Hugh Wallace
@tumshie.me
Tech / gov / design / occasional snark. Usually found queuing for coffee ☕️ Digital and data for public good ✊
CIO @rds-scotland.bsky.social
Chair @cfgsocial.bsky.social
✍️ Sign up to my newsletter: https://tumshie.me
CIO @rds-scotland.bsky.social
Chair @cfgsocial.bsky.social
✍️ Sign up to my newsletter: https://tumshie.me
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
This is a wonderful little story about children’s creativity in getting around Internet bans.
September 24, 2026 at 2:45 PM
This is a wonderful little story about children’s creativity in getting around Internet bans.
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
have wanted to see more beef lately and this is a good one: karlbode.com/why-is-naomi...
Why is Naomi Klein Funding Substack’s Hate Machine?
Writers of good conscience should not be building new media companies on the back of a platform that opportunistically coddles white supremacy.
karlbode.com
July 15, 2026 at 5:39 PM
have wanted to see more beef lately and this is a good one: karlbode.com/why-is-naomi...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party? - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
Possibly the most informative article I've read this year
Possibly the most informative article I've read this year
Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party?
Our obsession with AI code-writing tools is overwhelming the web’s unsung human caretakers
giftarticle.ft.com
July 12, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Who cleans up after the vibe-coding party? - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @financialtimes.com
Possibly the most informative article I've read this year
Possibly the most informative article I've read this year
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Whoop, the Society for Hopeful Technologists has arrived! Follow @hopeful.technology
Our latest newsletter is out today full of hopeful things to read, listen and do over the summer: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Our latest newsletter is out today full of hopeful things to read, listen and do over the summer: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
#6: The Summer 2026 Hopeful Tech Index
Updates from the Society for Hopeful Technologists, plus recommendations for summer reading, listening, and gaming
buttondown.com
July 1, 2026 at 7:36 AM
Whoop, the Society for Hopeful Technologists has arrived! Follow @hopeful.technology
Our latest newsletter is out today full of hopeful things to read, listen and do over the summer: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Our latest newsletter is out today full of hopeful things to read, listen and do over the summer: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/society-of-h...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Bad Services is out today and we’d like to take this opportunity to announce our unwavering support for services that don't work.
So much so that we've launched our new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation
Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction.
badservicescorp.com
So much so that we've launched our new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation
Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction.
badservicescorp.com
June 25, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Bad Services is out today and we’d like to take this opportunity to announce our unwavering support for services that don't work.
So much so that we've launched our new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation
Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction.
badservicescorp.com
So much so that we've launched our new sister company - The Bad Services Corporation
Welcome to your Bad Services Corporation staff induction.
badservicescorp.com
I started to write a tongue-in-cheek post about the way technology is portrayed in movies, and ended up with a fairly ranty piece on why the social media ban focuses on the wrong targets. Awkward juxtapose inc.
tumshie.me/aliens-land-...
tumshie.me/aliens-land-...
Aliens land, social media banned
What do Steven Spielberg's latest movie and the UK banning social media for under 16s have in common?
tumshie.me
June 23, 2026 at 1:58 PM
I started to write a tongue-in-cheek post about the way technology is portrayed in movies, and ended up with a fairly ranty piece on why the social media ban focuses on the wrong targets. Awkward juxtapose inc.
tumshie.me/aliens-land-...
tumshie.me/aliens-land-...
So enjoyed the latest episode of Vergecast, particularly @davidpierce.xyz and @reckless.bsky.social's jovial talk of "wearable bullshit" and AR glasses "giving good demo" but little else of worth or value to humanity. www.theverge.com/podcast/9521...
Snap’s Specs look good on nobody
On The Vergecast: Snap Specs, Fox / Roku, and Facebook AI Mode.
www.theverge.com
June 20, 2026 at 2:53 PM
So enjoyed the latest episode of Vergecast, particularly @davidpierce.xyz and @reckless.bsky.social's jovial talk of "wearable bullshit" and AR glasses "giving good demo" but little else of worth or value to humanity. www.theverge.com/podcast/9521...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
It is also absolutely typical that Elon Musk can do whatever he likes and the way to get it around it is to suppress young people's access to information and relationships.
June 14, 2026 at 3:23 PM
It is also absolutely typical that Elon Musk can do whatever he likes and the way to get it around it is to suppress young people's access to information and relationships.
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Another way to put it is... if you don't use AI platforms because you have a moral objection to them, but you publish your words on Substack, you haven't really thought about this stuff.
Hey, look at Substack promoting Andrew Tate as the #1 new bestseller. The company's amoral leadership & backers will platform anyone, even ludicrously toxic rapists & human traffickers.
April 13, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Another way to put it is... if you don't use AI platforms because you have a moral objection to them, but you publish your words on Substack, you haven't really thought about this stuff.
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Re: Meta's retreat from the metaverse: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/t...
Told you so:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Told you so:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Hey, Facebook, I Made a Metaverse 27 Years Ago
It was terrible then, and it’s terrible now.
www.theatlantic.com
March 19, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Re: Meta's retreat from the metaverse: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/t...
Told you so:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Told you so:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
I'm volunteering as a parkrun marshall and scanner this weekend - the point about manual scanning promoting interactions is so true! 'Just enough technology' is a great mantra for life
I wrote some words about the joy of parkrun, the thoughtful application of technology, and (somewhat inevitably) AI.
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
It's a run, not a race
When I turned 50 last year, one of the most noteworthy things I did was rack up my 50th parkrun.
