Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 47

Metaphors of Life Journal: Beware - Big Brother Walmart May Be Watching

Hmmm, should I wear dark glasses the next time I venture into my local Walmart?

I am delving into one of my favourite subjects again: invasive technology. I will try not to turn this into a rant. But I cannot make any guarantees.

Walmart is reported to be developing facial recognition technology to detected frustrated shoppers. The software monitors facial expressions and movements to identify a customer’s level of dissatisfaction. If the system detects a disgruntled customer, it signals employees who – in theory at least – can arrive on the scene to remedy the problem.

You may argue that Walmart deserves a tip of the hat for being concerned enough about customer satisfaction to invest in technology to measure it. But I might counter with: Is that in fact their primary motive? More on that question in a moment.

I am not pleased to know that I might be on camera when I am in the Walmart checkout line. I have been known to mumble to myself when I am frustrated or displeased. Knowing that my idiosyncrasies will be scrutinized and recorded is unsettling.

What if I become famous? The Walmart recording could end up being the featured video on YouTube! It will not do my celebrity reputation any good for the masses to see me muttering and mumbling while I wait to pay for Fruit of the Loom underwear and a discount bottle of magnesium tablets for my moody digestive system.

And what if there is a particularly attractive young woman in the line in front of me? Will the system detect my state of arousal and set off alarm bells like a slot machine lighting up when someone hits the jackpot? My public profile will take a serious hit if that hits the airwaves.

(Yes, these concerns are predicated on the possibility of me becoming famous. I do realize that is low on the probability scale. Infamous, maybe.)

Further down in the article reporting this news, I read that Walmart might also use this technology to analyze trends in shoppers’ behaviour over time. My facial expressions, aka “biometric data”, can be linked to transaction data to draw conclusions.

The pessimist in me jumps to the conclusion that detecting and responding to customer dissatisfaction is just a smoke screen to cover the real purpose of the software – figuring out ways to entice me to buy more regardless of whether I am satisfied or not.

There is also, as always with this kind of technology, the privacy issue. Should Walmart be permitted to videotape me without my knowledge or consent? Or, for that matter, to store knowledge about me that may or may not be accurate.

I admit that this post has turned into a mild rant. I did warn you. But the Big Brother metaphor always comes to mind in these snooping technology scenarios. I for one have way too many personality quirks to be comfortable being featured on Walmart’s version of candid camera

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Beware: Big Brother Walmart May Be Watching

Hmmm, should I wear dark glasses the next time I venture into my local Walmart?

I am delving into one of my favourite subjects again: invasive technology. I will try not to turn this into a rant. But I cannot make any guarantees.

Walmart is reported to be developing facial recognition technology to detected frustrated shoppers. The software monitors facial expressions and movements to identify a customer’s level of dissatisfaction. If the system detects a disgruntled customer, it signals employees who – in theory at least – can arrive on the scene to remedy the problem.

You may argue that Walmart deserves a tip of the hat for being concerned enough about customer satisfaction to invest in technology to measure it. But I might counter with: Is that in fact their primary motive? More on that question in a moment.

I am not pleased to know that I might be on camera when I am in the Walmart checkout line. I have been known to mumble to myself when I am frustrated or displeased. Knowing that my idiosyncrasies will be scrutinized and recorded is unsettling.

What if I become famous? The Walmart recording could end up being the featured video on YouTube! It will not do my celebrity reputation any good for the masses to see me muttering and mumbling while I wait to pay for Fruit of the Loom underwear and a discount bottle of magnesium tablets for my moody digestive system.

And what if there is a particularly attractive young woman in the line in front of me? Will the system detect my state of arousal and set off alarm bells like a slot machine lighting up when someone hits the jackpot? My public profile will take a serious hit if that hits the airwaves.

(Yes, these concerns are predicated on the possibility of me becoming famous. I do realize that is low on the probability scale. Infamous, maybe.)

Further down in the article reporting this news, I read that Walmart might also use this technology to analyze trends in shoppers’ behaviour over time. My facial expressions, aka “biometric data”, can be linked to transaction data to draw conclusions.

The pessimist in me jumps to the conclusion that detecting and responding to customer dissatisfaction is just a smoke screen to cover the real purpose of the software – figuring out ways to entice me to buy more regardless of whether I am satisfied or not.

There is also, as always with this kind of technology, the privacy issue. Should Walmart be permitted to videotape me without my knowledge or consent? Or, for that matter, to store knowledge about me that may or may not be accurate.

