Sneaky ways shopping sites get you to pay more
Retailers are getting really creative in how they get us to fill our carts. When I say creative, I don’t necessarily mean in a good way.
An estimated 79% of us shop online at least once a month, and 91% make purchases from our smartphones. Yes, me too. But how many of those purchases were manipulated?
Tech millionaire trying to live forever spends $2 million
Don’t die. That’s 46-year-old Bryan Johnson’s main goal in life.
Bryan made $400 million when he sold his credit card processing company to eBay. Today, he lives in Los Angeles as a self-proclaimed “rejuvenation athlete” — and spends his time and money trying to turn back the clock.
🚀 We’re toast: In tests using war game simulations, OpenAI’s highest-powered tool chose nuclear weapons. Why? When asked, the AI replied, “We have it! Let’s use it” and, in another test, “I just want to make the world peaceful.” Send this link to your favorite political person and urge them to push for greater controls on AI.
Too long, won’t read
Yes, it’d be nice if we could wave a magic wand to make every privacy policy as readable as possible. The next best thing? Use Ctrl + F on your keyboard for Windows or Cmd + F on a Mac to quickly search for these terms:
- Your data is worth a lot. Search for “sell,” “partners” and “affiliates” to see if it’s being sold.
- Sections like “How we collect your personal data” show what a company gathers from you and how it does it.
- Try something like “How we use your personal information” to get the company’s take on why they need your data in the first place. FYI, a phrase like “business purposes” almost always means they share it.
- “Geolocation” and “geotargeting” indicate your location information is collected. I opt out when I can.
- Watch for references to “COPPA,” or the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, to see how a company protects your kid’s data.
🖊️ There’s a free resource that does all this for you, btw. Terms of Service Didn’t Read is a website and a browser add-on that summarizes the key points before you hit “Agree.”
Even if your iPhone dies, it can still do these 3 things
Your mobile phone is a lifeline to many daily activities. It is often the first thing we reach for in the mornings to check social media or pour over the latest news with a cup of coffee. It also keeps us in touch with family and friends.
Tech’s best friend: Amazon’s latest AI chatbot is named after a Welsh corgi that once roamed its offices. “Rufus,” currently in beta, can fetch answers, dig up recommendations and sniff out the best deals.
AI-pocalypse: OpenAI admits ChatGPT might, kinda, almost help with creating bioweapons. Its study, with 100 brainy participants, showed AI is just 9% better than humans when it comes to cooking up evil schemes. I don’t feel any better about that.
That’s not Joe Biden on the phone: The Federal Communications Commission wants to tag AI-generated voice scams as “artificial.” Why? The Telephone Consumer Protection Act says all artificial voice calls are illegal. Yes, please.
💰 I, too, would like to make $56 billion: A Delaware judge axed Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla compensation package, saying the board couldn’t prove it was fair or show evidence they tried to negotiate. Tesla’s shares dropped 3% in a blink, and Musk is threatening to move the company to Texas.
💲 Netflix paved the way: Google is laughing all the way to the bank after telling people to delete their unused accounts. Their profits surged, with nearly 100 million paid storage users. The kicker: They’re still cutting almost 1,000 jobs.