Weekly Download #90: Doomscrolling is back, baby

Hey , it’s Sunday, June 16.

AI is the main character this week in tech (again), and everyone else is just trying to keep up.

Google DeepMind wants to predict hurricanes like it’s reading tomorrow’s weather on Reddit. Meta’s betting the farm on AI super intelligence, and Apple’s AI rollout is… well, let’s say “awkward” and leave it at that.

On another note, remember Martin, that personal assistant app? We just chatted with co-founder Dawson Chen for our new “Behind the Build” segment. Give it a look!

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Alright, folks. Final roll call on this BLUETTI giveaway. As of now, there are only five more days to get those entries in. Remember, the more entries you’ve earned, the higher your chances of winning are. Click me for more details. Giveaway ends June 30th. Good luck!

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📝 How-To

How-To Break the Doomscroll—Your Sanity Depends On It

Doomscrolling is back, baby. I absolutely fell off the wagon this week and forgot just how much time you can lose to it.

Honestly, with everything happening lately, who can blame me? It’s way too easy to get caught in the infinite scroll—especially when every headline seems worse than the last.

But let’s be real: constant crisis updates don’t actually help your anxiety. If you want to break the cycle, here are five smarter ways to use your phone when the world starts feeling like too much.

1. One Sec, Space, or Opal
   How-to: Download the One Sec app and set your doomscroll-prone apps as “restricted.” Every time you try opening them, you’ll get a timed pause or prompt, forcing you to reconsider and often back out.

2. Three-Touch Rule:
   How-to: Hide news/social feeds three folders deep on your phone. Create an “Intentional” folder for these apps. The extra steps break mindless access—by the third tap, you’re often reminded why you wanted to stop.

3. Blinkist, Duolingo, Flipboard, Insight Timer:

   How-to: Replace one scrolling session per day with a learning sprint: read a book summary, start a language lesson, or explore a new hobby topic instead of old headlines. Enable notifications to keep the positive habit sticky.

4. Headspace or Calm:
   How-to: Move news/social apps out of sight. Put meditation widgets front-and-center on your home screen so mindfulness is always a tap away. Use daily reminders from these apps as a cue to reset.

Pick one tip and try it for a single day—then gauge your mood. Small, deliberate changes are how you win the war on doomscrolling.

📩 Newsletters Worth Reading

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 📚 Tech Terms Worth Knowing

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📰 The Big One

Meta Creates 'Superintelligence' Lab with Scale AI CEO

• Meta is establishing a superintelligence lab.

• Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, will lead the new group.

• Meta has offered significant financial packages to attract top AI talent.

Meta (the company behind Facebook) is setting up a new super-advanced AI research lab. Alexandr Wang, the CEO of Scale AI, will lead it. Meta is spending billions to hire Wang and other top experts. This comes after Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly unhappy with Meta’s current AI model, Llama 4, and wants to speed up Meta’s progress in artificial intelligence.

Statistics: Meta is investing $15B in the project.

⚡ Fast Five

1.) Apple unveils iOS 26, using its new Liquid Glass design language with an updated lockscreen, Camera, Safari, Phone app, Messages, and more [LINK]

2.) 96% of Americans Are Targeted by Scammers Every Week
CNET reports an overwhelming surge in scam attempts. [LINK]

3.) Amazon Humanized Robots are coming to a neighborhood near you, eventually
Amazon is developing humanoid robots for delivery, potentially impacting jobs (Turk err jerb's!) [LINK]

4.) Disney and NBCUniversal sue Midjourney 
Midjourney is being accused of direct and secondary copyright infringement; they say talks with Midjourney failed [LINK].

5.) Feds plan massive AI overhaul while accidentally sharing the blueprints online. The cat is out of the bag. A GitHub leak unveils “AI.gov” weeks before its July 4 debut [LINK]

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💾 Extra Bytes

Trump’s China tariff deal may cost Apple $900 million [LINK]

Nintendo says it sold a record-breaking 3.5M+ Switch 2s globally in the console's first four days [LINK]

Apple announces “studio-quality” audio recording and camera control features for AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 2 [LINK]

Researcher brutecat finds a vulnerability that revealed the phone number linked to any Google account [LINK]

Nintendo Switch 2 Review Roundup [LINK]

DeepSeek accused of using Google Gemini to train new AI model [LINK]

Google Wallet parts ways with PayPal [LINK]

Prime Video reportedly shows almost twice as many ads as it used to [LINK]

X used threats and pressure tactics to push companies to resume buying ads on the site [LINK]

📱 Gear of the Week

The HP Dimension — For When $25,000 Is Just Pocket Change

Let’s talk about the HP Dimension. It’s a 65-inch “light field” 3D video conferencing display, running Google’s new Beam tech.

The price? A jaw-dropping $25,000. Yes. Twenty-five thousand smackeroos. No, that doesn’t include the extra licensing fees you’ll need just to make calls on Zoom or Google Meet (which feels like adding insult to injury).

HP says this thing is for enterprises, but let's be real: who’s actually buying one? Maybe three massive companies with more money than sense. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder that video calls can always get more expensive — and maybe a little more ridiculous. [LINK]

⚙️ Tools

Letterly: Use this Al-powered app to convert unstructured speech into polished, well-written text content [LINK].

Wispr Flow for iOS: Voice-first writing—now on iPhone. [LINK]

Emily: Your 24/7 receptionist. Emily lives for you on your phone.[LINK]

Bing Video Creator: Turn your words into short videos on Bing [LINK]

Thanks for reading!

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Until next week…….

-Kevin

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