It is Earth Month, and I’ve only posted a single acknowledgement of that, so far. Meanwhile, Ten Bears has us, with a full post of links regarding how things are, what needs to be done, and importantly, what we can still do.
Trans Women BANNED From The Olympics | Trans Guy Reacts
Canada’s Proposed Hate Speech Law – Don’t worry you can still humiliate, discredit, hurt and offend
I have the same idea as the Reverend on this issue. It is how I handle my comments on my blog. Attack the ideas, not the person expressing them. Hugs
A P.S.A. About A.I., Brought To Us By KS A.G. Kris Kobach
Really! Look.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s PSA meekly counters utopian AI promises
Eric Thomas
Whether you are watching the Super Bowl on TV, scrolling make-up tutorials on Instagram or listening to a technology podcast, you are being fed advertising for artificial intelligence.
The commercials are everywhere. And they promise the world.
Since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, the companies that build AI have deployed advertising to recruit us as loyal users of their astronomically expensive software. Persuade us now, and perhaps we will be loyal customers later.
Meanwhile, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach — with some help from a nebulous technology group — has sounded an alarm about AI this week, releasing a PSA.
“The reports are very troubling,” he says about threats posed by artificial intelligence.
Over the next few years, our culture will decide whether we are AI skeptics or fanatics. For that reason, the language that is used to sell AI — or steer us away from it — matters. Let’s listen to what is being said about the technology that could define the 21st century.
From Silicon Valley
In their ads, technology companies describe AI as a wonderland: productivity at work, inspired hobbies at home and wellness nirvana at the gym. The word choices would make a spiritual guru proud.
In marketing AI app-building software, Base 44 urges us: “Consider yourself limitless.” It’s also described as “the next thing you can’t live without.” The company uses the language of religious cults swirled with rampant consumerism. “Elite” plans start at $160 per month.
Besides AI, what product from the past 50 years could have generated all of these promises in one commercial? In 78 seconds of advertising, Perplexity offers:
- “Get your time back.”
- “Access to knowledge is easier than ever.”
- “Discover something new every day.”
- “Knowledge on-demand anytime anywhere. For anything you wanna know.”
There’s no modesty — just hyperbole.
Judging by their advertising, tech companies agree on AI’s greatest virtue: efficiency.
The YouTube description for a Copilot AI ad claims that “Microsoft 365 Copilot isn’t just a better way of doing the same things. It’s an entirely new way of working.” Press play on the video and watch a layered flurry of chatbot prompts, all written simultaneously and feverishly, including: “Want to get a jump start on your day?” The message envisions AI as hyperactive multichannel problem solving.
Other AI advertising promises are more direct. ChatGPT’s advertisement, “What Codex unlocks,” features a technology CEO who boasts about what AI made possible. You don’t need to understand his jargon to understand the promised efficiency.
“We were able to create a JavaScript runtime in just two weeks,” says Syrus Akbary Nieto. “Without Codex, it would have taken us easily one year.”
For people outside Silicon Valley, ChatGPT’s advertising shows tangible AI efficiencies, such as opening a new restaurant.
“I found the perfect spot,” someone types into the chatbot. “Help me write the business plan.”
In another ad, ChatGPT is the elixir for fixing the family car: “Dad said the truck is ours if we fix it. Help us get it running.”
The pitches implicitly promise success when you combine your ambition with AI’s wisdom — never mind the skills required to cook spaghetti bolognese or handle a wrench.
Elsewhere, two of Google’s recent AI commercials blend family values with problem solving. One commercial considers how to reassure a young boy about moving to a new house.
The ad’s answer: Open the Gemini chatbot and ask it to visualize his new bedroom, complete with the family dog’s bed. The commercial closes with words carrying a double meaning: “It will be whatever we want it to be,” the boy’s mom says. Both the house and the Gemini chatbot, the script suggests, can be family dreams. (snip-MORE, including the ad transcript, and info about the organization behind the ads. It’s good, and not much more to read. I just don’t like lifting other people’s work.)
