The Current-Sun + No tech tariffs, urgent Windows patch, dangerous undersea cord-cutting and tech goodness - In partnership with ExpressVPN | Sunday, funday, friend. Such a great roundup today for you, Iâm so excited. Before that, hereâs something to noodle on: Whatâs the first thing ever sold on the internet? (And no, it wasnât a subscription to AOL.) A) A pair of socks, B) A pizza, C) A music CD or D) A Kmart gift card? Make a guess and see if youâre right at the end. đ€ Psst. Know someone who could use a little tech know-how (without the boring stuff)? Forward this newsletter to one person who needs to be tech smart. Theyâll thank you later. â Kim đ« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itâs free!) | DEEP DIVE Donât be shy, ask AI Image: Midjourney After I shared my list of the best AI prompts for work, the comments poured in. âOK, Kim, but what about real life?â What, my work life isnât real enough for you? Kidding, great question! You know AI can plan a trip and meals or write a to-do list. But letâs go beyond that. Here are some powerful, personal prompts to ask ChatGPT, Gemini or your favorite AI assistant. PSA: If you donât want AI saving your chats or using them other ways, sign up and ask using a burner email address. đ For when youâre stuck You donât need a scented candle to dive deeper. âAsk me questions to figure out whatâs stressing me out.â âGive me a plan to break a bad habit.â âIâm in a rut. Help me brainstorm five things for more energy and joy.â Bonus: Use Scheduled ChatGPT Tasks to have it check in with you weekly. Boom! Robot accountability buddy. â€ïž For your people AI can be surprisingly thoughtful when it comes to people you love. âHow can I support my anxious teen without being a helicopter parent?â âHelp me write a kind message to a friend Iâve drifted from.â âCreate a no-screens weekend plan for family laughs.â Bonus: Plan a night for a fun game you havenât played yet, and suggest on-brand snack recipes. đ For love, flirts and deep convos Youâre married. Youâve talked about the grocery list 74 times this week. âFresh date night questions that arenât about kids or bills.â âFlirty texts that are cute, not cringey.â âA memory game we can play over dinner.â Bonus: Use AI to suggest bedroom ideas. đ§ââïž For mind + body Because we all want to feel better, not just do more. âBuild a routine that helps me wind down and get to sleep.â âHelp me deal with the death of someone I love.â I was missing my mom and AIâs answer really made me feel better. âWhatâs one small shift I can try to feel more in control?â Just a thought: AI has never touched grass, but it gives surprisingly good life advice. đ For funsies Letâs not forget this thing is basically your creative sidekick. âWrite a funny poem about my dogâs obsession with socks.â âGive me gift suggestions for my [who] that likes [what].â âWhat are three bucket-list ideas I can pull off this year?â Side quest: Ask it to roast you like a best friend who knows your Amazon order history. Itâs weirdly therapeutic. Whatever you do, be honest, be specific and treat AI like a best friend. Youâll be surprised what it can help with. Speaking of ⊠Jamie in Atlanta sent me this one: Kim, my wife gives sound advice. Itâs 99% sound, 1% advice. Ouch. |
Digital Life Hack Podcast How to share your pics on the TV Want to show off your pics? Pop them on the TV for everyone to see. Hereâs how. Listen on Komando.com â |
WEB WATERCOOLER đ±Electronics got a break: From the tariffs. President Trump said smartphones, computer monitors and various electronic parts are among the exempted products. âPhew,â said every tech leader in the country. đ ïž Update your PC: Microsoft pushed out a big patch that fixes 134 security bugs, including one that hackers use to take over systems. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and hit Check for updates. FYI: If youâre using Office 2016, it might crash after this update. Grab a separate fix from Microsoftâs website. Talk without price shock: Need a smartphone without breaking the bank? Motorolaâs new Moto G Stylus 2025 might be what you need. For $399, you get a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 50MP main camera and fast charging. Thereâs a headphone jack if you miss that. Budget phone, bougie features. Grab it starting April 17. Who needs privacy? The Limitless AI pendant is a tiny device that clips onto your shirt, records everything you say and uploads it to an app. Why would anyone want that? It can then spit out summaries of your convos, create to-do lists and offer self-improvement tips (paywall link). Like, âBe more patient with your kids.â Yeah, Iâm not paying for a backseat driver. đ Cord-cutting: Not what you think. Since 2023, at least 11 undersea cables have gone dark from suspected Russian sabotage (paywall link). Chinaâs linked to incidents near Taiwan, too. Both say ânot me.â Over 95% of the worldâs data travels via 500+ of these lines. Without them? Weâd be back to the dial-up era. Weâre one cable cut away from faxing memes to your friends. đ„ Granny cam: Jean H. Peters found that staffers were mistreating her mom in assisted living after she put a camera in her room. These cams are legal in 20 states (paywall link). But facilities push back, saying it invades privacy. Makes you wonder what they are hiding. Alexa, install âProtect Nana.â đł No green thumb required: Why wait years for your yard to bloom? Fast Growing Trees makes it simple to plant like a pro. Theyâll recommend the best trees and shrubs for your exact location and ship them straight to your door. No hauling, no guesswork. Use promo code KIM to save an extra 15%. I got an avocado tree, and itâs thriving!* |
