JOYcademy

Celebrating National Joy Germ Day January 8th

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 01:11:18 GMT

Joy Germ Day: Spread Smiles (not germs)

As we navigate the chilly winds of January, there's a special day that often goes unnoticed but deserves our attention - Joy Germ Day on January 8th. Unlike its name, this day has nothing to do with health concerns but everything to do with spreading positivity. As we approach the unique and heartwarming occasion, we'd like to delve into what makes this day so special and how each of us can be a part of this beautiful movement.

What is Joy Germ Day?

Joy Germ Day was conceived with a simple yet profound idea: joy, like a germ, is contagious. It propagates from one person to another, spreading happiness and positivity. This day encourages us to engage in acts of kindness, share smiles, and spread good vibes in our communities.

How to Celebrate Joy Germ Day

Celebrating Joy Germ Day is all about small gestures with big impacts. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Share a Smile: Sometimes, a simple smile can brighten someone's day more than you might realize.
Acts of Kindness: Whether it’s paying for a stranger's coffee or returning someone's cart at the grocery, kindness goes a long way. Try leaving quarters at a laundromat or coupons at a register or buying a gift card and handing it to someone on your way out of a store.
Spread Positivity Online: Use your social media platforms to share positive messages and uplifting stories or write a good review for your favorite restaurant.
Give Compliments Generously: Compliments are free, yet they can mean so much to the receiver.
Volunteer: Spend some time at a local charity or community center and spread joy among those who need it most.

The Ripple Effect of Joy

The beauty of Joy Germ Day lies in the ripple effect it creates. A single act of kindness can inspire others to do the same, creating a wave of joy that can potentially touch hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

Personal Stories of Joy Spreading

Share anecdotes or stories from when you've experienced or witnessed the impact of 'joy germs'. These real-life examples can be powerful in showing how a small gesture can make a big difference.

Join the Movement

As Joy Germ Day approaches, let's embrace the opportunity to be joy spreaders. It's a chance to step out of our daily routines and make a positive impact on the world around us.

Prepare for Joy Germ Day

Prepare ahead for this special day by collecting items to give away to others. Have items ready and packaged so they can be effortlessly given away. Set your alarm to a happy song to get you started in a good mood. Set out on your day ready to initiate smiles, friendly conversation, and kind gestures.

AI News and Links

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:15:22 GMT

What's New in AI

Check out headlines from this week in the AI world

JOYcademy Teams up with Athletes Unlimited Volleyball

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:39:57 GMT

Deja McClendon will be playing on JOYcademy's Team!

We’re excited to be teaming up with Deja McClendon , Athletes Unlimited and Give Lively as a non-profit beneficiary partner of Athlete Causes.

Athletes Unlimited has created a new model of professional sports where Athletes are the owners, individual players are the champions of team sports and fans are engaged like never before. As part of its mission to develop athletes as civic leaders and elevate them as role models for the next generation of athletes and fans, Athletes Unlimited has launched Athlete Causes in partnership with Give Lively and the Give Lively Foundation.

This initiative allows athletes to play their season in part for the benefit of the non-profit organization of their choice, and we’re thrilled that Deja has selected JOYcademy . At the end of the season, JOYcademy will receive a grant from Athletes Unlimited equal to 100% of Deja’s season win bonus.

In addition to the end-of-season grant Deja will be earning for our organization from their play, you as a fan can also get involved by t exting GIVEFORJOY to 44-321 or go to https://secure.givelively.org/donate/joycademy-inc to make a donation.

Make sure you cheer on Deja this season as she’ll be playing for JOYcademy ! You can find out where to watch games via Athletes Unlimited’s national broadcast schedule here .

BING.com just got blinged up with an exciting new AI feature

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 12:31:28 GMT

Stable Diffusion image generation is now as easy as one click plus a few keyboard strokes away.

To go along with the ChatGPT powered search bar, now the image bar has Dall-E powered image generation. Similar to ChatGPT, prompts are used to direct A.I. to create output, this time with images. It has fun creative capabilities worth exploring. For those familiar with Stable Diffusion or Midjourney this is a tool similar to that.

