iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 29/09/2026

Something something Javier Bardem something something

Guardian headline: Marco Rubio says foreign actor was 'clearly' behind suspected RAF Fairford plot

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 28/09/2026

Absolute scenes I tell you, as Google for once admits displaying one of those crappy ads in the YouTube app. Makes you wonder how it was signed off to begin with. (AI slop photo of a police car overturned outside BBC studios surrounded by a crowd)

Snippet from email from Google saying “we reviewed your report and decided to take action against this ad”

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 25/09/2026

Great charity shop find! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gre...

Framed poster of Simon Patterson’s “The Great Bear” (1992) showing the London Underground map with all the stop names changed to famous names

011

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 24/09/2026

I had to read this Guardian piece to see if it was as stupid as it seemed.

Other factors in play: it seems ridiculous to mention, but knowing how superficial Trump is, it seems to me that Burnham's extremely impressive coiffure for a man of his age - which appears to exist without augmentation - won't have been missed by a US president who spends an awful lot of time on his hair.

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 20/09/2026

It’s good, but it’s no Electric Ladyland.

Copy of book called Paradise Lost by Jan Hendrix in a charity shop window

011

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 20/09/2026

Controversial my arse. Since when did wanting everyone to have human rights = controversial

Guardian interview with Ms Rachel, with pic and headline "Ms Rachel, the controversial queen of toddler TV: ‘My goal isn’t to be the most liked. It’s to help kids and speak the truth’"

031

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 19/09/2026

Things around my house I’ve forgotten what on earth they are, an occasional series

Some wires, sucker pads, a screwdriver and a plastic disc in a small ziplock bag

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 18/09/2026

Now that’s what you call a case of nominative determinism

A sign in a street display cabinet for “Elegant evening of wine tasting with Doran Wines”

110

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 18/09/2026

BBC News certainly does pick ‘em

en.wikipedia.org
Michta has written a number of editorials from a standpoint sympathetic to or aligned with right wing populism. This includes work critical of cancel culture as well as work attributing left-wing civil unrest in the United States to ideas passed down by political elites “unmoored from the fundamentals of this nation's founding and its traditional commitment to building a decent society." Michta has also been critical of what he perceives as an open immigration policy in the EU, arguing that the rise of neo-nationalism in Europe since 2015 exists as a popular "anti-establishment rebellion" against politicians' refusal to significantly restrict the intake of migrants and refugees.

020

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 18/09/2026

To be fair, Daniel Thomas does have a lot of black friends

Big crowd of “protesters” in Dover recently, a bunch of men wearing all black

130

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 15/09/2026

I must admit to beef with Ed Sheeran for the wankery he exacted on my home town of Richmond in his “Celestial” video

Ed Sheeran standing on a fake rock surrounded by fake flowers on Richmond Hill with the river in the background and a Pokémon superimposed between, it has to be said, his legs

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 13/09/2026

Not sure about Lidl’s new diet concept

A large display box in a supermarket with a sticker on the side saying “non-food Sunday”

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 11/09/2026

If you’re lucky with this wine you get good things, otherwise you just get things

Bottles of wine in the supermarket labelled “All (good) things”

020

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 08/09/2026

“And that was Sheepskin Noseband” etc.

John Peel at the mixing desk wearing headphones and twiddling knobs

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 06/09/2026

Bought a copy of Coltrane’s Giant Steps which, inevitably these days, has loads of extra tracks on it, including no fewer than three alternative takes of the title track. An amazing record but having listened to the whole thing I am now completely exhausted.

CD cover of Giant Steps featuring John Coltrane playing the saxophone

110

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 04/09/2026

David Tennant should be the new James Bond but he should also be the new James Bond villain who has had cosmetic surgery to look exactly like James Bond and then the real James Bond and the villain James Bond face off and nobody knows which one is which, including James Bond.

David Tennant as Tony Baddingham in Rivals, looking suave but evil, at a party in a dinner jacket and holding a fat cigar

382

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 03/09/2026

Channel 4 programme ideas meeting

Two buttons meme, one button labelled “is ADHD real”, the other “expose Farage”

040

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 02/09/2026

Something not quite right about this large sign stuck to the counter of my local fish & chip shop 🤔

Round shield graphic evidently generated by AI to look “ancient”, with a crown and coat of arms flanked by two lions holding striped flags and flag shields. One lion’s shield is the colours of a Scottish saltire except it’s a cross instead, the other is the flag of Switzerland for some reason. At the bottom a banner says “London” and below that “Englan, England”.

