“A friend of mine took a set of lyrics for a song he wrote 40 years ago and plugged it into Suno,” a music creation tool that uses artificial intelligence. “Out came a super-professional sounding country-western song that he’s really proud of,” said a savvy reader named Marc.

I tried Suno in 2023, but it didn’t impress me. Now I’m wowed. I started by pasting my lyrics into Suno’s lyrics box. It helped that I was using the Google Chrome browser on my computer because every time I had a question I clicked “Ask Gemini” in the upper right corner of my screen and it told me what to do. For example, it said I should click “Remix” after erasing a line in the lyrics, then click “Create” again.

The first time I clicked “Create,” I got four versions of my song, a parody based on My Fair Lady’s “Why Can’t the English?” (Your results may vary.) Two were previews that could only be unlocked in the paid version, but I preferred the freebies anyway. Even in the free version, you can listen to and share your songs, though downloads are limited.

You get 50 credits a day in the free version, enough to make 10 songs, and your 50 credits replenish daily. The pro version, which starts at $8 a month if you pay annually, gives you 2,500 credits a month. Pro also gives you commercial-use rights for songs created while you’re subscribed, so you can sell them. It also lets you add your own voice, improve audio quality, and split it into vocals, drums and bass. It’s supposed to create better songs too, though I couldn’t tell.

Fun Jigsaw Puzzle Online

I’m having fun with “Jigsaway,” a free online jigsaw puzzle game from a reader named Burak. It’s not just the magnificent images he used. You get to decide how many pieces you want, from four to 1,000. I like the thwok sound for every match.

At jigsaway.com, I chose 50 pieces for the “Marrakech Tiled Courtyard.” Next, I uploaded my own photo and saw it instantly transform into a puzzle. For a quickie, I tried the 36-piece version of Burak’s “Dachshund Coming Through a Dog Flap.” Create a free account to save your puzzles, along with your streaks.  In a multiplayer room, you can add up to 11 guests without creating more than one account. This makes it easy for children to join. 

The paintings used in the puzzles come from the National Gallery of Art’s open access collection. For the rest, Burak mostly used AI image tools. “Was it complicated?” I wondered. He’s been a programmer for 20 years, but it helped to team up with Claude AI, he says.

Lightning-Fast Dictation

I hate texting on a phone. That’s why I fell in love with Wispr Flow, an app for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android.

Compared with the voice typing built into my phone, it’s a marvel. For example, if I say “um,” or “uh,”  Wispr Flow skips it. Apple’s built-in dictation leaves in all my verbal stumbles. Wispr Flow can also make bulleted lists without a specific command. It even lets you create a custom dictionary for your favorite acronyms, abbreviations or whatever. For example, you could say “ZB” to have it put in Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security adviser. Wispr Flow can even recognize whispered words.

You can also dictate a rambling request for ChatGPT or another AI tool, and Wispr Flow will clean it up, removing errors and making your instructions easier to follow. It can also turn unedited thoughts into a polished email, though I’d check it over before sending if I were you.  

Internut

I was poking around in accident statistics when I found something worth remembering if you’re ever car shopping or renting. According to a study by researchers at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers age 70 and older in small passenger cars had about twice the odds of dying in a crash compared with those in large SUVs. The researchers also found that newer safety features help protect older drivers.

Scary Virus Warnings May Be Fake

Dr. Jim, an avid reader, said he was bombarded with warnings that his computer was infected and his antivirus software had expired, alongside an advertisement for TotalAV. Then came charges for several TotalAV products he says he never ordered. He stopped the barrage by opening his browser’s notification settings and removing permission for suspicious websites.  “Bingo!” he said. “The invaders were gone.” 

I had a similar experience with TotalAV. In 2024, I paid $19 for the program, only to find that it wanted more money before showing me the results. Then my computer began acting strangely. I finally had to restore Windows to an earlier state. But at least I got my money back. If you discover suspicious charges, contact your credit card company immediately.

The lesson? A warning that looks like an official antivirus alert may be nothing more than a website notification. Don’t click it. In Chrome, go to Settings, Privacy and security, Site settings, then Notifications and remove notification permissions from any site that looks suspicious. In browsers other than Chrome, you’ll see similar settings. If you remain concerned, run a scan with Windows Security. Macs have built-in malware protection which works automatically.

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“Zen Ten Match” is a fun new game. A reader named Marc made it.

Here’s how it happened. “After a stressful day,” Marc said, “my wife reached for her favorite puzzle game and ended up more stressed than when she started,” thanks to the countdown timer.  So after a long search, he found a fun game from his school days. “But every version was buried in ads. It felt like a Vegas slot machine: flashing, noisy, overstimulating. So I built the opposite.”

It took months to get it right, since he hadn’t programmed anything since sixth grade. A bit of artificial intelligence certainly helped. Now, thanks to those efforts, you can play it for free at ZenTenMatch.com, or download the iPhone or Android app.

At first I struggled to play it. “I must be the dumbest player ever,” I told Marc, after getting stuck in round one. On the third try, I ran out of hints in my attempt to become a Zen Master. So for $10 a year, I paid for an unlimited amount. You probably won’t need that many though. I’m terribly impatient.

Zen Ten Match is like Word Search, but with numbers. You try to find pairs that match exactly or add up to ten. They’re harder to spot than you’d think. Between sets, the game will suggest a Zen breath. Marc’s wife always takes one in between playing a round and sipping her morning tea. “For some reason,” Marc said, “that brings me joy.”

