iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/09/2026

Space Marine chapter that somehow always manages to hear Last Christmas on December 24th Legion of the Wham!med

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 31/08/2026

I like the Illuminor Szeras reversal 😀

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 31/08/2026

Presumably you need 738 bandages for the consequences of avoiding radiation sickness with 189 bottles of vodka?

100

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 31/08/2026

Did you share your 189 bottles of vodka with him?

100

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 22/08/2026

...and this coffin is where we dump the spare heads...no, you wouldn't think so, would you? But they do seem to pile up.

030

Reposted by Chris Knowles

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Anybody who’s still advocating putting these tools anywhere near a school is not doing so despite the cognitive collapse they cause, but because of it. dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

Abstract
Using 30 months of panel data on 26,811 Chinese students in grades 7-12, we study how generative Al affects homework productivity and learning. The data combine monthly closed-book exams, high-school and college entrance exams, and homework scores and completion time across nine subjects. We exploit staggered Al adoption in a difference-in-differences design. Al adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months.
High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. The losses are largest in social science subjects, followed by STEM and languages, and are especially large for junior students, high-achieving students, and boys. The learning losses are concentrated among roughly 80% of Al users whose behavior is consistent with homework outsourcing, as indicated by exceptionally short homework completion time coupled with high homework scores. Al users who maintain similar homework completion time as non-Al users experience small learning losses.

131224461

Reposted by Chris Knowles

Sebas @ohlookbirdies.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

"Is this lens better, or this one?" - Optometrist "Is this lens worse, or this one?" - Pessimetrist

11892264

Reposted by Chris Knowles

Heather Flowers (500FF DEMO OUT NOW) @hthrflwrs.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

i think this is a contender for the stupidest line of code i've ever written

511817292

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 09/08/2026

Postage looks pretty cheap, though.

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 08/08/2026

If you see this, post a magic user. #Nerdlings

Cassie, female gnome wizard by Reaper Minis, painted with blue robes and purple trousers. She has red hair, glowing yellow eyes, and is casting a spell. She's standing on grey flagstones, and her casting is creating a red/yellow circle with runes on the ground. She's carrying a staff in her right hand, and she has a large potion on her belt.

020

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 07/08/2026

"Gotta love the Z-95! Nothing beats the feeling of power it gives you!"

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 03/08/2026

Is one of them a burner? The double cassette decks used to let you copy tapes, maybe this is similar?

110

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 30/07/2026

The Rise And Fall of Reginald Barclay

020

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 28/07/2026

Mind you, if you're harmed by some nonsense put out by an AI model owned by a company worth billions, it's hard to make any legal headway. Harmed by the model from a dude with 4 GPUs in his garage? Now you can get precedents set. Of course, this only happens after the harm :/

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 28/07/2026

I maintain that a properly ripe cheese will tell you if the table is level.

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 26/07/2026

I also struggle to eat without a face.

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 26/07/2026

So it's a game about corruption in the martial arts world?

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 26/07/2026

(It's partly also a size issue, the swept area of a small turbine on a roof wouldn't achieve much even in ideal airflow.)

020

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 26/07/2026

The problem with domestic wind is that the airflow around built-up areas isn't ideal. The big turbines out at sea or surrounded by fields are tall enough, and far enough away from buildings, that you get a nice smooth airflow for the blades to pick up. Turbines on houses produce very little.

110

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 23/07/2026

Seriously, though, I do wish firm tofu was easier to come by around here. The little greengrocer within walking distance that (weirdly) also sells tofu has changed suppliers and it is NOT the same ☹️

000

Reposted by Chris Knowles

クーデルカ @kdlc.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

i added the fun counter and now the game is so much more fun

021

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/07/2026

Years ago I saw a prototype for a puzzle game where when you completed a level and your score was being totted up, the screen also flashed up the message "YOU ARE NOW HAVING FUN."

101

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/07/2026

I read this as "you should add a counter for how much fun you're having"

210

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 16/07/2026

Kid called David decides he doesn't like the 1980s or having his own spaceship.

