Thomas Preece

Thomas Preece

@thomaspreece.net

30-something from Bristol, UK. Interested in boardgames, genealogy, Esperanto, music (ukulele, ocarina), retro tech (vinyl, cassettes, gramophones). Go and Colemak user. Gameshow fan. #noindex https://thomaspreece.net

588 followers61 following336 posts

Ĉu mi konas iun, kiu parolas la polan (kaj Esperanton) kaj bonvole pretus helpi min per traduko / sendo de kelkaj mesaĝoj rilate al mia muzik-esplorado?

I'm super happy with all the designs on Artisan Charts, but the idea of displaying a round fan chart in a circular frame is one of my favourites.

Artisan Charts@artisancharts.com

Today's featured design is our Circular Fan Chart. Available in four colour schemes, these charts are designed for a circular frame, and have the option to include a photo, with curved text following the arc of the circle for a more attractive appearance. artisancharts.com/designs/circ...

Thomas Preece reposted

Today's featured design is Oak by Stephanie Purcell. Featuring traditional English oak leaves, branches and acorns, this ancestor chart has a design that is both classic and contemporary. We print this chart on premium 120gsm acid-free cream-coloured paper. artisancharts.com/designs/oak

artisancharts.comArtisan ChartsFeaturing traditional English oak leaves, branches and acorns, this ancestor chart has a design that is both classic and contemporary. Painted in watercolours by artist Stephanie Purcell in Wales.

My new business went live today. It's been 6 months in the making, and I'm really excited to finally be able to share it!

Artisan Charts@artisancharts.com

Your ancestors, our genealogical artwork Artisan Charts specialize in beautiful printed genealogical charts, designed by human artists and customized with the names, dates and photos from your family tree. Our thoughtfully crafted designs make ideal gifts for all the family. artisancharts.com

Was there anything good pressed on vinyl in the first decade of the 2000s? With that one exception, I have at least one vinyl or shellac record from every decade from the 1910s to the 2020s, and I'm wondering about trying to find something to fill that gap!

Maybe I should try and find something from the 1900s as well... 1890s is also theoretically possible but probably pushing it a bit!

If anyone would like to move away from Substack to (for example) a WordPress blog on your own web hosting package, please get in touch. Depending on your budget, I can do anything from an initial install and a bit of support to get you going right up to a full custom site development.

Jan Murphy@packrat74.bsky.social

Once again, may I ask those of you in the #genealogy community to consider moving away from Substack? A search of BlueSky reveals reasons to move away and alternatives for you and your readers.

Very annoying when a cassette decides it doesn't want to play any more. Oh well, at least it's a mass-produced one this time and not an Esperanto one where there might not even be any other copies anywhere in the world to replace it with!

Thomas Preece reposted

I invented a fairy chess piece that can move to any square to which it could not legally move if it were any other chess piece. I called it a Joker, but I now think Cat would be better.

ContempraInn 🌹@contemprainn.bsky.social

Evening all, #AncestryHour! Today I've been going through my genealogy database to try to weed out entries where I'd marked an occupation or place as illegible. About half of them I managed to figure out what they actually said, and most of the rest are genuinely not readable at all.

Also, excitingly, the copy of Evidence Explained I ordered just got delivered. I didn't know the Royal Mail did deliveries this late! #AncestryHour

Thomas Preece reposted

Benefits of learning to play the recorder: If you know "Stairway to Heaven" you will attract guitar players who will come up and ask you to jam. 🎶

ex-Lethality Jane@lethalityjane.bsky.social

You played the recorder in part to strengthen your fine motor skills and in part to introduce you to basic music theory concepts like rhythm, the C-major scale, and reading basic music notes. Your teachers wanted to make elementary music education available to all, not just the rich.

Thomas Preece reposted

Here is a comparison of how Red Dwarf, “Holoship” was first introduced back in 1992 on BBC Two network, and how network, Wales and NI introduced it last night. Forgive my poor editing done at 2am.

