How the heck is it Friday and the last day of February already? Calling all space nerds. Tonight, look up and you’ll see a rare sight: Seven planets all in alignment. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus. Technically only the first five are bright enough to spot with just your eyes. You’ll need binoculars for Neptune and Uranus. Did you know that Uranus is the coldest place in the solar system? So it’s safe to say the sun don’t shine there.

🤖 Feeling like everything is an AI bot or Big Tech algorithm? Nope, it's me, real-human Kim here! I handpick everything in this newsletter just for you to always be tech-ahead and never tech-behind in life. — Kim

It’s so easy to click and save your passwords right to Chrome, Edge, Safari or any other browser. Have you ever stopped to think about just how bad an idea it is to do this? Anyone with access to your browser can jump right into any one of your accounts. Yup, even your banking and investment accounts are up for grabs.

Google and Apple have free, built-in password managers. But do you really want a company that makes money collecting and selling data to be the one protecting your most sensitive info?

Then there’s one-password syndrome

I bet you’re reusing passwords or have done this in the past. Reusing passwords is a cybersecurity disaster, and one I’ve warned you about for decades. Hackers love you. A shocking 81% of hacking-related breaches start with weak or stolen passwords.

The right way to protect your accounts

✅ Use a dedicated password manager. You want one with military-grade encryption, so even if hackers breach your device, they can’t access your stored passwords. Steer clear of free options. Those are almost always a scam.

✅ Don’t be sloppy. Say it with me: Every single account, every login and every app gets its own strong, unique password that’s at least 16 characters long, with a mixture of upper- and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers. A good password manager does it for you and autofills across all your devices because you won’t remember a hard-to-crack password.

✅ Be smart when you update. Don’t just change a letter, character or number at the end of your current password and call it good. Sure, that makes it easy to remember, but it’s not hard for someone to figure out your pattern and crack your new logins.

✅ They know your tricks. Adding an exclamation point or question mark at the end of a password doesn’t do much to stop hackers and their software from figuring it out. Use numbers and special characters in a password. Replace an O (the letter) with a zero, like this k0mand0_scholar or an A with an @ like kom@ndo_f@n.

✅ Try a passphrase. They are longer and harder to crack. Mix in some characters and numbers. “My two cats are smart” becomes “my2c@tsrSmart.”

✅ Share the right way. Sending a password in a DM or text is dangerous. A password manager lets you share a login in its encrypted form instead of plain text anyone can read. Pro tip: If you ever do share a password in a message in a pinch, delete it after the other person has copied it down.

There are so many options out there

I went looking for the very best for you. My password manager recommendation, NordPass, is built with tech called zero-knowledge encryption. You set a master password, and everything stored in your vault is for your eyes only. Even NordPass can’t access it, only you can.

I love that NordPass’s exclusive data breach scanner shows if any of your credentials have been exposed on the Dark Web. It helps you move fast because criminals do, too. With secure password sharing, breach detection and autofill capabilities, NordPass makes managing your logins easy and so much safer.

If you haven’t started using a password manager yet, now’s the time. NordPass is my go-to for keeping everything safe and organized, and I negotiated a special deal just for you.

✅ Right now, get NordPass for only $1.24 a month.* When you sign up for two years, you get an extra three months free, too. Nice.

These are bestsellers for a reason. Hundreds of thousands of reviews can’t be wrong.

🏅 Refurbished: It’s a nicer word than used. Everything on Amazon is tested and guaranteed for 90 days.

💪🇺🇸 The only easy day was yesterday: Special ops commanders went to DC to explain that America’s military tech, especially AI, machine learning, autonomous weapons and cyber warfare, is way behind our adversaries. China and Russia are investing heavily in AI-driven battlefield awareness, drone swarms and cyber capabilities. We have to do the same.

I told you about this weeks ago: Now it’s hitting mainstream news sites. Google secretly installed an app on Android phones called SafetyCore. It scans all your photos, theoretically to provide Sensitive Content warnings. Hit this link on your Android and hit uninstall if you don’t want it eating up 2GB of space.

Whiskey business: A bottle of rare 81-year-old Macallan scotch is selling for $649,999. No wonder alcohol counterfeiting is so big. Criminals make bank refilling authentic bottles with cheap stuff. Not anymore! New tech embeds a molecular marker in the seal of each verified bottle so collectors don’t get duped. Authenticated bottles get a blockchain record you can check. Now that’s a barrel of laughs.

🔥 Laundry just got worse: If your machine is running slower than usual or having trouble starting, don’t ignore it. A woman’s LG washing machine burst into flames even though it was turned off. Firefighters say the usual culprit is the capacitor, which stays on and can cause a short.

Alexa+ is ready for a price: The new Amazon AI can guess a movie based on clues. Ask for “that one with the sparkling vampires,” and it pulls up “Twilight.” It’s getting integrated with thousands of apps, too, so you can do things like order an Uber without lifting a finger. I expect more skills for $240 a year!

🚀 3, 2, 1, liftoff: Katy Perry, Gayle King and Lauren Sanchez (Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend) are joining an all-female crew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket this spring. They’ll float in zero gravity for about 10 minutes. Spoiler: Lauren’s going to wear something revealing to strike a froze.

🧠 Mind over matter: It’s been a year since Noland Arbaugh became the first Neuralink patient. I chatted with him last year, and he’s so positive. The procedure was done in Phoenix. The team just shared a video of how the N1 Implant helps him control gadgets just by thinking. Check it out here.

🤑 Outsmart your rivals: Try this AI prompt to stay ahead in your industry. Ask ChatGPT or any bot, “Analyze my competitors in [industry] and give me three strategies to stand out.” Super smart!

Pump it up down: Your iPhone’s speaker goes a lot louder than what’s good for your ears. From Settings, pick Sounds & Haptics > Headphone Safety > Reduce Loud Audio. This one’s good to adjust for the kids, too.

Is that a computer in your pocket? Samsung DeX connects a Galaxy phone or tablet to a monitor or TV. Plug a USB-C to HDMI adapter into your phone and, voila, mini computer! Add a mouse and keyboard to make it even better!

🙈 Now you see them, now you don’t: Hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) and click on multiple tabs to select them all at once. Now hit Ctrl + W or Cmd + W to make them all vanish.

Excel is so 2010: It’s easy to be a spreadsheet wiz in Google Sheets now that Gemini is built in. With a prompt, you can generate charts, analyze data and automate spreadsheet tasks. Open a new Sheet and click the Gemini icon (it’s a star) next to your profile picture. Love this tip? Try this on your dating app. “Are you a related data set in a separate table? Because I INDEX/MATCH you.” Yup, geek humor right there.

I shared this with a friend. She was having a heck of a time with Amazon chat support. A customer service rep will call you if you know this trick.

📲 I’ve never waited more than three minutes. Have your order number handy! If you do need a phone number for Amazon Customer Service, it’s 1-888-280-4331.

PSA: Don't order hay for your horse off Amazon. After a couple of days, they'll ask for your feed back.

✅ Don’t forget to check out NordPass and fix your password mess! If you need help with something specific, drop a comment when you rate this newsletter. See you right back here tomorrow with another issue of the best tech newsletter in the USA. Next time you look in the mirror, say out loud: “I am tech smart and go Komando!” — Kim