Lori Emerson
@loriemerson.net
media studies professor | Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook (Anthology Editions, May 2025) | dir. @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social | http://loriemerson.net | Boulder, Colorado | 🇨🇦 🇺🇲 🏃♀️🚴♀️ | 📷 Jenna Maurice
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Lori Emerson
@loriemerson.net
· Jul 11
Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook
Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook At long last, Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook is officially available for pre-order. If you live in the U.S., you can order directly …
loriemerson.net
SOME NEWS! the folks at Anthology Editions / Mexican Summer decided to print another 1500 copies of #othernetworks (out in Oct.) because it sold out so quickly! THANK YOU to all of you for ordering a copy & helping to make this reprint possible 😍 1/2 loriemerson.net/books/other-...
I wonder if companies understand that consumers don't owe them any additional favors (in the form of offering reviews) after we have given them money for a good or service. it is a curious situation. the favor was already granted in the form of...money?
February 12, 2026 at 4:32 PM
I wonder if companies understand that consumers don't owe them any additional favors (in the form of offering reviews) after we have given them money for a good or service. it is a curious situation. the favor was already granted in the form of...money?
and finally (maybe), this is why I think the next step of any #othernetworks project, mine or yours, needs to focus on TECHNIQUE, PRODUCTION , and CURRICULUM rather than technology itself: "More radically than any good intention, more lastingly than existential flight from one’s own class, [1/3]
February 8, 2026 at 9:05 PM
and finally (maybe), this is why I think the next step of any #othernetworks project, mine or yours, needs to focus on TECHNIQUE, PRODUCTION , and CURRICULUM rather than technology itself: "More radically than any good intention, more lastingly than existential flight from one’s own class, [1/3]
daaaaamn THIS is what's missing from contemporary discourse around #amateurradio as #othernetworks! Hans Magnus Enzensberger: "Any socialist strategy for the media must...strive to end the isolation of the individual participants from the social learning and production process. [1/3]
February 8, 2026 at 8:50 PM
daaaaamn THIS is what's missing from contemporary discourse around #amateurradio as #othernetworks! Hans Magnus Enzensberger: "Any socialist strategy for the media must...strive to end the isolation of the individual participants from the social learning and production process. [1/3]
I also wish to say that Hans Magnus Enzensburger knew where it was at in 1970, especially when it comes to the untapped potential of radio (not reflected in this particular, excellent quote). "To cast the enemy in the role of the devil is to conceal 1/2
February 8, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I also wish to say that Hans Magnus Enzensburger knew where it was at in 1970, especially when it comes to the untapped potential of radio (not reflected in this particular, excellent quote). "To cast the enemy in the role of the devil is to conceal 1/2
collaboratively writing an essay with @rose-alibi.bsky.social means she includes details about exactly how much I can deadlift to demonstrate how heavy some of our computers are in the @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social and I am cackling at the thought of this stat being in print in perpetuity.
February 7, 2026 at 9:59 PM
collaboratively writing an essay with @rose-alibi.bsky.social means she includes details about exactly how much I can deadlift to demonstrate how heavy some of our computers are in the @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social and I am cackling at the thought of this stat being in print in perpetuity.
bonkers times we're living through. "We are two anonymous AI trainers based in France...we receive real conversations between users and an LLM that happened on social media...We then have to respond to the user’s latest entry as if we were the LLM." data-workers.org/france/
Behind The Face of AI, by Clara and B.
This short comic details the experiences of data workers in France working for Scale AI as human chatbots. They explore what it is to be human and the consequences of acting like a machine.
data-workers.org
February 7, 2026 at 8:05 PM
bonkers times we're living through. "We are two anonymous AI trainers based in France...we receive real conversations between users and an LLM that happened on social media...We then have to respond to the user’s latest entry as if we were the LLM." data-workers.org/france/
Reposted by Lori Emerson
"Independent music cultures require people to be truly active, and make what you want to see in the world... That is also the basic starting point for political action. A better world is possible, and nobody else is going to make it for us, so we might as well get going."
February 7, 2026 at 3:01 AM
"Independent music cultures require people to be truly active, and make what you want to see in the world... That is also the basic starting point for political action. A better world is possible, and nobody else is going to make it for us, so we might as well get going."
Reposted by Lori Emerson
"So much of what we do in indpndt music neatly maps onto organizing work. If you can book a show,... you can organize your community. You know how to set up an event; you know how to get the word out... Even ppl [who'd] tell me that they 'weren’t really political' are starting to show up for real."
Rock Solidarity
a fiery writer-owned cooperative
flaminghydra.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:00 AM
"So much of what we do in indpndt music neatly maps onto organizing work. If you can book a show,... you can organize your community. You know how to set up an event; you know how to get the word out... Even ppl [who'd] tell me that they 'weren’t really political' are starting to show up for real."
Reposted by Lori Emerson
Yay, our glorious @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social and her fearless leader @loriemerson.net appear in @fastcompany.com this week! Come visit us sometime.
www.fastcompany.com/91483774/the...
www.fastcompany.com/91483774/the...
These historic computing labs teach kids what technology was like before phones, social media, and the cloud - Fast Company
The labs help students and researchers understand computing’s history and future—and stoke an interest in cloud-free technology.
www.fastcompany.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Yay, our glorious @mediaarchaeology.bsky.social and her fearless leader @loriemerson.net appear in @fastcompany.com this week! Come visit us sometime.
www.fastcompany.com/91483774/the...
www.fastcompany.com/91483774/the...
still appreciating the insightfulness and relevance of this quote from MLK Jr, 1967: "When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
February 5, 2026 at 4:20 PM
still appreciating the insightfulness and relevance of this quote from MLK Jr, 1967: "When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
who me? hold a grudge? against some older guy who just appeared at the coffee shop & about a decade ago practically got into an argument with me about whether I was a student in his computer science class or not while I repeatedly told him I was a professor and this wasn't possible? nah, not me.