I admit that this post has turned into a mild rant. I did warn you. But the Big Brother metaphor always comes to mind in these snooping technology scenarios. I for one have way too many personality quirks to be comfortable being featured on Walmart’s version of candid camera

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of Until the Deep Water Stills: An Internet-enhanced Novel – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you are reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Metaphors of Life Journal: Conjuring New Worlds from the Artifacts of Life Gone By

Hmmm, if I cannot find a time travel portal to revisit the carefree days of childhood, I can at least immortalize them for all time on the printed page.

Growing old frequently lands you in a state where recalling the happy-go-lucky days of childhood has an irresistible appeal. I recently had one of those dominos tumbling down memory lane days.

Our brain is most fertile when we are in a reflective state of mind. A thought triggers a memory which in turn unearths another recollection which throws open a door to experiences decades old. Experiences that were unremarkable when they occurred are animated in the lens of memory.

Walk with me, if you will, through this stream of consciousness.

Collecting fallen chestnuts from century-old Chestnut Trees on Main Street, polishing them to a high sheen, boring holes through them with a screwdriver and stringing them together to make a chestnut necklace whose only real value is in the making of it.

Crossing the railroad tracks to Brook Pond and wading in with bare feet. Catching tadpoles and bringing them home in a pail of water hoping they will transform into frogs while you sleep.

Kicking through knee-high grass in the vacant corner lot to pick wild strawberries eating them as you go. Or catching elusive grasshoppers and putting them in a glass jar with air holes punched in the lid just to admire them for a few hours.

Pickup games of street hockey or baseball or three on three football where the final score matters less than time spent with friends and making that one spectacular play.

Riding your bicycle – with banana seat, high handlebars and wobbly rear wheel missing half a dozen spokes – around the neighbourhood for no other reason than the summer wind on your face and because it feels like freedom.

Climbing the neighbour’s tree every fall to pick pears, fill a six quart basket on a rope, lower it down to awaiting hands below, pull up an empty basket and start over again until the tree is bare or sunlight is failing.

Life was majestically simple and oh so sweet back then. I would give a king’s ransom to wind back the clock and relive those unpretentious days over and over again. Alas, it cannot be.

But what I can do is shape each of these memories into a metaphor and weave each of those metaphors into a story. For that is what writers do. Conjure new worlds from the artifacts of life gone by and give them immortality on the page.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Conjuring New Worlds from the Artifacts of Life Gone By

Hmmm, if I cannot find a time travel portal to revisit the carefree days of childhood, I can at least immortalize them for all time on the printed page.

Growing old frequently lands you in a state where recalling the happy-go-lucky days of childhood has an irresistible appeal. I recently had one of those dominos tumbling down memory lane days.

Our brain is most fertile when we are in a reflective state of mind. A thought triggers a memory which in turn unearths another recollection which throws open a door to experiences decades old. Experiences that were unremarkable when they occurred are animated in the lens of memory.

Walk with me, if you will, through this stream of consciousness.

Collecting fallen chestnuts from century-old Chestnut Trees on Main Street, polishing them to a high sheen, boring holes through them with a screwdriver and stringing them together to make a chestnut necklace whose only real value is in the making of it.

Crossing the railroad tracks to Brook Pond and wading in with bare feet. Catching tadpoles and bringing them home in a pail of water hoping they will transform into frogs while you sleep.

Kicking through knee-high grass in the vacant corner lot to pick wild strawberries eating them as you go. Or catching elusive grasshoppers and putting them in a glass jar with air holes punched in the lid just to admire them for a few hours.

Pickup games of street hockey or baseball or three on three football where the final score matters less than time spent with friends and making that one spectacular play.

Riding your bicycle – with banana seat, high handlebars and wobbly rear wheel missing half a dozen spokes – around the neighbourhood for no other reason than the summer wind on your face and because it feels like freedom.

Climbing the neighbour’s tree every fall to pick pears, fill a six quart basket on a rope, lower it down to awaiting hands below, pull up an empty basket and start over again until the tree is bare or sunlight is failing.

Life was majestically simple and oh so sweet back then. I would give a king’s ransom to wind back the clock and relive those unpretentious days over and over again. Alas, it cannot be.

But what I can do is shape each of these memories into a metaphor and weave each of those metaphors into a story. For that is what writers do. Conjure new worlds from the artifacts of life gone by and give them immortality on the page.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

 

Random Act of Metaphor: A Butterfly Adrift on a Kettle Lake

Hmmm, a butterfly adrift on the glassy surface of a kettle lake. What should we make of this curious scene?

(Visit www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 to view the photograph included with this post.)

It does not take a biologist to know that butterflies do not belong in the water. How this European Skipper can to be in this predicament I cannot say. It seems unlikely it intentionally landed on the water – and even less likely that it would be able to free itself by launching into flight. The only certainty is that it was doomed to be a meal for an opportunistic frog.

