Data grab alert: Anthropic just changed its privacy policy … again. You have until Sept. 28 to opt out if you don’t want your convos used to train AI. Otherwise? Your chats get stored for five years and turned into robot brain food. The toggle to opt out is tiny, buried under an “Accept” button. Sneaky.
Scams are an underground industry
Midjourney
You already know the usual scams. Romance, crypto, tech support, job offers, fake investments, and the list goes on. But what you might not realize is that a growing number of people behind these scams aren’t evil masterminds.
They’re victims, too.
Across Southeast Asia, scam compounds have become a massive underground industry. These operations run out of hotels and warehouses and are worth up to $19 billion a year in Cambodia alone. That’s more than half the country’s entire GDP.
People are being lured in by fake job ads, kidnapped and forced into these human trafficking compounds where they’re made to scam people all day long. They are beaten, locked up and told to meet daily scam quotas.
If they don’t, they’re punished. Some have even died trying to escape.
🎯 Now they’re after kids
This isn’t just about fake emails and text messages anymore. Scam networks are using AI and deepfake tech to create fake explicit content of tweens and teens. They use it to blackmail families in sextortion scams, threatening to release real and fake explicit images unless they get paid.
Kids are committing suicide when faced with the reality they shared an intimate photo with a scammer threatening to send it to friends and family, as well as post it on social media. This is getting darker by the day.
🛡️ Protect yourself and family
The next time you get a sketchy message from someone you don’t know, it might not be a criminal in a hoodie. It could be someone who was tricked, trafficked and forced to work inside one of these scam mills.
- Stop and think. Scammers target emotion, desperation, loneliness, fear, even love. If it feels off, walk away.
- Don’t click links in messages. If it’s legit, you’ll be able to find it from the source.
- Talk to your family. Especially your tweens and teens. They need to know that they are being targeted. Often, it’s a swap of a nudie pic that leads to sextortion.
Scams are only profitable if people fall for them. If less money flows into these organizations, maybe the scales will tip against such hostile industries.
Your phone’s more intimate than your diary
ChatGPT
Our phones hold everything: photos, texts, money apps, health info, even our bad selfies. Handing over access to your partner? That’s not just convenient. That’s trust on a whole new level.
Some people think it’s the 2025 version of giving someone a house key. Others worry it’s a recipe for drama, or even the prequel to a Netflix true crime doc.
📺 Cast your Chromebook to a TV: Want a bigger screen for movies or presentations? Make sure your Chromebook and smart TV are on the same Wi-Fi network. Open the Chrome browser, click the three-dot menu (top right), select Cast and choose your TV from the list of available devices.
AI hits your TV: Samsung’s 2025 TVs now come with Microsoft’s Copilot built in. I can see the excitement on your face. This animated beige blob can recommend shows, recap episodes and answer random questions. Basically a roommate that watches too much, but rounder, and permanently stuck in your living room. But hey, at least it won’t eat your leftovers.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Jump between apps without the mouse. Press Alt + Tab (Windows) or Cmd + Tab (Mac). Hold the keys and tap Tab again to cycle through everything that’s open.
🚨 Terrible “bargains” alert: Scammers are filling Facebook and Instagram with fake “closing down sale” ads. Think heartfelt pleas about retiring small businesses and jaw‑dropping discounts. A researcher found over 50,000 ads repeating the same copy. Before you buy, check the comments and reverse‑image search the photos.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Don’t keep your laptop plugged in all the time. Heat and stress wear down lithium-ion batteries. Let it cycle between 30% and 80% for longer life.
🎙️ Narrative podcasts are dead: In the mid-2010s, shows like “Serial” blew up with multi-episode investigations and gripping interviews. Now they’re vanishing (paywall link). Why? They’re too expensive and take too long to make. So if your favorite true crime podcast is no longer updating, you know why.
Microsoft squeeze: If your email ends in @onmicrosoft(dot)com, heads up, Microsoft is putting strict new limits on you. Why? Because spammers abused the system. Starting Dec. 1, you’re capped at 100 external emails per day. If that’s you, it’s time to buy a real domain, or risk your messages bouncing.
🚁 Trash takes flight: Everest is outsourcing its garbage problem to drones. $20K DJI FlyCart drones hauled 660 pounds of waste (beer cans, oxygen tanks and, yes, frozen poop) down the mountain. Drones can move in 10 minutes what would take humans six hours. Everest might look majestic from a distance; just don’t zoom in on base camp.
🩸 Metabolism in HD: Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) track blood sugar in real time, and now Signos is FDA-cleared to use Dexcom’s Stelo sensor with an AI app. Every snack, nap and jog gets graphed. Levels offers the same at $99/month plus subscription. Data-driven metabolism is here, helping you spot risks, optimize your engine and dodge future diabetes.
Teens trading hacks for clout: The FBI says criminals are recruiting kids on Discord and video games into “The Com,” an online world where a hack gets you street cred. Thousands are caught up, some just for bragging rights, thinking it’s all fun until someone knocks on the door with a badge and felony charges. Parents, talk to your teens.
📚 Schedule warm light on Kindle: You can ease eyestrain at night by setting your Kindle’s warm light to turn on automatically. Go to All Settings > Screen and brightness > Brightness and warmth > Warmth schedule. Choose Automatic (sunset to sunrise) or Manual (pick your own times). Use the (+/–) slider to adjust the intensity.
🍌 This is a-peel-ing: Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (nicknamed Nano Banana) just split the future of photo editing. You can unblur your kid’s soccer photo, swap your messy kitchen for a Pinterest one, or crown your cat. All hail Whiskers. It’s live in Gemini for free and paid folks. Try it here.
Heads up: Google just confirmed that hackers got into some Google Workspace accounts. How? They used stolen OAuth tokens from Drift integrations – yep, those handy tools that connect your inbox to other apps. If you use Drift with Google Workspace, now’s the time to revoke those tokens and change your passwords. If none of this made any sense at all to you, move on.
💸 Crypto. Con. Gone. A brother and sister in Ohio lost over $1 million to a crypto scam after getting sucked in on Telegram by a fake “investment coach” named Shaw Goddess (you can’t make this up). They wired money into what looked like a legit trading platform until they tried to cash out and, poof, nothing. The FBI managed to recover about $325K by tracing the crypto and freezing it, but the rest? Dust in the blockchain wind.
Cellphone bill too high? Mine was. I switched to Consumer Cellular. Same coverage as Big Wireless, but for half the price. Over 50? Get two lines for just $60, plus save $25 with code KIM25. AARP discounts, too. Check it out now. You’ll be glad you did.
Poor Mark Zuckerberg can’t catch a break: The man-child has spent $110M buying 11 homes in Palo Alto to build a personal fortress complete with a pickleball court, “bat cave” basement and private school. After eight years of nonstop construction, frustrated neighbors got a peace offering. He actually gave them noise-canceling headphones. Because nothing says “sorry for ruining your street” like a $300 pair of earbuds. Oh, also donuts.
🏈 Free NFL on YouTube: This year, YouTube is streaming the first Friday game between the Chiefs and Chargers on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch on the YouTube home page or the official NFL channel. Bonus: month-to-month NFL Sunday Ticket plans. New fans: $85/month. Returning fans: $115/month with YouTube TV, or $145/month on YouTube. New is better, obviously.