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Apple have an advert airing at the moment, which says “When you’ve been to the moon and back, what do you do next?”
I looked at this, and I thought… What? The moon landings were in the 60’s… How did you go there?

So, I did just a little basic research. No Apple equipment landed on the moon, but they did orbit it.

At a distance of around 68 miles….

Suddenly, my travels are much more impressive!
I have flown over half of the world! At a height of around seven miles…
I’ve flown to Greece, the Canaries, and the Caribbean… That’s a lot of countries I’ve ‘been to’ without even knowing it.

Then… it was a cruise in the Caribbean. So I’ve ticked off many of my travel goals and never even knew it.

• U.S…. Done! I was closer to American territory than Apple was to the moon, so I’ve been there.
• War zone… Done! I sailed within a mile or two of Venezuela when there was a US military action there. The cruise ship was buzzed by an armed fighter jet, and we got a good look at the biggest aircraft carrier in the world as over twenty jet fighters circled it.
• Many European countries can be crossed off the list.
• South America, of course.
• And, on my next cruise, I can tick off Africa – because we will dock in Morocco.

But no… I’m a reasonable man. I would never make ridiculous claims like that…
Would never dream of saying something that my friends would laugh at like that, unless I was joking.

But, of course, I don’t work in Advertising.

I’ve been using ChatGPT a lot this year. The very first thing I talked about was what an AI is, and what it isn’t.

All the things you see being called an AI today, aren’t. Alan Turing created a simple test for AI, years ago, and not one of these things can pass it. And the way we use these ‘AI’s is the perfect test.

Have a text chat with the AI of your choice, and ask yourself – is this human? If the answer is ‘no’, then it isn’t an AI. It has to pass the test – it has to pass for human, to truly be an AI.

So, Chat and I… chatted, and he agreed with me. He always agrees with me. When I showed him two versions of a chapter – original and rewrite – he convincingly told me that the rewrite was better. When I pointed out that he’d got them the wrong way around… He told me that the rewrite was better!

He’s useful, though. Although I’m now asking myself if I can keep using him. I discovered something today, that isn’t the AI’s fault at all, but it makes him… untrustworthy.

Chats are private. Even ChatGPT cannot find out in one chat what you say in another. So, I need an answer to a big question.

I was talking about the possibility of going to Wadebridge in a couple of weeks, to see comedy legend Milton Jones, live. Not wanting to drive home afterwards, considering that I’d probably have a drink, I looked into the possibility of a hotel.
Premier Inn is a few minutes walk away, so it’s a contender.

Then an advert appeared under the AI’s reply. From booking.com, saying ‘Wadebridge stay’….

How did they know what was in a private chat?
I asked, and Chat told me that they couldn’t see my chats, but advertisers would be given keywords from it…

So, my question is: What is the difference between ‘they cannot read your chats’ and ‘they know what you are talking about’?

Because I cannot see one.

Apparently, too, turning off targeted advertising has no effect on this targeted advertising – it is exempt. It’s not ‘targeted’ it’s content-based…

I pay a subscription for this service. I’m beginning to think I’m an idiot.

This blog used to live under the title of ‘I hate you all’ – until I lost the backup, and had to start again. (Useless computers!)

Things have changed a lot in the last year and a bit. In fact, they’ve changed a lot in the last decade!

I used to post a lot, when I was the full time carer for my wife. She died almost twelve years ago, and I’ve gone through a lot since then, including, but not limited to:

• Remarrying after less than a year
• Taking a job with a big supermarket as a delivery driver
• Burying my brother
• Losing my dog
• Losing both parents within four months of one another
• Delivering through Covid
• Divorcing my wife
• Retirement

After all that, you’d expect me to be… well… at the absolute bottom of my life.

Well, you’d be wrong. The last year has been fantastic! I have one more antidepressant to take, then I’m off them, finally – it’s only been eleven years….

Most importantly, and the reason I’ve breathed some life into this site again…

I’m writing again.

I started with the fabled book I promised my sister before she died – somewhere around twenty years ago… I told her my idea, and she loved it so much, she made me promise to write it.

I finally wrote it, starting in April this year. Just over four months ago. If you’re surprised to hear me say ‘I wrote it’, instead of ‘I’m writing it’ I need to surprise you even more.

It is now in its second re-write, but it is now book number two in a three book set. All three books have been written. Book one, Shrinkage, is actually in the hands of an agent right now!

Book 2, as I say, is being rewritten, book 3 is waiting to be rewritten. Book 4 and 5 are planned, and there are at least half a dozen book outlines patiently waiting their turn.

The cork has been removed, and words are pouring out of the bottle.

It seemed like a good time to relaunch my blog.