If you forget your credit card or don’t want to carry anything, this would be pretty dang handy.
Sanitize Amazon boxes, Zoombombing, Apple Pay tricks and more: Tech Q&A
Each week, I receive tons of questions from my listeners about tech concerns, new products and all things digital.
Sometimes, choosing the most interesting questions to highlight is the best part of my job. This week, I received questions about deliveries, cash alternatives, private video calls and more.
Do you have a question you’d like to ask me? I’m working from home like you. Tap or click here to email me directly.
Sanitize Amazon boxes
Q: I have been ordering things that I need from Amazon and Walmart. Can the coronavirus live on the delivery boxes?
A: Yes, absolutely. Of all the surfaces COVID-19 loves to cling to, cardboard is a favorite. By some estimates, coronavirus can inhabit the surface of a cardboard box for up to 24 hours. It’s terrifying, considering how many of our goods are packed in the stuff — especially Amazon deliveries.
So before you bust out the box-cutter and dive into your precious cargo, make sure to open boxes the right way. You have to handle what you ordered inside the box correctly, too. In some cases, you can ask delivery drivers to leave your order in a secure location, where you should wait to pick it up until the virus has assuredly gone away.
Tap or click here for the steps to properly handle Amazon boxes and orders during the pandemic.
Best newsletters
Q: You offer a dozen different email newsletters. Which three are the best?
A: I think they’re all the best, but I just launched a new free newsletter called The Current. It contains no ads, just tech news, analyses and links to content where you can read more. It comes out twice a week. Tap or click here to sign up.
The most important newsletter is probably Fraud & Security Alerts, which is only released when there is time-sensitive information that could save you from cybercrime. Breaking Tech News is great for people who want the latest information because I send it out daily. Tap or click here to subscribe to my newsletters.
Dumb TikTok prank: Kids are sneaking up behind people in stores, tapping their phone to your phone and playing the Apple Pay “ding” sound. No, they’re not stealing your money. They’re just faking it with a sound clip. It gets worse. Someone’s filming your reaction. Because apparently, that counts as great content now.