Dr. S.A. Applin
@anthropunk
Applied Anthropologist researching how people promote, manage, resist, and endure change; and how they, algorithms, and ethics coexist. (Or not). Social Systems/Culture. Sometimes write for Fast Company. NYU/ITP alum
Also, our Chapter 5: "Anthropology of artificial intelligence: agency, powerful knowledge, and the algorithmic other" Michael D. Fischer and Sally A. Applin
Hello there #anthropology fans. During #EASA2026, the new "Handbook on Anthropology and Artificial Intelligence" will be available for 40% off hardcover with coupon code below during the conference (which is now). There is confusing talk of Open Access, which I will update when I know more.
@robmayeda.bsky.social Not rain but...? What? Feels do much like rain in the way
And that means humans have to do it. So we get to be the QA of knowledge and most of us aren't able to do that for every query. I warned in 2019: www.fastcompany.com/90336550/how...
The thing is, Meta isn't actually making them. The glasses are "good" because decades old, established, undisrupted optics companies make them. It's all branding. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@robmayeda.bsky.social Looking like...rain? In Foster City? What's the forecast?
Smartphones may not be as popular now because perhaps people are sick of being plugged in. Plugging them in more doesn't seem like the obvious fix here. But it could make money for Qualcomm, whose stock is "nosediving." This is about helping them, not us. finance.yahoo.com/markets/stoc...
In @anthropunk.bsky.social and @liedra.net 's very long 2021 paper on Facebook (pre Meta name change announcement) and Project Aria (e.g., pilot for Meta Ray Ban Stories glasses), we told you all this was coming. In great detail. Open access (free): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Meanwhile in other #branding news, Snoop Dog makes ice cream. There is a "rap snacks" trend, but he seems to be going towards the cold treats with his "Dr. Bombay" brand.
Hey there #sociology #anthropology #popculture #trucker #trucking #travel #TN and #DollyParton fans - Dolly Parton opened a truck stop in TN. The part you may be interested in is the #branding. Dolly has totally repurposed the "Mud Flap Girl" to be ... her! dollystravelstops.com
Apparently Jean-Michel Basquiat's ghost has come back as a PG&E employee:
"Haraway’s call for a “joint kinship” with machines feels more like an echo of the corporate doublespeak that frames automation as liberatory." Love or hate Haraway, this is a great piece of critical writing on Haraway and #AI from Meghan O'Gieblyn: yalereview.org/article/megh...
I was today years old when I realized that Lorde, in her Goth phase, looked like Patricia Quinn's "Magenta" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's not a bad thing at all, it just took a loonnnnng time to put my finger on it. #culture
The American Bird Conservancy is dealing out fashion tips based on birds and I am HERE for THIS
Found this on a walk. Someone/something (who wasn't me) seems to have arranged this goose poop into the #BlackFlag logo: cc @henryrollins21361.bsky.social Or the Geese are getting ready to "Rise Above"?
Yeah Toyota bitmap wrap car--you show those FR/LP readers! Made the Waymo in front of it freak out so much, it had to change lanes.
If the car says TURBO on the back, I don't see the point of this plate:
