I was watching local news this morning when this odd station break appeared:
Puzzled, I assumed they were having a technical problem. Something like in the old days when they’d put up a test pattern while things were being fixed. But it went on for a minute or two, backed with typical news channel theme music, and then the program resumed. No commercial. Oh, that’s going to cost somebody, I thought.
My mistake. I’ve had the show on for an hour, and this is what every “commercial” break has looked like. There have been no paid commercials.
I assume these breaks are intentional, much like some I’ve seen on streaming services that run quiet nature scenes or something similar instead of raucous paid commercials. I appreciate the thought. Nobody likes commercials, and during the campaign season they had me questioning my sanity for even owning a tv.
Meanwhile, WordPress AI is “assisting” me again. Two of the above sentences have been flagged (underlined in purple) as “too long.” First of all, if I want its help, I’ll ask for it. Second, I know the average literacy level in the US is a pathetic 7th-8th grade, but I do not read or write at that level. (And yet a third sentence just got flagged. Ugh.)
To avoid unnecessary depression, I suggest you not read any stats on US vs. world literacy rates.
(Just found where to turn off the AI. I hope “on” is not the default.)
(Four hours later and that strange “Please wait” graphic is still being shown instead of any commercials. I wonder if there really is a severe technical problem. TV stations need their advertising income.)
johnthecook…AI is spelling the death of what is factual and what is a lie. AI is fake reality!
Oh, I think AI can be extremely useful in some situations. Probably far more than I’m aware of. But people need to be smart enough to use it properly and guard against its misuse by ill-intentioned humans. Not to mention guarding against AI’s own mistakes. Some very serious guardrails are in order.
It means there are no regional (local) ads sold for that time slot.
https://smarthomestarter.com/commercial-break-in-progress-what-does-it-mean/
As for AI, yes, I keep mine off. I also avoid Microsoft, Google, etc. ‘helping’ me compose stuff.
My two Grammar checkers lately added AI to help me come up with stuff. Again, I switched that option off.
HOWEVER . . . you can bet that you’ll be seeing a lot of AI-generated content, especially from blogs that post a lot (mostly blogs that rely on ad-revenue).
Not something I’m interested in, but perhaps I’ll spot fewer grammatical and factual errors in both private and commercial sites I visit. Why, even some journalists I read could use some help in their writing.
I finally concluded it was some kind of placeholder, but couldn’t imagine why the station would not have any ads. I still don’t fully understand, because I’ve never seen this particular station do this before. But hey, I’m still learning to drive this stupid “smart” tv.
I’ve written before that anything you read on Pied Type will be my writing, not AI. I’m not going to put my name on something that somebody or something else wrote.
I TRUST that AI crap you’re experiencing is associated with your theme, Colorado. That is, so far it hasn’t accosted me !
That’s possible, although I think it’s more likely a matter of which WP plan you’re signed up for. More expensive plans have more bells and whistles (aka complications). Plus this is an old 2015 theme, but I adopted it anyway — about a year ago. I knew it was probably a bad idea, but I really liked it.
Word Press is giving me fits trying to comment here. I’ll keep trying.
Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. WP gives me fits trying to reply to comments here on my own blog — and no place else. I’ll have to refresh the page after I click “Reply” or this reply won’t show up. Have you tried doing that? Then again, I’m replying to your posted comment. Did it appear before you left this page, or sometime after you left? Can you post replies on your own blog?