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March 9, 2025

⚠️ One of the biggest DDoS attacks: Yep, it’s happening right now. A massive botnet appeared overnight, with hackers hijacking thousands of video recorders. The impact? Multiple online services are getting flooded with so much traffic that they’re crashing. Folks, this is why you should keep your devices updated with the latest firmware and use strong passwords.

After 35 years, Microsoft is ditching Publisher: It’s getting the boot in Oct. 2026. Other changes: Look for Microsoft to start bugging you to back up your files to OneDrive if you use Microsoft 365 apps for Windows. And they’re also testing free Office desktop apps that have ads baked in that only let you save docs to OneDrive.

Too cool for school: A Columbia University student built an AI program to ace his Amazon technical interview. He got the offer, turned it down, then someone snitched. Now he’s facing a disciplinary hearing. Plot twist: He’s dropping out anyway, saying LLMs will replace programmer jobs in two years. He’s right. ChatGPT can now directly edit code. Nuts.

🥼 When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble: Fake AI doctors are taking over TikTok, pushing sketchy medical advice, from using lemon balm instead of Ozempic to selling health gummies through Amazon storefronts. The red flags? Decades of experience, weird mouth movements and names like the “coochie” or “booty” doctor.

Uber completes a million trips an hour: Wow, right? To keep up with demand, their next move is integrating autonomous vehicles into the app. But get this: Instead of building their own robotaxis, they’re partnering with the likes of Waymo. What does that mean for us? Most likely higher ride prices since revenue will be split, and fewer jobs for human drivers.

🚗 Fastest car under $1 million: I’m a car gal, so I love this story. The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hit a top speed of 233 mph on a 7.6-mile test track in Germany. You may know it’s one of the heaviest sports cars, starting at $174,995. To punch above its weight, GM engineers simulated it to prep for the test. The computer was only off by 1.09 mph. How cool. I tried a computer sim once, but I was only spinning my wheels.

Gold grifters: The people behind a massive new scam operation

Jingming Pan on Unsplash

Yash Shah never thought he’d end up in jail. By his own account, he was just a “normal person” trying to make ends meet. Pick up a package, drop it off. Easy money.

But that “easy money” landed him in a detention center, facing charges for his alleged role in one of the fastest-growing criminal operations in America, which racked up $126 million in losses last year alone. I’m talking about gold bar scams.

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🎶 DJ King Charles III: Yes, you read that right. Chucky’s hosting a show from Buckingham Palace called The King’s Music Room on Apple Music. It’s all about the tunes and artists he loves. In the premiere dropping Monday, he’ll call out Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue and Davido. You can bet there’s no royalty-free music on his playlist. (I groaned when I wrote that!)

Up to 48%

Seniors are struggling with insomnia. Building muscle might help. Researchers looked at 24 trials with 2,045 folks 60 and over. They found strength and resistance training worked almost twice as well as just doing aerobic exercises. Turns out, mixing the two helped even less. Fun fact: People with insomnia are pretty cool. They’re up for anything.

$150 million

That’s what it’ll cost to live next door to Jeff Bezos on Indian Creek Island near Miami Beach, Florida. Sound ridiculous? The lot was actually listed for $200 million in December, so technically, it’s a discount.

I like big bots and I cannot lie: Your HR department can’t write you up for saying that. Your new coworker could be an AI bot. OpenAI is about to create special “agents” for jobs like sales and software development. They’ll start at $2,000 and go up to $20,000 a month for PhD-level research. Upside: The bots never call in sick.

Move over Kia Boys, the Nissan Boys are here: Steps outlining how to steal a Nissan are all over social media. Thieves use special hardware to intercept a Nissan’s key signal, which lets them unlock the doors and start the engine. To stop your key’s signal from transmitting, wrap it in tinfoil (Yup, that trick again!) when you’re at home or place it in a metal box. Expect an upgrade from Nissan soon.

$2,000 and up

The hefty price tag of Apple’s foldable iPhone in 2027. It’s rumored to open like a book like the Galaxy Z Fold. You’ll see a 7.8-inch screen without any creases and a 5.5-inch outer screen. Touch ID is making a comeback on the side button since Face ID might not fit.

🗣️ You got to hear this: I called a networking gear company and got “Heather.” I could barely understand her. Those days may be over. Teleperformance, the world’s largest call center company, is using AI to change Indian accents into American or British ones in real time. You need to take a sec, click here and select Demo. Pick a person, hit Play and toggle the button on and off. Amazing.

Found after 7 years: Watch “Unsolved Mysteries” on Netflix? You might remember Abdul Aziz Khan. He went missing from Atlanta after his mom, who didn’t have custody, allegedly kidnapped him. Police found her and her husband, who isn’t Abdul’s dad, in an empty house in Colorado and charged them. Now Abdul is 14 and finally coming home.

$21 million

Stolen from victims of a grandparent scam ring. Good news: Police caught the bad guys. Scammers called, pretending to be a teenager or adult grandkid who was in a car crash, arrested and needed money for bail.