Think before you “unsubscribe”: That little link at the bottom of emails might clean up your inbox or land you on a fake site. Scammers use it to steal passwords or install malware (paywall link). Play it safe: Hit the unsubscribe button at the top, like in Gmail, or mark it as spam and delete.
Duct tape fixes for the digital age
ChatGPT
Tech doesn’t always play nice. Your laptop heats up, your Wi-Fi fizzles, and sometimes you’re just standing there, squinting at your screen, wondering where the mouse pointer disappeared to.
Don’t panic. Just try these fast fixes. Each takes under a minute and requires zero tech degree … although if you pull these off in front of someone else, you may get a slow clap, and maybe even a mozzarella stick.
1. “My internet stinks.”
💡 Try Orb.net. It’s a free, easy-to-use, excellent tool that checks if your device is the issue or if the internet itself is slowing things down. You’ll see exactly how your connection is performing in real time, including local vs. remote speed tests.
💰 Pro tip: You can also use the reports to see if you’re actually getting the connection speed you’re paying for.
2. “Is this battery dead?”
🔋 Try the bounce test. Find a flat, solid surface like a countertop or hardcover book. Hold the AA or AAA battery vertically and drop it from about 8 inches (20 cm).
If it clunks and tumbles? Still got juice. If it bounces like it’s auditioning for Cirque du Soleil? It’s dead.
Weird? Yes. Accurate? Also yes. This quirky trick works because discharged batteries have a different internal structure that makes them springier.
3. “What’s up with the mic?”
🎙️ Use your phone’s voice recorder app. Open your built-in iPhone Voice Memos or Android Voice Recorder app, press record and speak normally. Then play it back.
Sound fine? Mic’s good. Sound like you swallowed gravel? Try cleaning mic holes with a soft toothbrush or compressed air.
The truth behind airplane mode (no, it’s not a myth)
ChatGPT
You know the drill. You find your seat, wrestle your carry-on into the overhead bin like it’s a CrossFit challenge, and then, ding! The flight attendant reminds you to switch to airplane mode.
So … what happens if you don’t? Are you going to crash the plane? Trigger the emergency slide midair?
16
That’s how many times Tom Cruise jumped out of a helicopter with his parachute on fire. Why? Because regular Mission: Impossible movie skydiving is for interns. To break a Guinness World Record, he lit his chute, bailed midair and deployed a backup like it was just another Tuesday.
🕳️ Fake links, real damage: Watch out. Cyber creeps are shoving malware-laced links into cloned Google Calendar invites and Meet links. Fix? Turn on “Known Senders” in Calendar and trust no “tech support” that sounds like it’s from a gas station payphone.
🎤 Going viral: “Pretty Little Baby” is everywhere on TikTok, with over 17 million videos using the song Connie Francis sang in 1962. Now 87 years young, Connie made her first TikTok to thank her fans. Go ahead, listen to the song and remember, “You can ask the flowers, I sit for hours, Tellin’ all the bluebirds, the bill and coo birds, Pretty little baby, I’m so in love with you!”
Dub squad moves: YouTube’s letting creators upload different thumbnails for different languages now. So your Spanish dub can look Spanish, your K-drama recap gets Korean flavor, and MrBeast can act surprised in nine tongues. All powered by AI, but polished by human touch.
❤️ How about some good news? When a dad needed a kidney, his family started a “Kidney 4 Joe” Facebook page to find a donor. The twist? A complete stranger saw the post through a mutual friend, got tested and turned out to be a match. They met for the first time on surgery day. Proof that one share can change everything.
🚨 Fake crypto apps will make you cry: Again, this happened. Over 20 were found posing as popular wallets like SushiSwap, PancakeSwap and more. They asked folks to enter their 12-word mnemonic phrase, which could give hackers full access to their crypto. PSA: App icons can be deceiving; make sure the dev is verified and always double-check those reviews.
🌀 Bricks, bots and bad intel: When ICE protests broke out in L.A., social media broke with it. Old conspiracy theories, fake Obama quotes and a still from a 1983 helicopter movie (paywall link) all got reposted like it was open mic night at the misinformation improv club. Even a Malaysian brick company got dragged into the chaos. PSA: Verify before you share.
📉 Pocket, zipped: Mozilla’s Pocket app — yes, the “save it for later” one — is shutting down July 8. Mozilla reasoned it needs to focus on Firefox, of all things. Data vanishes in October. If you’ve got a decade of unread articles, now’s your moment. Or just accept you’ll never finish that 2016 “Rise and Fall of Vine” op-ed.
Lies, but with filters: Misinformation is mutating harder than Chernobyl deer. AI-made photos, videos and text are now scary good, blurring reality at scale. Nobody knows what’s real … except that picture of aliens in the White House your uncle reposted, saying he told you so.
After 52 years
The U.S. is lifting its ban on supersonic flights over home turf. That means commercial jets faster than the speed of sound could soon take off. Why the ban in the first place? Sonic booms had people complaining. Now the FAA needs to write up new rules for acceptable noise levels. Hope your windows are ready.
🚨 Cyberattack hits major food supplier: Might want to stock up on your favorites now. United Natural Foods says hackers got into their systems, so they’ve shut down parts of the network. This means delays with order fulfillment and distribution. FYI: They supply products to over 30,000 stores, including Whole Foods. This one could cause some serious ripple effects.
🍏 Apple’s WWDC sour highlights: Just as I predicted, major disappointment. Apple’s iOS 26 is coming in the fall. Will it have a ton of AI? Will it work on the new Apple flip phone? No on both counts. But there’s the new Liquid Glass theme. The screen and app tiles will become translucent, less reflective. Wowsie. You can have polls in group texts, get live translation in calls and see alerts for spam for incoming calls. And you can have two windows open on your iPad. Finally.
💸 $742 million fortune lost: After 12 years, the guy who tossed a hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoin has to give up the search. It’s buried in a landfill in Wales, but officials won’t allow a dig because of environmental risks. And to top it off? A judge says it likely didn’t survive anyway. At least his story’s getting a documentary.
📺 Rated B for bogus: That $7.99/month YouTube Premium Lite plan is about to get a lot less ad-free. Starting June 30, you’ll see ads on Shorts, music videos and while browsing or searching. It’s all part of the push to get folks on full Premium for $13.99/month with no ads or background play.
EV range lies: Consumer Reports drove 30 EVs dry at 70 mph and found over half underdelivered on range. Some like the Ford Lightning were off by up to 50 miles. BMW and Merc went the extra mile. Reminder: highway range ≠ sticker range. Especially not when it’s 95° and you’re blasting AC.
🚁 Walmart’s drone army: Wing and Walmart are dropping drone deliveries in 100 more stores. If you’re in Atlanta, Charlotte or Orlando, your box of Pop-Tarts might arrive like it’s a military op. Drones now deliver within 30 minutes for orders up to 5 pounds. Those aren’t UFOs, Samantha. That’s your emotional support rotisserie chicken.
Floppy air control: Terrifying fun fact, U.S. air traffic control still partially runs on actual floppy disks and Windows 95. And yep, Newark’s had three major outages in five weeks. The FAA wants a $10B-ish tech glow-up, but politics and duct tape might kill the plan before takeoff. If Clippy pops up mid-landing, we’re all in God’s hands.