iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 30/09/2026

I was trying to 3-D print the whole Shire from the Lord of the Rings books, but I had to stop. . . . . It was too hobbit-forming. #dadjoke

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 30/09/2026

Announcer at Southwest gate at #AUS just unintentionally sparked the "is a taco a sandwich?" debate.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 26/09/2026

While on a work trip this week, I started working on a very weird dating app simulator for my #Pebble Time 2 after thinking about how to randomly generated faces. I've got a basic shell going, but it needs some expansion before release.

Pebble Time 2 watch showing a cartoon face with long gray hair, brown skin, wide nose, labeled "Casey Patel"

Pebble Time 2 watch showing a cartoon face with short blue hair, light skin, brown goatee, labeled "Leah Brooks"

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Reposted by Ben Combee

Walter Chaw @mangiotto.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Trans rights are human rights. The fuck are we even doing here?

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 20/09/2026

I'm beginning to think that not all of the campaigns and PACs are honoring my "stop" SMS responses.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 20/09/2026

Kablooey!, my Pebble Time 2 homage to Kaboom!, got updated to version 1.1 on Friday. I made the art for the bomber a little clearer and made drawing faster, so playing it won't run down your battery as quickly. apps.repebble.com/kablooey_1e6...

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 19/09/2026

I've think I've made the most niche-me T-shirt ever.

Orange T-shirt hanging showing the black thermal transfer reading "WARNING: UNDERGROUND CABLE. BEFORE DIGGING, TRENCHING, OR PUSHING PIPE IN THIS VICINITY, CALL OPERATOR, ASK FOR ENTERPRISE 9800. NO CHARGE. BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM" with bidirectional arrows below the text.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 18/09/2026

Waking up to discover the Tillamook Smoked Cheddar shirt I picked up on the factory tour in Oregon this summer is now appropriately left-wing coded.

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Reposted by Ben Combee

Scott Bateman @scottbateman.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Here we go: My first real feature film You, Your Brain, & You is now FREE and PUBLIC on both YouTube and Vimeo! This movie's been hard to see for a long time and I'm thrilled to get it back out into the world. A fun and weird mockumentary about the brain! Links in comments.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 16/09/2026

So, I pushed 1.2.0 of the Streaming Village watchface last night, with support for all the color #pebble watches, and I made animated images to post to the store page too. (apps.repebble.com/streaming-vi...)

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 16/09/2026

Don't talk to me or my three sons ever again. Round watch support to be pushed very soon for Streaming Village.

The "Steaming Village" watchface running in QEMU-based emulators for Pebble Time, Pebble Time Round, Pebble Time 2, and Pebble Round 2 watches, arranged in a loose 2x2 grid over a mountain background.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 06/09/2026

Just returned from a screening of "Coyote vs. Acme" with the kids. Everyone had a good time, although some jokes definitely need reading skills, and others riffed off things that aren't so familiar to kids not raised on Looney Tunes on TV every afternoon. Recommended.

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Reposted by Ben Combee

Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 31/08/2026

Just posted my first version of a @jamestalarico.bsky.social watchface for Pebble OS. It shows the campaign logo and current time, but every minute, there's a quick flashy display of one of the campaign slogans.

apps.repebble.com

Talarico for Texas - Pebble Appstore

This is a watchface expressing support for Democratic Representative James Talarico in his campaign for the US Senate in 2026 in Texas. Every minute or on a wa

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Reposted by Ben Combee

🎃🧛🏾Vita Ahhhh-yala👻🙀 @definitelyvita.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I genuinely am begging people not to watch the new HP show. Like, also don't buy any branded stuff - she makes money off all that. But especially don't watch the damn show.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 29/08/2026

Introduce yourself with 10 acts or bands you've seen live The New Pornographers Asylum Street Spankers Tegan & Sara They Might Be Giants The B-52's Freezepop Los Campesinos! Ben Folds Sparks Sleater-Kinney

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 14/08/2026

I like Bluesky. It has enough critical mass so that my terrible dad jokes and occasional project announcements get a few likes, and I'm OK with that. I can keep up with political opinion and news here and also geek out here.

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Reposted by Ben Combee

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 03/08/2026

Bluesky is a "liberal bubble" because fascist chuds can't get traction without algorithmic assistance and because people here trained themselves to block "debate me" trybois the instant they roll up

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Reposted by Ben Combee

Sophie Labelle @assignedmale.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

A dark day for human rights.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 29/07/2026

Just noticed that the revised artwork for the movie "WarGames" that shows up in Roku search features a book on C++ that wasn't published until 1985, two years after the film.

Stylized artwork for the movie WarGames featuring Mathew Broderick's character typing on a keyboard and look out. In the background is a DEFCON sign showing 3 highlighted, a monitor with a tic-tac-toe game, and some game cartridges: "Fighter Combat", "Chess", and "Global Thermonuclear War". On the right is a pile of books, including "Maze Deconstruction" by Stephen Falken, "Scientific Modern", "C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup, "The Complete Admiral 32-Bit", and "Photonvision: Welcome to the Digital Age" by Ian Cann.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 26/07/2026

I watched the 1993 film "Demolition Man" tonight for the first time since it came out, as I remembered that I enjoyed it. There's some fun satire of what they thought 2032 life would be like, but so much filler and scenes stuffed with over-the-top violence without consequences.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 16/07/2026

Had a blast at the Portland Pickles game tonight. No heated riv-dill-ary, but plenty of weiner dogs running around the field and vegan hot dogs available.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 11/07/2026

We had a nice rainbow in the Brentwood neighborhood last night.

