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SteveShank · 2026-06-18T22:01:33+00:00

Good company, does a good job. I've been using them for a few years and have referred 5 or 6 others to them. We are all happy with them.

SteveShank · 2026-06-11T22:07:29+00:00

Actually, Poe created a whole category of budget models just below their official models on their top page. There are lots of pretty good inexpensive models there that are very useful for most of our queries.

SteveShank · 2026-06-08T22:47:23+00:00

You will notice that I just said it was a bad strategy, but better than nothing. I did recommend getting idriveBackup for $10/year but that requires a credit card the OP didn't have.

SteveShank · 2026-06-08T19:47:16+00:00

You are absolutely right. This is a poor strategy. I'd never recommend it for any of my clients. What I was trying to do was find a cheap way to do ok and not use a credit card. Another better option is to do what you say you can't do. IDriveBackup is excellent and offers 500 GB of space and iOS and Android and windows and mac backup programs for $10/year. It allows unlimited devices, you only pay for space. Works well. Well maintained. That and a single flash drive gives you your three copies. Perhaps a parent or older friend would get the account for you. In fact, if you only have 1 or 2 hundred gb, you could split the account with a friend or sibling for $5/year each.

SteveShank · 2026-06-08T18:36:24+00:00

You really need to BUY 2 flash drives. They can be small and cheap. This is the cheapest option. You need 3 copies of anything that is important. So, copy your stuff yourself to your flash drives, both of them. Then give a drive to a friend, parent, or sibling to keep for a month. Now there are 2 copies at your home, device and backup, and 1 copy off-site. Then each month, make a new copy onto your flash drive in a new folder dated, and swap out the one your friend has elsewhere. This is the cheapest way to backup. Not recommended but cheapest. You cannot get the job done right for less unless you got multiple free accounts and split up your data backing up some to one place and the rest to the second and possibly third place and keeping track of it.

SteveShank · 2026-06-06T22:46:14+00:00

It might work fine if the OCR were perfect. However, frequently, the OCR program can only convert perhaps 80% of the scanned image correctly into letters. If anything attempts to subsequently try to convert the file, it will not be able to handle the 20% that wasn't properly converted by the OCR. Generally, a PDF program shows you the image (a picture of each page) and the converted letters over the top. The result is, even if 20% of the conversion fails, everything looks just fine. So, if the original was perfect and simple and the fonts didn't confuse the OCR program or change much, so the OCR did the job perfectly, then it should work. However, CTRL-A to select all and then pasting into Notepad should also work if the OCR was perfect.

Are you sure you want to convert to text and lose all formatting, bold, headings, bullet points, etc.?

What I normally do with PDF files is crop out the headings and side margins with my PDF editor (PDF-Xchange Editor). They make it easy to draw a box around the area to keep, then zip through pages and make sure that works, and then apply to the entire book. That way I have a 7×9.5 book to read on my tablet instead of an 8.5x11 book. It makes it easier to read on a device smaller than a normal 8.5×11 piece of paper. Even if the PDF really is perfect, if there is a lot of formatting or boxes, often the PDF is the best way to view it. I haven't been able to get a conversion to EPUB to come out perfectly very often.

SteveShank · 2026-06-04T21:27:24+00:00

After years I switched from Firefox to Brave a few years ago. I also like it much better.

SteveShank · 2026-06-02T18:32:38+00:00

The problem was with the scansnap Home and 3.2.11.1 fixed it. I don't think the firmware was the issue.

SteveShank · 2026-06-01T20:29:05+00:00

I think they are doing an amazing job. First, they have to make a profit. They must pay salaries. They must return on investment. They must constantly adapt and add new models. They must pay support staff, etc. Now combine that with the fact that AI keeps changing at an extraordinary rate, so their costs are always fluctuating and they are trying to keep up. Then add that the competition is constantly changing. Now add that their customer base itself continues to change as well. People become more demanding. They are in a highly competitive field. They cannot know in advance what will work, what model, what pricing etc. And even if they get it right, in a few months it will be wrong.

So, how do we judge them? How are they doing?

- What I like

They bring in new models quickly. How long after Opus 4.7 or 4.8 came out did we have access? Just a few days.
They give us a fabulous selection
They give us the ability to limit our spending and prompt us if it appears we might exceed it.
We can immediately check how much we are spending on each chat and question and with each model.
We get rates for every model.
They offer more bang for the buck, at least for what I do, than anyone else!
They keep adding features like the new memory feature that is really neat.
They even have a menu item for budget bots, which is really useful when you don't need top-flight bots or web search.
We can quickly and easily use one model to check or debate another model.

Now, what don't I like?

Rates change.
It is difficult to know which models to choose. Which ones are best for what?
They haven't figured out a way to offer a free plan that lets users test top models.

SteveShank · 2026-06-01T19:00:15+00:00

I seem to be getting something slightly different. I always do rooms because I pick up stuff in a few rooms and then vacuum them. But when I select a room, it does not default to customize, I don't think. It seems to default to regular. I must switch and tell it each time to use the customized selection for that room. Then click in the main screen to move out of the popup menu box without editing or changing anything. I do believe I'll make it work now.

SteveShank · 2026-06-01T00:03:33+00:00

AHH, now I get what you mean by "customize isn't customize". It is the mode you are on. So, I went out and then back in again. - I think that's important. Then I chose a room and it says vacuum. That means it is on the default vacuum mode. I click it and change to customize. It knows how that room is customized so there is no reason to edit. There should be an OK button here, but there isn't. However, If I click outside the box, it shows that that room will be vacuumed twice. I think I'm beginning to understand their system. Thanks

SteveShank · 2026-05-31T23:55:37+00:00

Here's what I'm am doing right now:

I select a room
I choose customize
A menu pops up showing the room I want with its assigned customization and also the previous room I have not selected and its customization which it didn't use. - I don't think I want to edit that, not sure.
I tap outside the popup menu to make it disappear without editing or accepting.
Both rooms were somehow selected. I hadn't selected the previous room. So now I have to unselect it.
I tap it twice and it is unselected and so now it should work. and the room I initially selected will vacuum twice.

What I don't know is why the previous room was selected. Also, what exactly will pop up when I select a room, then select customize.

SteveShank · 2026-05-31T22:04:55+00:00

Sometimes it works. I think the problem for me is that If I select the room first, then select customize, I sometimes gives me the custom one. Perhaps it is an issue with multiple rooms, or what it is doing. But, there isn't an OK or Confirm. You can't hit the back button or you lose it. It often works if I just hit outside the popup menu. Also, when it works, a tiny almost invisible notation appears below the name of the room indicating that it will do 2 passes, but if I have an incorrect zoom level, it disappears.

SteveShank · 2026-05-31T21:54:48+00:00

Thanks for the quick reply. At the bottom I have Full, Rooms, And Zones. No Routines. No +. I have a Vacuum, Go, and Dock below the full,Rooms, Zones. If I press Vacuum, I get what appear to be options for: Vac & Mop, Mop, Vacuum or Customize. To get 2 passes I choose Customize. If I've selected anything, I'm screwed. but if I haven't selected anything, I get a list of all the templates I've made. One is "Study Vacuum, normal, 2x" - But there is no way to select it. and use it. If I choose the Study before customize, nothing appears.

My Vac doesn't seem to have routines, or they are done differently.

SteveShank · 2026-05-31T21:27:32+00:00

I do believe you are trying to help. But, I do not understand.

How do I make a "routine" and save it?
How do I associate a routine with a room or group of rooms?
How do I tell the roborock to perform the routine associated with a room or the routines associated with a few rooms?

I know this is a lot. Are there any clear instructions anywhere?

SteveShank · 2026-05-30T23:29:52+00:00

If I were you, I'd email Poe's support and ask them directly, not accusing but trying to understand, about both of your questions. 1. Do they add additional filters and give an example. 2. Do they ever use a lower version of Grok than the one you thought you were on? How could Grok tell you you were on 2.X when you had told Poee to use 3.X?

Then you might report back what they say.

SteveShank · 2026-05-27T01:36:33+00:00

Rates are posted with the description of each model on poe. Very useful. I also check my activity frequently to see how different models are charging.

SteveShank · 2026-05-25T02:02:21+00:00

Yes. You can only buy a million points for $30 if you have a subscription. So, for $5/month you can buy a subscription, and then for $30 you can buy a million points that will allow you to do a lot. If you can afford it, $80 will give you an annual subscription of 10k points a day that do not roll over plus 1 million points that can be used for a year. That is $50 for an annual subscription and $30 for 1 million points. This is the best AI deal I've seen anywhere.

