It's Sunday funday, friend.Pour your coffee because today's trivia comes straight from your digestive tract. Scientists built smart underwear with sensors that track your gas output in real time. Why? When researchers asked people to self-report, everyone lied. (Shocking.) So they skipped the honor system and went straight to the source.
😱 How many times per day did the smart underwear report that the average person actually passes gas? A) 8, B) 14, C) 22 or D) 32. The answer is tooting at the end.
🤿 Real quick before we dive in. This newsletter is free and I'd love to keep it that way. The sponsors make that possible. If something catches your eye, click through. It helps more than you know. OK, let's get into it. — Kim
You're probably paying for credit monitoring, office software and audiobooks you could get for free.
Extended warranties, roadside assistance and alerts are likely included in your credit card benefits.
Canceling the duplicates could save you $1,200 or more a year.
📖 Read time: 2.5 minutes
I'm about to make you mad. Not at me. At your bank statement.
Americans are quietly paying for things they could get for free. Not small stuff either. I'm talking $1,200 or more a year in charges for services you already have access to, buried in subscriptions, upgrades and plans you forgot you signed up for.
Let's go line by line.
💳 Credit monitoring: Free
If you're paying Experian, TransUnion or a third-party app for credit monitoring, stop. Federal law gives you free weekly credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Most major banks and credit cards (Chase, Capital One, Discover) include free credit score tracking built right into their app.
You're paying $10 to $30 a month for something your credit card already does.
💻 Microsoft Office: Probably free
That $100/year Microsoft 365 subscription? If you're using it for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides do the same thing for zero dollars. If you need actual Microsoft apps, the free web versions at Office.com work for 90% of people.
Unless you're running a business on complex spreadsheets, you don't need the paid version.
📚 Audiobooks and magazines: Free
Paying $15 a month for Audible? Download the Libby app. It connects to your local library and gives you free audiobooks, ebooks and digital magazines. Same bestsellers. Same narrators. Zero dollars.
Don't have a library card? Most libraries let you sign up online in about two minutes. That's $180 a year for a service your tax dollars already paid for.
🚗 Roadside assistance: In your wallet
Paying $100+ a year for AAA?
Check your auto insurance policy first. Many include roadside assistance. So do credit cards like American Express and some Visa Signature cards. You might be triple-covered and paying for two of them.
🔐 Extended warranties: Same story
That protection plan you added at checkout on Amazon? You might not need it. If you bought the item with a Visa, Mastercard or Amex, your card likely doubles the manufacturer's warranty for free.
Go to amazon.com/orders and search "Asurion" to see every protection plan you've bought. Cancel the ones your credit card already covers. That's $15 a month you can get back starting today.
📱 Apps you upgraded: Didn't need to
Check your App Store subscriptions right now. iPhone: Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions. Android: Google Play > Payments & subscriptions.
I guarantee you'll find at least one app you're paying a premium for when the free version does everything you need. Weather apps, photo editors and note-taking apps are the usual suspects.
Add it up. Credit monitoring ($240/year), Office ($100), Audible ($180), AAA ($100), phone insurance ($180), random app upgrades ($60). That's $860 in easy cuts. And I was being conservative.
Forward this to someone who complains about money but has 14 subscriptions they forgot about. We all know that person. (If you don't, check your bank statement. It might be you.)
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Investigators originally said there was no footage. Nancy Guthrie's Nest doorbell was disconnected, and she didn't have a paid subscription. Then the FBI stepped in. I break down how they recovered the video from Google.
Hate vacuuming? Same. At under 3 inches tall, it can sneak under beds and couches. Strong suction handles both hard floors and carpets, then it docks and recharges itself.
Image: eufy
🚗 Fast (charging) lane: Lisen's retractable car charger(43% off, $29) pumps up to 69W. Charge up to four Androids or iPhones with USB-C at once.
Instant vibe shift: Color-changing LED strips(38% off, $18) turn bedrooms from "meh" to "wow!" Set them to wake you up or light up a party.
😁 Smile saver: This cordless water flosser(30% off, $30) blasts away the crud your toothbrush misses. Lasts up to 30 days on a single charge.
Temp check tech: Alpha Grillers' digital meat thermometer(35% off, $13) gives you instant reads, no guesswork. 4.8 stars and 85K+ reviews.
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WEB WATERCOOLER
👓 Name Tag nightmare: Meta's gonna add facial recognition to its Ray-Ban smart glasses (paywall link) this year. Point your specs at a stranger, and AI pulls up their info instantly (their name, social media profiles and whatever details they've shared on Facebook and Instagram). Nothing screams making connections like giving every creep X-ray vision of your personal data. Talk about specs appeal gone wrong.
Ring backs down: Amazon's Ring canceled its partnership with Flock Safety after customers threatened to smash their cameras. The surveillance company lets ICE and federal agencies access camera networks. Ring's tone-deaf ad showing dozens of cameras scanning neighborhoods didn't help. People were literally throwing away their doorbells in protest. When customers start destroying your product over privacy fears, you've crossed a line.
