Technology can certainly be exasperating.
I've just received an email from the online travel company Expedia, with holiday promotional specials in celebration of Labor Day. Labor Day in Victoria was in March. I suppose I shouldn't care, as a special is a special to take advantage of. But I do care that the system is not correctly set up to know when Labor Day is in Victoria.
Everytime I look at a a product online, Google bombards me with advertising, hence the Expedia email. I spent quite some time looking at lounge suits online, and it took well over a month for the advertising to stop. Next was air conditioning, as I am thinking of replacing my quite old unit. The ads for that didn't last too long. Of late though, I've had the worst bombardment of travel emails. The thing is, all these emails keep arriving long after you've bought a product.
I found a setting in Google to turn off personalised advertising, and I wonder if, having switched it off, I will stop receiving emails. It's a moot point because this week I installed the browser Duckduckgo. My searches there won't be picked up by the behemoth that is Google.
I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the tv story, but AI is now being used in schools to assist students. One student was using AI to write computer code to create an online competitive game to clear plastic and other pollution from our seas. Another was using AI for guidance to write an essay about the play Othello. I put Shakespeare up there with my horror of algebra and trigonometry.
I do love what technology can do for us, and I embrace it when I want to.
It is four days after the second anniversary of my mother's death, on this Thursday the 14th. Yesterday was Ray's closest sister's birthday, and today is one year since Phyllis moved into the then chaotic home, post repainting and recarpeting. I wrote his initials on the calendar for today, and he asked about what was on that day. I don't think he remembers the date he moved in. I might buy him a single rose. It was hard to work out the date he moved in, but I then remembered the weekend after he moved in I went away for two nights, remembering that some of you didn't think it was a good idea to leave him here on his own, with friends visiting, just after he moved in. I had judged his character correctly in two or three days.
I was away for two days, and I had a record of that, on my great niece's birthday, just after I had a melanoma removed from my scalp, still with the bandage on my head covered by my cap.
Today is shopping day but I buy little normal fresh food now. Phyllis looks after most of that. I will replenish the wine cellar, buy a pepper steak pie for myself to bring home, have coffee from my newest cafe in South Melbourne (naturally the barista is hot) and if Phyllis is at work and Kosov is home, I'll buy Kosov a pie too.
I need a photo. Phyllis and Kosov are both reading this book series as they travel on public transport to and from work. I've no idea what Wings of Fire is about, and I am not interested, but if you know, feel free to say so.
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You have had so much going on in your life. I admire your positive attitude through it all.
ReplyDeleteI am also learning what technology can do for me now .. I have been a slow adopter until now but have now jumped in with both feet.
JayCee, I try to positive but so often I think, what is the point. The loss of a lifetime partner sits heavily upon me. Slow tech adapters, at least in the early days, became tech monsters. From, 'I don't need a telephone in my pocket', to embracing matters tech. What a time we have lived in!
DeleteWings of fire was trendy a few years back.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, so they were late to the party. They seem to enjoy the books. I don't know if they have finished them now.
DeleteYour life has been action packed. Still is. And yes, you're a good judge of character, if the current household setup is anything to go by.
ReplyDeleteBoud, that is true. I've had a busy life. I am not so sure about a good judge. Maybe I just got lucky. No, to blow my trumpet, I immediately knew Phyllis was ok. He was desperate for somewhere to live and I was rather harsh in the beginning. He knew he could be out after one month, which was my stipulation. Go hard to begin, and soften later. I had to protect myself.
DeleteBeing a good judge of character is a gift. I like the idea of a single rose to mark the day.
ReplyDeleteAds do my head in but I manage to ignore most of them. I struggle with some technology but have more or less managed with others.
EC, in the case of Phyllis, I was a good judge, but about others, I don't know. I think if you can produce good content on a blog and connect with people, and kind of make a community, you are quite tech savvy.
DeleteFrom what I've read, Phyllis deserves that rose--as does Kosovo.
ReplyDeleteKirk, I am making allowances for Phyllis as he has been unwell, and without his guidance, Kosov hasn't been doing much in the way of cleaning. I will have to give them some 'guidance' about kitchen cleaning very soon. Really though, if I ask, they do. I'd just like them to do without me having to say so.
DeleteI don't do AI, I don't shop Amazon, and I rarely buy online, though I will look for things to buy online before heading out to a store.
