Miriam Posner
@miriamposner.com
Tired person, fighter. Labor, data, DH, obsolete software, database history, etc. Seeing Like a Supply Chain out from Yale UP in fall 2026. Speaking for myself, not my employer.
Reposted by Miriam Posner
I would read a self-reflective essay from any Harper's Letter signatory. Why did you sign the letter? What have you thought since then? What have you reconsidered? Where were you wrong?
January 18, 2026 at 5:42 PM
I would read a self-reflective essay from any Harper's Letter signatory. Why did you sign the letter? What have you thought since then? What have you reconsidered? Where were you wrong?
When I asked my students (1st-years, a range of majors) to draw ChatGPT, there were some amazingly detailed renderings (vector embeddings!) & some hilarious ones, but I noticed 2 popular misconceptions: 1) that ChatGPT searches the internet to find a response; and 2) that it references a database.
January 18, 2026 at 4:22 PM
When I asked my students (1st-years, a range of majors) to draw ChatGPT, there were some amazingly detailed renderings (vector embeddings!) & some hilarious ones, but I noticed 2 popular misconceptions: 1) that ChatGPT searches the internet to find a response; and 2) that it references a database.
January 18, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Reposted by Miriam Posner
he threw his own press office under the bus. the press office that is the one reason lots of Dems think he is the fighter they need in 2028.
Gavin Newsom has demonstrated that he will throw members of the liberal coalition under the bus at a drop of the hat.
January 18, 2026 at 12:01 AM
he threw his own press office under the bus. the press office that is the one reason lots of Dems think he is the fighter they need in 2028.
Reposted by Miriam Posner
No surprise to librarians, but perhaps surprising to users, demands/prices for ebooks /audiobooks are killing public library budgets. David Szalay's book, Flesh,” costs DCPL:
$28.99 hardcopy
$59.99 ebook
$69.99 audiobook
DCPL owns hardcopy; rents & must repurchase ebook & audio book every 2 yrs.
$28.99 hardcopy
$59.99 ebook
$69.99 audiobook
DCPL owns hardcopy; rents & must repurchase ebook & audio book every 2 yrs.
Libraries can't afford e-books. D.C. lawmakers have a plan.
The demand and price for e-books is up — and it’s busting the D.C. Public Library budget.
51st.news
January 17, 2026 at 4:44 AM
No surprise to librarians, but perhaps surprising to users, demands/prices for ebooks /audiobooks are killing public library budgets. David Szalay's book, Flesh,” costs DCPL:
$28.99 hardcopy
$59.99 ebook
$69.99 audiobook
DCPL owns hardcopy; rents & must repurchase ebook & audio book every 2 yrs.
$28.99 hardcopy
$59.99 ebook
$69.99 audiobook
DCPL owns hardcopy; rents & must repurchase ebook & audio book every 2 yrs.
Reposted by Miriam Posner
Hey Bsky, can we please not treat a vague and unsourced Substack by some random influencer as though it were a reliable news source
January 17, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Hey Bsky, can we please not treat a vague and unsourced Substack by some random influencer as though it were a reliable news source
Let’s hear them out.
More than 200,000 Danish citizens have signed a petition to buy California as a response to Trump’s attempt to take Greenland.
They say they will provide Californians with “rule of law, universal health care, fact-based politics, and a lifetime supply of Danish pastries.”
They say they will provide Californians with “rule of law, universal health care, fact-based politics, and a lifetime supply of Danish pastries.”
January 17, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Let’s hear them out.
Some days I really wish I could just suppress my scruples and be one of those, “AI is tremendously exciting for learning! We just have to show students how to use it PROPERLY!” people because then I would be every vice chancellor’s pet professor and I could apply for so many grants
January 17, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Some days I really wish I could just suppress my scruples and be one of those, “AI is tremendously exciting for learning! We just have to show students how to use it PROPERLY!” people because then I would be every vice chancellor’s pet professor and I could apply for so many grants
Massively shameful www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/event...
The 2025-26 Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture
Bari Weiss, founder and editor of The Free Press and editor-in-chief of CBS News
www.international.ucla.edu
January 17, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Massively shameful www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/event...
Reposted by Miriam Posner
as a lifelong Californian we are fucking screaming, crying, begging, throwing up, if you allow Gavin Newsom to be the democratic candidate please understand that he is literally Ronald Reagan 2.0
big strong savvy gavin newsom apparently doesn’t even have the wherewithal to stand up to ben “i have never satisfied a woman in my life” shapiro
Only 15 days in and we have a strong contender for most embarrassing headline of the year.
Ben. Shapiro. The guy who can't get his wife wet. The guy who needs an old person to open the pickle jar for him.
Ben. Shapiro. The guy who can't get his wife wet. The guy who needs an old person to open the pickle jar for him.
January 17, 2026 at 5:57 AM
as a lifelong Californian we are fucking screaming, crying, begging, throwing up, if you allow Gavin Newsom to be the democratic candidate please understand that he is literally Ronald Reagan 2.0
The staff, faculty, and students of UATX have to be some of the most credulous people in the world. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
January 17, 2026 at 7:24 AM
The staff, faculty, and students of UATX have to be some of the most credulous people in the world. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Reposted by Miriam Posner
This applies to LA electeds, especially City wide (Mayor, Controller, City Attorney) and legislative leaders (City Council President).
The immigration courts + ICE jail in downtown LA are across the street from LA City Hall. Apart from photo-op rallies, there hasn't been a lot of showing up.
The immigration courts + ICE jail in downtown LA are across the street from LA City Hall. Apart from photo-op rallies, there hasn't been a lot of showing up.
Democrat leaders looking for "creative ideas" to fight ICE, I've got a crazy one called "go outside to where the shit is actually happening."
