Virtue
/Virtue, even attempted virtue, brings light; indulgence brings fog. - CS Lewis
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Old Enough
/Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. –CS Lewis
Sometimes
/Sometimes it is only when you see where you have been that you can tell where you are heading. -William Bridges
14 Articles about How AI Works
/How to make GPTs using ChatGPT in minutes (Beginners Guide) – Geeky Gadgets
A jargon-free explanation of how AI large language models work - Arstechnica
No, chatbots aren’t sentient. Here’s how their underlying technology works. – New York Times
Everything you wanted to know about AI – but were afraid to ask – The Guardian
Demystifying ChatGPT! – Toward AI
ChatGPT explained: what is it and why is it important? – Tom’s Guide
AI's scariest mystery – Axios
AutoGPT basics – KD Nuggets
What is ChatGPT? Everything you need to know – Tom’s Guide
AI glossary of terms to know - The Washington Post
How AI Knows Things No One Told It -Scientific American
What is AI? – McKinsey
What drum machines can teach us about AI – Aeon
AI is Just Someone Else’s Intelligence – Zdziarski
The Shining
/How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world! -William Shakespeare
Winnie’s Wise Words
/If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear. -Winnie the Pooh
What it Takes
/Why do certain people put themselves through the years of intensive daily work that eventually makes them world-class great? The answers depend on your response to two basic questions: What do you really want? And what do you really believe?
What you want - really, deeply want - is fundamental because deliberate practice is an investment: The costs come now, the benefits later. The more you want something, the easier it will be for you to sustain the needed effort until the payoff starts to arrive. But if you're pursuing something that you don't truly want and are competing against others whose desire is deep, you can guess the outcome.
The evidence offers no easy assurances. It shows that the price of top-level achievement is extraordinarily high. Maybe it's inevitable that not many people will choose to pay it. But the evidence shows also that by understanding how a few become great, all can become better.
Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated
7 Free Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism, Social Media & more
/Tue, Nov 14 – Women Making News
What: Three of the most powerful women in journalism talk about battling disinformation, protecting reporters in war zones and leading influential news organizations during one of the most challenging times in modern media.
Who: Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, President, CBS News; Alessandra Galloni, Editor in Chief, Reuters; Rashida Jones, President, MSNBC, Sally Buzbee, Executive Editor, The Washington Post.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Washington Post
Wed, Nov 15 - The Role of Generative AI in Enhancing Data Storytelling
What: Leverage the power of Generative AI and our low-code platform to make sense of your data and more importantly, narrate a data story that aligns well with your questions and the problem at hand.
When: 9 am, Pacific
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Microsoft & iLink Digital
Wed, Nov 15 - The Future of Corporate Communications
What: Valuable, data-driven perspectives that will empower you to make informed decisions and navigate the ever-changing corporate communications landscape successfully.
Who: Margot Edelman, GM of Edelman; Steve Barrett, PR Week; Yanique Woodall, CVS Health; Alex Thompson, Global Chair of Edleman; Arelle Patirck, Ariel Investments
When: 4 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Institute for Public Relations
Wed, Nov 15 - Children on Social Media and the Multistate Lawsuit Against Meta
What: A discussion of the lawsuit filed by over 40 state attorneys general against Meta, alleging that its products are addictive and contribute to the youth mental health crisis.
Who: Ashley Johnson, Senior Policy Manager Information Technology and Innovation Foundation;. Jess Miers, Legal Advocacy Counsel Chamber of Progress; Nicole Saad Bembridge, Associate Counsel NetChoice; Ava Smithing, Advocacy & Community Director Young People's Alliance.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation
Wed, Nov 15 - Social Media Foundations: Basics for Facebook & Instagram
What: In this introductory course, we will discuss setting up a Facebook and Instagram business profile, how to schedule posts and stories, and how to engage your customers through this visual platform.
Who: Cassie Fly. a Marketing Specialist with the Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center.
When: 12 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Temple University Small Business Development Center
Thu, Nov 16 - Environmental Journalism Summit
What: Leading environmental journalists from major news outlets will predict the top stories of the year ahead.
Who:; Top reporters from The New York Times, NBC, NPR, TIME, and others, including David Byrne of Talking Heads.
When: 3 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Society of Environmental Reporters
Thu, Nov 16 - Journalism Ethics: Needed now more than ever???
What: We’ll share some anecdotal examples of dealing with touchy issues on deadline and invite you to join us in some exercises on how to handle decisions involving ethics.
Who: Traci Griffith, Mike Donoghue, Lincoln McKie
When: 11 am, Central
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The New England Newspaper & Press Association
Two Kinds of Fools
/There are two kinds of fools: one says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better." -William R. Inge
Good but not Safe
/“Then, he isn't safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said the Beaver. “Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King I tell you.”
CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Take calculated risks
/Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. -George S. Patton (born Nov. 11, 1885)
A learning strategy that has shown clear results
/Retrieval practice sometimes (shows) effects some 50 percent more than other forms of learning. In one study, one group of subjects read a passage four times. A second group read the passage just one time, but then the same group practiced recalling the passage three times.
But when the researchers followed up with both groups a few days later, the group that had practiced recalling the passage learned significantly more. In other words, subjects who tried to recall the information instead of rereading it showed far more expertise.
What’s important about retrieval practice is that people take steps to recall what they know. They ask themselves questions about their knowledge, making sure that it can be produced.
More concretely, retrieval practice isn’t like a multiple-choice test, which has people choose from a few answers, or even a Scrabble game, where you hunt in your memory for a high-point word. Retrieval practice is more like writing a five-sentence essay in your head: You’re recalling the idea and summarizing it in a way that makes sense.
As psychologist Bob Bjork told me, “The act of retrieving information from our memories is a powerful learning event.”
Ulrich Boser, Learn Better
Majoring in the Majors
/Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand - Thomas Carlyle
12 Articles about Using AI
/How to Use AI Tools to Easily Make Short-Form TikTok and Reels Videos – Tech.co
How to Use ChatGPT in Non-Evil Ways – Vice
Want More Clarity on Generative AI? Experiment Widely – MIT Tech Review
How to Use A.I. to Edit and Generate Stunning Photos – New York Times
Specific steps in how to use ChatGPT - Wharton School
ChatGPT Vision lets you submit images in your prompts: 7 wild ways people are using it -Mashable
Generative AI is now a part of everyday life, for good and bad. Here’s how to make the tech work for you – Technical.ly
The 4 Best AI Generator Tools For Writing Essays, Blogs & More – Hive.com
This is the best AI technology you’re probably not using – Washington Post
YouTube has AI creator tools, but creators are too busy battling AI to care - Polygon
New AI Dev Platform Allows You to Customize Open Source LLMs – The New Stack
How to write fiction and non-fiction books using ChatGPT – Geeky-Gadgets
Thinking Hard
/A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. -William James
14 Articles about the Business of Running an AI
/3 ways to test your AI’s effectiveness – Legal Dive
OpenAI unveils ambitions to compete more directly with Big Tech – Washington Post
AI Revolution: Top Lessons from OpenAI, Anthropic, CharacterAI, & More – a16z (podcast)
The TIME100 Most Influential People in AI - TIME
Silicon Valley startups lean into AI boom – Axios
These Prisoners Are Training AI – Wired
AI technology behind ChatGPT was built in Iowa — with a lot of water – KBUR
Meta is Developing its Own LLM to Compete with OpenAI – Social Media Today
Microsoft, Google rebuild around AI with Windows and Bard updates – Axios
The New ChatGPT Can ‘See’ and ‘Talk.’ Here’s What It’s Like. – New York Times
The State of Large Language Models – Scientific American
OpenAI has quietly changed its ‘core values’ - Semafor
Google Brain cofounder says Big Tech companies are inflating fears about the risks of AI wiping out humanity because they want to dominate the market – Business Insider
New synthetic data techniques could change the way AI models are trained - Semafor
Why is my first choice so seriously lame?
/For some reason, we often expect our first choice to be the optimal choice. However, it’s actually quite normal for your first attempt to be incorrect or wrong. This is especially true of the major decisions that we make in life.
Think of the first person you dated. Would this person have been the best choice for your life partner? Go even further back and imagine the first person you had a crush on. Finding a great partner is complicated and expecting yourself to get it right on the first try is unreasonable. It’s rare that the first one would be the one.
What is the likelihood that your 22-year-old self could optimally choose the career that is best for you at 40 years old? Or 30 years old? Or even 25 years old? Consider how much you have learned about yourself since that time. There is a lot of change and growth that happens during life. There is no reason to believe that your life’s work should be easily determined when you graduate.
When it comes to complex issues like determining the values you want in a partner or selecting the path of your career, your first attempt will rarely lead to the optimal solution.
Let Us
/Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. - James Thurber
11 Free Media Webinars this Week: Disinformation, SEO, Storytelling, AI, Science & More
/Mon, Nov 6 - Getting it right: Pushing past resistance to better firearms violence reporting
What: This webinar will explore how four journalists have tried to be part of the solution and the changes they’ve observed. They’ll share tips for managing managers, taking small steps (and feeling okay about that) and the importance of working closely in the communities most affected by the violence.
