Yes, it's possible to do that, but it would be rather pointless. Here's why: The points system used to be a lot more onerous. You had to read roughly 5 words for every 1 that you wanted to post. The new ratio is only 3 to 1. That means you only need to trade reviews with three other people on a regular basis (assuming everyone's posts are generally of similar length) in order to keep posting your own material.

Since most people try to have many more regular reviewers than that (often six or more) in order to get the most value out of the site, points are quickly irrelevant. Their main value at this point is to keep people off the site who just want free feedback without bothering to do any work at all. You could post War & Peace here, but if you don't maintain regular reviewers, you'll be hard pressed to get more than a handful of reviews before interest in your posts fizzles.

Also everyone is too honorable to ever try anything that devious. ;-)  But bless your devious heart for having figured that out as quickly as you did. :-)

That's hilarious!

Gandhi? tongue

We have a winner: Gandalf the Beige

You folks have some cool cat names. And the sheer number of cats you've owned or own is impressive.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.
Dirk

P.S. Saw a video last night of a cat running up a screen door. Another tried running up a wall. Those are some serious zoomies! Things to look forward to. smile

Mine got the zoomies, although he went into hunting mode and started stalking/pouncing on non-existent prey. This is after I thought I had worn him out with a laser pointer. He went nuts for the little red dot.

Guardian of the Dead? Only if he hordes dead mice.

>>when he’s hanging from your curtains like Spider-Man at a crime scene
That sounds like Gumdrop, the cat I originally intended to adopt until he wore me out in a fifteen minute meet and greet. LoL. I would have had to rename him E=mc^2 because his energy level was so crazy high it was bounding, leaping, shedding proof of Einstein's equation. Oddly, though, Gumdrop regularly defied the laws of gravity. smile

LoL. Thanks, Dagny. Great to hear that cats will answer to several names. Most humans won't even do that. smile
I'm definitely leaning toward Phantom, though I may call him Jaws when he's nibbling on someone. tongue
My niece likes Jaws, so I'll keep that as a nickname.

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Your ditty could be considered offensive to animal lovers.
Glass houses, George... ;-)

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

May your fingers soar
And your kittens roar.
May your horses neigh
And your donkeys bray.
May your cats use litter
That reeks not bitter.
May your doggies poop
Where you need not stoop.
May your emus race
At your husband's pace.
May your grill find heaven
That is numbered seven.
May your trees stand tall
And then never fall.
May all storms be weak
Seven days a week.
May all hunted game
Outwit those who aim.
May the animals charge
All gun toters at large.
May your days be merry
And all end with sherry.

Kdot wrote:

Dog

In English? Pffft!
Canis!

Turns out he's actually beige. It's the weird lighting that makes him look orange.

Tamsin Liddell wrote:
Dirk B wrote:

to which he doesn't answer anyway,

He's a cat. That's their thing. Get used to it.

Dirk B wrote:

I figure now's the best time to rename him

Over the years, my cats have been named:

  • Jinx

  • Bandit

  • Smokie

  • Whiskers

  • Odysseus/Odie

  • Nostradamus/Nos

  • Hel

  • Esmeralda Weatherwax/Esme

  • Greebo

  • Blue

  • Broccoli

  • Hope

  • Sam

  • Elliott

  • Prince

  • WB (pronounced Wub)

  • Crowley

  • Castiel

  • Rayne

  • Beans

  • Ajax

Yes, most were indoors only.
No litters, though three pairs were/are siblings.
Most I've had at one time was 7. Current is 5.

You and Marilyn should compare notes if you haven't already. She's probably had dozens of cats over the years in her animal sanctuary.

Hi Tamsin. I got it too. I emailed Sol about it overnight. He should see it soon if he hasn't already.
I was able to force my way past the error using Edge, but not using Chrome.

Since the shelter assigned my cat a random name recently that I don't like (Pentagon) and to which he doesn't answer anyway, I figure now's the best time to rename him (I get him back in about a week after some medical follow-up at the shelter):

Favorites among my family members so far:
Jaws - because he's the world's sweetest cat, likes to nibble my forearms ever so gently
Phantom - because he has an amazing stealth mode; either that or he can teleport at will

A few of my favorite fictional characters:
Gandalf - best Tolkien character
Connor - 14-year-old supernatural character at the heart of my Apocalypse trilogy
Apollo - my favorite character from Archangel Syndrome, my demented space opera; also 14 years old; heir to the violent, galactic Imperium Romanum; the neurotic but likeable son of Nero, a murderous psychopath
Professor - the Archangel Syndrome genius who created a sterilizing vaccine that caused the collapse of Earth's population to keep the planet from running out of trees for toilet paper; last seen time traveling to 1964 for a 3-hour cruise with Gilligan, where (ironically) there was no toilet paper

