Can It, Please!

August 13, 2023 Walter Leave a comment

I recently whined on Facebook about the number of email assaults I receive regarding real estate, noting that most violate Federal Law and ethical considerations. I also suggested that I might write a blog post highlighting some of the provisions of the “CAN-SPAM Act.” Since the Facebook post received a few (very few) “likes,” I am proceeding.

Real Estate Peeps may feel free to ignore it but do so at your own peril. When you send emails regarding listings and open houses to groups of people, it is considered commercial email, and the CAN-SPAM Act regulates it.

The CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act) is a U.S. federal law enacted in 2003 to regulate commercial email messages and prevent spam. Here’s a summary of its essential requirements:

Unsubscribe Option: Commercial emails must include a clear and conspicuous way for recipients to opt out of future emails. The unsubscribe mechanism must be functional for at least 30 days after sending the email. This is one of the most common violations I see.
Identification: The email must clearly identify itself as a commercial message and include accurate sender information. Sender information includes the sender’s physical postal address. Note that you can run, but you cannot hide.
Deceptive Subject Lines: Subject lines must accurately reflect the content of the email. Misleading or deceptive subject lines are prohibited. This should be obvious.
Sending Practices: It’s prohibited to use false or misleading header information, use deceptive routing or relay techniques, or employ any other deceptive means to hide the origin of the email. Again, you can run, but you cannot hide.
Honor Opt-Out Requests: Once a recipient opts out, the sender has ten business days to honor the request. The sender cannot transfer the recipient’s email to another entity for sending additional emails.
Monitoring of Third Parties: Companies using third-party marketers to send emails on their behalf are still responsible for ensuring that those emails comply with CAN-SPAM. You can delegate the job but not the responsibility.
Penalties: Violations of the CAN-SPAM Act can result in substantial penalties, including fines per email sent in violation of the law. The most significant penalties are alienating potential clients and losing the respect of others.

I think the most significant penalties are alienating potential clients and losing the respect of others.

Regarding penalties, here’s a funny story for you. I (and, I’m sure many others) received an unsolicited email from a self-proclaimed marketing expert who promised to increase my business geometrically. It did not contain much humility and assured me the expert knew many marketing secrets and tricks. It also violated a number of the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.

I figured out how to reply to it (not usually a good idea, but I thought it would be entertaining), expressing interest in the magic offered, particularly given that the marketing the expert was doing on their own behalf violated Federal Law on many points.

I have not heard from the SPE (Self Proclaimed Expert) since.

It’s important to note that this summary provides a general overview of the CAN-SPAM Act, and there may be additional details and nuances in the full text of the law. It’s essential for businesses engaging in email marketing to understand and comply with the Act’s requirements to avoid legal consequences.

Note this does not address the advertising rules enacted by the Maine Real Estate Commission, other federal and state marketing regulations, or company policy.

Communication, Personal Growth, Writing Skills

When Artificial Intelligence Isn’t…

August 11, 2023 Walter Leave a comment

Sometimes, you have to see the humor in it.

I’ve not been particularly fearful of the increasing use of AI. Some of my writer colleagues are freaking out. While I’m certainly not an expert, I think an essential limitation of AI is the linear aspect–at least at this point.

There’s a fundamental difference between “intelligence” and “thinking.” Intelligence means knowing you don’t start sentences with a contraction. But a thinking writer will do so to make a point. (See what I just did there?)

So here’s a story for you. I received a $50 debit card thanks to a settled class action suit. It could only be used for online purchases, functioning like a prepaid credit card. The instructions warned that the transaction would be denied if an attempted purchase was more than the balance on the card.

I purchased using the card for $48.52, leaving a $1.48 balance on it. My financial thinking hated acknowledging that I would be “losing” that $1.48 unless I made an online purchase for less than that.

This is not too complicated so far, right?

A month later, I received an email advising me that my $12.76 purchase was denied because it exceeded the balance on the card. That would make sense, except that I hadn’t used the card. So the most logical conclusion to me (and, I’m sure, you) was the card has been “compromised.” We are both intelligent and thinking.

So I emailed my concern to the card provider. “Noemi” almost immediately advised that I’d been assigned a case number and would be hearing soon. (Apparently, Noemi must follow a proscribed, linear system to pretend it can think. )

When the reply came, AI generated it (emphasis on Artificial), reminding me that I was not allowed to make purchases that exceeded the balance, etc. It insulted my intelligence, but I reminded myself our relationship wouldn’t have much emotion. Noemi isn’t concerned about my feelings.