John J. Hoare@dirtyfeed.org

So tonight, not only did BBC Two introduce the Red Dwarf episode "Holoship" using the same symbol used in 1992, but it also used most of the original continuity script. Your 1992 network announcer: Halyna Kozak www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jV6... Your 2026 network announcer: Nicola Phoenix

Good evening #GenHour! I've not got much genealogy news to report this week, but a friend found my name on a gravestone about 35 miles away from where I live. Unfortunately the rest of the stone is hard to read, so we're not sure when he died - and I can't find him in the parish burial register!

Thomas Preece reposted

#genealogy Important 🧵on tracing facts back to their original sources. Please read. It's so easy to fall into the "so many trees say this, it must be true!" trap.

This post is unavailable.

Today's #genealogy finding: William Nicks married Mary Baker. Their son William Nicks married Mary's niece (his first cousin), also called Mary Baker.

Antaŭ 100 jaroj hodiaŭ aperis la unuaj diskoj de Esperanto-muziko! Legu pli ĉe mia blogo: eomuziko.com/eo/posts/100... 100 years ago today, the first ever Esperanto music records were released! Read more on my blog: eomuziko.com/en/posts/100... #Esperanto #EsperantoMuziko #MusicHistory

eomuziko.com100 Jaroj de Esperanto-MuzikoHodiaŭ, la 2-a de aŭgusto 2026, estas ekzakte cent jaroj post la eldono de la plej fruaj muzikaj diskoj en Esperanto: kompleto de du ŝelakaj 78t/m gramofondiskoj, el kiu unu enhavas du versiojn de La ...

What's the best practice for recording French republican calendar dates? GRAMPS will accept them and sorts them properly, so should I just enter them as in the record, or convert them to Gregorian? Or maybe put the Gregorian date in the event description for easy reference? #GenHour

This week I found out that FamilySearch has searchable indexes of French BMD records, which makes that part of my extended tree a lot easier than the last time I tried! The transcribed dates are often slightly wrong though, so worth battling through the old French handwriting nonetheless. #GenHour

I still wouldn't be born yet. But in 1926 my great grandfathers were an ironmonger, an inspector in the fire brigade, the manager of a gentlemen's outfitter and a farm labourer.

Revan@revan.eurosky.social

Enough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?

This record was recorded exactly 100 years ago today. With another disc of "La Espero", it was the first ever released record of Esperanto music. More info: eomuziko.com/en/posts/esp... - another post will follow to mark 100 years after the release date (next Sunday) #Esperanto

Thomas Preece@thomaspreece.net

Tiu ĉi disko estis registrita antaŭ ekzakte 100 jaroj hodiaŭ. Kun alia disko de "La Espero", ĝi estis la plej frue eldonita disko de Esperanto-muziko. Pliaj informoj: eomuziko.com/eo/posts/esp... - sekvos plia artikolo por festi la 100-jariĝon de la eldondato (venontan dimanĉon) #Esperanto

Tiu ĉi disko estis registrita antaŭ ekzakte 100 jaroj hodiaŭ. Kun alia disko de "La Espero", ĝi estis la plej frue eldonita disko de Esperanto-muziko. Pliaj informoj: eomuziko.com/eo/posts/esp... - sekvos plia artikolo por festi la 100-jariĝon de la eldondato (venontan dimanĉon) #Esperanto

Looking forward to this! Just got to record my two talks first!

Society of Genealogists@sogorg.bsky.social

Something BIG is coming this October... #GenHour All About That Place is back – and this year it's bigger than ever! Join us from 7–16 October for 10 days of FREE genealogy and local history learning, featuring 100+ expert speakers sharing bite-sized 10-minute talks. sog.org.uk/welcome-to-a... 🧭📚

Thomas Preece reposted

A fun feature of doing #Welsh #Genealogy is that, no matter what you do, your work is always considered "too Welsh." I gave a talk once & was told I "used a lot of Welsh words" [pejorative]. How many did I use? 1 single place name. I spend an hour talking abt English culture of family 1/

I spoke at this two years ago and would highly recommend it to anyone who's considering taking part. The only reason I won't be submitting anything this year is that I'm now over the age limit!

Society of Genealogists@sogorg.bsky.social

Call for speakers: NextGen 2026 (online, 14 Nov) Aged 16–35? Share your genealogy ideas on this year’s theme: New Connections. 20-min talks + Q&A. Free prep sessions available. Deadline: 12 July sog.org.uk/nextgen2026/