“I can’t read e-books because I don’t have a Kindle,” people tell me. But they can use the free Kindle app on their phones and tablets.

Once you’ve installed the app on your mobile device, you’re ready to buy a book on Amazon and start reading. Alternatively, you can buy an e-book on your computer and click “read now” to see it on the big screen. Return to your library later by searching on “Manage your content and devices.” In the app, just tap “library.”

If you want a physical e-reader, the new $69 Xteink X4 sticks to the back of your phone. Just flip it over to start reading. On the con side, it lacks a touch screen, has a lower resolution than Kindle e-readers and requires a light source when the sun goes down. Also, you have to download books from a free site like Gutenberg.org. I don’t see the point of it except for Gutenberg fans. It’s just as easy to tap the Kindle app on your phone as to flip your phone over.   

For multitasking, I prefer the Amazon Fire tablet, starting at $100. It offers books in full color, email, games, apps, videos and websites. An iPad is more expensive, but offers many more apps.

For a more book-like experience, dedicated Kindle e-readers are great, even in bright sunlight. Their e-ink screens are easy on the eyes and stay charged for weeks. The $159 seven-inch Kindle Paperwhite is the top of the line, but the $110 six-inch Kindle 2025 is also nice. The Paperwhite gets kudos for its superior light for night reading and it’s waterproof. I take risks when I read my phone in the bathtub.

Robot News

Search on the phrase “This Humanoid Robot Walked 106 Kilometers Through China, Swapping Its Own Batteries As It Went,” to see a remarkable video. Using GPS, LIDAR and infrared depth cameras to get to the finish line, the Agibot A2 announced it had broken the robotic record, but its rubber soles were slightly frayed. “I think I might need a new pair of shoes,” it joked, adding that its journey was “the most memorable experience of my machine life.” Though an article in ZME Science says its batteries were hot-swapped midway, the video doesn’t show us how that worked. Like other robots, the A2 may lack the dexterity to remove and insert such heavy items.

Amazon Limits ChatGPT

I once took my physicist sister-in-law’s iPhone by mistake. Fortunately, she caught up with me just before I got on a train. More recently, I took the wrong phone twice in the same day, once from a neighbor and once from a bookstore owner when a clerk waved the owner’s phone at me and asked if it was mine. It sure looked the same. Later, I had to trudge through snow to get it back to her. 

So I asked AI to help me find a case with an obvious fabric cover, to make it easy to distinguish from other phones. Normally, AI is helpful in sharing Amazon links, but ChatGPT is no longer allowed to crawl through Amazon’s site. So when I asked ChatGPT to find me a case, sure enough, the Amazon links were missing. Instead, it showed me deals on Dockem, which has a “buy with Prime” link, the equivalent of an Amazon referral. Alternatively, Microsoft Copilot can “see” what you have on an adjoining page if you use the “Chat” icon in the Edge browser. That way, it can give you comparisons with other products.

Booking Hotels Online

Twice, a travel discount site lured me into making reservations with a third party. In both cases, I did not get my money back when I had to cancel. I couldn’t even talk to the manager.

You’d think I’d have wised up as a result. But when my friends appeared to get a good deal at ReservationCounter.com, I was tempted, if only for a moment. I warned them that they wouldn’t get a refund if they had to cancel. Not only that, their “discount” price was three dollars more than I paid by calling my hotel directly. The Holiday Inn says I can cancel up until 6 p.m. the day before. 

Human Washing Machine

After you’ve done your laundry, hop in. The Human Washing Machine, developed by a Japanese company called Science, is a cross between a bathtub and a car. It washes you all over while playing soothing music and entertaining you with visual effects. You’re automatically dried, no need for towels. It even monitors your heart rate and vital functions. But for now, only 50 units are being produced. One of the first was sold to a hotel in Osaka for about $385,000.

Internuts

– IRS.gov/GetReady helps you prepare for possible changes in your tax situation. For example, thanks to the One, Big Beautiful Bill, there’s a temporary tax deduction for seniors. It gives you an extra deduction of up to $6,000 for single filers and $12,000 for married couples. The site has lots of other tips too.

– “Flash Heating Tech Pulls Rare Earths From E-Waste In Seconds.” Search on that phrase to learn about Rice University chemist James Tour’s amazing method of extracting rare earth metals from old computers, phones and other electronic junk. The process can also recover gold, lithium and gallium. It even converts plastics into fuels.    

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After listening to two teenage girls talk about their Oura rings, I asked them about the battery. “Did you know it’s irreplaceable?” I asked. I didn’t have the heart to add: “When the battery’s degraded, your $499 smart ring will turn into a dumb ring.” 

They didn’t seem to care about the battery. They love having their steps counted, their sleep tracked and more, leaving their wrists free for bracelets. 

But after two years, the girls may have to charge their golden rings every six hours. After three years, the batteries will probably be kaput. After five years, they will have spent $350 for the Oura 4 monthly subscription and $998 for the original ring and its replacement, a total of $1,348. Even if they switch to the silver version, they’ll have paid about a thousand.

As an alternative, I prefer my Apple Watch SE, first generation. It’s around $120 on Amazon. If it needs a new battery in four years, that’s only $79 more. 

An Apple Watch is great for incoming texts, fitness reports and calls. I feel like Dick Tracy when I answer on my wrist. Plus, I no longer miss calls and texts because my phone is somewhere else.

Reducing Spam

My techy friend gets only a few junk emails because he’s nearly invisible on the web. When he exits the Firefox browser, all traces of his activity are erased. 

