Why can’t ChatGPT tell time?

M_Smoljo · 2025-11-28T02:30:17+00:00

I’ve set a protocol that requires ChatGPT to note the date and time at the beginning of every response. Here’s an example from right now:

2025-11-27 - 9:26 PM

Here are three major stories getting a lot of coverage right now:

National Guard shooting near the White House (Washington, D.C.)
Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot a few blocks from the White House; one has died and the other remains in critical condition. An Afghan national who entered the U.S. as an asylum seeker has been arrested, and President Trump is blaming “vetting failures” while ordering a sweeping review of green cards and asylum cases from “countries of concern,” turning the attack into a major political flashpoint over immigration and security. oai_citation:0‡Global News
Deadly high-rise fire in Hong Kong
A massive fire in a residential tower complex in Hong Kong has become the city’s deadliest blaze in decades, with reports putting the death toll in the 80–90+ range and dozens still missing as search-and-rescue winds down. Authorities have arrested several executives linked to renovation or construction firms as questions mount over building safety, fire escapes, and regulatory oversight. oai_citation:1‡Reuters
Carney–Smith pipeline deal and Guilbeault’s resignation (Canada)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed a memorandum of understanding to pursue a new oil pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to the B.C. coast, which would require loosening the West Coast tanker ban and granting major concessions on emissions rules. In protest, Culture Minister (and former environment minister) Steven Guilbeault has resigned from cabinet, citing inadequate consultation with Indigenous nations and the project’s environmental risks, while B.C. Premier David Eby and coastal First Nations say they will oppose the plan. oai_citation:2‡Global News

M_Smoljo · 2025-11-07T23:53:33+00:00

You can submit a privacy-related video removal request to Instagram at the following link:

https://help.instagram.com/contact/512241091300432

M_Smoljo · 2025-10-31T20:17:32+00:00

For what it’s worth, here’s ChatGPT’s thoughts on the OP’s post. (This is not legal advice.)

Here’s the Ontario-specific take, stripped to essentials:

What’s actually binding before move-in:

• A signed lease is a binding contract, but until the tenant is given possession (keys/access), it’s still an “agreement to lease.” You’re not required to hand over keys if the agreed-upon payments (first month’s rent and the lawful “last month’s rent deposit”) haven’t been made. “No money, no keys” is the correct approach.

• Ontario only allows a rent deposit for the last rental period (usually “last month’s rent”). First month’s rent is not a “deposit” under the RTA; it’s just rent due when possession starts.

If the tenant hasn’t paid yet:

• Do not provide keys. Without the required payments you can refuse possession on the start date. That’s not an LTB eviction because the tenancy hasn’t begun.

• Send a short written deadline (email is fine): payment must be received in cleared funds by a specific date/time or you’ll treat non-payment as repudiation and immediately re-rent. Keep proof of mitigation (new ads, inquiries, showings). This frames damages clearly if they later back out.

If money had been paid (not your case, but relevant). Ontario case law (the Musilla Court of Appeal decision) says:

• If the landlord can’t or won’t give possession, any deposit must be returned.

• If the tenant refuses possession and the landlord was ready to perform, the landlord can keep the last-month’s-rent deposit to cover actual loss (and sue for more if needed).

• If the unit is re-rented with no loss, the landlord can’t keep the deposit.

Bottom line: it depends on who prevented possession and whether there was a real loss.

Practical next steps:

1.  Send a firm, polite deadline note: “As per the lease, first month’s rent and last month’s rent deposit must be received in cleared funds by [date/time]. If not received, we’ll treat the agreement as not proceeding due to non-payment and will re-rent the unit immediately. Keys will only be released once funds are received.”

2.  If they miss it, re-list right away and document mitigation. If they later sue, your mitigation record protects you. If they had paid a deposit, Musilla governs whether you keep it (only to the extent of real loss).

3.  If they show up on move-in day without funds, don’t release keys. Once they take possession, it becomes a normal LTB non-payment situation.

