🌍 Trump v Putin Summit Showdown – Trump and Putin are officially prepping for a head-to-head summit, possibly next week, with the UAE, Hungary, and Switzerland now on the shortlist after Moscow nixed Rome as too friendly with Kyiv. Trump is dangling new sanctions and tariffs if Putin doesn’t budge on Ukraine. The only thing locked in? Geopolitical drama and a guessing game for where “presidential poker” lands next. Stay tuned for the diplomatic spectacle.

🦅 American Eagle Soars After Trump Shoutout – Shares of American Eagle popped 20% after an unexpected plug from Donald Trump, who called the brand’s Sydney Sweeney campaign the “hottest ad out there.” The former President’s offhand praise turned into a viral moment, sending retail traders flocking and putting the denim-clad campaign back in the spotlight. While Wall Street’s not used to fashion tips from politicians, the stock’s sudden rally shows the power of pop culture and a well-timed influencer collab. Forget fundamentals for a sec...this rally was pure vibes.

🎬 Universal Warns Big Tech to Stay Away – Hollywood’s legal squad officially just dropped the mic. Universal Pictures warned tech giants that using its films to train AI models without permission could land them in court. The message? No free lunch on decades of cinematic IP. As AI models grow hungrier for data, studios are drawing hard lines. The next blockbuster, you wonder? Lawsuits. With billions at stake and generative AI advancing fast, this showdown could reshape how copyright works in the age of algorithms.

OpenAI officially launched GPT‑5 this past Thursday. It’s billed as its most powerful, speediest model yet, able to automatically choose the fastest mode for the task, with variants like standard, mini, and nano. OpenAI has made it free for all users, though paid tiers get extra usage limits. CEO Sam Altman called it a major upgrade and a "significant step toward AGI," even comparing the moment to science’s most world‑changing launches. Having said that, there's still some distance to true AGI, which even he acknowledged, since GPT‑5 can't learn on its own in real time.

AI’s Next Chapter

GPT‑5 is a milestone in accessible AI. It brings multitasking power (thinking across text, images, voice, and video), with a streamlined interface that doesn’t ask users to pick versions. 

That said, enthusiasm still comes with caution here. GPT‑5 still flubs basics: misspelling Northern Territory, inventing fictional states, and mixing up blueberries; remember, this is the model dubbed “PhD‑level.”

Visual Slip or Red Flag?

During the livestream, some charts hilariously misaligned visuals and numbers. One showed GPT‑5’s so‑called "deception rate" at 50% using a shorter bar than a 47.4% bar for an earlier model. In another, 52.8% appeared larger than 69.1%. Sam Altman even called it a “mega chart screwup.” OpenAI fixed the visuals and apologized for what social media dubbed a “chart crime.”

Big Tech’s New Arena

GPT‑5 surfaces amid fierce competition, from Google DeepMind to Anthropic to Meta’s open source experiments. OpenAI’s push toward polished, user-friendly intelligence gives it the early edge, though rivals are hot on its heels.

The big question is, as usual with these new releases: does GPT‑5 define the future, or just raise the bar for everyone else?

Why You Should Care

If you write, code, learn, plan, you name it: GPT‑5 promises a smarter helper, one that judges context and picks the best tool on the fly. But its stumbles on simple tasks remind us: oversight still matters with AI. After all, hallucinations are down, but definitely not out.

What’s Next?

Expect a quick follow-up patch to correct remaining quirks with the model and see how rivals respond to this one. As always, we can expect a lot of regulatory chatter in the coming weeks, especially around autonomous reasoning and misinformation. One thing is for certain: the next few weeks will be a lot of fun in the AI space.

In Conclusion

GPT-5 isn’t a panacea; but it’s without a doubt one of the most polished AI tools yet. Smarter in most ways, still sloppy in a few, and definitely more interesting. We’re not at AGI, but we’re closer than most of us realized...just maybe not as flawless as some claimed.

Just a week after our record-setting 24-hour sellout of The Arthaus in Houston, we’re back with another high-performing PadSplit that is already off to a hot start. Meet The Gilmore in Tempe, Arizona.

This is a fully occupied, recently renovated 8-bedroom, 4-bath property with 2,100 square feet of income-producing space. It’s steps from major universities and transit, making it a magnet for long term tenant stability. Tenants at The Gilmore are staying more than 6 months on average, with it already appraising 5% higher than what we paid. Over the past year, this PadSplit has pulled in more than $95,000 in verified post-fee income.

Projections feature a year 1 yield over 11%, average yields over the hold north of 15%, and a projected levered profit of nearly half a million dollars.

Arizona continues to be one of our hottest markets thanks to strong population growth, a healthy job market, and rising demand for affordable, flexible housing. With early interest pouring in, we don't expect The Gilmore to be available for long.

Secure your stake now before the chance is gone.

‍

Invest Now

• Battlefield's comeback tour just delivered its loudest encore yet. Even in early access, the Battlefield 6 Beta not only topped Dota 2’s Guinness‑recognized peak of 329,977, hitting 334,549 concurrent Steam players, but it also doubled the Beta peak of Battlefield 2042 and tripled its full-release records...all before going public. The hype is real.
• Japan’s population just took a record dive: last year, nearly one million more people died than were born. Births hit a jaw-dropping new low of 686,061 while deaths soared past 1.6 million; that's a gap bigger than Tokyo’s entire population. Schools are closing, towns are shrinking, and Prime Minister Ishiba is calling it a “quiet emergency.” Family-friendly policies aren’t working, and businesses are scrambling for answers in a country where every nursery opening makes headlines. Forget Baby Boom; this is the Baby Bust era.
• In a historic win for workers, every single big casino on the Las Vegas Strip is now officially unionized. Sixty thousand hospitality staff, from blackjack dealers to housekeepers, landed stronger pay, better benefits, and real vacation days after final holdouts like the Venetian signed on. Wages will hit an average $35 an hour with benefits, flipping Sin City into Union City overnight.

It had been a while since I featured a Stephen King book here, and Needful Things is just pure fun from start to finish. King calls it “the last Castle Rock story,” and it really does feel like a grand finale, a big dark fireworks display over his most infamous small town.

The setup is deceptively charming. A new shop opens in Castle Rock, run by the polite and mysterious Leland Gaunt. He claims to have exactly what each customer most desires, and he is happy to part with it for a small price. But this is not your usual cash-and-carry...Gaunt deals in secrets, grudges, and favors that turn neighbors into enemies.

What makes it so satisfying is how King lets the mayhem creep in sideways. It starts with petty pranks and little misunderstandings. Then, almost without realizing it, you are knee-deep in riots, betrayals, and murder. The town’s tangled relationships are drawn so vividly that when they start to unravel, it feels both inevitable and horrifying.

This one is not just horror. It's dark comedy, satire, and small town soap opera all rolled into one. Gaunt is one of King’s most memorable villains; he is charming, witty, and just about the devil himself.

If you have drifted away from King’s work or have only read his biggest titles, give Needful Things a try. It's sharp, wickedly funny, and moves like a runaway train once it gets going. By the end, you will never look at a yard sale table the same way again.

⭐ 4.76 / 5.0 in my book (no pun intended)

1. "The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool."
2. "It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
3. "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

In 1947, engineers discovered a moth trapped inside the Harvard Mark II computer relay. They taped it into the logbook and called it a “bug” and just like that, the term was born. Turns out the first computer bug wasn’t digital... it was winged.

1. Needful Things (Leland Gaunt)
2. Rocky Balboa  (Rocky)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ()

‍

‍