I'm always puzzled by how eager people are in automating away creative endeavors... you know, the things that give meaning to life and make us who we are. "To create is to live twice." Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

We argue that "screen time" is too coarse a metric. To understand digital behaviour, we need to look at the function(s) that behaviour serves, not just the form that it takes.

For CHI 2026, 3 out of the 4 papers I reviewed contained obviously fabricated citations and data. We only caught them because at least one of the reviewers in each committee had been extra diligent, but with the increasing volume of submission this is simply unsustainable. gptzero.me/news/neurips

In 2015, I overheard this at a conference: "Why would you want to work in ML? It's all theoretical stuff. You could just go work as a software engineer and start making a ton of money." He said with absolutely certainty and a whiff of condescension. I wonder if that person still remembers he said.

The squeeze continues: Another opportunity that was previously open to all applicants is now limited to citizens only.

I'm just so amused that people unironically put "vibe coding expert" as a title on their LinkedIn profile. I have no data to prove it, but I can't imagine that doing this would help with prospects... But hey, maybe I'm the clueless one. I'm not an expert after all.

Our (@yidon.bsky.social, @foucaultwelles.bsky.social) new paper about "TikTok refuge" is out on @icsjournal.bsky.social. We argued that American TikTokers' self-labeling as refugees is a stylish roleplay, trivializing refugee exigency and diluting refugee discourses. doi.org/10.1080/1369...

My personal repo of privacy/security + HCI talks: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

This is one of the worst violations of research ethics I've ever seen. Manipulating people in online communities using deception, without consent, is not "low risk" and, as evidenced by the discourse in this Reddit post, resulted in harm. Great thread from Sarah, and I have additional thoughts. 🧵

Everyone who's actively posting stuff on LinkedIn (e.g., sharing new publication, announcing new job) that I've talked to says that they hate using the platform and having to put on a "professional" mask... yet we collectively choose to be a part of this performance. There's a paper here somewhere.

The upward socioeconomic mobility afforded by a tech career in the past two decades is unparalleled. But I wonder if this trend has a broader societal implications, i.e., high-earning professionals have a vested interest in the system and benefit from maintaining the status quo.

Someone should study how the expectations to maintain a social media presence and regularly promote oneself can impact the mental health of junior academics.

To settle the Lunar/non-Lunar New Year naming debate once and for all... I propose that we all adopt the Imperial Calendar, 1st of Nachexen, and call the day "Year Blessing." While we're at it, we might as well just replace the Gregorian calendar too. antifandom.com/warhammerfan...

"... like many a grad student, I was working energetically on multiple projects that were not my thesis." You see, the key is to be working on nothing at all. paulgraham.com/worked.html

It's a good looking font to use regardless! www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/ "Atkinson Hyperlegible was carefully developed by the Braille Institute to help low-vision readers. It improves legibility and readability through clear, and distinctive letters and numbers."

When I used to run UX workshops, these are my go-to methods for perspective-taking: 1. Ask right-handed people to use various tools with their left hand 2. Use a translucent film to cover people's eyes and walk around 3. Give people a prompt and as them to express themselves without speaking

“Progress in Play: Board Games and the Meaning of History”, Alex Andriesse on the world of 18/19th-century board games in which players progress chronologically through history itself.

A decade ago, I could point to one specific social media platform (say, Facebook, for most societies) and claim that a majority of young people are on there. That would serve as a decent site to do a representative/faithful research... The balkanization of social media has changed all that.

It's been 10 years and I have yet to find a close counterpart to Mami and Michael's Bilingual News (Japanese/English) podcast. There are too many "bilingual" shows that put too much emphasis on the language learning part and not enough of the conversation part. bilingualnews.libsyn.com