The Current Plus: 1M Androids hacked, Apple Watch payouts, best times to post and more great goodies - In partnership with Oracle NetSuite | Hello on a fantastic Friday, friend. Doctors and nurses drowning in paperwork are getting a big assist from AI. Microsoftâs Dragon Copilot now drafts clinical notes and post-visit summaries automatically. It records everything you say during your visit, using âambient listening.â That means every offhand comment, casual complaint or personal detail gets added to your permanent medical records whether you want it to or not. Keep that in mind before you say, âNow I know how a Muppet feels.â đ„đ€ đïž A quick, important note: To make sure you never miss an issue, drag my emails to the âPrimaryâ tab in Gmail, or click the little flag or star to mark them as important in just about any email provider. Help here if you need it! â Kim đŁ Donât keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | TODAY'S DEEP DIVE Mystery food critic The weekend is here, and howâd you like to go out to dinner for free? Enter mystery dining. Restaurants get genuine feedback, and you get to eat out for free. I found out how you can have your cake and eat review it, too. How it works Yes, you really get your food free of charge, including tips and travel expenses, usually in the form of a voucher or gift card. It is a job. Youâll have to give feedback about your restaurant visit. How was the food? How was the service? What couldâve been better? Youâll also need to take photos as part of the trip. Want to know more? Last year, I had a guy on my show whoâs eaten $40,000 in free food through one of these gigs! Watch the video. Who are these âmysteryâ agencies? These sites act as a middleman between you and restaurants that pay them for intel. Here are a few of the most reputable: Second to None has been in the biz 30 years and can get you gigs in high-end and fast-food dining. (Iâm pretty sure getting paid to critique an InâNâOut Burger is Barryâs dream job âŠ) They also work in retail, if shoppingâs more your speed. Eye Spy CC focuses on dining and has excellent reviews from eaters who review for them. Shoppers report getting large enough budgets to go to high-end restaurants and really enjoy themselves. Market Force is another heavy hitter in dining and retail. Diners say vouchers usually start small, but once youâve worked with a company for a while, you can get larger assignments and additional pay. Most of them have online portals. Once youâre registered, log into your account, check for available assignments, choose one to complete and upload your results. How to apply Head to the websites above to apply for free. Youâll need to share a few details, like your name, birthday and location. A company might ask you to do a practice mystery shop or sample assessment to make sure youâre cut out for the job. Then, youâre off to the races to meet your clandestiny. đš Watch out: The companies I shared are legit, but âsecret shoppingâ scams are super common. Test assignments are normal, but a real company will never ask you to pay them for an opportunity. Have a friend whoâd love to try this? Share this with them using the icons below! Then join for free dinner as their plusâone. đ |
Digital Life Hack Toll road scam texts: What you need to know If you received a text about unpaid tolls, youâre not alone. Scammers are sending fake warnings nationwide. Listen on Komando.com â |
WEB WATERCOOLER 1 million+ infected with malware: You know those cheap Android-based streaming boxes, tablets or used car infotainment systems? Bad news. Theyâre being used as a botnet by the Badbox 2.0 hacking group. The top targets are TV boxes with the generic names âTV98â and âX96.â Donât risk it to save a few bucks. đŹ Ransomware by snail mail? Itâs happening. Cybercriminals are now sending ransom demands through postal mail. The letters warn folks that their networks have been compromised and sensitive info stolen. The price to keep it private? $250,000 to $350,000 in bitcoin, due in 10 days. And because theyâre oh-so-considerate, they include a QR code so you can send the crypto right to their wallet. Hate YouTube ads? Thereâs a cheaper fix. YouTube is rolling out Premium Lite for $7.99/month, cutting down on âmostâ ads. News, fashion and gaming videos will be ad-free, but if you want music without ads, youâll still need the $13.99/month standard Premium plan. That one also includes offline downloads. đ Googleâs testing AI-only search results: The new AI Mode ditches the usual 10 blue links and instead lets Gemini 2.0 take over with web summaries, graphs and shopping data. Think of it as a bigger version of AI Overview, and yes, we all know how spot-on that is. Itâs opt-in only for now through Googleâs Search Labs, so you can ignore it ⊠for now. Got an old Apple Watch? You might get paid. If you had an original Apple Watch or a Series 1, 2 or 3, you could be entitled to a cut of the $20 million Apple Watch settlement. Act fast: Payouts range from $20 to $50, and the deadline is April 10. File your claim here. Found after 7 years: Watch âUnsolved Mysteriesâ on Netflix? You might remember Abdul Aziz Khan. He went missing from Atlanta after his mom, who didnât have custody, allegedly kidnapped him. Police found her and her husband, who isnât Abdulâs dad, in an empty house in Colorado and charged them. Now Abdul is 14 and finally coming home. đâMy knees feel so much better in only one month!â Thatâs what Andrea wrote to me since sheâs been taking NativePathâs collagen. You ought to try it, too. Go here now to claim your 45% discount, free shipping and a free gift bundle, exclusive for my listeners.* |
Digital Life Hack Scammers use AI to mimic your boss A deepfaked call or video could cost the company big. Spot the scam before itâs too late. Listen on Komando.com â |
DEVICE ADVICE Itâs not just your computer: You need to close all the tabs in your phoneâs browser, too. On iPhone, open Safari, and tap and hold the icon that looks like two overlapping squares. From the pop-up, choose Close All Tabs. Done! On Android, say, âHey, Google, close all tabs.â đ„ïž Keep your Windows desktop private: Whether you want a cleaner look or a little more privacy, you can hide your desktop icons in seconds. Right-click on the desktop > go to View > uncheck Show desktop icons. Want to resize them instead? Just go to View and pick Small, Medium or Large. AirPods arenât the only option: Check out Raycon.* Their earbuds sound great, get a ton of battery life and are a fraction of the price. Add a mouse to your iPad: All you need is a Bluetooth mouse. (This one rules.) On your iPad, go to Settings > Bluetooth, find your mouse under Other Devices, and tap to Pair. Once connected, a circular cursor should appear. FYI: Youâll need iPadOS 13.4 or later for this to work. đ Have a Business or Creator Instagram account? See when your audience is most active aka when you should post. Go to: Profile > â° Menu > Insights > Total Followers, then scroll to Most Active Times to see peak hours. |
BY THE NUMBERS 15 minutes Before your plane takes off, arrive at the airport. I bet that just stressed you out. This âairport theoryâ has almost 400 million views on TikTok. Some folks breezed through security and made it on time. Others werenât so lucky. Donât chance it. $21 million Stolen from victims of a grandparent scam ring. Good news: Police caught the bad guys. Scammers called, pretending to be a teenager or adult grandkid who was in a car crash, arrested and needed money for bail. Zero butter For the ultimate pancakes. For thick, fluffy cakes, use two eggs, 200 grams of flour (1â
cups) and 200ml of milk (about .83 of a cup). This is according to scientists, not chefs, so take it with a grain of sodium chloride. |
WHAT THE TECH? A penguin selfie is even cuter than I imagined. These two found a camera in Antarctica. Waddle they do without each other? |
LOGGING OUT ... When you just need space to think: Press Windows key + D on a PC to close all your open windows to the taskbar and see only your desktop. On a Mac, ââpress Cmd + M to minimize your open windows. Youâll use that one a lot. I do. Follow me on social: Iâm on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else! Thanks for reading, friend. Hit a rating below, so I know how Iâm doing! Tomorrow, how to fix a major tech annoyance for good. Until then, remember: Every day provides us with at least one gift. Youâre mine. đ€ â Kim | |
|
|