iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Since it's Spooky Season, I made a pumpkin challah, to be served with a roast pumpkin filled with fleur des alpes cheese

Big bread shaped like a pumpkin with cranberries shaped like the eye and mouth cutouts of a jack o' lantern

161

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Excuse me? What is going on with robots these days that this si the robot test?

Captcha thing, the prompt is 'find containers bigger than a spoon' with a grid of 12 pictures that are all heavily pixelated, half of which are pictures of little bugs on leaves, the other half are watering cans in a sort of fantasy woodland setting, but without any context that would allow you to know the scale of the object or how big it is? It is not clear that humans would be better at this task than robots

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

She would like to announce that it is officially spooky season. You should probably get a black cat if you don't already have one

A little black cat standing in front of a microphone on a tripod. There is a large Gengar candy bowl illed with butter fingers in the background

2181

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Not to brag, but look at how round this number is

Fundraiser graph thing showing £5,550 raised of £30,000 target, or 18%

1133

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of the most common pieces of wedding advice is to not forget to eat. Everyone says 'you'll be surprised how easy it is to forget or get too busy'. Like, RIP to you, but I'm built different. You might as well remind me to try and find the host's cat at a house party. I'm on it.

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The people who work at the Terminal 5 Pret are angels. I guess they deal with the most stressed out people in the world all the time, so they're just like "it's all okay, darling, out a pastel de bàta in your gob and just breathe". That's the vibe

210

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I'm watching an episode of Say Yes to the Dress from 2008 and this girl brought three gay friends to the appointment, but 2008 light TV can't say gay so they have been called "her dramatic friends", "her supporting cast", "her fashion experts", and, my personal favourite, "her vibrant friends".

040

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's so weird when people say a disabled person is "trapped in their body". Like, who are you, Granny Weatherwax? You go borrowing? Because I'm pretty sure we're all trapped in our own bodies. Congratulations on describing the human condition

080

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

If you're going to do Midsomer Murders, @begaysolvecrimes.bsky.social Series 5, ep 3 "Ring Out Your Dead". Absolutely buckwild. The solution involves vicarage records from the early Victorian era. Peak Midsomer Murders, honestly

220

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Turned on a random episode of Midsomer Murders and it's all about drama in the church bell ringing group. You could not make a parody of Midsomer Murders that was not the plot of at least one actual episode.

151

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I've been in London a few days now and I have to say, Londoners, you guys are actually not nearly as miserable as you claim to be. I hate to say it, but everyone's been actually extremely nice. On the busiest tube lines, people are tripping over each other to give my mom their seat. Jig's up

230

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It took three shops on Goldhawk Road before we found the perfect wedding dress fabric

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Astonishing to not do well with a "sticky willy" flavoured cake #GBBO

110

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Rare mother daughter portrait where my mom somehow looks significantly more sprightly and refreshed than me despite having just flown nine hours

040

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Making sure everyone in the area knows this bear is basically Jewish

Paddington Bear statue as seen at Paddington Station

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Have arrived in London and picked up the essentials

2l bottles of Highland Spring water in still and sparkling

000

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Making apple dumplings has got to be one of the easiest ways to make your house smell incredible. My recipe: 4 apples, one pack of puff pastry, about a cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 2-4 Tbsp of butter, half cup water Turn your oven to 180, cut puff pasty into 8 squares, mix sugar and spice

120

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I followed a recipe for pumpkin spice challah from a Chabad Rebbetzin and now I have enough challah for the eleven children I don't have. Smells amazing though

Round wreath challah the size of a large cat

160

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

TFW you're trying to knead your challah for Rosh Hashanah dinner but your kid keeps distracting you and demanding your attention

A little black cat sitting expectantly on the sofa

190

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We can not allow Linlithgow continue to dominate the Scotty Memorial arms race, not when Jimmy Doohan always said Scotty was frae Aberdeen and did a creditable Aberdeen accent for it. This is a matter of civic pride. Do it for the city! Do it for Jimmy! Do it for the future engineers of Aberdeen!

031

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

My office window looks out over the atrium on top of the Fraser Noble building and, as it's the Star Trek 60th anniversary, I keep thinking how much better it would look with a large statue of Scotty to greet all the new Engineering and Computer Science students

static.klipy.com

Star Trek Scotty: Hello, computer!

Alt: Star Trek Scotty: Hello, computer!

031

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Any other #ROBOTcar fans trying to figure out who your cats are? Because this one's definitely a Bumz

Little black cat sticking her head out of a box. There is nothing going on behind those eyes but zydeco music played on kazoo

3112

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

So the whole work husband/work wife thing is strictly American, right? The rest of us are not investing that much of our mental and emotional energy to our jobs, right?

100

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This year I'm refusing to get annoyed at all the Christmas stuff in shops by deciding to assume the "Holidays" they refer to as "coming soon" are the High Holidays. Now that you mention it, a biscofff cream cake would make a lovely addition to my Rosh Hashanah table.

