| Plus: New Netflix scam, dangerous college trend, Panasonic's leader returns … after dying in 1989  In partnership with NativePath | | A bright and shiny Sunday to you, friend! NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is ready for its annual mission: Tracking Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. This tradition started in 1955, when a child accidentally dialed an operations center instead of Santa's hotline. Instead of brushing it off, the crew went all in. Today, NORAD launches its official 2024 Santa-tracking site. π
π©» I've been taking collagen for years. Let's face it: No one's getting younger, and strong bones are essential, as are healthy hair and nails. Use this link to get 45% off collagen peptides from NativePath, today's newsletter sponsor. — Kim π¬ Was this email forwarded? Sign up here for free | TODAY'S TOP STORY Your next phone will work around the world  If it's one thing you can bet on, there's always newer, better and faster tech begging you to open your wallet. With that said, you probably haven't heard about BlueBird yet from AST SmartMobile out of Texas. They're working with AT&T to launch the world's first space-based cellular broadband network. Each of these communications satellites is about half the size of a basketball court (about 700 feet wide!). So far, five are orbiting Earth, with plans for another 85 satellites to blanket the planet. When that happens, no matter where you're standing, you won't have to deal with crappy cellphone service or zero bars. I love that. Don't you? Keep reading — I've got a payload of a space update with need-to-know details you'll want to tell your family and friends. Call me, maybe With BlueBird satellite access, your trusty smartphone transforms into a satellite phone — no extra gadgets needed. Forget about searching for those elusive cell towers! This is a total game-changer, especially for those in rural areas with bad (or nonexistent) internet or cell service. AT&T Chief Operating Officer Jeff McElfresh summed it up like this: "It's a future where our customers will only be hard to reach if they choose to be." In other words, no more excuses, like, "Honey, I couldn't call to tell you I was going to be late because I had no bars." Currently, it's the top dog in commercial communications, hovering in low-Earth orbit. As exciting as these advancements are, scientists are already sounding the alarms about overcrowded skies. A study in Nature found BlueBird's predecessor was as bright as over 22% of the brightest stars in the sky. BlueBird's satellites are about to get much bigger — about 2,425 square feet in diameter each. To put that into perspective, the average single-family home in the U.S. is around 2,400 square feet. Imagine 90 homes orbiting Earth. And that extra light? It's making it harder for scientists to peek into the cosmic mysteries. After all, if a meteor's zooming our way, it'd be great to get a heads-up, don't you think? Star light, star bright Speaking of space clutter, Elon Musk's SpaceX just hit 6,370 Starlink satellites in orbit. Not bad, given it started in 2019. Musk has plans to launch 42,000 satellites — possibly more. At this rate, we'll soon have more Starlink satellites in the sky than visible stars (about 9,000). A standard Starlink satellite is way smaller than a BlueBird satellite, measuring 9.2 feet long and 4.7 feet wide when its solar panels are tucked in. Once deployed, those panels stretch the satellite to 36 feet across. For fun: Use this site to track when you can see Starlink satellites above your home. And this real-time map shows you all Starlink satellites in orbit currently. Spoiler: It's amazing! I use Starlink as an internet backup at my home in California and on my boat to get Wi‑Fi on the water. Warning: It's not cheap. Starlink charges $350 for the residential gear to get started, then it's another $120 monthly. It's more expensive for boats and RVs. Even with that hefty price tag, Starlink has over 4 million subscribers. They're also partnered with T‑Mobile for their upcoming satellite-based smartphones. As with BlueBird, there are concerns with how Starlink's thousands of bright lights and signals interfere with scientists' ability to monitor space happenings. Experts also warn of potential collision hazards. Oof. One thing's for sure: Space is getting crowded — fast. Explore: Did you know the International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky? Here's how to find it. π Speaking of … Two astronauts are chilling on the ISS when one turns to the other and says, "I can't find any milk for my coffee." The second astronaut replies, "In space, no one can here use cream." | | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH |  | Take the protein-packed path Bring back your natural radiance with NativePath Collagen. It's scientifically backed to increase bone mineral density, support tissue recovery, reduce wrinkles, enhance hair thickness, and strengthen weak or damaged nails. Collagen levels naturally decline with age, but supplementing with high-quality peptides can help promote overall wellness. Why choose NativePath Collagen? - Fast-absorbing formula: The hydrolyzed peptides are easily absorbed by your body, delivering quicker results for visible improvements in your hair, skin and nails.
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Enjoy 45% off and free shipping on NativePath Collagen today! → Please support our sponsors! | MY TRUSTED ADVICE π️ Every weekend on my award-winning national radio show heard on over 420 stations, I talk with interesting folks like you. Catch these convos on a station near you, or find my weekend show as a podcast in your favorite podcast player. - My Mom, Virginia, joined me on the show on Thanksgiving Day in 2012 to talk about her start at Bell Labs on the team that invented Unix, the video phone and 411. Spoiler: I got weepy introducing her.
- Dr. Avi Loeb says he found tiny magnetic balls in the Pacific Ocean that could be from an alien world. They're tied to a meteor that hit Earth in 2014. Fascinating convo!
- Paige in Indiana wants tips on how to keep an eye on her son while he sleeps. He has sleep apnea; she's worried.
