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Welcome to your Monday, {{first_name | friend}}. Aristotle had philosophy. Einstein had physics. We have adults yelling, “WHERE’S MY CONTROLLER?” while science scribbles in a notebook. Researchers tested 923 grown-ups on memory, reasoning and speed, because remembering all the lyrics to an insurance commercial jingle from 2003 doesn’t get you formal brain points.
🧠 Which habit was linked to sharper thinking? A) Daily exercise, B) Video games, C) Both, about equally, or D) Neither, but the crossword people were insufferable about it? Place your bets. The answer is hiding at the end.
🛡️ Ransomware hits every 11 seconds: I use Webroot because it thinks faster than the hackers. Real-time intelligence from 40 million devices, stopping attacks before they hit your machine. Get 62% off, that’s $19 for the whole year.* — Kim
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Plate expectations
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
Lindsey Isaacs went to the store, drove home in Palm Coast, Fla., and went to bed. At 4:45 a.m., troopers were in her bedroom telling her she’d killed three people.
Her parents got there next. Police had told them their daughter was in a fatal crash. They drove two hours thinking she was dead.
I talked with Lindsey on the show this weekend. The camera that started this has a twin on a pole near you. I drove past 10 of them on the way to the studio last week. I counted.
📸 How a camera became a case
Oct. 4, 2025, 9:53 p.m. A hit-and-run on I-4 near DeBary killed a motorcyclist, a Flagler County official and his wife. Witnesses reported a Dodge Durango.
A Flock license plate camera 3 miles west had logged Lindsey’s black Durango two minutes earlier. That was the whole case.
What authorities had and didn’t use: Witnesses said the vehicle was maroon. Maroon paint was on the wreck. Callers to 911 read off a partial plate, 458. Not Lindsey’s. Not close.
Her Durango was 2 months old with zero scratches. Troopers told her it had “significant damage.”
She was standing next to it. “I asked the trooper, where’s the damage? Because I don’t see any damage,” she told me. “She said I wasn’t allowed to look at the car.”
They impounded it. It sat in a lot for seven months. Nobody inspected it.
⛓️ 13 days
In February, Lindsey sued to get her car back. Six weeks later, April 17, they arrested her. Eight felonies. She was told she faced 145 years.
Maximum security. Her mugshot played on the jail TV. “People saw it and in their minds thought I was in there for the murder of three,” she said. She couldn’t eat or sleep. She fractured her knee on a bunk.
April 22, a judge denied bond. April 28, her attorney Patrick McGeehan showed the state photos of the undamaged car. An inspection team found a showroom-condition Durango. Lindsey was out the next day. Charges dropped in May. Police later arrested a woman in a maroon Durango.
The state apologized to Lindsey in a private meeting in Tallahassee. Nothing public.
Lindsey is 24. She lost her job at Hallmark. She has panic attacks daily.
Let me be clear. I respect our police officers. But this wasn’t the camera’s fault. It logged a black Durango, which is all it does. Everything that cleared her sat there for seven months. Nobody looked. That’s crappy police work, and she paid for it.
She’s not suing Flock. She’s suing the troopers.
🎙️ Listen my interview with Lindsey
🗣️ Text/post this stat: After a hit-and-run, 911 callers read a different license plate. Witnesses said the vehicle was maroon. Her car was black. She still spent 13 days in jail. GetKim.com
📩 Send this to someone who says, “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
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WEB WATERCOOLER
😶🌫️ Walking on cloud nine: AI doesn't run on genius code. It runs on sneakers. (WSJ paywall link) James Waddy, 33, walks 30,000 steps a day patrolling a million-square-foot Virginia data center, sniffing for burning equipment and checking the roof for birds pecking the gear. (Seriously, birds.) Halls are so long some techs ride scooters. The pay? Entry-level engineers make about $66,000, and experienced ones can top $120,000. Job searches for these gigs are up eightfold since 2022. They say always tip your server. That's how I got fired from the data center.
AI flags school threats: The FBI gets thousands of tips every week. Too many for humans to read fast enough. FBI Director Kash Patel says AI now sorts them, and that it helped stop a planned school shooting in North Carolina and threats in about half a dozen other states. He says the bureau's AI use is up 605%. FYI, there's no independent confirmation yet, so these are his numbers. The tech only works if someone speaks up. See something worrying? Report it at tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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The house always knows: That "free" bonus bet in your inbox? It may not be a thank-you. The New York Times reports DraftKings built an AI model in 2023 that scored customers by how much they were expected to lose after getting a bonus. A tool to spot problem gamblers? Shelved, ex-employees say. One former analyst said, "The best investment would be a problem gambler." DraftKings rejects that it targets customers unfairly. Want to leave a casino with a small fortune? Walk in with a large one.
📱 Apple cuts checks: Apple might owe you $25, maybe even $95. Remember when Apple promised buyers a smarter Siri and failed to deliver? It’s paying up in a $250 million settlement that covers iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 purchases made between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025. You could receive up to $95 if fewer people claim. Filing on SmartphoneAISettlement.com opens today for about 90 days, so dig up that receipt and serial number. Go to your Settings > General > About. What do you call a country made by Apple? Siri Lanka.
🎤 PODCAST: DAILY TECH UPDATE
Data center water myth debunked
Everyone’s worried data centers are draining local water supplies dry. That’s wrong. We break down the real numbers. Plus, MIT economist Dr. David Autor makes the case that AI is too unpredictable to take your job. For now.
🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
KIM’S DAILY DEALS
As an Amazon Associate, some links pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. Keeps this newsletter free. Thank you.
🧑🍳 Too hot to handle
Kitchen upgrades worth making room for.
🔥 Burner backup: Portable induction cooktop (23% off, $130)
4.5 ⭐ 600+ reviews
Add another burner without remodeling. It weighs about 6 pounds and shuts off automatically when you remove the pan. The large coil spreads heat evenly, up to 460 degrees at max power.
Image: ChangBERT
🫒 Mist opportunity: This glass olive oil sprayer (20% off, $8) switches between mist and pour in a snap. Perfect for salads, grilling and air frying.
Let it rip: An ergonomic chicken shredder (10% off, $9) saves you from wrestling with forks. Drop in your meat, twist and you’re done.
🥫 Can-do attitude: Put this electric opener (10% off, $20) on any stubborn can, press the button and it cuts around the top, hands-free.
😋 Seconds? Help yourself to 30 winners and get cookout-ready. →
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Someone on Instagram getting a little too comfortable? Open their profile, tap the three dots, then Restrict. They won’t see when you’re online or when you’ve read their messages. Their new comments on your posts stay hidden from everyone else. Instagram won’t notify them, either. Boundaries, minus the “Why did you block me?” conversation.
🎧 The only earbuds in my bag: The $300 pair didn’t make the cut. Raycon did. Rich sound, noise cancellation that really works, hours of battery. All for a fraction of what AirPods cost. I’d tell a friend. I’m telling you. Get 20% off.*
📷 What’s that? Point your camera: You no longer need to take a screenshot and circle something to ask Siri about it. Open your iPhone Camera, swipe to Siri mode and point at an item, like a Yeti bottle. It’ll pull up info about what you’re looking at. Try it on a yogurt to check its protein and how processed it is. A second opinion on that very convincing packaging. 😒
💪🏻 Speaking of nutrition: A smart scale, tape measure and chatbot can help you make a plan. Share your age, height, weight, activity level and weight-loss goal. Ask for an estimated daily calorie target and a simple meal plan, then track your progress. Treat the number as a starting point. And tell it what you actually eat. No point budgeting for kale you’ll throw away.
🚗 The passengers don’t need to see that: Android Auto is cool until a private message pops up for everyone in the car. On your phone, go to Settings > Safety and emergency and turn on Silence Notifications While Driving. Music and navigation still work, with fewer interruptions on the road. The kids can stick to asking why you missed the turn.
📬 Gmail without the constant tab hopping: Checker Plus for Gmail is a handy Chrome extension that shows message previews right from your toolbar. Pin it, click the icon and peek at what came in. You can add notification sounds or even have new emails read out loud. It works with multiple accounts. No more “did they reply yet?” anxiety.
🆕 New things to try in iPadOS 27 today:
That clock can scoot over: Press and hold your Lock Screen, tap Customize, then the clock. Select the two horizontal bars to make it smaller and move it beside the date.
Stop hiding the useful stuff: Go to Settings > Multitasking & Gestures and turn off Automatically Show and Hide Menu Bar. No more hovering to find your tools.
My photos, please: In Photos, tap the filter button, then Captured by Me to see just the pictures you took. Nothing gets deleted. The group chat can sit this one out.
Miss the show this past weekend? I got you.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: @guessnotlost via TikTok
🗺️ Human MapQuest
Forget Find My Friends. This guy only needs a blurry sidewalk.
TikToker GuessNotLost went viral after pinpointing from a painfully generic photo where someone bought a mystery corndog. He clocked a DHL-looking uniform and Prague-style cobblestones, then virtually combed the city until a trash can and kiosk lined up.
A few Street View clicks later, he found the stand. One really clever guy feels like a worldwide rollout of Flock cameras.
Maybe stop posting vacation photos in real time.
Incoming geek humor: Why is Atlanta hard to find on a map? Because its area code is 404.
LOGGING OUT …
🎓 What you learned today: A license plate camera put the wrong woman in jail, The FBI’s AI is working, data center work is odd, Apple’s Siri settlement opens and one TikToker can geo-locate a corndog from a blurry sidewalk. Not bad for one email. Tomorrow, Chinese companies make nearly half the world’s cellular modules, the chips inside doorbells, thermostats and fridges. Five minutes on your router shuts the conversation down.
🎮 The answer: B) Video games. In a Western University study, people who gamed regularly scored higher on thinking speed and overall brainpower. Exercise didn’t move the cognitive needle at all.
But here’s the flip: Exercise was tied to better mood and less anxiety, and gaming wasn’t. So the prescription is both. Kids: This isn’t a hall pass. Take the walk, then take the controller.
What’s a cat’s favorite part of a video game? The PAWS button!
🛡️ Old antivirus is as dangerous as no antivirus: It was built for threats from five years ago. Today’s attacks move faster than its database can update. I wouldn’t run a computer without Webroot. Get 62% off now.*
😳 Lindsey’s story stuck with me all weekend. If it stuck with you, send this newsletter to one person who says, “Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.” — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
🏆 THE KIM CHALLENGE: Forward this to ONE person who needs to hear it today. Pick the person who popped into your head while reading. You know who it is.
Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, ChangBERT, @guessnotlost via TikTok
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