💾 You’ve got no mail: Goodbye forever, dial-up. AOL finally shut down this week when traffic is up 20%. The AOL brand will live on with Italy’s Bending Spoons, who are buying it from Yahoo for $1.4B because it still pulls in ad money and subscription cash. And to honor AOL’s modem sounds, a nod to my geeky readers. Watch this video about how one guy literally daisy-chained 12 dial-up modems into a 668kbps Frankenline. Incredible.
Reset Kindle reading time: At the bottom left, tap to see how long’s left in a chapter or the whole book. If you fall asleep or leave it open, the estimate gets thrown off. To fix it, tap the Search icon at the top, type ;ReadingTimeReset and hit Enter. It’ll say no results, but it works.
AI chat ad trap: Meta’s creepy AI chats will fuel even creepier ad targeting. Starting in December, anything you tell the chatbot, “best hikes in Sedona” or “I have IBS,” could shape your ads and feed. One billion users, one giant data grab. So yeah, maybe don’t trauma-dump to the algorithm unless you want an ad for probiotics.
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It’s a mail-dominated industry: Remember yelling, “Just need to drop this off!” in the post office line? USPS heard you. They’re trying to cut wait times by 40% by redesigning 2,600+ locations with techy lobbies, 24/7 lockers and kiosks. But, yes, it still smells like paper and stress in there.
🕹️ You buying this thing? The Xbox Ally X is here Oct. 16, with a $1,000 top-tier version. Scalpers are charging $2K for, get this, a device that’s still in stock. May your dreams be as bold as theirs. It’s good for the hardcore handheld gamer who wants PC-level power on the couch, but probably overkill if you just play Stardew.
Porsche dream gone wrong: Michael Foley thought he’d scored a vintage Porsche 911 in Europe. Instead, he wired $20K to scammers with a fake listing, forged docs and promises of a Euro road trip. Now he’s got no car, no cash, just the memory of telling his scammer, “Thank you, I’ve wanted this car for years.” Ooof.
😳 Salesforce, meet Failforce: Imagine waking up, checking your email and realizing all your data and info about every single one of your clients, contacts, vendors and more are in a hacker group’s hands because it was stored on Salesforce. That’s what’s happening at 700+ organizations including Google, Allianz, Toyota, Disney, FedEx, Workday, Qantas, Marriott, McDonald’s, Walgreens, Adidas, Stellantis, Saks, TransUnion and the list goes on and on. Hackers say they have 1 billion to 1.5 billion records and are demanding a huge ransom. If there’s even a dotted line between you and these organizations, hackers have your info. I’ll keep you posted on this one. Salesforce says it’s fine. Blink twice if it’s not.
😳 Gullible little robots: Want AI to pick out the perfect item for you? Don’t. These new AI browsers like Perplexity’s Comet are total suckers. In tests, they clicked scam emails, typed bank logins into fake sites and even downloaded viruses if a page asked nicely. Basically, they’re your friend who still believes email from Nigerian princes. Stay away.
Apple’s October drop: Rumors say we’re getting a new Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini 2, M5 iPad Pro, AirTag 2 and maybe a Vision Pro refresh. Toss in possible M5 MacBook Pros and new Studio Displays and it’s basically tech Black Friday but without the discounts.