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March 25, 2025

🧬 23andMe filed for bankruptcy: I’ve been warning you about this for years. They’re selling off what they can to pay the bills, and that includes your personal info and genetic data. Delete your account ASAP before someone gets your DNA. Go to Profile > Settings > 23andMe Data > View > Delete Data, then confirm the deletion via email.

All it takes is a few hundred bucks: Sites like China’s Temu sell cheap drone accessories that can turn them into DIY weapons. We’re talking AI-guided cameras that recognize people and vehicles, and cargo holders that can carry explosives. Seriously frightening.

Remember Ruby Franke? She’s an evil mommy vlogger who went to prison last year for abusing and starving her kids. New laws are in the works to stop parents from using their kids for clicks. If a parent makes over $150K a year from family content, they must put some money into a trust (paywall link). Once kids hit 18, they can ask for old videos to be taken down. About time.

Sometimes life is eye-ronic: Google’s AI assistant Gemini can now “see” and use your camera in real time. Point it at your dying houseplant for tips on how to save it, or ask what is the water dripping from your car’s engine. (I did that, and it was 100% right!) It costs $20/month to use it. ChatGPT does the same for $20/month, too.

📷 Not just for tracking steps: The Apple Watch looks like it will get a camera to “see” the world using AI-enabled visual intelligence (paywall link). That means you could scan a flyer to add an event to your calendar or look up a restaurant on the spot. ETA? 2027.

Know a consultant? Give them a hug. The days of paying someone for data analysis, document summaries and reports are dead. AI can do all that, much cheaper. A Deloitte exec says the only way to make money in consulting now is to think like an engineer and call yourself a “technologist.” Share that with a consultant you know.

🐟 Ding-dong, it’s fishy: This is cool. You can help fish migrate through canals in the Netherlands. If you spot one on this underwater camera, press the “fish doorbell” to let them swim safely through the key lock. Last year, about 9.3 million people visited the site and rang the bell over 40,00 times. Let minnow if you see a fish. I haven’t.

Creepy data grab and how to make it stop

ID 316928087 | Tracking © Cherezoff | Dreamstime.com

This is the kind of thing that makes you wish flip phones were still a thing. The world has moved from marketing to digital profiling. We are being tracked like never before.

Advertising giant Publicis Groupe just released a video bragging that its CoreAI platform tracks a staggering 91% of all adult internet users. Yes, that probably includes you, me and everyone we know.

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🍫 A real-life Willy Wonka show? Yep, Netflix is casting for a new reality competition series inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s called The Golden Ticket, and contestants face wild games and temptations in a retro-futuristic dreamscape. The best part? You can apply now. I just got over my addiction to chocolate, marshmallows and nuts. It was a Rocky Road. (I saw you smile!)

Samsung broke your soundbar: And they know it. A bad software update they pushed last week left a bunch of soundbars unresponsive and inaccessible. It gets worse: It’s so severe, it can only be fixed with a physical repair. Samsung’s offering to fix it for free, even if you’re out of warranty. The least they can do.

🐱 Meow you’re talking: Scientists are building the world’s largest cat database to figure out why our feline friends act the way they do. Just send in a fur sample, fill out a survey about your cat’s behavior and give a $150 donation. The team will analyze the DNA and look for links between genetics, personality and health. Want in? Sign up here.

StubHub is going public: The ticket resale marketplace just filed to list on the New York Stock Exchange. Even though it pulled in $1.77 billion in revenue in 2024, it still posted a loss of $2.8 million. (How does that happen?) Anyway, wondering who else is lining up to go public? Keep an eye on CoreWeave, Klarna and Hinge Health.

Less than five years: That’s when Nvidia’s CEO says humanoid robots working 24/7 will be mainstream. They’ll show up in factories first, since the tasks are specific. Renting one could run you about $100,000 a year. So maybe don’t expect one folding your laundry just yet.

🚀 Trump announced Boeing will build the F-47: It’ll still have a human pilot, but it’s capable of flying autonomously with a swarm of AI-powered drone wingmen. This next-gen jet packs stealth tech, advanced sensors and hypersonic weaponry. China and Russia? Not even close. Watch more here.

🐭 Coming to Disney next year: This is freakin’ awesome. Real Star Wars droids roaming around. They’re working with Google DeepMind and Nvidia’s new Newton model to bring them to life. This will help them walk around the parks, be more expressive and do tricky tasks on their own. What do you call a pirate droid? Arr-2 D2. (Good one, right?)

Scam alert: Google’s new call-scanning feature tells you in real time if you’re getting swindled on the phone. AI analyzes conversations, and if something sketchy happens, you get an audio, vibration and visual warning. It’s for Pixel 9 or later only. Go to the Phone app > Settings > Scan Detection. PSA: Google says they’re not saving your calls. Yea, right.

🎮 Game over, cheaters: You’ll be banned forever if you’re caught selling your Call of Duty account. This is a big problem, so Activision is adding new anti-cheat tech before Season 3 of Black Ops 6 and Warzone starts.