aphid
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aphid.org
aphid
@aphid.org
3K followers 330 following 160 posts
net artist, garden pest
scraper/scholar of media, metadata,
oversight &counterintelligibility
i teach "new" media histories, theories, and practices at uc santa cruz
they/he
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by aphid
costasamaras.com
here's something cool: the son of the letter carrier on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (McFeely) is a real letter carrier for the USPS and he's our letter carrier and he's awesome
November 8, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Reposted by aphid
markhurst.bsky.social
everyone knows Richard Scarry's "Very Busy Surveillance State." classic.
elleisanisland.bsky.social Elle @elleisanisland.bsky.social · 3d
The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book
A schematic of the multiple types of communication and weapons systems: laser guided munitions, GPS aided bombs, SATCOM jammer
November 7, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by aphid
evacide.bsky.social
This is very clearly the direction in which things are headed, especially since so many of the people who built and maintained the tools the US IC has developed-in house have been fired or have left.
jsrailton.bsky.social John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 3d
YIKES: NSO floats Pegasus spyware used in hypothetical "time of domestic crisis" in 🇺🇸America.

I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.

To hack Americans. 1/
November 7, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by aphid
sarahposner.bsky.social
There is a lot going on in this sentence:

"On 17 October, Gelsinger delivered his “Gutenberg moment” stump speech at Liberty University’s CEO Summit, which also featured Liz Truss, Michael Flynn and Dan T Cathy, the Chick-fil-A chairman, as keynote speakers."

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
An ex-Intel CEO’s mission to build a Christian AI: ‘hasten the coming of Christ’s return’
Patrick Gelsinger, executive chairman of Gloo, has made it his mission to advance Christian principles in Silicon Valley
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:45 PM
aphid.org
a good day for this banger, happy to own this on flexidisc
Ronald Reagan w/ Doug Kahn - Reagan Speaks for Himself
YouTube video by hitmusicsingles
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Reposted by aphid
benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social
I see two diametrically opposed conversations about tech in the classroom—one from disability studies/justice, which focuses on accessibility for students; the other from media studies/STS, which focuses on EdTech as a mode of privatization. Are there ppl synthesizing the findings from both?
October 22, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Reposted by aphid
benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social
Time to rewatch Tribulation 99 (Craig Baldwin, 1991)
Image from Tribulation 99 (Craig Baldwin, 1991) Image from Tribulation 99 (Craig Baldwin, 1991) Image from Tribulation 99 (Craig Baldwin, 1991) Image from Tribulation 99 (Craig Baldwin, 1991)
October 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Reposted by aphid
benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social
Something I write about in The Celluloid Specimen is that eugenics has always had a futurist bent, one that often involves replacing human workers. I feel as though this aspect isn't discussed as much in how the general public uses of the term.
October 7, 2025 at 11:10 PM
aphid.org
Really looking forward to reading this
allenriley.bsky.social Allen @allenriley.bsky.social · Oct 4
“It’s about the history and future of socially interactive video”
allenriley.bsky.social Allen @allenriley.bsky.social · Feb 17
I have advanced to candidacy and my dissertation is titled “The Imagination Synthesizer”
October 4, 2025 at 5:05 AM
Reposted by aphid
miriamposner.com
The UC Academic Council, which represents the T and TT faculty across the UC, has issued a letter calling on UC President James Milliken to reject any potential agreements with the Trump administration "that compromise institutional autonomy and academic freedom."
senate.universityofcalifornia.edu
October 3, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by aphid
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy
October 2, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Reposted by aphid
miriamposner.com
UC faculty are fighting through the courts to save the UC system. Our funding has been swept by central admin. We can’t pay to travel or research. Every time we lecture we’re at risk of attacks by right-wing mobs. Fortunately the UC Regents are on the ball: they’re…finding new ways to discipline us.
The same is true for faculty extramural speech, which may be protected under APM - 010 only insofar as it is consistent with the standards of professional conduct set forth in APM - 015. The standard provided in APM - 015 allows for discipline only for conduct which is not justified by the faculty's ethical principles stated in APM - 015 and which significantly impairs the University's central functions, as defined in APM - 015's preamble. This analysis must recognize the particular context of the University as an environment that encourages free inquiry and the exchange of ideas and, as described in APM - 015, "seeks to provide and sustain an environment conducive to sharing, extending, and critically examining knowledge and values, and furthering the search for wisdom." Faculty, like all University employees, are also entitled to First Amendment protection for speech on matters of public concern, but only insofar as the employee's expressive interests outweigh the University's interests in fulfilling its public service mission. Coordination with UC Police Departments: Beginning in Fall 2025, the Systemwide Office of Civil Rights will coordinate on developing systemwide guidelines in partnership with the UC Police Departments for sharing information in all misconduct cases, including expressive activities cases. Notices to Respondents of Proposed Range of Disciplinary Sanctions: The Chancellor already has authority to propose a range of disciplinary sanctions in the notice of proposed discipline under APM - 016. Pursuant to the authority already provided in APM - 016, beginning, in the Fall 2025 term, when a Chancellor issues a notice of proposed discipline, the notice should include a range of proposed disciplinary sanctions. Also, in Fall 2025, campuses should begin including the dates the administration is available to participate in a hearing, providing five (5) or more options, in their notices of proposed discipline.
October 1, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by aphid
gleemie.bsky.social
Government civil rights investigations examine institutional civil rights management practices, not individuals. Individuals are not legitimate targets of federal civil rights investigation.
September 28, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by aphid
gleemie.bsky.social
UC should not give personally identifiable information to federal gov, says @aaup.org. Where they already have, they need to implement harm reduction measures immediately.
www.aaup.org/sites/defaul...

