Mind your AI manners

Mind your AI manners: Saying “please” and “thank you” will get you more detailed and elaborate AI chatbot responses. Why? AI is trained on human interaction patterns. If you’re rude, the AI responds like a human would — short and less engaged. *Repeats inner mantra* It’s just a bot … It’s just a bot …

Tags: AI, bot, chatbot


Need a brain break? Visit Wonders of Street View, an interactive map of some of the wackiest stuff on Google Maps in one place. Click “Random” in the top right corner for a new wonder. I spent too long exploring an abandoned mining town in Beaverhead County, Montana.

Trivia

Do you know what you spend every year on your phone, TV and internet bills? If not, put on your guessing hat. How much does the average American spend annually on all three services combined? Is it … A.) $1,500, B.) $2,500, C.) $3,000 or D.) $4,000?

Find the answer here!

���� Use Facebook or Instagram? Meta changed its two-factor authentication rules to automatically “trust” any devices you’ve regularly used its apps on over the last two years. Disable this. Log in to either platform, then go to your Settings and click Account Center > Password and Security. Tap or click Two-factor Authentication to turn it off.

Your new side hustle? Digital notary! That is, if you’re in one of the 47 U.S. states that now allows notary publics to operate completely online. Once you’re certified, you can notarize docs from home at your convenience. Check out the requirements for your state on the National Notary Association’s website.

Get audio for the muted bar TV: At a loud bar or party and wanna watch the game? Tunity is a free app that scans the TV and gives you audio for your earbuds or headphones. Get it here on iOS or Android. So cool.

Quick Amazon privacy fix: Remove items from your browsing history to avoid revealing your gift ideas or embarrassing purchases. Hover your cursor over Account & Lists and click on Browsing History. For each item you want to hide, tap Remove from view.

Where are the cicadas? You can help map the creepy crawlers. Download the free Cicada Safari app for iPhone or Android. Take pics of any cicadas you see and submit ‘em via the app. There’s a great map that shows you where the buggers are, too.

Quick sharing tip: Want to share a specific section of a webpage? In Google Chrome, highlight the text, right-click your selection and choose Copy link to highlight. Paste in that link, and it’ll send your recipient right to that spot.

Work for a nonprofit or school? The more you get for free (or cheap), the better. TechSoup is a solid resource for finding discounts and free stuff you might not know about, like Microsoft Office or IT help.

Find cheaper gas: Don’t get screwed by high gas prices on your next road trip. GasBuddy is a free app for iOS and Android that helps you find the cheapest price near you.