On Computers

Tesla recently announced the Cybercab, a driverless car without steering wheel or pedals. In 2026, this futuristic beast will cost less than $30,000. CEO Elon Musk previously said he would operate a fleet of these robotaxis, and individuals could use their own cars as cyber cabs. But he didn’t mention this at the launch. He did say that the new Cybercab won’t need to be plugged in, thanks to inductive charging. He also announced a new driverless minivan capable of carrying 20 people. But what about Google’s Waymo? It already provides 100,000 rides a week in self-driving Jaguars located in Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and has been operational since 2009. Soon, you’ll be able to order a driverless […]

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Filed under: AI, cheap calls, health, robots, spam, word processing | Comments Off on DRIVERLESS CARS

To get into Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, all I had was a receipt with a barcode on it, sent to me by email. To make it easier to find, I added it to the Google Wallet app on my Android. The equivalent for iPhone users is Apple Wallet. To add it to Google Wallet, I hit the plus sign in the app and was prompted to choose a category. Since it wasn’t a payment card, a transit pass, a loyalty card, a gift card or an ID card, I chose “everything else.” After I was prompted to take a picture of it, Wallet automatically created a pass reading “Adler Planetarium.” Coming soon, Wallet will also create a digital version of your […]

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Filed under: apps, business, cheap calls, gadgets, Google, Internuts, troubleshooting, Windows | Comments Off on GOOGLE WALLET CREATES DIGITAL PASSPORT

“With the election season going full bore,” a reader wrote, “the robocalls are non-stop.”  I use Magic Jack and haven’t gotten a single one. The Magic Jack gizmo, the size of a thumb drive, replaces your landline phone service with a $43-a-year internet phone service that sounds great to me. Each caller has to punch in whatever single-digit number a Magic Jack voice asks for, and robo dialers can’t do this. So I haven’t gotten any spam since I signed up years ago, though I’m using an old number that used to get a lot of robocalls. Another plus: I like using the landline’s big handset when my sister calls for a long chat. Setup is a snap. First connect […]

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Filed under: AI, cheap calls, games, Internuts, security, shopping, spam | Comments Off on STOP ROBO CALLS

I just picked up the phone and called Sigmund Freud. He had a lot to say. You can call him too, or almost any other famous person, through the magic of artificial intelligence. It’s a new feature in the “Character AI” app, free for iPhone and Android. After Freud, I looked up Abraham Lincoln. From 98 versions, I selected the most popular, an Abe who had already participated in over 400,000 chats. I asked him about Mary Todd, but unfortunately, unlike the other characters I tried, he was slow to respond. Maybe he’s too popular: He has a great old-timey voice. Most are as jarring as a surfer dude trying to be Franklin Delano Roosevelt. You may prefer texting to […]

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Filed under: AI, art, books, cheap calls, free stuff, Internuts, troubleshooting, video | Comments Off on CALLING FREUD

After printing out eight placemats for my sister’s birthday, I laminated them with the Scotch “Thermal Laminator,” $31 at Target. The placemats include photos of my six-month-old niece, a “Happy Birthday” greeting and a cartoonish cake. I know my sister will like them because she’s still using the holiday placemats I made years ago. To start, I used “Hallmark Card Studio,” $31 on Amazon, which can be downloaded to multiple machines. After finishing a variety of designs– which was as easy as choosing images and text to plop onto paper– I turned to YouTube for a demo of the laminator. I’m all thumbs when it comes to hardware. Here’s how it works: To start, choose one of two settings, depending […]

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Filed under: AI, art, cheap calls, Internuts, kids, video | Comments Off on MAKE YOUR OWN PHOTO PLACEMATS AND LAMINATE THEM

I felt guilty returning a pair of black pants to Amazon. They will probably be dumped, shredded or both. There’s a name for this: “DIF” or “destroy in field.” Defective gadgets, luxury goods and cheap clothing are all candidates for the shredder. An Amazon spokesman told the New Yorker that nothing goes back on sale after the seal is broken or the wrap is torn. Returning stuff is part of a growing trend. A century ago, only two percent of stuff was returned to J.C. Penney’s department stores. Today, 40 percent of clothing on average goes back to US retailers. Returns are about to get even easier no matter where you do your shopping. A company called “Pollen Returns,” run […]

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Filed under: Amazon, business, cheap calls, environment, notes | Comments Off on BETTER RETURNS

Sometimes, an artificially-intelligent search bot doesn’t know beans about beans. It can even confuse poison with food. ArsTechnica bloggers went to saveymeal-bot.co.nz, where a robot creates recipes from what you have on hand. When the bloggers typed “ammonia, bleach and water,” they got a recipe for “the perfect non-alcoholic beverage to quench your thirst.” To avoid disasters, the site now asks you to choose ingredients from a list. From my humorous choices, they created “Pickled Spaghetti Surprise.” It included jam, olives, pickles and mayo. Turning serious, I got a surprisingly tasty “Creamy Peanut Noodle Stir Fry.” To try it yourself, go to saveymeal-bot.co.nz, and click “Get Savey.” Then choose your ingredients. Happy cooking. Sharing Your Location I love sharing my […]

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Filed under: AI, Android, apps, cheap calls, Internuts, maps, photos, security, text messaging, virus | Comments Off on MORE PROOF THAT AI ISN’T ALWAYS INTELLIGENT

Two decades ago, Bill Gates began filling his enormous mansion with digital picture frames to display the world’s best art. Now you can too. “The Frame” is a Samsung TV made to look like a painting, complete with a matte finish. With a $5 a month subscription, it displays 2,300 pieces of digital art, including a new Salvador Dali collection in partnership with an institution founded by the painter himself. The 2023 model is considered a vast improvement over the version that came out in 2017. For one thing, it’s a lot thinner, nearly melting into the wall.There’s no gap. It’s a smart TV too. But when the TV’s off, the Frame goes back to displaying art. It even has […]

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Filed under: art, cheap calls, environment, Google, Internuts, maps, numbers, TV | Comments Off on ART TV DISPLAYS THOUSANDS OF PAINTINGS

After telling you all about my ordeal with Xfinity, I left you dangling.  Now, my new phone service is here, but to get it, I had to learn a big lesson. Don’t sign up for Xfinity phone service over the phone or even at your local phone store. With them, you have to go to the corporate store. That’s what a clerk at my local Xfinity told me. “Why not just call the corporate store?” I asked.   “They don’t have a phone number,” she said. Sure enough, Google listed it as the same 800 number that created my nightmarish runaround. One long bus ride later, I was at the corporate store. They said my phone deal never went through […]

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Filed under: cheap calls, Google, Internuts, maps, phones, robots, Windows | Comments Off on PHONE STORY HAS HAPPY ENDING

I left my phone in a Lyft on the way to the airport. But Google Voice, the free phone service, saved me. Using the airport’s free WiFi on my laptop, I went to Voice.Google.com and typed in my friend’s phone number, to say that I’d arrived. Alternatively, I could have used the Google Voice app, though on a Windows machine you need to go to the website instead. Either way, the call quality is excellent. The great thing is, Google Voice lets you call anyone. With apps like Facebook Messenger, your recipients must use the same service. For the next six days, I was happily phoneless. But I still wanted to find the darn thing. So I Googled “Find My […]

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Filed under: Amazon, apps, books, cheap calls, crytpocurrency, Google, how-to, Internuts, security, training, video | Comments Off on GOOGLE VOICE SAVES THE DAY