Shona Cook
@shonacook.bsky.social
Swore I'd use the death of twitter to stop scrolling and start writing and yet here I am
Reposted by Shona Cook
Applications close this Saturday (10 October)📣
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, don't miss the chance to gain a £400 grant 👇
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, don't miss the chance to gain a £400 grant 👇
Our Sensory Stories Fund is open for applications!
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, apply for this £400 grant, to promote and develop a love of stories in your setting📚🎶
Apply by 10 October:
www.scottishbooktrust.com/training-and...
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, apply for this £400 grant, to promote and develop a love of stories in your setting📚🎶
Apply by 10 October:
www.scottishbooktrust.com/training-and...
Sensory Stories Fund | Grant For Schools | Scottish Book Trust
Apply for our grant to buy books and materials for schools, teachers, and groups supporting additional needs—help grow a love of stories!
www.scottishbooktrust.com
October 6, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Applications close this Saturday (10 October)📣
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, don't miss the chance to gain a £400 grant 👇
If you work with pupils with additional support needs, don't miss the chance to gain a £400 grant 👇
Reposted by Shona Cook
ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors.
"It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
"It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
October 5, 2026 at 8:47 PM
ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors.
"It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
"It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
Reposted by Shona Cook
The seasonal October drawings begin
October 6, 2026 at 12:54 PM
The seasonal October drawings begin
Reposted by Shona Cook
One thing that's so wild about the SV idea of dronifying everything is drones are fucking loud and annoying. We're really going to tolerate the lived landscape sounding like the inside of a fucking hornet nest?
The problem with Flock cameras is that they are stationary 🤡
Autonomous drone company pitches itself as replacement to Flock
An autonomous drone company is pitching itself as the best replacement for Flock, the stationary cameras that have found themselves in the public eye over controversial uses of the data they collect.
www.fox2detroit.com
October 6, 2026 at 11:09 AM
One thing that's so wild about the SV idea of dronifying everything is drones are fucking loud and annoying. We're really going to tolerate the lived landscape sounding like the inside of a fucking hornet nest?
Reposted by Shona Cook
Reposted by Shona Cook
I had this bit about Jeffrey Archer from the 1995 HIGNFY video memorised for whenever I needed a handy fact about him.
October 6, 2026 at 5:54 AM
I had this bit about Jeffrey Archer from the 1995 HIGNFY video memorised for whenever I needed a handy fact about him.
Reposted by Shona Cook
If you have $100 million to spend on ads saying you shouldn’t be taxed you’re not being taxed enough
Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses fortune.com/article/how-...
Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses fortune.com/article/how-...
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has now spent $100 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses | Fortune
The state’s ultrawealthy, including Larry Page and Peter Thiel, have similarly donated to efforts opposing the wealth tax.
fortune.com
October 4, 2026 at 12:23 PM
If you have $100 million to spend on ads saying you shouldn’t be taxed you’re not being taxed enough
Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses fortune.com/article/how-...
Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses fortune.com/article/how-...
Reposted by Shona Cook
Something AI is responsible for that doesn't get enough talk:
How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
Yet again, the Game UI Database is being scraped to the point that it's getting knocked offline. Even Cloudflare's "I'm under attack" mode isn't working.
I just wanted to create a resource for real designers. I'm getting so fucking sick of this.
I just wanted to create a resource for real designers. I'm getting so fucking sick of this.
October 4, 2026 at 3:58 AM
Something AI is responsible for that doesn't get enough talk:
How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
How, when it scrapes a website to illegally steal everything on it, it uses up a ton of its bandwidth allotment, crashing it or racking up massive fees for site owners.
Reposted by Shona Cook
This news is important because all the fucks out there actively attempting to wreck the world want you to think that the work is hopeless and just mitigating the worst case scenario.
It's not. Fucking keep going.
It's not. Fucking keep going.
We now have rigorous pooled data showing that even without active restoration efforts, cleared rainforest can rebound to 75% of their former species composition and 90% of species diversity within just thirty years. #goodnews
Rainforest biodiversity rebounds within a single generation | The Optimist Daily
A major Ecuador study finds cleared rainforests can recover 90 percent of their species diversity in just 30 years, as long as humans leave the land alone.
www.optimistdaily.com
September 24, 2026 at 9:07 PM
This news is important because all the fucks out there actively attempting to wreck the world want you to think that the work is hopeless and just mitigating the worst case scenario.
