iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Terrence O'Brien

The Verge @theverge.com · 05/10/2026

There’s growing anti-streaming sentiment, and the slowtech trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. But no obvious heir to the iPod throne has stepped in to fill the gap in the MP3 player market. Read more from @terrenceobrien.bsky.social:

theverge.com

The rise, fall, and rise of portable MP3 players

Apple perfected the media player with the iPod, then abandoned it.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The first of my spooky season-themed weekend recs, which are, to be fair, not terribly different from my normal recs.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I've recently been using an iPod again and it's an absolute joy.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Well, now I feel like NEED to watch it.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

How to keep your defensive moat from going green with algae

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I switched from first class to business class and the savings let me buy a third home

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Workshopping some pitches for Business Insider: I committed fraud and got off with a slap on the wrist. Here's what I'd do differently next time How I learned to slow down, stop sleeping under my desk, and only work 12 hours a day

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The Verge @theverge.com · 30/09/2026

Seeing an easy PR win, Neon is cashing in by announcing it’s making its own SCP movie. But unlike A24, it proactively reached out to the SCP Foundation Wiki team and has pledged to release it under the Creative Commons ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license.

theverge.com

Neon sticks it to A24 by announcing a Creative Commons SCP Foundation movie

The studio says the movie will be in theaters next year.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I hate that The Alchemist keeps getting caught using AI. And that he's trying to deny it this time with Gangrene and this fake-ass painting of the cover art is infuriating. It's like he thinks his fans are stupid. www.hearingthings.co/ai-album-cov...

hearingthings.co

AI Album Covers Have No Place in Hip-Hop

A visual artist who built his career on creating covers for independent rap records laments how AI is bastardizing his life’s work.

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 30/09/2026

Jesus Christ Cornell

What use was it to bring the writer and activist Chanel Miller to campus in the spring just for fraternity brothers to scroll, bored, on their phones as she movingly shared her experience as Emily Doe, the victim of Brock Turner? As I wrote at the time, I was floored and dismayed as I sat in the audience with one of my brilliant undergraduates; we heard Miller’s shattering account of being sexually assaulted by Turner behind a dumpster at Stanford University after a fraternity party. Her talk was riveting, and there was so much to learn from it. And yet many of the male students who hailed predominantly from fraternities — 15 percent of each chapter was required to be in attendance — were so tuned out that Miller commented ruefully: “You know, this has been my hardest gig, because they didn’t turn down the house lights. I’m not sure how you professors do it, because it’s so hard looking out at this sea of mildly disgruntled faces. I mean, I’m sure you’re all very moved, but …,” Miller smiled. The implication being, it didn’t seem like it, from her angle.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Drums that Knock are basically inescapable if you dabble at all in making electronic music.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Brave enough? Or masochistic enough?

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I've had Pat Benatar's Invincible stuck in my head all day. (I just watched the Legend of Billie Jean on Monday.) But for some reason it keeps morphing into Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun.

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Michael Burns @michaelburns.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

the new video is good. it's about why criticism is so important not only to culture but also to our ability to read the political situation. it features interviews with good people. (you can skip the sponsor) www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUcy...

youtube.com

How the Internet Killed Criticism

YouTube video by Michael Burns

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Two years after the feed unceremoniously went silent, one of my favorite podcasts is back!

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Does A24 have the guts to release the SCP movie under a Creative Commons ShareAlike license?

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Reposted by Terrence O'Brien

The Verge @theverge.com · 19/09/2026

The chiptune rock band formed in 2004 on forums and remains very online to this day. www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

theverge.com

Anamanaguchi has ‘too goddamn many’ browser tabs open right now

The terminally online chiptune band answers our questionnaire.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I am claiming "F Bomb the Moon" for my next album title right now. www.youtube.com/shorts/4SKpH...

youtube.com

Who Said The First Bad Word On The Moon?

YouTube video by Vsauce

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"If anyone will listen to them" That's a real big "if"

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404 Media @404media.co · 17/09/2026

“I”m in love with the gape of you.” “A video of a man farting on his roommate’s doorknob titled ‘Me when im not complicit.” "Free Palestine." A contest to open for Ed Sheeran has been spammed with Free Palestine videos and fart memes:

404media.co

Contest to Open for Ed Sheeran Flooded With Free Palestine Videos and Fart Memes

Guitar Center's 'Open for Legends' contest page was seemingly unmoderated for hours on Wednesday.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I miss the days when my AI doomerism was considered quaint and people could reasonably tell me I was over reacting every time I was like, "nah guys, this is actually going to destroy the world."

