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April 2024
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BEST-SELLING, SERIOUSLY?4/16/2024 I was stalking some of my competition online (Yes, we do check who was doing, what??) and there was a lot of best-selling titles being thrown around. One author/consultant claimed her book is a best-seller, one that is self-published, autobiographical, and utterly unheard of. The other one is a high-flying speaker with a best-selling book at a prestigious publishing firm. It looks like a great book, but even a 10,000 sales would not make it a best seller. When I learned about being an author and being commercially published, the word "Best-selling" became clear to me. You can game the system, buy all your books and get the title. The Amazon best-seller scheme is totally a farce. There is editorial bias (of course, this is hidden right?) in every publication or press holding these coveted titles. Authors who want to get instant credibility but not quality and hard work that go with authorship are too many now to mention. There's so much fakery in these that it becomes seriously hollow and vain. I'm not a best-selling author but I'm commercially published by a reputable press. They vouched that my work and ideas are top-notch enough to support me in this journey. A third-party serious press is the gold standard but of course, I can aim for the next tier of publications next time. But seriously, in the first few years of my book launch, I got hundred sales from people that get to know me and my work. I just got my first cheque last year. Not much, but it's great to know that people are behind me and in what I do. That's very rewarding in itself. My book and future ones will be long-term products of quality, hard work, and passion to share knowledge and help people as a result. Promotions will continue for quite a long time and the new books will definitely resurrect those preceding it. In matters of business honesty, fellow entrepreneurs, be real. Public, it's all a lie. Don't buy the lie.
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ALWAYS THE MUSE4/10/2024 There's something about physical beauty that people values. In my culture, when you look physically better than all the rest, you get some special attention, whether you like it or not. Mestizas, half-Caucasians get to cover the major magazines and become showbiz stars and personalities. They are elected in public office and some get to really compete in beauty contests abroad and win prizes. If you're smart too, you really get places- a promotion, a graduate scholarship, more friends, and many more perks, perhaps. Nowadays, you might be suspected as a showbiz personality or a social media influencer and people will ask to have a photo session with you while walking in the mall or just doing your business. During my time in elementary school, classrooms would vote for the leaders such as the President and so on. For more than 3 years I got to be the Muse of the Class and then of course, I should have an escort. At first, it was fine, I didn't mind at all. If there's a school event, the Muse and the Escort of each class will lead the parade or be the representatives to meet honorable guests and VIPS. In short, public ambassadors. But after a while, being voted beautiful is not the same way as being regarded as smart, intelligent, or just a very interesting person. And you can be all of these too. Beauty is a value but superficial and over regard and valuation of physical superiority based on certain standards do not make the person more or less better than others. You need internal beauty that is a strong character and identity to weather the storms of life and become a much improved version of yourself. You need self-esteem that comes from within and no matter what you are good, enough, and sufficient for the task of your existence. No amount of makeup, plastic surgery, popularity, millions of social media followers, and doting from your friends and peers can cover the ugly and toxic aspects of one's personality and mask the real life your living. This pattern repeated when I was in high school. But by the end of high school, I was no more Ms. Muse. At the later part, I was voted Secretary and then Vice-President. My grades and overall standing mattered the most. I read more books and literature to keep abreast of international and local events and whatnots. I became a trivia buff, a bit nerdy on spy novels with a culinary bent. I became more well-rounded than just a person with a nice face to look at. After high school, I was never the Muse. In college, I was a consistent Dean's Lister for four years. I was Number 1 in one semester in my Department. I graduated with honors at the end of four years and moved on to take my graduate program. With the flippancy of youth and the culture that values physical beauty above everything else, a young person can stumble. But eventually, the real world opened up to me to rethink this experience and understand that beauty, fame, wealth, status, and even relationships come and go. There 's no permanency in these. You should have to learn quickly and take your genetic advantages and assets appreciatively while working on other aspects of life that needs more work.
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KNOCK KNOCK AI4/8/2024 AI who? Artificial Intelligence? No, its Anti-Intellectual. There is a hype on AI and anything AI. Those people that are not into AI or tech by profession are suddenly AI experts. Most of the conference themes are focus on AI and Machine Learning in various trades. Almost all of the industries or sectors are bracing the impacts of AI and what changes it might force them to make and what would be the risks/benefits for early adoption. I consider myself an AI novice but I pay attention to what is not being said about AI. A year ago, some of my students cheated on their essays using some ideas from ChatGPT and passed them as their own. It wasn't a pleasant experience but it's all lessons learned. Using ChatGPT for academic purposes should be girded with guidelines or rules or else there's no distinction between real scholarly work and getting Google to do all the job for you. We live in precarious times where ethics and integrity take a second fiddle over growth, success, and worldwide domination. I fear that this AI hype will only fuel ignorant adherence that will create more mistakes and misapplications in many sectors. We all need to study more and ask better questions. There is no shortcut with an emerging technology such as this. |