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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 […]
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I’ll walk through how it happened and what you can do to secure your info.
Booking a rental property for your next vacation? There’s a scam for that!
Is your digital life a mess? You can fix that in just a few minutes.
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‘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.
All bright and shiny
☀️ Hello, sunshine! Let’s brighten your day with a few little upgrades.
- I don’t like dark hallways and stairwells. These night-lights look nice and cost less than $10 for eight. Click the extra coupon!
- Guys and gals, bags under your eyes make you look older. Swipe on some gentle under-eye cream (44% off).
- Now, use some redness-banishing eye drops (8% off) so you’ll look like you got a great night’s sleep!
- Do you floss every day? Uh-huh, sure. A water flosser (40% off) is easier and keeps your teeth sparkling.
- White taper candles with no smell ($15 for 20) are my go-to for dinnertime.
Just in case you need it: A bestselling ice and snow scraper to toss in the car. Stay safe!
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
Minimize your stress: Pressing Windows key + M on a PC or Cmd + Option + H + M on a Mac minimizes all your windows so you don’t have to do it one by one. To minimize all but the one you’re using, use Windows key + Home on a PC or Cmd + Option + H on a Mac.
❤️ A father’s love: An IT director in Toronto called corporate life quits after doctors told him his son had an ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease with no cure. They said his boy would be paralyzed from the waist down by age 10 and quadriplegic by 20. Dad liquidated his savings and teamed up with researchers working on a promising gene therapy. Years later, his son received the treatment and can now stand up. So wonderful.
A father’s love
An IT director from Toronto called corporate life quits after doctors told him his son had an ultra-rare neurodegenerative disease with no cure. They said his boy would be paralyzed from the waist down by 10 and quadriplegic by 20. Dad liquidated his savings and teamed up with researchers working on a promising gene therapy. Years later, his son received the treatment and can now stand up.
TikTok: If you don’t have It, you can’t get it
TikTok got a 75-day extension thanks to President Trump’s Executive Order, but new downloads are banned in the U.S. Some are so desperate they’re buying phones with TikTok pre-installed on eBay for thousands.
✈️ Aisle be waiting at the airport: You can now pay for a JetBlue flight using Venmo. They’re the first airline to offer it, and I bet others will follow. Why the change? JetBlue’s in the red, reporting hundreds of millions in losses. Reminder, if you’re booking secret travel, all your purchases on Venmo are public unless you take these steps.
11 years
Added to your life just by doing chores. Every time you do yard work, take the stairs or vacuum up dust bunnies, you’re boosting your metabolism and increasing your life expectancy. Tell your kids this next time they “forget” to clean their rooms.
Can Gen Z handle cash?
About 30% say they avoid it, saying it’s too easy to steal. Want a tech career? AI is changing everything, and some degrees might already be outdated. Plus, the truth about video wills and how Zillow’s Zestimate could cost you.
🤺 Who are their competitors? You’re researching a new service for your business and don’t know who to compare it to. Or maybe you’re looking for new sales prospects. Ask ChatGPT or your favorite AI bot! It’ll spit out a list. Take it with a grain of salt; some results could be outdated.
Pay for YouTube Premium? Hit this page for beta features you get to try out first. A new one lets you jump ahead to what the algorithm thinks is the best part of a video. Don’t you dare try it on my videos!
Don’t fall for this jury duty scam
No, you didn’t miss your summons. Scammers are pretending to be police, threatening arrest for skipping jury duty. Here’s how to stay safe.
Fountain of youth: Retro Biosciences is developing a set of proteins that could turn back the clock on human skin cells. Their goal? To add 10 years to your life. Their work is powered by ChatGPT GPT-4b micro, an AI model created by OpenAI. They didn’t sign a big deal, but OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has already invested $180 million of his own money into Retro Biosciences.
64 iPhones, one music video
OK Go’s new music video for “A Stone Only Rolls Downhill” was filmed on 64 iPhones. arranged them into a mosaic of split screens and edited it all into a single take. It took their 31-person team of 31 over 1,000 takes and more than 577 hours of prep to nail the 4-minute video. Even Tim Cook was impressed.
5 cool ways to use your home network (beyond getting online)
When you connect your gadgets to the same Wi-Fi network, you’re not just getting them online; you’re building a system so they can communicate with each other. You don’t need to be a tech wizard — just follow the steps below:
🥵 It’s all over social media: Heating pads, space heaters and electric fireplaces are leaving people with toasted skin syndrome caused by too much heat exposure. It looks like a lacey spotted rash and could take months or years to go away, if ever. Have it? See your doctor ASAP.
Wait, are public phone chargers dangerous?
Those charging kiosks in airports, hotels and malls are so tempting when you’re out and about with a dying phone. Their owners promise they’re safe. The government disagrees, and so do I. Groan, I know.
Welcome to the newest phase of juice jacking. The phenomenon has been around for more than 10 years. Hackers use public phone-charging stations to upload malware to your devices. Then, they ransom your device or steal your passwords. Super-duper.
The sky is falling
On Prince Edward Island, Canada Laura Kelly’s doorbell cam caught the exact moment a meteorite fell. In a big first, the cam also caught the sound it made on impact. It happened last July, but scientists just dropped their findings. Huh, sounds different than I expected.
60 million
Students and teachers impacted by a massive software breach. PowerSchool, used by 16,000 schools for grades and administration, was hacked. Cybercriminals got Social Security numbers, medical records and home addresses. In some cases, the data went back to the ‘80s. You should get a call if your info is impacted.
Big promises, no results: There are some big opinions on Meta ditching its fact-checking program, but here’s the joke: It didn’t work in the first place. An analysis found only 14% of posts pushing foreign enemy state narratives were flagged as false on Meta. The new plan of action? Community notes … because that’s totally working out for X.