AHK News 2026-01-15 Why I spent $187.89 on a bobblehead doll👀

Tag: 2025-      Subj: Why I spent $187.89 on a bobblehead doll

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

So I got an offer the other day that I just could not pass up!

You may be aware that I have my Undergrad was in Marketing and my Masters in Market Research.

I spend ~20 years working in corporate America in/around Marketing.

The one thing I learned is that the vast amount of Advertising & Marketing done by Corporate America is crap?

Around 15 years ago I happened upon a video from Dan Kennedy and, within a couple of minutes, I could tell he was different.

One major difference is that he insisted that everything was tracked!  If you could not measure it, you didn’t do it!   Period.

Over the years I’ve watched hundreds of seminars from him and read all of his books.

He teaches mostly about direct mail, and marketing, however he does also emphasize productivity.

I’ve learned so much from him that, when I saw the chance to order this Bobblehead doll I had to do it!

Bobblehead doll of a man with blond hair, glasses and a goatee riding a white goat with curved horns

Now, when I feel myself “goofing off” I just glance at him on my desk and get back to work!

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

runAprogram

Advanced Tips for Programming with AI

During last week’s Hero call, Isaias gave a tutorial on how he’s found better ways to work with AI.

He showed how, if you’re using VS Code, you can restrict its ability to edit files, and much more.

Check it out in this video.

Advanced AI Lessons using VSCode and Agents | AHK Hero Extract
Advanced AI Lessons using VSCode and Agents | AHK Hero Extract


Feeding your Data to Various AI tools

Speaking of AI, in this video I walked through some of the cool things I’ve been doing with AI.

From easily creating deployable Apps to leveraging NotebookLM to write marketing materials, AI is really becoming incredibly helpful!

Pushing Data into various AI tools | AHK Hero Extract
Pushing Data into various AI tools | AHK Hero Extract


Automating Parts of the AHK Newsletter

I’ve been writing the AHK Newsletter for over half a decade and have been, over time, streamlining the process.

In this video, I discuss some of the improvements I just made and also discuss some that I’m considering with AI

?? Automating Content Curation: My AI Newsletter Workflow Revealed | AHK Hero Extract
?? Automating Content Curation: My AI Newsletter Workflow Revealed | AHK Hero Extract


Scraping Data from an App

A hero member was asking how we can use AutoHotkey to extract data from an app.   This led to a great discussion of various ways to rip the data which you can see in this video.

?? Web Scraping Secrets: Fake Browser Authentication Like a Pro! | AHK Hero Extract
?? Web Scraping Secrets: Fake Browser Authentication Like a Pro! | AHK Hero Extract


Improving People’s Lives: Story #75

One of our clients does “official” reporting where she has very clear requirements from her employer.

Unfortunately her data was “messy” but, thankfully, she new the logic behind “the rules” really well so, a few Regular Expressions later, and we got her code that saved her hours of time!


?? What we’re reading


?? AI News that you Need to Know


??Productivity tips:  Excel Tips

  • Ctrl + Space – Select entire Column
  • Shift + Space – Select entire Row

?? A spot of Humor:  Tiny Hands

Ranking Tiny Hands Pranks ♥???
Ranking Tiny Hands Pranks ♥???


What we ??utomated this week with AutoHotkey #117

This week’s video is packed with some really cool stuff?

I walk you through an AI-powered icon finder that actually understands what you’re looking for (no more guessing keywords!), show off a Google Maps tool that geocodes customer addresses and scrapes restaurant data, and share some debugging sessions from our HERO club calls.

Plus, I reveal my favorite automation trick: using SetTimer with ExitApp to make scripts that automatically “clean up” after themselves – it’s such a simple thing but it makes life so much easier!

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #117
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #117


Clients say…

How can I pay more for this? — Kelly Coughlin


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background 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 509 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
  • How I run Android apps on Windows
  • AHK Script Maker: Debugging Debugger
  • Using a Ternary to easily apply changes based on logic (instead of using an “if“)
  • Comparing strings, case sensitivity, how to handle when in map, etc.

