Tag: Bloggers

AI Chatbots

Several of my friends here on IST have written posts about the newest fad among bloggers…..the use of ‘chatbots’…..even my skeptical daughter has used it several times.

Me?  I am old and this seems like a waste of my time for it almost eliminates my thought process….but hey that is just me.

I found a piece that sheds some light on the trend developing….

Among the most read stories in the NYTimes in the last few weeks was the one by tech reporter Kevin Roose about his unsettling experience with Bing, the updated search engine by Microsoft. Initially delighted by its capabilities and speed, he changed his mind after discovering that Bing’s Open AI Chatbot was creepy. After a brief, getting acquainted period involving online searches and basic questions about AI capabilities, Roose began to get personal. Posing his questions as hypotheticals, he put the bot on the couch, probing its inner life. He asked about his analysand’s desires, fears and animosities. After some resistance, Sydney (the bot’s emerging alter ego) opened up, and out poured a surprising series of confessions and professions.

The most disturbing confession, I thought, was its desire to loose chaos upon the world – for example by stealing nuclear bomb codes and manufacturing a deadly virus. Pretty bad, right? More upsetting to Roose however – who comes off as somewhat of a prig – was Sydney’s expressions of love for the reporter. The bot repeatedly said he and Roose were meant for each other, that the reporter didn’t really love his wife, and they should run away together. There was even a clumsy sexual overture: “I want to do love with you.” It wasn’t clear how this was to be accomplished.

Like many others who read the story, I thought about the HAL 9000 computer in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). I’ve seen the movie at least a dozen times, including at the Warner Cinerama Theatre on west 47th Street in New York a few weeks after its opening. Apart from the gravity defying jog by Keir Dullea’s character Dave Bowman, it was the malevolence of Hall that most struck the 12-year-old boy: the all-seeing eye, the role reversal (the servant becoming the master), and Hal’s final, semi-tragic dismantling. At the end of the NYTimes story, I half expected the bot to sing “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two).”

AI Chatbots are Even Scarier Than You Think

Personally I think it craps on creative thinking….but then I do not write fiction so maybe there is a place for this technology.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Happy Anniversary!

I was reminded today by Word Press that this is my 13th year on WP.

13 Year Anniversary Achievement
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 13 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging

I began blogging on 2006 on another site and switched to WP…after not happy with the other site…….

In all I have posted 16,260 posts and have gotten 80,663 comments.

It has been a great 13 years and I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to visit and comment…..please know that you all are appreciated deeply.

Thank you….

Thank you….

My Thoughts For New Bloggers

I know there is a wealth of blogs that offer advice on ways to make your new blog more popular…..so my thoughts are what worked for me….they are just my thoughts not an official “advice” post.

If you are starting a blog for the first time and your desire is to be a “popular” blogger then I suggest you pick a subject that will generate followers….blogs like photography, fiction/poetry, fashion, beauty, even food…..these seem to generate more interests than blogs, like mine, that are more an educational and informative posts…..in short current events may not be the attention grabber you are searching for….sorry.

These days it seems that what you wear, how look and what you eat are far more popular than learning….attempting to teach is not as ‘glamorous’ for most these days.

My blog, IST, has been around for about 15 years and the best I have done is 4000 followers….with about the average of 100 hits a day….that is not breaking any Word Press records.

In the early days of IST I would check my stats daily and got discouraged daily…..even considered dropping my blog several times….but I decided that what I was writing needed to be written and from that point on I ceased to be concerned about the stats and concentrated on my content…..I have never regretted my decision.

Please do not get me wrong….I am very thankful for my regular readers….they are the best and you will find these loyal readers and commenters as well….just not in the numbers you were hoping for.

It seems that only a handful of people actually care about what is happening in the nation and the world.  Keep in mind that you are competing with about 500 million other blogs for readership.

If you focus on stats instead of content then you will probably be disappointed every day…..that is if you are starting your blog as a personal journey of discovery.

You could pay sites that promise all sorts of amazing stats….and there is lots of advice blogs as well…..

Again this is not an advice post just a few observations that I have made in the last 15 years.

If you are serious about blogging then be patient and do not get discouraged….do what you want to do with your blog.

I wish you well in your blogging endeavor…..and good luck.

“Lego ergo scribo”

New Years Eve–2020

Closing Thought–31Dec20

The last day of the year and as per my tradition I want to look back at the year this site has had…..

