Recent Posts

I might have phrased my question badly.

I want your opinion on caning muggers et al, not my hypocrisy. (Although I admit that was also a question)

Am I a hypocrite?

AI Overview
A hypocrite is generally defined as someone who acts in contradiction to their stated beliefs, principles, or feelings, often preaching virtues they do not practice. It involves a gap between public presentation (a "mask") and private actions, or holding others to a standard you do not follow.

Key Indicators: Common behaviors include saying one thing but doing another, giving advice you don't follow, or judging others for actions you commit yourself.

......


If you are questioning your actions, you are likely self-reflecting, which is a step away from being a true hypocrite

I would be interested in your opinion Phil. (Or anyone else for that matter)

I read this story in the news today. It is abridged here for convenience.


A couple in Indonesia has been caned 140 times for having sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol because it violates Sharia, or Islamic religious law.


The 21-year-old woman fainted after what authorities said was a record number of strokes to be meted out in a public caning session in the Aceh province.

Three female officers took turns striking her with a rattan cane, while she cried. After she collapsed, she was carried off the stage by female officers to an ambulance.

Under Aceh's Islamic criminal code, sex outside marriage is punishable by 100 strokes of the cane, while consuming alcohol carries 40 strokes.


Now whilst I can't condone the examples above, I can't help but think that the likes of muggers, phone-snatchers and fraudsters who pray on the elderly and vulnerable might benefit from it.

Am I a hypocrite? (I suspect I already know the answer)

I don't imagine most people, me included, realise how much our thought processes are influenced by algorithms. For instance, I'm very anti Donald Trump, so most of the things I see reinforce that view, even though I'm careful to the point of paranoia about logging in, signing up, following, or accepting cookies. (If I can't reject all cookies, I close the link and move on)

On the other side of the coin, I suspect that Trump supporters are far more susceptible to online propaganda.

I have one pro Trump "Friend" who believes everything Trump says, even when he contradicts himself with his next sentence.

For balance though, my toaster is more intelligent than my friend.

You said recently that "AI has its dark side". Something that I find interesting.

I decided to retire about 10 years ago. And have done no Law since. But I recently asked a good friend how AI has changed Law. And his reply shocked me. In 2 major ways.

Firstly, it is having a devastating effect on job security. Literally thousands of mid-level Solicitors are going. The only survivors are proving to be the very best and the Minimum waged. Not in all fields (never needed a brain to do Conveyancing). But things like Litigation are being transformed. Knowledge is no longer relevant.

Secondly, forget the notion that AI is some sort of higher, non-judgmental power. The reverse is true. Suppose you want AI to draft legal proceedings. No-one just asks AI to draft proceedings. The instruction is "do it in the style of me" (having supplied AI with 2-3 previous draft pleadings) or "do it in the style of Boris Johnson, or Jeremy Corbyn or Donald Trump". And AI regularly tells BOTH sides they are likely to win

This isn't just confined to Law. So (for example) the Daily Express (or Mirror) have got rid of nearly all their journalists. And just churn out the same recycled AI ad nauseam. So (for example) every Friday the Express repeats the same article showing the best 30 seconds for the Right on Question Time. And every single week the Left (apparently) get "skewered"

The World is changing. And not in a good way.

The snowdrops are out again already.

What a difficult niche they occupy. Not much light, not much warmth, none of the usual pollinators, and yet here they are, looking serene and beautiful.

Aren't they fantastic?

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Don't know if you've seen this but the Train Spotter extraordinaire has gone and done a TV programme. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/mission-to-space-with-francis-bourgeois

I'm a bit of a photography crackpot. The kids call me The Paparazzi because I take photographs of inconsequential things or at inappropriate times.

"What are you taking a photograph of THAT for?" They ask, but a few years, or sometimes only weeks later, they are interested in them. "What WAS I wearing?" or "What a bitch she was, I told you her hair used to be brown"

I have literally thousands of photos that I store on a micro sd card in my phone, and I use an app called Random Photo, which, as the name suggests, picks photos at random for you to view, much like shuffle does with your music. It causes me to look at pics I had forgotten exist, and it's kind of exciting not knowing what is coming next.

Here are 4 random photos from my random photo viewer.

PS- I'm glad Mrs Red won't see them. No point in me trying to explain that I didn't choose to post two pictures of her bent double.

PPS- Yes I could have swapped one out for a more flattering example, but that would have spoiled the experiment.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Click to see full-size image.

Need a proper camera with a long lens really, but who wants to lug one of those around?

To quote Chase Jarvis, "The best camera is the one you have with you" Meaning any photo is better than none at all.

We all have a camera with us these days.

I've been trying for ages to get a picture of this buzzard but he's such a shy bugger.

This is my best effort so far.

Click to see full-size image.