Saturday, 30 August 2025

Restore Old Photos in Color with Google Gemini Flash 2.5, Nano Banana & ChatGPT Sora

 


🧵 From Karaikudi to Cloud: A Photo Restoration Journey Across Time and Tools (Google Nano Banana)

By Kannan M - Radhaconsultancy.blogspot.com


📸 1970: The Studio Days

In Karaikudi, my father ran a photo studio. When a black-and-white photo needed color, he’d send it to a trusted artist in Madurai. The process took nearly three months. Each image was hand-colored—skin tones imagined, backgrounds preserved, and cultural details respected. It was slow, but soulful.

Photo of me taken at that time in our Studio

⚙️ First Attempt: Gemini Nano

Fast forward to 2025. I tried restoring a childhood photo using Gemini Flash image 2.5 Nano banana. The first attempt failed. The background was stripped, the pose felt stiff, and the leg reconstruction was off. Despite the tall claims, it couldn’t handle the nuance I needed—not in one go.

🤖 Second Attempt: ChatGPT + Sora

Next, I tried ChatGPT with Sora. The result was technically impressive—backgrounds were better, and the composition felt more natural. But the facial fidelity was low. The face didn’t feel like mine. It was a good image, but not a true restoration.

🧪 Third Attempt: Gemini Nano + Banana

I returned to Gemini Nano, this time with Banana. After two or three more attempts, I got a version that felt close. The face was better, the pose more believable. But still—not perfect. The shirt was tucked in (which I never did in the 1970s), and the raised hand felt unnatural. The AI had borrowed cues from school uniform datasets, not from my lived reality.

🎭 Final Reflection: Beauty and Pain

Across all four or five outputs, none captured the full fidelity I hoped for. Each had strengths—speed, clarity, lighting—but also misses: cultural nuance, pose authenticity, and emotional grain. And that’s the paradox. AI has compressed time, but not yet mastered memory.

🪔 Closing Note: A Tribute in Pixels and Patience This exercise wasn’t just about testing AI—it was about honoring a legacy. My father’s studio in Karaikudi taught me that memory isn’t just stored in images, but in the choices behind them: the untucked shirt, the village backdrop, the natural pose. Today’s tools may redraw faster, but they still struggle to remember. And that’s where we come in—not just as users, but as editors, archivists, and storytellers. If AI is the brush, we are still the hand that guides it.


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Monday, 25 August 2025

AI Agents Part 2: 5 Hidden Powers of Comet OS for Smarter Workflows

 


Beyond AI Chatbots: How I Use AI Agents to Simplify Life in Comet OS

By Kannan M - Radhaconsultancy.blogspot.com



Introduction

AI agents aren’t futuristic anymore—they’re here, running silently inside tools like Comet OS, doing things that regular browsers or apps simply can’t. If you’ve read Part 1 of my journey, you know how these assistants can transform workflows.
In this Part 2, I’m skipping the basics and diving into real, unique use cases I personally tested—tasks you probably thought were impossible (or too technical) but are now just one command away.


✅ Core 5 Use Cases for AI Agents


1. Smart WhatsApp Assistance—Replies Without the Mental Load

The Problem: Group chats and client discussions on WhatsApp Web can eat up hours—scrolling through context, drafting polite responses, and avoiding mistakes.
What AI Does: Comet reads the chat window, understands the context, and drafts a perfect response right inside the reply box. You just review and send. It’s like having an executive assistant who knows your tone and the full conversation—without you copying or rewriting anything.
Why It’s Powerful: No switching tabs, no copy-paste chaos. For businesses, this means faster responses, fewer errors, and zero stress during peak hours.


2. Instant Tab Recall—Even When You Forget URLs

The Problem: Can’t remember that housing loan site you opened last week? Hunting through bookmarks and history is a pain.
What AI Does: Just say, “Open my Facebook page” or “Open the housing loan site I visited recently”—and it does. No remembering, no searching, just click and go.
Why It Matters: For professionals juggling dozens of tabs daily, this is a productivity booster. It’s not just faster—it feels like having a personal digital concierge.


3. Navigating Complex Settings Without Guesswork

The Problem: Facebook, LinkedIn, and other apps hide settings behind layers of menus. Finding privacy controls or notification preferences is frustrating, even for tech-savvy users.
What AI Does: You say, “Take me to Facebook privacy settings” or “Show LinkedIn notification settings”. Comet skips the articles and opens the exact settings page, ready for you to act.
Why It Saves the Day: Perfect for new or occasional users. Zero confusion, zero misclicks.


4. Clean Article Extraction—No Ads, No Clutter

The Problem: Copying or printing web content often brings ads, pop-ups, and broken formatting.
What AI Does: Comet strips away distractions and gives you a clean, ad-free version of the page—ideal for research, printing, or offline reading.
Why It’s a Game-Changer: Students, bloggers, and researchers can finally create distraction-free reference material without messy workarounds.


5. Exporting Data That Platforms Lock Away

The Problem: Google Blogger doesn’t allow you to export page view stats from inception in a clean format.
What AI Does: With an agent command, you can extract titles and view counts into a CSV—right from the browser window.
Why It’s Brilliant: Perfect for content creators and analysts who need quick insights without writing scripts or using external tools.


Bonus Advanced Capabilities

For power users, Comet OS offers additional time-saving functions:

  • PDF Summarization & Report Drafting: Extract insights from PDFs, summarize, and draft formal reports or emails—all within the browser.

  • Auto-Fill Complex Forms: Use AI to fill confusing government or corporate forms using Gmail, browser history, or local files.

  • Daily Summary of Updates: Automatically track new information from key websites (bank rates, policies, scholarships) in a single digest.


✅ Closing Section 

AI agents aren’t just about automation—they’re about reclaiming time and reducing friction in everyday work. The more you explore, the more you’ll find small but powerful ways to simplify life.
Which of these hacks would you try first? Or have you discovered another hidden gem inside Comet OS? Share your thoughts—I’m compiling the best real-world tips for the next post.


Contact and resources


Download this article as a PDF — perfect for offline reading or sharing with friends on social media!


Connect with Kannan M

LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more insights on AI, business, and the fascinating intersection of technology and human wisdom. Follow my blog for regular updates on practical AI applications and the occasional three-legged rabbit story.

For "Unbiased Quality Advice" Message me via blog

▶️ YouTube: Subscribe to our channel 

Blog - https://radhaconsultancy.blogspot.com/


Demystifying SIPs for Financial Freedom



Experience the future of reading with my ebook! Follow us to stay updated on the release date on Amazon.


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#AIAgents #WorkflowAutomation #CometOS

Saturday, 23 August 2025

Discover AI Learning & Research Resources with Perplexity Labs — Your Guide to Understanding and Applying AI

AI Perplexity Pages: Learn, Research & Innovate with AI Powered by Perplexity Labs
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Restore Old Photos with AI

Learn to revive faded, black & white or damaged photos with new AI color and restoration techniques.

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