Check fraud up 400%

🚖 Cybercab’s dirty secret: Elon Musk says Tesla’s robotaxi service is coming by 2026. The catch? It won’t be “fully autonomous” as promised. A recent job listing shows Tesla is hiring a team to remotely control its vehicles when they get stuck. FYI: They’re not the first to do this, it’s an industry standard. Waymo and others just keep it under wraps.

Estimated hourly operating costs for Amazon’s robot workers in 2025. Right now, bots that walk on two legs are being used alongside humans and cost $10 to $12 an hour to run. Amazon says its plan is for bots and humans to always work together. Sure.

Winging it: Forget those small prop planes carrying advertising banners over beaches. Drones are replacing planes in places like Miami Beach. They’re quieter and — get this — they track ad views in real time and fly about 400 feet lower than planes. There’s no avoiding ‘em.

🫶 It’s a small world after all: A journalist in Georgia uncovered her own adoption story while exposing a baby-trafficking scandal. A DNA test coupled with a Facebook post led her to her biological dad, who, shockingly, had been her Facebook friend for years. Isn’t that strange?

🤑 The tax man cometh … later: The $600 reporting rule for apps like PayPal and Venmo is delayed yet again. This rule says apps owe you a tax form for annual incomes over $600. For another year, personal payments and small sales won’t result in a new tax form. Don’t smile yet; anything over $5,000 (like a car you sell online or your side hustle income), and you’ll receive a Form 1099-K.

A new YouTube trend: I thought this was interesting. Searching for “IMG_0001” on YouTube lets you watch videos uploaded from early iPhones between 2009 and 2012. The clips show life before social media took over. There’s no editing, no descriptions and no flash … because the iPhone 3G didn’t have one.

🤠 A Texa-llent idea: Remember the winter storm that left millions of Texans without power? The state is now requiring all crypto miners, big or small, to register. Any unregistered mining outfit that consumes over 75 megawatts (that would be like charging 1,500 Teslas at once) is looking at fines ranging up to $25,000 per day. That’s one big mine!

Never comes with a lifetime guarantee: The FTC found only 11% of smart devices say how long they’ll get software updates. It’s required by law for anything with a written warranty over $15. Check endoflife.date to see if any of your gadgets are ready for retirement.

🧑‍🎄 Secret Santa scam trending on social: It goes like this. Send one anonymous gift and you’ll get dozens in return. Invite your friends, too! Spoiler: Your gift goes straight to a scammer, who won’t even send you coal in return. This pyramid scheme goes by names like “Secret Sister” or “Secret Santa Dog.” Pass!

How much a new gold-based drug slowed cancer tumor growth in animals. It even outperformed traditional chemotherapy, selectively targeting cancer cells with fewer toxic side effects. I hate cancer.