| 'Jurassic Park' in real life, woman poisons a baby for followers, car tech crackdown ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏  In partnership with NordPass | | It's a fantastic Friday to get tech-ahead, friend. I think I found the longest Windows keyboard shortcut (you have to make a claw to do it): Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Windows key + W. This opens a new Word Doc; try it with X at the end to open a new Excel spreadsheet. Who knew? You do now! Use a Mac? Hit Cmd + spacebar to open Spotlight or Siri's search. Then, type or say "tips," hit Enter and voila — all kinds of new tricks to try. đ A big Komando welcome to WOR 710 AM in New York City. Tune in Sunday starting at 9 p.m. to catch "The Kim Komando Show." Tell 'em thanks on X or Facebook if you're a New Yorker! Fix your password mess: Today's news is free to you thanks to the password manager that saves me from having to reset my passwords at least once a day. More on them below! — Kim đŖ Don't keep me a secret: Share the email with friends (or copy URL here) | TODAY'S TOP STORY Charging do's and don'ts  Those charging kiosks in airports, hotels and malls are so tempting when you're out and about with a dying phone. Their owners promise they're safe. The government disagrees, and so do I. Groan, I know. Welcome to the newest phase of juice jacking. The phenomenon has been around for more than 10 years. Hackers use public phone-charging stations to upload malware to your devices. Then, they ransom your device or steal your passwords. Super‑duper. Have no fear. When your batteries hit the low, low point, just follow these Koman-do's and don'ts (never gets old). Don't use public USBs – just outlets Good news: Actual cases of juice jacking are rare in the U.S. They happen through USB connections, so if a kiosk has actual power outlets to charge your phone using your own adapter, you're good to go. Stay away from USB ports of any size, though, especially when traveling overseas. USB standards are international, and foreign hackers can target USB ports in hotels or rentals to steal your data, even if you're not using a kiosk. Do go cable-free Use wireless charging pads instead of USBs when possible. More and more public kiosks have them. This method doesn't exchange data directly with your phone, so it's virus-free by default. Score. Don't use a data cable If you're desperate for juice, you can use a USB connection safely … with the right cable. Pack a charge-only cable for your trip. They're cheap and compact, and they don't allow for data transfers. Don't choose the 'trust' option Newer phones are smart enough to be wary of an unknown USB connection. (Some humans could learn a thing or two, huh?). Plug in and you'll get a prompt to "trust this device" or "share data." Always say "No" to these options when you're away from home. Both allow data communication between your phone and the charging hardware, which may be infected with malware. Choose the "charge-only" option. If that's not available, keep walkin'. Do carry an external battery They're slim and durable, and you'll never regret packing them. Drop your external battery into a suitcase side pocket or laptop bag and keep it close. Just remember to charge it back up after you use it so you're always good to go. đĒĢ Did you hear about the robot caught trying to rob a bank? Its battery died halfway to the getaway car. Police have no plans to charge the suspect. (You laughed, I know it!) | KIM KOMANDO TODAY 5 things Gen Z won't do Spoiler: One of them is changing a light bulb. What gives? These kids grew up with Google and YouTube! Tap or click below to play this podcast now. Use this link to listen on Komando.com → | WEB WATERCOOLER đ Foreign tech crackdown: New cars are rolling computers with cameras, microphones and GPS tracking. Now, think about those features being weaponized to control your vehicle. Hello, national security risk. That's why the U.S. is banning Chinese and Russian auto software starting with 2027 models and hardware for 2030 vehicles. Steer clear: Willow, a company that fronts bill money to customers, left over 240,000 private records in a non-password-protected database. It included customers' names, numbers, transaction amounts, bank account details and partial credit card numbers. This is why I never recommend hot, new finance apps. ✈️ No more putting it off: After years of delays, we have a real deadline. Starting May 7, you'll need a Real ID or an approved alternative (like a U.S. passport or permanent resident card) to pass through TSA checkpoints in the U.S. Pro tip: In some places, you can book a DMV appointment online to avoid the big line. đĄ Throw away the key: This is awful. A woman is in jail for poisoning a one-year-old with old medicine the baby didn't need and posting social media videos about how much pain the baby was in. She raked in over $37,000 in donations before she was arrested and charged with torture and child exploitation. Police didn't say if she's the kid's mom, but, either way, the little one is safe now. Google could stop this, but they don't: At the top of its search results for Google Ads are fake sites that collect your real login info. Fall for one, and hackers can take over your Google Ads account to post their scam URLs — or just sell your info to other criminals. Make sure 2FA for Google Ads is on to detect strange logins. More smarts like this are coming soon in my small-biz newsletter. Get on the list today! Oh, Deere: The FTC and state attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota are suing John Deere for making their high-tech tractors impossible for farmers and third-party mechanics to fix, even after they promised to in 2023. The machines can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and come with massive repair bills as they age. I found a mechanic online saying they charged $12,000 for a $2,000 job. Something new to try: ChatGPT's scheduled tasks feature is rolling out now for paid accounts. Pick a suggestion (e.g., "Send me a daily horoscope") or create your own task, like "Give me a weather report on Saturday mornings before my long run." In the app, go to your profile > Tasks. On a browser, hit the gem icon (top right corner) > Tasks. đŽ Nintendo used to make the Wii, but it's time for a Switch: The Nintendo Switch has sold over 146 million units since its 2017 debut, second only to the Nintendo DS. A new trailer shows the first console morphing into the fancy Nintendo Switch 2. The screen is bigger and the Joy-Cons snap magnetically instead of sliding. There's no release date yet, so you have time to begin saving. | DEALS OF THE DAY Bit by the DIY bug? đ¨ It doesn't have to be hard. Here are some little products that make a big difference. - Fill up paint pens ($25 for a set of five; 17% off), and touch up scratches on doors and walls without having to redo an entire area. Easy!
