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
· Nov 26
pub day! please welcome "Network breakdown: the queer anarchist politics at the heart of the ‘net from FidoNet to HOMOCORE" to the world
the piece puts Tom Jennings' work as the co-architect of FidoNet alongside the queer, anarchist politics in his zine HOMOCORE
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
the piece puts Tom Jennings' work as the co-architect of FidoNet alongside the queer, anarchist politics in his zine HOMOCORE
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Network breakdown: the queer anarchist politics at the heart of the ‘net from FidoNet to HOMOCORE
In a 1993 interview for the anarchist magazine FringeWare Review, software developer Tom Jennings remarked to his interviewer, “Think you can mention somewhere that I’m a fag anarcho nerd troublema...
www.tandfonline.com
pub day +1 & i am so thrilled to share this piece!! are you interested in the queer roots of the 'net, alternative networking politics, and radical, anarchist, queer ideologies we might use to imagine the future of networking? wahoo, is this piece for you!!
pls consider this a bsky walkthrough...
pls consider this a bsky walkthrough...
Reposted by kat
It seems that Curbed has now been disappeared, too. It's of course great that the Wayback Machine exists — but we shouldn't have a media ecosystem in which we depend on a nonprofit to preserve "content" monetized by commercial outlets with zero obligation to preservation and access
"Last year, there was a big news story that MTV News was shut down.... And I [said], 'Hi, um … check the Wayback Machine.' They were like, ‘Oh my God, you guys got it all. What did you do?’ We didn’t do anything when the site went down because we’ve been doing our job all along."
The man trying to capture the internet before it disappears
The Trump administration is purging some government websites. The director of the Wayback Machine explains what we can do about it.
www.vox.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:40 AM
It seems that Curbed has now been disappeared, too. It's of course great that the Wayback Machine exists — but we shouldn't have a media ecosystem in which we depend on a nonprofit to preserve "content" monetized by commercial outlets with zero obligation to preservation and access
in 2025 my resolution was to kick as many google products as possible: browser, search, drive, and docs were a huge success! right now i use waterfox, DDG, local drives, and obsidian. i also managed to swap out microsoft office for office libre, and i got off spotify in favor of the radio & CDs!
If this year was about getting off US tech, 2026 is the year to reassess the digital revolution — what works, what doesn’t; what to keep, and what to reject.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
We need to reassess our relationship to digital tech
Getting off US tech led me to a wider questioning of digital convenience
disconnect.blog
January 6, 2026 at 3:45 AM
in 2025 my resolution was to kick as many google products as possible: browser, search, drive, and docs were a huge success! right now i use waterfox, DDG, local drives, and obsidian. i also managed to swap out microsoft office for office libre, and i got off spotify in favor of the radio & CDs!
Reposted by kat
we all gotta get off the computer, man.
January 5, 2026 at 9:38 PM
we all gotta get off the computer, man.
Reposted by kat
Just so you know, the the same sort of algorithms that use your face to unlock your phone are being used by cops to recognize you in traffic stops and immigration raids.
But there are ways to disguise yourself from facial recognition systems in your everyday life.
A guide:
But there are ways to disguise yourself from facial recognition systems in your everyday life.
A guide:
The State of Anti-Surveillance Design
The most effective surveillance-evading gear might already be in your closet.
www.404media.co
January 5, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Just so you know, the the same sort of algorithms that use your face to unlock your phone are being used by cops to recognize you in traffic stops and immigration raids.
But there are ways to disguise yourself from facial recognition systems in your everyday life.
A guide:
But there are ways to disguise yourself from facial recognition systems in your everyday life.
A guide:
Reposted by kat
The first two hours this morning
January 5, 2026 at 11:21 AM
The first two hours this morning
Reposted by kat
"...part of the dynamism of Alexander as an interlocuter is the extent to which her personal biography is braided into the trajectory of gaming’s twisting twenty-first-century form."
THANK YOU @lainenooney.bsky.social for this interview.
romchip.org/index.php/ro...
THANK YOU @lainenooney.bsky.social for this interview.
romchip.org/index.php/ro...
Actor, Writer, Technology Spirit
| ROMchip
romchip.org
January 5, 2026 at 2:09 PM
"...part of the dynamism of Alexander as an interlocuter is the extent to which her personal biography is braided into the trajectory of gaming’s twisting twenty-first-century form."
THANK YOU @lainenooney.bsky.social for this interview.
romchip.org/index.php/ro...
