Cyberlyra
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cyberlyra.bsky.social
Cyberlyra
@cyberlyra.bsky.social
Princeton Sociology Prof; ethnographer of NASA; tech policy; digitalSTS; ethics and critical technical practice; mobile Linux. Conscientious objector to personal data economy.
https://janet.vertesi.com
https://www.optoutproject.net
@cyberlyra@hachyderm.io
Reposted by Cyberlyra
“Cloud infrastructure from American companies, whether located in Europe or Canada, is incompatible with sovereignty…These companies fall under US jurisdiction &, therefore, are subject to the 2018 CLOUD Act, which enables US authorities to access data they hold, even if that data is stored abroad.”
Canada is waking up to the risks of relying on US tech giants for its digital infrastructure, writes Emily Osborne. As Canada pursues a sovereign cloud, clarity and control —not marketing—should guide the path to digital independence.
What Does a 'Sovereign Cloud' Really Mean? | TechPolicy.Press
Emily Osborne discusses approaches to building a "sovereign cloud" for Canada.
buff.ly
October 25, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Hey @denrsch.bsky.social we were right!

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/t...

We predicted this and named "pre-automation" as a business strategy in this paper: sociologica.unibo.it/article/view...

#preautomation #called-it #robots #ai #automation #strategy
Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:52 AM
If you're not familiar with @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy's work here is a great primer. Who broke the internet and why. From capitalism to surveillance to AI and the broligarchy... it's a #TrueStory Time to fight back.
Join the resistance #optout #reclaimtech
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?
Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...
www.theguardian.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Sounds like it's a good time to remind BlueSky users that you can leave ,even migrate. We can help.

www.reclaimcontrol.tech -- Discord and Signal chats to help you break free
www.optoutproject.net -- Cybercleanse and reviews of alternatives

#optout #posterstrike
Reclaim Control | over your technology, your devices, your data, your digital life.
www.reclaimcontrol.tech
October 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Apparently not having a Google scholar page is the kiss of death for academic careers, so tonight was my first login to a Gsuite address in 8+ years to "claim" one.
I deeply resent that we have moved to this model for discoverability and relevance.
scholar.google.com/citations?hl...
scholar.google.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:00 AM
#stopthescroll is coming up on Wednesday, the first of the month. What will you to interrupt your Big Tech habits? Find inspiration here:

www.optoutproject.net/stop-the-scr...

#reclaimtech #optout
What to do on your (social media) vacation?
Stop the Scroll I teach a class at Princeton called the Sociology of the Internet. Famously, one of the first…
www.optoutproject.net
September 30, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Cyberlyra
Look here, @cyberlyra.bsky.social is at it again!
September 4, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Heads up, #4S2025 !
So excited for my Making and Doing workshop on "How to Get Off," teaching y'all how to evade Big Tech, on Thursday 1:30-3PM!
Then reflections on long-term fieldwork on Friday at 1:30PM
And my TECH/MONEY talk Friday at 3:40 on why NASA goes over budget ...
See you in Seattle!
September 1, 2025 at 1:35 AM
This month we #ChuckZuck from our devices and our lives! Choose a Zuckerverse product and delete it. Reclaim your data. Reclaim your life. Instructions and more here -- follow along! Let's do this TOGETHER!
August 3, 2025 at 6:26 AM
#NewPaper alert! How different AI company "scenes" do boundary work to encourage or discourage investment. TL;DR: It's not all one type of #AI #Hype , and that matters for the tech, the money, regional geopolitics, and sociotechnical imaginaries. With student Jason Bohner:
doi.org/10.1177/0894...
Towards a Socioeconomics of Hype: Hype Dynamics and Symbolic Boundary Work Within the Speculative AI Bubble - Jason Bohner, Janet Vertesi, 2025
Drawing on interviews with 37 entrepreneurs, engineers, technologists and investors in the New York City tech scene involved in AI, we investigate the social fo...
doi.org
July 22, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Cyberlyra
The opt-out project is all the work of @cyberlyra.bsky.social - well worth a follow!

