iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 5h

And now for this week’s Optimizer, we shift gears to the internet’s latest health fixation: fibermaxxing. www.theverge.com/column/10026...

theverge.com

This blog could help you poop better

Let’s talk about fiber, baby. Insoluble and soluble.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 20h

Been rewatching all the 90s sitcoms for the last year or so, and man, I miss the old pre-smartphone and pre-social media miscommunication gags. But watching Paul in Mad About You set up an old school answering machine… that I don’t miss that.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 22h

Me, looking at Dots from OpenAI, after writing last week’s Optimizer about why it’s sinister to make AI agents cute.

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I dunno dude if you read the article it’s all about how Meta uses the cuteness to distract from all the data the agent asks for. The headline is about how the cuteness is sinister.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My travel luck this week has been abysmal.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This week in Optimizer, a Meta Connect themed issue. Would a spoonful of kawaii cute help the AI pill go down? Maybe not fully but perhaps you might feel less alarmed if Jolly — the aptly named Muse AI mascot — was the one asking for your health data. tinyurl.com/ba5jf9a4

tinyurl.com

It’s sinister that Meta’s Muse AI mascot is so cute

A spoonful of cute to make the AI pill easier to swallow.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It's been over 24 hours so I can say this now. The absolute last place that any AI should be deployed is fielding angry calls when your flight is cancelled. Did I, at some point Monday, scream into my phone at Newark "SHUT UP YOU STUPID AI AND GIVE ME A HUMAN, A HUMAN!!!!" Yes.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Well 11 hours after leaving home, one airport skedaddle from Newark to JFK, getting bonked in the head by a giant backpack, a middle seat and broken inflight entertainment… my plane took off! Maybe we should invest in better infrastructure so a cable doesn’t take out 6 major airports next time.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Me trying to survive getting to Meta Connect after that Amtrak crew cut a fiber optic line crippling all the airports in the tristate area. (I can’t drink tho so this is expensive juice. As a treat.)

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Hi, it's me with a Series 12 review. I'll be doing a separate Ultra 4 review soon. The new Health app is in the latest iOS 27 dev beta, but we at The Verge don't *review* dev betas. Stay tuned for early impressions as I work my way through several assessments lol. www.theverge.com/tech/996715/...

theverge.com

The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era

Looks like the same watch, but Apple has big plans.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This week on Optimizer — I am sick of my wearables trying to recontextualize age. You are your age! Time moves forward! This metric can be a useful gauge of where you might best direct effort but you’re not going to be magically aging backward! www.theverge.com/column/99593...

theverge.com

Your ‘health age’ is fake

Your ‘health age’ is just your age.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Been busy doing Apple stuff the past day and a half but had enough time to put out this week's Optimizer... The men are not okay. www.theverge.com/column/99313...

theverge.com

New standards for masculinity are stacked against men’s health

‘Be a man’ used to mean being swift as a coursing river Now it’s turning yourself into a science experiments.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This week on Optimizer — diving into Abbott's new 2-in-1 CGM that the FDA just authorized last week. It measures ketones and could genuinely help diabetics at heightened risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. But CGMs are imperfect tech and the wearable hype cycle is always churning. tinyurl.com/4vn97x3t

tinyurl.com

Continuous glucose monitors are about to get more complicated

The CGMs, they’re evolving like Pokemon.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

🥹 it’s been so nice to see that an existential conversation about art, tech and humanity is resonating

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I don’t think people understand how technically difficult Golden from Kpop Demon Hunters is to sing and what a flex it was for Kelly Clarkson to do it live in the original key. Like I don’t think most people understand how BIBLICALLY difficult that is and how few ppl can execute it at that level.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Sat down with @davidimel.com and @lopatto.bsky.social to talk about all the things the Al oligarchs get wrong about living life. We get philosophical about inconvenience, effort, and why sometimes 3 hour text messages should actually be a podcast.

