💥 3D guts and glory: Caltech’s researchers built PillTrek, a tiny 3D-printed smart capsule that monitors your gut like a biochemical Fitbit. It tracks pH, glucose, serotonin, you name it, by crawling through your insides like a nerdy spy. It’s cheap, wireless, and eventually, yes, it comes out the old-school way. Consider it a poop diary with WiFi.
Hackers love your zombie accounts
ChatGPT
How many online accounts have you made over the years? 50? 100? More? That’s enough to fill a digital graveyard.
A new study shows that 25% of all online accounts are never used again, but they don’t just disappear. They sit there, wide open, with your email address and password attached. These forgotten logins are called “zombie accounts,” and hackers love them.
Why? Because most people reuse passwords or use easy-to-crack ones. And those old accounts? They’re missing security updates, have no two-factor authentication, and usually are linked to your main email address.
💥 Easy takeover
Here’s the scary part: Hackers use a method called credential stuffing. It’s lazy but effective. Basically, bots test your old usernames and passwords across thousands of popular sites: Gmail, Netflix, Amazon, even your bank.
If they hit a match (and they often do), you’re toast. They can steal your identity, drain your accounts or hold your data for ransom.
What’s worse? These attacks happen 24/7, using bots that can test thousands of logins per second. One weak link, one zombie account and they’re in.
Great, now they’re logging into your PayPal while you’re still trying to remember if it’s passwordDog! or Dogpassword!
You can go through all your accounts one by one to kill off those you don’t use, but that’s a hassle and you won’t do it.
🚫 Passwords in your browser
Think your browser’s built-in password manager will save you? Nope. It’s lame, really.
If someone gains access to your device even for a minute in person or via malware, they can unlock all your saved logins in Chrome, Safari or Edge with little effort. Worse, your browser won’t warn you if your passwords have been leaked online or on the dark web.
🎬 Where can I watch that? These sites have the answer
ChatGPT
You know the feeling. You want to watch a specific movie, maybe an old favorite (hello, 1999’s The Mummy) or that buzzworthy show everyone’s talking about, but you have no clue where to find it.
Instead of spending those precious moments actually watching it, you’re playing streaming detective: Netflix? Hulu? Prime Video? Is it free? Rentable?
31%
That’s how many pet owners said they’d date their dog, if it were human. Yes, this is real. Thanks to TikTok and a little too much ChatGPT, people are anthropomorphizing their pets … and catching feelings. Yeah … it’s less weird if you don’t think about it.
Hidden Facebook messages: If you’ve been on the app a while, chances are you’ve got tons of unread DMs sitting in your Message requests folder. That’s where Meta sends chats from people you’re not friends with. To check, tap the Messenger icon > Settings > Message requests > You may know.
⚡ Office apps get speed boost: Microsoft’s new Startup Boost preloads Office apps like Word and Excel in the background at boot. Apps chill in a paused state until you open them, shaving seconds off launch time. It’s already live for some Word users and will hit everyone by September. Your PC: now preheating like an oven.
Uber’s new girl mode rolling out: Women Uber riders in LA, SF and Detroit can request women-only drivers. The Women Preferences initiative is already live in 40+ countries (paywall link) and has logged 100M rides. Such a great idea.
🧠 Mind over mouse: Meta just unveiled a wristband that reads your muscle signals to control devices. No touching, no implants. It decodes electrical pulses (paywall link) in your arm to move cursors, open apps and type midair. Write your name in space and watch it appear on your phone. I accidentally thought about Slack, and now I’m in six meetings.
Prop and circumstance: A Pennsylvania couple sold a floor buffer on Facebook Marketplace to a guy who paid with cash from the set of a movie. Literally. The bills said “for motion picture purposes” where “The United States of America” should’ve been. He took the floor buffer, blocked them and vanished like he had a Marvel budget. Cops are investigating.
🗣️ Prove you’re a human: OpenAI’s Sam Altman warned the Fed that we’re teetering on a “fraud crisis” due to AI tools that can impersonate you, your voice or your kid’s. AI fakes are calling parents and diplomats. The White House is prepping an “AI Action Plan.” Altman pitched The Orb for human verification. I told you all about this months ago.
✅ You asked and here it is. A 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 all for good.
Ring of suspicion: Police can now request your doorbell footage again, without a warrant, if it’s part of an “emergency” investigation. The program was paused earlier this year, but Amazon quietly flipped the switch back on. So yes, your front porch cam is now part of your local precinct’s surveillance network.
💣 AI made your explosion: In a “first ever” moment, Netflix used generative AI to create a building-collapse scene in The Eternaut, claiming it was 10x faster and cheaper than traditional video effects. CEO Ted Sarandos swears it wasn’t only a major budget break but a creative opportunity. Sure, if your idea of creativity is “Chat, make Argentina go boom.”
Stay on Windows 10: Microsoft will end support on Oct. 14, but you can still get one extra year of protection for free (sort of). You’ll need to do one of three things: Trade in 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, sync your backup to OneDrive or pay $30. A pop-up on your PC will walk you through it.
🍏 AppleCare just got easier: Starting today at 8 a.m. ET, you can cover up to three devices for $20/month, instead of paying for each separately. Most products are eligible up to four years after purchase (up from 60 days). Theft and loss coverage now includes iPads and Apple Watches. Sign up at an Apple Store or in the Settings menu of your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
I thought Alexa was creepy: Amazon’s buying Bee, a company whose wearable bracelet records everything you say. Why? AI summarizes your day, makes to-do lists and creates a searchable log of your life. It’s always listening and has no wake word (paywall link). I’ll pass.
🧨 Fission accomplished: This is bad. Communist China hackers used a SharePoint flaw to target 400+ orgs, including the U.S. nuke agency (NNSA). Microsoft says the exploit hit agencies in the U.S., EU, Middle East and more. They say no classified files were stolen since the backdoor’s been open since July 7. Yea, right.
👶🏼 Billionaire baby mama drama: Ashley St. Clair, a 26-year-old conservative influencer, is suing Elon Musk (paywall link) for full custody of their son, Romulus (yes, really). She claims he offered $15M and $100K/month to keep quiet, then slashed support when she didn’t. Now the court’s involved, the windows are papered and Elon’s side quest is fully glitching.
🧪 Tumors, meet your match: Scientists may have found a workaround for cancer’s ghosting tendencies. Instead of waiting for tumors to “respond,” they’re forcing the convo with a generic RNA vaccine. It basically slaps the immune system awake, and in mouse tests, it worked solo or with backup. I hate cancer.
💸 $350M fake merch mess: A sports memorabilia dealer confessed on Facebook to selling over 4 million counterfeit items, then took his own life hours later. Brett Lemieux ran the MisterManCave site, allegedly faking holograms of Kobe, Jordan, Brady and more. The scam allegedly made $350 million.