Embracing the Life forced upon You

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From the beginning you are in the victim of circumstances. You're born, kicking and screaming, into an unknown family. As a child, you soak up influences that mold your mind in certain ways. When you finally get a driver’s license and move out of the house, you think, you’re free—but you marry someone who looks like your mother and drinks like your father. By the time you figure out who you are or what you want, a life has already been forced upon you. But it’s never too late to change. Although you can’t begin again from scratch, you can make a splendid ragout from the mishmash of damaged goods in your cupboard.

I choose how to live a life I didn’t choose.

Andrew Boyd, Daily Afflications

13 Media Webinars this Week: AI, PR, marketing, content creation, journalism & more

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Monday, Jan 22 - Public Relations Saves the World: Three Steps to Maximizing Media Opportunities

What: In this dynamic session, participants will gain valuable insights into the power a little prep work brings to an earned media strategy. Discover how to craft a strategic messaging plan that directly aligns with organizational goals, ensuring your organization can shine in any story it is a part of. Learn practical tips for proactively pitching media and responding to inbound requests. We will also discuss how to select the right spokesperson for any given moment and how to media and message train them for the highest impact.   

Who: Alexson Calahan, Small Adventures Communications

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Nonprofit Learning Lab

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Tue, Jan 23 - An AI and Data Playbook for Media and Entertainment

What: You’ll find out:  How media and entertainment companies can reduce data silos and unify data to create a clear view of their customers; Ways to use AI algorithms and data analytics to better segment audiences; Tips for blending AI tools with the right data strategy to deliver personalized experiences

Who: Ismael Brown Product Marketing Manager Salesforce, Gaby Hosokawa Sr. Product Marketing Manager Salesforce

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: AdWeek

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Tue, Jan 23 - Putting a Local Tinge to Global Stories: How One Small Paper Makes It Work

What: Learn how and why local news organizations can make the connection between local and global events. And stay within budget.

Who: Denise Dunbar Publisher and Executive Editor of the Alexandria Times; Carol Guensburg Deputy Editor for Standards and Practices, Voice of America

When: 6 pm, Eastern  

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Washington DC Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

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Tue, Jan 23 - Marketing on a Shoestring

What: Attendees will be able to: – Recognize no cost tools to help them grow their marketing – Take a deeper dive into Canva and create their own marketing content – Learn how to apply these tools to their own marketing techniques – Diversity their offerings and create a strong online presence.

Who: Rachel Hazzard, Temple SBDC Marketing & Communication Specialist.

When: 1 pm

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Pennsylvania Dept. of Community & Economic Dev.

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Tue, Jan 23 - Tools for Quick and Smart Content Creation

What: A handpicked selection of tools, from the most underrated to the most efficient: from intuitive design platforms and resourceful image libraries to AI-driven writing aids and interactive content generators. This session is not just about tool recommendations but about understanding how, when, and where to use them effectively.  

Who: Garima Gupta, Founder & CEO, Artha Learning

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

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Wed, Jan 24 - Centering Humans in AI

What: In this session, attendees will learn how this technology is designed to make life easier for admins, helping them move faster and work smarter. Join two nonprofit experts as they explore how board management software not only benefits administrators, but also injects simplicity and efficiency into a nonprofit’s entire governance environment.

Who: Leah Grobey & Chelsey Reichart of OnBoard

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Nonprofit Learning Lab

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Wed, Jan 24 - Ask the Experts: Focus on Ethics, Principles, and Governance of Generative AI

What: In this session, our experts will discuss recent increased innovation of AI applications such as Microsoft Copilot. This session offers practical advice for using AI responsibly.

Who: Joshua Peskay, RoundTable Technology 3CPO; Kim Snyder RoundTable Technology  VP of Data Strategy

When: 1 pm

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

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Wed, Jan 24 – Misinformation in the College Classroom: How are Faculty and Librarians Teaching News Literacy Skills? 

What: Original research on faculty and librarians' perceptions of mis- and disinformation. Explore the ways in which they are addressing mis- and disinformation in their instruction, and ideas for how academic librarians can work with faculty to more fully integrate information literacy related to mis- and disinformation into college curricula across disciplines.

Who: Laura Saunders, a Professor at Simmons University School of Library and Information Science.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Niche Academy

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Thu, Jan 25 - Ask Me Anything About Science Writing and Journalism 

What:  First, a short talk on communication training, the art of writing, and why they are important for scientists. You will then have the chance to ask about science writing or journalism.

Who: Dr. Nathan Ni, Associate Science Editor and leader of the scientific services initiative of the magazine “The Scientist.”

