Hello on a fantastic Friday, friend. Doctors and nurses drowning in paperwork are getting a big assist from AI. Microsoft’s Dragon Copilot now drafts clinical notes and post-visit summaries automatically.

It records everything you say during your visit, using “ambient listening.” That means every offhand comment, casual complaint or personal detail gets added to your permanent medical records whether you want it to or not. Keep that in mind before you say, “Now I know how a Muppet feels.” 🏥🤖

🖊️ A quick, important note: To make sure you never miss an issue, drag my emails to the “Primary” tab in Gmail, or click the little flag or star to mark them as important in just about any email provider. Help here if you need it!  — Kim

The weekend is here, and how’d you like to go out to dinner for free? Enter mystery dining. Restaurants get genuine feedback, and you get to eat out for free. I found out how you can have your cake and eat review it, too.

How it works

Yes, you really get your food free of charge, including tips and travel expenses, usually in the form of a voucher or gift card.

It is a job. You’ll have to give feedback about your restaurant visit. How was the food? How was the service? What could’ve been better? You’ll also need to take photos as part of the trip.

Want to know more? Last year, I had a guy on my show who’s eaten $40,000 in free food through one of these gigs! Watch the video.

Who are these ‘mystery’ agencies?

These sites act as a middleman between you and restaurants that pay them for intel. Here are a few of the most reputable:

• Second to None has been in the biz 30 years and can get you gigs in high-end and fast-food dining. (I’m pretty sure getting paid to critique an In‑N‑Out Burger is Barry’s dream job …) They also work in retail, if shopping’s more your speed.
• Eye Spy CC focuses on dining and has excellent reviews from eaters who review for them. Shoppers report getting large enough budgets to go to high-end restaurants and really enjoy themselves.
• Market Force is another heavy hitter in dining and retail. Diners say vouchers usually start small, but once you’ve worked with a company for a while, you can get larger assignments and additional pay.

Most of them have online portals. Once you’re registered, log into your account, check for available assignments, choose one to complete and upload your results.

How to apply

Head to the websites above to apply for free. You’ll need to share a few details, like your name, birthday and location.

A company might ask you to do a practice mystery shop or sample assessment to make sure you’re cut out for the job. Then, you’re off to the races to meet your clandestiny.

🚨 Watch out: The companies I shared are legit, but “secret shopping” scams are super common. Test assignments are normal, but a real company will never ask you to pay them for an opportunity.

Have a friend who’d love to try this? Share this with them using the icons below! Then join for free dinner as their plus‑one. 😂

🧰 Bring these nifty gadgets to fix:

• Hiccups, with a straw that stops them instantly (need this for the studio).
• Bad breath, with pre-pasted disposable toothbrushes.
• Glasses, with a mini screwdriver that fits on your keychain.
• A dead phone battery, with a battery-powered charger.
• Everything else, with pocket-size, go-anywhere duct tape. It just works. Sure wish I invented that!

🚘 Barry loves this: He uses heavy-duty tape to keep the trickle chargers on our classic cars. It can hold up to 30 pounds.

1 million+ infected with malware: You know those cheap Android-based streaming boxes, tablets or used car infotainment systems? Bad news. They’re being used as a botnet by the Badbox 2.0 hacking group. The top targets are TV boxes with the generic names “TV98” and “X96.” Don’t risk it to save a few bucks.

📬 Ransomware by snail mail? It’s happening. Cybercriminals are now sending ransom demands through postal mail. The letters warn folks that their networks have been compromised and sensitive info stolen. The price to keep it private? $250,000 to $350,000 in bitcoin, due in 10 days. And because they’re oh-so-considerate, they include a QR code so you can send the crypto right to their wallet.

Hate YouTube ads? There’s a cheaper fix. YouTube is rolling out Premium Lite for $7.99/month, cutting down on “most” ads. News, fashion and gaming videos will be ad-free, but if you want music without ads, you’ll still need the $13.99/month standard Premium plan. That one also includes offline downloads.

🔍 Google’s testing AI-only search results: The new AI Mode ditches the usual 10 blue links and instead lets Gemini 2.0 take over with web summaries, graphs and shopping data. Think of it as a bigger version of AI Overview, and yes, we all know how spot-on that is. It’s opt-in only for now through Google’s Search Labs, so you can ignore it … for now.

Got an old Apple Watch? You might get paid. If you had an original Apple Watch or a Series 1, 2 or 3, you could be entitled to a cut of the $20 million Apple Watch settlement. Act fast: Payouts range from $20 to $50, and the deadline is April 10. File your claim here.

Found after 7 years: Watch “Unsolved Mysteries” on Netflix? You might remember Abdul Aziz Khan. He went missing from Atlanta after his mom, who didn’t have custody, allegedly kidnapped him. Police found her and her husband, who isn’t Abdul’s dad, in an empty house in Colorado and charged them. Now Abdul is 14 and finally coming home.

😃“My knees feel so much better in only one month!” That’s what Andrea wrote to me since she’s been taking NativePath’s collagen. You ought to try it, too. Go here now to claim your 45% discount, free shipping and a free gift bundle, exclusive for my listeners.*

Are you still relying on QuickBooks? There’s a smarter, more powerful solution waiting for you. Here’s why NetSuite by Oracle is the right choice for your business:

• All-in-one solution: Manage financials, HR, inventory and more from one platform.
• Boost efficiency: Eliminate tedious paperwork and get real-time insights to grow your business.
• Proven success: Trusted by over 40,000 companies.

Whether your business earns hundreds of thousands or hundreds of millions, who wouldn’t want less manual work, better decision-making and higher profits? Now’s the time to make the switch.

It’s not just your computer: You need to close all the tabs in your phone’s browser, too. On iPhone, open Safari, and tap and hold the icon that looks like two overlapping squares. From the pop-up, choose Close All Tabs. Done! On Android, say, “Hey, Google, close all tabs.”

🖥️ Keep your Windows desktop private: Whether you want a cleaner look or a little more privacy, you can hide your desktop icons in seconds. Right-click on the desktop > go to View > uncheck Show desktop icons. Want to resize them instead? Just go to View and pick Small, Medium or Large.

AirPods aren’t the only option: Check out Raycon.* Their earbuds sound great, get a ton of battery life and are a fraction of the price.

Add a mouse to your iPad: All you need is a Bluetooth mouse. (This one rules.) On your iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth, find your mouse under Other Devices, and tap to Pair. Once connected, a circular cursor should appear. FYI: You’ll need iPadOS 13.4 or later for this to work.

📈 Have a Business or Creator Instagram account? See when your audience is most active aka when you should post. Go to: Profile > ☰ Menu > Insights > Total Followers, then scroll to Most Active Times to see peak hours.

When you just need space to think: Press Windows key + D on a PC to close all your open windows to the taskbar and see only your desktop. On a Mac, ​​press Cmd + M to minimize your open windows. You’ll use that one a lot. I do.

Follow me on social: I’m on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else!

Thanks for reading, friend. Hit a rating below, so I know how I’m doing! Tomorrow, how to fix a major tech annoyance for good. Until then, remember: Every day provides us with at least one gift. You’re mine. 🤗 — Kim