$100 million

May 22, 2024

In narcotics trafficked on the dark web by a 23-year-old. Authorities finally bagged the Taiwanese kingpin, Rui-Siang Lin. Over four years, he sold up to $5 million in illegal drugs every month on his site, Incognito Market. For reference, the guy who created the Silk Road was 29 when the feds caught him. He’s serving two lifetimes in prison.

Tags: Dark Web, drugs, illegal, Incognito mode, market, old, prison, site, Web, WHO

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Measure twice, cut once: Researchers are creating 3D models of human hearts and other organs to test treatments before surgery. Pulling in data from medical exams and wearable devices, doctors use these “digital twins” to find the best approach during surgery, all completely risk-free. Imagine the possibilities for conditions like heart disease and cancer (paywall link). Love this.

How many minutes of ads are shown per hour of traditional TV? Is it … A.) 8 minutes, B.) 10 minutes, C.) 12 minutes or D.) 14 minutes?

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📺 Like cable … but different: Comcast’s new Xfinity StreamSaver bundle gets you Netflix, Apple TV+ and Peacock Premium for $15 a month. Before you get too excited, it’s the basic versions of Netflix and Peacock — in other words, lots of ads. But if you’re already on the basic plans, it’s a $10 monthly savings.

👀 Total recall: Microsoft rolled out their new AI features on May 21. One called Recall takes snapshots of your screen every few seconds so you can view past activities later. And I mean everything: Apps, video calls, files, browser activities and login details are all fair game. It’s exclusive to their new Copilot+ line of PCs. I’ll pass, thanks.

Dead end: A man turned his terminally ill father into a chatbot. After recording hours of his life story, it answers him in Dad’s voice. Would you want your family members to do this for you? If not, talk to them or add a line to your estate documents.

🌪️ Going out for a spin: Travelers are shelling out big bucks to chase dangerous storms in “Tornado Alley,” which stretches through the central U.S. and into the Canadian Prairies. For $2,000 to $4,500 per trip, tour guides bring folks as close as safely possible to hail the size of baseballs and winds that can sweep you off your feet. Yes, you’ve got to sign a waiver.

Human voice notes are the rage: Ah, the sweet spot between texting and calling (paywall link). Voice notes mean less screen time, and they’re easier than typing and keep your communication personal without the phone call commitment. Just hit the mic icon in your messaging app and start talking. And if your friend likes to ramble, listen at double speed.

I don’t want to taco ’bout it: OpenAI removed the sultry Scarlett Johansson GPT‑4o voice, saying they don’t want to “deliberately mimic” a celebrity’s voice. All it took was her hiring lawyers (paywall link) after she said “no” to CEO Sam Altman’s offer to voice his AI.

Another health care data breach: WebTPA provides admin services to health benefit plans and insurance companies. Hackers stole the names, contact details, birth and death dates, Social Security numbers and insurance info of 2.4 million people in April 2023. Yes, it happened over a year ago and we’re just hearing about it now. The company’s CEO basically said, “It’s no big deal.” Yeah, not for you.

🚨 Selfie scam warning: Criminals are combing social media for selfies, and older adults are the main targets. Why? They use your selfies to open fake accounts or access existing ones that use facial biometric tech, all so they can steal your money. Safety checklist: Enable multifactor authentication and keep your social media profiles private.