Sandy Leaton Gray
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drleatongray.bsky.social
Sandy Leaton Gray
@drleatongray.bsky.social
Professor of Education Futures at UCL. Personal account, posts represent my own opinions and not those of my institution.
Meet Pancho, the AI bot fighting food waste at the hotel buffet

www.thetimes.com/article/408e...
Meet Pancho, the AI bot fighting food waste at the hotel buffet
Spanish hoteliers are turning to technology to avoid fines for tossing out up to 30 per cent of lavish daily spreads
www.thetimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
Ok palate cleanse time. In case you missed it, here's my most popular post ever
4 yrs ago today, a family member managed a truly spectacular own goal, splintered his domestic bliss, & in the process, united the world for a day.

On popular request, I shall now recreate the livetweet thread from that day

So gather around children, for this is the tale of The Rice Truck Saga
November 23, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Had to explain to two Americans this week that no, the British don’t do Thanksgiving, and the only thing we do in November is Bonfire Night where we celebrate catching and executing Catholic terrorists, one of whom is a direct ancestor of mine. They are like 😮🤨🤯
November 23, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
Oops. Cryptographers cancel election results after losing decryption key. arstechnica.com/security/202...
Oops. Cryptographers cancel election results after losing decryption key.
Voting system required three keys. One of them has been “irretrievably lost.”…
arstechnica.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Great that I have a new book on decolonisation out today with Routledge. Not great that they demoted me in the biography despite us asking for a correction *twice*. They didn’t demote my male co-author, of course. I’m furious.
November 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
Also tbh the idea that the average layperson can become expert enough in any field to have a nuanced and meaningful take on policy is frankly 98% of why we are in any given mess.
No, a weekend of reading is not gonna make you an expert on anything and some they’all don’t even do that much.
I do not want to “Do my own research.” I want to pay trained accredited experts to do the research, trained accredited experts to report on findings, and trained accredited experts to make policy based on them.

I am busy af with my own job, I don’t need to do eight zillion more.
November 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
💪
November 15, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Well, something unprecedented just happened. After years of emotionally exhausting reviews, I got one that said the submitted paper was great and nothing really needed changing. 😮😄
November 14, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Uber and Bolt warn of 15% fare increase from ‘taxi tax’ plan. I think people are absolutely right to object as the unintended consequences, particularly outside metropolitan zones with generous public transport, will be vast.

www.thetimes.com/article/ac20...
Uber and Bolt warn of 15% fare increase from ‘taxi tax’ plan
The firms have asked Rachel Reeves not to impose VAT on private hire journeys, saying it would hit vulnerable passengers and put women’s safety at risk
www.thetimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:07 AM
www.economist.com/business/202... TL:DR to profile people this way replicates the biometric racism that Galton and Bertillon were so fascinated by, and which ultimately contributed significantly to the holocaust.
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
www.economist.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
The 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report was meant to “build a world-class curriculum for all.” In reality, it signals something quite different: the closure of curriculum reform in England. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 10:08 PM
A big shout out to the Cambridgeshire Cycling Proficiency teachers out and about in Sawston this week with cohorts of primary schoolchildren, chanting in unison ‘Turning right!’ ‘Turning left!’ ‘Looking for traffic!’ as they rode along. Cuteness itself and a perfect pedagogy for safety drill.
November 6, 2025 at 11:16 AM
The 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report was meant to “build a world-class curriculum for all.” In reality, it signals something quite different: the closure of curriculum reform in England. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Don't pay for iCloud, people. A glitch at the Apple end meant that it has permanently wiped a third of my entire iCloud files by accident (n=300), across every single device, and it took me 5 days, 3 online chats and 3 phone calls to learn they are not going to do anything about it. All gone.
November 5, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
I wrote a blog post on AI and the need for sapience. Pause. Enjoy.
October 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I wrote a blog post on AI and the need for sapience. Pause. Enjoy.
October 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
the pièce de résistance in all this, for me, was learning how the alleged heisters allegedly got the ladder:

they requested a demonstration from the Paris-based owner, then stole it during the demonstration
October 24, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
The interview with the CEO letting slip one of the other ideas they had but ditched, metro.co.uk/video/german...
German crane manufacturer goes viral with Louvre heist advert
Burglars who stole jewels worth an estimated €88m from the Louvre aren't the only ones profiting from the heist. The German manufacturer of the lift used to steal the jewels published an advert featu...
metro.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
The German company that makes the mechanical ladder used in the Louvre heist has used the image to advertise, with the text 'When you need to move fast'

10/10 response, no notes
October 24, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
There is no one more fun to read than Caity Weaver

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
In Praise of Jewel Thieves
How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre
www.theatlantic.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:57 AM
So come join with me in a journey of discovery regarding a painting I inherited from my grandparents. It’s of little financial value but great interest.
October 24, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Parents look for £180,000 tutor to prepare baby for Eton or Harrow. Extraordinary.

www.thetimes.com/article/152b...
Parents look for £180,000 tutor to prepare baby for Eton or Harrow
The ideal candidate would be from a ‘socially appropriate background’ to ready the one-year-old boy for elite schools
www.thetimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:51 AM
‘The Georgian-inspired desk costs £11,500 and has satinwood legs … I bought it once I got the advance from my new book, Clodagh’s Happy Cooking.’ (Times). In contrast I spent entire annual royalties for six academic books on a pre-loved John Lewis desk off eBay last year. Questioning life choices.
October 22, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Sandy Leaton Gray
My text to a colleague this morning!
October 20, 2025 at 9:59 PM