First Blog

If someone (not me, actually) has your cell phone number, the specific information they can obtain about you can vary depending on several factors: 1. Public Records: They might access publicly available information associated with your phone number, such as your name, address (often a general location rather than an exact address), and sometimes your email address. 2. Social Media: If your phone number is linked to your social media accounts (like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) and your privacy settings are not stringent, they might find your profiles and any information you have shared publicly. 3. Online Directories: Some online directories or databases might have information linked to your phone number, which could include your name, approximate location, and any information you've provided when registering with services using that number. 4. Data Breaches: In case your phone number has been part of any data breaches or leaks, someone might access information that was

 Innovation usually implies the search for something new, effective, and important. Many factors, dozens, contribute to innovation. Here are the top six. Open mindedness. (Approach) Constant absorption of new knowledge. (Building connections/frameworks) Ability to concentrate for long periods. (Necessary) Rapid rejection of poor ideas. (Key factor) Having a sustaining joy of problem-solving. (Experience) An active, intelligent, and coherent team. (A plus) ------------------- One potential problem with AI is that it locks in old knowledge and possibly rejects new knowledge – a consequence of learning algorithms.

This is a quote attributed to the Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of The Gulag Archipelago : "The most terrifying force of death comes from the hands of Men who wanted to be left alone. They try, so very hard, to mind their own business and provide for themselves and those they love. They resist every impulse to fight back, knowing the forced and permanent change of life that will come from it. They know, that the moment they fight back, their lives as they have lived them, are over. The moment the Men who wanted to be left alone are forced to fight back, it is a form of suicide. They are literally killing off who they used to be. Which is why, when forced to take up violence, these Men who wanted to be left alone, fight with unholy vengeance against those who murdered their former lives. They fight with raw hate, and a drive that cannot be fathomed by those who are merely play-acting at politics and terror. TRUE TERROR will arrive at these people's do

  How to view Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Imagine you go to the store to buy a TV, but all they have are 1950s models, black and white, circular screens, picture rolls, and picture imperfect, no remote. You’d say no thanks. Back in the day, they sold wildly. The TV was a must-have for everyone with $250 to spend* (about $3000 today). Compared to where AI is today, this is more or less where TVs were 70 years ago. In only a few decades AI will be advanced beyond comprehension, just like TVs today are from the 50s viewpoint. Just like we could not imagine where the video concept was going back then, we cannot really imagine where AI is going. Buckle up. But it will be spectacular.    *Back then minimum wage was $0.75/hr. Thus, a TV cost more than eight weeks' wages. ------------------------- 

  Advice, Bad Advice, and Damned Advice Don Allen   Everyone gives advice, and almost everyone takes it now and then. Advice, though, is inherently incoherent, inconsistent, and inaccurate.   Now and then, it can be critical. But even the stingiest, coldest, or most loving of us give it freely. A glossary follows but first consider a few examples.   ·         When you take advice, are you substituting another’s thinking for your own? ·         Sometimes I wish I followed my own advice. But nooooo! I took someone else’s advice. Wrong. ·         When you give advice and someone takes it, then are you not somewhat responsible for outcomes? ·         There have been times I rejected good advice because I didn’t like who was giving it. ·         Companies call in consultants to give advice, but the consultants seldom know the fine points of the business they are advising. People call in psychologists for the same reasons. ·         Ministers and priests are always giving

  Is Artificial Intelligence Conscious? I truly like the study of consciousness, though it is safe to say no one really knows what it is. Some philosophers has avoided the problem by claiming consciousness simply doesn’t exist. It's the ultimate escape clause. However, the "therefore, it does not exist" argument also applies to "truth", "God", and even "reality" all quite beyond a consensus description for at least three millennia. For each issue or problem defying description or understanding, simply escape the problem by claiming it doesn’t exist. Problem solved or problem avoided? Alternately, as Daniel Dennett explains consciousness as an account of the various calculations occurring in the brain at close to the same time. However, he goes on to say that consciousness is so insignificant, especially compared to our exalted notions of it, that it might as well not exist [1] . Oh, well. Getting back to consciousness, most of us have view

 

  Why are anti-inflammatory foods good for you? Anti-inflammatory foods are considered good for you because they can help reduce chronic inflammation in the body, which is associated with a wide range of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and various autoimmune diseases. Chronic inflammation is a long-term, systemic immune response that can damage healthy tissues and lead to the development of these health issues. Specific examples follow. a.       Reducing Chronic Inflammation: Anti-inflammatory foods contain compounds that can help reduce the production of pro-inflammatory molecules in the body, such as cytokines and prostaglandins. This can help lower overall inflammation levels. b.       Protecting Against Chronic Diseases: Chronic inflammation is a common factor in the development of many chronic diseases. Consuming anti-inflammatory foods can help lower the risk of these diseases by mitigating the underlying inflammation. c.       Supporting Immun

  Becoming Creative Don Allen Introduction . How to become creative? This question is on all minds if only out of curiosity, but specifically on how to do it. In this short note, we identify two main types of creativity. Many types associated with a topic, e.g. digital, educational, art, and science, have detailed interpretations online. We look here at more of a foundational level, as in what’s common with all. Assume there is some problem at hand about which you want to find a solution or an explanation. Very rarely, if ever, does the creative process work spontaneously, rendering up some solution to something about which you are substantially unknowledgeable or unaware. Sometimes, though, it happens when you notice something unusual that you cannot explain. However, this creates a problem, upon which you must focus. Alternate terms for creativity include innovation, inspiration, and intuition.   Creativity is not for amateurs, even though folks, me included, are always firing

 Creativity and innovation can be compared with learning to high dive.  You can read books on them for days, months, or years. But until you actually do it, you don't know how, and moreover hardly know what to do.  A complement I always give athletes, is that they practice, and hopefully with a patient coach. They know practice is essential. But for creativity, some think they just need a course or a couple online videos, and they're ready to create. Not so. Bottom line is that creativity is both a skill and an intellectual activity. Without practice and even with, there's never a guarantee. BTW, most attempts at creativity amount to crap, just like those first dives into the deep.  

 One, who hanging by his fingers from a cliff, calls it climbing a mountain. 

 “The real hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does. They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted.” ― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited