I'm not sure I like it. I like it less when I can feel the hairs near my lips, so that's why I'm going for the c. Everett Koop look. Which, of course, brings this up:
There are people out there scrambling -- scrambling, mind you -- to find ways to use generative artificial intelligence for good. I concede there may be good uses for the technology out there, but on the surface it appears what two professors at Carnegie Mellon University is not the approach we should take.
Writing is messy. It can be difficult, even for seasoned writers. But writing is a muscle that improves with use and use and use, and I'm not convinced "lightening the cognitive load" in the early stages of writing by having artificial intelligence write for us is the way to go.
It all comes down to approach, I suppose. If the students these professors have are looking at what artificial intelligence writes and learning from it, really dissecting it, I suppose that works. But the same can be accomplished through examples of non-AI writing and a lot of practice.
What I fear with AI is that students will see that easing of the cognitive load and not learn anything from it but how to manage AI prompts to get what they need. The skills in writing don't develop naturally as students continue to take the easy, AI way out of writing problems.
From the article on EdSurge:
A key feature of their new tool is called “Notes to Prose,” which can take loose bullet points or stray thoughts typed by a student and turn them into sentences or draft paragraphs, thanks to an interface to ChatGPT.
“A bottleneck of writing is sentence generation — getting ideas into sentences,” Ishizaki says. “That is a big task. That part is really costly in terms of cognitive load.”
In other words, especially for beginning writers, it’s difficult to both think of new ideas and keep in mind all the rules of crafting a sentence at the same time, just as it’s difficult for a beginning driver to keep track of both the road surroundings and the mechanics of driving.
“We thought, ‘Can we really lighten that load with generative AI?” he says.
I think AI has roles in generating outlines and assisting with brainstorming -- as long as users are willing to look at what AI offers with a critical eye and does the rest of the work without assistance.
Any AI-related shortcut, I fear, will become just that: a shortcut, taken every time a writing problem arises, without developing the underlying skill the shortcut eliminates. I've written about that before, and I think this example coming from the programming world beautifully illustrates the uses and pitfalls AI brings to writers. AI can have its place in the toolbox, but if AI becomes the beginning and end of a writer's work, we've lost.
Alexia is on her way home from North Dakota for a friend's wedding. She called Isaac a little after 7 this morning reporting that her van was smoking. He suspected she was out of coolant, and suggested she pull over and check. She was indeed out. She refilled her radiator a few times and managed to limp her way to Big Timber.
In the meantime, Michelle and Isaac put together a rescue mission. Isaac packed up his tools and they met her at Big Timber, where she finally was able to spot the coolant leak. It turned out it was a plastic splitter than had cracked. Isaac couldn't reach it, but knew what needed to be done. He directed Lexi, who could get her hands down to where the broken part was, to remove the hose clamps, hoses, and the broken part. They got a new splitter put back in and are now on their way home. Hoping they get here about midnight or so tonight.
Grateful for a son who knows how to do things and for a daughter brave enough to keep on keeping on, following her brother's long-distance instructions, to get her home.
Accounts vary, but it sounds like they spent about $50 on tools and parts, with another $60 for coolant. This could turn out very well, and I'm grateful for this family's ability to help each other out.
Latest report at 7:06 pm is they're just finishing up dinner in Bozeman, and that Lexi's van is doing just fine.
Update 8:13 pm, corrections are coming in from Isaac:
Richard and Robert Sherman pretty much wrote the music of my childhood.
I grew up pretty indifferent to most music. I liked classical music because my Dad liked it. Pop music was pretty much unknown territory, except for a few things that penetrated my skull from the AM radio in the kitchen.
Then there was Disney. Lots of Disney music.
Most of that due to Richard and Robert Sherman.
Richard Sherman passed away today at the age of 95, following his brother Robert who died in 2012.
I guess maybe I thought both of them had already passed on. Anyway, thank you, Brothers Sherman, for making my childhood more musical than it might have been.
Gotta say this: I learned a lot about how Gemini prepped NASA for the Apollo missions watching this documentary.
Apollo, of course, is what gets the most attention. But Gemini, wow, they spent a lot of time learning how to do what made Apollo successful. I figured they'd done all that before Apollo 11 landed on the Moon -- but clearly the training mission went on for much longer than that.
