Dr. S.A. Applin
@anthropunk.bsky.social
Applied Anthropologist researching how people promote, manage, resist, and endure change; and how they, algorithms, and ethics coexist. (Or not). Social Systems/Culture. Sometimes write for Fast Company. NYU/ITP alum
I've built a map displaying where on the Amtrak network you can take your bike, line-by-line and station-by-station. This data isn't available anywhere else, check out where you can go! amtrak-bike-map.transittools.dev
Amtrak Bicycle Access
Explore carry-on, checked, and station-level bicycle access across the Amtrak rail network.
amtrak-bike-map.transittools.dev
A good observation on LLM/AI interaction.
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 19h agoIn my observation of AI chatbots: women are not used to being validated. We also have the bullshit radars of an oppressed class. Sycophancy is annoying but a refreshing change. For men, sycophancy builds the validation of the patriarchy to dizzying heights.
@robmayeda.bsky.social Hi! My ears are popping! Why is the BP so low right now when it's so hot and sunny and humidity is medium? Thanks
Well that's infuriating. If I'm listening to an audiobook, it's because I want to read that book, not some papier-mâché of that book plus whatever else was in the training data.
@frumbly.bsky.social · yesterdayGoogle are stuffing AI bollocks in their Google Play Books app with "Book Insights". AI summaries - DON'T! WANT! If authors want to block this for their books, let Google know. Luckily, it hasn't turned up in my copy of "The AI Con" ... Yet? So @emilymbender.bsky.social can breathe easy for now.
Artificial intelligence sparked boos at the 150th anniversary performance of Wagner's Ring Cycle.
AI-driven Ring Cycle sparks boos at 150th anniversary Wagner Festival
Artificial intelligence sparked boos at the 150th anniversary performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The audience was frustrated that the software could integrate images but not drama.
bit.ly
Generative AI is catnip to the men who miss female sycophants katemanne.substack.com/p/a-culture-...
A Culture Hooked on Generative AI is a Culture that Misses Female Sycophants
And we have missed a central reason why AI is a feminist issue
katemanne.substack.com
"Fail fast was built for an era when failures stayed inside software, and that era is over."
Big Tech Is Hitting Ctrl+Z. The Rest of Us Are Looking for The Esc Key
Google and Meta quickly reversed two easily abused AI features. But undoing a launch does not undo the damage it leaves behind.
wired.me
Art and craft, but not possession. Beautiful. “Food carving is much quicker [than wood carving], with a single knife, and you don’t get to keep any of your work.” www.wipo.int/en/web/ip-ad... chu-sin.com/fruit #food #art #WomensArt
Food Carving Artist Turns Edibles into Eye-ravishing Creations
Food Products
wipo.int
womensartbluesky.bsky.social@womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 2d agoJapanese artist Tomoko Sato, known for her carving skills as a food sculptor, often using fruit such as melons and apples #WomensArt
airbnb I’m staying at unintentionally created the toughest punk album cover of 2027
On Wikipedia, errors are corrected publicly; responsibility is shared and edits can be traced. By contrast, AI-generated information like Grokipedia obscures the process by which it was gathered: “It *sounds* right....And that’s worse.” www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Accidental Architect of the Internet’s Brain
Steven Pruitt has made more than six million edits to Wikipedia. Here’s what his life looks like beyond the screen.
newyorker.com
This is fascinating. The trip featured analog activities like farm-to-table dining and beekeeping. AI companies value AI usage. Were the Influencers invited to participate or be studied and eventually replaced? www.fastcompany.com/91447428/inf...
Can Influencers be automated with AI?
With so many jobs being replaced with AI and automation technologies, will influencers be next?
fastcompany.com
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d ago“Another influencer who posted about the trip was asked if she was going to do a get-ready-with-me (the popular video format where influencers record their process of getting ready) about touring a data center.”
We've known about the "millions of drones" problem over at PoSR.org since 2013 posr.org/wiki/Amazon_... I wrote a book chapter about it in 2016: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... And in May 2026, I WARNED EVERYONE ABOUT ALL OF THIS: www.fastcompany.com/91546429/ama...
