Freelance reporter in Silicon Valley covering tech, politics, & LGBT. ISO 8601 stan; tabletop gamer; lowercase = shitposts. Formerly @the-independent.com Signal: @iohazard.01 Email: laureniododds@gmail Subscribe to IOSPHERE! https://iosphere.beehiiv.comhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.socialhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mrxmj55zss2yHappy Friday! After surviving a layoff, a massive house move, and a storm of immigration paperwork, I am SO BACK. My first freelance story is on San Francisco's oddly bitter 'dog wars' — and the angry vibecoder waging a one-man campaign to de-fur his local park. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/07/25/dog-walking-wars-san-francisco/31 Jul 2026 18:47 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrxmj55zss2yhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mrqhcsg2bs24hey you! yes you. I just got off the phone with the IACQTP (International Association of Cutie Pies) and they were super sorry about the error congrats, you are now IACQTP-certified 💚28 Jul 2026 22:25 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrqhcsg2bs24https://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mqvz2yrkkc2xFuck it, I didn’t grow up pilfering my grandpa’s Len Deighton collection for nothing I’M IN LET’S GOOO [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Jul 2026 10:01 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqvz2yrkkc2xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mqupwuq6gc2jGetting back into RSS readers 😎 What are some good outlets/orgs to add to my 'trans' feed? And, for that matter, my 'tech' feed?17 Jul 2026 21:45 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqupwuq6gc2jhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mqub63legc2w‘Normal Girl’ hitting a lil harder today 😭 [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Jul 2026 17:21 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqub63legc2whttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mq5p6226522xAs someone who’s had sci-fi dreams of ubiquitous AR for a couple decades now… I always imagined people at a cocktail party would VOLUNTARILY switch on an identity flag that the glasses would recognise? Face recognition is so obviously privacy-violating that I never even imagined we’d use it!!08 Jul 2026 18:00 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq5p6226522xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mq5nnsjavc2xi (M, 28) occasionally let rip a big old fart at home. when i do, my partner (F, 27) catches the fart particles on a special strip of chemically reactive paper to make what she calls a “Tasty Slice”, which she then demands I sniff. i think she’s being disgustingly; she says i should fart less. AITA?08 Jul 2026 17:33 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mq5nnsjavc2xhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mp5kj5fvk22vokay this is a wildly specific venn diagram intersection so if even ONE person gets this reference I will be very happy but I cannot stop imagining Rocco from Noah's Island as a Soviet military officer, bumptiously pronouncing the phrase "Deep H'operations"25 Jun 2026 23:11 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp5kj5fvk22vhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3movlawbkic2bIn late 2024, as the new Labour govt began radically curtailing trans rights, I said to a UK friend: “It’s not a big issue for most people. But for anyone young or liberal it’ll help set a tone of cultural repression & decline that will hurt Labour in the long run.” I was wrong: it happened FAST.22 Jun 2026 19:03 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3movlawbkic2bhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mouibpr7vc2qwhat else can one say but “fuckity-bye?” 🤷🏻‍♀️22 Jun 2026 08:38 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mouibpr7vc2qhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mokgyscgvs2qunmasking is fucking crazy dude what the fuck do you mean if I flap my hands a little every so often and stop forcing myself to make eye contact I’ll unlock holistic heights and depths of joy and hurt that I didn’t even know existed? be serious please18 Jun 2026 08:48 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mokgyscgvs2qhttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mnn7lreqrc2ahowever chauvinist this may be, i will always love a Full Scottish breakfast most of all BUT at a place called “Peg’s Glorified Ham & Eggs” in Reno, NV, I had a chorizo Benedict with chipotle sauce that made me see the Goddess I would kill a man in any town just to get that chipotle Benedict [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Jun 2026 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnn7lreqrc2ahttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mnlxer3wjk2sdiogenes is alive today, and he lives in an RV on the streets of west oakland [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Jun 2026 05:48 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnlxer3wjk2shttps://blacksky.community/profile/iododds.bsky.social/post/3mmzb7oznds2d🌘 SOME PERSONAL NEWS: 🌒 Sadly, I have been laid off from my job as a senior reporter at The Independent. I had great fun. Did some amazing work with amazing people. No regrets. But now I am urgently looking for new work. Journalism, copywriting, staff or contract; you name it, I'm interested.29 May 2026 19:24 +0000at://did:plc:moh2lzofpyfudra2fc6zgfpe/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmzb7oznds2d