Hey there, it’s Wednesday, friend. Here’s a fun thought to start your day: How much does the internet weigh? A.) One potato, B.) 64,000 strawberries, C.) Absolutely nothing or D.) One million pounds. 

Turns out, there’s more than one way to weigh the digital blob we’re all consumed with. From Harvard to Wired, scientists (and possibly bored physicists) have tried everything from counting electrons to comparing web data to human DNA. 

The old estimate was 50 grams. The new one? Find out at the end of the newsletter. What else weighs nothing but feels heavy? Inbox at 98 unread. 

💁‍♀️ Hey, do me a favor? Hit reply or leave a quick comment when you rate the newsletter at the end, so Big Tech doesn’t toss me into the spam dungeon. 🙄 I know, the nerve. Apparently sending helpful, entertaining free email is suspicious now. Let’s show ’em we’re smarter than the algorithm. — Kim

Jean lives in the Midwest. She’s smart. She’s done well for herself. The kind of woman you’d think could spot a scam a mile away. Btw, that’s not her picture. It’s what I envision her looking like after talking to her.

But this fraud blindsided her, and four years later, it’s still haunting her.

It started with a man online 

She was lonely. He was charming, attentive and said all the right things. Jean, like so many others, was pulled in by the connection. When he asked for help moving some money, she said yes, thinking she was doing a favor for someone she cared about.

Then came the big ask: Could she help him turn a pile of cash into Bitcoin? 

It was urgent, complicated and she was the only one he could trust. Over time, Jean moved $300,000 in cash to Bitcoin for him. She didn’t know it, but she had just become a money mule in a massive scam.

The fallout was catastrophic

The Secret Service raided her home. She’s now under indictment for money laundering, facing 29 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines. She lost $200,000 of her own money to the scammer and has spent another $250,000 in legal fees just trying to stay out of prison.

This wasn’t just a scam 

It was a full-blown takedown of her life. Here’s what you need to take away from Jean’s story:

• Never send money or move money for someone you’ve never met in real life. Period. If you haven’t shared fries or made awkward eye contact in person, you definitely shouldn’t be sharing routing numbers.

• If someone asks you to convert cash into Bitcoin, run. That’s a favorite trick of scammers. Once that crypto’s gone, it’s gone.

• Urgency is your clue. “Don’t tell anyone.” “This has to happen right now.” If the words “urgent wire transfer” come up before the first in-person date, run. That’s not love, that’s manipulation.
  
• Watch where they want to talk. If they try to get you onto WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram early in the conversation, huge red flag. These apps are often used by scammers to stay anonymous.
  
• Trust, but verify. Do a reverse image search. Talk to a friend. Or send me a note, I’ll tell you straight. Love is blind, but your browser isn’t. Use it.

Jean is brave for sharing her story with me. She’s doing it in hopes that you don’t fall into the same trap. Her pain might just save you or someone else. Why not share this story on your social media now? Use the handy icons below.

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🚘 Hertz data breach alert: Hackers probably have your driver’s license, credit cards and Social Security number after breaching one of Hertz’s vendors late last year. No word on how many people are affected. Watch your bank and credit card statements for little charges, say under $10. That’s how hackers test to see what numbers really work.

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🔐 Android got harder to crack: Google’s rolling out a feature that auto-restarts your locked phone if it hasn’t been used in three days. This puts your data into a fully encrypted state, making it tougher for hackers (or law enforcement) to break in with forensic tools. See if you have it: Go to Settings > Security & privacy > System & updates > Google Play system update. You’re welcome.

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🤔 Lyft’s up to something: This is crazy. A Toronto woman took a ride with her roommates and later got a text with a transcript of their private convo from inside the car. She called Lyft, and first they said it was a pilot program. Then Lyft blamed the driver. Now, it’s saying it might’ve been a pocket dial. Next update lets your driver live-tweet your breakup in real time.

💔 Melinda Gates dishing about the breakup with Bill: In her new memoir, she says the marriage lacked honesty and trust. Turns out his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein (yep, that one) didn’t help either. Want all the juicy deets? The book’s 30% off right now. The most shocking reveal? She stayed married through Windows Vista.

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It’s not every day a robot learns to pick up fruit, and then open-sources the blueprint.

Hugging Face just acquired Pollen Robotics, the French team behind Reachy 2, a googly-eyed robot that can tidy mugs and probably terrify your pets.

It’s an attempt to make robots as remixable as AI models. Hugging Face plans to make Reachy’s hardware and code open to the public. 

Clément Delangue, Hugging Face’s CEO, put it best: “You can’t cheat with open-source,” meaning developers can download the files, 3D print the parts and remix them however they want, kind of like if IKEA sold cyborgs instead of sofas.

And maybe that’s the point: robots you can actually trust because you can read the code yourself. 

I’m calling it now, it starts with Reachy picking up fruit. It ends with him asking if he can borrow the car to hang out with his friends.

🍓 The answer: According to Wired’s report, the internet weighs B.) 64,000 strawberries, an incredibly precise scientific measurement unit. Well, the report had two conclusions: The “exact” weight of the internet is 53 quadrillionths of a gram. Yep, you could sneeze heavier than that.

Then, the analysts compared the internet as it would be stored in building blocks of nature, DNA, which is how they landed on the 64,000 strawberry amount. That’s about 11 people. Rumor is they’re all subscribed to The Current as well. 

Just because I can … What do you call a sad strawberry? A blueberry. (Let’s see you pass along great jokes for free!)

✌️ Tomorrow, how to check your phone for hidden keyloggers and spyware that tracks everything you do. I appreciate you being here with the best tech newsletter in the USA! You read it, you nailed it, now go save someone from clicking that sketchy link. — Kim

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