January 16, 2026 at 10:09 PM
This applies to LA electeds, especially City wide (Mayor, Controller, City Attorney) and legislative leaders (City Council President).
The immigration courts + ICE jail in downtown LA are across the street from LA City Hall. Apart from photo-op rallies, there hasn't been a lot of showing up.
The immigration courts + ICE jail in downtown LA are across the street from LA City Hall. Apart from photo-op rallies, there hasn't been a lot of showing up.
Reposted by Miriam Posner
Reposted by Miriam Posner
I love when you tell people how terrible Newsom is, they're always like, "Well, it's nice to have ideals, but if it comes down to him or the Nazi in the general, *I* am going to vote for him"
WE'RE TELLING YOU HOW TERRIBLE HE IS NOW SO IT'S *NOT* A CHOICE BTW HIM & A NAZI, CARL. THAT'S THE POINT.
WE'RE TELLING YOU HOW TERRIBLE HE IS NOW SO IT'S *NOT* A CHOICE BTW HIM & A NAZI, CARL. THAT'S THE POINT.
January 16, 2026 at 5:06 AM
I love when you tell people how terrible Newsom is, they're always like, "Well, it's nice to have ideals, but if it comes down to him or the Nazi in the general, *I* am going to vote for him"
WE'RE TELLING YOU HOW TERRIBLE HE IS NOW SO IT'S *NOT* A CHOICE BTW HIM & A NAZI, CARL. THAT'S THE POINT.
WE'RE TELLING YOU HOW TERRIBLE HE IS NOW SO IT'S *NOT* A CHOICE BTW HIM & A NAZI, CARL. THAT'S THE POINT.
I was too young to really be involved, but I did temp a lot in the Bay Area and remember serving as a receptionist for empty offices with acres of unoccupied desks.
With that in mind: if you were working in the tech industry during the dot com bubble bursting, how…was it? How bad?
Yeah, I was right in the middle of it. And yeah, the whole “dark fiber” thing was a wonder to behold. Now we have “dark GPUs” that will be obsolete by the time the data centers are built, which are waiting for the power and water infra. Yeah lots of companies are going to die.
January 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM
I was too young to really be involved, but I did temp a lot in the Bay Area and remember serving as a receptionist for empty offices with acres of unoccupied desks.
Reposted by Miriam Posner
By now, asteroid 2026 Dreadstone has impacted the Indian Ocean, sparking a firestorm not seen on this planet since the K–Pg Extinction Event. Most people just want to be with their families. Here are three ways effective business leaders can leverage targeted KPIs to turn tragedy 😔 into triumph 💪
January 11, 2026 at 5:47 AM
By now, asteroid 2026 Dreadstone has impacted the Indian Ocean, sparking a firestorm not seen on this planet since the K–Pg Extinction Event. Most people just want to be with their families. Here are three ways effective business leaders can leverage targeted KPIs to turn tragedy 😔 into triumph 💪
Reposted by Miriam Posner
This is an excellent piece on the purge of public servants from the federal government.
So many dedicated and talented people pushed out. We are worse off without their skills.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
So many dedicated and talented people pushed out. We are worse off without their skills.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The Purged
Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.
www.theatlantic.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:41 AM
This is an excellent piece on the purge of public servants from the federal government.
So many dedicated and talented people pushed out. We are worse off without their skills.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
So many dedicated and talented people pushed out. We are worse off without their skills.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Info studies people, would you say that authors in IS use “materialist” to mean something slightly different from what, e.g., historians mean by the term?
January 15, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Info studies people, would you say that authors in IS use “materialist” to mean something slightly different from what, e.g., historians mean by the term?
Reposted by Miriam Posner
New: meet ELITE, the Palantir app ICE is using to find neighborhoods to raid. Map interface; officers search for immigrants; click person to bring up individual dossier. This is clearest link between what Palantir is building and ICE's activities on the ground yet www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid
Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activit...
www.404media.co
January 15, 2026 at 2:06 PM
New: meet ELITE, the Palantir app ICE is using to find neighborhoods to raid. Map interface; officers search for immigrants; click person to bring up individual dossier. This is clearest link between what Palantir is building and ICE's activities on the ground yet www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
A few years ago we were at Family Camp in the Bay Area and some dad was wearing his Palantir employee hoodie. The rest of my family had to hold me back from creating some kind of Incident. www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
January 15, 2026 at 2:45 PM
A few years ago we were at Family Camp in the Bay Area and some dad was wearing his Palantir employee hoodie. The rest of my family had to hold me back from creating some kind of Incident. www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
Reposted by Miriam Posner
“It’s basically a map of the United States. It’s kind of like Google Maps.” This is how an ICE agent described the app Palantir worked on for finding neighborhoods to raid.
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
January 15, 2026 at 2:16 PM
“It’s basically a map of the United States. It’s kind of like Google Maps.” This is how an ICE agent described the app Palantir worked on for finding neighborhoods to raid.
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
UNC secretly recorded a professor because of “concerns over class content” and then fired him www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
UNC dismisses professor after secretly recording his classes
The university recorded Larry Chavis’s class without his consent for a professional review. Last week he was told his contract would not be renewed.
www.insidehighered.com
January 15, 2026 at 6:01 AM
UNC secretly recorded a professor because of “concerns over class content” and then fired him www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Uh yes I will attend a Whale Fiesta
January 15, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Uh yes I will attend a Whale Fiesta
Talking about Craig Robertson’s The Filing Cabinet this week so I cut up the syllabus so we can file the readings.
January 14, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Talking about Craig Robertson’s The Filing Cabinet this week so I cut up the syllabus so we can file the readings.