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Say goodbye to your passport stamps (and hello to fingerprint checkpoints)
ChatGPT
I love looking through the stamps in my passport. It’s proof that yes, I really did spend three hours at Charles de Gaulle waiting for my lost luggage.
Sad news. Europe’s pulling the plug on those little inked-up souvenirs and going high-tech.
Starting Oct. 12, 2025, when you enter the Schengen Area, you’ll face the new Entry/Exit System (EES), a fancy name for biometric border control. Instead of a stamp and a friendly “bonjour,” you’ll head to a kiosk where your face and fingerprints will be scanned, and your entry digitally logged into a giant EU database.
Yup, it’s basically like checking into the world’s fanciest club, except instead of bottle service, you’re getting your digital identity recorded for up to three years.
🏙️ Smile, it’s border time
This is important if you’re flying into popular European spots like France, Germany, Italy or Spain after mid-October. You’ll need to build in extra time to make a connecting flight.
You see, under the new system, you’ll need to do the full scan, i.e., passport, face, fingers and all. And here’s the sad kicker: no more passport stamps. That’s right.
Once the system fully rolls out in April 2026, border agents won’t stamp your passport, even if you ask nicely.
🚊 Not just in airports
Planning to take the Eurostar from London to Paris? Driving through the English Channel? Biometric border processing will be there, too.
Even if you’re coming in by ferry from the U.K., you’ll be scanned. The EU isn’t playing around with this digital gatekeeping.
📱 Back to the States?
$27,500
The likely sticker price for Slate’s “Blank Slate” pickup. The first trucks from the Bezos-backed company are expected to hit the road late 2026 or early 2027, just ahead of Ford’s $30K EV competitor. Already, 100,000+ people have put down a reservation (it costs $50) for this no-frills entrant into the EV truck game.
✍️ Add a signature in Gmail: Go to Settings > See all settings > General > Signature. Click Create new, give it a name and type in details like your contact info and job title. You can also insert an image of your real signature. Then choose whether it appears on new emails, replies or both. Scroll down and hit Save Changes.
Find your mouse pointer on Mac: If the cursor keeps disappearing, go to System Settings > Accessibility > Display > Pointer. Drag the Pointer size slider to make it larger, and pick new colors for the outline or fill. Bonus: Turn on Shake mouse pointer to locate. Next time you lose it, a quick shake makes the pointer balloon for a second. Amazing.
Denial as a service: Medicare’s new WISeR program will pay AI firms a share of money saved by denying “wasteful” care. That’s right, AI companies are turning into health care mercenaries. Just 12 procedures targeted at first, but it’s a slippery slope. Six states (NJ, OH, OK, TX, AZ, WA) start the experiment in January.
🖥️ Hide Taskbar extras on Windows 11: Widgets and the Task view button can’t be unpinned like regular apps, but you can still remove them. Right-click an empty spot on the Taskbar, select Taskbar settings, and under Taskbar items, toggle off Task view and Widgets. FYI: You can also hide the Search box from here.
📦 Shipping crackdown: Amazon’s dialing back some Prime benefits; you’re not allowed to share your Prime free shipping with people unless you live together. From Oct. 1, outsiders must pony up a discounted $14.99/year for the first year, then $14.99/month. Amazon Family still works, but only if everyone’s under the same roof. No more long-distance toothpaste subsidies.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Chrome, quickly mute a noisy tab by right-clicking it and selecting Mute site. Saves your ears from those annoying autoplay videos that pop up out of nowhere. You’re welcome.
⚡ ChatGPT gets babysat: OpenAI’s finally adding parental controls to ChatGPT three years after launch. Parents can link accounts, set “age-appropriate” rules and get alerts if the AI thinks their kids are in crisis. The bot will also tap into a global physician network for mental health referrals. Basically, Mom just joined a group chat that was long overdue.
🍏 Turn off iPhone auto-renewals: Subscriptions like streaming apps can sneak up and hit you with surprise charges if you forget to cancel. Go to Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions, then find the ones you want to stop under Active. Tap Cancel Subscription. FYI: If you’ve prepaid, you’ll still have access until the listed date.
A smart tip to help protect your retirement savings: With the economy so unpredictable, I don’t put all my eggs in one basket. I protect a portion of my savings with real gold and silver from Goldco. And right now, Goldco is giving up to 10% back in FREE silver when you open a qualified account.
Send Chrome pages to your phone: On your computer, open the website you want and click the three-dot menu (top right). Go to Cast, save and share > Create QR Code. A QR code will pop up. On your phone, open the Camera app (or Scan QR code), and the link opens in your mobile browser. Nice.
🥳 Canva for invitations: Canva’s one of my favorite design tools, with free templates for almost any occasion. Log in with your Google account, search “dinner party” (or whatever you need), pick a free option, and hit Customize this template. From there, you can edit the text and drop in your own photos.
Protect your Word doc: Got sensitive info you’d rather keep private? Lock the file with a password. Go to File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password. Enter and confirm your password, then click OK and Save. Just don’t forget it, because Microsoft can’t recover it for you.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On iPhone and Android, double-tap the space bar while typing to insert a period and a space. Nice, you’re now texting 0.002 seconds faster.
💭 What if the fastest, most powerful cloud also cost way less? Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) packs the speed, muscle and big-league savings the smartest companies swear by, minus the usual cloud drama. See what the buzz is about, and try it free today.
⚠️ Don’t trust every Play Store app: Harmful ones sometimes sneak past Google’s checks, and one wrong download can infect your phone. Protect yourself: Open the Play Store app, tap your Profile, go to Play Protect > Settings > General, and toggle on Scan apps with Play Protect. It’ll inspect your apps and warn you about risks.
🛠️ Troubleshooting on Windows 11: Running into issues like no sound, no internet or a printer that won’t connect? Go to Settings > System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters. You’ll see options like Audio, Network & Internet, Printer and more. Click Run next to the one giving you problems, then follow the prompts to diagnose and fix it.