Peter C
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spartakan.bsky.social
Peter C
@spartakan.bsky.social
Testing the water - also @spartakan
Reposted by Peter C
I say this as a PhD student who is also in work: there is little reason to put the effort in to pursue an academic career, now. The job market was already extremely competitive, for very low pay vs. comparable private sector jobs.

The deteriorating state of HE is the final nail in that coffin.
'David Maguire and Alex Bols, vice-chancellor and chief of staff respectively at the University of East Anglia, updated their prediction made last autumn that 10,000 jobs could be lost in 2024-25, claiming this same amount could in fact be lost every year going forward.' 1/3
UK universities ‘could cut 10,000 jobs every year’
Academics claim changes made to higher education system a decade ago have divided sector into ‘winners and losers’, with government-imposed limits on income exacerbating financial challenges
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Let's stop pretending that the billionaire media, endlessly attacking the BBC, has the slightest interest in balance, impartiality and accuracy. They won't be happy until the BBC is more rightwing than Vlad the Impaler. And then it still won't be enough.
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Now, if only the schools had the budgets to employ the teachers they need...
November 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Edinburgh University is closing the Institute for Academic Development. Download these student resources while you can. Making notes, reading strategies, time management, dissertations and so on.
CC licenses. Pdf and text only versions. #HE 🗃️
institute-academic-development.ed.ac.uk/study-hub/le...
November 7, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Sky News’ data and forensics team spent nine months investigating whether X's algorithm amplifies far right and extremist content. Their research has definitively proved that it does. Great work @kaitlintosh.bsky.social @michelleinezsimon.bsky.social and other Sky News journalists.
A magnificent piece of work. Comprehesive, revelatory & shocking. Journalism this good is always rare & precious but never moreso than at times like this. Latter day Lord Haw Haws being plumped, preened & delivered to your doorstep in plain sight by a Nazi-saluting goon
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Scots have ‘critically low’ democratic well-being staying in UK but are ‘twice as likely to have high trust’ in SNP Government even after 18 years – How did BBC Scotland cope with this? talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/11/03/s...
Scots have ‘critically low’ democratic well-being staying in UK but are ‘twice as likely to have high trust’ in SNP Government even after 18 years – How did BBC Scotland cope with this?
Professor John Robertson OBA From a large survey by Paris-based Ipsos for Carnegie UK, into wellbeing index for Scotland in 2025, highlighting collective wellbeing scores across various domains and…
talkingupscotlandtwo.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Private Eye.
October 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
It didn't have four lanes of car traffic back then. Does it need to now?
#cityofedinburgh proud of their freshly painted #northbridge. For context, here is a picture of the last time it was fully open to traffic.
October 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Peter C
#cityofedinburgh proud of their freshly painted #northbridge. For context, here is a picture of the last time it was fully open to traffic.
October 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Peter C
love that this "resilience engineering" is basically: write things on paper www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Have plans on paper in case of cyber-attack, firms told
Prepare to switch to offline systems in the event of a cyber-attack, firms are being advised.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Blogged: 'A new recruit and two retirees: news of Dr Rachel Salzano, Dr Peter Cruickshank, and Dr David Haynes' hazelhall.org/2025/10/05/a... Read recent staffing updates amongst Social Informatics researchers at @enuscebe.bsky.social cc @edinburghnapier.bsky.social
A new recruit and two retirees: news of Dr Rachel Salzano, Dr Peter Cruickshank, and Dr David Haynes
Congratulations to Dr Rachel Salzano, who starts the new academic year 2024/5 with a permanent contract as a lecturer in the Applied Informatics subject group of the School of Computing, Engineerin…
hazelhall.org
October 7, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Peter C
A months-long investigation by The Ferret and a group of international journalists found there have been 40 propaganda animations produced by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the past two years – including several using the Scottish Maritime Museum’s 3D scans
theferret.scot/idf-s...
October 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Peter C
The IDF are problematic for a number of reasons – mass murder, other war crimes – but I'm disappointed to see they are also poisoning the digital commons:

The Israel Defense Forces used a Scottish museum's 3D models in propaganda videos theferret.scot/idf-scottish...

#opendata #dataforevil
October 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Peter C
Bridging Skills for Working Lives: Exploring Career-Ready Skills Through Bridge

- Mon 13 Oct, 3:30–6
- Clyde Bridge Centre, 4 Nasmyth Rd, Glasgow G52 4PR
- FREE, including pizza, snacks, travel bursaries

Register festivalofsocialscience.com/events/bridg...

A bit more detail bit.ly/3VTg8py
Bridging Skills for Working Lives: Exploring Career-Ready Skills Through the Card Game of Bridge
A call from a former Napier colleague, Marina Milosheva Calling all students, parents and teachers! Did you know that playing card games can help you with your career? Join us on Monday 13th Octobe…
bruceryan.info
October 7, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Peter C
BBC accused of 'extraordinary' anti-Green bias after party say the Laura Kuenssberg Show scrapped a promised interview with @zackpolanski.bsky.social on Sunday.

Green sources say the show also refused to interview Polanski after he was elected as leader last month

bylinetimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
October 6, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Cannot stress enough how it is already possible to report potholes www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Public backs ‘super ID card’ which could be used to report potholes
Ministers have recently said they are considering introducing a form of digital ID for adults in Britain
www.independent.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Journalists talk to colleagues on Slack, reach sources via phone, email, and messaging apps, and file in Google Docs.

But as the U.S. government ramps up its attacks on American journalism, it’s a good time to ask: How secure are the tools we take for granted?

www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/its-...
It’s 2025. Do you know how secure your newsroom is?
"It was a lot easier, in some ways, for journalists back in the 80s and 90s, before all of these cloud platforms existed."
www.niemanlab.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:58 PM
This is shocking abuse by a London based landlord, via @edinburghminute.bsky.social Are local councils able to do anything?
edinburghminute.substack.com/p/tax-evadin...
The tax-evading Princes Street shops costing taxpayers thousands
Dodgy dealings at former Debenhams
edinburghminute.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Peter C
Very pleased to see that @theferret.scot has been awarded some funding for media literacy work in Scotland.

It's never been more important, and I hope this is the start of somethinge even bigger. theferret.scot/the-ferret-h...
The Ferret helps young people to tackle disinformation in new training project
Young people in Scotland will be empowered to challenge disinformation thanks to a new project from The Ferret, CILIPS and Young Scot.
theferret.scot
September 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Living in Falkirk, we are dealing with the consequences of these people's actions. The worst is seeing the Saltire hijacked... and not seeing any response on the ground from the SNP or the independence gang.
🔴 NEW: Anti-migrant protests are becoming more common in Scotland. We investigated the groups attending, the messages being shared, and what’s at stake. Here's what we found: theferret.scot/far-r...
September 1, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Peter C
🔴 NEW: Anti-migrant protests are becoming more common in Scotland. We investigated the groups attending, the messages being shared, and what’s at stake. Here's what we found: theferret.scot/far-r...
August 31, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Peter C
This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”
www.quaker.org.uk
August 28, 2025 at 12:16 PM