Marilyn's Photos - May 27 2025 - AI Self-Diagnosis vs dump a friend

 

The CBC interviewed a doctor who cautioned about using AI for "self-diagnosis."  The study had given medical exam multiple choice questions to AI, and it failed some simple ones.  There are many articles on the comparison of AI chatbot and human medical diagnosis.  It seems like a game of chess - sometimes AI wins, sometimes the doctors.  I wonder which side is keeping score. Are we keeping score? At the other end of things AI being used for writing is even more popular.  It shouldn't be as hard.  However, take the popular example that people are writing about.  An AI chatbot writing the email to dump a friend.  Like medical diagnosis, the success levels are similar.  Some successes and other failures with there being too many signs of a bot at work.   You can put text into an AI detector and get a probability rating that it is AI-created.  Some of these "expose" articles have done this to find out they weren't from the 'author." I have started to check garden images on Fine Art America. Last week, I was surprised when I put some images through HIVE AI detection.  Gardens with little angels carrying daisy bouquets seem sufficiently saccharine as to be AI generated.  And there are lots of AI-generated images of this sort.  What did I find?  0% AI.  This work is entirely original and the artist is "renowned".  Perhaps the originator for all the copies I see. Here we are in the some successes and some failures at figuring things out. Pinterest, though, seems to be a magnet for AI-.  The AI-generated garden, flower, plant, etc images.  In my tests, I've found that more than 50% of the garden-related images are deemed AI-generated.  So many gardens, plants and flowers with that "saccharine" quality.  In flowers and plants there is too much symmetry, sunlight, and unusual colours. Too many blossoms on one plant, and so on. Here's a great example - a hosta with the wrong flowers and strange-coloured leaves.  99% probability AI-generated. A "log-garden" that is 99% probability AI-generated. Should we be taking stock every so often to see the progress?  Or will one day it happen and "in a bound Biggles was freed."  And we all are in an AI-generated world. What do you think of this field of rapeseed and clover? I saw a few of these along Fourth Avenue on Saturday.  This was at Fourth And Jordan Road.   What do you think of this field of rapeseed and clover? I saw a few of these along Fourth Avenue on Saturday.  This was at Fourth And Jordan Road.

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June 10 2022 - Popsicle

 

Popsicle® is a registered trademark.  I didn't realize that it played a big part in the Frozen Sucker War in the 1920s and 1930s.  This was a battle between Good Humor v. Popsicle.  The origin of the Popsicle sounds so cute: 'After a long day of play Frank went inside, but left his cup of soda with the stirring stick still in it out on the porch. The night got very cold, and when Frank went outside the next morning he found his drink frozen like an icicle.  Frank called his invention the “Epsicle.” It was a hit with the kids at school, and later with his own kids who called it “Pop’s ‘sicle.” The name was catchy and the treat was delicious, so Frank patented it in 1923 to share his Popsicle® ice pops with the world!  Epperson collaborated with employees of the Loew Movie Company to form the original Popsicle Company in 1923, and sold the product to concessionaires at amusement parks and beaches.   Ice cream and frozen novelties were popping up due to advances in refrigeration.  Christian Nelson patented the Esimo Pie in January 1922. Good Humor started by Harry B. Burt also produced a chocolate-covered ice cream bar. The Good Humor truck was everywhere in American neighborhoods.  Good Humor sued Popsicle Corporation.  It looks like Popsicle suede others. More lawsuits took place. Too many lawsuit events to list here and perhaps too many to understand it all. Defending patents was a full-time activity in the 1920s. Ice cream and fruit ices had various definitions in various states.  By October 1925, Popsicle agreed to pay Good Humor a license fee to manufacture what was called frozen suckers from ice and sherbet products. Good Humor reserved the right to manufacture these products from ice cream, frozen custard, and the like. But the Frozen dessert war continued on into the 1930s.  Popsicle put its foot into the ice milk product and that called for more law suits.  The definition of sherbet became the subject of the cases. Was it water sherbet or milk sherbet? Was the shape critical? This went on and on. Eventually, the Frozen Sucker War came to a peaceful end. Popsicle was allowed to continue manufacturing water ices in a keystone design and later developed new forms for its creation, including the familiar double-stick Popsicle. Ironically, today both the Good Humor Bar and the Popsicle are owned and manufactured by the same company, Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream. Read the full story starting HERE.  Where did Frank end up in all of this?  He died at age 89 in 1983.  There seems to be nothing about him after the popsicle invention.  What did he do after he sold the patent and went on to other things?  This is all that is quoted in the NY Times obituary:  In 1925, Epperson sold the rights to the Popsicle to the Joe Lowe Company of New York. "I was flat and had to liquidate all my assets," he recalled years later. "I haven't been the same since." There's nothing like a little clover to cheer up the day. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 5 2021 - What's in a Name? Sex vs Gender

 

