The Waze of the future: Google Maps is baking in Waze’s real-time incident reports. You’ll get alerts for accidents and speed traps reported by Waze’s 140 million active users. It’s rolling out slowly, so be patient if you don’t have the intel yet. (Yes, Google owns Waze.)
Use the NewsBreak app? Delete it. Here’s why
My husband, Barry, is a total news junkie. He has all the major news apps on his phone. That’s why this story stopped me in my tracks. NewsBreak, the most downloaded news app in the U.S., with more than 50 million readers per month, has strong ties to Communist China.
A Reuters investigation shows the NewsBreak app is also packed with inaccurate stories (including some that appear to be totally made up by AI), content stolen from legit sources and fake bylines. This is bad, people.
Join the party
NewsBreak is a privately owned company with offices in Mountain View, California, along with Beijing and Shanghai. It bills itself as “all things local” for American readers, but one of its primary backers is Beijing-based IDG Capital.
Never heard of it? Let me catch you up. In February, the Pentagon added IDG Capital to a list of Chinese companies said to be working directly with Beijing’s military.
Def not the write stuff
NewsBreak republishes news from sources like Reuters, Fox, the Associated Press and CNN. They used to republish my content and let me tell you, the traffic from it to my website was huge. NewsBreak stopped sharing my stuff when I started writing negatively about apps with ties to China. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
The rest of NewsBreak’s content is “written” by AI, with facts scraped from press releases and sites around the web. All this happens where half their staff works (about 200 people) — in their China-based offices. Their algorithm isn’t just choosing what stories make it in the app, by the way; it’s also influencing the angles of the coverage.
That’s a huge problem. When the parent company has a political agenda (i.e., China wants to destroy our commerce and influence votes), that trickles down into what you read.
When news is the money machine
Like most apps, NewsBreak makes bank by showing you ads. The more often you use the app, the more ads you’ll see — and the more money they make. That means the whole goal is to publish stories that keep you coming back.
That’s where things get messy. Take a story they published in December: “Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns.” Wow, I bet most of us would click on that. The problem? The shooting never happened.
See what the home you grew up in looks like now and other Maps tricks
I grew up in New Jersey, right next to a state park. I still remember riding my bike all day like it was yesterday. Oh, and the time I threw a snowball at a police car and hit the cop inside. That was bad.
I hadn’t looked at the house in years, so seeing it on a map took me back. While at it, take yourself on a walk down memory lane, too.
How to avoid 4th of July traffic
This Independence Day, nearly 61 million people are expected to be on the roads, a record high. If you want to avoid getting stuck in traffic, here are some tips on when to drive.
🚦 Cop-out behavior: Two Missouri police officers got busted using traffic stops as a way to see naked pics of women. One former officer reportedly searched 20 different phones last year. He told the victims he was looking at their phones for insurance info, then, if he found racy pics on their devices, he snapped photos of them with his own phone. He and another trooper pleaded not guilty.
Intel launched in 1971, and today, its processors power more than half of all computers. Was the very first Intel processor used in … A.) Televisions, B.) Traffic lights, C.) Digital watches or D.) Calculators?
20 drivers stranded
When GPS directions led them to a snowy, unpaved road. Drivers were trying to avoid traffic on an Oregon interstate. It took hours for rescuers to clear a path. Always double-check your GPS directions. I changed my GPS so instead of hearing, “You have reached your destination,” it says, “Whoomp, there it is!”
A new traffic light lets a bus jump the light. What did one traffic light say to another? “Don’t look now — I’m changing!”
Every 13 miles
How often Tesla’s Full Self-Driving mode requires human intervention. In a 1,000-mile test, drivers had to intervene to prevent dangerous behavior more than 75 times. The good: Self-driving mode brakes for pedestrians and lets oncoming cars through. The bad: It also runs red lights and drives into oncoming traffic. Just say no.
Say “No way” to Waymo: A Phoenix police officer pulled over a self-driving Waymo veering into oncoming traffic. Waymo says the vehicle was confused by the construction signs. Nobody got hurt. Check out the video here.
42% of web traffic
Is generated by bots. And 65% of those are for shady stuff like spying on competition, hoarding inventory and making lookalike phishing sites. There are no laws to protect businesses or consumers against the bot army.
If it’s been a while: Visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall lookup page. Enter your VIN in the search field to see any safety recalls for your vehicle. If none appear, you’re good to go.
We talk a ton about self-driving cars, but if you’ve been in an airplane, you’ve already been in a self-driving vehicle! Modern airplanes are computer-controlled for what percentage of the flight? Is it … A.) 10%, B.) 40%, C.) 50% or D.) 95%?
Google Search is changing
Web traffic is dying, and now Google is putting AI answers at the top of its search results. What does this mean for your favorite websites? Plus, Uber’s new shuttle service, Tesla drivers ditch self-driving mode, and Jeff Bezos’ email etiquette.
Wouldn’t want to be a cyclist in SF: A Waymo self-driving taxi was caught on video making a risky move in San Francisco — overtaking unicyclists and scooters by swerving into the wrong lane. It veered from the right-hand lane into oncoming traffic to pass the group. Waymo’s excuse? It switched lanes because it was the “safer” thing to do. Really now?
“Jetsons” era, here we come? Wisk is promising air taxis by 2030 at UberX prices. Picture flying over traffic jams in a pilotless eVTOL. Sounds cool, right? Now, the hard part: Convincing the Federal Aviation Authority these autonomous vehicles are safe — and figuring out where to fly and land them.
The death of web traffic
Will the search engine be no more? Here’s what’s coming next, thanks to AI.