Meet and greet

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Google’s AI tool Gemini is snooping around your emails, there’s a total lunar eclipse on the way this week, and a first look at a new doc about Willy and Waylon 🤠

Let’s get into it!

Google’s AI platform Gemini has been active on Search, Maps, and several other Google products for a while but about a month ago it showed up in Gmail in a way that may be a little too invasive for some users.

According to several information security experts, Gemini isn’t literally “reading your emails,” but it does have the ability to scan them for information that could be useful for tasks like prioritizing replies, crafting to-do lists, and updating your calendar.

Recently you may have noticed there’s an automatic “AI Overview” option at the top of long email threads, allowing the Gemini to give you a summary of the message.

The tool also recommends words for finishing a sentence as you’re writing an email. It does this based on your writing style, meaning it does have some “read only” access. That’s also how it’s able to update your calendar when an email clearly indicates you have an event at a specific time and place.

According to Google’s own terms, it will not use your data to train its AI models without your permission. However, like many tech tools, it can be tricky to determine exactly what you’re consenting to.

You can read on here for more details about how Gemini may be a little too close for comfort, along with how to turn off access.

A total lunar eclipse is a special occasion and tomorrow’s is particularly eventful given it will be the last one until New Year’s Eve, 2028.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, causing the Moon to get caught in the shadow of its planetary big brother.

During the period of partiality, the Moon will look like the Cookie Monster took a bite out of its side for a little over an hour.

The Cookie Monster will continue nibbling until the Moon falls completely into Earth’s shadow, causing it to turn a blood red hue as the Sun’s rays are filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere, and illuminating the lunar surface in a way that will surely drive werewolves everywhere mad.

The partial eclipse will begin at around 4:50 a.m. ET, so if you’re living on or towards the east coast of North America, you’ll need to get up pretty early to see the whole thing.

Totality will occur at about 6:04 a.m. ET, which—at this time of year—is still night time, and dark enough to see the blood red Moon take form. The catch, however, is that the Moon will also be pretty low to the horizon by that point, so you’ll need to be viewing from a relatively flat area with few obstructions.

For more than a decade the most in-depth look at the founding fathers of outlaw country music has been in the works. Entitled They Called Us Outlaws, what started as a one-off documentary film will premiere as a ten-part miniseries at SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 15.

“Before its early cult-like following and now mainstream legions of emulators, the American outlaw country ‘movement’ was just a core group of wildly talented singer-songwriters in Nashville’s underground and Austin’s counter-culture, throwing convention to the wind and doing things their own way,” said an official statement by filmmakers Eric Geadelmann and Kelly Magelky.

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson are among the most famous pioneers of what’s one of the few remaining true American art forms.

In making the film, and interviewing the dozens upon dozens who’ve imitated outlaw country music, it became clear the story needed to be told in ten parts.

The series was produced in partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s not yet clear if it will be released for public viewing after debuting in Austin in just under two weeks.

’77 was some kinda heaven

Let’s take a trip back to this week in 1977, with today’s trivia. Blow off the cobwebs, put on your thinking cap, and let’s go!

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Friday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder! *