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Janet Vertesi

@cyberlyra.bsky.social

2.9K followers 935 following 359 posts

Princeton Sociology Prof; NASA ethnography; tech policy; digitalSTS; critical technical practice; mobile Linux. Conscientious objector to surveillance capitalism. janet.vertesi.com www.optoutproject.net @cyberlyra@hachyderm.io

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Reupping: The ST&SV Lab at the Institute for Advanced Study invites chapter proposals for a volume exploring the relationships between digital technologies, especially AI, and the artifacts, structures and power dynamics of the global political economy. Abstracts due 11/1 www.ias.edu/stsv-lab/cfp...

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

"Retro tech is not about nostalgia. It’s about resistance. Evading the technologies of capture, attention hacking, and dispossession. Resisting the forced hardware upgrades, the shuttered platform logins, and myriad forms of “progress” sold to us as the next new thing to appease the shareholders."

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My latest on Retro Tech at @publicbooks.bsky.social Flipping on an old console and cradling a familiar controller in your hand is not merely a question of nostalgia. It was a reminder of everything we have lost and should fight to regain. www.publicbooks.org/retro-gaming...

publicbooks.org

Retro Gaming: It’s Not Nostalgia, It’s Resistance - Public Books

"If we want to resist the enshittified paradigms around us, we can’t just shake a fist at the sky: We have to show them a better way."

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Thanks to good friends at @veilid.com the future of the internet is decentralized, encrypted, private and secure. Check out: Media player/server: www.veilamp.com Password vault: veilpass.io Collaborative note taking: makertube.net/w/sRRwAZJsCd... Veilidchat: PlayStore beta and iOS Testflight

The password manager we can’t lose. Yours alone, end-to-end encrypted, peer-to-peer.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Hahahaha #Facebook "Muse" internal codebase dump reveals the whole gig is just about keeping up your shopping profile! But of course! #slop til you drop! #ai #meta 🤮 #promptinjection neuromatch.social/@jonny/11732...

neuromatch.social

jonny (nonvenomous) (@jonny@neuromatch.social)

Attached: 4 images you better believe the other thing it's supposed to do aside from build a picture of your friends and loved ones is to figure out what makes you love to shop. This is actually some...

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Turns out if you ask Facebook's "Muse" politely it will just dump all its code at you including API keys and you can see for yourself how much is written by Claude/idiots. Two takes from people who have done it: mouse.dev/blog/muse-ru... neuromatch.social/@jonny/11732... #meanwhileonMastodon

I asked Meta’s Muse for its filesystem and it sent me 6.8 GB | Mouse

I asked Muse to archive the files it could see and send them to my Google Drive. It did.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Things you're not allowed to have in space: weapons.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Those are some pretty straight faces back there. It's a wonder no one broke out in laughter or had their brains melt at the inanity.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

But isn't it about a man?

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

THEN two years ago one of the first CLPS low cost payload carriers came up with the bright idea to sell a one-way ride for human ashes to the moon to raise money for the flight. When the Navajo asked, didn't we go over this already?, NASA's hands were tied--because it was a commercial carrier 🤷‍♀️

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I just remember when NASA put human ashes on the lunar impactor in about 2009 and the Navajo were (appropriately) apoplectic. The moon is a central figure in their cosmology. After many meetings NASA learned its lesson and apologized.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The Navajo are NOT okay with this.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Also @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social I really *LOVED* your Iliad. It was a text I never liked and even found boring until I read your translation. It went from endless lists of 'so-and-so killed other-guy' in middle voice (like the "begats" in Chronicles 1), to a riveting read I could not put down. 🙏

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I agree with your review. He misread the first line of your (brilliant!!) translation through his own stock character. Where's the fun, the puns, the many-faced, clever-tongued trickster? It was enjoyable, but like like getting a polished submission from a student who didn't finish the readings.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Indeed. The Odyssey has been failing the Bechdel Test for almost three millennia. Perfect material for Nolan.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This is one hundred percent true and entirely about who has investments with whom.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Hey #sociologists and #sts scholars! We've been teaching Merton's norms of science wrong for decades!! They're not lofty misstaken descriptions, but a prescription for state funded science to avoid Nazism! More relevant than ever today. My latest with @nataliebaviles.bsky.social #academicsky

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

So cool!! I still remember the admonishment to the Spartans, ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε κείμεθα τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι. And Sappho's unrequited crush, φάινεταί μοι κῆνος ἴσος θέοισιν ἔμμεν ὤνερ, ὄττις ἐναντίος τοι ἰσδάνει καὶ πλάσιον ἆδυ φωνεί- σας ὐπακούει

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Folks, we have a Dad Joke Award Winner!!