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


??? ?? Quotable quotes

  • Work first, reward second, in order — Dan Kennedy
  • Love will always have baggage attached. Get over it. Love is essential to a full life. No matter what — John Carlton
  • I will always hire a lazy person to do a hard job, because they will always find an easy way to do it — Bill Gates

AHK Newsletter?SHARE WITH A FRIEND?

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


the-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. Yes, I really did pay that much for the Dan Kennedy Bobblehead doll.

And, with how much time it saves me it was worth every penny!

I’m sure it’s exactly how our customers feel after having us automate something for them!

AHK News 2025-11-27- Things I am Thankful For

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

It is Thanksgiving here in the United States.

I’m very thankful that, in the grand scheme of things, I have much more to be thankful for than I have to complain about.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday as it is the least “commercialized” and mostly around spending time with Family & Friends.

My son and I are out in Las Vegas visiting my father.   It’s been a good visit but I miss my home and will miss the delicious meal that my wife will be preparing.  (Yes, I miss my wife too…  LOL)

I’m very thankful my son found a Jr. College program that he enjoys and is excelling at.

I’m very thankful my 85-year-old father is in good health?

I’m thankful for YOU!   Without you, the-Automator would not exist so 

THANK YOU!

How about you %Name%?

Do you have anything to be especially thankful for this year?

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

sprinkling


RegEx101 vs. RegEx in AutoHotkey

Last week, during an AHK Hero call, Isaias reviewed the differences between using RegEx101 and using Regular Expressions in AutoHotkey.

It was a great session and you can check it out in this video extract.

AHK Regex versus RegEx101: What to watch out for ??
AHK Regex versus RegEx101:  What to watch out for


Creating a simple Fuzzy match

A YouTube subscriber asked for a tutorial on how to adapt a normal search and make it a “Fuzzy” search.

Irfan showed how simple it is to change your search to Ordered characters with a Regular Expression. Check it out in this video.

Changing Search to Fuzzy Match
Changing Search to Fuzzy Match


Don’t forget, we have an amazing Intro to RegEx course that comes with a double your money back guarantee!

200% Money Back Guarantee badge with a yellow and green starburst seal for AHK courses

Tracking Down a bug with Git Bisect

We had a weird bug in AHK Script Maker.   Isaias mentioned he’d like to use a cool feature from git to make it easier.  We walk through how to do it in this video.

Tracking down issues with git-Bisect : Great tips to save Time?
Tracking down issues with git-Bisect : Great tips to save Time?


Improving People’s Lives: Story #72

I spent some time yesterday with a client here in Las Vegas.

We walked through various uses of both AI and AutoHotkey (and how they fit together to make a “Batman and Robin” team!)


?? What we’re reading


?? AI News that you Need to Know


??Productivity tips:  

Control+Shift+L will apply Bulleted list to selected text in MS Word


?? A spot of Humor:  As God is my witness…

WKRP Turkey Drop
WKRP Turkey Drop


Clients say…

“My mind is blown” — Kelly Coughlin


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background 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 493 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
  • AHK Script Maker: Creating/managing Tabs
  • Adding Popular Programs to our v2 AHKHotkeyString tool
  • Comparing Cloned objects versus Copied Objects / Strings
  • Z-order of Windows tool from Claude Sonnet 4.5
  • Creating a Hash versus Encoding
  • 5 Git commandsthat feel like Magic
  • Using a Ternary to easily apply changes based on logic (instead of using an “if”)
  • Comparing strings, case sensitivity, how to handle when in map, etc.
  • Using SendTo for passing multiple files to a script

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


Quotable quotes

  • Never give up, never surrender, and always go for the win. — Charlie Kirk
  • Poverty is a state of mind not the state of your wallet — Joe Glines
  • Knowledge is power; Automation knowledge is a super-power?? — Joe Glines

AHK Newsletter?SHARE WITH A FRIEND?

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


The-Automator

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. Thank you for being a loyal reader / subscriber!