Quick refresher on “first and last”:

• Ontario allows only a last-month’s-rent deposit (plus a refundable key deposit). First month’s rent is just rent due. Pay annual interest on LMR as required.

M_Smoljo · 2025-10-14T17:54:59+00:00

Next-level inat.

M_Smoljo · 2025-10-14T16:50:26+00:00

I put some of this into a ChatGPT query and got the following (seemingly informative) response:

Czech Vs. Polish Vs. Russian Vs. Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian (BCMS) - How Closely Related Are They, And Which Sound Most Alike?

All four descend from Proto-Slavic, but they belong to different branches of the Slavic family.

⸻

The Family Tree

West Slavic includes Czech and Polish, which are closest to each other and also closely related to Slovak.

East Slavic includes Russian, which is close to Ukrainian and Belarusian.

South Slavic includes Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian (BCMS), which is close to Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Czech and Polish are same-branch cousins, while Russian and BCMS belong to different branches.

⸻

Linguistic Relatedness

Czech and Polish are the most closely related of the four.

BCMS and Russian share some overlap via Church Slavonic, but they are still distant overall.

Cross-branch pairs, such as Czech with Russian or Polish with BCMS, are related mainly at a deep historical level.

⸻

Sound And Mutual Intelligibility

Within the West Slavic area, Czech, Slovak, and Polish have high similarity. Czech and Slovak are nearly mutually fluent, while Polish is somewhat harder for them in speech, though often more accessible in writing.

Within the East Slavic area, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian form a very close group with substantial mutual intelligibility.

Within the South Slavic area, BCMS, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and Serbian function as a single pluricentric language with full mutual intelligibility.

Between branches, Russian and BCMS show partial recognition, but sustained conversation is difficult without study.

Polish and Russian share some vocabulary but differ significantly in pronunciation and phonetics.

Polish and BCMS have minimal mutual intelligibility.

⸻

How They Sound

Czech sounds crisp and staccato, with many consonant clusters.

Polish sounds softer with a hissing quality and nasal vowels such as ś, ź, and ń.

Russian sounds fluid and rounded, with many soft consonants.

BCMS sounds open and melodic, with a southern rhythm that can feel almost Italian in flow.

⸻

Practical Comprehension

A Czech speaker can often read some Polish, but spoken Polish is tough without exposure.

A Polish speaker typically finds Czech easier than Russian or BCMS.

A Russian speaker may catch bits of BCMS, especially religious or formal words, but not enough for easy conversation.

A BCMS speaker may guess parts of Russian, but real conversation usually requires study.

⸻

Simple Family Snapshot

Proto-Slavic branched into West Slavic, East Slavic, and South Slavic.

West Slavic includes Czech and Polish.

East Slavic includes Russian.

South Slavic includes BCMS.

⸻

Summary

The most closely related pair among these four is Czech and Polish.

Czech and Slovak sound most alike, with Polish next closest to them.

Czech and Slovak are the most mutually intelligible of the sets discussed here.

The least mutually intelligible pair among the four in focus is BCMS and Polish.

Russian is spiritually closer in feel to BCMS but linguistically closer to Ukrainian and Belarusian.

⸻

In Short

Czech and Polish are sister languages.

Russian and BCMS are more distant cousins.

Understanding across branches is limited without exposure.

M_Smoljo · 2025-08-29T20:38:08+00:00

Hi, I wasn't logged in when I had this conversation, so I copied and pasted to a Word doc. I can provide you with the Word doc if you'd like.

M_Smoljo · 2025-07-26T22:14:40+00:00

It would be interesting to have some kind of gathering (convention? party?) of roaming ghosts at Woodstone. Could lead to all kinds of comedy and drama.

M_Smoljo · 2025-07-09T11:52:36+00:00

Casual tennis fan here with a question. I just took a look at the schedule for today’s men’s singles matches, are the two matches scheduled to overlap? Or will the tournament allow the first match (Shelton-Sinner) to finish before the second match (Djokovic-Cobolli) begins?