It's not. Fucking keep going.
It's not. Fucking keep going.
Reposted by Shona Cook
Coming to the Scottish Storytelling Centre this month!
October 3, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Coming to the Scottish Storytelling Centre this month!
Oh no there's a new Father John Misty single that BBC6Music will inevitably put on heavy rotation, so that's another thing (on top of the news) I'll be flinging myself across the room to turn the radio off for. Don't *dislike* his songs exactly, they creep me tf out so much I want to escape my skin
October 3, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Oh no there's a new Father John Misty single that BBC6Music will inevitably put on heavy rotation, so that's another thing (on top of the news) I'll be flinging myself across the room to turn the radio off for. Don't *dislike* his songs exactly, they creep me tf out so much I want to escape my skin
Agree need to rein in the data centre rush but it's not only rural communities that need protecting, they're unsuitable for cities too, hoovering up resources better used elsewhere and making even *more* neighbours miserable in urban areas. As an extractive industry, should be treated like mines
Campaigners across Europe today launched a Day of Action to Stop Dirty Data Centres and Scotland will be taking part! So hold the date Saturday 14th November in Edinburgh, it will be coordinated by Friends of the Earth Scotland - more information to follow!
aprs.scot/news/stop-...
aprs.scot/news/stop-...
October 2, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Agree need to rein in the data centre rush but it's not only rural communities that need protecting, they're unsuitable for cities too, hoovering up resources better used elsewhere and making even *more* neighbours miserable in urban areas. As an extractive industry, should be treated like mines
Lost a fair chunk of a beautiful morning because this was so fascinating but it's time to go out into the sunshine
I re-watched Angela Collier's video about Richard Feynman yesterday and that's a big ongoing theme throughout.
It made me really sad. I can picture a slightly different path in my life leading me to be one of these miserable men. What a bummer.
youtu.be/TwKpj2ISQAc
It made me really sad. I can picture a slightly different path in my life leading me to be one of these miserable men. What a bummer.
youtu.be/TwKpj2ISQAc
the sham legacy of Richard Feynman
YouTube video by Angela Collier
youtu.be
October 1, 2026 at 10:17 AM
Lost a fair chunk of a beautiful morning because this was so fascinating but it's time to go out into the sunshine
Reposted by Shona Cook
I'm looking to hire a Tokyo-based Japanese interpreter/research guide (fluent in Mandarin and/or English, preferably Mandarin) in preparation for a research trip in late Oct/early Nov. Looking for: help navigating a university museum/archives and finding some Meiji era-related sites/maps/photos/etc.
September 30, 2026 at 6:30 PM
I'm looking to hire a Tokyo-based Japanese interpreter/research guide (fluent in Mandarin and/or English, preferably Mandarin) in preparation for a research trip in late Oct/early Nov. Looking for: help navigating a university museum/archives and finding some Meiji era-related sites/maps/photos/etc.
Reposted by Shona Cook
It's been 7 months since I gave evidence at the UKGov select committee hearing, on the policy changes at UKRI which have had a catastrophic impact on funding for UK astronomy and particle physics. When asked if we thought we were the "canary in the coal mine", we said yes..... we weren't wrong. 🧪🔭⚛️
MRC success rates drop sharply after grants overhaul.
Warnings of “catastrophic” impact on medical researchers as some rates fall below 5 per cent.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
Warnings of “catastrophic” impact on medical researchers as some rates fall below 5 per cent.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
MRC success rates drop sharply after grants overhaul - Research Professional News
Warnings of “catastrophic” impact on medical researchers as some rates fall below 5 per cent
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 30, 2026 at 9:35 AM
It's been 7 months since I gave evidence at the UKGov select committee hearing, on the policy changes at UKRI which have had a catastrophic impact on funding for UK astronomy and particle physics. When asked if we thought we were the "canary in the coal mine", we said yes..... we weren't wrong. 🧪🔭⚛️
Reposted by Shona Cook
Not to oversimplify but maybe it’s not surprising the two grossest abusers of 21st C English football’s financial regulations were clubs owned by people used to turning resource wealth into political power, linked to or parts of authoritarian regimes with equal disregard for international law.
September 30, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Not to oversimplify but maybe it’s not surprising the two grossest abusers of 21st C English football’s financial regulations were clubs owned by people used to turning resource wealth into political power, linked to or parts of authoritarian regimes with equal disregard for international law.
