The Current + The Banksying trend, Uber scams and the fall of middle management - In partnership with Timeline | Happy Friday, friend. Space might be a vacuum, but it turns out itâs not a game-free zone. Back in the â90s, a cosmonaut decided watching Earth wasnât exciting enough and took a video game console with him to the stars. đ§âđ Take a guess which game was the first to be played in space: A) Pong, B) Tetris, C) Space Invaders or D) Super Mario Bros. Find the answer at the end. đ Recharge your energy at the cellular level. Timelineâs Mitopure powers up your mitochondria, and right now, itâs 40% off. More about that below. â Kim đ« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itâs free!) | TODAY'S DEEP DIVE Not so fiction now Image: ChatGPT Iâll skip the wizards and superheroes. Give me a movie that looked into the future and actually saw something real coming before we even had Wi-Fi. These are the ones that got it right, eerily right. Some were made 10, 20, even more than 50 years ago, and they still hold up. If you havenât seen them, add them to your list. đș Back to the Future Part II (1989) Itâs easy to laugh at hoverboards and self-lacing shoes, but this movie predicted flat-screen TVs, FaceTime, wearable tech, voice assistants, smart homes and drones. Oh, and video glasses? Sound like Apple Vision Pro to you? đïž Minority Report (2002) Ads that talk to you by name. Touchless interfaces. Eye scans. Predictive policing. Facial recognition. Targeted marketing. This movie predicted half the tech youâre already using and the half you hope never shows up. đŁïž Her (2013) He falls in love with his AI assistant. Not Alexa. This is more like Replika or Character.AI, where people are actually forming relationships with bots. They text them, confide in them, say âI love youâ and even have sex. This movie isnât the future, itâs now. đ§ 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) HAL was Siri with an attitude. Voice-controlled AI, video calling, space tourism, all decades before they were real. If HAL had a better personality and didnât shut people out of air locks, heâd fit right into todayâs smart home. đ The Truman Show (1998) OK, not technically sci-fi, but stick with me. It predicted reality TV, influencer culture and how we broadcast every moment of our lives like someoneâs watching. đ§Ź Gattaca (1997) Designer babies. DNA-based hiring. Genetic discrimination. This oneâs a warning wrapped in a killer wardrobe. Itâs starting to happen now, and it raises real ethical questions that weâre barely ready for. đ”ïžââïž The Net (1995) Sandra Bullockâs identity is stolen and erased online. Back then, it was fiction. Now, itâs called a Tuesday. đ WALL-E (2008) Earth is trashed, robots clean up the mess, and humans are too glued to screens to notice. What was once Pixarâs dystopia is now ⊠kinda familiar? đŒ Idiocracy (2006) The future is dumb, loud and sponsored by fast food. In a world where ads are everywhere and critical thinkingâs gone MIA, a totally average guy becomes the smartest person alive. Got one I missed? After you rate todayâs newsletter at the end, tell me in the comments. I always want to hear what youâre watching. đż đ Nerd joke alert! Did you see the movie about a database query? I heard the SQL is better. (lol) |
Daily Tech Update Is your old tech worth a fortune? Some investors are treating vintage tech like fine art. The right piece could be a gold mine. Listen on Komando.com â |
DEALS OF THE DAY Last call for âPrime Dayâ â° Quick, thereâs still time to grab the best of the best. đ Need a jump? Start with a smart battery charger (40% off) that works for campers, ATVs, you name it. đ Watch your battery: A key chain charger (44% off) can power any Apple Watch and fits in your pocket. ⥠Transfer data, fast: Photographers, you need this little SD card reader (38% off) with dual slots. đ€ Screen time saver: Ease eyestrain with these blue-light-blocking glasses (37% off). Handy case included. đ± Snap pics underwater: Just snag some waterproof phone pouches (20% off) that work up to 100 ft. đ§ Thirsty? This 10-cup pitcher (20% off) comes with a 200-gallon filter that lasts five times longer than the rest. đł Secret sauce: Grab a nonstick saucepan (35% off) that works on any stovetop. PFAS- and PFOA-free, too. đ Luxury within armâs reach: All you need is a foldable bathtub tray (15% off) to hold your tablet, drink and more. âš Gentle clean, every time: Cetaphilâs hydrating foaming cleanser (20% off) is perfect for sensitive skin. đ© Drop it in: These heavy-duty toilet cleaning tablets (28% off, 12-pack) tackle stains and odor with every flush. đ Donât miss out! Head to my Amazon storefront to scoop up the rest of my Komando-approved Prime Day deals before theyâre gone. |