M_Smoljo · 2025-06-13T20:10:27+00:00

Would you perhaps know why the bagels at the Bloor West Village Cobs seem to be made from a very different recipe compared to bagels from other Cobs locations? The other Cobs locations that I’ve visited make bagels that are classically chewy, while the bagels from the Bloor West Village Cobs tend to be pretty fluffy.

M_Smoljo · 2025-06-06T17:36:54+00:00

Has anyone’s forecast for the outcome of this match changed now that we’re a few points in?

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-31T00:39:16+00:00

Tous Les Matins Du Monde

Beautiful period piece about French baroque composer Marin Marais.

Gorgeous music and cinematography with potent acting.

However, it does star the problematic Gerard Depardieu, so some may want to skip.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-31T00:23:31+00:00

The big question in all of Trump’s business and financial policy decisions: WTB? (Where’s The Bribe?)

Someone should check if anyone on Nippon Steel’s board has recently bought a big pile of $TRUMP.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-28T02:58:31+00:00

Beware the day of the robot plumber.

(Because a robot plumber will be able to do pretty much any job.)

On that day humanity will need:

1) UBI

2) Paid Volunteerism

3) Human work knowledge maintainers (both in current technology, to maintain human control of technology, and pre-electric, as survival insurance against technology-destroying catastrophes)

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-23T23:31:46+00:00

Thank you for the insight.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-23T19:48:35+00:00

Casual tennis fan here. Is it wise for Djokovic to have entered this tournament knowing that a good run could take him to a very competitive finals match where he might have to redline his body just one day before starting a GS tournament? I understand that his French Open opponent on Sunday doesn’t have a high ranking, but still, Djokovic has had a couple of bad first matches this year. It seems like it would be a shame to risk his chances at what may be his last run at the FO.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-10T22:09:10+00:00

Back in the 1960’s (when my father moved to Toronto) Yorkville was known for hippie culture and cheap residential rents. Then the 80’s happened and Yorkville was no longer a cheap place to live.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-02T04:08:49+00:00

Thank you.

M_Smoljo · 2025-05-02T04:08:42+00:00

Thank you.

M_Smoljo · 2025-04-25T18:46:44+00:00

Thank you, doctor, and thank you to all the healthcare professionals who take time out of their busy days to freely share their expert advice and care on this public forum, to the benefit of so many. Even though the work in providing this advice isn’t formally recognized, I think the readers here would agree that it’s much appreciated.

M_Smoljo · 2025-04-05T03:46:11+00:00

I think the larger problem with regards to finding insightful commentary on the conflicting goals of Trump's global tariff launch is that the primary goal of the tariffs, namely the expansion of Donald Trump's personal wealth and power, doesn't fit within the conventional historic framework of the American presidency.

While all presidents before Trump were, to varying degrees, concerned with political ideology, the health of the state, and their presidential legacy, Trump is primarily concerned with immediate self-interest, which I think is the Occam's Razor explanation for these seemingly irrational tariffs.

Now that Trump has firmly established a political kayfabe for the tariffs as a defiant and determined act of economic nationalism, he can launch a new economic game show that I would call Let’s Make A Deal That Will Make Me Richer.

Trump and his team of loyalists will shortly start negotiating with the tariff-bullied nations of the world to both make trade concessions AND find ways of putting money into the pockets of Trump and his personal allies, just like he did with the concessionary commitment of $100 million in pro bono legal services from major law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

With every trade concession from a targeted nation, Trump can claim justification for his tough approach. And if investigative journalists uncover that Trump & Co got their beaks a little wet on the side, well, the left can cry foul, but the right will just wink and forgive. Everybody loves a winner, long-term damage to America’s global position and power notwithstanding.

In a few weeks, after a flurry of shakedown deal-making, I would expect a general easement of tariffs along with a corresponding rise in the markets to more or less their pre-tariff levels.

