iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1h

The Old Man and the Sea Weed

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 1h

There is a third group of people whose opinion on the future of the islands might be relevant.

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Reposted by Mark Elliott

Missing The Point @missingthept.bsky.social · 2h

President Trump criticizes Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centers as interference in American midterm elections.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2h

"You know this is going to end badly for you, don't you?"

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 4h

Ruin a book by adding a word Animal Petting Farm

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 18h

I saw it a few years later on a school trip to Normandy, but I don't remember the tapestry and the only things I remember from the trip are throwing up repeatedly from seasickness on the ferry over and sitting on the souvenir Eiffel Tower I bought on the coach back and breaking it, which really hurt

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 20h

It's a living, breathing IRL reworking of the old joke about the dog and its licking habits.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 20h

Putting caviar in a jacket potato seems to me to be the ultimate triumph of money over taste and judgement – we put it there simply because we can (afford to).

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Which brings me to the periodic reminder of what Occam's Razor actually says – it's not "prefer the simplest explanation", it's "prefer the explanation that introduces the fewest new assumptions", which isn't the same thing.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

That's not to say that trump isn't in cahoots with Putin at some level, of course – but this isn't evidence. Motivated reasoning leads to sloppy thinking, and in this case (as in many other cases) there's another explanation that fits just as well without the layer of conspiracy. Occam's Razor.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Lots of takes on 🇺🇸 buying 🇷🇺 diesel saying it shows Trump's working for Putin, but that's not necessary to explain his actions – he's clearly been panicking over diesel prices for some time with midterms coming up; this can be explained simply as an attempt to reduce them, even if for a few weeks.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"The process could theoretically take place before Christmas if a decision is imminent, but the timelines of previous cases suggest it is more likely to be next year – if a serious sanction is imposed." So time to get the next investigation well underway so if he wins we can rinse and repeat...

theguardian.com

Parties prepare for byelection in Farage seat amid speculation over £5m gift inquiry

Tories said to be ready to fight in Clacton, with standards investigation rumoured to be nearing its end

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

This is where Slavic languages (or at least most of them) have an edge – they have two plural forms, one for 2/3/4, i.e. just a small number, and one for 5+. So when you're in Prague: tiny bit thirsty -> jedno pivo (1 beer); a bit thirstier -> dvě piva (2); wow, this beer is good -> pět piv (5)

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Perhaps the only surprise is that he hasn't declared war on Norway as well.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"At last,we have recreated Giving Tom & Jerry Voices from the classic corporate disaster story Don't Give Tom and Jerry Voices"

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I thought he rode for Alpecin–Premier Tech?

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I keep getting emails from work telling me my training is outstanding – which I feel is taking positivity a bit far considering I haven't started it yet, but you take what you can get...

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I have apparently been added to an "incites or spreads discourse" list, but it isn't clear whether I incite the discourse or just spread it. I hope it's the former, because it sounds much more exciting and roguish.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

And King's Cross is immeasurably nicer, cleaner and safer – it was properly seedy back then. It's still not exactly perfect after midnight, fosure, but then what major rail terminus is?

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In the 90s, Camden market was genuinely punk and grungy, and a collection of stalls selling goth T-shirts and bootleg tapes and stuff. Now it's a massive industry, and the punk element is guys with mohicans selling "I met a punk in Camden Town" selfies to tourists.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

With this effort, along with his magnificent cover version of Common People, I hereby announce that William Shatner has now formally paid off his debt to society incurred by T. J. Hooker, and is now firmly back in credit.

the-independent.com

Star Trek star intervenes in ‘intimidating’ letter from Aldi row

The Star Trek actor Shatner waded into the drama on Tuesday as he responded to Brooks’ post

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

You will glottalise the first [t] – but without any plosion, which follows on the second [t], a bit like swallowing the first sound, then spitting the second one. The actors are doing some odd learned behaviour that was considered 'better' by someone somewhere. [bɛsʔteɪst] v [bɛst] ... [teɪst]

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Have to say I'm not too keen to find out what the "Midterm Surprise" is, mind you.

