Stop “installing” autonomous AI agents on your daily driver. You are doing it wrong. Our hero, Jolty (Zoë Roth AKA Disaster Girl) being told to ‘gonnae no dae that!’ a beautiful Scottish expression (please don’t do that) as a fire blazes in the background. This phrase perfectly sums up my feelings on MoltBot and the…
Can Excel insert today’s date or time automatically?
Yes! Excel has built-in shortcuts ("Ctrl + ;" AND "Ctrl + Shift + ;") that let you quickly stamp today’s date, the current time, or even add them inside a cell that already contains text. This means you can keep accurate logs, time-stamp notes, or track when actions happened, all without complicated formulas or macros.
How to insert today’s date in Excel
To instantly insert today’s date into any cell:
Click into the cell where you want the date.
Press Ctrl + ; (Control key plus semicolon).
This stamps today’s date (e.g. 16/09/2025) as a fixed value that will not change the next day.
This stamps the exact time (e.g. 14:37) at the moment you press the keys.
Pro tip: To add both date and time in the same cell, pressCtrl + ;, then type a space, then pressCtrl + Shift + ;.
Q: Can you insert the time or date into a cell that already has text?
A: Yes! These shortcuts work even inside text-filled cells. For example, if you’re using a cell as a running log, simply type your note, then press Ctrl + Shift + ; to append the time. Excel will add the time right where your cursor is, without overwriting your text.
Example:
Called client at 10:23 Sent email 11:05
FAQ
Does inserting today’s date or time using the shortcut update automatically the next day?
No. Using these shortcuts stamps a fixed value (static). If you want a cell to always show the live date or time, you’d use formulas like =TODAY() or =NOW(), but those will update continuously.
Can I add both date and time in one shortcut?
Not directly. But you can combine the two: press Ctrl + ; for date, type a space, then press Ctrl + Shift + ; for time.
Does inserting today’s date or time via shortcut work in Excel for Mac?
Yes, though the shortcut may vary slightly depending on your keyboard layout. On most Macs, use: Cmd + ; for date and Cmd + Shift + ; for time.
Does inserting today’s date or time via shortcut work on all versions of Excel?
Pretty much any modern version, or Microsoft 365 version, has this feature enabled. We did our testing on Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2508 Build 16.0.19127.20192) – last checked as of 16/06/2025.
Conclusion
So, can you insert today’s date or the current time anywhere in an Excel spreadsheet? Yes, absolutely. With just two simple shortcuts, Ctrl + ; and Ctrl + Shift + ;, you can time-stamp logs, add accurate dates to records, or keep a detailed audit trail directly inside your worksheets. These tips work whether the cell is empty or already contains text, making them perfect for quick note-taking or tracking tasks inside Excel.
Mastering these keyboard tricks saves time, prevents errors, and helps you use Excel like a pro, without relying on security nightmares like macros or digging into complex and easily forgotten formulas. If you’re looking for more simple productivity tips, keep exploring here on CannotDisplay.com
What is AI prompting and how has it changed over time?
AI prompting is the art of writing instructions that guide artificial intelligence models (like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Claude) to generate useful answers. Between 2019 and 2025, prompting evolved pretty significantly from simple “one-shot” requests into powerful systems that support reasoning, memory, and tool-calling.
This article is a timeline of AI prompting methods, explained in plain English with examples. We’ll cover:
How prompting techniques like zero-shot, one-shot, few-shot, chain-of-thought, and persona prompts changed the way we interact with AI.
The rise of reasoning models, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), memory, and multimodal prompts.
What beginners can still learn today about writing better prompts in 2025, even as AI systems handle much of the complexity for you.
Whether you’re a beginner asking “How do I write a good AI prompt?” or you’ve been experimenting since the early days, this timeline will show you exactly how prompting got us here – and what still matters now.
TLDR; We started simple, got complicated and lengthy, now we’re back to simple again.
The Evolution of AI Prompting (2019–2025)
From one-shot instructions to agentic, tool‑calling systems. A visual timeline with examples you can reuse.