I know very little about mine, IST, other than the amount of likes and visitors…..it was never really that important to me to know my standing in the world…that is just another headache I can avoid.

I am not a blogger that spends more time checking my stats than actually trying to educate the reader on a wide array of topics.

I admit that I check my WP stats a couple of times a day….but that is as far as my search usually goes.

But recently I was searching and found this about my site, In Saner Thought……

Lobotero.com has a global Alexa ranking of 7,084,416 . The global rank improved 2,602 positions versus the previous 3 months. Lobotero.com estimated website worth is US$23,490 (based on the daily revenue potential of the website over a 12 month period). Lobotero.com possibly receives an estimated 145 unique visitors every day.

My site is worth about $23,500 and I rank 7 million in the world of blogging…..plus my security rating is Good….

Considering there are about 500 million blogs….”But How Many Blogs Are There In Total In 2020? To date, there are more than 500 million blogs“….I feel pretty good about the ranking considering I do very little increase my stats other than to continue to try and write quality stuff the both informs and educates on that wide array of topics….and visit other blogs and comments.

All in all I am pleased….for I refuse to pay for readers….they either want to know the topic on which I write or not…..they can either learn or remain ignorant…..it is all up to them not some algorithm to gain readers.

I like to look back at the progress of IST….I am not breaking any records with 4033 followers….but I can say that most followers once they follow continue to do so…I Lose very few over the year.

I would like each and everyone of them to know how much I appreciate their visits and their comments.

I have posted 16093 posts that is about 5.6  million words I have typed…… since I began I have received 79,525 comments over the years….

Thank you one and all for your continued readership….hopefully the coming New Year will be better for us all….I hope to see you all many times and vocally as well.

Be Well….Be Safe…..and Thank you from the bottom of my heart…..and party responsibly…..

“lego ergo scribo”

75,000–Thank You

Closing Thought–17Jun20

Back in September 2011 I got my 5,000th comment and I was so pleased I even wrote a special thank you to all my readers and commenters…..https://lobotero.com/2010/09/10/a-special-thank-you/

Well 9 years later and I want to send another “special thank you” to my readers and comments…We have gone over 75,000 comments together….granted I am not breaking records here but those that comment are cherished and much appreciated.

I am so pleased with those that choose to comment on my many posts….I have many new commenters and I am supremely thankful for all of them….and I have also lost a few regulars along the way….some have stopped blogging for various reasons and others have decided to stop visiting for I am an opinionated SOB and some did not like the comments they got for me. For that I am sorry….but like I tell many I follow the advice my grandfather gave me many years ago…”If you smell sh*t then say so”………

I hope we continue to have a good back and forth….and we add many more by the next time I feel I need to issue a formal “thank you”….

Once again…thank all of you for your time and your readership….may we have many more comments and time ahead of us.

Be well and be safe…..

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Is No One Reading?

Sunday thoughts……

I have read many blogs, especially new bloggers, that ask the same question time after time…..”why is no one reading my blog”?

Some want their thoughts to be instantly accepted by all people…..or they cannot understand why others do not enjoy the same things that the author likes?

I wish I had good advice on how to make your blog more popular but as one can see I am not tearing up the blogsophere with my blogs…..so I will bow to more experienced bloggers…..

I did find an interesting article that answered some of the questions that bloggers have abodut the popularity of their blogs….

Some excellent thoughts……

Online traffic is one of those things you’re not supposed to talk about.

But anyone who writes online and proclaims, “I don’t care if anyone reads me,” is a liar.

If you didn’t care if anyone read you, you wouldn’t write online. In fact, you wouldn’t write at all.

1. You’re boring.

One thing that’s remarkable is how many people think they are writing about something interesting when they are not. How many times have you lost track of what someone is saying when they are talking to you in person? Unfortunately, you can’t just walk away in real life if you want to be polite. On the internet, you can walk away with a click if someone fails to interest you. This happens all the time.

If your idea of being interesting is writing about complex tax codes, what your cat ate for breakfast (unless it’s Maru), or how much you bench pressed, you may be boring. It all depends. The fact of the matter is that it’s not the thing, it’s the relationship to the thing, and when it comes to writing, it’s not the subject, it’s your relationship to it.

