Michael Shaw
@mrmichaelshaw.bsky.social
Education technologist. Londoner. Former journalist. Rants here entirely personal.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
some of what they hate is globalisation, which like, what do you want me to do about that? uninvent oil tankers?
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
some of what they hate is globalisation, which like, what do you want me to do about that? uninvent oil tankers?
Reposted by Michael Shaw
"We grant people different rights based on their genetic heritage and on which scrap of land they happened to be born on. That’s mad, isn’t it?"
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
Why does nationality matter, anyway?
Deciding someone's legal rights based on a nebulous combination of birthplace and parentage is a bit weird
www.newstatesman.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:33 AM
"We grant people different rights based on their genetic heritage and on which scrap of land they happened to be born on. That’s mad, isn’t it?"
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
I just think, when debating immigration and so on, that we should try not to lose sight of the fact that "nationality" is a made up thing.
An image I sent to a colleague earlier before the outage was fixed...
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
An image I sent to a colleague earlier before the outage was fixed...
Reposted by Michael Shaw
There were 93 homicides in London last year: population 9 million
In New York - population 8.5 million - there were
391.
London's homicide figure is 6 times lower than LA, 9 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than Chicago.
And it's falling year on year despite the population increasing
In New York - population 8.5 million - there were
391.
London's homicide figure is 6 times lower than LA, 9 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than Chicago.
And it's falling year on year despite the population increasing
November 16, 2025 at 5:28 PM
There were 93 homicides in London last year: population 9 million
In New York - population 8.5 million - there were
391.
London's homicide figure is 6 times lower than LA, 9 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than Chicago.
And it's falling year on year despite the population increasing
In New York - population 8.5 million - there were
391.
London's homicide figure is 6 times lower than LA, 9 times lower than Miami, 17 times lower than Chicago.
And it's falling year on year despite the population increasing
Reposted by Michael Shaw
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
November 16, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I was tagged and asked to take a look at this claim - cos, well just look at it!🙄
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
Does it seem plausible that THE Trocadero is going to be turned into a Mosque?
It was pretty easy to debunk but I decided to do a deep dive into the reality AND the appalling press coverage
🧵
1/26
@annodracula.bsky.social Am I just imagining that the first idea here was something you were suggesting maybe 20 years ago?
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
My obvious plan for the next three Bond films
James Bond is dead. So what happens now?
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:07 PM
@annodracula.bsky.social Am I just imagining that the first idea here was something you were suggesting maybe 20 years ago?
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
If writers really are struggling with what to do about the next James Bond film, after blowing him up in the last one, they're welcome to my plan...
(Part of it lifts an idea that @annodracula.bsky.social had many years ago)
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
(Part of it lifts an idea that @annodracula.bsky.social had many years ago)
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
My obvious plan for the next three Bond films
James Bond is dead. So what happens now?
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:36 PM
If writers really are struggling with what to do about the next James Bond film, after blowing him up in the last one, they're welcome to my plan...
(Part of it lifts an idea that @annodracula.bsky.social had many years ago)
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
(Part of it lifts an idea that @annodracula.bsky.social had many years ago)
mrmichaelshaw.medium.com/my-obvious-p...
After years of being told that Microsoft software works better on PCs than a Mac I'm finding baffling how many things are actually much worse on PCs.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
ALT: the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 PM
After years of being told that Microsoft software works better on PCs than a Mac I'm finding baffling how many things are actually much worse on PCs.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Like if you're a working parent with a family calendar in Google, Outlook on PC insists on blocking out your whole working day for no reason.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
If you report on things that are true your organisation gets decapitated, but if you let people invent racist drivel on air you're fine. Every single aspect of our information ecosystem is so, so broken.
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
November 9, 2025 at 7:52 PM
If you report on things that are true your organisation gets decapitated, but if you let people invent racist drivel on air you're fine. Every single aspect of our information ecosystem is so, so broken.