Who: Kaitlin Washburn, a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times; Abené Clayton, a reporter for The Guardian; Christopher Norris is a two-time Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist and former managing editor for community and engagement at WHYY
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Association of Health Care Journalists
Mon, Nov 6 - The impact of vaccine misinformation
What: The grave consequences of widespread anti-vaccination misinformation.
Who: PolitiFact Deputy Editor Rebecca Catalanello and Dr. Céline Gounder, host of the “Epidemic” podcast, KFF senior fellow, CBS News medical contributor.
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Poynter & PolitiFact
Mon, Nov 6 - How Russia’s disinformation campaigns can target your town
What: Learn how — and why — Russian propaganda is bypassing content bans and posing as local news with
Who: Peter Benzoni of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and PolitiFact Executive Director Aaron Sharockman.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Poynter & PolitiFact
Tue, Nov 7 - SEO Strategies for Nonprofits: Boosting Visibility and Traffic to Your Website
What: This webinar will get you up to speed on modern SEO tactics, why they're important, and how to build a strategy to keep your website's performance up to date. By the end of this webinar, you'll know How optimizing your site for SEO gains you new users; The basic SEO elements and how to manipulate them on your site; How to keep your site performing well on search engines in an efficient and effective manner.
Who: Julian Gerace, Tapp Network Digital Solutions Manager; Jason Spangler Tapp Network, Director Of Sales.
When: 12 noon
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: TechSoup
Tue, Nov 7 - Google News Lab — Trends and Advanced Search
What: This session will equip you with practical reporting tips with examples. In Advanced Search, we’ll share how using search modifiers and specialized search engines can unearth story ideas and sources. We'll also look at how Google Trends can lead to insights on local audiences and complement your storytelling.
When: 11 am, Central
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Google News Labs
Wed, Nov 8 - Global Media Literacy Education with the Pulitzer Center
What: Learn more about the many types of misinformation and approaches to media literacy. Participants will reflect on what global media literacy looks like in the classroom by exploring thinking routines and resources that encourage students to make local-global connections and identify power structures and dominant narratives that shape media.
Who: This workshop will feature an alumnus of the Pulitzer Center's Teacher Fellowship program, who will share their experience teaching an original project-based unit that cultivates global media literacy, and their tips for other educators doing this work.
When: 4 pm, Central
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Pulitzer Center Education
Wed, Nov 8 - "Once upon a Time": The Art and Architecture of Storytelling
What: This webinar will uncover the art and architecture of storytelling to reveal the power of persuasion. The session will answer these questions: How do we move from communicating to "inform" to communicating to "advocate" in sales and marketing presentations? What are the roles of trust and emotions in persuasion? Does speaking virtually change how we should persuade?
Who: Dr. Constance Staley Professor of Communication, University of Colorado
When:
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Training Magazine
Wed, Nov 8 - The threat of AI and the Israel-Hamas war
What: To help you better understand how malign actors are — or are not — using deepfakes to accelerate false narratives and intentionally mislead audiences.
Who: MediaWise Director Alex Mahadevan will lead a conversation with MediaWise Ambassador Hari Sreenivasan and Felix Simon, communication researcher and doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute.
When: 11 am, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Poynter & PolitiFact
Wed, Nov 8 - Science essentials for local reporters
What: Basic principles about how science works and ways it can be used to strengthen virtually any news story.
Who: Former longtime Washington Post science reporter Rick Weiss and Ph.D. neuroscientist Dr. Tori Espensen.
When: 2 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: New England Newspaper & Press Association
Thu, Nov 9 – Key YouTube Strategies for 2024
What: Results from a soon-to-be-released study of media agencies. You’ll find out: How advertisers are addressing brand suitability challenges on YouTube and balancing that with campaign performance goals. How brand and agency leaders predict their spending on YouTube and CTV will change in 2024. Platform changes that could have a big impact on how brands represent themselves on YouTube in 2024, including shifts in how they can advertise to diverse communities.
Who: Tamara Alesi CEO, Mediaplus North America; Jessica Goon CMO, Tate's Bake Shop; Matt Duffy CMO, Pixability.
When: 1 pm, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: Pixability
Fri, Nov 10 - Public Funding of Local News
What: Four states now provide funding for local news through state appropriations: New Jersey, Washington, New Mexico and California. In this program, we hear from local news leaders in those states and the national organization Rebuild Local News.
Who: Ayinde Merrill (New Jersey Civic Information Consortium), Steve Waldman (Rebuild Local News) and Christa Scharfenberg (UC Berkeley). This session will be moderated by Meg Little Reilly (CCN).
When: 12 noon, Eastern
Where: Zoom
Cost: Free
Sponsor: The University of Vermont
The Right Track
/Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. - Will Rogers (born Nov. 4, 1879)