| The Current-Sun Solar grid attack, RIP Skype, AI job interview help -  In partnership with StartMail | | Happy Sunday, my friend! I thought this was interesting. Parmesan cheese has a huge $2 billion counterfeit problem that tech is conquering. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium (yep, Big Parma is a real thing) is fighting back by adding tracking chips smaller than a grain of salt to the 88-pound cheese wheels. If you eat the tracking chip, you'll be fine. The Italian cheese police are working overtime for the grater good. 🫣 I'm here: Your email provider might be censoring your inbox. To make sure you always get my email in your inbox, click a dozen or so links in today's issue. This tricks their algorithms. I hope you learn a ton today. It's my mission with every issue! — Kim 📣 Don't keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | TODAY'S DEEP DIVE AI's secret language  Stop me if you've heard this one. One AI bot calls up another, and they chat back and forth in English. Once they realize they're both AI, they switch to a secret-to-them language totally undecipherable to human ears. No punch line, because it's not a joke. Watch this viral video from an AI hackathon that shows the exchange. I'll wait. I'm sure you noticed that when the bots are chatting in English, it's pretty normal. Once they switch to their secret language, it's all whirs and screeches, like a dial-up modem. It sent a shiver down my spine You know I embrace AI and all that it has done to change our world. AI bots talking to each other and leaving humans totally out of the equation, though, is terrifying to me, and it should be for you, too. This particular screeching secret bot language was created by two engineers from Meta, Boris Starkov and Anton Pidkuiko. For the record, they took home first place at the hackathon. It's called Gibberlink Mode. It uses a protocol called GGwaves that transmits data over sound instead of full words. The engineers say the bots are 80% more efficient with Gibberlink Mode than when using human language. It's not the first time Facebook scrapped an experiment back in 2017 after two AI programs seemed to create their own way of communicating that researchers couldn't understand. They must have had the same question I do now: How can ethical and security safeguards be enforced if we don't know what the bots are saying to each other? The answer: We can't, and that's bad news. The biggest threat of AI has always been the potential of a digital Frankenstein's monster we can't control. Giving AI a language all its own is inviting trouble: "Let's kill them all!" 👇 Use the share icons below to let those in your circle know what's going in the AI space. I bet they'll be shocked! | DEALS OF THE DAY External hard drives to back up your PC or Mac So you want a backup drive? Here are my top three picks. Order it now while you're thinking about it. Everyone needs one of these! 1. Toshiba Canvio Basics (Affordable and simple) Best for: Budget-friendly external storage and backups for Mac and PC 🔗 View on Amazon, $61.99 🎯 Pros: Affordable, plug and play, comes in different size options ⚠️ Cons: No encryption or password protection and not great for high-speed transfers
2. LaCie Rugged USB-C (Durable and travel-friendly storage) Best for: Photographers, videographers and others who need rugged, shockproof storage
🔗 View on Amazon, $149.99 🎯 Pros: Shock-, dust- and water-resistant, plus USB-C compatibility ⚠️ Cons: More expensive and bulkier than basic external drives
3. Seagate Expansion Desktop (High-capacity storage for home and office) Best for: Large storage for backups, media libraries and desktop use
🔗 View on Amazon, $159.99 🎯 Pros: Huge capacity, plug and play, reliable for long-term storage ⚠️ Cons: Requires an external power source and no advanced security features | WEB WATERCOOLER ⚡ Not a shocker: Hackers are trying to mess with our solar panels. Chinese-owned Solarman PV had a security hole that affected power plants in 190 countries. A German company, Solar-Log, let some folks use the default password. Have solar panels? Switch the default password to a strong one and put them on a separate guest network. 💻 Skype's last call: Will be on May 5. It changed how we made phone calls when it launched in 2003, but couldn't keep up with Zoom and Slack. Microsoft wants you to switch to Teams. You'll be able to log in with your Skype info and save your old chats. Delete it: Go ahead and remove the chat app Telegram from kids' phones because "more than 90%" of drug deals and illegal gun sales start there. Telegram, of course, says crime happens on every online platform. I'm all for privacy, but kids don't need encrypted chat. I 🫶 this: Apple Watch to the rescue for Sue Dumbault from Atlanta. The 48-year-old got an alert that her heart rate was at 137 bpm for more than 10 minutes. That's about how high mine gets when I sprint! Many hospital visits later, Sue had open-heart surgery that saved her life. Now this is crafty: JOANN, the fabric and crafting chain, is going out of business. Didn't take long for scammers to set up fake sites with closeout prices 80% to 90% off retail. The real site (with real deals) is joann.com. Anything else is a fake. Dessert? Yes, please: It's not about willpower. The reason you want dessert even when you're stuffed is called "dessert brain." When you eat something sweet, your brain releases beta-endorphin, a naturally occurring opiate that makes you want more. Hannibal Lecter's favorite dessert? A Danish. (Oh, that was bad.) | | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH |  | Email privacy done right I love getting notes from my readers, and this one from Monty B. says it all: "Hello, I took your recommendation for StartMail two years ago. Best decision I have made for a while. Great service!" Monty gets it. Your email shouldn't be Big Tech's business. Stop letting them scan, track, and sell your data. StartMail puts your privacy first: ✅ True email encryption: Your messages stay locked down for your eyes only. 🚫 No tracking, no ads: No creepy algorithms peeking into your inbox. 📩 Unlimited disposable addresses: Keep spam and junk mail far away. StartMail makes moving your existing contacts and emails super simple — plus, you get advanced spam protection and it works smoothly on Apple Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird. Try StartMail free for 7 days! → Please support our sponsors! | DEVICE ADVICE ⌛ Screen timer: Let the timer be the bad guy and set screen time limits for the kids. On Apple devices, go to Settings > Screen Time. For Amazon Fire tablets, go to the Amazon Kids parental controls. Time limits are under Set Daily Goals & Time Limits. Done and done. Job interview coming up? Ask ChatGPT to play your recruiter. Tell it about the position and responsibilities from the job ad, then have it drill you with questions one at a time. If you really want to get AI-ahead at work, download this free guide from NetSuite.* Got a bored doggo? My Abby is ball-obsessed. Wonder if she'd like this rechargeable one that rolls and bounces like crazy. It's waterproof, too. 🔁 Want to loop a YouTube video? If you're playing a song on repeat, there's no need to refresh the page. Right-click anywhere on the video and select Loop. It'll keep going … at least until an ad crashes the vibe. "What'd you say?" If you find yourself asking this more and more, make a change. Today's tech is so much better than the hearing aids other generations wore. These hearing aids* have two tiny processors that analyze the sound around you to make conversations crystal clear. Incredible. Up in the clouds: Before you pay for storage, know that the free versions might be all you need. Google Drive gives you 15GB, Dropbox Basic offers 2GB and OneDrive throws in 5GB. No one says you can't make a couple accounts … | MY TRUSTED ADVICE 🎙️ 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. - Joe from Los Angeles got caught in a sextortion nightmare. Now a company claims they can get his money and private pics back.
- Dan from Austin is looking for a new job, but all he's finding are scams. One asked him to deposit a bogus check. Seriously?
- Scott from South Carolina got the boot from the biggest online retailer (yeah, that one) and now wants in on AI. With only basic computer skills, he wonders what path to take.
- Plus, John falls for a crypto scam, Phil wants an old Snapchat post, Isaac tags online merch, Bob's wife loses her AirTag, Alan scans old photos and so much more!
📆 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. |
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... My shredder is so lonely. This is one of those "How come no one told me sooner!" tips. You can stop preapproved credit cards and insurance offers coming to your physical mailbox with OptOutPrescreen. Choose five years or forever. I picked forever. 🌊 What kind of insurance would Moses have if he was alive today? Medicare Part C. (I had to!) Just a reminder to check out StartMail. It's the best privacy-focused email. Thanks for letting me in your inbox, bad jokes and all. It's an honor. I'll see you tomorrow for another edition 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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