On Computers

There’s been a ton of publicity about Elon Musk’s competitor to Wikipedia, “Grokipedia.”  Whether you think it’s good or bad may depend on your politics. The new encyclopedia was inspired by Larry Sanger, who co-founded Wikipedia with Jimmy Wales in 2001 and coined the name. Sanger says that Wikipedia is “broken beyond repair.” Its neutrality is gone.    To test for bias on both Wikipedia and Grokipedia, Sanger asked ChatGPT to rate 10 controversial pages, including the ones for President Donald Trump, white privilege, the January 6 attack and alternative medicine. According to ChatGPT, Wikipedia bias is heavy, severe, or wholly one-sided in six out of 10 of these, while Grokipedia is entirely neutral three out of 10 times. It’s only […]

Read more

Filed under: AI, electronics, science, web, Wikipedia | Comments Off on GROKOPEDIA VS. WIKIPEDIA

“I lost 10 pounds in 10 days,” said a reader, after describing a Facebook scammer who ruined his account. “I want to cut my throat.” It all started when he obeyed a fishy text from Facebook Messenger. Immediately, his Facebook account was taken over, and the bait was sent off to his friends, then to their friends in an ever-widening circle. One guy lost $1200. Another was pressured into giving $2000. The reader lost access to his email account as well. “Want your account back?” screamed the scammer in large letters. “I want you to go away,” said the reader. “Pay me,” he demanded. Even I got the infected message, since I’m Facebook friends with the reader. It read: “I’m […]

Read more

Filed under: electronics, environment, facebook, Internuts, security | Comments Off on SCARY SCAMMER

Using the new Microsoft Designer, which is free, I made a personalized postcard showing an old-timey train heading toward a gorgeous mountain range. My friend said it reminded him of painting on velvet, but I think it’s great. To start, I downloaded the app from the Microsoft Store for my Windows computer. Next, I chose a template, and tweaked it by typing over its description with my own words. Besides postcards, Microsoft Designer also creates images, photo collages, icons, stickers, wallpapers, birthday cards, Facebook posts, avatars and more. For an avatar, I typed over the words “athletic, happy teenager shooting a basketball in an urban court at evening,” changing it to: “an athletic, happy woman with auburn hair in a […]

Read more

Filed under: AI, Amazon, apps, electronics, environment, health, Internuts | Comments Off on MAKE ART IN A COUPLE OF CLICKS WITH FREE MICROSOFT APP

Look out for old computers selling as new. Sometimes, they’re more expensive than ever. The HP desktop I bought in 2017 for $650, for example, is now selling on Amazon for $982. It’s not the exact model, but it’s a similar one from 2017 that comes up when I click “Buy again.” The same year, a friend bought a “new” computer with the old Video Graphics Array. The result was a slightly fuzzy screen. VGA was replaced by HDMI in 2008. To avoid duds, check the tech specs. You can find them on the product page at Amazon, BestBuy, HP, OfficeDepot and other sites. But what if you don’t understand what you’re looking at? The answer is UserBenchmark.com. It gives […]

Read more

Filed under: AI, apps, books, computers, electronics, how-to, Internuts, storage | Comments Off on OLD COMPUTERS SELLING AS NEW

Recently, I thought I got a Facebook friend request from a cousin, but it turned out to be her clone. Duped again. After accepting that phony friend request, I noticed two red flags: First, I was her only friend. Second, the clone had only three posts. When I typed her name into the Facebook search bar, I saw her real account listed after the fake one, so I immediately unfriended the faker. You might want to search for your own name to see if there are two of you. “What should I do about it?” my cousin asked. Here are the steps to follow. Go to the fake account’s home page and click the three horizontal dots near the word […]

Read more

Filed under: AI, apps, batteries, electronics, environment, Internet, TV | Comments Off on FACEBOOK CLONES

It takes a lot of gumption for a small company to put their smart speaker up against Google’s and Amazon’s. But the $349 “Mark II” from Mycroft.ai is a big disappointment. It looks like a retro TV, roughly five by five-by-five inches. On its cheery display, it shows the temperature, date and time, plus the answers to your questions, often with a small picture. I love the look. But its voice assistant, Mycroft, is a dud compared to Google and Alexa. When I said “play music” I got nothing. When I asked for a bread recipe, I got a picture of an album by the group “Bread.” When I asked for a definition of “optometry,” it didn’t know. When I […]

Read more

Filed under: Amazon, electronics, gadgets, Google, Internuts, photos, tech support | Comments Off on MYCROFT CAN’T COMPETE WITH ALEXA OR GOOGLE

More often than not, the best way to solve a problem is to Google it in the same words you would use when describing the issue to your techiest friend. Recently we were trying to digitize our CDs so we could play them on our computer, but Windows Media Player couldn’t identify any of the tracks. We were stuck with “Unknown Album” and “Track 1,” “Track 2,” etc.  Windows Media player is supposed to name your tracks automatically, but it didn’t. The Windows Troubleshooter popped up to tell us that our media player was corrupted but offered no solution. It dumped us out on a general Microsoft page where we could search vast reams of info from other users. So […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, electronics, gadgets, Google, Internuts, music, programming | Comments Off on JUST GOOGLE IT

“Robo calls” are getting worse. Adrian Abramovich, of Miami, has been accused of making 97 million spam calls and is facing a $120 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission. There’s a call-screening feature in the new Pixel 3 phone from Google, and it’s a sure bet you will soon see it in other makes. When your phone rings, you’ll see a “screen call” option. Tap it and a recorded voice in the Pixel phone asks the caller to state their name and the nature of the call. The caller might say something like “You have won a free cruise.” (We win an amazing number of those, which is unfortunate because Bob doesn’t like cruises.) At this point, you can […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, books, electronics, maps, music, phones | Comments Off on LET THE ROBOT TAKE IT

We remember when personal computers first came out. You could build them yourself if you were savvy. That’s what Michael Dell did way back when. He sold them to other college students and the business went on from there. Now there’s a computer that kids can put together. The “Computer Kit Touch” is $280 from Kano.me. Designed for young children, it has a ten-inch screen. Follow a printed storybook to build a portable, touchscreen computer, and attach a keyboard. From there, kids can make apps, art, and games with simple steps. Included apps are Chromium (a web browser similar to Chrome), YouTube, Libre Office (similar to Microsoft Office) and Google Drive; more are available in the app store, such as […]

Read more

Filed under: apps, business, education, electronics, gadgets, how-to, kids, podcasts, search, web | Comments Off on BUILD YOUR OWN

We got a guide from Play-Free-Online-Games.com. The exact page is impossible to find in a search, so we’re giving you the gist of it here. Actually, these things are fun, and you can’t beat the price. Shooter Games. If you like to fly through space, try “Battleship Galactica” or “Ace Online.” If you prefer to fight on the ground and like monsters and werewolves, try “Wolf Team.” If you prefer mummies, try “Mission Against Terror.” If you would rather fight the military, and like World War II vintage tanks, try “World of Tanks.” If you prefer a deadly cartoon soldier, try “Lost Saga.” Role-Playing Games. If you like fantasy, join ten million others in “World of Warcraft.” If you’ve been […]

Read more

Filed under: art, electronics, gadgets, games, printer, Uncategorized | Comments Off on FINDING FREE ONLINE GAMES