How to use your phone's Emergency SOS

Buttons are back: After nearly two decades of touchscreens, companies are going back to buttons, knobs and sliders. They’re in cars, appliances and personal electronics. Even the iPhone 16 has an “action button.” It turns out we like the feel of physical controls, and, bonus, they’re safer (paywall link). A volume knob is a lot less distracting than a car’s touchscreen.

Online advertising is huge, and Google is losing its chokehold to AI. Next year, Google could control less than 50% of the search ad market in the U.S. That hasn’t happened in over a decade (paywall link). Times are a-changin’.

Don’t buy one: After about two years of use, Apple’s M1 iMacs reportedly get dark horizontal lines across the screens. The issue appears to be hardware-related, and unless you have AppleCare+ coverage, repairs run up to $700. FYI, the M3 iMac (2023) is rumored to have this problem, too.

🏐 Youth clubs and school sports teams are using AI: Tools like Balltime take game footage to track players’ movements and record stats like serve speed, jump height and error rates. With scholarships and sponsorships on the line, parents are shelling out big for these services. If you have kids playing sports, look into this.

I couldn’t imagine: An 18-year-old driving a 2022 Honda Pilot got stuck on autopilot going 113 mph with his mom following him in another car. He tried everything to slow or stop the car, including putting it in neutral, braking and even pulling the emergency brake. Nothing worked. The solution? A responding police officer had the teen hit the back of his patrol car so the vehicle would stop. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

Dental scams are spreading on social media: Dentists usually charge $1,000 to $2,000 per tooth for veneers, but unlicensed practitioners calling themselves “veneer techs” offer a full set of fancy chompers for around $5,000. Surprise, their work can lead to nerve damage and tooth loss. Always check a dentist’s license before you open wide and say, “Ahhhh.”

🇨🇳 Communist China-based hackers are the suspects: Yup, they’re the ones suspected of breaking into three major telecom companies and causing major outages — AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. Details are scarce, but the hackers probably gained access to the systems used for court-approved wiretapping and eavesdropping. Truly frightening.

In the next USB cable standard. USB4 2.0 offers double the transfer speeds and charging power of the USB4. They’re coming to Japan in December, and we should see them here in the U.S. once Big Tech companies update their gear to be compatible. Bring on the super-duper-fast charging!

Mount Everest’s steady elevation gain can be traced back 89,000 years. Now, it rises about 2 millimeters per year. That’s only 0.08 inches, but it all adds up when you’re getting high.

How early election officials suggest you send your mail-in ballot. Massive delays in the U.S. Postal Service could mean thousands of ballots won’t make it into the official account. I’m not taking any chances; I’m voting in person.