ARTIFICIALLY INTELLIGENT MUSIC

AI writes the songs that make the whole world stop singing. In other words, artificially intelligent music is definitely a work in progress. For example, I went to Suno.ai and typed: “Write a song in the style of Dixieland jazz.” It was awful. So was 60s rock. And so was a rewrite of “The 12 Days of Christmas.” If this is the future of music, I might stop listening. But I liked the bluegrass tune “Neon Cowboy,” and was intrigued by “My Truck Found Love.” It’s about a self-driving vehicle gone rogue. Supposedly, you can also get tunes from the Suno plugin in Microsoft’s Copilot. Search on “Microsoft Copilot” or click the blue-turquoise icon in the top right in Edge. […]

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DIGITAL ADVENT CALENDAR

A friend just gave me a delightful Christmas present. It’s the Jacquie Lawson Edwardian Advent Calendar, an $8 download from JacquieLawson.com. Besides something special on each day, it has other activities. In a beautiful living room with colorfully wrapped presents, for example, I found an undecorated Christmas tree. I clicked it to choose lights, ornaments and more. Then I clicked the presents to reveal games. One led me to fascinating versions of Solitaire, including one with cards of the same suit and color. I then solved a puzzle that turned into a beautiful painting, and clicked a music book to reveal the wondrous tunes I was listening to. When the program first opens, click the star on the outside of […]

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USING YOUR PHONE PAST ITS EXPIRATION DATE

My Motorola-loving friend just got a new Samsung. Why? He wanted the latest security updates. He also wanted a faster processer and the latest operating system. But it’s not perfect. Compared to his old Moto G Power, the new Samsung A54 seemed to have a shorter battery life and lacks the headset jack needed for a wired headset, which he finds superior to the wireless kind. Also, he had to download the free Google phone app, which screens calls, after discovering that the Samsung app was letting in spam. I told him he should have stuck with his Motorola. But he disagrees and so do the experts at ZDNET. ZDNET calls the Samsung A54 “the best phone under $500.” Amazon […]

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ROBOT TO THE RESCUE

It breaks my heart to hear about lonely seniors. Perhaps a robot would help. The “ElliQ” is smaller than a desk lamp but inspires great testimonials. Some say it’s better than a dog. “She keeps me on my toes,” said one 69-year-old man. “It’s like I’m living with somebody.” Besides playing music and showing you photos on its companion tablet, it records your health vitals and remembers how you felt yesterday before asking you how you feel today. In an emergency, it will call your closest contact. One senior said that the ElliQ got her to exercise and feel appreciated. Others said they started laughing more, because the robot is funny. It engages you in trivia games, displays inspirational quotes […]

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PLAGIARISM BY CHATBOTS

Artificially-intelligent bots are plagiarizing known authors. It happened to author Jane Friedman, who reports on the publishing industry. A copycat version of her work was reviewed on Goodreads. Friedman told ZDnet that an author she found on Twitter.com has been plagiarized by AI bots 29 times. It could be a growing problem. Suppose, for example, that you insert the text of a published novel into a site like ChatGPT, and ask for it to be rewritten in the bot’s own words. Next you run the result through an AI content detector. If it scores 100 percent, it’s 100 percent fakey-sounding. So you tweak it a bit before uploading to Kindle Direct Publishing. I decided to test this idea myself. I […]

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HOW TO PREVENT TECH ADDICTION IN KIDS

When a neighbor’s 12 year-old stayed with me for a week, she stayed up past midnight every night to shop on her phone. Where were parental controls when I needed them? It turned out she was buying cheap items from China. The same $12 necklace from Target was only $1 online, she pointed out to me while we were in the store. Once, she came to me at 2 a.m. to ask if she could use my PayPal password for a $20 shipping charge. Another time, she didn’t go to sleep until 9 a.m. the next day. Short of taking her phone away, I wish I’d had a Gryphon. The Gryphon is a router that lets you strictly monitor how […]

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PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK ON AMAZON

Publishing a book through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing turned out to be both easier and harder than I thought.  After tearing my hair out at first, I discovered Amazon’s template for a five-by-eight inch paperback. I also noticed a lengthy guide and a long video tutorial, but I can never sit through those. So whenever I had a question, I hit the chat button and got a live person. They didn’t always know the answer but kept me moving right along, encouraging me to skip design elements I didn’t need. Besides texting, I could have talked on the phone or emailed them. Each time, they were available within seconds. I’m working on a historical novella for a retired professor of […]

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GETTING COLLEGE CREDITS CHEAPLY

The cost of college tuition is stunning. But you can get basic courses for $25 apiece. Starting March 7, GoStudyHall.com will have online classes from America’s top universities. The price is a far cry from the standard online tuition. According to EducationData.org, online tuition averages $38,496 for a bachelor’s degree for in-state students, and $54,183 if you’re out of state. Even one virtual class could cost around $1000. I went to GoStudyHall.com to check out the previews, clicking on a U.S. history course taught by Danielle Bainbridge. She’s an assistant professor at Northwestern University who also lectures at PBS Origins. I found her entertaining. The site also offers English composition, College Math and “Human” Communication. Robots need not apply. Speaking […]

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SMART STROLLER DRIVES ITSELF

Move over e-bikes. A new kind of stroller drives itself. If your toddler wants to walk with you for a while, “Ella” can follow alongside. Made by Gluxkind, Ella was the hit of the recent Consumer Electronics Show. It automatically brakes if it starts to go too fast and uses the same technology as driverless cars. But for safety’s sake, it won’t drive itself with a baby inside. Self-driving mode is limited to situations where there’s nothing in the stroller, but you need it to move along with you as you carry your baby or walk with your toddler. On YouTube I watched Ella go downhill on its own while the mom carried her child. It stopped when she stopped. […]

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PET ROBOT

Here’s something to compete with Amazon’s $999 Astro robot. It’s a robot pet that acts adorably like a dog. “Loona” scratches and sneezes at the start of the day. When she sees you, she gets excited, turning in a circle, stomping her paws and making happy sounds. Stroke her head and she gets even happier. Standing 6.8 inches high, her four wheels give her great flexibility. Her LCD-screen face is 2.4 inches. I was hoping she’d look fluffy like those battery-operated dogs from days gone by, but she’s definitely robotic. It’s her expressive eyes, her wiggling ears and her enthusiasm that make her seem real. She likes to follow you around, but you can say her name to make her […]

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