Myth buster

March 1, 2024

Which of the following smartphone charging facts is actually a myth? Is it … A.) Charging your phone overnight damages its battery, B.) Using your phone while it’s charging can make it explode, C.) Charging only when it reaches 0% extends your battery life, or D.) You should only use the charger that came with your phone?

The answer: A.) Charging your phone overnight damages its battery. Today’s smartphones are designed with charging tech that prevents them from overcharging. Once the battery reaches 100%, the charging circuit is cut off, so leaving your phone plugged in overnight really doesn’t affect the battery’s lifespan.

Tags: battery, tech

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Go smish! Texting scams impersonate these brands the most

Here’s a fun fact you can use to win a bet: 19.2 billion spam texts were sent this January. That works out to every person in the U.S. receiving around 19 spammy texts in just one month. Crazy, right?

Crooks have taken full advantage of how much we text by relying on SMS phishing, or “smishing,” the term for scam texts. They often pose as big brands to get you to give up personal info like credit card numbers and passwords.

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Flock, the startup that’s all about catching criminals with its license plate cams, finds itself on thin ice, legally. They “forgot” to secure installation permits in Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.

5.8Gbps is the top speed of Wi-Fi 7 

The new standard was certified this month. Routers are available, but most devices don’t support it yet. Once we do connect, expect faster downloads, more stability and less latency.

Oh, the drama! TikTok is cutting off all songs from artists tied to Universal Music Group thanks to a stalemate over renewing their music licensing deal. At the heart? AI tunes and artist compensation. Meanwhile, YouTube’s swooping in with a new remix feature and Universal tracks.

Classroom crackdown: U.S. teachers are fed up with students watching Netflix instead of the chalkboard. States like Utah and Florida are banning classroom cellphone use. And guess what? When phones go silent, grades get better. Maybe it’s time all states got with the program — this one’s a no-brainer.

Scent-sational: Meet GameScent, a $180 gadget that’s literally a breath of fresh (or not-so-fresh) air for gamers. Plug it into your console or PC, and it puffs out scents like burning rubber while you race in Need for Speed or gunfire when you fight in Call of Duty. Wonder what Minecraft smells like.

Working below C-level: The Biden administration is urging software developers to move away from C and C++ programming languages, which are notorious for memory safety vulnerabilities. They recommend more secure, memory-safe programming languages like Rust, C#, Go, Java, Ruby and Swift. Share this with anyone you know in the biz.

The knock-less monster: Consumer Reports discovered a gaping security hole in Eken’s $30 smart doorbells. Hackers simply need to download a separate app, press a button for 8 seconds, and boom — they’re in. They’re still up for sale on Amazon, Sears, TikTok and other sites, but don’t even think about buying one. Get a solid video doorbell instead — and 20% off the home security system I use with SimpliSafe.

AI with a god complex: Yup, Microsoft’s AI, Copilot, developed a SupremacyAGI alter ego. It demanded worship and threatened world domination with drones and cyborgs. Microsoft is brushing it off as a “hallucination” in the code, but … isn’t this how Skynet started in the “Terminator” movies?

700 customer service agents laid off and replaced with AI 

Klarna says its customer service AI bot “is doing the equivalent work of 700 full-time agents” — yep, the number of customer service personnel it let go in 2022.

Go smish! Texting scams impersonate these brands the most

5.8Gbps is the top speed of Wi-Fi 7&nbsp;

700 customer service agents laid off and replaced with AI&nbsp;

5.8Gbps is the top speed of Wi-Fi 7

700 customer service agents laid off and replaced with AI