I'd realised a few months earlier that if I timed it carefully, the two things would coincide nicely. ...
tumshie.me
March 19, 2026 at 5:13 PM
I'm volunteering as a parkrun marshall and scanner this weekend - the point about manual scanning promoting interactions is so true! 'Just enough technology' is a great mantra for life
I wrote some words about the joy of parkrun, the thoughtful application of technology, and (somewhat inevitably) AI.
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
It's a run, not a race
When I turned 50 last year, one of the most noteworthy things I did was rack up my 50th parkrun.
I'd realised a few months earlier that if I timed it carefully, the two things would coincide nicely. ...
tumshie.me
March 19, 2026 at 1:42 PM
I wrote some words about the joy of parkrun, the thoughtful application of technology, and (somewhat inevitably) AI.
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
tumshie.me/its-a-run-no...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
This is the Society for Hopeful Technologists. Brilliant, kind and thoughtful individuals looking to bring hope back into tech. Join us for updates.
societyforhopefultechnologists.org
societyforhopefultechnologists.org
March 12, 2026 at 11:03 AM
This is the Society for Hopeful Technologists. Brilliant, kind and thoughtful individuals looking to bring hope back into tech. Join us for updates.
societyforhopefultechnologists.org
societyforhopefultechnologists.org
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Local government bods! Anyone with experience of getting permission for working in the open at your local authority? Need a couple of quotes from people who’ve done it before...
March 11, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Local government bods! Anyone with experience of getting permission for working in the open at your local authority? Need a couple of quotes from people who’ve done it before...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Really insightful explainer and update on the dreadful Glasgow fire and its impact which must have been challenging to write today. Kudos to @libbybrooks.bsky.social and @severincarrell.bsky.social
Glasgow railway station fire again shows vulnerability of city’s older buildings
Glasgow railway station fire again shows vulnerability of city’s older buildings
The latest blaze follows two devastating fires at Glasgow school of art – and others; however, the council is becoming more proactive about safety
www.theguardian.com
March 9, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Really insightful explainer and update on the dreadful Glasgow fire and its impact which must have been challenging to write today. Kudos to @libbybrooks.bsky.social and @severincarrell.bsky.social
Absolutely gutting news about Glasgow - I got the train into Central Station on Friday night, and it's hard to fathom how much is now just gone. This photo from the 80s shows the extent: from the Irn Bru to the Bell's sign, almost completely destroyed by fire.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
Your Other National Drink - Renfield Street early eighties
www.flickr.com
March 9, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Absolutely gutting news about Glasgow - I got the train into Central Station on Friday night, and it's hard to fathom how much is now just gone. This photo from the 80s shows the extent: from the Irn Bru to the Bell's sign, almost completely destroyed by fire.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...
As is tradition, here are my highlights from February a week later than intended (accompanied by a fitting photo to sum up the general state of things) tumshie.me/monthnote-fe...
Monthnote, February 2026
Various goings-on during the shortest month.
tumshie.me
March 8, 2026 at 6:06 PM
As is tradition, here are my highlights from February a week later than intended (accompanied by a fitting photo to sum up the general state of things) tumshie.me/monthnote-fe...
Powerful, provocative keynote on AI from @elmosmoe.bsky.social at today’s ‘Power and participation in public tech’ conference in Manchester. So good to have the ‘this is inevitable’ narrative challenged with many pertinent examples.
March 6, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Powerful, provocative keynote on AI from @elmosmoe.bsky.social at today’s ‘Power and participation in public tech’ conference in Manchester. So good to have the ‘this is inevitable’ narrative challenged with many pertinent examples.
In a v rare moment of tapping into the zeitgeist 😂 my Happy 20th Birthday Twitter post covers a lot of similar ground to John Oliver’s takedown
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
February 23, 2026 at 10:14 PM
In a v rare moment of tapping into the zeitgeist 😂 my Happy 20th Birthday Twitter post covers a lot of similar ground to John Oliver’s takedown
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
Twitter would have been 20 years old next month, but it didn't make it beyond its teenage years 😢
I've written about the fact X still exerts a lot of influence over our public discourse, and why that's bad for all of us.
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
I've written about the fact X still exerts a lot of influence over our public discourse, and why that's bad for all of us.
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
X: why are you still here?
Get your party clothes ready people: next month would have been Twitter's 20th birthday! 🥳
For so it came to pass, on 21 March 2006, Jack Dorsey posted "just setting up my twttr" and an era-defining ...
tumshie.me
February 23, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Twitter would have been 20 years old next month, but it didn't make it beyond its teenage years 😢
I've written about the fact X still exerts a lot of influence over our public discourse, and why that's bad for all of us.
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
I've written about the fact X still exerts a lot of influence over our public discourse, and why that's bad for all of us.
tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Episode 1 is OUT!! 🥳 🙌
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
February 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Episode 1 is OUT!! 🥳 🙌
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
This week on The Interface, we discuss:
* That insane Superbowl ad for Ring
* The US TikTok takeover
* And the beef that launched ChatGPT
Listen wherever you get your podcasts: app.magellan.ai/listen_links...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
Here's my take on that big dumb post about AI going viral on X right now.
www.garbageday.email/p/a-comfort-...
www.garbageday.email/p/a-comfort-...
February 11, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Here's my take on that big dumb post about AI going viral on X right now.
www.garbageday.email/p/a-comfort-...
www.garbageday.email/p/a-comfort-...
Reposted by Hugh Wallace
how do you write this story without noting there was a campaign literally called SUBSTACKERS AGAINST NAZIS in…2023
Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters
Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:14 PM
how do you write this story without noting there was a campaign literally called SUBSTACKERS AGAINST NAZIS in…2023