A decades-old law helped the internet grow. It also turned it into a free-for-all. Is it time to pull the plug on Section 230?
The next big battle for the internet
🚗 Want to own your own Waymo? Not me, thank you. This is a sneaky way to offload old inventory. Why? Tesla’s rolling out its own self-driving taxis in June, and they’re supposed to cost just 20% to 25% of Waymo’s.
186 mph
That’s how fast a 22-year-old YouTuber was clocked on a highway. The helmet-cam footage of him speeding on a Connecticut highway at nearly 3x the speed limit went viral but also got him arrested for reckless driving. He’s since been released on a $5K bond, and grounded by the internet.
🌙 Need a bedtime story for the kids? It’s tough to get creative at 8 p.m. when your brain’s fried from a long day. No worries, just use a chatbot to tell the tale. I like to include the child’s age, interests and a theme. For example: “Can you make up a bedtime story for a 5-year-old boy about a brave knight?” Voilà, no stress to impress.
$100
That’s how much people are allegedly paying for six ice cubes from Greenland. Greenland entrepreneurs are harvesting 100,000-year-old glacial ice (paywall link) and shipping it to Dubai, where it’s sold in cocktails like the $218 Scotch-on-ice at Nahaté. Talk about an ICE detention center.
3,000 years old
The age of a mummified crocodile scientists recently cracked open. They used X-ray and CT scans to peek inside and found gastroliths, aka small stones crocs swallow to help with digestion. Even weirder? They also discovered a fish and a bronze hook, still intact, meaning the croc was probably caught right before it was sacrificed.
🚔 Publishers Clearing House scam: This is something! An 84-year-old woman was told she’d won $5 million and a Mercedes-Benz. The catch? All she had to do was pay $30,000 in “taxes” first. She handed over $19K before realizing something was off and setting up a sting with the cops. Granny wasn’t playing around, and the police caught the crooks. Reminds me of when my son Ian asked, “Grandma, how old are you?” “A woman never reveals her age,” my mom said. Ian said, “Alright, just give me the first digit.” “Seven,” she said. “And the second?” Mom sighed and said, “Two.” And Ian said, “And the third?” 😂
🌿 2,000-year-old garden under Jesus’ tomb? This is amazing. Italian archaeologists just found ancient grapevines and olive trees buried beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the same place long believed to house the tomb of Jesus. There’s also this post going viral about Jesus’ body found under the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
7 miles
How far a lost 2-year-old boy walked to safety. He wandered from his home in rural Arizona and spent the night alone in mountain lion territory. After 16 tense hours, a rancher spotted him safe with his dog, Buford. Turns out, the shaggy companion guided him out of the wilderness. Imagine getting out-hiked by someone who can’t say or spell “hike.” Amazing.
$328,739.18
The amount raised for an 81-year-old waitress. She told a customer she couldn’t afford to stop working, so a kind stranger posted the story on TikTok. Now Betty’s trading in the diner shift for well-earned rest. Her reaction? “I think I better get a financial adviser!” You and me both, Betty.
✈️ No check-in, no boarding pass, no problem: The airline industry is tossing out a 50-year-old ritual: checking in. Under a new plan from the UN’s aviation agency, travelers upload their passport to their phone, show up at the airport and … just walk in. Your face will handle the rest. It’s reportedly rolling out globally in 2–3 years. Somewhere, a procrastinator just cried tears of joy.
⌚ Her watch saved her life: Dr. Amanda Faulkner, a 51-year-old psychiatrist from New Zealand, thought her new Apple Watch was faulty for always nagging about her heart rate. Then it spiked to over 90 BPM, and doctors found she had acute myeloid leukemia. This rare cancer was caught just hours before her organs could have failed. Thankfully, she’s now in remission.
🤯 Not tech, but super interesting: Researchers found 22,000-year-old vehicle tracks at White Sands National Park. Yes, you read that right, 22,000 years ago. They believe it’s from a travois — a sled made with long sticks and a basket. That’s huge, since we thought transport tools only dated back to 4,000 BC.
7:1
Yeah, so that myth is totally wrong. A new dog-age calculator says your pup’s “human years” age isn’t as easy as multiplying by 7. A 2-year-old dog is basically a full-grown adult, depending on the breed, according to scientists. So yes, your “puppy” might be old enough to refinance their student loans.
55 years old
The age of an underwater camera trap discovered by a robot submarine at the bottom of a dark Scottish lake. And yes, you guessed right, it was part of a hunt for the Loch Ness Monster. The camera was in such good shape that they actually managed to develop a few photos. Sadly, no Nessie. Just murky water and crushed dreams. What does the Loch Ness monster eat? Fish and ships! 😂
⚾ Bat boy vs. drone: America’s new pastime: It’s not the worst thing to happen to baseball, but it’s up there. During an A’s vs. Cubs game, a rogue drone buzzed the outfield. While security stood around shrugging, a lone hero, a 22-year-old bat boy Stewart Thalblum sprang into action. Armed with nothing but a Louisville Slugger and zero hesitation, he whacked the drone out of the sky. No injuries, no lawsuits, just one less robot in the air.
🤖 AI saved his life: I love this. Meet Joseph Coates. Just over a year ago, this 37-year-old was on death’s door from a rare blood disorder called POEMS syndrome. But an AI nonprofit called Every Cure found a new drug combo that started working within a week. Today, he’s in remission. Imagine more cures AI can find with drugs we already have.
💔 When will people wake up? A 63-year-old woman was ready to leave her husband for a scammer pretending to be Enrique Iglesias. Over two years, he talked her out of thousands of dollars. When her cash dried up, he told her to steal it. Hubby traced the messages to Nigeria and begged her to stop. She even went on TV and still swears it’s Iglesias. So sad.
About time: If your teen is using the AI chat app Character.AI, turn on Parental Insights to get a weekly report showing how much time they spend on it, which bots they talk to and for how long. This comes after a heartbreaking case where a Florida mom said her 14-year-old son took his own life after forming a bond with a chatbot on the app. Bottom line: These AI friends aren’t always harmless.
Parents, check your kid’s phone for this app – March 29th, Hour 3
A mom in Texas was shocked by what she found on her 12-year-old’s phone. Also, Gagan from Vancouver, Washington, is an eighth grader who wants to start his own tech newsletter for teens. Plus: an AI bot that can join your Zoom calls, and why it’s important to sound good on video calls.