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February 15, 2025

Swatting phone calls made by one teenager. Alan Filion from California charged up to $75 to send police to schools, businesses and even an unnamed former president. In one call, he said he was approaching a school with an AK-47, and the bomb squad showed up. When he targeted homes, Filion said the goal was to “get the cops to drag the victim and their families out of the house, cuff them and search the house for dead bodies.” He’s so lucky no one died.

Tags: businesses, California, Police, school, Search

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Your Wi-Fi was part of 2.7 billion records leaked

I bet you’ve never heard of Mars Hydro. It’s a company headquartered in Communist China that makes Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Their speciality? LED lights and hydroponics equipment.

Security researcher Jeremiah Fowler (I had him on the show about other breaches, and he’s a smart, standup guy) was digging around and found they had a massive 1.17TB database online for anyone to see. There was no encryption and no password required.

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Winter bash goes viral

I love this and I know you will, too. An 87-year-old guy in Bucks County, Pennsylvania is having a party tonight. Doug Turner went door to door with handwritten invites. The winter celebration is from “4 p.m. until the cops arrive.” His neighbor shared their doorbell cam chat on TikTok. No strangers at the party, but after Doug said he liked the snail mail, letters flooding the PO Box his daughter set up. He’s planning to reply to each one with his special fountain pen.

🐋 Modern-day Jonah: I thought this was totally fake, but it’s not. A dad watched a giant whale swallow his son and caught the whole thing on video. Phew, the kid survived! The whale spat the son and his kayak out after a few seconds. The video is terrifying. One moment, he’s paddling, and the next, he’s completely gone.

Remember the 'Charlie Bit My Finger' video?

You know, the toddler crying because his baby brother bit his finger. Almost 900 million views later, Charlie is 18 and says the clip helped him pay for law school. The 55-second clip has earned his family over $1 million. A big chunk of that came in 2021 when the video sold as an NFT for over $600,000.

Is AI making us dumber? Maybe. A Microsoft study found AI tools hurt our critical thinking skills. Some people are so dependent on AI responses, they stop questioning things. When faced with a real challenge (and no AI), they have a hard time analyzing and solving problems. I use AI as a starting place, not a common-sense replacement.

Don’t buy any Amazon tech now: They’re showing off new gadgets on Feb. 26. Rumor has it we’ll meet the next-gen Alexa that can handle “complex requests,” along with new Echo speakers and earbuds, too. Probably no Kindles since new models dropped in October.

🚨 Two recalls to know about: First, over a million Igloo 90-qt. Flip & Tow rolling coolers, which have been slicing off fingers. They were sold from January 2019 until last month. Full list here. If you’re affected, you can get a free replacement. Next up, a canned tuna recall for Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brands that could cause fatal food poisoning. Return ‘em for a full refund.

What the big print giveth, the small print taketh away: Paramount and YouTube TV couldn’t agree on a renewal contract, so you’ll lose 23 channels today. If you really need CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central or one of the others, try Tubi for a free trial. Just remember to set a reminder to cancel! If tug-of-war drags on for “an extended period of time,” YouTube will give subs an $8 credit. Gee, thanks. Speaking of, ditch the subscriptions you don’t use. I did, and I used the app that makes it easy: Rocket Money. They find everything and cancel whatever you no longer want.

Operation Level Up: The FBI is calling people who fell for crypto scams to stop them from losing even more money. So far, of 4,300 folks across all 50 states, 76% had no clue they were being scammed. If you get a call, the real agency won’t ask you for money or tell you to move yours. They also won’t request your personal info or try to move your chat to an encrypted app.

💸 Imagine winning the lotto: I bet you have. A Hillsboro, Missouri, couple thought the magical moment was real when someone told them they’d won $17 million. All they had to do was pay taxes upfront. They mailed over $800,000 in cash and gift cards to random addresses until their daughter figured out what was going on. They’re not getting that money back.