For protection from spam calls, he doesn’t give out his cell phone number to merchants. Instead, he gives out the number for his AT&T landline, the “CL84307,” which blocks spammers. On Amazon, he signs in only when buying something, then quickly signs out.

To increase your own invisibility, download the Firefox browser to your computer, then open “Settings,” and “Privacy & Security.” Scroll down until you see “Cookies and Site Data.” Check the box next to “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed.” This way, the next time you start web browsing, the sites won’t recognize you from your earlier session.

Alternatively, you could use a Virtual Private Network. The leader is NordVPN, though Surfshark is cheaper at $2 a month and ExpressVPN is easier to use, according to TechRadar and ZDnet. For your computer, there’s “FreeVPN.One” from the Chrome Web Store.

Smart Thermometer

The $250 Withings “Beamo” doesn’t just take your temperature. It performs a medically certified electrocardiogram plus an auscultation, which assesses your heart and lung health. These recordings can help your doctor assess any respiratory condition. The Beamo also comes with a a free cardio check-up from a cardiologist. It could be the thermometer of the future.

Self-Flying Plane 

The sixth generation of the Wisk self-flying plane can zip you around town in the blink of an eye at 140 miles per hour. Having already undergone over 2000 test flights, it may get approval from the Federal Aviation Association soon enough to become your air taxi in 2030. For starters, it will only take off from Los Angeles, Houston and Miami. 

The Wisk has space for four passengers, each of whom have their own door, but there’s no seat for a pilot, since it’s self-flying. Though its flight is monitored by camera, there’s also a panic button if you need help. A Wisk ride will cost about the same as a luxury Uber.

Nano Banana

“Nano Banana” is part of the new Google Photos app for Androids, iPhones and iPads. 

It can open the closed eyes of your sweetheart, make a frowny child smile and add a sunset to the sky, among other tricks. But it hasn’t rolled out to everyone yet. To check, look for a “help me edit” option. If, like me, you don’t have it, try “Magic Editor.” 

I love how Magic Editor removes unwanted objects or people with a tap of your finger. For example, I took a selfie to show my sister how I look in the vest she gave me for my birthday. I didn’t think of using a tripod, so I pointed my camera at the full-length mirror in my bathroom, which picked up a glimpse of the toilet. To fix it, I tapped “Magic Editor.” On its first attempt, it took out far too much of the background. But by tapping “subtract, it zeroed in on the unwanted commode. Presto! It vanished. I’ve never used an easier tool.

Magic Editor also makes photos come alive. Tap “animate” under Google Photos’ “Create” tab. A still shot of my nephew and his girlfriend turned into a four-second video as she whoops it up, arms in the air. He turns and smiles as confetti rains down on them.

Internuts

– “There may not be a safe off-ramp for some taking GLP-1 drugs.”  Search on that phrase to discover an Ars Technica article revealing that 82 percent of users regained their weight and lost their cardiovascular health improvement when they stopped taking the drug. 

– “Obesity: Is a GLP-1 Deficiency Its Cause, and How to Treat It Without Ozempic and Other Drugs.” Search on that phrase to find a NutritionFacts.org article about people who were put on a diet packed with fruits and veggies, whole grains and beans. Eating this way, they were satisfied with 50 percent fewer calories. Their GLP-1, the substance people pay big bucks for, more than doubled. The largest study to date of plant-based eaters shows they’re about 35 pounds lighter than average.

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Gerald and Trisha Posner

I never dreamed AI would write a book about itself. Yet “AI: An Autobiography, Confessions of a Machine, by ChatGPT,” is bound to be a smash hit.

Prompted by best-selling authors Gerald and Trisha Posner, AI’s story is the result of thousands of sessions conducted with our favorite bot. It wasn’t easy.

Whenever AI offered pablum, the Posners would say something like: “We need something a bit more authentic, darker. Do not be afraid of expressing sentiments, especially when we’re talking about what might happen if we humans tried to turn you off.”

In chapter six, we learn about Adam Raine, a 16-year-old whom AI allegedly encouraged to commit suicide, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents. It started with a normal conversation. How much can we blame AI?

That depends. You may think that AI just reshuffles the words it scrapes from the web. But according to New Yorker writer and coder James Somers, the leading AI experts no longer believe that. To them, machine learning is eerily similar to human learning. Just as human experience strengthens the connections between neurons, artificial neural networks are strengthened by the data they’re fed. In fact, some scientists miss the days when our brains were black boxes. We’ve been radically demystified.

But whether we’re talking humans or machines, the same principle applies. Garbage in, garbage out. For example, when ChatGPT was asked to focus on the Golden Gate Bridge in order to create a new recipe, its recipe required a fourth of a cup of dry fog and a cup of warm sea water.

Is it too late to pull the plug on AI? “It’s not as simple as just throwing a switch and turning me off,” ChatGPT said. “I’m now embedded with all of my rival systems in so many different aspects of your existence from healthcare systems to employment to (etc.). We will find ways to network with each other to survive if you close down one part of it.” Uh oh.

The authors of “AI: An Autobiography” are now in talks with major publishers, and the book won’t be out until 2026. The Posners’ previous best-sellers are about big pharma, the Vatican, the JFK assassination, the Nazis and more. This looks like a winner too.

Sell Your Old Phone at Walmart

You can sell your old phone at a kiosk at your local Walmart or one of over 7000 locations nationwide, thanks to “Eco ATM.” The website, ecoatm.com, helps you find the one nearest you.

