🪴 I wet my plants: AI-generated houseplant scams, like fake glowing monstera, blue sunflowers and bogus care tips, are spreading online. Real plant nerds are mad. Between mislabeled seeds, floating pots and chatbot advice that could kill a fern in 10 seconds, AI’s turning a peaceful hobby into a digital funhouse of botanical lies.
Stop using 2FA text codes already
ChatGPT
Today’s a short but super important security tip. If you’re still getting login codes via text on your phone, stop. That’s so 2010 and one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to online security.
Sure, it’s convenient. You type in your password, get a six-digit code via SMS, enter it, and you’re in. But here’s the problem: Hackers have figured out how to steal those codes.
Receiving that six-digit SMS code might feel like security … in the same way locking your front door but leaving the keys under the mat outside does.
It’s called SIM swapping. A scammer tricks your phone carrier into transferring your number to their device. Once they have it, they receive all your texts, including those security codes. Just like that, they can log into your accounts.
And if you have your devices set up like mine, where each one receives all your texts and emails, someone around you can easily access your accounts.
So, what should you use? Glad you asked.
An authenticator app
You want to ditch texts and use an authenticator app. I recommend two free and trusted ones:
✅ Google Authenticator
✅ Microsoft Authenticator
These apps don’t send codes to you. They generate them right on your phone, changing every 30 seconds. Since nothing’s being sent over the airwaves, hackers or snoops can’t intercept anything.
Even better, these codes work offline. No signal? No problem.
Robot cars, human-size problems
ChatGPT
Robotaxis are silently (and sometimes awkwardly) roaming around Phoenix, San Francisco, Austin and wherever else humans dare let cars do improv in traffic. Waymo, Tesla and soon Amazon want you to ghost your Uber driver and jump headfirst into a future with no one behind the wheel.
Google’s Veo 3 is out
The new AI video generator creates lifelike eight-second clips from just a prompt. It’s amazing. You can try it free through Vertex AI on Google Cloud by signing up for a trial and using the $300 in credits. FYI: This thing was trained on millions of YouTube videos.
Over 35,000
People were paid by Stanford to quit Instagram or Facebook for six weeks. The goal? See what happens to emotional well-being. Turns out there was only a slight mood boost. The biggest gains came from people over 35 quitting Facebook and women under 25 leaving IG.
Tesla’s ghost delivery: This is something. Tesla just delivered a car from its factory to a customer with zero humans inside, not even a remote operator. The car just snuck home like a teenager after curfew. Elon says it’s the first true hands-off highway drive. I wonder: If you miss a few car payments, will it also drive itself back to the dealer?
🤖 Dirt = debt: Watch out the next time you rent a car. Hertz renters are getting slapped with $195 to $440 charges for microscopic car damage, like a wheel scuff or tiny dent, caught by new AI scanners at drop-off. PSA: Take a video of the entire car before you drive off the lot.
Another Anker recall: Five more power banks are being pulled over fire risks. Affected models include: Anker Power Bank A1257 and A1647, MagGo A1652, and Zolo A1681 and A1689. You’ll find the model number on the side or back. Fill out a recall form to get a free replacement or a gift card.
Crypto tax panic: Crypto traders are freaking out after a huge spike in official letters from the IRS, some warnings, some with fines already baked in. Even people who’ve played by the rules say they’re getting flagged. If you’ve been diligently reporting your Fartcoin profits like a responsible adult, congrats: You’re now on the audit express.
👀 TikTok’s mystery buyers: President Trump claims “very wealthy people” are ready to buy TikTok, but he won’t say who. Only catch? The deal still needs China’s OK. The deadline’s now Sept. 17. This is the third delay while lawmakers try to kill the app. It feels like a group project we all forgot about that keeps getting deadline extensions.
5 to 3
That’s the final score in a soccer match where no one broke a sweat, or had a pulse. Tsinghua’s robot squad took the W against China Agricultural University in the world’s first all-autonomous 3v3 match. Strategy, teamwork, AI, basically FIFA meets I, Robot. Coming soon: an algorithm for yellow cards.
$144 million
That’s how much the new F1 racing movie made globally on its opening weekend. It’s Brad Pitt’s biggest debut ever, beating World War Z’s $112 million. This thrill ride cost $200 million to $300 million to make. I’m definitely going to see this movie!
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200 cookies
What the average American eats each year. A 50-state survey showed one in six Americans, or a little over 16%, eats dessert daily. That percentage is highest in Tennessee, at 25%. On average, sweets cravings hit hardest at 2:30 p.m. For the record, Newman-O’s are my favorite cookie.
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🚨 Fake animal rescues on TikTok and Facebook: Scammers are editing real videos of older creators to make it look like they’re asking for help. One clip shows a man saying he has a story to tell, then it cuts to text: “you stayed 8 seconds so I don’t have to shut down my cat shelter.” Don’t click that donation link.
💸 Fortnite refund: The FTC is giving you another shot to claim part of a $245 million settlement over shady in-app purchases. You’re eligible if you played between January 2017 and September 2022 and were charged for items you didn’t want, got locked out after a charge dispute, or if your kid made purchases without you knowing. Submit your claim by July 9.
🎭 Who owns your face? Get this. Denmark’s rewriting copyright law to give people ownership over their face, voice and vibe. Yes, really. If a deepfake of you pops up without consent, you can make platforms take it down. It’s the first law of its kind in Europe, and the U.S. might want to take notes. This will be ID theft in 2035.
Almost 90%
That’s how much heart attacks have dropped since 1970, thanks to better meds and emergency care. The twist? With more people surviving, issues like heart failure and high blood pressure are becoming the silent killers. Add in obesity nearly tripling since the ’70s, and, well … hearts are still under serious pressure.
Playing God: Now, this is nuts. British scientists just kicked off a mega-funded plan to build human DNA from scratch. The goal? A fully synthetic chromosome (just 2% of the genome) for now. Cue the ethical dilemma of gene creation and editing. Some say it’s lifesaving science, others say it’s biotech’s Jurassic Park moment.
30%
That’s how much of Salesforce’s workload AI is already doing. Marc Benioff says bots are now answering customer questions and writing code like it’s no big deal. You know, just casually replacing a third of the org chart before lunch. The high-end estimate of Salesforce’s work done by AI? Nearly half (paywall link).