Hugh Wallace

A postcard that says ‘Innovation needs representation’ beside a lanyard with my name (Hugh) on it.

And massive shout out to @jenitennison.com @emilyjmacaulay.bsky.social @gavinfreeguard.com and all the @connectedbydata.org team for running such an engaging and thought-provoking event. Plus a bonus lanyard that turns into seeds 🌱

Steph Wright in full flow presenting in front of a screen and colourful stained glass

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.

Thanks Chris. So many final straw moments! Hopefully more and more orgs/people will make the move off.

X: why are you still here? Twitter is no longer with us, but X lives on. In the run up to what would've been Twitter's 20th birthday, why does X's influence endure?

Yes! I wrote this the other day.

tumshie.me/x-why-are-yo...

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...

IMHO there isn't a defensible position anymore: get off the platform, or start making plans to. We all inevitibly end up drinking from the poisoned well.

UK academia’s presence on X is reaching a tipping point - LSE Impact Data collected on UK universities’ use of social media shows academic engagement with X is at a tipping point with more institutions off the platform than on.

I dipped back in for the purposes of this post, and it's evident there's still loads of active accounts, and particular groups keeping things ticking along nicely. Huge kudos to @andytattersall.bsky.social's article and research into UK academia's use of X blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

I started drafting this last month in the midst of the CSAM scandal. I find it intensely frustrating that every 6-12 months there's a huge X backlash and then everyone largely carries on as normal, even though *nothing* is normal about how the platform operates.

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 ...

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 migrated twice, to Buttondown & Ghost. Both times were super simple, but… as with all things internety, best to take a bit of time & send a few test emails - the main stuff I found easy (bulk moving posts, subscribers) but there are functional tweaks that u just have to work through. Good luck!

😮

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...

And now it’s lighting up LinkedIn too, with hundreds of AI boosters slavering all over it 🤮

Here's my take on that big dumb post about AI going viral on X right now.
www.garbageday.email/p/a-comfort-...

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

how do you write this story without noting there was a campaign literally called SUBSTACKERS AGAINST NAZIS in…2023

Taylor Swift casts ‘insanely charismatic and lovable’ Graham Norton in music video Opalite video reunites host and guests including Domhnall Gleeson and Lewis Capaldi from Swift’s October chatshow appearance

The slightly bonkers backstory to the Opalite video (and the music vid itself) have made we smile today.

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

Monthnote, January 2026 What is this? This is my monthnote for January, a post where I reflect on the previous month's work, alongside other life stuff. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed I wrote a few of these at...

A monthnote for January. Musings on data, language, context, AI, and keeping occupied while it’s dark and dreich 🌧️

tumshie.me/monthnote-ja...

Wow, now *that* is a tattoo.

Thanks Shaun! Belatedly is better than beneverly.

2026 go pop 🎉 Kicking off the new year with links about Blue Monday, Buttondown and various musings on values.

Started 2026 a bit too focused on the doom and gloom, so found a bunch of links that feel more glass-half-full 🥛

tumshie.me/2026-go-pop/

Totally get it, wobbles inevitable. You’ll be great ✊

2025 mixtape TL;DR: I've selected a bunch of my favourite tracks from 2025 and put them in one sparkling playlist. All were released, or remixed, this year: * listen on Apple Music * listen on Tidal * listen o...

A round-up of some splendid sounds of 2025, if you fancy…

tumshie.me/2025-mixtape/

The legendary Capture the Museum As we crawl towards the end of the year, I thought I’d write about a nice digital thing. A little seasonal sparkle rather than my usual "bah humbug" vibe. It's a glass-half-full account of developing...

Back in the day, I used to work on some delightful self-contained projects. I wrote a piece about one of them - Capture the Museum - and reflected on the stuff we got right, the stuff we had to chop and change, and how 'innovation' funding works. Sometimes. tumshie.me/capture/

Haha!

* portal temporarily offline, please try again later *

Admin Night, right? As much as it feels like a clunking old cliché to be fired up by two men talking on a podcast, I got terribly excited when I listened to a recent episode of Roman Mars' always-engaging design and arch...

I absolutely love @chriscolin3000.bsky.social's concept of an Admin Night, and am enthusiastically making it a priority for 2026. So if you're in Edinburgh and fancy tackling those never-get-done jobs...

tumshie.ghost.io/admin-night/

Fab to catch up - thanks for all the insights!

Great to catch up share reflections and learnings this morning from GovCamp Scotland and GovCamp Wales’ this year.

Reflecting on growing communities and importance of unconferences for creating the space for conversations.

Diolch
@rossferg.bsky.social and @tumshie.me

Happy birthday! Enjoyed the special edition newsletter, donation made :)

EP.263 - ZADIE SMITH Podcast Episode · THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST · 02/11/2025 · 1h 14m

I goddam love Zadie Smith. Such a warm, topical, nuanced conversation. With a bonus pug interruption. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Signed and booped!