iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

I feel that Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class lends itself to some Scarrification. It's not as pithy as Marx, however.

Scene from Richard Scarry where a goat is putting his money in the bank. The caption reads "Private wealth is not a safe ground of reputability unless it is patent to the senses and makes a showing in consumption."

Scene from a Richard Scarry book where the goat s throwing money at a tailor for his expensive suit. Caption: "Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure."

Scene from Richard Scarry where four foxes are playing cards. Caption: "The gambling propensity is a direct psychic survival from the predatory stage of culture. The chance to win by gambling is a chance to win what someone else has lost, through a contest of skill or luck."

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

This year's April Fools: UCL 200 bicentennial coffee rationing.

In the email I said you now needed to tap your ID card to obtain coffee. Here we see the display shows the HoD Department is almost out of his allocation of 200 servings.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Sudden realisation that my role within the Department may be that of the licensed fool: "...a skilled performer who deliberately entertained through comedy, satire, music, juggling, and storytelling. These jesters were highly intelligent and could use sharp […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

Poster from a Xmas party from a while back, inspired by the TV show Severance. In the centre a hand holds a green laminated card with UCLCS Festive Music Experience (choose one). In the corner, a photo from the scene where two employees dance in a barren office, digitally embellished with Xmas decorations.
Graphic design is my passion.

Title card from the Computer Science Professional Services Social Quiz, based on the 80's edition of the BBC quiz show Blankety Blank. My head replaced Terry Wogan's.

Slide from last year's Departmental Away Day Quiz which included a round of "Famous Daniels" as we had a new Head of Department. The background image is the posted from "Being John Malkovich" where lots of people hold up a mask. However now the face on the mask is our new HoD.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Oh wow. Daytime disco at Outernet was awesome. Cocktails early afternoon, dancing from 3-8pm, and now a civilised dinner before bed. I love being middle aged.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 11/09/2026

Inspired by @daveybot and @DJDarren We should pay more attention to what's around us and how we relate to buildings, otherwise developers can get away with discombobulating monstrosities. Or we miss deeper meanings in the form. I was going to post these on […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

Around the edge of the reflecting pool, the names of victims are engraved or cut out in the border, deep enough that someone placed a white rose in this one I spotted. Slight vignette, the new WTC building out of focus in the background.

Looking up at the new WTC building from the front. It's tapered on all 4 sides so that the visible lines of the building taper off to infinity.

The reflecting pools are in the vast footprints of the towers, with water spiling down from the edge, into the pool. This in turn empties into a deeper dark square that was the core, positioned so that we can't actually see the bottom.

There were lots of ceremonies on the day, and I happened to snap this NYPD officer holding the US flag, with his white gloves. The trees in the background from the memorial part around show the warm may sunlight. It was a very hot day with huge queues and we were lucky to get in.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2026

I had to check that Zuckerberg's Irish castle wasn't the same one used in the movie High Spirits, a comedy in which a wealthy American buys a haunted irish castle and loses his wife to sexy ghost Liam Neeson. Watch out Priscilla!

Beverly D'Angelo and Liam Neeson in High Spirits (1988). A very young Liam Neeson, dressed in a vintage Jacobean white blouse and waistcoat, with period sideburns to match, leans against a stone wall, likely trying to seduce contemporary styled Beverly D'Angelo, who looks kinda taken by the approach.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

#Hivemind please help me identify this 90s #House banger which someone has mixed in with Cha Cha Slide. I'm sure it was on a compilation in 97 or 98 but cannot lock it down. @DJDarren You're a musical wizard, right?

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

Asking because I always love these kinds of photos, just shots of the people against the landscape. Like this one I took from the car in #NewYork about 10 years ago: I'd like to do more, but want to do it the right way. 2/2

Photo of a man with a briefcase crossing a road in Manhattan. In the distance, the setting sun is visible.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026

#Photography question. I spotted an artefact yesterday on the way home, this tiny beam of sunlight focused reflecting on the hoardings. Took some snaps to capture someone in the beam as they passed, and this was the best result. (yeah, it was the phone, so not […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

Photo of a woman on a Forest bike passing a hoarding on the other side of the road. A bright beam of light is reflecting on the hoarding and she passes through it. I could possibly do something with the levels to enhance that contrast, but that's for another day.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 27/05/2026

Day trip to #Calais and was fascinated by the posters made during the German occupation in #WW2. Some are quite chilling and tell a story of the banality of martial law. I'm wondering what the reason is behind the diverse gorgeous #typefaces used for each […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

Chilling notice to the citizens of Calais, in German and French. All citizens had to give up their firearms to the Mayor, effectively immediately. To emphasise the severity, for every German soldier killed, ten citizens would be shot.

