iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

This should not be possible. Bad algorithm. No cookie. (see alt)

Screenshot saying "You've reached the end of your feed."

This makes no sense, and can't be true unless the software is written to do something very different from what I expect.

For one thing, I've scrolled like a dozen posts and follow hundreds of people on here. So even if the algorithm is only showing, say "posts from today" there ought to be more. Unless everyone else is rapidly dropping off the platform?

But even then, the behavior doesn't make sense. The available content for my feed, logically, should include every post, share, and reply from all of the hundreds of people I'm following. If somehow I've already seen everything in that category from the preferred recent time frame, go back one more of that time frame, another hour or day, and show me what I missed between then and now.

It does seem like a lot to ask, for the thing to remember with a bit whether I've seen each of thousands of posts, but that's a sieve of eratosthenes kind of problem, as long as the algo is keeping some kind of checklist of what I HAVE seen, it's trivial to pull content that isn't on that list.

I just don't know why this is being shown.

James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Combine (the names of) two foods to make a synergistically even worse food. Example: Salmon + Nilla wafers Salmon nilla wafers would be awful, but salmonella wafers would be the true worst.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

I got an Apple Watch to basically just use as a backup phone for when I want to escape from my phone, and poking at it, it feels very close to the "iPhone Nano" that I want. 64 gigabytes, so it can hold as much music as my first iPod. Make calls, text, and not much else. One handed interface.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

I may never get over the irony that writing and/or singing about being poor is considered one of the main ways to become rich in this society.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

In an abstract way, I’m happy for the celebrity I like getting yet another Emmy Award. On the other hand, really, how meaningful is an award that gets given to the same dozen people over and over again? It’s not as though “best late night network talk show” is a wide and growing competitive field.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

I toyed with my Deepseek instance asking whether it could give me ideas for my crime novel about how bad guys might set up a false flag in terms of evidence planting, because the article saying "the bullets said transgender and antifa on them" seemed to implausible. It refused to help.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

The podcasters and proud boys running the FBI couldn't tell the difference between ammunition brand markings and "transgender ideology." This is our national leadership today.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

The next time someone tells me to check Youtube for something I'm gonna respond asking if they have a better source for accurate and non-manipulative information, like maybe tiktok or idk, pornhub? Our society has collapsed. The majority of the population has no access to verifiable reality.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

The Charlie Kirk thing is legitimately sad and tragic for all involved parties. I truly don't get it because every time he spoke it was hateful, infuriating crap, a mix of outright lies and misinformation, and yet apparently there were people who legitimately liked him and thought he was a Christian

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Watching the "Everyone's a Vulcan" episode of SNW and it occurs to me that Vulcans are essentially autistic people who develop intense discipline as an adaptive strategy to deal with overwhelming emotions and sensitivities. I have always identified with these characters, too.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

I often wonder if the key to happiness is simply letting go of ideals and grandiose ideas to just accept the world around you and the hand you are dealt.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

with no identity of the shooter etc, is there any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Charlie Kirk was killed for political motivation and not just by one of his many regular enemies?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

So, I finally found the "everyone who opposes genocide is an antisemite" side of Bluesky and it's kind of even worse than the other side? About ready to leave this platform and accept that Trumpism is actually what the left wants as well, by least common denominator consensus.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I know the standard joke is "space heater" but with a slow circulating breeze of about the temperature of a cup of coffee steadily wafting, it makes a pretty decent sock dryer too.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Mansplaining is bad, and comes down to a gendered situation of a less knowledgable person talking down to someone who is actually more knowledgable. Discourse on this is mostly gendered. But apart from gender, what is real protocol? How do you navigate knowledge level ambiguity? Avoid talking down?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

I hate when I have to agree with Rand Paul. Stopped clock and all that. I did not have "Rand Paul becomes one of the more sensible Republicans pushing back against fascism" on my 2025 bingo card.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

I don't know why this Hyundai story isn't trending more. Trump made a deal with Hyundai to expand a factory, and then raided that factory arresting the Korean workers… building a factory for americans to work in. Parable of the tortoise and scorpion?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Going at a literal snails pace, finishing about ten feet of this french drain per day. Just as i'm saying "the hard part is done" I realize the last stretch is a lot hairier to work in than I realized earlier. And I'd really like to pull some more of the dirt down off the house. so (alt)

Last progress shot last night, showing gravel not quite filled all the way to the corner of the house.

