🔧 7 one-minute tech fixes that actually work

Happy Saturday, {{first_name | friend}}. These days, ghost hunters aren’t simply waving around sage, they’ve got gadgets that would make a sci-fi prop closet jealous. EMF readers, spirit boxes and enough LED blinks to rival a rave. But ghost tech didn’t start with TikTok and thermal cams.  

👻 Back in the early days, how did folks first try to capture a ghost on record? Was it a: A) modified phonograph, B) cold spot detector, C) motion-sensing camera or D) hacked TV antenna? Choose wisely, and maybe keep a light on tonight. The answer is at the end! 

I know how scary it feels to think someone could mess with your credit or steal your identity. Freezing your credit helps, but it doesn’t stop everything. That’s why I tell my friends about NordProtect. It’s around-the-clock protection I trust. 

📻 Listen up! My award-winning national radio show is airing all weekend across the USA. With over 420 stations strong, find your closest one by using our super-duper station locator map, or listen commercial-free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or in the Komando Community. — Kim

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It’s Saturday, which means two things:

So let’s channel that procrastination energy into productivity. I’m talking about the satisfying kind where you fix stuff in under a minute and feel wildly accomplished.

Here are tech issues you can squash today. No tools, tech support or curse words required.

Screen flickering? Wonky colors? Do this: Unplug the TV from the wall, then press and hold the TV’s physical power button (not the remote!) for 60 full seconds. Plug it back in. Magic. Yes, you’ve seen this before. It worked for so many of you, it’s here by popular demand.

Menus crawling like it’s 1997? Hold the Select and Play/Pause buttons together for five seconds. This soft reset won’t erase anything, it just shakes off the digital cobwebs.

Unpair it, toggle Bluetooth off and on. Still moody? Go nuclear: Tap “Forget This Device” in settings, restart both gadgets and re-pair. Think of it as couples therapy for your tech.

Unplug your modem and router for 60 seconds. Dust the vents while you’re at it. Plug the modem in first, wait, then the router. You dodged 40 minutes of elevator music.

If your phone only charges at a weird angle, do this: Power it down and gently fish lint out of the charging port with a wooden toothpick. Oddly satisfying.

Video call? Prop a folded sticky note on your laptop’s screen or monitor to bounce light. Add a lamp aimed at the ceiling, and boom, instant glow-up. No ring light needed.

Take the batteries out, rub the ends clean, roll them between your hands and pop them back in. Ancient ritual. Often works.

Don’t have any pricey sprays lying around? Head to your laundry room. A used dryer sheet wipes dust, static and fingerprints off screens, keyboards, cords and even TVs. You know, this past spring, I gave up cleaning out the dryer filter for Lent. (lol, right?)

Now go forth and fix!

🛰️ Starlink’s scam shutdown: After months of heat, SpaceX says it finally disabled over 2,000 Starlink kits in Myanmar that scammers were using for massive fraud and trafficking rings. Local governments raided one site and found dozens of Starlink dishes running cybercrime ops. Wild how crypto and romance scammers had better broadband than most small towns.

When suitcase becomes suitchase: If you’re smart like me, you put AirTags inside your luggage. Now, Apple’s letting airlines track your lost luggage with you. Through the “Share Item Location” feature, you can give Delta, United and 30 other airlines a live link to your AirTag. Translation: No more awkwardly pointing at a map, saying, “It’s somewhere in Denver.”

📦 Surprise package season: It’s not your lucky day. USPS says if you get a random package this holiday, don’t celebrate too fast. It’s probably a “brushing” scam, where fake sellers send cheap stuff to your address so they can post bogus “verified buyer” reviews. Basically, you’re an unwitting five-star accomplice.

Lunatics, start your remotes: Amazon relaunched Luna, its cloud service that streams games over the internet. You’ve got it for free if you have Prime. Sign in on your phones, and play against each other on the TV. It’s finally time to settle the score with your aunt.

💻 Delete this now: If you see ads or blogs pitching the “Universe Browser” as the fastest and safest one ever, don’t fall for it. Researchers found it secretly routes your data to China, logs keystrokes and installs hidden programs. They probably should have called it “Internet Exploiter.” Millions downloaded it, thinking it was legit. If you’re one of them, I hate to say it, but you need to wipe your system and reinstall the OS. This thing digs in deep.

