Save time and do more with AI.

This blog assumes that you heard enough about AI but you have not tried to use it yet.

Here is the simplest way to get started:

🌟 Save Time and Get More Done with AI – A Simple Guide

If you know how to use Google Search, you're already halfway there! This guide shows how to use Google’s free AI tool (called Gemini) to help with things like writing, planning, and answering emails — no tech skills needed.

🔹 Step 1: Open Google’s AI Tool

Go to this website: gemini.google.com/app

You’ll see a box where you can type.

🔹 Step 2: Ask Gemini for Help

You can type questions like:

“Help me plan a 3-day trip to New York”

“Summarize this email for me” (just copy-paste the email)

“Fix the grammar in this message: i hope your well”

Gemini will give you a fast, helpful answer — kind of like a smart assistant.

✈️ Example: Planning a Trip

Let’s say you're going on vacation. Here's what to do:

Type something like:

“I'm going to London from June 5–10. I like museums, walking, and food tours. Can you plan a trip for me?”

Gemini will give you a sample itinerary.

You can reply with: “Make it slower paced” or “Add a day trip to Oxford” to change the plan.

✉️ Example: Email Help

If you get a long email and don’t want to read it all:

Copy the email text.

Paste it into Gemini and type: “Summarize this”

You’ll get a quick overview.

Want to reply? Type a response and ask Gemini to fix spelling, grammar, or tone.

💡 Tip: Try Other Tools Too

Gemini is great, but you can also try:

ChatGPT (chat.openai.com) – good at writing and chatting.

Claude – helpful for writing stories or documents.

Perplexity – great for finding information quickly.

✅ You Don’t Need to Be a Tech Expert

Just type like you would in Google Search, and these AI tools will do the hard part. It’s like having a super-smart helper that works 24/7.

Want help using AI for something specific? Just ask!

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So now that you know the basics, how about something more interesting way to use AI?

If you have never used AI:

The first step is understanding how to use it. I'll assume you've used Google before, have a Google account, and are already logged in. If not, you can still follow these steps without a Google Account.

Go to https://gemini.google.com/app

You will see

First try clicking on Tell me what you can do.

You will see

Get more done

• Write emails: Ask me to write or re-write emails and even change the tone based on who will read it.
• Refine work: Request feedback, discuss different perspectives, and get help with research and outlines.
• Streamline tasks: Go from multiple tabs to one conversation by asking me to find information for you and complete tasks directly in the chat.

Learn something new

• Help with studying: Generate study plans, quizzes, and practice questions to test your knowledge.
• Create summaries: Get an overview of reports or lecture notes, including key points and takeaways.
• Translate text and check grammar: Ask me to translate text or edit your grammar and sentence structure. I can even help you practice your pronunciation.

Boost your creativity

• Generate images: I can quickly design images, mock up logos, illustrate bedtime stories, and add text to photos.
• Compose a song or story: Prompt me to write something that will capture a memory or delight a loved one.
• Explore different styles: Envision your work across a range of approaches, visual genres, and copy formats.

Since you are used to searching on Google, you can try the same search at Gemini to begin with.

When you get a response, reply with what your needs are more specifically. Example: You asked for "How do I use Google Gemini for my travel"

Do that first in Google search.

Do the same in Gemini.

Let's imagine you're already visiting a place and your trip is booked. Open a Google Document (or Microsoft Word document). In any format, type the details of your trip: From, To, Departure, Arrival. Then, describe how much free time you have and on which days. Describe your likes and dislikes, as well as your physical capabilities and limitations. At the end, ask a question in the same document, such as: 'Suggest a detailed plan for me.'

Now copy and paste all this in Gemini.

If you want a different response, tell Gemini what you didn't like about the previous one and what you're looking for.

Now, copy and paste that into the document.

Finally, ask Gemini to summarize it.

Congratulations! You've started using AI.

You can do the same with other topics besides travel by first creating a document outlining your plan and interests, and then asking a question at the end. This document provides 'context' for the question you're asking the AI. It's often referred to as a 'context file.'

You can now use the same context file and try the same at

https://chatgpt.com/

and a bunch of others which I will not mention here.

One common way of using AI is to summarize a huge document in the form of a PDF file or a link to a public web site with lots of info or a youtube video.

Then simply ask

"Summarize it" or "explain it to a retired person" or "explain it to an elementary school kid"

If you have a long email from someone, copy and paste it in Gemini and ask for Summary. 

