After listening to two teenage girls talk about their Oura rings, I asked them about the battery. “Did you know it’s irreplaceable?” I asked. I didn’t have the heart to add: “When the battery’s degraded, your $499 smart ring will turn into a dumb ring.” 

They didn’t seem to care about the battery. They love having their steps counted, their sleep tracked and more, leaving their wrists free for bracelets. 

But after two years, the girls may have to charge their golden rings every six hours. After three years, the batteries will probably be kaput. After five years, they will have spent $350 for the Oura 4 monthly subscription and $998 for the original ring and its replacement, a total of $1,348. Even if they switch to the silver version, they’ll have paid about a thousand.

As an alternative, I prefer my Apple Watch SE, first generation. It’s around $120 on Amazon. If it needs a new battery in four years, that’s only $79 more. 

An Apple Watch is great for incoming texts, fitness reports and calls. I feel like Dick Tracy when I answer on my wrist. Plus, I no longer miss calls and texts because my phone is somewhere else.

Reducing Spam

My techy friend gets only a few junk emails because he’s nearly invisible on the web. When he exits the Firefox browser, all traces of his activity are erased. 

For protection from spam calls, he doesn’t give out his cell phone number to merchants. Instead, he gives out the number for his AT&T landline, the “CL84307,” which blocks spammers. On Amazon, he signs in only when buying something, then quickly signs out.

To increase your own invisibility, download the Firefox browser to your computer, then open “Settings,” and “Privacy & Security.” Scroll down until you see “Cookies and Site Data.” Check the box next to “Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed.” This way, the next time you start web browsing, the sites won’t recognize you from your earlier session.

Alternatively, you could use a Virtual Private Network. The leader is NordVPN, though Surfshark is cheaper at $2 a month and ExpressVPN is easier to use, according to TechRadar and ZDnet. For your computer, there’s “FreeVPN.One” from the Chrome Web Store.

Smart Thermometer

The $250 Withings “Beamo” doesn’t just take your temperature. It performs a medically certified electrocardiogram plus an auscultation, which assesses your heart and lung health. These recordings can help your doctor assess any respiratory condition. The Beamo also comes with a a free cardio check-up from a cardiologist. It could be the thermometer of the future.

Self-Flying Plane 

The sixth generation of the Wisk self-flying plane can zip you around town in the blink of an eye at 140 miles per hour. Having already undergone over 2000 test flights, it may get approval from the Federal Aviation Association soon enough to become your air taxi in 2030. For starters, it will only take off from Los Angeles, Houston and Miami. 

The Wisk has space for four passengers, each of whom have their own door, but there’s no seat for a pilot, since it’s self-flying. Though its flight is monitored by camera, there’s also a panic button if you need help. A Wisk ride will cost about the same as a luxury Uber.

Nano Banana

“Nano Banana” is part of the new Google Photos app for Androids, iPhones and iPads. 

It can open the closed eyes of your sweetheart, make a frowny child smile and add a sunset to the sky, among other tricks. But it hasn’t rolled out to everyone yet. To check, look for a “help me edit” option. If, like me, you don’t have it, try “Magic Editor.” 

I love how Magic Editor removes unwanted objects or people with a tap of your finger. For example, I took a selfie to show my sister how I look in the vest she gave me for my birthday. I didn’t think of using a tripod, so I pointed my camera at the full-length mirror in my bathroom, which picked up a glimpse of the toilet. To fix it, I tapped “Magic Editor.” On its first attempt, it took out far too much of the background. But by tapping “subtract, it zeroed in on the unwanted commode. Presto! It vanished. I’ve never used an easier tool.

Magic Editor also makes photos come alive. Tap “animate” under Google Photos’ “Create” tab. A still shot of my nephew and his girlfriend turned into a four-second video as she whoops it up, arms in the air. He turns and smiles as confetti rains down on them.

Internuts

– “There may not be a safe off-ramp for some taking GLP-1 drugs.”  Search on that phrase to discover an Ars Technica article revealing that 82 percent of users regained their weight and lost their cardiovascular health improvement when they stopped taking the drug. 

– “Obesity: Is a GLP-1 Deficiency Its Cause, and How to Treat It Without Ozempic and Other Drugs.” Search on that phrase to find a NutritionFacts.org article about people who were put on a diet packed with fruits and veggies, whole grains and beans. Eating this way, they were satisfied with 50 percent fewer calories. Their GLP-1, the substance people pay big bucks for, more than doubled. The largest study to date of plant-based eaters shows they’re about 35 pounds lighter than average.

Filed under: AI, graphics, health, Internuts, inventions, photos, spam