Posts

Artificial Intelligence My Foot!

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is dumb. It has absolutely no brains. How can you say? It shows you’re clueless about technology. I am. Very proud too. The little I know comes from @mkbdhd, the YouTuber who explains technology very clearly for zero-tech people like me. If artificial intelligence is so intelligent, why doesn’t it recognize my name? I type it everyday, so it’s not a typo. Fine. I’ll make some concessions. AI doesn’t know my name because it’s not an English name, but how about the machine I use to write my thoughts? 1.  Why doesn’t AI tell me to clean my screen? I thought I need new glasses. No I don’t, the screen is just dirty. 2.  Why doesn’t AI tell me to clean the keyboard? All the letters look the same now. 3.  Why doesn’t AI remind me that for two days running, I forgot to power off this machine, pull that power cord out before I go to sleep? 4.  Why doesn’t AI tell me the cheap-o headphones I’m using are past their due date, like when milk goes bad? They usually last
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Babies Sue Technology

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Human beings are animals although they pretend to be the better species. Nature has a pattern on how babies in animal country and human country explore their new environment. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi fractures that pattern in human country. Human babies envy animal babies because their parents don’t have laptops and cellphones. Animals do not sit on their fathers’ laps as he works or entertains himself at the computer. Exploring the new world can be dangerous. Don’t touch that, it’s hot, but who will give the warning because mom and dad are busy online? Not in animal country. Nature still rules. For example, geese have long necks, but they become longer when the mother detects human presence around her six babies. Don’t even think about it with mother lion. That’s why I respect wildlife photographers, who gave us images of mama and baba lion with their kids. Exploration, how do I teach my kids to kill? That is what is in mama lion’s mind as she sits there and looks at the foolish photograp
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Winter Songs Winter Writing

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Winter spring summer or fall  is the  name of a song, or  is it  line in a song ?  I've always wondered why the songwriter started with WINTER. Why not start with spring, when everything is born again?  Anyway, try writing in winter. Spring is good for the mind and writing because I can see the wind in the trees. See? Probably not, because it doesn’t have form or colour like flowers. I think there is wind because the freshly minted green leaves move. Green is a big thing if you live in complete winter denudation, where branches are either brown or gray. My writing is like that in winter, probably because of what is happening around it. It becomes defiant like trees shorn of leaves. It’s the season. A reminder that human beings are not in charge. We cannot place certain things under a microscope and look for what is not there, and never will be. Even rude artificial intelligence cannot change the big four: fall winter spring and summer. The gentle spring wind is conducive to writing
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Hotel Rooms Are Under-Used

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Hotels have a problem. Yes, it’s spring and tour buses are already coming in, but they cannot fill the financial hole caused by being half full in winter. Hotels are home away from home, but they are currently under-used for two reasons. 1.  Because of the 2020 pandemic, corporate guests cannot be guaranteed anymore. Businessmen and women conduct online meetings; they don’t like airport protocols created by the pandemic; and feel uneasy about violent airplane passengers that disrupt cabin peace for online views. 2.  Hotels have not realized that money, real money is now in the hands of men and women under 30 years of age. They cannot do anything about the first problem because it’s outside their jurisdiction, but they can attempt to attract potential guests identified in the second point. Hotels already have under-used rooms called Berlin, London, Cairo, Moscow etc. Others are named after nature: Lotus Hall, Orchid Hall, Rose Hall or Sunflower Hall.  Hotels must advertise how this new
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Hotels v. Airbnb

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Hotels are not unique as Airbnb but they guarantee every blade in this steamer. Hotels vs Airbnb. I have my reasons for preferring hotels to Airbnb. People don’t go the same direction like water , to quote a proverb from the Zulu language. That’s why you book an Airbnb when travelling. Life is hard and short. That is why I prefer concrete hotel expectations whether it’s the smallest economy room or the presidential suite whereas, I’m on my own with Airbnb. I cannot demand a king bed, when I paid for twin beds. I get what is advertised in a hotel whether it’s a 3-star or 5-star hotel. Hotels have an obligation towards me, the guest/customer in terms of front desk when I check-in and check-out, parking security, safety at night, room readiness, hallways, elevators, bed and breakfast etc. In an Airbnb, I can be murdered by ‘friends’ I brought in to celebrate my birthday or sign a dubious deal. Equally, I’m under an obligation not to destroy hotel property, in the quest to have fun. Some A
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Dirty House Lowers Selling Price

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Fumigate house before selling.  My home is always clean. What’s so special about cleaning it before putting it on the market? Sometimes it’s a jump start sale because of family problems. The home was neglected because parents moved away and left teenage kids behind. They never cleaned their rooms in their whole life. Therefore, they don’t know how to use a vacuum cleaner. Maybe the property was rented out, and the person on the rental lease sub-let it illegally to someone with many pets. In such cases, you must call in professional cleaners to detox the place. They notice things you might miss like doors you thought were light brown. It turns out they have a cream color after soapy water and a sponge. The stove and built-in microwave are included in the price but they are dirty. Some sellers invest $2 000 in new appliances rather than clean them. If not, get professionals to do it. They know the right chemicals to remove grease. They will also clean windows inside and outside. The gri
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Parents Died Their Home Empty

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News about tenants refusing to leave houses they rented, might force families to talk each other, more. There are hundreds of movies about children going to court to question a parent’s will. Why would father leave the family home to his wife of two years, who is barely 25? That is fiction. In real life, we don’t live in family homes we inherited.  You know the story: “I don’t see myself living in that town, ever again.” We never go back for one reason or the other, and the family home remains unoccupied, weeds all around, an open invitation to  squatters. We might think renting it out is a better option. Not anymore. Stories about tenants refusing to leave when the lease has expired are on the rise. That might be a wrong impression. Maybe we are seeing more cases now because aggrieved owners are going online about their plight, caused by provincial and state laws that favour the illegal occupation. Families don’t talk to each other. That’s why we wait until we see the family home in t
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