Tech roundup: Massive medical hack, sneaky app ratings, billionaire weddings

December 24, 2024

🏥 1 million Americans exposed: Hackers got private communications between doctors and patients using ConnectOnCall. The breach includes names, health conditions, treatments, medications, Social Security numbers and more. If your name’s on the list, look for a letter in the mail.

You can’t trust the ratings: Apple’s App Store is packed with inappropriate apps rated safe for kids (paywall link). Anonymous chat platforms, sexual games and body-tuning filters are slipping through, even with parental controls enabled. The loophole? Apple lets developers set their own age ratings. Parents, it’s your job.

AirPods rake in over $18 billion a year: They’re on pace to outsell iPads, becoming Apple’s third-biggest product behind iPhones and Macs. Teenagers and young adults love ‘em most. Around 62% of Gen Zers own a pair. Psst, the AirPods Pro 2 are on sale (24% off). Perfect holiday gift for yourself.

👰🏻🤵🏻 Billionaire wedding: So many news outlets are reporting Jeff Bezos, 60, is tying the knot with fiancée Lauren Sanchez, 55, next weekend in an Aspen, Colorado, wedding rumored to cost $600 million. Jeff says, “The whole thing is completely false.” Phew, now I don’t feel so bad I didn’t get my invite yet.

Snapchat lawsuit: Some 64 families are suing Snap, claiming its Snapchat app connected their kids with drug dealers who poisoned them with fentanyl. With geolocation tools for easy handoffs and messages that vanish in 24 hours by default, it’s a dealer’s paradise. Snap’s defense? They’re not responsible for what others do or say on their platform.

🔞 AI porn star: A 33-year-old adult film star sold her likeness to an AI company to lighten the load of her, ahem, demanding career. Chloe Amour says she loves connecting with fans, but she can’t always fulfill all their desires. Enter AI: Now she can be everything they want, anytime they want it. Business is booming. One guy says he’s dropped $10,000 a month on AI “girlfriends.”

Shady streaming: Spotify is filling playlists with “ghost artists” so they don’t have to pay so much in royalties. Just 20 songwriters are behind over 500 artists and thousands of tracks. The genres most affected? Classical, jazz, ambient and lo-fi hip-hop.

📸 Saving memories: A North Carolina woman is using Instagram to reunite families with photographs lost during Hurricane Helene. Taylor Schenker has collected hundreds of photos from the debris and shares them on her page, Photos from Helene. Folks can reach out to claim them or have them mailed back. Only about 15% have been returned. Spread the word if you can.

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How to listen to An American Christmas

The holidays are all about traditions, and here’s one you won’t want to miss: “An American Christmas.”

My husband, Barry, produces the show every single year. It’s packed with heartwarming stories, classic holiday music, songs from new artists that everyone will like and just the right amount of nostalgia to make your season bright.

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The clock is ticking!

🏃 Last-minute gifts that’ll (hopefully) arrive by Christmas. You can do this!

PSA: Check the shipping date! When I did, these all arrived before Christmas.

For the pink fiend, a Paris Hilton air fryer (25% off, $60). It’s cute!
A jade roller and gua sha stone set (53% off, $7) are a slam dunk stocking stuffer.
These nice Cole Haan men’s sneakers go with basically any outfit.
$15 popcorn? 30 minutes of trailers? No, thanks. Gift at-home movie nights with a popcorn maker ($20).
This Lego board game is fun for the whole fam. You build Lego towers the characters race up.
A Chinese soup dumpling kit is fun for your favorite cook. If they don’t like dumplings, what about a French tart kit?
Make French fries even yummier with a seasoning set (click the coupon box for 25% off).
Give a golfer a golf ball and he’ll golf for an hour. Give a golfer a whole bunch of golf balls and he’ll golf all week.
This gym bag is water-resistant and lightweight, and it has a shoe compartment and spots for wet clothes. Win-win.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

🎥 James Bond’s favorite pasta is mini penne: The next movie in the James Bond franchise is in limbo, with no script or timeline. Why? A stalemate between the Broccoli family, which holds creative control, and Amazon, which owns the rights to release the films. The Broccolis don’t trust Amazon’s algorithm-driven, streaming-first approach or the idea of endless spinoffs (paywall link). Can’t blame ‘em — just look at what Amazon did to “The Lord of the Rings.”

Gift a little bit of luxury

💅 Treat them (or yourself) to something nice.

PSA: Check the shipping date! When I did, these all arrived before Christmas.

The right body wash is a game-changer. This one is under $10.
For the girl boss, a leather laptop bag in lots of colors ($35; click the coupon box for 15% off).
Everyone looks good in a classic pair of Ray-Bans (27% off).
This Korean face mask set ($35) has a ton of five-star reviews.
There’s no world in which a Le Creuset cast iron skillet wouldn’t be the best gift they get this year. Plus, it comes in 13 colors!
Just look at these gel nail polish (15% off) colors. If she doesn’t have a UV lamp for the polish, this one’s under $20.
Draw a bath, pour a glass of wine, grab a good book and relax. Add a snazzy bath tray for under $50.
If they don’t have a pair of over-the-ear headphones yet, change that ASAP!

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

I’m not sure I get this and I love a good prank: Here’s how it goes down: Parents give young kids fake styrofoam or rubber knives from Halloween costumes to play with. Then, they video the reactions from a spouse or grandparent. Most scream in horror in the viral videos. What happens when the kid wants to do the same thing with a real knife? Dumb.

🚔 AI eyes on the road: Police are using AI cameras to spot and flag drivers texting or not wearing a seatbelt. If they catch you, the images are sent to nearby officers, who will pull you over almost in real time. North Carolina has seen phone violations jump ninefold since adopting the tech.

“Never felt better”: That’s how Towana Looney feels after getting a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig. She struggled to find a human donor, and now, she’s only the third person in the U.S. to have this surgery. Doctors at New York University plan a clinical trial next year. This could really help others waiting for kidney donors.

Sales of portable CD players and MP3s are climbing: A great idea if you don’t want your kids on social media or a screen. Sure, you might have to give a crash course on how CDs work, but it beats them joining the nearly 50% of teens who are constantly online (paywall link).

✈️ This is going to take off: A Chinese company is developing a supersonic civilian jet that can travel four times the speed of sound. In tests, its engine clocked 3,045 mph at altitudes over 65,600 feet. That means it could take you from London to New York in under two hours, complete with a view of the earth’s curvature. Look for commercial flights by 2030.

🚨 Takeover fraud: A Colorado couple lost $3,700 after a scammer broke into their AT&T account and bought an iPad, iPhone, smartwatch and headphones. How? The crooks gained access to the couple’s login details. Keep an eye out for fake login links and impersonation calls. PSA: AT&T will never call you to lock down your account.