Notice of occupation and offences punishable by death. Each line seems to be in a different font, some of them quite fancy and slightly incongruous given the subject.

A fancy font, with the words sabotage, d'armes and prisonniers.

Another section of the poster with yet more fonts, possibly 6.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 24/05/2026

@pikesley YES! Another aspect of the culture that just seems to have disappeared from collective memory.

A blocky cartoon head and shoulders shot of a smiling man in a blue suit with a yellow face. This was Bamber Boozle, Teletext and quiz master. Red text above says Bamboozle.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 21/05/2026

Don't think we need this BS on campus thanks very much. With a edgy terf whiteboard to draw the punters in.

A white gazebo set up in the street proclaiming Turning Point UK. A whiteboard makes an edgy "Men don't belong in women's spaces" statement , and another sign tells passers-by that their disapproving looks are being filmed for the gram.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 08/12/2025

Day 5 of #Dadvent, belated for reasons that will come in a later post. Today was #SpotifyWrapped, and only mildly surprised to see that Litany was my top artist. A new discovery this year, but great fun. So here's her take on the #DieHard debate […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 01/12/2025

Architecture and modelling fans, just one week left of this free exhibit at The Building Centre, near Goodge St. Also a section about how sketching is used to plan designs. Nice to see if you're passing or on a lunchtime walk.

Several models and masterplans, some about the size of an apples some over a 1m tall in perspex cabinets. In the background, the letters "m a k e" in red

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 19/11/2025

Hard to see, but yes, it is time. #UKSnow 1/10

Midland Grand Hotel taken from the abeitish library, a grand red brick gothic cathedral that forms part of St Pancras station. There are a few white flecks visible falling from a wet grey sky.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 13/11/2025

Great night out yesterday to see #Litany, and artist I stumbled across only a few months back. Tiny local venue, a sold out end to her first album, "Sadgirl". Funky #indiepop with snappy lyrics, so much heart in her songs. Think she's got close to the big […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 06/11/2025

Via an artistic redditor: Love #Yorkshire? Hate the fash? Then enjoy these flags, based on the monument to the Weiße Rose anti-fascist group, located in Munich. www.reddit.com/r/yorkshire/comments…

A stylised version of the Yorkshire flag, a white rose set against a blue background. But the elements of the rose are shaped like the leaflets of the Weiße Rose monument in Munich. This version has black and red diagonal stripes going from bottom left to top right behind the rose.

The Weiße Rose monument in Munich. Around the light grey blocks scattered to look like leaflets, some folderd, are standard dark cube paving blocks in a fan pattern. Unknown scale but the blocks look like common granite pavements as seen in many European cities.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2025

And in compensation so I'd like to share with you two Artists I met yesterday at the Welsh Club, London, part of Bloomsbury Festival. James Drew at PreseliGate.com does gorgeous landscape photography, and focus pieces on interesting textures. Ben of […] [Original post on mastodon.me.uk]

Photo of a stained glass window set in a stone wall, which includes angels carrying a shield of Henry II. On the left side of the photo, the coloured sunlight streams through onto a rought whitewashed wall. It's a simple photo that perfectly captures a magical moment. (Photo by James Drew of https://preseligate.com/)

Photo of an iron ring, set in what must be a harbour wall as everything is covered in tiny barnacles. The image may have been manipulated slightly to enhance the colour differences of the stones, rings and the textures imparted by the barnacles.
Photo by James Drew of PreseliGate https://preseligate.com/

Several framed pictures by BAD Cubed (Ben), best described as mosaics made from coloured pieces cut from drinks cans. In the foreground, a bee in a yellow frame, made from yellow, black and silver pieces of metal. In the background, Butterflies, Ox skulls, Dragons.

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Dave T-W @davoloid.mastodon.me.uk.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2025

#Camden council need to do something about this. Forest and Lime blocking pavement at Malet Street.

Lime bikes blocking the pavement right at a zebra crossing

A row of about 50 forest bikes blocking the pavement on Malet Street.

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