Susan

@spenley No. Haven't since Twitter made them a paid for. Assumed it was hidden.

A strange debate has emerged. Do you see a blue tick on my name or my profile page?

@spenley My mum spent months and many emails and phonecalls trying to get their home battery sorted out. One "my elderly mother" review on TrustPilot and suddenly they were falling over themselves to put things right. It's shameful that's what it takes. (She'd shoot me for the "elderly".)

An update to my thread about @amazon's refusal to replace or repair a Fire Stick that stopped working after what I considered too short a time, plus some important takeaways at the end: After a long time on Live Chat where they refused to rectify the situation, then refused to let me escalate it, and then gave me a false complaints email address, I posted details of it here. Unsurprisingly, Amazon (the real one, plus a couple of fake ones) then got in touch, and asked me to DM them. They then sent me a link to an online form that seems to be specially for people who complain publicly on social media (screen shot below). They got in touch pretty quickly after that to confirm the serial number of the faulty Fire Stick, and then credited my Amazon account with the price of a replacement. No more questions asked. Here are the key things to know if you have this kind of complaint: 1. Their Live Chat team tried to persuade me that my Consumer Rights don't apply. So have the page on-screen to refer to (section 9 - although it's not particularly clear, I have to say). 2. They did offer me a discount on a new Fire Stick, which I didn't accept. I assume if I had, it would have invalidated my right to get a complete replacement. 3. They gave me an email address to complain to that bounced. So if you're given an email address, ping it straight away in case it's false. 4. When I didn't accept the discount, they terminated the Live Chat window before I could save the text of the chat. However, if you start another Live Chat with another operator in another window, your previous live chat is still there if you scroll up. 5. Sadly, I have a suspicion that the only reason I got a refund in the end was because I was able to make enough noise about it on social media. They have a link specifically for it, after all. 6. FWIW, I can afford a new Fire Stick, so I'll give the value of the voucher to a good cause anyway. This was always about the principle, not the price.

Maximum Joy Incoming! I think this may be the best CLAWS song yet. The band was invented by my 9 year-old daughter, and between us we’ve created some pretty banging songs, using varying amounts of AI. I’ve been blown away by how good the results have been, and this one is, as they say, 🔥. If you have kids, play it to them. If they like it - if you like it, even a little, please like and repost - my daughter will be over the moon! GEEK DETAILS I’m now understanding how to work with the AI to get the sounds and voices I want. Hence in 9LYVZ you’ll find different singers doing different sections, a rap, and some v nice bits of production: - The whispers, ad-libs and shouts throughout - The strange scream at 0’20 - The cheeky break just before each chorus - That great slow-down at 1’40 (it might be called a Caesura, or a Breakdown - I’m no expert) Wow. Just wow. Or should I say - meow.

@spenley @BBCNews Mine from earlier this month. Well he would wouldn't he.

My favourite headline of the day, courtesy of @BBCNews

@spenley My question too. BBC says they are piloted, but surprised, the luge track could be auto? "The drones are controlled on site. For the sliding events, the pilot and their assistant sit in a tiny tent near the course and fly it from there." bbc.co.uk/sport/articles…

Does anyone know if the drones hurtling down the luge run are manually piloted, or whether they're following an automated flight path?

@spenley Did you catch my first attempt with the AI music?! VERY different but I think it's a Popetastic Eurovision banger! youtube.com/shorts/EXWOZzx…

Thank you so much if you came to Spencer Kelly's A.I. Masterclass! It went so well that I've decided to make it available to everyone here: youtu.be/YLcP239nxRI It's full of brilliant insights and really useful practical demos from @_mikepound, and I hope you find it useful. (oh, and an extended Q&A is currently available to newsletter subscribers, so please sign up to watch!)

@spenley YES. "I'm voting for yourself" Every round table on The Traitors.

This.

@spenley I know at least two people in lunch club (one of them is me) who would think exactly like this. 🤭

I'd fully close those doors if I were you. Still draughty otherwise.

@spenley Lordy indeed. But I also can't help noticing, she runs with the same gait as cgi Lara Croft in the 1990s.

Lordy.

@astro_kye @ESE_Solar Was it perhaps a prepack? The website (with totally ripped off @OctopusEnergy branding!) says co number is: …te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/110368… Which isn't in admin? They've sold my mum a battery which had someone else's name in the app so looks like maybe wasn't new and it has issues. 😡

@ESE_Solar If your company went into Administration in October, why are you still doing business?

⚡️ HUGE Solar Battery Upgrade Alert! 🔋 We just more than DOUBLED a customer's storage capacity! ➡️ SWIPE for the before/after! OLD: 2.4kWh Pylontech NEW: 2 x Hanchu 5.12kWh (Total 10.24kWh!) New tech, bigger capacity, maximum savings. Ready to ditch the grid when the sun goes down? DM us to talk about upgrading! 👇 #SolarPower #BatteryStorage #Hanchu #RenewableEnergy #ESEsolar

@ESE_Solar If they have a question, will you reply to them?! Mum has emailed you 8 times with no reply. Today her battery started full at 10.4kWh, says it has discharged 2.5 and is showing 50%. Which sounds wrong. I'm going to get to email again. Please do pick up the ticket this time.

@Footballtweet @FIFAWorldCup What an absolute joke. Peace between Russia and Ukraine or between Israel and Palestine? DISGUSTING. Gross indecent ass kissing with a fake award because he ain't never getting the one he campaigned for. Switching off now. 🤮

🚨 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: DONALD TRUMP HAS WON THE INAUGURAL FIFA PEACE PRIZE! 🇺🇸🏆

@JuliaHB1 As a high rate tax payer with no children, GOOD. Aside looking after the kids, well fed children learn better, perform better and will do better in the long run, which is good for the country.

They. Are. Not. Free. They are funded by TAXPAYERS.

@spenley Big snowflakes on my coat getting the train in Bristol this morning. Snow in London as well. Team chat this morning is all weather related!

Snowing here on the south coast. You?

@spenley Goodness Spen, I'm pretty sure I remember you tweeting about him moving to secondary school about 5 minutes ago!

Good luck to all those going through GCSE mocks this week. Pretty sure I'm more anxious than my son.

@spenley Or an echo chamber.

Generative AI is a bubble.

@AzraelRomanov3 @JolyonMaugham No. And that's the point. Well done.

@spenley Well it did an absolutely cracking job of it, came to mind immediately. Going to have to find that one you shared a while ago now, that one hit hard in a way AI hasn't quite got yet!

@SusanHHD Right the first time! I'm nothing if not obvious...

I whipped up a couple of AI songs yesterday, using Gemini to create the lyrics and the style prompts. I'm continually gobsmacked by this stuff. Questions: a) Name the band I was trying to emulate b) Who does the first 50 seconds sound like to you?

@spenley youtu.be/fB4gjiMVKFI?si…

@spenley It's you, so Chvrches might be a bit obvious, a left field suggestion, Cascada.

@spenley Also, WOW.