So here's the thing: you don't just spin up a Discord server and hope for the best if you're a human rights org. Some reflections on what we're up to with AIUK 👇

Good turnout for the anti-racism demo in Toon today.

Really real time?: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/27/really-real-time.html

To be honest it sounds like NFTs all over again: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/27/to-be-honest-it-sounds.html

Many other countries also use digital ID of one kind or another: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/27/many-other-countries-also-use.html

Wow, what about the existential angst, rumination and sounds of family around and about the house after that?

Ambiguity is built into the nature of reality thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/26/t...

Fascists don’t deal with reality. thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/w...

The words we use define boundaries for things, but those boundaries are not universal: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/26/the-words-we-use-define.html

What we need to do is figure out how we can participate in reality: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/what-we-need-to-do.html

I'm very much into recording microcasts, it would seem. Whether anyone else wants to listen to them is a different matter 😅 thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/m...

Microcast #107 — Apocalyptic events: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/microcast-apocalyptic-events.html

I like recording short podcasts ('microcasts') and used to do it regularly. Rebooting after 18 months with my second microcast this week, this one on allowing users to do what they want/need to do quickly and easily without having to learn new interfaces, etc. thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/m...

Microcast #106 — Conversational configuration: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/25/microcast-conversational-configuration.html

Microcast #105 — Being defeated is optional : thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/24/m...

Microcast #105 — Being defeated is optional: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/24/microcast-being-defeated-is-optional.html

I think I might stop writing these dougbelshaw.com/blog/2025/09...

The project of building alternatives to Big Tech is colliding with American authoritarianism: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/21/the-project-of-building-alternatives.html

I really wish people would stop using the word anarchy to mean chaos. Just use the word chaos. That's what that word is for. Anarchy just means no rulers and the fact that its synonymous with chaos for so many is just propagandistic nonsense

A brick is always a brick, whatever the reasons of the clown chucking it: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/20/a-brick-is-always-a.html

Now is the time to be even more aggressive, not to cower in the face of pressure and criticism: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/20/now-is-the-time-to.html

People living today are almost never the descendants of the people in the same place thousands of years before: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/20/people-living-today-are-almost.html

You must not talk about the future. The future is a con.: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/20/151928.html

DID YOU KNOW, I also work for money 💰 as well as post for likes? ❤️

Who's got the best 'About Me' page you've ever seen?

Asking, Doing, or Expressing?: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/18/asking-doing-or-expressing.html

We tell ourselves the story of human uniqueness like a bedtime prayer: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/18/we-tell-ourselves-the-story.html

Most people could read extra lines on eye test charts after using the drops: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/18/most-people-could-read-extra.html

These images are made from open access sources, and they are themselves open access: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/16/these-images-are-made-from.html

A 10y old phone can barely load google, and this is about 100x slower: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/16/a-y-old-phone-can.html

#Weeknote 37/2025 dougbelshaw.com/blog/2025/09...

Secure backups let you save an archive of your Signal conversations in a privacy-preserving form: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/secure-backups-let-you-save.html

The FBI announced the alleged shooter’s apprehension with a quote from Mad Max: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/the-fbi-announced-the-alleged.html

There's nothing they can do with the information: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/theres-nothing-they-can-do.html

99.9% of opinions on the internet don’t matter: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/of-opinions-on-the-internet.html

An open, decentralised protocol making clear to AI crawlers and agents the terms for licensing, usage, and compensation: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/an-open-decentralised-protocol-making.html

Be intentional with how you spend your time, and realise you actually have a surprising amount of it: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/be-intentional-with-how-you.html

Grid-forming batteries will ultimately corner the stability market thanks to their inherent multifunctionality: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/gridforming-batteries-will-ultimately-corner.html

Your actions follow your self-beliefs: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/your-actions-follow-your-selfbeliefs.html

Each of us is part of an interpretive community that gives us a particular way of reading a text: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/13/each-of-us-is-part.html

I’m pretty confident you only need two things. Feedback and humility, and they work best together.: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/08/im-pretty-confident-you-only.html

Microsoft did this with digital literacy. It's nothing new.

#Weeknote 36/2025 dougbelshaw.com/blog/2025/09...

I reviewed The Salt Path after reading it in January 2024 and commented that "It's well-written, but I didn't particularly like the author or her partner. I also felt like she was somewhat of an unreliable narrator." It's hard being a good judge of character 😐 literal.club/dajbelshaw/b...

If an organisation gets in touch with you demanding payment for an image you know was Creative Commons licensed, don't pay. dougbelshaw.com/blog/2025/09...

"You know what this needs? Less safety testing and more venture capital!": https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/06/you-know-what-this-needs.html

AI and the future of education: disruptions, dilemmas and directions: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/06/ai-and-the-future-of.html

The hysteresis effect means that practices are always liable to be objectively adjusted too late: https://thoughtshrapnel.com/2025/09/06/the-hysteresis-effect-means-that.html

The most important news from today's reshuffle: