New computer advantage: ask Cortana anything

 All right, Cortana, what to add to cottage cheese for a complete meal? Of course, all Cortana does is—in the blink of an eye—sent me to websites with “cottage cheese” in the title. I clicked on the first one. It’s always the best, right? Wrong. I clicked on the X and lost the list, so I asked her if she could go back to the last question. She couldn’t. Ha-ha-ha-hah. So I had to re-enter the question. This time, I clicked on the third entry, a cutesy blog that at least gave me some sensible choices. I chose one: crumbled graham crackers & a bit of pumpkin spice?

Let’s try that. I had a glass canister of graham crackers at one end of my row of snacks lining the counter. Pumpkin pie spice I found easily in the shelves of spices that I rarely use. Crumble, crumble, shake, shake, stir, stir.

As our present choir director said after he heard our choir sing (before he was hired, I believe), “Not bad!” (We’ve never, ever let him live that down, even though he meant it in a good way.)

This concoction wasn’t half bad! Just a hint of sweetness from the crackers and, of course, the “autumn” flavor of the spice added a nice touch. Thank you, Cortana.

And just WHO is Cortana? I asked Cortana that question. Well, I put her/it in the Microsoft Edge Search and cut-and-pasted the answers, which even I didn’t know. Cortana is rather like Siri, the voice that directs you in GPS machines.

Cortana is an intelligent personal assistant created by Microsoft for Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft Band, Xbox One, iOS and Android.

Cortana is NOT a she. But it can do these things: translate languages, keep you moving with current traffic info, track a flight, text from your PC (Good news to me, I think.). It can track your teams and scores, set quiet hours, screen your calls and messages. You can tell Cortana who may break through your set quiet hours.

She/It will play your music, remind you about things based on time, send reminders based on your location, remind you of things when people contact you.

Cortana is good at math; it can find facts for you, convert weights, measurements, and currencies, contact a business quickly and help manage your calendar.

Just think, until I had to buy a new PC, in which Windows 10 was pre-installed, I would have been ignorant of this new ‘bot’ that supposedly can make my life easier.

But what it can’t do is write in information on the Master copy of National Poetry Day in Arkansas Celebration winners’ list. Nor can it design and create a template for certificates for said event.

I thought I’d ask Cortana a question I’ve been lightly pondering after using up the bag of salad greens: Is spinach dip considered a green vegetable? She/It evaded the question by giving me a list of spinach information and recipes for making spinach dip.

So I asked another: Are pickles considered a green vegetable? She/It did find an answer: Cucumbers have relatively little nutritional value, and with the salt or sugar added, probably not. Drat!

But thank you anyway, Cortana.