Welcome to your Tuesday, friend! Quick reminder: Most old cellphones can still call 911 even without a plan. Federal law requires all cellphones to connect to emergency services, even if they don’t have active service. A 2-year-old in Oklahoma put this to the test by calling for an emergency donut delivery. The dispatcher played along, and the police showed up with Dunkin’ treats. 🍩 Love that. Don’t miss the adorable video at the end of today’s free newsletter. Speaking of free …

🤓  Free AI smarts: Do someone in your life a solid and share this link to my free AI book. It’s got 50 smart prompts you can start using today. Let’s get our people tech-ahead together! — Kim

Last year, my husband Barry lost hearing in one ear because of a virus. Suddenly, we were having issues communicating. I could tell it was impacting Barry so much more than that, though. 

The science behind hearing loss

When your hearing fades, your brain scrambles to fill the gaps, like reading a book with missing pages. All that extra effort drains your focus, memory, and energy. No wonder untreated hearing loss leaves people exhausted after conversations.

Hearing loss doesn’t just strain your brain, it raises your risk of dementia. Each year, 800,000 Americans develop dementia because of it. The good news? Treating hearing loss with hearing aids can cut that risk by 50% in just three years. Amazing, right?

Key signs you could benefit from a hearing aid

Over 30 million Americans need hearing aids but don’t use them. If that’s you, it’s not just about missing sounds. It’s a serious dementia risk.

Hearing loss creeps up. You may not notice until it’s bad.

🔹 Struggling with speech in noisy places
🔹 Asking people to repeat themselves
🔹 Cranking up the TV
🔹 Background noise feels overwhelming

Today’s hearing aids don’t just amplify sound, they are loaded with tech to clarify speech and cut background noise, taking a huge load off your brain.

I went looking for the best

Now, Apple’s AirPods can work if your hearing loss is mild to moderate. For anything more severe, you need tech built for the job. I looked into a lot of brands and found hear.com. They deliver double the speech clarity of the closest competitor. That impressed me.

Their Horizon IX hearing aids pack two state-of-the-art computer chips for dual-processing. They process speech and background noise independently, then recombine them for the clearest possible sound, even in busy, loud places.

The Horizon IX’s lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable, and they’re practically invisible and comfortable, even if you wear glasses. You can see a doctor near you or virtually. If you’re not happy, get a full refund.

✅ Hit this link to see if you qualify for a 45-day no-risk trial now, while you’re thinking about it.

Sometimes, you just need to take a few deep breaths. Other times, you need a piece of plastic called the Bug Bite Thing.

• Magnetic shower curtain weights (7% off) keep the plastic off your legs. The ones sewn into the bottom are never heavy enough!
• Suction the bug saliva out of your bites to stop the itch. Sounds fake, but, folks, it works.
• A sturdy plastic scraper (30% off) for decal removal. I spent 20 minutes last week trying to get the sticker goo off my new mixing bowl, so … I’m getting this.
• Peanut butter stirrer for when you buy the “naturally separated” stuff.
• Tube squeezer for eking out that last bit of toothpaste.

🖊️ Still writing checks? Use a pen (4-pack for $10) with specially formulated ink that gets trapped in paper, helping to prevent criminal check washing and other document alteration.

Net-tricks scam spreading: Look out for a phony Netflix email with the subject line “Let’s tackle your payment details.” Click the red update button to update your card, and you’ll land on a sign-in page primed and ready to steal your info. Never stops. 

🚨 Check your Chrome extensions: Click to the Puzzle icon at the top right and Manage extensions. Adblock for Chrome, Super Dark Mode, Blipshot, Page Refresh and 12 others (full list here) were found injecting data-stealing malware. If you have any installed, delete them ASAP and run an antivirus check. I use TotalAV.*

Surprise Apple drop: Tim Cook posted on X, “There’s something in the AIR.” I’m expecting a new MacBook Air with an M4 chip and 12MP fancy-pants camera, or maybe a powerful new iPad Air. If you want a MacBook Air, this one is already $200 off.

🌐  Starlink who? Alphabet’s photonic chip beams 10-gig internet through the air using light beams. Yes, really. It could bring high-speed connections to remote areas (without messy fiber cables) starting this year. It has more bandwidth than a Starlink antenna and costs less. Your move, Elon.

Watch your pulse: If you have no pulse and don’t move for 20 seconds, Google’s Pixel Watch 3 calls emergency services. The FDA just gave Google the go-ahead to roll it out. Have one? Go to Safety & emergency > Loss of Pulse Detection to turn it on. 

Compassion for the win: Video Stop, the last video rental store in Pocatello, Idaho, is closing. But owner David Kraning created a small replica called “Christina’s Corner” in his convenience store. It’s named after Christina Cavanaugh, a woman with Down syndrome who has been a loyal customer renting videos every day for 15 years. Love this.

👀  You have to check out this video: Soon, you can open up your phone’s camera with Google Gemini to know what you’re seeing or get your questions answered in real time. Watch it in action. Now, imagine all the uses  — from knowing what you’re looking at when traveling to identifying a skin rash that makes your doctor say, “You’re a sight for psoriasis.” (I saw you smile!) 

🖼️   A picture is worth a thousand words: But if your iPhone’s Live Photos aren’t worth all the storage space they take up, it’s easy to turn ’em off. Go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings. Scroll down to Live Photo and toggle it off.

LinkedIn growth hack: When it comes to followers, 150 is a magic number. Once you reach that many, your page will grow nine times faster than pages with fewer than 150 followers. If you run a biz, ask your employees (and everyone else you know) to follow. Psst, if you’re hiring, use my link to post a job for free.*

⌨️  Fix typos without lifting a finger off your keyboard: On an Android phone, scroll through text using the spacebar. Swipe your thumb left or right to move the cursor and fix mistakes fast. 

Hide your Facebook: OK, not completely, but you can make it tougher to find. In the FB app, tap the Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings. Under Audience and Visibility, look for How People Find and Contact You. You’ll see an option to stop search engines from linking to you. 

Avoid a Wi-Fi traffic jam: Most routers let you switch channels for a clearer signal. Log into your router’s online interface. Look for Wireless Settings and find the Channel option. Channels 1, 6 or 11 are typically less congested. Reboot your router and you’re good to go. 

Need a smile? Here’s little Bennett requesting emergency donuts. We’ve all been there before. Reminds me, I found a store that only sells bagels and donuts. It’s called Hole Foods.

👉  Before you go, I wanted to make it easy to protect yourself online. I’ve handpicked the five best tools to safeguard your devices, data and identity. Hope it helps!

Thanks for reading, my freebie loving friend. Keep your tech know-how going with the podcast version of my national radio show. I’ll see you right back here tomorrow with more hot and fresh tech news in the best free tech newsletter in the USA!  — Kim