iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I love this, and not just for the phrase "AI’s greasy little fluent voice" - www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

AI, we’re told, will make learning more efficient. But is that what we dream of for our kids – an efficient childhood? To write an efficient story, sing an efficient song? An adequate teacher is not only teaching about Henry VIII; they’re teaching your child how to read a human character. A good teacher is showing them how to shape an argument, how to command an audience, how to tell jokes, how to pass on knowledge. A great teacher is showing your child what it is to love. They are teaching your child how to be human. A computer will only teach your child how to be a computer.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Faintly threatening message on my tea this morning.

Pink teabag tag that says "What are you paying attention to? It's growing."

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Economist main character syndrome needs to stop. We have the brain covered! We have psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience! We don't need you! It's not at all extraordinary that you haven't been involved! www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Economists at Claremont Graduate University, in California, and Wuhan University, in Hubei, China, explored people’s conscious thoughts after finding a surprising dearth of work on the topic. “So much of what it means to be human is about what’s going on in our head,” said Dr Joshua Tasoff, a senior author on the study. “The fact that we haven’t really looked at that as economists is really quite extraordinary.”

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Finally cool enough to be outside AND to have a hot cup of tea. Bliss.

Night time. Cup of tea resting on silver food waste bin (empty, by the way) in the foreground - further back is a wooden bench, a planter full of tomatoes, various pots and a patio leading to a garden.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

I get emails from our local policing team, and they let Neighbourhood Watch send an update every month. This was the latest one. I have no words.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Morning all! Today I'm bringing the energy of this hero on the Lidl magazine carrying a room-sized slice of cheese like a yoga mat

Lidl weekly magazine 31 Dec to 7 Jan 2026 shows a man on the cover carrying a giant slice of cheese rolled up like a yoga mat

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Absolutely grim, but has reminded me of this, er, bargain from FB Marketplace a few days ago:

Screenshot from Facebook Marketplace showing 17 tiny Le Creuset casserole dishes in various shades of blue, selling for £330 and listed on Sunday in Richmond, Surrey

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

When your shop is closing and every customer has the same three questions

Two signs on a shop till. The first says 'This TG Jones shop is closing down. We are the ONLY TG Jones shop that's closing - all other TG Jones will remain open (and then some illegible)'. The second says 'We don't know what will be here. We don't have any Pokémon.'

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

I'm getting some colleagues saying they refuse to vote in the UCU ballot for industrial action as the union hasn't helped them. Well, it's your life and if you don't want us to take action that's your right. But only do that if you genuinely want the union to do less!

Meme where someone puts a stick in their own bike wheel. They cycle along thinking, "I don't feel the union is helping me". Then they put a stick in their front wheel, saying "I'm going to boycott their stupid ballot!" Then they're on the ground having fallen off, saying "Oh no, they don't have the mandate to help me".

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

My view this morning. Planning a walk and hoping it won't turn into a swim. Still better than going to work.

View of a river with rocky ledge and bridge going over it - raindrops on the windows and trees around the banks looking windswept

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Made beetroot, carrot and ginger soup, for cosy season (and also 'three minutes in the microwave for a warming delicious lunch' season). 🫜🥕🫚

Bowl with red/pink soup inside, with a blob of yoghurt on the top

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

This is Leo, my colleague for today. He doesn't send pointless emails, but he does sometimes snore during meetings. We give him special dispensation for that, as he's cute.

Small off-white fluffy dog sleeps on a blue and green checked blanket with a red owl cushion and brown/green spot cushion in the background, all on a beige sofa

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Three kinds of tomatoes from the garden, on their way to be delicious fresh tomato and mozzarella pasta. With some bonus chard.

Saucepan with chard and garlic cooking alongside small yellow, dark red and striped green tomatoes

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

This is the worst, I'm so sorry! Hopefully it was mainly at home and not while on holiday? I got noro after Florence and it was NOT fun. This week I made fancy cardamom buns and found some interesting caterpillars on my houseplant...

Black and yellow furry caterpillar on Pilea plant

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Spent a day of annual leave making cardamom buns. Faffy, but hopefully worth it.