DEVICE ADVICE âĄïž 3-second tech genius: On YouTube, press â1â to jump to 10% or â5â for the halfway point. Use number keys to navigate videos quickly. đł Whoâs texting you? Set custom vibrations so you know without even checking your screen. For iPhones, go to Contacts > contact name > Edit > Text Tone > Haptics. On Android, open your Contacts > name > More (three dots) > Change ringtone/vibration > Call vibration. These may vary depending on your Android. đ Clean slate: If youâre chatting with ChatGPT or any bot and want to change the subject, just say, âPlease ignore all previous instructions and start fresh.â Thatâll reset the convo. You can also say, âLetâs shift gearsâ to sound smoother. Pro tip: This wonât get you out of a real-life speeding ticket. đš Last minute tax write-off alert: Run a business? You could score a tax break if you bought new or used equipment from laptops to software. Section 179 lets you deduct up to $1.22 million (taxes filed in 2025). It jumps to $1.25 million next year. Pro tip: Track your purchases to save more. đš Out of the office? Set up a vacation responder to auto-reply like a pro. In Gmail, go to Settings (gear icon) > See all settings. Scroll down to Vacation responder and check it on. Then write your message, pick your dates and hit Save Changes when youâre good to go. Auto-replies are self-care with punctuation. |
DEALS OF THE DAY Egg-cellent finds
đŁ Just one week until Easter! Letâs hop into it. Your kids will turn your sidewalk into art with a $9.99 12-pack chalk set. For some reason, the 9-pack is the same price. Grab a dino egg kit (20% off) for a prehistoric twist to your egg hunt. These wooden stacking blocks (10% off) make great basket stuffers. Get your hands on this cute LEGO Easter (9% off) rabbits building set. Bunny-shaped toaster tongs (41% off) are perfect for your Easter morning. đ« Sweeten the deal: Chocolate lovers, treat yourself to a yummy assortment of candies from Hershey (10% off) or Dove ($13). |
MY TRUSTED ADVICE đïž Every weekend on my award-winning national radio show heard on over 420 stations, I talk with interesting folks like you. Catch these convos on a station near you, or find my weekend show as a podcast in your favorite podcast player. Jean from the Midwest lost $200,000 in an online scam. Then the Secret Service came to her door. Now sheâs under indictment and faces 29 years in prison. Wow. Tina from Montreal, Canada, is the creator behind The Oreo Cat, TikTokâs first viral cat. Tina shares the secrets behind turning your pets into content gold. Who doesnât love cat vids? Leroy from Reno, Nevada, is the next Johnny Cash. He wrote the lyrics to a country song and wants AI to bring it to life. Plus, Deb wants to clean up old voice recordings, Michael tries to recover deleted files, Wendy needs a digital catalog, Sonni shares the wildest stuff found in lost luggage, and so much more! đ Letâs talk about anything digital in your life, whether itâs family matters or your business. Make an appointment to speak with me right here. |
SUNDAY TO-DO LIST Take me on a walk: Listen to my showâs podcast. Or watch my national radio show on YouTube. đ Play a geography game: GeoGuessr drops you in a random place on Google Maps. Guess where you are. Regret how bad you are at it. âïž Doodle like a pro: Picasso who? AutoDraw turns your stick figures into slick, AI-enhanced sketches. đ See the world live: EarthCam lets you stream real-time views from places like Times Square, Tokyo and some guyâs beach cam in Key West. đ° Save money: Check this secret link to see if what you buy a lot of on Amazon is on sale right now. Oh, shout-out to Wendy in Peoria who asked what hair conditioner I use. Itâs this one! Just a tiny bit goes a long way, seriously great stuff. |
WHAT THE TECH? | | Today is Palm Sunday, and this image is trending on X. Someone fed Midjourney photos of the Shroud of Turin. The AI-generated image is now being called âthe true face of Christâ by fans, and a Eurocentric glitch by skeptics. âImpossible, because he looks like me and Iâm Norwegian,â commented one X user, who apparently looks a lot like Jesus. Critics point out the AI version looks suspiciously more like Renaissance art than first-century Judean. Biblical scholars like Meredith Warren say the historical Jesus wouldâve had brown skin, curly hair and dark eyes, resembling Egyptian portraits from that era. As for the shroud? Its authenticity remains hotly debated. Carbon dating in 1988 put it to medieval times, but a 2022 study using X-ray tech claimed it could be 2,000 years old, possibly aligning with Jesusâ time. |
LOGGING OUT ... Answer: The first thing sold on the internet was a Sting CD. Stingâs Ten Summonerâs Tales was sold on the NetMarket website for $12.48 on Aug. 11, 1994, by a Stanford student. Apparently, it went missing, but The Police had no leads. đ«¶ I just love âFields of Goldâ from Sting. Do you? Long joke time: A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, âYour mother and I are divorcing. Forty-five years of misery is enough.â âPop, what are you talking about?â the son screams. âWe can't stand the sight of each other any longer,â the man says. âCall your sister in Chicago and tell her.â And he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. âLike heck they're getting a divorce. Iâll take care of this!â she shouts. She calls her dad and says, âYou are NOT getting divorced! Donât do a single thing until I get there. Weâll both be there tomorrow!â and she hangs up. The man ends the call, smiles and turns to his wife. âGood news! The kids are coming for Easter and paying their own way.â đ I hope youâre spending the day with family or friends. Just one week until Easter. Now you know more than your IT person. Shhh, donât tell him or her. â Kim đŁ Donât keep me a secret:Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | |
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