The Current Plus: Pay to post on X, U.S. water attacks, kids and beauty influencers β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β β In partnership with Philmore Video Voicemail | Hello on this fabulous tech Thursday, friend! Emoji trivia is big on social media and YouTube. Letβs see how you do. Can you name the TV series depicted by the combination of these three emojis? ππβͺ (Hint: It takes place between 1912 and 1926 in the U.K.) Think youβve got it? Find the answer at the end! Our great sponsors keep this newsletter free to you. Todayβs partner, Philmore Video Voicemail, is for all you small-business owners and operators. They make it easy to show off your products to close more deals. More below! Now, on to the tech smarts. β Kim π« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itβs free!) IN THIS ISSUE π¨ Donβt be a loser π $143K surprise travel charge πΈ X is going pay-to-post |
TODAY'S TOP STORY Whoomp, there it is My husband, Barry, loses track of everything. Well, he did until I AirTagged his life β or, at least, his wallet, keys and bag. Now, thanks to those little trackers, we can get out the door fast. Thatβs where Bluetooth trackers come in handy. These tiny devices attach to what you donβt want to lose, like a keyring or a purse, and sync directly to your phone. The tracker then shares its location when you canβt find it. Bluetooth is limited to the distance it can pair with your device. Todayβs trackers tap into a network created by nearby phones and devices so you can track something whether itβs in the next room or around the globe. π Team Apple Apple AirTags are coin-sized tracking devices designed to help you locate lost items through Apple's Find My network. It taps into hundreds of millions of Apple devices around the world to anonymously detect and report the location of a tagged item. Each AirTag has a replaceable CR2032 battery that lasts over a year. AirTags only work with iOS devices. They cost $29 for one and $99 for a pack of four. π€ Team Android You have way more options. My picks below work with most Android-based devices, including the Samsung Galaxy line and Google Pixels. (Yes, they work with iPhones, too, but I really think Apple owners should just stick with AirTags.) Chipolo ONE: The coolest thing about these powerful little dots is their separation alerts β a phone notification that tells you when youβve traveled at least 350 feet away from your tagged valuables (think leaving your bag behind at a coffee shop). Price: Snag a three-pack on sale for $64 (or grab one for $25). Use it for: Essentials you want to keep nearby. The separation alert alone is a gameβchanger. Tile Mate: Youβve lost your phone and itβs on silent? No problem. Double-pressing the Tile will do what your partner calling your phone for the third time wonβt β make your phone ring audibly. If itβs really lost, the good Samaritan who scans the QR code on your Tile can contact you. Price: Get a three-pack for $59.99 or one for just under $25. Use it for: Saying, βHey, Alexa, find my keys.β Besides your smartphone, it can connect with your smart home and virtual assistants, including Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa and, of course, Google Assistant. Pebblebee Clip: If youβre trying to find a lost item you know is outside your house, this is your best AirTag alternative. It has an impressive 500-foot range for Bluetooth tracking, and after that, it relies on crowd GPS (Android) or the Apple Find My app. Translation? Other peopleβs phones will help track down where your lost item is β you know, versus when your device last βsawβ it. Price: Itβs $29.99 for one. Use it for: Luggage or flight-risk pets. π These trackers are all water-resistant, but I wouldnβt test that. Underwater is the wrong kind of syncing. (I know, I know β¦ sorry.) βOK, Kim, I bought a tracker. Now what?β π Iβve got your back. Coming soon to a newsletter near you (aka this one), Iβll share my pro tracking tips. For now, use the links above to order a tracker for anything thatβs important to you, especially stuff you misplace often. |
DEALS OF THE DAY Longest phone cables you can buy Extra-long phone cables live in the tiny overlap of things that make both a hilarious gag gift and something the recipient will use and appreciate every single day. Longest Lightning cable: For all pre-iPhone 15 models. Pick an outlet in the kitchen, then walk your phone way over to the couch with this 26-foot nylon-braided Lightning cable. Right now, itβs $18.99 with the 5% off coupon. Longest USB-C cable: With 20 feet of braided nylon, you can plug in your charger next to your bed and bring your phone out to the balcony to FaceTime. After clicking the 5% off coupon, itβs just $14.99. Longest multiport cable: For $15.50, divided households (iPhone and Android) that can make do with just a 10-foot stretch should get this cable, which has three charging options: Lightning port, USBβC and microβUSB. |
