71-year-old pole dancer

Finding her voice: A 42-year-old mom diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease was losing her ability to speak. The neurological disease affects nerve cells in the brain. She found ElevenLabs, which creates human-like text-to-speech AI programs. She sent in a few recordings, and they developed a voice that sounded almost like hers. Now, she types with her eyes, and the program does the rest. I love it when tech makes such a positive impact.

🥩 Check your fridge: Some 11.8 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products may be contaminated with listeria. BrucePac sells to companies that repackage, resell or use its products, so you’ll need to check a whopping 348-page list to be safe. Big names include Amazon Fresh, Kroger and Trader Joe’s. Pro tip: Hit Ctrl + F on Windows (Cmd + F on Mac) to search the list.

Safety or privacy? Schools are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs like GoGuardian to monitor what kids are doing online. The tools flag risky activity, like searches for self-harm or threats. One student searched for “how to die,” and the algorithm flagged it, leading to a call to the school counselor. It’s invasive, sure, but if it’s on a school-issued laptop, I say it’s their duty to step in.

Drop it like it’s hot(spot); 6G is coming: Researchers just transmitted data at an insane 938 gigabytes per second. That’s over 9,000 times faster than current 5G speeds and fast enough to download over 20 full-length movies in 1 second. When will we see it? It’ll take a few years to get these speeds on your phone.

🎓 History is outdated; it’s full of old news: A Massachusetts couple is suing their son’s high school after he got a bad grade and detention for using AI on a history project. Their argument? The student handbook doesn’t explicitly ban AI and this grade will hurt the little cheater’s college applications. The school’s response? The handbook says no “unauthorized technology.”

Finally, a full-color Kindle: Amazon’s new Kindle Colorsoft is easy on the eyes like the classic models but way better for reading colorful comics and magazines. It lasts up to eight weeks on a single charge, and it’s wireless-charging-compatible and waterproof. Preorder one for $280 and Oct. 30 shipping. Pro tip: Trade your old Kindle back to Amazon for 20% off your upgrade.

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23andMe class-action lawsuit: Hackers stole the personal info of 6.9 million customers in 2023, and 23andMe is now paying out a $30 million settlement. We’re talking up to $10,000 per person if you’ve faced identity fraud or other big issues related to the breach. The settlement still needs final approval, but when it happens, you can count on me to give you the link to apply.

🚀 Secret space mission: X-37B is a top-secret U.S. space plane suspected of carrying spy gear, satellites or even weapons. It’s working on a new trick called “aerobraking,” or dipping into Earth’s atmosphere to slow down and change orbit. What’s the big deal? The maneuver could help X-37B evade detection and save fuel in the process.

Busted by a bot: A New York judge roasted an expert witness who used Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot to assess the damages in a real estate case. The witness couldn’t explain how it works, forgot the prompts he used and didn’t know where the info came from. When the court tested it, they got three different estimates. Nail in the coffin: The bot itself says outputs should always be verified by experts. D’oh.

AI needs a ton of juice: Google and Kairos Power are building seven nuclear reactors in the U.S. The first is set to be operational by 2030. Get this: One AI query uses 10 times the power of a typical Google search. Think about that the next time you ask a bot something. At full capacity, the plants will produce a combined 500 megawatts of power — enough for a mid-sized city!