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Tomorrow kicks off Amazon’s October Prime Day sale, where prices on big-screen TVs and tech get slashed. The deals are real — but so are the risks. Here’s why.
Corsicana, Texas is a small town an hour away from Dallas. They kicked off the oil boom in the South 130 years ago, turning their land into a money-making machine. Today, it’s the kind of dreary town you don’t stop in because there’s nothing memorable.
👻 Life’s a stitch, then you dye: An Ohio woman is going viral on TikTok after finding a rug buried in her lawn. Soon after her discovery, strange things started happening to her, like her laptop screen shattering and her belongings getting moved randomly. She thinks the spooky events might be caused by her next-door neighbor, who died the day she bought the house. The internet, of course, is convinced there’s a body inside the rug. Nope — the cops came out with two cadaver dogs, and it was just a rug.
Plane crazy: Microsoft’s new Copilot Vision will “see what you see” if you’re using the Edge browser. The AI answers questions, summarizes content or tells you what to do. It’ll be entirely optional (you’ll need to opt in to use it), with a visual indicator when it’s on. It’s probably best if you turn it off, though, for those, you know, potentially embarrassing moments.
Born to be root, not reboot: That’s total geek humor. Stealthy malware has been infecting Linux systems since 2021. It secretly mines crypto and turns computers into spambots, hiding as common system processes. Extra sneaky: It stops when someone logs in. Telltale sign: Constantly high CPU usage. Make sure CVE-2023-33246 is patched.
No more Mr. Dice guy: Sports betting apps are now using AI to limit how much you can wager, especially if you show signs of being methodical or good at betting. The workarounds: Bet using someone else’s account or pretend to be a gambling addict. One guy with a knack for winning set up a bot to log into his account daily between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. to make it seem like he’s obsessed.
You have no expectation of privacy in public: Students, parents and activists are pushing the U.S. Department of Education to ban facial recognition in public schools. The system lets anyone with access watch the kids, analyze their facial expressions and even monitor bathroom trips. I just hope the data is locked down.
🐶 Don’t fall for it: Fake animal rescue videos are the new way scammers are making money on social media. They show kittens, puppies or monkeys in horrible situations. In reality, it’s these sickos putting the animals in danger. The accounts look like genuine organizations asking for legit donations. Report these posts to stop the engagement.
Way to go, Elon: If you’ve been hit by Hurricane Helene, Starlink, the satellite internet service subsidiary of SpaceX, is stepping in to help. They’re offering free service for the first month so you can stay connected, even if your regular internet service is down. Details here.
🐔 Best of cluck: If you see someone “bawk”-ing at their phone, they’re probably playing TikTok’s new chicken filter game. It’s a 2D platformer (like Mario) where you can control the on-screen chicken with your voice to navigate obstacles. Soft “bawk”s make the chicken walk forward, and loud “bu-gawk”s make it jump. What a world we live in.
No woofin’ around: The U.S. Army is testing robot dogs armed with AI-enabled gun turrets in the Middle East. The robo-pups pack some serious heat, like a rotating AR-15/M16-pattern rifle and an electro-optical targeting system. They’re way cheaper than using missiles to take down drones. FYI, China showed off its own four-legged war dog in May.
