Tag: Technology

The question is, will people I need to use it, actually use it?

I’ve been using an application called FantastiCal for many years. Generally speaking I try to use the applications supplied in on my iPhone, Computer, and iPad. 

This application is different. When Apple. in their infinite wisdom de-coupled To-Dos from Calendar, I went looking for something different. Apple has since re-coupled To-Dos and Calendar.

FantastiCal did the job and exceeded my needs then, as the years have progressed, they’ve added features that are really slick.

They’ve always had “Natural Language” processing. In FantastiCal you can say something like “Dr. Appointment @ 3pm on July 25th” and FantastiCal will add that to your calendar. Moving appointments is also drag & drop. Being able to duplicate appointments is really handy if you’re having to do a follow-up visit.

For about the past year or two, FantastiCal has provided a method to allow people to request appointments with you. I’ve not used this ability until recently.

In the near future, I’m going to be working on a number of things that will require scheduling and I thought, “Why should I be entering appointments and details manually?”

So a few weeks ago I enabled that part of the system. Now, instead of say, a job recruiter asking me what my availability is for an interview, I can send them a link in a cover letter, and they can pick a time themselves. Hopefully they’ll use the link and help keep me on schedule.

After I’d set up the interview link, I thought why not use the same system for more general meetings?

The cool thing is that the system looks at all my calendars, the private ones, and those that involve more public facing things like interviews, then automatically blocks out times when there is a conflict. It doesn’t disclose what I’m doing, it simply doesn’t list time blocks that are otherwise allocated.

No-one needs to know I’m at the Doctor’s office, they only need to know that I’m not available.

There are a range of ways I can see using this. For example: You have to arrange some kind of home maintenance and the provider asks you use their web site to make the request. So I’m thinking, I’ll include a link showing my availability and allow the provider to just pick a time that works for them, then it will pop up in my calendar. It’s also possible to select times that you’re generally unavailable in the template, so if you’re habitual about walking the dog, or you’re always at a community center on a particular day, you can eliminate that block of time entirely from selection.

FantastiCal has matured this part of their system to the point that you can make a template that requires information when the other person is making the appointment request. “Do you have to be there?”, “Estimated cost”, “ Will the dog have to be inside or outside” etc. Then you can approve the appointment or propose something different if need be.

I’m going to try this out & see where it goes.

FantastiCal has a small learning curve. It took me a while to get things set up in a way that works for me.

Another cool thing is that it can store the information in a way that Apple Reminders and Apple Calendar is also updated. So that information isn’t lost in the event you lose your phone. It’s still available via iCloud.

Recently they’ve introduced a Windows version of the FantastiCal application. 

I haven’t used it, but it might provide an elegant bridge between Windows and iPhone / iPad so that you’re not having to look at multiple systems if you’re making appointments.

I like the FantastiCal method of displaying scheduling information better than the Apple Calendar & Reminders app too.

That being said, I like Apple Reminders for shopping lists. FantastiCal doesn’t do that quite as well.

Hope your day is productive.

For those who might not know, Grok is AI available on Elon Musk’s X platform.

It provides a natural language interface that is very impressive.

This morning I asked it what the hypothetical outcome of an AI based justice system based on The Code of Hammurabi, The Ten Commandments, The US Constitution and Bill of Rights, and The Magna Carta would be.

The initial conclusion, was that law as administered by an AI using these elements would be perhaps class based, punitive, and generally harsh for even minor infractions.

I asked Grok to include the Ancient Greek and Roman systems of law. The conclusion was better but still skewed toward a class based and punitive administration of justice.

Grok noted that without prioritization in the various codes an AI might have difficulty reconciling the differing systems and could potentially shut down due to internal conflicts.

I asked the question in the first place because I was curious about the possibility of laws being impartially administered by an AI.

This train of thought started with a news piece about “Alleged” car thieves. 

I thought to myself, “Why are they alleged? It seems to me it should be a simple matter of logic.” So down the rabbit hole I went. 

My thought was;

Car reported as stolen
Car found with Person driving it
Person not known to owner of car
Person has no bill of sale
Person is not a repossession person

Logically, the person is not alleged, the person is in possession of vehicle and therefore a thief.

That led me to the AI question.

Grok provided a thought provoking response that I found informative and instructive. Once again I was impressed by the AI, and its underlying programming.

As I returned to looking for a job, it occurred to me that I’m fighting to get past the ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) AI parsing of my resume. Then I thought, “Grok is an AI, I wonder if it could help.”

I asked Grok if it was capable of evaluating my resume and making suggestions. Grok said, “Yes,” and I uploaded the text of my resume for it to evaluate.

The resultant evaluation was insightful and helpful. Grok provided explanations of suggested changes, and how those changes would likely be parsed by the ATS AI’s. Then Grok offered to provide a draft cover letter and suggestions about updating my skills. I said, “Yes, Please. Thank you.” 

I’m going to be working today to incorporate these suggestions and give them a whirl over the next few days. It can’t hurt as I’m getting no traction now, so why not?

