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For reporting traffic offenders. In Vietnam, chaotic roads caused 30 deaths per day last year, so authorities got creative. Anyone who turns in a rulebreaker gets 5 million dong (about $200), or 10% of the offender’s fine. No one’s cashed in yet because the fear of being reported actually has drivers following the rules. Snitches get riches.
🤑 The art of the deal: Amazon just dropped $40 million for a behind-the-scenes documentary about Melania Trump that will debut in theaters, then stream on Prime Video. Her story is incredible. Now, this is the weird part: The film’s director is Brett Ratner, who’s been MIA since 2017, when he was hit with numerous sexual misconduct allegations that forced Warner Bros. to cancel his $450 million contract.
More like Cost of Duty: How much money does it take to make a video game? Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) had a $700 million budget, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) cost over $640 million. For perspective, the “Avengers: Endgame” movie only cost $356 million to make. If they’re spending that kind of money, they’re making three times that at least.
Look to Japan: There’s a global nursing shortage, and in Japan, they’ve come up with a solution. Nursing homes there are using robots for tasks like moving patients and monitoring vitals. So far, it’s a win for everyone.
⚖️ Shocker, Google lied: A new class-action lawsuit says even if you turned off tracking on your phone, Google still collected your data. Google says no, no, the disclosures were clear. Surprise, internal messages suggest they were vague on purpose. The judge didn’t believe Google and I don’t, either. The case is going to a jury trial on Aug. 18.
Lights, camera, AI: Johnny Depp says scammers are using AI to fake his voice and attempting to steal cash and personal info. He told his Instagram followers he’s not on X, Snapchat or Discord, so anyone claiming to be him is a fake. Reba McEntire and Kelly Rowland are targets, too. If your idol wants your money, it’s a scam.
Wipe your mouth! There’s a tiny amount of BS on your lips: The FCC approved a “U.S. Cyber Trust Mark” label for smart devices that meet their cybersecurity standards. No word on criteria yet, but expect rules around data privacy, regular updates and issue detection. Most internet-connected devices qualify … but not computers and phones, which we all use all the time.
Gravy train derailed: Hackers breached data broker Gravy Analytics and got their hands on the location info of millions of people. They also named companies who bought their data, like Uber, Comcast, Apple and Equifax. Last month, the FTC went after Gravy for selling sensitive location data. This is why I use Incogni. They remove you from databases like this.
The apple of my lie: Apple Intelligence is messing up news summaries. Phony notifications include tennis star Rafael Nadal coming out as gay and Israel’s Prime Minister being arrested. The BBC says it’s hurting the credibility of news outlets. Always read past the headlines!
🚘 Someone’s always watching: Some 150 automated license plate recognition cameras in a dozen cities leaked real-time video to anyone with internet access. Only law enforcement was supposed to see them. Motorola makes most of the cameras and says it’s now rolling out firmware updates to fix this mess. Too little, too late.