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Reposted by Mark Elliott

Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Green Party of England and Wales turning itself into a pariah among Greens internationally

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Sam's offer for a future of unregulated AI controlled by him and his mates is really stacking up: • We will steal your work without paying you. • We will take your job away. • We may in fact bring about the apocalypse. • If we do avoid the apocalypse, you must none the less accept 'bad things'.

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Reposted by Mark Elliott

Mark Thompson @markreckons.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

He literally set off a bomb in a UK street. If this had been the IRA Pierce would calling for them to be hung, drawn and quartered. This is domestic terrorism pure and simple. A bomb set off to terrorise with the aim of getting a government to change its policy. Literally a textbook definition.

Andrew Pierce

@andrewpierceexc

Follow

A retired engineer who destroyed @SadiqKhan ULEZ camera jailed for 15 years. A ridiculous sentence. No wonder our orisons are overcrowded

Readers added context they thought people might want to know

Kevin Rees was sentenced to 15 years for causing an explosion likely to endanger life after using a homemade bomb to destroy a ULEZ camera in a Sidcup residential street, damaging cars and property up to 100m away with shrapnel near a child's bedroom.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/...

news.met.police.uk/news/man-jaile...

cps.gov.uk/national-news/...

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Our orisons are only overcrowded because they were pattered out hastily.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The thing is, it always was your auntie who works in the post office. Otherwise, a lot of unpleasantness could have been avoided.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm assuming that in Sam Altman's vision here, that while his company is making a shedload of cash off the good thing, his company will also cover the costs of the 'bad things' inflicted on everyone else rather than creating a ginormous negative externality, right?

theguardian.com

Accept ‘bad things’ in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman

Boss of OpenAI calls for a regulatory light touch because of the ‘good stuff’ the technology can deliver

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Sounds like grounds for voting Reform to me.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If you want a picture of the future, imagine Clippy saying "It looks like you're trying to..." to a human face – forever."

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

They're not nihilists – say what you want about the tenets of Restore UK, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We're going to Brenjoin them to Braccept us back, making many Brexcuses along the way.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

(And this is without getting into the question of why countries whose governments and the basis of whose liberal democracies he is directly attacking should help him maintain his power to keep attacking them, rather than just sitting back and watching that power ebb away.)

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

He simply cannot conceive of persuasion, diplomacy, or offering the countries whose help he needs (and it's a *massive* favour they should say no to in any case on security grounds). Everything to him is viewed through a zero-sum "deal" lens, in which he must win and express his dominance.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

To me, this episode is one of the most revealing insights into Trump's psychology. He's in a self-made bind over fuel prices, and needs a fix before the midterms. The only solution he come come up with involves a massive favour from other countries, but his approach is still 100% threat-based.

bbc.co.uk

US pressures Europe to release diesel reserves as Trump threatens export ban

President Donald Trump has threatened to ban diesel exports in a bid to ease prices in the US ahead of the November elections.

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Reposted by Mark Elliott

Dr Danny Bate @dannybate.com · 02/10/2026

Before people learned music with 'do re mi', the sequence once began with 'ut' as the lowest note. The absolute lowest note recognised in medieval music was 'Γ ut', with the Greek letter gamma, and 'Γ ut' came to refer to the full range of possible notes. This is behind the phrase 'run the gamut'.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🚨CHEESE UPDATE🚨 Olde Sussex is fantastic – available from the mighty Cambridge Cheese Company, except I bought the last bit so they might not have any if you go there. Sorry not sorry.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

If someone asks me a question like 'Can you tell me [what time the train to Reading leaves/the capital of Peru/who wrote A Good Heart]?', I find it hard not to reply simply 'Yes'.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The good news: Soon you will not be waiting a week for the next episode of Slow Horses. The bad news: Soon you will be waiting 47 WEEKS for the next episode of Slow Horses.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I asked him that and he just walked off.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Can anyone translate "ewr4V G`" from cat for me?

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just planted some new plants that are right in my wheelhouse. I have to leave them and not touch them or water them or do anything to them for at least seven months. I reckon I've got this.

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