Au Cochonnet Marin

Automation has a nice ring to it, but should you totally trust that technology? would stake your life on it? No matter how sophisticated a system is, no machine can yet do without human supervision.

Automation is now ubiquitous in transportation industries, and cars, trains, and planes can practically operate on their own.
You hear every day about people dozing in their cars while traveling at 80 miles per hour on the freeway. They seem to totally trust their machines, but should they?

Cars can now run and park themselves, and big jets can also land on their own; but would you feel entirely comfortable if the pilot was playing solitaire while automation was handling the touchdown?

Automation is undoubtedly convenient, but it lacks true intelligence or intuition. A routine job is OK but sometimes a machine has to use judgement, and it can’t.

The same goes for check spelling for example. It is a very smart and very helpful application, but before you submit your final copy to your boss, review your assistant’s work. And Son of a Gun, you will discover that in its zeal to please, it took some unacceptable liberties with your text… and it overlooked some obvious mistakes.

What about automated translation? Yes, it does a good job, but it still is not smart enough to do a perfect job.

It will blindly translate every word it sees, without being able to fully understand what it does. If you don’t understand a foreign language, Google Translate can induce you in error, and it can also be easily tripped by colloquialisms or plays on words.

This blog of mine sports such a feature and it can translate the English text into French, German, Spanish and Russian. It does an I’mpressive job, but if you are familiar with any of these languages, you will immediately spot the errors.

The Italians have a saying “Traduttore, traditore” (translator, traitor) and I agree with that. You cannot completely trust automation unless you are fluent in the language you are translating.

“Automation does not need to be our enemy. I think machines can make life easier for men, if men do not let the machines dominate them.” ~John F. Kennedy.

 This means, as a Russian proverb says “trust, but verify.”

Trust new technologies, but do not become absolutely subservient to them.

And always keep a piece of dark chocolate handy in case things don’t turn out as expected.

Alain

First of all, let’s define the word conversation…

As I understand it, it is a talk between two or more people, in which news, ideas, thoughts, and feelings are exchanged.

But are conversations now outdated? Are they another collateral damage of COVID-19? Yes, you still can call your friends, but what is there to talk about besides the cursed pandemic? Everybody is dog-tired of that old potato and running out of new subjects… If you don’t go anywhere, don’t see or get it on with anybody, what are you going to gossip about?

A phone call today feels like conversing with an inmate or a nursing home dweller… Since they are confined, they have nothing interesting to add to the conversation, and very soon, you are going to run out of material.

What about your spouse, your inamorata? It does not get any better… Remember the old saying “familiarity breed indifference.” After a long time cloistered in your abode with anybody, you are ready to erupt.

Even if you are very close to that person, it is very difficult to keep the conversation going… they know everything about you and you know almost everything (?) about them…
You need to regularly get away from each other to keep the relationship sustainable…

But fortunately, I am a conversation camel… I can go a few days without talking to anybody…. I dabble in writing… often a lot of nonsense, but for me, it is a safety valve. It is an occupation which distracts me from our painful problem and  releases the pressure generated by imposed inactivity. And this hobby carries a big bonus! It also distracts you from raiding the fridge too often.
I wonder what we are all going to look like in a month, a year, when the damn virus finally disappears?

When writing (or toying with words and ideas) my main purpose is to entertain. Especially now when everybody is down in the dumps…

So when are we going to reopen the country and reintroduce the art of conversation? Our feckless fearless leader is eager to start making money again, but you cannot set an arbitrary date based on a personal whim.

I have the feeling that it is going to be a very long process, based on scientific facts and not on wishes.

In the meantime, keep a stiff upper lip under your mask!

Alain

It occurred to me recently that I was a fetishist… and after some consideration, I decided to come out and share my perversion with you.

But before I confess though, I want you to know that this deviance of mine is not unique… unbeknownst to you, many secret fetishists are gravitating close by. Someday maybe, after a few drinks, you will also come clean and share your guilty pleasure with us.

“Tie me up, please…” Chantal said.
A little bit of kink was one of the most delicious of erotic pleasures. Catholic school girls were often the horniest…”

 Yes, bondage is one of the common fetishes. Some people just love to be tied up and toyed with…
Among the best-known fetishes, you have the foot fetish, the panty fetish, the high heel fetish, the hair fetish, the nylons, the spanking fetish, voyeurism, whipping, etc. To each his own.

My fixation (I bet that you are dying to know) is box fetishism. Yes, I am a box fetishist. To be more accurate, I love them and I am unable to dump them. I hoard them… Not because of their supposed magical powers, or because they are inhabited by a spirit…

No, I keep them because I know that someday I will regret abandoning them… Not today, not tomorrow, not even in a year… but I am aware that in due course I will want to renew my relationship with them again.

A little while ago, being unoccupied, I decided to reorganize a closet. In my newfound zeal, I made the capital mistake of discarding some of my precious shoe boxes. Without fail, a few days later, I desperately needed one of them…

There is something about a box that fascinates me. To entice customers, merchants now spend more time designing and constructing these boxes, and some are lovely. I specially think of the iPhone boxes… little jewels.
It seems to be a crying shame to put them in the garbage bin.

And anyway, there is too much waste in America… and around the world. We should not be so eager to discard things (or people) that could be useful again.

In closing

If you are a fetishist, don’t be bashful about it. Come out of the closet and enjoy your longing while you can. Nothing is taboo anymore and you should know by now that life is precarious.
We are only human and we only live once.

La vie est courte, amusons-nous. (Life is short, let’s have fun.) Victor Cherbuliez 

Alain