iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It's not an STS event without having the wifi, zoom, and audio all Bork during the big presidential plenary. #4S2026

Reposted by Joshua Earle, Ph.D.

Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 07/10/2026

As I said back in 2020, 2021, and 2023: Without meaningful repercussions, a failed coup attempt is just a training exercise.

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Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

This is going to be rad af. Come see @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social at @oaklibrary.bsky.social on 11/14 with a discussion afterwards with @dellsystem.bsky.social, @alexhanna.bsky.social, @khari.bsky.social, @ihetz.bsky.social, & yours truly! Register here: oaklandlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/6a82f...

Flyer for an event at the Oakland Public Library's Main Library on 11/14/26 at 2pm. Text of flyer reads "Film screening + panel discussion; Saturday, November 14, 2 PM – 5 PM, Main Library; Join us for a screening of Ghost in the Machine, a documentary directed by Valerie Veatch that explores how 'the untold origins of artificial intelligence lie not in machines but in power.' It is 'mandatory viewing for anyone thinking about or using AI.' Film screening will begin promptly at 2pm followed by a moderated panel discussion. Panelists listed are Khari Johnson (Tech reporter, CalMatters), Adam Becker (Author, More Everything Forever), Wendy Liu (Author, Abolish Silicon Valley), Dr. Alex Hanna (Director of Research, Distributed AI Research Institute, Co-author, The AI Con)."

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My IRL friends call me Chris @christyceeck.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

"holding "AI accountable" is like holding a toaster accountable." As a former communications person, more of this whole message below everywhere please. It's simple, memorable, and cuts right to the heart of the matter when discussing AI regulation.

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🎃 Spooky Shoshana 🎃 @shoshana.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I imagine sex workers commuting with each other like: “Hi ho!” “Hi ho!” “It’s off to work we go”

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Locus Magazine @locusmag.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Jemisin and Block Inducted into New York State Writers Hall of Fame locusmag.com/2026/10...

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Lol, absolutely did not finish my slides before the 12-hours-to-presentation mark. I guess I get to keep my job.

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Reposted by Joshua Earle, Ph.D.

Sassy Little Hobbit @sassypolitico.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

McKenzie Scott is a good case study that showcases we should tax the hell out of billionaires. She got $36billion, has given away like $25-$26billion and she is still worth around $35billion. There’s no reason for this to be happening while people are starving.

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a hybrid signal @unknown.garden · 07/10/2026

i realised recently they're basically Placebo for the cishets but goddamn this cover

m.youtube.com

Muse - House of the Rising Sun

YouTube video by Diogo Mateus

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Matt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

the tech industry is about to invent books

Andrew Yeung
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views

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tracey 🌱 🔜 gateway fate 203 @sheepskin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

gaia online making anti-genAI posts i knew we could always trust u

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Maj @lif3asmaj.blacksky.app · 07/10/2026

I just saw someone refer to Kid Rock as Jesus of Methlehem.

Tom Holland looking at his phone with his fist to his mouth in a oooof motion.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 06/10/2026

interesting that conservatives were militantly “we must reward hustle” when the target was affirmative action at elite universities and now, when faced with the success of south asians and other groups, it is “i think we are too meritocratic”

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

So, am I obligated to not finish my slides for my 10am talk tomorrow until there's less than 12 hours to go? Or can I start now?

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

back in the pre-marriage equality era I once heard a close friend from church earnestly say to someone “I just can’t understand why gay people want to DESTROY my marriage by redefining the meaning of it” I’ll remember the way she said the word “destroy” until the day I die, because she meant it

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

By the grace of the scheduling fae...

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I didn't realize this until I got an email from one of my panel organizers that times had changed. Worked out for me... no longer am I presenting at 8 in the godsdamned morning... got swapped to the 1:30 slot.

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Reposted by Joshua Earle, Ph.D.

Nick Seaver @nickseaver.website · 05/10/2026

folks coming to #4S2026, I'm organizing not one, not two, not three, but *four* panels on the social study of contraptions. come by my new home, the Wentworth room on the second floor of the venue this Thursday, to say hi

160. Contraptions 1

Panel
8:00 to 10:00 AM
2nd Floor
Wentworth

Participants:
The Operation of Failure: Amazon Go and its Lessons for Automated Life Zoe Horn, Western Sydney University

Contraptions of Glucose Testing and the Gimmickry of Non-Diabetic Attachments Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

Riding into the Millennium: The Fixed-Gear Bicycle as Contraption Bernhard Isopp, Technical University of Munich

5G as compromised form: From technical standard to visceral abstraction Rory Sharp, York University