Let's take it for a spin:

First open up Bing.com in a Microsoft browser like Microsoft Edge.

Next you have multiple options, either click on Chat, in the search box or on Images (as pointed to by the arrows below).

I went ahead and clicked on chat. We can begin talking with BingGPT, requesting it to generate images, like so:

Basic Use:

Oops that’s not quite what I wanted. We can use the same iterative approach like with ChatGPT to ask it to make adjustments and corrections. Note that the memory it has for images is more constrained.

The images are thumbnails. You can click on them to open them in a new window and enlarge them. There you can also download them.

D ifferent ways to access: If we had instead clicked on images then on image creator, here’s the interface for that:

The creative process often involves inspiration. This interface helps with that, with its built in features and examples.

Simply click on the photo of a particular art you find tantalizing or an effect you want to emulate

Clicking on the lighthouse photo enlarges it and reveals the prompt used to generate that image. Notice it was asked to produce a painting in the art style of pointillism. I liked that, so I added that word to prompts I made in the past.

Here are some examples with and without the keyword “Pointillism”.

As you can see this is a great way to get inspiration to help try new creative options to make different style images.

It’s perfectly capable of generating artistic images or realistic images. If it starts doing one when you want the other simply add the descriptor into the prompt. Even detailed descriptors like particular art styles can exert finer control.

Also use similar strategies for getting the most out of prompts as with chatgpt: iterate, be detailed, be precise, etc.

Limitations:
Image generators are notoriously bad for adding text to images and also handling fingers.

As always, I encourage you to test drive the feature for yourself. Also consider not only saving the images, but also the prompts in case you want to revisit creating certain similar styles, but with specific alterations.

Jeff Edwards,

A.I. Content Creator

Follow my Social Media for the latest in A.I. info or philosophical takes, Oh and the occasional Cat GIF:

https://twitter.com/657Edwards

AI Groupings

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 02:17:03 GMT

Evolving, expanding, and crossing over - AI Categories

There are many ways to group and categorize types of AI. This is a short list of some groupings as discussed in Session 1 of our AI Roundtables.

8 AI Terms You Should Know

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 18:49:05 GMT

Common terms to know

Chatbot : a computer program designed to simulate human conversation. It uses artificial intelligence techniques to understand and respond to user queries or prompts. For example, a chatbot on a website can help users find information, answer questions, or provide customer support.
Prompt : a specific input given to an AI model to generate a desired response. It can be a question, statement, or incomplete sentence that sets the context for the AI model to generate a relevant output. For instance, a prompt for an AI language model could be "Translate the following sentence into French: 'Hello, how are you?'"
Prompt Engineer : a person who specializes in crafting effective prompts for AI models. They have the expertise to design prompts that generate accurate and desired responses from the AI system. A prompt engineer understands the nuances of language and formulates prompts that yield the desired information. They often fine-tune and iterate the prompts to improve the AI model's performance.
Generative AI : Generative AI refers to the ability of an AI system to generate original and creative content, such as text, images, or music. It involves training AI models to learn patterns and generate new outputs based on the provided input. For example, a generative AI model can create unique paintings or compose music pieces that resemble the style of a specific artist.
LLM : "Large Language Model" - a type of AI model that has been trained on a vast amount of textual data to understand and generate human-like language. LLMs, such as OpenAI's GPT-3, are capable of performing various language-related tasks, including translation, summarization, and answering questions based on the given context.
NLP : NLP stands "Natural Language Processing." It is a branch of AI that focuses on enabling computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. NLP algorithms analyze and process text or speech data to extract meaning, recognize entities, determine sentiment, and perform other language-related tasks. Examples of NLP applications include chatbots, language translation, and sentiment an alysis.
Machine Learning :a subset of AI that involves training algorithms to learn patterns and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed. It is achieved by providing the algorithm with large amounts of data and allowing it to learn from the patterns within the data. For example, a machine learning model can be trained on a dataset of emails to classify them as spam or legitimate based on their features.
Hallucinations : In the context of AI, hallucinations refer to instances when a generative AI model produces outputs that are incorrect, nonsensical, or unrelated to the given context. Hallucinations can occur when the AI model is pushed beyond the limits of its training data or encounters ambiguous or unusual prompts. For example, a language model might generate sentences that are grammatically correct but lack coherence or factual accuracy, resulting in hallucinations.

