🥊 Night-night, th-leep tight: YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson’s boxing match is happening this week after months of delays. The odds are favoring Tyson, at plus-190. Paul’s a lot younger, but he’s never fought in the heavyweight division. Who knows? His big brother is kicking butt (literally) in the WWE.
Clever election scams targeting you
© Cammeraydave | Dreamstime.com, © Anatoliy Kidun | Dreamstime.com
Fake political calls, texts and videos are nothing new. They’ve been flooding Americans’ phones for months. Some have a simple goal: Steal your money. (I’ll pass along a few tips for spotting those below.) Others are looking for detailed personal info, like a text scam warning there’s a problem with your ballot.
Now, with the election just days away, scammers’ goals are different, and their latest “campaigns” are designed to keep Americans from casting their votes.
Phony election texts spreading
Their text messages range from “The election is canceled” to “Non-citizens can vote this year.” Some scammy texts say you can’t vote in your district anymore, or they give false voting times and locations. Ignore these!
In other cases, texts and calls might not be true scams, but they’re from political groups using outdated info. These messages fall along the lines of “Someone at your address hasn’t voted yet.”
Here’s an example hitting North Carolina voters: “A voter at [residential address] may not have voted. Vote here: [website address].”
If you get something like this, ignore it. To check your voting status, go to your city’s official website or phone line. For easy access, just search “ballot status + [city or county].” Or use this search at USA.gov.
Here’s what the page looks like in Maricopa County, where I live.
‘We need your money now!’
Political campaigns are doing last-minute pushes for funding. Before you open your wallet, read these do’s and don’ts for keeping your money safe:
- Do verify it’s a real organization. Here’s a list of registered PACs maintained by the Federal Election Commission.
- Do search for the PAC name. Hey, it’s worth it to see if anything shady pops up. Some funnel money to their own advisors and marketing budgets, not to the candidates they claim to support. This page is useful, too.
- Do use a credit card if you donate. Checks and debit cards don’t have the same scam protections.
- Don’t give payment info over the phone. Find the official website and donate there.
- Don’t click links. That includes those in emails, texts or any other sources. When in doubt, visit the candidate’s or party’s official campaign website.
Pro tip: TikTok banned political fundraising across its platform in 2022. Anything you see there asking you to donate is a scam — or it’s someone skirting the rules, and you don’t want to be involved with that, either.
Mark Zuckerberg x T-Pain – 'Get Low' (Z-Pain)
I hope you’re ready for Zuck’s “Get Low” cover. Heads-up: The lyrics are pretty explicit. In case you love it, they also dropped it on Spotify under the artist name “Z-Pain.” Does anyone have a Tylenol? I need a Z-Painkiller after listening to that.
14 and up
Age groups banned from trick-or-treating in Pennsauken, New Jersey. The town says kids 14 or over can only participate if they’re acting as chaperones. Even then, they can’t ask for candy, and they must wait until they get home to share. Show me the mummy!
'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' official trailer
😲 The No. 1 show on Netflix right now is “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” It dives into the true story of two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in 1996. They said a lifetime of abuse drove them to it; prosecutors argued it was all about inheriting the family fortune.
'Here' official trailer
🎬 Plot twist: “Here” follows Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, de-aged entirely by AI. A few years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible without Marvel-level budgets. Now? They’re pulling it off for $50 million. The trailer gave me goosebumps!
AI window-washing robots make their U.S. debut in Dallas
🧽 Window washing 2.0: Cleaning high-rise windows is risky work, but a spider-like AI robot is about to change that. Named after those gravity-defying mountain goats, Ibex only needs a button press to get to work. It climbs buildings, using cameras and sensors to scan surfaces, dodge window frames and leave no spot untouched. The robots are already in Texas, so don’t be surprised if they pop up everywhere soon.
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: Nvidia will replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) on Nov. 8, 2024. Nvidia’s seen significant growth in recent years, mostly driven by AI, while Intel continues to fall big-time. FWIW, paint-maker Sherwin-Williams will come to the DJIA, replacing Dow Inc., too. You know what I say: If you don’t innovate, you evaporate!
Robot plays cello with Malmö Symphony Orchestra at concert
'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew' official trailer
🎬 The Wookie’s cookie is a little Chewie: “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” drops on Disney+ on Dec. 3. Set during the same era as “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka,” the series follows a group of kids who discover a spaceship and embark on an adventure. It stars Jude Law as a Jedi and looks like a 1980s Steven Spielberg movie. Check out the trailer.
Ready to play (again)?
Netflix dropped an early Christmas gift — the trailer for “Squid Game” season 2. The first season was the most-watched series of all time on the platform. I liked it, despite all the blood. New season drops Dec. 26. How festive.
Boston Dynamics' Atlas goes hands-on
Atlas doesn’t need lunch breaks: Boston Dynamics just dropped new footage of its humanoid robot Atlas. The bot does factory work, like moving engine covers between supplier containers and a mobile sequencing dolly — complete with full-motion bending and turning. The big deal is that no human needs to tell the bot what to do after training.
Go ahead, take my money: Apple is upgrading its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with its zippy M4 line of processors. The basic 14-inch M4 MacBook starts at $1,599 with 16GB of RAM, and the 16-inch M4 Max is $3,999. Preorders are open, with shipping slated to start on Nov. 8. Psst, this means the older models are on sale.
'Mind-reading' headphones track user's brain signals
Jedi mind tricks: Neurable is creating mind-reading headphones. The sensors pick up tiny electrical impulses from your skull, which you can view in an app to see how intensely you’re focusing. Telepathy might be next. In one of their gamified exercises, the more you focus, the faster you make a rocket accelerate.
🍏 I told ya this would happen: Apple’s snazzy new iMac comes in seven colors (I love the pink!), and it’s powered by the M4 chip. The base model’s RAM is doubled to 16GB, plus it’s got a 12MP webcam and USB-C charging ports. For $200 extra, add nano-texture glass to the screen to reduce reflections. Preorders start at $1,299 and ship by Nov. 8. Psst, last year’s models are on sale.
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George Carlin on airlines and flying
✈️ Get back in line: American Airlines is considering new boarding tech that sounds a really loud beep when you try to cut the line and board without your group. It’s being tested now in Albuquerque, Tucson and Washington, D.C. I’ll spare you a plane joke (it won’t take off), but if you need a laugh, watch George Carlin talk about the boarding process. So funny.
Let’s get to the core of it: Starting Oct. 27, Apple will kick off its “week of announcements” for the latest Mac lineup. Expect refreshed MacBook Pro models, a 24-inch iMac and a new Mac mini, all powered by M4-series chips. They’ll likely ship with macOS Sequoia, so we might get a peek at some new, snazzy AI tools. I wish they’d bring back the 27-inch iMac.
🛩️ When you’re the boss, you make the rules: You can post almost anything on social media — as long as it doesn’t tick off the billionaire owners. Take Facebook: Election misinformation, fake news and AI junk? Totally fine. But use public data to track Mark Zuckerberg’s $66.5 million Gulfstream G650ER jet with the tail number N68885, and your account will be suspended.
🇨🇳 Remember when Verizon went down a few weeks ago? Chinese hackers were targeting phones used by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance, the New York Times reported. Verizon says they’re working with law enforcement. I’m sure the Harris campaign is being targeted, too. You couldn’t pay me enough to run for office.
Passengers in an Arizona Waymo autonomous vehicle get a scare
🧘 Coping skills needed: An Arizona mom and daughter thought the self-driving Waymo vehicle they were in might crash while crossing multiple lanes. They made it through, with mom panicking and her daughter cracking up in the backseat. Waymo’s response? The vehicle kept a “safe distance.” Watch the video and see what you think.