Father takes on website after son's tragic death

September 11, 2024

This episode discusses suicide. If you’re struggling, reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. You’re not alone.

Last year, Brett Allred’s world shattered when his 23-year-old son, Riley, took his own life. While searching Riley’s phone for memories, Brett found screenshots of a website with step-by-step instructions on how to die. Now, he’s on a mission to shut it down.

Tags: crisis, death, download, episode, father, instructions, Life, memories, Now, old, open, phone, screenshots, website

Return of the Sith: James Earl Jones signed over the AI voice rights to his Darth Vader character before he died. At 91, he was ready to step back from the role. AI company Respeecher cloned his voice using sound bites he’d recorded over the years. As it turns out, this tech was already used in the 2022 “Obi-Wan Kenobi” miniseries.

2.7 million preorders

For Huawei’s trifold smartphone. The Chinese company’s Mate XT looks pretty dang cool, but just know the FBI called Huawei a threat to national security — basically, “It’s my way or the Huawei!”

What could go wrong? A lot: Soon, Nevada will use Google AI to rule on unemployment benefit cases. The tech will analyze appeal hearing transcripts to clear the backlog of claims human workers can’t keep up with. A human will make the final decision. Here’s hoping AI doesn’t “hallucinate” facts.

🚫 Another China ban: The House of Representatives just voted to ban new DJI drones in the U.S. The Chinese spy balloon incident, along with China’s threats to invade Taiwan and drag America into a Pacific war, have led to real concerns about China collecting intricately detailed maps of the U.S. and its infrastructure through the millions of DJI drones flown by innocent Americans. You can still buy one, but if the bill passes, flying new models will be off-limits.

This is awful: The Washington Post found Google Trends offers an unsettling peek into what people are trying to kill. Top targets? Bugs like ants, fleas and flies. Grass, mold and weeds are also on the hit list. It gets darker. Cats and dogs are among the most searched-for “how to kill” animals. The most popular search, though, is “How to kill yourself.” If you ever think that, call or text 988, please.

✈️ This is your hacker speaking: There’s an app small airlines use to upload flight crew to precleared TSA lists. Cybersecurity researchers found they could edit photos and names in the app, meaning fake pilots could bypass security checks. Yikes. The TSA says 300 people have evaded airport security since March 2023.

🚨 “Your spouse is cheating”: That’s the message in a new sextortion email scam. It includes a link to the “proof,” along with your full name. Whatever you do, don’t click the links. Mark the email as spam, delete it and give your honeybunny a hug.

⌨️ Where in the world? Remember Mavis Beacon? She was the woman on the cover of a popular typing game. Turns out “Mavis” was a Haitian model named Renee L’Esperance who returned to the Caribbean and vanished. Now there’s a documentary about trying to track her down.

A penny for your trucks: In Memphis, a tracker led police to the second chop shop in less than a week. The owners of a stolen pickup followed the GPS device to an industrial area. Days later, police came back with a warrant and found five cars. The suspect is in jail. I use an AirTag or get one of these car trackers for $15.

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Gen Z is losing more money to online scams than boomers: Constant internet use makes them comfortable doing business online. For fraudsters, it’s the perfect opportunity to lure them into fake employment opportunities, sketchy online purchases, or investment or crypto scams. Last year, Gen Z lost an average of $155 per person to online scams (paywall link).