AutoHotkey Newsletter 2025-04-10 Want Better nswers❓ Ask Better Questions❗

Howdy %Name%,

I was on a group Zoom call with Isais and Irfan and asked a question about a program.   They gave me an answer however I was asking a Marketing question, not a programming one.

It reminded me of the old-adage:

A short question requires a long answer;

But a long question requires a short answer

However there is more to it than that.

In fact, the length and specificity of your question has a HUGE correlation to the likelihood that they’re actually answering the “actual” question you have!

There is often a lot of extra context that is not clear which would guide the response.

It’s one of the biggest reasons why people think “AI Sucks”.

So, the next time you’re asking AI a question give it a longer question and take the time to explain your goals / assumptions.  I’m quite certain you’ll get a better response!

Now on with the show…

Amazon Receipt / Invoice Downloader

It’s almost “Tax Day” here in the states!  I do a lot of purchasing on Amazon.com.

It’s great having fewer places to go to for my Invoices however Amazon is a royal pain to download invoices.

So I had Irfan write an AHK script using our Rufaydium library.

You can check out the Amazon Receipt downloader I used in this video.

Amazon Receipt Downloader: Download quickly with AutoHotkey

Using our Claude Class

During an AHK Hero call Isaias gave a brief tutorial how to use our AHK Claude Class.

Using the AutoHotkey Claude API Class – AHK hero extract

You’ll need to have an API Token for Claude (but not a paid monthly account)

Improving People’s Lives: Story #44

I made a super-simple tool to let people make snippets.  It’s perfect for what one of our clients needed!   Check it out here

Simple Menu For Sending Text with AutoHotkey v2

Working with AHK v2 Menus

Speaking of menus, Isaias gave a great little lecture during the AHK Hero meeting on how easy it is to build menus in AutoHotkey.

Learning Menus in AutoHotkey v2 [Excerpt from AHK Hero call]

If you’re wanting to learn more about GUIs, check out our GUIs are Easier course.  Don’t’ forget we offer a “double your money back” guarantee!

What we’re reading

• 9 Tasks you can Automate on Your Android Phone
• Here’s why I Keyboard Commands to My Mouse
• Using Everything App❓ How to get the most out of it
• Alexa Plus just launched in early access but is missing some features

AI / Chat GPT-3 News / Usage

• Anthropic launches an AI chatbot plan for colleges
• Llama 4 Models with 10 Million Context Window
• Runway’s Gen-4 Gets Characters Right
• Chat GPT can pull from Internal Files
• The AI therapist can see you now

⚡️Productivity tips:

Ctrl + Shift + $ – Apply currency formatting to selected cells in Excel.

A spot of Humor  Jennifer Lawrence is Hilarious!

Jennifer Lawrence funniest moments ever (MUST WATCH)

What we utomated this week with AutoHotkey #82

During our 82^nd video of What we Automated with AutoHotkey I showcased some of our new tools.  Check it out here.

This episode I covered 108 AutoHotkey scripts we worked on.  Were any of them yours❓

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #82

Client’s say…

“You guys are awesome” — Allen Horn

AHK Hero

Consider joining the AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 396 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

You can watch 1 hour a day for a year and not repeat content! That’s a lot of AHK Learning!

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

• Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
• Explaining Asterisk on #Include
• Using Static Variables in Functions
• How “agents” work with token usage in OpenAI
• Using DateDiff()

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and a 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)

️ Quotable quotes

• Failure is not the opposite of success; It’s a part of it!
• Clarity is freedom. Know what’s important to you and you’ll be free to ignore everything else — Joe Glines
• Ideas fade away if you don’t write them down — Dan Kennedy
• Tough times never last, but tough people do❗ — Robert Schuller

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The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan, Rizwan and staff

P.S. The intro to this newsletter talks about increasing the likelihood of getting the right answer to your question.  This is also how we answer questions in the AHK Hero group.

We consider the member’s skill level and then tailor the answer to them so they are able to edit/maintain it.