Google Maps upgrade: You can now chat with the app to find things to do, restaurants to visit and nearby attractions, all with reviews. You’ll see detailed parking info near your destination and walking directions when you exit your car, too.
How to know if you’re being stalked or are just paranoid
I’ve heard it all on my national radio show. There was the guy totally freaked out because too many strangers in public knew his name for it to be a coincidence. (His name was Buddy.)
There was a woman who swore one of Metallica’s band members hacked her iPhone to stalk her after she rejected him online. And another who bought and sold three cars because she thought they all had hidden trackers.
They all ask the same question: “Is it me or is someone/something tracking everything I do on my device?”
Tracking happens, no doubt, and it’s getting worse, given how easy these tools are for anyone to use. But I also know sometimes, it’s paranoia at work. Before you panic, let’s talk through a few scenarios.
‘I see ads for things I talked about’
I was talking to my husband about taking a hiking trip in Patagonia. I walked upstairs, sat at my laptop, and travel ads for a Patagonian getaway were on my screen. Tech companies insist this is a coincidence.
If you don’t want to believe Big Tech (I don’t blame you), take privacy into your own hands. Skip the smart speaker or turn off its microphone when it’s not in use. On your phone or computer, pop into your settings to turn off your mic for specific apps and sites, or force your device to ask you each time before enabling it.
‘They know where I am’
Dana called my show with a frightening story. Her daughter is a college student who was afraid to leave the house because unknown numbers sent her threatening texts no matter where she went. “They know what time we eat dinner, our workplaces and our schedules,” Dana told me.
This case was true harassment. I called Ricoh Danielson, a friend of the show and digital forensics expert, who helped track down the guy. Turns out, it was someone Dana’s daughter had talked to on a dating app. Here are Danielson’s tips for if something like this happens to your family.
‘Is Google stalking me?’
I once had a caller concerned Google knew his schedule too well. A few weekends in a row, he drove to his son’s house to mow his lawn while his son was out of town. The following Saturday, a pop-up from Google Maps told him how long it’d take to get to his son’s home in current traffic.
'Here' official trailer
🎬 Plot twist: “Here” follows Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, de-aged entirely by AI. A few years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible without Marvel-level budgets. Now? They’re pulling it off for $50 million. The trailer gave me goosebumps!
👨💻 North Korea strikes again: I’ve told you about this before. Now, we’re hearing reports EV maker Fisker hired a remote employee who funneled money back to North Korea’s missile program. The spy used an Arizona address tied to a woman hired to run a laptop farm for IT workers who needed a U.S. address. In total, she moved $6.8 million to North Korea. Isn’t it nuts that a 6-foot overweight man with a goofy haircut scares the heck out of everyone?
What if AI gets too smart? Workers at AI companies are asking Congress for specific whistleblower protections to call out new threats, like AI turning against them. With strict NDAs, trade secret rules and swarms of company lawyers, I’d be nervous speaking up or getting killed by AI, too.
🚨 Hackers never sleep: The Communist Chinese hackers who breached U.S. telecom companies recently did far more damage than first reported. Initially, we heard “Salt Typhoon” only accessed call logs and SMS messages of diplomats and government officials. Really, they were poking around for at least eight months and may have captured data from who knows how many people.
No. 2 in EV sales
For automaker GM, which sold 32,000 electric vehicles in the U.S. during the third quarter. Ford insists they’re still in the second spot, claiming “GM is adding every brand EV” they sell, including Chevy, GMC and Cadillac. You guessed it — Tesla remains No. 1. You know what they say: 95% of electric cars are still on the road; the other 5% made it all the way home.
🎬 Plot twist: “Here” follows Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, with de-aging done entirely by AI. A few years ago, this wouldn’t have been possible without Marvel-level budgets. Now? They’re pulling it off for $50 million. The trailer gave me goosebumps! At least there are still some scenes with real actors.
Speaking of Amazon: Bad news if you got a new Kindle Colorsoft — many people are complaining about the bottom of the color display having a yellowish tint. If you own one, contact their support for a refund or replacement. Replacements ship out next week.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
📦 Coming in hot: Amazon just got the FAA greenlight to fly new, smaller delivery drones that cross into pilots’ line of sight. First stop: Tolleson, a city west of Phoenix (not near me … yet). Fingers crossed this MK30 model is quieter than the others. Locals, no skeet shooting for prizes!
Another example of AI doing the work of humans: Big retailers are using AI combined with real-time weather data to time ads and discounts. Take Walmart: This year, they dropped sunscreen prices a couple of weeks early after the AI algorithm noticed rain was all over the country. Normally, inventory analysts would do this work.
👨💻 Say goodbye to being a cybersecurity researcher: For the very first time, it wasn’t a person who found a zero-day vulnerability; it was AI. Google’s Big Sleep AI used a method called “fuzzing.” In case you’re curious, the AI feeds random data into software to expose errors in the code hackers could exploit.
11 minutes, 21 seconds
How long an F-35 jet flew on its own after the pilot ejected too early. An electrical malfunction made the pilot think the $135 million jet was out of control. As it turns out, the F-35 was still flyable. Everyone is OK, but how’d you like to explain this to your superior?
Touch and go: The iPhone 16 has two new buttons, home appliances are returning to knobs instead of touchscreens, and carmakers are bringing back dials. Why? Well, we like the tactical feedback of a real button, and you don’t have to give them your full attention. Prime example: Car infotainment systems. Look away for too long and hello, fender bender.
🧽 Clear view of where this is going: Cleaning high-rise windows is risky. Enter a spider-like AI robot named Ibex that can climb buildings and use cameras and sensors to scan surfaces, dodge window frames and leave no spot untouched. The robots are already in Texas, so don’t be surprised if you see one crawling around near you.
🐿️ RIP(eanut): Peanut the Squirrel, a rescue with over half a million Instagram fans, was euthanized. New York authorities raided his owner’s home last week after anonymous complaints. It’s illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet in NY. An online petition got over 50,000 signatures, but that didn’t make a difference. Farewell, little guy.
Dating app nightmare: A Utah woman matched with a “serial killer in the making” on Tinder. They chatted for months, and she met his parents. For their second date, he brought her to a secluded park for a picnic and stabbed her multiple times. Miraculously, she escaped. When detectives asked him if he would do anything differently, he said, “I’d get a sharper knife.”