youtube.com

What the AI oligarchs get wrong about being alive | The Vergecast

YouTube video by The Verge

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Upon further investigation, I don’t think this is an actual trend so much as a few weirdos triggering rage bait content mill creators that media did not thoroughly vet before writing trend pieces and I have never been more relieved. Please god don’t prove me wrong.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Me, minding my business: 🙂 My FYP: hay gurl been a min since I showed you a viral wellness trend Me: 🫪 no I was having a nice evening My FYP: the looksmaxxers are not showering and drinking their piss to attract women instead of going to therapy. It’s called pheromonemaxxing. Me: 🥲🔫

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

This complaint, while true, is also kind of like saying "wearable abnormal heart rate alerts are not directly measuring your heartbeat so there is no value to them." I always write to take sleep stage data with a grain of salt, but Oura *does* publish its science/data in peer-reviewed journals.(1/)

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

For The Verge's pet week I wrote about my technophobic cat Pablo who hates dieting. And before people say "just feed him less"... duh. He's been on a vet-supervised diet and prescription food for that purpose for years. www.theverge.com/gadgets/9817...

theverge.com

My big, fat, technophobic cat

All attempts to help him diet have been rudely thwarted.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This is a FANTASTIC read about how Meta glasses impact labor. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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Reposted by Victoria Song

The Verge @theverge.com · 19/08/2026

A handy Pixel Watch upgrade guide, courtesy of @vicmsong.bsky.social www.theverge.com/tech/981537/...

Will Hayward: What are the oldest Pixel phone and watch models that you think would be worth keeping another year instead of upgrading today?

Victoria Song: Will let my Phone Boyz (maybe a lurking Allison) answer the smartphone portion of this question but:

1) Pixel Watch, PW2 --> You can upgrade guilt-free. Normally I'd say PW2 *could* park it but the PW is a bit of an interesting watch because the changes from these two watches to the 4 and 5 are pretty significant.
2) PW3: You're getting almost all the new health features when they arrive so if your battery is still holding up well, I think you can keep this another year safely unless the GPS truly, madly, deeply annoys you.
3) PW4: Lol. Stahp. Don't upgrade.

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Reposted by Victoria Song

Cameron Faulkner @cameronfaulkner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

@theverge.com subscribers can join me, @vicmsong.bsky.social, @dompreston.com and @davidimel.com for an AMA all about the new Pixel 11 phones, and of course the Pixel Watch 5, too. We'll start at 3pm ET but you can leave a Q now www.theverge.com/tech/981537/...

theverge.com

We reviewed the new Pixel lineup, ask us anything

The reviews are live, now AMA

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Hi here’s my review and we are also doing a subscriber AMA at 3PM ET today on da site.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Ask us Pixel review questions at 3PM ET!

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

honey, new definition of slop bowl just dropped. 🥲

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I forgot to promote this amid the Made By Google bonanza but we are moving Optimizer to wellness wearable Wednesdays ~~ I spent my vacation going screenless! www.theverge.com/column/97829...

theverge.com

Wearables are getting a taste of much-needed minimalism

Wearable silence is glorious.

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Reposted by Victoria Song

Jake Kastrenakes @jake--k.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

the most important thing i learned from @vicmsong.bsky.social is that the Pixel Watch 5 lets you make AI cat watch faces www.theverge.com/tech/978094/...

theverge.com

Google’s Pixel Watch 5 dives deeper into AI and health

It’s AI health all the way down.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Here’s a first look at the Pixel Watch 5 — if last year revamped the hardware, this year is a deeper dive into health and software. www.theverge.com/tech/978094/...

theverge.com

Google’s Pixel Watch 5 dives deeper into AI and health

It’s AI health all the way down.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Tis better to not post than to post and remove all doubt for everyone that you are, in fact, a ding dong. www.axios.com/2026/08/11/r...

