👁️ Eye love this news: Researchers have restored the vision of people with damaged corneas. They took blood cells from healthy donors, reprogrammed them into corneal cells and formed a thin sheet to place on the damaged eyes. Three out of four patients have better vision a year later. Clinical trials are set for March.
6 holiday scams you need to know about
Whoa, we blinked and it’s mid-November! The days are shorter, your to-do list is longer, and scammers are ready to catch you off guard. Luckily, you’ve got me on your side with the top holiday scams.
📲 ‘Hi, I’m calling from Amazon’
Criminals and AI voice bots are calling, emailing and texting, claiming to be Amazon employees. Oh, no, your account is on hold! Or there’s been suspicious activity you need to deal with now. They’ll ask you for your payment info — that’s a glaring red flag.
Stay safe: Only put payment details for Amazon directly into the website or the official app. If you get one of those calls, hang up and Google the phone number. I bet you’ll see reports from others who got the same call.
💻 An offer you can’t refuse
There’s an email in your inbox from Macy’s, and whoa! Everything is 50% to 70% off! Click the link, head to the site and all looks normal. Once you check out, though, you’re in big trouble.
Scammers use real brand assets (like logos, fonts and photos) to make you think Macy’s or another big retailer is having a major holiday sale. Then, they direct you to a site that looks like the real thing … but it’s not.
Stay safe: Always, always triple-check the URL. If you’re not sure of a retailer’s website, search in your browser, but don’t click any sponsored results. Type in the address yourself if you know it.
📦 Your package can’t be delivered
You receive a text or email saying your order is stuck at a shipping center. With all the online shopping we do, you probably don’t remember every purchase. Click on the link they sent you and you’re well on your way to a phishing scam.
Stay safe: FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service will never text you from an unknown number. If you’re worried about a delivery, call the shipping company directly. In emails, watch out for any subtle misspellings in the email address or the sender’s name. Block and report anything fishy.
🤑 The fake seasonal job
Mark Zuckerberg x T-Pain – 'Get Low' (Z-Pain)
I hope you’re ready for Zuck’s “Get Low” cover. Heads-up: The lyrics are pretty explicit. In case you love it, they also dropped it on Spotify under the artist name “Z-Pain.” Does anyone have a Tylenol? I need a Z-Painkiller after listening to that.
1 million
Frequent-flier points awarded to those who complete Scandinavian Airlines’ new promotion. The goal is to fly at least 15 SkyTeam airlines by Dec. 31. People are taking off work and pulling their kids out of school to do it. A common strat: Booking cheap short-haul flights (paywall link). Speaking of … A man lost his luggage while flying, so he took the airline to court. Apparently, he lost his case.
Oops, they did it again: First, Communist China copied the U.S. military’s F-35 jets using stolen drawings and secrets. Now, their military is ripping off our robot dogs, too. China’s “robo wolves” follow commands, like “sit,” “stand” and “move,” and they can do other tricks, like running, carrying supplies and firing rifles. Who needs spy movies when our military secrets are practically doing press tours?
6 recalls in 12 months
For Tesla’s Cybertruck, which now has a defective drive inverter. Wow, a recall every two months! The faulty inverter may cause a loss of power to the wheels and affects over 2,400 vehicles. Own one? Look for a notification.
Sweating through your pitch: Forget meeting clients for lunch or a drink. Social saunas are the new networking hotspots. They have stadium-style seating that fits up to 90 people for a good ol’ “team sweat,” surrounded by color-changing ambient lights. It’s a full nightclub vibe (paywall link). Oh, the humidity!
🪦 Freevee, we hardly knew ye: Amazon’s free ad-supported streaming service is merging into Prime Video. You might know some of their shows, like “Jury Duty” and “Bosch: Legacy” (or not). Now you’ll find them in the Watch for Free section. I guess Amazon decided Freevee was past its prime.
🏥 Profits over patients? Hospitals are fighting a wave of insurance denials, thanks to AI algorithms slashing costs for insurers. Take Cigna, which was hit with a class-action lawsuit after rejecting over 300,000 claims in just two months. Their AI? It spent a whopping 1.2 seconds reviewing each case. Whoa. If you were denied coverage, ask them to take a look again — this time, by a human.
$300,000
How much an Alabama woman stole from the church where she worked. Most of the money went toward buying virtual gifts for TikTok creators. She faces up to 20 years in prison. What a mess.
LG’s display tech just hit a big milestone: 50% stretchability. Imagine pulling out your phone and being able to twist and turn it all around.
8 to 10 feet
How deep you’d need to dig to create an “iceberg house.” This trend is all about building down instead of up, with super-fancy basements that include everything from swimming pools to champagne rooms. Travis Kelce’s $6 million Kansas mansion is going to have a golf simulator. No bad blood here.
Amazon’s next big delivery: Jeff Bezos, 60, and Lauren Sanchez, 54, are tying the knot in a very expensive (I can’t even imagine), festive Aspen wedding this Christmas. Hey, Lauren, share your Amazon wedding registry list with me. I’m not sure if you already have these “Let’s get ship-faced” glasses on your $500,000,000 yacht, but I’m guessing knot.
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🤖 No truckin’ around: Late musician Jerry Garcia’s voice has been cloned by AI company Eleven Labs. Grateful Dead fans using the ElevenReader app (on iOS and Android) can now listen to the legendary guitarist read audiobooks, articles, poetry, PDFs and more in 32 languages. His daughter says it’s all about continuing his legacy as a tech enthusiast. Uh-huh … I’m seeing dollar signs all over this.
Social Security recipients get a 2.5% raise in January: Scammers are on it. The increase will show up automatically in your bank account or as a check in the mail, no action needed. If anyone contacts you asking for “extra steps” to get your raise, it’s a scam. Report any suspected fraud.
15 years in prison
For a 21-year-old airman who leaked classified info. Jack Teixeira shared top-secret documents on a Discord server to show his online comrades what war was really like. Now he’ll know what war and prison are like.
7 months later
A Utah couple tied the knot after a skiing accident. Amazing story: Mitchell forgot Jenna broke up with him the day before the accident. He had a concussion and started texting her when he woke up like nothing happened. They officially got back together a month later, and now, it’s happily ever after.
🥊 Night-night, th-leep tight: YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul and heavyweight legend Mike Tyson’s boxing match is happening this week after months of delays. The odds are favoring Tyson, at plus-190. Paul’s a lot younger, but he’s never fought in the heavyweight division. Who knows? His big brother is kicking butt (literally) in the WWE.
40% of employees
Getting laid off at 23andMe. The DNA company narrowly avoided being delisted from the stock exchange after 7 million people’s data was stolen. If you used 23andMe, delete your info, like, now.
🔥 Fire and burn risk recall alert: Over 500,000 Govee Life and Govee Smart electric space heaters are being recalled, with the model numbers H7130, H7130101, H7131, H7132, H7133, H7134 and H7135. If you’ve got one, stop using it ASAP and get a refund.