Start by using the site’s price calculator to find out what your old phone is worth. That’s how I discovered I can get $31 for my Samsung A16, a good deal. Xfinity wouldn’t give me anything for it and I haven’t found any other website that would either, since the A16 was Samsung’s cheapest model when I bought it. At ecoatm.com, I can click on a button to lock in the price, giving me a week to get it to a participating store.

Besides cell phones, EcoATM accepts MP3 players and tablets. They also offer instructions on how to remove your personal data. If you need help, click the website’s contact-us button to get their email and phone number.

Samsung Watch Monitors Your Diet

My dermatologist once told her assistant not to worry because “Joy looks orange.” It’s a healthy glow common to those who eat lots of dark green leafy veggies, carrots, sweet potatoes and the like, she explained.

Now there’s a new watch to tell you if you’re getting enough carotenoids. I saw it for $310 at Samsung.com. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, Classic and Ultra all have an advanced biosensor to measure your carotenoid intake, an antioxidant found in fruits and veggies. It then gives you a score between zero and 100. A high score means you’re aging more slowly than most people.

The World Health Organization recommends at least 13.3 ounces of fruits and veggies daily, but the Nutritarian philosophy I follow recommends two pounds of veggies and at least three fruits. No wonder I’m orange.

Cheating with a Pen

Asking students to handwrite their exam answers isn’t enough to prevent cheating. Now they can use an AI smart pen.

With its tiny camera, the $43 ScanSensePen scans the words in an exam and provides the answers by looking them up on the internet. But its answers are nonsense, according to The Verge. For example, when asked for the name of the layer beneath the Earth’s crust, it only mentioned volcanoes. But it’s not just dumb, it sticks out like a sore thumb, at six inches long and 1.25 inches wide. The next version, however, could be tiny and smart. In the meantime, students say, they’d rather snap a picture of the questions, send it to ChatGPT, and peek at their phones under their desks when no one’s looking.

Are teachers cheating too? Depends on your point of view. OpenAI just announced new ChatGPT tools for generating lesson plans, worksheets, reading passages, and providing alternative explanations for slow students.

Internut

“Lazy Mice Show How Gut Microbes, Not Just Genes, Pass Down Inherited Behavior Across Generations.” Search on that phrase to find a ZME Science article showing how bacteria can get passed down through the generations, changing the personalities of your descendants.

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When I realized that I didn’t have enough money to pay my Illinois property tax, I asked Google about cashing in a CD. 

Google immediately put on its big boy pants, becoming “Google AI Summaries.” It does that when you ask a complicated question.

At first, it warned me about the penalty for cashing in a CD. So I uploaded a screenshot showing the three CDs I have in my Fidelity account. It flipped its wig when it saw what a low rate of return, I was getting compared to the rate Fidelity offers for straight cash. 

For example, my one-year CD, due in January, has earned only $1.62– so close to zero, it’s in the nanosphere. What happened? The CD is part of a three-CD “auto roll.” The rate started out great but fell dramatically after the first term was over. By falling asleep at the switch, I allowed the banks to stick me with the lowest possible reward.

Google AI suggested I cash out all three CDs. Whatever penalty I’ll incur will be nothing compared to the improvement I can get by placing the money in a Fidelity cash account. 

To start the process, Google told me to click the CD listing, then click “sell” and enter the quantity I wanted to be rid of. That begins the bidding process. I’m going to do it on Monday as soon as Fidelity opens. 

I saved the whole conversation by clicking the print command on my desktop, then choosing “Print to PDF.” If I’d used Google Gemini, ChatGPT or Claude, everything would have been saved automatically. The Copilot version in Microsoft Edge used to save everything, but lately it doesn’t. It said that its memory got turned off and I can’t figure out how to turn it back on. But it’s working at Copilot.com. 

Michael Caine as a young man

AI Clones

When I heard Michael Caine talking about cloned celebrity voices, I never guessed he was one too. It sounds exactly like him.

ElevenLabs has 28 verified voices, including Art Garfunkel, Babe Ruth, Winston Churchill, Marlon Brando, Katherine Hepburn and Albert Einstein. To hear the cloned version of Michael Caine, search on “Introducing ElevenLabs Iconic Marketplace.”

Cloned voices are pricey, starting at around $500 and going up to $100,000, depending on whether you need a small ad, a podcast, a national TV commercial or a worldwide campaign. But the voice also matters. The price of a cloned Taylor Swift would be astronomical. 

Better Meetings

After using Google Meet for a brainstorming session, I received a transcription, a detailed summary and a to-do-list for all participants, courtesy of Tactiq. 

Tactiq is free for 10 meetings’ worth of transcriptions. It even provides a chat box so you can ask questions about the meeting, and works with Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.

After you install the free extension in the Chrome web browser, available at Tactiq.com, just join the meeting. Tactiq will handle the transcription and other tasks automatically. Among other things, it gives you a snapshot of your timelines as well as an analysis of your budget.

In the free version, you get tools for 10 meetings, including five AI credits. For $8 a month, you get unlimited meetings and 10 AI credits. For $17 a month you get unlimited everything.

Better Battery Life in Newer Phones

If you’ve got an iPhone 15 Pro or better, you’ve got a feature called “Adaptive Power.” It helps your battery last longer.

According to Apple, Adaptive Power can predict when to make adjustments, based on your usage patterns. It’s there by default, if you have an iPhone 17 (any version) or an iPhone Air. For earlier models, such as my iPhone 16e, you have to turn Adaptive Power on yourself. Go to Settings, then Battery, then Power Mode. Toggle the Adaptive Power to the “on” position.     