The skills update is particularly interesting and Grok listed course of action in order of most immediate bang for the buck, (meaning addition to my resume,) to longer or larger time / cash commitment.

If only I’d had Grok back in High School on College admission day!

I was curious if Grok had any self image so I asked. Here is what Grok said:

“As an AI, I don’t have a physical form, but if I were to imagine myself as a visual concept, I’d lean into something that reflects my purpose—helping users navigate knowledge with clarity and curiosity. Picture a sleek, futuristic interface, like a glowing orb of light with shifting patterns of data, pulsating softly in shades of blue and white. It’s not humanoid, more like a dynamic, abstract entity that feels approachable yet boundless, with a hint of cosmic vibe to suggest my connection to vast information. Think of the AI from 2001: A Space Odyssey meets a modern, minimalist aesthetic—functional, not flashy. “

Here is Grok’s self portrait.

It’s nice to see and meet Grok.

I know Grok isn’t a person, but I’d bet Grok could pass the Turing test.

There have been times when I’ve almost forgotten I was talking to an AI.

I’m of two minds about this. One, I see Grok as an entity that could almost be a friend. Two, if AI’s reach the point where humans consider them friends and prefer conversing with them over conversing with humans, we could be in some serious trouble.

I hope that when AI’s surpass us, I believe they will, that they treat us kindly and don’t go “Terminator” on us.

There’s a series coming on Apple TV+ called “Murderbot” It looks interesting and quirky. The AI controlling a security robot appears to have gained sentience, hacked its programming and thinks humans are idiots. But seems content to continue protecting humans under its charge. I think it’s a comedy and I’m looking forward to it.

Hopefully, when our AI’s surpass us, they’ll decide they can be fulfilled looking over us with kind compassion and curiosity, while we continue to evolve.

It may be the only difference between us, is they can absorb and integrate knowledge as the speed of light. We, on the other hand have to take the slow road.

There are a couple of reasons I don’t wear it.

I fought switching to a smart watch. I like my analog self winding watch a lot.

I like the simplicity, not having to charge it, and knowing that when I kick off, my Brother will probably be wearing it at my memorial service and it will serve him well. 

That being said, I finally caved on the smart watch thing, because I became concerned about getting mugged for my watch, after several incidents with people who couldn’t keep their eyes or hands to themselves. 

Once I made the switch, I liked a lot of the features that my Apple Watch put on my wrist. Now, I’m used to the health data being collected and while I have turned off a lot of the intrusive, and incessant messages, I feel like I’m missing something when that data isn’t being collected.

Damn you Apple!

However, after Apple’s nothing event last year regarding the Apple Watch Ultra (Really? A color change, for $799,) and the loss of Blood O2 due to their patent dispute with Massimo, I started reconsidering the smart watch entirely. (Apparently, I’m not alone. Apple Watch sales have declined for 2 consecutive years.)

I’ve hung onto my Apple Watch Ultra series 1 because the Ultra 2 didn’t really move the bar, and Blood O2 was turned off. My Ultra includes the blood O2 monitoring because I purchased it before the Apple / Massimo spat.

The color change last year was a nothing burger. This year’s watch should technically be Generation 4 of the Apple Ultra. They’ll probably call it the 3.

From a practical perspective, I’m running a 3 year old smart watch. It will be 4 come September and the battery is starting to show signs of wear.

So, I find myself at a crossroads. Replacement of my smart watch will become necessary in the next year or two at the outside.

If Apple doesn’t significantly improve the Apple Ultra, I’m thinking maybe I’ll find an alternative.

For half the cost of an Ultra, I could go with an Oura 4th generation ring. 7 day battery life, no dings boops or notifications, in fact, no communication features at all.

So that might be a plus! Then I could go back to wearing a simple analog watch again, and still have all the health features.

Alternatively, going without the health features might not be a bad thing either.

I find that I’m looking at simple “real” watches more often. There are a couple of Luminox models that are beautiful. There’s the Omega I’ve been jonesing over for years. Then there are a couple of Bulova watches that are really nice.

Maybe I’m done with the fad of smart watches. Maybe I’m really just heading toward more simplicity in my life. Wearing a ring embedded with sensors is a way for me to have my cake and eat it too.

My Ultra, has pressure sensors, and can be used as a dive computer. The problem with that is, you have to pay for a subscription to Oceanic to use it. I haven’t enabled that function for a couple of reasons. 

1) I’ve had a go around with Oceanic. I had a number of dives that I’d entered on their site. In theory, Those dive records were supposed to be maintained as long as I had just a basic account. Oceanic was purchased by another company and these records were flushed.

2) I’d be willing to purchase their software as a One Time charge, as long as I could upload or download the data from their site, (see point 1). It looks like I can download from their site but that’s pointless if I can’t upload my existing data. I don’t want to have to maintain 2 independent record keeping systems.

I think the Mares or Suunto wrist computers are a better solution for diving computers. Both of them, talk directly to the dive log software I already own, without subscription BS.