iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dreams last night: -Thought I was Emperor Palpatine, but it turned out that Mark Hamil was actually doing a side hustle dressing up as Luke Skywalker and taking dives for nerds. -Kristen Bell was my ex, but I also had to fix her computer. -I was Nic Cage playing some kind of homeless Superman-type.

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A pink slip that's a sticker sheet so you can put your info on your resume/unemployment application easier. Also, there is sometimes a kitty sticker.

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We actually did it today. Filled every room in Blue Prince. Solved some good puzzles. Did some clever stuff in the Laundry Room. Gambled a lot. Just a satisfying, frustrating, fun game.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Dialog from a Ben Affleck character in Kevin Smith movie: "...but if you SAY what you're doing with the pictures, suddenly YOU'RE the bad guy?"

Headline with picture that reads, "Ben Affleck has been banned from instagram." Period. Full stop. "twice." by Vanity Fair. Actually, he was banned for impersonating himself.

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Reposted by VanVelding

In light of some magazines pulling scummy things on creators lately, I’m doing a little thread on short story rights. I don't want anybody getting taken advantage of. Also, if you're new, this stuff can be confusing!

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DC Council @councilofdc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

This is clearly not acceptable

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

When I'm told Anthropic is banning people who are mean to their confirmation bias machine:

The I'm going to create an environment so toxic meme, but the word query has been written over "environment."

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Battlefields of the Midterms

I'm actually really touched by the responses my blogs have gotten since I've been posting them, but if you're looking at the political landscape, and would like to do *something* before November 3rd, I've created a list of midterm battlegrounds to think about. vanvelding.blogspot.com/2026/10/batt...

vanvelding.blogspot.com

It's all well and good to door the flavor of the week in the 2026 election. In less than a month, we all better drag our sorry carcasses int...

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Reposted by VanVelding

Wil Wheaton ❌👑 @wilwheaton.net · 09/10/2026

I made a mixtape (playlist). This week's It's Storytime With Wil Wheaton is The Loneliness of Former Constellations, by P.H. Low, originally published in Strange Horizons. I have two live shows happening in Los Angeles, both with limited tickets.

wilwheaton.net

mix tapes, live shows, and storytime.

It’s been a long time since I made a mixtape, but I remember making them all the time when I was a kid. I rarely had the opportunity to make them for another person, but that didn’t stop me from making endless awesome mixes to block out the world on...

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Teaching a history class where every unit is titled, "Golly, I haven't heard about that."

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"How did you get into TTRPGs?" A long time ago, there was something called Inquest Magazine, a guide to collectible card games, which were the style at the time...

A picture of Inquest Magazine with Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy on the cover. It's billed as a guide to collectible card games. This is a special sci-fi issue, which touts killer decks for Star Wars and Star Trek, a Star Trek strategy guide, a combos guide for the Mythos game, an interview with Timothy Zahn, and some combos for Alliances, because your CCG magazine can't not include Magic: the Gathering. Inquest also covered tabletop RPGs from time to time, including a Vampire: the Masquerade starter booklet.

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I'm gonna lose this fucking tournament to fucking Strong Bad, aren't I?

Image of Poker Night at the Inventory game. Max and Tycho are busted out. The player has six thousand dollars, Heavy has 10 thousand dollars. Strong Bad has twenty-nine thousand dollars.

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YouTube video by BadflowerVEVO

This week's song is "The Jester" by Badflower www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3tW...

youtube.com

Badflower - The Jester

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Battlefields of the Midterms

vanvelding.blogspot.com

It's all well and good to door the flavor of the week in the 2026 election. In less than a month, we all better drag our sorry carcasses int...

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Reposted by VanVelding

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 07/10/2026

Here's a nearly 10-minute supercut of Troy Jackson taking it to Susan Collins during their debate tonight, including Jackson telling her "you can't eat road salt" and "Collins is like an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out"

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It's clearly Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. A show that went from "Let Star Trek be Star Trek" to "Star Trek doing Community doing Star Trek in a universe where Dan Harmon hates Star Trek." The early seasons are just a testament that they could do better, but they chose this instead.

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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Abolish ICE. Fire them all. Prosecute their crimes. Start with prosecuting the crimes first and work your way backward if that makes you more comfortable. But we cannot live in a country with this level of elite impunity.

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Connections Puzzle #1212 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟩🟦 🟦🟩🟦🟪 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦

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Gabe @cwgabriel.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Same energy;

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My BattleTech: Vard Modeling seeing hasn't made a lot of progress lately because 1) other blogs, and 2) I want a battalion-scale force structure that post-3025 'mechs fit into and that's a big structure.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Voter registration deadlines are SUNDAY in Alaska, Rhode Island, South Carolina. And MONDAY in: Arizona, Arkansas Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and *Texas*. If you live in these states, verify your registration now, literally.

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

There's a Reddit thread up on reviews of Mechwarrior 5: Clans. They are all over the place, but most astounding is the "story was great, gameplay was bad. A+" and "Gameplay was good, but story was bad. C-" Reviews. My brothers in Blake, it is a video game. How can the game part be ancillary?

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VanVelding @vanvelding.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

FOR THANKSGIVING!! THANKSGIVING STUFFING!

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There's a Reddit post where a guy got the new BattleTech intro set, played the starter scenarios w/the 'mechs inside, then got the advanced record sheets for the 'mechs online & was bewildered What 'mech would you make/choose with ilClan-era tech that would be easiest for a new player to grok?

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This game is called: 'Last Night's Dream or Game Changer Prompt?' "You are behind preparing your best friend's wedding, but the whole group still needs to make their D&D characters."

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Argh! I forgot I'm supposed to be practicing my stuffing!

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Movie Trailers for October

Hey, I've got 10 movies coming out this week that aren't--okay Clayface is technically a comic book movie, but aren't you glad I didn't mention Street Fighter at all? If you like trailers, here are some good ones: vanvelding.blogspot.com/2026/09/movi...

vanvelding.blogspot.com

If September was famine, October is feast. Let's eat! Digger (October 26th) You son of a bitch, I'm in.

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5 favorite BattleMechs? #BattleTech Thug Mars IIC Cobra IIC Coyote COY-4N My Mechwarrior 5 Awesome with Clan ER Lasers instead of PPCs, a Clan SPL, and assault hammerfist/knuckles

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Kate Mulgrew @thekatemulgrew.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

"The Avengers: Doomsday ending will shock some viewers." Nah, I called it months ago.

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Honored to be invited as the keynote speaker at the @astrosociety.org Awards Gala! This historic astronomical nonprofit, founded in 1889, is an impressive 137 years old, and their annual awards honor the best and brightest in astronomy education and innovation.

A photo of Janeway holding her coffee mug that says "got my coffee ready for this announcement..."

The Astro Society Awards Gala Celebration
Save the Date: Friday November 6, 2026 6pm to 11pm
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland CA
Kate Mulgrew, Keynote Speaker

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Roommate and I spent most of tonight's Blue Prince run in the gallery deciphering the paintings.

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