Tech to the rescue

September 12, 2024

⛑️ Tech to the rescue: A quick-thinking 4-year-old girl saved her mom’s life during an epileptic seizure. With mom’s phone locked and out of reach, she remembered the Amazon Alexa upstairs. She asked Alexa to call her great-grandmother, who rushed over to help. Let this be your reminder to teach your kiddos how to use technology in emergencies.

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Tags: Amazon, phone, tech, technology

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Scam watch: 3 scams spreading like fire across the U.S.

Scammers are clever, but they’re not very creative. Most of their tricks are recycled versions of tricks that worked in the past. There are a few I’ve seen cropping up again because criminals know they work every time.

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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.

$700 PlayStation 5 Pro

Isn’t worth it for most gamers. It’s 75% more expensive than the PS5 was when it launched. What’s the big deal? A larger GPU, advanced ray tracing and AI-driven upscaling. Translation: Sharper images with more detail.

$200,000 machine

For creating diamonds, now listed for sale on Alibaba. The two main methods for making lab-grown diamonds are the HPHT process and chemical vapor deposition. Sadly, it’s not as easy as just shelling out for the machine. Making your own lab-grown diamonds requires a whole lot of money and expertise. Talk about a gem of a job!

2.7 million preorders

For Huawei’s trifold smartphone. The Chinese company’s Mate XT looks pretty dang cool, but just know the FBI called Huawei a threat to national security — basically, “It’s my way or the Huawei!”

10 happiest U.S. states

Are Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, Utah, Delaware, Minnesota, Connecticut, Idaho, Nebraska and Massachusetts. WalletHub analyzed states on a 100-point scale. Totally agree with Hawaii! Sorry, but here are the 10 least happy states.

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.