180

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"What if humpback whales are pen pals with a race of hyper advanced aliens from the other side of the galaxy and if they go extinct the aliens will come and blow up Earth? WHAT THEN?!" has to be one of the great environmental film premises of all time

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Going to see Star Trek IV: The One with the Whales! In cinema. I expect this to be basically my peak cinema experience

250

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Yeah, I'm susceptible to a cute tin, but the tea actually is nice

Little grey cat sniffing the corner of a tea tin shaped like Moomin house and decorated with moomins

040

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm fascinated by how the British Museum is an institution full of the art of other countries, and the British public's reaction to the Bayeux Tapestry being on display there is as if it's a brand newly displayed work of art and not something that has been on display in Normandy for yonks

110

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Imagine having a whole vienetta on a stick. How decadent!

230

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I'm planning a fabric-shopping trip to London with my mom and we just discovered the Cheese Barge is moored near our hotel!

240

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

But today is a good day because it's finally chilly enough to wear a cardigan in the morning

static.klipy.com

Sweater Weather

Alt: Sweater Weather

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

You'll note that the industry's report doesn't say library e-book lending reduces revenue, just sales. Since licensing e-books costs libraries a bajillion dollars and publishers likely aren't actually suffering, and probably wouldn't suffer under the modest price controls of proposed legislation

02510

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

It's kind of ridiculous that Peter Thiel came to the British Museum for a private viewing of the Bayeaux tapestry. London is functionally the same distance from San Francisco as Bayeaux is. He could have gone to see it at any time before it was on loan to the British Museum just as easily

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The latest reports shows only about 22% of Londoners own a car. Why would 78% of the population vote for policies that only make their daily lives worse

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Make your favourite film sound as boring as possible without giving away the title Two middle-aged men who used to be the top of their field realise they can't keep up like they used to, even after immigrating to a less competitive market

000

Reposted by Varina

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Greetings, non-Jews in academia! As we start another semester, here's your regularly scheduled reminder that the Jewish High Holy Days are coming up. If you wouldn't schedule an important meeting or exam on Christmas or Easter, don't schedule one on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur.

6521208

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Make a band bigger: Destiny's Adult

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Creativity has always been "open access", you dingbats. It comes free with being human. Randall Munroe has made an entire thriving career as a cartoonist drawing stick figures. You don't need a particular set of skills to express your human creativity. You just need to use what you got. Phillistines

110

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I really want to know if she knitted the vest herself. It looks like it might be hand-knitted and clearly by someone who loves London Metro moquette

1110

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I can't believe I've lived in Scotland for nearly 12 years and I just found out about the island in Loch Lomond with a colony of wild Wallabies. That should be in the damn Life in the UK test

340

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

This is the real reason Argentina wants to takes the Falklands from us

110

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Not enough people know that Grover is canonically Jewish

022

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I see the new season of Ted Lasso is doubling down on perpetuating the harmful stereotype that Americans are all friendly and chatty

010

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

You know what feels good after a long day of arguing with various Microsoft products at work?

Screenshot of an installer for Linux Mint

181

Reposted by Varina

worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

your clean energy is an affront to the life of a fictional elf invented by a transphobe

How Harry Potter almost derailed a major UK interconnector project

‘Dobby, who’s Dobby?’ former head of €500m interconnector project recalled asking after uproar that planned cable, key to transporting wind and solar power, would go through magical elf’s ‘grave’
A memorial to Dobby, the fictional elf from the Harry Potter books and films, at Freshwater West beach in Wales, where the character dies in Harry's arms. The Greenlink interconnector had to be rerouted after “hundreds” of people complained the cable was going straight through Dobby's grave.
A memorial to Dobby, the fictional elf from the Harry Potter books and films, at Freshwater West beach in Wales, where the character dies in Harry's arms. The Greenlink interconnector had to be rerouted after “hundreds” of people complained the cable was going straight through Dobby's grave.Photo: Matthew Horwood/ Getty Images

14763253

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Sainsbury's had gravlax on sale so for breakfast we had a classic LEO (lox, eggs, and onion) with the end of a loaf of homemade shokupan. Cat approved

A small plate with scrambled eggs and salmon gravlax and toast triangles

A fluffy grey cat furiously licking the remains of eggs, butter, and any salmon juices

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

For International Cat Day she got taken to the vet where she was rudely poked and prodded (and told she was a beautiful lady in rude health with the vitality of a cat half her age, but still. Unacceptable!)

A beautiful black cat getting her tummy rubbed

0100

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I can't explain this but, it would be Tacoma that had a fishing boat full of pirate cats

030

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I got up to make a cup of tea and now she's looking at me like she's just seen the quarterly reports and is appalled

A little black cat sits behind a laptop with her arms folded looking up at you, concerned, unimpressed

0120

Varina @varinajr.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

LET'S FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! TRAINS! TRAINS! TRAINS! TRAINS! Also, Transport Scotland, it's embarrassing that you're still on X the everything app and I had to yank this graphic from a different platform

Flyer showing the Caledonian Sleeper on its platform. In Waverley, reading "We committed to exploring the potential for a direct Caledonian Sleeper service to mainland Europe and I am pleased this work is now underway"

010