First mucking about session on the synths for a while. Not wishing to alarm anyone, but the original came out 33 years ago. #Behringer #Novation #Shamen

It has been a while since I added to my Wipers Times Expose, but I have recently identified the Private who actually discovered the printing press in the first place. robertstjohnsmith.com/post/2026-07... #WW1 #FWW #SherwoodForesters #WipersTimes

The Wipers Times Exposé: Jack Johnson, the Private Who Discovered the Press

The Private who discovered the printing press.

robertstjohnsmith.com

Whoever decided to hide the name and date of the paper you are looking at behind a button deserves to be shot. Bad UI overall, and the number of clicks needed is ridiculous #BritishNewspaperArchive

Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · 2w ago

Fellow historians: I regret to inform you that the fabulous British Newspaper Archive has changed its website and search facility. It is now impossible to find anything... (I suppose we'll get the hang of it eventually, as the dinosaur said of the asteroid).

It has taken the best part of two years, but I have finally reached the end of reading through 75,425 newspaper articles containing the phrase 'Tommy Atkins,' now reduced to a pool of 4,977 articles relevant to my PhD thesis. 1/3

This is the first #poetry book I have actually gone out of my way to track down. In a time of #byron and #keats there was also ….. Barry. The kid has certainly got rhythm - if not much else ! #forgottenpoets

Packing up the #synths today, to take them on a field trip

I bought this more for the author than the subject. This was written by Henry Cecil Hall, brother of Dorothy Violet Hall, the only female writer on the #fww #wiperstimes . Additionally, I love it when books have annotations, any know who John James Charles was ? #histbookchat #Nottingham

Chipping away at the old #PhD and I've come up with a new word I'd like to introduce to the English language: 'Normalance' — a more efficient way of saying 'a semblance of normality'. Who do I submit my proposal to? #PhDLife #OED #Dictionary #EnglishLanguage

My pinned post covers the origin of #TommyAtkins, but for this week's #HistBookChat: This book is the origin of the phrase #TomAndJerry, dating from 1821 — originally a novel, later a play. #CartoonHistory #ww1 #ww2 #etymology

Ankle is still fractured, so it seems rude not to do another animation #toonsquid

New to my collection: a children's book on the British Soldier from the 1920s, both similar and at the same time different (Tanks for a starter) from books written before the #FWW #HistBookChat

Day god knows what with the #fracturedAnkle - still bored! #toonsquid #terminator

And so the saga continues

Really need to snap out of this and get back on the #phd front, but hey-ho! Ankle still broken, so here’s another animation #toonsquid #titantic

On the plus side, no more cast. Summer is set to be a barrel of laughs

Day 11 with the fractured ankle and trapped in a world of procrastination.

Day 10 with the fractured ankle

Day 9 of fractured ankle

Day 8 of a fractured ankle and I forgot there is Velcro on the back of my Circuit Tracks, so it is now stuck. What have you achieved today ? #SynthLife

Took an unexpected ‘trip’ last week and was rewarded with a ridiculous sized plastercast. I am now officially this bored.

Interesting argument that can be applied to a lot of areas. Worth a read (not a buy though) .

It's an entire drama in a paragraph. From the Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland 12 February 1902 #SouthAfricanWar #TommyAtkins #1900s

Still figuring this all out, but making progress — 27 bars to be precise. And yes, I should have turned the volume up on the UB-1 a bit more, but that's something to look forward to for next time. #DepecheMode #Behringer #Novation #Synthlife #Synthesizer

I have finally reached the position, where I have enough cables (that work, are the right length, etc) to actually plug everything in all at the same time. #SynthLife #Behringer #Novation

Some footnote fishing had led us to here. #HistBookChat

Interesting addition to my collection. There are many variations of this, and it seems most popular in the #1940s; however, the earliest variation I can find is October 1920. It reeks of #HoratioBottomley / #JohnBull. Does anyone know the origin? #TommyAtkins #1920s #Postcards #Ephemera

Technically, I am not short of cables for once. However, technically the cables I have are too short #synthlife

Just had my mind blown. Opened up my new #behringer synth to find a 5pin to 3.5 midi cable actually included !! #newsynth

I don't know what they were smoking in #Dewsbury in 1904, but I'll have some, please. The best thing about this is it's a whole series, published in the #Batley Reporter and Guardian (This example 10 June) . Anyway, Huzzah to #TommyAtkins and members of the #RoyalMoonRakerRegiment #Moon #Scifi #BNA

Another month, another addition to the ever-growing pile of books that claim to “reveal the real Tommy Atkins.” This one dates from 1911. #HistBookChat #TommyAtkins