- If there's one thing that ruins the front of a house, it's oil stains in the driveway. It's a good thing concrete oil stain remover is under $20.
- While you're waiting to scrub the oil remover, why not install new garage door handles ($10)? They make a boring door look way classier.
- Decorative stick-on ceiling tiles add a ton of personality to a room. Click the box for $10 off.
- Motion-sensor cabinet lights ($30) are a game-changer. We have them in our garage.
đ Charged up: I found this battery organizer ($24) after spending 20 minutes digging through my junk drawer for one AA. The name's so funny, too. | DAILY TECH UPDATE Is your phone expired? No matter how well you treat your smartphone, it won't last forever. Tap or click below to play this podcast now. Use this link to listen on Komando.com → | TECH LIFE UPGRADES đ¤ I want to be your secret helper and mentor: I've been around tech forever. My business has thrived for over 20 years without debt or investors. If you have an issue, problem or question about your life or business, I'd love to help you. Ask me here on my site. I read every single note. There are two main ways to prompt AI: Mega-prompts are detailed, all-in-one requests that generate a complete response in one go. Chain prompting breaks tasks into smaller steps so you have more control. For example, a mega-prompt asks for a full business plan, while chain prompting starts with an outline, adjusts the scope, refines the plan and ends with action steps. I use chain prompting for bigger projects! đ Zoomed in? In all kinds of programs, you may have zoomed in by accident and you need to get back to normal. On a Mac, press Cmd + 0 (zero). On a PC, it's Ctrl + 0. (Bonus: Zoom in and out with Cmd/Ctrl and the plus and minus keys.) Just in case: If you have videos on TikTok, save them elsewhere. You can use SnapTik to download them. Just copy the link of the video you want to keep, paste it into the search bar, and hit the green Download button. ❗ Lock down your cybersecurity: I work with brands I trust to keep you secure. Hit this page to see the five must-have tools I recommend. đ´ YouSleep: New to the YouTube app is a handy-dandy sleep timer. Tap the cog icon (top right corner) on any video. Press Sleep timer in the dropdown menu. Set it for 10 minutes or End of video. This is perfect for white noise without draining your phone's battery all night. Big online dating mistake: Stop giving away too much info to anyone who sees your profile. Skip the links to your social media profiles, especially. You don't want a date gone wrong to stalk your pictures after you've blocked them. | BY THE NUMBERS 54% dream in ads Adults under 35 who say products invade their sleep. Imagine when the tech exists for advertisers to get in on their own, not just relying on what you saw while awake. "Tonight's rest is sponsored by …" 216% more people Learning Chinese on Duolingo compared to this time last year. With the TikTok ban looming and so many people running over to another Chinese app, RedNote, they likely need a crash course. RedNote is in Mandarin by default. Duolingo downloads are up 36%, too. $200 million raised To fund a real-life "Jurassic Park" project. Biotech startup Colossal BioSciences wants to bring back extinct species, including the wooly mammoth, dodo and thylacine, aka the Tasmanian tiger. I saw the new dinosaur in "Jurassic Park" is a hybrid; I guess that makes it Prius‑toric. | WHAT THE TECH?  Fall for this one and things will go very bad very quickly. The goal is to hack into your real Wells Fargo account. | UNTIL NEXT TIME ... On this day 27 years ago: The Drudge Report broke the news about the affair between then-President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky after Newsweek killed the story. It was a big moment for online news — internet sources went from mostly gossip-based to real competitors to traditional news outlets. The Drudge Report's value has always been hush-hush; one estimate from 2012 put it in the hundreds of millions. Rumor has it founder Matt Drudge sold the site. Its political coverage definitely isn't what it used to be. đ️ My local newspaper ran a joke contest. I entered my ten best puns, hoping one would win. Sadly, no pun in ten did. (I shook my head while writing that.) Do yourself a favor. With my thoroughly tested recommendation and pick, NordPass, you can store all your logins in one safe spot and access them from your phone, computer, tablet — whatever. So, so handy. That's all, folks! See you back here tomorrow for 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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