Latest Instagram craze

Latest Instagram craze: “Grid Zero” is the term for Gen Zers deliberately hiding their entire photo grid. The reason makes sense to me: They’re frustrated with everything in life being documented. Instead, they’re opting for temporary Stories and DMs.

Tags: Instagram, Life, photo, stories


Bursting into flames: Protect yourself from lithium-ion battery hazards

Powering my cellphone? A lithium-ion battery. E-bike? Lithium-ion. Same goes for my iPad, MacBook, electric toothbrush, portable battery pack. I could go on.

The same goes for your tech. As it starts to warm up, we need to talk about safety. Fires from our little gadgets can get out of control quickly. 

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Facebook, feed me: Prioritize who you see first in your news feed. It’s easiest on your computer. Start by clicking your profile picture in the top right. Select Settings & privacy > Feed. Next, tap Favorites to select people and pages you want to prioritize.

Trivia

What do you say when you answer the phone? “Hello,” of course—and that’s thanks to Thomas Edison. His rival, Alexander Graham Bell, thought phones should be answered with something different. Was it A.) “Ahoy,” B.) “All right,” C.) “Howdy” or D.) “Salutations?”

Find the answer here

4 hours of free Wi-Fi is the new trend in coffee shops

Some shops enforce the limit using GoGoGuest. You have to make a purchase in order to get a free Wi-Fi code. No more freeloaders!

300M Spotify streams of Taylor Swift’s new album

“The Tortured Poets Department” set a new record high on its release day, along with these Spotify records: Most streams of a single artist in one day, most streams of a song in one day (“Fortnight”) and most gossip in one day. I made that one up, but I bet it’s true.

9.3M new subscribers for Netflix

In the first quarter of 2024, bringing the platform’s global total to 270 million. Netflix execs are stopping sharing subscriber numbers. My guess: They’re reaching saturation, and soon, there’ll be nowhere for these numbers to go but down.

49.6% of internet traffic is generated by bots

That’s up 2% from last year. The result? Billions in losses to fight fake traffic and bot attacks. That’s one thing I love about writing this newsletter — I’m writing for real people!

Trivia

Lots of us spend a ton of money on streaming (but not everyone). What percentage of American TV viewers watch ad-supported streaming TV every week? Is it … A.) 10%, B.) 25%, C.) 50% or D.) 75%?

Find the answer here

20% of produce contains unsafe levels of pesticides

For produce in U.S. grocery stores. Takeaways from Consumer Reports’ analysis: Bell peppers, blueberries (even frozen) and potatoes must be organic to be safe. Celery, collard greens and strawberries must be U.S.-grown or organic to be safe. And green beans must be U.S.-grown and organic to be safe. tl;dr: Buy organic when you can.

0.6 point increase in grades

For students with last names that start with A, B, C, D or E versus V, W, X, Y or Z. That finding comes from 30 million papers submitted through Canvas, the most popular tech platform for teachers. Canvas gives papers to teachers to grade in alphabetical order. By the end of each assignment, they’re tired — and, apparently, less forgiving.