Patrick Brodie and Darin Barney eds. Media Rurality – @dukepress.bsky.social, April 2026 www.dukeupress.edu/media-rurality

My paper explores how the GDPR applies to — and is challenged by — the act of generating personal data, such as profiles, inferences, or predictions. Open access here: digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/cjlt/vol23/i... #WeRobot #WeRobot2025 #CJLT #LawAndTech #LawAndTechnology

New paper from @aial.ie! @harshp.com, Dick Blankvoort, Adel Shaaban, @sashamtl.bsky.social & me We analysed 6 GenAI ToS--finding missing info, major power imbalances & user obligations that are impossible to meet without violating the terms arxiv.org/abs/2603.18964 & aial.ie/research/ter... 1/

wrote about an 80s safety video tape directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Andrea Martin as a self-destructive adult child woman 1900hotdog.com/2026/03/lear...

Hackers Expose The Massive Surveillance Stack Hiding Inside Your “Age Verification” Check - www.techdirt.com/2026/02/25/h...

Since the government is about to introduce a social media ban for under-16s based largely on vibes – and Jonathan Haidt's shitty book – in the hopes it boosts its popularity (it won't), I'll re-up this. If we're banning under-16s, why not over-60s?

I'm co-chairing the Society for Social Studies of Science @4sweb.bsky.social Conference in Toronto, Oct 2026. #STS #scipol #innovation Theme: "TechnoPower • Technoscientific Futures". Open panel submissions portal is open! ls! Deadline: 2nd February 2026 www.4sonline.org/about_the_co...

This August as I sheltered indoors from wildfire smoke, I got a moving note from MIT statisticians - my disability story had informed a fundamental insight about wildfire smoke forecasting that could someday help AI systems protect public health. Here's the story: natematias.com/portfolio/20...

A movie you’ve seen more than 7 times with a gif

I'm receiving QUITE a few emails from ChatGPT expressing interest in coming to my university to do a PhD under my supervision. While flattering, I just don't have the bandwidth to supervise a GenAI tool in this capacity atm. But I wish them all the best in their hunt for a suitable grad program.

Sending this #CfP out into the ether again #othernetworks Looking for #videogames #gamestudies #retrogames #artists #gamedev folks who would like to contribute a chapter for a book on "Games and Nostalgia for the Future" 📍 750 words abstract by Nov 3 Find the call and form here: shorturl.at/ValXq

The LA Public Library research librarian explaining what is going on with Charli and Taylor is outstanding work www.instagram.com/reel/DPXZIUa...

Next stop Montreal! So excited to go to @qgcon.bsky.social the Queerness and Games Conference This is an event I've wanted to go to for years, so to go there *and perform* there is a dream come true 😀 Look who's on-stage 3pm Sunday!! ✨😁✨

Herdling is OUT NOW! We’re stoked to finally invite you on this journey 🐐🦬🐏⛰️ Get the game now on Steam, Epic Game Store, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S or Game Pass, links below! We’ll give away 5 Steam keys among everyone who reposts this 🎉🎉🎉

Is the discursive move from "assistants" to "agents" just a way to deflect from the lack of predictability, how poorly instructions are followed, ongoing lack of truly helpful applications? And is it agent like "free agent" or middleman who represents talent for a commission/fee? Either I guess.

I put all the Heritage Minutes in chronological order by event so you don't have to. 🇨🇦 (I was looking for this and couldn't find it, so it became a weird hobby. It genuinely may be of interest only to me.) www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Call for Papers - The Politics of AI: Governance, Resistance, Alternatives www.criticalinfralab.net/preview/?id=... We invite proposals for our symposium that offer critical perspectives on AI & environment, AI & society, and the political economy of AI. Please share widely!

Early heads up! I'm organizing a queer SFF reading/party on Thurs August 14 at 7 PM in collaboration with @townhallseattle.bsky.social and @charliesqueerbooks.bsky.social. Featuring @annaleen.bsky.social, @andreahairston.bsky.social, Becky Chambers, @ceciliatan.com, me, and one more person TBA.

