kat
@katbamkapow.bsky.social
over-explainer for fame & fortune, 9-5 academic, 24/7 analog enthusiast.
PhD of computer/networking/net histories, LGBTQ+ activism, STS, critical HIV/AIDS studies. you might know me from video games
once: uc irvine
now: u of michigan
💾🌿💽 kb.place 💽🌿💾
PhD of computer/networking/net histories, LGBTQ+ activism, STS, critical HIV/AIDS studies. you might know me from video games
once: uc irvine
now: u of michigan
💾🌿💽 kb.place 💽🌿💾
Pinned
kat
@katbamkapow.bsky.social
· 29d
research thread! i study queer histories of computing -- how LGBTQ+ people seize the means of connection & computation to build community and keep each other safe.
here are a few pieces that might interest you:
here are a few pieces that might interest you:
stressful time to care about women's hockey
February 19, 2026 at 8:26 PM
stressful time to care about women's hockey
what kind of tech do leftists get excited about? lmao ok so i guess you've never gone with me to the kiwanis and found a really dusty old pager, just say that
February 18, 2026 at 6:14 PM
what kind of tech do leftists get excited about? lmao ok so i guess you've never gone with me to the kiwanis and found a really dusty old pager, just say that
oh my god the storage wars.........................
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
Hyperscalers are tearing hard drives out of the hands of manufacturers. Prices are therefore also rising for SSDs.
www.heise.de
February 18, 2026 at 12:28 AM
oh my god the storage wars.........................
Reposted by kat
HUGE THANK YOU TO GREG
Up to $10,000 of donations to our ICEBREAKER fundraiser will be matched by the extremely generous Greg! Donate now to double your contribution at bit.ly/icebreaker2026 and join us for our marathon at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
Tiltify - Made for Fundraisers
We give you the tools to engage with your donors and raise more for your charity
bit.ly
February 16, 2026 at 5:47 PM
HUGE THANK YOU TO GREG
Reposted by kat
Up to $10,000 of donations to our ICEBREAKER fundraiser will be matched by the extremely generous Greg! Donate now to double your contribution at bit.ly/icebreaker2026 and join us for our marathon at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
Tiltify - Made for Fundraisers
We give you the tools to engage with your donors and raise more for your charity
bit.ly
February 16, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Up to $10,000 of donations to our ICEBREAKER fundraiser will be matched by the extremely generous Greg! Donate now to double your contribution at bit.ly/icebreaker2026 and join us for our marathon at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
so proud of @friends-table.bsky.social and so grateful to everyone who has donated -- can't believe it's gonna get to 50% of the overall goal before dinnertime :')
February 15, 2026 at 9:45 PM
so proud of @friends-table.bsky.social and so grateful to everyone who has donated -- can't believe it's gonna get to 50% of the overall goal before dinnertime :')
Reposted by kat
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
11amET for a good cause!!!!
Here's the schedule for our ICEBREAKER fundraiser on 2/15 and 2/16, a marathon to raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. Join us then at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
February 15, 2026 at 3:47 PM
11amET for a good cause!!!!
Reposted by kat
Suggestions for how to do that here, btw:
firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
w/ @nannainie.bsky.social and Peter Zukerman.
firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
w/ @nannainie.bsky.social and Peter Zukerman.
February 15, 2026 at 5:09 AM
Suggestions for how to do that here, btw:
firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
w/ @nannainie.bsky.social and Peter Zukerman.
firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...
w/ @nannainie.bsky.social and Peter Zukerman.
Reposted by kat
✨ once-in-a-lifetime narrative design internship opportunity for someone in the Seattle area: careers.hasbro.com/careers?star... ✨
Intern, Narrative Design | Hasbro
Internal Posting Detail Hiring Manager: Business Unit: Job Level: Location (City/State): Recruiter: Eligibility to apply: Ideally you should have 12 months of service in your current position, or if t...
careers.hasbro.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:14 PM
✨ once-in-a-lifetime narrative design internship opportunity for someone in the Seattle area: careers.hasbro.com/careers?star... ✨
something i think is fun and neat is that we are slowly coming back around again to some of the the more successful models of privacy & moderation on BBSs, like paid subscriptions and independent mod verification... but i think we should bring back "call the sysop and ask if you can join the board"
February 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
something i think is fun and neat is that we are slowly coming back around again to some of the the more successful models of privacy & moderation on BBSs, like paid subscriptions and independent mod verification... but i think we should bring back "call the sysop and ask if you can join the board"
Reposted by kat
you can press the z button to target people and objects you encounter in the world. go ahead, give it a try
February 14, 2026 at 2:03 PM
you can press the z button to target people and objects you encounter in the world. go ahead, give it a try
Reposted by kat
Here's the schedule for our ICEBREAKER fundraiser on 2/15 and 2/16, a marathon to raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. Join us then at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
February 14, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Here's the schedule for our ICEBREAKER fundraiser on 2/15 and 2/16, a marathon to raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund. Join us then at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable!
