and shows the T-intersection of 15th Ave SE and Como Ave in Minneapolis.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 23/01/2025

Almost the exact same angle, 17 years ago, also with a Nikon.

Downtown Minneapolis, looking at what was the AT&T Building, a glass curtain skyscraper. In the reflection is a full view of the Foshay tower, with the Capella Tower behind it. In the foreground is the two story base to the Foshay, before the W hotel signage was added.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 21/01/2025

Not the coldest in the thread, but measuring in the basement was coldest in the house because it's the closest to the line from the city.

Foreground is a yellow thermometer that reads 45.5F. The end is in a stream of water coming out of a brass tap. The sink below, out of focus is grey and brutalist. Whole scene lit from a single light bulb above the sink.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 18/01/2025

I'm not sure who needs to hear this, but you can definitely cook tater tots in a skillet. It's faster than an oven and slightly faster than an air fryer. Add some butter at the end and it'll be a dead ringer for fast food hash browns.

A glass plate with a small pile of tater tots. The tots are unevenly browned. Plate is on a slate grey surface.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 14/01/2025

In case you haven't seen this before:

Comedian Crow meme template. First panel labels the crow "Foucault" and it says "things are like prisons". Second panel is standard for the meme, a heckler yelling "BOOO! GET BETTER MATERIAL!". Third panel is a close up of the crow, labeled Foucault again, sweating and an ellipse in the speech bubble. Fourth panel is a note card filled with the lines:

factories are like prisons
schools are like prisons
hospitals are like prisons
barracks are like prisons
prisons are like prisons

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 12/01/2025

That's wild to me, since this tweet predates that visit

A screenshot of a quote dunk by the magazine Current Affairs. The quote reads, "Why isn't Jordan Peterson on This List of the World's Top Fifty Intellectuals?" and the dunk says, "is it because it's a lost of the world's top fifty intellectuals"

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 12/01/2025

OK, this time it worked, the original file was too large. But, yes, didn't expect my camera to be in your shot. Here's the view from that angle.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 06/01/2025

I do find it cute(?) that this widget just gives up on a weather icon once it drops below 6F. Like the original designer can't imagine that anything but alarm would come to a place that drops below that temperature.

An hourly weather forecast for Minneapolis where the temperature drops below 6 degrees Fahrenheit at midnight and the series of weather icons are just circles with exclamation points inside them.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 29/12/2024

She wants to sleep, even if I think she wants a photo opportunity.

A black cat staring near the camera's eye, with a white sheet backdrop and angular walls in the background

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 25/12/2024

Fourth and final bake.

Same batch of Chex Mix, only a little browner.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 25/12/2024

Technically a reasonable amount of Chex Mix, first bake.

Silver tray of lightly baked chex mix on a silver tray. Resting on a stove top, visible around the edges.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 14/12/2024

Blankets on radiators next to windows are the ultimate cat life hack.

Black cat in a loaf position looking upwards out of a window. She is resting on a blue blanket on top of a radiator painted white. Trees are visible in the window.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 10/12/2024

Repost with alt text. For some reason the Share function from my Cera app bypasses the requirement to have alt text. Single serving tater tot casserole.

Four glass bowls in a diamond shape, the tops of all are stuffed with tater tots. The jar farthest from the camera shows a layer of dark brown under its layer of tots. In the background are a pair of oven gloves and the bottom half of a coffee grinder. The counter is lit from above and is a speckled grey with a dull shine.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 01/12/2024

The last of the Thanksgiving cheesecake. This one was mint, with shaved bitter chocolate on top. It's from a recipe called Weeknight Cheesecake, from the belief that, at 7" wide, two people could finish one in a week. Four days later, that seems about right.

Relatively small wedge of cheesecake with flakes of chocolate on top. It's sitting on the textured bottom of a springform pan with crumbs of Graham cracker crust on the exposed parts of the sheet. Bases of small kitchen appliances are visible in the background.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 07/10/2024

My random playlist hit two songs from this album today, reminding folks that spooky season is sometimes that part of your history no one believes exists.

Cover art for Ministry's first studio album, With Sympathy. An album notable for not sounding anything like the band's work after this album.

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bjmacke @strangelove.net · 17/09/2024

Funny thing, a year ago, it felt like it was already pretty mature. It's been interesting lurking, but as more news and industry content starts showing up, I should probably encourage that more.

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #848,891!

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