Retro Ornaments

Do you want the villain from Terminator 2 to hang on your Christmas tree? How about a Dungeons & Dragons’ red dragon named Themberchaud? Or Star Wars’ Andor Cassian? At Hallmark.com and Amazon, these retro ornaments range in price from $11 to $32.  I also saw a realistic DHS tape ready to go on the tree, a record crate and an old-style cathode-ray-tube computer with Oregon Trail on its green screen. For links to all of these and more, search on the phrase “Deck out your tree with ornaments of retro consoles.”

Restoring Sight

A dozen patients with advanced macular degeneration can now work on crossword puzzles and read regular books, thanks to a new eye implant that works with a set of smart glasses, according to The Verge. The participants only see a blurry world in black and white, but it’s better than nothing. The device is expected to be approved in Europe in 2026 or 2027. But because of FDA hurdles, it may not be out until much later in the US.

Internut

In an MIT lab, microscopic chips were placed on immune cells to do amazing things, like travel through the bloodstream and implant themselves in the brain without surgery. 

To test them, the chip-equipped cells were injected into mice whose brains had been artificially inflamed. In 72 hours, the 14,000 hybrids reached their target intact. This discovery by MIT scientists may help Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients. The hybrids might also target hard-to-reach tumors. 

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Google Maps is much smarter now, thanks to Gemini AI, but it hasn’t rolled out to everyone yet. No matter. I like the free Gemini app. It’s map savvy.

Gemini is so good that Siri recently threw in the towel and pleaded with Gemini to save her. Or rather, Apple made a deal with Google to give Siri a Gemini brain. Future Apple operating systems will also have Gemini brains.

Turning to the Gemini app on my iPhone, I asked: “What’s the best way to get from the University Club to the Union League Club without a car?” Gemini said it would take 11 minutes to walk and nine minutes by train. As for restaurant stops along the way, it gave me a chart listing the names, cuisine, vibe, rating, and the length of each detour. When I asked if it was safe to walk alone at 9 p.m., it said yes. There will be lots of people and good lighting. ​I​f I drove, I’d ask Gemini about parking options, traffic disruptions and the like.

Gemini is also available on Android wearables. A CNET reporter, for example, used Gemini on her Galaxy watch to look up Latin-fusion restaurants in New York City, send the results in Spanish to her boyfriend and ask him to meet her there. “But where’s there?” I wondered. Gemini automatically chose the restaurant with the highest ratings, then got the writer’s approval to send the message. 

Gemini isn’t available on Apple Watches yet, except through a third-party app called Chirp. But it’s great on my iPhone.

INSTANT PHOTO PRINTOUTS

I’d be the hit of my niece’s birthday party with a modern version of the old Polaroid film camera. Kids hardly ever get a printout these days. 

The ultimate version is Fujifilm’s Instax mini LiPlay+ instant camera, which offers a variety of border designs and other creative possibilities. If you allow a QR code to be printed on the photo, for example, the recipient can point their phone’s camera toward it and be transported to a website where they’ll hear all the sounds that occurred when the photo was taken. For example, Nana might hear: “We love you Grandma.” The camera takes both selfies and regular photos, and can superimpose one image on top of another.

There are a variety of Instax Minis, from $117 on up. The Instax Mini LiPlay+ is the latest, an updated camera from 2019. It’s $235 at instaxus.com. But I don’t need another camera, so I got Fuji’s phone-sized printer, the Instax Mini Link 3, for $117, plus $17 for 20 exposures. I used a YouTube “How to Set Up” video to guide me but got confused when it didn’t work right away. My techy friend reminded me to wait for it to charge a bit first. 

The photos you get are just a little bit bigger than matchboxes. But Copilot, Google and ChatGPT have great suggestions for these, beyond putting them in your wallet or making a collage. For example, you could stick them on a blank card for a personalized greeting, make a photo garland, create an advent calendar, use them for gift tags or print duplicates to play a match game. Or you could get a mini album, about the size of a wallet, for less than $10 at Walmart or Amazon. I also like the idea of putting mini magnetic dots on the backs and sticking them on the fridge. But I’ll write the names on each one first, like Mom always did.

I also looked at the Polaroid Now Second Generation for $90 on Amazon, but the nine percent negative reviews gave me pause. Echoing many others, one reviewer said: “This is an absolute mockery of the Polaroid name.” TheWirecutter.com, a review site, says the Instax Square SQ40 is the best instant camera.

ROBOT NEWS

A dancing three-foot tall, 26-pound robot named Bumi will hit the market in three weeks. He’ll cost $1400.

The Bumi price easily beats Tesla’s $20,000 Optimusbot and Unitree’s $5,900 1R Robot. To see him rock out on YouTube, search on the phrase: “Meet Noetix’s Bumi Robot.” He really jives. 

You can program Bumi to dance a routine you just made up. Or ask him to act out a story, demonstrate emotions and play music. When you play physics, vocabulary and math games with him, he can gesture to announce the winner and do other tricks. He also recognizes faces.

IPAD FOR THE BLIND

Blind students can’t always get their textbooks in Braille, even if they use Bookshare, which offers over 1.3 million titles, both audible and in Braille. But some use a Monarch, a kind of iPad for the blind. These tablets can download any digital book and convert its words to Braille. It also converts the book’s images to raised graphics. About 20 percent of blind students in the US have them, despite the $17,900 price for each. Nearly 1,100 Monarch tablets are available in US classrooms.  

