Sam MacAulay
@sammacaulay.bsky.social
Strategy/Innovation/Orgtheory || Studying unusual ways to search for/protect innovation https://business.uq.edu.au/profile/11050/sam-macaulay Ex @UTS @ImperialCollegeLondon
Pinned
Sam MacAulay
@sammacaulay.bsky.social
· May 28
Use Design Choices to Prevent Imitation
Design-based strategies can help companies protect their intellectual property and maintain their competitive advantage.
sloanreview.mit.edu
My paper w/ Sharapov is out in MIT SMR! We provide a new way to think about how inventors use design choices to stop #innovation imitators.
Cases range from Michelin’s use of proprietary temp. scales through to IBM’s use of digital watermarks in AI models.
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Cases range from Michelin’s use of proprietary temp. scales through to IBM’s use of digital watermarks in AI models.
sloanreview.mit.edu/article/use-...
Back at it!
this is very cool: Kodak quietly relisted Kodak Gold and Ultramax on its website and confirmed to me it is selling the films directly to photography stores again. this is a big deal because for the last decade, Kodak has not controlled distribution of its own film
www.404media.co/kodak-quietl...
www.404media.co/kodak-quietl...
Kodak Quietly Begins Directly Selling Kodak Gold and Ultramax Film Again
Kodak appears to be taking back control over the distribution of its film.
www.404media.co
November 3, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Back at it!
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
@sammacaulay.bsky.social, you need to see this!
How to Use Millions(!) of Historic Maps
Ian Spangler: itspangler.com
200,000 maps digitized and available to use at the Boston Public Library Leventhal Map Center:
www.leventhalmap.org
Allmpas, an open source library for creating editing and curating maps: allmaps.org
#NACIS2025
Ian Spangler: itspangler.com
200,000 maps digitized and available to use at the Boston Public Library Leventhal Map Center:
www.leventhalmap.org
Allmpas, an open source library for creating editing and curating maps: allmaps.org
#NACIS2025
October 15, 2025 at 7:12 PM
@sammacaulay.bsky.social, you need to see this!
“Dr. Robson, 88, said there were “upsides and downsides” to the news of the prize.
“I’m quite old now, and handling all the nonsense that’s going to happen is going to be hard work,” he said.”
🤣
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
“I’m quite old now, and handling all the nonsense that’s going to happen is going to be hard work,” he said.”
🤣
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Architects of Metal-Organic Frameworks
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:33 PM
“Dr. Robson, 88, said there were “upsides and downsides” to the news of the prize.
“I’m quite old now, and handling all the nonsense that’s going to happen is going to be hard work,” he said.”
🤣
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
“I’m quite old now, and handling all the nonsense that’s going to happen is going to be hard work,” he said.”
🤣
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
Australia getting to be into the same section with Malaysia and Indonesia is what I imagine it was like to play on the Bulls with Jordan and Pippin
with apologies to the obviously-D map going around, let's try to make this a fairer fight.
each of these regions has approximately a billion people in it. which one you got for cuisine?
each of these regions has approximately a billion people in it. which one you got for cuisine?
September 17, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Australia getting to be into the same section with Malaysia and Indonesia is what I imagine it was like to play on the Bulls with Jordan and Pippin
Freak cold snap rolling in tonight. Going down to 6c. Hopefully the last of winter gone. We can then begin complaining about the tropical heat’
a close up of a man 's face with the website gifbin.com in the lower right corner
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the website gifbin.com in the lower right corner
media.tenor.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Freak cold snap rolling in tonight. Going down to 6c. Hopefully the last of winter gone. We can then begin complaining about the tropical heat’
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
Nature have picked up our survey. We think it's the largest survey of AI researchers ever conducted. Here's a quick thread on some of the headlines @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Will AI improve your life? Here’s what 4,000 researchers think
Scientists working on artificial intelligence are more confident than the public that the technology will benefit people.
www.nature.com
April 10, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Nature have picked up our survey. We think it's the largest survey of AI researchers ever conducted. Here's a quick thread on some of the headlines @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Oh great. Some aspiring Masters student has emailed 387 Australian academics saying they’re applying at our university and would like us to supervise them. The “Please remove me from this list” emails have begun. It’s be a jewel of a day!
August 10, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Oh great. Some aspiring Masters student has emailed 387 Australian academics saying they’re applying at our university and would like us to supervise them. The “Please remove me from this list” emails have begun. It’s be a jewel of a day!
