iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Today looking up details to correctly cite a scholar I found she's also made some art. #DHMakes This is Interference Pattern II by Frances Rothwell Hughes. She started each square when she had time to embroider and stopped when interrupted by her newborn www.francesrothwellhughes.com/interference...

Detail of textile artwork, showing 6 by 4 squares. Each square shows the same pattern in different stages of completion, ranging from dashes, to diamonds, to a complex geometric pattern filling the entire square.

Framed textile artwork consisting of 4 rows of 25 squares. Each square contains a different number of embroidered stiches in black thread.

110754

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Are you able to share which book this is from?

100

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Sounds like the perfect day for the Topic Modelling Theme Song :) what-is-dh-the-album.netlify.app/vol-01/topic...

what-is-dh-the-album.netlify.app

Topic Modelling

A #DigitalHumanities song inspired by the Duck Tales theme song

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

@spil030.bsky.social were you ringing tonight? I just dropped a friend off at their hotel in the city and heard the bells.

100

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

For me it's 7am on Wednesdays for the same thing, though after daylight saving starts/finishes it will be a slightly more respectable 9am :)

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I've just watched your video and it looks like you might have been there about the same time as us! (My kids and I did wait in the line for the driver's cab) Loved the Geoff Marshall bin bag reference too :)

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

So sorry to hear this Quinn!

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The first appointment of a female officer of arms in ordinary in England, Caroline McWilliams, has recently been announced! (In 2022 Professor Anne Curry was appointed Arundel Herald Extraordinary but this position is not part of the College of Arms) www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/news-grants/...

college-of-arms.gov.uk

Bot Verification

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

I spy a "Book Trade Probate"-related chapter in this collection by @breanneweber.bsky.social!

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

An interesting read! Can confirm that prestige logics and Australasian mobility still exist :)

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This reminds me very much of the Taylorian Library at Oxford! (Spiral staircases very much there, but not shown in this photo)

Photograph of a two-storey wood-paneled library with a mezzanine gallery with iron railings. At ground level people are sitting working at tables.
Photo credit: John Cairns

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Undergraduates at Oxford still wear commoners gowns with the streamers, though the gowns are now jacket length rather than floor length.

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I was involved as an expert volunteer in the early part of this project. It is terrible to be at risk of losing your job at any time; I can't imagine what it's like to have it happen right as you reach the culmination of a multi-year project!

130

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Reader, I have had a mostly full packet of blank overhead transparencies in the side pocket of my bag for more than two decades for just such a moment. A quick test proved they were compatible with my laser printer. Obsolete media for the win!

Photograph of a green packet of Arkwright Plain OHP Transparency Films

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I was helping my son with his science fair project the other day, and one graph had multiple overlapping coloured bands which were hard to distinguish. If only we could print each graph on its own sheet and overlay them! Then I remembered...

100

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Interesting to read Madden's perspective on this. On the face of it, the reference is unexceptional: "for several examples of which I am indebted to one of the most able historians of the present day—Francis Madden, Esq." archive.org/details/sim_...

Extract from The Gentleman's Magazine, July 1826: "Before I conclude this letter, I beg also to notice a circumstance not, I believe, generally known respecting Edward the First, and for several examples of which I am indebted to one of the most able historians of the present day—Francis Madden, Esq. namely that the monarch is frequently styled by contemporary writers, Edward the Third, which is explained by their including the two Saxon Kings, Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor, in their list of English sovereigns."

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Today I learned that the Latinised form of Auckland (New Zealand) is Aucopolis, with the corresponding adjective Aucopolitanus, though in scientific names the form Aucklandensis seems to be used. The main use of Aucopolitanus seems to be in relation to the Catholic diocese thereof.

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Congratulations! Sounds like a great fit!

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

If one reads the arms as "a chevron between two wolves heads and in base a rose" then they match those used by a William Scott around 1513 on a seal in the Brechin charters according to archive.org/details/desc...

archive.org

Descriptive catalogue of impressions from ancient Scottish seals ... from A.D. 1054 to the commonwealth. Taken from original charters and other deeds preserved in public and private archives : Bannaty...

SCO

120

Reminds me a bit of the case of William Camden who was appointed Richmond Herald for one day before being made Clarenceux king of arms, back in 1597.

000

In more (& bigger) ceremonial news, James Peill has been appointed Garter King of Arms as of 1 July. Usually one would expect another of the kings of arms to move up in the event of a vacancy, or at least one of the more senior heralds; Peill was only promoted to Richmond Herald at the end of May!

100

In ceremonial news, I see from footage of the Order of the Thistle service that there is a new Usher of the Green Rod. According to the Edinburgh Gazette, Baroness Grainger, the first woman to hold this office, was appointed Lady Usher of the Green Rod on June 19 www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/5158393

thegazette.co.uk

000

I can't come in person, but I'm keen to join the transcribathon (assuming it's not in the middle of my night!)

