Chrome’s hungry upgrade

September 27, 2025

Chrome’s hungry upgrade: With Gemini baked in, Chrome grabs more mobile info than any other browser: name, location, purchases, your search history, etc. If you don’t like Google snooping, go to Activity controls and turn off “Web & App Activity.” Then, in Chrome Settings (three-dot menu) > You and Google > Sync and Google services, and disable the “Help improve Chrome’s features and performance” switch. I did.

Tags: features, Google, history, search history, settings

Printer friendly

Your streaming bill is robbing you blind

ChatGPT

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.

Continue reading →

📸 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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

⚡️ 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.

Saving passwords in your browser? Stop that.

ChatGPT

“Hi, Kim, I save all my passwords in my browser. So why do I need a password manager? Thanks for your newsletter. I can tell it’s a lot of work. The quality every single day is incredible.” — Robby in South Carolina

Continue reading →

🌎 Map versus reality: Ever wondered how big a country really is? The True Size Of is a free tool that lets you drag and drop places side by side. Type the name of a country or state, move it where you want, and search another. Use the compass in the bottom left to rotate and your mouse wheel to zoom. Cool.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On YouTube desktop, press 0 on your keyboard to restart a video instantly. Or hit numbers 1 through 9 to jump to that percentage of the playback. Nice.

The airlines sold you out

ChatGPT

Let’s talk about something no one thinks about when booking a flight: where your travel info really goes.

An investigative bombshell from 404 Media just uncovered that the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), a company owned by the biggest U.S. airlines, has been giving federal agencies access to passenger records.

Continue reading →