000

Reposted by Chris Knowles

garro30k @garro30k.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Count Binface, ready to serve as a bounty hunter in my Necromunda Collection. #CountBinface #Necromunda #Nerdlings

Count binface miniature by troublemaker games, painted by myself.

302001196

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 14/07/2026

Who was the best metalworker in ancient Rome? Pliny the Welder

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 14/07/2026

I'm not there this year, hope it's a good time!

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 14/07/2026

This seems like an odd conclusion. Clearly, trying to assess the quality of a store page is a difficult thing, but I don't think word count is a very good proxy. We all know LLMs can be wordy, if AI game store pages are longer, devs may just be slapping whatever description the model threw at them.

Screenshot from the second linked article in the post above, in the "Challenged / Disproved" common beliefs section.

The stated belief is "AI games have lazy, thrown-together store pages."

The rebuttal is "No - their store descriptions are slightly LONGER than non-AI (median 208 vs 190 words)."

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 14/07/2026

I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I LOVE ICE CREAM

040

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 12/07/2026

We love an underdog, but for the current byelection that plays in Count Binface's favour.

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 12/07/2026

That reminds me of this thing I had (and quickly abandoned) as a teenager. Turning and tilting it to look around made me realize the advantage of a mouse is you control the direction you look in directly, whereas this controls the rate of turn. It's the derivative of the thing you actually want.

Picture of the box of the Thrustmaster Fragmaster, a controller designed for FPSes. You hold it with both hands and both slide and twist the controller to handle both movement and looking. It was very clunky.

020

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 11/07/2026

If they both fit, they're a pair.

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 05/07/2026

Monument Valley really has been released on every platform.

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 05/07/2026

As if it's not already hard enough to sneak up on your colleague when your name is Ian Bell.

030

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 05/07/2026

Why do the distances go 0-9, and then 6?

100

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 05/07/2026

The Eurostar, being in space, was never part of the EU.

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 04/07/2026

I am once again asking folks who write game guides to learn the difference between east and west.

020

Reposted by Chris Knowles

Andy Clark of the living dead @andycruns.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Mini of the month - John Blanche Entry 13 by @tristanwelsh.bsky.social Gob Emperor on the Golden Throne #Nerdlings #MiniOfTheMonth

A goblin is sitting on the golden throne, based on the classic John Blanche artwork of the Golden Throne. Many cables are plugged into the goblins head who is also sporting a nifty mechanical left eye.

The throne is covered in purity seals, skulls, candles and even a little rat at the front. It's painted in a variety of brown, orange, red and sandy tones with a lot of texture. A servo skull is on the right hand side, holding an open book.

The backdrop is a hand painted depiction of many cables in the same colour scheme

1534794

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 28/06/2026

Surely the Dianameter should be telling us her width?

100

Reposted by Chris Knowles

Gary Alexander @garyalexander.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

We have lots of (correct) criticisms of generative AI from a labor perspective. But here's a management one, too: You can and will discipline labor. Human beings can be manipulated through material and psychological incentives. But what if your "workers" are software owned by another capitalist?

534151

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 19/06/2026

This reminds me of a very frustrating meeting where we were planning a VS and the producer was getting annoyed that I wanted to understand the shape of the full feature before deciding how long the VS version would take. I can't create a vertical slice until I know what it is I'm slicing!

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/06/2026

Shady Merchant: I'm setting up a new shop and giving out free samples! Would you like a totally normal healing potion? Player Character: Why doesn't this healing potion stack with the others in my inventory? Shady Merchant: Gosh, I don't know, it's definitely a TOTALLY NORMAL healing potion!

010

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/06/2026

It is indeed their chance to...ahem...bloom.

000

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/06/2026

See also: RuneScape It ran on the ancient computer in the school library, and if your parents wouldn't let you install games on the equally ancient home PC, you could still play it.

110

Chris Knowles @tarrenam.com · 18/06/2026

This isn't "monitoring WiFi to work out who you are online". This is identifying you, physically, at a location by analysing WiFi radio signals.

000