*redoubles efforts to build a multifaceted DVD/Blu-ray library*
Ready for movies to go MAGA?
The world’s biggest entertainment conglomerate is about to formed with the merger of Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros-Discovery. And it’ll all be in the hands of Trump acolytes, the Ellison family.
Film & TV is about to shift rightward
In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
The world’s biggest entertainment conglomerate is about to formed with the merger of Paramount-Skydance and Warner Bros-Discovery. And it’ll all be in the hands of Trump acolytes, the Ellison family.
Film & TV is about to shift rightward
In @heraldscotland.bsky.social
'Are you ready for movies to go MAGA? You better be – it’s inevitable'
A giant media merger is about to create one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in history - and it will all be owned by moguls loyal to…
www.heraldscotland.com
September 30, 2026 at 9:00 AM
*redoubles efforts to build a multifaceted DVD/Blu-ray library*
Reposted by Shona Cook
I’m Gail, a one woman (and a feline assistant) business, based in Manchester.
I create prints, homewares, T-shirts & cards inspired by midcentury design, music and architecture.
Have a look gailmyerscough.co.uk
I create prints, homewares, T-shirts & cards inspired by midcentury design, music and architecture.
Have a look gailmyerscough.co.uk
September 29, 2026 at 6:22 PM
I’m Gail, a one woman (and a feline assistant) business, based in Manchester.
I create prints, homewares, T-shirts & cards inspired by midcentury design, music and architecture.
Have a look gailmyerscough.co.uk
I create prints, homewares, T-shirts & cards inspired by midcentury design, music and architecture.
Have a look gailmyerscough.co.uk
For tedious reasons I am doing an online Ethics training module and the bit about making ethical decisions links to a YouTube interview with Daniel Kahneman which is clearly using auto subtitles as he's labelled 'conman' every time his name is mentioned which is unfortunate in this context
September 29, 2026 at 3:03 PM
For tedious reasons I am doing an online Ethics training module and the bit about making ethical decisions links to a YouTube interview with Daniel Kahneman which is clearly using auto subtitles as he's labelled 'conman' every time his name is mentioned which is unfortunate in this context
Reposted by Shona Cook
The only time the word “confidence” should be used around the AI bubble is when it’s followed by the word “trick.”
September 29, 2026 at 2:12 PM
The only time the word “confidence” should be used around the AI bubble is when it’s followed by the word “trick.”
Exciting times in the neighborhood, as a rare conjunction of green and brown wheelie bin collections occurs this week. It's like a comet, only less photogenic
September 29, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Exciting times in the neighborhood, as a rare conjunction of green and brown wheelie bin collections occurs this week. It's like a comet, only less photogenic
Well that explains the thump. Guess it's fine though as away now
September 29, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Well that explains the thump. Guess it's fine though as away now
Reposted by Shona Cook
Missed the actual full moon but this one will do fine
September 28, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Missed the actual full moon but this one will do fine
Reposted by Shona Cook
NEW: Meet the real AI ‘rogue agent’: Lord Watson of Palantir.
I am sick to the teeth of this current AI hype cycle & its perversion of language. The only thing going ‘rogue’ right now are AI boosters, a gullible & compliant press & a Labour Lord
1/
broligarchy.substack.com/p/meet-the-r...
I am sick to the teeth of this current AI hype cycle & its perversion of language. The only thing going ‘rogue’ right now are AI boosters, a gullible & compliant press & a Labour Lord
1/
broligarchy.substack.com/p/meet-the-r...
Meet the real AI “rogue agent”: Lord Tom Watson
A Labour leader is out of control. The world needs a containment strategy now
broligarchy.substack.com
September 28, 2026 at 6:29 AM
NEW: Meet the real AI ‘rogue agent’: Lord Watson of Palantir.
I am sick to the teeth of this current AI hype cycle & its perversion of language. The only thing going ‘rogue’ right now are AI boosters, a gullible & compliant press & a Labour Lord
1/
broligarchy.substack.com/p/meet-the-r...
I am sick to the teeth of this current AI hype cycle & its perversion of language. The only thing going ‘rogue’ right now are AI boosters, a gullible & compliant press & a Labour Lord
1/
broligarchy.substack.com/p/meet-the-r...