A reader named Brock also created his own app. Called “Oil Due,” it’s free for iPhones and iPads. The app keeps track of oil changes, tires and brakes. Of course your dashboard or windshield sticker also has that info, but maybe you’re at work, wondering whether you need to schedule car maintenance, and don’t have time to go out to your car to check. Another plus: It keeps the service history and receipts together, something a dashboard reminder usually doesn’t do. The app is free for one car, with unlimited service history. A one-time $2.99 purchase unlocks additional vehicles and date reminders. 

New Touchscreen MacBook

The first-ever MacBook Pro with a touchscreen arrived November 6. It’s a big shift in the Apple world. In 2010, former CEO Steve Jobs called touchscreens “ergonomically terrible.” Tim Cook said it’s like trying to make a toaster and refrigerator in one.

The new laptop has a mouthful of a name. It’s called the “Macbook Pro with PROLED XDR Display.” In plain English, that means it’s exceptionally easy to read even in bright sunlight. “Dynamic Island,” a clever interactive area at the top of the screen, can display live updates, such as sports scores or flight info, without interrupting what you’re doing. The basic laptop, for around $3,000, has 24 gigabytes of memory and one terabyte of storage, but you can spend a whopping $14,549 for a fully loaded model with 128 gigabytes of memory and 16 terabytes of storage.

The Pro is aimed at heavy users, including those who manipulate 3D models, musicians who play onscreen and video gamers who get frustrated when demanding programs stutter or blur.

Photo Organizing

My photos are scattered in dozens of folders, subfolders and sub-subfolders all over my computer’s hard drive. What a relief to discover Ashampoo’s Photo Organizer Pro 27. 

When you launch the program, you’ll see categories like “My Memories,” “My Places,” and “My Albums,” all neatly pre-filled with photos for you. I started with 835 photos labeled “Duplicates,” and was able to go through them fairly quickly without having to click on each one I wanted to remove. In each row, just click the one you want to save, then click “delete duplicates” to get rid of the whole shebang. Poof, they go straight to the program’s recycle bin. You can recover them later if you change your mind. 

When I clicked “Culling,” I found over 15,000 photos waiting for review. Culling helps you weed out blurry, flawed or otherwise unwanted pictures. But many may be worth keeping anyway.

In the category “My Memories,” Photo Organizer automatically recognizes photos taken during a trip or outing as belonging together and combines them into a memory, using dates and other information stored with the pictures. But I’ve scanned so many physical photos that lack this information that I’d have to tag them first. Under “My Places,” however, I can see where the rest were taken.

Pet Tracker

Couldn’t find my niece’s picture. This is a larger turtle than hers.

After reading my column mentioning the wallet tracker, my niece wrote to tell me about her turtle tracker.

“I swear by my Chipolo Pop Tracker to keep tabs on my sneaky escape artist Yertle the Turtle (a tiny tortoise). Though the device is meant for a pet tag or key ring, we hot glued it into Yertle’s shell. While this may affect his shell, it’s healthier than becoming raptor prey!” she writes.

It’s not perfect, however. The Chipolo is a Bluetooth-based item finder that relies on nearby devices to automatically report its location. It is not a GPS tracker providing continuous location updates. That distinction could matter if Yertle escapes into an area with few phones nearby.

The Chipolo Pop is $29 on Amazon. It works with iPhone or Android, by using either Apple Find My or Google’s Find Hub.

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My great-grandfather was a Cherokee, according to my mom. So I’m one-eighth, I figured. But Ancestry.com and 23andMe say I have no Native American ancestry. Who’s right?

To find out, I used MyHeritage’s new GAIA service, powered by artificial intelligence. First I asked it to research my great-great-great-grandmother Jincey Bales, on my mom’s side. GAIA found several family trees that listed her parents’ and siblings’ birthplaces as Red Clay, Tennessee, the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the eastern United States. One tree lists her as “Tsinvsi,” a name that appears to be Cherokee. Her dad, John W. Craig, is labeled “Cherokee” in another family tree. Yet another tree labels a Craig of the next generation as “Cherokee.” Another ancestor’s middle name was “Bearpaw.” 

None of this proves I have Cherokee ancestors. Family trees can be wrong. But if they’re right, my Cherokee ancestry is closer to one-thirty-second than one-eighth. 

This all started when I received an email addressed to MyHeritage subscribers inviting us to test GAIA through a limited number of free conversations. The company plans to offer extended access through a new subscription called OmniAI. More info at MyHeritage.com.

Throw-Away Culture

“My first smartphone had a battery I could replace for $15.  Now everything is throwaway,” said a reader. “But you can still get phones with swappable batteries,” I countered.

The Samsung Galaxy XCover 7, $275 on Amazon or Walmart, allows you to replace its battery without a screwdriver or adhesive. It’s a ruggedized phone designed for tough environments but might be useful anywhere.

The Fairphone US Generation 6 Plus, $650 at US.Fairphone.com, makes it easy to replace 12 different parts yourself, including the battery, the screen, the cameras and more, with just a small screwdriver. It comes with 12 gigabytes of  RAM and 256 gigabytes of storage, expandable to two terabytes. The battery lasts up to two days between charges. It also has a 6.3-inch OLED display.

The HMD Skyline 5G Dual Sim Smartphone, sold by Target for $400, lets you replace the battery by opening the phone and removing the adhesive. But it isn’t a quick swap. 

Novel Electric Toothbrush

My teeth have never felt cleaner, thanks to a new kind of electric toothbrush called the Ranvoo AirJet X5. To me, it’s like a dental hygienist who makes house calls.

Ranvoo claims its combination of vibrating bristles and air-and-water microbubbles removes up to 99.97% of plaque. I haven’t seen independent clinical evidence for that, but the cleaning sensation is great. A dental hygienist on YouTube compared it to the ultrasonic scaler used at dental offices. It’s very gentle.

