Mysteriosly receive an unordered package of seeds or a parcel? It's called a Brushing Scam.

I've heard about these deliveries, and hadn't heard an explanation until I came across this new article via the BBC and Slashdot.

It's quite simple. The cost of a packet of seeds is crazy low. I buy names from a hacked database or get them from other online sources, create accounts for them in an online store like Amazon, and mail the product to those people. Then I post reviews from those people that I write. Instant algorithmic high!

Low cost, high return. And yet still very scummy.

As the article points out, if you receive an unsolicited product in the mail, it's yours to keep. But if it's mis-delivered, it has to be returned.

Still, I wouldn't plant seeds that arrived anonymously.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54055669

Library Humor

I just looked for A Number of Things.

We actually have a book of that title.

I received a transfer request to send it to main campus, which meant our catalog sowed it as being available, couldn't find it. My associate couldn't find it, and another book requested by the same person also couldn't be found.

So I contacted my counterpart at main campus and told her that the two books could not be found, then we went in to our catalog and marked the two books as missing.

Then I processed the four massive courier bags that came in last week while I was "working from home".

And there I found A Number of Things and the other book.

The weird thing is that every single book in this pile, over a dozen books: I scan them in and every last one comes back Item Not On Loan. WTF? If they're coming back from main campus, clearly they were on loan!