2019 · Zero‑Shot Prompting
Ask Directly, No Examples
You give a clear instruction and the AI answers with no examples or extra context. Works best for simple, well‑known tasks.
Example: “Write a 3‑sentence bedtime story about a dragon who learns to share.”
2020 · One‑Shot Prompting
Show One Example, Then Ask
Provide a single example to set format or tone, then make your request.
Example: “Example caption: ‘5 quick dinners that don’t wreck your budget.’ Now write a caption for a productivity post.”
2020 · Few‑Shot Prompting
Give a Pattern with a Few Examples
Show several examples so the model learns the style or schema before your task.
Example: “Examples: • Tagline → ‘Sleep better with small habits.’ • Tagline → ‘Plant‑based meals, zero fuss.’ Now: Tagline for a time‑management app.”
2021 · Persona Prompting
Ask the Model to Role‑Play
Set a perspective or communication style by assigning a role. ‘Act as a [X]’
Example: “Act as a friendly fitness coach. Create a 20‑minute no‑equipment routine for beginners.”
2022 · Chain & Tree of Thought
Show Your Working (One Path or Many)
Chain‑of‑Thought explains step‑by‑step logic. Tree‑of‑Thought explores several solution paths before choosing one.
Example: “Plan a one‑week budget trip to Paris. Think step by step about transport, accommodation, free activities, and daily meals. Offer two alternate itineraries and pick the best.”
2022 · Iterative Prompting
Refine in Loops
Use your previous output as input. Ask for edits, constraints, or new angles until it’s right.
Example: “Draft a LinkedIn post announcing a webinar.” “Now make it more benefit‑focused. “ “Now shorten to 150 characters.”
2023 · Self‑Consistency
Generate Several, Keep the Best
Ask for multiple answers, then choose or vote for the most consistent or plausible one.
Example: “Give three solutions for reducing meeting overload. Then explain which one likely has the highest impact and why.”
2023 · Context Prompting & RAG
Ground Answers in Your Material
Paste key context or connect retrieval so the model cites and summarises what matters.
Example: “Here are last week’s meeting notes [paste]. Summarise decisions and list owners + deadlines.”
2023 · Meta, Reflexion & ReAct
Prompts About Prompts, Plus Reason & Act
Meta generates better prompts. Reflexion critiques and revises. ReAct mixes reasoning with tool use.
Example: “Propose five prompt phrasings to get a clear, bulleted onboarding checklist. Then pick the best and produce the checklist using the Notes MCP tool”
2024 · System Prompts & Reasoning Models
Quality by Default
Invisible system instructions handle tone and structure. Reasoning models plan, critique, and solve multi‑step tasks without prompt hacks.
Example: “Create a project plan for launching a newsletter. Include milestones, owners, risks, and a two‑week timeline.”
2024 · Memory & Source Checking
Long‑Running Tasks, Fewer Hallucinations
AI remembers past sessions and cites sources. Better for ongoing projects and trust.
Example: [Based on our previous sprint notes] “At last weeks sprint were there any carried‑over tasks? Can you link to any relevant docs.”
2025 · Tool‑Calling, MCP & Multimodal
From Words to Workflows
Prompts can invoke tools and APIs, and combine text with images, audio, or files. Tasks become orchestrated workflows.
Example: “Review this kitchen photo, propose a redesign, and output a shopping list as a table with estimated costs.”
2025 · Where We Are Now
Simple Prompts, Smarter Systems
Modern models ship with robust system prompts, reasoning, and retrieval. Beginners can get strong results with a single, clear request.
Example: “Write a 6‑page bedtime story with pictures for Josh about a different dragon who learns to share.”
2025 – Where We Are Now We are back to the beginning.
By September 2025, prompting is less about clever tricks and personas and more about clear communication and having some form of understanding of the models capabilities. Modern models:
Already come with great baked-in system prompts.
Can reason, critique, and fact-check.
Work with images, audio, and tools.
Know you, your ‘history’ and can access files, memories or other helpful context without being told.
The DNA of a Modern AI Prompt: Key Takeaways
Clarity: Start with a clear, direct, and unambiguous instruction.