On the other hand, my dentist swears by Oral-B products, which are pricier. Their top-of-the-line model, the iO9, is $380 and the iO5 costs $150. The Ranvoo AirJet X5 was $127.50 on Amazon and on the company website when last I checked. Most of the Amazon reviews are favorable but some reported failures after six months or so. I have nothing to lose since Ranvoo sent me the toothbrush for free. I’ll report back later.

Bee Warned

“Alexa, remind me about carnivores and clean oceans at 8 a.m.,” I said just as I was falling asleep. The next morning, I had no idea what I meant. 

Wouldn’t it be great if I could speak into my wrist and have it recorded? That’s the promise of the new $75 “Bee Frontier” from Amazon, which also includes an AI companion.

Unfortunately, I had a horrible out-of-box experience. First, it wouldn’t pair with my phone. Then, it went overboard. For example, during yoga, it recorded the lyrics of all the songs I’d been listening to in downward dog.

I could have stopped the recording by pressing the Bee button. I could also have changed the app’s settings to automatically pause a recording after five minutes or more of silence. But even with that, I can’t get beyond the “ick” factor. Bee makes me feel self-conscious, even though Amazon says it encrypts the data it saves and doesn’t retain the original audio. So I asked for and received a refund.

Amazon also announced a “Bee Eclipse” for $100. It looks like a slim battery charger that attaches to your phone. You still have to press a button to stop a recording, and if you don’t want certain transcripts or summaries retained, you have to delete them yourself. However, without the $12-a-month Bee Pro, its AI can search only the last 14 days of conversations.

But to me, all this stuff creates too much busywork, making me feel like I have to babysit my own wearable. I don’t need an AI analysis. I just want the recordings. 

For iPhone users, there’s the free Apple’s Voice Memos, which also works on an Apple Watch. Samsung Galaxy phones have Voice Recorder, while Google Pixel phones offer Google’s Recorder app. I tried Voice Memos on my Apple Watch by pressing the crown and tapping the icon. Works great.

Internut

Cato.org just released the 2026 edition of “Freedom in the 50 States,” which ranks states on economic and personal freedom. Its interactive maps let you compare states on everything from taxes and housing to education and privacy. Arizona scored highest in overall freedom. Illinois was 39th.  It was 31st in fiscal burden, 43rd in occupational freedom, and 47th in firearm freedom among many other categories.

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My brother-in-law loves WhatsApp for sending photos to his friends in France. Now there’s something new to try.

WhatsApp now lets you enjoy video calls with people who don’t have WhatsApp accounts. It’s much like Zoom, but you get unlimited minutes for free. Only the person starting the call needs a WhatsApp account, and each video call can include up to 32 participants. 

Start by sending someone a WhatsApp link, which opens in a browser like Chrome, Safari, or Edge on their computer. Participants may want to open links on their phone’s browser instead, but Meta says it’s designed for computer use. After clicking, you’ll enter a waiting room. The host will admit you when they’re ready.

Like Zoom, WhatsApp video calling lets you share your screen to collaborate, offer a tutorial, read a story aloud and more. To react, use a thumbs up or emoji, or click the raised-hand icon. WhatsApp calls are protected by end-to-end encryption, so even Meta can’t listen.

Remembering Stuff 

You don’t have to buy a tracker to help you remember stuff. If you use Android devices, just say, for example: “Hey Google, remember in ‘Find Hub’ that I put my passport in my desk drawer.”  Later, if you’ve forgotten, just call out, “Hey Google, where’s my passport?” and it will tell you. Requirements: You’ll need to make Gemini your phone’s assistant, use Android 16 or later, and have patience. This feature is still rolling out.

Alternatively, on any phone, try ChatGPT. Just tell “Chatty” where you’ve stored your items. Later, ask her to remind you.  

Incognito Tracker

Though I could use reminders to find my wallet, I’m intrigued by the Statik “SmartCard Incognito,” $30 from Amazon.com. It looks like an ordinary credit card but has a tracker inside. You can make the tracker sound if your wallet’s nearby. If not, use Apple’s Find My or Google’s Find My Device to see it on a map. According to the manufacturer, the rechargeable tracker battery keeps a charge for 11 months.

Two Tech Tips

An older couple rushed over to me at a big venue to ask: “How can we scan this QR code on our phone when we have nothing to scan it with?” I could tell that the code led to a scam, so I urged them to delete it. But I understood their bafflement. Normally, you point your phone at a menu, theater program or something similar to make a web link pop up. What if you can’t because it’s in an email?

On an iPhone, open the QR code in Photos, long-press it to reveal a link, and tap it. On an Android phone, take a screenshot, open Google Photos, and tap Google Lens.  Alternatively, on any phone, open the QR code in Photos, long-press it, choose “copy,” and paste it into the text window in ChatGPT. It will immediately fetch the link. 

Here’s another techie tip. To see a personal or handwritten recipe on your Amazon Echo Show, open the Alexa app on your phone and tap the plus sign next to the Message box. Now upload a photo of your recipe or tap the camera to take a picture. Next tap the up arrow to send it to Alexa.  Finally, tell your Echo Show: “Alexa, show me my personal recipes.” After choosing one, you may want to ask questions like:  “Alexa, what’s a good peanut substitute?” The recipes look great on my Show, all typed up and formatted.

Which AI is Best?

Recently, someone told me they like Perplexity AI better than all the others because it has a feature called “Spaces,” which allows you to group related chats together. But I categorize chats a different way. 

I use Microsoft Copilot for recipes, Claude for literary and deeply personal discussions and Gemini for quick answers, directions, politics and art. ChatGPT is great for health and finance questions, since you can link your health records and financial accounts. 

To start, look for “Health” or “Finances” in the ChatGPT sidebar and follow the prompts to connect your accounts. You can link supported medical records, Apple Health data, bank accounts and investments. I like to ask questions about my lab results, spending and savings. These features are still rolling out.

