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💪🇺🇸 The only easy day was yesterday: Special ops commanders went to DC to explain that America’s military tech, especially AI, machine learning, autonomous weapons and cyber warfare, is way behind our adversaries. China and Russia are investing heavily in AI-driven battlefield awareness, drone swarms and cyber capabilities. We have to do the same.
I told you about this weeks ago: Now it’s hitting mainstream news sites. Google secretly installed an app on Android phones called SafetyCore. It scans all your photos, theoretically to provide Sensitive Content warnings. Hit this link on your Android and hit uninstall if you don’t want it eating up 2GB of space.
Whiskey business: A bottle of rare 81-year-old Macallan scotch is selling for $649,999. No wonder alcohol counterfeiting is so big. Criminals make bank refilling authentic bottles with cheap stuff. Not anymore! New tech embeds a molecular marker in the seal of each verified bottle so collectors don’t get duped. Authenticated bottles get a blockchain record you can check. Now that’s a barrel of laughs.
🔥 Laundry just got worse: If your machine is running slower than usual or having trouble starting, don’t ignore it. A woman’s LG washing machine burst into flames even though it was turned off. Firefighters say the usual culprit is the capacitor, which stays on and can cause a short.
Alexa+ is ready for a price: The new Amazon AI can guess a movie based on clues. Ask for “that one with the sparkling vampires,” and it pulls up “Twilight.” It’s getting integrated with thousands of apps, too, so you can do things like order an Uber without lifting a finger. I expect more skills for $240 a year!
🚀 3, 2, 1, liftoff: Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez (Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend) are joining an all-female crew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket this spring. They’ll float in zero gravity for about 10 minutes. Spoiler: Lauren’s going to wear something revealing to strike a froze.
🧠Mind over matter: It’s been a year since Noland Arbaugh became the first Neuralink patient. I chatted with him last year, and he’s so positive. The procedure was done in Phoenix. The team just shared a video of how the N1 Implant helps him control gadgets just by thinking. Check it out here.