WEB WATERCOOLER π¨ Check before you travel: A Florida man was hit with a whopping $143,442.74 phone bill from TβMobile for roaming costs when traveling in Switzerland. He thought he was covered β¦ nope. They reversed the charges. Pro tip: Thereβs a $50-per-month TβMobile travel plan to prevent stuff like this. Most providers have something similar. Nice try, Google: YouTubeβs ad blocker crackdown now includes third-party apps. That would explain why folks are seeing "The following content is not available on this appβ errors. Google says it's to ensure creators get their dues. Smells like a push to get you to pay for YouTube Premium. Elons just wanna have funds: Musk says the only way to fight bots on X is to charge for posts. New users might have to pay a "small fee" to post the first three months their X account is active. This comes one month before Teslaβs stockholders vote to bring back Muskβs $56 billion compensation package. Iβll take the job for $5.6 billion. π Roll with it: Amazon's selling its smart Dash Carts to other retailers. First up? Price Chopper and McKeeverβs Market stores in Kansas and Missouri. These carts use AI-enabled cameras and sensors to identify and tally items as you shop. Think of all the data tracking going on here. Skin deep: Beauty products are all the rage on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram for little girls who def donβt need this stuff. One nine-year-old (paywall link) experienced a nasty facial rash from a glycolic acid cleanser β safe for adults but harsh on tender, young skin. Talk to the kiddos in your family. It's getting worse: In January, a water tank in Muleshow, Texas, overflowed, and now we know who was behind the cyberattack: A hacking group with ties to Russia. This will not be the last attack, and many of the 150,000 U.S. water systems are scrambling for funds and staff to beef up their defenses. Glad we store clean water at home β¦ Step aside, humans: Boston Dynamics just retired the clunky hydraulic Atlas for a sleek, all-electric model they're calling "the worldβs most dynamic humanoid robot." Watch the video β itβs freaky! The new Atlas lies facedown, pops up and twists its head a full 180 degrees. But those little rotating legs show an impressive display of balance and flexibility. π· Unplug and uncork: In Verona, Italy, Condominio restaurant is swapping screen time for wine time. Ditch your phone at the door, lock it up and get a free bottle of vino. Owner Angelo Lella calls smartphones a "drugβ and 90% of Condominioβs diners agree, opting for wine over WiβFi. |
LISTEN UP | Time to get rid of your landline? If you're relying just on your cell, you might not have access to some key safety features in an emergency. Play Now β’ 6:28 βΆ |
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TECH LIFE UPGRADES Adds up: Youβre doing some math on your calculator app and one wrong tap ruins it all. Not anymore. Swipe to the right or left to delete the last character. My high school math teacher called me average. How mean. Use your webcam as a scanner: On Mac, open Photo Booth. Place your doc in front of the webcam, then hit the red photo icon. It will appear in the bottom right. Drag the new file onto your desktop for safekeeping. On a PC, open the Camera app, line up your doc and hit the white camera icon. Click the pic that pops up, then tap the three dots in the upper right. Choose Open folder. Done! Thatβs why youβre coughing: You can monitor air quality without downloading anything new. Just open Google Maps and search for your location. You'll see an Air Quality option in the layers menu. So handy. Windows key + . (period) or Windows key + ; (semicolon): This opens the Emoji Panel, allowing you to insert emojis into any text field. Cmd + spacebar: This Mac shortcut opens Spotlight, an incredibly powerful tool for finding documents quickly, opening apps or searching the web right from your desktop. |
A sweet upgrade for your small business If a picture is worth a thousand words, think how far a video can go. Showcase what your business does with Video Voicemail from Philmore Productions. Video voicemail is ideal for businesses that need to put out or receive visual information. This includes the arts, the medical field, repair shops and law enforcement agencies. Imagine how helpful it would be to show customers videos of your product or service β or just see your face. They can leave you a video message of their own, too. Think FaceTime for business! The setup is simple. Download the Video Voicemail app, create your profile and upload a video up to five minutes long. Now, callers can reach your companyβs video mailbox and watch everything from a product demo to your introducing yourself. You can even call right back from the app. Easyβpeasy! Find out how video voicemail can take your business to the next level. β |
BY THE NUMBERS $10,000 per month On AI girlfriends. Thatβs how much a Miami man is spending to text with bots. According to one tech exec, the first company to be βthe AI version of Match Groupβ (owner of Tinder, Match, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OurTime) will eventually be worth over $1 billion. 75% of American shoppers Have an Amazon Prime membership. Thatβs 180 million Americans last month, up 8% over last year. Letβs do some math. At $15 per month, thatβs $2.7 billion in subscription revenue in a month! Incredible. $68 million in change Thrown away by Americans each year. One waste-processing company that culls metal from trash has collected $10 million in usable coins in seven years. If I had a nickel for every coin I threw away β¦ Iβd have no nickels, because throwing away money is dumb. |
WHAT THE TECH? Mow-chas grass-ias for the tip!
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UNTIL NEXT TIME ... The answer: ππβͺ = βDownton Abbey.β What a show. Did you watch it? Iβve gotta say, things got weird there at the end. Need some new TV recs? Check out my updated list here! π€ Hey, if youβre looking for a great podcast for when youβre driving, gardening or walking thatβs guaranteed to make you smile and get smarter, try Kim Komando Today. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Another solid day in the books. Thanks for being here! Be sure to rate this newsletter to let us know how weβre doing. Stay awesome! β Kim |
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