Some Saturday Morning Fun
Consider yourself informed, thanks to Coconut Isle proprietor and friend of Playtime W.E. Hunt! Anyone else ever heard this band?
All About The Birds
Ollie has endeared himself to some house finches who come here to eat. He’s done this by chasing the squirrel off the feeder they prefer. He doesn’t realize he’s doing favors for the birds; he wants to play with the squirrel, especially zoomies. But, for 2 days in a row, I’ve watched house finches, in pairs, chase a squirrel back in Ollie’s direction by swooping the squirrel. They also are, so far, the only birds who don’t fly up away from this feeder when Ollie goes outside. Even the crows tend to fly into the trees until he comes back inside. So the house finches fascinate me this year. Anyway, here are these about more birds, and a bat, too.
Also Known As
- Trile (Colloquial, Chile)
- Alférez (Colloquial, Uruguay)
- Varillero ala amarilla (Spanish)
About
The Yellow-winged Blackbird is a conspicuous species of the Southern Cone of South America, congregating in colonies in marshes during the breeding season, and forming larger flocks in wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural fields the rest of the year. These birds are also extremely vocal, giving a startling variety of calls, including sharp and percussive sounds, clear and musical whistles, and a range of other rattling, chirping, whining, whirring, and gargling vocalizations. Their song in particular makes use of virtuosic trills, robotic whistles, and mechanical whirring or buzzing sounds, coming across as half bird, half sci-fi robot. This iconic song is also the source of one of the Yellow-winged Blackbird’s nicknames, “trile,” and some authors propose it may also be the origin of the name of the country Chile! As if to make the most of their raucous acoustic capacity, the males of an entire colony will sometimes sing together in one big, cacophonous chorus.
In addition to nesting together in the same space, Yellow-winged Blackbirds also synchronize their nesting in time. Most of the females in a colony will lay within several days of each other. As a result, most of the nests in the colony will be on the same timeline, with eggs and nestlings developing at about the same time across the marsh. (snip)
Historic Oregon Bill Generating Conservation Funding Is Signed Into Law
Oregon will soon have a new, dedicated source of conservation funding to support the recovery of struggling bird and wildlife species across the state. House Bill 4134, dubbed 1.25% for Wildlife Bill, passed the Oregon State Senate in February and has now been signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek. American Bird Conservancy (ABC) strongly supported the 1.25% for Wildlife Bill, a proactive measure expected to raise up to $30 million annually for wildlife conservation in the state.
“This is monumental: Oregon has chosen to invest in its wildlife and its future with the passage of this historic law. Habitat restoration, recovery programs, and anti-poaching efforts are just a few of the programs that will be funded by this landmark legislation,” said Hardy Kern, ABC’s Director of Government Relations.
The Act will create a sustainable funding source dedicated to conserving imperiled species like the Marbled Murrelet, a seabird that nests in mature and old-growth forests in the state. Nest predation by jays and ravens contributes to the species’ declining population. Actions that could boost nesting success, such as campground cleanup efforts to reduce jay and raven numbers near sensitive nesting sites, are currently unfunded, but could benefit from the revenue generated by the newly signed law. (snip-MORE)
Israel Stacking Up War Crimes In Lebanon
Watch The Democratic Party Completely Fracture Over Israel
Dem Wins New Jersey Special Election For US House – Joe.My.God.
The democratic voters and the public at large want progressive polices that work for them. Politicians need to work for the people, need to represent not rule the public. The leadership of the Democratic Party better wake up before too late. Hugs
https://www.joemygod.com/2026/04/dem-wins-new-jersey-special-election-for-us-house/
Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie
Commission Approves Glorious Leader’s 25-Story Arch – Joe.My.God.
tRump building monuments and buildings to and for himself is a thing dictators and authoritarians do. Not presidents who serve at most 10 years if they took over as Vice President. It is a horrific display of his insecurities and waste of taxpayer money when we can’t feed hungry kids nor assist with health care. Hugs
https://www.joemygod.com/2026/04/commission-approves-glorious-leaders-25-story-arch/
Best Wishes and Hugs,
Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 