iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

One minute you’re scrolling cake recipes, the next you’re elbow deep in Bean Soup Theory. Oh the humanity

000

Reposted by Alison Gow

Suw @suw.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

One thing I've struggled with as a Welsh learner is finding ebook-audiobook pairs so that I can listen whilst reading. That's why I want to record an audiobook to go with my non-fiction ebook about mammals. Pre-reg here – www.kickstarter.com/... – to be notifie...

An illustration of a fox, hare and red deer, along with a great tit, blue tit and robin. Text says: Mamaliaid Prydain. Adar yr Ardd. Factual ebooks for intermediate Welsh learners featuring: Short description of each animal, annotated illustrations, key vocabulary. Praise for Adar yr Ardd: “the cutest way to improve your Welsh,” Maarten. “A beautiful, colorful book with so much information!” Melanie.

012

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

"Robert help"... Most of TikTok seems trapped on deathly EverstTok, but I've somehow got stuck on MarcusTheWormTok and while I'm not mad about it I don't know the lore. Anyway, this is all I see right now:

Photo is a still from a Marcus the Worm video, showing an upright worm with eyes and arms.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Watched the video of someone making the school dinner classic, Cornflakes Tart, and the first comment underneath about English eating habits made me laugh. The immediate reply under that one has absolutely broken me though.

14418

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

As a Pembrokeshire native, I approve of this message 😂

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Went looking for an Elmo Muppet gif, mistyped without the L and got this absolute gem

Miss piggy dressed in goth style with emo eye makeup

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

I asked ChatGPT to give me a short, accurate social media bio; it suggested "mildly feral, mostly wholesome'. Honestly, I'm not hating it.

120

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

That's pretty dreadful (and puts me off giving them my listening time). Podcast Bro territory adjacent.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

How do we feel about people wearing headphones singing aloud on trains? Do we appreciate their free spirit and joy or feel murderous? I'm murderous but also worried this is not Zeitgeist-y of me.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

At least someone once recognised my talents 😇

A screenshot of a Facebook memory of a tweet that said “letter arrived addressed to Alison Gow of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, angel Mesenger, giver - amen”. Scared to open it.

040

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

It's got a *great* ring road - I used to enjoy bypassing Nantwich very much on my Reach travels.

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Not a bad thought though! Many small boys could have fulfilled their burning career ambition.

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

That sounds really interesting/unsettling. I think I’m going to have to check the Cheshire one out.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

If you want to hear a thick-as-mince senior US security advisor pitch a tantrum in the face of hard questions, the World At One has got you covered (starts @ 13.11) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Fair play to Sarah Montigue for pressing on despite his nonsense.

bbc.co.uk

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Ah that’s so cool - was it very techie? Btw Churchill’s war rooms in Liverpool are also worth a visit if you’re ever in the vicinity.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I fear they’ve been influenced by MI6’s secret HQ sign shenanigans.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Thank you, honestly it’s never a surprise with Avanti! And I did indeed end up sprinting for any random train 😂

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

My train is stuck at Euston because the driver hasn’t shown up - gone completely awol. I’m pretty sure this will end with all passengers being ejected and sprinting for any random train going vaguely north west 😑

220

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

As a trustee of the Journalists' Charity, I got to do a 2-day governance training course with the Civil Society this week. I've been on boards for 10+ years, but still found so many useful takeaways from this. Really recommended.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

In related news, we probably need to buy a generator, which we've resisted for years but it's looking unavoidable now 😑

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

So all in, not insignificant numbers of homes are affected (I'd love to know the total number) but BT's reaction seems to be pretty much "yeah, sorry 'bout that".

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

It's not just a countryside issue - the analogue switch-off also impacts many elderly and vulnerable people whose assisted living devices rely on the service.

110

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

*Ir bears repeating: There is no mobile signal, for miles around. A neighbour broke her leg on the mountain and couldn't phone for help. She had hypothermia by the time she was found.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

In severe storms, we can also be entirely cut off by fallen trees and flood water. We're pretty typical of rural mountain areas. (Where lots of tourists also get into scrapes and arrive on the doorstep asking for a landline phone*).