Sex vs gender.  What if parents start to give their children sex independent first names?  Then the census won't have to ask what sex you were born, and what gender are you now.   How many choices are there? Just starting with the letter A, there are lots off choices.  Addison. Old English, 'Child of Adam' Adrian. A form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus, probably from the ancient river Adria. Aiden. Of Gaelic derivation, meaning 'fire' Ainsley. Scottish origin meaning 'one's own meadow' Alex. From the Greek for 'defender' -  Well, clearly there are lots. Here's an article on the most common unisex names in America.  And Huffington Post has an article on the growing popularity of non-gender names. They say there is an 88 percent rise from 1985 to 2015.  They even have a prediction for the top names in 2028.  I guess this is quite a popular area with lots of experts who do a lot of studying with great organizational names like Nameberry.  Here are their 10 most popular names that are split evenly between boys and girls: Bellamy, Charlie, Dakota, Denver,  Emerson , Finley,  Justice,  River Skyler, Tatum On the rise? Ari, River, Cameron, Sam, Tatum, Corey, Frankie, and Emery.   Less gendered over time?  Alexis, Blake, Casey, Dylan, Marion, Parker, and Spencer. Namebabby must be very busy and profitable.  They have lots of information.  While I didn't start thinking about people's names, I got to thinking about gender in names because of dog names - I meet many dogs with non-gender names.  I always look to jokes to tell me the 'deep truths (or not)' about a subject. I found this one very entertaining. A robber breaks into a house while the residents are away one dark night. Eager to see what he can loot, he quickly starts searching through cupboards and dressers, grabbing valuables with a trained eye. Suddenly, he hears a voice come out of nowhere. “Jesus is watching you.” The criminal jumps, scared the residents are back, and freezes. After a few minutes of silence however, he assumes it was his imagination, and goes back to robbing. A couple minutes pass, before once again, the voice returns. “Jesus is watching you.” Quite confused, the thief searches the house and checks the front door, but nothing pops out as unusual. He finally decides to move rooms, and finds a parrot, but ignores it. Before he can begin to do anything, someone speaks again, “Jesus is watching you.” The robber realized it was the parrot talking! Going to the parrot, he asks it, “Are you the one who’s been talking to me?” The parrot responds, “Yes.” The thief couldn’t believe it. So, he asks another question. “What is your name?” “Ismael.” the parrot replies. The man scoffed. “What type of idiot names a parrot Ismael?” The parrot speaks yet again, “The same type of idiot that names a Rottweiler Jesus.” This is a new variety of Clover.  Isn't that a beautiful leaf!  I don't think it is meant for the 'garden'.  Maybe it is meant to be a specialty lawn.  For now, it will be in a display pot. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Does the Dollar Store still has green things for St. Patrick's Day?  I noticed last year and this year there is a lot of hats and head bands that bring out the silliness of celebrating green.   The  shade of green that represents St. Patrick's Day is 'spring green'.  The actual saint, St. Patrick, was represented by the colour blue.  Green became the official colour of Ireland, so St. Patrick's Day followed.  The official colour is Pantone's green PMS 347.  Green is the largest of the colour families and has the most varieties that are discernible to the human eye. Here are some of St. Patrick's Day jokes: What do you get when you cross poison ivy with a four-leaf clover? A rash of good luck What do you get when you do the Irish jig at McDonalds? A Shamrock Shake Why can't you borrow money from a leprechaun? Because they're always a little short Why don't you iron 4-Leaf clovers? Because you don't want to press your luck I went out drinking on St Patricks Day, so I took a bus home... That may not be a big deal to you, but I've never driven a bus before source: Jokes4us.com

This is the Day That Shamrocks are Drowned

The Day That Shamrocks are Drowned

Shamrocks are…drowned   The news today says that landmark buildings across Ireland have been floodlit green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day.  Hundreds of thousands of Dubliners and tourists are at the Dublin parade. What is a shamrock?  In North America, we buy oxalis (above) as our representation of the shamrock.  It has four leaves so symbolizes luck as well. But the real shamrock is 'a young sprig of clover'.  It has 3 leaves and was used as a metaphor for the Christian Trinity. The word shamrock is the diminutive of the Irish word for clover. Wikipedia tells me the species is Trifolium dubium or Trifolium repens, known as white clover. There has been controversy on this topic.  Wood Sorrel - Oxalis acetosella was a 'pretender' in the 1800's. This is a serious topic in Ireland and botanical surveys were carried out over time, culminating in 1988. The results were that Trifolium dubium (lesser clover) is considered to be the shamrock by half of Irish people. Ireland celebrates this remarkable tradition today with various activities.  "The drowning of the shamrock" expression comes from taking the shamrock at the end of the day and putting it into the final glass of grog or tumbler of punch; when the health has been drunk or the toast honoured, the shamrock should be picked from the bottom of the glass and thrown over the left shoulder."

Celebrating the Emerald Isle with Green

Hi everyone,
It's a sunny spring day here in Grimsby and also St. Patrick's Day!  Today's post combines the Emerald Isle Green and Niagara's spring flowers.  The lovely little yellow flowers below are Winter Aconites, and this image was taken last weekend in the beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake.  That town gets prettier with every day that goes by. 

Enjoy your Sunday and celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style!

Parasols in Dreamy Glades

Leaves in Flames

This is a Fine Spring Morning

Marilyn