technology – The Future is Open

February 8, 2023

Being Woke: A Path to Justice, Love and Equality

I asked ChatGPT to write a poem about being “Woke.” It came out better than I expected. It’s another reason to like this new AI technology and the perfect response to those who would discourage others from caring deeply about social issues.

“Being woke is a state of mind, Where truth and justice we hope to find. It’s a path to consciousness and light, Where prejudices and biases take flight.

With eyes wide open, we see the truth, The struggles and hardships of those who were deemed uncouth. We stand for the marginalized, for their rights to be heard, And strive for a world where love and equality are revered.

Being woke is more than just a trend, It’s a call to action and a commitment we tend. To make the world a better place, with love and respect, Where every person, no matter their race, is truly accepted.

So let us rise, and never rest, In this quest for justice, love and success. For being woke is not a destination, It’s a journey towards a world of peace and liberation.”

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022

What is an AI Writer?

An AI writer is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can generate written content. AI writers are powered by natural language processing (NLP) and natural language generation (NLG) algorithms that enable them to understand and generate written content. AI writers can be used to create content for a variety of applications, including content creation, automated news reports, and automated social media posts.

Natural Language Generation (NLG): NLG is a type of AI technology that enables machines to generate written content from structured data. NLG algorithms are used to analyze data and generate written content that is both accurate and engaging.

Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP is a type of AI technology that enables machines to understand written content. NLP algorithms are used to analyze written content and extract meaning from it.

AI writers learn by analyzing large amounts of data. They use machine learning algorithms to identify patterns in the data and generate written content that is both accurate and engaging.

AI writers use machine learning algorithms to generate written content. Machine learning algorithms enable AI writers to identify patterns in data and generate written content that is both accurate and engaging.

AI writers can be used to create content for a variety of applications, including website content, blog posts, and articles. AI writers can generate content that is both accurate and engaging, making them a valuable tool for content creators.

AI writers can analyze data and generate written content that is both accurate and engaging, making them a valuable tool for news organizations.

AI writers can be used to generate automated social media posts. AI writers can analyze data and generate written content that is both accurate and engaging, making them a valuable tool for social media marketers.

AI writers can be prone to bias if they are not trained properly. AI writers can learn from the data they are given, so it is important to ensure that the data is unbiased and representative of the population.

AI writers are limited by the data they are given. AI writers can only generate content that is based on the data they are given, so it is important to ensure that the data is accurate and representative of the population.

AI writers are a powerful tool for content creation, automated news reports, and automated social media posts. However, there are some challenges with AI writers, including bias and limitations. It is important to ensure that AI writers are trained properly and given accurate data in order to ensure that the content they generate is both accurate and engaging. Despite these challenges, AI writers have the potential to revolutionize the way we create content and communicate with each other.

This blog post was created by HyperwriterAI.

December 10, 2022December 10, 2022

An intelligent approach to eggs

I’m not a fan of eggs in the morning so the rising prices will not effect my breakfast. But I am a fan of cookies, cakes, casseroles and breads that do use eggs. The rising cost of eggs will affect baking and many food items that use eggs. Many Americans are not aware that there are ingredients that can be substituted for eggs and the cost of the items they’re making will be reduced and maybe they’ll have lower cholesterol as well. Eggs are a wonderful ingredient but maybe there are other ingredients that are even better. I asked ChatGPT to supply a list of egg substitutes that can be used in baking and cooking. Here are five possible solutions to your baking woes:

Applesauce: This can be used as a substitute for eggs in many recipes, and can be used in a 1:1 ratio (i.e., 1/4 cup applesauce can be used in place of 1 egg).
Banana: Mashed bananas can also be used as a substitute for eggs in many recipes, and can be used in a 1:1 ratio.
Flaxseed meal: Mixing 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons of water can be used as a substitute for one egg in many recipes.
Commercial egg replacer: There are many commercial egg replacer products on the market that can be used as a substitute for eggs in cooking and baking. These products are typically made from a combination of starches and other ingredients, and can be used in a 1:1 ratio.