If you've got several hours, watch this, and the one that precedes it. Highly recommended.
Thusfar, it appears the Bonneville GOP's official ballot candidates are going 1 for 10, with only Randy Neal ahead in his race. Yes, the "night is young," as they say. But these are small races with small numbers, so it's not likely we'll see much change here.
Two other, less local races in which the GOP picked official, we recommend candidates, they're going 0 for 2. There's another race where I don't know if the GOP had an official candidate, but it's a close race, probably the closest of the night. I hope the result in that one stays as it is now.
UPDATE: Overnight, the results did not change.
So the 2024 primaries are over. It remains to be seen whether the guy whose sign I have in the front yard wins his race, but I have high hopes.
What's even better: The election is over and I won't have to throw away reams of election-related propaganda from the mail.
This video from Ace Ventura, of course, sums up the primary election experience for the most part.
Time will tell whether my election observation comes true: Typically, those who win take their campaign signs down pretty quickly, while the losers let them linger as if to chide us for not voting for them.
I hope I see a lot of Bryan Smith signs.
Spring has sprung. The weed and feed I've put out on the grass seems to be doing wonders. And we're in Week Three of filling in for the boss and for the most part, things are going fine.
I'm sure I'm doing things wrong; that's inevitable. But I like to think I'm doing a lot of things right. I've talked this over with Ross, the other guy who's taking on some of the responsibilities, and we both agree what struggles we're having are not from a lack of information, but from a lack of experience. It's like we're working on a fantasic jigsaw puzzle, trying to put all the pieces together.
So it's going all right. We'll see what happens when next week rolls around, but I anticipate more successes than failures. That feels good.
So though there's a lot of stress still around, mentally I'm doing better than I probably have the right to be doing. I've asked God for a lot of help, and I have received a lot of help. My family's been really supportive as well, and you can't ask for more than that.
One concern: I keep getting occasional numbness in my right arm. I'm not exactly sure what's causing it, but I have to be careful how I position things. I suspect it's some kind of carpal tunnel syndrome, as I have been at my desk a lot.
For the first five minutes of class, I’d like you to think about and answer on paper these questions. I will ask for volunteers to share their answers.
1. What’s the hardest test you’ve ever taken, and what were the results or consequences of that test?
2. When in your life have you shown courage, and what were the results or consequences of your display of courage?
Mosiah 11-17
Many stories of courage.
Abinadi: How was he courageous? What tests did he face? What were the consequences of his courage?
Alma the Elder: How was he courageous? What tests did he face? What were the consequences of his courage?
The chances of us being called on to defend the gospel of Christ to the level Abinadi was called to are slim. But we face multiple tests of our convictions and courage to be disciples of Christ pretty much daily.
How?
What power do we have to draw on?
2 Kings 6:14-17
Mosiah 16:9
2 Timothy 1:7
Examples of tests or courage from President Monson:
May I speak … about the courage to refrain from judging others. Oh, you may ask, “Does this really take courage?” And I would reply that I believe there are many times when refraining from judgment—or gossip or criticism, which are certainly akin to judgment—takes an act of courage.
Unfortunately, there are those who feel it necessary to criticize and to belittle others. You have, no doubt, been with such people, as you will be in the future. … We are not left to wonder what our behavior should be in such situations. … [The Savior] admonished, “Cease to find fault one with another” [Doctrine and Covenants 88:124]. It will take real courage when you are surrounded by your peers and feeling the pressure to participate in such criticisms and judgments to refrain from joining in. … … I plead with you to have the courage to refrain from judging and criticizing those around you, as well as the courage to make certain everyone is included and feels loved and valued.
Courage becomes a living and an attractive virtue when it is regarded not only as a willingness to die manfully but also as the determination to live decently.
Worthwhile
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
IT IS EASY ENOUGH to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.
It is easy enough to be prudent,
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor on earth
Is the one that resists desire.
By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered to-day;
They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile,
It is these that are worth the homage on earth
For we find them but once in a while.
He's got a lot of work yet to do on it, but seeing him accomplish these things and overcome obstacles that come in his way makes me proud.
