Sara M. Grimes, PhD

Hackers Expose The Massive Surveillance Stack Hiding Inside Your “Age Verification” Check We’ve been saying this for years now, and we’re going to keep saying it until the message finally sinks in: mandatory age verification creates massive, centralized honeypots of sensitiv…

Hackers Expose The Massive Surveillance Stack Hiding Inside Your “Age Verification” Check - www.techdirt.com/2026/02/25/h...

🔥🔥🔥

Since the government is about to introduce a social media ban for under-16s based largely on vibes – and Jonathan Haidt's shitty book – in the hopes it boosts its popularity (it won't), I'll re-up this.

If we're banning under-16s, why not over-60s?

Oh no! That’s terrible news. What a loss.

I'm co-chairing the Society for Social Studies of Science @4sweb.bsky.social Conference in Toronto, Oct 2026. #STS #scipol #innovation

Theme: "TechnoPower • Technoscientific Futures".

Open panel submissions portal is open! ls!

Deadline: 2nd February 2026

www.4sonline.org/about_the_co...

Is it safe to go outside? Including disability voices in tests of wildfire smoke forecasts What counts as a useful pollution forecast when you’re trying to manage your physical health?

This August as I sheltered indoors from wildfire smoke, I got a moving note from MIT statisticians - my disability story had informed a fundamental insight about wildfire smoke forecasting that could someday help AI systems protect public health.

Here's the story:

natematias.com/portfolio/20...

A movie you’ve seen more than 7 times with a gif

I'm receiving QUITE a few emails from ChatGPT expressing interest in coming to my university to do a PhD under my supervision. While flattering, I just don't have the bandwidth to supervise a GenAI tool in this capacity atm. But I wish them all the best in their hunt for a suitable grad program.

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity by Marshall Berman

Most of my top recommendations have already been made by others - Black Tapes is my #1. Also Borassca, the Left Right Game, Parkdale Haunt and Lore.

CfP: Nostalgia for the Future Book Nostalgia for the Future? Any books on this? No? Let's write one, together.

Sending this #CfP out into the ether again #othernetworks

Looking for #videogames #gamestudies #retrogames #artists #gamedev folks who would like to contribute a chapter for a book on "Games and Nostalgia for the Future"

📍 750 words abstract by Nov 3
Find the call and form here: shorturl.at/ValXq

The LA Public Library research librarian explaining what is going on with Charli and Taylor is outstanding work

www.instagram.com/reel/DPXZIUa...

spongebob and patrick from spongebob squarepants are standing next to each other . ALT: spongebob and patrick from spongebob squarepants are standing next to each other .

My writing career summed up in one image:

Next stop Montreal! So excited to go to @qgcon.bsky.social the Queerness and Games Conference

This is an event I've wanted to go to for years, so to go there *and perform* there is a dream come true 😀

Look who's on-stage 3pm Sunday!! ✨😁✨

Herdling is OUT NOW! We’re stoked to finally invite you on this journey 🐐🦬🐏⛰️
Get the game now on Steam, Epic Game Store, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S or Game Pass, links below!

We’ll give away 5 Steam keys among everyone who reposts this 🎉🎉🎉

Is the discursive move from "assistants" to "agents" just a way to deflect from the lack of predictability, how poorly instructions are followed, ongoing lack of truly helpful applications? And is it agent like "free agent" or middleman who represents talent for a commission/fee? Either I guess.

The history of Canada in Heritage Minutes - YouTube Heritage Minutes in chronological order by event

I put all the Heritage Minutes in chronological order by event so you don't have to. 🇨🇦

(I was looking for this and couldn't find it, so it became a weird hobby. It genuinely may be of interest only to me.)

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Call for Papers - The Politics of AI: Governance, Resistance, Alternatives www.criticalinfralab.net/preview/?id=...
We invite proposals for our symposium that offer critical perspectives on AI & environment, AI & society, and the political economy of AI. Please share widely!

Early heads up!

I'm organizing a queer SFF reading/party on Thurs August 14 at 7 PM in collaboration with @townhallseattle.bsky.social and @charliesqueerbooks.bsky.social.

Featuring @annaleen.bsky.social, @andreahairston.bsky.social, Becky Chambers, @ceciliatan.com, me, and one more person TBA.

Me with all the Biden unfitness coverage right now = #tldr = “Too late! Don’t read!”

Happening #LIVE: Panelist Sara Grimes @smgrimes.bsky.social, PhD, describes different types of parasocial play that children experience during online games — and how that gameplay is brought into other areas of their lives. #VideoGames 🎮

Really looking forward to this talk next week!

