Michael Shaw
@mrmichaelshaw.bsky.social
Education technologist. Londoner. Former journalist. Rants here entirely personal.
After years of being told that Microsoft software works better on PCs than a Mac I'm finding baffling how many things are actually much worse on PCs.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
ALT: the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
After years of being told that Microsoft software works better on PCs than a Mac I'm finding baffling how many things are actually much worse on PCs.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
If you report on things that are true your organisation gets decapitated, but if you let people invent racist drivel on air you're fine. Every single aspect of our information ecosystem is so, so broken.
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
November 9, 2025 at 7:52 PM
If you report on things that are true your organisation gets decapitated, but if you let people invent racist drivel on air you're fine. Every single aspect of our information ecosystem is so, so broken.
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
November 8, 2025 at 8:39 AM
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
Niche post, but as someone switching to a heavily Microsoft environment it is baffling how poorly Loop compares to @notion.com. Not just the absence of simple relational databases (Notions' USP) but basic stuff around subpages, page covers, etc.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
November 6, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Niche post, but as someone switching to a heavily Microsoft environment it is baffling how poorly Loop compares to @notion.com. Not just the absence of simple relational databases (Notions' USP) but basic stuff around subpages, page covers, etc.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
It’s fascinating comparing the front page coverage of the Huntingdon train attack (below) with how the British press treated another case 30 years ago.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
November 3, 2025 at 9:50 AM
It’s fascinating comparing the front page coverage of the Huntingdon train attack (below) with how the British press treated another case 30 years ago.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’
System rewards soldiers who achieve strikes with points that can be used to buy more weapons in an online store
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Michael Shaw
A majority of voters, and a plurality of white voters, think that Reform is a racist party with racist policies.
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
A majority of voters, and a plurality of white voters, think that Reform is a racist party with racist policies.
“We are spending scarce resources in ways that have little impact on the teacher quality needed to help pupils.”
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
October 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
“We are spending scarce resources in ways that have little impact on the teacher quality needed to help pupils.”
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Trying to imagine what the reaction would have been if the Govt had casually announced they were replacing A-levels with no details, as they have done with post-16 vocational qualifcations today.
Probably not total indifference.
Probably not total indifference.
October 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Trying to imagine what the reaction would have been if the Govt had casually announced they were replacing A-levels with no details, as they have done with post-16 vocational qualifcations today.
Probably not total indifference.
Probably not total indifference.
The Bunny Vs Monkey event with @jamiesmart.bsky.social was a joy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
October 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The Bunny Vs Monkey event with @jamiesmart.bsky.social was a joy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
I finally read the 2013 Sun article about Zack Polanski the right is weaponising.
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
October 10, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I finally read the 2013 Sun article about Zack Polanski the right is weaponising.
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Starts humming tunes from the opening act of DDLJ
October 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Starts humming tunes from the opening act of DDLJ
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Reposted by Michael Shaw
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.
Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.
That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.
That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
October 8, 2025 at 11:15 AM
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
The Conservatives’ plans to slash arts degrees shows a depressing lack of understanding about Britain’s creative industries.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
October 8, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The Conservatives’ plans to slash arts degrees shows a depressing lack of understanding about Britain’s creative industries.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
October 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
Reposted by Michael Shaw
I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
October 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I know statistics are poorly understood and are misused. But facts matter
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Between the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them
Kemi Badenoch on #R4today refusing to condemn Jenrick’s line about not seeing “another white face” in Handsworth then…immediately quoting Martin Luther King was peak cringe even for the current Tory party.
October 7, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Kemi Badenoch on #R4today refusing to condemn Jenrick’s line about not seeing “another white face” in Handsworth then…immediately quoting Martin Luther King was peak cringe even for the current Tory party.
Sad to hear the news about Jilly Cooper. She was one of those rare public figures who was exactly as you’d hoped she would be in real life.
Back when she was writing her 2006 school-set novel Wicked! she phoned up The Times Educational Supplement for advice on inspections and got put through to me.
Back when she was writing her 2006 school-set novel Wicked! she phoned up The Times Educational Supplement for advice on inspections and got put through to me.
October 6, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Sad to hear the news about Jilly Cooper. She was one of those rare public figures who was exactly as you’d hoped she would be in real life.
Back when she was writing her 2006 school-set novel Wicked! she phoned up The Times Educational Supplement for advice on inspections and got put through to me.
Back when she was writing her 2006 school-set novel Wicked! she phoned up The Times Educational Supplement for advice on inspections and got put through to me.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Political reporters continue to cover the centre-left according to the old standards of honesty and legality while shrugging at the right: "Ah well, you know what these guys are like. What can you do?"
October 5, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Political reporters continue to cover the centre-left according to the old standards of honesty and legality while shrugging at the right: "Ah well, you know what these guys are like. What can you do?"
As a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson and Pynchon (plus someone who appreciates DiCaprio’s comic chops) I was surprised One Battle After Another wasn’t 5⭐️s to me.
Didn’t help that the Odeon messed up the Vistavision projection so it flickered badly throughout.
Didn’t help that the Odeon messed up the Vistavision projection so it flickered badly throughout.
October 5, 2025 at 10:04 AM
As a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson and Pynchon (plus someone who appreciates DiCaprio’s comic chops) I was surprised One Battle After Another wasn’t 5⭐️s to me.
Didn’t help that the Odeon messed up the Vistavision projection so it flickered badly throughout.
Didn’t help that the Odeon messed up the Vistavision projection so it flickered badly throughout.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
No, it never existed, and then the imaginary target was scrapped by the Conservatives years ago anyway.
The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.
The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.
did that 50% uni target thing actually still exist in any meaningful sense?
September 30, 2025 at 1:49 PM
No, it never existed, and then the imaginary target was scrapped by the Conservatives years ago anyway.
The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.
The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
I cannot tell you how many parents I met across the last few events who said that comics started their kids reading. Just comics. It’s the one thing that worked. 🫡
I’m just humbly suggesting that, should the publishing industry want to tackle the crisis in reading for pleasure rates, and we have research suggesting that there’s no crisis in reading for pleasure rates amongst children who read comics, that there’s maybe a relatively simple solution right here.
September 30, 2025 at 7:58 AM
I cannot tell you how many parents I met across the last few events who said that comics started their kids reading. Just comics. It’s the one thing that worked. 🫡