Good Morning

Know how you feel Sammy.

A Busy Day

Three visits done so far today and now i am onto the fourth visit in Rochester. So far, a really productive day, having done visits in Paddock Wood, Orpingtom,and Gravesend.

In Chatham

Last visit in Chatham now done -and relaxing in Spoons with an Abbott Reserve ale (6.5 % ABV) awaiting a steak meal with an egg on top. I shall finish of my reports here before i go home.

Meanwhile, heard of news that my erstwhile cousin ,who has disappeared from view or seeing his "friends" since shacking up with Zee at the end of last May, has damaged his other gammy leg in Canterbury and is off work yet again. Schadenfreude! Karma! Made my day in fact!

Those who have known me before the recent revival of LJ know what i mean. 

Shut Up Alexa - Echo Stop Repeating

Those who know their mythology will know the story of Narcissus and Echo. If you need a refresh - Echo is a "talkative nymph" who is admired by the goddess Aphrodite for her magnificent voice and song. When she tricks Hera into believing that her husband, Zeus, was in the city, Hera curses Echo by making her able to only finish a sentence not start, and unable to say anything on her own. "Yet a chatterbox, had no other use of speech than she has now, that she could repeat only the last words out of many." This is the explanation of the aural effect which was named after her. She falls in love with Narcissus, whom she catches sight of when he is "chasing frightened deer into his nets." Eventually, after "burning with a closer flame," Echo's presence is revealed to Narcissus, who, after a comic, yet tragic scene, rejects her love. Echo prays, in her mind, of this to Aphrodite, who makes Echo disappear, until she "remains a voice" and "is heard by all."
Then, Narcissus "tired from both his enthusiasm for hunting and from the heat" rests by a spring, and whilst drinking, "a new thirst grows inside him" and he is "captivated by the image of the beauty he has seen". He falls deeply in love with "all the things for which he himself is admired." He then wastes away with love for himself, echoing the manner in which Echo did earlier. A while later his body is gone, and in its place is a narcissus flower. The pale flower is still found near river banks so that it can be reflected on the water.

Tragic isn't it?

Anyway, Amazon have a new device called Echo, which allows the use to use voice command for anything that is WiFi connected in the living space, as well as doing voice commanded orders such as buying a book. Well the advice is going awry as exemplified by this article in the Guardian -

"A Texan schoolgirl accidentally ordered a doll’s house using the gadget. Then, when local news reported the story, it triggered viewers’ own devices. But accidental shopping isn’t its only quirk"

"The problem is that when you have Alexa, the intelligent assistant that powers Amazon Echo, entering millions of homes to do the shopping, answer questions, play music, report the weather and control the thermostat, there are bound to be glitches".

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/jan/09/alexa-amazon-echo-goes-rogue-accidental-shopping-dolls-house?CMP=share_btn_fb




Think i should file this under weird and wacky news lol!

You Are So Right Picard

Just Wondering

What’s your favourite smell/scent? Is it somehow connected to a specific memory? If so, what is that memory and why is that scent so strongly attached to it?

The battle of the franchises.Star Trek or Star Wars?

Welterusten

Sleep well (in Dutch)