Throw away the key

January 17, 2025

😡 Throw away the key: This is awful. A woman is in jail for poisoning a one-year-old with old medicine the baby didn’t need and posting social media videos about how much pain the baby was in. She raked in over $37,000 in donations before she was arrested and charged with torture and child exploitation. Police didn’t say if she’s the kid’s mom, but, either way, the little one is safe now.

Tags: social media, videos

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Nintendo used to make the Wii. It’s time for a switch

The Nintendo Switch has sold over 146 million units since its 2017 debut, second only to the Nintendo DS. A new trailer shows the first console morphing into the fancy Nintendo Switch 2. The screen is bigger and the Joy-Cons snap magnetically instead of sliding. There’s no release date yet, so you have time to begin saving.

54% dream in ads

Adults under 35 who say products invade their sleep. Imagine when the tech exists for advertisers to get in on their own, not just relying on what you saw while awake. “Tonight’s rest is sponsored by …”

87 biological children

For the world’s most prolific sperm donor. This year, 32-year-old Kyle Gordy from California will join three others who have fathered 100 kids. No kidding — he was on the reality show “90 Day Fiancé” and runs a website full of fertility advice and products. Look how far we’ve come.

$60 billion in losses

For Meta VR tech over the last five years. Zuck told investors their investments would pay off eventually. Definitely related: After February performance reviews, the bottom 5% of workers, or 3,600 folks, are getting the boot.

$70 a month

For DirecTV’s sports-only subscription. MySports, available in 24 metro areas, includes 40 sports from ESPN and Fox Sports, plus local channels, the NFL and MLB networks, NBA TV, and lots more. There’s golf, too. Tee-riffic!

$3,600 Hermès bag

Up for grabs in a claw machine in Queens, New York. It’s the game you remember (move the claw, drop it down, pray), except there’s a $50 buy-in (paywall link). Other prizes ripe for the plucking include $549 AirPods Max headphones and a $600 Chanel wallet. Why can’t anybody win at a “Frozen” claw machine? Because it will always let it go.

Below 90%

Google’s hold on search traffic. For the first time in a decade, more than one in 10 folks search the web some other way. It’s not ChatGPT taking over just yet. Bing, Yandex (a Russian search engine) and Yahoo all saw market share increases. Yeah, Google’s AI Overview stinks.

$1,875,000 severance

For Patrick Spence, the canned Sonos CEO. Spence also will get $7,500 a month for “strategic advisory” until June. The drama started in May 2024 with Sonos’ buggy app that got pushed out way too early so they could sell fancy headphones. Sales numbers were awful, employees quit, and it spiraled into a full-on PR disaster. Way to go, Mr. CEO!

Almost $1,600 a year

What Gen Z adults pay on average for basic DIY tasks. A survey of 2,000 18- to 27-year-olds showed they’d rather pay someone to clean their car or hang a picture frame. About 30% can’t even identify a flathead screwdriver. How many Gen Zers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Just one … to call the handyman.

60 new stores

Opening this year for Barnes & Noble. You read that correctly — opening, not closing. Last year, they opened 57 stores in the U.S. Hey, even in the Kindle age, people love books they can hold. Now I want to go browse.