Two trays of 6 uncooked twisty cardamom buns

Close up of a knotted cardamom bun on a metal tray, brown, glossy and covered in pearl sugar

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Answers for best analogy on a postcard, lads! I'm going with "Universities call in butchers to stave off meat" as a starter

Screenshot of a Sunday Times headline that says "Universities call in consultants to stave off collapse"

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Had a mildly stressful cycle today with some of the worst "cycle lanes" that just tip you out onto the road randomly - but also, a caramel pecan brownie that made up for all of them. Swings and roundabouts.

Short milky coffee with heart shaped latte art, and big chocolate brownie with nuts on top, and glass of water just visible, on wooden table

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Bringing Tallulah energy into 2025. Snacks and naps.

Grey and white Boston terrier with big ears stands on her hind legs with front paws on chair. On said chair a man is sitting with a pint of beer and some crisps.

Boston terrier with big ears and grey eye patch wearing chunky teal knitted jumper lying on a sofa on her side between two people.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Honestly, you can't beat a morning commute that goes past a great big castle.

Photo taken from a moving train. In the foreground are some houses and miscellaneous buildings. Beyond them is a square castle with a flag flying from one of its four turreted corners.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Decided it was time to put up the decorations, as I have a busy week with three days of campus working next week and I'll need all the cheer I can get when I collapse on the sofa at the end of the day...

Christmas wreath with orange slices, evergreens, blond sprigs and light brown sprigs, on a front door.

Christmas tree with multicoloured lights in front of a wooden bookcase and a bureau that has a glass decanter on it.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Florence by night. I have walked miles, eaten half a cow and an affogato. Things are good.

View down the river at night in Florence, historic Italian buildings and a historic looking bridge lit up

Night-time view of one bank of the river in Florence with light coming from it, the building has arches along the riverbank and this is reflected on the water

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Interesting from the OfS chair about universities and competition. Would be nice to recognise they've been explicitly encouraged to compete with one another - but also, is competition really *regional*? www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Sir David Behan, the OfS chair, said universities would need to collaborate more, such as not duplicating courses taught at nearby institutions.

“It doesn’t make sense for universities in the same city – or the same region – to compete in terms of the courses being offered,” Behan told the BBC.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Had such a fun session today playing the Biscuit Game (writing assessment criteria for biscuits as a way to explore assessment, rubrics & marking). It was 2.5 hours though and I'm now a husk.

Three clear plastic bags with assorted biscuits in such as fruit shortcakes, Jaffa cakes, custard creams and chocolate hobnobs

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

Made bread. Ate bread (with sardine paste and roasted tomatoes).

Homemade loaf of white bread which is round and relatively tall, sitting on a wooden chopping board

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 02/11/2024

Saturday paws from a cat who is not mine, but graces me with his presence sometimes.

Tabby cat lying on an armchair with his feet towards the camera, tucked up in a cut way at the back so you can see the pads and with one front paw forward. Behind him is an owl cushion.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 18/09/2024

Report on the radio today said that the UK is in a butterfly crisis. Proud (/infuriated) that my broccoli is doing its bit by becoming a caterpillar breeding farm.

Photo of broccoli stem with leaves all entirely eaten away and about 8 green caterpillars clustered together on it

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 01/05/2024

Morning! Off to campus today and sad that I'm no longer in the Lake District walking by a river in the sunshine, as I was on Sunday.

Heron standing in river with steep grassy banks, sun glistening on the water.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Morning! Today I turned sourdough discard into a sort of pikelet (flat crumpet) with only sugar and baking soda. Feels like magic. Recipe at www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sour...

Frying pan on an induction hob, containing a bubbling cream-coloured batter.

Pancake-like round thing on a plate, with bubbles in the top. Jam, cheese and butter are just visible in the background on the wooden table.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

Er, no, I don't think I will, actually

Google Docs spelling and grammar check screenshot, suggests changing '2021' to '2012'.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 19/12/2023

Woohoo!! Have a brilliant break 😀🍻🎄

Ginger and white cat in a tree messing with the decorations

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/12/2023

The prompt for this - because it kept generating dogs - was 'a human shepherd holding a shepherd's crook and wearing cat ears, surrounded by cats'. I asked it to exclude 'dogs'.