Then you can go back to the email and start your reply and compose the reply.

Copy and paste the reply and ask "rewrite it to correct grammar" or "rewrite it to make it short and concise and yet polite and professional"

Problem with your Wifi? Last updated Apr 30 2025.

Follow simple steps and see if that helps.

If you are using the ISP provided modem:

Wi-Fi built-in to the modem provided by Comcast/Xfinity, ATT, T-Mobile or another ISP usually is not the best Wi-Fi.

If you are in a small apartment, just place the modem at a high point like on the top of a bookcase (not behind the TV or on the floor). Don’t place it at floor level, or where it can be blocked by a device such as a TV, fridge, kitchen or laundry appliance, or microwave. Any of these things can block the signal.

If relocating the modem fixes things, you are done.

If you disable wifi in the ISP modem and use your own single router:

Be aware that there are security concerns with TP Link routers. Right now, brands like Asus or Netgear are often recommended. The ASUS RT-BE58U is a good choice. 

Disabling Wi-Fi in the ISP modem is easiest if you connect a laptop with an Ethernet network cable to the ISP provided modem. Then, follow the instructions on the back of the router to login to the router. You must do this anyway to change the administrator password on the ISP provided router for your security. 

Your ISP-provided modem has a router which gets what is called WAN (Wide Area Network) IP address from your ISP, and your router performs “DHCP,” which provides what are called LAN (Local Area Network) IP addresses, typically 192.168.1.x. If you use your own Wi-Fi router, look for a YouTube video of your ISP-provided modem to disable DHCP, so that it passes through the WAN IP address to your router. Otherwise you have what is called double NAT (External to internal Network Address Translation). With double NAT, things will still work, but you’ll have additional latency or loss of performance.

Remember to place your wireless router to a high vantagepoint.

If that helps, you are done. Your own router is much better than the ISP.

If you need better coverage because you have a big apartment or townhouse or single family home with 2 or more floors:

You will need a Mesh router. Be aware that you are now getting into more complex territory. You need a minimum of 2 units. Some systems connect to your main router using an Ethernet cable, while others connect wirelessly. At the time of this writing in Apr 2025, Eero such as Amazon Eero 6+ mesh wifi system - Supports internet plans up to a Gigabit, Coverage up to 3,000 sq. ft., Connect 75+ devices, 2-pack $180 is probably the cheapest.

The connection of the main mesh unit which connects to the ISP Modem and guidance for the placement is the same as a single router.

The 2nd one gets complex. If you are super lucky, a 2nd unit placed high in the weakest location of coverage connected wirelessly to the main unit is all you need.

If you are not lucky and you are renting and cannot run a wire from the main mesh unit to the 2nd unit, your next best choice is called Powerline network. Welcome to more trouble. 

If the wireless connection between the mesh stations isn't great, there's a trick using your power outlets called "powerline." Imagine sending the Internet signal through your electrical wires. It can work, but it's a bit complicated. For it to work well, both outlets you're using need to be on the same "electrical phase" (think of it like being on the same main wire).
Figuring this out can be tricky. If you're lucky, the outlets are connected to the same circuit breaker in your electrical panel. 

If not, you might need a voltmeter set to  (a tool to measure electricity) and a long extension cord to test it. If the reading between the hot (smaller rectangular) and both ends is zero, they're likely in the same phase. If it's a higher number (like 240v), they're not. Find another outlet.

There are devices like the TP-Link AV2000 Powerline Adapter that you can plug in. One end connects to your main mesh unit local port with a short network cable, and the other Powerline adapter on the receiving end has a network outlet to connect to your 2nd mesh unit. In the image below, the router on the sending end is your main mesh unit and on the receiving end instead of the TV you connect the 2nd mesh unit.

If it works, you are done. If you still need more coverage, adding more mesh units might or might not help because they interfere with each other.


What if the mesh unit is not working well and you have dropped connections?

Now you are in prosumer territory. Look at devices such as unifi cloud gateway.

https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/cloud-gateways/ucg-ultra?s=us
The gateway connects to your ISP modem. The one called Cloud Gateway Ultra has 1 port to connect to your modem and 4 ports for your devices which are meant to be connected to your own access points. If you came this far, look at you-tube videos on unifi.