GM’s hands-free future: Are you tired of driving? GM’s 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ wants to let you fully check out, literally. The next-gen Super Cruise drives itself (on approved highways) with lidar, radar and cameras, and the dash glows turquoise when it’s safe to let auto drive take over. Oh, and Google’s Gemini AI will chat with you, because silence is awkward.

Scammers and snoops are getting smarter. Your gear should, too.

🛡️ Guard your wallet: RFID blocking cards ($5, 50% off, six-pack) stop fraud before it starts. Slip one into your wallet, and forget it’s there. Your info stays safe.

Motion-sensing watchdog: This solar-powered security camera (16% off) shows 360° views and full-color night vision. The best part? Totally wire-free.

⚡ Charge, don’t spill secrets: Some public USB ports are traps. These data blockers (17% off, four-pack) are invisible shields.

Your files, on lock: Military-grade encryption, cloud backup, multiple passwords, this USB flash drive (10% off) is peace of mind on a stick.

🔐 Your privacy tool kit awaits: From privacy screens to pens that prevent check washing, click here for 25 more must-haves that actually work.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Switching to dark mode on YouTube desktop is gentler on your eyes and makes videos feel more immersive. Click your profile pic (top right), select Appearance and set it to Dark theme.

Use WhatsApp on your iPad: Yes, it finally works. Download WhatsApp from the App Store, open it and get a QR code. On your phone, go to Settings > Linked devices > Link device and scan the code. Your chats and contacts will sync so you can message or call right from your iPad.

💄 Google Meet’s AI makeup is rolling out: You can now add virtual makeup during video calls, with 12 options to choose from like eyeliner, lipstick, blush and more. Go to Backgrounds and effects > Appearance > Makeup to try it out. The best part? The filter moves with your face, so it won’t slide off when you sip your coffee. I tried it and looked marvelous!

Mirror Android to TV: Sharing your phone screen on a smart TV is easy as long as both are on the same Wi-Fi. On your phone, go to Settings > Connected devices > Smart View, then select your TV name > Full screen > Start now.

Ask ChatGPT to fact-check: You can have ChatGPT verify info by asking it to search the web. For example, prompt, “Is this factually correct as of today? Search the web to confirm.” It’ll pull recent sources, summarize what it finds and share links so you can compare answers from different sites.

💪 Feel your best again: If your energy, focus or mood could use a reset, my clinically tested ImproveLife GLP-1 Support supplement makes it simple. I take it every single day. Clean, effective and made to work with your real routine, not against it. Use promo code START for 15% off plus free shipping today. Comes with my 30-day happiness guarantee! — Kim

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AI jobs that pay six figures: Some roles top $200K a year, and you don’t need to code. Dr. Ross Maciejewski from ASU’s School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence shares how to land one. Hear how you can break into AI.

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This is wild. A California cop pulled over a Nissan Sentra with a hand-drawn license plate that looked like a middle school art project, complete with fake registration sticker, “California” script and even the DMV website scribbled on the bottom. 

Looks more like a ransom note than a license plate to me. The officer gave her a $197 fine but admitted the DIY effort deserved “points for creativity.”

If I ever buy a self-driving car, I am going to get the license plate 404DRVR. Get it? Driver Not Found.

📊 Get visibility, not surprises: Running a business without the right data is like driving with your eyes closed. NetSuite puts your finances, operations and inventory all in one real-time dashboard, so you actually see what’s working and what’s not. That’s why over 43,000 businesses trust it.*

🎶 The answer: A) A modified phonograph. In the early 1900s, Thomas “I’ll-try-anything-once” Edison toyed with using phonographs to record ghostly whispers. He even claimed to be building a “spirit phone.” Sadly, no ghost voicemails have been recovered yet. They’re probably too busy falling for scam callers. 

I dressed up as a screwdriver one Halloween. It wasn’t the best costume, but I still turned a lot of heads. (I saw that smirk!)

You lock your doors and set alarms: Your credit deserves the same. A freeze won’t stop scammers, but NordProtect can. It’s smart, always on, and right now up to 71% off. Go to NordProtect.com/Kim and protect what’s yours.

Thanks for letting me and the #1 free tech newsletter in the U.S. brighten your inbox and enlighten your mind. Tomorrow, how the game of chess became a billion-dollar company. It’s an amazing story!

✌️ Breathe deep, smile wide and conquer kindly. Tomorrow, we do it again. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): Bing Image Creator, abyliee, California Highway Patrol

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