Smartwatches are gross

July 13, 2025

🧼 Smartwatches are gross: A study found 95% of watchbands were contaminated with harmful bacteria like E. coli. Plastic and rubber bands were the grubbiest. If your Apple Watch band’s beyond saving, swap it for a new silicone one. You can get a six-pack in different great colors for under $10.

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Tags: Apple, Apple Watch, saving, smartwatches, study

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Your calm, clear, AI-powered action plan

Kim Komando

That’s my son Ian with me and my amazing mother. When my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given three months to live, I was devastated. But I did what I always do when life gets tough. I focus on the problem.

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Zillow stalking: The new national pastime

ChatGPT

Confession time: I Zillow people. All the time.

Someone casually mentions they just bought a house in Aspen? I’m on it. I’m already hunched over my keyboard like a Nancy Drew reboot.

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Too many direct reports: The ratio of workers to managers at small businesses nearly doubled. Why? Blame AI for eating middle management roles, cost-cutting and a desperate refusal to hire Linda a backup. The “great flattening” isn’t just happening at Big Tech. It’s everywhere.

$23.8 billion

That’s how much Americans are expected to drop during Amazon Prime Day this week. The sale runs four days, twice as long as last year, and Adobe says spending will jump 24%. It’s basically Black Friday in July, only with better delivery windows and fewer family arguments.

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Survive Zoom, thrive IRL

ChatGPT

That meeting that could have been an email? You’re on it, eyes glossing over rambling updates, Todd’s screen share failing for the fourth time (use a mouse, Todd) or what appears to be a seance: “If you can hear me now, make a sign.”

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🧠 This is one of the smartest things you can do to protect your identity. Don’t wait till it’s too late, sign up for NordProtect today and get 65% off. Bet you save a ton of money making the switch!

🧪 GPT-5 is coming: OpenAI says it’s done juggling 5 billion models. GPT-5 will unite its smartest (the “O” series) with its most extra (GPT-4o) into one huge robot brain. Expect it within a month, with sharper reasoning, more senses and fewer tabs making your laptop beg for mercy.

Paper coupons exploding: Well, not really. But Kroger got bullied into giving boomers and tech avoidants exactly what they wanted: real physical coupons. Print versions of digital-only deals drop every Wednesday. Just grab a flyer and flash it like it’s 2005. No app logins, no error messages from hell.

🧬 Hidden sperm, found: Meanwhile, scientists used AI meant for spotting hidden stars to find rogue sperm in infertile men. One woman got pregnant after 19 years of “nothing.” It’s called STAR, and it found three viable swimmers out of millions of images. They didn’t see this coming.

Oops, AI faked our bust: This is bad. Maine cops posted a drug bust photo, then realized it was “substantially” AI-edited. Packaging on the drugs looked like AI gibberish, and people called them out. An officer used an editing app to slap the department’s patch in, and it warped the photo’s details. Officers swore they’re not deepfaking meth. It’s just their app skills are trash.