Happening #LIVE: Panelist Sara Grimes @smgrimes.bsky.social, PhD, describes different types of parasocial play that children experience during online games — and how that gameplay is brought into other areas of their lives. #VideoGames 🎮

Really looking forward to this talk next week!

Who Wore It Better, Met Gala 2025 celebrities or Duke University Press book covers? Ava DuVernay or Work! by Elspeth H. Brown? #MetGala

Movie you’ve seen more than six times, no Star Wars or Trek or LOTR

I'm thrilled that this huge paper is now out — Machine's Eye View: Postmodern Data Science and the Politics of Ground Truth I advance a critical theory of the epistemic politics of machine learning by tying it postmodernism and actuarial data science journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A film that takes place where you’re from

Why is AI governance so often ineffective at preventing AI from harming people and the planet? My new paper Transfeminist AI Governance addresses this question, now out in this month's issue of First Monday: firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

Inspired by @mark-carney.bsky.social and Canadians everywhere. We’re all fighting back on our home ice!

Yet another shell game of fictitious capital and speculative valuation by one of the biggest con men out there. The chapter of my new book on Innovation is all about how financial engineering is the real core competency of Silicon Valley.

Surveilling the scene.

Happy Tuesday!

It's #BellLetsTalk today. Normalizing and talking about mental health illness. Yesterday, we launched All the Little Monsters, my memoir about mental health. Today, let's continue the conversation. www.harpercollins.ca/978144347240...

I wrote a love letter to my mom and about her struggle with dementia www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738849...

I wrote about all the ways Jonathan Haidt gets it wrong and how early Haidt would not have been happy with later Haidt. newrepublic.com/article/1903...

This week, instead of doing the one million things I “urgently” need to do at work & home, I’m laid up with shingles (!) binge watching Silo s2 to keep my mind off the unbearable horrible pain. Worst. Please send recommendations for what to watch next. (Thinking of making this my email autoreply)

I wrote an anti-eulogy for the death of Canada's undemocratic AI legislation. This case is a unique major failure of national AI policy that's worth studying closely even if you're not in Canada. montrealethics.ai/the-death-of...

We live in the ✨ world of tomorrow ✨

This is an old comic. Nowadays sharks don’t use Instagram at all because it’s owned by a boot-licking, right-wing man-child.

The Winter Wonderland is back, just in time for tonight’s festivities. Wishing you all a lovely and relaxing week. And a very Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Joyeux Noël les amis!!

New CDC data again shows that “Linking smartphones and social media to youth well-being distracts us from the real difficulties faced by young people” Exactly. Excellent summary of why in the San Francisco Chronicle by Mike Males. www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

To everyone who has entered the grading slog, which is really the will I let this grading and catching up on the 1000 things classes forced me to put off until now ruin my holiday “break” slog, may the odds be ever in your favor

I wrote a thing about Roblox and the recent changes to its parental controls and content rating system. All in all, lots of potential that these changes could make the platform safer & more manageable for young players--so long as kids and parents know about/use them of course :)

It is a winter wonderland outside here today. Hope I can get these papers graded in time to get out there and enjoy it (*sigh*).

Love to see this profile of one of the most talented and generous writers in the world of science fiction. Murderbot is the icon we need!

It feels like many of the news sites I read are increasingly dominated (headlined) by speculative work: what could or might happen vs. what is happening. I know we're all super stressed about the future, esp. now, but...are these stories really helping? preparing us? or just feeding the doomscroll?

My other hot take is, instead of spending 10 billion to terraform Mars they could undo the damage from deforestation and clean the oceans here on Earth

Pleased to have a few minutes on AM this morning trying one last time to caution against rushing under-scrutinised Social Media Bans for Under16s through the Australian Parliament: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Maybe, and just hear me out for a moment... National health / human rights / technology legislation shouldn't be based on a poorly researched pop psych book?

An intolerable risk to children's online safety. That's what we've said in our submission on the social media minimum age amendment, where we were given only 24 hours to make our submission! www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...