Sarah Florini
@florini.bsky.social
Associate Prof of Film and Media Studies at ASU. Studying technology, race, power, and ethics. Lover of general shenanigans. I refuse to call them “skeets.”
This seems bad. Bankrupting the folks who provide some of the core infrastructure of the internet seems bad.
While AI companies are allowed to slurp everything they want, Quad9 warns that legal fees are drowning DNS resolvers, which are now being targeted by copyright owners to enforce blocks on piracy sites
quad9.net/news/blog/wh...
quad9.net/news/blog/wh...
Quad9 | A public and free DNS service for a better security and privacy
A public and free DNS service for a better security and privacy
quad9.net
November 10, 2025 at 11:02 PM
This seems bad. Bankrupting the folks who provide some of the core infrastructure of the internet seems bad.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
Some thoughts about the power we have as academics and the impact of our choices around the framing of our work.
Just read a talk announcement about "AI" and K-12 education that looked like it maybe, maybe embedded a critical perspective but was still dressed up in the language of AI hype, presupposing both job market & education "reshaped by AI".
🧵>>
🧵>>
November 10, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Some thoughts about the power we have as academics and the impact of our choices around the framing of our work.
It’s just paying rent, but you’re responsible for maintaining and fixing everything.
A 50 year mortgage is a house subscription because you’ll never own it.
November 10, 2025 at 6:30 PM
It’s just paying rent, but you’re responsible for maintaining and fixing everything.
I don’t think the Dems have any strategy here. Just that cancelled flights affected them and their donors. But I am very curious to see what Johnson is going to do when this officially gets out of the Senate.
November 10, 2025 at 6:28 AM
I don’t think the Dems have any strategy here. Just that cancelled flights affected them and their donors. But I am very curious to see what Johnson is going to do when this officially gets out of the Senate.
I need to just go a head an log off of here for the sake of my blood pressure.
November 10, 2025 at 1:20 AM
I need to just go a head an log off of here for the sake of my blood pressure.
These tech guys really read all dystopian sci-fi as a how-to manual rather than a cautionary tale.
Armstrong said he “envisioned ‘the IVF clinic of the future’ powered by a ‘Gattaca stack’ of technologies—a reference to the 1997 movie depicting a dystopian eugenic future—combining embryo editing and genetic screening.”
Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Silicon Valley startups are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics, hoping to prevent diseases as well as improve chances for a high IQ and other traits.
www.wsj.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:04 AM
These tech guys really read all dystopian sci-fi as a how-to manual rather than a cautionary tale.
The Dems shouldn't cave. But, if they do, then Mike Johnson will have to bring the House back to vote & be forced to swear in AZ Rep Grijalva (who has said she will be the final vote needed to force a vote about releasing the Epstein files). Or he will have to single-handedly continue the shutdown.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
The Dems shouldn't cave. But, if they do, then Mike Johnson will have to bring the House back to vote & be forced to swear in AZ Rep Grijalva (who has said she will be the final vote needed to force a vote about releasing the Epstein files). Or he will have to single-handedly continue the shutdown.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
Tech guys six months ago: haha yes we’re cutting all this WASTEFUL spending by eliminating medical research and USAID
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
November 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Tech guys six months ago: haha yes we’re cutting all this WASTEFUL spending by eliminating medical research and USAID
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Tech guys now: yes I think taxpayers will be excited to bailout my non consensual pornography machine
Yesterday, I went to the gym and also got my flu and Covid vaccines. I’m wondering when I’m going to be able to use my arms again.
November 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Yesterday, I went to the gym and also got my flu and Covid vaccines. I’m wondering when I’m going to be able to use my arms again.
And there it is. Public funds has always been the goal.
“OpenAI is getting ready to run hat in hand to the taxpayer for subsidies.” After losing more than $13 billion this year, OpenAI officials are angling for a bailout. From @ryanlcooper.com:
trib.al/CUazMCQ
trib.al/CUazMCQ
OpenAI Is Maneuvering for a Government Bailout - The American Prospect
For artificial intelligence to ever pencil out, some truly enormous revenue streams will be required. And if you need trillions of dollars for data centers forever, there’s only one entity to turn to: Uncle Sam.
trib.al
November 9, 2025 at 2:01 AM
And there it is. Public funds has always been the goal.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
Because, as I have said, it’s only good universal use case is disciplining labor.
November 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Because, as I have said, it’s only good universal use case is disciplining labor.
Breaking: someone reinvents phenology, again.
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 7, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Breaking: someone reinvents phenology, again.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
Africana Studies is going to have one hell of an update to their "what our majors have done with their degree after graduation" page.
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Africana Studies is going to have one hell of an update to their "what our majors have done with their degree after graduation" page.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
October 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM
📣 I am hiring a postdoc! aial.ie/hiring/postd...
