Flock Sock | The boiling people alive factory | Communi-grator | Winnebago Man | Slop dropper | Nut cuttin’ time down on the ranch | Beaver conflict resolution technician
This week in phraseology
This week we have 3D printers joining the resistance, corporate slop shaming, a word policing fail, the return of a beloved recurring feature, and more.
Let’s get to it!
1. Flock Sock
In response to the dystopian proliferation of Flock cameras in cities across the U.S., a 3D printing enthusiast called SquidInk created the Flock Sock:
The Flock Sock is a slip on cover designed to help protect a Flock camera from the harmful radiation of the sun. Your city spent their very own hard earned tax dollars scattering these cameras everywhere to keep you safe, all it cost you was a little privacy. The very least you can do is help protect these valuable civil servants from getting a bad sunburn.
According to the instructions, you can use a 1” broom handle to place a Flock Sock over your neighborhood Flock cameras. To keep them safe from sunburn. Theoretically.
2. The boiling people alive factory
Speaking of dystopian proliferation, “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me” writer and comedian Vinny Thomas posted a video about quitting the “boiling people alive” factory as a play on a disturbing thread posted on X by 27-year-old Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon after quitting his job with the AI firm.
My rec is to scan this excerpt from the thread (which I suspect is really a cynical attempt to juice Anthropic’s IPO) and then watch Thomas’ video.
Here are a couple of takes on whether AI will “kill us all” from Matt Stoller and Cory Doctorow that I found useful. I think these unregulated technologies are advancing faster than the average person can understand and if we had a functioning government, we’d regulate the shit out of them. I also know there are misinfo campaigns happening designed to make people panic, and I’m working on not giving in to that by not following doomer/alarmist accounts. No advice here; we’re really on our own to figure out what’s real and trustworthy nowadays. At least we have parody videos to keep us warm at night.
3. Communi-grator
I’m not always mad when brands get involved in a cultural phenomenon. In this instance, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, Le Creuset came out with a line of kitchen items for Trekkies, many of whom are ancient enough to afford them.
While I personally covet the shuttlecraft casserole dish, the cheese grater ‘communi-grator’ pun won my Wordpecker heart. If you’re a fellow Trekkie, hide your credit card and check out the collection.
4. Winnebago Man
A friend recently shared a clip from a video I hadn’t seen in a few years. I think I first saw it on Tumblr a good decade ago. Shot in the ‘80s, it features outtakes of a salesman being extremely frustrated by his inability to remember his lines for an RV commercial. Each take gets funnier and he drops more and more f-bombs. Imagine working with this guy.
I did a little digging into the video’s origins and found one titled ‘The Definitive Winnebago Man’ (a killer phrase). Of course that’s what he’s called. It’s perfect. Next to that, YouTube served me a documentary about this man, whose real name is Jack Rebney. I haven’t watched it yet but I definitely plan on it. Sometimes algorithms are all right.
The description for the documentary mentions that people used to pass around VHS tapes of Winnebago Man. He was a meme before there were memes. A true king.
5. Slop dropper
If you’re a colleague and you do this, know three things:
I hate it every time
I’m not alone
You need to stop
See also: meat proxy, a terrific term for coworkers who forward AI results or copy without vetting it first.
6. Nut cuttin’ time down on the ranch
If you’ve lived in Colorado, then you likely know Kyle Clark, host of Next With Kyle Clark on 9 News Denver. Clark used the phase ‘nut cuttin’ time down on the ranch’ on air and a viewer got the phrase banned from the show. Here’s Clark decidedly not repeating the phrase over and over again in response:
7. Beaver conflict resolution technician
Here’s a fun follow-up phrase: I recently wrote about a Beaver Management Officer job, and Wordpecker reader Charlie posted a link to this job:
I had no idea beaver lovers had such a deep bench of career options. Maybe my pivot away from marketing will involve getting paid $22-25/hour to argue with beavers.
Asshole bird of the month: September 2026
If you’re new here, ABOTM is an occasional Wordpecker feature, sort of like Employee of the Month, but centered around a feathered friend being a dick. All shared with love, because if you know birds, you understand that that’s just how they are and we love them for it.
Meet this baby crane with a discerning palate who tossed food at his rehabber because he prefers a different food. Look at that judgmental stare!
Follow and support their Patreon and keep this baby fed!!!
Goodpecker
Goodpecker is a new Wordpecker feature where we look for the good and dive into concrete ways for us to give back.
For this edition, I am excited to have TWO good things to share!
My friend Lee’s book, The Politics of Lonely: Why is friendship so hard? is out in the wild! Get yourself a copy! Mine is already on its way to my house. If you’re lucky enough to be Canadian, you can buy directly from the author here.
My pal and occasional partner in Zoom-call crime Mike just launched a fund in honor of his wife Jennifer, whom we lost to pancreatic cancer earlier this year. Each quarter, the Jennifer Keck Morrow Everyday Kindness Fund will run a campaign centered around an important date in the life of Jennifer's family. The first campaign will get books into kids’ homes—a perfect way to celebrate Jennifer, who was a teacher. If you need some good works to look forward to, sign up for email updates so you won’t miss a quarterly chance to spread everyday kindness around. And please consider donating!
That’s it for this week! Remember to keep making it weird, and stay furiously curious!
I've been away from Colorado for so long I don't know Kyle, but I went to high school there with kids who lived on ranches, so I'm familiar with Nut Cuttin' Time. The words not the actions.
I inherited a Le Creuset pot from the 50s but am downsizing my kitchen gadgets and spending, so I will only look at the Star Trek line. All the people old enough to remember the original show are at least 65 and thus many of them aren't cooking as much and don't have spare retirement money to blow on this. I encourage all the rich ones to buy it though.