Adam Quinn
@adamquinnphd.com
Postdoctoral Fellow @ Science History Institute. Writing a labor & environmental history of the computer industry.
Views expressed here are my own and not my employer's.
To read my work & for queries, visit www.adamquinnphd.com
Views expressed here are my own and not my employer's.
To read my work & for queries, visit www.adamquinnphd.com
Pinned
Adam Quinn
@adamquinnphd.com
· Nov 19
Reposting this intro for my new followers along with a bonus dog
Reposted by Adam Quinn
December 4 at 10am @ UMich and on Zoom, I'll be talking about the labor & environmental impacts of AI in historical context. Computing's long history of automation & pollution reframes how we understand capitalism in the digital age.
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
November 30, 2025 at 3:09 PM
December 4 at 10am @ UMich and on Zoom, I'll be talking about the labor & environmental impacts of AI in historical context. Computing's long history of automation & pollution reframes how we understand capitalism in the digital age.
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
December 4 at 10am @ UMich and on Zoom, I'll be talking about the labor & environmental impacts of AI in historical context. Computing's long history of automation & pollution reframes how we understand capitalism in the digital age.
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
November 30, 2025 at 3:09 PM
December 4 at 10am @ UMich and on Zoom, I'll be talking about the labor & environmental impacts of AI in historical context. Computing's long history of automation & pollution reframes how we understand capitalism in the digital age.
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
Register for free: sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/...
Reposted by Adam Quinn
UNION THANKSGIVING:
- TENTATIVE AGREEMENT turkey
-COLLECTIVE ACTION cranberry sauce
-PREPARED TO STRIKE pumpkin pie
-MATERIAL WINS mac n cheese
-WILDCAT STRIKE wreen bean casserole
-bread (& roses)
- TENTATIVE AGREEMENT turkey
-COLLECTIVE ACTION cranberry sauce
-PREPARED TO STRIKE pumpkin pie
-MATERIAL WINS mac n cheese
-WILDCAT STRIKE wreen bean casserole
-bread (& roses)
'Tis the season!
November 27, 2024 at 8:29 PM
UNION THANKSGIVING:
- TENTATIVE AGREEMENT turkey
-COLLECTIVE ACTION cranberry sauce
-PREPARED TO STRIKE pumpkin pie
-MATERIAL WINS mac n cheese
-WILDCAT STRIKE wreen bean casserole
-bread (& roses)
- TENTATIVE AGREEMENT turkey
-COLLECTIVE ACTION cranberry sauce
-PREPARED TO STRIKE pumpkin pie
-MATERIAL WINS mac n cheese
-WILDCAT STRIKE wreen bean casserole
-bread (& roses)
A pretty Fall morning in my country, Philadelphia
November 24, 2025 at 8:39 PM
A pretty Fall morning in my country, Philadelphia
Reposted by Adam Quinn
Reposted by Adam Quinn
They are literally firing all the judges they think might grant relief. They just fired a friend of mine a couple hours ago. They have no shame. The bastards want an assembly line for deportations and nothing more; rubber-stamping bootlickers who’ll yes’sir at every new diktat to deny.
Instead of hiring more immigration judges, the Department of Justice just posted an ad for "deportation judges." join.justice.gov
November 21, 2025 at 11:17 PM
They are literally firing all the judges they think might grant relief. They just fired a friend of mine a couple hours ago. They have no shame. The bastards want an assembly line for deportations and nothing more; rubber-stamping bootlickers who’ll yes’sir at every new diktat to deny.
I don't think toddlers should be doing all that @nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I don't think toddlers should be doing all that @nytimes.com
Yup, the point is helping workers build economic pressure during a strike. Starbucks needs to hear customers are refusing to cross the picket line, not that some people are the purest ethical consumers who don't like Starbucks regardless.
RE starbucks picket line--the relevant detail is "picket line, do not cross." Pass that along. Proclaiming that you are in no danger of doing so because you are too aesthetically pure to let Starbucks coffee pass your lips is...unhelpful and does not give the impression you perhaps imagine it does.
November 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Yup, the point is helping workers build economic pressure during a strike. Starbucks needs to hear customers are refusing to cross the picket line, not that some people are the purest ethical consumers who don't like Starbucks regardless.
Reposted by Adam Quinn
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv
The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software
www.euractiv.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The International Criminal Court is ditching Microsoft Office, saying it’s too dependent on US tech, in favor of Open Desk, a German open source alternative.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
The move comes after Microsoft revoked ICC head Karim Khan’s email access when he was sanctioned by the US for the warrant against Netanyahu.
There's actually a historical reason for the ruling class's poorly written emails: typing and computing was feminized, working-class labor until fairly recently. So male business leaders from earlier generations often view writing as below them/view emailing as similar to dictating to a secretary.