Plus, Victoria needs a garage door alert, Rick wants hunting cell service, Linda's after a new iPhone, Tim's blocking foreign calls, Elaine's tackling a class action and so much more! π Let's talk about anything digital in your life, whether it's family matters or your business. Make an appointment to speak with me right here. |
KIM KOMANDO TODAY He found $3,800 of his lost money with this website Tap or click below to play this podcast from tech expert Kim Komando: πππ | WEB WATERCOOLER π¨ Netflix renewal scam: Cybercriminals are sending fake Netflix texts claiming your account's about to be suspended. They'll say there was an "issue processing your payment" or a "failure in your recent payment" and ask you to sign in through a link. It's just a trick to steal your login details and credit card info. Don't fall for it. AI becomes way too human: A startup called Altera lets its AI-powered agents run wild in Minecraft. What happened? The bots made friends, created jobs, debated taxes and spread the parody religion Pastafarianism, all with zero direct human input. "A Minecraft Movie" is coming out in April 2025, and it's going to be a blockbuster. (Now, that was a good one!) π€ Thought leader or bot leader? You know all those LinkedIn posts sharing tips to maximize your #grindset? Yep, most of them — 54%, to be exact — are AI-generated. A study found these posts are getting longer, too, with their word counts jumping an average of 107% since ChatGPT arrived. No wonder our eyes glaze over while reading them. No kids allowed: Australia just banned kids under the age of 16 from using social media sites and platforms. Social media companies will have to enforce age verification within a year or face massive fines (up to $33 million!). It's all about protecting kids' mental health. I'm really interested in seeing what happens. "God of management": That's what Japan calls Panasonic's founder KΕnosuke Matsushita, who died in 1989 at the age of 94. Now, he's been resurrected as an AI clone. The University of Tokyo trained the bot using his writings and over 3,000 voice recordings. Panasonic says they're going to use the AI clone to make future business decisions. His life story is interesting; he was cleaning stores at just 9 years old. Here's a link if you want to learn more about him. | KOMANDO HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE For the [fill-in-the-blank] person in your life ✏️ I'll fill in the blank. All you have to do is wrap it. - For the road tripper: A dashcam with unlimited cloud backup storage. Your recipient's insurance premiums will thank you.
- For the sneakerhead: A sneaker eraser, so they can finally whip out the white Nikes.
- For the guy who looks like Grizzly Adams: A fancy, new beard trimmer so he can grow big or go home.
- For the kid with unlimited energy: An indoor soccer game to wipe them out in no time, even on snow days!
- For the cook who makes way too much: Souper cubes. Freeze leftovers and pop 'em out whenever you want. I use mine all the time.
- For the person who's always stressin': Shower steamers, because they deserve it!
- For the college kid: A refrigerator deodorizer. We all know what dorm mini fridges smell like.
- For the person who's always cold: A towel warmer makes getting out of the shower a lot less chilly. This one allows them to infuse their towels with essential oils, too!
πΈ Or shop by price: Under $10 | Under $25 | Under $50 | TECH LIFE UPGRADES Laptops expire, too: Before you buy, search for that exact model on endoflife.date. If it's already at its end of life, or EOL, move on. That means it's not going to get any more security updates and isn't safe to use. If it's close to its EOL, you can do better: Check out our latest laptop picks. Are you still watching? (No, I dozed off five episodes ago.) Set a timer to avoid unexpected time jumps. For iPhone, open the Clock app > Timer > When Timer Ends and scroll to Stop Playing so Netflix will close when the time expires. I know I opened my iPhone for a reason: If you accidentally delete an item from your Reminders app, you can still recover it! Open the app and select Recently Deleted. Find your note, then choose Move To so it goes back to where it was before. Don't forget: You can only recover reminders deleted within the last 30 days. Now, what was I doing again? Skip > the settings > labyrinth: Many Android apps allow you to change their settings without leaving them. Just look for the gear icon or find it in the menu. For example, in Google Photos, tap your profile icon (upper-right corner) > Photos settings, and you're there. Paul in Indianapolis writes: "I want to get your deal for NordPass, but I use another password manager. How will I get my passwords from the old program into NordPass?" It's a lot easier than you might think. - Export your saved passwords as a CSV file.
- Import those passwords into NordPass, and NordPass will sync them securely across all your devices.
Bonus: NordPass will scan your imported passwords for weak, reused or compromised ones and suggest newer, stronger passwords. It's like giving your password collection a total refresh! Click here to save 58%* and get NordPass for just $1.23 a month. I use this program, too. | UNTIL NEXT TIME ... Set up your tech for better z's. Struggling to unplug? Put your phone into Sleep Mode to help avoid bedtime distractions. It's like Do Not Disturb but smarter. - On iPhone: Open the Health app > Browse > Sleep. Here you can set up your Sleep Schedule. It dims your screen, silences notifications and reminds you when it's time to hit the hay.
- On Android: Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls, then select Bedtime mode. Set a schedule to turn your screen grayscale and silence pesky pings.
π Why do keyboards never sleep? They have two Shifts. Ugh, I know. Let me try again. I lost my sleeping mask; I won't rest until I find it. On that note, I'm outta here. If you're not already, be sure to follow me on Instagram, X, YouTube and Facebook. Enjoy your Sunday, and I'll see you back here, bright and early, with the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim | How'd we do? What did you think of today's issue? | | |
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