The Tao of AutoCorrectivity

Kent Pitman

Location: New England, USA

Title: Philosopher, Technologist, Writer

Bio: I've been using the net in various roles—technical, social, and political—for the last 30 years. I'm disappointed that most forums don't pay for good writing and I'm ever in search of forums that do. (I've not seen any Tippem money, that's for sure.) And I worry some that our posting here for free could one day put paid writers in Closed Salon out of work. See my personal home page for more about me.

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October 07, 2012 11:42PM

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Kent Pitman's Links

RECOMMENDED POSTS BY KENT: $4.95/mo Web Hosting; That Creeping Feeling; To Serve Our Citizens; Enough; Losing the War in a Quiet Room; Corny Economics; The Freedom To Hear; Fiduciary Duty vs. The Three Laws of Robotics; Credit Cards: A Tax on "Being Poor"; Rethinking Mega-Corporations; I am not Pro-Slavery. Are you?; Medical Care and the Free-Market Catch-22; Hollow Support; Tax Policy and the Dewey Decimal System; What Love Endures; Redistributing Burden; Hair-Trigger Credit Card "Default Rates"
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KENT'S OTHER PAGES: My politics page; My home page; My climate change page; My soap parodies (1996-2001)
MENTIONS OF KENT: $4.95/mo Web Hosting; CoyoteOldStyle interviews Kent; Selected Readings 2008

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JULY 30, 2011 5:34PM

Rate: 13 Flag

This was written for RomanticPoetess...

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I am thrilled to have a poem written for me,
even if it started as a typo issue.
Thanks Kent,
rated with love

RomanticPoetess

July 30, 2011 06:53 PM

Poetess, I think typos are just inevitable bumps along the path that electronic life lays out for us. So if they're part of the Electronic Nature, I guess we just have to seek to accept them, right? At least, that's what I've gleaned of this tao stuff from some combination of your poems and Wikipedia. It's not traditionally my strong suit, but I figure sometimes we just have to learn by doing, so I'm playing along to see what I can learn. :)

Kent Pitman

July 30, 2011 07:01 PM

Jane, I like it when it does what I want and hate it otherwise... Sometimes it's a valuable service, and sometimes it's Lucy with the football, pulling it away from Charlie Brown at a critical moment. I just wish it could be trained differently...

Kent Pitman

July 30, 2011 07:04 PM

HA! I was ready for some Kent meat and got a truffle instead.

Dr. Spudman44

July 30, 2011 09:46 PM

Dr. Spudman, I'm not sure what to say. I hope that was an acceptable substitution we had to offer. I'll speak to the staff who prepare the menu about making things more clear.

Kent Pitman

July 30, 2011 09:51 PM

that's a sweet gesture, and a good poem. Good on you Kent.

Gary Justis

July 30, 2011 10:07 PM

Love it, Kent. You're a born poet and didn't know it. Prolly just as well; not much $ in poetry. As for me and WORD, the less said the better so ..............

less ;-)

R

podunkmarte

July 30, 2011 10:30 PM

Kent: You have experienced a "Porlock."

Here's the explanation, from wikipedia:

"The Person from Porlock was an unwelcome visitor to Samuel Taylor Coleridge during his composition of the poem Kubla Khan. Coleridge claimed to have perceived the entire course of the poem in a dream (possibly an opium-induced haze), but was interrupted by this visitor from Porlock (a village in the South West of England, near Exmoor) while in the process of writing it. Kubla Khan, only 54 lines long, was never completed. Thus "Person from Porlock", "Man from Porlock", or just "Porlock" are literary allusions to unwanted intruders."

At least you know now you're in good company. Cheers

Jeremiah Horrigan

July 30, 2011 10:34 PM

I like it! Short and sweet (but very frustrating for the person subjected to this autocorrection). I think iPhone is worse though:

Damn You Auto Correct

Kanuk

July 30, 2011 10:43 PM

Gary, thanks for visiting. After your many entertaining stories, I'm always glad to offer a bit of the same in return.

Marte, no $ in virtually any writing, I fear. And such a shame, not just because I'd like to get some of it, but because it means those who might entertain me have a harder time finding the means to stay fed while doing so. We should all aspire to have writers well paid, whether news writers or fiction writers, so that they'll be there when we need them.

Jeremiah, that's a great bit of trivia, imagery, and terminology. Thanks for the contribution to the discussion. In my mind I was imagining yet another ‘skin’ for the Microsoft paperclip, which can be configured to look like anything from a paper clip to a dog to an Albert Einstein.

Kanuk, thanks for the fun cross reference. :)

Kent Pitman

July 30, 2011 10:52 PM

I think you are a fast learner. I studied the Tao for several years before I dared try to put it in my poetry. You get an A++, although the Tao reminds us to take flattery in the same vein you take scorn, that is to not take either seriously.
Choosing the haiku form is so appropriate for your bit of wisdom.

RomanticPoetess

July 31, 2011 12:36 AM

Poetess, thanks for the kind words, which I promise not to let go to my head, per your fascinatingly articulated advice. Thanks, too, for giving me more to think about.

Kent Pitman

July 31, 2011 01:48 AM

In the beginning was Word, and Word was with . . . ? Kent, you've made me consider the number of things in this helter-skeltered world that I wish did come equipped with an autocorrect feature!