6 signs your vacation rental is a scam

Booking a rental property for your next vacation? There’s a scam for that!

How to remove personal data from data broker sites (Spoiler: I use Incogni)

I’ll never forget when my son, Ian, asked me where in Los Angeles I lived. I told him I couldn’t remember — it was 30 years ago, and I lived there for maybe six months. A few minutes later, he called and had the address. It was available for free to anyone on the internet […]

Quick tech cleanup: Do this every 3 months

Is your digital life a mess? You can fix that in just a few minutes.

5 cool ways to use your home network (beyond getting online)

From sharing printers to creating a personalized streaming service, you’re sure to learn something new.


Wait, are public phone chargers dangerous?

A few clever ways to keep your devices juiced without fear of being infected with malware


Carmakers will charge for anything, including your safety

New cars cost an arm and a leg, and now some are charging for these extras, too.

Breaking news and tips

‘Can you tape that?’ Phrases tech has killed off

I’m sure you remember this: “You hang up first.” “No, you hang up first.” Not quite as romantic when you fumble for the “End call” button on your iPhone, eh? As times change and our tech changes, so, too, do the phrases we use.

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane this Sunday with something different in our quest for the ultimate tech know-how. It’s gonna be fun, I promise. See how many of these phrases you’ve said at least a few times in your life:

  • “Roll down the window.” Cars have had automatic windows for ages, making the manual rolling down of windows a thing of the past. I still say this, though, in my 1964 Mustang.
  • “Check the answering machine.” Voicemail on cellphones has obliterated the need for a physical answering machine.
  • “Dial 411.” My mother designed the 411 directory system for Bell Labs. Now, just look up someone online and you’ll have their digits.
  • “Page me.” Pagers were all the rage once upon a time. Today, they’re used almost exclusively in health care or other specific industries.
  • “I’ll tape it.” You no longer tape shows with DVR and streaming services. You just hit “Record” on your device or catch it later on demand.
  • “Boot up the computer.” That’s when computers took several (annoying) minutes to start.
  • “Drop it in the mail.” This refers to snail mail, which has been largely replaced by email or instant messaging for everyday communication.
  • “Don’t touch that dial.” TVs and radios used to rely on analog dials. Modern devices no longer have physical dials.
  • “Rewind” or “fast-forward.” These phrases made perfect sense for cassettes and VHS tapes. While we still use them metaphorically, you’re not winding anything.
  • “I need to find a payphone.” My dad used to make me carry a quarter in case I needed to make a call. With a cellphone in nearly everyone’s pocket, payphones have become an urban relic.
  • “Get the film developed” or “Don’t waste the film.” Oh, the good old days of waiting to see a picture you looked horrible in. Digital cameras and smartphones have done away with this.
  • “Look it up in the White (or Yellow) Pages.” Online directories have replaced those hefty books.
  • “Burn a CD.” Once a standard way to share music or files, burning CDs is mostly obsolete with streaming and cloud storage.
  • “Check the TV Guide.” Printed TV schedules have given way to on-screen program guides or streaming menus.
  • “I’ll fax it to you.” Fax machines are nearly extinct. Warren Buffett once told me that’s the only way he’ll do contracts. Why? No one can hack a fax machine, unlike email. Good point, Warren.

😃 Want to share a saying not on this list? Follow me on social and leave a comment. I’m on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else. And if this made you smile, use the buttons below to share it with a friend.

Don’t get left tech-behind – Stay tech-ahead

Award-winning host Kim Komando is your secret weapon for navigating tech.

Bit by the DIY bug?

🔨 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.

🔋 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.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

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.

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.

When AI Goes Wrong! | Best of AO Animated in Week 1 | Australian Open 2025

🎾 This is causing quite a racket: The Australian Open is live on YouTube … sort of. Due to broadcast rights sold to media companies, live coverage is limited to animated avatars playing on a computer-generated court. It’s less Grand Slam and more Nintendo Wii. Don’t believe me? Check out this hilarious Week 1 recap. Unbelievable.

Why the founder of Craigslist never became a billionaire

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Craig Newark started the classified site 30 years ago from his San Francisco apartment. He told me why he never took VC money, how he thinks about OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace, and why the site still looks straight out of 1995 all these years later.

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

By the numbers

$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.

She’s teaching engineering lessons on Pornhub

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A PhD student quit her degree to focus on content creation and she’s making a heck of a lot of money doing it. Plus, MrBeast’s smash-hit game show with a $15 million set, why TikTok can’t shut down and tech life hacks you’ll thank us for later.

😴 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.

❗ 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.

How to talk to a real customer service rep

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Secret ways to get past the bot, fast.

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.

Robotic dog runs 100m in under 10s! (Black Panther 2.0)

They’ll weaponize this: A Chinese company has created a robotic dog that can sprint 100 meters in under 10 seconds. The design is inspired by Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens, who, in 1665, discovered pendulum clocks mounted on the same beam synchronized their swings through energy transfer. And get this — the doggo has custom shoes modeled after a black panther for maximum grip and stability.

Fitness apps are selling your privacy – how to protect your data

After a busy week, I love a long run or hike to clear my head. MapMyWalk and AllTrails are my go-to apps for tracking steps and finding new spots to hike. Bet you’ve got your favorites, too. And while you’re sweating it out, those apps are soaking up your data.

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🎮 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.

It’s time to replace your old router

Most folks don’t know their wireless router — that handy dandy device alongside the modem that connects your devices to the internet — has a shelf life. Once it hits the three-year mark, you’re due for an upgrade.

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Meet 99-year-old pianist Ruth Slenczynska, Rachmaninov’s last living pupil | Classic FM

Rachmaninov’s last living pupil, 99-year-old pianist Ruth Slenczynska, has had an astonishing career spanning nearly a century. Described as “the greatest piano genius since Mozart,” Slenczynska is a former child prodigy who recorded for Decca in the 1950s and 1960s, when she became known as one of the most celebrated Chopin interpreters.

By the numbers

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.

😡 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.