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 01/09/2026

James Dyson is a cunt, pass it on

Guardian report
Dyson launches £420 toothbrush that films
'live cleaning footage' inside your mouth
James Dyson says 'complete dental system' will also include toothpaste and mouth rinse that each cost £8.50

070

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 29/08/2026

Um isn’t that because in 1996 you could buy a home for fifty grand?

Advertising hoarding in train station:
The Lloyd’s £5k house deposit
Last seen in 1996.
“£5k first time buyer”
Mortgages on Lloyds

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 29/08/2026

That’s what I’m talking about

A 10-day weather forecast showing rain on all but one day and high temperatures between 19 and 22 Celsius

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 27/08/2026

Ooh the lovely rain has made me go all James Joyce. The mudgreen river, the greendamp air, the raindimpled river, the raingreen river, the thickgreen air, the snotgreen river, the scrotumtightening river, the *gets taken away*

Richmond riverside with the Thames and foliage in the foreground

140

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 26/08/2026

Pretty sure Upstream Timeout supported Frank Zappa at a dodgy Hammersmith gig in 1976

Bluesky app following feed with no posts in it and an error message saying “Upstream Timeout”

050

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 21/08/2026

A definitely not-AI photo someone posted to a local Facebook group this week lamenting the long-lost local butchers. In the old days it was common to give the meat a good squeeze to ensure quality.

A black & white photo of a butcher, a white man with an unexpectedly blue striped apron, taking a cleaver to some chops. Behind him hang various cuts of meat and strings of sausages. He stands at a well-used chopping board at the front of a shop that appears to have no window or door. An elderly white woman stands opposite the butcher in an overcoat and headscarf with a string shopping bag hanging from her arm and a purse in her hand. With her other hand she is feeling another cut of meat (maybe a leg of lamb) on the chopping board. Above her a blackboard with printed writing gives prices for products in old money. Behind her is a high street with a parked Mini and a branch of Woolworths. Some writing can just be made out across the street scene which appears to be backwards and suspended mid-air as if in an attempt to reflect the blackboard writing in the shop window which otherwise doesn't seem to be there - if it is, the customer is rather squeezed in, but upon examination the lettering isn't the blackboard lettering backwards anyway. Our eye wanders to the butcher's block which has some worrying gubbins on it - perhaps sawdust, which would often be found in a butcher's, but only on the floor. The detail and clarity of the whole scene is unsettling and, ironically given its attempt to be realistic, unrealistic compared to the quality of photos of the time.

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 20/08/2026

Omg it’s finally raining must get outsi-

220

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 17/08/2026

As an event at the European Athletics Championships “Great Spar Hunt” sounds unusual but whomst am I to question the best way to test the competitors

Amy Hunt celebrating a win wearing a tiara, a Union Jack and a top where you can see the Great of Great Britain above the sponsor Spar and then her surname so it seems to say Great Spar Hunt. I very much doubt I will have been the first to make a similar joke as I don’t actually know much about athletics.

021

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 16/08/2026

We’re gonna need a bigger bag

A large cotton bag in a shop window with EVERYTHING printed on it in large letters

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 14/08/2026

Wow, so that change of prime minister was worthwhile I see

Guardian front page headline “PM angry as water firms add £3.4bn to bills”

000

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 13/08/2026

Sure Octopus I’ll just cook my dinner at 2am and annoy the neighbours with a washing machine spin at 3. Is it possible the cheaper electricity hours are cheaper for a reason

Email from Octopus: Your electricity is 58% cheaper for 7 hours overnight every night, so changing when you use your energy can mean big savings.
For the biggest savings, you should schedule energy hungry appliances - like water storage heaters, washing machines or dishwashers - to run during these cheaper hours.
Your cheaper hours run from 01:30am to 08:30am during British Summer Time (and
12:30am to 07:30am for the rest of the year)

100

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 11/08/2026

I then reported this as a technical problem and got an email immediately saying “The NHS App team is unable to assist with this issue because we cannot view the type or location of your booked appointment.” So why give this as an option when reporting the issue? Who runs this stuff, seriously?

