sara m. b. simon
@sarambsimon.bsky.social
phd student in us history (quantification & govt data, esp. vital statistics) • former newsroom software engineer & data journalist • she/her • chicago smbsimon.github.io
my post-it note method described proudly on slide four
Miriam Posner@miriamposner.com · 13h agoI made this for my students last year and there are some links at the end to professional advice! docs.google.com/presentation... For more “real” advice, I tend to search for something like “annotations + libguide” in order to get librarians’ resources.
"the aesthetics of AI slop take the logic of quantification to its extreme form by embedding it in a technological system of increasingly automated production, circulation and consumption to which human signification appears ever more marginal." journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Doing the numbers: The operational aesthetics of AI slop - Jernej Markelj, Jakko Kemper, 2026
What to make of the bizarre imagery of AI slop? If AI slop feels meaningless to interpret, this is because it has little to do with meaning and representations....
journals.sagepub.com
What the hell. Fund the fucking libraries. blockclubchicago.org/2026/08/05/t...
Thousands Of Books Are Piling Up In Chicago Libraries Due To Staffing Shortage
The backlog has librarians scrambling to find space and keep track of books in the system. Library workers say it's a ripple effect of a delivery driver shortage — and patrons have started checking ou...
blockclubchicago.org
Elena Zhang@ezhang77.bsky.social · yesterdayHas the library still not solved the delivery driver issue? This is kind of nuts
Data centers have become one of the U.S.'s most potent political flashpoints, uniting coalitions on the left and right like few issues do. We sent @mollytaft.com on a journey into the data center resistance. The Unabomber, Steve Bannon’s tech guy, and Bernie Sanders made appearances along the way:
How Data Centers Broke American Politics
What the Unabomber, Steve Bannon’s tech guy, and Bernie Sanders taught me about the great data center backlash of 2026.
wired.com
Since #COVID & pandemic handling is in the news, I want to recommend the brand new COVID Studies: A Reader: www.pennpress.org/978151282949... This is a fantastic collection of essays based in SSH fields. It is available to read #openaccess for free too.
and now for something good: architecture people, design people, urbanists! most aesthetically innovative/ distinctive public (maybe government maybe just public access) buildings constructed in the U.S. in the C21?
Listen to @tressiemcphd.bsky.social when she writes that AI is "the backbone of a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation” - and then teach about and against the technologies with the help of the books she cites:
Opinion | Want to Fight Back Against Big Tech? Start Here.
A.I. is a political theory. And it is gobbling up our democracy.
nytimes.com
Question for the nerds in the room: What are your favorite books on founding-era politics? On the Constitutional Convention, etc etc
this thread has reminded me of all the hours i spent on typing.io a few careers ago
Typing Practice for Programmers | typing.io
Typing.io is a typing tutor for programmers. Practice typing the hard-to-reach symbols in code.
typing.io
Jess Calarco@jessicacalarco.com · 4d agoI wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
illinois tech was so good to me. it's where i learned to take myself seriously as an academic. more importantly, the undergrads? phenomenal. there's a special kind of joy you get in teaching the humanities at tech-focused institutions. infuriating to see this news www.chronicle.com/liveblog/her...
‘Targeted Reductions’ Coming to Illinois Tech
Texas community colleges feel the effects of performance funding, Clemson to refocus spending rather than cut it, and Boston U. to pay $100 million in PILOT money.
chronicle.com
Visited the new Chicago Brand Museum today. It's fascinating. (It's not a museum of just Chicago brands; it's a museum of lots of brand, which happens to be located in Chicago.) Fans of typography, graphic design, package design, and more will love it.
