iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Im sorry for your loss. My parents both passed too. My dad was ‘29, mom was ‘49 and I’m ‘88.

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I feel less alone. My dad (born 1929) died in 2018 but I was explaining my weird family tree and only recently realized he was Silent Generation.

130

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Any other Millennials out here with a Silent Generation parent or just me…

490

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Since it's Spooktober, this month's Optimizer issues will be about all the things that scare me in health tech. Starting off strong with a return to gray-market peptides and the lack of concrete data we have about their real-world usage ~~ www.theverge.com/column/10069...

theverge.com

The scariest thing about gray-market peptides is how little we know

Imperfect data is better than nothing, but it’s less than ideal.

2273

Reposted by Victoria Song

The Verge @theverge.com · 06/10/2026

Tech companies with new AI hardware want you to agree that always-listening, often-recapping devices don’t count as recording. Read more from @vicmsong.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/column/10056...

Verge headline: We can't just change the definition of 'recording'
by Victoria Song

Photo of Meta smart glasses

1010325

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Recession indicator: I learned my local Chinese takeout spot started charging for fortune cookies.

5412

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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.

2151

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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.

1231

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Looking at cute things is how I stay sane in this dumb world please don’t take that from me.

0310

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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 thought the headline was pretty clear but 🤷🏻‍♀️

010

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

I was going to respond in good faith but I too found out that replies were disabled despite being tagged.

010

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

I mean it’s right there when I talk about the creepy bit about the Muse demo on glasses at Connect surrounded by life size cutouts of an objectively cute mascot.

0220

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.

5602

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

My flight home got delayed by like 2.5 hours 🤪 I’m still not home yet sob

110

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

I’m leaving out some normal bad luck like horrible seat mates, annoying gate changes, and unhinged Uber drivers. But also some less normal bad luck like Amtrak cutting a fiber optic line wiping out all the major airport hubs on the east coast for 13 hours tho.

120

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

No. Sarah’s ordeal is worse. I only had one flight cancellation and two delayed flights totaling around 26 hours of traveling for what should have been less than half that.

110

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

But on the flip side, I did read 2.5 books during all my flight delays and cancellations.

1190

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

My travel luck this week has been abysmal.

3120

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.

1323

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

You know who helped me out of that mess so I could get to this conference?? A human. You know who autorebooked me onto a flight that got delayed by 5 hours the next day? AI.

1480

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.

1671

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

Sarah. When you eventually have fisticuffs with BA, I only ask that you ask yourself: What would JYPapi do.

0120

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.

2340

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

We been texting through the pain

010

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.)

4360

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

Honestly I don’t even know but this is all not on my dime

100

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

lol same and now I’m running to JFK

110

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

Like…. If the smart ring was drenched in buffalo sauce? Ostensibly if it’s got 5ATM of water resistance it could withstand a decent amount of it

2100

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.

1252

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.

3519

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.

1283

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.

2183

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

2312

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

Ejae was smart to lower the key to preserve her voice live. She’s an immensely talented singer but she was also moving around and had less experience performing live like that as a songwriter. Kelly also cut the song short — probably to protect her voice too . They both made adjustments!!

100

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

TL:DR — for a mezzo to sing this song live they need to be genetically gifted with a larger than average vocal range and extreme technical skill.

0411

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

For the choir kids and vocal nerds… It’s a 3 octave song that switches between all three registers at the drop of a hat; it requires an A5 BELT. Elphaba, widely regarded as one of the hardest vocal roles on Broadway, doesn’t belt that high. This is extreme vocal gymnastics.

2512

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

Like, the commenters saying it was easy for her. No. Look at her face. That was challenging for KELLY CLARKSON.

4502

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.

717822

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

1382

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.

1501

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: 🥲🔫

1440

Victoria Song @vicmsong.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

That’s already happening via a different pathway via the FDA. Usually the distinction is whether a feature would be diagnostic and affect medical decisions versus “monitoring.” To me the most compelling argument was the marketing claim one — but logic was poorly presented.

010