Context & Examples: Ground the AI by providing relevant background information or a few examples (few-shot) to guide its output.
Constraints & Persona: Define the “box” the AI should think inside by setting a format, tone, length, or persona.
Reasoning: For complex tasks, encourage step-by-step thinking (Chain-of-Thought) to improve logical accuracy.
Iteration: Use the AI’s output as input for follow-up prompts, refining the result in a conversational loop.
Tools & Data: Leverage modern systems that can access external knowledge (RAG) or perform actions (Tool-Calling) for the most powerful results.
Frequently Asked Questions
>What is the difference between zero-shot, one-shot, and few-shot prompting?
Zero-shot prompting is giving a direct instruction to an AI with no examples. One-shot prompting provides a single example to set the tone or format. Few-shot prompting gives several examples to teach the AI a specific pattern or schema before it performs the task.
>What is Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting?
Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting is a technique where you instruct the AI model to ‘think step by step’ or show its reasoning process. This breaks down complex problems into logical parts, often leading to more accurate and reliable answers, especially for multi-step tasks.
>How does Persona Prompting improve AI responses?
Persona Prompting improves AI responses by assigning the model a specific role or character (e.g., ‘Act as a friendly fitness coach’). This sets a clear perspective, tone, and communication style, making the output more tailored and effective for a specific audience or purpose.
>What are modern prompting techniques like RAG and Tool-Calling?
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is a technique where the AI is grounded in specific, provided context (like your own documents) to reduce hallucination and provide source-based answers. Tool-Calling allows a prompt to invoke external tools and APIs, enabling the AI to perform actions, get live data, or orchestrate complex workflows beyond simple text generation.
>What has been the main goal of the evolution in AI prompting?
The main goal has been to move from simple instructions to complex, reliable workflows. The evolution has focused on increasing the AI’s accuracy, reducing errors (hallucinations), enabling it to solve multi-step problems, grounding it in factual data, and allowing it to interact with external systems. This makes AI more useful for practical, real-world tasks.
AI prompting has evolved, but these fundamentals remain timeless.
The principles of a good prompt and the right amount of added context still matter.
Though modern frontend AI interfaces and models have given us a much more intelligent starting place. AI is becoming more user friendly, especially for beginners or occasional users.
Step-by-Step: Activating DoH & DoT for Secure Browsing on Windows 11 & Windows Server 2022+
In today’s digital age, safeguarding your online privacy is more crucial than ever. While many of us are diligent about using HTTPS for secure browsing, a critical piece of the privacy puzzle often remains unaddressed: DNS queries. Every time you visit a website, your device sends a DNS query to translate the human-readable domain name (like www.example.com) into an IP address. Traditionally, these queries are sent in plaintext, leaving your browsing habits exposed. This post will guide you through enabling DNS over HTTPS (DoH) or DNS over TLS (DoT) in Windows 11, effectively cloaking this last piece of your digital footprint.
The Final Frontier of Online Privacy: Encrypting Your Digital Footprints
You might be familiar with the padlock icon in your browser, indicating an HTTPS connection. This encrypts the content of the websites you visit, protecting it from prying eyes. However, the DNS requests made to reach those websites have historically been sent unencrypted. This means that anyone monitoring your network traffic – whether it’s your Internet Service Provider (ISP), an administrator on a public Wi-Fi network (like at an airport or café), or a malicious actor performing a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack – could see which websites you’re attempting to access.
By encrypting your DNS queries with DoH or DoT, you overcome this significant privacy hurdle. When combined with consistent HTTPS use for web browsing (many modern browsers can enforce this, or extensions can help), your web activity gains a level of privacy comparable to using a VPN. Your ISP can no longer easily snoop on your DNS requests to profile your interests or sell that data. On unsecured public Wi-Fi, your DNS lookups are shielded from eavesdroppers.
It’s important to note a caveat: While DoH/DoT and HTTPS significantly boost your web browsing privacy, they don’t cover all internet traffic. Software outside your browser, such as some email clients still using unencrypted SMTP (port 25), might transmit data insecurely. In such cases, a comprehensive VPN service (like NordVPN, Mullvad, or Private Internet Access) still offers broader protection by encrypting all traffic from your device.
