Minding my drone business

Minding my drone business: U.S. home insurance companies are using drones to expose damaged roof shingles, yards full of combustible junk, and swimming pools and trampolines homeowners failed to tell them about. An invasion of privacy? Nope. If it’s out in the open, you can legally photograph it.

Tags: insurance, privacy


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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Trivia

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

$2,300,000 for a 10,781-square-foot medieval-style castle

It’s in Rochester, Michigan and was built using 60 tons of steel. The castle features a moat, drawbridge, portcullis, secret rooms, hidden passageways and more, all fit for royalty, in a manor of speaking.

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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102,000 live salmon 

Spilled out of an overturned truck in Oregon. The accident took place just feet from a river, and wow — 77,000 fish made it into the water and survived. The cause of the accident is unclear, but it was probably just a fluke.

2.5 years off

Your biological age with a “fasting-mimicking diet.” You need to stick to a highly controlled diet low in protein, carbs and calories and high in unsaturated fats for five days, followed by 25 days of “normal” eating. Folks who tried this diet had lower insulin resistance, liver fat and inflammation after three cycles.

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.

$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.