I don’t see myself in this: Omnia is a smart mirror, scale and smartwatch hybrid. Stand on the base, and it’ll take your weight and measure your heart health, then it’ll pull in data from any other tracker you use. The AI assistant gives real-time feedback out loud. Reminds me of Lululemon’s Mirror, which was a total flop.
Introducing OMNIA: The health conceptual product designed for CES 2025
Space junk falls on a Kenyan village
A metallic ring 8 feet in diameter and 1,100 pounds fell from space into a village in Kenya. No one got hurt, phew. It seems to be a piece of a rocket launch vehicle.
Lost dog finds her way home
Nine days after going missing, 4-year-old German shepherd mix Athena rang her owner’s doorbell. It was Christmas Eve at 2:30 a.m. — a holiday miracle! The Green Cove Springs, Florida fam searched as far as Jacksonville and Saint Augustine.
Your very own Rosey
Nvidia, the $3 trillion AI chip giant, is betting on robotics as the next big thing. Next year, they’ll launch the Jetson Thor, a new “brain” designed for robots. The Jetson line includes this teeny-tiny AI computer. The robotics biz is expected to jump from $78 billion to $165 billion by 2029. I want one! Do you?
“The biggest influencer scam of all time"
That’s what YouTuber MegaLad calls the coupon browser extension Honey, which PayPal bought for $4 billion in 2020. He says they’ve been deceiving shoppers and influencers for years by ignoring coupon options and hijacking links through sneaky pop-ups. While I am researching to see if this is true, I uninstalled Honey and you should, too. I’ll let you know what I find out.
About to see Waymo Waymos
Google’s Waymo took the lead in the self-driving robotaxi race with over 3 million driverless rides across three cities this year. We could see autonomous Teslas in 2025 and Amazon’s Zoox is opening up to customers in early 2025. OK, this made me laugh: A confused cop trying to pull over a car with no one in the driver’s seat.
She wasn’t dating Keanu Reeves
67-year-old Katherine Goodson from Vista, California, fell for a romance scam. She thought it was the real thing with the Keanu Reeves. She sent “him” tens of thousands of dollars for “emergency expenses,” only to get ghosted when her money ran out. Now, she’s living in her car. Seriously, where’s John Wick to hunt these criminals down?
Slice of tech history
A YouTuber just saved a 440-pound retro CRT TV from demolition in Osaka, Japan. What’s the big deal? The 45-inch TV is the largest CRT ever made and sold in the 80s for an equivalent of $100,000. It’s the stuff of legends. Here’s a video of the rescue mission.
🛸 I want to believe
AI-generated videos of fake UFOS and drone swarms are flooding the web and fooling a whole lot of people. Saucers flying over NYC, “mother ships” hovering over the Pacific and shots of ships straight from “Star Wars” are getting hundreds of thousands of likes. Check out this video that shows how easy it is to make AI drone videos. Don’t fall for it!
The future is expensive
LG just dropped its brand-new transparent OLED TV. The price tag? A whopping $60,000. The small but see-through 55-inch screen looks pretty cool, and there’s an opaque mode when the novelty wears off. Check out this video to see it in action. Santa, I’d like this for Christmas.
Nervous Amazon driver has a wholesome conversation with a dog
Have you seen this video of a nervous Amazon driver having a conversation with a dog? It’s freakin’ adorable. A doorbell cam captured the wholesome moment an Amazon delivery driver wary of a dog sitting on the porch overcame his fear and approached the pooch for a cute conversation. I’d tell an Amazon joke here, but I’m worried about my delivery.
Can it do CAPTCHAs?
Google’s shiny new AI assistant takes over your Chrome browser to do stuff like book flights, fill out forms and do your shopping. Sounds a little scary knowing how much Gemini has screwed up, but it’ll be handy if it works. It can’t fill out credit card or billing info, fyi. Watch it in action here.
Will we need teachers in the future?
Across 266 school districts, K-12 students are testing a new AI tutor. Khan Academy’s Khanmigo runs on OpenAI’s tech. helps answer students’ questions, flags other AI-generated answers and creates lesson plans for teachers in seconds. FYI, “Conmigo,” means “with me” in Spanish.
Reel-y impressive tech
Amazon is dropping six new AI models. Reel turns simple text prompts into short videos. Here’s a little snippet. I’m impressed! For now, three text-generation models are live for certain developers. The rest drop for me and you to try early next year.
The tipping point
A Canadian news channel went undercover at 100 businesses to see if they asked for tips. They were prompted to tip at fast food joints, jewelry stores, auto shops and even online shops. Two-thirds of employees didn’t know where the tips went. Tip theft is illegal in the U.S., but we all know not every business follows every law.
Pasta City, created with Amazon Nova Reel by Amazon Ads
Reel-y impressive tech: Amazon is dropping six new AI models. Reel turns simple text prompts into short videos. Check out the video above for a little snippet. I’m impressed! For now, only three text-generation models are live for certain developers. The rest drop for everyone else early next year.
NASA rocket engine fireplace - 8 hours in 4K
A stock fireplace illustration frames looping archival video of the blasting RS-25 engines that launched the Artemis I rocket to the moon on Nov. 16, 2022. The illustration includes stone tiling, a pillow and a basket of firewood, and it contains elements generated with AI. NASA added two framed pictures; one shows an archival image of the Orion capsule flying through space, and the other shows the Artemis logo. The audio features the roar of the rockets at a low level, with the addition of the sounds of a crackling wood fire.
Trailer: 'Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey'
Netflix’s new docuseries revisits the infamous 1996 murder mystery. It includes interviews with JonBenét’s father and unpacks the embarrassingly bad investigation, media circus, and, of course, the ransom note.
Audio AI Fugatto generates sound from text
🔊 Swiss Army knife for sound: That’s what Nvidia is calling Fugatto, its new AI audio generator. People are, of course, creating bizarre sounds from text prompts, like turning the sound of a train into a string orchestra. Its creators think it could spark new music genres like the electric guitar did. What do you think?
How King Tut's 3,400-year-old grandmother looked
You’ve probably never wondered what King Tut’s 3,400-year-old grandmother looked like. But now that I’ve said it, I’m sure you want to know! Such a cool video and perfect to share with the photo-editing nerd in your life.