the way things were

This design style is what most websites looked like 1996 - 99ish. 

This one was live as of the date of this post. The content was last updated in 2024 [but not the design 😏]

marketoonist - always funny because they're true

 

up to date? errrrrr ...

 I took this screenshot from a website's homepage on the date of this post. Oh dear. Even worse is that other aspects of the site have been updated in 2026.

 

google picture search ...

 Close, but no cigar.

I haven't been an academic for five years.

The first picture isn't me. 

I'm no longer a Senior lecturer - and I never worked at Teesside University.

[Note that my up-to-date employment history is readily available on the web]

Other than these, not too bad. But AI has a reputation for making errors and/or guesses.

In this example the errors aren't a disaster. But what if it was a health or medical enquiry? Or flight details? Or car repair advice? Or an assignment or dissertation? Shall I go on? 

making easy things hard ...

 When I tried to open my gmail account this morning I got this: 

Now, let me make this clear: not only do I not wish to have AI-powered email, but I would be unlikely to ever communicate with someone who has an AI-powered email - so I started clicking to get my gmail home page. After going round in several circles I finally got this message ...

  

To me, that reads like it's my fault. It wasn't, it was Google's. I wonder what part AI might have played in this shambles? 

inbox inefficiency

 OK, this was in the 'from' and 'subject' line of an email. What do you think it is all about?

I doubt that any of you - or, indeed anyone - would realise it is a promotion from a hotel.

I stay there several times a year. When I first actually read one of their emails [how many did I simply delete as spam before then?] I did have a quick word with the manager the next time I was there. He dismissed it as 'that's the marketing department'.  I bit my tongue and just said 'they're costing you customers' as I left. 

I'd have given him 10 minutes for nowt over a cup of their excellent coffee. For a night's stay I'd have talked with the marketing department for a morning or afternoon. Or sold them a copy of my book. Or they could simply have typed something like "tips on effective email marketing" into a search engine.

The irony is that it is a very good hotel in a very good location with reasonable prices, ie that have three of the 4Ps right ... but without the right promotion, they are wasted.

ooooops ...

 From FT.com ...

an ai question

Q. If you use an LLM to - for example - transcribe a meeting, can that LLM [legally] use any information in that transcription in its 'training' ie make it available to anyone who might look for it?

A.  Most probably, yes.

Oh ... and the same goes for any information and/or data anyone puts into an 'open' LLM. And I don't just mean your personal stuff - anything about the organization that any employee might put in also goes into the ai's memory, and so is available to anyone. Including competitors.

NB Most large organizations I have come across have some kind of tech support that acts as administrator for the systems they run. If an individual wants to put any kind of software on their employer's PC/laptop it needs to be signed off by tech support ... and they're usually - correctly - very protective of their system.    

my, how things have changed

 

make your mind up ...

Premier Inn are happy for users to reject unnecessary cookies on their website, but there's no option on their app. I'm a regular customer of Premier Inn, but I'll not be using the app for future bookings.

 

not so secure security ... thanks to ai

 From @HedgieMarkets on X, February 2026 [always good stuff]

Thoughtful email message ...

 

From X ... and funny because it's [probably] true

 

money for nothing ...

Just 'helped out' a friend of a friend who was concerned about how much he was spending on network advertising without any signs of success. 

I'll not bore you with all the details, but when [prompted by me] he asked the company he was paying to manage his advertising for some kind of report on the websites his ads were being delivered they told him 'that's not possible'. Hmmmmmmm 🤔

Effectively, 'we're taking your money but we're not going to tell you how we're spending it'. 

ai 'poisoning' search results

 From @HedgieMarkets on X, February 2026 [always good stuff]