Long gone are the days of black tees and Birkenstocks. Silicon Valley’s tech bros finally found some style. Plus, Joe Burrow gets robbed, and a Virgin River scam to watch for. Also, why you should always buy a $2 Toyota Corolla.
Pour one out: After 24 years, Apple finally gave the old “Macintosh HD” icon the boot, replacing the hard disk image with a new SSD-style one in macOS 26 Tahoe. Because nothing says innovation like updating a decorative PNG five years after the hardware changed. Wait until they hear Safari’s icon is a compass.
$65 a night
What it’ll cost you to skip the hotel and stay in a convent run by sisters in Rome. Rooms come with the basics like a single bed, drawers and a sink (paywall link). Plus, there’s a simple buffet-style breakfast waiting for you every morning at 7 a.m. Blessings included, obviously. Remember to leave some Rome in your suitcase for souvenirs. (Oh, it’s a good one!)
Personalize your Chromebook: Right-click your Desktop and select Set wallpaper and style to change up the look. Pick an accent color, choose a wallpaper or add your own photos. You can also move the shelf. Right-click it, select Shelf position and choose Left, Bottom or Right.
Make the cursor pop: On Windows, if you’re having trouble seeing your mouse pointer, go to Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch. Under Mouse pointer style, choose Custom and pick a new color. Now drag the Size slider to make it bigger.
YouTube Shorts for channel growth: The algorithm pushes Shorts hard, making them a good way to get discovered fast. Just make sure your video is vertical (9:16, aka phone style) and under 60 seconds. Pro tip: Avoid copyrighted music, so you don’t get hit with a content claim.
Search cannibalism: I called it three years ago. As the once search giant Google morphs into a chat-style (paywall link) “answer engine,” clicks are drying up and traffic is cratering all over. The Atlantic’s CEO said to assume “Google traffic drops to zero.” Google once said, “Don’t be evil.” Today, it reminds me of Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son.”
🤖 Make your own music: Udio lets you mess around with song-making using AI. Just describe what you want, like the style and instruments, then move on to the lyrics. You can outline verses and even choose how long the song should be. FYI: The free plan lets you create three full tracks per day.
From crayon to canvas: Bring your child’s sketch to life with a little AI magic. Just upload a pic to ChatGPT (or your favorite bot), and say, “This is a photo of my child’s drawing of a [describe it]. Turn it into a digital illustration in a [watercolor, cartoon, etc.] style.” Boom, instant keepsake.
⛪ Pope picks: Sacrilegious TikTokers made a “Fantasy Pope League” because of course they did. The league got over 2,000 sign-ups on its first day. Here, you can draft cardinals fantasy football style and get points based on the progress of your cardinal on their pursuit of the big hat.
Losing your cursor on Windows 11? Make it bigger or change the color so it’s easier to spot. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch. Slide the Size bar to make it bigger, then pick a pointer style. Try the inverted option to have it adjust to any background, or pick a custom color you like.
💸 Create a logo with AI: Don’t have the money to spend on a professional designer? Tools like ChatGPT can help in the meantime. Tell the bot your business name, color combo and style, and let it come up with something. Who knows, you might just like it. If not, it was free.
I own a real green screen: The YouTube Shorts AI, Veo 2, whips up clips with just a few words. Like OpenAI’s Sora, type what you want and the AI does the rest. You can specify a style, lens or cinematic effect. Want to try it yourself? Open YouTube, go to Shorts camera > Green Screen > and type your prompt.
The shine wears off AI and ChatGPT
Is AI’s writing style all that good? Here’s why it’s losing its luster, in 60 seconds.