The Day Copilot Told Me to Chill — and My Fitness Streaks

 I was working on something with Copilot, and we'd been at it for a while. Then I saw this prompt:

Copilot prompt: Time for a break? Copilot is an AI, but you're not. It might feel nice to take a breather.

Nicely done, Copilot! Looking out for my mental health. And reminding me I'm a human. (Well, technically you didn't remind me of that, you just reminded me I'm not an AI.) But... I guess that's probably not AI itself, that's probably some human's explicit coding on the web page to pop up that prompt after a certain length of AI "session" - so maybe it's not AI looking out for me after all. Naturally, I asked Copilot about it (in a different session), and it replied:

What do YOU think of AI?

Exploring the digital frontier, one prompt at a time

If you’ve been following this blog, you already know I’ve had my share of AI adventures—mostly good, a few chaotic, all interesting. I started out pretty skeptical back in the early ChatGPT days, but somewhere between code generation, design help, blog proofreading, and producing videos for The Pancake Delivery Frog, AI won me over as a genuine time-saver.

It’s helped in the kitchen, in the Google Play Store, and even in building my "personal fitness tracker" web page (which reminds me: I should probably go walk today). And yes, it’s powered some sillier projects too—looking at you, Joe's Land Fishing.

But that’s my AI journey. What about yours? Any AInecdotes you’d like to share with me (and the 1.5 people who read this blog regularly)? Any concerns over "AI's Big Red Button Not Working"? What's one thing AI has helped you with that surprised you? Drop them in the comments!

Wasted Credits and French Frogs: My AI Video Odyssey

It's Arten, the Pancake Delivery Frog!

What's green, hoppy, and delivers delicious golden circles? Why, The Pancake Delivery Frog, of course! Never heard of him (Google search results here)? Well, you should check him out at his channel or, even better, go look at the playlist which includes The Pancake Delivery Theme Song as well as Episode 1 (Pancake Delivery Frog in: The Mayor) and Episode 2 (Pancake Delivery Frog in: The Contraption). Hopefully you'll enjoy the delicious videos (at least the theme song one). But as it turns out, the "making of" story behind these videos is just as much of an experiment as the episodes themselves... so read on for a not‑quite‑excruciating recap of occasionally‑excruciating AI techno‑wizardry.

The Heart of the Matter: Style vs. Life-Saving Stats

Withings Scanwatch on my wrist

This is my Withings ScanWatch, a hybrid “smart” fitness watch. I’ve been wearing the 42mm black version (the original model, not the ScanWatch 2) for a long time now, paired with the metal oyster band, and it’s become part of my everyday routine.

What I love most is the balance it strikes: classic analog style with just enough smart features. The tiny digital display scrolls messages, calls, and notifications, and while you can’t reply from the watch, it’s great for deciding whether something needs immediate attention. The battery life is phenomenal—measured in weeks, not days—and it tracks steps, heart rate, sleep, and offers on‑demand ECG and SpO2 readings. It even does occasional automated SpO2 checks during sleep.

The ECG feature has been genuinely useful. It once captured an episode of afib when I felt palpitations and ran a recording. I sent the PDF to my cardiologist, which led to a follow‑up evaluation. So this watch has absolutely earned its place on my wrist.

But there’s one thing it doesn’t do: continuous heart‑rate monitoring. It only tracks continuously during a manually started workout session. And that’s where my dilemma begins.