Serena Jones

@serenaj1642.bsky.social

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Author, publisher | British Civil Wars: biographer of Col Sir George Lisle | transcribing & publishing the 1640s English newsbooks | DMs re above topics very welcome, @ me first to initiate

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I'm writing up newsbook tag definitions. But I'm self-censoring after I was yelled at on Masto for daring to utter 'English Civil War', & also calling the British Isles the British Isles (because Ireland). I spent much time having to caveat every damn thing I said on there, & eventually just quit.

Feb 1642. Clothiers petitioned the King, 'complaining of the deadnesse of trade: in respect they had not vent for their Cloths, having many thousand pounds worth lying upon their hands' 4 months later there'd be trade galore, clothing soldiers for Ireland. And then, civil war. E.201[16] #newsbooks

Brought to the house of Commons in Feb 1642, 'a musket arrow, which report was made, would pierce point blanck through a great thicknesse, and at a very good distance; and that there were thousands of them bespoken: whereupon Order issued, [for] seizing of so many as be made.' E.201[16] #newsbooks

New newsbook tag: duels For example, in February 1642 'Mr. Ogle' – presumably Sir William Ogle, MP – had sent a 'chalenge' to Denzil Holles, and was 'sent for as a delinquent' (E.201[13]). #newsbooks

HELP! Can anyone suggest what a 'butter crome' might be, please? The Earl of Newcastle's men 'burnt downe all Sir Richard Earles houses, and Butter cromes' A mistake for "creams"? Or was this a place to store butter? We're in N Yorks. E.47[25] #newsbooks #17thC #earlymodern #history

I was archiving some 1960s family letters with an annoying paper size slightly bigger than A4, and discovered that the size was 'foolscap' (8x13in) which of course I'd heard of but never investigated. Apparently it's so-called because originally it was watermarked with a jester's cap. #history

Internet search is so screwed. There's so much on the internet now, but we still have to find it by starting at the top of a list and working through that, page by page. There's no advanced search, presumably because that doesn't make money for search engines. This situation needs dismantling.

Currently my favourite front page illustration of all those I've seen in the newsbooks. From 'A true and good Relation of the Valliant Exploits, and Victorious Enterprises of Sir Simon Harcourt, and Sir Charles Coote', concerning the rebellion in Ireland. Wing T2486, January 1642. #newsbooks

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Serena Jones

Most of the time there is no light than there is. But each of us continues to work, plans a work schedule in relation to the light. www.etsy.com/shop/HappyJe... I need a little your 🫂

"Then there was information given against one captaine Thomas for that he should say he would get twenty miles to see Mr. Pym hanged, and would then cut off a piece of Mr. Pyms flesh to weare about him in remembrance of him: upon which he was committed." 👀 E.201[6] Jan 1642 #newsbooks

My 13-yr nephew suggested he would write something, then for some reason run it through an AI to revise it and make it look like something else. After our cries of horror subsided, we had to explain the problem of low quality AI work, and also the ethics around distinguishing it from human work.

A narrow escape for Westminster Abbey in late December 1641. E.201[5] #newsbooks #history #17thC #earlymodern

Sci-fi fans ahoy! Are you subscribed/resubscribed? The magazine needs your support.

We're 344 subscribers away from where we were before Amazon pulled the rug out from under their traditional subscription program. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but still much work to do. clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/

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London, Nov 1642. "There was a peticion preferred against the Earle of Dorset, for bidding the Court of guard the night before, when the clamours was against Bishops, shoot at them or to their apprehension, words to the like effect," It seems the trained bands did not obey. #newsbooks E.201[2]

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Serena Jones

Great roundup of short online pieces about doing archival research via @stuartelden.bsky.social progressivegeographies.com/2024/07/05/w... 🗃️

Working with archives – a collection of linksprogressivegeographies.com A few links about working with archives. I've started a page on this site with these links. At the moment it is just the links below, but intended to be a work-in-progress page and I'll add other thin...

Well that's a mute & block in the bag. And if I see anyone else endorsing that certain parts of UK electorate should stay home & not vote, I'll happily block again. Suggesting fellow citizens should be deprived of their view b/c it doesn't match yours is disgusting, & I will not have it on my feed.

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Serena Jones

Found yet another site with AI-created summaries for my books; those summaries are both inaccurate and hopelessly bland. Please, folks, if you have kids of book report age, tell them from me that these summary sites are just complete bullshit. Don't trust them and don't copy their blandness.

GOOD NEWS! (For those interested in the British Civil Wars) The BCW Project, which last year was feared defunct after the website vanished, has been rescued thanks to the efforts of the administrator and several supporters. The data is safe, and the site will be resurrected as time allows. #17thC

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Serena Jones

Hello #calligram print of the 1620s, what a nice deer made out of printed words it is, isn't it? This shape poem, in German Figurengedicht, was printed in #Augsburg and was dealing with the contested hunting rights of the aristocracy. #earlymodern #bookhistory #skystorians

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Serena Jones

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Nottingham, 1646: "Joseph Richards, a poore boy that was pinde, and eaten to death with Lice, was Buried the 25th day of June". "pinde", I presume "pinned"; the only explanation I can think of is that perhaps a medical condition made his behaviour difficult to manage, and he was tied up. #history

A gentle Sunday reminder to BACK UP last week's work. Keep multiple copies in different places. Keep one off site & at least one in your "grab bag", if potential evacuation is part of your life. Always eject/unmount a data stick properly, don't just pull it from the USB port. Have a fabulous day 🌞

"On June the 29th that year I was about my work / cutting hedges in a meadow by the stream / my blade slipped, I cut my hand / my own dear blood did flow, upon the brown earth, and the corn still green." 1/2

Cite ChatGPT? CITE? The point of citations is to provide authority. ChatGPT is not an authority. On ANYTHING. It's been fed with words & data scraped from god knows where, & mashes answers together based on probabilities. It's just a guessing engine. Jesus wept 😖 www.lifewire.com/how-to-cite-...

How to Cite ChatGPTwww.lifewire.com If you use ChatGPT as part of your work, you need to provide a clear citation. Here's how to cite OpenAI's chatbot in a range of publishing styles.

If you're in Europe, today is last chance to opt out of Meta (FB and Insta) stealing your data to train AI. You opt out through the app settings, only takes a few minutes though you will need to check email for a passcode. www.cnet.com/tech/service...

How to Opt Out of Instagram and Facebook Using Your Posts for AIwww.cnet.com Instagram and Facebook are using your photos and posts to train AI, and only European users can opt out.

Have turned off brid.gy: whilst I'm happy to link to the Fediverse per se, there's no way I want to interact with anyone on Threads, because Meta. Meta is an amoral, data-hoarding monster, and I don't want it to even know I exist.

Tagging is also complex. Currently I have eight definitions for death: 'casualties' (battle) 'civilian assault' (delib. attack by mil.) 'civilian casualties' (accidental by mil.) 'military accident' 'murder' (non-mil context) 'execution' 'massacre' 'casualties at sea' (naval violence) #newsbooks

It's critical to remember that the newsbooks weren't the official source on the war, only tolerated info channels, & their reports mostly unprovenanced. & we only have one view (Parl.). Imagine trying to understand civil war when you only have one end of the (unofficial) tabloids. #newsbooks

If I never hear or see the words "impactful", "flavorsome", or "flavorful" again, it will be far too soon.

New tag: 'military accident' Blue-on-blue in battle, deaths in training and when cleaning weapons, powder cart explosions, and probably more. And when I find it again, that incident where someone lost their arm when loading a cannon and the thing went off 👀 #newsbooks