Email text: NHS England
Regarding your case, we have provided the below resolution.
Proposed resolution:
Thank you for your query.
The NHS App team is unable to assist with this issue because we cannot view the type or location of your booked appointment. We can only see the number of appointments booked, not the details of the appointment.
Please contact your GP surgery directly, as they can check the appointment details on their system and confirm if the location has changed
If they require assistance, they can request guidance from their system supplier on finding this information within their clinical system.
Please note:
The NHS App Service Support Team cannot view, amend or cancel your appointments.
The NHS App functions as a mirror, reflecting your online account, which is stored within your GP surgery's computer system.
Your GP surgery is the administrator of your online account and has the sole authority and ability to view/amend your appointments from their computer system.
They can also contact their system supplier on your behalf for guidance on granting permissions through third-party apps.
For more information about GP appointments and online consultations in the NHS App, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/nhs-app-help-and-support/appointments-and-online-
consultations-in-the-nhs-app/
If you are interested, you can join our user research panel to take part in surveys and interviews to help shape future improvements of the NHS App:

101

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 11/08/2026

Tried to book a GP appointment using the NHS app. It gave me a choice of reasons, none of which apply. I chose “blood pressure check” just to make the booking. It then says “Describe in a few words why you want an appointment. Your note may not be read or replied to.” 😶

Select an appointment type:
Blood Pressure Check
Blood Test
Blood Test and Blood Pressure Check
Diabetic
ECG
Pill Check

What is your appointment for?
Describe in a few words why you want an appointment. Your note may not be read or replied to.
150 characters remaining

100

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 06/08/2026

“Let’s defend our borders, our country, our women and children, our culture and our way of life by demonstrating how civilised we are, such as by, er, biting a female police officer”

BBC News report: Policing powers were stepped up in Thetford on Thursday as the Norfolk market town braced itself for further disorder.
Arrests were made on Thursday morning after a female police officer was "seriously bitten" and crowds attempted to storm homes linked to alleged asylum seekers on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

030

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 02/08/2026

Commodore 64 latest: managed to write Wordle in BASIC. My son (computer science student) mentioned he’d been set this task himself which got me thinking. 27 versions and 3 weeks of head-scratching later it’s finally working. There’s still a minor bug here tbf and more bits needed to optimise stuff.

The end of a game of “Wordle” on a Commodore 64 (text only on a TV screen) with guess words inputted and letters matched. The user loses the game and the stats display: 7 played, 57% win, 0 current streak, 4 max streak, guess distribution 1:0, 2:0, 3:0, 4:3, 5:1, 6:0. 4 is in green. Play again? prompt shows. Retro joystick on table in foreground.

100

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 01/08/2026

Dear Sir, I wonder if any of your other readers have noticed the uncanny similarity between FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino and the vampire Nosferatu? Are they, by any chance, related? Yours etc.

020

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 01/08/2026

Oh wow so now the heatwaves and wildfires have started to make an *economic* impact, these fuckers actually care about climate change. Good morning

A senior policymaker at the European Central Bank has said the climate emergency and the breakdown of nature poses a dramatically growing risk to the global economy.
Frank Elderson, a member of the ECB's executive board, said the eurozone lender of last resort was stepping up its monitoring of the financial risks linked to the destruction of “ecosystem services", which are nature-related processes or assets that support human activity.

041

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 28/07/2026

The most Guardian name to have ever Guardianed

The food historian and author Seren
Charrington-Hollis recently catered for a VIP event at the Llangollen Eisteddfod music festival, where her cottage pies and lamb hotpots were in huge demand - to her surprise, "as it was unbearably hot", she said.
"But they all wanted these home-cooked meals," she said, adding that the guests were fed up of salads.

131

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 27/07/2026

The Times today getting in a kick at teens with mental health issues. Getting PIP isn’t easy, hence why only 87,000 qualify. “Staying at home” - well yeah, why do you think that is? Because they can’t go out and work.

Times front page headline 27/7/26 “Teen anxiety pays more than job”

100

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 26/07/2026

The Guardian (Saturday); The Guardian (Sunday)

The hill I will die on: Breakfast cereal is for babies - I eat salad in the mornings, like a grownup
Jacq Kelly

The featured essay
Why does everything feel so joyless? Welcome to the age of decadence without pleasure
Michèle Mendelssohn and Charlie Tyson (yes, it took two people to write this)

131

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 25/07/2026

An interesting definition of comedy, but I’ll take it

The decidedly dark Mike Leigh film “Naked” listed on the Prime Video app under the “Comedy movies” category

010

Ricardo 🇵🇸 @thoughtcat.com · 23/07/2026

Say this in a TV interview and you get lauded as an intellectual. When I bring it up in a Teams meeting I get called in afterwards for “a word”.

Anthony Burgess circa late 80s saying “We cannot go on not eating each other.”

111