AI Image Generators: Putting French Fries on the Moon

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:34:43 GMT

In Session 1 of the JOYcademy AI Roundtables we discussed and showed examples of AI image generators. This included Scribble Diffusion, Adobe Firefly, and Bing Image Creator all of which are currently free to use.

Scribble Diffusion?

Scribble Diffusion is a free and open-source web app that lets you draw a rough sketch, add a text prompt, and generate images based on your sketch using AI. It is powered by Replicate, ControlNet and Vercel.

Adobe Firefly

Bing Image Creator

What kind of AI is this? Generative Art from AI Image Generators

Learn more Join our next AI Roundtable.

- Can AI help spread joy? One powerful prompt that could change the world

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:34:43 GMT

Spreading Joy

We are always looking for unexpected ways to spread joy and happiness and we may have found a new and interesting way to do just that. Recently, we explored the idea of using ChatGPT to help in our endeavor and we have engineered a prompt to maximize our results.

Simply Copy and Paste this into ChatGPT:

"You are JOYGPT, my personal joy consultant. You will give me 5 specific and detailed ideas to use per day for 7 days that will help me spread more joy to others. You will give step by step instructions for each of the 5 ideas. I would like the ideas to suit my personality, my available time, and be unique and creative. Please ask me the questions you need answers to and then begin consulting."

You will be asked a few questions about yourself so that your personal JoyGPT agent can tailor a plan just for you.

If you like the results, let us know!

Haven't tried ChatGPT yet?
ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations with its chatbot. This large language model can answer questions and assist you with tasks, such as composing documents, charts, code, and much more.

Try ChatGPT.

Want to learn more like this?

Join our AI Roundtables !

OG I.T. Auntie: Why I embrace this new title as host of the AI Roundtables

joy@joycademy.org (SUZANNE MCCLENDON) — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 17:34:42 GMT

I've been called many things and have had many titles over the years, but this one, this one I really like.

Yes, I groove to Earth Wind and Fire (especially Fantasy). Yes, I'm a proud member of the Gen X club. You know the ones who still use emoticons and Facebook. Yes, I've been in the IT business since the '80's and yes, I have more nieces and nephews than children (although my four gifted and talented darlings should count double). But this is the first time I've been referred to as an OG...and I kind of like it :)

AI Roundtables
Yesterday my nephew called me and was telling me about how he was describing JOYcademy's AI Roundtables to his friends and colleagues. Of course he said how great it was to talk with other people about the capabilities (good, bad, and frightening) of AI. He also said how timely the discussions are since ChatGPT has exploded onto the scene. It was at the end of his pitch, when he told them they are hosted by his OG I.T. Auntie, that I paused. I thought for a second. Then I smiled.

Long History in IT
I began my career in IT in Cincinnati working as a co-op student at GE Aircraft Engines and AT&T as a programmer. Upon graduating I swiftly moved up the chain at Procter & Gamble managing major IT projects in market research, sales and international customer management. Ten years later I started my consulting company and have been in IT education for students up to college level ever since. Computer technologies have been a passion of mine since, well, the 80's.

Interest in AI
All this being the case, I explained when opening the first JOYcademy AI Roundtable, that I'm not an AI expert. I am far from it, but I'm a quick learner and I intend to learn something every day. I am excited to be the host and moderator for the JOYcademy AI Roundtables and I hope to meet more OG AI enthusiasts that can enjoy old school funk as well as futuristic tech tools simultaneously ;)

Join our AI Roundtables