iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Darth Putin @darthputinkgb.bsky.social · 14h

If you want to know what Donald will say today, read what the Kremlin said yesterday.

29685188

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

If only I could look so cute when I panic!

110

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The sweetest smack that ever was. Violet has a superb hairstyle.

110

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I love the ring of Brodgar! ♥️ I first went in 2020 and it was "closed" because of Covid. However, the stones are so enormous that being forced to walk around them at a distance of about 10m doesn't really prevent you from seeing them and enjoying them. 🙂 I went again in 2023.

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I thought that the current pope was known to have studied mathematics, so he might well know something about statistical calculations, and have some understanding of AI.

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Would Ms Braverman let me claim to be English? Following her logic, I am probably not. Or would she allow me to claim that I am English despite the missing generational ties because I am white and blend in? Or would she insist on describing me as "Antipodean British"?

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

What do we do about the missing "generational ties" of my parents? What about my mixture of different British ancestors? I suggest that those factors are irrelevant. I was born in England, and I lived most of my life in England.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

So, by Ms Braverman's reckoning, I am some kind of British (as she is). But am I English? Well, I am not Scottish, much as I love Scotland. I am not Welsh, even though my last name looks Welsh. I have never been to Northern Ireland. By elimination, we arrive at English. And that seems right to me.

110

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

On forms where there are questions about my ethnicity, I tick "White British" because it seems to be most appropriate whether you consider either my own birth or look back to my ancestors about 200 years ago. In between was much wandering of the globe!

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My mother's side includes some Irish ancestors, but at that time Ireland was not independent of the UK. On my father's side it includes some Scots. My ancestry is very much from the British Isles.

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My parents were part of a colonisation of NZ. They were born in NZ, and their parents were born in NZ, but we only have to go back as far as my great-grandparents to find one who was born in England. He was from Loughborough, I was told.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The whole story raises some questions. Firstly, where am I "from"? UK? NZ? Australia? There are a lot of people in the UK who claim to think that being born to immigrants (as I was) is not sufficient to be British. Though I bet many of them would not think about it if they met me.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Thirty years later, my accent has changed considerably again and lots of people are surprised to hear I am (also) Australian.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

In the mid-90s I moved back to the UK for a job at Oxford University. By then, my Britishness was not at all obvious. I had a strong Australian accent and most colleagues treated me as an Aussie and were surprised to find that I had a British passport.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

When I needed my own passport, I got a British one. Later, I decided that I should become an Australian citizen. Then, I thought of myself as a dual citizen, but I was probably a triple citizen. I had probably been a dual citizen from birth. A few years later I got an Australian passport.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Later that year we moved to Australia. I went to primary school there and I was definitely considered English due to my accent. By the time I got to high school in Australia people probably didn't think of me as English any more. My accent had changed. I still thought of myself as English.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I did not have my own passport, instead I was written in to my mother's passport, as was common at the time. That meant I was travelling on a New Zealand passport. When I was a child we moved to New Zealand. I was probably considered English there because of my accent.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I was born in the UK at a time when being born here was sufficient to make me British. I never heard any doubt over my Britishness as a child, living here and attending school in England.

100

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This kind of thing from Ms Braverman makes me extremely uncomfortable. She tries to dress it up as logical, but how would she apply her "logic" to me? My parents came to the UK from NZ when travel from commonwealth countries was simple.

210

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I have had several and seem to manage to doze off most times. Not helpful really as I get a surprise when the next instruction comes. I hope you get some helpful answers. 🤞

110

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My dad had an orange capri in the late 70s. It had a black vinyl roof, a cassette player, and retractable seat belts (in the front only, of course). It felt very modern at the time. This brings back memories!

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Weird though how the Danes used to control part of Great Britain. Also how the King of England also ruled Normandy. Strange to think of those connections and more with Europe when we were out in the Atlantic

001

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Tomorrow the "International Security Expo" starts in London, Olympia. I went last year for work. Border Force had a large stand there showing all the ingenious methods they have discovered people using to try to smuggle goods in. I imagine state-sponsored agents would have something at least as good

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

It sounds as though the items are in the ice, not on the ground under it.

131

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I am watching from the beginning because I had heard of them but never watched any of them. One of the benefits of everything being available to stream now is that I am able to do that. We have watched as far as 35up. I find myself feeling quite emotional when some of them talk of losing parents.

010

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

"Dear Diary, I'm still furious about Burnham's plan to tackle disinformation. Doesn't he know that one man's disinformation is another man's essential stream of bollocks and lies to spread hatred and division in order to fuel his rise to power?"

281604435

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Yes! I also dislike it if I go to a (chain) restaurant and everyone else gets a hard copy menu but I have to scan a QR code to get an online version where I can apply a filter. I especially dislike it if the online version includes meals that are not available that night at the premises I am at!

010

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I agree. Many people also forget that the benefits system and total spending includes pensions. The people who receive pensions were workers once, and taxpayers. One of our kids received disability living allowance for some years. Our own earnings and taxes didn't change at all because of that.

000

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

You have a wonderful imagination! 😍

120

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

All those tiny little lives leaving traces for eons.

010

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Just because I strongly oppose any measure to tackle Russian misinformation, doesn’t mean I’m on Russia's side. In unrelated news, one of the few times I bothered turning up for work as an MEP was to vote AGAINST measures to tackle the spread of Russian misinformation...

281104337

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

How old is the road? I wonder if it is old enough that there were some excavation works by archeologists first.

120

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I saw Rose Tattoo in Sydney in about 1993.

000

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Duchess Gemma 🐠🕷️🇪🇺 @gemmagould.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Right fuck this. I have reported Danny Tommo’s YouTube video and I implore others to do the same. They are platforming a man who live streamed himself essentially committing a crime and he will be making money off of it as well. Please please report the video www.youtube.com/live/lkeZbk8...

84566250

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Yeah, what happened to all the plastic bags in the hedges and bottles along the roadsides? Where are the forgotten roadworks signs and associated sandbags? Why don't the streets have white spray-paint markings around potholes waiting to be fixed? I don't see any broken vapes in the gutters.

010

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Yes, "foss" is waterfall. Storfossen means "the big waterfall" . In parts of northern England "foss" has become "force" over the centuries so there are waterfalls which have "force" in their name.

120

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Poor old Hadrian. It's his wall, but Julius Caesar is stealing all the credit and glory.

110

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026

Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.

5953728213400

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Those onyx features in the pedestal are fabulous!

010

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I was given it in hospital immediately after my liver surgery to get me through the first night.

110

Rebecca Gower @drrebeccagower.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Even the name is ridiculous! When I sit, my body and half the length of my legs are still vertical. I have great trouble swallowing food or liquids if my head and neck are not roughly vertical. Why don't they just say standing?

010

Reposted by Rebecca Gower

Ilikecaketoo (UK) @ilikecaketoo.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Disgraceful that the RNLI have to say this today, but here we are 😞. If you would like to donate👇🏻. rnli.org/support-us/g... #RNLI #RNLISavesLives

621934870