Snoozing through Wimbledon

ALISTER: With 3 heatwaves so far, everyone is talking about staying cool. A study has shown that 80% of homes are “overheating” causing increased heat-related deaths. While the government is considering grants of £7.5k to retro-fit homes with air conditioning, we have to talk about the potential downsides of doing that.

MERIDYTH: What downside? Have you felt air conditioning? Imagine gliding through your living room without sticking to the furniture. It’s so cool and refreshing!

ALISTER: I don’t disagree, but I am watching the electricity meter like a hawk. It’s not pocket change running all these fans, much less an AC unit! Running AC for a full month could mean an extra £50–£120 on your bill. The grants won’t help with that! The grants will only offset the installation which is often thousands of pounds per room!

MERIDYTH: But, it’s so cool and comfortable! Who can put a price on not waking up in a pool of their own sweat?

ALISTER: Sorry, has the queen of recycling thrown in the towel on saving the planet? AC accounts for around 7% of global electricity use and 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the heat doesn’t “vanish,” it gets pumped outside and heats up the area too, making towns and cities even warmer! We are literally cooling ourselves while heating up the planet.

MERIDYTH: But… but… damn. Ummm… but it’s so cool and lovely???

ALISTER: A consulting firm helping the Climate Change Committee advised that installing AC in our homes should be avoided. 😢 That even makes me feel guilty for looking to get one for our home, but eh… I’ll use it sparingly and get over it. 😅

🏦 Bank level security. A fintech darling, Monzo, is also feeling the heat, but not due to the weather. They’ve been fined £21m due to security and fraud failings. People were opening accounts using No 10 and Buckingham Palace as their address!

⚽️ On me ‘ead. MPs have voted to create a regulator to oversee men’s football in the top five divisions. They’ll have their own powers and be separate from existing football authorities. Their mission: to “protect football clubs" by "ensuring their financial sustainability.”

🔞 No gag orders. Proposed tweaks to the workers’ rights bill will make it illegal to use an NDA or other contracts to cover up misconduct in the workplace. This will stop bosses from silencing staff who suffer harassment or discrimination.

🚁 Drone issues. Prisons are getting very worried about drones, which have been used to drop in contraband and drugs. Now security experts are saying there is a “a threat to national security” over fears that a drone could be used to lift inmates away!

🚰 Surge pricing. Thought it was bad when you first experienced surge pricing with your Uber ride? Now water firms are about to introduce a similar strategy during heatwaves. The trial is now underway and it’s expected to be rolled out across the nation.

GOOD NEWS… for Ukraine after Trump struck a deal with NATO for the US to send weapons through the alliance. BAD NEWS… For the rest of the world as Trump returned to tariff bullying for Canada, South Korea & Japan, Mexico, the EU, and others.

💊 In more tariff news... Australia has unexpectedly been threatened with a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals by Trump. By law all drug companies in Australia have to negotiate with the govt first, to ensure their citizens get the best deal. Naturally this isn’t loved by US pharmas who sell in the land down under.

🍄 And speaking of Aussie drugs... Well, maybe more the foraged, toxic kind. The “Mushroom Murder” trial finally concluded with a guilty conviction. The jury found Erin Patterson had killed her estranged hubbie’s family with poisoned mushrooms inside individualised beef wellingtons dished out on same colour dishes, except for her own. Totally suss. We’ll be waiting for the Netflix special on this one.

🐝 Buzz off. A terrifying moment for a French town when a swarm of bees went on the attack. 24 people where injured including three who were in a critical condition. It’s not confirmed what caused this, but the bees were removed.

🚿 Don’t over think it. Turns out you might be showering wrong, but not for the reason you think. All those TikToks with elaborate showering routines are just unnecessary. Dermatologists recommend just keeping it simple, keeping it clean.

🤣 Naturally funny. We can’t all be as talented as Alister when it comes to incredible humour. (🙄) In fact, the ability to be funny is not an inherited trait. A twin study has found that being able to make others laugh is purely a factor of your environment.

🦠 “Solve all diseases”. A Google (Alphabet) backed company, Isomorphic Labs, has come out with this bold claim - that AI will help them tackle any known disease. And they’re getting prepared for their first ever human trials. Fingers crossed!

💘 AI flirting. It’s not just catfishing you need to watch out for on dating apps. Now people are using AI to help flirt when chatting! This has left many recipients of AI flirtations rather disappointed when their dates weren’t quite as funny or clever IRL. 💔 

🤖 Bad Grok! Wow, it’s been a bad week for X/Twitter’s AI, Grok. The latest upgrade went on a racist and antisemitic spree, while also first checking Elon’s posts to make sure views are aligned. X’s CEO then quit after getting sexually harassed by Grok (link is NSFW).

🌐 Stop that AI. A company that runs 20% of the web, Cloudflare, has launched a new tool which stops AI from scanning and stealing content for free! Human generated content is the lifeblood of these AI models. So it’ll be interesting if this becomes the new norm with companies like OpenAI having to pay for access… and how that cost might be passed on to consumers.

👁️ Eye of Sauron. Rented a car from Hertz lately? Some locations in the US now use an AI scanner to check the car when you return it. It’s been charging $350 for tiny insignificant “dings” resulting in some customers avoiding hubs using the AI tech.

By Alister

Jurassic World Rebirth has made over $367m in the box office! But, is it any good? Is it worth your time?

After rewatching the previous Jurassic Park films to get caught up to speed, apart from the original, the rest have been just “meh.” So expectations were very low.

But wow, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars for me!)

No need to have watched the previous films. It stands on its own. But the premise is the same. Greedy people set off to see the dinosaurs. Turns out dinosaurs are dangerous and the desire for money turns into a desire to survive.

Like the original, there are on-the-edge-of-your-seat tense moments, a few well-timed laughs, and a sprinkling of heartfelt moments, which draw out a few tears.

If you want to bask in AC and watch a great adventure about greed and genetic editing, then you’ll be quite satisfied. Just don’t expect it to be anything like the other films.

By Alister

Not everyone can enjoy sitting at home playing with their wiener. Thankfully a wiener contest gone wrong (or right?) has resulted in a video we’ve all been longing for.

Dozens of wiener dogs (you did know I meant dogs, right?) lined up to compete in a short race.

The moment the owners let go, complete chaos! Not a single dog behaving as expected. Absolutely no clue who won, what the point was, or what anyone was doing. Everyone has broken down laughing or is too busy trying to chase their dog down! 🤣

@cbschicago

Dozens of wiener dogs took off at full speed, going in each and every direction. Technically there was no clear winner... except for every... See more

As far as I can tell, everyone won. 🥇 By far, the best pet show ever!

Whew, you made it!

Survived the weekend heatwave? Don’t worry, we have another one this week 🥵 Join us next week for more Squabbles over the weather.

Alister & Meridyth