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February 21, 2025

💸 An older adult lost a whopping $2.09 million in a gold bar scam: But she’s getting 40% back. Morgan Stanley has to pay her $843K for failing to follow industry standards. Banks are supposed to flag big withdrawals and check with a trusted contact first. They didn’t.

Listen up, Workspace Teams: No more, “I didn’t know.” Your Google Meet AI notetaker is getting an upgrade. Now, meeting transcripts will include a checklist of suggested next steps, complete with tasks, due dates and assigned members.

This is important: Global myopia rates have tripled since 1990, increasing the risk of cataracts, glaucoma, and blindness (paywall link). The culprit? Too much screen time. Reminder: Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds to protect your eyes. I like puns about eyes, the cornea the better.

📺 Did Netflix cross a line? If you’ve seen “American Murder: Gabby Petito,” you heard Gabby reading her journals and texts. The filmmakers actually used AI to clone the murder victim’s voice. They say her family approved, but some are calling it “monstrous” to tell her story this way. What do you think?

Safe Wi-Fi anywhere: Using public Wi-Fi is risky no matter where you go. It doesn’t make a difference if you stay at a five-star luxury hotel, have lunch at your hometown diner or you’re at the airport. The easy way to protect yourself? Turn on a VPN.*

Amazon switcheroo: Starting Feb. 26, you can’t download Kindle books onto anything other than an Amazon device. So, right now, sign in to Amazon, click Accounts & Lists > Content Library > Books. On the one you want, hit More actions > Download & transfer via USB.

🍸 Shaken, not stirred: The Broccoli family has produced every James Bond film since 1962. In 2022, they sold the rights to Amazon for $8.5 billion (as part of the MGM acquisition). After years of power struggles, Amazon now has creative control and hopefully we’ll see a new James Bond soon. Speaking of … Where do James Bond Actors go when they die? 00Heaven. (So good!)

Bow wow

A former police officer is using a heat-seeking drone to track down missing dogs. So far, he’s reunited 42 dogs with their families. Here’s an adorable clip of a pup lost in the snow. His little tail wags like crazy when he sees his owner. I’m so excited that I’m getting a new puppy. Meet Bella.

Bow wow: A former police officer is using a heat-seeking drone to track down missing dogs. So far, he’s reunited 42 dogs with their families. Here’s an adorable clip of a pup lost in the snow. His little tail wags like crazy when he sees his owner. I’m so excited that I’m getting a new puppy. Meet Bella.

2 days

Time it took AI to crack a 10-year-old mystery. Scientists spent a decade trying to figure out why “superbugs” resist antibiotics. Google’s new co-scientist bot took just a couple of days to spit out the correct answer. I hope they put it to work on cancer.

31,000 miles

The longest undersea cable Meta wants to build. If you wrapped it around the equator, you’d have 6,000 miles left over. It’ll speed up the internet, but Meta’s main goal is boosting their AI capabilities.

💰 Armed rideshares are popping up everywhere: The new Protector app (iPhone only) lets you book armed guards and Escalades to chauffeur you around for $200 an hour. Think Uber, but with active or retired law enforcement and military officers behind the wheel. BlackWolf hires military and law enforcement too.

Craigslist scam: The guy listed a luxury Palm Beach apartment for $950/month (red flag because it actually costs $5,200/month), and a couple took the bait. The scammer gave them a tour and handed over the keys so it seemed legit. Turns out the real owner had left them in the door for a handyman. Argh.

😱 Robin Hood: Hackers dropped a toolkit that permanently unlocks almost all versions of Windows (7 and up), plus Office 2013 to 2024. They’re giving it away for free because “profiting from piracy is not good.” How ethical. Go with the free LibreOffice instead.

Whoa, it’s not an iPhone SE 4! Apple’s newest budget model ($599) is the iPhone 16e. It’ll have a 6.1-inch OLED screen, 48MP Fusion Camera, 5G modem, Apple Intelligence and a beefier A18 chip. What’s missing? MagSafe, the old Home Button and zippy Wi-Fi 7. Preorders start on Friday. Both the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE were discontinued, too.

63%

Lawyers that have used AI in cases. Only around 12% use it regularly. Bots like ChatGPT can make up fake cases in court docs. One lawyer was fined $2,000 and had to take a class on how to use AI for law.

5,000 year old

Mummies smell woody, spicy and sweet. That’s what a team of human sniffers (yes, it’s a real job) say. Ancient Egyptians used special waxes and balms to keep their pharaohs and nobles smelling nice. BO in the afterlife was a sign of corruption. I heard they also liked wrap music.