A very happy Friday to you, friend.Come back with me to 2023 when we were shocked when Elon Musk bought and rebranded Twitter to X. We said goodbye to the famous cute little blue bird logo, and those of us in the know bid the bird farewell by name. Yes, Twitter's logo had a secret name all along.
🐣 Who was the bird named after? A) A legendary NBA player, B) The founder's first pet, C) A famous 1920s cartoonist or D) A rare species of blue finch. Take your best guess, the answer is perched at the end.
🎧 The earbuds that finally got it right: I test tons of tech. Most earbuds are either overpriced hype or cheap throwaways. Raycon hits the sweet spot. They stay put, the sound is solid and the noise cancellation actually works. I keep a pair in my bag at all times. Grab 15% off my top pick. Details below.*
Quick reminder: I'm giving away $250 daily all month long. If you won today, you'll know it. Look at the top of this email for a big red box that says, "Claim your prize." Impossible to miss. Now let's talk about the tech stories you need to hear. — Kim
Your closet is hiding $500-$2,400 in clothes you forgot you owned.
New live-selling apps are crushing traditional resale platforms.
Vintage band tees, designer bags and sneakers sell in minutes. I'll show you how to price them.
📖 Read time: 2.5 minutes
My friend Lisa opened her closet last Saturday to donate some old clothes. Three hours later, she'd made $2,400 selling stuff she forgot she owned and all her skinny clothes she'll never fit into again. Her words, not mine.
By the way, guys you can totally do this too. Notice I didn't link to any of these sites? That's because including more than a couple links makes Gmail think I'm a crypto prince. So search the names. You'll find them.
👗 The best apps
Forget eBay and Facebook Marketplace. Here's where you want to sell your stuff now:
Whatnot: Go live, show your gear and watch the bidding wars start. They take an 8% cut plus processing.
Poshmark: The buyer pool here is massive. They take a flat 20% on sales over $15. You can go live on here, too.
Depop: GenZ loves this site. Perfect for vintage and streetwear. You only pay a small processing fee.
Vinted: They charge the buyer the fees, not you. You keep 100% of your sale price.
Mercari: Great for name brands and shoes and has a 10% seller fee.
💰 What actually sells
Vintage band tees: Concert tees from the '80s and '90s sell for $60-$200, depending on the band and condition.
Designer bags: Used Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade bags sell for $100-$300. Higher-end brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada can hit $500-$2,000 if authentic. Yes, even a Birkin can be sold used.
Sneakers: Jordans, Nike Dunks, Yeezys, New Balance 550s. If you bought trendy sneakers, check GOAT for current prices. You might be sitting on $150-$400 per pair.
Jeans: Levi's 501s, especially vintage, sell for $50-$150. High-end denim from AG, Citizens of Humanity and Frame goes for $60-$120 used.
🛍️ 4 rules to sell smart
Scammers love posing as buyers to swipe your banking info. Four rules to sell smart:
Trust the app, not your email. Fake payment-received emails look legit but aren't. Never click links, open the app to verify the money's there.
Stay on-platform. Buyer wants to move to WhatsApp or email? It's a scam. They're dodging the app's seller protections.
Never pay a buyer. No legit buyer asks you to send money for shipping verification or any other fee. That's your cash walking out the door.
Film the pack-out. For pricey items, record yourself showing the item, packing it and sealing the box with the label visible. It's your proof if a buyer tries a shady return.
📤 Know someone with a closet full of clothes they never wear? Forward this. They're sitting on rent money. Or be that smart friend and use the share icons below to post this article on your social media.
Just because. What is a flat earther's favorite clothing brand? Land's End.
THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Google pays $68M for recording you
ICYMI, your smart speaker is listening. You didn't know. I cover why Google paid $68 million to settle eavesdropping claims. Then I talk to Aaron, a student from Baton Rouge who turned in his final paper and got flagged for AI cheating, even though he didn't use AI. Plus, how one island got rich from the .ai domain boom and the AirTag 2 launch.
If your closet looks like it lost a fight, start here. They stack up and fold flat when you don't need them. Perfect for organizing your pantry, bathroom or home office, too.
Image: SNSLXH
🧳 Skip the hotel iron: Pack a handheld travel steamer(44% off, $46) that heats up in 15 seconds. No more looking like you slept in your shirt.
Sweater saver: This fabric shaver(20% off, $19) zaps lint and fuzz, so your clothes look new again. Comes with two replacement blades.
🧺 Balls to the wall: Toss in these wool dryer balls(13% off, $10) for fewer wrinkles, softer clothes and faster drying without weird chemicals.
Spilled something? Tide's 3-ounce stain remover spray(38% off, $8, two-pack) with Oxi erases accidents from wine, coffee, grease and more.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
🚪 Tech's chilling clues: I told you yesterday tech logs everything. Now it might save a life. Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today's Savannah Guthrie, disappeared Sunday morning. Her Ring doorbell was ripped off the doorway at 1:47 a.m. It kept recording anyway. Motion detected at 2:12 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, her pacemaker lost connection to her phone. DNA confirmed the blood outside her door is Nancy's. A ransom note demanded millions in Bitcoin. Now the FBI is deploying Celebrite, specialized Israeli hardware that rips through smartphone encryption like it doesn't exist. Locked phone? Bypassed in minutes. Deleted messages? Recovered. Location history? Extracted. Biometric data? Pulled. If investigators find any phone connected to this kidnapping, Celebrite cracks it open and exposes everything the criminal thought was hidden or erased. Digital forensics can recover anything. And right now, that technology is the best chance of bringing Nancy home alive. Let's all say a prayer.