For a citation analysis project in 2010, I checked the bibliographies of 100 random papers from different fields. Only three of those articles had bibs entirely free of formatting errors, and *many* had pretty glaring errors (like journal name). To consider when using bibs to check for AI.
will pooley@willpooley.bsky.social · 7d agono doubt im a bad academic but i don’t doubt that someone who went through my work with a fine tooth comb would find some howlers. a french reader pointed out to me once that I got the name of the main archives I worked in for my first book wrong in the abbreviations/ front matter! mea culpalol
"children do not love a storybook simply because their name or image appears in the story; they love the book because the story itself is interesting"
Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · last wk.Parents are fed up with friends and relatives giving their kids “personalized” AI-generated storybooks with characters resembling their kids. Apart from data privacy concerns, literacy experts say these garbled and convoluted narratives could be an impediment to learning how to read.
Help @wired.com figure out what working in tech is like -- especially if you are not a man -- in the age of AI! We need to hear from the people. Take this survey, send it to your friends and foes, sing it from the rooftops, tattoo it on your body, etc., etc. se1.decipherinc.com/survey/selfs...?
The Interlochen investigation is effectively still open for people to report their experiences. Link to report here. www.interlochen.org/sites/defaul...
interlochen.org
Olivia Messer@oliviamesser.bsky.social · last wk.Elizabeth Sanghavi, a former federal civil rights attorney, and her team spent hundreds of hours speaking with academy and camp alumni. She is available through October 2026 to receive additional reports at elizabeth@sanghavilawoffice.com or 617-505-3010
another musical milestone: introducing baby to rent (original broadway cast recording)
sara m. b. simon@sarambsimon.bsky.social · 3mo agobig milestone: baby just listened to purple rain for the first time
New little side project: Westward, an endless scroll of 1,000+ public-domain photographs of the American West from the Library of Congress, the Portal to Texas History, and SMU’s DeGolyer Library.
I LOVED this essay in the NYT about the "triumph" of girls in Scouting America (gift link). The girls' troops that began in 2019 are doing amazing things. I've found most people in Scouting are supportive of the belated inclusivity, and this piece refutes the hostility of naysayers so elegantly.
Opinion | The Boy Scouts Let in Girls Almost a Decade Ago. It’s Been a Triumph. (Gift Article)
What I know from six years of leading Troop 163 is that these girls invigorate scouting rather than weaken it.
nytimes.com
Tired: saying Nolan can’t write Wired: proving Nolan can’t write by citing excerpts from the script. Inspired: Writing a review of Nolan’s film that is so compelling, we immediately accept its thesis, Nolan can’t write
for @gqmagazine.bsky.social, i talked to IMAX projectionists at BFI and IMAX Melbourne about what it takes to run the giant film format (think: manually pouring water into busted cooling systems; avoiding explosions)
‘The Odyssey’ Can’t Be Screened in 70mm IMAX Without Huge, Ancient Projectors. Here’s What It Takes to Keep Them Running
To show Christopher Nolan’s Olympian blockbuster in he hottest film format of the moment, theaters rely on old-school technology—including a PalmPilot or two.
gq.com
11. Was I too mean? Or not mean enough? I went through my first draft and tried to take out the snark. To quote the great poet: "Though much is taken, much remains... That which we are, we are."
is there a deep dive yet explaining how taylor farms became so big? it seems like their lettuce is everywhere
I wrote this for Chicago magazine about the U.S. government's plans to close the National Archives branch in Chicago:
Chicago magazine@chicagomagazine.bsky.social · 2w agoAt a time when dubious information runs rampant, we need more — not less — access to our history.
comps prep update: reading quietly when bb naps on me, aloud when bb's awake. we also listen to new books network eps & audiobooks when available. after bb bedtime, i can type up notes, but maybe that time is better spent just reading more? how much to trust my brain? question of the summer
Measles cases in the United States have officially hit an alarming new record high. As the US prepares to lose its elimination status, read our conversations with six pediatricians in measles hot spot Utah.
‘The Child Is Terrified’: Measles Doctors Speak Out
Hear from six pediatricians in measles hot spot Utah, as the US faces infection levels not seen in over three decades and prepares to lose its status as a country that eliminated the dangerous…
wired.com
