Big tech number 4

Kaspersky’s kaput: The U.S. has officially banned Kaspersky antivirus software over its shady ties to Russia. Officials say it poses a national security risk due to the Russian government’s influence. If you don’t have an antivirus solution (or you need a new one), TotalAV is my pick.

Of our oldest human ancestor, revealed. A graphics expert 3D-scanned a skull to create a realistic render. Found in Morocco, the remains proved humans evolved 100,000 years earlier than we thought. Check out the pic of the handsome fellow here.

SwiftTok: Here’s something you can talk to your kids about that will give you instant cred. TikTok now has custom features just for Taylor Swift fans. “Swifties” can earn rewards like a limited-edition profile frame by completing Swift-themed app challenges over several weeks. I named my Roomba “Taylor Swiffer.”

🏎️ Ferrari’s future won’t include GPS: But it will include a $500,000 EV. The luxury automaker is ditching built-in nav systems because, uh, our phones are way better. And start saving now; its half-a-million-dollar electric model is launching next year.

Keep it clean: P*rnhub is no longer available in Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska (joining seven other states) after the states passed age-verification laws to keep kids off adult websites. VPNs are an easy workaround. Kids know this, of course, and you’d better believe VPN sales are going up.

⚠️ Urgent Windows update: Don’t use public Wi-Fi unless you’re running the latest update for Windows 10 and 11. It fixes a vulnerability that lets crooks take over your laptop just by connecting to the same Wi-Fi network. Go to System > About. If you see 14393.7070, 22621.3737 or 22631.3737, update right away.

🚨 Outlook is bleak: Some 400 million Outlook users are at risk thanks to a bug that could let anyone impersonate official Microsoft emails. I’ll let you know when there’s a fix, but be very careful of any requests you get from an “official” Microsoft account. And never share payment or account details over email.

🚗 New travel rule: Only ride in a self-driving car during the middle of the day. A study of more than 2,000 autonomous vehicles found they’re 5.25 times more likely to cause accidents in early morning, twilight and low-light conditions. They’re nearly twice as likely to mess up turns compared to human drivers, too. Yikes.