But you have to concede that the unlikely occurrence made for a striking photograph. The skipper, only recently emerged from caterpillar stage, displayed perfect colours and markings – the butter-yellow wings with their black trim and white edging perfectly fanned for visual effect.

The tiny body mass of the skipper was not enough to cause it to sink. But it was enough to create elegant, concentric rings spreading outward with geometric precision over the glassy surface of the kettle lake. I could not resist capturing the scene.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that this is what I refer to as a random act of metaphor. I could go in several different directions interpreting it. But this time I am going to leave it to you, the reader, to decide.

A butter-yellow butterfly adrift on the glassy surface of a kettle lake, a random act of metaphor for…

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Random Act of Metaphor: A Butterfly Adrift on a Kettle Lake

Hmmm, a butterfly adrift on the glassy surface of a kettle lake. What should we make of this curious scene?

European Skipper

It does not take a biologist to know that butterflies do not belong in the water. How this European Skipper can to be in this predicament I cannot say. It seems unlikely it intentionally landed on the water – and even less likely that it would be able to free itself by launching into flight. The only certainty is that it was doomed to be a meal for an opportunistic frog.

But you have to concede that the unlikely occurrence made for a striking photograph. The skipper, only recently emerged from caterpillar stage, displayed perfect colours and markings – the butter-yellow wings with their black trim and white edging perfectly fanned for visual effect.

The tiny body mass of the skipper was not enough to cause it to sink. But it was enough to create elegant, concentric rings spreading outward with geometric precision over the glassy surface of the kettle lake. I could not resist capturing the scene.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know that this is what I refer to as a random act of metaphor. I could go in several different directions interpreting it. But this time I am going to leave it to you, the reader, to decide.

A butter-yellow butterfly adrift on the glassy surface of a kettle lake, a random act of metaphor for…

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills: An Internet-enhanced Novel” double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm, at its internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

 

Pausing to Honour the Hand of the Creator at Work

Hmmm, if I let my imagination room, what might I see that otherwise escapes my gaze?

Rain, rain and more rain. This seems to be the weather theme for 2016. It is a frustrating trend for everyone, but particularly for those of us who choose to spend their prized leisure time communing with nature.

I am on the first of two weeks of vacation. Groan. The plan was to be outdoors as much as possible hiking my favourite trails through meadows, woodlands and marshes chasing butterflies and dragonflies. Groan. So far I have been granted one rain free day and the next few days do not look much better. Groan.

In an attempt to raise my water-logged spirits, I am perusing the photographs I took on that one good weather day and taking whatever pleasure I can in them.

The photograph at the top of this post is of two Hobomok Skippers. FYI: Skippers are a distinct class of butterflies most of which are quite tiny and often perch in the diagnostic “jet wing” position of the one on the left. (Visit www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 to view the original post with the photo.)

I wish I could tell you that Hobomoks are rare and that this was an exciting find. But the truth is they are very common. I see them pretty much every time I am out in the late spring and early summer regardless of where I am hiking.

So why bother to feature them in this post?

Hobomoks are about an inch long. I was very fortunate to get this quality photograph of two of them – with my digital point and shoot camera – showing both the outer wing and inner wing patterns. I have attempted dozens of photographs of this skipper species over many summers, but only this once was able to be so successful.

As I study the photograph, I realize I can distinguish the veins and whiskered edges of the broad leaf the skippers are perched on. I can also make out the muted colours on the skippers’ heads, the feathery hairs on their spindly legs and even the checkered pattern on their antennae.

If I let my imagination roam, I can also believe that the cupped leaf they are perched on is a graceful hand extended for the express purpose of playing host to them. And what if, just maybe, it is also the personification of the hand of the God who created and watches over them?

I search endlessly for subtle metaphors in nature. But in that search I too often overlook the simplest and most elegant of them. Perhaps the Creator sent these Hobomoks my way to remind me that the joys I take in nature should always be about the quality of the moments and never about the quantity.

However the weather plays out for the balance of my vacation, I will be thankful that I pushed the pause button long enough to recognize and honour this one moment of grace.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Pausing to Honour the Hand of the Creator At Work

Hmmm, if I let my imagination roam, what might I see that otherwise escapes my gaze?

Rain, rain and more rain. This seems to be the weather theme for 2017. It is a frustrating trend for everyone, but particularly for those of us who choose to spend their prized leisure time communing with nature.

I am on the first of two weeks of vacation. Groan. The plan was to be outdoors as much as possible hiking my favourite trails through meadows, woodlands and marshes chasing butterflies and dragonflies. Groan. So far I have been granted one rain free day and the next few days do not look much better. Groan.

