A guy finally dislodged a little Lego piece he stuck in his nose at age 6. Way back when, he stuck one of the little plastic bricks and a Lego man up his nose. Mom got the Lego man out but didn’t realize the individual brick was still in there. All that time, the 32-year-old dealt with congestion, asthma and sleep apnea. Such a crazy story!
Pixar almost deleted Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 was nearly lost to a single keystroke, until a backup saved the day. Here’s why your files need a rescue plan, too.
🎸 Thunderstruck the cattle patrol: To keep wolves from eating livestock, scientists are flying $20K drones that scream preloaded clips like AC/DC, gunshots and Marriage Story arguments at them. So far? It’s actually working. Wolves run. Cows live. Somewhere, a Five Finger Death Punch fan is trying to follow the drones on tour and asking where to buy merch.
35%
Adults who say AI will negatively impact the U.S. over the next 20 years. Only 17% feel optimistic. They’re worried about losing their jobs and having less privacy. On the flip side, 56% of AI experts think it’ll have a positive effect. Moral of the story: No one knows anything, but we’re all nervous.
🤫 Mute Instagram stories: Just because you follow someone doesn’t mean you need to see every single story they post. Tap their story, hit the three-dot menu in the top right, choose Mute, then tap Mute stories. Hooray.
✝️ This gave me chills: Scientists just analyzed the Shroud of Turin under high-powered UV light and found serum halos around the bloodstains. This is proof the body wasn’t washed before burial, exactly how Jesus would’ve been prepared according to Jewish tradition. This could be the most compelling evidence yet that Christians were right all along. See the photos and full story here.
🫠 All sizzle, no sauce: This is a crazy story. Builder.ai pretended to be AI-powered while secretly running on cheap human developers in India. Founder Sachin Dev Duggal raised $445M from Microsoft, SoftBank and Qatar, faked revenue, and vanished into bankruptcy. The company was valued at $1.5 billion. Turns out its slogan, “as easy as ordering pizza,” meant microwaving frozen code.
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🌙 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.
🤫 Tired of someone’s posts on Instagram? You can mute them without unfollowing. Next time they post, tap the three dots on their post and select Hide. When the prompt appears, tap Mute and choose to mute either Posts or Posts & Story. Bonus: Instagram won’t tell them you did it!
🚗 Fastest car under $1 million: I’m a car gal, so I love this story. The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hit a top speed of 233 mph on a 7.6-mile test track in Germany. You may know it’s one of the heaviest sports cars, starting at $174,995. To punch above its weight, GM engineers simulated it to prep for the test. The computer was only off by 1.09 mph. How cool. I tried a computer sim once, but I was only spinning my wheels.
🤑 MrBeast earned how much? A screenshot showed $4.2 million in earnings after racking up 2.6 billion views in 28 days on YouTube. That’s more than $50 million a year. What a great American success story!
🔪 The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large: A true crime YouTube channel is racking up views, and most people listening don’t realize every “true story” is completely fake. They’re all AI-generated. The channel owner called it “True Crime” because the genre gets the most clicks. Nice ploy, buddy.
He’s not that into you: A woman lost $375,000 to someone pretending to be “Virgin River” actor Martin Henderson. It all began when she left a comment on a fan page and “his agent” slid into her DMs to say Martin wanted to chat. The scammer used AI voicemails to lure her in, and she moved to New Zealand to be closer to him. The full story is wild.
Securing our lead in AI
China’s AI just outperformed ChatGPT — but they rigged the results. I’ve got the inside story on what this means for America’s AI future.
What’s next for “Yellowstone”: I’m bummed about the series finale of the mega-hit “Yellowstone” this Sunday, but it’s not the end of the Duttons’ story. Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler will be back for a new spinoff. Every girl needs a Rip in her jeans, just sayin’.
Using ChatGPT to fight and win
Forget relationship counseling. Couples are using ChatGPT to come out on top in arguments! Plus, why flying cars aren’t coming anytime soon, the latest on lawyers teaming up with chatbots, and the crazy story of a dad almost scammed by a fake version of his own daughter.
Why I never use Waymo
Wonder what it’s really like to ride in a self-driving car? There’s one recent story that might make you hold off.
Take an Uber? You’re giving up your right to sue
Here’s a story that might make you think twice before your next Uber ride.
The exploding pager espionage caper
Thousands of pagers and walkie talkies mysteriously exploded all at once in Lebanon, set off by a secret code. What happened? Get the story in this quick podcast.