New Alexa Tablet

Reading or watching movies outdoors on a tablet can be a bummer in bright sunshine. But Amazon just announced the new $550 Alexa Tablet 12 Pro. It has an anti-glare screen, thanks to Corning’s “Nanomatte.” 

Nanomatte technology reduces glare impressively, but doesn’t entirely eliminate the rainbow shimmer seen on matte surfaces, according to The Verge. It does offer great viewing angles, handy if you’re watching a show with friends.

All of Amazon’s new Alexa tablets now run standard Android instead of the modified Android system used by Fire tablets. This gives you access to the Google Play store and its giant app collection. Prices range from $230 to $550. The two less expensive models include lock-screen ads, but you can pay $20 to remove them. 

Internut

“Gene therapy can partly restore sight in blind people.” Search on that phrase to discover optogenetics, a groundbreaking medical technique that recently earned a Nobel Prize.

In a small clinical trial, some of those with retinitis pigmentosa regained the ability to detect light and recognize objects or movement, using experimental gene therapy and special goggles. 

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Google Playground creates games for you, and also lets you play free games that others have created.  I first tried someone’s game involving a dragon jumping on clouds to claim golden eggs. Then I asked it to create a game for wordsmiths.

Before doing so, however, I asked ChatGPT to come up with a list of words that rarely go out alone. For example, you might describe someone as “uncouth,” but rarely “couth.”  Likewise, you might say you are feeling “overwhelmed,” but never “whelmed.”  A preteen boy might be “unruly,” but not “ruly.” You get “discombobulated,” but not “combobulated.”

Next, at Playground.Google.com, I chose the brainless option, which lets artificial intelligence do all the work. “Create a word game where the players choose words from the attached list,” I typed. “Make it like Mad Libs.” 

I got four Mad Libs-style games: “The Shevelled Knight,” “The Couth Tea Gathering,” “The Perfectly Gruntled Detective,” and “An Effable Journey to the Stars.” In each version, the players have seven chances to choose a word from three options. The seven words they choose are inserted into a story with artwork. The results were almost as funny as Mad Libs. I liked the old-timey music too. But if I want to, I can keep refining it just by responding to the question: “What would you like to do to update your game?”

New in ChatGPT

I just figured out how I could save $7000 over five years thanks to an interactive calculator, one of countless interactive tools that ChatGPT can create on the spot even in the free version. For example, you might ask for a furniture layout tool or a retirement calculator.

The retirement calculator was especially helpful after I allowed it to use my actual financial information. I did that by clicking the “Finances” button on the left of the ChatGPT window at ChatGPT.com. If you just want a general guide for the average person, type: “Create a retirement calculator. Adjust monthly withdrawals, inflation and investment returns to explore different scenarios.”

If you need basic phone help, you could type: “teach me how to use my phone with an interactive, step-by-step lesson on enlarging text, sharing photos or finding downloaded files, with clickable choices and short quizzes.” You could also ask for tutorials on bridge, mahjong and foreign languages. I love the one ChatGPT created for my Spanish lessons.

Frozen Folder

I’ve been downloading everything, even photos, to the Download folder on a Windows 11 computer. But when it got to 798 items, the folder froze. So I asked Google Gemini what to do.

Looking at several options, I chose a Command Prompt instruction that told my computer to delete files more than four months old from the Downloads folder. But I hadn’t realized that it would go by the dates the files were last modified, not necessarily the dates I downloaded them. I instantly lost 501 items, some of which might have been recent.

Lesson learned: Never let AI delete files without checking exactly what will be removed. 

Event Reminders

I usually forget to check paper calendars. I prefer a digital calendar that sends me automatic emails or notifications on the day of the event, or enough in advance that I still have time to send a birthday card or present.

To set up reminders on an iPhone or Android phone, open your calendar app and tap the plus sign to create an event. Enter the date and time, then look for the alert or notification setting. Choose how far in advance you want to be reminded. Besides pop-ups, Google Calendar also lets you choose email reminders at calendar.google.com on a computer and on a phone.

ChatGPT As Fashion Consultant

It’s easy to try on clothes virtually with ChatGPT. To find out how I might look in a new blazer, for example, I pasted in a screenshot of one from Nordstrom. Next, Chatty (ChatGPT) asked me to upload a photo of myself with my arms at my sides. Though I could only keep one arm at my side, since I was holding my phone to take a selfie, it still worked fine. That’s how I decided that short blazers aren’t flattering on me. Just to be sure, I asked Chatty: “Do longer blazers look better on short-waisted women?” Yes, it agreed. It also recommended wearing a blazer open instead of buttoned, for a longer look.

Replaceable Earbud Batteries

The rechargeable batteries in wireless earbuds eventually wear out, especially with heavy use. But most earbud batteries aren’t replaceable, so a perfectly good pair may have to be discarded. That’s starting to change.

TechRadar gave Sennheiser’s $300 Momentum True Wireless 5 earbuds, which have replaceable batteries, a five-star review. Sennheiser also makes $400 Momentum 5 Wireless headphones with replaceable batteries. The company sells over-the-counter hearing aids as well.

Wagons Ho

When I think “remote-controlled,” I usually think of a toy car or plane. But BougeRV’s remote-controlled DuneRover utility wagon is designed to haul up to 200 pounds of gear uphill and 440 pounds on flat ground, according to the company.  It has a handle for maneuverability on deep sand or up steep inclines, but you can control it completely untethered using the wireless remote.  It might make you the envy of campers struggling to pull a cart up a grassy slope. Even its lighting is controlled by remote. Check out its YouTube videos. The wagon is expected to fully launch on Kickstarter in February 2027 though it already has the reviews there.