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I didn't realize we had that in common! I did Homer and Herodotus in second year advanced Ancient Greek. Got to translate the scene with Polyphemus and Odysseus in the cave. It's all puns and hilarious wordplay! Maybe that's why I was so disappointed with the film....

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I can just see Nolan hooked by @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social 's inspired choice for #Odyssey's first line: "a complicated man." That's his type! Deep, intelligent, misunderstood, civilization on his shoulders! Bat-Oppen-dysseus! Incredible film, but I missed the clever, wiley, many-faced trickster.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

So sick of people calling them #CanadianWildfires. The #Arctic is burning because the US has led ignorance and resistance to meaningful #climatechange regulation. Now the only people who can make this stop are busy blaming their neighbors for the inconvenience caused by picking up their trash.

Goose chase meme. Panel 1: Goose skeptically asks, "'Canadian' wildfires, you say?" Panel 2: Goose aggressively gives chase to man on corner of panel, "And why is the Arctic burning, motherfuckers"?

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

This is awesome! Will you make a version for non-Chrome users? <3

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

At #facct2026 ? Catch my 🔥🔥🔥 talk about The Political Economy of #AI at 10:45 on Level A (Musset), first up in a fantastic lineup of papers on AI #governance, rules and recourse. Paper here: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... Looking forward to the conversation! #AcademicSky

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

"Meritocracy" at work!

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Remember how the US fought a war to illegalize owning humans for forced labor, and a whole bunch of the losers decided NOT TO TELL said humans so they could continue extracting from them for YEARS? A #Juneteenth lesson: the US has a long history of not letting human rights get in the way of profit.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Teach and demonstrate how to do amplify minorities' comments & do bystander intervention if needed. And focus on ROLES, not people. Make Goffmanian "Role Distance" work for you by rotating people thru well-defined positions so no one (esp. minorities) is vilified for speaking up/doing their job (3)

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

It won't be swift at first, must do 'forming, storming, norming' phases first, before 'performing' Especially if you want them to be inclusive. Too smooth-meetings have not included diverse perspectives, lack innovation or real-world feedback Demonstrate constructive conflict resolution in action /2

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Seeing Like a Rover and Shaping Science describe well-run meetings on the Rover team. Meetings are rituals: you establish the culture through interaction Build in slots into the agenda timing when feedback and interaction are encouraged Develop a culture of "listening" to others (1)

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

Prof. Aviles @nataliebaviles.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

My new piece in @issuesinst.bsky.social with @cyberlyra.bsky.social comes at an urgent moment in science policy. New OMB rules and EOs threaten to politicize science and strip it of the democratic norms, autonomy, and pluralism meant to protect science as and for democracy issues.org/merton-redux...

Merton Redux: Re-Confronting the Norms of Science in Democracy

The decimation of democratic processes that undergird state-sponsored research may be ultimately more consequential than funding cuts.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

They are serious, and stop calling them Shirley.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Thank you! We love these authors and many of these papers are well known to us! Given the audience for FAccT (and page limit) we held aside much of this literature for a deeper consideration about political economy in tech for a separate paper, underway now. Thank you for this posting, though!

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

!!!NOW #HIRING!!! - Postdoc: design for societal impact apply.interfolio.com/187187 - Codesign specialist apply.interfolio.com/187163 - Lecturer in design apply.interfolio.com/187186 Join the Keller Center at @princeton.edu & keep #tech #design centered in societal responsibility! #academicsky

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

This debate was absolutely 🔥 and brought the house down at Take Back Tech! Join in for this rebroadcast, make your case and maybe even change your mind when it comes to #AI: Do we RESIST or RECLAIM?

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

MediaJustice @mediajustice.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

We want YOUR voice in our debate! 🥊 Enter the ring TODAY at 7PM ET | 4PM PT for “The AI Question: A Movement Debate” to test what you think you know about #AI! Come ready to share your thoughts, push back, and maybe even shift your own perspective! streamyard.com/watch/SKsxNh...

