As per the uje, I've arrived upon a Saturday with a backlog of links that I have not managed to squeeze into the week's newsletters/blogs, so it's time for another linkdump, 22nd in an erratic series. Here's the previous 21:
https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/
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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/2024/08/03/smorgasbord/#creepy-cute
1/
Let's start with some seasonal material, and by "seasonal," I of course mean *Hallowe'en.* Yes, August is the official start of Spooky Season, and yes, I am a monster for insisting on this, but being a monster is the *point* of Spooky Season (which is what differentiates Spooky Season pushers like me from the creeps who insist that you need to start prepping for Xmas in late September - they're monsters, too, but Yule Monsters are *bad*) (with the exception of Krampus).
2/
I mind the year my supermarket decided Xmas season start in LATE AUGUST. Yes, BEFORE freakin' Labor Day??
I was sufficiently irritated that I actually filled out a complaint.
The decorations & merch came down a week later. Apparently I wasn't the only one annoyed by this.
Blessedly, their Xmas decor has since been confined to the info desk during the two weeks before Christmas. (I'm guessing somebody in mgmt acquired some trauma on that one....)
Cory Doctorow
Cavyherd
blausand 🐟