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
applications from suitable candidates that are passionate about investigating the use of genAI in public service operations with the aim of keeping governments transparent and accountable are welcome
pls share with your networks
Horrifying.
A haunted house but it’s just ppl giving you compliments
November 4, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Horrifying.
As someone raised Evangelical Christian - a belief system focused on hierarchy, obedience, and the End TimesTM - AI boosterism is looking real familiar right now. The resonances are eerie.
October 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
As someone raised Evangelical Christian - a belief system focused on hierarchy, obedience, and the End TimesTM - AI boosterism is looking real familiar right now. The resonances are eerie.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
This is sometimes read as "look 'AI' isn't working". But the opposite is true.
_This_ is what "AI" is _for_. Push down labor power, push down wages, make employment more insecure.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/forrester_ai_rehiring/
_This_ is what "AI" is _for_. Push down labor power, push down wages, make employment more insecure.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/forrester_ai_rehiring/
October 30, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This is sometimes read as "look 'AI' isn't working". But the opposite is true.
_This_ is what "AI" is _for_. Push down labor power, push down wages, make employment more insecure.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/forrester_ai_rehiring/
_This_ is what "AI" is _for_. Push down labor power, push down wages, make employment more insecure.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/forrester_ai_rehiring/
Oh wow. What a shocking turn of events. Who could have ever seen that coming?
Alpha School, which promises to educate kids using an "AI tutor" in two hours a day, is a budding national empire and a darling of the Trump administration.
According to some parents who spoke to @wired.com for this investigation, it's had nightmarish effects on their kids.
According to some parents who spoke to @wired.com for this investigation, it's had nightmarish effects on their kids.
Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out
In Brownsville, Texas, some families found a buzzy new school’s methods—surveillance of kids, software in lieu of teachers—to be an education in and of itself.
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Oh wow. What a shocking turn of events. Who could have ever seen that coming?
Reposted by Sarah Florini
I don't think we understand just how bad the decline of the Internet is to knowledge.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
October 26, 2025 at 1:26 AM
I don't think we understand just how bad the decline of the Internet is to knowledge.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
3 years ago, I could perform a very basic search in any engine and get an absurd number of relevant links, research articles, etc.
Today, I can perform the same search and find absolutely nothing.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
This is the future liberals want.
Zohran Mamdani's promises of free busses might sound great, but I live in Albuquerque NM where city busses have been free for five years and I'm here to tell you the truth. This is what every bus in my city looks like now. Think carefully about your choice this November.
October 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This is the future liberals want.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
People are opening up Meta AI Ray Ban glasses and modding out the LED recording light, then selling them on eBay. There is huge interest in disabling this functionality, which means basically you cannot trust anyone wearing these (i'm sure you already weren't)
www.404media.co/how-to-disab...
www.404media.co/how-to-disab...
A $60 Mod to Meta’s Ray-Bans Disables Its Privacy-Protecting Recording Light
Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses usually include an LED that lights up when the user is recording other people. One hobbyist is charging a small fee to disable that light, and has a growing list of customers ar...
www.404media.co
October 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
People are opening up Meta AI Ray Ban glasses and modding out the LED recording light, then selling them on eBay. There is huge interest in disabling this functionality, which means basically you cannot trust anyone wearing these (i'm sure you already weren't)
www.404media.co/how-to-disab...
www.404media.co/how-to-disab...
Reposted by Sarah Florini
🚨NEW🚨 from DAIR:
Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor,
intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility.
Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...
Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor,
intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility.
Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...
October 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🚨NEW🚨 from DAIR:
Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor,
intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility.
Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...
Today we are releasing "Driven Down", a new report on how workplace technology enables Amazon to steal wages, hide labor,
intensify poor working conditions, and evade responsibility.
Read the full report here: drive.google.com/file/d/1yBxy...
Well, this is horrifying.
AP found the wave of legislation on vaccines, fluoride and raw milk has appeared across the US, pushed by people with close ties to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The effort would strip away protections that have been built over a century and are integral to American lives and society.
October 22, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Well, this is horrifying.
Reposted by Sarah Florini
“.. internal strategy documents viewed by The New York Times reveal that Amazon executives believe the company is on the cusp of its next big workplace shift: replacing more than half a million jobs with robots.”
@nytimes.com $AMZN
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
@nytimes.com $AMZN
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...
October 22, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Reposted by Sarah Florini
I’m glad so many major universities are credulously reorganizing everything they do around products marketed with this acronym.
I'm so glad this is the industry keeping our economy afloat I'm sure this will all go well
Apple is pulling its AI-generated notifications for news after generating fake headlines | CNN Business
Apple is temporarily pulling its newly introduced artificial intelligence feature that summarizes news notifications after it repeatedly sent users error-filled headlines, sparking backlash from a new...
edition.cnn.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:32 PM
I’m glad so many major universities are credulously reorganizing everything they do around products marketed with this acronym.