James Tauber
jtauber.com
James Tauber
@jtauber.com
Using computers to better understand languages, texts, and music.

Web, Python, DH, Corpus Linguistics, Computational Literary Studies, Data Visualization, Philology, Ancient Greek, Music Theory, Tolkien, Space.

PhD candidate @dhssfau.bsky.social
Pinned
Intro for new followers: I'm a long-time (i.e. old) Python and Web developer. Now mostly apply that to digital humanities and corpus linguistics with focus on historical languages (especially Ancient Greek) and Tolkien. Also education, data visualization, music theory, and a handful of other things.
Reposted by James Tauber
Might be doing a Reddit AMA in a couple of weeks...
January 23, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
The Department of Theology at Marquette University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in New Testament beginning August 2026.

employment.marquette.edu/postings/242...
Assistant Professor of Theology (New Testament)
employment.marquette.edu
January 22, 2026 at 7:12 PM
We've hit 150 posts so far and we're just under two months away from the movie adaptation!
January 21, 2026 at 6:09 PM
On a podcast today I said Mike Drout was taking up Tom Shippey's mantle and @alas-not-me.bsky.social was taking up Verlyn Flieger's.
January 20, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
This may seem obscure but it's a wonderful plot measurement...

projectamaze.com/beanbag/147/
Beanbag #147 | Project Amaze!
Percentage of first person pronouns in the Space timeline that are plural
projectamaze.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by James Tauber
We've got a cover and we're racing to get our final adjustments to the body finished in the next 10 days!
January 20, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen (non-classical edition):

They Might Be Giants
Ben Folds
Mark Knopfler
Paul Simon
Dire Straits
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Rush
Fishbone
Oingo Boingo
Grateful Dead
The Cranberries
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:

Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie
Flogging Molly
Jethro Tull
Calexico
Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin
January 20, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by James Tauber
The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae project (125-year-long complete Latin language dictionary effort) is advertising to hire a full-stack developer in Munich (Django/React): job-portal.lmu.de/jobposting/5...
Full-Stack-Entwickler / -Entwicklerin zur Umsetzung der Umstellung des Thesaurus-Wörterbuchs von der gedruckten auf eine vollständig digitale Version
job-portal.lmu.de
January 19, 2026 at 1:20 PM
I wonder what proportion of the population was aware of Apollo 8 in November 1968 vs is aware of Artemis II in January 2026.
January 19, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by James Tauber
Carpenter's Biography is now up on the Tolkien Books Database

books.digitaltolkien.com/work/biograp...
J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography | Tolkien Books Database
Bibliographic data for J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography.
books.digitaltolkien.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:40 AM
New release of Ryland with a couple of new features coming out of the Tolkien Books DB site including image resizing.

github.com/jtauber/ryland
GitHub - jtauber/ryland: A simple static site generation library
A simple static site generation library. Contribute to jtauber/ryland development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
I wish we could get Andy Weir (or at least @hankgreen.bsky.social) to notice what we're doing with this site :-)
January 17, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Just hit a moment in a scholarly Tolkien book where the author says “To my knowledge it has not been previously noted” but I talked about it in my M.A. dissertation 😀
January 16, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Okay, I can download an official PDF titled “Confirmation of doctorate at FAU” so I'm going to claim it and update my bio everywhere :-)
January 16, 2026 at 4:26 PM
@andreaswagnr.bsky.social mein Doktorbruder! Maybe you can help me understand the difference between me being admitted as a candidate and enrolling as a student :-)
January 16, 2026 at 4:02 PM
So got (informal) email confirmation that I *am* admitted as a PhD candidate. That's distinct from enrolling as a student. The distinction in Germany is quite unlike the distinction in the US but I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It sounds like enrolling as a student is entirely optional.
January 16, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
Another edition of the Roving Ranger has just been sent to its subscribers.

Including:

LotR Magdalen Marathon; TSA 2026 nominations open; Tolkien Books Database; the "Tolkien Hypothesis"; Insect Damage, Tolkien, and a book of... Cheese?; the Crown of Gondor & more...

steady.page/en/thetolkie...
The One hundred and seventieth Roving Ranger
The Roving Ranger #170 brings you all the interesting things Tolkienian of the last week and the weeks upcoming, curated by the Tolkienist.
steady.page
January 15, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
New eggcorn out now
Heard a lad earlier talking about ‘Belgian whistles’

“A basic website costs 10k or 25k upwards if you want all the Belgian whistles”

BELGIAN WHISTLES
January 15, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
Easy way to see what impressions we need…
January 15, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
The Tolkien Books Database now has The Old English Exodus, Mr. Bliss (UK), and The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun (UK).

books.digitaltolkien.com
Tolkien Books Database
books.digitaltolkien.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by James Tauber
Book of Lost Tales II entries are updated: books.digitaltolkien.com/work/book-of...
The Book of Lost Tales, Part II | Tolkien Books Database
books.digitaltolkien.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Reposted by James Tauber
My book is available for free on a kindle format these days!
January 14, 2026 at 6:38 PM
The best time to leave X was two years ago. The second best time is today.
January 14, 2026 at 1:34 AM