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The great iPhone rapture
It starts like any typical night out. You’re sipping something overpriced and half-listening to your friend’s relationship drama. Then, you check your pocket. Empty. You think maybe it was a pickpocket. But the reality is far stranger.
Dozens of iPhones stolen in cities like Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have resurfaced thousands of miles away, deep inside religious communities in southern China. That’s the interesting part.
📍 A sinful trail
Folks whose iPhones were stolen are using Apple’s Find My app to track their phones’ travel across the world.
In one case, a man watched his iPhone move from a D.C. bar to Latin America, then Southeast Asia, and finally land in a building linked to a Chinese church. He had never heard of the town, let alone visited it.
Other people reported nearly identical patterns, with their phones pinging from the same region.
So how did stolen iPhones end up in churches on the other side of the globe?
✌️ Peace be with iOS
Turns out, there’s an entire international pipeline designed to launder locked iPhones. These phones are pretty useless in the United States without the original Apple ID credentials. But in the hands of skilled hackers or digital middlemen, they can be exploited.
And many, it appears, are routed through church groups in China, getting them as part of larger electronics shipments.
⛪️ So why churches?
It’s not just about slipping past customs. It’s about creating cover. Spiritual sanctuaries don’t exactly scream “criminal enterprise.”
Lawn and order
🌻 Outdoor life comes with quirks. I’ve got your fixes.
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- 🍃 Leaf it to me: Blow, vacuum and mulch in one swoop with a three-in-one leaf blower (13% off).
- 🔥 Too hot to handle? No prob. These grill gloves (10% off) are like oven mitts on steroids.
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🏠 Rather be inside? There are plenty of smart finds for the great indoors waiting for you on my Amazon shop.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Get 100% free tech support 24/7
Today is National System Administrator Appreciation Day, but this special day will soon be off the calendars. Thank you to all the unsung heroes updating, plugging and unplugging things and reminding us, “No, you can’t use 123456 again.”
📚 Turn on Dark Mode on Kindle: While reading, tap the screen, hit the three-dot menu and go to Settings > Screen and brightness > Appearance > Dark Mode. On some models, you can also swipe down from the top of the screen and toggle it there.
Mario gets friend-zoned: Nintendo just hard-launched emotional damage by announcing Mario and Peach are “just good friends.” This, despite years of flirty kisses, wedding attempts and Nintendo itself calling them a couple in past games. Peach watched him fight Bowser and still said, “Thanks, bestie!” Guess saving someone from 500+ castles only gets you a LinkedIn endorsement now.
New Tesla diner sparks backlash
Tesla’s new futuristic diner promises food and fast charging. For nearby residents, it’s a neon nightmare that never sleeps.
2.8x
More likely Gen Z is to treat travel like a dating app. Priceline’s 2025 Trend Report says Gen Z’s rolling their suitcases straight into romance. If you’re going to be single, might as well do it somewhere with cocktails, not push notifications.
Connect Bluetooth gear to your Fire Stick: Watching TV late at night? Pair some wireless headphones. On your Fire Stick, go to Settings > Controllers & Bluetooth Devices > Other Bluetooth Devices > Add Bluetooth Devices. Make sure your gadget’s in Pairing Mode, select it on-screen and you’re all set.
Save voicemails before they disappear
That cherished voicemail from a loved one isn’t safe forever. Here’s how to save it properly before your phone deletes it for good.
🧠 All roads lead to AI: Google’s new AI, Aeneas, is here to help historians make sense of old Latin carvings. This Rosetta stone with a GPU scans worn inscriptions, predicts missing words and even guesses where and when they were chiseled in. It’s open-source, trained on 150,000+ ancient texts and helped date 90% of test inscriptions better than humans. Pretty nifty.
Strong bones aren’t just about calcium
Your ankles, knees, hips… They all depend on collagen to stay stable and supported. As we age, our natural collagen levels drop fast, especially after 50.
That’s why I take NativePath Collagen every single day. It’s like nutritional backup for the structure under your skin.
Whether I’m walking the dogs, hopping on stage, doing Pilates or catching a flight, I want my joints to move like they used to. This one small thing helps keep me going strong.
🛒 Try it for yourself: 45% off, free shipping and a free frother included!
Data brokers sell your secrets to stalkers
Your data is for sale online. Anyone can buy it. Darius Belejevas, the Head of Incogni, shows me how stalkers get your personal info for cheap. Plus, monkey muggings in Bali, the Tea app data breach, and a shoe with a hidden slot for an AirTag.
Charlie Chaplin’s in theaters after 100 years
Charlie Chaplin famously rereleased his 1925 silent classic The Gold Rush in 1942 with new narration and edits, believing it would connect better with modern audiences. Now, thanks to film archivists and AI, the silent masterpiece has been painstakingly restored. The 4K version just premiered at Cannes and hit 250 theaters worldwide.
Privacy opt-out trap: Researchers hit up 543 California data brokers to request their data, like you’re legally allowed to do. Nearly half ghosted them entirely. The others? Dead-end forms, pointless hoops and privacy riddles that required even more personal data. So yeah, trying to reclaim your data just means giving up more of it, along with your time. That’s why I use Incogni and you should, too.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Use Ctrl + Shift + N (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + N (Mac) to open a private browsing window in most browsers. No history, no cookies, everything stays incognito.
Scammers hijacked his business
I talk to a listener whose farming business was cloned by fraudsters online. Got laid off? Here’s why CEOs are bragging about it. Plus: why SEO is dead, ChatGPT’s new tech support agent, and how to resell your unused vacation.
Pan-demonium, solved
🏠 Time to evict the grime and get organized.
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- 🍽️ Tidy tiers: Fit all your cookware on this organizer rack (15% off). Yes, even your giant roasting pan.
🔥 Fewer hot messes: See what’s cooking on my Amazon store for more kitchen gear and smart tools that’ll make life way easier.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
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🛬 DJI drones aren’t banned yet: But they’re vanishing like crypto influencers in a bear market. The U.S. says all drones from communist China need a security review by December, but that review hasn’t even started. DJI says customs is already blocking shipments. You can still buy one, if you enjoy paying 2x MSRP and firmware roulette.