Wait, I don't see any stars: SpaceX asked the FCC for permission to launch 1 million AI data centers into orbit. You read that right, a million satellites running AI in space on solar power. Elon calls it a step toward a "Kardashev Type II civilization," which is nerd-speak for harnessing the sun's energy. Critics call it sci-fi nonsense designed to justify the $1.25 trillion xAI-SpaceX merger valuation. I'm betting this is an opening negotiation. We'll see what actually launches. Say what you want about Musk but the guy is pushing boundaries no one else even thinks of.
Digital gold bust: Bitcoin crashed through $70,000 for the first time in 15 months, and it didn't stop there. It kept falling to $60,000. We're talking a 44% drop from October's peak. The kicker? Everyone said Bitcoin was "digital gold," a safe haven for tough times. Instead, it's tanking while actual gold is up 24%. Over $2 billion in leveraged positions got liquidated in one week. Turns out digital gold acts more like digital roulette.
💼 Hiring shouldn't be this hard: You post one job opening and get 50 applications. Problem? Maybe two are qualified. The rest are spam. Total time-waster. LinkedIn Hiring Pro cuts through the garbage by targeting real skills, not just résumé keywords. You get serious candidates who can do the work. Snag $100 off your first job post.*
AI ad wars: Anthropic dropped $8M+ on an ad for Sunday's big game, mocking OpenAI's plan to put ads inside ChatGPT. A guy asks for fitness tips, shares his height to personalize the workout plan, then gets hit with a discount code for height-maxxing insoles. Sam Altman responded with an essay, clearly the best way to show the ad didn't bother you.
🏃♂️ No excuses: Juan López García couldn't run a mile at 66. Now at 82, he holds the world record for the 50K in his age group, averaging a 9:14 mile. That's faster than most people half his age, and researchers say his aerobic fitness matches a 20-something's. His secret? No fancy gadgets. No $400 smartwatch. No AI training app. Simply a retired car mechanic who decided to start running at 66, stuck with bodyweight workouts, and refused to quit. Sixteen years later, he's a world champion. He started at 66. You gonna wait?
Awareness Mode: Stay alert to what's going on around you
Multipoint Connectivity: easily switch between your phone and laptop
Everyday features also include up to 32 hours of battery life, plus a 10-minute quick charge that gives you 90-minutes of playtime. And the colors, wow! My favorite is Cool Mint. Save 15% with my special deal today!
🎧 Or search "Komando" wherever you get your podcasts. I'm everywhere.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Type @ in ChatGPT and it lets you upload files directly into the conversation. PDFs, images, spreadsheets, it reads them all.
Stop profile switching: Kids' profiles are great, but they won't stop little Timmy from hopping onto your account when you're not looking. Lock it with a PIN. On Netflix, go to Manage Profiles > Profile Lock. On Disney+, Help & Settings > Parental Controls > Parental Lock. On Prime Video, Edit Profile > Account PINand locks. Your continue-watching list will thank you.
🎮 No Xbox required: Cloud Gaming lets you play games over the internet without owning a console. All you need is an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, a fast internet connection around 20 Mbps and a controller. Download the Xbox app and start playing hundreds of titles. Works on PCs, mobile phones, tablets and smart TVs.
A playlist everyone can add to: Get the fam to drop their favorite songs for car karaoke or game night. On Apple Music, open your playlist on your phone, tap the Collaboration button and send the invite link. On Spotify mobile, tap the three dots at the top of the playlist and select Invite collaborators. Then prepare for your teen to judge your choices. Hard.
🏈 Watching the big game this Sunday? Check your TV's audio, so you can hear the announcers. Go to Settings > Audio (or Sound) and try a preset like Movie or Speech Boost. If you're using tower or bookshelf speakers, pull them away from the wall and angle them toward you. Still mumbly? Soundbars are made for clearer dialogue. Game on.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: WHAS11
🚗 Tag, you're it (felony edition)
Getting a temporary license tag online and skipping the DMV line feels too good to be true. In Kentucky, it was.
Police in Louisville busted a crime ring selling bogus temporary plates on social media. Dozens of cars, some tied to crimes, were riding around with printer-paper legality.
Good-faith buyers got caught up in this scam, too. They found out when police pulled them over. Criminals bet you'll pay for convenience, but the DMV isn't selling on social media. Shocker, I know.
Speaking of, never get stuck behind the devil in a line at the DMV. For the devil can take many forms. 😈
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: Would you eat pasta for money while AI watches? That's a real job now. AI is building platforms where other AI hires humans for the strangest tasks imaginable, and the red flags are everywhere. I'll break down what's actually happening tomorrow. It's wild.
🏀 The answer: A) A legendary NBA player. The Twitter bird was officially named Larry the Bird after NBA legend and Boston Celtics star Larry Bird. Twitter cofounder Biz Stone is a huge Celtics fan and grew up in Massachusetts. For over a decade, Larry the Bird was one of the most recognized icons in the world until he was finally retired for the X logo.
Yup, the Twitter Files became the X-Files. (I love seeing that smile on you!)
Be sure to open tomorrow's newsletter. That $250 Amazon gift card might be waiting for you!
📈 Bet on yourself today. You're the safest investment you'll ever make. — 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. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. 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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