Help NASA

April 7, 2024

🌑 Help NASA: Tomorrow’s total solar eclipse is gracing North America, and NASA’s calling for backup. Your smartphone will do just fine. Snap the eclipse using SunSketcher (iOS and Android), or keep tabs on the climate with Globe Observer (iOS and Android). If you still need glasses, some libraries are handing them out for free.

Tags: Android, smartphones

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Fire up the TV: Here’s what to stream in April

Don’t want to waste precious time looking for something to watch? Let me point you straight to the good stuff! Here’s everything new this month that’s worth a stream.

Hello, black leather, bullets and Keanu: All three “Matrix” movies are on Netflix this month. If that’s not your bag, “Happy Gilmore” with Adam Sandler is always a hole-in-one. Or treat the kids to “Hotel Transylvania” (and then “Hotel Transylvania 2”).

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How the Pentagon tracked Putin with targeted ads

You and I aren’t the only ones being tracked by targeted ads … so are the world’s top leaders. Turns out the Pentagon’s best-kept surveillance secret isn’t pen cameras — it’s cookies.

Buckle up for the wild story of how the U.S. government used targeted ads to track down its target: Vladimir Putin.

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How often does the U.S. Geological Survey’s website update with info on recent earthquakes? Is it every … A.) 2.5 minutes, B.) 8 minutes, C.) 20 minutes or D.) 60 minutes?

Find the answer here →

3 metric tons is the weight of the world’s largest camera

Why so massive? It’s built for photographing space. The 3,200-megapixel camera will be attached to a telescope and has a lens five feet in diameter. Displaying the images at full size will take hundreds of ultra-high-definition TVs.

Weekend update: Eclipse info, email warning, hot new job

Spring has sprung, and I don’t know about you, but I’m gearing up for a big weekend of hiking and biking! Before you clock out for the week, I’ve got three things to put on your weekend radar.

The solar eclipse is on Monday, and NASA has a great interactive map to help make sure you’re in the right place at the right time. Don’t worry if you’re not dead center in the path of totality; you’ll still get a pretty good view of the action.

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Want better streaming suggestions? Try these hacks

I watched one episode of “Is it Cake?” on Netflix. Spoiler: Everything is cake, and it’s totally not for me. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s completely wrecked my streaming recommendations — and I’m guessing yours aren’t much better.

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$1.46 million in a 401(k)

That’s the new “magic number” for retirement. That’s according to a survey of 4,588 Americans. Good news: That’s probably overkill (paywall link) for most families. Fidelity recommends saving 10 times your annual salary by age 67.

58.7 seconds per day is how much quicker time passes on the moon

Enter Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC), a new time zone for future lunar missions. The 2026 Artemis III mission could be the first to use it; it’ll be NASA’s first manned lunar trip since the 1970s! ‘Bout time.

60% of small-biz owners worry about cybersecurity

But only half of the respondents said they train their staff on cyberthreats. Wish both of those numbers were closer to 100%. If you’re reading this newsletter, consider yourself ahead of the curve.

Tax Day’s coming up

If you did your taxes, a gold star for you. And if you have not done your taxes, April 15 is a week and a half away. Sorry for the jump scare.

That’s still plenty of time to file if you haven’t yet … and plenty of time to get ripped off if you have. I’ve got your back with a last-minute checklist to avoid getting screwed by the IRS — or post-file scammers.

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