About This Author
I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.
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Blogocentric Formulations
Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
Thanks for stopping by! 
September 4, 2025 at 4:48am September 4, 2025 at 4:48am
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Day 3934: On this day in 1998 The American search engine company Google Inc. was formally established as founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page filed incorporation papers. Do you feel Google is a reliable search engine? Did you know Google discriminates against some content, and in favor of other content, and maintains guides and tools that favor some websites in search results ranking?
Is Google a reliable search engine? Sure. If you go searching for something, chances are very low that you'll get something just completely unrelated to the topic you're searching for. But is it a good search engine? I'd argue it's become a victim of its own success and the quality has been deteriorating for some time as a result.
Case in point, yes, I'm aware that Google has been the subject of (and has lost) numerous lawsuits about their unfair business practices of deprioritizing some content (i.e., the content that doesn't pay to advertise our use their web tools) and favoring others (i.e., the content that does pay to play).
I'm also aware that the quality of search results has degraded significantly in the past couple of years, thanks to two specific choices that Google has made.
First, it's expanded the presence of its advertising, to the point where it's difficult to even tell which results are organic anymore. When you search for something on Google, the first four to six results are sponsored links. Plus there are the "Find related products & services" links. And the integrated local businesses on Google Maps that have paid to be associated with that keyword. Maybe, maybe half the content on the search results page is organic. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual number were much lower.
Second, the integration of AI has been a real disappointment. Now, whenever you search for something, at the very top of the page is an "AI Overview" which attempts to predict what information you need and summarize it for you. And while I'll admit that the feature is handy in some cases, the AI is still wildly inaccurate at times. Some of the search results that Google's AI Overview feature has returned include:
 Advising people to include their name and birthdate for passwords to make them memorable.
 Recommending boiled mint leaves and a high-fiber diet to treat appendicitis.
 Reporting that gasoline can be used in cooking, the only caveat being that it's flammable.
 Adding non-toxic glue to pizza sauce to help the cheese layer not slide off the pizza.
 Chewing tobacco and smoking cigarettes can improve performance in sports.
 When asked which U.S. Presidents attended the University of Wisconsin, it listed several presidents who never attended the school, and in some cases cited graduation dates that occurred after their deaths.
And, look, I understand that AI is an emerging technology and is bound to have some kinks that need to be worked out. But putting those kinds of results right at the top of the Google search results is creating a dangerous precedent where you're bound to have people just look at those topline results and assume they don't need to read any further. And while I don't necessarily worry about Darwin Award eligible people who are dumb enough to take AI's advice to treat appendicitis with a bran muffin or mix some Elmer's in with their tomato sauce for "added texture," I do worry that some of the more subtle errors will start to pervade the general consciousness (and in some cases already have).
AI doesn't do a great job of making weighted value determinations. It scrapes data from the internet and presents it all equally. So when you get some of these wonky results, a lot of times it's because it'll take multiple conflicting sources and present them as equally valuable, saying things like, "Some believe that Barack Obama was America's first Muslim president while others believe that there have been no Muslim presidents," when there is overwhelming evidence and reliable third party sources that confirm Obama is Christian, but one nutty conspiracy theory website claims that he's Muslim.
I think Google is a remarkable company that has developed some incredible products and technologies. Unfortunately, I think the quality of their search results is quickly becoming an afterthought as they continue to pursue new ventures.
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Day 2663: What is your idea of a cozy home? Write about this in your Blog entry today.
For me, a cozy home is one where everything has a place, there's plenty of room to spread out and give people privacy, and there's a clear sense of personality to the home without going overboard on decor or furnishings.
I spent a lot of time looking at houses online. As a fan of architecture and someone who just finds interior design interesting, I like to see what types and styles of homes are out there. Some of the features that I would want in my cozy home include:
Work and entertaining spaces that are separate from the sleeping spaces. I've been and lived in too many homes where it's a pain to do anything after the kids' bedtime because their rooms are directly above the dining room where you're having a dinner party, or where the living room is sharing a wall with a bedroom so you can't play the TV too loud after someone goes to sleep. I would love to have one of those houses where there's a basement or detached room for entertaining (or even on the other side of the house from the bedrooms) where you can be loud after hours and not disturb anyone who chooses to go to bed early.
Extensive organized storage areas. I refuse to pay for an offsite storage unit, so I need everything I own to fit in my house. And while we certainly do our best to try and keep things pared down to a reasonable amount, I've only ever lived places where every closet is packed full because it's holding the winter coats and the suitcases and the board games and the vacuum cleaner. I'd love to have enough space to have a game closet, a cleaning closet, a storage room in the garage for occasionally-used items like the suitcases, etc.
Creative places for personal effects. I get really tired of hanging pictures on flat walls. As someone who likes some personalization but not too much clutter, I'd love a variety of spaces that can be accented with things that make a house feel like a home. Some built-ins, shelves, nooks, etc. where I can put the souvenir I bought on that one vacation, or the treasured gift I got that one year at work.
Plenty of parking. Granted, I live in a very urban area, but I've lived sooo many places where parking is impossible to find. The kind where you can't invite anyone over after 5pm because they'll spent an hour hunting for a parking spot and end up parking six blocks away, or where you can't park a car outside, or have to move it for street sweeping. My dream would be either ample street parking, or a long driveway that can accommodate several cars so that when we host, people can park right at the place they're supposed to be.
Natural light and a view. Last but certainly not least, a big part of a "cozy" vibe for me includes natural light and some kind of a view to enjoy from inside the house. Living in a city, I've had my fill of tiny windows on one side of the residence only which mean you have to have your lights on all the time. And of windows that look out on an exterior wall of another building, or worse, into someone else's apartment. I'd love a little bit of space, and to work some elements of the natural world into the ambience of the home.
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Prompt: How has WDC affected your Spiritual journey?
I don't really know that WdC has had a huge effect on my spiritual journey. I attribute that mostly to my wife, my pastor, and a few key relationships in real (offline) life that have heavily influenced my beliefs. Not that WdC is lacking for groups and activities that do a great job with that; it's just that the reason I'm here on the site has more to do with my interest in writing, being creative, etc.
I know some members here see WdC as a "one stop shop" for all their needs and get their socializing, their writing, their faith, their other interests, etc. all poured into in the same convenient place, but I've never really lived my life that way. For me, it's more like WdC is where I go for my writing needs, my church is where I go for my spiritual needs, my weekly game group and my movie-watching friends are who I go to when I just want to be entertained, etc. I'm generally okay with the fact that there isn't a ton of crossover between different areas of my life. Which is not to say there isn't any... my game group, for example, is mostly Christians and we often talk about faith-related topics when we're chatting before and after the games... but that just kind of highlights why WdC isn't really necessary for the spiritual journey that I'm on.
That said, I do really enjoy the spiritual and religious community on this site, as it's a chance to get to know people all over the world with both similar and radically different faith traditions. While not strictly connected with my own spiritual journey, I do enjoy the sense of community that comes from sharing and learning from others.
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