Ava DuVernay poses on a blue floral carpet at a formal event, wearing a dramatic black-and-white gown with a full skirt and horizontal silver stripes, a white blouse-style bodice with puffed sleeves, a black wide-brimmed hat, and a netted veil. Her hands are on her hips as she stands confidently in front of a floral backdrop and photographers. Overlaid on the image is the book cover for Work! A Queer History of Modeling by Elspeth H. Brown, featuring a black-and-white photo of a poised Black model in a sheer, striped gown with outstretched arms.

Ayo Edebiri stands smiling on a floral blue carpet at a formal event, wearing a striking black-and-white gown with a dramatic deep V neckline and an eye-catching red beaded design that loops around her neck and drapes down the front in a large U-shape. She pairs the look with a black floor-length coat with wide lapels and extended train-like sleeves. Behind her, photographers and onlookers are gathered near a wall of white flowers. Overlaid on the image is the book cover for Good Night the Pleasure Was Ours by David Grubbs, featuring a bold, abstract image of concentric black and red arcs on a white background above a stylized cityscape with train cars.

Cardi B poses on a floral blue carpet at a high-profile event, wearing an opulent green velvet coat dress with intricate textures, beaded details, and ruffled trim in a slightly lighter green. The coat is open at the front to reveal black trousers or a skirt underneath, and she accessorizes with a dramatic afro hairstyle and a white flower brooch. She stands confidently against a backdrop of cameras and floral arrangements. Overlaid on the image is the book cover for Black Gathering: Art, Ecology, Ungiven Life by Sarah Jane Cervenak, featuring a ser ene photo of a Black woman standing in a shallow stream surrounded by lush greenery, wearing a green-and-white patterned dress and casting a fishing line, with forested hills rising in the background.

Chappell Roan poses on a floral-patterned blue carpet at a formal event, wearing a vibrant, hot pink sequined pantsuit with a bold zigzag pattern. The flared pants have dramatic slits at the bottom, and the fitted jacket features a plunging neckline. Her voluminous red hair and theatrical eye makeup complete the striking look. Behind her, other attendees and photographers can be seen. Overlaid on the image is the book cover for The Queer Games Avant-Garde: How LGBTQ Game Makers Are Reimagining the Medium of Video Games by Bonnie Ruberg, featuring bold yellow and pink typography and an illustrated anthropomorphic figure in a dress with a snarling wolf head held aloft, dripping blood, in a surreal, graphic art style.

Who Wore It Better, Met Gala 2025 celebrities or Duke University Press book covers?
Ava DuVernay or Work! by Elspeth H. Brown? #MetGala

Movie you’ve seen more than six times, no Star Wars or Trek or LOTR

Machine's Eye View: Postmodern Data Science and the Politics of Ground Truth - Jathan Sadowski, 2025 This paper advances the critical analysis of machine learning by placing it in direct relation with actuarial science as a way to further draw out their shared ...

I'm thrilled that this huge paper is now out — Machine's Eye View: Postmodern Data Science and the Politics of Ground Truth

I advance a critical theory of the epistemic politics of machine learning by tying it postmodernism and actuarial data science journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

A film that takes place where you’re from

Abstract for a paper entitled "Transfeminist AI Governance". The abstract reads: "This paper re-imagines the governance of artificial intelligence (AI) through a transfeminist lens, focusing on challenges of power, participation, and injustice, and on opportunities for advancing equity, community-based resistance, and transformative change. AI governance is a field of research and practice seeking to maximize benefits and minimize harms caused by AI systems. Unfortunately, AI governance practices are frequently ineffective at preventing AI systems from harming people and the environment, with historically marginalized groups such as trans people being particularly vulnerable to harm. Building upon trans and feminist theories of ethics, I introduce an approach to transfeminist AI governance. Applying a transfeminist lens in combination with a critical self-reflexivity methodology, I retroactively reinterpret findings from three empirical studies of AI governance practices in Canada and globally. In three reflections on my findings, I show that large-scale AI governance systems structurally prioritize the needs of industry over marginalized communities. As a result, AI governance is limited by power imbalances and exclusionary norms. My reflections reveal that re-grounding AI governance in transfeminist ethical principles can support AI governance researchers, practitioners, and organizers in addressing those limitations."

Why is AI governance so often ineffective at preventing AI from harming people and the planet? My new paper Transfeminist AI Governance addresses this question, now out in this month's issue of First Monday: firstmonday.org/ojs/index.ph...

Inspired by @mark-carney.bsky.social and Canadians everywhere. We’re all fighting back on our home ice!

Yet another shell game of fictitious capital and speculative valuation by one of the biggest con men out there. The chapter of my new book on Innovation is all about how financial engineering is the real core competency of Silicon Valley.