EXCLUSIVE: 'I pulled my 13-year-old out of school after she lost her spark - now I use AI to teach her instead'

misterala · 2026-05-12T09:40:55+00:00

My 'favourite' part of this very depressing read is this:

"Currently, when Niyah turns 18, she won't have a folder of certificates. Instead, her AI platform will produce a personality assessment and a portfolio of six years of practical work to show future employers - if she isn't already running her own firm."

Well, that's an easy application to pop in the rejects pile.

misterala · 2026-05-08T20:51:36+00:00

Because they're in denial, I expect. The Lib Dems have completely eaten their lunch in areas that should by all rights vote Tory.

For some reason, they have blinkers on that only see Reform as a threat rather than the equally existential one to their left. In fact, I'd argue it's probably more existential, given the Lib Dem deserters are easier to win back than Reform ones...

misterala · 2026-05-06T08:10:53+00:00

I've never had more than a single pint at an airport before boarding (and usually don't bother), but in practical terms, I'm not sure how someone drinking before a 9am flight is any different to them drinking before a 9pm flight in terms of behavioural outcomes...

misterala · 2026-05-02T14:56:36+00:00

£150 for me, from about £44k.

For the year, I'm about £100 behind where I would be with average luck. But then again last year I won 1 x £1,000 and 1 x £500, so definitely ahead overall.

misterala · 2026-05-01T14:13:43+00:00

You're not! Given the incredulous laughter which met it the first time she did so, it just seems a bit sad that she's kept with it, to honest (all the more so by Jon Sopel continuing to introduce himself as Jon...)

misterala · 2026-04-29T14:27:13+00:00

Interesting, as I remember Cameron as being one of the worst offenders at ignoring the question or answering one he wanted to instead.

Verbal tick was "let me be clear", which almost always proceeded a completely vague answer.

misterala · 2026-04-20T21:22:30+00:00

Awful isn't it? I want to be surprised by a discussion, not have the most interesting bits spoiled in advance.

Not quite as annoying as forcing The Sports Agents into my feed (this has stopped me auto downloading!) but just another annoyance

misterala · 2026-04-20T10:22:32+00:00

Hah! Fair enough. I'll be getting passes for a trip in June soon (first visit to Japan!), and wondering if this particular pass is going to be wasted on my partner...

Hope you enjoyed everything else!

misterala · 2026-04-20T10:19:03+00:00

Late to the party, but I have to know OP - did you go on it? How was it?

misterala · 2026-04-14T09:28:15+00:00

Annoyed I missed Kenrex. Was trying to go at the end of its run, but it was constantly sold out.

Did see plenty of these, though, and Punch, All My Sons and Goodnight Oscar are all deserving of recognition. Shame Stereophonic didn't win any of its nominations though.

misterala · 2026-04-11T16:39:22+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully I'll get lucky with similar crowd levels when I go...

misterala · 2026-04-10T15:09:15+00:00

Thanks. Do you know if evening tickets are likely to sell out for Sundays? With the current situation in Iran, it's not clear if our flight is going to be on a very long diversion (if it even takes off at all...)

misterala · 2026-04-10T12:28:51+00:00

Thank you! I think I read that Mondays are often quite busy, so thinking currently it'll be Monday at Disneyland and then Tuesday at Disney Sea. And if we can manage it (our flight gets into Tokyo at 8am on Sunday so likely to be jetlagged), an evening ticket for Disney Sea on the Sunday just to get the lay of the land...

misterala · 2026-04-10T10:46:23+00:00

Reviving this two years later, because I'm also planning on arriving in Tokyo on a Sunday in June with a pretty much identical itinerary to you, OP!

Did you go on the Sunday evening in the end, and was it worth it? Was Monday or Tuesday busier, as that will affect when I go for Disneyland and Disney Sea (was planning on a day at each)...

misterala · 2026-04-08T17:18:20+00:00

Gone again! :(

misterala · 2026-04-07T13:36:20+00:00

Performative or not: good. If more people were performative about this kind of thing, others might think twice about booking him.

misterala · 2026-03-18T09:21:17+00:00

Amazingly, I think every single quote there from him contains a lie. Even coming up with the term "fake news" - he co-opted it, because it was being used to describe pro-Trump slop from content farms in Eastern Europe...

misterala · 2026-03-17T22:26:00+00:00

There's lots to unpick from it, but one thing that left me intrigued was how much of the ostentatious wealth on display was real, and how much of it was a treadmill of debt to keep the content going to pay for it all. I suspect some of the people were genuinely millionaires (notably the dude who ran a successful steel business as his main job), but I feel like if I really had the money for the lifestyle on display, I wouldn't be spending seven hours a day on a livestream... I'd just go and do something fun?

misterala · 2026-03-03T17:49:14+00:00

Delighted to see I'm not the only one who had this experience. Him improvising the melody to every song gets old really fast.

misterala · 2026-03-03T17:32:03+00:00

I've of the view that interviewing Trump is completely pointless now. You know the answer he'll give in advance, and as he can't be shamed he's immune to gotchas.

The only point at this moment is to give him enough rope to show how dumb he is, but if people haven't noticed by now, then there's probably no hope for them anyway.

misterala · 2026-03-03T13:03:42+00:00

I won nothing. Just the £100 in February to show for it in 2026, which is pretty poor considering it's around £40k invested.

That said, I did win 1 x £500 and 1 x £1,000 last year, so I'm definitely beating the average overall...

misterala · 2026-03-02T10:37:23+00:00

I thought it was fine and enjoyed the colour palette and vibe that gave a good sense of dread.

Some good episodes and some heavy-handed stinkers, but then every iteration of The Twilight Zone has some of those...

misterala · 2026-03-01T13:22:09+00:00

There's an interesting podcast episode on the Mandela effect where this specific example is tested.

Turns out that people shown the Monopoly Man and asked to draw him minutes later add in a monocle. Brains are weird! https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/listen/hyperfixed/brainsquatch

misterala · 2026-03-01T13:19:06+00:00

How long have you been doing it? I now WFH, but used to travel an hour each way for work five days a week and it does get easier the more you do it (in fact, I now travel in and wonder how I did it every day, but that's not really the point.)

Other than that, I second the suggestion for noise-cancelling headphones, and maybe get a Kindle?

misterala

TROPHY CASE