the hatter

Oh this is cunning #UKCanals

AI can't take my job as a writer because I don't even have one

Your new injury is being ginger ? Or being murdered ?

Write the book you would like to see someone pull from a higgledy piggledy pile in a secondhand shop 63 years after your death and say, "This looks fucking weird. I think I will buy it for Joan."

Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Lecturer in Medieval Studies to join our dynamic team within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Autumn 2026. As Lecturer in Medieval Studies you will contribute to the teaching of Medieval English literature and Medieval history across the Faculty, within our School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication, and School of Historical Studies - this includes our BA English and BA History programmes, as well as postgraduate taught programmes in the two subject areas. This post is offered on a permanent contract at Birkbeck, full time 35 hours per week, with a salary of £44,247 rising to £60,858 per year. Teaching hours will vary from 6pm - 9pm, Monday to Friday. To be successful, you will bring research expertise in the literature, history and culture of the Late Medieval period (c.1300-1500), and demonstrate a capacity to contribute to interdisciplinary research and teaching, participate actively in curriculum development, supervise doctoral students, and help shape the intellectual life of our vibrant academic community. We would also welcome applicants who would be able to contribute to collaborative teaching programmes or research in the Faculty, in areas such as identity, race/ethnicity, or gender - experience of collaboration with cultural institutions, whether through research or teaching, is also welcome. Core responsibilities will initially include programme/module administration, teaching, supervision, assessment, student support and pastoral care. You will also be equipped to supervise doctoral students. With a PhD in any area of Medieval Studies, you will contribute the Faculty’s and Schools’ research impact and culture, and to the intellectual and cultural life of the institution and the various communities and partners with whom we work and serve.

Birkbeck is hiring a Lecturer in Medieval Studies (c.1300-1500), full-time and open-ended.

They will be formally based in English but expected to be able to contribute about 0.5FTE to History, including teaching and supervision.

Closing date Feb 23rd: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...

I'm standing to be @scottishlabour.bsky.social MSP for Glasgow Central. I've never stood for election before, and running a campaign is seriously expensive!

I've got a crowdfunder to support my campaign. If you were minded to contribute, I'd be grateful 🌹

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/vonnie-san...

That's always how it worked/work at the other company too.

Support: we can't look, appeals form is here.
Appeals: thorough 2 second investigation, it stands, can't comment further

Only chance is if you know some*one* you can talk to.

Why my NFC passport didn't work at Heathrow's eGates I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why! The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they …

New blog post: Why my NFC passport didn't work at Heathrow's eGates

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/

I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates …

It's clearly nonsense when the instant reply to a ticket to appeals is 'after a thorough review'. That's not what that word means. Nor is 'we can tell you nothing' a good balance between not helping bad actors, and making players disputing bans understand the reasoning.

That Lewis Capaldi ad for Android AI where he prompts fake dating profile photos is so disgusting. Was there no woman in the pitch meeting to point out that using fake images is dishonest and manipulative, not qualities most people look for in a relationship?

Help us challenge the Supreme Court’s judgment on trans rights | Good Law Project

Upset about recent WI and Girl Guides announcements? Me too. But they didn't choose this. It was imposed by the Charity Commission, based on EHRC guidance that arose from the Supreme Court judgement. Take that down & the whole house of cards tumbles. Here's how. goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/...

This year we're doing Whamutopia. Every time you hear Last Christmas you have to have a mulled wine at your earliest convenience and toast George Michael, because he was a lad

Yay, now you've got an excuse to do some colouring in.

Must be tough having to hide your disappointment that you've never driven a train, each time it's asked.

Funny thing is, most people like that are bad at the same maths that many mathematicians are bad at. Two boards full of equations following some solution, but the answer gets away until someone notices they messed up "15+19" half way through.

A time for us all to gather for a meal, a celebration of the birth of a very special child, born miraculously through immaculate conception. Reminding us that what truly matters is what's inside... 🎄

Trans people could be barred from services based on appearance The new code of practice on access to single-sex services cannot gain legal force until it gets sign-off from ministers.

This is fundamentally unworkable. Lots of people who are not trans get misgendered for a variety of reasons. Do we really want to live in a society where you can only pee if you 'look' a certain way??? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Cartoon: simple black and white line drawing. A couple in a living room. The man is sitting in an armchair reading a newspaper, head turned slightly towards his wife who is standing at the window, tugging at the curtain and saying "I see the Renegade Master's back once again with the ill behaviour".

My most popular cartoon by a long chalk is also oddly niche, in that it mostly appeals to a generation who remember the song it refers to and enjoy the nostalgia for their youth. I can draw one for you if you like.

www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...

That would explain the creepy howling noises.

Also, purely from a selfish perspective for the ppl using ai to do their flirting for them

Flirting is meant to be fun, it's meant to be a fun thing you get to do as a sexual being. If you're treating it as admin to have a machine do for you, that's really tragic

Well that aged badly.

Better to go in with a completely unrelated issue, but find excuses to re-angle the screen while setting it up, opening some app, moving it for them to see it better, tilting it back, lowering it when you're just talking to them, etc.

An old VR experiment from 6 years ago. I was fascinated by how some bugs could lay eggs in a hex grid without looking, so I tried it myself by sending haptic vibrations to my butt.
#gamedev #indiedev

I'd put a tenner on 'quick and cheap reuse of an existing skeleton model'

Depends on the train - if tickets for £150 each for your family of 4, yet you can easily get to the airport, and bag some bargain £50 tickets, that's a big different for many families. Plus they likely get to experience a more unusual destination. Worth a speed run through the airport to save £400

The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists is saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. | Worshipful Company of Information Technologists The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists is saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. “Steve”, as she widely known, was Master of the Worshipful Company of Information ...

Dame Stephanie Shirley has died :(

www.linkedin.com/posts/worshi...

Nice ones. Because we have plain ones already. And nice ones already. But this one, it's nice in a different way, so let's buy it.

Markers in the dark (camping or whatever), and the kids discos. I've got some good quality big-sized glowsticks, and a bag of various skinny bangle-type ones from about 15cm (and joining pieces) to little 2cm ones that clip into accessories.

The alternatives are generally almost-single-use plastic and e-waste so I don't feel that bad using them occasionally. No remembering to switch them off, scavaging around for a million tiny watch cells next time, and dealing with the ones that leaked since the last time you looked at them.

So the same that happened with outsourcing, and then offshoring. How surprising.