I just made a website with the help of artificial intelligence. It was fun, but far from perfect.

AI did a good job creating a site for my magician friend, but a lousy job helping me tweak it. I had to start over.

For example, when I asked AI to replace a photo with one of my own, it told me to click a non-existent “replace” button. I tried asking for more help, but the site just got worse and worse. By then, it warned me that I’d used 28 prompts, and the free trial only comes with 30. So I started over, and got a new batch of 30. This time, I used only the first prompt, by asking AI to create a site. By not asking anything further, the “replace” button and other commands were back on the top, and things went smoothly.

To try it yourself, do a Google search on “WordPress AI Website Builder.” When you’re ready to launch, WordPress will offer a domain name for free the first year if you buy one of their hosting plans, which start at $8 a month. You can continue to use the AI Website builder for free.

WordPress is the largest website builder in the world, used by over 43 percent of all websites. I find it the easiest to use.

Rich Messages

“My kids’ iPhone videos look degraded on my Android phone,” said a reader. But there’s a fix for that. It’s called “Rich Communication Services” or RCS.

RCS messaging is available to any iPhone with iOS 18, which you can get with a free software update if you don’t already have it. All iPhones that came out in 2018 or later can get it.

But you also need to enable RCS. It’s not turned on by default. Go to Settings and select Apps, then go to Messages. Find the Text Messaging section and switch on RCS.

Once you’ve enabled RCS, you’ll see “Text Message + RCS” when you send a message to an Android person, unless your carrier doesn’t support it. Non-supporting carriers include Cox Mobile, Google Fi Wireless, Mint Mobile, Simple Mobile, Ting, and Ultra Mobile.

A Message From Your Vacuum

My vacuum doesn’t send me messages, but it would if I had the $1699 Bespoke AI Jet Ultra, a stick vacuum from Samsung. It tells you when your phone is ringing or a text message has arrived. You may never miss a message while vacuuming again.

Besides the AI vacuum, Samsung has a whole line of AI products. The Bespoke AI Laundry Vented Combo washer and dryer ($3099) even puts the detergent in for you. When the cycle is finished, its door opens. It also lets you take a call from its built-in seven-inch LCD screen.

The Samsung Family Hub smart fridge has music, weather, and cooking apps, as well as smart home controls. Its camera will check to see what ingredients you have and suggest a recipe. Hopefully it won’t ever show you ads.

Floppy Disc Time

It may be time to brush off your floppy disks. I’ve just discovered that this ancient storage media will work even with Windows 11. All you need is a disk reader. PC World recommends the Changzuan Floppy Disk Reader from Amazon for $19. It comes with a USB-A to USB-C adapter.

The first floppy disk, introduced in 1971 by IBM, was 8 inches. But they weren’t common until the 1980s, when IBM introduced the 5.25-inch floppy, which could hold 1.2 megabytes. Unfortunately, these were easy to bend and crack, wiping out your data. In 1986 IBM introduced a 3.5 inch version. It held 1.44 megabytes and didn’t bend, though it continued to be called a floppy. To put 1.44 MB in perspective, you can get a flash drive that holds about 714 times as much for $5.

Saving Photos

My sister just sent a photo of my darling one-year-old niece in a new hat. But I had to use “Save Image as Type” to open it on my Windows computer, though it opened automatically on my Android phone.

“Save Image as Type” is a free extension from the online Chrome Web Store. It has over a million users. It works with Chrome and Chrome-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge. I’ve now used it on “HEIC” images, which are compressed up to 50 percent without losing any resolution, and “WebP” files. In both cases, I saved them either in the JPEG or PNG format.

Robot News

– “Meet the 3D-printed robot that walks without electronics.” Search on that phrase to see a $20 robot whose legs move in sync by way of an air tank on its back that controls the air pressure.  It can work in tough environments, including extreme radiation, underwater exploration or outer space. The entire robot is printed in a single piece, no assembly required. In a lab test, UC San Diego researchers saw it go for 24 hours a day for three days through rough terrain and puddles. The next step is to find ways to store compressed gas inside the robot itself.

– The new Boston Dynamics robots wield movie cameras, like those used in blockbusters. For a video clip, do a search on “Humanoid robots are stepping onto film sets, and Atlas is leading the way.”

Filed under: AI, gadgets, photos, robots, text messaging