Author Archives: Peter Schmidt

Wait, “Smart” AI really can’t handle a prompt asking it to “write oppositely”??

Below is an example of one of the suffix commands in a prompt to AI that broke the “guardrails” trying to govern AI. That is, the safeguards so that AI wouldn’t make up stuff or consent to bad things like … Continue reading

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Could these 2 L. Frank Baum stories from 1910 be witty allegories about race, colonialism, and immigration?

These two chapters involving Dorothy and her friends are from Baum’s sequel to The Wizard of Oz (1900), The Emerald City of Oz (1910). Chapter 12, “How They Matched the Fuddles,” and Chapter 17, “How They Came to Bunbury.” Use … Continue reading

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Seems a good time to read some C. P. Cavafy

Candles The days of the future stand in front of us Like a line of candles all alight—Golden and warm and lively little candles. The days that are past are left behind, A mournful row of candles that are out; … Continue reading

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Henry Louis Gates, Jr., on the values of literature

Amen, brother! Read this talk of his. I’m also struck by the contrast between this essay in the NYTimes Book Review (Oct. 31) and Marjorie Perloff’s depressing and deluded essay in a recent issues of the LA Review of Books … Continue reading

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Donald Rumsfeld Tries to Enter Into Heaven

(as retold later by the Devil) … into the known       unknown or maybe it’s       an unknown  unknown       Donald comes to the Gates       unrepentant. A large book       swings open hard to see       the pages but it seems       they hold long lists … Continue reading

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16 postcard-length meditations on the Game of Thrones ending

Does this really need a spoiler alert?  OK, spoiler alert.  Don’t have a meltdown. Dany touching the Throne of Swords in the snow in 8.6 completes one of the dream-visions she had in the House of the Undead in the … Continue reading

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download Ecotone and/or Spleen (my 2 new poetry chapbooks)

Ecotone // 14 poems by Peter Schmidt, about wandering through the natural world … A downloadable pdf, from Pixel Press / Swarthmore You may also download SPLEEN (political poems protesting + reimagining the fate of society and nature). =====For either or … Continue reading

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Cultural biases built into Gmail and FB autocorrect spelling

Two examples: 1. No matter how many times I type a student’s name, Shaoni, in Gmail, Gmail’s autocorrect always wants to convert that to “Shane.” Ditto for Facebook. Shaoni is a South Asian name. Shane is a name popular with … Continue reading

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On Contradictions in Nathaniel Rich’s “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change.”

Nathaniel Rich’s issue-long essay in this week’s New York Times Magazine receives a title worthy of a play: “Losing Earth: The decade we almost stopped climate change. A tragedy in two acts.” It’s definitely worth an hour or two of … Continue reading

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Garbage In / Garbage Out: Why is Facebook Using Its Powerful Resources To Help Teachers Teach Bad Common Core Standards In AP English Classes?

Facebook on its Summit Learning Resources Site for K-12 English & Language Arts teachers is now promoting ready-made lesson plans for teaching Common Core standards. Sounds good, right? But many of the lesson plans are screwed up because so many … Continue reading

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