🤣
Microsoft eventually realized the world isn't just the Northern Hemisphere
Microsoft eventually realized the world isn't just the Northern Hemisphere
Veteran engineer explains the fall of 'Fall' in Windows release
Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen has explained why the megacorp ditched its increasingly twee naming conventions for Windows 10 releases in favor of the blander H1 and H2.…
dlvr.it
August 7, 2025 at 11:04 AM
🤣
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
Meet the destroyer HMS Glowworm. In April 1940 she was forced to fight the German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, ten times her size, and Hipper's destroyer escorts.
Her extraordinary last stand earned her captain the first Victoria Cross of WW2. In part because THE GERMANS nominated him for one /1 🧵
Her extraordinary last stand earned her captain the first Victoria Cross of WW2. In part because THE GERMANS nominated him for one /1 🧵
January 8, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Meet the destroyer HMS Glowworm. In April 1940 she was forced to fight the German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, ten times her size, and Hipper's destroyer escorts.
Her extraordinary last stand earned her captain the first Victoria Cross of WW2. In part because THE GERMANS nominated him for one /1 🧵
Her extraordinary last stand earned her captain the first Victoria Cross of WW2. In part because THE GERMANS nominated him for one /1 🧵
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
"[T]he scientific enterprise is now witness to widespread, organized defection from the scientific public goods game. Large swaths of players, among them many scientists, reviewers, editors and publishers, are choosing to no longer make genuine contributions to the pot."
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
A do-or-die moment for the scientific enterprise
Reflecting on our paper “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly”
reeserichardson.blog
August 5, 2025 at 7:22 AM
"[T]he scientific enterprise is now witness to widespread, organized defection from the scientific public goods game. Large swaths of players, among them many scientists, reviewers, editors and publishers, are choosing to no longer make genuine contributions to the pot."
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
📢📢Research Policy 10th online conference for Early Career Researchers!
Fri 3rd October 2025, 2-4pm (UK time)
Submit a 3 page abstract by Sun 31st August
Link for submitting:
forms.gle/GdvPaEq4seZt...
#EconSky
Fri 3rd October 2025, 2-4pm (UK time)
Submit a 3 page abstract by Sun 31st August
Link for submitting:
forms.gle/GdvPaEq4seZt...
#EconSky
August 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
📢📢Research Policy 10th online conference for Early Career Researchers!
Fri 3rd October 2025, 2-4pm (UK time)
Submit a 3 page abstract by Sun 31st August
Link for submitting:
forms.gle/GdvPaEq4seZt...
#EconSky
Fri 3rd October 2025, 2-4pm (UK time)
Submit a 3 page abstract by Sun 31st August
Link for submitting:
forms.gle/GdvPaEq4seZt...
#EconSky
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
Academia is basically a collection of people who got lucky early on and mistook it for genius. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
August 4, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Academia is basically a collection of people who got lucky early on and mistook it for genius. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Great case study of the challenges of profiting from innovation. This time with from the Australian woman who introduced the hula hoop to America!
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Australian woman who introduced the hula hoop to the world – but missed out on the profits – dies aged 101
Despite being uncredited for her role in launching what became a global craze, Joan Anderson was just ‘happy to bring so much joy to people’
www.theguardian.com
August 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Great case study of the challenges of profiting from innovation. This time with from the Australian woman who introduced the hula hoop to America!
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Copenhagen in summer is pretty hard to beat!
July 24, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Copenhagen in summer is pretty hard to beat!
“Publication rates rise sharply during the tenure-track, peaking just before tenure. [..] After tenure, faculty produce more novel works, though fewer highly cited papers.”
Would be interesting to compare to places like Australia where US-style “tenure” doesn’t exist.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Would be interesting to compare to places like Australia where US-style “tenure” doesn’t exist.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Tenure and research trajectories | PNAS
Tenure is a cornerstone of the US academic system, yet its relationship to faculty
research trajectories remains poorly understood. Conceptually, t...
www.pnas.org
July 22, 2025 at 8:49 PM
“Publication rates rise sharply during the tenure-track, peaking just before tenure. [..] After tenure, faculty produce more novel works, though fewer highly cited papers.”
Would be interesting to compare to places like Australia where US-style “tenure” doesn’t exist.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Would be interesting to compare to places like Australia where US-style “tenure” doesn’t exist.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Love it. They need an Al with their AI.
