I think readers will want a place to discuss one of the stories this week. Heck, I want to talk more about it too. I’ll start with the story itself.
Technology
NCL’s Shame
We were quite aware of the earthquake and tsunami last week, and naturally a related story made it into True. Let’s start with that.
Hands Off My Work, NYT!
I use ChatGPT for some of my research and brainstorming, to find interesting obituaries for the Honorary Unsubscribe, and more. And the New York Times is demanding to know what it is I ask ChatGPT, and how.
Nominative Determinism
A phrase in a tagline in this week’s issue stumped several readers — who had enough curiosity to (gasp!) look it up! So let’s talk about it. First, the story.
A.I.-Roller
Or, the Continued Challenges of Artificial Non-intelligence.
I was in Denver last week for the first in-person meeting of my online entrepreneur mastermind group since Covid. One point of discussion was to use “A.I.” large language models to proofread articles.
My Interview with an AI Chatbot about… Thinking
What happens when you talk to an artificial intelligence language model about the value of something it can’t actually do? Thinking, I mean.
You Won’t Believe Your Eyes
Or maybe the second word in the title should be “Shouldn’t”!
Oh No, JATO?!
Last Week’s Blog Post asking that readers Be Smarter about phishing emails was read thousands of times, but apparently not by one long-time reader who sent me (yes, he sent it, not malware) an email with the subject, “O. M. G. -----The Darwin Awards are out!”
Zero Gravity Bureaucracy: The Real Story
When NASA first started sending astronauts to space, they knew ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity.
Biohacking with Hardware 1:
the Apollo Neuro Wearable Band
Last May, I wrote that after going to a meeting on biohacking, I’d have more to say on the “tech stuff” I’ve learned about after I play with it a little. “The theory of operation,” I said, “is really interesting!” It has taken much longer to “play with it” than I had hoped before I came up with my conclusions.
How Not to Call 911: A Real World Example
True contributor Alexander Cohen and I had quite the discussion about the Canadian woman desperately trying to get police help when there was an intruder in her home.
The First True Member of the Creator Economy?
Probably the Most Thorough Interview I’ve been subjected to happened in mid-June. It took journalist Simon Owens (who writes with great insight about the “Creator Economy”) until today to distill his notes down …to only 4,000 words! He was boggled that True was able to start, let alone survive, in the ancient days of the Internet, when there were no tools to do what I’ve been doing since 1994.
Amazon’s New Robot: Evil Wall-E?
My thoughts on Amazon’s new personal robot …and why I’ll NEVER have one in my home.
Our Dr. Brooks
Sometimes, the Lives of Readers intersect with mine in interesting ways. This is one such story, and it started in 1971 — though I didn’t realize the connection until much more recently.
091: Don’t Die in the Next Five Years
In This Episode: The title — Don’t Die in the Next Five Years — is an unofficial motto of an organization my wife and I joined, and we went to our first conference with them as members last week. They say this because of coming advances in medicine in the next several years, and we got a glimpse into some of those advances, including some things that aren’t even published yet in medical journals, that were mind-blowing. This episode is my first report on what I learned.
090: Rescuing Uncommon Sense
In This Episode: A story in This is True struck me as an astonishing example of Uncommon Sense, so I thought I’d tell you about it to see some really out-of-the-box thinking, and provide some practical advice that could save your life. Here’s a hint: no one thinks they’re going to get lost and need rescue. Yet there are tens of thousands of rescues every year in the U.S. alone. What will increase your odds of being safe? Uncommon Sense.
Time for Fax Machines to Die
It’s time for us to move beyond fax machines, which are still in wide use in healthcare. If you’re an American who has been prescribed a drug in the past several years, it’s extremely likely your doctor sent that prescription to the pharmacy via fax “technology.”
Peckertrace: Little Boys Will Be Little Boys
Yet Another Case of a Certain Kind of Story (which I usually ignore, rather than feature in True) has led to a new This is True word:
peckertrace (pĕk′ər trās)
Peak Stress
The lead story this week is mind-blowing …especially to me as a current first responder medic and former deputy sheriff. Here, I go through the incident step by step to show just how fast the deputy had to react — and make a life-altering decision along the way.
074: “I’ve Learned to Never Give Up”
In This Episode: Previous episodes have pointed out that children can indeed have Uncommon Sense. So much so, they can truly contribute to society. So this week, I’ll tell you about Nora Keegan. She’s 14, and has been doing something extraordinary for five years now.