Petit Fours

[Petit Fours #434] On reenactments, trust issues, and human-centered cybersecurity

June 2, 2025

Hi, all! We are halfway into the focus period and, later, I will have (happy) things to say about all that it has entailed. For now, I just want to remind...

[Petit Fours #433] On emotional encounters, women's health research, and interdisciplinary artwork

May 26, 2025

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you as we launch into this final week of May: #1 In just over a week, on June 4, our focus period is hosting a FemTech +...

[Petit Fours #432] On care work, secondary users of intimate technologies, and meditations for mortals

May 19, 2025

Good morning from the first morning of the second week of our focus period! Here’s what I’ve got for you: #1 The pre-print of our DIS pictorial on Designing...

[Petit Fours #431] On datafication, feminist technology, and being free

May 12, 2025

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Today, it begins: our FemTech and Feminist Tech focus period, a five-week series of events. Part of the...

[Petit Fours #430] On selfie studies, electric bikes, and the Spring issue of PACM HCI

May 6, 2025

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you, upon return from travels: #1 The Spring issue of Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction is now out. Lots...

[Petit Fours #429] On impact, zines, and activity theory

April 14, 2025

Hi, everyone! Here comes one more set of Petit Fours recommendations, before I check out for some much-needed holiday until early May: #1 Here’s a great...

[Petit Fours #428] On health queries, power imbalances, and the microbiome

April 7, 2025

Hi, everyone, Without further ado, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 We’re hosting a workshop on Data/Work in Crisis at the Aarhus Decennial conference...

[Petit Fours #427] On co-use, crystals, and everyday algorithms

March 31, 2025

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today, as the first quarter of this year comes to a close: #1 Metaphors matter. In working on a different one for...

[Petit Fours #426] On personal data flows, memory disorders, and trusting AI

March 24, 2025

Hi, everyone! In celebration of friends, colleagues, and family, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 I was delighted to hear Heather Ford’s voice after...

[Petit Fours #425] On transmissions, ownership, and public domain images

March 17, 2025

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you, en route to Norrköping for two days of workshopping on autonomy, control, and methodological experimentation: #1...

[Petit Fours #424] On public space, sauna, and rumors

March 10, 2025

Hi, all! Another Monday, another Petit Fours. Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 For everyone thinking about public space – and the role robots might...

[Petit Fours #423] On friction, glitches, and shape-changing technology

March 3, 2025

Hi, everyone! This week, I’m glad to share two fresh articles, amidst other recommendations: #1 The pre-prints for our CHI 2025 papers are up! Here’s the...

[Petit Fours #422] On debates, applications, and waiting

February 24, 2025

Hi, all! The big thing happening this week is Riyaj’ Shaikh’s thesis defence on Friday. In anticipation and celebration, this week’s Petit Fours highlights...

[Petit Fours #421] On meaningful inefficiences, queering AI, and creating and curating diversity

February 17, 2025

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Amidst all the peer-review work that needs to get done, I’m struggling to find time for reading academic...

[Petit Fours #420] On algorithmic workflows, global governance, and members' perspectives

February 10, 2025

Hi, everyone! Everything feels like a lot right now, but, focusing on the good, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Riyaj Shaikh’s dissertation The Work...

[Petit Fours #419] On responsibility, illegitimate practice, and retiring

February 3, 2025

Hi, everyone! With an inkling of winter weather in the air, it’s time to get another week started. Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Alex Taylor will...

[Petit Fours #418] On economics, social media, and returned purchases

January 27, 2025

Hi, all! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 The Microsoft Research Ideas podcast has some really interesting episodes, such as this...

[Petit Fours #417] On algorithmic workflows, public autonomous systems, and Nokia Design Archive

January 20, 2025

Hi, all! Here’s what I want to share with you today: #1 In #ProudAdvisor news, Riyaj Shaikh will defend his dissertation The Work Practice of Platform-...

[Petit Fours #416] On human–robot interaction, stepping stones, and impossible creatures

January 13, 2025

Hi, all! Without further ado, from the midst of CSCW reviewing, DIS writing, and other back-to-work operations that have left me little time for academic...

[Petit Fours #415] On control, WhatsApp, and research as a leisure activity

January 6, 2025

Happy new year! With backpacks unpacked after a refreshingly social holiday, here’s what I’ve got for you: #1 Control theory is not my domain at all but I...

[Petit Fours #414] On intimate technology, Question Zero, and things that go

December 16, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here comes the final Petit Fours of 2024: #1 Ending the year on a high note, I’m very happy to share a pre-print of our forthcoming paper...

[Petit Fours #413] On intimate surveillance, academic citizenship, and language

December 9, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here are this week’s recommendations: #1 Whether you have an interest in surveillance technology or not, How to Watch a Baby, a comic by...

[Petit Fours #412] On sleep, social media, and living in the broken world

December 2, 2024

Hi, all! We’ve made it to December – just a few weeks now until the holidays. Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 My longing for community is...

[Petit Fours #411] On orders from an algorithm, AI therapists, and Reproduction

November 25, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you this week: #1 Today, I’m in Aarhus, Denmark, on the final work trip of the year. I’m here to serve on the...

[Petit Fours #410] On license to critique, safeguards, and visible mending

November 18, 2024

Hi, all! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Last week at CSCW, I got to present right after David Widder (whose work our paper draws...

[Petit Fours #409] On CSCW 2024, ethical challenges, and the vandola

November 11, 2024

Greetings from Costa Rica! After our workshop on the Work of AI and some local adventures, today it’s time to switch into full conference mode: #1 Check out...

