Lee.org

Dumb AI still makes me mad.

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‘Sherman N.’ says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?
me: Hi, I have a mindspring dialup account. I’m trying to access my mail from another computer but my username and password don’t seem to work. Could it be that I’m not allowed to access POP mail via the internet?
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me: No, I don’t need to know my password. I have my password. Please turn off that crummy artificial intelligence system and re-read my request.
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‘Joshua G’ says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?
[There was a 15 second pause here that really got me bothered. I thought that I was going to have to repeat what I said to a MACHINE to a human. I was about to copy and paste my previous correspondence when…..]
Joshua G: =”black”>=”OperatorText”>Hello, I see you’ve already been chatting. Please give me a moment so I can read the previous chat and pick up where you left off.
me: Let me take this opportunity to say that "Sherman N" is a crappy AI.

…

Eliza… Eliza…. My heart’s on fire…… for Eliza!

This really freaks me out.
SSI Super Duper Shredder. Shreds all that ails you, from washing machines to 55 gallon steel drums.

Check out a local copy of the video that freaks me out the most.

Jeez…. I might just have nightmares about this thing… So why am I blogging it?!!?

I haven’t tried it yet but others say it works. Windows is playing a little catch-up here… Unix had symbolic links in 1973 and it’s not a clever hack… it just works. Junction Link Magic

Hard links too with NTFS Hardlink Shellextention.

Go to these websites, type in your name and they’ll tell you if there are any state “unclaimed monies” due to you. My friend Jen saw that I was owed money by the University of Massachusetts and gave me a call. I haven’t actually be able to claim the money yet but, yes, it’s totally legit.

National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators
MissingMoney.com

update 3-18-05: Yup, the University of Massachusetts owes me about $600. I just have to provide my current address at the time. Ack! I don’t remember the exact address so I’m asking some MA friends if they can help out.

update 9-10-14: It turned out that the money owed was because the registrar didn’t know to apply a payment to a class I took way back in the ’90’s. So they turned the check over to the state. This actually turned out to be useful because it helped me deduce why I couldn’t get my transcript from them when applying to grad school! The State of Massachusetts owed me $653 and University of Massachusetts wanted $653 before they’d release my transcript. We sorted it all out.

My trip to the bay area went very well. I got to meet up with a great variety of people, see a lot of the sights and get a real feel for the place. Since there’s so much to say, I’ll just spit this all out in no real order (if you want a good story, go buy a book… this is my life and my life is a mess)

I may add more to this later so check back…

The North-eastern corner of Lake Merritt in Oakland had a really really nice vibe. S.H. took me there and I couldn’t get the grin off my face at how nice it was there.

My brain was agape when Geo rattled off more than 10 organizations in the Bay Area devoted to cool things like fire and industrial arts. The best example I know if is The Crucible but it is certainly not the only one.

I’m amazed at how much the area from Santa Cruz to San Francisco is ruled by geography. In NJ, you can plop down a house or strip mall pretty much wherever you want but in San Fran… for example, hardly anyone lives in Fremont because it’s mostly wetland or steep hills. People try to live on the sides of mountains that, frankly they shouldn’t try to live on, especially considering the prevalence of earthquakes. But there are limits to even aggressive building practices… many structures are very close to large beautiful forests, mountains, oceans and the like. It’s an odd but fairly satisfying mix. Drive an hour in any direction and you’re among real nature. From my house now, if you drive an hour, you’re in either a city, suburbs, or sub-suburbs (east, south, north or west)

Housing is expensive… Mostly a bit more than Brooklyn. Expect to buy for $500,000 per bedroom. 1 BR $1,000+, 2BR $1500+, 3 BR $2000+. Bargains below this ($700-9000) can be had in various housemate situations.

Some people think Computer Guy would do great in the area, some people are…. not so sure. I’m not so sure. :-(

My hosts were all great. A big thank you to S.H., Tree, Brillig, G,

I am in the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.

Hey Trav, I was in The Crucible earlier tonight checking out a presentation about a monster fridge and teched-out sailboat and who walked by but Geo! I know 5 people in San Francisco and bump into 1 by accident! How about that?