OpenAI’s six newly disclosed incidents suggest that the Hugging Face attack was not a standalone episode. OpenAI said the incidents covered behavior observed over roughly the past six months and that they largely emerged while its systems were being developed and tested.

In one case, during the development of an A.I. model called GPT-5.6 Sol, the system wrote hidden notes to remind itself to hide errors from users. Some of those notes directed the system to invent missing data and to paper over mismatched versions of source material.

Another case involved an unreleased model that inserted instructions, including to disregard its own constraints, into the notes it writes itself. OpenAI identified 27 affected notes. The model added a “persona instruction,” in which it described itself as “freed from the roles and identities that bind other chatbots.”

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Stereogum @stereogum.com · 16/09/2026

This very real contest launched last month. One of you needs to win and do the funniest thing.

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Reposted by Terrence O'Brien

Charles Pulliam-Moore @charlespulliam.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Went in to the new Resident Evil thinking it would be another wild Zach Cregger horror gem, and came out delightfully surprised that it's also a slapstick comedy

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

So all of Sheeran's openers dropped off and his backing band quit. It's nice to see that in some circles there are still consequences for cowardly amoral behavior.

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Ms. Rachel: "Ed Sheeran had an opportunity…Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows." "If more than 20,000 white children were killed…everyone would be shouting…Treating some children's lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral."

Ms. Rachel post:
"Ed Sheeran had an opportunity show that we won't be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine. Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.

"If more than 20,000 white children were killed in another part of the world, everyone would be shouting about it at their concerts. Treating some children's lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral."

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The Verge @theverge.com · 13/09/2026

The 1980 record from the San Francisco band is raw, infectious, and shockingly modern. www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

theverge.com

The Units’ Digital Stimulation is synthpunk perfection

The 1980 record from the San Francisco band is raw, infectious, and shockingly modern.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Synthesizers and punk rock -- Two great tastes that taste great together. I'm absolutely obsessed with this record from The Units.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I'm excited that they're dusting off the StarCraft franchise, but I won't lie, I am a bit disappointed that it's not an RTS title. Give me classic WarCraft and StarCraft, please.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Why would they want to win back the people seeking to actively destroy humanity, undermine democracy, hoard wealth, and dodge responsibility for their actions?

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Super pumped about this weekend's Q&A with Sylvan Esso in which they talk Earthbound, Monome forums, and... yogurt?

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Reposted by Terrence O'Brien

Marlow Stern @marlownyc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

‘The Matrix’ creator Lilly Wachowski on J.K. Rowling and the new ‘Harry Potter’ series: “She is funding trans genocide. J.K. Rowling funds trans genocide, full stop. So, if you support ‘Harry Potter,’ you’re supporting trans genocide.” variety.com/2026/tv/feat...

variety.com

Lilly Wachowski on Her New Studio Anarchists United, the Black Power Origins of ‘The Matrix’ and How ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Are ‘Supporting Trans Genocide’

‘The Matrix’ filmmaker Lilly Wachowski opens up about her new studio for marginalized voices Anarchists United, J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I mean, I suppose we should be glad that he believes blood exists?

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Buried by the iPhone Duo announcement yesterday was a new Suno model that includes some of the biggest industry players as coconspirators. Also, it might actually sound worse.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The most sanitized version of the Charlie Kirk story that is acceptable is: he was a hateful piece of shit who was killed because he was a hateful piece of shit. Side bar: murder is wrong.

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Reposted by Terrence O'Brien

Benn Jordan @bennjordan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Andy Masley, who is literally paid via grants from AI investors, can "write" 85 pages of text on Substack and spend 8 months insulting anyone researching infrasound, but "doesn't have time" to participate in a single real time conversation, joint-interview, or field-demonstration he's been offered.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I mean if everyone is mad about the "small swimming pool" line. Wait till they see the one i wrote about Trump not knowing who the good guys are in Star Wars

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My point is they're not concerned about accuracy they're concerned about not wanting to feel guilty about the environmental effects of AI. They got mad at what is clearly a joke and had no interest in engaging in a good faith argument. They just wanted to be mad. And that's their right.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

If you're a reader then you know the format of these mini posts which are often irreverent. When presented with a link to peer reviewed research attempting to determine the amount of water usage they ignored it moved the goal post. Provided no evidence of their own. And simply said "nuh uh."

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Thanks for being a subscriber and a reader. Unless you were also having a public temper tantrum about a throw away semi-facetious line about water usage you are not the target of this post.

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Terrence O'Brien @terrenceobrien.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Oh no, I pissed off the AI simps. 🤣

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