Hi Reader, So here we are — first proper newsletter back, and I'm already breaking my own rules by writing this the day before posting with an emptied cappuccino. Some things never change. But here's what has changed: I'm finally practicing what I've been preaching. 🤖 Automation Wizard (Coming Soon) I've spent the last few weeks setting up my automation consultancy properly. Not just the business side, but actually using every tool I recommend to clients. I'll be really leaning into an...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, You may have signed up to Incantations recently or a while ago. If you need a reminder it was on [SIGNUP_DATE GOES HERE]. Either way, thank you. Things have been very quiet here for a long time (almost 2 years) — life got a bit chaotic — but I’m finally bringing the newsletter back. If you're still here, I really appreciate your patience. 🧙 What is Incantations now? It’s a behind-the-scenes look at what I’m working on, thinking about, and building — across creativity, tech, and...
25 days ago • 1 min read
Incantations 89 - Back Next Week Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], I've been pretty busy this week, not to mention being in a 6.3 earthquake on Thursday so I'll let this be really short to assure you I'll be sending a full newsletter out in the next week or so when I've stopped travelling and settled back home. The earthquake made me realise how unprepared I was (especially while travelling). I'll be setting up backup and emergency plans in the future. Something I can ask ChatGPT to help me...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
Incantations 88 - No Code Coding Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], So only just over a week and I'll be getting back the UK and finally starting a new chapter without feeling like I was bureaucratically torn between two countries. Despite trying to treat my temporary relocation as a vacation I've pretty much been working every day as well as organising my move back (also what to do with all our possessions we left here, whatever decision we need to do something with them). Anyway lots of...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read
Incantations 87 - ChatGPT is Getting Old Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], Some paperwork I was waiting on is now all sorted so I should be heading home in a few weeks back to merry old England. It's been a hectic week for me this week so a shorter newsletter than usual. ChatGPT Worse than it Was There's a lot of evidence that ChatGPT (and especially the latest model of GPT 4) isn't as creative, accurate or extensive as it was before. A lot of this may be down to the way OpenAI has had to...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
Incantations 86 - Home Alone Automation Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], This week I have temporarily moved country. For those that know me I spent around 7 years in Colombia, got married and had a son. I recently had moved back to the UK but we've taken a month vacation to sort out some paperwork back in Colombia. The uncertainty of long travel, temporary accommodation has certainly given me a sharp reminder over how useful automation is and maybe how AI can help. Since it's about that...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read
Incantations 85 - Zapier AI Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], Last week I mostly covered IFTTT and AI. I pushed the benefits of IFTTT largely because of cost and it's a great starting point for using AI in automation and automation in general. Especially in comparison to Zapier. But that doesn't mean we should dismiss Zapier and in fact depending on what you want to do it may be close to the only or better option. Zapier and IFTTT Recap A reminder and for new subscribers of what Zapier and...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read
Incantations 84 - IFTTT AI (Acronym Overload) Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], So if you may have noticed the newsletter has arrived on Saturday rather than Friday (as it had done for every previous issue). No, I didn't suddenly forget :), but I thought I'd try something a little different and catch more of the weekend vibe. Let me know if you have any thoughts either way or even if it doesn't matter. I've been thinking recently, about how I need to get back into automating more and...
almost 2 years ago • 3 min read
Incantations 83 - Prompting for Prompts Hello there, [NICKNAME GOES HERE], Welcome this week to my new subscribers and I hope you enjoy your time hanging with us. For you and everyone I do plan on putting up my old newsletters for everyone to access and I will hopefully get around to that soon. No Bing Search in ChatGPT If you're a user of ChatGPT Plus then this week you may have noticed that the option to use Bing search was removed. This was announced as a temporary measure to make some...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read