Stopping point this afternoon, more or less, with gravel fully enclosing the future patio area and piled deep enough to comfortably drive the loader over it.

But, the soil level at the house is higher than it should be. It's not enough to justify re-digging the whole trench to touch the foundation, but i'd like to "knock" the top couple inches of soil down lower into the ditch, after the first foot or so is full of gravel.

But to do that all ideally, I need to clear a "road" above it, where it's become a hazardous drive with surplus material. So right now, i'm going to see how much of that surplus material I can remove before dumping one scoop of gravel onto each sheet of landscape fabric along the rest of the ditch. Then, fold the fabric over the gravel, and just knock some dirt down the trench with a hand shovel, no real need for power tools. It's only dirt a few inches wide.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Fun fact: It's actually not against the law to use hot dog buns for other kinds of sandwiches. Reimagined breakfast sandwich shaped to resemble a chili dog, with pesto rosso thick sliced bacon, and fried egg on a Dollar General hot dog bun.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Can someone explain to me how "People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your god. I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right" squares with GOP opposition to trans healthcare?

screenshot of HCR's email today including the quote

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said that every government vaccine mandate “is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” He added: “People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your god. I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right.”

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I'm lately obsessed more than usual with spoonerisms and trying to invent meanings for them. Chicken nuggets => nick and chug its? New soft drink to accompany easy chicken? Calendar spam... spa lender cam? We're just imagining a theme of linguistically silly villains now.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

European jazz never took off because nobody wants to buy albums from Kilometers Davis or John Windmilltrane.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Funny how we are already on a shutdown fight after the last bit of legislation was called "one big beautiful bill" meant to solve that problem for years but oh I guess "meeting basic constitutional obligations of congress" didn't make the cut for priorities in that 1000+ page boondoggle.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

continuing my holiday tradition of avoiding all public and recreational spaces for fear of running into people having fun. looking forward to kayaking tomorrow afternoon with the river to myself.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

software request: Anyone know a good iOS text editor app with a character and word counter, that isn't quite as bloated or expensive as Microsoft office?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Ship to store is the dumbest thing ever. Worst of both worlds. I either want to drive to the store and have the thing this very hour, or have it shipped to my house. Why would I want to wait five or six days and still have to drive to a store? Waste of time and energy.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

This seems like a very shortsighted strategy. Yes, technically there are more red states than blue, but to do the same in blue states as well - the natural response - would be much worse for GOP. They only win on this if we are foolish enough to insist on "morally high grounded" self-harm.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Finding a cheap Mac Pro allowed me to set my bedroom corner up as a themed area of cylindrical objects. Roomba, air purifier, and everything on the shelf are all cylinders. I wonder if I can find a cylindrical Thunderbolt drive enclosure.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Internet journalists of the 1990s were ahead of their time when they realized that nobody needs MAGA and thus was born "zines"

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

I drive like a fighter pilot which is to say, in my twenties I drove very aggressively with a lot of hard cornering and now that i'm out of the military, doing civilian work, like there are 120 people sitting behind me who will complain to my boss if I spill their drink.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Garmin makes a lot of great hardware. But to make a device automatically power on when connected to a charger, and not automatically power back off when disconnected, is a really really dumb design flaw. Worse still, there's no way to power it off without touchscreen menus.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

At first, I “took personally” every block on here. Internalized that to have offended someone like that, either I was rude or I hold a “bad” opinion that I need to revise. Now I see them with a sense of relief, that usually they are just people uninterested in good faith discussions, disengaging.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

There is something just inherently weak and sad about a wealthy, successful man feeling a deep need for external propaganda to "protect" his family from knowledge of the existence of LGBTQ people. I used to respect this guy but maybe I was an idiot.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

apple.news/A2x1mL1jvRHa... Dang, this is really impressive. Mercedes just set a record of driving an EV more than 3000 miles a day - with super fast charging - for over a week straight. At that pace, you burn through most battery warranties in under a month. Charging faster than a gas pump.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

if i ever get on a dating app again ill probably make my profile something like "stay at home dog dad with full custody, slight habit of practicing law to fund bad habits like kayaking and travel. But seriously, I work hard so my dog can be happier than me."