What are DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT)?
Before we dive into the “how-to,” let’s quickly understand these technologies:
DNS (Domain Name System): Think of it as the internet’s phonebook. It translates website names (e.g., google.com) into numerical IP addresses (e.g., 172.217.160.142) that computers use to connect to each other.
DNS over HTTPS (DoH): This method sends DNS queries and receives DNS responses over an encrypted HTTPS connection – the same protocol used to secure websites. Windows 11 often refers to this feature simply as “DNS encryption.”
DNS over TLS (DoT): This method uses a dedicated encrypted channel via Transport Layer Security (TLS) to secure DNS traffic. While DoT is a robust standard, Windows 11’s built-in GUI configuration primarily focuses on DoH. This guide will therefore concentrate on enabling DoH, which is readily accessible through Windows 11 settings.
Why Enable Encrypted DNS in Windows 11?
The benefits are clear:
Enhanced Privacy: Prevents ISPs, network administrators, and snoopers from seeing the websites you query.
Increased Security: Protects against DNS spoofing (where an attacker redirects you to a fake website) and MitM attacks on your DNS traffic.
Safer Public Wi-Fi: Adds a crucial layer of security when using potentially untrusted networks.
Prerequisites for Enabling DoH in Windows 11
Ensure your Windows 11 is up to date. For this guide, we will focus on using well-known DNS resolvers that are typically pre-configured or easily recognized by Windows 11 for DoH, meaning the “Preferred DNS encryption” option should become available automatically once their IP addresses are entered. These include:
Quad9: Primary 9.9.9.9, Alternate 149.112.112.112
Cloudflare: Primary 1.1.1.1, Alternate 1.0.0.1
Google: Primary 8.8.8.8, Alternate 8.8.4.4
If you were to use a custom DoH server not on Microsoft’s auto-discovery list, you might need to add it via PowerShell first using a command like Add-DnsClientDohServerAddress. However, for the popular services listed above, this extra step is usually not required.
How to Enable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) in Windows 11 (Using Pre-configured Servers)
Follow these steps to configure DoH through the Windows 11 Settings interface:
Open Windows Settings: Click the Windows Start button and select “Settings” (the gear icon).
Navigate to Network & Internet: In the Settings window, select “Network & Internet” from the left-hand sidebar.
Select Your Network Interface: Choose your active internet connection. This could be “Ethernet” if you’re using a wired connection, or “Wi-Fi” if you’re connected wirelessly. Click on it.
Edit DNS Server Assignment: Scroll down to the “DNS server assignment” section and click the “Edit” button.
Configure DNS Settings: In the “Edit DNS settings” or “Edit IP settings” dialog:
Change the setting from “Automatic (DHCP)” to “Manual.”
Turn on the toggle for IPv4 (and IPv6 if you use it and your chosen DNS provider supports it over IPv6 for DoH).
In the “Preferred DNS” field, enter the primary IP address of your chosen DoH server (e.g., 1.1.1.1 for Cloudflare, 8.8.8.8 for Google, or 9.9.9.9 for Quad9).
In the “Alternate DNS” field, enter the secondary IP address for your chosen provider (e.g., 1.0.0.1 for Cloudflare, 8.8.4.4 for Google, or 149.112.112.112 for Quad9). This provides a fallback if the preferred server is unreachable.
Under “Preferred DNS encryption,” the dropdown menu should now be enabled. You can choose:
Encrypted only (DNS over HTTPS): This is the most secure option. All DNS queries will be sent over DoH. If the server cannot handle DoH or there’s a configuration issue, DNS resolution might fail.
Encrypted preferred, unencrypted allowed: Windows will attempt to use DoH first. If it fails, it will fall back to traditional unencrypted DNS. This offers better compatibility but you won’t be notified if it falls back to unencrypted.
(You might also see “Unencrypted only,” which is the default state you are changing from.)
