Visible Right Hidden Wrong

Introduction

This was inspired by a conversation on Teams at work. I often have a soft drink or tea or coffee when on Teams meetings as do many of my colleagues.

I gave up alcohol just after the millennium, though the only alcohol I really liked were Southern Comfort, Stouts, and Porters. I am also OK with some sparkling wines though I am not really too bothered about them.

Recently I discovered alcohol-free Guinness, Guinness 0.0, and was very impressed with its taste and texture. This tasted just as good as normal Guinness and I now generally have a couple of cans in the fridge to enjoy.

I mentioned it to my friend Jon Raine who completely agreed with me, and said that it had no right to exist it tasted so good. He also said that if pubs had this on draught he would stop drinking alcohol altogether and it would mean that he could drive as well.

And so on to the incident that caused this piece. I said that as this was an alcohol-free drink would it be OK to have a drink at a Teams meeting or when I was in the office? I was answered with a resounding no as I would be seen to be drinking an intoxicating drink during work time. I pointed out that it was not alcoholic, but that cut me no slack.

I then said, if I poured it into a Coke bottle, or a glass and said it was Coke or just didn't say that it was Guinness Zero would that be acceptable? The answer that came back was that it would be acceptable. I was a little surprised because this effectively means you are ok to drink alcohol on a Teams as long as you don't tell anyone.

It's Not The Crime, It's Getting Caught

I always try and be open with people and truthful.

I share pictures on Pixabay and they brought in a flag to say if the image was generated by AI. I always fill this in but have a feeling there are others that don't do. I also saw a print for sale for $168 of a picture that looked very similar to one of my AI pictures. I give them away free but expect to be credited for them and people can drop me a tip if they want. Six thousand downloads, tips zero, but I am fine with that, they only took a little effort to create. You can see them (and download them) here.

A mate of mine was once caught doing knock-a-door run. His dad told the complainant that it was just kids being kids, then smacked my mate on the head for "getting caught".

On Vocal they ask for people to be open about AI-generated text, but that just opens up the option to quickly generate stories and say nothing and be seen as a prolific creator.

I've seen YouTube videos saying how you can generate books and sell them on Amazon and make your fortune, but I do wonder who would buy AI-generated, puzzle books and novels. I accidentally shared an AI-Generated poem that a friend sent me as a Vocal poem. It was good enough but I updated the story to say how it was created. You can read it here

While most people are honest, when you count on it there are those that will take advantage.

Conclusion And Politicians

Politicians are often the most mendacious scum that crawls the earth, but people defend them because they "have a difficult job". Rishi Sunak the British PM says that inflation is caused by wages, not the huge interest rate rises, power, and food prices that he has allowed to happen. I am hoping that at some point he will get caught and punished but again it's not the crime, but the getting caught that brings them down.

Donald Trump and Boris Johnson showed that it was fine to lie and benefit from whatever they did until they got caught.

Sorry that this is maybe a little depressing but it is just some examples of this situation.

I think "Lies" by Chvrches is appropriate for this.