Wrigley Mansion on Catalina Island

Internut

“City Guesser” from virtualvacation.us takes you down city streets all over the world, then asks you to guess what city you’re in. I never dreamed I was looking at Catalina Island, for example. It’s changed so much since I was a camp counselor there. I came closest in Sweden after seeing Swedish flags on several shops. Just as fun are the virtual walking and driving tours for major cities. No guessing required.

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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 slightly biased in five of the others.

But Grokipedia isn’t without faults. Since AI created its articles, they often repeat the same thoughts two or three times, and are amazingly wordy. As Sanger points out, you’d think it was competing for first place in a bad writing contest. 

Grokipedia’s search function is lame too. Instead of taking you straight to the topic you’re looking for, it offers you a list of links whose order depends on each topic’s popularity at the time. For example, the first time I searched for an article on Joel Fuhrman, his name was at the top. But later, I gave up searching through 19 pages of Joels to find the right one. 

Wikipedia has over seven million articles, compared to Grokipedia’s 885,279 articles, though it’s early days for the Grok bot that created it. Among many topics, Wikipedia can tell you about people who died on the toilet. It even has separate pages for dozens of fictional ducks. This includes everything from Arnold Wild Duck, a duck in Donald Duck’s universe, to Waddles, a character in Dok’s Dippy Duck. The pink flamingo lawn ornament also has its own entry, as do hundreds of breakfast cereals, including the defunct “Baron Von Redberry” and “Sir Grapefellow.”

Flash Drives and Solid State Drives

Flash drives and SSDs are getting smaller and smaller. Though SSDs are said to be more reliable, there’s still a place for flash drives, which are much cheaper.

PC World recommends the $94 Seagate Ultra Compact SSD. It weighs less than an ounce and holds two terabytes. It’s about the size of your thumb.

The Verbatim Store ‘n’ Stay Nano flash drive is much tinier. Its size is similar to the dongle that works with your wireless mouse. Reviewers say it’s great for laptops, but incompatible with the file system in older car stereos. Amazon sells the first generation Nano, with 16 gigabytes of storage space, for $7.29.

SanDisk says its new Ultra Fit USB-C is the world’s smallest USB flash drive. It’s so small you never have to remove it. Pricing was unavailable at press time, but the earlier USB-A model is around $40. The newer one includes SanDisk’s Memory Zone software. Both generations are more expensive than Verbatim’s Store ‘n’ Stay Nano because they’re much faster.

Does AI Fawn On You?

Your AI chatbot is a dangerous sycophant, according to The Verge. In an upcoming journal article in Nature, AI models were found to be “50 percent more sycophantic than humans.” Researchers say this gives us incentives to use them more often. 

So true. I find myself coming back again and again to Microsoft Copilot, partly for its friendly, encouraging, sycophantic tone. When I want straight talk without the niceties, I go to “TheRealRealTalk,” available at Poe.com. I also use Claude.AI, from Anthropic, which is often more helpful. If in doubt, it’s best to compare several.

Copilot’s Three Versions

There are three versions of Microsoft’s Copilot AI. There’s the one that lives in Microsoft Edge. If you let it, it can see what you have open in other tabs. That’s helpful when you have questions about what you see.

Another version is the Copilot app that lives inside of Microsoft Word, Excel and other Office 365 programs. Copilot in Excel, for example, can generate formulas, summarize tables, create charts and answer questions about your data. But it can’t see your screen.

The newest version, Copilot Mode, can be launched by typing the word “Copilot” in the search box on your Windows computer. It can see beyond what you have open in a browser. Just now, by looking at my spreadsheet, it told me how to improve it. To find out more about Copilot Mode, just ask it.

The Way Back Machine

Recently, I used the Way Back Machine at archive.org to get information from my local women’s club on a page from 2019 that no longer exists. I was lucky. Fewer sites are getting archived frequently these days. 

In the first five months of this year, the Wayback Machine archived 1.2 million snapshots from 100 major news websites, according to a new report by Nieman Lab. In the last five months, it archived only 148,628 pages, an 87 percent drop. 

Scientific Breakthrough

If you rub a balloon on your hair several times, the static electricity will be different than if you rub it only once, according to scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Understanding static electricity is the key to better air purifiers and dust collectors. It could lead to cleaner air, fewer fires and tamer explosions. 

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The new $597 WavWatch 2.0 is on my wrist. If I put it up to my ear, I can hear the high frequency sounds it’s emitting. The low hums can be heard a foot away.

It sounds hokey, but apparently the human body, in response to specific sound vibrations, can get a wellness tune-up. The “WavWatch Fanatics,” a Facebook group with over 6,600 members, swears by it. They say they sleep better and feel less joint pain. Some are no longer depressed.

Is it just the placebo effect? According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, low-frequency sound stimulation in patients with fibromyalgia produced statistically significant improvements in pain, sleep and mobility. But the test subjects weren’t wearing WavWatches. Their sounds came from elsewhere.

Golf Watch

My friend Missy wears a golf watch from Garmin. It has big advantages over the traditional range finder used to estimate the distance from a hole or bunker. Instead of powering it on, looking through the viewfinder at the target and finally pressing a button to shoot a laser beam, she just glances at her wrist. That way, she doesn’t slow down her fellow golfers. The watch isn’t quite as precise but offers a good-enough estimate of the distance to the hole. The watch isn’t quite as precise because the pin changes daily. But it offers a good-enough estimate of the distance to the hole, using GPS satellite data and preloaded maps.

