A.I. hits the flip phone

🚭 Parents, watch out for smart vapes! They look like colorful gadgets that play music, run games, take calls and send social media notifications. But they’re actually vapes … with up to 30,000 puffs, and some even give you points for every hit. Yep, it’s nicotine, sweet flavors and gaming all rolled into one. It’s kind of like a Tamagotchi, except instead of you keeping it alive, it’s killing you.

What Lenovo laptops got for repairability, according to PIRG’s annual report, considered an F rating. The catch? They only submitted one model, so they were slapped with a failing grade for not providing enough data. Other brands sent in nine or 10 models. I guess they didn’t read the terms and conditions.

🚐 Uber and Volkswagen are teaming up: They’re launching a robotaxi service in the U.S. with self-driving electric microbuses. First stop? Los Angeles, starting in late 2026. But don’t get too excited just yet. You’ll still see a human behind the wheel until at least 2027. Why? They’ve gotta wait for those permits to clear.

☑️ Badge means business: Is your identity verified on LinkedIn? Your little checkmark is about to get a big upgrade. Adobe just added LinkedIn verification to its new Content Authenticity app. That means when your content pops up with your badge, folks will know it’s really you, not some AI bot. Hiring? Use my link to post a job for free.

🥾 Going hiking? Your map app might send you off a cliff. UK mountain rescue teams were called out last year. Blame bad directions and folks blindly following routes. So, use a proper map, learn a few survival basics and maybe pack a flare just in case. “Recalculating route” shouldn’t mean straight into the abyss.

That’s how much Google Chrome might be worth if Google was forced to sell it off. At least that’s what DuckDuckGo’s CEO estimated at Google’s antitrust trial. (Spoiler: DuckDuckGo will not be bidding.) The DOJ is still deciding how to break up Google’s search monopoly, and selling Chrome is on the table. AI players like OpenAI and Perplexity say they’d be interested.

📧 Google phishing scam: If you get an email saying there’s a legal subpoena tied to your Google account, don’t panic and don’t click. It’ll send you to a fake support page to steal your login info. Google says they’re working on a fix. Imagine getting sued by Fake Google, and losing.

🧠 ChatGPT passed the Turing test: Yep, the big one where a machine tries to convince you it’s human. In a study, people chatted with the new GPT-4.5 for five minutes, and 73% thought it was a real person. The bot was told to act like a slightly awkward, internet-savvy introvert with dry humor. Without that personality prompt, it only fooled 36%.