Search where?

This Portfolio (beholden)

All of Writing.Com

◄ March ► 2023
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31
Archive				RSS

Create New Item

Read & Review

Community

Browse By Type

Browse By Genre

Writing Resources

Monday, Jun. 10, 2024

5:34pm EDT

Members: 1,041

Guests: 1,192

Total Online: 2,233

Toe in the Water

by Beholden

Rated: 13+ · Book · Experience · #2223922

A tentative blog to test the temperature.

Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end.

So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.

Signature for those who are nominated for a Quill Award in 2021

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Beholden

Jun 8, 2024 at 5:35am
In response to "Being Useful"

Well, there was a time when I had a particularly nicely turned pair of ankles.

H❀pe

Jun 8, 2024 at 3:07am
In response to "Being Useful"

System test:
You'll never see me in Pantaloons, I haven't the ankles for it.

1 Like

Beholden

May 28, 2024 at 9:27am
In response to "Official Contests"

LOL Apparently, Ruwth!

Ned

May 26, 2024 at 2:09pm
In response to "Privacy Policy"

That leaves me with so many questions...

1 Like

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 12:46pm
In response to "AI and All That"

It does feel like doom and gloom, especially for a profession like writing. But I don't think creative jobs are actually in that much danger (yet) from AI, because it just doesn't compare to a human in that area. AI is not creative, it just recognizes patterns in data and spits it back out. So the creative arts (creative writing, art, music) is actually one of the few domains where I think human expertise will be valued over AI, even as the use of AI becomes more wide-spread. It's a good sign that publishers are already demanding transparency when it comes to using AI in writing.

Will AI take over some jobs in the future? Yeah, probably. But it's more likely that the jobs of the future will be working with and using AI, not necessary replaced by AI.

However, I can't predict the future. Maybe AI can. I'll ask Siri.

1 Like

Scarypotato being childish

May 19, 2024 at 11:32am
In response to "AI and All That"

Beholden

I agree with 98% of what you said. The one quibble I have is that for things like Scientific inquiries about systems that change a lot, like coral reefs, AI is a good tool for analyzing that.

However I do feel threatened by AI. It seems to be taking all the jobs that smart people would normally do. It thinking it knows how to write anything that isn't business related. The fact that corporate greed will do anything to make more and spend less leading to companies salivating over the possibility of replacing costly workers with soulless AI. That really makes me upset.

2 Like

Beholden

May 19, 2024 at 10:43am
In response to "AI and All That"

I am like most people - I understand when something affects the way I live and the things I do, but there is less understanding when it comes to other uses for the matter under discussion. I'm sure you're right, Anni, that AI has lots to offer in other fields but, to the writer, it really feels like doom. But I do agree that you can't put toothpaste back in the tube - it's just that sometimes we should try.

1 Like

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 10:00am
In response to "AI and All That"

Also, I hope I haven't offended any young folks with the above comment. It's not the entire generation, it's just a trend. If you're actively on a writing site like this, probably doesn't apply to you.

Anni Pon

May 19, 2024 at 9:52am
In response to "AI and All That"

AI is just a tool, in my opinion. There are things it should be used for, and things it should definitely not be used for. It's actually great at debugging code or explaining complicated statistics and other concepts, which is mostly how I use it. Much better than Google. I don't use it at all for writing, although I'm sure a lot of people do. I honestly think it's contributing already to the newer generation's illiteracy. I've seen a dramatic drop in writing ability and reading comprehension in the youth, I think because they've all but stopped reading and don't have to communicate in full sentences with proper grammar in their daily lives. When they do read, it's usually audio books and podcasts. When they do write, they can easily outsource it to Grammerly or ChatGTP so they aren't really forced to learn or use the rules. It's going to be a huge problem when a generation with minimal writing skills and reading comprehension get to be adults...

So I definitely get your point about AI being a danger to the writing profession. I do think there are other uses that are going to revolutionize society; it's just so new that society hasn't caught up to it yet. They're just throwing AI into everything now, where it doesn't belong, and the rules and regulations are lagging behind. Not to mention, the people making the laws have no clue what AI even is or what it can do. Unfortunately, the cat is out of the bag and there's no way it's going to be put back in now. We just have to make sure it's used responsibly, because there is potential for a lot of good, but also a lot of harm.

Simply Me

May 16, 2024 at 9:32am
In response to "The Way of the World"

I hear you there. They say the grass is greener....too and it's not. lol

1 Like

March 14, 2023 at 11:30am

#1046381

The Most Famous Person You Never Heard Of

The Most Famous Person You Never Heard Of

That’s what my wife calls him and it was true - once. Now, of course, I’m one of his biggest fans. And YouTube reminded me this morning that the great man died only a few days ago (March 03). A sad day for all who ever heard David Lindley play.

Plenty of them have never heard of him even now. He was not one for having his name in lights or making a big fuss about his talents. Yet he played with most of the big names in the music business over the last forty years, so much in demand was his virtuoso slide guitar playing. Much of the time he was playing other instruments, usually of the stringed kind, for he could play anything. He is often referred to as a multi-instrumentalist or even a maxi-instrumentalist.

David had his own band (El Rayo-X) but he was far more often away playing for someone else. He had a special bond with Jackson Browne whose live performances without him are rare indeed. The world is a poorer place without him.

I had to pick a video as my thank you for the entertainment he provided over the years and that was impossible. There are just so many of them. In the end, I sorta picked this one with a pin but it’s as good as they all are:

Word count: 226

3 Like • Comment • View 1 comment

March 14, 2023 at 6:00am

#1046375

P.O.M.S.

P.O.M.S.

For several years now I have self diagnosed as having P.O.M.S. No need to feel sorry for me - I am sorry enough for myself not to need any help on that score. But thank you for the thought anyway.

What is P.O.M.S? Often confused by Australians as having something to do with Englishness, POMS, affectionately known as Poms, stands for Poor Old Man Syndrome. Affecting 97% of males beyond the age of sixty, the first symptoms of Poms are audible. You know those groaning sounds that all old people make when getting out of a chair? Well, Poms typically extends those sounds to many other situations. Getting in and out of bed is an example, as is the act of sitting down. Any function requiring a little effort will be advertised by a range of grunts and groans appropriate to the situation.

Later, Poms is evidenced by an increasing irascibility with inanimate objects. This can be manifested in impatient comments to a toaster a few seconds late in popping up, a string of insults directed at any implement that contrives to slip from the old codger’s grasp, loud oaths expressed when latches, catches and clasps refuse to cooperate, and similar occurrences obviously sent to torture a poor old man out of his usual uncomplaining nature.

These waves of bad temper are followed by a rise in sarcasm and rudeness in response to any attempts to sympathise or ameliorate the condition for the sufferer. Poms does not react well to company or assistance, its symptoms being purely self expression and nothing to do with cries for help or the like. It is probably best understood if one remembers its old name of C.O.B. (Crotchety Old Bastard).

If you have to deal with a sufferer from Poms, just leave the blighter to wallow in his own misery, that’s my best advice (and, as I have mentioned, I ought to know).

Word count: 327.

3 Like • Comment • View 5 comments

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/beholden/day/3-14-2023