Your ex just Banksy’d you: That uneasy vibe? It’s called “Banksying,” a new name for a breakup tactic where someone slowly fades emotionally but sticks around just long enough to watch you unravel. It’s basically ghosting’s more psychopathic cousin. Named after the artist, it ends when they dramatically exit while you’re still mentally planning next weekend’s brunch.
These movies predicted us
ChatGPT
I’ll skip the wizards and superheroes. Give me a movie that looked into the future and actually saw something real coming before we even had Wi-Fi.
These are the ones that got it right, eerily right. Some were made 10, 20, even more than 50 years ago, and they still hold up. If you haven’t seen them, add them to your list.
📺 Back to the Future Part II (1989)
It’s easy to laugh at hoverboards and self-lacing shoes, but this movie predicted flat-screen TVs, FaceTime, wearable tech, voice assistants, smart homes and drones. Oh, and video glasses? Sound like Apple Vision Pro to you?
👁️ Minority Report (2002)
Ads that talk to you by name. Touchless interfaces. Eye scans. Predictive policing. Facial recognition. Targeted marketing. This movie predicted half the tech you’re already using and the half you hope never shows up.
🗣️ Her (2013)
He falls in love with his AI assistant. Not Alexa. This is more like Replika or Character.AI, where people are actually forming relationships with bots. They text them, confide in them, say “I love you” and even have sex. This movie isn’t the future, it’s now.
🧠 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
HAL was Siri with an attitude. Voice-controlled AI, video calling, space tourism, all decades before they were real. If HAL had a better personality and didn’t shut people out of air locks, he’d fit right into today’s smart home.
🎭 The Truman Show (1998)
OK, not technically sci-fi, but stick with me. It predicted reality TV, influencer culture and how we broadcast every moment of our lives like someone’s watching.
🧬 Gattaca (1997)
Designer babies. DNA-based hiring. Genetic discrimination. This one’s a warning wrapped in a killer wardrobe. It’s starting to happen now, and it raises real ethical questions that we’re barely ready for.
🕵️♀️ The Net (1995)
Sandra Bullock’s identity is stolen and erased online. Back then, it was fiction. Now, it’s called a Tuesday.
🌍 WALL-E (2008)
Earth is trashed, robots clean up the mess, and humans are too glued to screens to notice. What was once Pixar’s dystopia is now … kinda familiar?
🍼 Idiocracy (2006)
The future is dumb, loud and sponsored by fast food. In a world where ads are everywhere and critical thinking’s gone MIA, a totally average guy becomes the smartest person alive.
Got one I missed? After you rate today’s newsletter at the end, tell me in the comments. I always want to hear what you’re watching. 🍿
Your phone is spying on you
ChatGPT
Your phone keeps all your secrets. Where you’ve been. What you’ve typed. Even which sketchy Wi-Fi you used in 2017. It’s got the memory of an elephant and the self-restraint of a toddler with a drum set.
Let’s just call your phone “Sir Veillance.”
$99
The price to skip the line you paid $209 a year to skip. Clear’s new “Concierge Express” lets you bypass the Clear line, because apparently, even fast isn’t fast enough. It’s like buying a VIP pass to your own VIP pass. No word yet on velvet ropes or red carpets.
🚨 New Uber scam: You request a ride, the driver accepts and you get a call saying you need to verify your account. The scammer asks for your phone number, email and verification codes. Give it up, and they log into your account and steal your money.
🥶 Antarctica said, “Not today”: This kid has guts. A teenage solo pilot TikToker trying to fly to all seven continents landed in Antarctica without telling anyone. Authorities in Chile were like, “That’s illegal,” detained him for filing a fake flight plan and now, he’s ice-o-lated.
Show me your face: Tinder’s rolling out a mandatory facial recognition login, creatively named “Face Check.” It’s trying to root out bots, catfishers and the psycho 53-year-old pretending to be a 27-year-old trust fund baby. Will it work? Nah.
408
The number of cat nap videos researchers scrutinized … for science. Cat’s out of the bag, 65% of cats snooze on their left side. Why? Experts say it activates the right brain for lightning-fast reflexes and spatial finesse. The purrfect slumber isn’t just cute. Think elite soldier … in sleep mode, dreaming of chaos.
👁️ Check your Chrome extensions: Some “helpful” Chrome extensions with over 1.7 million installs were secretly tracking your browser moves and even rerouting clicks. They looked benign, like color pickers or VPN tools. Spoiler: They weren’t. Google’s still cleaning up the mess, but some are still live. Time to check your browser like it’s the bedsheets at a seedy motel.
Here it is! The cloud backup I trust: Total Drive. It’s simple, secure and just works. And get this: Right now, you can get a massive 10TB of storage for only $18. Don’t wait for a hard drive crash. Back it up before you lose it.
$28,900
The average used car price, up more than $8,000 since 2020. That’s not a typo. Blame supply chain chaos and automakers favoring pricey trims when chips were scarce. Now everyone’s diving into the used market, driving up prices, even for clunkers with mileage.
👻 Robbed by a ghost: You gotta be on your toes. A new ransomware strain called Mamona arrives via sketchy emails, fake apps or phony software. Once it’s on your device or computer, it encrypts everything and vanishes without sending a single byte. No clues, no traffic, no alarms. Finally, malware for introverts: no talking, no signals, just silent ruin.
🤖 Deepfake diplomacy panic: Someone faked Marco Rubio, using AI-generated voice and messages to DM world leaders and U.S. officials via Signal. At least five targets bit, including three foreign ministers. The fake account even left voicemails. No word yet on who did it or if they got anything.
$4 trillion
Nvidia just became the first company in history to hit this market cap. That’s more than the GDP of Germany. Not bad for a company that used to be best known for making your graphics card run Call of Duty without melting. Now, it’s powering the AI boom and casually leapfrogging Microsoft and Apple.
🆓 Small-business owner? Download NetSuite’s free guide, “Navigating Global Trade: Three Insights for Leaders,” and find out how to stay ahead, even when the rules keep changing.
Gen Z wants out: Nearly 50% of Gen Z says they’d rather live in a world without the internet, according to a recent survey. Not less of it, none. The vibe? They’re not Luddites, they’re nostalgic for a weirder, less curated life where friendships weren’t content and the boredom felt more human.
Phones keep vanishing: TSA bins are the Bermuda Triangle for your electronics. A travel pro’s now-viral advice? Never put your phone straight into the tray. Thieves can (and do) swipe them while you’re still retying your shoes. Instead, zip your tech into a bag pocket unless an agent tells you otherwise.
1 minute
That’s how much footage is mysteriously missing from Jeffrey Epstein’s jail video. The DOJ dropped 11 hours of grainy surveillance and still managed to skip the one minute everyone cares about. Conspiracy thriller writers, congrats, the feds just gave you your cold open. Oh, and it wasn’t just one, but two jail cams that “malfunctioned” near Epstein’s cell.
🌀 Send cash, not cans: After severe floods hit Central Texas, relief orgs are begging people to stop donating old clothes and expired soup (paywall link). Money is faster and way more useful. ADRN is turning cash into gift cards for displaced families. Meanwhile, scammers are already circling like vultures, so triple-check before you Venmo “FloodRelief25.” Only donate through verified sites.
Drones, stand down: Personal drones are jamming up rescue ops during deadly floods in Texas, just like they did during the LA fires and Hurricane Helene. It’s not heroic, it’s borderline criminal. Some folks hear “no-fly zone” and take it as a challenge. Morons.