Welcome to your Sunday, friend. Have you ever hit “delete” and instantly felt your soul leave your body? Imagine doing that because you’re buzz’d, and realizing you just wiped out an entire animated blockbuster that cost $90 million to make.

🎞️ Which studio accidentally deleted an entire movie and then found a backup was corrupted? Was it:A) Universal Studios, B) Pixar, C) Amazon or D) 20th Century Fox? Find the answer and a great story you need to read at the end! 

0️⃣ Zero, zilch, nada: My privacy secret weapon eliminated spam calls and texts on my phone. Silence feels so good. I negotiated a 60% discount just for you. You’re gonna love it! — Kim

“Hi, Kim, I’ve been taking care of my dad since his stroke. Your story about using ChatGPT to map out questions for our doctors has actually truly helped me feel a little more in control. It’s not perfect, but it’s been a lifeline.” — Maya in Ohio

Thanks for your kind note, Maya. Being a caregiver, whether you’re managing appointments, meals or moods, is a job you didn’t apply for, can’t quit and will never be fully prepared for. It’s lonely, scary and exhausting. I’ve been there.

The internet has a million tips on palliative care and side effects, but very little on the emotional black hole you’re staring into. That’s where AI, surprisingly, can actually help. 

Note: This story is a little longer than most I put here in the newsletter. But it’s an important one that I feel will help you and many of my readers.

❤️‍🩹 Sample prompts

You’re not only dealing with logistics. 

You’re managing panic, insomnia, guilt and anticipatory grief. And no, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot or any of the other AI chatbots can’t hug you. That would get out of hand, real quick. 

Getting started is often the hardest part. I put together some prompts for you to try with your favorite AI chatbot. I hope this helps you, even a little bit.

Let’s start with you

Tell your chatbot what’s going on with you and your loved one. It won’t know how to help unless you are completely honest.

• “Act like a therapist and help me process the overwhelming stress I’m feeling right now.”
• “What are ways I can still be here to help but not let it consume me?”
• “What questions should I ask myself when I feel overwhelmed and guilty for just needing a break?”

Hard talks with family or patient 

When you’re stressed, it’s hard to think straight. Give AI your tough duties.

• “Write a compassionate note to explain Dad’s diagnosis to my kids.”
• “Help me talk to my sibling about splitting up caregiving duties without sounding resentful.”
• “Tell me what I should do legally if things take a sudden turn for the worst.”

You don’t need another to-do list

Use AI when your brain is full to sort the chaos.

• “I’m going to give you a list of everything on my plate. Organize it into urgent, important and optional. Flag anything I can delegate to friends and family.”
• “Here are 10 things I need to do, but I don’t know where to start. Tell me what I should do first and give me a realistic time slot to do it.”
• “I want to make Dad comfortable. Give me ideas.”

Sanity check moments

You can’t take care of someone else unless you take care of yourself first. That’s not being selfish. It’s life.

• “Give me a calming mantra to repeat when I’m about to cry in public or when I’m with my loved one.”
• “I would like prayers that I can say alone and with my loved one.”
• “Give me five easy meal ideas that don’t involve an oven.”

Pro tip: Take a picture of your pantry or fridge and ask AI what you can make with what you have. 

💝 Why this matters

In the moments when your brain is fried and your heart is in free fall, an AI chatbot can step in as your nonjudgmental sidekick, offering words, structure and gentle nudges, so you don’t have to carry every piece alone. 

You’re not a machine. But lucky for you, this helper is.

🫶🏻 Know someone who needs this info? Use the share buttons below right now.

Have you ever asked ChatGPT what it knows about you? You’d be shocked to know your phone number, home address, family connections, medical history, and financial data are all over the internet.

Removing your personal details from the internet used to be nearly impossible. Incogni automatically scrubs your personal info from people-search sites and data brokers. With Incogni’s Unlimited Plan, you can request to target specific sites for data removal. One of my readers said: 

“Thank you for the great endorsements for Incogni!  I was in 4 major data breaches in 2024 and was sick of all the spammy emails, texts, and calls. All that “noise” has dropped significantly.”

Incogni helps protect you from spams, scams, and any other real world threats tied to your digital footprint. They can’t scam you, if they can’t find you. I use Incogni, and you should too.

📧 Prime-time panic: Amazon just mass-emailed 220 million Prime users about a rise in account impersonation scams. Phishing, phone calls and fake Prime renewals are the flavor of the month. Frequent scams include phony iPhone purchases and “click here to cancel” traps. You’re not special. Everyone got this email. But don’t click anything. Seriously.

Fake views, real gas money: A couple drove three hours to visit a scenic cable car spot … that doesn’t exist. It was conjured by Google’s Veo 3 AI video maker and posted by a fake AI news channel on TikTok. Deepfake scams are up 2,137% since 2022, and now your vacation plans might be, too.

🕳️ Who left the door open? Texas-based adoption agency Gladney left 1.1 million records sitting in an open 2.5 GB database like it was a lemonade stand. Data about kids, parents, even employees, all up for grabs, no password. Could’ve been weaponized for scams, blackmail or the worst Facebook friend request ever. It’s now locked, but the damage? TBD.

