SpaceX pulled off its first spacewalk in the early hours of Thursday morning, Sept. 12. The marquee event of the private Polaris Dawn mission went smoothly, with two of the crew members stepping outside of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, “Resilience.” It’s the first time civilians, rather than government astronauts, have performed a spacewalk.
💊 Who’s in your doc’s pocket? Worried your doctor might not be giving you impartial advice because they’re getting paid by Big Pharma? Look ‘em up in this government database (U.S. only) and see which companies are giving them money. That includes celebrity doctors, too, if you’re feeling nosy!
Is your car spying for the government?
A new Ford patent could turn your car into a police informant, automatically reporting speeders to the authorities. Here’s how that could change the way we drive, in this short podcast.
👽 Hold onto your tinfoil hat: The Pentagon’s former chief investigator leaked a new government program to scoop up alien tech if it’s ever shot down. He swears there’s zero evidence of alien spacecraft so far. Meanwhile, a UFO analyst and a missile expert both claim that not only has the U.S. recovered a craft, but they’ve even been inside one.
80 times the going rate
What the Air Force paid for soap dispensers on its C-17 aircraft — almost $150,000. They also overpaid by nearly $1 million for a dozen different spare parts. Why? Contracting officials failed to review invoices. If you’re reading this with any government pull, I can provide a daily newsletter 80 times the going rate. Oh … that’d still be free.
📍 Secret Service agents spilling secrets: How? By using the GPS fitness app Strava, which is more like a social media site. Sure, agents can’t use their personal devices while on duty, but it’s OK off the clock. Agents’ Strava profiles gave away the locations of President Biden and his wife, former President Trump and his wife, and Vice President Harris. If you use Strava, set your privacy to the “Only You” setting. You’d think that the Secret Service’s top brass would’ve known about this. FWIW, I’ve been warning about this app for years.
⚠️ Targeting older adults: A 76-year-old man was duped out of $740,000 by criminals pretending to be government officials (paywall link). He had trouble logging into his retirement account and received a message from the firm (complete with a legit logo), telling him to call the fraud department. He sent money via bitcoin, wire transfers and gold to “secure” places. PSA: Government agencies will never call and tell you to move your money.
$1,100 dog stroller
For sale in South Korea, where the human birth rate is 0.72. That’s the lowest in the world (paywall link) and one-third of what’s needed to maintain their population. Dog stroller sales just outpaced sales of baby strollers for the first time in the country, and the Airbuggy is a hot commodity. The government there is stork-raving mad.
🤖 Beware the good idea fairy: The U.S. government will now get access to OpenAI and Anthropic AI models before they’re accessible to the public. The U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (wow, sounds fancy) will assess AI’s capabilities and risks. The goal? To keep AI in check and establish safety standards the world can follow (paywall link). There are so many problems with this, I don’t know where to start.
Why the Pentagon is watching Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s superfans — aka Swifties — are on the government’s radar. Why? I’ll tell you the scoop in this short podcast.
Big Brother controls your driving
Should the government keep an eye on your driving habits? It’s starting in Europe, and it might be headed our way soon.
Spy versus spy: mSpy is a surveillance app used to track children, relatives and romantic partners without their consent. Hackers just exposed the identities of millions of customers, and the list includes senior U.S. military personnel, a U.S. federal judge and a government watchdog. Juicy stuff.
P*rn passport: Spain is testing a new way to confirm the age of p*rn viewers on websites — digital passports. Once you verify you’re over 18, you’ll get 30 tokens good for 30 days. The Spanish government says it won’t track users’ activity or keep records of their identities. You can bet the U.S. government is keeping an eye on how it goes.
Remote Amazon tribe gets the internet
Nine months ago, the Marubo people got Starlink — now elders say everyone’s lazy and hooked on porn. Plus, Tokyo’s government launches a dating app, and remote job scams are on the rise.
From the “I’m-from-the-government-and-I’m-here-to-help” department: Effective June 1, the federal internet subsidies that gave 20 million low-income U.S. families access to speedy internet are over. Here’s a list of providers offering discounted internet prices through the end of 2024.
💊 Who’s in your doc’s pocket? Worried your doctor might not be giving you impartial advice because they’re getting paid by Big Pharma? Look up your doc in this government database (U.S. only) and see which companies are giving them money. That includes celebrity docs, too!
Apple’s iPhone spyware problem is worsening: Attacks mostly against journalists, activists and government representatives have been reported in over 150 countries. Common red flags: Faster-than-usual battery drainage, high data usage and unexpected shutdowns. If you’re a journalist or activist, or if you work for the government, turn on Lockdown mode.
💻 That’s cray-cray: The U.S. government is auctioning off a decommissioned Cheyenne supercomputer. This 145,152-core rig was once used for scientific research and ranked as the 20th most powerful in the world in 2016. The current bid at the time I wrote this was $100,000, and the auction closes on May 5, if you’re in the market. But beware: There are issues with its cooling system.
Bonus episode: The Kim Komando Show, April 6
Is it the end of the world? Rumors fly online about the solar eclipse — I’ll tell you what’s fact and fiction. Also, the government filmed an Army vet’s front porch for 68 days. Plus, Silicon Valley icon Guy Kawasaki talks about his new book, “Think Remarkable.”