Panel Organizer:
Nick Seaver, Tufts University

195. Contraptions 2

Panel
10:20 to 12:20 PM
2nd Floor
Wentworth

259

4S 2026

THURSDAY, OCTOBER, 8

Participants:
Contraptions of Cognition: Shannon’s Theseus, Minsky’s SNARC, and the Liminal Machines of Early AI Asaf Hazan, Bar-Ilan University
On (non)Interconnection or, the Story of the Beeper-Phone Sadie Couture, Smithsonian Insitution's National Museum of American History/Northwestern University
Contraptions: Toward an Ingenious Theory of Technology Ted Striphas, University of Colorado Boulder
Lost and Found in Translation: AI Translators as Contraptions Heewon Kim, Jeonbuk National University
Noisy Contraptions: Towards Materialist Identification of Algorithmic Harms Nasanbayar Ulzii-Orshikh, University of Michigan
Panel Organizer:
Nick Seaver, Tufts University

259. Contraptions 3

Panel
1:30 to 3:20 PM
2nd Floor
Wentworth

Participants:
“Dude just work”: Mouse Jigglers and the Perception of Technical Complexity Nick Seaver, Tufts University

Approximation and its Discontents: toward a history of machine intelligence as language contraption Xiaochang Li, Stanford University

Making Up Chatbots: Hacking Together jeffrey lockhart, University of California, Berkeley

'It's all smoke and mirrors till it's not': Thinking with the contraption Sarah Yems, Concordia University

A Good Enough Mousetrap: LLMs as Professional Contraptions Gabriel Alcaras, Sciences Po; Donato Ricci, Sciences Po

Panel Organizer:
Nick Seaver, Tufts University

293. Contraptions 4

Panel
3:40 to 5:30 PM
2nd Floor
Wentworth

Participants:
Modded Minecraft as Contraption in the University Classroom Darren Wershler, Concordia University; Bart Simon, Concordia University

From Control to Floods of Useless Data: The Life of PLATO Ekaterina Babintseva, Carnegie Mellon University

Cat Got Your Timbre: Contraptions, Interface Aesthetics, and Memetic Vocal Play Kate Galloway, Wilfrid Laurier University

The metro and the share-auto, or captivity and contraptivity as two modes of socializing technology Deepak Prince, IIIT-Delhi

Panel Organizer:
Nick Seaver, Tufts University

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Reposted by Joshua Earle, Ph.D.

Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Toronto! I am inside you! If any of y'all are also here for #4S2026, hit me up. I'mma try to skeet some of the panels I go see... I may fail. I present Wednesday at 10am and Friday at 1:30pm if'n you wanna see me yell about things (check program for locations).

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

the man who has a full meltdown every time he has to imagine the barbarism of 20th-century surgery is NOT going to take "we brought measles back and implemented food poisoning at scale" very well

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

every single thing about all our lives would improve about a thousand percent if RFK was replaced overnight by one Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, complete with his futuristic medical technology can you IMAGINE him reviewing the reports of what his predecessor did

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Have you seen @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social yet? If not, you are in for a treat --- a thoughtful, wry deep dive into the history, present, and ideology of "AI". Streaming for free on PBS's YouTube channel in the US & Korea, rentable on Kinema elsewhere. notaidoc.com

notaidoc.com

Ghost in the Machine

Not AI | Ghost in the Machine - A Documentary by Valerie Veatch | Premiering at Sundance 2026

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Yelena Gluzman @gluzmania.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

There are loads of wonderful projects to see at this year's Making & Doing at #4SToronto, including films, workshops, and this game by the brilliant Laura Watts that you can sign up to play... #sts #histsci #philsci @4sweb.bsky.social

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Lindsay Ellis @lindsayellis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

While 99.9% of the time it's auto-mod, a human absolutely made the final call here; my lawyers asked Travis at Warner Chappell to release the claim. Travis refused, because the song was "not the topic of the video." I'm so tired.

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Gail Simone @gailsimone.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

You guys want to hear a short but adorable story that happened right in front of me at the baggage claim in NYC yesterday? I wasn't part of it and there are bits I didn't catch but holy crap, I can't stop thinking about it.

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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

As an update for anyone who isn’t digging through the comments: I found more articles by USA Today journalists I’ve never met. There are THREE that used quotes from my interview recording—including many quotes that were never publicly published anywhere else.

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Katie (Kathryn) Conrad @kconrad.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A funny from the bad place (h/t @jacklynch000.bsky.social)

open ai on a graph crushing benchmarks, but OOPS the Y axis is actually just "model number"

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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Nicole is a leading expert on the issue of campus sexual violence. I am floored that USA Today would do this to her. I find this kind of journalistic behavior unethical and morally reprehensible, twisting an interview with a renowned advocate for survivors into a hit piece against a survivor.