The minimal unifi system is a cloud gateway with a builtin wireless router. That may just be enough for your apartment instead of 2 mesh units.
https://ui.com/us/en/cloud-gateways/wifi-integrated/express
https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/cloud-gateways-wifi-integrated/products/udr7?s=us&l=en

If you own your own home, best to connect the access points to the main unit with cat 6 or better cable without a coupler or a network jack in between.

Hope this helps.

Is it time to buy OLED TV? Do you need 8K TV?

LG was the first to market with OLED and Sony uses LG panels. Sony is known to have the best video processor. For a 65" TV Sony is about 50% more than LG and you really may not see the difference IMHO.

However, it has been documented and observed that 2018 model LG OLED TVs have burnin. If you watch a channel like CNN for a long time and you change channel, you will see the CNN logo on the bottom right.  I followed all the announcements by LG on the 2019 OLED TVs and I see no mention of a fix. So, buy it at your own risk.

What is the next best?

It is Quantom Dot LED. Samsung calls it QLED. You can get it for much less if you buy Vizio P series Quantum.

I own a Vizio P Series non-Quantum and it is more than OK. In fact a friend bought Vizio M series 65" for $800 and if I have to comment on visual quality with 10 for Vizio P Series non-Quantum, I would say Vizo M Series is a 7 and QLED or P series Quantum is probably a 12 and OLED a 15 (but there is burnin).

Want to get the best bang for the buck? Look into TCL 6 Series.

Do you need 8K? Hardly any content even at 4K for video. Forget about 8K. In fact, quite a bit of broadcast, cable and streaming is 720p and some 1080i, 1080p and I cannot tell the difference on 4k TV. My photos and video clips are the only use case for 4K TV. For 8K TV, the only use case would be photos. Unless you have lot of cash to burn and want to be the bleeding edge adopter, I would wait for 8K  TV 65" to come down to $3k and then buy a 4K Quantum LED for a bargain. When LG and Sony do not even mention the burnin issue, I am not sure when they would find a solution.

If you use streaming services consider Google TV builtin and mini led.

Hope this helps a bit.

Experience with eBike conversion Bafang 750W motor and UPP 13AH Battery.

I paid about $2.2k including tax to have Schwinn Hybrid bike converted to eBike in May 2020. Battery pack weight was about 9lb and motor was about 8lb vs the bike weight about 23lb (Aluminum body).

With a throttle only max speed 28mph on flat road. I used it mostly for weekend rides 10 miles round trip 800 to 1000ft elevation gain. Battery was 48V 25A rated 13Ah with USB outlet. I used the USB just once for my phone in 15 months. After riding about 150 miles on inital charge it showed about 25% battery after I used an average of 10% pedal power assist which is 2.5A and 48V or 120W. I barely compensated for the extra weight and did not really use Pedal Assist to make biking easier. I used max pedal assist or throttle only when I was riding 2 to 4 miles round trip tennis courts about 2 to 3 times a month depending on weather.

Suddenly the battery died and will not charge. Green light indicated that battery was fully charged. I took it to the same place which did conversion. They asked for $435 for the battery. Their labor rate is $90 per hr. So I assume that they would have charged me 525 plus tax about $570 but warranty on the battery was only 1 yr even though "expected lifetime" is 5yrs.

I contacted 5 local bike shops. 3 do not service eBikes. 1 did not respond and 1 said they if I buy the battery, they could install for $50 to $100.

I looked and found a 10Ah battery without USB Hailong battery plate, without USB $270 including delivery on eBay. A light USB battery pack I have will do the job for the rare case. For my usecase a larger battery was only more weight. This one was about 2lb lighter and range is still probably lot more than I need. Manufacturer's instructions interestingly suggested that I charge the battery fully and discharge it 3 to 5 times initially to make sure that I get max capacity. I guess I have to use the throttle or max pedal assist just to drain the battery. The instructions also called for not exposing the battery to over 113F or below freezing temp which may happen anywhere in the US in a garage. They suggest bringing the battery inside on such extreme days. They also suggested that I charge it to at least 60 to 80% once in 3 months regardless of use.

All I needed was a hex wrench and a heat gun or hair dryer and a 1/2 inch heat shrink wrap for $2.50 at Harbor Freight. I just removed the old battery by unlocking it with the key, cut off the old shrink wrap and disconnected the plus and minus Anderson connectors, removed the battery plate with hex wrench and installed the new plate, slid the shrink wrap over the power cable, connected power and used heat gun (also $10 at Harbor Freight but any hair dryer would do the job). In 5 min $272.50 I was back in business.

