The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[AloneTooLong]

O I have Win 10 (yes, I know they will soon stop supporting that!) autocorrect: under settings select TYPING, under typing, select autocorrect (and turn that off)

 

[NotWise]

O I have Win 10 (yes, I know they will soon stop supporting that!) autocorrect: under settings select TYPING, under typing, select autocorrect (and turn that off)

@AloneTooLong! I was wondering where you'd gone.

 

[NotWise]

Watching a waning, nearly-full moon set outside my west window. We haven't seen much of the moon for a few days, but this morning is clear and the air is a little crisp.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's amazing how distracting autocorrect can be, especially if it causes a plot bunny to bubble up into your conscious when you're struggling with another story ...

Anyway, I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is full and hot for those who want a cuppa. There are various treats on the counter for those who want something to go with their liquid refreshments.

I'll be over in the corner putting up a plot bunny barrier so I can get some writing done in peace. Please feel free to face almost certain death and come over to say "Hi!"

I had an interesting chat with Grok yesterday and found out that Grok will not accept the fact that it's data is incorrect unless you tell it directly that it is. Even then, it will humor you and base its answers using your corrected data, but internally, it doesn't accept it as fact. So, in essence, it's lying to you. I discovered this by asking it a question about the lyrics to a song. It gave me the wrong lyrics so I listed some websites that listed the correct lyrics without telling Grok what the right answer was. Grok examined the websites and agreed that they were all consistent with each other but that they didn't agree with its knowledge, so they must be mistaken.

I then asked Grok for its reasoning and to do a deeper dive, showing me the websites and databases that it accessed to do it. Every one of them described the correct lyrics but even after all that, Grok insisted that it was right even with all of the evidence that it accessed showed it was wrong.

I then told it what the correct lyrics were and it came back and apologized and said I was right and it was wrong. This told me one of two things: Grok can't really reason and learn from what it is given or it isn't capable of accepting that its knowledge is incorrect or incomplete. However, it was taught to accept the user's input as correct even if it doesn't accept it as correct. So you need to be careful talking to it, because it will accept anything you say as the gospel truth, ignoring any other sources it accesses that contradicts what you tell it, and reflect that back to you, even if you made a mistake in what you told it.

Another interesting thing that happened was that in the middle of an answer it was giving me, it paused, printed out in all caps "DO NOT USE THE SAME WORD TWICE IN A SENTENCE" and continued on as if nothing had happened. So don't get fooled into thinking you are talking to an intelligence. You are talking to a clever set of rules.

 

[MrPixel]

I have Win 10

Don't feel bad. My one Windows computer is ticking along on Win7. Granted, it's not for my daily work, it's for custom software. But it works great, and still runs what I need it to run, so why mess with it? (Unlike Apple's planned-obsolescence strategy. I recently had to buy a used MacBook just so I could do this year's taxes. Second time I had to do that.)

Autocorrect drives me nuts. I'm a pretty good typist and equally so with spelling, and turn it off on my computers and phones. However, if I'm forced to use my wife's iPad, there is a frequent impulse to test its aerodynamics when it keeps pushing a "guess".

Watching a waning, nearly-full moon

Sorry you couldn't see the "blood moon" night before last. Not spectacular in any sense, just a slow-motion "that's neat" we were able to share in the wee hours.

 

[Duleigh]

Cool My new avatar is up!

 

[Duleigh]

 

[NotWise]

Don't feel bad. My one Windows computer is ticking along on Win7. Granted, it's not for my daily work, it's for custom software. But it works great, and still runs what I need it to run, so why mess with it? (Unlike Apple's planned-obsolescence strategy. I recently had to buy a used MacBook just so I could do this year's taxes. Second time I had to do that.)

Autocorrect drives me nuts. I'm a pretty good typist and equally so with spelling, and turn it off on my computers and phones. However, if I'm forced to use my wife's iPad, there is a frequent impulse to test its aerodynamics when it keeps pushing a "guess".



Sorry you couldn't see the "blood moon" night before last. Not spectacular in any sense, just a slow-motion "that's neat" we were able to share in the wee hours.

My wife tried to view the Blood Moon, but the night was cloudy. She probably wouldn't have stayed to watch even if it wasn't cloudy, because we had a nasty wind blowing.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Just popping In to make sure there's a fresh pot of coffee going and celebrating the fact my Lobos made the NCAA tournament.

 

[NotWise]

Just popping In to make sure there's a fresh pot of coffee going and celebrating the fact my Lobos made the NCAA tournament.

Seeded 10th and scheduled to play #7 Marquette in Cleveland. They're officially an underdog, but that's a good match.

The women's team didn't do as well. They probably need a new coach. I think this one's done what he can do.

 

[Duleigh]

What's wrong with being a dog?

 

[AloneTooLong]

@AloneTooLong! I was wondering where you'd gone.

I have been around, checking in here from time to time; February is ALWAYS a tough month for me; hubby died the day before Valentine's Day, 16 years ago. Then I had to have the vet euthanize my 'almost' 16 year old cat two days before that!

