Dr Ian Sturrock
@sturrock.bsky.social
Researcher into game studies, game histories, motivation for play, ethics of game design, creativity and world-building. Capoeirista, HEMA practitioner, larper, TTRPG designer/publisher. HE teacher and UCU activist but my views represent only me.
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 22, 2025 at 7:55 AM
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
Saving this for next time I see gammon whinging about casting choices in early medieval film & TV.
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
theconversation.com/two-seventh-...
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
theconversation.com/two-seventh-...
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
We should not be surprised that there are west Africans in early medieval Britain, the clues were there.
theconversation.com
September 12, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Saving this for next time I see gammon whinging about casting choices in early medieval film & TV.
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
theconversation.com/two-seventh-...
Two seventh-century people found with west African ancestry – a story of diversity and integration in early Anglo-Saxon society
theconversation.com/two-seventh-...
Woooooooo, landslide victory for Zack in the Green Party leadership elections!
That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.
That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.
September 2, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Woooooooo, landslide victory for Zack in the Green Party leadership elections!
That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.
That's a huge blow for the boring centrists who don't believe that radical policies can get support.
I am proofing an upcoming chapter I wrote, sitting here thinking, I am so clever, which is a pretty nice feeling; way better than thinking I am useless or broken, which, you know, are also options. Here is a relevant passage that I love, but OMG ALL this stuff is so damn good, I am very clever:
September 1, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I am proofing an upcoming chapter I wrote, sitting here thinking, I am so clever, which is a pretty nice feeling; way better than thinking I am useless or broken, which, you know, are also options. Here is a relevant passage that I love, but OMG ALL this stuff is so damn good, I am very clever:
How you sound when you say "there's no point in my caring about my personal CO2 emissions because Jeff Bezos is worse"--
"look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"
"look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"
August 30, 2025 at 7:58 AM
How you sound when you say "there's no point in my caring about my personal CO2 emissions because Jeff Bezos is worse"--
"look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"
"look we already know there's microplastics in the swimming pool so it won't make any real difference if I take a dump in it"
Videogames are capable of telling just as complex and emotionally engaging stories as any other medium -- more so, in some ways -- but not if studios think that consumers only want slop.
www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...
www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...
We can't keep making videogame stories for players who aren't paying attention to them
Let me get lost, I promise it's okay.
www.pcgamer.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Videogames are capable of telling just as complex and emotionally engaging stories as any other medium -- more so, in some ways -- but not if studios think that consumers only want slop.
www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...
www.pcgamer.com/games/we-can...
tldr: do continue to keep your climate apocalypse cupboard topped up with canned beans and such
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Radware Bot Manager Captcha
To ensure we keep this website safe, please can you confirm you are a human by ticking the box below.
iopscience.iop.org
August 13, 2025 at 2:58 PM
tldr: do continue to keep your climate apocalypse cupboard topped up with canned beans and such
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Thanks to a bit of advice from @sturrock.bsky.social , I've been able to strip the fantasy world map back to the basics and repopulate it digitally. Photoshop isn't particularly intuitive to use, but once I got the original scan cleaned up, Paint does the job nicely.
#booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f
#booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f
August 13, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Thanks to a bit of advice from @sturrock.bsky.social , I've been able to strip the fantasy world map back to the basics and repopulate it digitally. Photoshop isn't particularly intuitive to use, but once I got the original scan cleaned up, Paint does the job nicely.
#booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f
#booksky #book #fantasy #sf&f
Finally finished watching Andor!
No big spoilers below I think.
1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)
No big spoilers below I think.
1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)
August 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Finally finished watching Andor!
No big spoilers below I think.
1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)
No big spoilers below I think.
1) Rogue One is now MUCH better. It was always pretty decent but also always flawed, and Andor S1-2 fixes most of the flaws. (a Jyn prequel exploring her connection with Saw could fix the rest -- I believe there's a novel out already)
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero
Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene.
CFP and more at:
www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...
Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene.
CFP and more at:
www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...
Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero
We're seeking submissions for proposals for 20-minute conference presentations from across the fields of animation, VFX and games.
www.tees.ac.uk
July 11, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Animex Symposium on Game Cultures and Net Zero
Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene.
CFP and more at:
www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...
Games allow us to play with imaginary futures and situations. For example, humanity's own future, as the Anthropocene era comes to a dangerous close and we begin to consider the post-Anthropocene.
CFP and more at:
www.tees.ac.uk/minisites/an...
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
July 1, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.
This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.
"kids these days have too many genders and air-source heat pumps" -- the Right, probably
atmos.earth/fossil-fuel-...
atmos.earth/fossil-fuel-...
Fossil Fuel Billionaires Are Bankrolling the Anti-Trans Movement | Atmos
An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.
atmos.earth
June 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
"kids these days have too many genders and air-source heat pumps" -- the Right, probably
atmos.earth/fossil-fuel-...
atmos.earth/fossil-fuel-...
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
The river is a god, and they killed her. All Will Rise, our game about dragging the wealthy to court for destroying our future, now has a gorgeous trailer, please spread it far and wide: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXQa...
All Will Rise - Wishlist us on Kickstarter
YouTube video by Speculative Agency
www.youtube.com
June 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM
The river is a god, and they killed her. All Will Rise, our game about dragging the wealthy to court for destroying our future, now has a gorgeous trailer, please spread it far and wide: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXQa...
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.
May 29, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.
Original source unknown
May 27, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Original source unknown
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
Firing people for AI: not going so well
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/26/f... - text
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7M8... - video
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/26/f... - text
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7M8... - video
Firing people for AI: not going so well
Business owners hate employees more than anything. Unfortunately, AI’s not very good at doing human jobs. We noted last month how chatbots hadn’t knocked down wages or hours in any occupation…
pivot-to-ai.com
May 26, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Firing people for AI: not going so well
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/26/f... - text
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7M8... - video
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/26/f... - text
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7M8... - video
Reposted by Dr Ian Sturrock
If you have money to spare, please give it to people in Gaza who are in urgent need.
If you have money left over after that, back our Kickstarter (which is almost at its goal!).
If you have money left over after that, back our Kickstarter (which is almost at its goal!).
Volume 1 of the Antifa Lit Journal is available for pre-order. Get your copy by backing the Kickstarter for Volume 2 here: bit.ly/ALJKick. Not a Pipe Publishing (@NotAPipePub) is currently accepting submissions for V2. Stand with brave authors and poets like @benjamingorman.bsky.social
May 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
If you have money to spare, please give it to people in Gaza who are in urgent need.
If you have money left over after that, back our Kickstarter (which is almost at its goal!).
If you have money left over after that, back our Kickstarter (which is almost at its goal!).