💖 Fastpass to love: You can now find your Disney partner obsession in a new dating app called Single Riders. You can plan park dates, geek out over hidden Mickeys or sing “It’s a small world” together. If Goofy offers you style goals, this one’s for you.
Millennials are the newest scam target
(First, a weird image for this story, I know. I was playing around with Meta AI. Why? Coming on Monday, tips, tricks and don’ts of using AI to create art, logos and more. You don’t want to miss that newsletter!)
If you’re a millennial, or you love one from a safe financial distance, brace yourself: This age group is losing more money to scams than anyone else, boomers included.
Yes, the digital natives, the “I’ve got 47 tabs open” generation born between 1981 and 1996, are getting cooked online.
Millennials aren’t getting taken because they’re naïve. They’re falling for scams because the cons have gotten better and faster. Between work burnout, raising mini-humans, pending divorces, rising rents and pretending to understand tax forms, the bandwidth is low and the scams are high.
💼 The job offer
You get a text about a remote gig. It pays well, sounds flexible and looks like something you could actually do. No experience needed. But there’s a catch: To get started, you have to send money.
Sometimes it’s a background check fee. Other times, it’s buying a gift card or crypto to complete a task.
These fake hiring managers sound legit. They’ll email you contracts, logos and messages from fake HR reps. But once you send that payment? They vanish. The job never existed. And your money isn’t coming back.
📈 The investment tip
You get a DM from someone talking up a hot opportunity. Crypto, stocks or some new “AI coin” is about to explode. They might claim to be a well-known investor or financial adviser. The pitch sounds smart, like they know what they’re doing.
Sometimes it’s a one-on-one message. Other times, it’s a whole group chat hyping it up. But it always ends the same way: You put money in, and then the coin tanks or disappears. It was a setup from the start.
Pro tip: If your financial adviser has anime in their profile pic, maybe sit this one out.
Folding phones, unfolding regrets
ChatGPT
I would love a foldable phone. It’s fun to imagine strutting into a coffee shop, flipping open your phone like you’re Batman calling Alfred.
But now Samsung’s dropped the seventh-gen Galaxy Z Fold and Flip, Google threw in the Pixel Fold, Motorola whipped out retro with the modern Razr+, and I’ve got questions.
1%
That’s the brave percentage of people who actually pay when faced with a paywall. Yea, I don’t either. We harness our energy into searching elsewhere for that kernel of information, or simply throw in the towel.
🛜 Full bars, slow internet? Those little Wi-Fi bars only show your connection to the router, not your internet speed. So even if they’re full, apps can run slower than a Monday morning. When in doubt, run a speed test and check if your download, upload and ping match what you’re paying for.
Even Queen Bey ain’t safe
You’d think Beyoncé’s secret files crew would be protected by a force field of security, privacy settings and Sasha Fierce energy. But nope, real-world crime doesn’t care how many Grammys you have.
Right before her recent Atlanta show, thieves smashed the glass of a rental Jeep used by her crew and made off with two suitcases. Inside? A laptop, five thumb drives filled with unreleased, watermarked music, confidential tour plans and one very important piece of tech.
🧠 Fight bots with bots: Getting fake iPhone charge alerts? Sketchy emails pretending to be PayPal? You’re not alone. The good news: PayPal’s new fraud-detecting AI is watching for this stuff in real time, and it’s getting freakishly good at it. Remember, it won’t catch all the scams though.
Batteries that don’t burn: Lithium batteries are super efficient and occasionally super explode-y. But researchers just made a version that stops itself from catching fire. When the battery gets too hot, built-in flame retardants release chemicals that shut down the reaction before it becomes a fireworks show. No flames. No smoke. No 30,000-gallon fire truck cameo. EVs really need this pronto.
0️⃣ Zero, zilch, nada: My privacy secret weapon eliminated spam calls and texts on my phone. Silence feels so good. I negotiated a 60% discount just for you. You’re gonna love it!
💾 Old PCs, new problems: If you’re using an older Intel PC with a Gigabyte motherboard, heads up: There’s a new vulnerability that could mess with your system memory. Gigabyte’s pushing out BIOS updates to fix it, but only for certain models. If your board’s too old, their advice is basically “call someone.” Start backing up. And updating. Immediately.
📺 Your TV isn’t a tablet: Here’s a simple rule. Take your TV’s size in inches and multiply it by 1.2 to get the best viewing distance. For example, if you’ve got a 50-inch screen, sit about 60 inches (or 5 feet) back. Now you can binge without straining your eyes.
Copilot can see you: Microsoft just gave Copilot Vision full desktop eyes. Now, instead of peeking at one app, the AI can see everything you’ve got open. Yes, your billion tabs. Just hit the glasses icon and start chatting. You can also trigger it with your voice. It’s like Clippy evolved and learned surveillance tactics.
46%
How much of all U.S. TV use went to streaming in June, topping both cable and broadcast combined. Streaming is eating TV’s lunch, breakfast and dinner. And yes, Netflix is back in its hot girl summer era with 13.5% growth. Traditional TV? It’s giving “landline.”
⚾ Robo-umps at bat: MLB’s All-Star Game is testing robo-umps, and pitchers are having an existential crisis. It’s not C‑3PO calling the game. There’s still a human ump, just with an earpiece feeding real-time calls. Each team gets two ball/strike challenges. Basically a high-tech cheat sheet with zero patience for bad takes.
🚨 Don’t trust every AI summary in Gmail: Heads up! Scammers are getting smarter and sneakier. Some are now hiding dangerous messages in white text on a white background, like “Your password was compromised, call this number.” You won’t see it with your eyes, but Gmail’s Gemini AI does and it might include that hidden message in the email’s summary, making it sound like a real warning from Google. The takeaway? Always double-check emails yourself before clicking or calling anything. AI is helpful, but it’s not perfect and hackers know how to work around it.
Stop poking your Echo: Say, “Alexa, volume up” or “volume down” to adjust the sound. Want more control? Say “Alexa, set volume to 5.” The range goes from 1 to 10, so you can dial it in for podcasts (like The Kim Komando Show), playlists or whatever you’re playing.
☕ Starbucks Secret Menu is out: It’s now officially in the app under the offers tab, starting with fan favorites: Cookies on Top, Dragonfruit Glow-Up, Just Add White Mocha, and Lemon, Tea & Pearls. Bonus: There’s also a Secret Menu Contest running until July 20. You could win up to $25,000. Try this for fun: The next time you go to Starbucks, tell them your name is “Bueller.” Don’t go the first time they call your name! 😂
GoFraudMe: Scammers’ latest ploy is fake fundraisers exploiting a real tragedy. A woman’s husband was killed with a hatchet on vacation, and bogus GoFundMes popped up using his story. GoFundMe pulled the pages, but it’s a brutal reminder: Always verify before donating.
🧨 Pentagon goes promptcore: We need this. The Pentagon is writing jumbo checks (up to $200M each) to OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and, yes, xAI, to build agentic AIs for war. The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office says this is about speeding up military decision-making and “mission workflows.”
$500 million
That’s the deal Apple just signed with MP Materials, which operates a rare-earth mine in the U.S. The company will soon produce magnets for iPhones and other high-tech gear. Why? Apple wants to cut back on communist China’s grip controlling about 70% of the world’s critical minerals.