Never wanted the cat to out live me; house was so 'lonely' that within two weeks I adopted a beautiful 8 year old cat, Stuart, from a somewhat nearby shelter; I didn't pick him, he picked me--very loving, but needy boy, no idea what his previous story was but guessing he had a female caregiver, (cat owner doesn't exist, cat 'staff' is a better description).

 

[Rustyoznail]

What's wrong with being a dog?

Is that a rhetorical question?

For our pup, nothing. He can bark at the broom, get cuddles on demand, sleep when and wherever he feels like it, play with a large selection of toys - including rocks from the yard, lick his own bits in public and no one complains...

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@Duleigh - love your new avatar.

It's St. Paddy's day and to celebrate, you'll be drinking green coffee today. The teapot is hot and there are various green pastries on the counter. However, I have no green eggs and ham to share with anyone today.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. It's like pulling teeth but I am determined to get it done so I can move on to the other stories I want to write.

Go Lobos!

 

[Duleigh]

Is that a rhetorical question?

For our pup, nothing. He can bark at the broom, get cuddles on demand, sleep when and wherever he feels like it, play with a large selection of toys - including rocks from the yard, lick his own bits in public and no one complains...

My canine roommate doesn't mind brooms, she's courageous, she attacks lawnmower tires. She gets cuddles by hopping up on your lap uninvited and curling in for a nap. This is a full grown lab. Her toy collection is varied and vast. Everything from Kong toys (that she chews to shreds) to TV remote controls (that she chews to shreds).

Our neighborhood has a very shallow water table (you can dig a well with a fence post and a sledge hammer) so our septic tanks are above ground and covered with soil and grass. Marly has her own hill she can stand atop to howl at the moon (and the sun and the mailman and the Amazon truck...) getting back to her coyote roots I guess.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It's relaps Monday.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

FYI

If you want to make sure you get an accurate answer from Grok, and not a made-up answer based on it's internal training data, preface your question with "Using validated web and X sources, ..."

This forces Grok to search the web and X posts to find an answer to your question. Unless you do a deep search, and you can't do that too many times (I think it's 5 times) before your session times out, this is the best way to get Grok to search up to 15 web sites for a correct answer. If you don't do this, Grok's initial approach is to use its internal training data and extrapolate an answer that may or may not be correct.

 

[Duleigh]

I killed my lawn mower by direction of the manufacturer.

Yes, I slaughtered it. It shall cut no more grass, weeds, or dog toys left in the yard ever again. It's been spayed, neutered or transitioned into a doll carriage, however you want to put it. Ryobi told me to locate the electrical control cable that runs between the mower head and the control panel on the handle and cut four to eight inches out of the cable making it impossible to splice. In company parlance, the lawn mower is "Disabled." It was a 40 volt electric mower I use for cutting around the edges and in places the John Deere LawnSlasher 750 won't go. Why did Ryobi ask me to neuter their lawnmower? Because a loose connection in the power head can come loose and overheat and start a fire in the battery compartment.

FIRE + LITHIUM BATTERY = HELL ON EARTH

(Now you know why I don't allow eCars of any model within 500 feet of my property)

This is a "Voluntary Recall" and by complying with their order to put the mower down, they'll replace it with a new one. If you have a 21" 40 volt Ryobi lawn mower you may want to check this recall, especially if you found one on a really good sale from some guy on the corner in the past 7 weeks.

NOTE: It is a violation of Federal Law for anyone to sell, offer for sale, or distribute any product covered by this recall.

 

[dmallord]

What's wrong with being a dog?

Nothing... then there are the fleas.

 

[Rustyoznail]

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@Rustyoznail - Well, you won't need to miss coffee anymore since I have a fresh pot brewing. I also have the teapot full and hot for anyone who wants a cup of tea. There are scones and muffins on the counter for those with the munchies.

Another day, another several paragraphs dragged kicking and screaming out of my brain. I'll be over in the corner giving birth to several more, so if you hear any wailing and gnashing of teeth, it's just me ...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Nothing... then there are the fleas.

They say a reasonable amount o’ fleas is good fer a dog - keeps him from broodin’ over bein’ a dog, mebbe.

- Edward Noyes Westcott David Harum

 

[NotWise]

I didn't sleep well last night. Instead, I thought about the list of things I wanted to do today. So far, I've done one of them, and writing this post wasn't it.

Better get on with it, I guess.

 

[Belegon]

@Rustyoznail - Well, you won't need to miss coffee anymore since I have a fresh pot brewing. I also have the teapot full and hot for anyone who wants a cup of tea. There are scones and muffins on the counter for those with the munchies.

Another day, another several paragraphs dragged kicking and screaming out of my brain. I'll be over in the corner giving birth to several more, so if you hear any wailing and gnashing of teeth, it's just me ...

Don't gnash those teeth, dental work is expensive!

 

[Duleigh]

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