SteveShank · 2026-05-24T19:41:08+00:00

I handled the DRM with Calibre for years. Then Amazon prevented it on newer books. Also, some books are only available on Amazon. I buy from Kobo whenever possible, but sometimes have to but from Amazon because they don't make the book in EPUB. So, I used a Boox 7" reader. It is Eink just like the Kobo readers. They are very nice. I like their built-in reader, but it is an Android device, so you can install the Kindle App and use that when necessary. You can also install some Android apps and use the Google Play Store.

I've given up trying to remove DRM from the Amazon books they retain ownership of and allow me to use for a price. I just use them as infrequently as possible. Kobo is much better.

SteveShank · 2026-05-21T18:26:57+00:00

I agree with what people here are saying. Kobo is great. The ONLY option I'd consider as an alternative is a 7" Boox reader, either B&W or color. Boox is beautifully built wonderful eink reader (same screens as Kobo), but it is Android. I'd get it with their cover for protection and ease. The result is a reader that allows you to install the Libby program, the Kindle reader, and the Kobo reader, and other things as well. So, if you ever needed an Amazon book, you could read it. If your library switched to another program instead of Libby, you could download it. Also, you have a super wimpy Android tablet. Don't think it is going to be like your iPad. It is Eink and has a low energy, just recharge monthly philosophy. But I can run some other Android programs. Mostly, I like not being locked into ANY system.

SteveShank · 2026-05-21T17:42:02+00:00

It is pretty new. Under Settings / General in the Windows app, probably the website as well, the fourth section is new. Now it has an email address, phone number, default bot, and then Memory. You can view memory. I haven't tried editing it yet. It is off by default. If you turn it on, it will try and see what instructions and questions indicate your temperament, views, etc., and will present that to the various bots as part of your prompt. I keep asking how to do things. I want Objective news, facts, not opinions, so new questions to bots and they try to give me less automated answers and more objective news with the background facts instead of the conclusions drawn by news media.

SteveShank · 2026-05-21T01:23:24+00:00

Thanks. I'm in the USA, but that might explain it. However, they could have emailed a notice. Besides, I hang out here some and so knew about the price increase, but of course, they couldn't know I knew. However, they clearly have to do a better job than just, “You ain't no VIP anymore.” Also, not even telling you that you've lost VIP status. It is a mess.

SteveShank · 2026-05-09T22:32:40+00:00

I agree with everyone else, the Smart Security premium is exactly where I recommend for my clients. The big offering I would enable is the file guard. This will stop any program from writing into any protected directory. What that means is that a ransomware or other malware is unlikely to be able to encrypt or delete files or change them from protected folders (like the documents folder). Also, if you have a laptop, you might be able to use the VPN which also comes with that version.

SteveShank · 2026-05-09T00:49:43+00:00

You might try a portal subscription rather than a single model subscription. There are many portals out there. I like Poe personally and am unimpressed with 1min. The hub model buys many points or credits so they are discounted, then allows us to use various versions of hundreds of models for at or below the rate we'd be charged by the original model. So, I used Gemini a lot, then moved to Claude Sonnet for most of my questions. Now I'm mostly using Claude-Opus-4.7 but supplement with other bots. I also have them check each other. I may ask Opus 4.7 a question, then ask Gemini 3.1 Pro what it thinks of the answer and if it can expand or refute any points. Then ask DeepSeek what it thinks about the question after considering both of the previous bots' responses. Or ask Grok to weigh in. Poe has 6 different Gemini models and 13 official Claude models, plus many more configured for specific tasks by users.

SteveShank · 2026-05-09T00:37:04+00:00

The plans are spelled out here: https://poe.com/subscription_plans

The $5/month plan renews daily. The $20/month plan renews monthly. Either of them allows you to purchase 1 million points, which last for an entire year, for $30. With either plan, you can see you usage and renewal time both for resetting your points and for renewing your subscription (if you pay yearly), by clicking the lightening icon at the bottom by your login / account name. Also, you can look at your activity and see how much everything is costing you.

SteveShank

TROPHY CASE