From web developers to call center reps, here’s who’s being replaced first.
🧠 Pick your personality: ChatGPT dropped a new feature on the web app that lets you change how it talks to you. Want sarcasm? Choose “Cynic.” Prefer nerdy enthusiasm? Go with “Sage.” To try it out, click your Profile icon, select Customize ChatGPT and choose your vibe under Personality.
$500 million
How much funding Perplexity AI is about to land, pushing its valuation to $14 billion. For context, it was $3 billion last June. So what’s the buzz? They’re pulling in around $100 million in annual recurring revenue and plan to launch an AI agent web browser called Comet. You could say investors are seeing stars.
🍏 Set default apps on Mac: There’s no single place to change all defaults, so you’ll need to do them one by one. For your browser: Go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock, and scroll down to Default web browser. For email: Open the Mail app, click Mail (top left corner of screen) > Settings > General > Default email reader.
Add GIFs to your presentations: In Google Slides, go to Insert > Image > Stock & web. A panel will pop up on the right of your screen. Select GIFs, search for the one you want and click it. Your spicy meme will drop into the current slide, ready to resize and move wherever you want. Nice.
💬 Fact-check ChatGPT: If ChatGPT or your favorite AI chatbot says something that sounds off, ask, “Why did you say that?” It might give you the source or admit it was wrong. Still in doubt? Use this prompt next: “Are you sure this is correct? Search the web August 2025 to confirm these facts.” You’ll get updated articles.
🍏 Save a web page as a PDF: On iPad, let’s say you’re in Safari on a Wikipedia article. Tap the Share icon in the top right and select Print. Choose the Range (pages you want), then hit the Share icon again. Select Save to Files, choose On My iPad or iCloud Drive, and press Save.
🤖 Ask for up-to-date answers: ChatGPT can sometimes give outdated info, especially on recent events. Try saying, “Can you search the web and verify with 2025 sources?” If it does, you’ll usually get clickable links. PSA: Double-check the sources, too. If a website looks unfamiliar, give it a quick Google to make sure it’s legit.
AT&T’s $5K oops: Did your call logs hit the dark web? You might get paid for it. AT&T agreed to shell out $177M over two juicy data breaches, one from 2019, the other from 2024. You could snag up to $5K, but you’ve gotta prove actual losses. Notifications begin Aug. 4.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Tap Ctrl + F (or Command + F) to find any word on a web page or doc.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Press the space bar to scroll down a web page faster.
How to disappear from the internet
People always ask me: can you stop being tracked on the web? One guy tried, here’s how far he went.
Dumb it down: Google just dropped a rare AI tool that doesn’t hallucinate, lie or ask you to eat glue. It’s called Simplify, and it turns complex web text into plain English, right inside the Google app. It’s not a summary, it’s a real-time dumb-down filter. It’s like a CliffNotes for the information overloaded.
🔎 Skip the scroll: Need to share a specific spot on a web page? In Google Chrome, highlight the text, right-click your selection and choose Copy Link to Highlight. When someone opens your link, they’ll land right on that exact section.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Go to www.archive.ph to view expired or paywalled web pages. Not everything is there, of course, but it’s worth the shot.
🖥️ Full frontal: If you want to screenshot a long web page, check out the free GoFullPage extension (Chrome and Edge). It captures the whole page, not just what’s on screen. Just click the icon, and it scrolls, snaps and stitches everything into a new tab. You can save it as a PNG, JPEG or PDF.
Code and go: Want to read a web page from your computer on your phone? Just use a QR code. In Chrome, find the page, click the three-dot menu > Cast, Save, and Share > Create QR code. Scan it with your phone’s camera, and voilà, the link opens in your mobile browser.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Press the space bar in Chrome to scroll down a web page. Hit Shift + space bar to scroll back up. No mouse needed!
🔎 NotebookLM is getting an upgrade this week: Until now, you had to manually upload files and links for the AI research assistant. Well, not anymore. A new Discover button (look for the magnifying glass) is coming to the Sources panel. Click it, type in a topic or question and the AI will search the web and return up to 10 links with summaries. Pretty neat.
Cmd + spacebar: This Mac shortcut opens Spotlight, an incredibly powerful tool for finding documents quickly, opening apps or searching the web right from your desktop.