27% of the time

AI answered election-related questions incorrectly. Some did better than others in a new study. Google’s Gemini 1.0 Pro scored a 57% … ouch. OpenAI’s GPT-4o was right 81% of the time. Don’t rely on AI if you need to know when and where to vote.

Tags: AI (artificial intelligence), Google, OpenAI, study


Support alligator goes missing

Today I learned: Exotic support animals are a thing. See ya later, alligator.

Stop paying for things you don’t use: It might sound counterintuitive, but with many streaming services, you can cancel immediately after subscribing (or let Rocket Money* do it for you!) and still enjoy the entire trial period. Just check their policy first. Perfect for when there’s one movie on your to-watch list.

🎶 She’s working 9-to-5: Don’t even think about DMing, texting or calling Dolly Parton. She’s a faxing kind of gal. Dolly says it saves her time and keeps things simple with so many people trying to reach her. Miley Cyrus says Dolly faxed her to ask for a collab. Speaking of … My friend, Joe, recently started the Dolly Parton diet. It’s really made Joe lean, Joe lean, Joe lean, Joe le‑e‑e‑a‑a‑a‑an.

Plateaus are the highest form of flattery: The New York Times is suing geography game Worldle for causing confusion and piggybacking on its hit game, Wordle. Worldle’s creator says many games have similar names — e.g., Quordle, Nerdle and Heardle. (Btw, some people say “crane,” “slate” and “crate” are the best three words to start with for Wordle.)

What could possibly go wrong? An anonymous message board app wreaked havoc at a Vermont high school. It only took hours for the convos to go from lighthearted fun to hardcore bullying, sending teens in tears to their guidance counselors. The company has pulled the school from its platform for now (paywall link).

You’d better love your Cybertruck: There’s a tricky clause in Tesla’s Cybertruck order agreement. Sell it within a year, and they’ll fine you $50,000. They haven’t sued anyone for it yet, but Ford did. It’s to prevent jacking up the price on used models, but what if you hate it?

Don’t leave the baby in the car: Each year, about 40 children die in car-heat-related deaths. Temps inside locked cars can easily reach 150 degrees, and advocates now want all automakers to put tech in cars to prevent these types of deaths. Some Hyundais have an advanced rear-occupant alert system that sends warnings if a baby is left in the car.

From the “whatever” department: Amazon, Google and Best Buy are working on a “hacker-safe” label for smart devices. Scan the QR code for info on your new doorbell or TV, and see if it meets certain cybersecurity standards. The ETA for the label is later this year, but hackers always find a way.

Tell your loved ones: Diamond Shruumz Microdosing Chocolate Bars are sending people to the ER. They’re linked to seizures, vomiting and loss of consciousness. Eight people have fallen ill, with six hospitalized … but they’re still being sold online and in stores nationwide. 

🚨 Fake news: News outlet BNN Breaking had millions of readers and a publishing deal with Microsoft. Turns out, they used AI to churn out error-filled, paraphrased news, making big bucks from clickbait (paywall link). The site went dormant in April, but they’ve since set up shop under a new name: TrimFeed. Stay away.