Buying in bulk: There’s a sweet new beta feature in the Costco app. You can search to see if what you want is in stock at your store. Go to the Warehouse tab, then see if you have the option to Search Warehouse Inventory. Log out of the app and log back in if you don’t see it. If it’s a no-go after that, sorry, you’ll have to wait.
Hiring or looking for a job? Upgrade your LinkedIn profile to stand out
When most people find themselves unemployed or are looking for a career change, they head to a job board. But have you heard of LinkedIn? It’s a social media platform with a twist.
LinkedIn also offers excellent options for those looking to hire employees who don’t want to wait for a sea of faceless applications to pour in. It provides prospective employees unique ways to stand out and gives companies a fresh way to look for new talent. Tap or click for smart things you should be doing with your LinkedIn profile.
Job seekers are looking for a way to outshine their competition, while those looking to hire want to make sure they are finding a good fit. Let’s look at ways to make your LinkedIn profile stand out.
Add a video to your profile for a personal touch
LinkedIn has a feature to highlight your skills: Personal video. Commercial videos and advertisements have become increasingly popular in today’s social media climate, and now you can add one to your LinkedIn profile.
Everyone has a story that led them to their career path, and now you can highlight yours. With this feature, you can add a Cover Story to showcase your specific skills and background while highlighting your personality. If you are looking for a job, this video feature is a great way to shine.
If you are looking to hire someone, this feature allows you to get a personal look into prospective employees’ lives, something you don’t get with just a resume.
Hiring? Stand out as a company
LinkedIn isn’t just great for job seekers. It’s the premier platform for companies to find qualified candidates fast. In fact, it’s the platform we use to find new talent.
But how do you stand out as a company in such a fierce market? There are a few things you can do to outshine other employers.
- Have a detailed “about us” section. Be sure to answer basic questions like where you are based, what you offer and your company values.
- Post meaningful content highlighting your brand. Keep it light-hearted and entertaining to draw prospective employees’ eyes.
- Create a showcase page. This allows you to maintain a LinkedIn-style blog where you highlight your brand daily.
7 LinkedIn tips for a recent high school or college grad
New to LinkedIn? Newly-graduated students may have used the platform before, but the game changes as the stakes increase after college.
Presenting a professional and friendly persona through your profile is vital to potential employers. Experience, interests and a great bio can all get you far.
Apple debuts the iPhone 16
It has a 48-megapixel camera, and a new ultra-wide chip. But here’s the catch: the AI feature we’ve all been waiting for isn’t ready just yet.
🚨 Windows alert: Microsoft is rolling out its nosy Recall feature for Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs. The tool records almost everything on your screen to help you find files or websites you’ve accessed. After backlash over privacy concerns, the data will be encrypted and snapshots of sensitive info won’t be taken — but I still wouldn’t trust it. Recall is opt-in only, so you can skip it … for now.
What was the first feature film to use computer-generated imagery, aka CGI? Was it … A.) “Star Wars: A New Hope,“ B.) “Tron,“ C.) “Westworld“ or D.) “Alien“?
3,398 days (and counting)
For the longest-running Snapchat streak. That’s over nine years! Hannah and Lauren Luckey have snapped each other every day since the streak feature rolled out on April 6, 2015. If you’re dating someone and they can’t text you back, just show them this stat.
Master Excel with these 5 genius tricks
You can’t keep track of everything on paper. Excel can play a significant role in your daily workload. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro user, there’s much to learn — like these five useful Excel tricks.
Want to become an Excel expert? It’s a good strategy for small business owners who want to grow this year. After all, you’ll generate tons of data. Speaking of which, here’s how to stop third parties from selling your data.
🖨️ HP is adding AI to printers: The Perfect Output feature cleans up webpages, automatically detecting and removing ads and weird formatting so you only print the text and images you want. It optimizes spreadsheets, too, keeping charts and tables on one page. OK, this is genius.
This Zoom feature isn’t even remotely funny: Zoom’s new AI companion takes notes, summarizes meetings and even tells you who talked most. Click the magic wand icon below the main video window to use it. You can ask it for a quick update or to pull out action items from the discussion, too. Fine print: Available for paid plans only.
🇨🇳 Patreon copycat: Communist China app TikTok’s new Subscription feature lets you offer paying subscribers exclusive content, like videos, notes and unique badges. To qualify, you must be 18 or older and have at least 10,000 followers and 100,000 views in the past calendar month. I wouldn’t put my efforts into this until we know what’s going on with the ban.
Speaking of AI photos: Snapchat’s My Selfie feature creates neat AI-generated pics of you. The catch (there’s always a catch): If you use it, you’re giving Snap permission to use your face in ads and sponsored content, and you won’t get paid for it. No, thanks. To disable this, go to your profile photo > tap the Settings cog > toggle off See My Selfie in Ads.
Jeff needs the money: Amazon’s revamped voice assistant is coming in October. For $10 a month, you’ll get a Smart Briefing feature, aka daily AI-generated news summaries; a recipe helper (e.g., “What should I make for dinner with chicken and broccoli?); shopping assistance; and a chatbot for kids (paywall link).
Nifty way to wake your phone: With Samsung’s “Lift to wake” feature, all you have to do is pick up your phone or take it out of your pocket and the screen turns on. Open Settings, tap Advanced features > Motions and gestures. Tap the switch next to Lift to wake to enable it. Magic!
Keep ’em focused: On Google’s Family Link app, the new “School time” feature restricts access to certain contacts and messages and limits app usage during specific hours. It’s rolling out on Android devices throughout the year.
🛤️ Stay safe: Fitness app Strava’s Heatmap feature shows popular workout routes … but it also broadcasts your location. This is fine in a busy city but risky on secluded paths. Keep your routes private: Go to Settings > Privacy Controls > Map Visibility and uncheck Contribute your activity data to de-identified, aggregate data sets.
Clone your voice in 15 minutes
A new iPhone feature can make a copy of your voice. Could scammers use it for deepfakes? A German company will freeze your body for over $200,000, hoping to bring you back to life later. Plus, Taco Bell brings AI to the drive-thru, and be wary of fake Facebook stores.
Talk to me: OpenAI’s advanced voice mode is coming to some ChatGPT Plus subscribers. This is the same feature that debuted with a Scarlett Johansson-like voice. They hired voice actors instead of, you know, stealing a celebrity likeness.
Update Google Chrome: Crooks can easily package malicious software in password-protected zip files. Now, when you’re using Chrome’s Safe Browsing feature in Enhanced Mode, Google will ask you to share the password to scan files before you download them. Here’s how to enable it.
Check your business’s Google Maps listing: Malicious competitors are using the “Suggest an edit” feature to change the location of a business’s pin on Google Maps. You probably wouldn’t know if this happened to you; Google doesn’t notify anyone. Duh.