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“Millions and millions of people use Amazon every single day, and that would suggest that, at some point, there's going to be thousands and thousands of drones in the sky in the future.”
Unless you have informed consent all recording is a violation of human rights. That goes for doorbell surveillance, CCTV surveillance, creepy glasses surveillance, mobile phone and internet surveillance... Surveillance violates privacy rights. It should not be slightly modified it should be banned.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d agoThis feels similar to the discussions about ALPRs and networked doorbell cams, where people want some softened version of a thing that is corrosive to society by design. Glasses that can surreptitiously record people should not exist.
We've known about the "millions of drones" problem over at PoSR.org since 2013 posr.org/wiki/Amazon_... I wrote a book chapter about it in 2016: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... And in May 2026, I WARNED EVERYONE ABOUT ALL OF THIS: www.fastcompany.com/91546429/ama...
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“Millions and millions of people use Amazon every single day, and that would suggest that, at some point, there's going to be thousands and thousands of drones in the sky in the future.”
I warned about this in May @fastcompany.com and I have been writing about this and warning people about this for the past 13 years, @detroitnews.com May 2026: www.fastcompany.com/91546429/ama... 2016 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1... 2013 posr.org/wiki/Amazon_... HIRE ANTHROPOLOGISTS
Amazon’s drone ambitions are about to reshape Chicago’s south suburbs
The company aims to normalize airborne package delivery at massive scale. For communities on the ground, there’s still a lack of clear answers about what happens when things go wrong.
fastcompany.com
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“Millions and millions of people use Amazon every single day, and that would suggest that, at some point, there's going to be thousands and thousands of drones in the sky in the future.”
Better headline: FOMO Pharmacy To Close After Deploying Rigid AND Inaccurate AI That Drove Customers to Competitors
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“The AI assistant, which Kinney Drugs named Burt, after its founder, was built by a third-party AI pharmaceutical company, Synerio. In the pharmacy’s terms, Kinney Drugs states that ‘Burt may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date and may be misleading or contain errors and omissions.’”
"’Burt demands that you talk to him,’ said Maria Aveni, a VT Kinney Drugs customer… ‘There's no option to use a keypad to enter what you want to, which has been the case w/other telephone interactions I've had. So it's more of a talk to Burt or don't get your drugs’.”🛟
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“The AI assistant, which Kinney Drugs named Burt, after its founder, was built by a third-party AI pharmaceutical company, Synerio. In the pharmacy’s terms, Kinney Drugs states that ‘Burt may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date and may be misleading or contain errors and omissions.’”
'rare books experts are increasingly worried that these artefacts may be under threat of destruction by generative AI companies seeking to feed their ravenous technology with new texts.' First they came for your monograph, then for rare books. Where next: wholesale destruction of archives?
‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI
Secondhand booksellers believe they may have been caught up in the AI supply chain that sees old books scanned then destroyed
theguardian.com
‘We cannot magic up more water’: the supply problems putting housing targets in England at risk
‘We cannot magic up more water’: the supply problems putting housing targets in England at risk
Council leaders say crumbling infrastructure and lack of water are jeopardising government’s plans for new homes The government’s housebuilding agenda is hitting the stark reality of a lack of water and crumbling infrastructure across the east and south-east of England. Half the country was declared to be in serious drought this week, for the second consecutive year, with the Environment Agency warning of dire consequences for the economy, environment and wildlife. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
Fuck up a movie title My Dinner Is Andre
The gigantic pile of clothes that appeared in the Atacama Desert has been visible from space since January 2022, but no one has been able to figure out how much it actually weighs Another achievement mankind can be proud of…
Enormous pile of discarded clothes in the Atacama desert is visible from space
A vast clothing dump in Chile’s Atacama Desert is visible from space, but its true weight remains unknown.
earth.com
August is your last chance to see all of the Big Eight bumblebees 🎱🐝 Of the UK’s 24 bumblebee species, these eight are the most common. Have you spotted any bumblebees recently? How many species have you seen? 🔎 Brush up on your bumblebee identification skills: https://ow.ly/11BQ50ZoP6O