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Could a giant rechargeable battery keep your appliances going during the next blackout? A reader named Sheila asked me to find out.

“Because I’m not driving now, I won’t be able to run to the store for ice when the weather gets threatening,” she said. “That has thrown me into paralysis by analysis looking at various backup solutions.”

The paralysis didn’t last long before Sheila bought the Pecron E1000LFP, a portable power station and solar generator. She’ll pair it with solar panels that can recharge the power station during a prolonged outage or whenever she wants to go off grid.

The Pecron has a 1,024 watt-hour battery and can supply up to 1,800 watts continuously. A refrigerator, 55-inch TV, LED lamp, Wi-Fi router or modem, typical desktop computer and phone charger might use only around 325 watts altogether, depending on the individual devices. But appliances such as refrigerators can briefly demand much more power when their motors start, so the Pecron’s ability to handle short peaks of up to 3,000 watts could come in handy. It’s also fairly light at 29 pounds and has long-lasting batteries. I saw it on sale for $399.

Unlike gas generators, portable power stations produce no engine exhaust, require no gasoline and can be used indoors. That’s good if you like breathing. There’s no sense putting up with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Look for power stations with lithium iron phosphate batteries, usually abbreviated LFP or LiFePO4. They last longer and are less likely to overheat than the kind of lithium batteries commonly used in older power stations.

Good alternatives include the EcoFlow Delta 3. Though more expensive, it can go 4,000 cycles before falling to 80 percent capacity. The Pecron is rated at 3,500-plus. When last I checked, the EcoFlow was $599 at Walmart.

Another possibility is the Anker Solix C1000 Gen 2, which offers 1,024 watt-hours, 2,000 watts continuous, 3,000 watts peak, and 4,000 cycles to at least 80 percent capacity.

Finally, there’s the Jackery Explorer 1000, version 2. Though only $499, the Jackery’s lithium iron phosphate battery can go for 4,000 cycles with at least 70 percent remaining capacity.

Scammed

When trying to help an author self-publish a book, I accidentally led her straight into a scam. Here’s how it happened.

First I Googled “IngramSpark.” Then I perused the list of self-publishers. There were so many ads that I breezed past the real site and landed on IngramSparks.com. (Note the extra “s.”)

Interrupting a live chat with a representative, I wrote down the contact info, then left to meet the 92-year-old author in an apartment five floors down from mine. Once there, I led her to accept the $269 charge. It sounded reasonable to me because it meant distribution to 40 outlets, including Barnes & Noble and Walmart, instead of just Amazon. But their slightly aggressive tone should have been a red flag.

A formatter from PeoplePerHour, the one who made her book look like a real book instead of a Word document, uncovered the hoax after I mentioned the $269 charge. He said that, unlike the impostor, the real IngramSpark charges nothing to open an account and upload a manuscript for distribution to 40 outlets. These can all offer it in paperback, hardback and e-book. Out of curiosity, I looked up the phony contact’s name and could find no such person at IngramSpark.

Lesson learned: Watch what you click on. Fortunately, however, the author got on the phone immediately to cancel her credit card and order a replacement. She’ll dispute the charge as soon as it lands in her account.

Shoe Tech

Who says technology has to contain a computer? Cadense put some clever engineering into ordinary athletic shoes and even the more dressy kind. They’re for anyone who has trouble lifting their feet as they walk, such as those with Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, or neuropathy. They could also be helpful for anyone who’s had a stroke or is in danger of tripping when walking.

Here’s how they work. Your dragging foot gets a boost from small, low-friction areas in the sole, to avoid catching on the floor. The sole compresses and a grippier rubber section takes over. The doctor who invented them also developed MIT’s Skywalker system for gait therapy.

In a recently published survey of 705 Cadense customers, users reported far fewer falls. However, the study relied on customers’ memories of previous falls, and there was no comparison group. But you might want to give the shoes a try anyway. Prices start at around $200 at cadense.com. The company offers 30-day returns, though there’s a $7.99 fee to cover processing, inspection, cleaning, and restocking.

Help with Tiny Print

Your Android phone’s new “Guided Vision” can read the fine print for you. Point a compatible phone at an expiration date, tiny label, appliance panel or other hard-to-see object and Gemini Live will describe it aloud. If your aim is off, it will show you how to reposition your phone. You can also ask follow-up questions about the item. This feature is rolling out gradually.

For the iPhone, there’s Apple’s Live Recognition, which has offered visual descriptions since iOS 14 on an iPhone XR, XS or newer. Besides describing scenes, it can read aloud the text you’re pointing your camera at.

Filed under: Apple, batteries, Google, health, security | 2 Comments »

When Google Gemini replaced Google Assistant on a reader’s Android phone, her favorite morning routine disappeared.

“Until Wednesday all I had to do was say ‘OK Google’ and it would give me a good morning, tell me the weather and the time and a joke, and read me the news,” Sheila said. “A pox on them all for changing my routines.” Almost as bad, Alexa changed its voice.

“Am I too old for all this?” she wondered. “After all, I learned to talk by listening to Franklin Deleano Roosevelt’s fireside chats on an old-fashioned radio console.” No way. She followed my instructions perfectly.

To go back to Google Assistant on an Android phone, first open Settings, go to Apps, then Default apps, and look for the digital-assistant setting. Choose Google Assistant instead of Gemini. The exact wording may vary by phone.

If Alexa Plus AI has replaced the original Alexa, try saying, “Alexa, disable Alexa Plus.” If only the voice has changed, say “Alexa, change your voice.”  It will give you several options.