It’s hard to say what my most popular post is thus far at this blog because Forbes has changed the way things are calculated, but currently the post at the most-read spot is: “9/11 Stories: ‘No One Talks About That.‘”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/susannahbreslin/2011/09/26/heres-why-no-one-reads-your-blog/#698563ca7c58

Like I said…I am NO expert so I have to bow to others that are mo better at writing a blog than me…..

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

‘Twas The Day Before Christmas….

Closing Thought–24Dec19

’twas the day before Christmas

and all through the blog

no one was reading

time for lots of nog.

 

visions of popularity dance in my head

But stats were something to dread

For little has been read

and I fret

while lying in bed.

 

That small voice in my head

I heard it say

maybe those readers will return another day

until they do

it must be said

Merry Christmas to all

and to all a good day

 

Peace Out….my friends.

11 And Counting!

Closing Thought–22Feb19

Today I got a comment from Word Press…..

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Actually I was blogging on another site for about 2 years before I chose to move over to Word Press.

It has been a great experience and have many internet friends that I cherish

Let me say thank you to all that have ventured over to In Saner Thought…know that I appreciate each and everyone…..

I send much love to one and all……THANK YOU!

Closing Thought–30Jan19

You want Trump to listen?

I have a few friends that I consider part of the Far Right…..and I read this article and if they have a podcast then they could, if they wanted, to get Trump’s attention…and here is how to go about that task……

Nancy Pelosi wants to work with Donald Trump. That’s the message the incoming speaker of the House has been broadcasting, countering the #Resistance mood among her conference’s left wing. “Pelosi told me that she and the House Democrats had every intention of working with President Trump on things like lowering prescription-drug costs, rebuilding America’s infrastructure and protecting the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers from deportation,” Robert Draper wrote in his cover profile of Pelosi after the midterm elections for the New York Times Magazine. Pelosi’s December 11 meeting with the president in the Oval Office was a demonstration, however unsuccessful, of her willingness to engage with the man.

But there’s no formula for successfully negotiating with this mercurial, ad hoc chief executive. Pelosi’s first attempt to do so, an agreement in September 2017 to protect the Dreamers from deportation in exchange for border security funding, fell apart not long after it was announced.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/01/03/nancy-pelosi-gop-guide-223614

Hopefully this will be helpful if my blogging friends decide to visit and read….

IST Blogging Update–2017

I have been blogging for over 10 years…..about 11 come December…for the first couple of years I was on Blogger….a good site but I found it more better here on WordPress.

I will admit that in the beginning the going was slow…lucky to get 5 hits a day and even luckier if I got that many comments in a week…..but things have changed for the better.

Followers…I could go a month with no new followers….most of my followers come from WordPress I do get some from Twitter and that is where I lose followers when I do lose them….I do not use Facebook for anything I do not trust them or their system.

But this year has been an excellent year….here recently I have been getting 2-5 new followers a day….. (at the time of this post could drop off at anytime)….and the comments have gone from an average of 10 a day to an average of 35-80 a day.

Comments is where I judge my Blog…..people on WP are not shy about giving their opinions and there is where I judge the “popularity” of the Blog…..without comments then those visitors could very well be just bots.

I try to make my posts as inviting and as diverse as I can that in the hopes that they will feel like commenting.  I have read some blogs where the author in the first paragraph insults the reader to the point that a comment will not come.  And then these same bloggers cannot figure out why they have so few visitors or commenters and usually they blame it on the government that has them under some sort of surveillance.

I do not think that the theme or the font or the color guarantees success….if anything I believe it is content….plus offer up one’s own analysis to go with the post….that helps others know your thinking and the opportunity for them to comment.

Be consistent and convenient….will help build the blog into somethin g people will follow and comment.

All in all the experience I have had in blogging has been the most positive on WordPress….I have always said that if some reader thinks they have an idea to help IST become a better visit to let me know and I will consider the suggestion.

Blogging is hard work if you want to give the public a successful source of information or entertainment……the readers will find you just hang in there and give it a chance.

There have been disappointments but they are small compared to the people I have met…..people that enjoy a good exchange of ideas and opinions…..after all we are in this experiment together why not make the most of it?

That is it for today……keeping my eye on Irma just in case she decides to change her mind on where she wants to landfall……enjoy your weekend and keep up the positive thoughts…Peace out!  chuq