Old headphones, new tricks

April 7, 2025

🎧 Old headphones, new tricks: Still clinging to those trusty wired earbuds like it’s 2012? Make ’em wireless with a Bluetooth adapter. Plug the adapter into the 3.5mm jack, pair it with your phone, and boom, you’re listening wirelessly. Here’s one for $11 on Amazon.

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Tags: Amazon, Bluetooth, earbuds, headphones, tricks

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Your tech is about to get expensive

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If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your phone, laptop or maybe finally grabbing that gaming console, here’s your sign: Do. It. Now. Not “next paycheck” now. But now.

🚨 Thanks to a fresh batch of tariffs, tech prices are about to go full popcorn ceiling, high and not looking cute.

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Easy ways to tidy up your tech

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We all love a clean house, but what about your digital life? Clutter builds up fast: old contacts, forgotten files, 127 versions of the same photo and a desktop that’s basically an overflowing junk drawer.

That doesn’t just hog storage, it slows down your tech and drains your focus.

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🔎 NotebookLM is getting an upgrade this week: Until now, you had to manually upload files and links for the AI research assistant. Well, not anymore. A new Discover button (look for the magnifying glass) is coming to the Sources panel. Click it, type in a topic or question and the AI will search the web and return up to 10 links with summaries. Pretty neat.

Turn on this phone setting before it’s too late

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Oh, that familiar quick pat of the pockets and the spike of panic when you realize your phone is no longer on your person. Maybe it’s in the car. Maybe you left it at the coffee shop. You open Find My Phone.

It’s too late, you might as well be looking for a TI-84 calculator. If your phone isn’t prepped ahead of time, you might never get it back.

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Get paid to stand in line for someone else

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When I saw this, my first thought was, “That’s strange.” But I hate standing in lines. And what if you physically can’t do it but need to?

Then yesterday, I read a story in the WSJ (paywalled) about what a nightmare DMVs are right now with everyone scrambling to get a new ID. Starting May 7, you need a REAL ID to travel. The lines are wrapped around the buildings by people who need it. (I’m one of them!)

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🛡️ 1 billion malware programs, 1 easy fix: Antivirus software scans your system for viruses, ransomware and other threats and removes them before they cause damage. Protect five devices for only $19 — cheaper than your last impulse DoorDash.

💍 Diamonds aren’t forever: What if a mystery red box with a diamond ring arrived in your mail? Ask Tiffany Grove. She got one from the “Global Gemological Research Academy,” did some digging and realized it was a scam. It came with a QR code for a “warranty” that leads to a phishing site. Apparently, the only gem they’re offering is emotional damage. Don’t scan it, just report it.

💔 When will people wake up? A 63-year-old woman was ready to leave her husband for a scammer pretending to be Enrique Iglesias. Over two years, he talked her out of thousands of dollars. When her cash dried up, he told her to steal it. Hubby traced the messages to Nigeria and begged her to stop. She even went on TV and still swears it’s Iglesias. So sad.

💸 IRS scam link: It never stops. This time, if you Google how to get a business tax ID, the top results look official, but they’re not (paywall link). They’re ads from companies that charge you over $300 for something the IRS does for free. The real IRS site ends in .gov. Anything else? Fake.

Tech how-to: Delete your DNA data

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You can freeze your credit. Change your password. Replace a stolen phone. But there’s one thing you can’t ever change: your DNA.

That’s why the news that 23andMe just filed for bankruptcy should set off alarms. This company collected genetic information from over 15 million people. Yours could be sold as part of bankruptcy proceedings, absorbed into a merger or leaked in a breach. You’ll never know until it’s too late.

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