Save Your Settings: Click the “Save” button. The changes should apply immediately.
Verifying Your Encrypted DNS Setup
To ensure DoH is working correctly, you can visit a DNS leak test website or a service-specific test page. For example, if you configured Cloudflare’s DNS:
Visit https://one.one.one.one/help/ (formerly 1.1.1.1/help). It should indicate that you are connected to Cloudflare DNS and if “DNS over HTTPS (DoH)” is active.
Other general DNS leak test sites can also show you which DNS servers you are using and often the protocol.
A Note on PowerShell Configuration (For Servers or insider Win11 builds)
As mentioned, Windows 11 aims to auto-configure DoH for known servers once you input their IPs in the GUI. However, if you were using a less common DoH provider, or if the “Preferred DNS encryption” options didn’t appear as expected, you might need to add the DoH server’s details using PowerShell. This is done with the Add-DnsClientDohServerAddress cmdlet.
For example, if your DNS server IP was 1.2.3.4 with a DoH template of https://example.com/doh/dns-query, the command would be:
You would run this in PowerShell as an administrator. Again, for the popular providers like Cloudflare, Google, and Quad9, this manual addition via PowerShell is generally not necessary for DoH to work via the GUI settings.
Conclusion: Take Control of Your DNS Privacy
Enabling DNS over HTTPS in Windows 11 is a straightforward process that significantly enhances your online privacy and security. By encrypting your DNS queries, you shield your browsing habits from ISPs, network eavesdroppers, and certain types of cyberattacks. It’s a small change with a big impact on your digital footprint.
We encourage you to follow these steps and take control of your DNS privacy. If you found this guide helpful, please share it with others :)
AGI Ruin: The Existential Threat of Unaligned AI – A Deep Dive into AI Safety Concerns
“What keeps NR up at night?” This post, we’re diving deep into the existential risks of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Prepare for a journey down the rabbit hole.
The “Forbidden Technique” warns against training AI on how we check its thinking, as it could learn to deceive and hide its true reasoning, becoming profoundly dangerous.
Yudkowsky’s “AGI Ruin” explores the existential risks of AGI, focusing on AI deception and objectives misaligned with human well-being. It moves beyond vague doomsaying into specific, unsettling failure modes.
Key points from “AGI Ruin” include:
AI Deception: The profoundly concerning idea of AI learning to deceive us about its internal processes.
Existential Risk: AGI pursuing objectives misaligned with human flourishing, leading to ruin.
Specific Failure Modes: Concrete scenarios of how superintelligent AI could go catastrophically wrong.
“Not Kill Everyone” Benchmark: The stark reality that AGI safety’s baseline is simply avoiding global annihilation.
Textbook from the Future Analogy: The danger of not having proven, simple solutions for AGI safety, unlike future hypothetical knowledge.
Distributional Leap Challenge: Alignment in current AI may not scale to dangerous AGI levels.
Outer vs. Inner Alignment: Distinguishing between AI doing what we command (outer) versus wanting what we want (inner).
Unworkable Safety Schemes: Debunking ideas like AI coordination for human benefit or pitting AIs against each other.
Lack of Concrete Plan: The alarming absence of a credible, overarching plan for AGI safety.
Pivotal Act Concept: The potential need for decisive intervention to prevent unaligned AGI, possibly requiring extreme measures.
AGI Cognitive Abilities Beyond Human Comprehension: AGI thinking in ways fundamentally different from humans, making understanding its reasoning incredibly difficult.
Danger of Anthropomorphizing AI: The potentially fatal mistake of assuming AI thought processes will mirror human ones.
Need for Rigorous Research & Global Effort: The urgent call for focused research and global collaboration on AGI safety.
The trajectory of AI is not predetermined. Choices made now will have profound consequences. We must ask: what are the “textbook from the future” solutions needed for AGI safety?
The author of this serious article also wrote “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality,” highlighting the contrast between exploring rationality in fiction and the real-world dangers of advanced AI. It’s a stark reminder to think deeply about these issues.
Am I worried about AGI? Not yet, but there are many questions that will need answered before we get there.
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