The fresh face of payday loans: Cash-advance apps
You get paid next week, but your credit card bill is due this week, and, oops, so is that new car payment. You’re only a few hundred bucks short — you just need a way to bridge the gap.
Unfortunately for you, there’s an app for that. Actually, there are dozens. They’re called cash-advance apps. And most things about them tick me off.
You can’t delete Meta AI — Do this instead
If you’ve logged into Instagram or Facebook recently, you’ve probably noticed things look a little … different.
Meta’s new AI-powered search window is right at the top of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Think of it as Siri or Alexa for social media — without a cute name.
Google Pixel lifesaver: Your phone now has a mode to detect a severe car crash, call 911 and share your location. Open Personal Safety > Features > scroll to Car Crash Detection > Set up. Allow the necessary permissions, and you’re good to go!
Let’s do a fun math problem that’s stumping the internet. “A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”
📶 Wi-Fi issues on Windows 11? Forget the network and start fresh. In the taskbar, click the network icon > the network status button (top left). Right-click the network you’re on, then hit Forget. Now, go back to the network icon, click the arrow next to the wireless icon, and re-add your Wi-Fi network. Lovely.
Lemme upgrade ya: The ChatGPT app is now free for all M-series Macs, and it’s better than using the web version. A cool trick? Hit Option + spacebar to bring up a ChatGPT text field over any window. Ask away without switching screens. Download it here. Just watch out for AI making crap up.
Better AI prompts: For creative work, tell AI to write for a certain reading level. For the general public, that’s around an eighth-grade level. (No one needs to struggle to read your marketing, website or email copy.)
🔠 I use it all the time: If you have an iPhone XS, XR or later, your phone can recognize text in photos, images and video. Just hold down on text in a pic you took or downloaded, and then you can paste that text wherever you want. The same goes for recent-model Androids.