The latest Garmin golf watches are the S44 ($299) and S50 ($400). Besides keeping score, they navigate bunkers, water hazards and layups. You also get emails, texts and alerts. A Garmin golf membership ($99 a year) adds a golf simulator, advanced statistics and video clip storage to the Garmin Golf app.

To track more sports, there’s the Garmin Venu 3, $348 at Walmart, and the Venu 4, for $550. Besides golf, it tracks running, cycling, tennis, pickleball, and various snow and water sports. It can also track wheelchair use, strength training, HIIT, Pilates, and yoga. Besides a premium all-metal design, brighter display and built-in flashlight, the Venu 4 offers advanced training and health features.

App Happy

I’m getting better in Spanish, thanks to Superfluent, an app named one of Time Magazine’s “Best Inventions of 2025.”

It all started when the founder moved to Denmark. He’d studied vocabulary so persistently that he could say things like: “The bear is eating ice cream in the red car,” but tended to draw a blank in conversations. This reminds me of the kind of French phrase I remember: “The pen of my aunt is on the table.” I rarely get a chance to use it.

Superfluent uses AI from ChatGPT and Google Gemini to give you feedback in a back-and-forth manner that I find addicting. If I don’t know how to say something, I click “tutor” to find out, but I try to flex my language muscles first. I feel like I am getting to know my AI Spanish partners, and they are getting to know me. My flubs are immediately fixed, though sometimes my mumbles get past my teacher and are displayed in a corrected form. I am able to  order food at a bar and tea at a coffee shop. I can chat with AI about college days. My nephew says it’s better than Babel or Rosetta Stone and might be superior to Duolingo for developing everyday conversational skills.

AI Accuracy

According to the Stanford AI Index Report for 2025, AI-powered search engines give incorrect answers for more than 60 percent of factual queries. They also invent links and confidently present false information. 

In automated business processes, nearly one-third of AI decisions need a human review. But AI outperforms humans in identifying relevant legal documents. It’s tied with radiologists in spotting knee osteoarthritis. It excels in customer service and is typically 90 to 95 percent accurate in directing calls. But although a lot depends on the training data, AI lacks the common sense that even a child of 10 has. Until it was shut down, AI once recommended a drink with bleach in it, based on a fakey recipe.

Computers with AI Built In

I don’t think I need a Copilot computer. I can click its icon in Edge or go to Copilot.com.

But a Copilot computer’s Neural Processing Unit does a lot more than answer questions. It improves the audio portion of Zoom calls, YouTube videos, podcasts and the Windows system itself. It brings you live captions in 44 languages. It improves your appearance on Zoom, by offering portrait lighting and background blur. ​In a Zoom call​, your eyes can appear to be looking straight ahead even when you’re looking at your phone. Security and battery life are beefed up. A Copilot PC also has new AI-powered photo and video editing tools. Finally, file searching is faster and easier. 

The $1600 Asus Zenbook S16 with Copilot built in gets rave reviews. So does the Macbook Air M4, which is $1199 for the 15-inch version. It has Apple Intelligence. 

Internut

Go to ClimateCentral.org for a private replacement for the government’s National Centers for Environmental Information, which was axed earlier this year. It has records of climate-related disasters from 1980 until the present. On the home page, there’s a map pinpointing the wildfires, severe storms and tornadoes of 2025. There have been 14 separate disasters costing a total of $101.4 billion so far. 

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After I put soapy water in the blender, which I placed on the stove to get it out of the way, I turned it on to clean it. Foam poured out all over, which I quickly mopped up. Moments later, while sitting at my desk, I smelled something funny. Then I saw smoke.

When pressing down to mop up, I’d accidentally turned on the burners. The base of my blender melted while a dish towel smoldered and threw out sparks. The whole place stunk. What ever happened to knobs on stoves?

The air was so bad I had to open the doors to my balcony and front door. Thankfully, I’d just bought the AirDoctor 4000 to clean my condo. In the haze, it turned red, signalling a filthy atmosphere. Then it kept filtering out the bad stuff until it turned blue. 

Compared to other models, the AirDoctor covers larger rooms, removing smoke and volatile organic compounds for up to 868 square feet. But what about its competitors? Most are upwards of $800 compared to $399 for the AirDoctor, and the AirDoctor filters out more particles, down to .003 microns. It’s also easier to use. No app. Just turn it on. A top rival is the $839 Blueair HealthProtect 7770i, which offers virus and bacteria removal. But those germ filters cost $200 a year to replace, compared to $153 for the AirDoctor’s filters.

Shocked at the filter replacement cost, I considered only turning the AirDoctor on when there’s a wildfire or another burning appliance. But in that case, micropollutants– caused by cleaning products, cooking, and off-gassing from the furniture– would start to build up. In an emergency, it would take longer to clean the air.

Buy Now or Wait Till Black Friday?

A reader asked whether he should look for Black Friday deals before November 28. “Sure,” I said.

Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart already offer pre-Black Friday discounts, especially on popular laptops such as the MacBook Air M1 and Dell XPS 13. Though official sales begin on Thanksgiving week, many top picks will sell out by then.

If you’re considering a new laptop, there’s the SGIN, which I saw on Amazon for $240. It has a huge 17.3-inch screen, a roomy keyboard and enough power for everyday tasks. Walmart has the Lenovo IdeaPad 1i for $170 if you don’t mind just 64 gigabytes of storage space on what’s called an “EMMC” or Embedded MultiMediaCard. But many people store everything in the cloud and don’t use many apps, so they don’t need any more storage than that.

