Saturday 8/17/24
Sunday 8/18/24
Celebrate:
Saturday
Baby Boomers Recognition Day
Balloon Animal Day
Break the Monotony Day
International Geocaching Day
International Homeless Animals' Day
National #2 Pencil Day
National Black Cat Appreciation Day
National I LOVE My Feet Day
National Meaning of "is" Day
National Nonprofit Day
National Pineapple Juice Day
National Thrift Shop Day
National Vanilla Custard Day
World Eggplant Day
World Honey Bee Day
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Sunday
Helium Discovery Day
Mail Order Catalog Day
National Bad Poetry Day
National Fajita Day
National Ice Cream Pie Day
Never Give Up Day
Pinot Noir Day
Serendipity Day
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There are some hallmarks of AI chatbots you can look out for to help you determine whether the "person" on the other end of the chat really is who they say they are.
Modern chatbots are powered by large language models (LLMs). These models are trained on datasets containing an enormous amount of text: Over time, the model learns relationships between words and phrases, which it uses to inform its responses. When you ask the chatbot a question, it breaks down your entry into what it thinks are the most important parts, then pulls from its training to guess at what words make sense to respond with. It doesn't understand what it's saying, only that this series of words makes sense based on its dataset.
So how can you tell if it's a bot?
Watch out for weird word choices.
Look for repetition - if you notice that the “person” you’re speaking to or chatting with keeps returning to the same recommendation or solution no matter what you say, you might be dealing with a bot.
Also repeating the question back to you.
Pay attention to vague answers
Note the response speed
Is the other person a little too enthusiastic?
Pull a "Crazy Ivan" coming from The Hunt for Red October and try something..well crazy. In the middle of the conversation, ask your suspected bot about their family, or tell them you’re feeling depressed, just to see the reaction. In the past, this type of interruption could break the bot's entire persona, but chatbots are smart enough today to at least incorporate the off-topic query into their response.
A proper "dude...wtf" might be all you need to know they're 100% human.
Read more here.
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The official Scrabble dictionary is adding a bunch of new words . . . or, ONE of the "official" dictionaries is. Did you know there's more than one?
Most Americans use the Merriam-Webster version. Collins Dictionary has one that's used by most other English-speaking countries. Some international competitions combine them.
Collins just announced they're adding 2,000 new words . . . including a bunch of Gen Z slang. They'll all be playable words starting January 1st, 2025.
It's not clear how many are being added to the Merriam-Webster version, so play your words accordingly. But here are some of the new words Collins is adding.
1. Yeet . . . meaning "to throw," but also used to express excitement.
2. Bacne . . . short for back acne.
3. Boujee . . . fancy or luxurious. They added multiple spellings.
4. Floof . . . slang for any furry animal.
5. Nibling . . . a gender-neutral term for a niece or nephew.
6. Amirite . . . a one-word slang version of "am I right." (That one's actually in the Merriam-Webster version already.)
7. Stan . . . to obsess over someone who's famous.
8. Anyhoo . . . slang for "anyhow" or "anyway."
9. Coulda . . . short for "could have."
10. Grammable . . . something worthy of being posted on Instagram.
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A coffee place in New York called Bedford Studio is getting some bad press for charging customers $10 a day if they want to use their laptop. That's on top of what you pay for their fancy coffee, which isn't cheap.
Someone posted a video of a sign that says "laptop use" is for "members only." It's $10 a day . . . $30 a month . . . or $300 a year. They bill themselves as a coffee shop, but also a co-working space. So that's why they think they can charge extra.
The reaction online is mixed. Some think Wi-Fi should always be free, but others like the idea. One person said they hate how coffee shops are always packed now, with tons of people on loud Zoom calls all day.
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There's a new poll out on restaurant etiquette, and 80% of people said your smartphone should be OUT OF SIGHT on a date. 54% said no one should see it during a family gathering . . . and 50% said you shouldn't have it out even with friends.
There are a few exceptions.
81% said it IS appropriate to whip your phone out to get a photo of the person you're eating with.
66% say it's okay if you're getting an urgent call . . . but it would be best if you alerted the others at your table that you were expecting a call that you'd need to take. Also, even then, you should have it on vibrate.
And 63% say it's okay to take photos of the food but it should be quick. Snap a photo when the plates arrive, and then put your phone away again.
The poll also asked about splitting the bill.
If you're on a date, 68% of people believe that "the person who initiated the date" should pick up the check. But, it's perfectly acceptable . . . and considerate . . . for the other person to offer to split the bill.
And when it comes to splitting, the most popular way to do it in the South is to have the server divvy it up, based on each person's order.
But in the Northeast, most people prefer to either have the bill split evenly among all the guests . . . or just opt for the simplicity of one person paying, and everyone else pays them back on Venmo or something.
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People on Ranker.com are voting on which musical movies have the best songs. Here are the Top 20:
1. "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)
2. "The Lion King" (1994)
3. "Mary Poppins" (1964)
4. "The Sound of Music" (1965)
5. "Aladdin" (1992)
6. "Grease" (1978)
7. "The Little Mermaid" (1989)
8. "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)
9. "Mamma Mia!" (2008)
10. "Singin' in the Rain" (1952)
Vote here!
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