Hackers don’t need your permission, just one weak link or data breach, and your identity is theirs. I don’t take chances. I use NordProtect to stay one step ahead. Full protection, 65% off right now. Don’t wait.*

🧲 Planes ditch GPS (kinda): Scientists are turning to the Earth’s crust for next-gen flight nav. Turns out, underground magnetic quirks can help planes figure out where they are, no satellites needed. It’s called magnetic anomaly mapping, and it could be a game changer when GPS gets jammed, spoofed or quiet-quits midair.

🧀 Cottage cheese is hot: Cottage cheese is having a weird moment. Albertsons says sales are booming thanks to TikTok recipes and a renewed obsession with protein. Sales surged by 18% in a year, hitting $1.75 billion last year. Why? Cottage cheese ice cream, toast, even pancakes. Next up: cottage cheese cold brew. You know it’s coming.

😎 If the summer heat has you melting, I got you.

• 🌬️ Breeze on the go: Forget fans that just blow hot air. This portable powerhouse (5% off) has ice cooling.

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• 🥤 Sip happens: Lemonade, tea, cold brew — get a mason jar pitcher (33% off) to make it all.

• ☀️ Stick it to the sun: Bye to greasy and hello to water-resistant sunscreen (19% off) that glides on smoothly.

🔥 Sizzling steals: Click this secret link for more summer faves, and browse my store for my Kim-approved picks.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Take a screenshot. On iPhone, press the Side button + Volume Up. On Android, it’s usually the Power button + Volume Down.

🍏 Mac not responding? Sometimes apps freeze and won’t close with Cmd + Q. If you’re stuck with the spinning beach ball, press Cmd + Option + Esc. Select the frozen app, click Force Quit, and it’ll shut down completely.

📁 Customize your Start Menu: On Windows 11, you can add folders like Documents, Downloads, Music and Pictures next to the Power button. Go to Settings > Personalization > Start > Folders and toggle On what you want. Next time you open the Start Menu, you’ll see those icons right at the bottom. 

🌞 See visitors, not the sky: The best height to mount your video doorbell is 48 inches from the ground. Why? Most have a wide field of view, so there’s no need to go higher.

Restart your internet the right way: Unplug both your modem and router, then wait 30 seconds. Plug in the modem first and wait 60 seconds until the lights are back. Then plug in your router and wait two minutes. Still no luck? Time to call your internet provider.

🌐 Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.*

• Karen from San Jose, California, got buried under nonstop Amazon packages for a whole year. Ones she never ordered. At one point, over 120 boxes piled up at her door.

• Alan from Knoxville, Tennessee, uses AI to write emails. That’s about it. He wonders how it can help him beyond that. 
• Anthony from Boston, Massachusetts, met a woman on Tinder who promises sure-win crypto tips. Now she wants $60,000. Scam or legit?

Plus, Lynda wonders what iPhone to buy, Paul looks for translation earbuds, Kim writes an e-book, Brenda worries about her personal info online, and so much more!

🚢 Rock on: Turn on my yacht rock playlist (so many good songs!) 

🚶 Stumble through the internet: Hit “Walk” and discover one strange or fascinating website after another.

🎬 Star in a movie trailer:
Upload your photos and make a Hollywood-style trailer with AI. 

🧠 Play with neural networks:
See how AI recognizes doodles in real time.

🌊 Surf the weirdest websites online: Click a button and get transported to something bizarre, useless or oddly delightful.

👆 Look at that picture. Did a human or a robot carve it?

Inside a Brooklyn warehouse once used for WWII ship repairs, a startup called Monumental Labs is reviving classical architecture and figurines with robots so smart they can sculpt a gargoyle faster than you can explain Byzantine history. 

Soon, their new 37,000-square-foot robo-quarry will crank out structural stone blocks for actual buildings. Your next apartment could come with “hand-carved” cherubs courtesy of a robot that doesn’t need lunch breaks, union dues or a dusty art degree.

🎬 The answer: B) Pixar almost lost Toy Story 2 in 1998 when someone accidentally entered a command into the studio’s system that essentially said: rm -rf /

Translating from Unix/Linux speak, that basically means: “Delete everything. Everywhere. Immediately.” And the system obeyed. No joke, 90% of the files vanished faster than Buzz Lightyear could say, “To infinity!” 

Enter hero Galyn Susman who had a full copy at home. Pixar rushed to her place, rescued the files and saved the beloved sequel from digital doom. Toy Story 2 went on to gross nearly $500 million. 

🥔 Why does Mr. Potato Head have a phone? In case Mr. Onion Rings. (lol)

👉 Wait, one more thing: Incogni has requested my info be removed from over 1,400 different data-broker and people-search sites. I’ve tried doing this myself over the years, and I was happy if I got to a dozen. Incogni offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose. Use my link for 60% off. 

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the United States for a reason. Mostly the reason is that you’re here and you’re awesome. Tomorrow: I’m revealing the AI image hacks that saved my creative soul.

Until then, remember to recharge your soul like you recharge your phone. 🔋 — Kim

📣 Don’t keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here)