Miriam Posner

Miriam Posner

@miriamposner.com

Tired person, fighter. Labor, data, DH, obsolete software, database history, etc. Seeing Like a Supply Chain out Oct 2026: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251449/seeing-like-a-supply-chain/. Speaking for myself, not my employer.

16.7K followers2.5K following8.3K posts

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

This is so weird.

Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social

In the last few weeks i've been bombarded with emails from people who have minor tech support problems. ChatGPT is telling them to email me, writing their emails, and compiling "evidence packets" after convincing them they have stumbled on a major story: www.404media.co/chatgpt-keep...

404media.coChatGPT Keeps Telling People 404 Media Can Solve Their Tech Support ProblemsBecause big tech doesn't do customer service, we are being inundated with AI-generated emails begging us for help.

Miriam Posner reposted

yorick
@helloyorick.bsky.social

Becca Lewis' thesis "Tech's right turn : the rise of reactionary politics in Silicon Valley and online" is our of embargo today! purl.stanford.edu/mn544hj9083

purl.stanford.eduTech's right turn : the rise of reactionary politics in Silicon Valley and onlineThis dissertation shows how a group of conservative activists helped shape Silicon Valley and its digital technologies in the 1980s and 1990s. Operating primarily within a loose network of think ta...
Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

TY to @craigrobertson.bsky.social for snapping this pic at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. Craig, incidentally, is the author of The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information (among other works), which is *so* good. I assigned it to my History of the Database class and students *loved* it.

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Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

TY to @craigrobertson.bsky.social for snapping this pic at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. Craig, incidentally, is the author of The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information (among other works), which is *so* good. I assigned it to my History of the Database class and students *loved* it.

View full thread
Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

Like, think about encountering information in a bound volume, and then think about encountering that same information in a filing cabinet. It’s different! And the ways it’s different are really fun to think about.

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

TY to @craigrobertson.bsky.social for snapping this pic at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. Craig, incidentally, is the author of The Filing Cabinet: A Vertical History of Information (among other works), which is *so* good. I assigned it to my History of the Database class and students *loved* it.

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

I’ve been thinking about maybe assigning it in my critical data studies class because everything we talk about with data—how to parameterize it, how to order it, how to link it to other objects, how we break it into pieces—is all there, in a very tangible way. news.northeastern.edu/2021/10/14/h...

news.northeastern.eduThe Surprising History of the Lowly Filing CabinetCraig Robertson's latest book focuses on how the invention of the filing cabinet liberated American capitalism and inspires new technology.
Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

Springer Nature was its owner, BTW. (It was “shitting its lederhosen” about Trump’s scrutiny.)

Emmet Fraizer@woolsox.bsky.social

Last summer, Scientific American's owners were stalking the site, making sure it wasn't being too critical of Trump. This summer, the magazine was sold and gutted. I wrote about it for The Nation www.thenation.com/article/soci...

thenation.comThe Fall of “Scientific American”When the beloved science publication got too political, its corporate owners stepped in. Now its future is uncertain.
Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

I Saw It With My Own Eyes: I’m not trying to spy, but a college student in front of me is writing an essay about Carracci’s Assumption of the Virgin: just painstaking typing, looking at the painting, looking at articles. No ChatGPT, no Gemini, no nothing. I might actually hug them.

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

Fascinating. My book is sold out (or something) at most retailers, but thanks to @atrubek.bsky.social I used an app from Ingram, the book distributors (similar to what a bookstore sees). It shows exactly how many copies of my book are on hand and where they are. There are 5 copies at a DC in TN!

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

It does NOT show the 5 copies I have in my suitcase as I leave for Chicago! If you want a copy at a discount, come find me at ASA!

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

Heads-up that we’ll be moving this event in solidarity with UNITE HERE Local 1, which is striking the Hyatt. Not sure where yet, but we’ll keep you posted!

Miriam Posner@miriamposner.com

Truly, what an honor to be part of this cohort of books—every one a banger. We’re all celebrating together on Oct. 23 with the American Studies Association’s DH Caucus. Come join!

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

This is how it feels to me, too. Just sad and desperate and insecure about our own ability to reach human beings as human beings.

Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social

This piece by student journalist Naishu Vempali made me pump my fist in solidarity. I hope when I’m back teaching at UMass next year they take a class with me, where they can expect nothing but top quality human-grade feedback, interaction, and attention. dailycollegian.com/2026/10/chat...

dailycollegian.comChatGPT is my new TA, and I’m scared“It feels as though everyone in charge of our education has already accepted that, at the pace we’re moving, we’re all going to have to use AI at some point in our careers. By tasking us with AI assig...

Miriam Posner reposted

Sonja Drimmer
@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social

This piece by student journalist Naishu Vempali made me pump my fist in solidarity. I hope when I’m back teaching at UMass next year they take a class with me, where they can expect nothing but top quality human-grade feedback, interaction, and attention. dailycollegian.com/2026/10/chat...

dailycollegian.comChatGPT is my new TA, and I’m scared“It feels as though everyone in charge of our education has already accepted that, at the pace we’re moving, we’re all going to have to use AI at some point in our careers. By tasking us with AI assig...

Miriam Posner reposted

Amanda Katz
@katzish.bsky.social

Why is this student so upset about the mushroom, though? What could it have done to make her protest across the whole continent

Miriam Posner reposted

Internet Archive
@archive.org

The Internet Archive has a museum for the weirdest art of the early web. 🖼️ It’s called GifCities. Thousands of animated GIFs rescued from the first wave of the web. Glitter. Dancing. Cats. Strange little loops that survived. 💾 Go find your perfect retro GIF 👉 gifcities.org #ToolsYouCanUse

Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com

What do you think this means (on Amazon)? Did they sell out or just not get their copies or what? Seems to be same on Powell’s and Bookshop. (I KNOW, I should know, you’re all very hilarious.)

Miriam Posner reposted

TLove
@tjlove.bsky.social

@miriamposner.com, just getting started! Your book, Seeing Like a Supply Chain is excellent. Love the points that modern logistics is what happens when we operate as though the world is a computer. Benefits and costs included. If you work in ops or tech, read this one!

Miriam Posner reposted

Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life
@leverhulmecal.bsky.social

Our annual conference 2027 call for papers is out now! Latent Spaces: an interdisciplinary conference on how AI latent spaces reconfigure knowledge, society, and culture. We invite interdisciplinary contributions. Abstracts deadline 30 November. leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.uk/lcal-confere...

leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.ukLCAL Conference 2027 - Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic LifeLCAL Conference 2027 Call for Papers    Latent spaces: probing, interpreting, situating    The Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life Inaugural Annual Conference April 14-15, 2027   Durham University,...