Card declined shopping scams

🖤 “You’ve got mail!” The voice behind the famous AOL message, Elwood Edwards, passed away this week at 74. He recorded it back in 1989 for just $200. He definitely should’ve asked for more. Here he is with Jimmy Fallon in 2015, reading those famous lines. Ahh, I miss the ‘90s.

So your grandma’s memorial tattoo has six fingers: Tattoo artists are fuming over the rise in AI-generated tattoo designs, calling them the “steroids of tattooing.” AI can churn out designs in seconds, but there’s more to tattooing than that. Some designs are so intricate, they’re impossible to recreate on human skin.

🤑 Detroit block(chain) city: Starting in 2025, Detroit residents can use currencies like bitcoin and ethereum to pay for public services and even their taxes. Crypto will be converted into dollars via PayPal. The goal: To attract more tech-savvy residents and tech companies to the city.

Speaking of Intel: A possible class-action lawsuit against Intel claims the company knowingly sold bad processors. One New York man is demanding millions, saying the crashes and lost data cost him time, money and some sanity. Apparently, Intel knew about the glitches in its 13th- and 14th-gen CPUs for years but kept them under wraps.

☕ The bar has never been lower: Intel has a bright idea to improve employee morale after major layoffs and cutbacks: Free coffee. Previously, they’d dropped coffee, tea and fruit as part of a $10 billion budget cut. Even though they’ve reinstated coffee, there’s no word yet on the free tea or fruit.

Not now, Putin, I’m busy: North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia are taking full advantage of unrestricted internet access by … binge-watching p*rn. The internet isn’t available to most citizens in North Korea, so this is the first time the soldiers can see all the web has to offer.

Console yourself; it’s game over: Malware called Winos4.0 is targeting Windows gamers. It sneaks in through infected third-party game mods. Once it’s on your system, cybercriminals play their own games, looking for crypto and taking screenshots of what you do so they can blackmail you. PSA: Skip the mods.

📩 Email espionage: Hackers are using compromised government emails to steal business info. Here’s how it works: You get an email about an emergency data request from the “federal government,” and the email address looks legit. It’s not. If you open the attachment or click a link, you’ve just landed a one-way ticket to malware. This kind of request will never come in the form of an email, folks.

😲 The No. 1 show on Netflix right now: “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” dives into the true story of two brothers convicted of murdering their parents in 1996. The newly elected Los Angeles District Attorney says, “I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and the victims’ family members. Only then can I make a decision.” I don’t think much will happen at their resentencing hearing on Dec. 11. 

Microsoft Paint and Notepad are getting AI features: Rewrite in Notepad will rephrase sentences, adjust tone and tweak content. Paint will feature a generative fill option to add an image with a prompt, while a new generative erase tool removes parts of a picture and blends the space left behind. That’s kinda like putting high-octane gas in a Mini Cooper.