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 02/10/2026

"renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity"

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Jessie Gender @jessiegender.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I think it is evidence of how so much we have been made to think that gaining an audience is the goal of life in this attention-seeking economy that saying "a rapist shouldn't seek a public persona that is available for consumption" is taken as equivalent to saying they "can never rejoin society."

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Team Ilhan @teamilhan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Deal with it. 🕶️

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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

TIL there’s a fish that lives in the lowest depths of the Congo River that has stunted growth, no color pigment, and no eyes. And locally it’s called “mondeli bureau,” which translates to “white man in an office” LMAO

A very small blind pasty white yellowish fish in the palm of someone’s hand.

Lamprologus lethops, a fish that lives in the lower Congo River, is pale and blind like fish that dwell in caves deep underwater.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Melanie Stiassny)

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Reposted by Joshua Earle, Ph.D.

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Mike Pompeo has been rewarded with a teaching fellowship at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. The same school that canceled my class on media, race and international affairs. @columbiasipa.bsky.social share.google/KEvTy5yER71U...

share.google

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to join SIPA faculty

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will join the School of International and Public Affairs as a fellow at SIPA’s Institute of Global Politics in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Writing something where I will be liberally citing @lilymasonphd.bsky.social's latest and realizing that I can't cite every single thing I would like to because then I'm just reprinting her work. So, I've gotta thread about it instead. muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

Screenshot of the article website. Title is: Polarization Is Not the Problem. Author is Lilliana Mason. Journal is the Journal of Democracy, Volume 37, Number 4, October 2026. From Johns Hopkins University Press.

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Joshua Earle, Ph.D. @cyborgapologist.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Hmmm... where have I heard "the [minority group] question" before? It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can nazi'm to remember...

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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Rufo gets to position himself as "respectable." Polite sit-down interview w/ Ezra Klein. Celebrated by Substack as one of platform's "best" writers. Senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. His "Indian Question" podcast is pretty explicitly white nationalist talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chris-r...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Chris Rufo — Known For ‘DEI’ and ‘CRT’ Panics — Tries to Make ‘the Indian Question’ a Thing

To the degree that a “respectable” or “moderate” right exists today in...

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How-Sen Chong @how-sen.com · 02/10/2026

Listen: I don’t want to minimize the danger of high e-bike speeds. But if the problem here is that stores sell e-bikes that can drive faster than legal limits, then where’s the story about how literally *every car dealership has been doing the same thing for decades*?!?

cbc.ca

Hidden cameras show some stores unlocking speed limits on e-bikes, selling e-scooters that go up to 120 km/h | CBC News

A new hidden camera investigation by Marketplace shows how some stores are selling e-scooters and e-bikes with top speeds much higher than provincial speed limits and with recommended rider ages young...

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think I remember reading Chesterton at 16? And his character’s bottomless compassion for humanity but equally powerful and unblinking understanding of all the horrors we are capable of remain worth re-reading. This would be a nice read if you’re teaching data-ification, quantification.

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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Rufo’s thing has always been to cleave minorities away from public participation and into an underclass or simply a mass grave. He’s just a Klansman in a suit, and he will keep going through minority groups one by one. The NYTimes giving him a platform over and over is why that paper is garbage.

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Richard D. Morey @richarddmorey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

if only there were a story in the Gospel where Jesus direct addressed executing people with stones

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Chuck Tingle @chucktingle.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

its okay to sincerely like things

cover of THIS PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE GETS ME OFF IN A FUN AND SINCERE WAY BECAUSE IT’S OKAY FOR PEOPLE TO ENJOY POPULAR THINGS WITHOUT BEING SHAMED FOR THE PERCEIVED “BASICNESS” OF THEIR BEVERAGE CHOICES featuring a ladybuck on the left with red hair lookin confident in her beverage choice. on the right is a to-go cup from coffee shop ALSO lookin good

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Daniel Martin @dpm-906.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is what UW System workers have been suffering through for more than a decade.

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I mean yeah, a decade of no one holding Trump accountable for his much more obvious crimes, combined with both Nazi and Confederate rehabilitation projects on the right, was always going to lead to “actually we’ve never done ANYTHING wrong and you guys owe us apologies for every check on our power”

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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 01/10/2026

NYC’s PIT Crew (Public Interest Technology) is already delivering: Click to Cancel is here, with the law saying it has to be as easy to cancel a service as it was to sign up for it. The site makes it easy to report any products that violate the rules: www.nyc.gov/main/click-t... Kickass!

nyc.gov

Click to Cancel - nyc.gov

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