Weird. And sometimes beautiful.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall
Yet another “cosy” murder mystery — again featuring amateur retired Brits.
J.M. Hall is an author, playwright and deputy head of a primary school. And his characters are 3 retired primary school teachers who unexpectedly turn to sleuthing.
Every Thursday, Liz, Thelma and Pat have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.
But one fateful week they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.
Topsy was, in her day, a somewhat formidable character, but she’s quickly in cognitive decline.
Topsy’s main care giver is her daughter. A big challenge since the family now has no money. Topsy had been conned out of her life savings, over $470,000 pounds. The conman had convinced Topsy that she needed to move her money out of one bank account to another for security. Of course the second account was in the name of the conman.
As much as an interesting murder mystery, the story looks at the impact of age and declining health.
AI wrote this post for me
Experiment:
Here’s what I got after asking my website host AI:
“Write a Blog Post Using AI Assistant in WordPress.com”
Blogging has become an integral part of the online world, allowing individuals and businesses to share their thoughts, expertise, and experiences with a global audience. With the advent of AI technology, the process of writing a blog post has been revolutionized, making it more efficient and user-friendly. In this post, we’ll explore the benefits and advantages of using an AI assistant to create engaging content on WordPress.com.
Understanding AI Assistants
AI assistants, also known as chatbots or virtual assistants, are computer programs that utilize artificial intelligence to interact with users and perform tasks. When it comes to writing a blog post, AI assistants can help generate content ideas, improve writing quality, and even optimize for SEO. These assistants are designed to understand natural language and can provide valuable suggestions to enhance the overall quality of the blog post.
Streamlining the Writing Process
One of the key advantages of using an AI assistant for blogging is the ability to streamline the writing process. Traditional writing can be time-consuming, requiring extensive research, planning, and drafting. With an AI assistant, bloggers can generate topic suggestions, receive real-time grammar and style suggestions, and even access relevant data to enrich their content. This not only saves time but also enhances the overall efficiency of content creation.
Enhancing Content Quality
AI assistants excel in identifying and rectifying grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and awkward phrasing. They can also offer valuable recommendations for improving the overall readability and coherence of the blog post. Additionally, AI assistants can suggest relevant images, videos, and links to supplement the content, making the blog post more engaging and informative for the readers.
Optimizing for SEO
Writing a blog post that ranks well on search engines is crucial for driving traffic to the website. AI assistants can aid in optimizing content for SEO by suggesting relevant keywords, analyzing the post’s readability, and providing insights into the post’s overall SEO performance. By leveraging AI technology, bloggers can ensure that their content is well-optimized for search engines, thus increasing its visibility and reach.
Embracing AI in WordPress.com
WordPress.com, a popular platform for bloggers and website owners, has integrated AI technology to empower users in creating compelling content. With the assistance of AI, bloggers can enhance their writing, improve SEO, and ultimately provide a richer experience for their audience. By embracing AI in WordPress.com, users can take their content creation to the next level, producing high-quality, engaging blog posts efficiently and effectively.
In conclusion, the integration of AI assistants in WordPress.com represents a significant leap forward in the world of content creation. By leveraging the capabilities of AI, bloggers can streamline the writing process, enhance content quality, and optimize for SEO, ultimately maximizing the impact of their blog posts. With the continued advancement of AI technology, the future of blogging on WordPress.com looks bright, promising a more efficient and rewarding experience for content creators.
Are you ready to revolutionize your blogging experience with AI assistance on WordPress.com? Let’s embrace the future of content creation together!
My Life Is Murder – season 2
I didn’t have much motivation to continue with this otherwise entertaining show as it’s quite formulaic. Few surprises.
The star is some weird kind of police consultant who is asked in on murder cases that have gone cold. Or might get cold.
Does she get paid? … It doesn’t seem so.
My main incentive to continue with season 2 was that Lucy Lawless moved the show from Melbourne to Auckland.
Detective Harry Henare replaces DI Kieran Hussey. Exactly,.
George Stathopoulos replaces Reuben Wulf as the owner of the small restaurant where Lucy sells homemade bread. Exactly.
Formula.
Ebony Vagulans as Madison Feliciano, Alexa’s assistant, is just as sassy. BUT moves in with her boss in Auckland.
They made more of an effort to show off the local scenery. Auckland is gorgeous.
William Shatner asks Alexa out in episode 4. 😀 It’s as much a comedy as a drama.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
“Upscaling” photos in 2023
Image scaling (upscaling) refers to the resizing of a digital image.
When upscaling a photo, more pixels must be generated.
There are different ways software tries to do this.
Based on this tutorial, I downloaded the Upscayl app which is FREE and offline.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
When it works, results can be amazing.
For me it certainly hasn’t worked, at times. A very bad photo is hard to improve.
Here is one of my 4K iPhone photos compressed smaller by Instagram. It looks fine on a phone, but terrible if you zoom in on a good monitor.
Check the same photo upscaled to 16,128 x 9,072 pixels on Flickr Pro.
Zoom in.
This is ONE of the many reasons I store my original photos on Flickr Pro, not one of the free social media sharing sites. They all compress.
Henri, le Chat Noir 😀
Val introduced me to the Henri videos.
Existential angst, as only a cat in France could suffer. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Henri, le Chat Noir … French for “Henry, the Black Cat”) is a web series of short films on the existential musings of the cat Henri, written and directed by William Braden.
… Braden was inspired by the American perception of French films as “very pretentious and self-involved.
Henri was actually from Seattle. He lived to the age of 17.
Devs (TV series)
A very pretty high tech set.
Intriguing premise.
But I quit half way through. Too slow.
Any plot that concerns time travel in any way is likely to end unsatisfactorily.
Requiem by Geir Tangen
Geir Tangen is a Norwegian crime fiction writer and blogger.
Requiem is a good book — but I gave up at 55% finding it too bleak. Too dark.
Nobody to cheer for.
In fact, I should give up Nordic noir completely.
Happy Valley – season 1
I finally got round to watching the 2015 BAFTA for Best Drama Series.
Happy Valley is fantastic TV — but very hard to watch. It’s simply too intense.
Devastating.
Catherine Cawood is a divorced police sergeant with two children.
She is still trying to recover from the suicide of her daughter, which happened eight years ago.
Catherine is raising her grandson, Ryan, who was born due to her daughter being raped by Tommy Lee Royce.
Just when it seems like Catherine is gaining control over her life, she discovers that Tommy, whom she holds responsible for her daughter’s suicide, has been released from prison after serving time for other offences.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 