📬 Dad jokes? I think you mean pun-ishment: A retired teacher with a Ph.D. is handwriting hundreds of emotional, intentionally corny letters to strangers who just want a dad-style pep talk. The “Dad Letter Project” exploded overnight on TikTok. It’s like getting a warm hug and a bad joke from someone else’s highly literate father. No AI. Just authentic dad energy. So awesome. Speaking of… “Dad, are we pyromaniacs?” “Yes, we arson.” 🔥
The secret science squad in your pocket
ChatGPT
Think your phone is just for calls, texts and scrolling? Think again. You’re carrying around a secret lab in your pocket.
The accelerometer that flips your screen when you turn it? That’s what your fitness app uses to count steps. The barometer that helps your weather app? It can tell if you’ve climbed a flight of stairs. And the gyroscope that powers AR games? Aim it at the sky, and it points out planets.
These little guys are working harder than dating apps a week before Valentine’s Day.
👏🏻 Meet the team inside your phone
- The accelerometer detects movement, whether you’re walking, running or sprawled on the couch.
- The gyroscope tracks rotation, so panoramic photos don’t look like a toddler took them.
- The magnetometer? Your phone’s built-in compass. Perfect when you’re lost in the mall.
- How about the barometer? It senses air pressure, so yes, it knows if you’re upstairs or downstairs.
- The ambient light sensor adjusts brightness, so you’re not blinded in bed.
- Who could forget the proximity sensor? It turns off the screen when you hold the phone to your ear. Magic.
- And the classic microphones are sensitive enough to detect distant rumbles from earthquakes.
🧑🏻🔬 Experiments you’ll want to try
- Turn your phone into an earthquake detector – Download Phyphox (iOS, Android) or Vibration Meter (iOS, Android), and place your phone on a table. Watch it register vibrations from passing trucks or even footsteps.
- Be your own weather station – Use Barometer & Altimeter (iOS, Android) to predict a storm before your local weather TV reporter does. I bet you win.
- North without looking – Open your compass app, spin around, close your eyes, and try to stop facing north. Or on your next flight, use it to check your altitude.
$12.99 per month
That’s the new price of Apple TV+, up from $9.99. If you’re already subscribed, you’ll see the price change 30 days after your next renewal date. Some good news? Yearly TV+ subscriptions and the Apple One services bundle aren’t changing. At least not yet. Enjoy it while it lasts.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Set a sleep timer on your TV, so it powers off if you nod off. Look under Settings > Timers or General. I keep mine at 120 minutes.
Their faces went viral without them: TikTok paid actors as little as $500 to license their faces for AI avatars (paywall link), which are now appearing in ads for horoscope apps, supplements and insurance quotes, even in other languages, sometimes on other platforms like YouTube. The actors don’t get royalties, can’t control the content and didn’t realize how far it would go. It was all in the fine print.
Remember when computers took up half the desk? Apple’s testing a new more powerful version of its Tupperware-size Mac mini with a next-gen M5 chip. More speed, smoother graphics, same tiny size. Rumored to cost $600, which is less than you paid for your Dell in 1998. I use a Mac mini with a Pro Display XDR every day!
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I made the switch to Consumer Cellular: Same reliable nationwide coverage as the big guys, but for way less. And if you’re over 50, get two lines with unlimited talk, text and data for $60. No hidden fees, and customer support is U.S.-based. Save $25 with code KIM25.
👾 Free VPN, but you’re the product: FreeVPN.One, a Chrome extension with over 100K installs, was busted taking covert screenshots of people’s activity and sending them to a sketchy server. The dev claims it’s for “security scans,” but researchers say that’s a lie with encryption on top. Google’s store still lists it. Basically: Chrome blessed spyware with a gold star. Need a solid private VPN? Hit this link to get 4 months free.
Claude goes anti-bomb: If you were thinking about assembling a nuke recently, tough luck. Anthropic, with U.S. government backing, built a filter that blocks chats about making nukes. Think of it as a toddler lock on national security: keeps you from asking AI how to split atoms but still lets you order pizza.
🚨 Gmail scam alert: If you use Gmail or Google Cloud, heads up, hackers just leaked a massive database with over 2.5 billion names, email addresses and company details. That means you’re more likely to be hit with phishing emails, scam login pages or fake calls pretending to be Google support. Google says your passwords are safe for now, but don’t wait to take action. Turn on passkeys for phishing-proof logins, run a Google Security Checkup, and never trust an unexpected call claiming to be from Google. Once your info is out there, it’s out there, but how you protect yourself next is what counts.
🏀 Steph Curry signs with Google: No joke, it’s a multiyear partnership where he’s going to use their AI to get better at basketball. How? Their so-called Coach will use Gemini and Pixel cameras to study his jump shot, break down his form and give him visual feedback. Part of the deal is no vacations. After all, basketball players aren’t allowed to travel. (Get it? Tough crowd today.)
Orbital jump scare: Russia-affiliated hackers hijacked a satellite and streamed their military parade straight into Ukrainian living rooms. Now U.S. officials say Russia’s working on a nuclear space weapon that could black out all satellites. If it goes live, low-Earth orbit turns into one big no-fly zone for a year. At least that movie wasn’t Ice Cube’s War of the Worlds.
🍏 Update your Apple gear ASAP: Apple dropped an emergency patch for iPhones, iPads and Macs after hackers were caught exploiting a nasty flaw. The trick? Sending a booby-trapped image via text or email that lets them break in and run malicious code. Go to Settings > General > Software Update now.
67
The number that turned a rap lyric into Gen Alpha’s secret handshake. It started in a drill song, got memed onto NBA star LaMelo Ball and now lives on TikTok as flashy edits and a bouncing hand gesture. He’s 6’7” but plays small, the beat drops, they say “67,” and that’s it. No meaning. Welcome to Gen Alpha.
Windows 11 update breaks SSDs: Last week’s KB5063878 update is making storage drives vanish, showing up as unallocated space. Since the update rolled out automatically, the only real fix is to roll it back. Here’s how.
📧 Big Tech is reading your emails: Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, so annoying. They all snoop on what you open, click and even say. I use StartMail because it puts privacy first: no ads, no tracking, and encrypted email with unlimited disposable addresses. Try it free for 7 days right now, and get 60% off. It’s what I use, and I trust it.
1,500 years
That’s how long ago engineers in Tajikistan built a hidden aqueduct system. Ancient designers used ceramic pipes and waterproof mortar to serve a fortress city long before flush toilets were a thing. And yes, it still impresses modern-day scientists. Click through the photos, and you’ll see why.
🧬 Eyes before flys: Biometric e-gates are here. Soon, you can scan your face at six airports (ATL, SEA, DCA and more), so you can skip human interaction and plunge straight into security, assuming you’ve paid for Clear and aren’t a criminal. It’s Clear’s way of prepping for the 2026 World Cup, or the singularity, whichever comes first.
148%
The spike in impersonation scams over just one year. Scammers are getting better and multiplying. Just last year, fake voices, cloned execs and AI chatbots helped criminals drain nearly $3 billion from victims. The crazy part? It only takes three seconds to clone your voice.
📺 Block the binge: Netflix loves to autoplay the next episode, but you can turn this off. On desktop, click your account picture and select Manage Profiles. Choose Your Profile, go to Playback settings and toggle off Autoplay next episode in a series on all devices. Now hit Save at the bottom.