the computer storage freak has logged on
💾The Games & Storage special issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication is officially out!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
Critical Studies in Media Communication
Games & Storage. Volume 42, Issue 5 of Critical Studies in Media Communication
www.tandfonline.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:23 PM
the computer storage freak has logged on
Reposted by kat
To those in this community supporting and widening the scope of research and advocacy;
Pat yourself on the back. Real progress is slow and steady.💪🏻
Pat yourself on the back. Real progress is slow and steady.💪🏻
February 12, 2026 at 11:57 PM
To those in this community supporting and widening the scope of research and advocacy;
Pat yourself on the back. Real progress is slow and steady.💪🏻
Pat yourself on the back. Real progress is slow and steady.💪🏻
Reposted by kat
*young me, developing a strong sense of justice*
This is gonna be great, what an asset, this will never drive me insane
This is gonna be great, what an asset, this will never drive me insane
August 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM
*young me, developing a strong sense of justice*
This is gonna be great, what an asset, this will never drive me insane
This is gonna be great, what an asset, this will never drive me insane
Reposted by kat
UK leftists! Please please please fill out the UK govt survey on Earned Settlement *today* and rail as hard as you can against any changes to this system. We cannot let them spend billions on more surveillance and fascist bureaucracy of our communities ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
February 10, 2026 at 2:37 PM
UK leftists! Please please please fill out the UK govt survey on Earned Settlement *today* and rail as hard as you can against any changes to this system. We cannot let them spend billions on more surveillance and fascist bureaucracy of our communities ukhomeoffice.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Reposted by kat
This coming Sunday and Monday, come help us raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund!
follow twitch.tv/friendsatthetable now to be notified!
Read here for more info: www.patreon.com/posts/fundra...
(Art by @badbucket.bsky.social!)
follow twitch.tv/friendsatthetable now to be notified!
Read here for more info: www.patreon.com/posts/fundra...
(Art by @badbucket.bsky.social!)
February 11, 2026 at 12:19 AM
This coming Sunday and Monday, come help us raise money for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Immigrant Rapid Response Fund!
follow twitch.tv/friendsatthetable now to be notified!
Read here for more info: www.patreon.com/posts/fundra...
(Art by @badbucket.bsky.social!)
follow twitch.tv/friendsatthetable now to be notified!
Read here for more info: www.patreon.com/posts/fundra...
(Art by @badbucket.bsky.social!)
Reposted by kat
I am absolutely not kidding
Discord's new age verification rules got you down? Allow me to suggest an alternative: Internet Relay Chat
Launched in 1988, IRC was created by and for computer nerds, and it won't hold your hand but it also doesn't want to see your face.
www.pcgamer.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I am absolutely not kidding
as i hone in on the overarching argument for my book — one that seeks to identify the liveness in tech networks that center community care in crisis — the whistles have been so inspiring to see
In 1943, musician Woody Guthrie placed a message on his guitar: "This machine kills fascists."
I am part of a group that's shipped half a million free 3D-printed whistles to defend against ICE — 200,000 of them in the first week of February alone.
This is the story of the "Whistle Crew."
I am part of a group that's shipped half a million free 3D-printed whistles to defend against ICE — 200,000 of them in the first week of February alone.
This is the story of the "Whistle Crew."
This whistle fights fascists
I print whistles now. You can too.
www.theverge.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:05 PM
as i hone in on the overarching argument for my book — one that seeks to identify the liveness in tech networks that center community care in crisis — the whistles have been so inspiring to see
Reposted by kat
the most cynical reading I have about why this landed so poorly: do dog owners see their own dogs as more "people" or "family" than delivery drivers, "porch pirates," or actual humans that look different from them? ring has always been this for actual humans, but the dog thing hit different
February 10, 2026 at 3:24 PM
the most cynical reading I have about why this landed so poorly: do dog owners see their own dogs as more "people" or "family" than delivery drivers, "porch pirates," or actual humans that look different from them? ring has always been this for actual humans, but the dog thing hit different
Reposted by kat
Ring is a wildly dangerous company. Always has been. But it has sort of flown under the radar the last couple years as it tried to soften its image. Make no mistake that this is an extremely dangerous surveillance dragnet:
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
Ring's 'Search Party' is dystopian surveillance accelerationism.
www.404media.co
February 10, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Ring is a wildly dangerous company. Always has been. But it has sort of flown under the radar the last couple years as it tried to soften its image. Make no mistake that this is an extremely dangerous surveillance dragnet:
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
www.404media.co/with-ring-am...
Reposted by kat
Relooted is finally out!!
Go grab it!
Go grab it!
“Please enjoy the museum”:
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
February 10, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Relooted is finally out!!
Go grab it!
Go grab it!
Reposted by kat
"When civilians ask large language models questions about their health, the technology often gets it wrong."
"The advancements could inadvertently expose more people to medical misinformation." h/t POLITICO Pulse
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"The advancements could inadvertently expose more people to medical misinformation." h/t POLITICO Pulse
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reliability of LLMs as medical assistants for the general public: a randomized preregistered study - Nature Medicine
In a randomized controlled study involving 1,298 participants from a general sample, performance of humans when assisted by a large language model (LLM) was sensibly inferior to that of the LLM alone ...
www.nature.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:34 AM
"When civilians ask large language models questions about their health, the technology often gets it wrong."
"The advancements could inadvertently expose more people to medical misinformation." h/t POLITICO Pulse
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
"The advancements could inadvertently expose more people to medical misinformation." h/t POLITICO Pulse
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by kat
Cool/important job alert:
Principal Research Scientist at the Wikimedia Foundation's
Research team for the area of knowledge integrity
Job posting: job-boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jo...
Principal Research Scientist at the Wikimedia Foundation's
Research team for the area of knowledge integrity
Job posting: job-boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jo...
Principal Research Scientist
Remote
job-boards.greenhouse.io
February 9, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Cool/important job alert:
Principal Research Scientist at the Wikimedia Foundation's
Research team for the area of knowledge integrity
Job posting: job-boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jo...
Principal Research Scientist at the Wikimedia Foundation's
Research team for the area of knowledge integrity
Job posting: job-boards.greenhouse.io/wikimedia/jo...
