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š° It pays not to work: New reports say bitcoin-mining company Riot Platforms struck gold during the August heatwave in Texas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas paid them $31.7 million to use less power. Thatās $22 million more than they made mining bitcoin that month, all paid for by taxpayers.
10,000 pics at once: Imagine you have 10,000 images with a white background that should be blue. Before, youād have to open each file, change the background, save it, and then do it again, over and over. Not anymore. Adobeās new Firefly Bulk Create app can edit them all at once. The AI-powered tool resizes, removes or replaces backgrounds with a single click. You’ll need a Firefly Premium plan ($49 per month) and āgenerative creditsā to unlock the feature.
Call the referee: Hundreds of AI-fueled websites are flooding the internet with crappy sports articles, often stolen from legit sources. One tip-off: URLs that look like the real thing only if you squint, like āBBCSportss.ā Itās all about ad money; theyāve got deals from big brands like Sephora, Net-A-Porter and Asana.
Pure scam: Itās wild how successful purebred puppy scams are. The ābreederā hooks you with cute pics, then itās all downhill. Once you send a deposit for the furry little one through Venmo or Zelle, scammers hand over a (fake) pick-up address and vanish. Donāt pay for a pet youāve never seen in real life. If you spot a suspicious ad, report it to the FTC.
š The age of exploration: The U.S. launched 145 rockets in 2024 and plans to be even busier this year. A ātraffic jamā is forming at three key launchpads in Florida and California approved for big rockets. New spaceports might be coming to a city near you. Rockets reach orbit easiest when launched near the equator, and most are by the ocean.
Skinny is in: Rumors are swirling about Appleās iPhone 17 Air, measuring a mere 5.5mm in thickness. The iPhone Pro 16 is about two stacked pennies thicker, at 8.25mm. With less room, the specs for the Air arenāt as impressive. Expect a single rear camera, a single speaker and a smaller battery that dies faster. Androidās version, the Galaxy Slim, could drop in May.
š® āFix it for meā: This is the start of something big. Nvidiaās Project G-Assist adjusts your game settings for you based on a conversation. Ask the AI questions like your current frame rate and how to improve it, and itāll adjust your GPU, aka graphics card, for better performance. Hereās a sneak peek.
Sew much fun: This is the year of āgrandmacoreā hobbies for 20-something gals ā baking, knitting, embroidery, crocheting, gardening and anything else granny loved, too. No surprise, they say itās more relaxing than scrolling. I bought a knitting set three years ago, and itās still in the closet. Maybe this is my sign to try it!