ReplyDeleteLast thing was ceiling fans and I had ads for ceiling fans all over my internet for months!
Maybe I'll try purchasing hot men in underwear and see what Google does?
Bob, now I only buy online if something is not available from a shop here. Lol at men in underwear...hmm, now that's a thought. Search for male underwear or men in speedos.
DeleteThe most irked I get are all the ads I get for the product I purchased 4 months ago. Irk is a good word. Mild in contrast to the rage I feel at my inbox.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
That's what I said WWW. After I've bought and paid, I still get ads for a long time. The algos are smart enough to know what I want but not smart enough to know when to give up.
DeleteHi Andrew, I appreciate your positive attitude! Technology is fine when it works but can be downright frustrating when it does not. I have never shopped online! I prefer to go to the store and pick what I want, pay for it there and bring it home (or have it delivered if it is heavy or large).
ReplyDeleteI use public transit, but thankfully it is very good here in Montreal! We have our buses and metro and I am so used to travelling this way, (even as a child, as my parents didn't have a car).
Thank you so much for sharing.
Linda, I have shopped online but really only for things that I can't buy from a shop. A new battery for the stick vacuum cleaner? Only available online.
DeleteThat's great that you use public transport, as I do mostly. I am a little surprised that your parents never had a car. I know a little about Montreal public transport and there has been some big problems in the last few years, but it does seem like it is a good public transport city.
Hi Andrew, my parents were on the low side of finances.
DeleteTechnology or any invention has its own pros and cons. Sometimes it is very frustrating but it is about how you deal with it. The algorithm is very quick these days and you ought to see related posts back to back. I try to avoid AI as its not very good for mental health. But it is a personal choice. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the algos cause problems.
DeleteJust one year since P came to stay. It feels as though he has been part of your life for much longer. Yes you are a good judge of character. After all we hit it off a few minutes after we first met.🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteFun60, you have convinced me that I am a good judge of character, and Ray was too, and he immediately liked you. It seems like yesterday when we larked about York.
DeleteBetween personal anniversaries, shopping trips, and pie runs, life’s little moments still outshine the noise of tech hot barista sightings included.
ReplyDeleteStill, it’s fascinating to see AI in schools, helping kids code games or tackle Shakespeare (even if Othello feels like algebra in disguise).
Yes, all good.
DeleteHow time does fly, Andrew.
ReplyDeleteI don't seem to get email as to what I've looking at online but then I have all those things turned off and have done for years.
Lucky and wise you, Margaret. Some sites require an email address to buy a ticket or something, and then you are on their list.
DeleteI think a red rose for Phyllis wold be very nice. Maybe one for Kosov too? I haven't heard of Wings of Fire, but I might look for it next time I go to my favourite book shop. I'm a bit less inclined to begin a new series though, if I like a book and buy it then I often find myself buying each new one in the series and some of them just go on forever. It gets expensive and they take up so much space.
ReplyDeleteRiver, they are both lovely and loving guys, but they are young and vacuous at times. I think Wings of Fire is some kind of fantasy book series, but I don't really know.
DeleteThey are about Dragons, I looked online.
DeleteI am not surprised at all.
DeleteI get follow advertising from the vendor I have bought from. Two weeks ago I booked airline tickets on a European airline, and I am still getting adds asking if I am ready to book.
ReplyDeleteTP, that's my point. It is very annoying.
DeleteThat is something that annoys me to no end...reading an article and accidently brushing an ad as I scroll. I am immediately inundated with further advertising from that company and even receive instant messaging from them.
ReplyDeleteDebby, the format of the online newspaper I read on my phone when out and about, is a horror for inadvertently touching an add. I don't want them to think I am interested in the product.
DeleteWhat a good difference the lads have been to your life, Andrew. The rose idea is sweet.
ReplyDeleteMostly Pat, although I think I would have had to be more proactively social without them. But that's fine. We are happy.
DeleteI echo RedPat, the boys have been good for you and the rose is very thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Thanks Sandra.
DeleteI settled on getting targeted ads, with my rationale being - if I'm going to get ads, I might as well get useful ones. As I approach my 60th, I'm getting lots of ads for comfortable shoes, relaxation chairs, erectile disfunction etc.
ReplyDeleteOh yes James. I am getting the ads tailored to older people now, including old person care homes, of the luxurious variety.
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