It’s important to note that not all substitutes work well in all recipes, so it’s best to experiment and see which ones work best for the specific dish you’re making.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been experimenting with artificial intelligence solutions to improve my own writing and research. I used ChatGPT and HyperWrite in this blog post.

December 10, 2022December 10, 2022

Using ChatGPT

Earlier today I decided to begin using ChatGPT. Curiosity got the best of me. I asked ChatGPT to draw a square with Python. I’m very familiar with the ‘turtle’ module in Python and regularly use it in classes I teach for middle school students. The solution offered by ChatGPT was not one I had ever seen nor demonstrated for students. I was impressed and shared this on Fosstodon.org . Later I asked ChatGPT to draw and ‘isosceles’ triangle. I expected that it might use the ‘turtle’ module again but instead this time it used ‘matplotlib.’ Another unique solution. A response to my post on Fosstodon stated that the AI powered solution was merely repeating information that could be found with a ‘Google search.’ I liked the response and didn’t disagree. Fast forward six hours and I used ChatGPT to draw a circle with ‘C++.’ The code appeared once again. This time AI provided two possible solutions. I asked it to give me a Python program that would write haiku. Once again the answer was a code snippet I would not have thought of.

import random

haiku = [
    "Autumn leaves fall gently",
    "As the cool breeze blows softly",
    "Nature's symphony"
]

print(random.choice(haiku))

I ‘Googled’ the same request and yes the answers were there but I had to sift through a couple of blog posts to find the code examples. I think AI is going to significantly change how we interact with knowledge from the internet and other databases that are connected to these learning engines. What are your thoughts?

March 10, 2022

Time for change

Gasoline is $1.53 a liter in Ontario adjusted for US dollars and Joe Biden isn’t president either. Gasoline has historically cost more in Canada and the rest of the world. According to my brother gasoline is $8.88 a gallon in Zurich Switzerland. It’s long past time to find other modes of transportation. If you aren’t a farmer or a construction worker you don’t need a 1/2 or 3/4 ton pickup truck with all wheel drive. That’s ego and it will always cost more. My parents lived through WWII when gas was rationed. In 1974 after the Yom Kippur War gas prices doubled and tripled. I had to plan my leave and liberty around the calendar because in NYS you could only buy gas on even or odd days based on your license plate numbers. The national speed limit was set to 55 mph. In the past 40 plus years we’ve listened to politicians and others who convinced us we could drive like maniacs,own SUVs and Humvees that got atrocious mileage and live large otherwise. It just isn’t realistic. Electric cars and sustainable fuels are the future. Don’t let politicians and pundits bullshit you into believing it’s not possible. We won WWII. We put people on the moon because we believed we could. It’s time to reimagine our world and worldview.

May 1, 2020

Relearning Moodle

I’m going to write an article about how Moodle can be used by teachers forced to be socially distanced from their students during this pandemic. Eleven years ago I set up a Moodle server which I used in a class on digital citizenship. I can’t remember what version of Moodle that was. I liked Moodle because it fit the curriculum I was teaching and the students could access the server from home. It was a virtual machine that I downloaded from Turnkey Linux. My latest install of Moodle is also a VM but it’s running in Virtualbox on a MacBook Pro. I’m running it within my home network.

I wrote an article several years ago about MoodleBox which was a implementation of Moodle with a Raspberry Pi. It was a great implementation of Moodle. One of the new developments for me is that it doesn’t seem to be possible to download ready made courses for Moodle anymore. That used to be a feature. If anyone reading this blog can point me in the direction of pre-made Moodle content I’d appreciate it

I’m also looking for good videos that explain the nuances of Moodle Administration and content creation. Please feel free to comment.

April 27, 2020

Linux Mint on MacBook Air

I have an early 2015 MacBook Air that developed problems a couple years ago when it’s battery gave up the ghost after an upgrade to MacOS Mojave. Then last fall the SSD drive gave out. I ordered a new battery and installed it and ordered a 240 GB NVMe drive for the unit and installed it also. I couldn’t get MacOS reinstalled on it. An internet search revealed that I needed a firmware upgrade. Interestingly enough Linux recognizes the SSD without difficulty.