[Petit Fours #408] On care, relational labor, and Nordic perspectives

November 4, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you this week, as I’m preparing for travel to CSCW 2024: #1 We have a small Exhibit X piece out in the Interactions...

[Petit Fours #407] On outside options, synthetic users, and images of AI

October 28, 2024

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 In exciting news, the first, Master’s level pilot course in our CIVIS microprogramme Equitable and Just...

[Petit Fours #406] On classroom rules, AI Cleanup, and the dark side of social media

October 21, 2024

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you today, as I launch into a somewhat overly full week of teaching and reviewing: #1 Generative AI is causing a big mess...

[Petit Fours #405] On urban interaction, luck, and publication venues

October 14, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today, from amidst amazing autumn colors and shortening days: #1 At the end of this month, Wendy Ju will be giving...

[Petit Fours #404] On care robots, platforms, and a ghost in the throat

October 7, 2024

Hi, all! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 In exciting news, CSCW 2025 is now confirmed to take place in Bergen, Norway. This is the first time ever the...

[Petit Fours #403] On AI in the street, design ethics at work, and permission to play

September 30, 2024

Hi, everyone! Launching into a week of fully autumnal weather and a flurry of todos, here’s what I’ve got for you: #1 Sharon Lindberg will be defending her...

[Petit Fours #402] On art, automation, and the adoption of generative AI

September 23, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you this week: #1 New Media and Society recently published a special issue on Automating Communication in the Digital...

[Petit Fours #401] On pleasing the algorithm, collaborating with bots, and a final CSCW workshop call

September 16, 2024

Hi, everyone! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve on my mind this week: #1 The final deadline for expressions of interest to our CSCW workshop The Work of...

[Petit Fours #400] On analog privilege, data work, and Pippi Longstocking

September 9, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’d like to share with you in this 400th(!!) edition of Petit Fours: #1 Maroussia Lévesque’s piece The Future is Analog (If You Can...

[Petit Fours #399] On algorithmic management in minor key, job automation, and the Nordic Gender Fund

September 2, 2024

Hi, folks! As the season is changing and the semester is starting, here’s what I’ve got for you: #1 In reading about algorithmic management, I’m always on...

[Petit Fours #398] On synthetic data, food delivery, and worker data collectives

August 26, 2024

Hi, everyone! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve got for you this week: #1 Synthetic data is mind-boggling stuff: ‘Intersectional hallucinations’: why AI...

[Petit Fours #397] On labor-intensive workplaces, sustainability, and museums

August 19, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 Folks interested in worker-centered research and design, check out Amazon Z to A: Speculative Design to...

[Petit Fours #396] On the work of AI, time banking, and the forgotten protocol

August 12, 2024

Hi, all! Here’s what I’d like to share with you today, as I begin my return to work after the summer break: #1 We are organising a one-day workshop at CSCW...

[Petit Fours #395] On fleeting alliances, mechanical sympathy, and feminist tech

June 24, 2024

Hi, everyone! Before this newsletter goes on summer break until mid-August, there are a few more things I want to share: #1 Our new journal article Fleeting...

[Petit Fours #394] On slop, care platforms, and designing movement

June 17, 2024

Hi, everyone, and happy midsummer week! Here’s what I’d like to share with you: #1 Likely a little late to the game, I’ve learned a new word – slop – that I...

[Petit Fours #393] On rethinking psychology, data visualization, and human–robot interaction

June 10, 2024

Hi, all! Without further ado, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 For those of you social psychologically inclined, this free webinar on June 18 should be...

[Petit Fours #392] On parenthood, disability, and sustainable travel stories

June 3, 2024

Hi, everyone! Over the past week, most of my reading has been in the from of reviewing NordiCHI manuscripts. While I am not allowed to say anything about...

[Petit Fours #391] On AI, qualitative research, and public trust

May 27, 2024

Hi, all! Inspired by last week’s discussions with Mary L. Gray, Alex Taylor, and my local colleagues, here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 The Intersection...

[Petit Fours #390] On technology-mediated marketplaces, algorithmic management of work and health, and participation

May 20, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 There are lots of papers worth reading in the CHI Proceedings, but one I particularly want to highlight...

[Petit Fours #389] On CHI 2024 proceedings, the monstrous costs of AI, and Exit to Community Stories

May 13, 2024

Hi, all! This week, there’s no lack of fresh-off-the-press things to read: #1 CHI '24: Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing...

[Petit Fours #388] On frugal collaboration, models on top of models, and failed platform co-ops

May 6, 2024

Hi, everyone! Here’s what I’ve got for you today: #1 I’m happy and proud to share that Fleeting Alliances and Frugal Collaboration in Piecework: A Video-...

[Petit Fours #387] On ethical responsibility, curiosity, and surviving the AI summer

April 29, 2024

Hi, all! As the cherry tree outside our window is about to bloom, here’s what I’ve got for you: #1 Now on my ‘want-to-read’ list: Keywords of the Datafied...

[Petit Fours #386] On problematisation, planned obsolescence, and nyttosvenska

April 22, 2024

Hi, everyone! As I’m digesting last week’s avalanche of paper reviews from DIS and CSCW (the good, the bad, and the ugly…), here’s what I’ve got for you: #1...

[Petit Fours #385] On Halfway to the Future, BusinessTown, and Talking about Machines

April 15, 2024

Hi, all! While the weather calls for a hot cup of chai, here's what I'd like to share with you: #1 Recently, I've been reading Julian E. Orr's book Talking...