Forced advertising

Forced advertising: Soon, you’ll see ads on Snapchat next to messages from your friends. Sponsored snaps will show as unread messages in the main chat tab, but they won’t trigger push notifications, at least. Snap’s stock price is hovering near an all-time low. This is def not a coincidence.

Tags: advertisements (ads), advertising, Chat, friends, messages, notifications, Snapchat


Leak: Big Tech companies are listening to your convos

For years, tech companies have assured us no one’s listening through our smartphones to see what we’re interested in. It sure feels like it, though, when our ads seem so closely matched to our private chats with friends and family.

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How easy is it to unlock an iPhone?

If you’re out in public avoid typing in your passcode. You never know who might be looking over your shoulder.

Trivia

Which of the following smartphone charging “facts” is actually a myth? Is it … A.) Charging overnight damages your battery, B.) Using your phone while it’s charging can make it explode, C.) Charging only when it reaches 0% extends your battery life, or D.) You should only use the charger that came with your phone?

Find the answer here!

53% of businesses

Have been targeted by a financial deepfake scam. Even worse, 43% fell for it. These scams use bogus images, videos or audio recordings to convince people to buy gift cards, wire money or otherwise spend. If you get a random financial request at work, reach out to the person directly to confirm.

1X Technologies and OpenAI preview the 'Neo beta' humanoid robot

1X Technologies and OpenAI just released a preview of the “Neo beta,” a scarily realistic humanoid robot. It moves like a human, and its advanced vision system lets it interact with the environment in real time. In this video, it picks up a backpack, places its hand around a woman’s waist and waves at the camera.

0 screen time

Before age 2, according to a new recommendation by Swedish health authorities. They say kids ages 2 to 5 should have no more than an hour a day of screen time, and it rises to two hours for those ages 6 to 12 and three hours for teens ages 13 to 18. This quote from researchers stopped me in my tracks: “Children’s health is paying the price for tech companies’ profits.”

50 to 80 bpm

Will boost productivity. Studies show music with 50 to 80 bpm can enhance creativity and learning. Check out this playlist. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is 72 bpm! After watching “Bohemian Rhapsody” three times in a row, I feel a little sick. It must be the high Mercury content.

$9,850,000

Listing price for Bob Ross’ very first painting from his TV show. He created “A Walk in the Woods” live during the 1983 premiere of “The Joy of Painting.” Yes, it features a few happy little trees.

$1 for a fixer-upper

In a small North Dakota town. A woman bought a 1924 two-bedroom house that needs a lot of work, but you can’t beat that deal. Most homes in the area sell for around $100,000. She’s now got a wildly popular TikTok account about her restoration journey.

12 hours per week

How much kids should read for a better adulthood. Researchers analyzed 10,000 kids and found the earlier they started reading for fun, the better their learning, memory, speech and mental well-being. Looking for recommendations? These are the bestselling kids’ books on Amazon.

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