Happy or Afraid?

Does your tech make you happy or afraid? Sure, bad things that can happen when you use technology - from bad guys trying to get you to send them money to irresponsible corporations providing insufficient protections for your private information to bad apps that will steal whatever they can from you. But there are far more GOOD things that your tech can bring you. Simple safety practices can shield you from most of the bad things. And I hope we all know them by heart by now. Among them: don’t post personal information in public, don’t click on links in emails, use a password manager and use passkeys when possible, don’t connect to WiFi unless you personally know the person running it, make sure your apps come from a trusted source, use antivirus and antimalware, and so on.

Connect and enjoy

Connect with old friends. Catch up with them. Attend meetings and classes that interest you. Join online meetings to learn but also to meet and connect with NEW friends. Engage with your interests. Cooking? Exercise? Photography? Meditation? Movies? Music? These subjects and lots more are available for FREE both online and in person. There are many venues available. A quick search like “where can I engage with others about photography?” can reveal a number of opportunities. There are lots of web sites that offer free classes. Search for “web sites that offer free classes in <subject>” and you’ll get answers that you can check out. One site I like is https://SeniorPlanet.org.

Don’t be afraid to try new things

Have you tried AI yet? ChatGPT, CoPilot, Claude or any of the others? Plenty of people have but I know quite a few haven’t because they don’t know what to do or are afraid they’ll break something. First off, you won’t break anything! It may be a bit frustrating trying to decide how to get started or what to do. There are lots of videos on YouTube with ideas of what to do. Do you have children or grandchildren? You can ask AI to write a bedtime story for a 5 year old. Or tell AI what they are interested in and ask for gift ideas. One friend has asked AI to write a short story in the style of one of her favorite authors who has passed away. Take a picture of the contents of your refrigerator and pantry and ask AI to come up with a meal using what you have on hand. Some AIs will let you upload a photo and make changes to it by typing or speaking instructions like “remove the background” or “remove my glasses” or “put me in front of a view of the Grand Canyon” or at the beach or at the Eiffel Tower.

Planning a trip? Ask the AI for interesting places at your destination or less often visited sites or for restaurants or places to stay. Driving? Ask for fun and interesting stops along the way.

I’ve replaced my search engine with https://Perplexity.ai I use it almost exclusively when I want to search for something. I can’t figure out how to do something on my phone, so I tell Perplexity what kind of phone I have and ask it to find out for me. I regularly ask Perplexity for a recipe for beef stew or a cocktail using certain ingredients.

All of these make me happy!

I use my apps to keep me informed of new shows on TV and streaming. I use them to keep me in touch with friends and give me news and play music. I use them to learn new things and meet new people through online meetings.

I use AI to help me do things I couldn’t easily do previously. I use it to help me find out things like “what is the Beatles song Martha My Dear about?” If I’m not sure how to do something in AI, I’ll ask AI how to do it!

I don’t have to drag out an encyclopedia or a dictionary. I do ask my AIs for references so I can verify their answers if they look suspicious or if I suspect may not be 100% correct.

That’s all for this time

I hope your tech makes you happy! Try some things I’ve suggested. Come up with your own! Don't hesitate to write to me if you have questions!

As always, my intent is to help you understand the basics and equip you to search for more detailed information.

Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, suggestions, requests for future columns, to sign up for my newsletter, or whatever at [email protected] or just drop me a quick note and say HI!

And remember that I maintain a NotebookLM notebook of all my previous newsletters at https://go.ttot.link/TonysNotebook. It has access to all of my newsletters. You can ask it questions like “what are passkeys” or “what can I do to help me remember things.” You’ll need a Google account to access it and, when you visit, you’ll be given your own NotebookLM notebook.

If you like, you can read my most recent newsletter in the Hillsboro Times Gazette at https://go.ttot.link/TG-Column - I should have that link updated shortly after this edition of the newsletter appears in the online version of the newspaper.