The AI Question: A Movement Debate

It's clear that how we respond to the way AI is reshaping our world can define the coming decade of organizing. So tune in to Part 2 of our Take Back Tech 2026 Live Rebroadcast! We'll be debating the ...

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

If you 👍 the Pope's recent Encyclical, you'll 😍 our new paper, shifting the conversation about "ethics" to one about political economy. Catch it here in pre-print before its release next month! #academicsky

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Looks just like those posters and signs bullshitting people into voting for Brexit. Years later they are still waiting for their millions of dollars and hospitals and all those things they were promised -- which obviously VANISHED.

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Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

How much have the Americans promised to pay him for his service?

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 24/05/2026

One thing AI LLMs are very good at: convincing their victims that mediocrity is greatness, and that the ability to generate high volumes of mediocre content is a substitute for skill, talent, or work. This is the distinct impression I get every time I look at LinkedIn.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Very Important Words the Tech Industry Ruined: - Friend - Like - Engagement - Smart - Experience - Connect - Contact - Intelligence - Search - Insights - Chat - Mention - Reaction - Stories - Social - Viral - Community - Authentic - Generative - Content - Experience - Companion - Learn - Privacy

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

(And yes, all this is par for the course for literally-raised-under-Apartheid-Elon)

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Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

OTOH--Perfect casting!!!! Lupita Nyong'o **is** the most beautiful woman in the world. Her face would 100% launch a thousand ships. I approve-- take my money, Mr Nolan!!!! I still can't get over the schmucks that put her in Star Wars only to digitally replace her entire body ::smh::

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

Prof. Aviles @nataliebaviles.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I wrote a piece with @cyberlyra.bsky.social for @issuesinst.bsky.social on why reading Merton’s writings from the 1930s and 40s helps us better understand our current moment. Look for it in June, or DM me for a copy! (2/2)

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Gonna conduct a Tech Reclaimers public Teach-In at the Summer of Ludd in NYC! Mark your calendars #nyc for June 29 at 4pm or June 30 at noon ... More info coming soon! This whole event is gonna be EPIC! #summerofludd #techreclaimers #optout #bigtech #digitalresistance

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

Ben Waber @bwaber.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Next was an amazing talk by @cyberlyra.bsky.social on confronting the political economy of modern AI at @princetoncitp.bsky.social. An absolute banger. Highly recommend www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ju... (4/6)

CITP Seminar:Janet Vertesi - Where Fairness Fails: How to Confront Material Political Economy of AI

YouTube video by CITP Princeton

Reposted by Janet Vertesi

PrincetonHCI @princetonhci.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Check our new work on OpenCourier — an open protocol for interoperable, worker-owned delivery platforms. By: Yuhan Liu, Varun Rao, @s0hw.bsky.social @cyberlyra.bsky.social and @andresmh.hci.social.ap.brid.gy Thanks to @pcc-global.bsky.social for amplifying it! platform.coop/blog/toward-...

Toward Worker-owned Delivery Platforms with the OpenCourier Protocol | Platform Cooperativism Consortium

The OpenCourier protocol opens up opportunities for delivery workers to own the platforms that manage their livelihoods. We introduce the protocol, welcoming contributors and comments.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

no conflict of interest there...

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

🔥🔥 talk at @princetoncitp.bsky.social on the #politicaleconomy of #AI, turning #safety and #regulation into decoys, and how to see the new market-making strategies of monopoly. Joint work with @zephoria.bsky.social, Alex Taylor and Ben Shestakovsky. #academicsky www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ju...

CITP Seminar:Janet Vertesi - Where Fairness Fails: How to Confront Material Political Economy of AI

YouTube video by CITP Princeton

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I'm so excited to join this exciting conference in the fall! Wonderful to see this kind of conversation re-emerge at a time of need. Thanks, @markhurst.bsky.social for this opportunity.

Janet Vertesi @cyberlyra.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

All the more reason to do my #cybercleanse and #optout Free and open source tools are actually FREE and make your hardware last longer. Small companies in the EU dedicated to privacy-first are not taking money from VC to enshittify. Get off their boat, it's sinking fast.