axios.com

Robot book club

Reading books with an AI partner

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I'm back from vacation where I took a minimum of one nap per day. Sometimes as many as THREE naps. My wearables no longer think I'm dying.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A non trivial amount of my brain is dedicated to knowing way too much about a musical and book about sad French men debating the ethics of stealing a loaf of bread. Anywho tonight I’m seeing a Les Miz live for like the 20th time. I have 99 hyper fixations and this is a big one.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Checking the CPI index is depressing. I don’t recommend doing it unless you have a very cute cat to offset the resulting despair.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I’m on vacation but had some thoughts about the Meta glasses backlash + asked an expert how Meta’s handled privacy concerns thus far. tinyurl.com/3pwc632h

tinyurl.com

Meta is royally screwing up its smart glasses rollout

It’s Meta’s move.

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Reposted by Victoria Song

The Verge @theverge.com · 17/07/2026

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced mandatory testosterone screenings, but it’s a symptom of a larger fixation. Read more from @vicmsong.bsky.social in this week's Optimizer:

theverge.com

The manosphere’s testosterone fever is coming for the troops

The national obsession with Tmaxxing is an overdue Optimizer bat signal

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

In this week’s Optimizer we discuss Hegseth’s mandatory T-screening for the military, sperm racing, and the obsession with male fertility. tinyurl.com/2p9hsxj3

tinyurl.com

The manosphere’s testosterone fever is coming for the troops

The national obsession with Tmaxxing is an overdue Optimizer bat signal

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Sometimes I see something so cursed on my beat that it haunts me for days. Other times, like today, I see six extremely cursed things in the span of 12 hours and I come to the conclusion that even Jesus can’t save us now.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I wrote about AI wearables — not just glasses — and how they make me sometimes feel like a spy. A thing I don’t always feel great about, even though I’m just doing my job by testing them. tinyurl.com/afkdu7cn

tinyurl.com

I spy

Testing AI wearables has turned me into an unintentional spy.

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Reposted by Victoria Song

Charles Pulliam-Moore @charlespulliam.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

If we really want studios to stop leaning so hard into hyperbolic influencer content as a marketing strategy, we’ve got to start ✨consuming and sharing more thoughtful kinds of entertainment reporting and criticism✨

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

It’s hot as balls out here in many parts of the world. This week’s Optimizer is about how hydrating with plain water is good enough most of the time — and when it actually makes sense to use electrolyte powders or sports drinks. tinyurl.com/265m5jry

tinyurl.com

Hydration isn’t complicated: Just drink water

You don’t need water that’s more watery than other water

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

All my wearables think I’m dying. Ever since they all added AI insights, my daily recommendations are to skip every workout, rest, and never do anything again. I’m having a hard time arguing against it.

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Reposted by Victoria Song

Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 29/06/2026

I wrote about how meaty, salty, fatty hot dogs became the food we're all supposed to eat on the hottest days of the year. This one is free for all @weareravenous.com subscribers, just give us your email! www.weareravenous.com/hot-dogs-jul...

weareravenous.com

How Hot Dogs Accidentally Became the Most American Food

Why do Americans insist on slamming greasy sausages on the sweatiest days of the year? It took a few accidents and a lot more marketing decisions.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

This week on Optimizer, a reminder that accuracy in health tracking isn't as important as consistency. None of these smart scales ever gives me the same reading and it's impossible to gain/lose 5% muscle in a day. Fixating on individual numbers is a losing game. tinyurl.com/3vjwhhdz

theverge.com

Sometimes, health tracking accuracy is overrated

Especially smart scales.

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Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

These Meta Glasses aren't Ray-Bans... but one of them is a collaboration with Kylie Jenner. Also Meta's VP of Wearables Alex Himel told me that updates to improve privacy are on the way. tinyurl.com/3br3pc67

tinyurl.com

Meta launches cheaper smart glasses without Ray-Ban

There is a version designed by Kylie Jenner, though.

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