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

I hate how I so desperately crave conversation for the sake of the feeling of human connection that I fall into the most pointless and hostile discussions, on web sites like this and Facebook that are essentially designed around such things. If I could delete my social cravings I wouldn't be here.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Sudoku: seating charts for parties of people who don't get along, as a math game

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Trump is nationalizing Intel? Isn't it literally socialism when the state owns the means of production?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Is "faith" the key to all the broken things? Not religious faith, but faith in each other and in ourselves. How can lost faith be restored? (Faith as a component of social construction)

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

I'm rewatching The Matrix and honestly it's making me long for an "ai fast forward button" to just skip boring stuff like fight sequences and sex scenes and just jump to where the plot and dialogue resume.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Admittedly, I pay attention to my blocks. It's not that I want to never say anything that anyone takes offense to, but I want to know what is "broadly offensive" as that is useful feedback. Peer feedback is really at the core of human morality. But it's troublesome when I can't remotely figure out…

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Why in the year 2025 do I, an owner of an iPhone on America's most popular wireless carrier, not have the ability to require a caller to confirm their validity before leaving a voicemail? I want my voicemail system to say "press (int(rnd*10) to confirm you are human before recording a message."

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Shit like this makes me feel very weird about my own life goals and the nexus between my values and those goals. More in alt text.

Screenshot of an article saying "inside silicon valley's growing obsession with having smarter babies" and a little more about how tech bros are trying to do eugenics.

I want to have children for several reasons and some are a little weird. The main one relates to a beautiful idea a psych professor of mine stated years ago, the idea that the only good reason to have a kid is if you are so full of love that you have run out of good places to put it. And in that context, it began with a romantic partnership, which I neither have nor deeply desire in its own merits. But I do have love, and the love I have for my dog fills me with a longing for a being that could receive so much more from me than he can, and outlive me too.

My other main reason, lately, is a mystical preconception of the nature of "being" and that is essentially that while not immortal, my "lineage" for lack of a better term is a long-lived superorganism traveling slowly forward through time and space, exploring and seeking purpose. And the part of that organism that is presently me will come to an end if there is not a passing on of the continuity of life. Perhaps there are other pathways for that continuity besides the failure to die of a particular one of my gamete cells before finding the rest of the components needed for sustained life, but i'm not yet sure what it could be.

But I also believe that my genes have something to offer our species and planet. And that is where articles like this make me feel like part of a bad group.

I diverge from them in many details. One is that I don't believe that genes are the most important part of human intelligence, but i think that DIVERSE genes in that area will net us a stronger and better species. I see neurodiversity as the end goal, not selecting for one particular gene or group of genes. I just don't want to not be a part of that diverse group myself.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

who would have thought that the hardest regret of my youth to overcome would not be anything to do with sex or romance or careers but simply the choice to sign up for Gmail

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

If it takes 40 hours of small talk and safe shared presence to build trust with a stranger, what does it take to rebuild it with a family member?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

The case I won today was another "last resort" hard case, one that other attorneys turned down as impossible and I set reasonable expectations. These are the wins that feel the best, when I know I really earned it and made a difference that others would not have made.

Hard to beat the river for a place to celebrate a "small" victory. Small in the sense that it's just a day's work but I put six figures in this family's bank account and solved a major rest-of-life financial problem for them, and i'll get paid enough to pay off some debt and buy a nice little
treat. Like maybe a Klondike Bar, or an Apple Vision Pro.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

i just played "common people" by Pulp/Shatner because it felt right for my rotten mood and now i feel that much shittier because i'm reminded that most people are even worse off.

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Solving problems feels good. But why does it seem like the good feeling of solving rarely matches the bad feelings during the problem? Was thinking this for debt but it's in general. feels good to pay a debt to zero but is it worth the many months of feeling the opposite on seeing the statement?

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James @whitewaterlawyer.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

up late because the drama person in my family just gave me an epiphany about my parents’ big parenting failure when I was 12, and realizing they really were on the right basic track and just got a lot of bad advice. Someone actually did notice my childhood trauma back then, but only peripherally.

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