AI sometimes bugs me too. For example, I ditched Microsoft Edge when every new tab started opening up with Copilot AI. I hadn’t asked for an AI chat, I just wanted my Gmail or a Google search.To get rid of it, I clicked the three dots in the upper right of my computer screen. Then I clicked “Settings.” Next, I clicked “Copilot and AI.” Finally, I toggled off the “Copilot new tab page.”

ChatGPT Joins Microsoft Word

When editing a long memoir, I discovered four nearly-identical passages. They all repeated earlier anecdotes, with slight variations. What a mess. So if it ever happens again, I might use the new ChatGPT option in Microsoft Word to sort it out  rather than copy and paste words from a document to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is now a free add-in for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Once you’ve added it, you’ll see ChatGPT’s white-and-gray icon in the upper right of your screen in all of those programs. In Word, it could point out inaccuracies, omissions, needless words and more. Inside Excel, it could help you build a spreadsheet or figure out a formula. In PowerPoint, it could polish your slides. But be aware that any document content, chats or attachments could be shared with Microsoft and OpenAI, so that ChatGPT can read and update your files. It’s not meant to spy on you.

To set it up, start by Googling “Microsoft Marketplace.” Once you’re there, search for “ChatGPT,” click “get it now” and follow the prompts. Inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint, click the “Home” button. Now look to the far right and click “Add-Ins.” Then click “ChatGPT.” A ChatGPT button will add itself.

Wearables Get a New Brain

At the Snapdragon Summit last week, PrismML demonstrated “Bonsai,” a new technology that squeezes powerful AI into far less computer memory. As the crowd oohed and aahed, a Bonsai AI system ran entirely on a pair of smart glasses powered by a Qualcomm chip, instead of sending every question to a giant data center.

This is part of a growing trend called on-device AI. Instead of relying entirely on the cloud, some of the AI runs right on your phone, glasses or other gadget. That can make responses faster while keeping more of your information on the device. Some on-device AI can even work without an internet connection.

You may also hear about “small language models,” or SLMs. They’re compact versions of the enormous AI systems that require much more computing power. Bonsai takes the idea further by drastically reducing the amount of memory an AI model needs.

Maxton Hall

Dub-a-Dub Dub

On Amazon Prime Video, I just watched a half hour of the hit German series, Maxton Hall. I wanted to see AI dubbing at work.

In ordinary dubbing, the actors’ lips don’t match what they are saying. Under the new system, human voice actors record the English dub first. Then the AI and visual-effects software alter the actors’ lip movements to match what the actors just said.

When I watched Maxton Hall, the actors’ lips mostly looked in sync.Only in close-ups did I notice imperfections.

This isn’t the first use of AI dubbing. TrueSync technology was famously used in the 2022 thriller “Fall,” where it altered the actors’ lip movements after more than 30 cuss words were replaced with PG-13-friendly dialogue.

Robot News

A new, child-sized robot called the PrimeBOT Q1 is capturing hearts all over. It recently went on sale in China for about $2800.  I remember when an ordinary laptop cost  more than that.

At 2.9 feet tall and 33 pounds, the PrimeBOT can hold your hand and walk around with you. Designed to be your companion, it can dance, talk to you and perform more than 10 martial arts movements. Change its appearance with swappable 3D-printed panels, voice choices, personality settings and facial expressions. Its programming tools are open to developers, which should encourage robot owners and educators alike to create new skills, motions and companion features. You can sign up for more information at www.primebot.cn.

Internut

Search on “Same Wound, Two Ages: The Conviction Crisis and the Editing Crisis” for a podcast about a condition shared by teenagers and business leaders alike: the pressure to change yourself to fit in.

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My late husband Bob tried to get hyperbaric oxygen therapy for his diabetic foot ulcers, but he couldn’t get an appointment. The only center near us reserved its chambers for emergencies such as carbon-monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, gas embolism, severe crush injuries and certain kinds of infections. 

But an unusual technology is coming to the rescue for these stubborn sores. It uses fish skin as a wound dressing. Sound crazy? It isn’t.  

A company called Kerecis starts by taking skin from North Atlantic cod, removing the fish cells, sterilizing the skin and freeze-drying it, while leaving the skin’s microscopic collagen framework largely intact. Doctors rehydrate the sheet and place it over or into a wound. This serves as a temporary scaffold. The blood vessels and the patient’s own cells grow into the matrix as the fish material is gradually absorbed by the body. 

Kerecis’s wound dressing, called “MariGen,” is classified by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device. It was first cleared in 2013, but now we have more evidence that it works. A recent randomized trial published in NEJM Evidence studied 255 patients with deep diabetic foot ulcers, some extending to bone or tendon. At 16 weeks, 44% of patients receiving intact fish-skin grafts had healed wounds, compared with 26% receiving standard wound care. At 24 weeks it was 55% versus 38%. Two caveats: Karecis helped fund this study, and the technology  shouldn’t be used in people with fish allergies.

According to Kerecis, insurance coverage expanded this year by more than 40 million insured people, including additional private insurers and state Medicaid programs. Medicare has a billing code for Kerecis fish-skin products, and its revamped 2026 payment system separately reimburses qualifying skin substitutes. 

Data Center Mania

A reader wrote to say he’s upset about big data center hogging of water and electricity. Also, in his neighborhood, he says, the secrecy involved in expanding these centers could mean that taxpayers are on the hook for some of the cost.

What if we pair data centers with nuclear power? That could add huge amounts of around-the-clock electricity. In addition, water use could be cut sharply, thanks to newer data-center cooling systems. But of course, nuclear power still requires lots of cooling water, and many of the biggest tech-nuclear deals still depend on regional electric grids. So the nuclear plan isn’t perfect. 

Four nuclear developers have attracted some big tech partners. Meta has agreements with TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, and Oklo. Amazon has invested $500 million in X-energy. Google has a nuclear-energy deal with Kairos Power. 