February 4, 2026 at 6:02 PM
who me? hold a grudge? against some older guy who just appeared at the coffee shop & about a decade ago practically got into an argument with me about whether I was a student in his computer science class or not while I repeatedly told him I was a professor and this wasn't possible? nah, not me.
Reposted by Lori Emerson
Dystopian future #39: It's the end of summer break 2029 and a 79 y/o history professor at a small liberal arts college is receiving daily emails about setting up a 3-step verification account for the newly purchased LarvalLearning system if she wants to teach her course on ancient Rome in the fall.
February 3, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Dystopian future #39: It's the end of summer break 2029 and a 79 y/o history professor at a small liberal arts college is receiving daily emails about setting up a 3-step verification account for the newly purchased LarvalLearning system if she wants to teach her course on ancient Rome in the fall.
I also wish to make it known that I mutter some choice curse words under my breath when I see CFPs for conferences on topic x and AI without a single mention of the profoundly dire consequences of data centers driving "AI" amongst all the words describing how AI reshapes, challenges, etc etc.
February 3, 2026 at 5:04 PM
I also wish to make it known that I mutter some choice curse words under my breath when I see CFPs for conferences on topic x and AI without a single mention of the profoundly dire consequences of data centers driving "AI" amongst all the words describing how AI reshapes, challenges, etc etc.
I said some words about labs and the importance of old tech - hopefully the words I spoke align with what I actually think...
MAL founder & director @loriemerson.net talked to Fast Company about the lab - www.fastcompany.com/91483774/the...
These historic computing labs teach kids what technology was like before phones, social media, and the cloud
The labs help students and researchers understand computing’s history and future—and stoke an interest in cloud-free technology.
www.fastcompany.com
February 2, 2026 at 7:56 PM
I said some words about labs and the importance of old tech - hopefully the words I spoke align with what I actually think...
Reposted by Lori Emerson
small update from Boulder, Colorado: among many other smaller ongoing actions, yesterday about a 1000 students were out protesting ICE. Today about another 1000 showed up for an anti-ICE bike ride around town. honks and waves and cheers and bell ringing and whistles - the anger & outrage is growing
January 31, 2026 at 11:54 PM
small update from Boulder, Colorado: among many other smaller ongoing actions, yesterday about a 1000 students were out protesting ICE. Today about another 1000 showed up for an anti-ICE bike ride around town. honks and waves and cheers and bell ringing and whistles - the anger & outrage is growing
so far still only rumors but please let’s be aware—-
Boulder area peoples, rumored presence as of last night. please share.
January 29, 2026 at 9:07 PM
so far still only rumors but please let’s be aware—-
Boulder area peoples, rumored presence as of last night. please share.
January 29, 2026 at 7:45 PM
Boulder area peoples, rumored presence as of last night. please share.
Reposted by Lori Emerson
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but AI slop.
Not with a bang but AI slop.
i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts
Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom
Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.
www.wired.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:56 PM
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but AI slop.
Not with a bang but AI slop.
Reposted by Lori Emerson
I am introducing the Cut It Out And This Time I Really Mean It bill. It provides an additional $57 billion to the murder goons but they will agree to wear business casual Monday through Thursday and if they do any murders they have to put a dollar in this jar.
January 28, 2026 at 11:05 PM
I am introducing the Cut It Out And This Time I Really Mean It bill. It provides an additional $57 billion to the murder goons but they will agree to wear business casual Monday through Thursday and if they do any murders they have to put a dollar in this jar.
just realized I despise emails that open with “Hey there,” because it is so obviously patronizing and inappropriately informal all rolled up into two words (ha but also not ha because I not so secretly really believe I’m right)
January 29, 2026 at 2:27 AM
just realized I despise emails that open with “Hey there,” because it is so obviously patronizing and inappropriately informal all rolled up into two words (ha but also not ha because I not so secretly really believe I’m right)
this is the adorable Stafford Beer I know: his 1981 attempt to imagine TV as a two-way channel between the government and the people. now where is my Algedonic Meter! #otherNetworks #cybernetics
January 28, 2026 at 8:10 PM
this is the adorable Stafford Beer I know: his 1981 attempt to imagine TV as a two-way channel between the government and the people. now where is my Algedonic Meter! #otherNetworks #cybernetics
so. Alex Pretti ends up murdered because two women were blowing whistles.
January 28, 2026 at 7:10 PM
so. Alex Pretti ends up murdered because two women were blowing whistles.
Reposted by Lori Emerson
The full interview with Stella Carlson is worth your time.
In particular, the part around 13:30, about how ordinary people feel abandoned by local and state officials, and are left doing what they can—not much—to show solidarity with their neighbors, knowing local authorities will not protect them.
In particular, the part around 13:30, about how ordinary people feel abandoned by local and state officials, and are left doing what they can—not much—to show solidarity with their neighbors, knowing local authorities will not protect them.
Exclusive: ‘Pink coat lady’ who recorded fatal encounter between federal officers and Alex Pretti speaks to Anderson Cooper | CNN
Anderson speaks with Stella Carlson, the witness who captured crucial video showing exactly what happened when Alex Pretti was shot and killed by DHS officers.
www.cnn.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:52 PM
The full interview with Stella Carlson is worth your time.
In particular, the part around 13:30, about how ordinary people feel abandoned by local and state officials, and are left doing what they can—not much—to show solidarity with their neighbors, knowing local authorities will not protect them.
In particular, the part around 13:30, about how ordinary people feel abandoned by local and state officials, and are left doing what they can—not much—to show solidarity with their neighbors, knowing local authorities will not protect them.