It’s another Weekly Links with things related to media, but also just important things to share. One of those is that all of us need to be getting off the Google teet if at all possible. That’s hard for me because I’ve been on Gmail since 2005. Here is an article sharing some AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs which I will be trying out to see if they work for me.
I found this pretty interesting: A map showing the changes in population in each US state since 2020.
I’d come across the story of the Zizian cult about a month ago and it came to head this week. It’s a story that folds in Silicon Valley, a Manson Family-like cult, shoot outs with the police, and someone being run through with a samurai sword.
As I was doing a cleaning of my Reddit Saved posts I cam across this very relevant article from a few years ago. Have you noticed the declining quality of produced goods. This is because everything is, as Cory Doctorow said, being enshittified.
Students at a Santa Rosa had their play censored by reactionaries in their school district. They responded by writing and performing a play about censorship at their school and mocking these idiots. The play won the gold medal at a statewide theater competition. Fuck the censorious chuds.
You’ve probably heard the controversy surrounding Emilia Perez, especially how tone deaf it is about many groups of people including Mexicans. Dreams is a film made by a Mexican filmmaker about their country and it sounds fascinating. It showed at the Berlin International Film Festival and is generating a lot of talk.
So far, I’ve only seen Jeanne Dielmann, but I am keen on finding a space to watch more of Chantal Akerman’s work in the near future. On Little White Lies, Esme Holden reflects on the Belgian filmmaker’s work and how much she is missed in these bizarre times.
As someone who enjoys playing around with tabletop RPG systems this post about one person’s take on Calvinball, inventing the rules as you play is fascinating.
PopCult Reviews 