A grant of arms by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, with some lovely calligraphy, and unusual particolored mantling #heraldry

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The pin on the map for the Bodleian is for the New Bodleian, which wasn't built till 1940 :)

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

I've just found a couple of new-to-me items relevant to my research! Thanks to all involved for their work

021

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Elements from the same MS were used in a grimoire in the "A Discovery of Witches" series a few years ago

030

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I would agree with this reasoning. There's also precedent for <author>Anonymous</author> in the TEI docs :) www.tei-c.org/release/doc/...

tei-c.org

TEI element author (author)

(or set of BibTeX files?) of vetted citations. And the responsibility for entering new citations devolved onto a grad student (me, I was the grad student). I had to go to the library & physically check the details against the print copy, then manually enter the citation according to our style guide

I did my PhD as part of a scientific collaboration a couple of decades ago, before citation managers were really a thing. Since everyone was an author on all papers there was a sort of collective responsibility for having correct citations. In practice this meant there was a homemade database...

100

Vivienne Gray: in memoriam – University of Auckland

The first time was when she filled in for my Greek lecturer. The second was on stage at my graduation, when I remember seeing her head come up as I was announced as senior scholar in both Greek and Latin. She was also a close friend of my high school Latin teacher. www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025...

auckland.ac.nz

Internationally renowned scholar Vivienne Gray, an Emeritus Professor of Classics, is farewelled by a colleague and several former students at the University of Auckland.

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

While looking up my alma mater today, I discovered that Vivienne Gray, Professor of Classics during my time there, died one year ago today. She was diagnosed with leukemia shortly after I started my degree; I can only remember seeing her twice in my four years in the department.

100

I've just discovered that a couple of Australian universities offer a BLitt or BPhil, and that AUT and Waikato offer an MPhil by research (unlike Auckland where it's for if you won't achieve a doctorate), so now there are a couple of other ways I could theoretically complete my academic bingo card!

Table with six rows:
First undergraduate degree: BA, BSc
Second undergraduate degree: BLitt, BPhil
Taught postgraduate: BA (Hons), BSc (Hons)
Masters degrees: MA, MSc, MLitt, MPhil
Research doctorate: PhD, DPhil
Higher doctorate: DSc, DLitt

The following degrees are coloured green to denote I have been awarded them: BA, BSc, MSc, MLitt, DPhil

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Nice intersection with the 19th century College of Arms, and some antiquarians I have encountered. Nicholas Harris Nicolas wrote histories of various orders of knighthood, and Philip Bliss (mentioned in the full entry) edited the third edition of Wood's 'Athenae Oxonienses'.

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

According to this ESPN article from 2016 it looks like it was indeed Great Skate, circa 1992. www.espn.com/espn/feature...

Extract from an article on NBA referee Bill Kennedy.
"When the eagerly awaited call came from the Continental Basketball Association in 1992, it wasn't without complication. The league, Kennedy says, played on Wednesdays and Saturdays in cities that were rarely nonstops from Phoenix. To make it work, Kennedy landed a day job managing a local roller rink run by a benefactor in his circle of junior college officials, Bob Seitsema, who had a certain appreciation for the demands of getting to La Crosse, Wisconsin, from Phoenix. And though Kennedy had already worked as a customer service rep for America West Airlines, a microfiche filer and a bank teller, none of them tapped his inner referee like Great Skate."

Tim Welch @tfwelch.com · 10/05/2026

Reposted by Philip Allfrey

Most transport maps show where infrastructure is. I wanted to show what that infrastructure actually lets people reach. I’ve been building the Auckland Transport Access Atlas: an interactive map of car dependency, accessibility, equity, and planner priorities across Auckland. ataa.tfwelch.com

55115

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

The character after tent is the -es/-is brevigraph, which fits your grammatical reading, and the reading in the other comment

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

17th C heraldic writer John Guillim switches from secretary hand for English to italic for writing Latin and occasionally for highlighting words or phrases. He seems to stick to secretary hand for French though.

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Have you come across the Endings Project? They're doing some interesting advocacy for digital sustainability to prevent exactly this sort of situation. endings.uvic.ca

endings.uvic.ca

The Endings Project: The Endings Project | Le projet Endings

Enabling Sustainable Digital Humanities Projects

130

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Interesting entry in the recently updated catalogue for the Court of Requests series at TNA: a wager between a gentleman and a publican about whose family and arms were older, as adjudged by Clarenceux and the heralds in 1637 (REQ 2/296/61). discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2...

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Nice! I took my boys (of a similar age) to the dawn service here in Auckland

Photograph of a cenotaph in the middle of an empty paved area lined with people. Military personnel are marching in to take up their positions for a ceremony. The sky is black as this is before dawn; the area is illuminated by electric lights.

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Since this is getting some interest, I will point out the 18th century manuscript mentioned was digitised a few weeks ago, and is now available online (this information doesn't seem to have made it into the @folger.edu 's catalogue yet) digitalcollections.folger.edu/bib366996-51...

digitalcollections.folger.edu

Verifying Connection

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Yes, New Zealand, in the 80s

000

Philip Allfrey @drpda.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Interesting to see i and j being considered the same letter for the purposes of this "move down by one letter" code