A friend of mine bought a brand name eBike and he too had to have the batery replaced. Luckily for him it was under warranty but otherwise brand name ebikes with propreitary battery would probably cost a lot more.

I looked at the instructions in the manual of the battery. Chinese manufacturer. I asked a friend of mine who is in the business of building solar and battery backup solutions if it is worth paying a 50 to 60% premium for battery buit using 18650 cells by Panasonic, LG or Samsung. He told me that premium is not worth it because the warranty is still 1year even with those and the premium is not worth it because they by no means last 50 to 60% longer. Tesla uses CATL Chinese cells in many of their cars.

Is it worth replacing the a dead cell? It takes about 30min perhaps to open the battery pack and check each of the parallel cells. 10Ah battery I bought is made up of 13 3.7V cells in series to add up to 48V, 2.5Ah each 4 cells in parallel 10.5Ah. I would have to open it and check 13 of the parallel cells to determine how many are bad. Then the entire parallel set of 4 have to be removed and replaced with cells of the same voltage as the rest. Even then I would have a mix of old and new. A professional service would charge about $200 to do this. Still warranty would not get extended. DIY requires investing $60 in a low cost spot welder, $10 for nickel strips, $12 minimum for 4 cells retail price and 2 hrs total labor perhaps. So spending $82 vs $272.50 for a new battery pack 1 yr warranty and 5min of my time was easy decision.

I looked at many videos on youtube on eBike DIY including how to replace the battery, install the motor, sensors for speed, gear change, throttle. You could buy a kit for about $1100 with parts and tools including tax and shipping vs $2.2k I paid to convert my bike. I think it takes max 4hrs to do it. There are lots of videos on youtube. If you are a DIY person, give it a shot. I told my friends that if they or their friends want to convert their bikes to electric or replace battery, I can help at no cost as a community service.

Hope this helps someone save time and money. Happy riding!

Rover Dog sitter does not do any vetting of dog sitters

 We tried River dog sitter where we left our dogs with dog sitter.

2 out of 4 times, there were too many dogs at the same time handled by just 1 person and we had injury to deal with while abroad. Luckily our son was in town and he took dogs to the vet. It took 2yrs for Rover to disqualify that dog sitter.

We interviewed 2 others taking care of dog sitters. One was accepting big dogs in downtown area with a very small yard. That person should not have been allowed to dog sit even a single big dog let alone 2. One was a teen ager on a tourist visa visiting her sister with no dog experience and legally allowed to work in the US.

We hired a dog sitter to stay in our house and take care of the dogs. 2 times the dogs were fed 3 hrs late and we had to call a neighbor to help. 2 times, the dogs almost left out compound because of damaged fence panels not noticed by dog sitter before letting the dogs out and once when gardener would come from a side gate and dogs should not have been allowed outside. On a hot day dogs were left in the back yard all day. When we came home we found that both dogs lost a lot of weight because they were underfed. This dog sitter was barely in the house and rushing to her parents house for food and shower. She was just not equipped to stay in our house and take care of the dogs. She actually complained to Rover that we were rude to her when we almost lost our dogs due to her and 2 times they were exposed to high heat and hunger.

Rover gave us no compensation and no phone call either.

APPASO Touchless Kitchen Faucet with Pull Down Sprayer, Motion Sensing Activated Hands-Free. Replacing IR sensor.

 Summary:

It works but very poor customer service.

https://www.appaso.com/pages/home

https://www.amazon.com/Touchless-Kitchen-Dalmo-Fingerprints-Resistant/dp/B07SRB12MD/ref=asc_df_B07SRB12MD/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=385178072563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7889088171146804546&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032008&hvtargid=pla-820815725179&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=78829232096&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=385178072563&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7889088171146804546&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032008&hvtargid=pla-820815725179

Details:

Feb 4 21     

Item received and installed in 20min and worked. I did my own install.

Mar 25 21  

Stopped working and replacing batteries did not help. Sent seller message.

Seller insisted on video showing failure but no way offered to upload video to seller other than review on Amazon or sharing on google drive.

Mar 29 21

Seller sent IR sensor and replacement controller tracking number with 5 to 14 day delivery time. Luckily the faucet was working without controller in manual mode.

Apr 3 21

Received IR sensor and replacement controller with no instructions and no video on Youtube or their website. Controller is external and needs just water to be shutoff and 3 hookups but that did not solve the problem. The IR sensor needed replacement. Sent message to seller but got reply next day (sun) that office is closed and they would respond next week.