Once I understood that I had stopped using the tech products and and *become* the product, it changed everything.
July 22, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Cyberlyra
On news that ~2,145 senior-ranking NASA staff are set to leave under a Trump administration effort, resurfacing this from Janet Vertesi (@cyberlyra.bsky.social). It is possible to lose entire swaths of technical or scientific prowess—if you dismantle the teams and institutions responsible for them.
Invigorating the American Space Sector Requires Working With NASA, Not Against It | TechPolicy.Press
When programs are cut to the bone, America loses much more than it gains, writes Janet Vertesi.
www.techpolicy.press
July 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
FYI #Google has enabled #Gemini (AI) on #Android by default to save and process everything you say and do for up to 72 hours. Here's how to disable -- then install GrapheneOS or eOS, cos fiddling with Google "privacy settings" is full-on deck chairs on the Titanic.
support.google.com/gemini?p=pau...
Manage & delete your Gemini Apps activity - Android - Gemini Apps Help
When you are signed in and Gemini Apps Activity is on, Google stores your Gemini Apps activity in your Google Account. You can review your prompts, delete your Gemini Apps activity, and turn off Gemin
support.google.com
July 7, 2025 at 5:08 AM
You escaped the Bird Site and found community here. Who else will you help find their freedom?

#stopthescroll #reclaimtech #optout
www.reclaimcontrol.tech/stopthescrol...
July 3, 2025 at 6:59 PM
You once helped your mom get on Facebook. Maybe now is a good time to help her get off? ;)

#stopthescroll #reclaimtech #july4th
July 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
It's not about abstinence, it's about INDEPENDENCE!
This #4thofJuly, #stopthescroll to reclaim control over our devices, data, and digital future. Cut out social media. Resist the endless scroll. Invest in alternatives.
Boost and repost so we can #reclaimtech !
reclaimcontrol.tech/stopthescroll
July 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
On the Fourth of July, we #stopthescroll! Join us in a movement to resist the endless feed, the mindless habits, and choose alternatives that feed our minds and communities instead of feeding off of them. It's time to #reclaimtech !
This Independence Day, join us in declaring your digital independence. Log off and #stopthescroll for one day. Let's take one day to reset, regroup, rethink--and maybe even establish new, better habits.

What will you choose to resist on day to #stopthescroll ? And why?

#reclaimtech
July 2, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Delighted to announce my newest project, a non-profit in community with really terrific people, to help more people disentangle ourselves from Big Tech. We'll work step by step, together, to #reclaimcontrol over our tech stack and help each other make better choices.

www.reclaimcontrol.tech
Reclaim Control | over your technology, your devices, your data, your digital life.
www.reclaimcontrol.tech
July 1, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Cyberlyra
@astrokatie.com is right, you should just click on this link to Rubin images. But maybe do it on a computer with a large screen because there’s a lot of amazing to take in. 🧪
June 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
The MAVEN mission satellite is still working and still doing science--and also acting as a surface relay node. In space, you work with trusted hardware as long as possible. Don't turn off our actual, functioning interplanetary internet because some dude promises to build you a better one eventually.
The president’s budget request would destroy $20 billion worth of operational NASA missions, including MAVEN, America’s best telecommunications satellite at Mars. Check our bio to see what you can do to help.

#PlanetaryScience 🧪🪐🔭
June 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
OPPOSITION TO AI workshop at #cscw2025 with @saysvera.bsky.social @richmondywong.bsky.social and more... ‬ Position papers due by July 1, details and CFP at oppositiontoai.wordpress.com

The resistance is growing --JOIN US!
June 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
#til that every academic (but me) a) uses Google Scholar b) links their publications to their account and c) cares about h-indexes and other metrics on their Google Scholar page. I've resisted Google products since 2012. If I've been sinking my own career, at least I did it on principle. #fuckgoogle
May 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
So happy to see this paper on the organization of labor in the Gig Economy with Diana Enriquez published! We argue gig orgs are heterarchies, combining flat org zero management with industrial algorithmic oversight, making sense of the paradoxes of gig work.

sociologica.unibo.it/article/view...
The Ghost of Middle Management: Automation, Control, and Heterarchy in the Platform Firm | Sociologica
sociologica.unibo.it
May 6, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Congratulations to my old high school classmate, Wade Grant, on winning the seat in Vancouver Quadra!! He will be a great MP for our Liberal riding and a strong voice for indigenous representation in parliament. Together with our First Nations #Canada is stronger and can face this threat.
April 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM