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#BigChange for Instagram: As of today, you can no longer follow a hashtag (e.g., #healthycooking). Instagram pulled the plug, saying its hashtags are a mess of spam, bots and irrelevant posts. Try the “Explore” tab instead.
Tags: explore, followers, hashtags, Instagram, spam
The scams don’t stop — and here’s another one you need to know about. Your phone rings. It’s a rep from your bank, and they’re warning your account has been compromised. You’re smart, so you immediately suspect it’s a scam.
🍩 Krispy Kreme’s security hole: The doughnut giant’s fessing up about a Nov. 29 security breach that took down its online ordering system in parts of the U.S. Along with your credit card details, it’s a safe bet your deep, dark secrets (like how many times you bought a doughnut on the way to work) were leaked, too. Sing it with me: “Doughnut go breaking my heart. I couldn’t if I fried.” Yeah, that was bad.
Of YouTube watched every single day. That beats out all other streaming services. It’s the only streaming platform to top 10% of the viewing market share in 2024. In second place? Netflix, with 7.7%.
It’s going to be hard to tell what’s real anymore: TV maker TCL just debuted five fully AI-generated movies at the former Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood … which TCL owns the naming rights to. There’s a rom-com, a sci-fi flick, a documentary, a superhero movie and a film about a woman who turns into a slug (no idea), all streaming free on TCL TVs. I’m surprised the big media outlets aren’t talking about this. It’s a huge blow for any actor (or wannabe).
Eclipse on demand: I thought this was interesting. The European Space Agency launched a high-tech mission to create artificial solar eclipses. Using two satellites flying in perfect formation, scientists can peek at the sun’s outer layer, normally studied only once every 18 months. Bummer … We can’t watch the show from Earth.
📱 It’s like Siri went to college: The smart assistant now uses ChatGPT on the iPhone 15 Pro or any iPhone 16. If you grant permission, the iOS 18.2 update allows OpenAI’s GPT-4 to step in if Siri can’t help you. No ChatGPT account, free or paid, is needed. It’s kinda weird. I opened an email and it automatically generated a reply that was pretty damn good.
Another dangerous, dumb TikTok trend: The “Superman Challenge” has kids tossing each other into the air to look like a flying superhero, with many ending up in the hospital with broken bones and contusions. Talk to your kids about it.
That’s 10 septillion. Today’s best supercomputer would take that many years to compute what Google’s new Willow quantum chip can finish in just five minutes. That’s over seven times the age of the universe. Speaking of which, this breakthrough could prove we live in a multiverse. I bet you’re still reading this newsletter in every reality.
🚨 “A state of emergency”: That’s what some lawmakers in New Jersey are calling for, saying the massive drones spotted in their state are coming from an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast. Meanwhile, almost 30,000 people are swapping theories in a dedicated UFO Facebook group.
You can’t dodge facial recognition: I thought this was super interesting. A hat, mustache and sunglasses used to be enough, but not anymore. The same goes for wearing a mask. AI is now trained to detect your eye shape. That’s all it takes.
