Hurrah! A paper and workshop I submitted, and also a poster I'm named on but didn't submit, have been accepted! Now applying for funding to afford the travel!

In a rational and compassionate world, settlement and citizenship should not depend on income levels. There is already so much disparity baked into immigration services. (And even for born British people, there are now two levels, those automatically entitled to EU citizenship and those not)

Extremely honoured to be taking over from the excellent @djakacki.bsky.social as Chair of @teiconsortium.bsky.social. We're currently running a survey on activities and membership rates of the consortium. If you've ever used the #TEI (member or not), please answer: forms.gle/USoesRx9SztU...

30 years ago, the UK witnessed a terrible, terrible crime: an attack on a school by a gunman. As a result, all personal gun ownership was heavily restricted in the UK. There have been no school shootings since then in the UK, in 1996. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

I am so proud to be part of this team, and this full-stack cooperative. And proud that the library, archive, & historical community are showing how you can build useful, ethical AI that responds to the needs of a community: together. Half a million users, baby! 🤩

The declyne of readinge ys caused by manye thinges. One cause ys a systematic devaluinge of literature at all levels of educacioun. Fundinge the humanityes ys key to a just societye of informed citizens.

Good result, not including the party of evil xenophobic hatred that come second, and I'm only a bit sad that Sir Oink A-Lot of the Official Monster Raving Looney Party didn't do slightly better. whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/pa...

I have almost no knowledge of Hannah Spencer and am not one of her constituents, but I am very glad of this result. The only downside is that the hatemongers of the xenophobic lying Reform Party PLC came second.

UVA faculty & grad students: for the 2nd iteration of our funded DH Center + Data Analytics Center Fellowship (CFP coming soon!), come to a 3/10 info session (cal.lib.virginia.edu/event/16478642) & 3/26 mixer (cal.lib.virginia.edu/event/16478923) to help you find collaborators +

There are some tea and biscuits over there, help yourself.

I mean, I'm not going to lie, I probably have the same project, but I'm extremely resistant to accepting any higher power into my life. Have you seen higher powers? Have you seen what they do and demand? Higher powers are almost by definition evil.

Yup. So-called 'jigsaw' or 'mosaic' attack vector for de-anonymisation is increasingly easy piece together who you are. But another reason not to give my 'anonymised' health data for research was that while they promised it wouldn't be used for marketing, it could be used for 'marketing research'.

It's #NationalTellAFairyTaleDay so here's a tiny one of mine, courtesy of the fantastic @neitherfishnorfoul.com www.neitherfishnorfoul.com/issue-5-cumm...

they fail to understrand that the burden of academic labour is the pointless and endless administration that surrounds teaching and research, not the actual teaching and research activities themselves. Why can't they focus the tech on relieving us from the stuff that really is a burden.

Hard agree. Learning isn't a set of exercises that have to be accomplished but the process of trying to do the exercises and gaining new knowledge as a result and improving. If the exercises are done by a tool, then the process doesn't happen. This is significantly different from say a calculator.

In 1965 Newcastle University organised a major scientific expedition — first aiming for Pakistan’s glaciers before shifting to Afghanistan due to war. The team’s work sought early evidence of global glacier warming. Read the full story: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/speccoll/202...

Well, the Union is in a bit of a State. #Satire

Nomination deadline coming up 2026-02-27! Ensure your type of #digitalHumanities or #CLS or similar is represented! dhawards.org/dhawards2025... Or if lack of https is a worry, go direct to the Google form at: forms.gle/zRbPaw8hoBEo...

Experts from Newcastle University have received The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education from the King and Queen for Dementia research, recognising decades of transforming the care of people with Dementia with Lewy bodies. 👏 Read more here: https://bit.ly/4ccJ1Gu #WeAreNCL #QEdPrize

It seems obvious to me that one of the reasons for free tiers on LLM ChatBots isn't just as a taster to drive the market, but to seduce segments of the population into frequent use so that when eventually stronger legislation is proposed there will be more supposedly 'grassroots' opposition to it.

Yup! We care less about the answer than the students' progress. The existence of an essay is just a milestone demonstrating their current stage through the iterative process of learning over the years of their degree. It is their chance to demonstrate that to us. Faking that eventually harms them.

Deadline extended for submissions to TEI2026 (Vancouver) this year tei2026.tei-c.org

Wait.. what?! To renew my UK passport you want me to send "any current or expired passports" from other countries?!?! Luckily, they graciously allow me to send colour photocopies because there is no way I'm sending them my other two passports!

