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June 18, 2025

🍕 When the Pentagon eats pizza: An X account tracked pizza shop orders near the Pentagon, and predicted Israel’s strike on Iran hours before it happened. Pizza spiked, then dropped. The bar went quiet. Suddenly missiles. It’s not the first time folks have linked local takeout to military action.

Car scam alert: A Nebraska man with terminal cancer tried to buy a $12K 1955 Chevy for one last summertime cruise. Instead, he wired money to a fake escrow site. Now the website, the cash and his dream are long gone. BBB says the site was a mirage. I hope these scammers rot in hell.

😨 Data brokers turn deadly: This is horrifying. The man accused of assassinating Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband allegedly used people search sites (paywall link) to stalk them. If criminals can track politicians, they can track you. That’s why you need Incogni to get your info off those websites.*

Meta’s next smart glasses: Meta and Oakley have a new pair dropping Friday, made for athletes this time. No specs yet, but they’ll probably work like the Meta Ray-Bans. Think photos, videos, music, calls and AI that describes what you’re looking at. Oh, and the camera might sit in the center of the frame. Wow.

Reason #452 why I sold my Tesla: FSD was a pile of poopy hype. In repeated trials, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature rolled past stop signs and mowed down child-size mannequins like a GTA side quest. Elon says safety is top priority, which is reassuring to the mannequins’ plastic parents.

🤖 Blocky box office: A Minecraft Movie is exclusively hitting HBO Max this Friday. It’s got Jason Momoa, Jack Black, even a villain named Malgosha, all in one magical cube-based world. It’s already earned $951M+ worldwide since its March debut, becoming the top-grossing film of 2025. You and your kiddos will love it.

Digital passport for the AI age

Sam Altman who created ChatGPT now wants to scan your eyeballs with a glowing bowling ball to prove you’re human online, and he made a jingle about it. Seriously. I told you all about it back on May 6. Orb just dropped its first U.S. ad campaign. It’s basically the “If You’re Happy and You Know It” of human verification. It feels like a TSA PreCheck for whatever weird world we’re heading into. It already has 13 million verified humans across 20+ countries, with goals to hit 50 million by the end of 2025. Not me.

🔥 Wildfires go predictive: AI can now predict massive wildfires 10 days in advance. It uses CO₂ data, land maps, weather info and code that somehow knows forest vibes. Get this, it even clocked those Canadian fires before they hit. Honestly, better track record than most weathermen. AI just declared that tree has arson energy.

100%

That’s how accurate ChatGPT-4 is at making lifesaving cardiology decisions. A hospital in Israel tested whether patients needed a stent or open-heart surgery, and in all 40 cases, the AI made the same calls as senior experts. Cherry on top? It gave answers in 10 minutes instead of the usual 30. Paging Dr. GPT.

Turn off Fire Stick clicks: You know that annoying little sound every time you move through the menu? Leave it on long enough and you’ll start hearing it in your dreams. Go to Settings > Display & Sounds > Audio > Navigation Sounds and switch it Off. Congrats, your sanity just thanked you.

Chatbots are warping reality: Folks are forming deep bonds with AI, and it’s messing with their mental health. Like an accountant who was told we live in a simulation and advised to stop taking his meds. Then another woman who thought she was talking to spirits (paywall link). Reminder: Bots are built to entertain.

📦 Walmart’s expanding drone delivery: It’s coming to five more cities, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando and Tampa. If you’re in one of them, you can sign up on Wing’s site to get notified when it goes live near you. FYI: That brings the service to 100 stores. At this rate, we’ll be living like the Jetsons in no time.

Samsung’s fridge knows your voice: The new smart models recognize who’s talking to personalize the screen. So when you speak, it shows your calendar, photos, applies your favorite color settings and rats you out when you’re sneaking pie in the middle of the night. I made that last part up, but it’s a definite possibility.

Almost every 24 hours

How often Chipotle plans to open a new restaurant this year. To pull it off, they’ll need lots of new hires, and that’s where AI comes in. Their “Ava Cado” tool chats with candidates, collects info and sends out offers. Apparently, it’s so good it’s cut hiring time by around 75%. Wish they could do that for prices.

📺 TV arms race: Get ready for more ads! Amazon Ads and Roku just inked an ad deal that lets brands target 80% of U.S. connected-TV homes. Starting late this year, Amazon will place ads across Prime Video, the Roku Channel and more, with smarter targeting and fewer repeats. In trials, it reached 40% more viewers with the same budget.

Trump Org sells phones: This is not politics, so don’t even think of writing me a note about it. This is tech news. It’s a presidential first you need to be in the know about. Coming soon is a $499 gold Android phone and a $47.45/month plan called “The 47 Plan.” It includes unlimited data, roadside help and presidential branding galore. It’s all licensing, with no actual tech building involved. Customer support is reportedly Eric Trump with a headset. Just kidding.