🤖 Job apocalypse timeline: Microsoft's AI chief moved up the white-collar job replacement timeline from "sometime in the future" to 12-18 months. Mustafa Suleyman says lawyers, accountants, project managers and marketers who use computers are all at risk. Remember when companies promised AI would only help workers? That narrative's dead. Amazon and Meta are already linking mass layoffs directly to AI adoption.
📘Turn buzzwords into profit: Everyone is talking about AI, but few know how to actually use it to make money. NetSuite's free "Demystifying AI" guide bridges the gap. It gives you a practical road map to improve your operations and boost your bottom line. If your revenue is in the seven figures, download the guide for free today.*
Stamped, sealed, scammed. If you own a Trezor or Ledger crypto hardware wallet, watch your mailbox. Thieves are mailing official-looking letters with QR codes, claiming you need to verify your device by a deadline or lose access. Scan the code, enter your recovery phrase, and your wallet is drained. Old-school mail, new-school heist. If a letter asks for it, shred it.
🚙 Not street-ready: Your Ford can drive itself on the highway. Kinda. Feds hit Ford with 25 tough questions about BlueCruise, its hands-free driving tech. Why? In two fatal crashes, the cars drove straight into parked vehicles. Just sitting there. The system runs $495 a year on the F-150, Explorer, Expedition and Mach-E. If you've got it, open FordPass > Vehicle > Software Updates. A vehicle that can't spot a parked car shouldn't be driving itself.
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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Stop your lock screen from lighting up every time your phone's in your pocket or bag. On Android, go to Settings > Motion and Gestures > Tap to turn on screen. On iPhone, open Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Tap to Wake. You might also want to turn off Lift to Wake or Raise to Wake.
💻 When your laptop battery's running out: You can still extend its life without a charger. On Windows, open Settings > System > Power & battery and turn on Energy saver. On Mac, go to System Settings > Battery and switch on Low Power Mode. FYI, the screen will dim and performance slows down, but you can keep working.
Turn a YouTube video into text: Following a how-to guide and prefer to read it instead? Open the video description and click Show transcript. Everything spoken appears on the right side of the screen. Tap the three-dot icon in the pop-up and select Toggle timestamps to clean it up, then copy and paste the info.
💾Your hard drive is on borrowed time: Every computer eventually dies. When it does, recovery services charge up to $3,000 to maybe get your files back. I use Carbonite instead. It backs up every photo and document to the cloud automatically. It's cheap insurance against a guaranteed disaster. Get 50% off right now.*
Keep your camera settings: Hate reapplying your favorite camera mode, filter and lighting every time you reopen the app? Force your camera to remember what you like. On iPhone, open Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings. On Android, open the Camera app > Settings > Settings to keep. Boom. Picture-perfect every time.
📱 Your phone can copy text off anything: See a recipe on a restaurant menu? A quote on a whiteboard? A number on a business card? Just point your camera at it. On iPhone, open the Camera app, point at the text and tap the little scan icon in the bottom right corner. On Android, open Google Lens (tap the Lens icon in your camera or Google search bar) and point it at any text. Select, copy, paste. You turned your phone into a scanner without downloading a thing.
SUNDAY TO-DO LIST
🚶🏼♀️ Take me with you: I fit in your pocket and I never complain about the weather. Listen to my latest show while you walk, fold laundry, or pretend to clean the garage. Find me on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, Pandora or wherever you get your podcasts. Search for my last name, Komando.
🌌 See how small you really are: The Size of Space lets you scroll from Earth to the sun to black holes to the entire Milky Way. Prepare to feel very, very tiny. Start scrolling.
🎮 Die of dysentery (again): The Oregon Trail is playable online for free. Stock your wagon, ford rivers, and try not to let everyone die before you reach Oregon. Hit the trail.
🛒 Stalk your own shopping cart: You know that thing you buy on Amazon every month like clockwork? It might be on sale, and you'd never know because Amazon sure isn't going to tell you. Check this link, so you stop paying full price like a sucker. Your wallet called. It's tired.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: @linusekenstam via X
🏅 Drones at the Olympics
The real MVPs of the 2026 Winter Olympics aren't competing. They're behind the controllers. For the first time, first-person-view (FPV) drones are chasing athletes down luge tracks, through slalom gates and off ski jumps at up to 75 mph.
Over two dozen FPV drones and 10 traditional ones are in use across the Games. The result? You can practically feel the ice spray from your couch.
Some athletes aren't thrilled about the buzzing overhead, but officials say the drones don't affect performance. The athletes are going 90 mph. I think they have bigger things to worry about. Watch the action here.
LOGGING OUT …
🔜 Tomorrow: The president's car has electrified door handles, a fridge full of his blood type and a grenade launcher. His phone has no apps. And someone once sent the nuclear launch codes to the dry cleaners. I've got the scoop in tomorrow's newsletter. Don't miss it!
💨 The answer: D) 32. Yep. That smart underwear uncovered the fact we toot about 32 times a day on average, more than twice the old estimate of 14. Normal can vary a lot. Some people clock in at single digits, others are basically a one-person wind farm. If you're that person, set your underwear to Do Not Disturb.
An older couple are in church. The wife says to the husband, "I've let out one of those silent farts, what do I do?" The husband says, "Change the battery in your hearing aid."
Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, eufy, @linusekenstam via X
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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