Gadgets & Tech – Spoken Edition

After a mind-numbing election cycle and a distressing car accident, I dramatically deleted Twitter from my phone early last year, giving my brain a break from the creeping sense of exhaustion that was building up over the holidays. And when I finally did it, a fellow Twitter user offered a prescient, super obvious warning: “Make sure you don’t just trade addictions,” they said. Don’t just swap one bad behavior for another. Right, of course I won’t.

Best Buy is reportedly planning to begin pulling CDs from its shelves this summer—a surprising development because who knew Best Buy still sells CDs. Billboard reported over the weekend that the consumer electronics retailer has informed its music suppliers the company has no desire to remain a CD store. Best Buy used to be one of the largest CD sellers in the US, but CDs have become a meager portion of the revenue—bringing in about $40 million annually, according to Billboard.

Today’s SpaceX launch was spectacular, making the Falcon Heavy the most powerful rocket in the world and wowing us with the synchronized landings of the side boosters. Yadda yadda, historic space stuff. But the payload was Musk’s own Tesla roadster with a spacesuit-wearing dummy in the driver’s seat. So we wondered, if we were somehow able to bring the car back from space, would it still work? The answer is that it’s complicated. But probably not.

Amazon’s “Prime Exclusive” phones always seemed like a tantalizing deal, because if you were already a Prime subscriber, you could save $25, $50, $100, or more on handsets from well-known manufacturers like LG and Motorola. But until now, there was always a catch, because those savings came with lock screen ads and offers that Amazon installed on its discounted phones. Starting February 6th, Amazon says it is doing away with those ads entirely.

We’ve all been playing a waiting game with “Mad” Mike Hughes, the DIY enthusiast and Flat Earth theory advocate who planned to launch himself in a steam-powered rocket some 1,800 feet into the sky at 500 miles per hour as some kind of confusing statement on the curvature of the planet.

People make mistakes, and that’s why Gooogle.com, Yaho.com, and Amazan.com redirect to the websites you’d hope they would point to. Reddit.co? We don’t recommend you visit it. It’s common practice—codified in the days before browser autocomplete—for major websites to register misspelled domains and have them jump to the name butterfingered users meant to type. Among the most common mistakes is failing to add the “m” to a .

Today, as noted by Windows Central, Microsoft launched a cheaper version of its gorgeous Surface Laptop. This new version will retail for $800—a full $200 less than the previously cheapest Surface Laptop. If you’ve wanted a full-blown, lower-cost computing experience in the Surface ecosystem then this is the machine for you. But you might do a double take.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided the latest updates on how this winter’s flu season is continuing to shape up. And much like anything else these days, it’s a pile of gloom and doom. The flu killed at least another 16 children this past week, bringing the current tally of pediatric deaths to 53. Flu activity has now reached a high level in 42 states, up from 39 the previous week. And a record-breaking number of people are ending up in the hospital.

Many pundits and companies have tried to illustrate how the net neutrality repeal will affect internet users, but YouTuber Rob Bliss has made one of the best demonstrations yet. It’s good because it’s simple, it isn’t trying to sell you hamburgers, and it confused police officers. The demonstration also took place at a very suitable location—the streets outside of the FCC headquarters in Washington, DC.

There’s a 2,000-year-old archaeological mystery preserved in Southern Peru: enormous images carved into the desert by unknown ancient artists. The beautiful Nazca Lines depict birds, monkeys, and humans, and some of the creations span up to 1,200 feet. And a man just drove over them with his truck. CNN reports: Jainer Jesus Flores Vigo, 40, was arrested after he allegedly ignored warning signage and drove over UNESCO World Heritage site, the ministry said.