S.E.MacRae

I only got rid of the 'Life is life' ear worm about ten minutes ago and now you replace it with this! arrggh

A couple of lists here of open source photography editing programmes that might be of use for pros and cons
photographylife.com/free-open-so...
sourceforge.net/directory/ph...

Mainstream media is finally catching up with this...

bsky.app/profile/ryan...

Delft style blue and white tile of Gilbert and George dresses in jackets, pantaloons and stockings.

If you need cheering up here’s a photo of a Simon Petter tile of the artists Gilbert and George.

Vice-chancellor calls for review into student loans for those without A-levels Adam Tickell, of University of Birmingham, says money is loaned to people who ‘are not really capable of graduating’

My dad (a sheet metal worker) was made redundant in his 50s & went on to pursue a degree in the history of fine & decorative arts. His life was transformed as a result. Restricting access to HE for those without A-levels would deny others of the same opportunities www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The House of Lords Digital & Communications Committee just published their report on AI, copyright & the creative industries, and their conclusions could not be clearer.

🧵 1/5

Phoebe voice ‘Oh no..’

See, the thing that really annoys me about academia is the amount of people who say one thing - say, have a career from critiquing neoliberalism - and do another - say, being the arch neoliberal VC.
Sure, call me Pierre Bourdieu here, but we should be abolishing entry requirements.

This appalling fat cat wants to shut the door on all my mature students, many of whom left school after GCSE and give up a lot to go to university. I can tell him that they’re the hungriest for education and far from being unable to graduate, they regularly get the highest grades. Hateful man.

Enacting and rearticulating “accountability”: reactionary watchdogs and the staging of anti-woke culture wars A commitment to the principle of political accountability is part of the common sense of liberal democratic societies that is particularly important to journalists. It shapes the adversarial postur...

This piece (first published in December) already has an issue number.

It's a study of how far right "reactionary watchdogs" want to normalise a regime of "dark accountability work", based on an analysis of two conversations between Rufo and Peterson

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/IMBKX...

I created a new folder called 'decent things in life' in zotero today and this is the first article I've stored there.

The Caretaker-All You Are Going to Want to do is Get Back There YouTube video by quarterscarlet

After a quick search I found this and see what you mean 🙌

Very filmic, makes me think of Angel Heart and The Shining.

Media must stop normalizing the far right Every uncritical mention of far-right rhetoric is an editorial decision with political consequences.

Must read from @gsamaras.bsky.social

"Every uncritical mention of far-right rhetoric is an editorial decision with political consequences. Every headline, every clip, every click adds weight. This is how the line gets crossed"

www.politico.eu/article/medi...

Drugs to treat to HIV are a triumph of science and public health. Restricting these drugs imperils those losing them and risks the virus to mutating into resistant forms. Like the cuts to USAID before them, what a waste of life, hope and progress.

I let out an audible gasp.

What in the absolute fuck.

There's a dark, dark, history of this. Of forced sterilization.

I am so, so sick.

As we approach the Scottish Parliament elections, our policy guide shows the way to a better Scotland.
reidfoundation.scot/2025/05/scot...

No argument from me.

Absolutely, self congratulation is the default for these pretenders to Trumps throne.

This is Twitter-speak in the place of what should be the highest level of careful measured rhetoric. You can see him internally congratulate himself as he's saying this, imagining his numbers and reposts. What an absolute fool.

Fare dodgers targeted as train ticket refund rules are tightened In a bid to clamp down on ticket fraud that costs the railways millions each year, the government has quietly changed the rules on claiming refunds for unused train tickets.

DON'T BUY TRAIN TICKETS IN ADVANCE!
On 1 April, the government is quietly changing the rules.
Off-Peak & Anytime tickets become non-refundable after 23:59 the day BEFORE you travel.
If you wake up & find your event cancelled, NO REFUNDS, even on £100+ tickets.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/far...

Our Critical Data Studies group at @edfuturesinstitute.bsky.social has a few talks this semester:

March 27th: Jonathan Gray: Public Data Cultures

April 1st: Amelia Acker: Archiving Machines: A Material History of Data Storage

April 29th: Sophie Bishop: Influencer Creep

See eventbrites below

blob:https://outlook.office.com/43fd4c30-84b0-4d0c-a22c-852e8820c31c

Monday:

A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator YouTube video by Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council

This a great. I'm so bored of the term, but this Norwegian consumer information film nails our current digital/capitalist malaise in an accessible and arresting way. Well worth the watch and a good introductory teaching resource.

Really getting very dangerously close to "rightwing forces refuse to acccept result of election" here. Really very close.

We used to elect a higher class of MP here in Harborough.

As I understand it, the answer is

Yes - because their parents are economic migrants,

So working-class children aged 7 should face hurdles & barriers to secure status, family security & educational opportunity that affluent classmates & those in private schools will not

I think you need that posters deets because you’re persuading yourself! I’ll buy you your last beer if you manage it!

I doubt I could run to the end of the road never mind a mile 😂 but this certainly doesn’t seem like too much of a task for average student / Sunday league footballer or rugby player!