ChatGPT, find me customers

ChatGPT, find me customers: Use AI to find out what people are saying online so you can better target your company’s ads. Take a lesson from Shake Shack: They used a bot to scan 80,000 Reddit threads about chicken sandwiches, narrowed it down to the 30 most active and ran ads for their new sandwich. It worked — sales were 31% higher.

Tags: advertisements (ads), AI (artificial intelligence), ChatGPT, Reddit, Shake Shack, small businesses, targeted advertising


Area codes and numbers that are probably spam

Whew, the election’s over. The onslaught of robocalls and texts is over, too … right? Nope.

There are fewer political calls and messages, sure, but there are always scammers and spammers. It may be easier for these creeps to get a hold of us now that our phones aren’t constantly lighting up with election-related notifications.

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Protect all your devices with the best antivirus software

When it comes to antivirus software, there’s no better choice than our sponsor, TotalAV. For one, it’s available for your phone and computer, so all your devices are protected.

This security suite protects all your devices from the scariest online threats, such as ransomware, spyware, adware and (of course) malware. Its WebShield browser extension provides advanced protection against malicious websites and even blocks bad guys from stealing your data.

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Out the door, dinosaur: Microsoft is ending support for its Windows Mail, Calendar and People apps. Starting Dec. 31, 2024, you’ll lose the ability to send and receive emails through Mail. Microsoft wants everyone on its new Outlook app. Here’s the official exporting guide for your Mail emails and contacts. FYI: The Outlook app is slow, so you might want to switch to a different email client altogether. Thunderbird is a good free option.

1 week’s worth

Amount of supplies Norway recommends its citizens have on hand in case of war with Russia. Imagine getting that in the mail. Norway isn’t alone; check Ready.gov for the U.S. government’s planning guides for everything from a flood to a snowstorm. Nothing sets my doomsday alarm ringing like 10 minutes without the internet.

Free online financial calculators to get debt under control, plan for retirement and see your net worth

If you need help managing your money, you’ve come to the right place. We have tons of financial tips for investors and small business owners. Case in point: Here are 10 free spreadsheet templates to help you get a handle on your money.

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A new credit card fee: Several credit card companies, including Citibank and Synchrony Bank, are charging a $1.99 monthly fee for paper statements. Printing and mailing costs financial institutions $600 million, so they want us to pay for it. Call your card company and ask them to email you the “Schumer box.” It’s an easy-to-read table of all their fees.

🚨 “Are Bengal cats legal in Australia?” Type that into Google Search and you’re in trouble. Hackers are creating fake websites and hijacking real ones to land at the top for popular search terms. No kidding, cat sites are a big target. Once you’re there, the goal is to get you to download a zip file. Safety first: Never download anything from a website you stumbled upon.

🎞️ Coming to (paid) Google Workspace in the next few days: Google’s AI-powered Vids app pops out presentations with just a prompt. Describe what you want, drop in files or documents, and Gemini does the rest. The app adds stock footage, generates a script and provides an AI voiceover. Will it make presentations better? Sitting through a PowerPoint presentation is like a mix between a root canal and a colonoscopy … but without the luxury of anesthesia to take the edge off.

Over 50 countries

Offer digital nomad visas, letting you live and work there for months or even years. Thailand’s, for example, can be renewed for up to five years. Other top destinations include Spain, the Netherlands and Norway. Here’s the full list. You can find me in the Seychelles. 

Not a cure for loneliness: Big Tech says AI tools like Replika let you create a virtual AI companion. The more you chat and pay per month, the more it adapts its tone to become a friend you think you can trust. Remember, you never know what the developers taught it or will take away in a nanosecond.