Figure with a human body and dog head, with random fluffy things sticking out of its head, holding a walking stick that also has fluff on, with some cats next to it

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 18/11/2023

My last few months (/entire lifetime) with the NHS in a meme:

Drake meme: Drake hates treating a health problem, loves "Let's just wait and see if it resolves itself"

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 15/11/2023

Agreed, though the Horizon learner list export icon is strong competition. See if you can find it...

Screenshot of screen in Oracle which has search boxes for Name, Person Keyword, Assignment status and Initiative name, a search button, then arranged along the botton are options including View, Format, Add Learners and Change Status - and between 'format' and 'add learners' sits a TINY export icon that is about a third of the size of 'format'.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 10/11/2023

Christ Church College, Oxford has an endowment of £770 million pounds, and around 700 students. They want a lecturer for £22k. (Maybe it's not really full time! Then do a fraction and pro rata like those of us plebs who have to educate 20,000 students using the fees they pay...)

Jobs.ac.uk advert for Stipendiary Lecturership in English
University of Oxford - Christ Church College
Location: Oxford
Salary: £20,325 to £22,644 per annum
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Placed On: 9th November 2023
Closes: 24th November 2023
Apply button

"Christ Church invites applications for a 1-year fixed-term Stipendiary Lecturership in English commencing 1st January 2024. This is a temporary position to fulfil a current teaching need arising from Dr Nickerson’s maternity leave, therefore, the appointment carries with it no expectation of permanent employment at Christ Church."

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 06/11/2023

I don't know why I'm surprised, given the file is also a .doc ...

Chris O'Dowd (Roy from The IT Crowd) sits at a desk with lots of junk in the background and says into a landline telephone 'I'm sorry, are you from the past?'

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 24/10/2023

When you are a serious scientist who does serious science (why can't we qualitative researchers be more like these robust folks eh)

Research Policy, 53.1, Vice-chancellor narcissism and university performance

We measure VC narcissism based on the size of the signature, in line with a methodological

Some of the signatures in the university annual reports may be electronic and therefore adjusted for size. In order to address this issue, we create an electronic signature dummy that equals one if the signature does not overlap the printed name on the document and re

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 15/10/2023

CW: misogyny, body shaming, shitty men You fucking WHAT (source: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...)

(Screenshot from Guardian website) The question: I am married with children. My wife and I are both of Muslim faith and in our early 40s. My wife has never been particularly interested in the way she looks and has never made much effort with her physical appearance – despite being naturally beautiful.

Over the past few years in particular, I have found this increasingly hard to come to terms with. She has not lost her excess birth weight (it’s been years) and her hair is vanishingly thin. If she had some concern about this I would be less stressed, however, she just isn’t bothered in the slightest.

Separate to this, but related, is her increasing religious devotion. She started covering her head a few years ago. I am opposed to this. I relented at the time, on the condition that she improve her physical condition. I know this makes me sound terrible and superficial, but no improvements have happened.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 08/10/2023

Got myself out into nature on this glorious day. It's looking pretty nice.

Bush on the other side of a river with leaves that are green and red, with varying stages in between

Cyclamens (small pink flowers) among green leaves on the ground

Tree with purple-red leaves, with green trees in the background

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

We are being governed by populists who pander to the very lowest level of voter. I truly hope this is just speculation, but you never know with this lot. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Sunak is also expected to cite concerns about so-called 15-minute cities, an urban planning concept based around having shops and workplaces near homes, which some protesters claim is a UN-led conspiracy to limit people’s ability to travel.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 02/09/2023

Finished tiles! Love my new hallway.

Victorian style patterned tiles (diamonds and squares style) with blue squares, black, white and brown triangles and beige squares, in a hallway with white walls and a brown door

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 22/08/2023

The tomatoes are finally on board with summer.

Glass bowl on a kitchen counter with around 14 tomatoes in of varying different shapes, sizes and shades of red.

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Emma Kennedy @emmakeddev.bsky.social · 19/08/2023

I appreciate that this is an accurate reflection of the context, but to even UK eyes it feels barbaric to suggest that 6 weeks of maternity leave is luxurious (source: slate.com/business/2023/08/fiance-h…)

Screenshot saying " middle-class money. (Your expectations are also very middle class: Two weeks of maternity leave is the norm at a lot of companies, and you’re thinking more along the lines of six to 12.)"

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