🛑 Don’t buy a laptop

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🤯 WOW! Apple raised the price of a MacBook Pro by $300 this summer, and the average Windows PC costs 17% more than last year. The culprit is AI data centers hoarding memory chips, and relief isn’t expected until the end of 2027. Meanwhile, your current computer has been keeping a detailed health report on itself that you’ve probably never read.

The Short Version: Before you spend hundreds more on a new computer, have a free chatbot read your machine’s health report and tell you what to fix. Steps below.

📖 Read time: 2 minutes

Bad news. Your next computer is going to cost you more. Here’s the damage since June:

Blame AI. Data centers are gobbling up the memory chips that go in your laptop, and research firm IDC doesn’t expect relief before the end of 2027.

So here’s my move. Make the computer you already own run like new.

Your PC or Mac keeps a detailed health report on itself. Nobody reads it because it runs thousands of lines. AI reads it in seconds. (Last year, I showed you free AI tech support. This is the next level: Your computer does the talking.)

Upload the file to ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude. Free versions work. Then paste this:

It reads the whole report and spots the usual suspects:

FYI, the report includes your computer’s name, your username and serial numbers. It has no files, photos or passwords. Skim it before you upload if that bugs you.

Treat AI like a sharp friend, not a surgeon. If it says your drive is failing, back up today and get a pro.

Bonus for laptops: Check your battery’s health. On a Mac, go to System Settings > Battery and click the i next to Battery Health. On Windows, open Command Prompt and type powercfg /batteryreport.

A new Mac laptop now starts at $699. A new battery costs a fraction of that.

My computer keeps screaming at me that it’s run out of memory. But it’s all bark and no byte.

📩 Send this to someone who’s about to spend $1,300 on a new laptop because the old one “feels slow.”

📞 Social insecurity calls: A Social Security raise doesn’t need unlocking, but scammers would love to sell you the key. Starting in January, roughly 76 million Americans will get about $75 extra per month on average. Crooks are calling, texting and mailing fake activation offers and direct deposit updates. The increase happens automatically. Real SSA employees never charge a fee to deliver it. Pay nobody, share no banking details, verify the amount at ssa.gov/myaccount and report sketchy pitches at ssa.gov/scam. Share this.

Checkout chores canceled: Don’t you love that checkout Airbnb scramble? Suitcases open, kids cranky, clock ticking and the host wants you to do dishes and start laundry after charging a cleaning fee. Me neither. Airbnb says all that ends for bookings made on or after Nov. 20. No more required bed stripping, dish duties, laundry or trash removal. Water-saving rules and bear-proof containers remain fair game. Finally, the last hour of vacation can feel like packing, not unpaid parole duty.

🔐 A credit freeze is so 2006: It won’t stop someone from opening bank accounts, filing fake tax returns or using your info in data breaches. You need protection that monitors the dark web, leaks and identity threats a freeze can’t touch. I used to have LifeLock, but it got so expensive. That’s why I switched and got more protection for less money. Here’s what I use, and now, get 71% off with my exclusive link.*

Parents become detectives: That school-issued laptop is doing an excellent job teaching your kids how to hide videos from you. NBC News studied 11 students during school, and a whopping 95% of the videos they watched weren’t educational. One Pennsylvania eighth grader used his computer to watch 4,784 YouTube videos during school hours, bouncing from NBA highlights to police chases and an AI skeleton touring the Titanic. Parents say grades, sleep and behavior suffered. The kids got laptops. The parents got extra homework. 

🐕 Avalanche meets AirTag: I double-checked my dog’s collar right after reading this. Four-year-old LouLou, a huskydoodle, and her hikers were swept down an Alaska mountain by an avalanche. The injured men were airlifted out, one with a broken jaw and the other with three broken ribs. Left behind, LouLou spent two nights alone. The owner tracked her down with the $30 AirTag on LouLou’s collar, guiding pilot Dave Beckett close enough for an updated location. She came home with one chipped tooth. Tag your pets. Seriously.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Those Lock Screen shortcuts aren’t permanent. Press and hold your phone’s Lock Screen, then tap Customize. Swap the corner shortcuts for your flashlight, QR scanner or a favorite app. You can also add widgets or change how the time looks. It’s a screen you see all day. Might as well make it useful.

🔒 Some chats aren’t for sharing: OpenAI’s rolling out a way to hide ChatGPT conversations. Open one, tap three dots > Lock chat and use a PIN or Face ID. It disappears from history and search. Find it under Projects > Locked chats. Two catches: It’s not encryption, and resetting your PIN permanently deletes every locked chat. Write it down safely.

📎 Six emails don’t need six forwards: Send them as attachments in one message. In Gmail on your computer, click Compose, check the boxes beside the emails you need and drag them into the draft. Add your recipient and hit Send. They can open each original email separately, with its details intact. No “Did you get the other one?”

📍 Remind me when I can actually do it: Your iPhone can nudge you when you leave a place. In Reminders, add “Pick up my prescription,” tap the i, turn on Location, choose your workplace and select When Leaving. The alert appears as you head out. Much more useful than a reminder at 3 p.m. that you’ll forget by 5.

💸 Phone bills shouldn’t be a surprise: On Android, open Settings > Connections > Data usage. Set a Data warning for a heads-up or a Data limit, like 2 GB, to pause mobile data when you reach it. Can’t find those options? Search Settings. A little less convenient halfway through a video. A lot less annoying than extra charges.

💬 I’ll reply when I’m ready: In an Instagram chat, tap the person’s name > Privacy & safety and switch off Typing indicator. No more announcing that you’re working on a reply. Turn off Read receipts here, too, to hide when you’ve read a message. Hey, sometimes you need a minute to decide whether “fine” needs a period.

Be on the show! Got a tip that saved you money, time or a major headache? The Digital Goddess wants to know. You might hear from one of my producers.

Some people watch Spider-Man and dream of superpowers. One Chinese inventor watched the Green Goblin and saw a blueprint. 

Meet Magical A Yu, a 25-year-old who built a flying skateboard powered by 10 electric propellers. Two smartphones track his movements while AI feeds balance instructions through Bluetooth earbuds. Imagine a flying blender with a very nervous Siri.

His first jet-powered prototype caught fire, but the new version has reportedly flown almost a thousand feet and stayed airborne for more than two minutes.

Don’t expect it to hit markets anytime soon, but here’s the video.

🎓 What you learned today: AI can help diagnose a sluggish computer, Social Security raises don’t require activation, Airbnb is ditching checkout chores, school laptops are becoming distraction machines and an AirTag helped rescue a dog after an avalanche. Not bad for one email. Public Wi-Fi has gotten safer, but scammers have gotten sneakier with fake networks and trap pages. Tomorrow, I’ll show you what to watch for and how to stay safer.

🎶 The answer: B) They create an opposite sound wave that cancels the noise. Tiny microphones on your headphones listen to the noise around you. A chip instantly creates a mirror version of that sound wave. When the two meet, they cancel each other out.

The technology works best on low, steady sounds like engine rumble and air conditioners. Sudden noises and voices? Not so much. That’s why you still hear the flight attendant.

Pro tip: Turn on noise canceling with no music for quieter naps.

I bought noise-canceling headphones. So far, I haven’t heard any complaints.

🛑 Don’t wait for the warning signs. Stiff knees, brittle nails, thinning hair and wrinkles happen when our collagen drops as we age. I take NativePath every single day, and it dissolves instantly in my morning tea. Grab it for a fraction of the retail price, plus free shipping and free gifts.**

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, UMPOPO, @technology via Instagram

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