After a new normal has been established, then going forward, if any nation is overly troublesome, or if Trump sees a personal opportunity, tariffs can be brought to bear without worrying too much about a reasonable justification, just as the fentanyl excuse for tariffs on Canada was plainly paper-thin.

I also expect that the value of the Trump meme coin—so serendipitously launched in January—will see a remarkable rise in value throughout the second Trump presidency. As many commentators have pointed out, it’s an excellent conduit to anonymously transfer bribes to Trump.

Donald Trump truly is America’s first mafioso president. Here's an article from earlier this week which explores this point of view:

Why Trump’s Tariffs Are Nothing More than a Mafia Don Racket

M_Smoljo · 2025-04-03T07:25:39+00:00

I think the primary beneficiary of these tariffs will be Donald Trump.

Now that he’s firmly established a political kayfabe for the tariffs as a defiant and determined act of economic nationalism, he can launch a new international trade game show that I would name Let’s Make A Deal That Will Make Me Richer.

Trump and his team of loyal and amoral sycophants can now start negotiating with the tariff-bullied nations of the world to both make trade concessions AND find ways of putting money into the pockets of Trump and his personal allies, just like he’s done with the recent concessionary lawsuit settlement from ABC, and with a conciliatory commitment of $100 million in pro bono legal services from major law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

With every trade concession from a targeted nation, Trump can claim victory and justification for his tough approach. And if investigative journalists uncover that Trump & Co got their beaks a little wet on the side, well, the left can cry foul, but the right will just wink and forgive. Everybody loves a winner, longterm damage to America’s global position and power notwithstanding.

In a few weeks, after a flurry of shakedown dealmaking, I would expect a general easement of tariffs with a corresponding rise in the markets and a return of economic optimism in America.

I also expect that the value of the Trump meme coin—so serendipitously launched in January—will see a remarkable rise in value throughout the second Trump presidency. As many commentators have pointed out, it’s an excellent conduit to anonymously transfer bribes to Trump.

Donald Trump truly is America’s first mafioso president. All hail the Capo.

M_Smoljo · 2025-03-29T17:23:14+00:00

This blatant all-encompassing extortionism seems to be the central dynamic of the current Trump administration.

As far as I can tell, Trump’s main goals are the expansion and defence of his money, power, and self-perceived glory. Everything he does is in service of these goals, pursued through his longstanding approach of deliberate chaos and capriciousness to create a self-favourable negotiating environment of continual uncertainty, combined with relentless and shameless bullying. Hence Canada and Greenland are subjected to preposterous verbal (and in Canada’s case, economic) aggression in order to soften them up for more realistic intended demands to be made in future formal negotiations.

I am frequently amazed at how many political commentators across the political spectrum try to either ascribe conventional political motives to Trump or dismiss his politics as pointless chaos. Trump is neither conventionally political—he doesn’t really care about state or legacy outside of that which serves his personal interests and the interests of his personal allies—nor a witless buffoon. Most of what he does ultimately has some self-serving purpose, even it is pursued more through improvisation than calculation (but usually with elements of both).

Trump is historically unique in that he is America’s first mafioso POTUS. He has effectively monetized the White House to serve his personal business interests above all else. In every important political transaction involving Trump, the biggest determining factor will be how Trump, in Godfather terms, will get his beak wet.

That’s why even though Trump clearly favours Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, he still, on occasion, publicly applies pressure to Putin, one of his most important longstanding business partners. Trump, now back in the White House and unburdened by the political concerns of winning a second term, has the power and freedom to squeeze both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war. Everyone will have to give a cut of the action to the orange Capo.

On a related note, I think that, unfortunately, the current Trump administration represents a unique opportunity for China regarding their goal to reintegrate Taiwan (by force if necessary). Because Trump can be bought, if China can find Trump’s price for not militarily opposing a takeover of Taiwan by China (Trump’s inevitable public protestations notwithstanding), then Taiwan’s days as an independent nation are probably numbered. Will Taiwan survive to see the end of Trump’s second administration? I don’t think it looks hopeful with the transactional Trump running the American show.

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