I've never understood why people participated in this parasitic scam that is academia dot edu. It misrepresented itself from the very beginning and has always sought to exploit the uncritical sheep that walked into the bolt gun that is their site.

"faster, reproducible science across disciplines through UKRI‑supported national AI testbeds and shared methods" Forgive me for expressing scepticism that AI will magically fix the reproducibility crisis.

I think the answer to the headline is "psychopathic billionaire lunatics who by that point will own AI killer robots", to avoid the guillotines. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

I did my undergraduate in Medieval Studies because of my interests, not because I thought it would get me a job. Ok, by the time I did my MA and PhD I may have had a better idea of what I wanted to do, but which employer would contribute? Other universities?! Break the idea that study is for work!

"TikTok showed me an image of a scantily-clad young person, but I quickly dismissed it because I didn't want my wife to think I was committing 'Misconduct in Public Office'." [1] www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce...

The LIBER AI Taskforce has launched a series of short seminars! Friday's first seminar is very much a listening exercise to learn where European research libraries are with AI in libraries from participants libereurope.eu/article/libe... #AI4LAM

Excellent teaching example using students' own data which fosters engagement.

#EnglishCreates: Futures How can reading transform our lives? Today, Dr Rebecca Fisher (CEO, The English Association) reflects on the two books did just that for her: 'What happened felt like a miracle... The lights had come back on.' universityenglish.ac.uk/two-books-ch... #EnglishStudies

Well, while we might chuckle at the silly things coming out of their senile dictatorship, really we are worrying their naked authoritarianism is infecting the rest of the world.

Altman's argument is fallacious and disingenuous, and only plays to those who think some people have less right to existence and education than others.

I love the combination of bravado and joy that Alysa Liu brings to skating, and her success should encourage us all to pay serious attention to the millions of other young women who insist on living boldly in a world that wants smallness and conformity

It’s so common to come across the assertion that books were luxury objects exclusively for the elite in the Middle Ages that I want to guest curate a massive exhibition called “Meh-nuscripts: Books for the Many,” which features just workaday or unremarkable objects.

My UG Old English vocab failed me at year 1000, but I could still say it, which was fun 🙂

While the rest of the world has its issues, the United States never ceases to up the ante on the hatred and stupidity. I really shouldn't post such political content but, really New Hampshire, really?! Good thing I'm not planning to go to the States as long as it is an authoritarian dictatorship.

Not *really* watching the curling final on my phone cuz that is problematic in our house but watching the figure skating gala on TNTSports via Discovery+ on TV which raises two questions: 1) why doesn't BBC show it? 2) why this one sport has its own special closing ceremony event and no others do?

Given how many of my neighbours are likely to support the Reform Party PLC, I have no doubt that they would also rat on Anne Frank, all while thinking they are the good people.

I can't read this because it's behind a paywall, but if ChatGPT is trained on prior knowledge (which it is), then of course it would advise women to ask for lower salaries. Misogyny is baked into the historical data.

When authoritarian xenophobic movements use AI slop, without even basic checking or refining, it really shows how mindnumbingly stupid the proponents of such ideologies are. They should at least *try* in their AI slop. But, sadly the stupidity of their positions does not seem to dissuade the masses.

Do bears excrete in woodland areas? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

This is one of the major problems with UKHE. One of many...

We have Reform. Now we've also got Restore. What's next? I know! Revise and Resubmit.

"It seems to me that two ignorant DOGE bros cancelling humanities grants based solely on “yo is this DEI?” ChatGPT prompts, kinda shows the need for actual diversity, equity, and inclusion in how things like the National Endowment for the Humanities should work." www.techdirt.com/2026/02/19/d...

Sigh, I masked on the plane, but I didn't during the meeting which had a sniffing/coughing person in it. And it isn't like I'm feeling much better. 🤧

Good news! The TEI 2026 Call for Papers deadline has been extended to February 27th! tei2026.tei-c.org/CFP.html Looking forward to seeing your proposal!

Stuck in the office on this Friday afternoon? Here are some bright spring flowers courtesy of Sowerby's English Botany from our 19th Century Collection to see you towards the weekend and brighter spring days. [Ref. 19thC Coll 581.942 SOW]

Funny, but the number of people commenting who don't seem to know you can just design&order a cheap t-shirt online is weird. My entire post-Pandemic work uniform has been t-shirts with #TEI markup or quotes from early drama/medieval lit worn when teaching those topics. Always work appropriate.

#TEI2026 is in Vancouver, an excellent place to have a conference! Consider submitting a paper (or short paper, poster, panel, or workshop) to the conference!