A very happy Tuesday, friend.In 2017, a single emoji became an international land mine. Diplomatic cables were sent, officials held emergency meetings and social media lit up, all because of a tiny icon that got misinterpreted.
What emoji caused a near-international crisis? A) The eggplant 🍆, B) The middle finger 🖕, C) The OK hand 👌, D) A flag emoji 🇹🇼. Take your best guess, the answer ➡️ the end.
💌 Thanks for letting me land in your inbox today. If something here made you smile or think, consider forwarding it to a friend. That small gesture helps this little newsletter reach more good humans, with no ads, no algorithms, just word of mouth. — Kim
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TODAY'S DEEP DIVE
Routers gone rogue
Image: Gemini
⚡ TL;DR (THE SHORT VERSION)
Your Echo and Ring devices share your bandwidth with the whole neighborhood, and yes, you're paying the bill.
The ISP ghost may be using your house as a free public hotspot for strangers.
Routers collect digital fingerprints from nearby devices and sell this data.
Read time: 3 minutes
OK, here's something wild that you might not know. Your Wi-Fi router isn't sitting there twiddling its antennas while connecting your phone to Netflix.
It's actively scanning everything around it, collecting data on everyone and everything nearby. Even people who aren't on your network.
I know, creepy, right?
📍 Amazon's neighborhood network
Unless you manually turn it off, your Echo and Ring devices share a slice of your internet with other Amazon gadgets up to half a mile away through Amazon Sidewalk.
Yep, your friendly neighbors, and even that guy who lets his dog crap on your lawn, get a piece of the line you pay for. If your neighbor's Ring loses Wi-Fi, it hops onto YOUR Echo to upload footage. You're running free surveillance infrastructure for Amazon, and you never agreed to it.
Here's how to shut it down:
For Alexa: Open your Alexa app > More (three lines) > Settings > Account Settings > Amazon Sidewalk > toggle "Enabled" Off.
For Ring:Ring app > Menu (three lines) > Control Center > Amazon Sidewalk > Off. Do this today.
Genius on Amazon. They get neighborhood networks for free. But we're smarter than that.
👣 Your router tracks everything
Every phone and laptop broadcasts a MAC (media access control) address, a digital fingerprint. Your router picks up these signals from every device nearby.
Mesh systems like Eero and Google Nest build profiles of who is near your house and when, then send that data back to the mother ship.
😱 Your public hotspot for strangers
Renting a router from Xfinity, Spectrum or Cox? Bad news: You're paying the power bill for a public Wi-Fi hotspot that isn't for you. Without asking, ISPs broadcast a second, hidden signal (like xfinitywifi) from your equipment, so strangers can hop on.
The ISPs claim the traffic is separate, but you're still subsidizing their national network with your electricity. Plus, it creates signal noise that can slow your own speeds and gives hackers a reason to linger outside your house.
Fix it: Log into your ISP account, find Manage Internet or Advanced Settings, look for Public Wi-Fi Hotspot and toggle it Off.
It takes 60 seconds, and it's a massive win for your privacy.
🛠️ What to do right now
First, stop renting equipment. Buy your own modem & router combo(17% off, $250). You'll save money monthly and won't be a free hotspot for the block.
Second, log into your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) and disable anything labeled analytics, telemetry or motion sensing.
Router companies figured out they're sitting on incredibly valuable data about your life. They're selling it. But you can take back control in minutes.
Hit share. Protect your people. Help everyone take back their privacy in under 10 minutes. Use the icons below. Or forward this newsletter to that one person who likes conspiracy theories because this is a true one.
THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Waymo picks up the kids
The new yellow school bus? Robotaxis, of course. Hear why parents use them as their nannies. Then, it's AI vs. your boss. Middle managers get the axe for the algorithm. Plus, you spent 73 hours last year scrolling, and the U.S. bans Chinese drones.
Your router is the nerve center of your home. Weak Wi-Fi causes dropouts, and that's bad for security cameras, smart locks and alerts. An extender boosts speeds up to 1200 Mbps and covers 105 of your gadgets.
Image: Geyilo
💡 Spotlight snoops: These motion-activated LED lights(39% off, $29, two-pack) scare porch pirates away. Rain, snow or heat won't faze them either.
Early warning system: This solar driveway alarm(9% off, $51) works with your existing cameras and has a massive half-mile wireless range.
🔐Control your door: Yale's top-rated keyless deadbolt(21% off, $79) lets you ditch physical keys. No copying, no losing, no Wi-Fi needed.
Wallet firewall: Slide one RFID-blocking card(20% off, $1.34 per card) into your wallet and stop contactless skimming cold. Easy fix, big payoff.
😋 ICYMI: Yesterday, I shared five kitchen steals all under $20. Hurry, click here to catch up before prices bounce back.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
🕶️ Smart glasses, dumb move: Glad I'm married. A man used his smart glasses to secretly film himself having sex with a woman he met on a dating app, then sent her the videos the next day as a thank-you. Who said chivalry is dead? She had no idea she was being recorded. His defense? He thought she'd "get some satisfaction" from watching. The judge didn't buy it. The defendant pleaded guilty to voyeurism and got hit with a fine. This won't be the last case like this.
