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Time since becoming the Prince of Wales that Prince William began using the Duolingo app to learn Welsh. Makes me wonder why he didn’t learn it before that happened. Bore da! (That’s “Good morning” in Welsh.) Go ahead and try to pronounce this 58-letter Welsh town’s name: lanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch.
Scammers are clever, but they’re not very creative. Most of their tricks are recycled versions of tricks that worked in the past. There are a few I’ve seen cropping up again because criminals know they work every time.
⛑️ Tech to the rescue: A quick-thinking 4-year-old girl saved her mom’s life during an epileptic seizure. With mom’s phone locked and out of reach, she remembered the Amazon Alexa upstairs. She asked Alexa to call her great-grandmother, who rushed over to help. Let this be your reminder to teach your kiddos how to use technology in emergencies.
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Real-time help: Pennsylvania emergency call centers now let people share live video during 911 calls. With a platform called Prepared, callers get a link that starts a live feed and pinpoints their location on a map. AI even transcribes and translates calls made in foreign languages. Look for this in more towns and cities across the country.
⚡ Power play: Ford is partnering with utility company Southern California Edison to pay EV owners for sending power back to the grid. Drivers can earn $1 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Sweet deal, considering fast-charging costs about $0.50 per kWh. The catch: You’ll need V2G (vehicle-to-grid) tech that costs anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000.
I pita the fool: Amazon just launched its own food brand: Amazon Saver. They say it’s to fight high grocery prices, but it’s really meant to take on Target and Walmart brands. Most Amazon Saver items are under $5. For example, a pound of smoked ham is $3.79, but dang … there are a ton of preservatives in there. Be sure to check the ingredients. Prime members score an extra 10% off.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
🔄 Patch Tuesday: Microsoft rolled out fixes for 79 flaws, including four zero-days. One of the worst is a Windows Update that could roll back security fixes. Yikes. Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, then click Check for updates.
Update Chrome now: Google just dropped an update that fixes four high-severity vulnerabilities. No details yet on whether hackers have exploited them, but don’t wait to find out. In Chrome, go to Settings > About Chrome, download the latest patch, and hit Relaunch. You should be on version 128.0.6613.137 or 128.0.6613.138, depending on your OS.
Return of the Sith: James Earl Jones signed over the AI voice rights to his Darth Vader character before he died. At 91, he was ready to step back from the role. AI company Respeecher cloned his voice using sound bites he’d recorded over the years. As it turns out, this tech was already used in the 2022 “Obi-Wan Kenobi” miniseries.
What could go wrong? A lot: Soon, Nevada will use Google AI to rule on unemployment benefit cases. The tech will analyze appeal hearing transcripts to clear the backlog of claims human workers can’t keep up with. A human will make the final decision. Here’s hoping AI doesn’t “hallucinate” facts.