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
November 8, 2025 at 8:39 AM
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
It shouldn’t be forgotten that a big piece of Mamdani’s campaign was simply “cities are cool and lots of people enjoy living in them” which in and of itself dismantles alot of rightwing talking points
Niche post, but as someone switching to a heavily Microsoft environment it is baffling how poorly Loop compares to @notion.com. Not just the absence of simple relational databases (Notions' USP) but basic stuff around subpages, page covers, etc.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
November 6, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Niche post, but as someone switching to a heavily Microsoft environment it is baffling how poorly Loop compares to @notion.com. Not just the absence of simple relational databases (Notions' USP) but basic stuff around subpages, page covers, etc.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
Makes me glad for the Notion team, I guess.
It’s fascinating comparing the front page coverage of the Huntingdon train attack (below) with how the British press treated another case 30 years ago.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
November 3, 2025 at 9:50 AM
It’s fascinating comparing the front page coverage of the Huntingdon train attack (below) with how the British press treated another case 30 years ago.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
I’m referring to the 1995 Netto supermarket attack in Birmingham in which a man stabbed 10 people, killing one of them.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’
System rewards soldiers who achieve strikes with points that can be used to buy more weapons in an online store
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Ukrainian computer game-style drone attack system goes ‘viral’ www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Michael Shaw
A majority of voters, and a plurality of white voters, think that Reform is a racist party with racist policies.
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
A majority of voters, and a plurality of white voters, think that Reform is a racist party with racist policies.
“We are spending scarce resources in ways that have little impact on the teacher quality needed to help pupils.”
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
October 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
“We are spending scarce resources in ways that have little impact on the teacher quality needed to help pupils.”
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
The findings from today’s @teacherdevtrust.bsky.social ‘CPD Landscape 2025’ report are concerning.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Trying to imagine what the reaction would have been if the Govt had casually announced they were replacing A-levels with no details, as they have done with post-16 vocational qualifcations today.
Probably not total indifference.
Probably not total indifference.
October 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Trying to imagine what the reaction would have been if the Govt had casually announced they were replacing A-levels with no details, as they have done with post-16 vocational qualifcations today.
Probably not total indifference.
Probably not total indifference.
The Bunny Vs Monkey event with @jamiesmart.bsky.social was a joy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
October 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
The Bunny Vs Monkey event with @jamiesmart.bsky.social was a joy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
Yeah, the kids there liked it, fine, but I got to spend an hour sketching stuff like the insane cat Looshkin and a FARTING TREE with a bum in it. So I was happy.
I finally read the 2013 Sun article about Zack Polanski the right is weaponising.
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
October 10, 2025 at 10:09 AM
I finally read the 2013 Sun article about Zack Polanski the right is weaponising.
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Weird bits I'd not heard mentioned was that the writer
1) felt it worked and;
2) thinks Zack's a hottie ("He’s in dark slacks and a tight-fitting jumper but I try to ignore the resemblance to Marvin from JLS.")
Starts humming tunes from the opening act of DDLJ
October 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Starts humming tunes from the opening act of DDLJ
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Reposted by Michael Shaw
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
Outstanding piece by Stephen Daisley.
Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.
That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
Ethnicity is no barrier to Britishness - it's culture and integration.
That means 'smaller cohorts and aggressive integration policies' - and tackling the institutions that 'have amplified grievance narratives and radical anti-Western ideologies'.
October 8, 2025 at 11:15 AM
No, it's not. It's all a lie. The blunt truth is across the 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 Census *every* ethnic group in the UK has become *less* geographically segregated and *all* groups, majority and minorities, are more likely to interact with people not like them.
The Conservatives’ plans to slash arts degrees shows a depressing lack of understanding about Britain’s creative industries.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
October 8, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The Conservatives’ plans to slash arts degrees shows a depressing lack of understanding about Britain’s creative industries.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
For crying out loud, it's 12 years since the “Next Gen” report emphasised that the games and film industries needed arts graduates as well as those who'd studied comp science.
Reposted by Michael Shaw
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
October 8, 2025 at 8:30 AM
feels like yet again time to mention that the *videogames* industry (that's a creative industry, which people do creative degrees in) brings in more than twice the amount to the British economy as the fishing and steel industries *combined*
Reposted by Michael Shaw
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
October 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat