Welcome to your Sunday, friend. How about we kick things off with a little trivia question. Since today’s deep dive is about future tech, let’s go back in time. What major tech company got its name during a brainstorm while one of its cofounders was tripping on LSD? You’ll find the answer at the end.

“Are password managers really safe?” It’s not just about hackers, it’s about control. If your passwords are saved in your browser or scribbled on sticky notes, you’re putting your entire digital life at risk. The password manager I use is built for serious protection and puts you in the driver’s seat. Details below. — Kim

Let’s be real: Smartphones are getting out of hand, literally. 

We traded pocket space for bigger screens, better cameras and more power. Some of these glass bricks are the size of a paperback novel and about as easy to use one-handed. 

Even Marty Cooper, the man who invented the cell phone, told me directly that the future of communication is a chip embedded behind our ears. No screen to crack. Just an invisible little whisper bot baked into your skull. Sounds crazy, but so did the idea of Instagram in your pocket, 30 years ago.

The phone is evolving, fast. Here’s what’s trying to eat its lunch:

⌚ Wearables that actually do stuff

Your Apple Watch or Pixel Watch can already handle calls, texts, payments and your resting heart rate. One tap, and you’re checking vitals or pausing a playlist. Smart rings (Oura, Samsung, etc.) are slowly taking over, too. Congratulations, you’re engaged to your biometric data.

And yes, we have real-life Star Trek-style comms badges coming. Beam me up, notification settings.

🤖 AI wearables … flopped

The Humane AI Pin promised screen-free, voice-first living. Reality? It was glitchy, sluggish and hotter than a toaster. Humane’s now offloading its tech to HP.

The Rabbit R1? Same idea, different shape. Still clunky. Still not your phone’s final boss. 

The only intelligent thing was your decision not to buy one.

🕶️ Smart glasses are plotting

Meta and Ray-Ban have a thing. Apple’s cooking up AR glasses. The goal is to beam texts, maps and TikToks into your eyeballs. Finally, a way to make eye contact less personal. 

Please don’t try to change the volume mid-commute and accidentally salute a stranger.

🧽 Squishy screens might be a thing

Researchers at the University of Bath built DeformIO, a pressure-sensitive blob of digital clay you can poke and squeeze like your own weird little UI stress ball.

It uses conductive gel and embedded sensors to detect how it’s being deformed, translating those gestures into real-time digital input. Think of it as a physical interface that bends and flexes with your fingers. 

Practical? Not yet. Fascinating? Very. Bad news if you hate explaining things to the TSA.

🔮So what’s next?

Phones aren’t disappearing overnight. But maybe they’ll be slowly replaced (or joined) by smaller, smarter, squishier things that blend into your life instead of taking it over.

Your next “phone” might live on your finger, whisper in your ear or melt into your glasses. You might not even notice it, until it starts finishing your sentences.

💍 Diamonds aren’t forever: What if a mystery red box with a diamond ring arrived in your mail? Ask Tiffany Grove. She got one from the “Global Gemological Research Academy,” did some digging and realized it was a scam. It came with a QR code for a “warranty” that leads to a phishing site. Apparently, the only gem they’re offering is emotional damage. Don’t scan it, just report it. 

🤖 AI just passed the Turing test: Yep, the one where a human has to guess if they’re talking to a machine or a real person. In a study, people chatted for five minutes with both a human and a chatbot without knowing which was which. Their job? Pick the human. GPT-4.5 fooled them 73% of the time, and LLaMA 3.1 got 56%. Yikes.

💆🏻‍♀️ Luxury vehicles are turning into spas? Brands like Mercedes, Lincoln and BMW are going all-in on in-car wellness (paywall link). The Lincoln Nautilus, for example, has a “Rejuvenate” program with massage chairs, mood lighting and scent diffusers. Kale yeah, this is great! Because nothing says “I’m thriving” like getting aromatherapy in traffic.

🥷 Another gold bar scam: A Florida woman lost over $280,000 after scammers tricked her into thinking her Social Security number was compromised. A fake federal officer told her to protect her assets by buying gold from a bullion store. They arranged a delivery, gave her a secret “password” and then vanished. PSA: No legit agency asks for gift cards, crypto or undercover missions.

🥴 “What’d you say?” If you find yourself asking this more and more, it’s time to make a change. Forget the hearing aids your grandpa wore; today’s tech is so much better. These hearing aids* have two tiny processors that analyze the sound around you to make conversations crystal clear. Incredible. If your ears had a software update, this would be it.

📱 Does your kid have a burner phone? We’ve reached the era of middle schoolers running black market tech ops. A dad posted to Reddit after he found out his 12-year-old son was hiding one in a pillow to access apps he wasn’t supposed to be on. Signs to watch for: They’re ignoring the phone you know about, there are sudden dips in data usage, or you notice new devices using the Wi-Fi.

📺 Make your own Netflix? Vimeo just launched a new tool that lets you build your own subscription-based streaming service (no coding required). Because clearly, what the internet needs is one more subscription service. You can offer tiered memberships, stream live events, sell merch and customize the whole thing. They say it’s to give us more control and cash instead of relying on the algorithm, but remember, Vimeo’s still taking their cut. 

💾 Blast from the past: Bill Gates is in his nostalgia feels. To mark Microsoft’s 50th, Bill is letting you download the OG operating system he and Paul Allen whipped up. Fire up your nostalgia engines and see what computing was like when disco was king.

🐣 Easter Sunday is just two weeks away. Now’s the perfect time to add these to your basket, I mean cart.

• Spring into breakfast with this cute bunny-shaped mini waffle maker (33% off).
• These colorful Play-Doh eggs (32% off) are great for keeping little hands busy.
• Shh … I won’t tell if you keep a four-pack of Peeps marshmallows ($12) all to yourself.
• Have everyone enjoy your holiday feast with these ergonomic utensils (29% off).
• Wine lovers, this aerator funnel (38% off) filters out sediment but keeps every drop of flavor.
• Stumped? Check out this Easter basket idea extravaganza.

🔥 Bring the heat: Cozy up next to this 7-inch portable firepit (13% off) on your patio to end your night on the right note.

⚡️3-second tech genius: Track a flight instantly by typing the flight number into Google (like Delta 123) to see the live status and arrival time.

🌙 Need a bedtime story for the kids? It’s tough to get creative at 8 p.m. when your brain’s fried from a long day. No worries, just use a chatbot to tell the tale. I like to include the child’s age, interests and a theme. For example: “Can you make up a bedtime story for a 5-year-old boy about a brave knight?” Voilà, no stress to impress.

Safe Wi-Fi anywhere: Using public Wi-Fi is risky no matter where you go. It doesn’t make a difference if you stay at a five-star luxury hotel, have lunch at your hometown diner or you’re at the airport. The easy way to protect yourself? Turn on a VPN.*

🛍️ Get paid to shop: Apps like Fetch and Ibotta let you earn cash back and gift cards by snapping pics of your receipts. Use them at places like Amazon, Walmart and hundreds more.

Cmd + spacebar: This Mac shortcut opens Spotlight, an incredibly powerful tool for finding documents quickly, opening apps or searching the web right from your desktop.

Check your laptop battery: On Windows, get a detailed report that includes usage, capacity and battery life estimates. Open the command prompt by hitting the Start menu, then typing in cmd or cmd⁠.⁠exe in the Run command box. Press Enter. Now, smarty-pants, type or paste in the following: powercfg /batteryreport

🔌 Tame your cords: Got a mess of loose cables around your desk? Velcro cable ties are a quick fix to clean things up. Plus, they make those dangling cords way less tempting for nosy pets with a chewing habit. Bonus: They’re super cheap. Here’s a pack of 60 for $7. Sweet!

• Sgt. Katie Cunningham from Great Falls, Montana, wants you to know she’s fine. Fake missing person posts with her picture are all over Facebook. Stop sharing them!

• Sam from Austin, Texas, found love and easy money investing in gold online. Instead, scammers drained $80,000 from his bank account. 
• Briana from Houston, Texas, went viral after exposing pedo messages sent to her daughter on the Zepeto app. 

Plus, Constance asks about AI and copyright, Kathy needs tips for her Tesla’s blind spot, Darryl seeks travel advice, Bill wants tools to transcribe handwritten notes, and so much more!

🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️ Take me on a walk: Listen to my show’s podcast. I wear this weighted vest when I walk to burn 200 more calories.

📚 Read this: This deep dive on the AI humanoid arms race is giving “future dystopia, but make it casual” vibes.

🚅 Check your speed: Head to fast.com and see if your ISP is secretly throttling your connection.

💸 Score something free: r/Freebies is a gold mine of samples you’ll forget you ordered until they magically show up.

🪐 Explore the universe: Help scientists identify far-off galaxies from your couch (no telescope required). 

The answer: Apple. Yep, Steve Jobs came up with the name Apple after returning from a fruitarian retreat at an apple orchard. He was on LSD at the time and said the name sounded “fun, spirited and not intimidating.” 

Plus, it would cleverly appear before Atari (his former employer) in the phone book. And the rest is iHistory. 🍏 Oh, Steve Jobs also loved a Big Mac. (I saw you shake your head!)

⌛ Less than 1 second: That’s all it takes for hackers to crack a six-character password, even if you’re using a mix of upper- and lowercase letters and numbers. Stop risking it and upgrade to a password manager that creates and remembers long, strong passwords for you. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for letting me in your inbox along with the best free newsletter in the USA. You’re officially a tech whisperer. Go amaze someone. 🥳— Kim

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