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đ¤ âIs it safe to keep TikTok on my phone?â
January 18, 2025 |
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Hello on a spectacular Saturday! Right now, my inbox is filled with emails from readers and listeners asking one question: âAm I allowed to keep TikTok on my phone if the government bans it?â Yep! The law regulates tech companies, not you. App stores and service providers caught hosting it will pay $5,000 per day, per user. With 170 million Americans on TikTok, the fine would be $850 billion per day! Wowsie. With all the money in the world (approximately $463 trillion), that daily fine could be paid for in about 544,706 days, or roughly 1,492 years. Now you know. 𫣠Iâm here: Hey, your email provider might be accidentally hiding me from you. To make sure you always get my email in your inbox, click a dozen or so links. This tells them you value my daily free newsletter. I hope you learn a ton today. Itâs my mission with every issue! â Kim đŁ Donât keep me a secret: Share the email with friends (or copy URL here) |
TODAY’S TECH HACKLetâs get techy![]() When you connect your gadgets to the same WiâFi network, you’re not just getting them online; you’re building a system so they can communicate with each other. You donât need to be a tech wizard â just follow the steps below. 1. Share printers. Tired of running back and forth or emailing between devices just to print? Save yourself the hassle.
Your selected printer should show up when you try to print from other computers on your network. Just make sure you leave the printer and the computer it’s connected to both switched on. 2. Create a DIY streaming service. Tools like Plex and Jellyfin make movies, TV shows, songs and anything else youâve downloaded streamable from any device on your network. The best part? They’re free to use. It’s like having your own private Netflix or Spotify, just for your family. Neat! 3. Share screens. This oneâs for you if youâve ever thought the person sharing photos from a laptop or phone to the TV was a genius.
4. Swap files between devices. My nerds know about network-attached storage (NAS). Itâs a storage drive that connects directly to your router so any device on your network can access it. Something like the $250 Synology DS223 is perfect. NAS units come with setup instructions, and you can access any computer, tablet or phone on your network. Itâs a great place to store documents, photos and music. 5. Game together or from different rooms. If you have a Steam gaming library on one PC, you can access those games from other computers on your network.
Even better, all these tricks work even if your main internet goes down, so you can keep gaming, watching movies and … printing, I guess! đ What do you call a printer that takes up painting? The Artist Formally Known as Prints. (Come on, that was good!) |
KIM KOMANDO TODAYAmericaâs most-surveilled cityThe average U.S. city has six cameras recording for every 1,000 people. Atlanta takes it to another level. Tap or click below to play this podcast now. |
DEALS OF THE DAYThese keep selling outSometimes, the internet gets it right.
đ¸ Bonus: You looked for something on Amazon and now you canât find it. Hit this link to see things you viewed but didnât buy. Amazing. |
WEB WATERCOOLERInvisible threat: Hackers are hiding malicious code inside images. It loads in your email, and, just like that, your security is compromised. Solid antivirus software can spot malware tricks you canât. Protect your computer and phone with my pick for just $19* for the first year. đ Houston, we have a problem: Elon Muskâs unmanned Starship prototype went boom after launch, lighting up the Caribbean sky like a meteor shower. The debris diverted at least 20 commercial flights. Imagine being on a plane and seeing that. It wasnât a total disaster, though. The 233-foot-tall booster made it back to the launchpad in one piece. Theyâre already planning to try again. Itâs a bad apple: I wouldnât want to be the person in charge of this project. Apple is pulling its AI-generated news summaries for pushing fake headlines. The BBC and other outlets called them out for reporting deaths that didnât happen. This AI needs to work on its core. Attention, website owners: Over 1 million WordPress sites use the SEO and optimization plugin W3 Total Cache. A new flaw lets hackers steal all kinds of sensitive info from the backend of a site. If you use the plugin, download software update 2.8.2 to patch the bug right now. âď¸ Caught between a rook and a hard place: International Master Levy Rozman pitted seven popular AI chatbots against chess engine Stockfish. Spoiler: Stockfish crushed âem. ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Xâs Grok are great at chatting, not strategizing. They made hilariously bad moves; like breaking the rules, creating patterns, removing random pieces from the board and generating new ones. Chaotic but entertaining. Show me your digits: Engineer Zara Dar fired up an OnlyFans account while she was pursuing a Ph.D. and made $1 million. Now, sheâs teaching folks about complex topics like neural networks, probability and integrals full-time online. One of her AI explainer videos has a million views on YouTube. No joke, she posts the same PG videos to Pornhub and makes almost three times the money. âSmartâ was a dumb choice: Walgreens swapped out their fridge doors for smart screens five years ago, and itâs been such a disaster theyâre suing to get out of the $200 million contract. They were supposed to show whatâs in stock and run ads, but instead, the screens crash, show the wrong inventory and even catch on fire. đ Whatâs up, doc? A TikTokker is going viral with genius advice â make a medical binder. Print out and file all your medical reports, then bring your binder to your next appointment. Need bloodwork? Youâve got recent results and can save potentially weeks of waiting. Got a doctor questioning a diagnosis? No problem, you have the official report. I keep track of everything in Apple Health. What would you do for $5 million? Contestants on Amazonâs âBeast Gamesâ are taking on giant beer pong, racing in potato sacks, and playing hide-and-seek with Navy SEALs. YouTuber MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, spent $15 million building âBeast Cityâ in Toronto, where 493 folks are competing for the grand prize. After five episodes, it’s Amazonâs second-most-popular streaming show ever, with 50 million viewers. Catch the trailer here. Iâm gonna watch it this weekend. |
A smarter way to emailSo much of what I do is about protecting and securing your online life. And one big thing so many folks overlook? Email. Think about it â your bills, appointments and conversations with loved ones, all right there for Big Tech to snoop through. Thatâs why I use StartMail. Itâs email privacy done right. StartMail keeps your inbox secure with encryption so your emails are for your eyes only, not Big Tech companies. And hereâs what I really love: StartMail doesnât scan your emails to target you with ads. They donât even track you. Plus, you can create disposable email addresses to keep your primary email safe from spam and junk mail. Switching to StartMail is super easy. It works with all your devices, and you donât lose any of your old emails or contacts. If youâve been waiting to upgrade from your messy old inbox, now is the time. Go to startmail.com/kim to get 60% off your first year. â Please support our sponsors! |
DIGITAL LIFE HACKIRS fix to stop scammersBefore tax season scammers hit, take a quick step to protect your money. Tap or click below to play this podcast now. |
TECH LIFE UPGRADESCustomize it: Hereâs a trick to get your chatbotâs responses tailored to you. In ChatGPT, go to Settings > Personalization and toggle on Memory. The same thing is now available on Google Gemini for Advanced (paid) subscribers. Tell it something like, âRemember, Iâm a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker,â and itâll save that info. đą âTap, hold and load in 4Kâ: The phrase is all over X. (Anyone still think of it as Twitter?) On the app, tap and hold any image to download it in 4K resolution. Want to try it? This FIFA World Cup photo of Argentina is making the rounds. The trick has been around since 2021, and people are just now catching on. Now youâre in the loop, too. đ° Make money in 24 hours or less: Sounds like a scam, right? But, seriously, there are ways to make extra money in a day, like selling items, filling out online surveys and participating in focus groups. * to receive more must-have money tips every day. Clear your iPhoneâs browsing data: Itâs a quick and easy way to improve performance and privacy in one swoop. Open Settings > Apps > Safari > Clear History and Website Data. Then, choose the timeframe and tap Clear History to confirm. Surf on, dude. Do the same on Android: Woo, itâs just as simple. Open Chrome and tap the three dots (lower right corner). Scroll to Delete browsing data. Choose the timeframe, tap Delete browsing data in red at the bottom, and itâll ask you to confirm. Back to scrolling! You have to be smarter than cyber spies: EndpointLock encrypts your keystrokes when you enter usernames, account numbers and passwords so no one can copy and steal them. Itâs genius. Hit this link for 10% off.* |
WHAT THE TECH?![]() Weâve come a long way with AI video. This is one yearâs progress with the prompt, âWill Smith eating spaghetti.â How do you find Will Smith in a snowstorm? Follow the fresh prints! |
UNTIL NEXT TIME …This is nutty: Need a job? Planters is looking for three folks for the NUTmobile â like Oscar Meyerâs Wienermobile, but peanut-shaped. The gig pays $45,000, and youâll also need to post on social media, attend events and coordinate media coverage. Itâs kinda perfect for a new marketing grad who isnât ready to settle down. Know someone who should apply? Hereâs the link to submit a video application. đĽ I made a playlist for hiking. It has the âPeanutsâ theme song, âLingerâ by The Cranberries and a few Eminem tracks. I call it my trail mix. Happy I could help! A bunch of folks thanked me for passing along an easy way to get term life insurance squared away. Fabric makes the process simple,* with no health exam required. Now, go enjoy your Saturday, and Iâll see you back here tomorrow at the same time, same place, with the very best newsletter in the USA! â Kim |
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