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

So an analogue phone handset is a winter essential, along with candles and a gas cannister hot plate. The analogue switch off is Very Bad News.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

[Not posted in a while so here's a rant about the analogue switch-off. Sorry.] Where I live, if the electricity goes off in bad weather (power cuts can last for a few days at a time due to storms) we also lose WiFi - which the mobile service is going to run off.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Sunday morning sky is looking a bit ominous.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Our village has a monthly film night and January was Brian and Charles, partly because it was shot locally. Not a genre I’d normally seek but it was lovely; weird but heartwarming. And North Wales looks stunning.

020

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Multiple subreddits are deciding to stop allowing links to X.com and Twitter.com. A gesture from their heart, you might say.

x.com

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

And this is the pipe which runs to Dolgarrog. Not exactly a small fix

Water pipe running across the mountain at Llyn Cowlyd

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Huge swathes of Conwy county are without water because of a burst pipe. Not at my house though- we are spring-fed. So my neighbour's Airbnb booked our washing machine for her Airbnb changeover. Businesses and schools shut as thousands lose water www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

Conwy water supply: Burst pipe cuts off thousands of homes

Crews are working on repairs, Welsh Water says, with work not expected to be finished until later.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

Oh the opportunities for cat/roomba content!

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

Haha, I love a good nominative determination!

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

A useful thing about TikTok's 'thoughts?' bubble is that Solo's permanent lack of them is revealed for all to see

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I've not but it sounds like a good read, thanks for the heads up

110

Reposted by Alison Gow

Suw @suw.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

"Lovely pictures, surprising and interesting facts, AND I'm improving my Cymraeg at the same time? Yes, please." - Sue B. Learning Welsh? Grab your copy of the Adar yr Ardd ebook now and learn about 12 garden birds before the @rspb.bsky.social's #biggardenbirdwatch!! £1.99 seidrpress.com

The cover of my ebook, which says:

Adar yr Ardd
Suw Charman-Anderson
Llyfr Bach ar gyfer Dysgwyr

An illustration of a male greater spotted woodpecker, which has been labelled in Welsh.

2128

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

It is a never-ending job, but sometimes you get to sit and just enjoy it

A Springer Spaniel sitting at the base of a large tree.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Now we need to stop the holly and bramble invasion that followed the larch felling, and planting native deciduous trees. And work out how to deal with increasing rainfall and soggy land.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

We also had to fell nearly 200 condemned larches; it felt like vandalism but in the end made a huge and positive difference woodland diversity.

100

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Watching Sandi Toksvig and wife Debs’s Ch4 show restoring their ancient woodland like 👁️👄👁️We’re wrestling similar challenges with our AW (I’d like their budget though).

200

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

A DIY question was posted on Reddit’s r/askuk with with this photo and the upstairs window situation has prompted questions.

Photo shows a partial porch, and a woman in the top right window.

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Pembrokeshire (and Emap!) economics, I imagine. I don’t know how any young journo manages London living today tbh.

010

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

That’s interesting! My starting salary as a weekly paper NCTJ apprentice in deepest West Wales in 1990 was £5k (£12,096 today according to the calculator). 2024 trainee regional (daily) j-salary is circa £19-21k. Not sure about weeklies.

110

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Please enjoy seven (7) seconds of my dog loving snow - even though it’s frozen solid.

030

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

I joined the Daily Post (aka North Wales Live) in 2013 and this branded mug has been a prized possession ever since. Today it developed a crack and has to be retired from coffee duties. No way is it being thrown out though.

180

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

A recent video of this orca just popped up on my feed and I *immediately* signed the petition to try and help free him chng.it/NjLbLqgYWz Videos of Kshamenk are bleak af; if you Google, be warned.

chng.it

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

Help Free Kshamenk

000

Alison Gow @alisongow.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Aw thank you 😊 It's made from trees in our garden!

010