There’s an app for that: The next time you need shampoo, you might not have to wait around for someone to unlock the case. CVS is updating its app to let you unlock antitheft shelves on your own after connecting to the store’s Wi-Fi. It’s being tested in NYC locations, with plans to expand to more stores, mostly on the West Coast.
Mystery (not) explained: Two months later, the White House says all those drones spotted over New Jersey weren’t foreign enemies or aliens. They were authorized by the FAA for research and “various other reasons.” Uh, what kind of research? No details. And the “various other reasons?” Insert conspiracy theories here.
New chips mean new risks: A serious flaw in Apple gear lets hackers snag data while you’re logged into Gmail in one tab and iCloud in another. The two vulnerabilities, named “FLOP” and “SLAP,” impact Mac laptops made in 2022 or later; Mac desktops from 2023 or later; iPad Pro, Air and Mini models from September 2021 and later; and iPhone 13, 14, 15 and 16 models, plus the iPhone SE (3rd-gen). There’s no fix yet. Be extra careful and log out of your email account when you’re not using it.
I warned you about this months ago: If you get a text from E-ZPass or SunPass about unpaid tolls, fines or legal trouble, delete it. Chinese cybercriminals are behind a campaign sending fake messages across America. Click the link and you’ll land on a copycat site of a real toll services company, ready to steal your payment info. Never follow a link to pay a bill; go to the official site yourself.
🤖 Finders keepers: OpenAI says DeepSeek, the impressive AI model out of China, just copied its work. The company is pointing to a technique called distillation, where developers extract data from larger, more advanced models to train their own, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in dev costs. The big ol’ irony? OpenAI built its model by scraping the entire internet without consent. Pot, meet kettle.
👨👩👧👦 Chosen family: This number surprised me: About 27% of folks are estranged from their families. So sad. Enter the 11,000-member Facebook group Surrogate Grandparents USA. Donna Skora, a retired paralegal in Florida, started it in 2015. Folks can post ads or respond to others’ requests for surrogate grandparents. It’s helped people like Karen Tautges Malinak, a goat farmer in Minnesota who’s lost touch with her daughters.
Swatting spree: You’re sitting at home when the SWAT team rushes in, convinced someone inside just committed murder and has explosives set up. A 23-year-old in Wisconsin, along with another guy, hacked into the family’s Ring camera and called the cops with that story. Once police arrived, they livestreamed it all. One of them is already serving 17 years in prison. If you have a Ring camera, turn on 2FA.
RadioShack lives: The last store closed in 2017, but the electronics retailer’s back online selling SD cards for dirt cheap. Don’t let nostalgia fool you; that 32GB card for under $6 is as outdated as RadioShack itself and runs at a slow 10MB/s. Faster cards (30MB/s) are $19. Here’s a better option on Amazon for $20.
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Last laugh: Trolls helped Amy Schumer figure out she has Cushing’s syndrome. The condition makes your body produce too much cortisol (the stress hormone), causing facial swelling known as “moon face.” Guess online haters are good for something.
Bet he’s a peach to be around right now: Mark Zuckerberg’s got four “war rooms” going at Meta HQ to figure out DeepSeek’s secrets. Two teams are focused on training and operating costs; the other two are digging into how the data might level up Meta’s next Llama model. Think about this: All the U.S.-based AI companies just got a kick in the butt to do better.