Monday, December 23Hampton Roads Weekly
Shadow

Author: Web Publisher

Civility vs Disrespect vs  Behaving as an Adult for Virginia  By Bruce Meyer – Publisher of Hampton Roads Weekly

Civility vs Disrespect vs Behaving as an Adult for Virginia By Bruce Meyer – Publisher of Hampton Roads Weekly

Headlines, Politics
On Tuesday, July 30th, the Virginia General Assembly hosted a Special Joint Session in Jamestown, Virginia to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the first legislative body to operate in the New World.   The featured guest was the President of the United States - Donald J Trump.  This ceremony was supposed to be a non-partisan celebration of Virginia’s rich history and the foundational beginnings of what would one day become the United States of America. For the most part, all of the goals were accomplished.  We had dignitaries from throughout the world in attendance; however, some of Virginia’s own elected officials unwisely decided to play partisan politics and “boycott” because President Trump was to be in attendance.  There are certain special occasions when pol...
Virginia Beach, A New Technology Hub

Virginia Beach, A New Technology Hub

Technology
by Ryan McCreadie The global COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm, and many people and businesses became casualties of this unrelenting virus. Regions of the country such as Virginia Beach that typically have thriving tourism saw their numbers drastically lower this year. Like most beach cities, Virginia Beach depends upon tourism as its primary revenue driver. Like their sister cities, they felt the pressure this past summer as popular tourist attractions remained at minimal capacity or closed entirely.  The suddenness forced city representatives to reevaluate and rethink the region’s future economic stability as a top priority. Over the past ten months, as the area was ground to a halt, the city of Virginia Beach, Mayor Bobby Dyer, and his team have been meeting with vend...
ChatGPT: Unleashing the Power of AI for Everyday People

ChatGPT: Unleashing the Power of AI for Everyday People

Technology
In today's fast-paced world, the need for tools that can assist with tasks and improve productivity is felt by everyone, from students to professionals, retirees, and stay-at-home parents. While many may think that advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are only accessible to tech-savvy individuals or large corporations, this is far from the truth. In reality, AI is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives, enhancing our interactions and experiences in ways we may not always recognize. One such example of this integration is the AI language model known as ChatGPT. This is a state-of-the-art AI language model from OpenAI, presents more than just a technological marvel; it offers practical benefits for the daily life of the average individual. From managing task...
Voices From The Garden: Monument to Women in Virginia

Voices From The Garden: Monument to Women in Virginia

Art & Culture
Historic Women Leaders from Yesterday Martha “Pattie” Hicks Buford, (14 March 1836–17 January 1901) Photo cite: Episcopal Women’s History Project The Virginia Women’s Monument, named Voices from the Garden, is the nation’s first monument designed to celebrate the remarkable women who made significant, but often unrecognized contributions and accomplishments in a variety of fields and endeavors over the 400-year history of Virginia.  This new monument in Richmond, the first on capitol grounds in the U.S.A, includes bronze statues and 230 names of Virginia Women inscribed on the monument’s glass.  Each issue, Hampton Roads Weekly will feature the story of one of these amazing historical women and pair her with the story of one of our dynamic, contemporary women leaders in ...
We Are All Prompt Engineers: Cultivating Skills in AI/Language, to Keep Up in the Race

We Are All Prompt Engineers: Cultivating Skills in AI/Language, to Keep Up in the Race

Technology
By Gerry White Our society is moving faster than ever, and at the rate technology is advancing, it looks like it will only continue to speed up. With artificial intelligence now at everyone's fingertips, we should prepare to move and grow with society as it changes. To do so, there are new skills to cultivate which allow us to set the pace, or at least keep up. So, as we delve into this world of artificial intelligence (AI), we discover various facets of AI that contribute to our use of these sophisticated systems. One such integral component is "prompt engineering". It is a method used to communicate effectively with AI, especially large language models like the GPT series from OpenAI. It involves crafting specific instructions, or prompts, to guide AI responses in a des...
What Ever Happened to Civil Discourse.

What Ever Happened to Civil Discourse.

Uncategorized
Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau-Nazi concentration camps born of hate that began with incivility.  Hitler’s failed attempt to wipe out all Jewish people in Europe. Hate, violence, murder, terror- foreign shores, a century away, a world away.   Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary, Douglas Stoneman High School, Tree of Life Synagogue, Virginia Beach Municipal Center- civility has been diminished, repeated attacks on minority communities.  Hate, violence, murder, terror- our shores, our time, our city.   Hampton Roads Weekly begins the conversation to explore solutions for our community by asking leaders and elected officials to voice their views. 
The Cavalier Hotel

The Cavalier Hotel

Headlines
The Historic Cavalier Hotel, grand dame of Virginia Beach, has been brilliantly restored by Bruce Thompson and his talented team.  Many of us in Hampton Roads have spent meaningful moments and life events celebrating at the beautiful hotel.  The years had taken their toll and we almost lost this icon, steeped in our stories and our history.  A notable historic hotel, it was recently awarded a coveted place on the United States National Register of Historic Places.  The hotel has also been recently awarded the prestigious honor of becoming a AAA Four Diamond Hotel.  If you haven’t treated yourself to everything The Cavalier has to offer, you are really missing something special.  Stay tuned to Hampton Roads Weekly for all the fun and interesting events taking p...
Tech Talk-Vote Mobile

Tech Talk-Vote Mobile

Politics, Technology
Vote Mobile Over 200 million people have access to mobile devices in the United States. Still, only approximately 150 million people voted in our presidential election.  This needs to change. We now have the technology to put the power of the vote in the hands of every United States citizen who is of age. The more people we have involved in our governmental elections, the more representative and democratic our government will truly be: of the people, by the people, for the people Voting is a crucial piece of our democracy. It has been from the very beginning when representatives from the original 13 colonies voted to declare our independence from England. We also encoded this right in our founding documents with the individuals and representatives both voting. These rights have slowly but ...
The Life Lessons You Can Learn from Your Dog

The Life Lessons You Can Learn from Your Dog

Uncategorized
By Dr. Keppie Meyer  (Beagle Extraordinaire, PhD) Over half of America has a fur-baby as part of their family; however, most people do not realize that their furry best friend can actually teach you valuable life lessons.  I am going to go over some key life lessons your dog is actually trying to teach you. First let’s look at being more persistent.  In life, if you want something, you must be willing to work for it.  When I go for a walk and I want to eat my favorite treat, “frog ala roadkill”, I will take my dad off our path and immediately bolt towards my tasty treat.  Once my dad realizes what I am up to, he will pull my leash and divert me back on the path.  In life, one must never give up!  I will strategize and walk away and then do a circ...
Why The Kindest Words May Be… Tell Me

Why The Kindest Words May Be… Tell Me

Focus on Philanthropy
I could have answered my client’s question in the first two minutes of our call, if only she’d taken a breath. She was describing her property-line dispute with a level of detail only necessary if her hedge had been the site of a double homicide and I were the lead detective. Since she’d called just to ask about her trial date, and since I’d heard her story before, I was anxious to wrap things up. But the trial date wasn’t really why she called, as I concluded more than 15 minutes later. What she really craved was a listener. And I wasn’t being a very good one. It may be misguided to start a column by writing about a skill I haven’t yet mastered, especially when my years of trying cases, working in education, and teaching courses on, of all things, communication, should make me bette...