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
There's actually a historical reason for the ruling class's poorly written emails: typing and computing was feminized, working-class labor until fairly recently. So male business leaders from earlier generations often view writing as below them/view emailing as similar to dictating to a secretary.
The contents of these emails are barely even intelligible. The one thing holding up the regime right now is Epstein's lack of coherence and literacy. Humanities education matters.
November 12, 2025 at 11:48 PM
The contents of these emails are barely even intelligible. The one thing holding up the regime right now is Epstein's lack of coherence and literacy. Humanities education matters.
Reposted by Adam Quinn
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:57 AM
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
One thing that elections when Trump is not on the ballot make clear: the GOP is so ready to entertain Trump 3 and/or egregious gerrymandering and voter suppression because they know if they play fair then there's not really a future for the party.
November 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
One thing that elections when Trump is not on the ballot make clear: the GOP is so ready to entertain Trump 3 and/or egregious gerrymandering and voter suppression because they know if they play fair then there's not really a future for the party.
Reposted by Adam Quinn
The votes are in four years later: unions and @organizeworkers.bsky.social confirmed cool
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 AM
The votes are in four years later: unions and @organizeworkers.bsky.social confirmed cool
Reposted by Adam Quinn
The AI Coca-Cola ad seems to have involved as many workers and expenses as their traditional ads. Generative AI won't fully replace jobs and give us a 12 hour workweek. It'll just save time on some tasks while making roles more rote, deskilled, and alienating.
That's how labor automation works!
That's how labor automation works!
November 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
The AI Coca-Cola ad seems to have involved as many workers and expenses as their traditional ads. Generative AI won't fully replace jobs and give us a 12 hour workweek. It'll just save time on some tasks while making roles more rote, deskilled, and alienating.
That's how labor automation works!
That's how labor automation works!
The AI Coca-Cola ad seems to have involved as many workers and expenses as their traditional ads. Generative AI won't fully replace jobs and give us a 12 hour workweek. It'll just save time on some tasks while making roles more rote, deskilled, and alienating.
That's how labor automation works!
That's how labor automation works!
November 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
The AI Coca-Cola ad seems to have involved as many workers and expenses as their traditional ads. Generative AI won't fully replace jobs and give us a 12 hour workweek. It'll just save time on some tasks while making roles more rote, deskilled, and alienating.
That's how labor automation works!
That's how labor automation works!
Reposted by Adam Quinn
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
Reposted by Adam Quinn
”your struggle is ours, too” is such an amazing moral vision and an actual alternative to those who cant abandon marginalized people fast enough
November 5, 2025 at 4:34 AM
”your struggle is ours, too” is such an amazing moral vision and an actual alternative to those who cant abandon marginalized people fast enough
vibe shift reverse uno card. it's over. we are back.
November 5, 2025 at 4:45 AM
vibe shift reverse uno card. it's over. we are back.
The votes are in four years later: unions and @organizeworkers.bsky.social confirmed cool
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 AM
The votes are in four years later: unions and @organizeworkers.bsky.social confirmed cool
This year's environmental history job market is the wettest we've ever seen, from the standpoint of water studies
November 4, 2025 at 6:20 PM
This year's environmental history job market is the wettest we've ever seen, from the standpoint of water studies
Reposted by Adam Quinn
A federal judge has denied OpenAI's request to dismiss a copyright suit from George R. R. Martin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Grisham and other authors.
The judge says that text generated by ChatGPT may infringe their copyrights.
The judge says that text generated by ChatGPT may infringe their copyrights.
October 29, 2025 at 6:29 PM
A federal judge has denied OpenAI's request to dismiss a copyright suit from George R. R. Martin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, John Grisham and other authors.
The judge says that text generated by ChatGPT may infringe their copyrights.
The judge says that text generated by ChatGPT may infringe their copyrights.
Facial recognition apps like this have been shown to be not only unreliable but racially biased. This is just a high-tech excuse to strip people of their rights.
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
October 29, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Facial recognition apps like this have been shown to be not only unreliable but racially biased. This is just a high-tech excuse to strip people of their rights.
Talk I gave yesterday; the "Wild West" title refers to how two Silicon Valley firefighters I interviewed from separate fire departments both called Silicon Valley the "Wild West" due to the chemical fires, explosions, and toxic leaks in the under-regulated 20th century electronics industry.
October 29, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Talk I gave yesterday; the "Wild West" title refers to how two Silicon Valley firefighters I interviewed from separate fire departments both called Silicon Valley the "Wild West" due to the chemical fires, explosions, and toxic leaks in the under-regulated 20th century electronics industry.
Reposted by Adam Quinn
impossible to overstate the degree to which we are being governed by people whose formative politics is gamergate, but DHS posting Halo memes to recruit for ICE is pretty close.
October 27, 2025 at 5:58 PM
impossible to overstate the degree to which we are being governed by people whose formative politics is gamergate, but DHS posting Halo memes to recruit for ICE is pretty close.