| Plus: Email scams surging, 5.6M health records leaked, fully AI school (no teachers)  In partnership with Incogni | | Hello on a festive Saturday, friend! I thought this was neat. Every year, the National Film Registry adds 25 American movies to its archives for preservation — movies considered culturally, historically or aesthetically important. A handful added this year: "Dirty Dancing," "The Social Network," "Beverly Hills Cop" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Big news, Trekkies: "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the first "Star Trek" movie to make the cut. You could say they won the enter prize! 🤬 Your info, for sale: Between data brokers, advertisers, stalkers and scammers, everything from your address and Social Security number to what you buy at the grocery store is floating around the web for anyone willing to pay. I used Incogni to remove it all for me. You really need to do the same. More below. — Kim 📬 Was this email forwarded? Sign up here for free | TODAY'S TECH HACK Share your ETA on the go  I hate being late. No one wants to leave friends hangry at a restaurant. Here's a trick I use: Share your ETA right from your map app. It keeps everyone in the loop. It's way better than sharing your location 24/7. Imagine if we'd had this tech back in our 20s. Total concert and party game‑changer! Google Maps in navigation mode - Tap the card at the bottom of the screen.
- Choose Share trip progress.
- You can either pick a contact to send updates to through Google Maps or select a messaging app to send a link with your location.
- Tap the bottom card > Stop Sharing to stop sharing your ETA. (It won't share your whereabouts after you end the trip.)
With Google Maps on Android Auto, you'll see the same navigation card showing the time left on your journey. Tap Share journey to let folks know where you are. Easy‑peasy. Apple Maps in navigation mode - Tap the Share ETA link that appears as soon as you start a journey.
- If the link has disappeared, tap the arrow at the bottom, then tap Share ETA.
- Choose a contact to share your arrival time with.
- Tap Stop Sharing ETA at any time, if you need to.
If you're using an iPhone, you'll get a link to see your location on Apple Maps. Team Android gets a text saying what time you'll show up (and another text if that changes). In an Uber After you accept a ride, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the trip details. Tap Share Status on iPhone or Share My ETA on Android. (This works on the Lyft app, too.) Share this with anyone who takes an Uber alone. Don't want to be late in the first place? Schedule a reminder to leave on time. Google Maps has it built right in when you look up a route! - Type a destination and choose your mode of transportation.
- Expand the route preview and scroll to the bottom. Toggle on Remind you to leave on time.
- Tap Leave to choose when you plan to leave or Arrive to choose when you want to get there.
- Set the time and Google will automatically send you a notification 15 minutes ahead of when you need to leave! Brilliant.
Pro tip: Never use GPS to go to a cemetery. It's not very comforting to hear, "You have reached your final destination." | | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH |  | Your personal info for sale Data brokers are cashing in on your personal information. They collect and sell details like your phone number, date of birth, the places you've lived, your Social Security number and so much more. Best case scenario: Your data lands in the hands of advertisers. Worst case scenario: It ends up with scammers and identity thieves. You can take control with Incogni. They helped me scrub my personal data from the web, dealing with the world's data brokers head-on so I don't have to. Let them do the same for you. ▶️ Add in three of your email addresses, phone numbers and physical addresses, and Incogni tracks down and erases all your profiles floating around online. It's impossible to do this on your own. Trust me, I tried. Protect yourself today! Use my link now to get 60% off. → Please support our sponsors! | KIM KOMANDO TODAY This is a real-life nightmare A mom in Texas woke up to her son talking to a stranger through the Ring cam in his room. Go to around the 18-minute mark for the conversation. Tap or click below to play this podcast now. Use this link to listen on Komando.com → | WEB WATERCOOLER ‼️ 3 email scams spreading now: Look for these three big ones. First up, fake invoices for bills, gifts or whatever. Scammers hope you're too busy to check and will just pay it. Second, bogus celebrity endorsements — go to their official social media profile or website instead of trusting a random email or ad. And finally, keep an eye out for extortion schemes in your inbox. More crooks are using your personal info and maybe a photo of your home to scare you into paying them. Stay sharp! Ascension Healthcare hack: We now know how big the May cyberattack really was. Hackers grabbed medical records, payment info, insurance details, IDs and addresses of 5.6 million people. If this breach affects you, watch for a letter via USPS mail. Either way, freeze your credit and get yourself off the Dark Web.