The top 3 email scams

Which of the following smartphone charging facts is actually a myth? Is it … A.) Charging your phone overnight damages its battery, B.) Using your phone while it’s charging can make it explode, C.) Charging only when it reaches 0% extends your battery life, or D.) You should only use the charger that came with your phone?

Find the answer here →

A swing and … a miss: From the someone-is-getting-fired files, Apple’s FineWoven cases have attracted so many complaints that they’ve been slapped with a “frequently returned item” badge on Amazon. If you’re after a new case for your iPhone, I like this one (50% off!) and this one.

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Thought DVDs were dead? Scientists created a disc that can hold a petabyte of data. That’s a million movies, folks. Before you get too excited, there are a few catches — the disc struggles with slow writing speeds and guzzles energy. If they can iron out the kinks, imagine all your fave flicks on one disc. Neat.

Netflix and bill: It’s that time again! Streaming giant Netflix is bumping up its prices. Analysts say the cheapest ad-free plan is soaring to $17.49. Entry-level with ads? $7.99. And for 4K subscribers? Get ready to pony up as much as $25.99 per month. Gulp.

Flock, the startup that’s all about catching criminals with its license plate cams, finds itself on thin ice, legally. They “forgot” to secure installation permits in Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.

Oh, the drama! TikTok is cutting off all songs from artists tied to Universal Music Group thanks to a stalemate over renewing their music licensing deal. At the heart? AI tunes and artist compensation. Meanwhile, YouTube’s swooping in with a new remix feature and Universal tracks.

Classroom crackdown: U.S. teachers are fed up with students watching Netflix instead of the chalkboard. States like Utah and Florida are banning classroom cellphone use. And guess what? When phones go silent, grades get better. Maybe it’s time all states got with the program — this one’s a no-brainer.

Scent-sational: Meet GameScent, a $180 gadget that’s literally a breath of fresh (or not-so-fresh) air for gamers. Plug it into your console or PC, and it puffs out scents like burning rubber while you race in Need for Speed or gunfire when you fight in Call of Duty. Wonder what Minecraft smells like.

Working below C-level: The Biden administration is urging software developers to move away from C and C++ programming languages, which are notorious for memory safety vulnerabilities. They recommend more secure, memory-safe programming languages like Rust, C#, Go, Java, Ruby and Swift. Share this with anyone you know in the biz.

The knock-less monster: Consumer Reports discovered a gaping security hole in Eken’s $30 smart doorbells. Hackers simply need to download a separate app, press a button for 8 seconds, and boom — they’re in. They’re still up for sale on Amazon, Sears, TikTok and other sites, but don’t even think about buying one. Get a solid video doorbell instead — and 20% off the home security system I use with SimpliSafe.