It's a miracle we made it this far without ...

Parents have been asking for better phone options for kids for years. Turns out someone listened. Bark, Gabb, and Pinwheel are building devices from scratch — no social media, no browser, no app store. Contacts need parent approval. Bark's phone scans for signs of cyberbullying, grooming, and self-harm and alerts parents. And Pinwheel just launched a retro-style landline for kids. An actual landline. In 2026. Do we think kids will like it?

79% of people under 30 say they prefer a private life. Only 9% want to be famous. Nearly half of all content creators earn less than $15k a year. Talk about a reality check…There is a shift from status to stability — the influencer economy got so overcrowded that the expected value of chasing it finally became negative. People who grew up with social media have now seen enough of it to know what it actually costs. I wonder how people who never joined social media knew this all along - yes, I know a few people like that and they have nothing but my respect.

Someone’s washing machine threw a cryptic error. Instead of calling a handyman (or their girl friend!), they described it to Claude, attached a photo, gave it the brand and model. Ten minutes later: a tiny sock pulled from the pump filter. Machine fixed, bill avoided, order restored. The point isn't that AI is magic — it's that it functioned like a calm, knowledgeable friend at 10pm on a Sunday when the laundry wasn't draining. That use case doesn't get nearly enough airtime.

OpenAI's new Work mode launched July 9. You describe what you need, it runs in the background for minutes or hours, comes back with a finished file. Some claim that it can "run 95% of a one-person business." That's a big claim, especially at launch - stress-test it before restructuring anything around it. But the directional signal is real: Upwork's recent survey found 62% of small business owners are now confident handing high-stakes tasks to AI agents. No more excuses about being the chief cook and bootle washer of you business anymore.

The meditation app market has quietly split into two camps: traditional library apps (massive catalogues of pre-recorded human teachers) and AI-generated apps (sessions built fresh each time based on your mood and how much time you have). Waking Up by Sam Harris is firmly in the first camp — philosophical, deep, and free for anyone who emails saying they can't afford it. Headspace's new Ebb feature picks sessions based on mood. The choice you're making now isn't just about content style — it's about whether you want a human teacher or an algorithm that's been watching you long enough to know what you need.

The cracking face emoji — a yellow face with visible cracks running through it — is coming likely in 2027. It's meant to capture the feeling of holding it together while quietly falling apart. Gen Z is already calling it the visual shorthand for "I'm fine", said by someone who is clearly not fine. The fact that this one got standardized suggests enough people recognized a gap worth filling. On par with a butterfly, a pickle, an eraser, a lighthouse, and a few others. Clearly, all indispensable. I don’t know how we’ve done without them thus far.

In 1959, Pelé scored what witnesses called the most beautiful goal of his career: three flicks over defenders, ending with a headed goal! No one filmed it (duh!). Google DeepMind reconstructed it using Veo and Gemini, grounded in nearly 2,000 historical records, witness accounts, stadium blueprints, and family photos. Real stunt performers, leather ball, right boots and kit. I’m not a bit football fan but I am impressed by the result - well, the goal. Watch it here.

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Till next time,

Jana