I experimented with Ubuntu 19.10, Fedora and eventually settled on ElementaryOS which worked the best. I wrote an article about how to “Give and old MacBook new life.” Since then I have used the machine as a test platform for various projects including another article about “Why I use WordPress.” I set up WordPress in a virtual machine on that box.

Fast forward to last week when Ubuntu 20.04 was released. I wanted to see how this latest version of Ubuntu would work. I downloaded the ISO on my daily driver which is a System76 Darter Pro running Pop_OS and created a bootable USB with “Popsicle” which is a great tool. I tried a live session and determined that out of the box the new version didn’t support the BroadComm 4360 wireless chipset in the MacBook Air. I did some research and decided I’d try the full install and add the Broadcom software after the fact. I connected to the ethernet port and performed the installation. All went well and then I added the Broadcom drivers later. All seems to be working well now except the FaceTime camera.

Much to my chagrin the next time I started the computer it just would not get past the startup screen and after a number of trials I decided to try Linux Mint XFCE . I had already installed Mint on another PC in February and had the ISO already to burn. I used Popsicle again and then installed Mint on the MacBook Air. After the install was complete and I had rebooted Mint found the Broadcom 4360 in the MacBook and invited me to install the drivers. Linux Mint quickly found my HP printer and installed the necessary software. If anyone reading this blog has suggestions for how to solve the FaceTime camera issue I’d appreciate any suggestions. Once again Linux has extended the life of a five year old computer.

April 23, 2020

Linux News

Today was a big day in the Linux community with the release of Ubuntu 20.04. A long time friend of mine reached out to me a couple of days ago asking me to familiarize him again with how to create a bootable USB drive so that he could update his laptop with the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. I sent the directions and today he sent me a text to let me know that the install went great and that he’s very happy with it. You can download your own copy of 20.04 which is called Focal Fossa. My friend Dave said it made his computer faster. What’s under the hood of this latest release. I’ve been a Ubuntu user for fifteen years now. I got my first copy of Ubuntu 5.04 at the Portland Linux User Group (PLUG) while I in Portland on business. I’d been a solid Fedora user up until then. I left the world of RPM for .deb files. At first it all seemed a bit foreign .

$ sudo apt-get install. Now, that’s changed to $ sudo apt install and Fedora is using sudo too. A lot has changed in fifteen years in the Linux community but one thing hasn’t and that is the rock solid reliability of the kernel and the innovation of the communities that support Linux distributions.

Tonight I was working on an installation of WordPress in VM with Virtualbox. I downloaded the .iso from TurnkeyLinux. and built a test WordPress server. I’m writing a “how-to” for H5P which is a great plugin that supports creating, sharing and reusing interactive content in your browser. I was having some problems getting H5P to work properly on this machine. I had to update and upgrade the PHP on the Debian image to get everything working properly. My experience as a Linux Sysadmin came in handy and now H5P is working well.

Are you a Linux user? Do you have any projects your working on? I’d love to hear what you’re doing.

April 18, 2020

A New Order Emerges

“Teilhard prophetically anticipated that human evolution would not take place without sideways forces of resistance and devolution, but he also saw that we would reach a decisive point of choosing either to evolve or to annihilate. We can destroy this world and ourselves in the process. We have the power to do so both in the form of weapons of mass destruction and the weapons of anger and hate.”

— A Hunger for Wholeness: Soul, Space, and Transcendence by Ilia Delio, OSF

The coronavirus maybe the agent of a new order. We can see the older order driven by fear, so called free market capitalism, xenophobia and ignorance flailing madly about trying to preserve the status quo in which the ultra-rich have benefitted. Covid-19 is deadly and only those who heed the directives to shelter in place are going to avoid its ravages. Maybe even those of us who are wearing masks, physically distancing, washing our hands religiously are still in danger.

I don’t think we are ever going back to the “way it was.” This pandemic is a prophetic moment and a warning. What happens in our community can have a global impact. We can chose to evolve or annihilate. The established order wants to maintain what was but that will never be and they are fighting tooth and nail to hold on. There is a new order emerging and who knows exactly how it will manifest. We are evolving. How will that order manifest?