Already, data centers and nuclear plants are getting paired. Amazon bought a 960-megawatt data-center campus beside Talen’s Susquehanna nuclear plant in 2024. The power agreement has since expanded to as much as 1,920 megawatts through 2042.  Also promising is Constellation Energy, the largest commercial nuclear operator in the U.S. It signed major multi-decade power purchase deals with Microsoft and Meta to support their growing data-center power needs. 

New Key to Alzheimer’s

Thanks to “ShortStop,” an AI tool developed by the Salk Institute, researchers have found a hidden world of more than 1,000 microproteins that offers a new perspective on Alzheimer’s disease.

One newly discovered microprotein was unusually scarce in Alzheimer’s brains. When scientists removed it from brain immune cells in the lab, the cells had trouble producing energy. That gives researchers a new clue. If further research confirms its importance, scientists might someday develop a drug that boosts its activity or mimics what it does. 

Siri Gets AI

With iOS 27, an AI-equipped Siri is rolling out in beta on iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or later. She can now draw on information from both your phone and the web to answer questions.  

If you ask her for a friend’s address, or some other tidbit, she’ll produce it pronto. She can also answer more complex questions. But in my tests, she usually enlisted ChatGPT’s help after I said OK. For example, this happened when I asked whether it was better to buy books from the local bookstore or Amazon. Sometimes, however, she couldn’t answer at all. Also, when I asked her to remind me to go to the library in five minutes, she put the reminder on the screen instantly but then forgot to remind me.

In other iOS 27 news, your ringtone no longer has to have the same volume as your alarm. To change it, go to “Settings,” then “Sound & Haptics,” and turn off “Match Ringtone Volume,”  under “Alarms and Timers.”  Your other alerts and system sounds don’t have to match your ringtone or alarm volume either.

Headset for Depression

For the first time, some Americans with moderate-to-severe depression can use an FDA-approved at-home headset for 30 minutes at a time to electrically stimulate a brain region involved in mood. The FL-100 device from Flow Neuroscience, which uses transcranial direct current stimulation, became available by prescription across the U.S. on Sept. 1.

A randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial was published in Nature Medicine. In the 173-person analysis, those receiving real stimulation improved significantly more after 10 weeks than those receiving sham stimulation. But the FDA called the benefit modest and it costs $2,200 for the initial 10-week treatment course, followed by $325 every four weeks for ongoing maintenance. It might be better to get a dog.

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When an old high school friend reached out to me through Classmates.com, I had a fascinating discussion, thanks to input from Google Gemini.

First my friend Stephanie and I reminisced about the good old days on the high school newspaper staff. One time, some sang “Tea for Two,” while others pounded on their desks to the beat, pulled the blinds up and down rhythmically or used a ruler as a baton to add to the merry mayhem. Meanwhile, our mild-mannered teacher ignored everything. He wasn’t even that mad on the day when students set up the whole classroom on the street, complete with the American flag in its holder. Or when a few guys locked me in the dark room with the editor.

Now an artist, Stephanie offered me one of her 24 gorgeous paintings for free. “But which one should I choose?” I wondered. To find out, I opened her website in Chrome and clicked “Ask Gemini.” This allowed Gemini to examine the website I was looking at. I also uploaded photos of my living room and den. I wondered whether I should hang the painting above a 31-inch bookcase near a Renoir poster in the living room or on a narrower wall above another bookcase in the den.

But which painting was best? I asked Gemini to choose the two that most people would prefer. One happened to be my favorite. It also confirmed my instinct about the proper placement.

“That is a wonderful choice!” Gemini gushed. “The house with the reddish roof, cheerful front door, and green plants is warm, full of character, and wonderfully inviting. Its rich, earthy tones and vibrant foliage will look fantastic above your 31-inch bookcase, tying together the warm wood furniture and picking up nicely on the subtle red accents in your room. Enjoy your new piece of art!” “I’m honored to be next to the Renoir,” Stephanie said.

Not Listening

Did you ever wish you could hit rewind instead of asking, “Honey, what’s that you were saying?” Soon you can. “Live Rewind,” coming in beta later this year to the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, will let you view a text transcription of the last 15 seconds of whatever conversation is going on around you. Just double press the Digital Crown to instantly pull up that missed bit of dialogue.

Fortunately, it doesn’t make or store an audio recording. The sound is processed in a protected buffer and immediately deleted. Nor can you use Live Rewind secretly: when you trigger it, the watch sounds a chime and displays a microphone indicator. But some still say it’s creepy.

Live Rewind requires an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone 16 or later, but won’t work with the budget phone, the 16e.

ChatGPT Solves Printer Snafu

I was trying to print 260 pages in Korean, but my printer kept stopping every few pages with a “paper out” message, no matter how I loaded the rear paper feeder. Yet it labored on, hacking like a chain smoker every once in a while.

Finally, it got stuck on “paper out.” As its power light blinked ominously, Gemini suggested I clean the rubber rollers. “Should I use a screwdriver to open it up?” I wondered.

That sounded daunting. So I asked ChatGPT. It instructed me to shine a flashlight into the belly of the beast and upload a photo of what I saw. Aha! A pencil had gotten stuck down there, almost perfectly intact. Only an inch-long smidgeon had chipped off.

Unfortunately, the wayward pencil seemed to have damaged the printer’s pick-up mechanism, ChatGPT said. But instead of paying for an expensive repair, I bought the Epson XP-4200 for $60 from Target. It prints beautifully, although Epson’s replacement cartridges are expensive– $23 for the black cartridge alone. My old printer is going to Goodwill with an explanatory note and four nearly-full bottles of ink.