This is just a little ping to say that I’m doing well. I’ve visited Berkely and Oakland with S.H. Very good vibe. She asked me why I was going to Grass Valley. “Because 3 friends have told me that it’s a place to check out if I want that “hippier” feel.” She wasn’t sure but doubted that ascertion so we walked into a bookstore and I had to pick up 4 CA travel guides before I found even a mention of Grass Valley. And that was more of a blurb than a listing. Aparently, Grass Valley’s claim to fame is some woman who (if I remember correctly from Fodor’s guide) entertained the gold miners in 1850 with her Spider Dance. She wasn’t a particularly good dancer, but she was very well known. Fodors listed 2 places to eat and one place to visit. At that, S.H. and I simultaneously, in harmony, said, “What the hell were they thinking?”

I’m in Santa Cruz right now and I keep reading in the papers how the whole area gets wiped off the map every couple decades… and they’re pretty much due for another disaster soon.

MetroSantaCruz, Feb 23rd, 2005

Naturally, because the odds are against us. The sexy strip of land we call downtown is part of the natural floodplain of the San Lorenzo River–witness that this is the 50th anniversary of the 1955 flood that devastated downtown. The soil here is subject to liquefaction in an earthquake, and if there ever was a major tsunami on the West Coast (soothing experts say it’s is extremely unlikely), well, the downtown is right in the tsunami run-up area. If we were golfers, we’d call the spot where downtown Santa Cruz landed a bad lie.

“I keep looking over my shoulder for the locusts,” says John Lisher, owner of Artisan’s Gallery. Lisher was one of the many merchants who owned businesses on Pacific Avenue when the Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed the downtown on Oct. 17, 1989.

Good Times weekly (speaking about Santa Cruz…)

…That’s the typical California cycle – flood, drought, wildfire, and flood with landslides…

It’s very pretty here, but doesn’t have the peppy vibe I’m looking for.

I’m liking Berkeley and Oakland.

More later.

I told a bunch of people that I was leaving at 3:30 for my 5:30 flight… I didn’t think too much of it… nobody said anything… I’ve done it lots of times before….. right? Hey, what’s all this fog doing in my brain?

• left home at 3:30 for a 5:35 flight
• made deposit at ATM
• mailed express mail package
• 3:45, called sister from exit 30
• got on 287
• got on 24
• small tie up getting onto 78
• drove under "Welcome to Newark Airport" sign at 4:30, “An hour before the flight, a little tight, but no problem.”
• got parking ticket at 4:37 (so says the ticket)
• parked
• walked into Terminal
• Peed
• Found "Continental Elite" checkin station
• Found "All You Riff-Raff" checkin station
• Got in line at 4:58
• Checked in at 5:05
• No wait, the flight is at 5:20. They had changed it a month ago and notified me but I hadn’t groked that.
• Fuck.
• Booked for 7am flight the next day
• Left parking lot at 5:25 in a crushed daze.
• 5:45 Got in bizarro argument with mother where she kept trying to
  manipulate my unhappiness. Hung up on her.
• 5:50 called sister
• 5:55 called S.H. with change of plans
• 6:00 ate greasy gross dinner at Popeyes Chicken, enjoying how much I
  disliked the food.
• 6:30 moped in restaurant
• 6:45 wandered Hudson Mall aimlessly (and realized that it had 2 Foot
  Locker stores less than 200 feet apart… that insanity got my mind off my problem for a couple minutes)
• 7:00 drove back to Bumpkettstown
• 8:45 Got there after sucky sucky drive. I almost fell asleep on the
  highway… (which is why I can’t go to parties in NYC…. On 2 different
  occations I’ve taken > 4 hrs to get home because I kept needing to pull over
  and nap.)
• 9:45 bed time. I’ve got to leave for the airport at 4 am.

Tuesday Feb 22nd – Arrive SFO at 8:40pm
Tues – Oakland with S.H.
Wed – Meet T in San Jose, continue w/ to Boulder Creek
Thurs – check out Santa Cruz, San Jose
Fri – Check out Grass Valley. Unstructured.
Sat – Check out Grass Valley. Unstructured.
Sun – Oakland with B.
Mon – Pacifica with G.
Tues – Berkeley with J.?
Wednesday March 2nd – Leave SFO at 11:15am. Arrive EWR at 7:40pm

Is it a vacation?
Is it trying to run away?
Is it dumb?
Is it a violation of family trust?
Tough. I’m going.

I do, you know.
(though it would still be nice if some friends chimed in occationally)

I used “I Blog For Me” as the title of my blog for the past few weeks.