On Computers

I asked my diary: “Should I marry?” It answered me quickly with the pros and cons. What’s amazing is that it didn’t parrot my own words back to me. Instead, it offered interesting insights, delivered in its own style, inspired by the 38,000 words I wrote covering a four-year period. All I had to do was feed the diary into Google’s “NotebookLM.” NotebookLM is an artificially intelligent friend who absorbs everything you throw at it, then answers your questions based on what it learned. A YouTube tutorial called “How to Use NotebookLM,” by Tiago Forte describes the process step by step. Forte is a productivity expert with 263,000 subscribers.  He writes copious notes on every book he reads, amassing a vast collection. Using NotebookLM, […]

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Filed under: AI, Google, Internuts, photos, scanners, tech support | Comments Off on GENIE IN A NOTEBOOK ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

“You’ve been hacked!” Those words spilled out all over a friend’s computer screen. Then her phone rang. The caller said he represented U.S. Bank, which happened to be her bank. “You’ve been hacked,” he repeated, giving her his fake employee badge number. Then he got permission to install an app to control her computer from afar. After that, she called her bank. They told her to come in and set up a new account. Then she asked a techy friend to fix her computer. He probably used Windows recovery options. But she still couldn’t sleep. So when I dropped by, I ran a McAfee virus scan, just to be sure. I wasn’t expecting any problems, because I would have seen […]

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Filed under: AI, Android, art, Internuts, photos, robots, security, social networks | Comments Off on HACKED!

Free trials aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be. I almost got burned. A Facebook friend showed off the restoration of an old family photo using an app called “Photomyne.” It looked good. At Photomyne.com, I clicked “try it for free.” After a bunch of questions about my intended use, the site asked if I preferred a recurring payment that I can cancel at any time or a free service with ads, among other options. I mistakenly chose the first option, thinking that the charge would start after the free trial. But my credit card statement immediately registered a recurring  $39.99 charge. Eek. I mistakenly thought it was $39.99 a month, but I also wondered: What happened to my […]

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Filed under: apps, Google, Internuts, photos, Windows | Comments Off on BEWARE OF NOT-SO-FREE TRIALS

My brother sent me a picture of myself in a canoe. It looks like a lovely painting. He did it with “BeFunky,” a free app. The free version of BeFunky leaves a watermark, but I still like it. Unfortunately, there’s one other limitation. To save your creation, you need BeFunky Plus, which is $72 a year. But you can still have fun with the freebie, by taking screenshots to share stuff online or by email. I use the Windows Snipping Tool. BeFunky has literally dozens of artsy effects, including everything from charcoal to impressionism and “poly art.”  With the plus version, I could turn my creations into full-sized prints or photo gifts at a site like Mpix.com, where I’ve been […]

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Filed under: AI, Amazon, art, gadgets, Internuts, photos, security | Comments Off on GETTING FUNKY WITH PHOTOS

A reader told me he can’t invite all loved ones to his neighbor’s memorial service because he can only find the guy’s Facebook friends. He wishes every senior would provide good contact information before they pass away. “We neighbors had been caring for him and making arrangements for his last days, which we knew would be soon,” he wrote. “However, he left no address book. He burned out on technology and had not used his cellphone in years.” At least Facebook was helpful. In fact, Facebook is so helpful, I’m tempted to let my late husband’s account go on forever. But this means his old friends will continue to get birthday reminders every year, and his name will still show […]

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Filed under: Amazon, facebook, Google, Internuts, photos, social networks | Comments Off on MEMORIALIZING A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

I asked an artificially intelligent version of Elon Musk what his most embarrassing moment was. He said it was sending a message to the whole office about “naughty snacks.” If you want to talk to him too, he’s at the website Character.ai. Character.ai, also a free app, offers a range of AI celebrities and professionals. Winston Churchill told me how the war in Ukraine will end. Signmund Freud told me not to feel guilty. An AI Frenchman helped me practice my language skills. A librarian gave me a great book suggestion. It’s addicting. You can create your own AI character for free.  I named mine “Health” and wrote a one-paragraph description on what it means to be a “Nutritarian.” After that, it […]

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Filed under: AI, apps, batteries, computers, Google, Internuts, passwords, photos, security, text messaging | Comments Off on AI CELEBRITIES TO CHAT WITH

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

It’s nighttime in a garden full of solar lights hanging in the trees like beautiful paper lanterns. You pull one off a tree to charge your phone. When a power outage strikes, you take the lights indoors to illuminate your home. I’m talking about the $38 MegaPuff, also known as the “Origami Solar Light and Power Bank.” This multi-colored cube, about six inches on all sides, is amazing. It’s not only beautiful, it self-inflates as you pull the handles from a half-inch-high stack of recycled thermoplastic. It’s charged by the sun in ten hours or you can plug it in with a cable. Its light lasts for 12 hours. Carry it anywhere. Solar devices are known for decreasing pollution. Using […]

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Filed under: Amazon, environment, Google, photos | Comments Off on SOLAR-POWERED LIGHT CUBES DOUBLE AS PHONE CHARGERS

Why spend over a thousand on a Macbook or Windows computer when you can get a Chromebook for peanuts? According to ZDnet, there are five reasons why ordinary people would do better with a Chromebook than anything else. First of all, they’re cheap. On Amazon there are dozens of them for $300 or less, including the Samsung Chromebook 4 for $120. Many of these, like the Chromebook 4, have only four gigabytes of RAM, but that’s enough if you’re not a multitasker. If you do Zoom calls, however, you’ll want something more powerful than the Chromebook 4’s Intel Celeron processor. Experts recommend avoiding the Celeron or Pentium processor and going for an Intel Core i3 or above. A second reason […]

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Filed under: Android, books, computers, Google, Internuts, photos | Comments Off on THE SUPERIORITY OF CHROMEBOOKS

Floppy disks, a creation of the 1960s, will never die. Or will they?In a video that went viral this month, a Chuck E. Cheese employee is seen loading a 3.5-inch floppy into a computer. The floppy is used to send data to animate Chuck E. Cheese and his robotic friends. There are many other entities that use floppies as well. Even our military does. The US Air Force operates six Boeing 747-200 airplanes, each 36 years old, that get updates from floppies. Two of these are Air Force One planes. Airbus, the European rival to Boeing, aswell as some business jets, also use floppies. Why don’t they upgrade to USB sticks, SD cards, or wireless transfer? It would cost thousands […]

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Filed under: AI, Google, photos, storage, trends, wireless | Comments Off on LONG LIVE THE FLOPPY DISK