Category Archives: random

Has Auto-Correct Gotten So Smart That It’s Now Stupid?

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At first I thought it was just me, but it seems many others are struggling with the same issue.   Several years ago when phones finally had pretty good auto-correct and spell check I felt like it was actually a pretty nice thing to have.   As I typed on my phone with fumbly fingers most of my errors would be fixed leaving just a few to fix manually before clicking send.   And the auto-correct would replace words based on the context as well which made things altogether pretty intelligent.  My thought had been that as the developers (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc) of these predictive text dictionaries got more and more data from user devices the auto-correct function would get so good that you’d have little to fix after typing an entire message.

img_3010However, what seems to have happened in the past year or two is that the algorithms have gotten marginally better, but the aggressiveness of auto-correct has increased by an order of magnitude.  What I find now is that I have to retype words 2-3 times before auto-correct will let me keep it the way I’ve spelled it.  And if I mistype a word and try to correct it myself, sometimes auto-correct will then suggest the very misspelling I was trying to fix.   Even with a new phone and new computer, which haven’t had time to learn my own vocabulary, the auto-correct functionality suggests words that don’t even make sense, trying to replace perfectly valid words I’ve typed.   This affects both my phone and my computer, albeit both are Apple products, and my wife has the same issue with hers.

So I’ve given up on Auto-Correct, and gone back to the old way, with underlined words that I can selectively fix or leave as-is before I click send.   Frankly it takes me less time to manually correct a couple of words than it did to fight auto-correct to allow me to type the words correctly in the first place.

The good news is you can disable Auto Correct and get back to the good old days of being informed without being intruded on.

  • On a Mac, go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> “Text” tab, and un-checking “correct spelling automatically”.
  • On an iPhone, go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard, and disable “Auto-Correction”.

 

In both cases incorrect spellings and such will be underlined and suggested words will still be shown, but it won’t automatically replace what you have actually typed.  You can still chose one of the suggestions and/or click the underlined word for a correction, basically the same thing that you could do before Auto-Correct became so smart it turned stupid.

P.S. Please forgive any typos as this was typed on a Mac with Auto-Correct disabled.   😉

Quote of the Week

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“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… “cruising” it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

“I’ve always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can’t afford it.” What these men can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of “security.” And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all – in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? ”

― Sterling HaydenWanderer

Sterling Haydon and kids on Wanderer

Sterling Haydon and his children on Wanderer

The Wedding is only days away

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On Saturday April 4th I’m tying the knot. There’s been alot of planning, scheduling, and meeting with people to get it all ready but it’s almost there now. I’m heading up to Canada on Wednesday along with a bunch of family and some friends. The wedding should be very nice, and slightly non-traditional. The ceremony will be outside, in the snow, in the cold, but it will be beautiful. The reception is inside the hotel and we’ll have a large (11-person) Big Band playing for us. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the whole night turns out. And of course I’m looking forward to becoming a husband.

Category: random