In an attempt to raise my water-logged spirits, I am perusing the photographs I took on that one good weather day and taking whatever pleasure I can in them.

The photograph at the top of this post is of two Hobomok Skippers. FYI: Skippers are a distinct class of butterflies most of which are quite tiny and often perch in the diagnostic jet-wing position of the one on the left.

I wish I could tell you that Hobomoks are rare and that this was an exciting find. But the truth is they are very common. I see them pretty much every time I am out in the late spring and early summer regardless of where I am hiking.

So why bother to feature them in this post?

Hobomoks are about an inch long. I was very fortunate to get this quality photograph of two of them – with my digital point and shoot camera – showing both the outer wing and inner wing patterns. I have attempted dozens of photographs of this skipper species over many summers, but only this once was able to be so successful.

As I study the photograph, I realize I can distinguish the veins and whiskered edges of the broad leaf the skippers are perched on. I can also make out the muted colours on the skippers’ heads, the feathery hairs on their spindly legs and even the checkered pattern on their antennae.

If I let my imagination roam, I can also believe that the cupped leaf they are perched on is a graceful hand extended for the express purpose of playing host to them. And what if, just maybe, it is also the personification of the hand of the God who created and watches over them?

I search endlessly for subtle metaphors in nature. But in that search I too often overlook the simplest and most elegant of them. Perhaps the Creator sent these Hobomoks my way to remind me that the joys I take in nature should always be about the quality of the moments and never about the quantity.

However the weather plays out for the balance of my vacation, I will be thankful that I pushed the pause button long enough to recognize and honour this one moment of grace.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of Until the Deep Water Stills: An Internet-enhanced Novel – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michaels website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Random Act of Metaphor: Demoiselles in Miniature Scale at Your Feet

Hmmm, can I convince you – the next time you stroll along a murmuring stream – to pause and take notice of the unnoticeable?

They are tiny little sprites – 1” to 1.3” in size – which go unnoticed by most people. If you’re walking along the shore of a stream, marsh, lake or pretty much any body of water, they are flitting around at foot level while you are oblivious to their presence. Sad to say, you’ve probably stepped on a few of them without being aware of it.

They are Bluets – the smallest of the delicate damselfly family. Incidentally, the term damselfly is derived, according to my Field Guide, from the French word demoiselle which means “young mistress”. This presumably refers to their slender, graceful appearance. But feel free to let your mind wander to its own conclusion.

I have conditioned myself to watch out for these diminutive creatures on my nature hikes. However, distinguishing one species from another is often next to impossible. Frequently, my brain simply responds blue bluet and my eyes start searching for something larger.

But once in a blue moon (pardon the pun), I am fortunate enough to spot a Rainbow Bluet like the one pictured at the top of this post. (Visit my blog at its home mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 to view the photo.)

I am always delighted by the subtle combination of blue, yellow-green, orange and black which is somehow squeezed into this inch long nymph. Each one is a random act of metaphor for the sometimes miniscule elegance that nature is capable of achieving – if we are willing to slow down, retune our senses and notice the unnoticeable.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to “Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm” at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the “Subscribe to this Blog: How To” instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Random Act of Metaphor: Demoiselles in Miniature Scale at Your Feet

Hmmm, can I convince you – the next time you stroll along a murmuring stream – to pause and take notice of the unnoticeable?

They are tiny little sprites 1″ to 1.3″ in size which go unnoticed by most people. If you are walking along the shore of a stream, marsh, lake or pretty much any body of water, they are flitting around at foot level while you are oblivious to their presence. Sad to say, you’ve probably stepped on a few of them without being aware of it.

They are Bluets the smallest of the delicate damselfly family. Incidentally, the term damselfly is derived, according to my Field Guide, from the French word demoiselle which means young mistress. This presumably refers to their slender, graceful appearance. But feel free to let your mind wander to its own conclusion.

I have conditioned myself to watch out for these diminutive creatures on my nature hikes. However, distinguishing one species from another is often next to impossible. Frequently, my brain simply responds blue bluet and my eyes start searching for something larger.

But once in a blue moon (pardon the pun), I am fortunate enough to spot a Rainbow Bluet like the one pictured at the top of this post. (My apology for the blurry photo. My point and shoot digital camera is not high tech enough to properly capture these sprites.)

I am always delighted by the subtle combination of blue, yellow-green, orange and black which is somehow squeezed into this inch long nymph. Each one is a random act of metaphor for the sometimes miniscule elegance that nature is capable of achieving if we are willing to slow down, retune our senses and notice the unnoticeable.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of Until the Deep Water Stills: An Internet-enhanced Novel double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’ s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you are reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.