richard m davis
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onothimagain.bsky.social
richard m davis
@onothimagain.bsky.social
for it is he. in liverpool most days doing technology for digital libraries, archives, scholarship and e-learning so you don't have to.

Previously at https://twitter.com/onothimagen
MSDOS < *nix
Windows < Mac
NetBEUI < TCP/IP
VB < Delphi
MSN < WWW
Windows Mobile < Android
CoPilot < ChatGPT
\ < /

When wasn't the M$ ecosystem a pale (and costly) imitation of something better?
November 14, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Lovely to hear @jfwinters.bsky.social talking about the future of history on the History Extra podcast 😍
October 29, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Lovely surprise to hear @sianbayne.bsky.social on the radio today!

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Universities Challenged - Is it worth it? - BBC Sounds
With all the problems facing universities, is it still worth getting a degree?
www.bbc.co.uk
September 23, 2025 at 11:17 AM
In a world where over the years I've picked hundreds, if not thousands, of pens at conferences and exhibitions, how come I can never find one that works around the house?
September 11, 2025 at 10:30 AM
They never should have left Constable Savage alone with the AI 🤣
August 16, 2025 at 9:35 AM
An old favourite
August 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
When sending a form back by email isn't acceptable, but printing it and emailing a scan is...

lookscanned.io/en/scan
Look Scanned
Look Scanned is a pure frontend site that makes your PDFs look scanned! No need for printers and scanners anymore - everything you need to do is just a few clicks.
lookscanned.io
August 7, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Fascinating snafu, also afflicted me when I made the first edition of my Practical Blog Preservation book on Lulu.com - the fis were visible in my PDF but they left blank space in print. Lulu kindly fixed it and reprinted
April 28, 2025 at 9:10 AM
"It is hard to see the other side of the elephant unless you are on top of it.”

The Tao of Thomas Frank
April 6, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I used to plough thru novels on my 45 minute train journey to work , and I think we can best support today's students by ensuring as many books and learning resources as possible are fully and easily accessible on smartphones. Well-produced podcasts and open ebooks are a good start
This week on Wonkhe: Emma Maslin considers the positives of the commuter student experience.
Reframing the commute
Emma Maslin considers the positives of the commuter student experience.
buff.ly
March 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by richard m davis
This week on Wonkhe: Emma Maslin considers the positives of the commuter student experience.
Reframing the commute
Emma Maslin considers the positives of the commuter student experience.
buff.ly
March 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Two decades on and PDF is still "a hamburger we’re trying to turn back into a cow" (@petermurrayrust.bsky.social, 2008)

arstechnica.com/ai/2025/03/w...
Why extracting data from PDFs is still a nightmare for data experts
Countless digital documents hold valuable info, and the AI industry is attempting to set it free.
arstechnica.com
March 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Eddie enjoyed looking round the Once Upon A Page children's book exhibition at @ljmulibrary.bsky.social
March 20, 2025 at 8:02 PM
At the time I never explicitly thought of it as a "bespoke TEI XML interface which renders a detailed knowledge of XML unnecessary", but I guess that's what it is!
March 12, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Surprised I don't hear more about simplenote.com, the formatting is superb and links easily shared, and with Markdown too I reckon you could make a passable website or newsletter or ebook quite easily
Simplenote
The simplest way to keep notes. Light, clean, and free. Simplenote is now available for iOS, Android, Mac, and the web.
simplenote.com
March 12, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Château Jisc hasn't got any better over the years!
Grab yourself a drink #Digifest25, you've earned it! See you bright and early tomorrow morning.
March 12, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Couldn't help feeling an affinity between the FP narrative style of the OpenAI metafiction and @annleckie.com's Ancillary Justice protagonist(s)!

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
‘A machine-shaped hand’: Read a story from OpenAI’s new creative writing model
Posting the piece online, OpenAI’s Sam Altman said this is the first time he has been “really struck” by AI writing
www.theguardian.com
March 12, 2025 at 11:02 PM
The future of idle curiosity about the kinds of things they say. Unbelievable power. But as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility 🕷️

chatgpt.com/share/67c5ff...
ChatGPT - UK Govt Spending Trends
Shared via ChatGPT
chatgpt.com
March 3, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Having had the privilege of working with the collections of the @linneansociety.bsky.social I'm looking forward to this!
Check of the details of The South Liverpool Herbarium Exhibition at the Unity Theatre on 27th February, 6-8pm.
February 13, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by richard m davis
It's a neat way to stumble upon interesting information randomly, learn new things, and spend spare moments of boredom without reaching for an algorithmically addictive social media app.
Developer creates endless Wikipedia feed to fight algorithm addiction
WikiTok cures boredom in spare moments with wholesome swipe-up Wikipedia article discovery.
arstechnica.com
February 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I'm not convinced newsletters are better than blogs, unless you want to monetise your content, but I might check these out sometime....

www.wired.com/story/best-s...
The Best Substack Alternatives
These three alternatives to the newsletter platform offer just as many—if not more—features, and can be easier on your wallet.
www.wired.com
January 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by richard m davis
NEW: Where the teens are
YouTube 90%
TikTok 63%
Instagram 61%
Snapchat 55%
Facebook 32% (down from 71%)
WhatsApp 23%
X 17% (down from 33%)
Reddit 14%
Threads 6%
report: www.pewresearch.org/internet/202...
December 12, 2024 at 6:51 PM