This echoes the call San Diego Faculty Association made to our Chancellor and UCOP 2 weeks ago.
www.aaup.org
September 28, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by aphid
hystericalblkns.bsky.social
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
The new TOC from academia dot edu. By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services.
September 17, 2025 at 7:09 PM
aphid.org
Super excited to be part of this, and to collab with @drs.bsky.social
anindexof.bsky.social Indexical @anindexof.bsky.social · Sep 11
Indexical is pleased to announce the selection of four Santa Cruz-based artists for it’s residency program throughout our 2025-26 Season: MIMIXOMI, Thadeus Frazier-Reed, Abram Stern, and Rip Florence.

Read the announcement here: www.indexical.org/posts/announ...
September 12, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by aphid
jamellebouie.net
getting fired from your job because some dipshit student who missed their calling in the Stasi filmed you talking about gender in a class about gender
weedenkim.bsky.social Kim Weeden @weedenkim.bsky.social · Sep 10
I agree but this case is even worse: it appears that the detailed course description* explicitly mentions that it will explore how gender and sexuality are depicted in YA literature.

*As the reddit poster mentions, there's some confusion and possible misreporting of which course she's teaching.
Screenshot of reddit post from user Wang_Lung_1921. Begin quote: I understand that ENG 360 is Children's Literature, and that's what has been reported, but she's not in the Course Schedule for 360. Instead, look at ENG 394, which does show as her course. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But that's what my search pulled up. You can still find her syllabus, with a detailed course description, that falls within the range of the general description given in the Catalog. "COURSE DESCRIPTION Did you read what we now call “young adult literature” as a young adult? What exactly is a young adult? Does the term refer to an age category or a marketing tool, a personality type or a genre? What differentiates adult from young adult from teenager from child? How do we understand the genre of literature for and about this blurry, shifting group? In this course, we will explore a range of young adult or YA literature in English, including poetry, contemporary fiction, graphic memoirs, historical fiction, and fantasy, from a diverse group of authors with many varied perspectives on race, gender, sexuality, disability and other realms of human difference. Our task is to think critically about what these books can tell us about how we (and others) understand adolescence, how those definitions have changed over time, and how these books participate in larger movements of history, culture, and literature." End quote
September 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
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olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
"The firm guarding sites where aid is distributed in Gaza has been using members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam....BBC News has confirmed the identities of 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club working in Gaza"

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites
BBC identifies members of Infidels MC gang hired as armed security at US and Israel-backed aid sites.
www.bbc.com
September 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by aphid
micahflee.com
Update: He has updated Apache to 2.4.65! Public disclosure after getting privately ignore works, it turns out
September 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
aphid.org
I'll be sharing a new project at SPAM in September. Looking forward to seeing the other works &performances, the space looks amazing.
August 30, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by aphid
drkyliesmith.bsky.social
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (ask the historian).
aclu.org ACLU @aclu.org · Jul 24
BREAKING: President Trump signed an executive order directing states to criminalize and institutionalize people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health disabilities.
July 24, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by aphid
mattseybold.bsky.social
Canvas just became one of the most powerful surveillance, IP theft, & data monetization tools in the world.

OpenAI bought a user-base locked in to long-term contracts.

But they can’t make us use their trashware.

Boycott. Luddify. Open source.

Don’t let them have your work or your students.
July 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by aphid
hypervisible.blacksky.app
NYC announces partnership with the app formerly known as “Vigilante.”
Citizen will share crime videos with the NYPD
A ‘real-time crime center’ promises police direct access to videos.
www.theverge.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
aphid.org
Malcolm Jamal Warner performing his poem "Comfort Food" as part of Visualizing Abolition's Music for Abolition series @ UCSC. RIP. vimeo.com/1062919899
Malcolm Jamal Warner- Comfort Food
As a society we have been conditioned to be creatures of comfort. We artificially sweeten inconvenient truths to make us feel good. We hold onto lies to make us…
vimeo.com
July 21, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by aphid
hagenblix.bsky.social
We should think of the "intelligence" in artificial intelligence not as any kind of mental property, but as the kind one gathers - the stuff of central intelligence agencies. Then we can immediately understand that AI is a technological form of Taylorism, a way for capital to accumulate power.
July 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM