Buying a house or wiring money?

September 10, 2024

Buying a house or wiring money? A former Mastercard exec nearly lost $100,000 after scammers got into her real estate agent’s email account. They posed as a title company, requesting an “accelerated” payment (paywall link). The wire instructions had the same letterhead and typography, but the phone number and email were off. Luckily, she called the original number and dodged the scam. Always double-check the details.

Tags: buying, company, email, money, phone, real estate, scam, scammers

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7 free ways to stream TV and movies

A dollar here, $10 there. Streaming services used to be the way to watch what you wanted for much cheaper than cable or satellite. Now? Not so much.

As with everything, what’s old is new again, and more and more folks are ditching paid options for freebies. Sure, you have to put up with ads, but most of today’s streaming services now have those, too!

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Gotta wing it

Imagine soaring a couple hundred feet above the ground in your own personal aircraft. They’re called “short-hop adventure crafts” and they’re taking off. (Sorry, had to.) The electric BlackFly requires only seven days of training before you (not me) can take to the skies. Watch it in action!

New to Instagram: Comment on a story. Yep — a public comment, not a direct message only the person posting sees. To try it, tap the speech bubble icon in the bottom left corner of a story.

What percent of e-waste — think old computers, phones and other tech — gets recycled? Is it … A.) 50%, B.) 90%, C.) 20% or D.) 10%?

Find the answer here! →

5,780 miles

Distance from Hong Kong to Switzerland, where surgeons remotely operated on a pig. In Hong Kong, they set up a robotic system with a magnetic endoscope. In Zurich, a doctor watching a real-time video feed controlled the entire process with a video game controller. Imagine getting a procedure from a world-class surgeon from halfway across the world!

58 years ago

The first episode of “Star Trek” debuted. Since then, Captain Kirk and his crew have starred in 850 TV episodes and 13 movies. I used to confuse “Star Wars” with “Star Trek.” What a wookie mistake.

600 miles in 9 minutes

Charge capacity for Samsung’s new EV battery. Oh, and the solid-state battery has a 20-year lifespan. They say it’ll be ready for mass production by 2027. Luxury carmakers will be all over this.

75% of adults

Can’t identify nicotine pouches. That’s a big problem, considering how popular they are with Gen Z. Kids use them for a nicotine buzz, but they’re incredibly addictive. Talk to your kids and educate yourself.

442 locations closing

After LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators) filed for bankruptcy. About 100 stores were shuttered over the summer to save money, but now they’re pulling the plug. Existing orders will be filled, and all remaining stock is going for cheap, so they’re not out of the woods yet.

1 hour a week

Of phone usage leads to a 10% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. So, uh, yeah, that’s pretty much all of us, right? This is a classic example of correlation, not causation. Using a phone doesn’t impact your heart directly, but too much sitting on your butt sure does.