Cory DoctorowMar 15, 2023

My weird hobby is taking pictures of #signs, especially "vernacular" signs, handwritten and odd. The best kinds of signs tell you what *other* people think *you* are thinking, or what you don't understand. I've nabbed over 4,600 of 'em:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=37996580417%40N01&sort=date-taken-desc&text=sign&view_all=1

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/15/mon-dieu-une-guillotine/#ceci-nes-pas-une-bailout

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Flickr Search — “sign”

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Show threadDan AnconaMar 15, 2023
@pluralistic I mentioned this one to my family the other day and got some lols. They'd never heard of it, but I think there was an actual one hanging in one of my EE labs. (many, many moons ago)
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Mar 15, 2023
@danancona @pluralistic Somewhere in a box, I have a sign I acquired from a McGill University lab that says “warning lasers in use” then in a huge font below “NO STUDENTS”. I just love the attitude of that “I know this a university, but seriously you’re all animals, so go away” tone.
Show threadKevin ArchieMar 15, 2023
@cautionwip @danancona @pluralistic on the other end of the scale, my alma mater had a huge tank of LN2 behind a gate that everyone had the key for, with a clipboard where you would write your student account number to be charged. It’s a wonder any of us survived
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= Mar 15, 2023
@karchie @danancona @pluralistic Yah, but you had the crunchiest food possible, and if y’all didn’t clobber together high-speed beer chillers, what the hell were you thinking even?
Show threadKevin ArchieMar 15, 2023
@cautionwip @danancona @pluralistic there was a burger place one town over with an A-Frame roof and a tradition where you’d remove the pickles and flip them back over your shoulder to stick to the roof. But if you dip them in LN2 first, the pickles shatter on impact. Science!
Show threadCautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈= 
@karchie @danancona @pluralistic I object to this disrespect and wasteful treatment of the noble pickle. I mean, sure, cool and all, but those are pickles…PICKLES! Couldn’t you have just frozen the tomato slice?
Mar 15, 2023 at 10:17pmWeb