Rainbow visible in the gray sky, falling down behind a camera shop in a strip mall.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 04/07/2026

I'm old enough that I remember reading alt.59.79.99 looking for Taco Bell menu hacks.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 23/06/2026

My eight-year old came up with this bit. I'm so proud of him.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 22/06/2026

"Masters of the Universe" (2026) was far better than it had to be with some clever choices and a cast that was clearly having fun chewing on the dialogue. As a kid that watched way too much of the cartoon growing up, it had just enough fan-service, while being enjoyable to my 13- and 8-year-olds.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 18/06/2026

That talk about @vcfsw.bsky.social was mine. Love the lightning talk nights, so many topics!

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 14/06/2026

Seeing and hearing the city explode with excitement last night was joyful. I was rooting for the Spurs, but I'm happy with how the series turned out; the Knicks were a team with determination and control and they capitalized on the Spurs inattention and sloppiness to make great comebacks.

A view of NYC City Hall last night right after the Knicks won the championship.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 14/06/2026

NYC Resistor's annual Interactive Show was great, so many fun projects including an AI camera that roasted the participants, a radio that broadcast random sound clips on the local Wifi network, and a game involving working with another player to save salmon from bears while holding a wooden beam.

Glass sculpture Plasma bunnies in green and purple

An AI-generated characture of the poster reading "YOU'RE DEFINITELY NOT GETTING LAID TONIGHT"

A computer showing a map of breakups in the NYC area.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 14/06/2026

That is some dedication to the graffiti arts and sciences.

View looking up at a tall building in downtown Manhattan where a large graffiti tag shows across a concrete wall at the very top.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 14/06/2026

What a weekend to visit NYC: World Cup fever, NBA finals fever, Brooklyn Pride parade, Puerto Rico Day, and the NYC Resistor Interactive Party. Wow!

School kids from local Brooklyn elementary at the Brooklyn Pride parade through Park Slope's 5th Avenue.

Grand Marshall at the Brooklyn Pride parade through Park Slope's 5th Avenue.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 13/06/2026

Starting today off with a visit to the Intrepid museum.

Ben stands in a black t-shirt in front of the Intrepid aircraft carrier.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 12/06/2026

Dear @asym.bsky.social, I found where all the pastamancers are hanging out in Tribeca.

Storefront on NYC street, sign above doorways reads "KOL NOODLE (halal)"

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 12/06/2026

About to enjoy an amazing meal at my favorite restaurant in NYC, Dirt Candy.

Menu. accessible version at https://www.dirtcandynyc.com/dinner-menu

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 10/06/2026

Tired: C++ type erasure by having APIs return shared_ptr Wired: C++ type erasure by returning unique_ptr with a custom deleter that routes destruction through new "deleteFoo" functions in the vtable of the host API. So many templates.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 10/06/2026

Ah yes, it's that every six-months cycle of tweaking some part of my Resistor Time watchface design so I can keep my Google Play developer account active. This time, I made the terrible gray layout less bright, updating the version to 1.3.1. I really do need to port the WearOS layout to Pebble now.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 01/06/2026

If you've been wondering where OpenAI and Anthropic have been getting their wares, I think this picture clears things up a bit.

Cropped photo of back of semi trailer with Texas licence tag marking it as "TOKEN TRAILER"

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 31/05/2026

I was at @vcfsw.bsky.social on Saturday until mid-afternoon. The presentation on the FPGA re-creation of the Apple Lisa was a highlight, but also enjoyed learning about the relaunch of Compute's Gazette and the 12-year history of the Tandy Coco magazine The Rainbow.

Presentation slide about The Rainbow's third anniversary with the cover of the birthday issue and a shot of the building were the 50-odd staffers who made the magazine worked.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 30/05/2026

So far at @vcfsw.bsky.social I've seen amazing vector display computers, seen a presentation on Soviet core memory, found a rare Atari 8-bit cart for my collection, learned about BASIC piracy in the 1970s, and taken a picture of hardware a friend worked on in the early 90s.

Title slide of the talk "1-Bit of Soviet Core Memory" presented by Mark Frederick

A 90s era Mac with a Radius Pivot display showing flying toasters in monochrome.

A Teltronics 4051 showing a vector drawing of Darth Vader. The screen is a memory phosphor that retains the image as the electron beam draws it.

A collection of Palm, Windows Mobile, Sony, Handspring, and other handhelds.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 25/05/2026

If you want a smart movie for kids and adults, go see "The Sheep Detectives". Just got back and me and my 4 and 8-year olds loved it. The review that called it a mix of "Knives Out" and "Babe" was quite apt. There's a scary scene set in the neighboring meadow about a hour in, so be prepared.

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 23/05/2026

I've started assembling key chains for the @nycresistor@mastodon.social Interactive Show. If you're in the NYC area, make plans to come out and see all the cool exhibits on June 13th. www.nycresistor.com/2026/05/15/j...

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 22/05/2026

Introduce yourself with 10 bands/musicians you’ve seen live They Might Be Giants Asylum Street Spankers Tegan and Sara The New Pornographers The Blow Sleater-Kinney King Missile Soul Coughing Metric Los Campensinos

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Austin Cooperative Business Association @atx-cooperatives.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Our Solidarity Economy panel is tomorrow - if you are at all interested in solidarity economics in Austin, you don't want to miss this. Date and time: Wednesday, May 20th 6 - 8pm CDT Location: Online (RSVP for link) RSVP: linktr.ee/atxcooperatives or acba.coop/events

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Ben Combee @unwiredben.combee.net · 19/05/2026

Just submitted my testimony too!

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