🐭 Mouse magic: Middle-click (click on the mouse wheel) on a link to open it in a new tab, or middle-click on an open tab to close it. Sweet!
📦 Happy deal hunting: Amazon rebranded its used item marketplace to Amazon Resale (secret link there!), where you can snag deals on used, pre-owned or open-box products. I found a pretty sweet Chromebook for around $200 and an iPad for just $110. Every listing is inspected and covered by Amazon’s return policy. Check it out!
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
$1.2 billion
For Israel’s “Iron Beam” defense laser. The laser can take out air threats from over four miles away and never runs out of ammo (paywall link). The Iron Beam can destroy threats for about $2,000 a pop (the cost of electricity), compared to $50,000 for traditional missile defense. I hope this is on the U.S. military’s wishlist.
Amazon product safety check: Go to your Amazon account and look under Account & Lists > Account for Recalls and Product Safety Alerts. Click the link, and you’ll see details about recalls for any products you’ve purchased and how to get a refund or return the items.
👩🏼🏫 Gen Z’s latest craze? PowerPoint presentation parties (paywall link). Guests whip up literal slideshows on weird, wacky topics and show them to the group. It’s all about flexing creativity, getting some laughs and reliving high-school nostalgia (or nightmares). One of my favorite topic prompts: “Predictions for how each friend here will end up in jail.”
🏎️ A Ferrari exec slammed the brakes: A Ferrari C-level exec got a text from his CEO, who wanted to chat on WhatsApp. They were texting about possible mergers when the CEO said, “Let’s talk.” And they did. The C-level exec said it was someone posing as the CEO (paywall link). He tested the caller, asking for the name of a book the actual CEO had recommended the exec read the week before. Surprise, the scammer hung up.
Restaurant wars: If you want a table at a trendy restaurant, forget greasing the palms of the concierge. AI bots are now scooping up table reservations (paywall link) and listing them on sites like Appointment Trader, sometimes at prices upwards of $1,000. To fight the bots, restaurants are starting to require a $25 or $50 deposit per person for reservations.
YouTube pro tip: Send a YouTube video link so it starts right where you want your recipient to watch. Find the video and scroll to the time you want to share. Right-click and select Copy video URL at the current time. Done!
$12,000
To take a four-day class at Harvard. The course, Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports, is open to non-Harvard students and covers the economics of modern-day brands (paywall link) from Nike to MrBeast. Alumni include celebrities looking to build an empire, like Channing Tatum and LL Cool J. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.
2 beats per minute
Slowdown in song speeds per decade as musicians age. It’s not just you; even rock stars get slower with age (paywall link). Scientists studied musicians from Eddie Vedder to Dolly Parton and found after their 30s, the songs they wrote got sleepier (read: slower). My fave Dolly quote? “I’m not offended by dumb blonde jokes. I’m not dumb and I’m not blonde.”
$108,150 salary
To be a cop in Plano, Texas. Big-city police departments were having trouble recruiting, so they pulled out all the stops (paywall link). Perks include take-home cars, paid workout hours and a relaxed tattoo policy. It’s working — more officers joined in 2023 than in the four years prior.
¡Ay, car-amba! Last year, GM nearly tied its 1979 record for Corvettes sold. While other sports cars struggled, GM moved twice as many (paywall link) Corvettes as in 2019. Why? Engineers put the motor in the back, just like high-end supercars. I swear it looks like a Ferrari. Now, gearheads are lining up.
The latest and greatest: OpenAI’s GPT‑4o mini is a faster, free version of its latest GPT‑4o model. Soon, it’ll interpret images, text and audio, plus generate pics. Try it: Hit this link, log in and switch the model (top left corner) to GPT‑4o mini.
My insurance agent’s name is Justin Case: Electric vehicle (EV) insurance costs are enough to make you hit the brakes. Since EVs are generally more expensive than gas-powered cars and cost more to repair, it adds up to one scary premium (paywall link). Expect to pay at least 12% more to insure an EV over a gas car.
👊 Fighting deepfakes: Teen girls like Elliston Berry are sharing their horror stories with AI nudes that left them feeling “shameful.” Now, lawmakers are doing something about it. A new bill would criminalize nonconsensual deepfakes (paywall link) and make platforms and websites take down pictures within 48 hours of notice from the victim. Finally!
“Let’s double-click”: The latest corporate buzzword, “double-click” (paywall link), means to dig into something further, like, “I’ll double-click that media plan tomorrow.” Fun fact: The creator of the double-click, Apple designer Bill Atkinson, regrets it. He thinks an extra mouse button would’ve been better.
Free 3D design app: Tinkercad lets you make 3D designs right in your browser. It’s easy enough to jump in, or you can take one of their free courses to learn how to use it. Fun link to hit when the kids or grandkids get bored this summer!
🚫 Teenage mutant bullies: Kids at Great Valley Middle School in Pennsylvania created fake TikTok accounts to impersonate their teachers, posting lewd pics, racist memes and homophobic statements (paywall link). They were suspended. It’s got to be so hard for a teacher today.
DIY revolution: This is interesting. Virtual plumbers and electricians are helping folks tackle home repairs over video calls. For instance, an online appliance repairman charges $3 a minute instead of his $100 in-person fee (paywall link). Wonder if they ask for a tip.
Want to grow your small biz on social? Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are now better than TikTok (paywall link) for growing your audience. In 2023, brands spent 700% more on YouTube Shorts creator partnerships than the year before. Gotta go where the money is!