About an hour after Las Vegas police witnessed an unidentified object falling from the sky, a Vegas area man reportedly saw a 10-foot-tall extra-terrestrial in his backyard with “big, shiny eyes.” The police visit determined that the report was “unfounded,” but I’ll let you judge the video footage for yourself.
“Make me a template”: Try this with your AI chatbot of choice. I use ChatGPT. Instead of starting a report, spreadsheet or agenda from scratch, ask AI to create a template you can use again and again. Bonus: Your boss will think you have it all together when your monthly report always comes in a nice, tidy package.
Will AI steal your job next?
92 million jobs could disappear by 2030. A new report says AI is coming for them. Is yours on the list? Plus, iPhone texts to ignore, a smart ring that catches cheaters, and words that expose your ChatGPT habit.
🚨 Malware in your feed: Watch out if a crypto livestream pops up on your feed; a hacker might have hijacked your favorite influencer’s account. Once they’re in, scammers usually impersonate big names like Elon Musk. More than 9,000 were spotted on YouTube over the last year. If you spot one, report it.
$1.6 billion
DeepSeek’s actual development cost, according to a new report. The Communist China AI company lied when it said its ChatGPT-killer cost $5.6 million, including testing and gear. Still, it’s 30 times cheaper to run, and that’s huge.
Check your laptop battery: On Windows, get a detailed report that includes usage, capacity and battery life estimates. Open the command prompt by hitting the Start menu, then typing in cmd or cmd.exe in the Run command box. Press Enter. Now, smarty-pants, type or paste in the following: powercfg /batteryreport
All it takes is one forged signature. Cybercriminals can snatch your home title, rack up loans in your name and leave you drowning in debt. Scary stuff. Get peace of mind with a free home title history report when you sign up with Home Title Lock using code KIM. You’ll also get a free 14-day trial of their Million Dollar Triple Lock Protection. Don’t wait until it’s too late.
💍 Diamonds aren’t forever: What if a mystery red box with a diamond ring arrived in your mail? Ask Tiffany Grove. She got one from the “Global Gemological Research Academy,” did some digging and realized it was a scam. It came with a QR code for a “warranty” that leads to a phishing site. Apparently, the only gem they’re offering is emotional damage. Don’t scan it, just report it.
🛍️ Buy Now, Pay Later is now Buy Now, Regret Publicly: The WSJ (paywalled) says credit bureaus have officially started tracking your “Buy Now, Pay Later” shopping. So yes, that $89 “ergonomic” beanbag you split into four payments? It might now haunt your credit report. Suddenly, Klarna feels a lot less like a fun hack and more like a fiscal breadcrumb trail leading directly to your FICO score.
About time: If your teen is using the AI chat app Character.AI, turn on Parental Insights to get a weekly report showing how much time they spend on it, which bots they talk to and for how long. This comes after a heartbreaking case where a Florida mom said her 14-year-old son took his own life after forming a bond with a chatbot on the app. Bottom line: These AI friends aren’t always harmless.
Temu is planting seeds for something: A Texas man ordered a dog toy from China-owned Temu but received seeds instead. It’s the fifth suspicious package reported in the state. One was an invasive plant species. If you receive seeds in the mail, don’t throw them away or plant them. Report it to your state’s Department of Agriculture.
Hey, overachievers: OpenAI’s new “deep research” ChatGPT agent is like a super-smart assistant that does all the work for you. It digs through multiple sources and creates a full report about whatever you want. It’s included in the $20 Pro tier for now and takes up to 30 minutes per search. Want to try it? Select Deep research in the composer.
👀 The IRS is watching: If you sold over $5,000 on sites like eBay, Etsy or StubHub last year, keep an eye out for a 1099-K form in the mail (paywall link). The reporting threshold used to be $20,000. Now, you need to report side hustle earnings over $5,000, even if you don’t get a form from a specific site.
Pure scam: It’s wild how successful purebred puppy scams are. The “breeder” hooks you with cute pics, then it’s all downhill. Once you send a deposit for the furry little one through Venmo or Zelle, scammers hand over a (fake) pick-up address and vanish. Don’t pay for a pet you’ve never seen in real life. If you spot a suspicious ad, report it to the FTC.
Something new to try: ChatGPT’s scheduled tasks feature is rolling out now for paid accounts. Pick a suggestion (e.g., “Send me a daily horoscope”) or create your own task, like “Give me a weather report on Saturday mornings before my long run.” In the app, go to your profile > Tasks. On a browser, hit the gem icon (top right corner) > Tasks.
Your phone's secret app privacy report
Wondering if an app is tapping into your camera, clipboard, or contacts? Your phone has a report that shows which apps might be crossing the line on privacy.
600 million attacks every single day
Microsoft just dropped its annual Digital Defense Report, and the numbers are staggering. Here’s the scoop, in this short podcast.
Smartphone use and your heart
A new report links heavy smartphone use to an increased risk of heart disease, but the real cause might not be what you’d expect.
How to report a UFO online
Have you seen something … otherworldly in the skies? Here’s how you can report it, in 60 seconds.
Self-driving cars: Are they actually safe to drive?
Self-driving cars aren’t some crazy future tech … They’re here now. That raises some questions. Does it actually work? Is it safe? Is it work shelling out $8,000 for Tesla’s “full self-driving” option? To find out, Kim sat down with Consumer Report’s Head of Connected and Automated Vehicle Testing. So hop in and buckle up — we’re diving into the incredible world of automated cars.
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