Up until this week, about the only thing I knew about 1994's Coen Brothers' film "The Hudsucker Proxy" was this:
Now that I've watched the film, I understand a lot more about this scene (Natch). And this is indeed a Coen brothers movie, what with the cartoony action and all.
I liked it. I liked it's throwback feel to bigger morality shows Hollywood used to produce. I saw bits of "It's A Wonderful Life," "Citizen Kane," and other big message pictures in it, with a bit of Terry Gilliam fantasy thrown in.
The Coens excel at casting, or at least the people they hire do (I don't know much about their process). Tim Robbins is wonderful in this film. He's got that innocent goofiness the character needed. Seeing John Mahoney as the hard-bitten newspaper editor was also fun.
I'm not sure if it's a film I need to watch again, but it was certainly worth watching once.
We went to the Menan Buttes with some friends to watch the aurora.
For the first hour or so, we could see a faint green glow, streaked with even fainter stripes of pink and red.
We decided to head home, but about ten minutes after we left the aurora exploded into the curtains of green and pink you see here. We pulled off the highway and, accompanied by a nearby pondful of frogs, oohed and aahed at the display.
Then, as quickly as it appeared, it faded.
Michelle Davidson got these pictures for us. What a wonderful night.
My question for Facebook is thus: Who amd I spamming? Myself? My 500-odd friends? And did the algorithm flag this, or did a visitor flag it as spam? Who knows.
I have, of course, requested a review. I exepct, of course, to have nothing come of it.
Folks, it's been a stressful week for me at my full-time job, but I'm here to say I've felt your prayers and the prayers of others around me.
My wife and I went to the temple last night, and as we sat in the Celestial Room, I again had confirmation that God knows me and knows my concerns and fears and he sent a comforting spirit to help me feel that.
I know God listens to prayers, and wants to help us in all we do as we do our best and remain worthy to tap into His blessings.
As I sat there, I grabbed a copy of the Book of Mormon, and opened it and random. I landed in Alma 34, where Amulek testifies that we can and should pray for temporal and spiritual blessings:
17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;
18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.
19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.
22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.
23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.
24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.
25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.
26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.
Thank you for your help.
So my skepticism over a name change for the BSA is proved wrong.
The AP reports today that effective Feb. 8, 2025, the Boy Scouts of America will become Scouting America.
I expect to see some debate over this choice of name.
I went to bed last night having stress dreams about things going wrong at work. As I mentioned earlier, I'm temporarily taking on new duties while our boss is on a well-earned vacation (proper level of sucking up achieved).
Before I went to bed, I asked God in my prayers to help ease that stress. I also asked my students and family to pray for me to help ease the burden of these next few weeks. I testify that prayers work.
The dreams turned into dreams of me accomplishing the work using what I've learned in the past few weeks. That was a nice way to start the week.
Breathless -- and I mean BREATHLESS -- discussions on Boy Scouts of America-adjacent Facebook forums this morning about a possible name change for the national organization being announced this week (possibly Thursday, as the BSA has a speech scheduled during their national meeting titled "Roadmap Session: Broaden our Appeal and Revitalize Our Brand.")
Is a sweeping name change possible? Those touting this filing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office seem to think so.
But is it likely?
I have my doubts.
First of all, there's Scouts BSA. This name was chosen prior to introducing girls to the BSA in 2019. Do they really need to revitalize the brand this close to this previous announcement?
The "new name" being touted is Scouting America. As some have pointed out, that's already been done, by the BSA itself, back in the 1970s. Or at least something similar was, and it was abandoned shortly after it was announced.
Then in March, the BSA rolled out new scout uniforms. Seems to me if they were planning a name change in May, they might have delayed that rollout to coincide with the new name.
Companies trademark adjacent-sounding names all the time.
I think they're making a lot of noise about this trademark application without really knowing what signal lies therein.
I guess we'll see.
For a few glorious weeks, I could see our books floor to ceiling. I could put books away, not pile them in some precarious corner until I could spot an opening.
But then Michelle, prepping for some scout training coming up in June, saw an empty spot. And filled it.
Oh well. I'll look at our books again in July.
