We talk with Rob Walch from Libsyn about the current state of podcasting and get his top tips for starting your own podcast. Plus, X makes your ‘likes’ private, SoftBank uses AI to make angry customers sound calm, and nobody likes being called a bot.
Wyoming’s AI power grab: A new, unnamed AI facility in Wyoming is about to use five times more electricity than the state’s human population. It’s starting at 1.8 GW and could hit 10, which is over 5x the power consumption of state households. OpenAI won’t confirm if it’s theirs. Everyone’s nervous. Wyoming’s like: Yeehaw, thanks for the revs.
4.56 billion years old
The age of a meteorite that crashed through a Georgia home back in June. Scientists say it’s roughly 20 million years older than Earth itself. Oh, and this wasn’t a one-off, it’s the 27th meteorite recovered in the state. Talk about Skyfall, no Adele needed.
🐷 I think, therefore I ham: Ham radio operators will be setting up in parks to talk with others across the country today. Use the Field Day Locator: Type your town and state under Location or Call Sign, click a marker and get the details. Fun times!
399 billion
The gallons of water Texas data centers are expected to chug annually by 2030. That’s nearly 7% of the state’s entire projected water use. They’re actually telling people not to take so many showers. Good thing I don’t live in Texas. I love nothing more than getting up at 6 a.m. for a cold shower. So I don’t.
🚨 Jury duty scam: An Arizona woman lost nearly $50,000 after a fake cop called, telling her she missed jury duty. The scammer said she had to pay citations and a bond to avoid jail until she could meet with a judge. This one’s spreading in every state. PSA: Police will never ask for money over the phone.
200 cookies
What the average American eats each year. A 50-state survey showed one in six Americans, or a little over 16%, eats dessert daily. That percentage is highest in Tennessee, at 25%. On average, sweets cravings hit hardest at 2:30 p.m. For the record, Newman-O’s are my favorite cookie.
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$2.25
The nightly fee Hawaii’s tacking onto a $300 hotel stay, for climate karma points. It’s barely the price of a sad airport coffee, but multiplied by millions of tourists, it adds up, with some estimates as high as $100 million annually. Hawaii just became the first U.S. state to hit tourists with a climate tax: a 0.75% hike. Mahalo.
3 years straight
How long Utah’s been crowned Best State in America by U.S. News. From Footloose punch line to economic powerhouse, Utah’s glow-up is the stuff of chamber-of-commerce dreams. It’s got a booming tech sector, top-tier math scores and a 6% smoking rate; Utah is basically a straight-A student in a startup hoodie.
Every map lies: We live on a globe (sorry, flat-Earthers), so 2D maps can distort how big countries really are. The True Size Of lets you see how they actually compare to each other. Just type a state or country in the search bar, then click and drag it around the map. Neat!
State of inn-ertia: This is nuts. A woman found a deal on Expedia and got a message from the hotel asking her to cancel because the rate was “too low.” Expedia reassured her that as long as she didn’t cancel, the hotel had to honor it. But the hotel threatened to cancel the room unless she backed out.
$2 loss
For every $1 put toward sports betting. As federal and state guidelines have loosened, fewer Americans are investing in stocks and other safer assets. This past January, folks put $14 billion into online sports betting — compare that to $1.1 billion in January 2019.
Florida legislature's attempt to silence bloggers
Can a proposed Florida bill mandating state registration for bloggers pass constitutional scrutiny? In one minute, I’ll break it down.