USB fan + power bank = portable cooling! 😎

Great discussion on Dealing with Anxiety (and #MentalHealth in general) from Jimmy Carr, of all people!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fYmaY9CenM

Meet the Trustees - As the 2025/26 elections are currently underway, we thought we'd introduce ourselves and talk about our experience of being Society Trustees. Read more about who we are and what we do in the post below.

https://society-rse.org/meet-the-trustees-2024-25/

And don't forget to nominate yourself to help us shape the future of the Society and the RSE movement.

https://society-rse.org/trustee-nominations-and-elections-2025/

“Cheery was aware that Commander Vimes didn’t like the phrase “The innocent have nothing to fear,” believing the innocent had everything to fear, mostly from the guilty but in the longer term even more from those who say things like “The innocent have nothing to fear”.

Excerpt From
Snuff
Pratchett, Terry, Sir

Huge thanks to everyone from @ukceh who organised and showed up for my @SoftwareSaved #MentalHealth talk today.

It's a nerve-wracking talk to give, but everyone was so kind and welcoming. Nice to see some familiar faces too! 😊

It is not "free" WiFi if I have to give you all my personal information to use it! 😡

One of the many, many highlights from @SoftwareSaved #CollabW25 was getting to meet my fellow Fellows and hearing about all the fascinating and varied work that everyone is doing. Still feeling amazed and honoured to be among them!

This week, I'm heading to Lancaster, Durham and (virtually, unfortunately!) The Netherlands to deliver my @SoftwareSaved Fellowship #MentalHealth talk. Wish me luck!

My 'new' game for May is Marvel's Midnight Suns, a tactical RPG from the makers of XCOM. On paper, it's the perfect game for me, but I was initially hesitant to play it. Was I right to be cautious?

https://mdsimpson.co.uk/2025/05/marvels-midnight-suns-year-of-gaming-2025/

I'm off, it's just me and the dog in the house... and, of course, it's raining! Oh well, time to get away from the screens for a bit and start a new #Lego set. 🤓

Heading home after another amazing CW, feeling both exhausted and energised! It was great to catch up with faces old and new. Thank you to those who talked to me about mental health, I'm feeling inspired and excited to move forward.

Thank you to Kyro and everyone at @SoftwareSaved for pulling it off once again! #CollabW25

Delighted to announce 'ConveRSE' - the new online hub for #MentalHealth information, resources and support for people in the research software community - at @SoftwareSaved #CollabW25.

More details and opportunities to contribute to follow in the coming weeks.

Racing through the beautiful Scottish countryside in glorious sunshine on my way to @SoftwareSaved #CollabW25. Excited for another few days of ideas and conversations, and giving my lightning talk, of course!

Who's the worst guard dog in the whole damn world? #BassetHound #Dog

Last week, I qualified as a Mental Health First Aider to help me prepare for talking about #MentalHealth as part of my @SoftwareSaved Fellowship. I'll be at CW25 next week and I will have news of some other upcoming talks soon.

🛣️ Only one week to go to #CollabW25! We hope you're as excited as we are to get all together at the University of Stirling next week. In the meantime, why not brush up an all things CW25 at https://www.software.ac.uk/workshop/collaborations-workshop-2025-cw25

This is kinda my whole problem with them. The best response they can come up with for "why should I vote for you?" is "because we're not those guys!" 🙄

It’s time for a blast from the past. This month, I’ve been playing Streets of Rage 4 - a sequel released 26 years after the series’ last outing!

Was it worth the wait?

https://mdsimpson.co.uk/2025/04/streets-of-rage-4-year-of-gaming-2025/

We're not "over-diagnosing", we're getting BETTER at diagnosing. That was the point of all those years of research.

And yes, more people are self-diagnosing, but that's because they are better informed. That was the whole point of raising awareness!

The more we are aware of these issues, the better we understand them, ourselves and each other, and the easier it is for us to manage and treat them. But we cannot do that if the funding and support isn't there! #MentalHealth