Shaun Macdonald
@shaunmacdonald.bsky.social
⌨️HCI Researcher on Affective and Evocative Experiences
🏴 PhD from @uofglasgow.bsky.social
🤖Zoomorphic Robots, Affective Haptics, XR Prototyping
🎮Competitive Gamer, Art Enjoyer, Hope-low Leftist
♂️He/Him
🔗shaun-macdonald-hci.owlstown.net
🏴 PhD from @uofglasgow.bsky.social
🤖Zoomorphic Robots, Affective Haptics, XR Prototyping
🎮Competitive Gamer, Art Enjoyer, Hope-low Leftist
♂️He/Him
🔗shaun-macdonald-hci.owlstown.net
Goodbye Liquorice, the cat I named and part of our family since 19 and a half years ago.
You’ve been part of my life and world since before I was an adult. Love you ❤️
You’ve been part of my life and world since before I was an adult. Love you ❤️
November 11, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Goodbye Liquorice, the cat I named and part of our family since 19 and a half years ago.
You’ve been part of my life and world since before I was an adult. Love you ❤️
You’ve been part of my life and world since before I was an adult. Love you ❤️
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
WHAT A FUCKING FILM MAN.
November 5, 2025 at 9:38 AM
WHAT A FUCKING FILM MAN.
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
you know, I never thought I'd buy a copy of the Post but I might need to frame this one
November 5, 2025 at 3:07 AM
you know, I never thought I'd buy a copy of the Post but I might need to frame this one
Friction and investing yourself into the things you do is what makes *life* rewarding and meaningful. I'm not saying nothing should ever be automated, but the friction of our world experiences is being sanded to nothing, perfect for being attention-looped by video shorts and busywork, not living.
Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says he's “never used generative AI, and never will.” Hardship is what makes the creative process rewarding - AUTOMATON WEST
Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu discusses the history and evolution of game music and shares opinion on generative AI.
automaton-media.com
October 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Friction and investing yourself into the things you do is what makes *life* rewarding and meaningful. I'm not saying nothing should ever be automated, but the friction of our world experiences is being sanded to nothing, perfect for being attention-looped by video shorts and busywork, not living.
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
The GWiCS seminar returns!
Join us on Wed 22nd at 3pm in SAWB 422 for a double billing. Despoina Sampatakou and Effie Koursari, both of whom made the jump from industry to academia, will share their experiences and learnings!
Join us on Wed 22nd at 3pm in SAWB 422 for a double billing. Despoina Sampatakou and Effie Koursari, both of whom made the jump from industry to academia, will share their experiences and learnings!
October 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The GWiCS seminar returns!
Join us on Wed 22nd at 3pm in SAWB 422 for a double billing. Despoina Sampatakou and Effie Koursari, both of whom made the jump from industry to academia, will share their experiences and learnings!
Join us on Wed 22nd at 3pm in SAWB 422 for a double billing. Despoina Sampatakou and Effie Koursari, both of whom made the jump from industry to academia, will share their experiences and learnings!
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
finished scream jam 2025 yippeee!! that's 6 jams finished with #bevy now :)
Signal Drift by 0xD21F, s-azzles, Lolly
Isolated and alone, tasked with reporting weather, strange signals start to drift in over your radio.
0xd21f.itch.io
October 17, 2025 at 11:11 AM
finished scream jam 2025 yippeee!! that's 6 jams finished with #bevy now :)
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
Remember, brown 13-year-olds are hardened menaces to society, but 30-something Republican Hitler afficionados in positions of power are just li’l guys.
October 15, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Remember, brown 13-year-olds are hardened menaces to society, but 30-something Republican Hitler afficionados in positions of power are just li’l guys.
Very frustrating development day today. Meta Quest Link has become too buggy and unstable to be usable anymore, so I finally switched to building to my headset. Suddenly everything runs smoothly, except for 3 core features which are now intractably broken and now infinitely harder to bugfix.
October 13, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Very frustrating development day today. Meta Quest Link has become too buggy and unstable to be usable anymore, so I finally switched to building to my headset. Suddenly everything runs smoothly, except for 3 core features which are now intractably broken and now infinitely harder to bugfix.
This video is correct!
Silksong Is Carrying The Dark Souls Torch
YouTube video by Snoman Gaming
www.youtube.com
October 6, 2025 at 8:38 PM
This video is correct!
Public beatings and arrests, dissappearings, concentration camps, martial law, replacement of government offices professionals with facist sycophants, mass embezzlement, demonisation of political enemy, openly racist, homophobic, pedophillic and rapists.
We are ~1938 now. Get out. Its over.
We are ~1938 now. Get out. Its over.
October 6, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Public beatings and arrests, dissappearings, concentration camps, martial law, replacement of government offices professionals with facist sycophants, mass embezzlement, demonisation of political enemy, openly racist, homophobic, pedophillic and rapists.
We are ~1938 now. Get out. Its over.
We are ~1938 now. Get out. Its over.
Trying to keep awake as I approach my 1am taxi for my 4am flight. It’s kind of like following in my father’s footsteps, except I’m not flying the plane.
September 25, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Trying to keep awake as I approach my 1am taxi for my 4am flight. It’s kind of like following in my father’s footsteps, except I’m not flying the plane.
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Paper presented and poster session by the sea attended!
September 23, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Paper presented and poster session by the sea attended!
Insane view from my hotel in Sharm also
September 22, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Insane view from my hotel in Sharm also
In Sharm El Sheikh for @mobilehci.bsky.social this week. I’ll be giving my talk tomorrow at 12 on Safescreen, our cool security camera app that blocks screens in real time. Come say hi if you’re there!
September 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
In Sharm El Sheikh for @mobilehci.bsky.social this week. I’ll be giving my talk tomorrow at 12 on Safescreen, our cool security camera app that blocks screens in real time. Come say hi if you’re there!
Finally a crumb
September 21, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Finally a crumb
Get outta there. Get out.
September 18, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Get outta there. Get out.
Imagine travelling to the US for work now. Or study.
US officers tied us up and pointed guns at us, South Korean engineers tell BBC
Korean workers who were detained in the US say they were treated like criminals and are still in shock.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Imagine travelling to the US for work now. Or study.
Was ready to call Silksong a worthy successor to Hollow Knight and one of the best games I've played this year.
Reached beyond the bounds I assumed existed.
No actually Silksong is the probably best game I have played in years.
Reached beyond the bounds I assumed existed.
No actually Silksong is the probably best game I have played in years.
September 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Was ready to call Silksong a worthy successor to Hollow Knight and one of the best games I've played this year.
Reached beyond the bounds I assumed existed.
No actually Silksong is the probably best game I have played in years.
Reached beyond the bounds I assumed existed.
No actually Silksong is the probably best game I have played in years.
🏆 ❗ Our paper just received the Interaction Design for International Development Award at #INTERACT2025. I'm so proud of the work and my coauthors!
Dancing with Data: privacy Compromises of Egyptian Women Reconciling Westernized Social Media Sharing with Local Cultural Values: shorturl.at/sTogU
Dancing with Data: privacy Compromises of Egyptian Women Reconciling Westernized Social Media Sharing with Local Cultural Values: shorturl.at/sTogU
September 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
🏆 ❗ Our paper just received the Interaction Design for International Development Award at #INTERACT2025. I'm so proud of the work and my coauthors!
Dancing with Data: privacy Compromises of Egyptian Women Reconciling Westernized Social Media Sharing with Local Cultural Values: shorturl.at/sTogU
Dancing with Data: privacy Compromises of Egyptian Women Reconciling Westernized Social Media Sharing with Local Cultural Values: shorturl.at/sTogU
Completing a part of Silksong 🪡 that was transcently effective, had me grinning, yelling, despairing, locking in, clutching it out on a knife edge and then being rewarded with joy, triumph and prestine art and vibes.
Those who've done this section will know 🤍
Those who've done this section will know 🤍
September 10, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Completing a part of Silksong 🪡 that was transcently effective, had me grinning, yelling, despairing, locking in, clutching it out on a knife edge and then being rewarded with joy, triumph and prestine art and vibes.
Those who've done this section will know 🤍
Those who've done this section will know 🤍
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
Displaced people seeking to start new lives in Scotland could be helped to settle in the country with the support of a new social robot being developed by Shaul Ashkenazi (@shauliash.bsky.social) at @socialai.bsky.social and colleagues.
Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
September 8, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Displaced people seeking to start new lives in Scotland could be helped to settle in the country with the support of a new social robot being developed by Shaul Ashkenazi (@shauliash.bsky.social) at @socialai.bsky.social and colleagues.
Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
Read more here: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
"PA legislators have quietly gathered expert testimony and reviewed research on harnessing subsurface water across the commonwealth to cool [the data centers] used for artificial intelligence and cloud computing."
Pa. lawmakers look underground for nuclear alternative to cool data centers | WITF
As the number of data centers in Pennsylvania soars, it’s nuclear energy, more than any other source, that has dominated conversations about how […]
www.witf.org
September 4, 2025 at 1:38 PM
"PA legislators have quietly gathered expert testimony and reviewed research on harnessing subsurface water across the commonwealth to cool [the data centers] used for artificial intelligence and cloud computing."
Reposted by Shaun Macdonald
A miserable example of the laundry list of humiliation and betrayal that UK trans policies enacts on hundreds of thousands of people, at great cost to both the state and the individuals, for no reason other than to treat them as political footballs.
I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset.
In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia.
In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)
In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia.
In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)
August 29, 2025 at 12:45 PM
A miserable example of the laundry list of humiliation and betrayal that UK trans policies enacts on hundreds of thousands of people, at great cost to both the state and the individuals, for no reason other than to treat them as political footballs.