After some thinking (there’s that word again), I realized my only risk here was $1.48, which I’d already determined I would lose. But for the entertainment value, I continued to converse with Noemi via email.

Noemi continued sending me useless information reflecting its lack of understanding of my emails and inability to think.

ME: “I’m reporting this because there’s a problem with your system and this compromised card. The good news is the system denied the charge.”

NOEMI: “Please contact the vendor to dispute the charge.”

I briefly considered additional experimentation. Could I find a keyword for Noemi to recognize and generate a different response? I suspect that will become a required skill in the future, but I didn’t see much to gain this time.

One thing that does scare me a bit is that many humans are adopting this linear thinking pattern. I remember a conversation during COVID with a doctor’s office that was refusing to see me because “You have symptoms of COVID.”

I replied, “But I tested negative. The symptoms are attributed to my COPD.” (I should add this was a routine, non-essential visit.)

The human replied, “I’m sorry, but our policy is that we don’t see patients with COVID symptoms.” I thought her voice had a robotic tone.

I said, “Can you take a message for the doctor?” (Artificial intelligence likes closed-end questions that require a “yes” or “no” answer.) “Please advise the doctor that she will never see me again since I will always have these symptoms.”

Several days later, I received a call advising they had changed their policy and I could please come in next Tuesday.

So the good news is the bad news. AI doesn’t think like humans do–that’s the good news. But humans sometimes “think” the way AI does–that’s the bad news. I’m more concerned with human thinking than artificial intelligence. How about you?

Amish Life

The News is Where You Find It

July 21, 2023 Walter Leave a comment

We recently returned from vacation—most of it spent in “Amish Country” in Pennsylvania. I do have some stories to tell. (Search the site using the keyword “Amish.”)

As I do every year, I picked up a copy of The Budget newspaper. The Budget is a weekly newspaper published in Ohio for and by members of various plain Anabaptist Christian communities, including the Amish, Amish Mennonite, Beachy Amish, and plain Mennonite and Brethren communities.

There is no online version, and they do not maintain a website. The only way to subscribe is to send a note with a check. That will not be surprising if you know much about the “plain people.” What may surprise you is that it has been around since 1890 and, in spite of the failure rate of most print newspapers, shows no signs of weakening or losing “market share.” According to at least one source, it is one of the largest paid weekly circulation newspapers in the country. (This is an excellent article about The Budget!)

Since this is not going to qualify as a heavily researched article, suffice it to say that the Amish are organized into an estimated 600 districts around the country and Canada. I’m mentioning that because the newspaper is structured based on those districts. A simple description is that “scribes” (reporters) from each district submit news about their district each week for publication. It appears that most articles are submitted by snail mail or fax machine. (Most Amish are not big fans of technology.)

For one interested in communication and newsletter publishing, it’s a fascinating publication on a number of points. To oversimplify, it’s fascinating that it works and how it works. I’ve speculated that it works in a large part because of the absence of technology. But more importantly, the publishers understand and meet the needs of their market. A typical report from a district will include important details like which family hosted church most recently, who is getting married, who is recovering from illness or an accident, who is visiting relatives, and who is being visited by relatives. There’s often a mention of the weather and how the crops are doing.

Amish beliefs and culture place a great deal of importance on the family and the community. Amish couples may have as many as fifteen children in the more conservative groups, Six to eight is generally accepted as the average. The Budget helps those families stay connected even as family members move to another district.

The editors of The Budget know the information critical to maintaining a strong community, and they provide it. I recall one article reporting a recent farm accident and listing the schedule for the neighbors who are helping.

So where do we Englisch (non-Amish) find information about our families and communities? Before you answer “social media,” I’ve recently seen the suggestion that we should drop the word “social” and call it, more accurately, “media.” Given the algorithms, Facebook’s tendency to decide what users should see, what is relevant, and the emphasis on advertising, it’s probably fair to say families and community are not a high priority or value for the social media providers.

Is it at least interesting (if not concerning) non-Amish society isn’t starving for the information critical to maintaining strong communities? Is this a reflection of our society or a missed opportunity? That seems to be something worthy of thought.

Amish Life, Causes and Friends, Maine Life, Mental Hygiene, Personal Growth

Can I Help with the Peaches?

July 16, 2023 Walter 1 Comment

Actually, there is no direct connection between Kauffman Orchards and B… and if this photo looks a little blurry, understand it was taken from a moving horse and buggy!