Google Spies

After I told a friend that I often let Google Gemini examine the websites I’m looking at, she said: “Don’t you worry that Google spies on you?”

“I understand why other people do,” I said, “but I don’t mind getting ads tailored to my interests. I don’t think it’s worth Google’s while to spy for other reasons.”

Gemini said that Google isn’t manually monitoring me as an individual or spying in the traditional sense. “Most data processing is automated by algorithms designed to detect patterns across hundreds of millions of users, not build a targeted docket on a single person for fun.”

But it also pointed out three things I’d missed. First, sharing a browser tab with Gemini can inadvertently expose private messages, medical records or emails from people who never consented to have their data analyzed. That’s unfair to them.

Second, though innocent as a newborn lamb, I could be the victim of a warrantless search. Government agencies are generally supposed to get permission before seeking private information, but can buy commercially available data instead, Gemini pointed out.

Third, I could lose money. If websites tap my data to infer my income bracket or how badly I want something, they might show me higher prices. The Federal Trade Commission says that companies can use things like location, browser history, demographics, shopping history and even mouse movements to customize prices, discounts or the products consumers see.

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I love the debates at OpentoDebate.org. But if I’m short on time, I use Google Gemini or ChatGPT to summarize the exchange and tell me which side made the stronger case.

In one titled “Is America Ready for a Four-Day Work Week?” the majority sided with economist Juliet Schor. That’s because she presented stronger, data-backed evidence from numerous corporate pilot programs that showed immediate benefits to both employee well-being and corporate productivity, Gemini said. She also said that the four-day work week will probably evolve naturally before it’s mandated by law. Her rival, journalist Joanne Lipman, pointed out that many executives, especially in the artificial intelligence community, claim they want a shorter work week but constantly push for longer hours and fewer remote jobs.

In “Open to Debate,” both the live audience and the online audience get to vote on the “pro” or “con” side of a question before the debate occurs and afterwards. Whether online or in person, however, you must vote within a designated time limit.

 In a recent debate titled “Can Humans Adapt to Climate Change?” 61% initially voted yes, 23% voted no, and 16% were undecided. After the debate, 50% voted yes, while the “no” vote rose to 42%.

Fixing a Fuzzy Photo

A friend took a great photo of me with colleagues visiting from Italy. But the photo’s resolution is only about 1% of normal. So it looks extremely fuzzy when viewed on anything larger than a phone.

To sharpen it, I first tried Use.AI, which uses AI tools to guess the details it cannot see. No wonder it gave my face a mean expression. Meanwhile, ChatGPT gave me extremely almond-shaped eyes. Upscayle.org got stuck in the upscaling. GIMP, a free Photoshop alternative, kept things fuzzy even after quadrupling the resolution. Finally, my friend’s boyfriend sent the uncompressed versions from his phone.

To make sure an iPhone sends the original photo, open Photos, select the photo, tap the “Share” icon, then “Options” and turn on “All Photos Data.” You can then send it by AirDrop to a nearby Apple device or create an iCloud link to send it to someone farther away.

On an Android phone using Google Messages, select the photo, tap HD or HD+ and choose “HD+ Original quality.” Alternatively, look for your phone’s DCIM/Camera folder and share photos directly from there. 

AI Tools for Neurological Diseases

“What AI tools are used to diagnose rare neurological diseases?” a reader asked. So I asked AI.

If the reader is seeking an answer for personal reasons, Gemini said, he should go to a neurogeneticist or rare-disease clinic that uses AI. Tools include Exomiser and Face2Gene, along with other programs that use a patient’s symptoms to prioritize possible genes and diseases. AI can also find out if there’s a clinic near you. 

AI Skips to the Best Parts

Using the Kindle app on my phone, I’m reading the great novel “Once an Eagle,” by Anton Myrer. This year, it was named the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ “Commandant’s Choice.” It has long been used in professional military courses. 

I’m finding it a real page-turner, full of action and even romance, with insights into World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. But because it runs to 1,312 pages in the Harper Collins edition, I asked ChatGPT or “Chatty,” as a friend calls her, to list its most important pages, anti-war insights, leadership quotes and juicy scenes, just to be sure I don’t forget to talk about them at an upcoming book discussion.

In response, Chatty gave me a great list of themes, episodes and leadership quotes worth talking about. It also offered this tidbit: “The fascinating contradiction is that ‘Once an Eagle’ is simultaneously one of America’s most famous novels about military leadership and a deeply anti-war novel.”

Super Flosser

Ninety percent of us admit we don’t floss as often as we should, according to Dyson, the vacuum maker. So it came out with “CameraJet,” a $499 high-tech toothbrush.

The CameraJet uses a tiny camera to spot the flossable areas. Dyson says its precision-flossing helps prevent plaque from building up.

Here’s how it works. In the handle, there’s a 100,000-pixel macro lens camera that analyzes 28 images a second. An AI algorithm in the app identifies the gaps between your teeth before triggering the pump. 

I thought this meant a mighty blast, but the toothbrush handle holds less than a tablespoon of mouthrinse (12.5 milliliters) in its tank. A precision burst fires about 0.15 milliliters, or five thousandths of an ounce. Incredibly, because the force is great, you will still feel a pop of pressure as it cleans between your teeth.

A PC Magazine reviewer said he thought it was a gimmick until he saw it in action. Now he’s going to get one. Unfortunately, it went out of stock at Dyson.com just five days after it was unveiled at IFA Berlin, one of the world’s largest technology shows. 

Internut

Search on the phrase “Scientists Played Bach to Sleeping Newborns and Discovered They Can Track Rhythm Just 48 Hours After Birth” to uncover an amazing story published in PLOS Biology. Just two days after being born, the babies’ brains could already predict surprisingly complex rhythms, but not melodies. 

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