THANK YOU @lainenooney.bsky.social for this interview.
romchip.org/index.php/ro...
once again, we are streaming the roottrees are dead for levity reasons
seems like a weird time for it, but i AM playing a lighthearted genealogy deduction video game on twitch rn twitch.tv/katbamkapow
katbamkapow - Twitch
Roottrees are Dead | First Time Playthrough | Part FIVE: ROOTTREEMANIA 2 | no spoilers D:
twitch.tv
January 5, 2026 at 12:33 AM
once again, we are streaming the roottrees are dead for levity reasons
Reposted by kat
shocking! my favorite wild-card hot sauce from 2025 was a hot-ones partnered/branded spicy smoked onion. i would never have foreseen this
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
shocking! my favorite wild-card hot sauce from 2025 was a hot-ones partnered/branded spicy smoked onion. i would never have foreseen this
seems like a weird time for it, but i AM playing a lighthearted genealogy deduction video game on twitch rn twitch.tv/katbamkapow
katbamkapow - Twitch
Roottrees are Dead | First Time Playthrough | Part FIVE: ROOTTREEMANIA 2 | no spoilers D:
twitch.tv
January 4, 2026 at 12:29 AM
seems like a weird time for it, but i AM playing a lighthearted genealogy deduction video game on twitch rn twitch.tv/katbamkapow
i'm clearing out my gmail by hand so that i can download sentimental emails from nearly two decades of use -- and it actually feels a lot like a bureaucratic deduction thriller every time i discover a phrase i can search to mass delete useless e-mails
January 3, 2026 at 5:19 PM
i'm clearing out my gmail by hand so that i can download sentimental emails from nearly two decades of use -- and it actually feels a lot like a bureaucratic deduction thriller every time i discover a phrase i can search to mass delete useless e-mails
Reposted by kat
okay i am sorry to be that bitch but the one word you can't use to describe this is "unprecedented."
January 3, 2026 at 3:04 PM
okay i am sorry to be that bitch but the one word you can't use to describe this is "unprecedented."
Reposted by kat
at 7.30pm ET tonight, @katbamkapow.bsky.social and I are going to be embarking on ROOTTREEMANIA over at twitch.tv/katbamkapow
Twitch
Twitch is the world
twitch.tv
January 2, 2026 at 8:32 PM
at 7.30pm ET tonight, @katbamkapow.bsky.social and I are going to be embarking on ROOTTREEMANIA over at twitch.tv/katbamkapow
my favorite habit with food in the fridge that i will be taking into 2026 is when i think that some food is a little past its prime and so i kind of don't want to eat it but i don't want to throw it away because that seems wasteful so i just wait until it's definitely gone bad so i CAN throw it away
January 2, 2026 at 5:20 PM
my favorite habit with food in the fridge that i will be taking into 2026 is when i think that some food is a little past its prime and so i kind of don't want to eat it but i don't want to throw it away because that seems wasteful so i just wait until it's definitely gone bad so i CAN throw it away
Reposted by kat
"Even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Monday through Friday, five days a week, from morning to night, outside work, I’m actually a really good person."
#McSweeneysTop25of2025.
#McSweeneysTop25of2025.
I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person
Our 7th most-read article of 2025. - - -I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold...
buff.ly
December 31, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"Even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Monday through Friday, five days a week, from morning to night, outside work, I’m actually a really good person."
#McSweeneysTop25of2025.
#McSweeneysTop25of2025.
bravely admitting that i finished a memory called empire today and i thought it was passable… just fine :(
January 2, 2026 at 12:46 AM
bravely admitting that i finished a memory called empire today and i thought it was passable… just fine :(
Reposted by kat
Considering changing my main PC's OS to Linux myself...
www.pcgamer.com/software/lin...
www.pcgamer.com/software/lin...
I'm brave enough to say it: Linux is good now, and if you want to feel like you actually own your PC, make 2026 the year of Linux on (your) desktop
Now if you don't mind I'm going to delete the root folder and see what happens.
www.pcgamer.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Considering changing my main PC's OS to Linux myself...
www.pcgamer.com/software/lin...
www.pcgamer.com/software/lin...
Reposted by kat
five hour live at the table new years day special. we summoned it.
This New Year's Afternoon event will be a complete LP, so gather enough snacks and drinks for the whole afternoon - the 5-ish hours will be cut down into a few, more manageable episodes to appear on our Patreon podcast feed later this month.
January 1, 2026 at 4:02 PM
five hour live at the table new years day special. we summoned it.
Reposted by kat
Reposted by kat
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
January 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
still clearing out my old e-mail
December 31, 2025 at 11:34 PM
still clearing out my old e-mail
bathroom flooded, basement flooded, shower unusable, cat hairball on the sofa, 2025 is getting its sillies out
December 31, 2025 at 5:21 PM
bathroom flooded, basement flooded, shower unusable, cat hairball on the sofa, 2025 is getting its sillies out
Reposted by kat
2025: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by choice
2026: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by circumstance
2026: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by circumstance
[Newsis] Consumer GPUs to increase in price next year. RTX 5090 to increase from $2000 to $5000
www.resetera.com/threads/13...
www.resetera.com/threads/13...
December 31, 2025 at 1:45 PM
2025: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by choice
2026: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by circumstance
2026: becoming a "retro emulation guy" by circumstance
Reposted by kat
ME: (first day practicing Bug Law) May it please the Court—
BUG JUDGE: (sternly) Bug Court.
BUG JUDGE: (sternly) Bug Court.
December 30, 2025 at 6:29 PM
ME: (first day practicing Bug Law) May it please the Court—
BUG JUDGE: (sternly) Bug Court.
BUG JUDGE: (sternly) Bug Court.