What made me unhappy today ?

[CatrionaGrace]

I occasionally go looking on Amazon for more picture books for my kid, and the dead-eyed, slightly-off AI-produced picture books are appearing more and more (publication date 2025 onwards). The thought of so many kids soaking up bad art makes me sad.

I haven't found a way to filter them out, so this will probably be the nail in the coffin for my Amazon book purchases. I'd already switched over to local companies for most orders, but Amazon search is now also useless.

If you are of a Christian bent, or at least not hostile to the idea, Leslie Colburn and her illustrators produces some nice work. (Disclaimer: I am emphatically not of a Christian bent, lest anyone think I'm proselytizing here.) Mother and daughter team Mary and Rosian Fichtner produce a series of children's books about western ranch life that are also well done. Both Mary and Leslie have won awards and acclaim not generally given to self-published books.

Mary's books Leslie's books

 

[Luxuria]

I am trying to do schoolwork and Word is crimping my writing style. I hate it's 'grammar' suggestions. Because what I wrote IS correct, it just has more words and doesn't sound like it's written by a computer.

 

[big soft moose]

You can turn that off on the menus

 

[Maycontainthunder]

I am trying to do schoolwork and Word is crimping my writing style. I hate it's 'grammar' suggestions. Because what I wrote IS correct, it just has more words and doesn't sound like it's written by a computer.

Word does that to me as well only it's word use. What I used is correct but, if I were to use its suggestion, the sentence wouldn't make any sense.

One instance it didn't pull me up on was mistakenly using rouge instead of rogue. Laugh all you want!

And to stay on topic; found document corruption with some words being changed from last time I performed a read through.

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

I am trying to do schoolwork and Word is crimping my writing style. I hate it's 'grammar' suggestions. Because what I wrote IS correct, it just has more words and doesn't sound like it's written by a computer.

It suggested "your" in a sentence where I had "you're" (used correctly), and I was almost offended by the insinuation I didn't know what I'm doing. I do leave it on because sometimes my fingers go so fast typing, I'll miss some letters, but it doesn't catch those as frequently as it used to.

It's a frustrating function. I offer you a cup of your favorite hot beverage and a slice of your favorite bread.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

I am trying to do schoolwork and Word is crimping my writing style. I hate it's 'grammar' suggestions. Because what I wrote IS correct, it just has more words and doesn't sound like it's written by a computer.

I'll see your Word and raise you LibreOffice Writer. It's just like Word, but it's free and opensource, and millions of people use it without complaint (including companies and government departments in all kinds of countries). It also allows you to do anything Word can, including saving files in the .docx format and even the .doc format (for backwards compatibility).

I've used LibreOffice (the full office suite) for years and years, and never had an issue. I thoroughly recommend it.

The only slightly prickly issue I had with it is that sometimes it doesn't catch my smelling pistakes (spoonerism ftw!) ;-P But to be honest, when I make a spelling mistake, it's often something like "rogue" vs. "rouge", etc. -- the kind of thing anyone might miss.

 

[Luxuria]

I'll see your Word and raise you LibreOffice Writer. It's just like Word, but it's free and opensource, and millions of people use it without complaint (including companies and government departments in all kinds of countries). It also allows you to do anything Word can, including saving files in the .docx format and even the .doc format (for backwards compatibility).

I've used LibreOffice (the full office suite) for years and years, and never had an issue. I thoroughly recommend it.

The only slightly prickly issue I had with it is that sometimes it doesn't catch my smelling pistakes (spoonerism ftw!) ;-P But to be honest, when I make a spelling mistake, it's often something like "rogue" vs. "rouge", etc. -- the kind of thing anyone might miss.

Thanks for this. I tried Office Writer ages ago and we didn't vibe. I think I will stick with Scriviner, which is my processor of choice. But the thing that's nice about Word is that I can type of on my phone when I am out and about.

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

I either have a cold or an allergy attack has lasted all day. If I sneeze one more gosh darned time.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

*hands Dogberry's Watch the box of Kleenex*

That doesn't sound much like fun. Hope you feel better soon.