<div dir="ltr">This is on a slightly different topic, but I wonder if anyone looked at the David Graeber video on 'bs jobs' posted on this list. I'd be interested in whether anyone in Washington DC area is interested in a study/discussion group on the economics and politics touched on in that video. <br> <div> I'd also be interested in whether there are any academic programs in DC which deal with these issues. I have pretty much 'struck out' in my semi-random queries to various social scientists at local universities about possibilities for study (american u, george washington u, howard u, george mason u , university of district of columbia etc. ). I'm not really in the demographic they want in a grad program, and also i do not really feel able to deal with issues associated with universities like going into debt , taking tests again, the application process, etc. Also have health problems ('disabled') though many people say these are all in my mind. <br><br>One thing Graeber discusses is in places like universities and health industries the growth or growth rate in the number of adminstrators has gone up like 400% over the last few decades, while the growth in number , or growth rate. in 'practicioners' has remained flat. This is why I have to talk to like 20 administrators before I can talk to an academic about a field of study (in which case I'm always told 'there really is nothing available' or 'get back to me when i finish my book in a few months'.) ' <br><br> (The Graeber video was posted by someone who works/lives in both SF (in a tech company) and NYC (a collective focused on making tech skills available to historically marginalized communities ---poor, people of color, etc. There is a collective in DC which seems similar---female, POC, tekkies, which works with marginalized communities.) <a href="https://colet.space" target="_blank">https://colet.space</a> or colet.space <br><br>I've read a bit of Graeber over the years with mixed feelings--eg his essay 'bs jobs' i view as essentially a rewrite of P Lafargue's 1880's essay 'the right to be lazy' (lafargue married Karl marx's daughter and stated he he was a 'marxist', which led karl Marx to state 'i am not a marxist'). </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 11:03 PM Cowan, Ruth S <<a href="mailto:rcowan@sas.upenn.edu" target="_blank">rcowan@sas.upenn.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Take a look at this old-fashioned print article on the subject; seems to me to be better celebration of maintenance and maintainers: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/30/lessons-yk-years-later/" title="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/30/lessons-yk-years-later/" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/30/lessons-yk-years-later/</a><span style="font-size:11pt"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">Ruth Schwartz Cowan. Ph.D.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">Janice and Julian Bers Professor, Emerita<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">------------------------------------<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">Author (with Matthew H. Hersch) of
<u>A Social History of American Technology</u>, 2<sup>nd</sup> edition (Oxford University Press, 2017)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/search?q=a+social+history+of+american+technology&cc=&lang=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9pt;font-family:"Lucida Calligraphy"">https://global.oup.com/ushe/search?q=a+social+history+of+american+technology&cc=&lang=en</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> <a href="mailto:themaintainers-bounces@lists.stevens.edu" target="_blank">themaintainers-bounces@lists.stevens.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:themaintainers-bounces@lists.stevens.edu" target="_blank">themaintainers-bounces@lists.stevens.edu</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>mace ojala<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, December 30, 2019 7:52 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Maintainers <<a href="mailto:themaintainers@lists.stevens.edu" target="_blank">themaintainers@lists.stevens.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Themaintainers] Happy not-Y2K bug </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:"Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif">🐛</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> 20 years anniversary to all maintainer people<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dear all<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">As the year 2019 comes to a closing, it also marks the 20 year anniversary of the Y2K event... or rather mostly
<i>non-event</i>, thanks to all the software maintenance labour back then. A fine occasion to celebrate and study and learn from it!<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">This is being discussed on Twitter under #y2k and Computerphile made an episode about it too
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGrKKrsIpQw" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGrKKrsIpQw</a>. Send your favourite academic references :)<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">*Happy new year everyone*<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Mace Ojala<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Research Assistant or something, I've lost track<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">IT University of Copenhagen<u></u><u></u></p>
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