Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Fw: Update from Riderwood Village

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Apr 13, 2026, at 3:05 PM, Linda Hobbet <coho [at] lindahobbet.com> wrote:
> 
> Someone probably sent this tip already, but just in case. You can narrow the 
> search on most platforms by putting Jean Smart in quotes, "Jean Smart", which 
> should exclude the items with Jean or Smart by themselves. If you searched on 
> "Jean Smart" plus a keyword or two from the title, it should limit the 
> results a lot. Or the title in quotes.

Thank you for the reminder. Unfortunately it only works when the site is 
designed to find exactly what you want. Amazon wants you to find anything 
remotely like what you searched for. And many libraries seem to think you don’t 
know what you are looking for so they return everything so you might find it.

Of all the concerns related to AI, I have worked with it enough now to know 
that it is actually the best way to find pretty much anything. It puts the 
evaluative sources together with the factual. It is also wrong sometimes but it 
also corrects — you can say that date is wrong and it will look for another 
one. Sometimes it will correct the next day saying former reports were from a 
social media source that was wrong.

Since everyone can now add to the stream of information, junk is added. In 
Amazon searches now I’ve found I have to be careful to choose the version of a 
product that is not being shipped from China or offered by a small company that 
turns out to be a person who lives in the mountains and only mails once a month.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC