After Casey Colvin’s home burned down in the Pacific Palisades fire, he went looking for his rescue dogs. A firefighter found Tika Tika Tika, but little Oreo ran away. Luckily, Casey was smart and had an AirTag on the pup’s collar. He tracked her down near the rubble of his home. Grab some tissues before you watch the heartwarming video.
California tests car tracking to tax your driving
California’s new road charge will track your mileage and charge you a fee based on how far you drive. Here’s my take in this short podcast.
🦅 Help name these chicks: Jackie and Shadow are the internet’s favorite eagle couple. Over a million fans watched their three eggs hatch on a 24/7 nest cam in California’s Big Bear Valley. The oldest chick passed away after a storm on March 13, but the other two are doing well. Help name them by donating at least $5 by Friday. Speaking of … Why can’t you breed an eel with an eagle? It’s Eeleagle. (Ouch.)
50 states
Have introduced right to repair laws. Most require companies to sell parts and release repair manuals so you don’t have to pay someone else an arm and a leg to fix broken tech for you. So far, they’ve been passed in Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Colorado, California and Oregon.
Stranger travels 1,500 miles to return lost stuffed animal to 9-year-old
A Texas woman took to Facebook after her 9-year-old left his stuffed gorilla at a California hotel. A stranger saw the post, went an hour out of her way to pick it up, then documented the gorilla’s journey home. Absolutely watch this if you need a smile!
Tasting digital food in virtual reality: Scientists are developing tech that detects taste molecules, converts them into electrical signals and sends them to a mouthpiece that releases chemicals to mimic flavors. They can already transmit these signals from California to Ohio. Penne for your thoughts?
🚂 Thieves’ loco motives: I never thought of this crime. Gangs hitting railroads jumped 40%, costing over $100 million. Around $4 million of that comes from the BNSF railroad in California. They’re using bolt cutters to break into shipping containers to steal electronics, sneakers and toys.
📦 Not bad for a side hustle: A California mom bought a few Amazon return pallets, listed the items on eBay and made $10,000 in the first month. Now, she runs a multimillion-dollar e-commerce business. Love American success stories like this. Do you have one? Let me know here.
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Swatting phone calls made by one teenager. Alan Filion from California charged up to $75 to send police to schools, businesses and even an unnamed former president. In one call, he said he was approaching a school with an AK-47, and the bomb squad showed up. When he targeted homes, Filion said the goal was to “get the cops to drag the victim and their families out of the house, cuff them and search the house for dead bodies.” He’s so lucky no one died.
💻 The nerd in me loves this: The world’s fastest supercomputer just went online at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The $600 million El Capitan is powered by 44,544 AMD chips. Its job is to secure the U.S. nuclear stockpile, run national security research and crunch other classified tasks. How fast is it? Its peak performance is 2.746 exaflops. That’s about 69 million times faster than a top-of-the-line MacBook.
$580 million
How much Tom got for Myspace. Remember that guy in the white T-shirt from your Top 8? That’s Tom Anderson. He doesn’t show his face much these days, but he was just spotted in California. Tom and co-creator Chris DeWolfe sold the early social media site to News Corp in 2005. A few years later, Tom retired to Hawaii to lei around.
🚀 The age of exploration: The U.S. launched 145 rockets in 2024 and plans to be even busier this year. A “traffic jam” is forming at three key launchpads in Florida and California approved for big rockets. New spaceports might be coming to a city near you. Rockets reach orbit easiest when launched near the equator, and most are by the ocean.
10,000 hours
Saved by Chick-fil-A’s lemon-squeezing robots. Their giant California factory churns through 1.6 million pounds of lemons a day in just 45 minutes. Talk about poultry in motion.
It’s going to be hard to tell what’s real anymore: TV maker TCL just debuted five fully AI-generated movies at the former Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood … which TCL owns the naming rights to. There’s a rom-com, a sci-fi flick, a documentary, a superhero movie and a film about a woman who turns into a slug (no idea), all streaming free on TCL TVs. I’m surprised the big media outlets aren’t talking about this. It’s a huge blow for any actor (or wannabe).
Police drone nabs a would-be burglar
Police in California nabbed a burglar near the Santa Monica Pier with a drone. The little guy spotted a car thief using a screwdriver to punch open locks in a parking lot. It called in officers and directed them to the exact location. Amazing, right?
February 3rd, 2024
Mark Zuckerberg makes a big apology to families before Congress. Plus, California lawmakers want to take control of your cars. Oklahoma proposal wants to ban sexting before marriage, and China hacks American routers. And there’s a new job in town: robot babysitting. That and much more, plus all your calls and questions!
Truth about EV sales, cellphone bans & 3 dangerous scams
Plus, are you a chronic snoozer? Here’s why hitting that button isn’t as bad as you think. Caller Jeffrey wonders, is it safe to share email addresses through QR codes? Despite rumors, find out why X (formerly Twitter) isn’t going away, and the scoop on California canceling GM’s self-driving taxi service.
Truth about EV sales, Black Friday arrives & 3 dangerous scams
Plus, are you a chronic snoozer? Here’s why hitting that button isn’t as bad as you think. Caller Jeffrey wonders, is it safe to share email addresses through QR codes? Despite rumors, find out why X (formerly Twitter) isn’t going away, and the scoop on California canceling GM’s self-driving taxi service.
California shuts down GM's Cruise robotaxi
What are some of the reasons? Here’s why I won’t be getting in a driverless car any time soon. Plus, stay tuned! I’ll answer a question from our listener mail.
Apple, iPhones and the right to repair
Can you repair your own Apple product? California’s new law says “Yes.” Plus, stay tuned for my Q&A where I tackle your top tech questions.