❤️ A father’s love: An IT director in Toronto called corporate life quits after doctors told him his son had an ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease with no cure. They said his boy would be paralyzed from the waist down by age 10 and quadriplegic by 20. Dad liquidated his savings and teamed up with researchers working on a promising gene therapy. Years later, his son received the treatment and can now stand up. So wonderful.
A father’s love
An IT director from Toronto called corporate life quits after doctors told him his son had an ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease with no cure. They said his boy would be paralyzed from the waist down by 10 and quadriplegic by 20. Dad liquidated his savings and teamed up with researchers working on a promising gene therapy. Years later, his son received the treatment and can now stand up.
11 years
Added to your life just by doing chores. Every time you do yard work, take the stairs or vacuum up dust bunnies, you’re boosting your metabolism and increasing your life expectancy. Tell your kids this next time they “forget” to clean their rooms.
✈️ Aisle be waiting at the airport: You can now pay for a JetBlue flight using Venmo. They’re the first airline to offer it, and I bet others will follow. Why the change? JetBlue’s in the red, reporting hundreds of millions in losses. Reminder, if you’re booking secret travel, all your purchases on Venmo are public unless you take these steps.
Fountain of youth: Retro Biosciences is developing a set of proteins that could turn back the clock on human skin cells. Their goal? To add 10 years to your life. Their work is powered by ChatGPT GPT-4b micro, an AI model created by OpenAI. They didn’t sign a big deal, but OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has already invested $180 million of his own money into Retro Biosciences.
🥵 It’s all over social media: Heating pads, space heaters and electric fireplaces are leaving people with toasted skin syndrome caused by too much heat exposure. It looks like a lacey spotted rash and could take months or years to go away, if ever. Have it? See your doctor ASAP.
Big promises, no results: There are some big opinions on Meta ditching its fact-checking program, but here’s the joke: It didn’t work in the first place. An analysis found only 14% of posts pushing foreign enemy state narratives were flagged as false on Meta. The new plan of action? Community notes … because that’s totally working out for X.
🚗 270,000 Ford models recalled: Certain 2021-2023 Bronco Sport SUVs and 2022-2023 Maverick trucks could stop suddenly, making them a scary crash risk. It’s an issue with their 12-volt batteries degrading. Own one? Look for a letter in the mail around Feb. 3 with info on dealer inspections and replacements.
⚠️ Don’t click Google ads: Mac owners searching for Homebrew, an open-source download installer, are getting ads for a fake. The ads display the correct URL, brew.sh, but clicking redirects you to a copycat site. When you install the phony software, you’ve just welcomed info-stealing malware. Argh. Make sure you’re using antivirus software.
60 million
Students and teachers impacted by a massive software breach. PowerSchool, used by 16,000 schools for grades and administration, was hacked. Cybercriminals got Social Security numbers, medical records and home addresses. In some cases, the data went back to the ‘80s. You should get a call if your info is impacted.
64
iPhones filmed OK Go’s new music video. The indie rock band arranged them into a mosaic of split screens for their track “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill” and edited them into a single take. It took their 31-person team over 1,000 takes and 577 hours of prep to nail the four-minute video. Even Tim Cook was impressed. You’ve gotta see it for yourself.
❄️ 8.9 inches of snow: Blanketing Pensacola, Florida, and the pictures on social media are a riot. My favorites: A gator lounging in the snow and the coldest-looking beach I’ve ever seen! Stay safe, folks. Time to pull out a big heated blanket.
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Welcome to the future: Wish you had an assistant to update your website or plan your summer trip? That’s what AI operators do, taking control of your tech to get stuff done. Code leaked from OpenAI’s macOS app shows options like “Toggle Operator” and “Force Quit Operator,” so theirs may be coming soon.
$18
New monthly price for Netflix’s ad-free Standard plan. Oh, goodie, another $3 price hike. The ad tier is now $8 (up from $7), and Premium is $25 (from $23). Account sharing went up a buck to $9. In the final quarter of 2024, Netflix pulled in $10 billion, and its revenue shot up 16%.
😅 I can’t believe I’m typing this: Women on TikTok are pouring castor oil into their belly buttons every night to help with digestion and bloating. Castor oil does have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, so maybe they’re onto something. No crude jokes, OK?
🎓 Absolutely ridiculous: AI detection software is flagging loads of false positives. A University of North Georgia student accused of cheating on an assignment lost her scholarship. The crime? She turned on Grammarly for spellchecking, something the university recommends. Parents, tell your kids to leave a trail of proof they did their own work, like a Google Doc with a draft history.
Color me surprised: Samsung just dropped the details about its new Galaxy S25 smartphones, and they’re basically S24 models with better processors to handle the real upgrade: Samsung AI. Neat, new features include a lock screen summary with info to help you plan your day; Photoshop-level editing with a swipe of your finger; and cross-app actions that let you layer multiple requests into one, like, “Find a well-rated coffee shop nearby and text the address to Barry.”
Tragic and chilling: This is so sad. A 63-year-old North Carolina man shot his wife, then confessed to the murder in a Facebook group he was an admin for before taking his life. “My wife admitted to cheating on me so I killed her, I’m about to kill myself. Figure this group out for your selves,” he wrote. The couple was married for over 34 years.
🚨 Botnet alert: Researchers found a botnet called “Murdoc” targeting security cameras and routers worldwide. Over 1,000 devices are compromised; AVTECH IP cameras and Huawei HG532 routers are the main targets. Once hackers take control, they can launch DDoS attacks or steal your info. Fixes are coming from the manufacturers, so keep your router (steps here) and security cams updated.
44%
Percentage of young Americans who don’t want to own a car. Adults ages 18 to 34 would rather call an Uber or Lyft or rent a ride on Turo. But we’re not heading to a robo-taxi future just yet; a solid 52% of all folks don’t trust self-driving cars. I won’t get in one.