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Assorted Fall Sun Around the Neighborhood

Things you are not speaking that your kitchen smart assistant is adding to your profile on the company server, now or in the near future:

Noting how often you open the fridge and for how long it stays open.
Noting how often you open bags that sound like they contain chips.
That song you’re humming.
Noting how often you sniff, or cough, or clear your throat.
Noting the sounds your appliance makes, to detect the make and model, or the settings you use.
Noting how often you answer your phone, as opposed to declining the call.
Noting which notifications are you most likely to respond to by picking up and unlocking your phone.
That deep breath you just took after a particular notification rang on a particular device.
That bag of chips you opened a short while after you took that deep breath.

And of course, correlating this data to the time, date, current weather conditions, and past behavior.

Perhaps the company that makes the assistant also knows the content of those notifications and everything else happening on that device because they make that as well.

The machine is learning.

I almost just clicked on an ad with a one action button in the place where sites usually put the cookie disclaimer post-GDPR. Sneaky!

Bike Ride on the Banks Vernonia State Trail

A couple of weeks ago we went on a bike ride on the Banks Vernonia State Trail on the outskirts of the Portland metro area. It was a lovely Fall day. We started at Banks Trailhead, rode for a while past the Buxton Trestle bridge, and then returned the same way. A lot of the way was flat and some parts had a gentle slope. We had a great time. Following are some photos from then.