WEB WATERCOOLER đš New Uber scam: You request a ride, the driver accepts and you get a call saying you need to verify your account. The scammer asks for your phone number, email and verification codes. Give it up, and they log into your account and steal your money. Your ex just Banksyâd you: That uneasy vibe? Itâs called âBanksying,â a new name for a breakup tactic where someone slowly fades emotionally but sticks around just long enough to watch you unravel. Itâs basically ghostingâs more psychopathic cousin. Named after the artist, it ends when they dramatically exit while youâre still mentally planning next weekendâs brunch. Perplexity launches Comet: Their new AI browser has smart search summaries and a built-in assistant that can read your emails, check your calendar and answer questions about the page youâre on. The kicker? For now, itâs only available on their $200/month Max plan. FYI: Youâll also need to give up a lot of private data, like your Google account. đ± The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is here: Itâs thinner than ever at 8.9mm closed (compared to the Fold 6âs 12.1mm). You get an 8-inch inner screen and a 6.5-inch outer. Thereâs also a 200MP main camera, 10MP selfie, up to 16GB of RAM and storage from 256GB to 1TB. The catch? It starts at $2,000. Yikes. âFull self-drivingâ debunked: A Tesla owner just got his $10K back after proving âFull Self-Drivingâ isnât even close. The car never qualified for FSD beta, and turns out the hardware canât handle autonomy anyway. Itâs âFull Self-Drivingâ the way LaCroix is âjuice.â đ¶ Heartbeat in your hand: This is cool if youâre pregnant. A new AI-powered app lets you feel your unborn babyâs heartbeat by translating ultrasound data into phone vibrations. Itâs giving âskin-to-skinâ a low-latency, Bluetooth-enabled twist. Itâs also $96/year, not FDA-cleared, but pretty neat at womb temperature. |
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DIGITAL LIFE HACK Boomers and Zoomers agree on this Are your phone habits harmless? Thereâs one thing every generation agrees is just too rude. Listen on Komando.com â |
DEVICE ADVICE âĄïž 3-second tech genius: Print black-and-white even when your color ink is empty. In print settings, choose âPrint in grayscale using black ink only.â Works on most printers and saves you mid-print rage. đ» Emergency Windows restart: If your PC is totally frozen, donât just hold the power button. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open the security screen. Then hold Ctrl and click the Power icon in the bottom-right. Youâll get a warning about losing unsaved data. Click OK to restart right away. đ Take Kindle screenshots: Want to save something on your screen? Tap the upper-right and lower-left corners at the same time. To view it, plug your Kindle into a computer and check the Screenshots folder (Root folder for older models). đȘ Decode your kids: Urban Dictionary has your back. Type in any slang word or phrase, and youâll get the top-voted definition, usually accurate, occasionally unhinged. Great for translating ârizz,â âmidâ or whatever theyâre mumbling these days. đŹ Mark texts as unread: Itâs not just for emails. On iPhone, swipe right on a conversation and tap Mark as Unread (it looks like a speech bubble). On Android, press and hold the convo, tap thethree-dot menu in the top-right corner, then choose Mark as unread, so you wonât forget to reply later. đ§ Tired of earbuds that fall out or fizzle fast? I use Rayconâs Everyday Earbuds! They have clear sound, comfy fit and up to 32 hours of battery life. Theyâre half the price of big brands. Get 15% off today at Raycon!* |
BY THE NUMBERS $99 The price to skip the line you paid $209 a year to skip. Clearâs new âConcierge Expressâ lets you bypass the Clear line, because apparently, even fast isnât fast enough. Itâs like buying a VIP pass to your own VIP pass. No word yet on velvet ropes or red carpets. 48,000 Thatâs how many likes Tinderâs âmost swiped right manâ racked up without finding âthe one.â Despite spending nine years and countless hours on the app (earning him the title âMr. Tinderâ), Stefan-Pierre Tomlin found love the old-fashioned way, meeting his girlfriend during a night out. She had no clue he was Mr. Tinder until she Googled him. $293 million Thatâs the global box office haul for Appleâs biggest movie ever ⊠so far. F1: The Movie beat out Napoleon to take the top spot in Appleâs box office history. About 1 in 5 tickets sold were in IMAX alone, making it the coziest way to feel like youâre inside an F1 car. Popcorn included. |
WHAT THE TECH? | Image: @miazelu via Instagram |
| Her nameâs Mia Zelu. Sheâs blonde, beautiful, emotionally vulnerable and 100% not real. The AI-generated âdigital storytellerâ stunned Instagram with courtside Wimbledon pics and poetic captions that sound straight out of a therapy session, tricking thousands (including, allegedly, Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant) into thinking she was human. She has over 150,000 followers and even has an AI âsisterâ with 2x the followers. đ„ She is incredibly pretty, but sheâs also closer to my toaster than an actual human. |
LOGGING OUT ... Answer: B) Tetris. In 1993, Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov played Tetris on a Game Boy aboard the Mir space station. Proof that even in orbit, you still canât quit after just one level. You think block rotation is hard on Earth? Try it while floating near the ceiling. You know, playing Tetris has taught me a valuable life lesson. If you try to fit in, youâll disappear. đ More energy, better strength, no extra workouts? Thatâs the power of Mitopure from Timeline. And right now, itâs 40% off for Prime Day. Check it out! đ„ This is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Your inbox has incredible taste. Tomorrow, Iâm talking about reclaiming your screen from the internetâs Times Square. Until then, may your Wi-Fi be fast and your inbox be empty. đŹ â Kim đŁ Donât keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | |
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