Hello, friends, and welcome to Sunday! Let’s start with our daily dose of tech trivia. In 2013, Jamie Siminoff went on "Shark Tank" and pitched “Doorbot.” True or false: All the Sharks turned him down, but his product later sold for $1B to Amazon. Answer’s at the end!

💗 When you see a major story here and want to share it, find the Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or email icon at the end. Tap or click that. Boom! You've just shared that awesome story. Now, on with the tech know-how! — Kim

On Sundays, I like to bring you into the know about something happening in the tech world that's probably not on your radar. These are stories you’ll want to tell your family and friends about and are definitely conversation starters.

Let’s begin here: Would you stop a random stranger in the supermarket and say to them, “Do you think I’m ugly? Come on, be honest. Just say it like it is.”

On the wildly popular Reddit forum "Am I Ugly," this is exactly what’s happening. Comments, posts and votes in the subreddit were up a whopping 1,986% in July compared to last year.

Posts on the "True Rate Me" subreddit, which ranks people from "ultra unattractive" to "ultra attractive" (complete with visuals), are up 1,140% in the last year. In the "Rate Me" subreddit, "First Impressions" post views are up 65%.

Are you hot or not?

"Am I Ugly" hit back in 2010 (WSJ, paywall link), the same year Instagram launched and about a year before the debut of Snapchat. But to understand why people are drawn to "Am I Ugly," come with me to the year 2000.

Before Reddit, Facebook, Instagram and even MySpace, there was HOTorNOT. People would upload pictures of themselves so strangers on the internet could rate their hotness on a scale of one to 10. Yup, we're still asking the internet how hot we are.

Kid: ‘Mom, am I ugly?’

Mom: “I told you not to call me Mom in public.” So goes the old joke. Who's hanging out in the "Am I Ugly" forum? When I was writing this story, there were over 7,000 people uploading photos and leaving comments.

As for the Redditors’ ages, they seem to be mostly in their late teens, early 20s and even 30s. Here are a few posts:

Because it's the internet, replies range from super-sweet to downright cruel. Some people even report receiving unwanted direct messages. (It’s against the rules of the subreddit, btw.)

My take

With how much time we spend online these days, it's no shocker that subreddits like "Am I Ugly" are buzzing. I've seen firsthand how tech changes the way we see ourselves. It's like we're in this constant loop of seeking validation with every tap and swipe. Maybe it’s something to talk to the people in your life about. It’s not good for our mental health.

Now, in 2023, artificial intelligence (AI) is entering the rating game. Hot Chat 3000 rates attractiveness on a scale of one to 10 — and then pairs them with an "aesthetic equal." In a world driven by data, let's not forget the heart behind the pixels.

👻 Horror story: A bachelorette bash at an Airbnb with a 4.98-star rating and over 200 positive reviews in San Rafael, California, turned weird quickly. The ladies noticed an outdoor security cam following their every move, then they discovered a man — the owner — living in the Airbnb’s attic. Can you imagine?!

No skeet shooting for prizes: Walmart drone deliveries are coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Place an order from one of two local Supercenters using the mobile app, and a Wing drone will zip up to six miles to bring your chips in 30 minutes or less.

📍 Mug-nificent: Forget fumbling for your wallet or phone to pay. Starbucks is testing scanless pay in its drive-thrus. It uses geolocation via the Starbucks app to ID you in the lane and charge you from there. Roll up, grab your fave drink and go.

Death watch: If you see Citizen’s $350 CZ smartwatch on sale, it’s for a good reason: It’s awful. It’s so bad, Citizen pulled it off the market, even though it’s only been available since May.

Deepfakes getting worse: It’s easier than you’d think for someone to copy your boss’ voice. AI is bringing a bigger, scarier wave of deepfakes: Fake video calls from your boss. We’re going to dedicate a story to this topic next week in my free newsletters — including ways to plan for this kind of fake-out. This is something you def need to share.

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Plus, Bill wants to keep using his old iPhone, Trish wants to create a family cookbook, Joyce needs a way to hear all her sisters in the car on their next trip, Frank is concerned about kids using the Saturn app, and James needs a solid sleep app before he starts a second job.

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Think "hiring" and what site comes to mind? Yup, LinkedIn. Every week, nearly 52 million job seekers visit LinkedIn — and with good reason.

With LinkedIn, you can find the right person for any job, fast and free. Pro tip: Add your posted job and the purple "hiring" frame to your LinkedIn profile photo to spread the word.

Love this: LinkedIn screens questions and has other great tools that automatically weed out resumes that don't fit. Such a timesaver.

⏩ Smartphone shortcut: Your sister sent you a picture a month ago. You can scroll and scroll to find it or use this trick. On iPhone, open Messages, tap a convo, then tap the person’s profile photo. Scroll to Photos > See All. On Android, open Messages, tap the search bar at the top, then choose the sender from the list of names.

I wish it went without saying: The government, companies and any legitimate organization will never, ever ask you to pay a fine, fee, charge or anything else via gift cards. Tell the older folks in your life this until the message sinks in.

Upgrade for special occasions: If you’re videoing something important on your smartphone, take a minute to switch your camera to 4K if you can. The same goes for photos. Your phone has lots of optimized modes to take the best pictures. Try them out and find what you like best. Do it before graduation day or the birthday party.

🌊 Wipeout: Start fresh, Safari users. Open a browser window, then click Safari in the top toolbar. Choose Clear History, select a timeframe and click Clear History to finish the job. Steps for other browsers here.

It’s a blue agave: A free app called PlantNet, developed by French scientists, can tell you almost anything about nearby plants. You can submit up to four photos of the plant: Leaf, flower, bark and fruit. The better the close-up, the better the results. Download for Android or iPhone.

Boy, you all loved this tip! Setting up multiple desktops means you can separate work and life — or at least keep your spouse’s weird searches out of your history. Get some digital space.

👋 Ah, Google, your old pal. See what the search giant knows about you.

True or false: Performance apps that monitor your battery can add a lot of life to your phone. Answer here, along with my charging smarts.

Online dating is the norm, and sometimes things go much worse than a bad match. Share this to protect your loved ones.

🎞️ Haul out the memories. Every year that passes, your physical photos and negatives degrade a little more. Digitize them before it’s too late.

Car seat from the 1940s. I wouldn’t put my laptop on that.

🚪 The answer: True. Jamie Siminoff asked for $700,000 for a 10% equity share in Doorbot. The Sharks turned him down. He made $5 million in sales after the “Shark Tank” episode aired and eventually raised over $200 million in capital. Doorbot became Ring, which Amazon acquired for $1 billion. What a story, eh?

🍅 On my cooking list: This tomato salad for all the end-of-season beauties. Speaking of summer, this peach burrata toast looks amazing. What tomatoes smell the best? A roma! (I heard you laugh!)

Hope this was the start (or end!) of a beautiful Sunday, friend. Remember, you can reply to this email to let me know if there are certain topics you’d like me to cover. I read every note! See you bright and early for tomorrow’s tech news. Until then, stay your gorgeous self! — Kim