During a recent visit to Central Pennsylvania, I decided to revisit one young friend (“B”) I’d talked to last summer. She told me then she had just decided to stay with the Amish Faith and shared some of her thoughts and reasons. I was quite literally “blown away” by her honesty and thinking. We even discussed some of the difficulties she anticipated. When the conversation ended, she said how wonderful it was that we had learned from each other.

I didn’t see her working at the farmstand this year, but I mentioned her to the older Amish gentleman who collected for my purchases. He smiled some, jerked a thumb over this shoulder, and said, “She’s in the back peeling peaches. You should go talk to her.”

I felt oddly honored that I was allowed through the “employees only” door. I found her making short work of peeling and cutting up a huge basket of peaches.

I was not disappointed. She remembered me and was only too happy to share some updates. We actually had quite a discussion about “social media.” She has a phone because, in addition to working at her family’s farm stand, she has started her own business. She explained how she uses the phone and how she doesn’t. Prior to baptism and joining, she used the phone freely, but she also saw how using the phone impacted her. I agreed with her and found myself a bit jealous of her achievement. In so many words, we agreed that it’s important to think about how things impact us.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say she’s a lucky girl because I’m not sure luck is involved. She is taking full responsibility for her choices and the consequences of them. She’s a critical thinker–I noticed that last year. She made the point then that choosing to remain Amish would not be based on the things she is giving up. She is staying Amish for what she will gain.

I’ve noticed that conversations about the Amish typically drift to what they don’t have or accept. “They don’t have electricity.” {That’s only partially true. ) “They don’t drive cars; they have to use horses and buggies.” (Again a partial truth.) We seem to make it sound like being Amish is all about giving things up and following rules.

B doesn’t see it that way. She is not a victim of being Amish. She chooses not to sit at home and play computer games on her phone. She is choosing her way of life. We talked a lot about who we are and who we will become, and how life is a journey and process. She also knows what she doesn’t know.

Gellasenheit! (Ironically, when I used that word with her last year, she didn’t know the meaning. She found it interesting and amusing that she was learning an Amish way of thinking from an Englischer.

B continues to work at the family farmstand. Since last year she’s also started her own successful business. She somewhat shyly shared that she’s “in a relationship.” I teased, “So next year you’ll be married and I won’t find you here.” Her reply was straight to the point, “Oh, I doubt that!” Later, I wished I’d clarified. She might have meant she’d probably be married but still at the family farm stand. One thing for sure, she’ll have made her decisions thoughtfully.

I didn’t ask, but if I were to guess she’s in her late teens. Most Amish join the church between the ages of 18 and 21.

In the Amish world, she is NOT an exception. I could share other stories and examples. She finished the peaches while we talked. I can handle that sort of multitasking. I am challenged to talk with someone who is also typing on their smartphone.

I am proud, honored, and blessed to know her.

Causes and Friends, Personal Growth, Teaching

Thanks to My Sort of Dad(s)…

June 18, 2023 Walter Leave a comment

I’ve not traditionally posted anything on Fathers’ Day, but I’m making an exception this year. Blame it on my age, but of late, I’ve been reflecting on my experiences with my Dad and the years immediately following his death when I was seven.

I think he’d like to know about the long list of guys who did their best to help fill the void. I’m certainly not going to try to name them all. Some were relatives. Many were his friends. Two were neighbors. They didn’t try to be my Dad; they just became my friend.

One helped me build a birdhouse; I think it weighed fifty pounds when we were finished adding ideas and amenities. A neighbor made me his companion when he split wood and gardened. The guy who ran the gas station and bait shop in town offered fishing advice and occasionally provided free tackle.

Some of those men remained a friend for years. They’re all gone now. Dad would have celebrated his ninety-eighth birthday this year. Today I miss them. Actually, I miss them a little every day. I’ve always said of my Dad that he’s with me and haunts me in ways that are positive beyond belief. I considered it a huge compliment when his friends would remark, “You’re just like your Dad.”

Was it providential that we had the same names? In later years, some of those men actually thought I was my Dad. If we’re in my hometown I can show you my name on the WW II honor roll.

I do occasionally wonder what he’d think about how complicated life’s become. But if I’m “just like” him, I think I know.

He’d miss the connections we had nearly seventy years ago. He’d miss the opportunities we had to be a caring friend to others, especially those much younger. He’d recognize the importance of friends but balance it with independence and resilience.

If you’d like to read a short story about how he taught me that, read “Thanks, Dad!” It’s the story of one of my best days with him.