July 16, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Love it. They need an Al with their AI.
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
1. Kevin Gross and I just posted a new science-of-science preprint.
This one explores the looming peer review crisis. As many of you know, it's becoming significantly more difficult for journal editors to find scholars willing to serve as peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts.
This one explores the looming peer review crisis. As many of you know, it's becoming significantly more difficult for journal editors to find scholars willing to serve as peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts.
Will anyone review this paper? Screening, sorting, and the feedback cycles that imperil peer review
Scholarly publishing relies on peer review to identify the best science. Yet finding willing and qualified reviewers to evaluate manuscripts has become an increasingly challenging task, possibly even ...
arxiv.org
July 16, 2025 at 3:13 AM
1. Kevin Gross and I just posted a new science-of-science preprint.
This one explores the looming peer review crisis. As many of you know, it's becoming significantly more difficult for journal editors to find scholars willing to serve as peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts.
This one explores the looming peer review crisis. As many of you know, it's becoming significantly more difficult for journal editors to find scholars willing to serve as peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts.
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
July 8, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Great thread. My favourite 🤣
For example universities (the classic case in Cohen et al 1972), criminal networks, etc
Nightingale's third law: organisations that can't make strategy are often excellent at creating strategy documents. The ability to produce strategy documents is often a good indicator of a lack of ability ..
Nightingale's third law: organisations that can't make strategy are often excellent at creating strategy documents. The ability to produce strategy documents is often a good indicator of a lack of ability ..
July 5, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Great thread. My favourite 🤣
Interesting initiative!
Finally: we think Pop-Up Journals will be a useful way to help the academic community coordinate on answering big questions of all kinds and communicate those answers to the policy world. This Pop-Up Journal is only the first we plan to support.
June 17, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Interesting initiative!
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
We are delighted to announce The Metascience Novelty Indicators Challenge! Register for updates at noveltyindicators.challenges.org & read our rationale at www.nature.com/articles/d41... #Metascience #ICSSI2025
Metascience Novelty Indicators Challenge - Novelty Indicators
The Metascience Novelty Indicators Challenge is a global initiative to develop and validate scalable indicators that can identify novelty in metascience
noveltyindicators.challenges.org
June 17, 2025 at 7:55 AM
We are delighted to announce The Metascience Novelty Indicators Challenge! Register for updates at noveltyindicators.challenges.org & read our rationale at www.nature.com/articles/d41... #Metascience #ICSSI2025
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
In 1988, IBM tried to seize the whole PC market back and make it proprietary again.
Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try.
Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won.
every.to/the-crazy-on...
Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try.
Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won.
every.to/the-crazy-on...
The Man Who Beat IBM
Compaq’s Rod Canion broke Big Blue’s hold on the PC market—and changed computing forever
every.to
June 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
In 1988, IBM tried to seize the whole PC market back and make it proprietary again.
Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try.
Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won.
every.to/the-crazy-on...
Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try.
Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won.
every.to/the-crazy-on...
Next time I’m being chased in advance for slides I’m going full Schleiermacher:
“[he] was even opposed to writing down lecture notes in advance, since this would get in the way of the students “directly observing the activity of intelligence producing knowledge.”
asteriskmag.com/issues/10/th...
“[he] was even opposed to writing down lecture notes in advance, since this would get in the way of the students “directly observing the activity of intelligence producing knowledge.”
asteriskmag.com/issues/10/th...
The Origin of the Research University—Asterisk
Universities have existed for more than a thousand years — and for almost all of that time, they weren’t centers of research. What changed in 19th century Germany?
asteriskmag.com
June 9, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Next time I’m being chased in advance for slides I’m going full Schleiermacher:
“[he] was even opposed to writing down lecture notes in advance, since this would get in the way of the students “directly observing the activity of intelligence producing knowledge.”
asteriskmag.com/issues/10/th...
“[he] was even opposed to writing down lecture notes in advance, since this would get in the way of the students “directly observing the activity of intelligence producing knowledge.”
asteriskmag.com/issues/10/th...
Reposted by Sam MacAulay
personal computing, magazine, cover (1984) www.1000bit.it/riviste/pers...
June 7, 2025 at 6:35 AM
personal computing, magazine, cover (1984) www.1000bit.it/riviste/pers...