A journal of various casual notes and thoughts, collected and edited throughout the day.
Are you Perplexed?
I'm a Bell customer. I received an email today, telling me that as a valued Bell customer (some are not valued?) Bell is offering me a free year of Perplexity Pro.
I’m to think of it as my personal AI research assistant.
What? I didn't know I needed a research assistant, so I was perplexed. Just what is this'free' thing? The email goes on to say:
For school or work - Summarize long documents, contracts or reports while highlighting the key points you need to know.
For business - Analyze your brand competitors and market trends in real-time and get smart recommendations on how to improve.
For everyday tasks -Automate daily news briefings or manage calendars, reminders and more.
I’m still not convinced. Conscious of the irony, I turned to Google with “Perplexity vs Google” and I learned more, but I still don’t really care. I thought these were all things that many people could do on their own, and if not - well, that’s natural selection, right? I’ve been happily retired for years, with a variety of interests, but I didn’t realize I needed all this help, especially for doing daily news briefings. I suppose these journal updates are better than nothing, but I am not about to automate them. My sister asked me if adding Perplexity to her life would improve it; I thought not. Ditto for many Bell customers, I suspect, but I also suspect many will add it, thinking. “It’s free, and what harm could it do?” Well, in order to do all this summarizing and analyzing and managing for you, Perplexity will need access to your “stuff”.
Remember, “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.” - Tim O'Rielly (and others.
Keeping the circus rings filled
Why did Trump decide that last Monday — not the week before, not next week — was the day for a show of strength in the District of Columbia, strength against the made-up enemy of a rising crime rate?
I think the circus was in trouble, and the chief clown, affectionately known as the Big Orange Buffoon, had to start up an exciting new act in the main arena. It's getting hot under the Big Top, and the audience is getting bored and starting to actually talk to each other. Many remember the exciting Epstein and Ghislaine act from years ago, with their troupe of gymnasts, and wonder what ever happened to them? Their ring is still there, off to the side, but there’s a curtain around it now. With only a few little gaps in it, to tease people. There was a new show in another ring, Nudnick and His Box of Amazing Tariffs, but they all seem the same now, and smaller in real life. And ever since he started, the prices of hot dogs and candy floss have gone up. Audience attention is wavering now — next they will start to think for themselves. And perhaps even look behind some of the curtains! There’s the usual jugglers and clowns and magicians, and a row of midway huckster booths, but it’s not enough.
Back to the main ring. There are now fierce-looking police, with batons and sunglasses, young soldiers with chests full of medals, and ninja warriors, shrouded in black. There’s bunting and flags and flash-bangs and a brass band, and they even do little mock raids up into the crowd, pretending to drag people out of the tent. All in good fun, all just to entertain.
Surrounded by spoilers
I’ve been busy-busy, but I finally had to watch the season finale for The Gilded Age. It seemed everywhere I looked online, people were discussing the last episode, so the penultimate episode still had several loose threads dangling and had ended with a real bang.
This season was wrapped up well. There will be a #4, but enough was resolved to end it all right there, while leaving a few plot lines that could be explored further. It’s a delicate balance that is appreciated, but that many do not achieve. I still chuckle over Dallas, where a main character was killed off at the start of a season, and then at the end, he reappeared. It was all a dream!. Fans were pissed - and mocked.
While I have you here, I’m still enjoying The West Wing, a US political drama set in the relatively calm world of two decades ago. With appearances by Mary-Louis Parker, I may start re-watching Weeds.
Feeling Hot Hot Hot
Dance around the kitchen and sweat a bit more.
You chose a perfect dog picture for your article on Bell’s offer to its customers. I really do not want to become a statistic for Bell Canada.