Here is what it took to replace the IR Sensor.

1. Completely uninstall the faucet.

2. Twist open a big ring and inside it pop out a plastic piece holding the hoses and wire.

3. Remove hot water hose and mixer hose to get access to the IR sensor inside the faucet.

4, Remove a bolt holding the IR sensor inside.

5. Remove the IR sensor and replace it with the new one.

6. If you do not have a magnetic screw driver, it is a pain to put the bolt back.

7. Reconnect the hot water hose and the mixer hose into the faucet.

8. Close the big ring holding the hoses and wire. Ignore the plastic piece holding the hoses and wire. It really does nothing

9. Re-install the faucet and hook up the controller.

10. Turn on the water valve for hot and cold water and test.

It worked but took me over 2hrs with no instructions or help from the Appaso.

I guess other touchless faucets are similar and I hope this helps someone. Best to ask for replacement faucet and not try to replace the IR sensor inside the faucet. It is trivial to replace the controller box. If you were call a plumber, you probably would be advised to get new faucet and get charged once for visit and 2nd time for the install.

Please read before you buy Nest Gen 3.

 I had Nest Gen 2 since Aug 2013. No failures at all. I did not bother with self learning mode.

5 years later in Aug 2018, I decided to replace it with Nest Gen 3 and 3 sensors to better control the temperature in my house. 2yr warranty.

Mar 29 2019 Battery stopped charging.

Mar 31 2019 Google shipped Nest replacement. I received it in 2 days and shipped the bad unit immediately. I kept getting reminders that they did not receive the return even though I had proof that it was delivered. Finally they acknowledged the receipt of return on Apr 22nd.

Aug 29 2020 11pm. I saw that Nest was offline on the App on my phone. I went and saw that it was not connecting to wifi. Battery was low. According to instructions from the previous experience of bad battery, I charged it not for 1hr but 9hrs using micro USB and at 8am next morning battery was only 3.75V which was supposed to be enough to connect to Wifi. The unit would not see any wifi networks including hot spot on my phone inches away. Apparently Nes gen 3 has a known issue of failure in wifi chip on top of draining battery.

Aug 30th Sun 4pm. I received return label for the bad unit and I was promised a replacement to be shipped in 1 business day. Warranty was expiring on that day! They took another week to let me choose how I want the replacement. 1. Return the bad unit and wait till they receive it and then they would ship a replacement. Note that it took them 3 weeks after I shipped the bad unit for them to receive and then few more days to get replacement. 2. Ask for Advance Exchange and they would send me a link to order replacement unit for $190 at put a hold on my Google Pay account to that extent. I asked for Advance exchange. They took another week to send me a link to order using Advance exchange and then another week for me to receive the replacement unit. The return is expected by Sep 23rd back at Google and I have no idea when they will actually remove the hold on my Google Pay account based on previous experience when I get too many reminders to return the bad unit if though I did immediately.

No replacement shipped even by Friday Sep 4th. We had 3 days of 110 deg weather forecast Sat to Mon. I went to Home Depot and bought Nest gen 3 and it was working perfectly. I asked Google if they can give me credit for the unit I bought. They would not.

Sep 19th I received the replacement unit from Google and warranty would be extended for 90 days.

I returned the unit I bought at Home Depot because Google asked me to "work with the retailer".

If you do not use the so called learning capability of Nest you have other choices from real thermostat manufacturer Honeywell Lyric T5+ if you do not need additional room sensors. It $70 cheaper than Nest gen 3. There is Honeywell with 1 remote sensor $200 and 2 more sensors can be added for $65 vs $220 for Nest Gen 3 and 3 pack of sensors for $100. $320.

There is also Ecobee and I know people who are very satisfied with Ecobee and Honeywell. If my Nest gen 3 dies after 90 days, it will be replaced by Honeywell.

Summary: Google Nest has reliability as well as very poor support and you have other choices now.

One final thing I did not really with any support from Google. A 24V transformer connected between C and Rh provides 200mA to keep the unit always powered rather than depend on 20 or 40mA provided if you do not have C wire connected. There are other ways to connect C wire you can find on youtube.

Also, you can find videos on youtube how to replace the battery on Nest. I ordered one. You get the idea? If you buy Nest, better be prepared to fix it yourself or just by some other brand.