$500

July 2, 2025

That’s the fine for firing up your gas blower in D.C. That means if you leaf-blow your yard and your neighbor’s patience, you’re also blowing $500 per offense. Gas blowers roared onto the scene in the 1970s, and now they’re getting banned (like in California) for being noisy, dirty and possibly harmful. Need an upgrade? This electric blower ($49.49) has great reviews.

We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.

Tags: California, electric, gas, Now, reviews

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When your stock is actually a scam

ChatGPT

I don’t mean to be a downer, but I need to warn you that tens of thousands of Americans, folks just like you, are getting duped into buying worthless Chinese stocks.

The Wall Street Journal (paywall link) found even seasoned investors are falling for this scam, losing big bucks in the blink of an eye.

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Google’s Veo 3 is out

The new AI video generator creates lifelike eight-second clips from just a prompt. It’s amazing. You can try it free through Vertex AI on Google Cloud by signing up for a trial and using the $300 in credits. FYI: This thing was trained on millions of YouTube videos.

Spies on the road: Washington State’s using motion data from your phone — yep, the same one in your car’s cupholder — to find speeding hot spots. A Michelin-backed system anonymously logs braking and acceleration, then tips off the State Patrol. The upside? Fewer crashes. The downside? Your commute just joined the surveillance state. Not tracked personally, but just enough to ruin your shortcut.

📞 Press 1 to scream: This drives me nuts, and now we know it’s on purpose. The customer service endless holds. The loops. The “wrong department” reroutes. Turns out it’s not a glitch, it’s the point (paywall link). These systems are designed to wear you down until you give up and hang up. You’re not crazy. You’re just trapped in the admin-industrial complex.

🪴 I wet my plants: AI-generated houseplant scams, like fake glowing monstera, blue sunflowers and bogus care tips, are spreading online. Real plant nerds are mad. Between mislabeled seeds, floating pots and chatbot advice that could kill a fern in 10 seconds, AI’s turning a peaceful hobby into a digital funhouse of botanical lies.

Tesla’s ghost delivery: This is something. Tesla just delivered a car from its factory to a customer with zero humans inside, not even a remote operator. The car just snuck home like a teenager after curfew. Elon says it’s the first true hands-off highway drive. I wonder: If you miss a few car payments, will it also drive itself back to the dealer?

🤖 Dirt = debt: Watch out the next time you rent a car. Hertz renters are getting slapped with $195 to $440 charges for microscopic car damage, like a wheel scuff or tiny dent, caught by new AI scanners at drop-off. PSA: Take a video of the entire car before you drive off the lot.

Another Anker recall: Five more power banks are being pulled over fire risks. Affected models include: Anker Power Bank A1257 and A1647, MagGo A1652, and Zolo A1681 and A1689. You’ll find the model number on the side or back. Fill out a recall form to get a free replacement or a gift card.

Crypto tax panic: Crypto traders are freaking out after a huge spike in official letters from the IRS, some warnings, some with fines already baked in. Even people who’ve played by the rules say they’re getting flagged. If you’ve been diligently reporting your Fartcoin profits like a responsible adult, congrats: You’re now on the audit express.

👀 TikTok’s mystery buyers: President Trump claims “very wealthy people” are ready to buy TikTok, but he won’t say who. Only catch? The deal still needs China’s OK. The deadline’s now Sept. 17. This is the third delay while lawmakers try to kill the app. It feels like a group project we all forgot about that keeps getting deadline extensions.