Seems appropriate to recommend Making It So again. Patrick Stewart was much more than the actor that played Captain Picard
Siri AI was actually useful 🤖
Although fascinating to watch, I really haven’t had much use for AI agents. We aren’t allowed to use them at work (beyond some basic Copilot stuff), where it might sometimes be useful, and I try to spend as much time as possible away from computers and screens outside of work.
That said, I did have a genuinely useful experience with Siri AI recently that, seems to me, follows through on some of the promise of these technologies for something relatively mundane, though annoying.
The setup is that we had a kitchen faucet fail and I wanted to make a warranty claim for its replacement. There was some earlier back and forth with the manufacturer, they’d sent me a replacement part, and now it seemed clear that the whole faucet needed to be replaced.
I asked Siri to draft an email to the manufacturer requesting the replacement. It tracked down the right email address from the website and drafted an email that succinctly outlined the problem and politely requested the replacement. This included finding and referencing the earlier claim number, noting the date that the earlier claim was made, and (via my calendar) when the authorized plumber had replaced the part.
I quickly looked the email over and then sent it along. Within a day, the manufacturer replied to say they had shipped the replacement.
This isn’t solving Navier-Stokes or writing up a thought piece for me. Rather, this is helping me quickly solve an actual problem, based on my own personal context. Exactly what Siri is supposed to do! And, that’s all I really want.
Saddened to hear about the passing of Patrick Stewart. A brilliant actor and a genuinely wonderful human being. Make it so, one last time.
Box of tea to keep us going 🫖
🔗 DC Rainmaker has a good description of the new Zwift Plus. Some intriguing additions that I don’t think I’ll use. 🚴
I packed my work clothes in the dark this morning and only now realize that the shirt and pants aren’t even close to matching
My morning bike commute is getting cold and dark
Finished reading: The daughters’ war by Christopher Buehlman is an amazing story about a terrible world📚
🎵 Song of the week for my daughter — My Moon My Man by Feist from The Reminder. A fun song from a great Canadian artist
🗳️ Voted for the municipal elections. Although I’m not particularly excited by any of the candidates, still important to make a choice
Finished reading: Breaking Free of Neoliberalism: Canada’s Challenge by Alex Himelfarb is a fascinating exploration of neoliberalism: what it is, how it has gone wrong, and some alternatives. I can see some glimmers of hope with discussions of universal basic income and a return to government ownership. Many potential pitfalls though 📚
Finished reading: Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks is a great story about revenge, regret, and forgiveness with a dazzling sci-fi background 📚
Jen Gerson: Can we put separatist madness to bed, now?
Albertans sent a strong message to Edmonton, Ottawa, and the entire world last night; they’re ready to put this incredibly embarrassing chapter in our shared political history to an end.
I’m glad this was such a strong result. This was very much a waste of time and effort, when we have much more important things to take care of
Recovering from today’s shenanigans starts with some Collingwood whisky 🥃
The Spartan Super 10k in Blue Mountain was fun and difficult. I’m a bit beaten up now, but grateful I can do these sorts of things
I’m excited to see Bruce Cockburn tonight at Massey Hall 🎶
Poor management of my library holds resulted in three books arriving simultaneously. I’ll do what I can 📚
Finished reading: The Wall by Marlen Haushofer is hard to describe. Very little happens and, yet, it is a compelling story. I’m glad to have read it 📚
I really like the new blog audit feature on Micro.blog. After twenty years of posts, it found many broken links, missing images, and other detritus. Even better, it fixed almost all of it!
A quality of life improvement I’d like to see in the next iOS update is that Safari Reading List remembers that I want to see unread only by default. I have to change this every time!