Tag: YouTube

AOL paid him $200 to record “You’ve Got Mail.” His voice was heard 35 million times a day.

His wife overheard the CEO of a tiny Virginia startup wanting a voice for new software. She volunteered her husband. He recorded four phrases on a cassette deck in their living room. AOL paid him $200. The phrases? “Welcome.” “You’ve Got Mail.” “File’s done.” “Goodbye.” Three of those words became the soundtrack of the early internet. And the man behind them? You’ve never heard his name until now.

YouTube just joined the streaming hike parade. June 7 is your deadline.

YouTube Premium jumps to $15.99 on June 7. Netflix is already $26.99. The average household pays $972 a year for streaming. Here’s the playbook to slash your bill before the next hike hits.

Go look at your Google ad profile right now. I’ll wait.

Google has a file on you. It lists your age, your income bracket, your health concerns and your relationship status. It’s been there the whole time. Here’s where to find it and exactly what to turn off.

Your internet provider can see every show you watch. And they’re using it against you.

You’re paying $80 a month for internet. Your provider is watching exactly what you do with it and quietly punishing you for it. Here’s what’s happening inside your connection.

5 weirdly popular YouTube channels you’ve never heard of (but won’t be able to stop watching)

Millions of people have leaped down these rabbit holes. This Friday, you will, too.

Big Tech’s best April Fools’ jokes weren’t jokes. They changed your life.

Gmail. Google Maps. The App Store. Every one was dismissed like an absurd April Fools’ prank. Every one became unavoidable. And every one came with a price tag nobody saw coming.

The internet is carding you. And it’s not working.

Half of U.S. states passed laws to keep kids off social media. Kids route around them in minutes. But YOUR government ID? That stays in a database forever.

Why ‘buy’ doesn’t mean what you think it does anymore

That movie you bought on Apple TV? That game on Steam? It’s a license that can vanish overnight. Here’s what’s really happening to your digital library.

Music made by machines (and me)

Music from thin air? Kim Komando’s testing AI tools that turn your shower thoughts into actual songs.

Who owns your AI images and videos? Here’s what you should know

Can you actually use this stuff on your website, in ads or all over social media?

🔓 This $130 lock got picked with a water can

You know I love a good tech takedown, and this one is peak internet.  Meet Trevor McNally, a former U.S. Marine staff sergeant turned full-time YouTuber with a very specific hobby: lock picking. On his channel, he tests locks the way most of us test leftovers, with low expectations and a lot of curiosity.  He’s […]

The day the cloud caught a cold

If Zoom wouldn’t connect, YouTube froze or your smart home went dumb yesterday morning, it wasn’t just you. Over 11 million people reported issues with more than 2,500 big name apps and services. The reason? A huge outage at Amazon Web Services, better known as AWS. Let me explain what all this means in plain […]

You asked how a smart ring sent a guy to the ER. Here’s the full story.

Recently here in The Current, I mentioned a YouTuber who ended up in the ER because of a smart ring. A bunch of you left me comments asking the same thing: “How does that even happen?” Let me explain, because this wasn’t the guy’s fault. It was a complete tech failure. 💍 Ring of fire […]

Schools spy on kids even at home

School is back in session, but here’s something no one told you at orientation: Your kids may have more eyes on them than just their teachers’. Even if you don’t have kids in school, you really need to know about this. A new study from UC San Diego uncovered what’s really going on with those […]

Where to watch TV without paying a dime

The average household coughs up nearly $70 a month on streaming subscriptions, and that’s before your internet tab. But let me tell you, I spend a lot more than that. It’s closer to $125. Add it all together, and congratulations, you’re back in 2011 with your overpriced cable bundle, except this time, there’s no DVR […]

People are glued on YouTube, watching planes land at LAX

Move over, cat videos and cooking hacks, there’s a new YouTube obsession, and it’s planes landing at LAX. No, really. I thought you’d find it interesting that a channel called Airline Videos Live is racking up millions of views pointing a camera at the runway at Los Angeles International Airport.  It’s exactly what it sounds […]

Why you can’t focus and 3 sneaky fixes that work

Work got beef with your focus?  You’re not imagining it, according to Microsoft, employees get interrupted every two minutes. Emails. Pings. Meetings that could’ve been Slack messages.  And that doesn’t even include the 37 tabs you’ve got open, YouTube lofi, your notes doc and a recipe for chicken thighs “you’ll definitely make later.” Spoiler: You […]

The folks trading retirement for influencer status

Simple steps to making big bucks on social media as a grandfluencer.

Security tip: Next time you stay at a hotel, turn on your VPN

It’s just not for your home devices — here’s how your VPN can be a multipurpose digital survival tool wherever you’re using it.

Haven’t logged into LinkedIn lately? 5 reasons you really should be using it

5 ways to use LinkedIn to network, poach employees, boost your career and more.