Bricks, bots and bad intel

June 11, 2025

🌀 Bricks, bots and bad intel: When ICE protests broke out in L.A., social media broke with it. Old conspiracy theories, fake Obama quotes and a still from a 1983 helicopter movie (paywall link) all got reposted like it was open mic night at the misinformation improv club. Even a Malaysian brick company got dragged into the chaos. PSA: Verify before you share.

Tags: bots, conspiracy theories, misinformation, movie, social media

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The truth behind airplane mode (no, it’s not a myth)

ChatGPT

You know the drill. You find your seat, wrestle your carry-on into the overhead bin like it’s a CrossFit challenge, and then, ding! The flight attendant reminds you to switch to airplane mode.

So … what happens if you don’t? Are you going to crash the plane? Trigger the emergency slide midair?

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Elder fraud is exploding: Your data is making it worse

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I’ve got bad news: Today’s online scammers know everything about you. They’re scraping your info and everyone else’s from the web and buying the rest from data brokers and people-search sites.

Folks age 60-plus are the biggest target. Almost 72% of scams start with personal data grabbed online. Data brokers vacuum up your info like phone numbers, emails, past addresses, income, favorite takeout spots and then auction it off like eBay for creepers.

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Titan submersible update

It’s been almost two years since the tragedy that killed all five onboard. Now, investigators are revealing some chilling finds from the ocean floor. In a new documentary, they say they found part of the OceanGate founder’s sleeve, with a pen, business cards and Titanic stickers still inside. So sad.

After 52 years

The U.S. is lifting its ban on supersonic flights over home turf. That means commercial jets faster than the speed of sound could soon take off. Why the ban in the first place? Sonic booms had people complaining. Now the FAA needs to write up new rules for acceptable noise levels. Hope your windows are ready.

The next iPhone? Nope. This one has no screen, no apps, no keyboard

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I always want you to be tech ahead. That’s why I want you to think about what if your next device didn’t have a screen? Or apps? Or a keyboard?

That’s exactly why Sam Altman (OpenAI’s CEO) and Jony Ive (the former Apple design genius behind the iPhone) are working on a new kind of AI gadget that could completely change the way we interact with technology.

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Every 5 minutes

North Korean phones secretly take a screenshot of whatever you’re doing. A smuggled one showed the images are stored in a hidden folder that authorities can check later. Even crazier? The phone changes your words as you type. Write “South Korea,” and it becomes “puppet state.” Talk about autocorrect from hell.

1 day

That’s how fast your online order could arrive, courtesy of USPS’s quiet glow-up. They’ve ditched the snail jokes and entered the express lane with Priority Mail Next Day to compete with FedEx, UPS and Amazon. It’s currently live in 62 markets and delivers packages under 20 pounds within one day, as long as they’re dropped off by 6 p.m.

30 cats

That’s how many feline participants confirmed you smell exactly like they thought you would. Researchers in Tokyo ran a sniff test with 30 house cats and found they spent more time smelling strangers than their own humans. Translation: Your cat knows who you are and has already decided you’re not worth the extra sniff.

$250 million

That’s what MrBeast says he’ll spend on content this year, but he still needs a wedding loan from mom. Worth a cool billion on paper, MrBeast says he’s cash-poor IRL, leaving his mom to spot him for cake and canapés. Somewhere, Jeff Bezos just Venmo’d his mom out of guilt.

1,000 miles

That’s how far China’s newest range-extended SUVs can go on one charge and a bit of gas. That’s New York to Key West without the “where’s the next charger?” panic attack. Huawei and Chery’s Luxeed R7 (paywall link) leads the pack, mixing EV cred with a gas backup. Range anxiety? Cured. Now it’s just regular life’s anxiety left.