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September 10, 2023 |
In partnership with Bark |
Happy Sunday, friends! As always, trivia to start us off. If youβre ever in a position to make Bill Gates β the founder of Microsoft, worth an estimated $111.4 billion β lunch, what do you think should be on the menu? Is it β¦ cheeseburgers, pizza, quiche or a filet? Youβll find the answer at the end. Iβll tell you, this one surprised me! π² Have a kiddo in the family? Be sure to check out Bark, the best smartphone for kids. Trust me, your kids and grandkids are tech-smart and can get past most controls. Not with this phone. By the way, if you buy one, I donβt get any residuals or kickbacks. β Kim π« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itβs free!) IN THIS ISSUEπΌ Make bank on old tapesβοΈ Creepy cam on a flightπΈ Can AI do your taxes? |
TODAY'S TOP STORYCheck your house for these VHS tapesKids these days will never know the thrill of wandering the aisles at Blockbuster and picking out a Friday night movie. Sometimes, all we had to go on was the VHS cover. Risky move! Streaming has taken the place of trips to the video store, but there's a VHS revival underway. People are digging into their attics and dusting off their collections to remember the good old days. Oh, and they're selling their old tapes for cash. Just how much are we talking?Nostalgia pays, and it pays well. Here are the top-selling VHS tapes, according to recent sales tracked by ScreenCrush: βBack to the Futureβ β If you could time travel back to 1985 in the DeLorean, tell yourself not to open your copy. Itβs selling for $1,000.βThe Fast and the Furiousβ β By the time it came out in the early 2000s, many of us were already on to DVDs. A VHS version of this Paul Walker and Vin Diesel classic can bank you a cool $1,000.βTeen Wolfβ β A first printing of the VHS tape with the iconic cover of Michael J. Fox bearing his chest just sold for $1,190 on eBay.βGremlinsβ β America fell in love with those furry, evil little menaces in this 1980s staple. A copy today goes for $1,250.βFirst Bloodβ β Sylvester Stallone was in his element. A copy of this gem just went for $1,525. The original VHS tape still had the $29.95 price tag on the front. How's that for appreciation?βHalloween IIβ β An unopened copy of this blockbuster sequel recently sold for $1,525.βDumboβ β A limited-edition version that came bundled with a Mickey Mouse ornament recently sold for $1,575.50.βConan the Barbarianβ β Who doesn't love an old-school, enemy-crushing masterpiece? A mint copy is worth $1,725.βTaxi Driverβ β First printings and early releases go for a pretty penny. An initial release of the Robert De Niro classic sold for $1,905.βThe Gooniesβ β Recently went for $4,050. As the saying goes, "Goonies never die." Neither does this VHS tapeβs market value.βA Nightmare on Elm Streetβ β Calling all Freddy Krueger fans. A new copy recently sold on eBay for $5,000.π Run, donβt walk, to the garage. If you have any unopened VHS tapes or anything in great condition, hop on eBay. But, sorry, that copy of βAladdinβ your kid watched 50,000 times is a dud. |
The best smartphone for kids and teensIf you have a child or teen in your family, check out the Bark Phone. Kids can bypass built-in parental controls and apps you add to their phones. This is tamper-proof. Know what they see: The Bark Phone automatically scans your child's texts, social media, apps and searches.Tamper-proof: Kids can't delete texts, change parental controls or access VPNs to bypass restrictions.Location tracking: Keep tabs on your child with real-time location tracking.Screen-time limits: Set firm, unchangeable screen time limits.You get all of this (and peace of mind) for $49 a month. Donβt wait until itβs too late. Protect your child with the Bark Phone now! β |
YOU SHOULD KNOWElonβs ego: Turns out, Elon Musk directed Starlink to cut the link to Ukrainian submarine drones just as they were about to attack the Russian Navy. The attack failed, and the drones sank or washed ashore. Musk now says he didn't create Starlink to fight a war. Iβm telling you, this guyβs got too much power. In-air spy cams were found on an American Airlines flight to Boston β and theyβve spurred an FBI investigation. A flight attendant stopped a teen girl from entering the restroom, only to let her in later. Not long afterward, her mom told a fellow traveler a hidden cam was inside the bathroom. Come on β¦ Airplane bathrooms are gross enough. If anything can stump AI, itβs the U.S. tax code: TurboTax is rolling out Intuit Assist, an artificial intelligence (AI) advisor to give you financial advice all year round. It's supposed to help with getting you bigger tax refunds and speeding up the TurboTax filing process. Yeah, right. TikTok Shop drops: TikTok hopes to compete with Amazon and sell $20 billion in merchandise this year. So far, TikTok Shop is full of cheap and weird stuff, like snail mucin and a $6.99 statue of a βnaughty dwarfβ squatting on a toilet. Just what you needed. The Grammy goes to: Warner Music just signed its first deal with an AI star. Her (or its?) name is Noonoouri. Sheβs 19 and already has more than 400,000 Instagram followers. If you want to be creeped out, hereβs her debut music video. I put this on at a party and everyone left. |