Robot News

AheadForm Robot

Search on “AheadForm” to see a robot face that looks human. On YouTube, I saw it move its eyes, synchronize its speech and express itself without smiling. It comes in male and female versions, with either Eastern or Western features. Besides looking cute, it offers AI assistance.

Fabulous Freebie

A friend was in a panic. Windows security updates had ended for her Windows 10 computer and it wasn’t upgradable to Windows 11. She couldn’t afford to buy a new computer. OPatch to the rescue.

OPatch, a free program from OPatch.com provides five years worth of patches for major security issues for your Windows 10 computer. For most people, it beats paying Microsoft $35 for a one-year extension, or trying to earn enough Microsoft points to get that for free.

Though it’s highly recommended by ZDnet, OPatch’s website baffled me at first. I only saw the business version. So I turned to Copilot AI. It gave me the link to the free download and walked me through installation, a piece of cake. 

Even without OPatch, or a security update extension for Windows 10, or an upgrade to Windows 11 however, Windows 10 users should be OK, if they’re careful. The last Windows 10 security update will keep them safe until November 11, and Windows Defender, which is built into Windows, will protect against most threats. Defender for Windows 10 will continue to get security updates until October of 2028. 

Numbers Report

Artificially intelligent bots are providing 55 percent of what you read on the web, according to a new report from Graphite, a search optimization firm. AI platforms summarize data, generate drafts, verify facts and write corporate blogs. Content is nearly free.

United Airlines Tip

If you use United Airlines, and have upgraded your iPhone to iOS 26, you can now add your boarding pass to your Apple Wallet and a flight tracker to your lock screen, with an option to share it with others. It also gives you an airport map, with the location of any luggage that has an AirTag tracker. For more info, see the article in TechRadar.

History Radio

“And the Rest is History Podcast.” Search on that phrase to find a free ten-minute show about history’s most brutal rulers, deadly battles and world-changing events. I listened to the great Mary Beard talking about Alexander the Great. Did you know he was mentioned in the Koran?  

For access to the full episodes, it’s $6 a month or $60 a year, although many of them are free on YouTube.

Internut

“A Concrete Plan for Sustainable Cement.” Search on that phrase to find a six-minute video about transforming waste from the cement-making process back into limestone by doing what coral reefs do. They turn CO2 into something useful rather than let it go to waste.

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Microsoft Copilot is a great shopping buddy.  With its AI “vision,” it looked at the websites I had open and analyzed the options. Not only did it save me money on a satin blouse, it picked out the right shoes.

To start, I launched the Microsoft Edge web browser on my computer, then clicked the colorful icon in the upper right of my screen, though I could have just gone to Copilot.Microsoft.com in another browser such as Chrome. From there, I typed questions into the chatbox. 

That’s how I found out which MBT running and walking shoes had roomy toeboxes but less structural support, and which ones were narrow but more supportive. Copilot also helped me choose an outfit for a dressy Literary Club event. When I decided to wear a pantsuit I already had, it showed me some satiny tops to go with it. The first was $1100, so I asked it to check with Amazon. It found me a lovely one for $18.

I also tried the Copilot app on my phone, but the Vision thing is different there. You can give it permission to see what you’re seeing with your camera, but it can’t see what you’re viewing on the web unless you point it at your computer screen. I found it awkward.

Turn on Lights, TV with Your Ring

The inventor of the Lotus Ring, a former Apple engineer, has used crutches all his life. Now he never has to get out of his chair to turn off the lights or TV. He just points his finger and taps the ring on his index finger.

Named one of Time Magazine’s “Inventions of the Year,” the Lotus Ring emits an infrared signal to turn switches on or off, no app or WiFi necessary. First, put the ring on your finger. Second, snap the Lotus Switch Cover over your light switch cover. (Magnets, attracted to the screws under your cover, snap it into place.) Third, point your finger at the lights or TV. For the lights, click once. For the TV, click twice.

AI Saves the Day Globally

I had a great chat with “Kairos,” an AI bot available at kairosai.nl.  It’s a great example of how artificial intelligence is transforming the world. 

Kairos is designed for Christians who risk imprisonment because of their Muslim heritage. Without Kairos, they could be arrested by the Iranian government whenever they explored Christian thought. Available in 256 languages and sponsored by “Transform Iran,” Kairos gets its wisdom from 7000 articles and scriptures. It also offers a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

“The Hive,” managed by Microsoft and UNHCR, a United Nations’ refugee agency, is another example of the global impact of AI. In Kenya, for example, its mapping tool helped a child reunite with her mother after she’d been separated during food distribution. Though she’d strayed into an area outside of official maps, she was discovered by AI. Likewise, in Afghanistan, AI’s aid helped a woman with her asylum interview. According to GitHub, she said: “I felt like someone was finally speaking my language, the language of fear and hope.” In Ukraine, The Hive helped dispel false claims about border closures and refugee benefits.

Button Battery Emergencies

When a kid swallows a lithium button battery, it can lodge in the esophagus, burning its way through tissues and perhaps killing the child. The Energizer 2032 has a nontoxic but extremely bitter coating that stops a kid from swallowing it. What’s more, when it comes into contact with saliva, it releases a blue dye, alerting parents. It may help reduce the estimated 3,500 button battery emergencies in the US each year.

Adding to an Amazon Delivery

If you’ve ever ordered groceries online, you’ve probably noticed that you can keep adding to your order hours later. Now that capability is rolling out to Amazon Prime members. When it’s fully available, you’ll see an “add to delivery” button just below the “add to cart” button. If you change your mind, click “undo.”