Rearview roulette: Can't see behind in your Volvo or Audi? Over 850,000 cars (Audi A6–Q8, Volvo XC40–S90 and Chevy Equinox EVs) are being recalled because the rearview cameras don't show anything. Apparently, "electrical noise" and "software confusion" made reversing a guessing game. Also, some Chevy EVs can't warn pedestrians when creeping along. Fixes are free, updates coming over the air or at dealers. Letters hit mailboxes in February.
😈 Grok got evil: So there's a fake Grok app going around for Mac that steals your passwords, crypto wallets and browser logins. And the craziest part? It was written, at least partly, by AI. Yeah, the hackers used tools like ChatGPT to improve the malware. I don't know what's worse: that it worked or that it was well-written. Remember, bad guys have AI, too. Stick to official app stores and always double-check what you're downloading
Baby's first burnout: Get this, nearly two-thirds of babies under 2 are watching YouTube. Daily. That's according to Pew, and I gotta say, when the babies are included in the algorithm, it's time to pay attention. Experts say it's tied to delayed language development (paywall link), unless you're co-viewing and narrating like Mr. Rogers. And even then? It's still a tiny dopamine casino for the diaper set. I don't blame parents, but I do blame auto-play. We should probably do something before baby's first words are "Like and subscribe, please, it helps the channel."
🛡️ One wrong click is all it takes: You get a fake shipping email. You click. Boom. Malware. I see a lot of security tools, but I only partner with the ones that actually work. I use Webroot because it blocks malicious links in real time before they load. Stop threats before they happen. Save 75% on Webroot Essentials.*
🥑 Drone delivery overhead: Alphabet's Wing is adding 150 more Walmart stores for drone delivery, on top of the ones already running in Dallas, Atlanta and Houston. By the time they're done, drones will serve 40 million Americans. Top orders? Eggs, avocados, ground beef and Takis (those are chips, I had to look it up). Their best customers use the service three times a week. I can't wait for a drone to drop guac supplies in my yard. Guac 'n' roll, baby!
I recommend the Horizon IX hearing aids. These aren't typical hearing aids. They're discreet German-engineered devices with advanced chips that filter noise and deliver crystal-clarity. The IX changes how you hear and connect daily. In fact, a reader recently shared:
"Now, I can HEAR my husband's sweet voice again! I also HEAR the cycle alert on the washer and dryer, and I realized the furnace and refrigerator are running too long and too often. Why didn't I listen to you sooner? Thank you for making everyday glorious". – Ruth
🎧 Or search "Komando" wherever you get your podcasts. I'm everywhere.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Accidentally closed a browser tab? Hit Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows or Cmd + Shift + T on Mac to bring it back. Mash it a few times to resurrect multiple tabs you closed. Life-changing.
✍️ Gmail's AI tools are free: Yep, three big ones. Help Me Write lets you enter a prompt to draft entire emails. Just tap the pen-with-sparkles icon when composing a message. Suggested reply scans the convo and creates a response that matches your usual tone. And AI Summary turns long email threads into bullet points.
Silence the spam: Telemarketers are prowling hard right now. On iPhone:Settings > Apps > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers. Android:Phone app > Settings > Block spam and scam calls. Unknown numbers go straight to voicemail.
📰 Change Alexa's news source: Sick of the same headlines? Alexa app > More (three lines) > Settings > News > My News Channel. Swap to ESPN, Bloomberg, whatever. Test first: "Alexa, play news from [source]."
📞 Let's talk tech. Got a tech issue or a wild story? I want to hear from you. Submit your questions here. You might get a call to chat with me personally on the show and in doing so, win a $25 Amazon gift card.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: Razer
🧠 Vision board
Meet Project Motoko, an AI headset that tracks what you're looking at, what you're saying and what's making noise nearby, then answers back in real time.
Social intelligence: It whispers the names of people walking toward you and reminds you of your last conversation, so you never have an awkward "hey, ahem, you" moment again.
Real-time troubleshooting: Point your eyes at a complex IKEA manual, and the AI overlays 3D instructions, telling you exactly what to do.
Audio filtration: In a loud restaurant, use beam-forming to mute the background clatter and amplify only the person sitting across from you.
Instant fact-checking: Hear a wild claim in a meeting? Motoko's AI can verify it silently in your ear before the speaker even finishes their sentence.
If your brain is a messy group chat, Motoko is the friend who reads everything and replies for you.
LOGGING OUT …
🐾 Coming right here tomorrow: Ever look at your dog or cat and wonder, What are you thinking? Well, I'm diving into the wild world of AI pet translators. Until then, guess what percentage of this is actual science. I'll let you know that, too.
The answer is D) A flag emoji. When Apple added Taiwan's flag emoji (🇹🇼) to iOS keyboards, it ran straight into one of the world's most sensitive political fault lines. Beijing considers Taiwan part of China, and showing its flag as a separate nation is treated as a political statement. Apple then programmed iPhones sold in mainland China to hide the Taiwan flag emoji entirely.
It gets weirder. The flag sent to devices set to the China region get a blank box, and in some cases, the emoji-triggered app crashes due to how the system filtered it. Apple now sets different emoji behaviors by region. Send the wrong flag emoji in the wrong place, and it may vanish, break your app or never appear at all.
🇺🇸 I hope today's newsletter passed with flying colors!
⌨️ Always remember, the delete key works on bad days, too. Start fresh. See ya tomorrow! — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.
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Keep a civil tongue.