π Your new morning routineEvery morning, brush your teeth to my Daily Tech Update. You get fresh breath and fresh tech know-how in a minute. |
MY TRUSTED ADVICEEvery week, I talk to smart, interesting people on my national radio show. With 425 radio stations across the country airing it, Iβm sure thereβs one near you. Hereβs whatβs goinβ on, along with lots of other gems you donβt get here in my newsletters: Zeke Faux is a Bloomberg reporter who followed a pig-butchering text scam targeting him all the way to human trafficking in Cambodia. His book about crypto scams, βNumber Go Up,β comes out this week. Check it out!Jen Caltrider from Mozillaβs *Privacy Not Included did a study on how your car βsellsβ your private data. Cars are a privacy nightmare, and Jen says some even track your s*x life. In case you miss it, Iβll give you a full report in tomorrowβs newsletter.Tammy from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is looking for a WFH job for her daughter, whoβs had her car hit more than three times in a year.I also helped Mike find a comfortable headset for his wheelchair, Brian tackle his computerβs privacy, Bob fight a false Amazon counterfeit strike, Rebecca find cheaper satellite for her RV travels and so much more! β You have three ways to catch my show: Find me on your local radio station.Listen now in the Komando Community. No commercials!If you donβt mind waiting for shows to appear, get the podcast: Kim Komando Today.π€ Need my help? Letβs talk. Leave me a note here. |
DEAL OF THE DAY
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TECH LIFE UPGRADESControl your apps with your voice: Try things like, βHey, Siri, get me a ride with Uberβ or βHey, Siri, pay Jim $5 with Venmo.β On your Android, say, βHey, Google, order coffee from Dunkinβ or βHey, Google, whereβs my Walmart order?β Not all apps are supported, so mess around to see what works for you! What the heck does βbalterβ mean? Sweet iPad trick for you. Next time you read a word that stumps ya, press and hold it, then select Look Up for the definition. Works on a Kindle, too, btw! Check for funny business: Task Manager on a Windows PC and Activity Monitor on a Mac can give you an overview of everything happening on your machine. On a PC: Hit Ctrl + Shift + Esc and click the Processes tab. On a Mac, hit Cmd + spacebar to open Spotlight Search. Then, type Activity Monitor and press Enter. Swiper no swiping: This hidden Samsung trick will make you feel a little like a magician. Swipe the edge of your hand across the screen to take a screenshot. Hereβs how to set it up. Iβm almost 5β5β: Apple's Measure app is such a gem. You can virtually measure real-world objects. Just draw your measurements across objects for quick, precise results. My husband, Barry, swore he was 5β9β. Nope. I showed him β¦ and heβs 5β8β. Our son, Ian, is 6β2β. People always ask me, βHow did Ian get so tall?β I like to answer, βFrom his father, obviously.β Iβm telling you, you can see the relief on their faces when I start laughing. |
IN CASE YOU MISSED ITBuzz-buzz-buzz-buzz. Oh, thatβs my sister on the phone! Hereβs a sweet way to know whoβs calling without looking at the screen. Stop! Who goes there? Your phone knows where youβve been. You can stop it. π΄ Youβre getting sleepy, very sleepy. Falling asleep quickly doesnβt matter if your phone wakes you up. Sleep mode to the rescue! Upgrade your tech. Iβm giving away an iPad, Mac or PC valued at $1,200 to the person who refers the most friends to this free newsletter. Copy your unique link at the bottom and get to sharing! Looking for love in all the wrong places. It seems like everyone finds dates online. Letβs make sure they stay safe doing it. Share this one. |
WHAT THE TECH?We all have these days, right? |
UNTIL NEXT TIME ...π The answer: Bill Gates is known for loving cheeseburgers. Heck, you donβt need to make them. His favorites are from McDonaldβs β¦ along with a Diet Coke. True story: I interviewed Bill Gates years ago when I was single. Afterward, my mom called me to ask how it went. I told her he was really quite nerdy, gave one-word answers and definitely wasnβt my type. She said, βOh, honey, with that kind of money, you can fix anything!β Thanks for all you do to support me and the team behind the radio show, podcasts, newsletters and website. We wouldnβt be here without you! Show our sponsor, Bark, some love, too. Our sponsors help us send these free newsletters! Iβll be back in your inbox tomorrow with the best tech newsletter in the world! β Kim |
Komando Referral ProgramShare this newsletter β Earn prizes!Step 1: Copy your unique referral link:https://www.komando.com/friends/?referralCode=0rvmdp6&refSource=copy Step 2: Share your link!Post it on social media, send it in a text or paste it into an email to a pal. If they sign up using that link, you get the credit! |
How'd we do?What did you think of today's issue? π Fantasticπ Just OKπ Waste of time |
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Photo credit(s): Β© Eti Swinford | Dreamstime.com |
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