Your camera roll deserves a cleanse

I remember my parents saying, “Kim, stop wasting the film.” Oh, yes, this was back when we’d put film in a camera, take up to 36 pictures, then wait for the roll to get developed to see if any of the shots were good. Those days are long gone, fortunately.

Now, the average American takes 20 photos every single day. And I’ll bet many of those are duplicate (or triplicate as in my selfie above) shots of the same thing. So how do we tackle the deluge of doubles? I’ll walk you through the steps. This is a perfect weekend project.

🧼 Clean up your photo libraries

One quick thing. I checked these steps on my own gear, but your version might look a bit different, depending on your phone, model or operating system (and possibly planetary alignment). If so, just explore a bit, you’ll get there.

For Windows: There’s no built-in duplicate finder, so you’ll need to download a third-party app. I recommend Duplicate Cleaner.

  • Scan your library: After installing Duplicate Cleaner, the app will review your files by size, content and similarity, catching those pesky near-duplicates.
  • Review and delete: Once a scan is completed, the app will present you with a list of duplicates. Review these to make sure no photos are incorrectly marked, and delete any copies to free up storage.

For Apple: Lucky you! The Photos app on your iPhone, iPad, iMac or MacBook has a built-in “duplicate photos” tool. (Make sure you’ve updated to the latest version.) This tool is so easy to use. Here’s how:

  • Open your Photos app and scroll down to Collections.
  • Find Utilities and choose Duplicates. (I just looked at mine and had 329 duplicate photos and eight videos!)
  • Scroll through your dupes and select Merge to combine your dupes into one great shot.

For Android: Don’t delete your duplicates manually. Open the Files by Google app, then select Clean. If you don’t have the app, download it for free from the Google Play store.

  • Next, tap Menu > Clean > Junk files and select what you want to clear.
  • When you’re ready, tap Clean xx MB > Clear. That’s all it takes to remove screenshots, memes, duplicates and other junk mixed in with your important photos.

For Google Photos: There’s no built-in duplicate-cleaning tool here, so it’s up to you.

  • Log into Google Photos, and click Photos in the left panel.
  • Select any photos you no longer need (or want), and click Delete.

Continue reading

Protecting yourself from voice scams

Voice cloning has left the lab. Soon enough, you might hear your voice and think, Wait, is that me or an AI?

AI isn’t just being used to revive dead rappers or prank your boss with Drake impressions. Scammers are generating voices to fake kidnappings, drain bank accounts and impersonate your kid in crisis. 

Continue reading

Real fake videos

Open/download audio

AI is blurring the line between real and fake faster than ever. From OpenAI’s Sora 2 video generator to a lost billion in Bitcoin and Taylor Swift’s AI-fueled backlash

🎥 AI’s next film class: Google’s new Veo 3.1 can generate eerily realistic videos complete with audio, edits and, this is a big one, TikTok-ready vertical frames. It’s rolling out across Gemini and YouTube Shorts, which means spotting what’s real online just got harder. If you blink, you might miss the line between “content” and “AI slop.”

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Instagram, spread two fingers outward to zoom in on photos or videos. I use it for reading small text. Just don’t double-tap and accidentally like something if you’re snooping.

Sora 2: The AI video tool that’s already out of control

I have to tell you about Sora 2. It’s OpenAI’s new video-generating app that’s both mind-blowing and terrifying. 

It’s the first tool from any AI company that lets you give it a prompt, and in literally seconds, you get a full-blown, AI-generated video up to a minute long. The results aren’t perfect, but they’re close. Like Hollywood close.

Continue reading

📄 Convert YouTube videos to text: If you’d rather read a tutorial than watch it, YouTube makes it easy. Open the video, expand the description and tap Show transcript. In the new sidebar, hit the three-dot menu and select Toggle timestamps to clean it up. Then highlight, copy and paste the text wherever you need it. Amazing.

📸 Try the new Photos app: On iPadOS 26, Photos got a big makeover. The sidebar now lets you jump from Library to Collections, and you can reorder sections by tapping Edit (top left). For example, drag Videos above Favorites in the Pinned area. See a hexagon icon on a pic? Tap it to add a 3D effect.

The day that all videos became untrustworthy

Open/download audio

Remember this date. It’s the day AI finally made fake videos indistinguishable from real life. OpenAI’s Sora 2 changes everything.

Protect your face from AI fakes

Open/download audio

OpenAI’s Sora 2 lets you build a digital version of yourself for videos, ads, and social posts. Cool idea … until your AI twin ends up in the wrong hands.

Make AI dad go away: Zelda Williams slammed fans for sending AI-generated clips of her late father, Robin Williams, calling them “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” of human art. She said he’d never want his voice or face used that way, and I get it. Let him rest, folks. Chill out on the deepfake Sora 2 celeb videos. 

Musk made me do it: Look, if “Elon Musk” messages you about a hot crypto deal, it’s fraud not fate. Scammers are out there pretending to be him, using fake videos, livestreams and even his mom to vouch for the hustle. Folks have lost anywhere from 10 grand to a quarter million dollars. Some even think they’re dating him. Spoiler: You’re not.

Share YouTube videos from a time stamp: On desktop, pause the video where you want it to start. Right-click and select Copy video URL at current time. Or copy the top link from your browser and add &t=2m30s to the end (swap in your own time) to go straight to that moment.

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.

🤖 Meta dropped Vibes: It’s not a separate app but part of your Meta AI now. It’s like Instagram Reels, but you can’t post real videos, only AI-generated ones. You just remix whatever the bots spit out and call it content. Who even asked for this algorithmic soup?

✅ Back it up, or risk losing it. Total Drive automatically backs up your precious memories, family photos, graduation videos and all your important documents. Get 10TB for just $18 with this limited time offer.

Will I use AI to bring my mom back?

Open/download audio

An AI startup offered to build me a digital avatar of my late mom using photos, videos, and recordings. Thousands of you wrote to me about it. In this show, I reveal my emotional decision.

😎 Be a pal: Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Costs nothing and makes my videos easier to find than your glasses on a Monday morning.

🚨 Scrape me up before you go-go: The Atlantic just dropped a seriously creepy tool. Type in your name, and it’ll show whether your YouTube videos were quietly scraped to train AI. No permission, no payment, just … surprise! You helped build someone else’s billion-dollar model. I popped up 75 times. Unreal. Search for your name here.

🔔 Turn on Instagram post notifications: Following too many accounts? Don’t miss updates from your favorites. Take me as an example. Go to my profile, tap the bell icon and toggle All for Posts, Stories, Reels and Live videos