Suggested by Gemini for a really sweet cat (tongue in cheek):
Vlad the Impaler - really nasty piece of work from history
Cujo - Stephen King's rabid Saint Bernard
Shredder
Slasher
Killer

Other possibilities:
Furball
Sweet Pea

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Randall Krzak wrote:

If members of TNBW are going to start relying on AI to do reviews, I think I'll bow out.

Randy, I think the discussion above morphed into one about whether writers (not reviewers) here should have access to an AI reviewer like the one on Booksie. Admittedly, I've yet to try it. I keep meaning to cross-post over there, but life keeps getting in my way.

The general consensus is that AI should not be used to generate reviews for others; that would make for a rather useless site. Writers can do that themselves. Using an AI to clean up chapters before posting them here is a no-brainer, though, for folks who don't have a good handle on grammar and punctuation. That way, reviewers here can focus on the story rather than writing mechanics.

I don't think there's anything wrong, though, with helping someone figure out how to use an AI to clean up a chapter before posting.

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

This reminded me of a song I learned in kindergarten fifty-five years ago. I never knew the name, just remembered one verse. I fed it into Gemini, and it said, "That's a classic!" and went on to name the song (The Austrian Yodeler) and explain some of the history. I'm so glad to be retired and not have to worry about competing with AI. Yeesh.

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(13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sorry to hear that, MJ. I almost joined you with a cast (made in Canada, of course). I was trying out a new ladder at home because the old one was too narrow for me due to balance issues. So I climbed a few steps higher, thinking I could finally reach the ceiling to change light bulbs and smoke alarm batteries, which I now can, but I was a little too close to the ceiling fan, which was running at full speed. Damn did that hurt! Even once it heals, my new cat loves to sit in my lap and get petted and scratched, so I'll be typing one-handed for a while. :-)

Get well soon.
Dirk

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

In Canada it would be A-eye-eh. Sounds like a refrain from "Old MacDonald had a Farm." :-)

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(63 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

These days, whenever I encounter a word whose exact definition I've never read, especially words that I use from time to time, I like to look them up. Here's the definition for apoplexy, although not the only one: unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke.
All that from a few capitalized nouns, huh? :-)
And the lives of scullery maids were Shit!

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Sol.

Having access to an AI directly from the site would be great as long as people can find it easily. In addition to wherever you place the button or menu item to make it generally available, I'd suggest also making it accessible from within the Post/Edit wizard with a label or tooltip suggesting people run their writing through the AI to eliminate the trivial stuff so they don't waste their reviewers' time. As reviewers, I think we should make it a default expectation. If the AI is good and clearly hasn't been used, I'd tell them to run it, fix their mistakes, then post again.

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

>>Will AI read one chapter of a book and advise me helpfully about arc, plot or character development?
Based on my experience using Gemini for a variety of detailed conversations, I think it might surprise you. :-)

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I keep seeing articles in my newsfeed about ways scientists and researchers are using AI, and that it can do in minutes what would take humans months or years to do, assuming we can even do it.

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

And legitimate publishers will no doubt use AI analysis to help them decide whether to publish legitimate works or not. Makes me wonder how many classics would have received a thumbs down. Assuming a publisher does decide to publish someone's book, they can use the same analysis to help specify what changes the publisher wants from the author.

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(41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

And you can probably use AI eventually (if not imminantly) to automate much of the creation and self-publishing of AI-generated books. Imagine how much more crap will be dumped into the Amazon Kindle store.

>>Or they're lulled to sleep and get a shock at the end. 'Connor's the AC?!?!'
Nobody would be surprised by that, would they? :-)

I read a bit about the Children's Crusade. Ugh! Many of them sold into slavery. The depravity of the human race knows no bounds, although slavery was a part of society long before that crusade (and still is). Converting your enemy through non-violent means sounds a little like what Pope Nnamani has in mind to retake the Vatican.

I had that age range in mind, although the whole idea of doing so really is just to further the plans of the Unholy Trinity: Connor takes over the Church, kicks out any uncooperative clergymen, and begins to pull together the "Lambs of the Lord" to do "Christ's bidding." Of course, since he bails on Satan halfway through book two, the Lambs never get off the ground.