Speakers, spies and scribes

October 1, 2025

📚 Speakers, spies and scribes: Amazon rolled out their new gear that includes $100–$220 Echo speakers, Show displays with 13MP cams, new 11-inch Kindle Scribes ($430–$630) that let you doodle in color, updated Fire TVs and Ring cams that spot your lost dog. Oh, and Prime members get free Alexa+ (otherwise $20/month), which gives you beefed-up voice skills, smarter search, more natural conversation and overall better personalization.

Tags: Amazon, free, personalization, Search, skills

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The suburban hacker house: She helped North Korea infiltrate American tech

US Department of Justice

Get a free second phone number

Google

Here’s something smart to start your week. Get a free, private second phone number you can use from your smartphone. It’s perfect for keeping your personal number personal.

With Google Voice, you get a real U.S. phone number that rings to your cell, computer or tablet. You can call, text, screen calls and get your voicemails transcribed to text, all without revealing your main number.

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🍿 Find where to stream anything: Tired of hopping between apps just to hunt down a show? Go to JustWatch or Reelgood, type in the title, and voila, it tells you exactly where it’s playing (yes, even the free options).

Your streaming bill is robbing you blind

ChatGPT

On my national radio show, I mentioned that the average American spends $110 a month on streaming subscriptions. Add in $80+ for decent internet, and suddenly cable doesn’t look so evil.

My inbox exploded: “Kim, how do I lower my streaming bill?”

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The tech myths we can’t stop repeating

ChatGPT

Tech myths have a way of sticking around like those 99 browser tabs you keep open, harmless at first, but over time, they slow everything down. They spread in group texts, get repeated by well-meaning relatives and pop up like spammy ads from 2003.

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Boost your YouTube channel: If you want the algorithm to help people discover your videos, add channel tags. On desktop, click your profile picture and open YouTube Studio. In the left panel, go to Settings > Channel > Basic info. Under Keywords, fill in things like “lifestyle vlog” or “easy recipes,” and hit Save.

📸 Add Instagram highlights secretly: Create highlights without posting to your story. Open the app, tap your profile button, then the (+) in the top right. Select Story, pick a photo and hit the arrow at the bottom. Under Close Friends, choose someone who doesn’t follow you back and tap Share. Then hit Add to Highlights.

Meet your financial evil twin

ChatGPT

A man named William Woods spent years trying to prove he was … himself. Why? Because another man, Matthew David Keirans, stole his Social Security number and birth certificate, built a whole new life with them and lived under Woods’ identity for decades.

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Facebook, save interesting posts for later. Tap the three-dot menu on a post, select Save post and find them anytime under the Saved section.

Meet the scammers driving your neighborhood

ChatGPT

Ever get one of those weird texts that says something like, “Your package is waiting” or “Click here to unlock your cash reward”? We all have. Most people figure it’s just a scammy mass text from some sketchy website.

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