When I wasn’t looking, WordPress added new features. This is more AI stuff, including a writing program that mimics my Hemmingway app. As I don’t always write direct into the blog, not sure how much use that is, but it’s a good tool. For instance, as I’m writing this it just told me the previous sentence was a long one. It also flagged the word “previous” as a complex word. If I cared, changing those sentences would be a simple thing.
I don’t care.
As you no doubt guessed.
Another new tool, and this one is giving me troubles, is called AI Feature Image. I guess what it does is “read” the post and then create an image based on what it finds. Below is one created based on one of my Spider-man essays.
Now that’s nice. I question were the assets it’s using comes from. In fact, this is one of my basic problem with AI, stealing other people’s hard work. The other problem is that I didn’t make this myself and it feels lazy and wrong.
To a point.
Oh, and because I’m who I am, I did one for Power Girl and Gamera. The former is from a post on this site, the latter my Giant Monster Gamera review on the sister site.
Very interesting. The Gamera, of course, is the least accurate of the three, and that’s the problem. You can’t count on the AI to do the job.
Of course, I didn’t plan on using any of these as feature images. The limit is grist for a blog post.
It’s when I get a knuckleheaded idea into my head about new main headers that I get into problems.
Which, heh heh, has been a bit of a time sink. But that’s the next post.
Oh, and for the curious, this is the feature image it created for this post:
So I’m woken up at 3am to the news, from my mother no less, that I’ve had strange posts on this site. My first thought was that this was from the Sister Site, as she’s due to post another review. Only Mom says Welltun Cares Presents, and I know that can’t be right. So I go check it out.
I find three posts with the following titles: How to get the perfect milf live chat partner?, The best unicorn dating site for finding real love, and How to get going with anal only dating.
None of those titles even sound like me.
Well, maybe the unicorn one.
[FUTURE CULLEN sez:] I mean because of the fantasy connotation. Having finally found out what the term means, I want to make that clear.
So I’ve taken them off site and put it into trash. I haven’t even read them more than the first few lines, which looks a lot like AI writing. I’ve also worked to improve security on the site. Fun!
I’ve tried contacting WordPress, but that’s a bust. I get a helpful AI bot who read what I had to say, then tried to pass me off to someone else. This failed for reason or reasons unknown.
So, yeah, not a happy camper right now. Bad enough if this was a freebie account. It isn’t. I’m paying money here.
Anyways, long story short, sorry about any weird emails. If the titles aren’t in the current format, they ain’t mine. I’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
Unicorn dating site? [FUTURE CULLEN sez:] Oh Past Cullen you don’t want to know.
Since rebooting this blog (a process, I must say, that has been much simpler than rebooting the Sister Site) I have notice a few old standby posts that have fallen to the wayside. One of which is the The Hell… ?!, in which I rant about the crazy things I have seen or have happen to me. I’ve done only two of them since starting over.
Perhaps this is understandable. I was so much younger and slightly (very slightly) less handsome back when I started things here at Welltun Cares Presents. Not a lot shocks and outrages me any more. I may even have become jaded.
Other things that have dropped away are less understandable. For instance, ranting about how stupid Green Arrow is. This never grows old for me. As well as it shouldn’t, as it’s an ever fresh topic. Everyone should rant about how stupid Green Arrow is. At length. With passion.
It’s shocking more people don’t.
WHAAAA?!
In between these two points of obvious understanding and bewildering disbelief sits a third topic: My love for the comic book character Power Girl.
Talking about her wasn’t necessarily a big part of this blog. It’s not like I’m her biggest fan, after all. I have no action figures. I own one collection of her comics, which, I should add, was given to me as a birthday present. While I know a healthy chunk about her history, I can’t point to individual stories featuring her. In fact, calling myself a fan might not be wholly accurate. I might just like the concept.
That said, unlike with the The Hell… ?! series, where I debated not rebooting, I always considered going back to the Other Maid from Krypton. My problem was that for a while there was so very little new pictures going around. It seemed like DC was avoiding using the character.
Looking at the character over to the right, I can see two reasons why this might be. These days it seems the bigger the reasons, the less likely the character is used. And that’s a damn shame, considering how “tolerant” the world is supposedly getting with diversity.
Today, though, Constant Reader henrybrennan has solved two problems for me. He’s given me another The Hell… !? post AND a blessed reason to talk about Power Girl.
I give you this headline.
Really.
Really.
Let’s look at the new costume.
Now let’s look at the classic Power Girl costume again:
Huh.
Huh.
Now let’s look at Supergirl.
And again, Classic Power Girl.
And, again, that new costume.
Yeeeeeeeeyeah. Not really anything different there, is there?
Portrait of a man on the verge of losing a finger. Among other things.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s probably the best costume… oh God, as I’m typing this, I realized something. They’ve recently changed Power Girl’s secret identify to Paige, and I didn’t get why until just now. It was originally Karen, and now Karen has a nasty stigma to it.
Wow am I dense.
Anyway, nice costume. Not sure about the face, as it doesn’t seem to capture the attitude Power Girl has been known to have (should be more like the right, frankly). Though I do like it.
What I can’t see is how it’s any different a change from what she’s been known to wear. The character was already quite distinctive. And not just because of the usual two reasons.
I dunno. Maybe it’s me. Maybe if I was a paid journalist, I could see how the new costume does anything the old costume doesn’t.
Or, as I have admitted, I am dense. Maybe that’s it. Maybe if I studied both characters really hard, maybe then I’ll see and know better.
Yes! Yes, that’s what I’m going to do. An in depth analysis of the two characters.
It’s much worse than the graph lets on. I’m rewriting the opening. Some of the stuff I have now is bound to be tossed.
Early days, and, to be frank, typical. Only plus is that when I worked at Walmart I never came home and wrote. These days, it’s easier.
Finishing the first novel might have helped with that.
Anyways, the goal is finishing Novel #2. The deadline is only there to push me down the path. I should be able to catch up Monday and Tuesday. If not, Wednesday and Thursday are my weekend. Should be able to catch up there.
All this aside, I’m happier tonight than last night, and that’s what counts.
Okay, so apparently NaNoWriMo’s site now lets you track your book whenever you want to do it. Just put in a couple dates and make sure you record your count each day. That’s it.
So today after work I started the Second Novel. Had an outline started up for it and everything. Thought it go smooth.
It did not.
I needed 1613 words. I got 905.
That ain’t good.
Anyways, it’s a start. Hopefully tomorrow will go better.
As an extra bonus, here’s a scene made by one of those AI image creator sites that might give you a slight feel for where I’m going.
Though, honestly? This scene doesn’t happen in the story. At least I don’t think it does. It’s just to give an idea, a sort of feeling, of what I want.
Originally published here on May 22, 2018. This version is slightly modified to improve effect.
Fredric Brown did a lot of stories entirely too short for their own good that never the less pack a punch. He’s credited with “The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door…” Which he attached to a longer work called, unsurprisingly, Knock.
This is a long winded way of saying that there’s probably a longer story just waiting to spring from this little one. Until I think of it (assuming I do) I think it stands well on it’s own.
Whenever I even whisper her name, wherever I am, wherever he is, he hears me.
WELLTUN CARES PRESENTS 