Peter Beens
I’m currently subscribing to ChatGPT and Google Gemini to test them both out. One of the tasks I often use chatbots for is creating alt-text for my images.
For the importance of using alt-text in your images, see this post.
The prompt given to Gemini and ChatGPT was: ‘Alt text for this image‘.
Here is the image I used. Note that it includes text instructions and images.
Continue reading “Google Gemini vs ChatGPT: Generating Alt-Text. Who Wins?”Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Google for removing links to Canadian news articles in search results as part of a test for a small percentage of users, stating that it is a “terrible mistake”. However, his comments mislead on several critical issues with Bill C-18, a bill that mandates payments for links to news articles.
It cannot reasonably be said that Google is preventing Canadians from accessing news, since the removal of links from search results does not remove or block the site itself nor prevent anyone from accessing it directly. Furthermore, the bill would require payments to hundreds of broadcasters without any actual journalism or original news content.
Bill C-18 is not about payment for the reproduction of journalists’ work, but payment for links, indexing, and any other mechanism that facilitates access to news. The bill threatens the free flow of information online, and if it passes in its current form, it could create a framework that would threaten the foundational principles for how information flows online.
Google is rightly taking a stand against the bill’s threat to the free flow of information online by considering not linking to Canadian news articles.
(This article has been summarized using ChatGPT from Michael Geist’s excellent article found here. Posted date: 2023-02-25)
Henceforth I am going to spell Google “google” when using it as a verb and “Google” when using it as a proper noun.
Who’s with me?
So it was with interest that I read the article “Did Google Just Deliver A Death Blow To Waze?” this morning. Continue reading “Oh No! The Death of Waze”
After applying an update to my UnRAID server a message popped up telling me that I didn’t have system notifications turned on.
I popped into Settings > Notifications Settings only to have discovered that I didn’t have any notifications turned on. Well, that’s not good.
In the SMTP Settings sections Gmail was already listed, so this should be easy. Nope, it never passed the test. A quick search helped me find this forum where it showed me the proper SMTP settings for Gmail:
It still wasn’t passing the test however, likely because I have 2-factor authentication turned on. A little more digging on the forum, and that is where I learned about Google app passwords:
An App password is a 16-digit passcode that gives an app or device permission to access your Google Account. If you use 2-Step-Verification and are seeing a “password incorrect” error when trying to access your Google Account, an App password may solve the problem. Most of the time, you’ll only have to enter an App password once per app or device, so don’t worry about memorizing it.
I had never heard of this before, but it was the solution I was looking for. The service generated a simple 16 digit password that allowed me to send notification emails using my Gmail account.
This process only has to be done one time, and the password is never used anywhere else (I assume it’s locked to the sending device) so I don’t have to remember it.
The SMTP test passed. Problem solved.