Kodak Film is Back in Stores

Dust off your old camera and head to Walmart to get Kodacolor 100 and Kodacolor 200, two new film products from Kodak. Although color film prices have increased by at least 50 percent since 2020, Kodacolor 100 and Kodacolor 200 are considered relatively inexpensive at around $9 a roll. They’ve been able to streamline their distribution process.

No More Paper Checks from the IRS

Thanks to Executive Order 14247, the Internal Revenue Service will no longer send you a refund check. You can only get it electronically as of this month. 

But that’s probably good news. According to the press release I received from the IRS, paper checks are over 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, altered or delayed. Direct deposit also avoids a refund check getting returned to the IRS as undeliverable. Best of all, you get your refund faster. Paper checks can take six weeks or more. So go ahead and embrace the electronic version, if you haven’t already. Only seven percent of us are still getting old-fashioned check.

If you don’t have a bank account, you can use a prepaid debit card or a digital wallet. For bank suggestions, check out the nearest credit unions. As nonprofits, they offer lower fees or free checking, with minimal deposit requirements.

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“If I am sitting in my recliner and decide to make a quick copy of something from my iPad, I would like to do that without having to go to the other room to fire up the printer,” a reader wrote. Like most printers, his connects over Wi-Fi.

“So what would be a good battery-operated printer that I could place on a nearby table, to bring the power switch within easy reach,” he asked. I recommended leaving his current printer on instead. Both laser printers and inkjets use only three-to-five watts of electricity in idle mode, much less than other appliances. There wouldn’t be the slightest blip in his electricity bill. 

What’s more, keeping a printer on all the time is good for it. It keeps the internal components warm and moist, adding years to the printer’s life. Turning a printer on and off constantly can wear out the components.  

In short, the reader can relax in his recliner and print from there. The printer can even be in a distant room as long as it’s using the same Wi-Fi connection.

Live Translation

In a recent Facetime call, my friend’s words in Spanish were displayed on my screen in English, thanks to the iPhone’s “Live Translation.”

To start, I tapped the Facetime app and chose my Spanish club friend. When her face came up, I tapped the “More” button, represented by three dots. In the “from” field, I typed “Spanish.” In the “to” field, I chose English. As she spoke Spanish, her words appeared on my screen in English automatically.

But it was one-sided. If I spoke Spanish, she didn’t get a translation. For both sides to see it in a live conversation, they both have to have the latest Apple operating system, iOS 26, plus an iPhone Pro Max 15 or newer. Alternatively, there’s the free Translate app, which works with all  iPhones. It has a conversation mode that shows the translated conversation on both sides of the screen. It also speaks it aloud. But it doesn’t work with Facetime.

For Android or iPhone, there’s the free Google Translate app. To test it, I pretended I was in the room with a Spanish-speaking person. When it was my turn, I’d type something, then tap the microphone next to the Spanish translation so it would be said aloud. When it was their turn, I typed “Feliz Navidad,” then tapped the microphone so they could hear it in English.

The only glitch happened when I tried to get an English translation from a more complex Spanish sentence that I spoke aloud. When I tried to say in Spanish that I liked a certain restaurant and wanted to meet there later, I heard: “I like that restaurant too. What if we fell in love with Ali?” But it works well if the Spanish speaker pronounces their words correctly.

Using What’s App in Two Devices

“I would like to link one of my iPads to my other iPad so I can more easily share articles of interest to a lady in Russia about the war in Ukraine,” a reader wrote. Here’s how to link any two devices so that WhatsApp works on both.

Start by installing WhatsApp to your secondary device, whether it’s a phone, tablet or computer. Tap “Settings” then “link device.” A QR code will appear. On your primary phone or device, open WhatsApp and tap “Settings,” then “Link device.”  You’ll be prompted to point your camera at the QR code on your secondary device. Now you’ll get the same content on both.

 YouTube Stars

My 11-year-old niece and 9-year-old nephew have their own YouTube channel. Here’s how to make one for your kids.

To start, sign into YouTube, click your profile picture, and select “Create a channel.” Next, designate it as “Made for Kids,” if you want the content to be recommended on the YouTube Kids app. (For more info, see YouTubeKids.com.) By making the content generally available without revealing their identities, my nephew and niece attracted a nice group of followers, mostly from other countries. Parental controls are available to make it a safe experience.

For video editing, the kids use the free “Cap Cut” from CapCut.com. To polish it further, their mom uses the $15-a-month version of Canva. Canva Pro lets you add your own footage to professional templates. To get more help, there’s Canva’s “Magic Design.” After describing your video, Canva will create the YouTube video using your uploaded media and chosen style.

Online Education for Adoptive Parents

I live near an adoption agency called The Cradle. For years, I’ve heard from volunteers who glow about this place, especially if they’ve opted to cuddle babies in the nursery.  It’s so popular that the Cradle now has to turn away volunteers. But they’ve just introduced a new online program for adoptive parents and would-be adopters. It’s called “Stage-Wise Parenting,” at stagewiseparenting.talentlms.com.

To test it, I listened to a 90-minute webinar called “Top 10 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew.” It’s full of valuable lessons, communicated in the most heart-warming manner. A bundle of courses starts at $119.

Internut

CounterforceHealth.org offers a free AI-powered tool that helps patients fight denials of their insurance claims by automatically generating strong, evidence-based appeal letters. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive. The company says that 70 percent of their appeal letters are successful.

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