When: 12 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Applied Spectroscopy Technical Group

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Thu, Jan 25 - Future Watch 2024: Key Trends and Events Public Relations Practitioners Should Have on Their Radar in the Coming Year

What: Learn about trends and events that will inform the work of public relations professionals, how to think like a futurist and how to scan for potential changes, and how to prepare for these changes and remain nimble in the coming months and years.

Who: Stephen Dupont, vice president of public relations at Pocket Hercules

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members

Sponsor: The Public Relations Society of America

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Thu, Jan 25 - Introduction to AI Tools

What: In this session, we’ll work with MidJourney and Adobe Firefly to create photo illustrations; design graphics and charts using ChatGPT’s Daigr.am plug-in; use ScholarAI to do deep research and turn it into a Twitter thread. We’ll also demo text-to-audio tools and explore some pitfalls of AI tools and the issues surrounding them.

Who: Mike Reilley, senior lecturer at the Univ. of Illinois-Chicago, founder of JournalistsToolBox.ai

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Non-members $50, students $10

Sponsor: The Virginia Press Association

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Fri, Jan 26 - Election 2024: How to use poll data to accurately inform the public

What: Participants will learn:  How to spot a well-designed poll (and those that are not). To understand how the types of questions asked, people included in the polls, and the poll’s timing will impact a poll’s results. How to incorporate polling data in ethical, responsible ways. Tips from political reporters who have used polls in their work for decades

Who: Erin Covey U.S. House analyst, The Cook Political Report; Louis Jacobson Senior correspondent, PolitiFact; Jane Junn Professor of political science, University of Southern California; Courtney Kennedy Vice president of methods and innovation, Pew Research Center.

When: 11:30 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Press Club Journalism Institute

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14 Articles about the Limitations of AI

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The Individual Journey

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As an adolescent I used to thrill to the words of love the early American poet Ann Bradstreet spoke to her husband: 'If ever two were one, then we.'

As I have grown, however, I have come to realize that it is the separateness of the partners that enriches the union. Great marriages cannot be constructed by individuals who are terrified by their basic aloneness, as so commonly is the case, and seek a merging in marriage. Genuine love not only respects the individuality of the other but actually seeks to cultivate it, even at the risk of separation or loss. The ultimate goal of life remains the spiritual growth of the individual, the solitary journey to peaks that can be climbed only alone.

Significant journeys cannot be accomplished without the nurture provided by a successful marriage or a successful society. Marriage and society exist for the basic purpose of nurturing such individual journeys.

But, as is the case with all genuine love, “sacrifices” on behalf of the growth of the other result in equal or greater growth of the self. It is the return of the individual to the nurturing marriage or society from the peaks he or she has traveled alone which serves to elevate that marriage or that society to new heights.

M Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

Generative AI Models are "trained to hallucinate"

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It’s important to remember that generative models shouldn’t be treated as a source of truth or factual knowledge. They surely can answer some questions correctly, but this is not what they are designed and trained for. It would be like using a racehorse to haul cargo: it’s possible, but not its intended purpose … Generative AI models are designed and trained to hallucinate, so hallucinations are a common product of any generative model … The job of a generative model is to generate data that is realistic or distributionally equivalent to the training data, yet different from actual data used for training.

UCLA Computer Science Professor Stefano Soatto writing for InsideBigData

13 Recent Articles about How Companies are Using AI

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9 Articles about the AI Economic Impact

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Life is in the Digging

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Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. As they were working, a couple of older boys stopped by to watch.

"What are you doing?"  

"We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth," one of the brothers volunteered excitedly.

The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible.

After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms, and a wide assortment of insects. He removed the lid and showed the wonderful contents to the scoffing visitors.

"Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth, look what we found along the way!"

Their goal was far too ambitious, but it did cause them to dig. And that is what a goal is for — to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen; in other words, to set us to digging!

Not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every relationship will endure. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love will last. Not every endeavor will be completed. Not every dream will be realized. But when you fall short of your aim, you can say, "Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!"

It is in the digging that life is lived. And I believe it is joy in the journey, in the end, that truly matters.

8 Articles about AI Products

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A Dozen Things People are Trying to Get AI to Do

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Irritation with Others Mistakes

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The imperative person has very idealistic expectations. Only the best is acceptable. Frailties, common to our humaness, are despise. The result is a strong tendency to look up on anything less than ideal with disdain. That's why imperative people often admit, “I get irritated when other people make mistakes.” or “I tend to do an important job myself because someone might not do it right.” Or “I get impatient when other people can't understand what needs to be done.”

So, clutching onto our high ideals, we tend to hold ourselves above others. False superiority is felt. Condemnation is communicated.  Annoyance is a constant companion. Relationships suffer. (All the while), the impaired person must cling to correctness.

Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control

16 Articles about AI & Creativity

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A Dozen Articles about Employees Using AI at Work   

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