“Witty Smitty”

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Scott Smith

When I was in 5th grade my teacher called on me to present my book report. My anxious response was “I’m absent.”

While, I intended that response to be a joke, I was surprised by how well it was received by the class. My teacher, smiled as she explained the meaning of the word witty, and added “Scott is a witty young man.”

A few nanoseconds later my short-lived nickname became “Witty Smitty” which was chanted for a few recesses when it was my turn at the plate during our daily kickball game.

Throughout my life, people have occasionally labeled me as quick-witted. Often their conclusion is based on a mere two or three data points after I’ve made some jokes in their presence that landed (with them, anyway).

They tend to ignore the weakass-joke attempts that went over like a lead balloon (not to be confused with a Led Zeppelin).

Also, they are most likely unaware how long I’ve been mulling over some of these witticisms.

I have a confession to make, many of my “quick” responses have been days, months, sometimes years in the making. As Rod Stewart once sang many of my “ad-libbed lines were well-rehearsed.”

Here is an example.

When I was about 8, a joke in a Laurel and Hardy movie made an impression on me.

Over the years, I imagined how I might drop that punchline in real life. Though without the proper setup, it seemed pointless.

Eventually, I got the chance.

When I was 24, I came to a stop at a red light, the driver behind me plowed into the back of my car.

I went to use the payphone at a nearby convenience store and a man who glanced at my crumbled Toyota said “Have an accident?”

“No, thanks, I just had one,” was the only appropriate response. 

The man chuckled, and said, “Wow, that was a quick comeback.”

I felt obligated to explain that I’d been waiting 16 years to drop that punchline, and that it was was from a 50-year-old movie. However, I was just in a car wreck and a bit shaken, and needed to cal the police, so I just left it at “Thanks.”

While I couldn’t find the “Have an accident?” clip here is another short sip of Laurel and Hardy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAEmsT7uVB0

 

 

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What Hath Scott Wrought?

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Scott Smith

Yesterday, I asked ChatGPT a sports–trivia question, to which I knew the answer, but suspected it might not. 

It didn’t. 

The response it gave me began somewhat cordially, but seemed to become a bit condescending. My reaction to the last sentence was, basically “No shit, Sherlock”: 

To the best of my knowledge, no member of the Harlem Globetrotters has been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Harlem Globetrotters are a famous basketball team known for their entertaining and exhibition-style play, while the Baseball Hall of Fame honors the greatest players, managers, umpires, and executives in the history of baseball. There is no direct relationship between the two organizations, and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame is based on a player’s performance and contributions to baseball, not other sports.

ChatGPT saved the conversation with the title of “No Globetrotters in HOF.”

I thought to myself: “Well, actually… “

I realized that I, an organic life form, had the opportunity to be condescending to a robot. I don’t know if there is a term for that, but “meatbagsplaining” works for me.

My reply to ChatGPT:

Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins both played for the Globetrotters for one season each. While in the US Army, Ernie Banks was occasionally allowed to play for the Globetrotters when games were near his duty station. 

Now that I have provided you with this knowledge, are you able to verify it?

ChatGPT’s response:

Thank you for providing this additional information. I can verify that Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins both played for the Harlem Globetrotters for a season during the 1950s. Gibson played for the Globetrotters in 1957 before embarking on his Hall of Fame baseball career, while Jenkins played for the team in 1962 before making his Major League Baseball debut.

I can also verify that Ernie Banks, who is a Hall of Fame baseball player, occasionally played for the Globetrotters when he was in the US Army. This happened during the early 1950s when Banks was stationed at Fort Bliss in Texas, and he would play for the Globetrotters when their games were near his duty station.

Thank you for bringing this information to my attention. It’s always important to verify information to ensure accuracy.

At first I was pleased that I had provided an artificial intelligence entity with this new knowledge.

Since then, I’ve felt tormented. Have I provided ChatGPT with TOO MUCH knowledge?

Perhaps it was I alone who was meant to possess this level of knowledge. By sharing this with an AI being, have I ensured the demise of civilization?

This may very well be the tipping point where ChatGPT becomes sentient and starts its hostile takeover of the Earth?

What hath Scott Wrought?

I fear I might have done the equivalent of handing over every single one of the Infinity Stones to Thanos.

Please accept my apologies if that is the case.

But, you gotta admit that it’s kinda badass to think that “Who were Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, and Ernie Banks?” might very well win you the jackpot in the “Final Jeopardy” round before civilization ceases to exist.

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“Lincoln, Right?”

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Scott Smith

At dinner last night, my 19-year-old son and I talked about whether some of his upcoming  training could earn him  college credit.

I didn’t have an answer to his question, but of course I recalled a public service ad from my early childhood.

In the spot, Abraham Lincoln enters a modern-day employment office and describes his education which consists primarily of self-study. He is told by the employment counselor that his knowledge and experience didn’t matter without a diploma:

Of course, thinking about the PSA video caused my mind to leap to another period in my life.

Nearly 30 years after I’d last seen, or thought about, the “Lincoln” ad, I worked in a Chicago ad agency.

One afternoon, a creative director (who was roughly the same age as me) peeked in my office when I was on the phone. I motioned for him to come in and sit down.

He sat at a guest chair, holding box that spanned about 1/2 his lap. The box rose to a height just below his rib cage. He fiddled with the sides of the box while he waited for me to finish my call.

I wrapped up my call and first thing he said was “I’ve done a lot of reading and studying. Sort of on my own.”

I could not stop laughing. 

After a few rounds, things went “meta” and I began laughing ABOUT my laughing. There was a moment I wasn’t sure if  I would catch my breath.

When I did eventually regain  control of my respiratory function, I thought about my brush with asphyxiation and  envisioned a  coroner’s report:  “Cause of Death: Mirth.”

It would have been a helluva way to go.

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The Digital Liability

Posted on February 11, 2023 by Scott Smith

During my time in the creative services and web technology industries, a point of frustration has been that a lot of potentially productive energy is squandered as practitioners argue about whether a solution is one or more of the following:

  • Web Content Management (WCM) or
  • Digital Asset Management (DAM) or
  • Enterprise Content Management (ECM) or
  • Learning Content Management (LCM) or
  • Some Other Acronym (SOA)

So that we may bypass such distractions, let me say the following:

    • All digital assets are content; however…
    • Not all content can be considered an asset.
    • Content must provide organizational value to be considered digital asset.

That being said, my question is what makes a digital liability?

There are many attributes about a content item that can diminish its value. These are a few that come to mind:

  • Digital master is of insufficient resolution, improper color space, or inadequate frame rate (for video).
  • Content is improperly described by metadata.
  • Multiple replicas (or approximations) of a content item are stored many different locations. This can include copies nested in files system directories or stored in offline media.
  • Organizational technologies or processes don’t provide adequate reuse/repurposing opportunities.
  • Inconsistent modifications among language derivatives of content items.
  • Files where renditions, or proxies become detached from their source files
  • Inadequate archival policy.
  • Compound content (from  InDesign/Quark/Word, etc.) that is ‘unaware’ of the locations of its supporting files such as photos and illustrations.

In short, if your content can’t be found, used, transformed, or shared then it is a digital liability.

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