* Seriously, what's going on in NJ? The FAA banned all drones from flying over parts of New Jersey until Jan. 17. The U.S. government's even saying they'll shoot down or detain anyone caught in a no-fly zone. Thinking about flying a drone there? First, check the list of 22 areas in which drones are banned. Maybe they really are UFOs: An Air Force vet posted a bunch of videos of a glowing orb flying over his house in New Jersey. The orb darted around for about 30 minutes in broad daylight. He used to work on airplanes, knows a ton about drones and says he's never seen anything like it. Have you? See the videos for yourself. History teachers are in the past: An online charter school in Arizona is ditching human teachers. Kids get two hours of academic instruction daily taught entirely by AI. The rest of the day is dedicated to life skills workshops covering subjects like financial literacy, goal setting and entrepreneurship led by "guides." Bet they make even less than teachers. 🦍 Tag, you're it: If you've got kids obsessed with the Meta VR game "Gorilla Tag," talk to them. There are videos all over the internet telling them to install the free VPN app Big Mama to cheat. It's just a front for selling access to your home internet and network. Need a VPN you can trust? Here's my pick.* Hit the right notes: Now you can chat with Google's NotebookLM AI podcast host-sounding bots. Feed in your notes and they'll answer questions based on what you wrote. It's still in beta, so double-check to make sure it doesn't mess up any facts. Barb in Chicago wrote, "Kim, thanks for telling me about NotebookLM. I am using it to teach my customers about how to use the hair products I sell." You're welcome. Travel gram: Meet 94-year-old Joy Ryan. She's on a journey to visit every continent with her grandson, and she didn't even get her passport until she was 91. She's the oldest person to visit all 63 U.S. national parks, too. I hope she got the senior discount! Follow her journey on Instagram. It's amazing! | DEALS OF THE DAY The clock is ticking! 🏃 Last-minute gifts that'll (hopefully) arrive by Christmas. You can do this! PSA: Check the shipping date! When I did, these all arrived before Christmas. | DAILY TECH UPDATE Why you can't trust Zillow's home values Zestimates might look like the gold standard, but they're often way off. Tap or click below to play this podcast now. Use this link to listen on Komando.com → | TECH LIFE UPGRADES Hi, you: Old voicemails can be particularly nostalgic when you're missing someone. Make sure you save yours the right way. 🙏 Imagine you're at church: The pastor is sharing an emotional story so impactful there's not a dry eye in the house. Then, your phone rings. Argh. Do what I do and say this before you enter: "Siri, silence my phone" or "Google Assistant, silence my phone." Windows laptop feeling extra warm? Consider an app to monitor the temperature in real time. CoreTemp and Real Temp for Windows are good options. Anything higher than 176 degrees Fahrenheit is bad news. On the dotted line: It's easy to create a virtual signature on a Mac. In the Preview app, hit Tools > Annotate > Signature > Manage signatures. Sign using your trackpad (hard) or sign your name on a white piece of paper and hold it up to your webcam (easier). 💳 "Kim, how do I take credit cards?" I get this question from small-biz owners. Stripe is a solid option that's safe and won't cost you a fortune. They're not a sponsor; we use Stripe and like it here at Komando HQ! In case you need permission … My husband and son are good gift-givers. Not everyone is. Treat yourself to something nice,* like a cashmere sweater or silk top you can toss in the washer. I order supplements online: They're more affordable that way and I never run out. On my daily list: Collagen. Hit this link for 45% off NativePath.* Their collagen mixes into coffee and smoothies, and it's great for your joints and recovery. | WHAT THE TECH?  If you see these images on social, they're fake. The account UK Snack Attack has one purpose: To trick people into thinking funky snack variants are real. I'm bummed the pistachio-flavored Nutella is phony. One day … | UNTIL NEXT TIME ... Hey, film buffs: Check out the National Film Registry here. You can even nominate movies if your favorite's been snubbed so far. Don't worry, "Toy Story" is in there. Speaking of, Rick Astley will give you any of the Pixar films in his collection … except for "Up." (I saw you smile!) 🙇 3 minutes to get your privacy back: That's how long it took me to set up an Incogni account. For months, they've worked in the background to get my info off scummy data-broker and people-search sites. Try it yourself with my 60% off link, exclusively for my readers. You'll be so glad you did. "Kim! That's it?" No, friend! I'm sharing lots more that you can only hear by listening to my national radio show. Find your local station and tune in, or get my show's podcast to listen to wherever and whenever you want! See ya back here tomorrow with another issue of the best tech newsletter in the USA. — Kim | How'd we do? What did you think of today's issue? | | |
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