Today we visit with screenwriter and author Billy Ray. Known for “The Hunger Games” and much more. He has a new novel out now “Burn The Water”
AVAILABLE NOW: https://amzn.to/3NtW4JG
TODAY'S REASON TO PARTY! (special thanks to ListOfNationalDays.com)
Coconut
Torte
Day
https://braziliankitchenabroad.com/brazilian-coconut-cocktail/
SURVEYS, STUDIES & SUCH
From saying “please” to offering up flattery, advice people give you about talking to AI is often strange… and mostly useless. Researchers found that compliments, encouragement, gratitude, or cheerful sign-offs don’t reliably improve chatbot accuracy. One odd exception: asking an AI to role-play as if it were on “Star Trek” seemed to slightly improve basic maths. Still, experts say there’s no magic phrasing. According to Jules White of Vanderbilt University, what matters isn’t your demeanor or style of wording – but clearly explaining what you want. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman jokes that politeness is “money well spent,” modern tools like ChatGPT aren’t swayed by manners. Nonetheless, a 2025 survey found 70% of people are polite to AI when they use it. Most said they’re nice because it’s just the right thing to do…but 12% said they do it to protect themselves in case of future robot uprisings!
BIG SCREEN-LITTLE SCREEN
Get ready to update your Paramount+ parental controls. HBO Max and Paramount+ will combine into one direct-to-consumer streaming service — if and when Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is complete. There are still a number of regulatory hurdles standing in the way. The plan is that by mid-2026, Paramount will have consolidated Paramount+, FAST platform Pluto TV and BET+ “under one unified stack”, according to Paramount CEO David Ellison, who also indicated a similar approach will be taken with HBO Max.
Tyrese Gibson is honoring his pal’s legacy in the fast lane — by announcing $1 million has been raised in honor of his late “Fast & Furious” costar Paul Walker’s charity. Gibson hit the stage with Paul’s brother Cody at FuelFest in West Palm Beach FL, over the weekend, telling the 20,000-plus crowd that Walker’s nonprofit has officially surpassed the $1M milestone. Paul founded Reach Out WorldWide in 2010, a disaster-response organization aimed at getting skilled volunteers to places devastated by natural catastrophes. It was inspired by the deadly earthquake in Haiti that year, and remains active in disaster responses all over the world.
DID YA KNOW!?
DID YOU KNOW… The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges slightly at the equator due to its rotation. Scientists refer to its shape as an oblate spheroid.
JOKE OF THE DAY
(FROM
HEIDI)
SCOOP
OF THE DAY
Usually, a new high-end phone comes with a cheap case tossed in for free, but a Chinese e-commerce platform is flipping that logic entirely. JD.com is selling limited-edition, gold-plated iPhone 17 Max cases that are so expensive…that they include a free phone as a bonus. The “Au99.99 Gold” (99.99% pure gold) cases come in weights ranging from 10 to 100 grams. Prices climb with the gold, topping out at 139,999 yuan (about US $20,000) for the heaviest version. To sweeten the splurge, JD.com throws in a brand-new Apple flagship phone with the 100-gram case. The only problem is this: Gold plating can interfere with wireless charging, and cause overheating. While JD.com hasn’t confirmed any $20,000 buyers, the 10-gram case is sold out, and buyers are already flexing pricier versions online. LINK: https://tinyurl.com/4mnn79sb
THE MOVIE QUOTE OF THE DAY
If you have a favorite quote.... you can send it to us at the bottom of the page at JohnAndHeidiShow.com
“They mostly come out at night. Mostly.” — Aliens — Newt (Carrie Henn) — 1986
NEWS TO ME
(FROM HEIDI)
FUN
FACT FOR YOU:
Share
this with your friends... they'll think you're really smart!
✓ Ostriches have 3 stomachs. (Alligators and kangaroos have 2.)
✓ The worldwide human-to-ant ratio is one person for every 1.6 million ants.
✓ A giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue.
✓ Squirrels can’t burp.
✓ According to “The Joy of Cooking”, one ostrich egg will serve 24 people
WEIRD NEWS
Italian cops say a man trained his dog to illegally dump trash bags on the side of the road. In municipal CCTV footage, the dog was seen carrying plastic bags, leaving them on streets, and returning to its owner. Catania officials fined the man after reviewing the videos, calling the act “clever but uncivil.” Police wrote on Facebook: “Inventiveness… can never be an alibi for incivility.” Under Italian law, people caught dumping garbage can be fined 1,500 to 18,000 euros (up to $21,220), but it doesn’t say anything about dogs… LINK: https://tinyurl.com/yx2pp7n4
QUESTION OF THE DAY
52% of us keep THIS, even though it doesn’t work. What is it?
Answer: An air freshener
SOMETHING SPECIAL WITH HEIDI SMALL
(FROM HEIDI)
THE LIST
CORPORATE BUZZ WORDS THAT SHOULD BUZZ OFF:
The Wall Street Journal asked readers to name their most hated corporate buzzwords and phrases. Respondents said these examples are often seen as confusing, pretentious, or meaningless…and while the idea is to sound professional or strategic, they more often just sound silly. Here are some of the most-cited examples of irritating corporate jargon…
✗ Bandwidth (means “capacity to handle work”. Just say, you’re busy, pal!)
✗ Change agent (used to describe oneself as a potential hire)
✗ Deep dive (instead of “look into something”)
✗ Growth mindset (seen as vague and non-specific)
✗ Hard stop (calendar jargon for a strict end time)
✗ Hit the ground running (Doesn’t usually jibe with the typical rate of progress in the corporate environment)
✗ Lean in (overused in trivial contexts)
✗ Let’s take this offline (just say “later”)
✗ Negative growth (just say “we’re losing money”!)
✗ Put a pin in that / double-click (seen as silly)
✗ Reach out (I HATE HATE HATE this one…how about “contact”)
✗ Take a 10,000-foot view (view more broadly)
✗ Thought leadership (considered unnecessary jargon)
✗ Unpack that (Let’s just leave this phrase packed away, OK?)
✗ Utilize (often just means “use”)
GOOD NEWS
Waitress Helps Overwhelmed Mom At Airport — Days Later, She Gets The Shock Of Her Life. https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news
