Using iOS18 Reader Mode

TikTok double-take: YouTube Shorts has copied yet another TikTok feature: AI voice-overs. Now, when you write video captions, you’ll see an option to add a voice. And if TikTok gets banned in the U.S. because of its ties to Communist China? YouTube’s ready to capitalize.

RIP, tax dollars: NASA scrapped a moon rover that cost $450 million to build. The VIPER had already been developed to explore the southern part of the moon, but further testing was deemed too expensive.

In exterminator searches in the U.S., compared to 2023. Across the country, people are waging war with pests. Three times as many Yelp searches for cockroach exterminators have been completed than at this time last year. According to Yelp, California has the biggest rat problem. Bet you thought it was New York.

Some 51% of people think sharing their smartphone PIN with a partner is normal and healthy. Checking internet search histories and tracking a partner’s location are a different story; 74% of those surveyed think location tracking is toxic, and that percentage jumps to 95% if the location tracking is done without the other party’s knowledge.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a cop! Police in California used a drone to nab a burglar near the Santa Monica Pier. The little guy spotted a car thief using a screwdriver to punch open locks in a parking lot, and it called in officers and directed them to the exact location. Here’s the video.

✈️ You can opt out of airport facial recognition scans: Stand away from the camera, present your ID and say something like, “I opt out of biometrics. I want the standard verification process.” It could save you from a data breach or misidentification as a criminal suspect. Both have happened.

Elon’s smiling: The Tesla Cybertruck is now the bestselling electric truck in America, dethroning Ford’s F-150 Lightning. There were 3,907 Cybertrucks registered in May, compared to 2,353 F-150s. Chopping fingers aside, it looks like folks don’t mind paying that $100,000 price tag after all. 

🍔 Manipulation marketing: A study shows junk food is promoted online and in video games to appeal specifically to parents, children and young men. Fast-food chains tell moms they’ll save time spent cooking and keep kids quiet. Kids like the commercial’s characters. As for young guys? Special app-only deals with free delivery.

An 82-year-old woman almost lost $3 million in a gold bar scam: First, she was swindled out of nearly $1 million of her life savings. A pop-up ad on her PC scared her into calling a fake federal agent. The “agent” said her money was in danger and would only be safe if she converted it to gold. Good news: Just as she was ready to hand over another $2 million in gold bars, they caught the 19-year-old scum behind this.

🚨 Hide and C:/Seek: Hackers grabbed the personal info of more than 400,000 Life360 users, including names, phone numbers, emails and more. Life360’s location-sharing app is used primarily to help parents keep an eye on their kids. More bad news: Life360 owns tracker company Tile, which hackers also breached, nabbing not only personal info, but also device IDs. Don’t wait to change your passwords, and be on alert for phishing, phone and texting scams.