🧨 Inside job: Security researchers tricked Google’s Gemini into turning on smart home devices using a Google Calendar invite. When Gemini was asked to “summarize the week,” it unknowingly ran booby-trapped prompts that lit up devices in Tel Aviv. It’s the first known AI attack with physical consequences.
Bank app settings that actually protect your money
ChatGPT
This is not the most exciting way to start a week. But it’s super important.
Let’s talk about your banking app. It does more than show your balance. With the right settings, it can protect your money, catch fraud fast and help you avoid nasty surprises.
Most people never touch the app’s security or alert settings. Yes, some banking apps are better than others. If yours doesn’t let you turn on alerts or lock your card with a tap, it might be time to switch.
🏦 Get the official app
This is most important. Always go to your bank’s actual website and look for a direct link to the app in the App Store (for iPhone) or Google Play (for Android). That way, you’re not guessing or accidentally grabbing a fake version made to steal your money.
Watch out for misspelled names, weird logos or apps with barely any reviews, all red flags. And never download banking apps from pop-up ads, text messages or sketchy links. When it comes to your money, don’t take shortcuts.
Now that I got that out of the way, we have work to do.
🧮 Make smart cents count
Here are five things to set up today.
1. Transaction alerts
Turn on notifications for everything, purchases, withdrawals, transfers. If someone’s using your card or account, you’ll know instantly. Bonus: You’ll catch those sneaky subscriptions or accidental double charges, too.
2. Low balance warnings
Set an alert for when your account dips below $100 or $250. It’s your early-warning system before you bounce a payment or rack up those ridiculous overdraft fees.
3. Bill due reminders
Even if you’re team auto-pay, reminders are key. They give you time to catch weird charges or sudden increases before your money vanishes.
I loved these 10 true movies you can stream this weekend
ChatGPT
First about this image. I asked AI to “make a pic of me watching a movie,” and somehow it nailed my husband, our two goldens (even Bella the puppy!). But there’s something off. Can you spot it? At the end of the newsletter, rate it, then drop your guess, name and email. I’ll pick five winners to get a Kim Komando Show ballcap (a $29.99 value)! 🧢
31 years
How long the world’s oldest baby chilled in a freezer before being born. Frozen in 1994, he’s technically older than Friends, Google and probably your favorite jeans. Science: 1, Nature: confused.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Feeling tense? Type “breathing exercise” into Google. You’ll get a one-minute guide that walks you through when to inhale and exhale. No extra apps needed.
How to save important voicemails
ChatGPT
There’s one voicemail I’ll never delete.
It’s from my mom. She’s been gone for almost four years, but every so often, I play it back. It’s nothing dramatic, just her voice asking if I could buy her a gallon of milk on my way home. (In her Brooklyn accent, “Kim, make sure it’s 2%, not the fatty whole milk please.”)
🔋 A secret Android battery drainer: Scan for nearby devices constantly uses your Bluetooth. Turn it off in Settings > Google > All services > Devices. Check your phone’s version under Settings > Connections > More connection settings, and switch off Nearby device scanning, too.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Google Docs can instantly translate text. Go to Tools > Translate document > Choose a language > Translate. It creates a new copy, so your original stays untouched. C’est incroyable!
Sleep surveillance: Is your Fitbit saying you’re waking up at night more than usual? It’s not because you’re broken, sleep tracking just got “more accurate.” Translation: Fitbit is clocking every micro-wiggle like it’s the NyQuil NSA. Google says this is step one in a whole series of sleep upgrades, rest assured.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Google Docs, press Ctrl + Shift + C (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + C (Mac) to check your word count. It all adds up!
🚫 Stop Chrome from running in the background: To shut that down, go to Settings > System and toggle off Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed. While you’re there, turn on Use graphics acceleration when available. Your little laptop will run a bit smoother.
🖨️ Save your printer’s cartridge: Arial might look clean, but it eats through ink faster than you think. A better option: Try Times New Roman. Tests show it can use up to 27% less ink over time. To make the switch, tap the Font drop-down menu at the top in Google Docs or Microsoft Office.
🚨 This is important: Google Search is dead. If your content isn’t showing up in ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini, you’re invisible to millions of potential customers. Whether you run a business, blog or sell anything online, this shift changes everything. I couldn’t fit it all in this newsletter. 👉 Read my full post here. Let me know what you think, or drop me a question about it in the comments.
$250 per month
That’s what it’ll cost to access Google’s new Gemini 2.5 Deep Think AI. It’s their most advanced model yet, capable of exploring multiple ideas at once to find the best answer. Fun fact: This is the same model (well, a variation) that scored a gold medal at the International Mathematical Olympiad. Hope it does taxes, too.
🫠 Your AI chat’s in the wild: That chat convo you shared with a friend? It might be on Google now. Really. If you hit “Share” on a ChatGPT chat, it’s public and searchable. Thousands of personal exchanges, including trauma dumps and mental health stuff, are popping up in search results. Yikes.
🧠 All roads lead to AI: Google’s new AI, Aeneas, is here to help historians make sense of old Latin carvings. This Rosetta stone with a GPU scans worn inscriptions, predicts missing words and even guesses where and when they were chiseled in. It’s open-source, trained on 150,000+ ancient texts and helped date 90% of test inscriptions better than humans. Pretty nifty.
Hotline bling: The Google Pixel 6a just added “pyromaniac” to its resume. After a mandatory July software patch meant to reduce overheating, at least one updated phone straight-up caught fire while charging overnight. On the bright side, Pixel 6as can help preheat your room.
3 in 4
The number of new grads saying “nah” to working at Big Tech firms. Turns out, job security and vibes matter more than kombucha on tap. Layoffs, ethical murkiness and burnout culture make Google and Meta feel like cautionary tales. Instead, job hunters are going for startups and anywhere they won’t be laid off by lunch.
See past edits in Google Docs: View earlier versions of a document by going to File > Version History > See version history. It shows what changed, who made the edits, and lets you restore old work. FYI: To restrict access, click the Share button (top right) and adjust the permissions.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Google Docs, you can open web pages with fewer mouse clicks. On Windows, hover your cursor over a link and press Alt + Enter. On Mac, it’s Option + Enter.