AI’s on the line, fur real

July 18, 2025

📞 AI’s on the line, fur real: Google’s Gemini bots can now phone your local pet groomer for you. Ask about prices, availability or just vibe checks, all without saying a word yourself. Only in the U.S., only for certain biz types (pet stuff, dry cleaners, auto shops), and yes, businesses can opt out. Gemini Premium folks get more AI call credits, because obviously money talks, and now so does AI.

Tags: bots, businesses, Google, money, prices

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$2 billion

That’s the massive chunk of change the former CTO (and briefly CEO) of OpenAI, Mira Murati, raised for her AI startup. Before it’s even shipped a product. The company’s called Thinking Machines, and it’s gunning to build the next-gen AI that can juggle text, images and more. Investors like Nvidia and a16z don’t need a demo, just Murati’s résumé and a good story.

Spot a Facebook Marketplace scammer? Do the right thing and report them. Click the listing, then go to Seller details > Report > Scam. While you’re there, select Block [name] profile and Hide all from [name] to stop their posts from showing up again.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Want to paste text without weird fonts, colors or sizes? On Windows, press Ctrl + Shift + V. On Mac, hit Cmd + Option + Shift + V. Works in most apps.

🍏 Rename multiple files on Mac: Got a folder full of random file names like IMG_2348? Select them all with Cmd + A, right-click and choose Rename. In the drop-downs, pick Format, then Name and Index and type something like “Hawaii” under Custom Format. Set Start numbers at 1, and hit Rename.

Free money waiting for you: You put money in and you should get money out. The National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits helps you find money being held by prior employers.

📧 Take back that email: In Gmail, you can undo a sent message if you move fast. Click the Settings icon > See all settings > General, then find Undo Send. Set the cancellation period to 30 seconds, scroll down, and click Save Changes. Next time you regret an email, just hit Undo.

17

How many tasks a robot nailed, solo, during a gallbladder surgery. Johns Hopkins’ new AI-powered bot followed instructions, learned from voice commands, adapted mid-op and even corrected itself like a good surgical intern. Only it never gets tired, flustered, needs snacks or even requests a student loan deferment.

📳 Custom buzz, who dis? On iPhone, you can make a personal vibration pattern for any contact. Go to Contacts, select someone, tap Edit, then choose Ringtone or Text Tone. Under Haptics, select Create New Vibration. Use your finger to tap out a pattern, then hit Stop and Save.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Middle-click a link with your mouse wheel to open it in a new tab. Or middle-click an open tab to close it instantly. You’ll never right-click again.

1 million

The number of AI GPUs Elon’s stuffing into one building. That’s not a typo. It’s a silicon army so power-hungry, xAI is shipping in a literal power plant to feed it. The data center will suck up 2 gigawatts. That’s enough juice to keep the lights on in nearly 2 million households. Forget cloud computing, this is thunderstorm computing.