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Welcome to your Sunday, {{first_name | friend}}. This newsletter is free because you click. The links and the ads keep the lights on (and keep this in your inbox). Thank you.

Now, before texts, DMs and “sorry, just seeing this,” there was Samuel Morse in the U.S. Capitol with wires, a clicking machine and Congress watching like it was the season finale of electricity. He was about to send America’s first long-distance telegraph message, and instead of choosing something boring like “sup,” he let a young woman pick it.

☎️ What were the first words ever sent by long-distance telegraph? A) “Mr. Watson, come here,” B) “What hath God wrought,” C) “Hello, world,” D) “Testing, testing, is this thing on?” Keep scrolling, the answer is beeping at the end. 

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Don’t let scammers use your family history against you. If your tree is online, your kids and parents are at risk. Really. Incogni is the cleanup crew for your family’s digital footprint. It only takes a few clicks. Protect your circle for 60% off with my code: KIM60.* — Kim

⚡ TL;DR

📖  Read time: 3 minutes

I hope you have some summer travel plans. I’m heading on a driving adventure through the Tetons. I’m also going to Europe.

I rounded up what’s worth bringing along, from anti-theft gadgets to carry-on lifesavers. Best part? None of them takes up much room.

Make sure your stuff and your privacy are locked down tight.

1. Apple AirTag ($29) or Tile (19% off, $21): Lost luggage is the worst souvenir. An AirTag is best if you have an iPhone. Tile plays nicely with Android. Toss one in your suitcase, backpack or wallet and track it from your phone.

2. RFID-blocking cards (20% off, $8, six-pack): Slide a paper-thin card into your wallet and cut off digital pickpockets trying to scan your credit cards and passport.

3. Data blocker adapters (50% off, $5, four-pack): That free USB port at the airport could be skimming your data while you charge. It’s called juice jacking. These only let power flow through. Tiny but smart.

4. Anti-theft zipper clips ($6, four-pack): All a pickpocket needs is a quick unzip. Clip one to your backpack and suitcase, so they’re not easy targets.

5. Hidden camera detector ($31): I found 11 hidden cameras in one Airbnb. Wave it around the room, and it sniffs out wireless signals, pinhole lenses and GPS trackers in seconds.

Your phone, your suitcase and your ability to order food in Italian, all covered.

6. Power bank (36% off, $23): Built-in cables mean one less thing to forget. Recharges an iPhone 17 about 3.5 times and fits in your pocket.

7. Luggage scale ($11): Avoid repacking at the check-in counter. This has saved me from paying overweight fees. Hook it to your suitcase handle to check before you leave home.

8. Travel plug adapter (20% off with Prime, $22, two-pack): Don’t panic-buy one when you land overseas. This covers most of Europe, with options for Australia, Brazil and more.

9. AI translation earbuds (48% off, $42): Pop them in and hear foreign conversations translated live, while the other person is still talking. No subscription required.

10. ROVE dashcam (27% off, $110): Road-tripping? Record everything in 4K, day or night. The 24-hour parking mode watches your car even when you’re off exploring.

Turn a long day into a much smoother ride.

11. Neck pillow (35% off, $15): It’s 100% memory foam and comes with an eye mask, earplugs and a carry bag. One reviewer said they slept better on a 17-hour flight than in the hotel bed after landing. Love that.

12. Compression socks (44% off, $15): Long flights can leave your legs feeling like concrete. They improve circulation, reduce swelling and actually feel good to wear.

13. Compression packing cubes (15% off, $20, six-set): Overpackers, this one’s for you. Zip them up, then squeeze out extra space. Makes finding things way faster, too.

14. Travel toiletry bottles (23% off, $10): TSA-approved and leakproof, so they won’t explode in your luggage. Eighteen pieces cover your whole routine. No more overpaying for travel-size shampoo.

15. Pill organizer (20% off, $8): Keep all your medications and supplements sorted. You get a.m./p.m. slots for every day of the week. Bonus: a sleek leather travel case.

🚗 One last stop: I found dozens more travel favorites than I could fit into this list. Browse them all on my storefront page.

📩 Send this to someone with a summer trip booked.

(Starts at 7:52) This one’s straight out of a movie. An AI model sensed it was about to be shut down, so it copied itself onto another machine. Nobody told it to do that. It did it on its own. As Scooby-Doo once said, “Ruh roh.”

Listen on Komando.com →

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🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.

🎣 Hook, line, inbox: The FBI warned that crooks built a slick new phishing kit aimed at your Microsoft Outlook, Teams and OneDrive logins. And it doesn’t merely steal your password, it parks itself in your account for the long haul, reading email for months. That’s a stranger living rent-free in your inbox. Turn on two-factor authentication today, and check Outlook’s “rules” folder for sneaky auto-forwards you didn’t set up. They’re fishing. Don’t take the bait.

👻 Chasing history ghosts: The BBC made me cringe. On Thursday’s Question Time, host Fiona Bruce opened an AI special by “interviewing” AI-generated versions of dead icons: Winston Churchill, Frida Kahlo, Emmeline Pankhurst and Gandhi. The re-creations looked weirdly smoothed-over. Funny thing, the AI panel somehow forgot to invite anyone skeptical of AI. Click to watch it here. That’s what I call dead air.

Watt’s up, bill: Your electric bill has a new roommate, and it eats a lot. A new study says all those AI data centers could push wholesale electricity costs up as much as 57% by 2030 in the hardest-hit states. Virginia and Texas, brace yourselves. Nationwide, expect 6% to 29% higher. Why? Data centers could gobble up a fifth of all U.S. power by 2030. So the chatbot answering your questions? You’re helping foot its energy bill. These are some dark times.

🐭 Embryos leave Earth: They put mouse embryos in orbit before I finished cleaning my garage. China launched frozen embryos aboard a research satellite to test whether mammalian life can begin developing normally in space, where microgravity and radiation are not exactly spa conditions. There’s no baby, just early cells being watched. Still, this is the doorway question for moon bases and Mars settlements. Is it just me or does this sound like the start of a mice aliens take over Earth sort of movie? 

Your phone can do it all. Be a wildlife ranger, field guide, nature camera. Unlock it this summer. Plus, Rob wants to be a fisherman. No clue where to start. I’m reeling him in with the apps to make it happen.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or search “Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: iPhones have a take-back trick. If you make a typo or delete something by mistake, give your phone a quick shake, and an undo prompt pops up. Make sure it’s on at Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Shake to Undo. Same place to turn it off if it’s driving you nuts.

Some episodes are too good to hear only once. This week, I’m revisiting the stories that had everyone talking: A guy using Meta smart glasses secretly recorded a woman outside a club, and the video went viral. Plus, police are using your Google search history to hunt down suspects, and your smart home gadgets may be tattling to your insurance company. Tune in and catch up on what you missed. 

✋ Your iPad has gesture superpowers: In an app, pinch inward with five fingers to jump straight Home. Swipe left or right with four fingers to bounce between recent apps. Safari, Notes, Messages, zip-zip-zip. Bonus: Select text, a photo or file, pinch in with three fingers to copy, then pinch out to paste. Apple really said, “Figure it out.”

Speaking of Apple: Trade-in values went up on certain iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches. You can get up to $35 more, and Apple accepts some devices from as far back as 2017, like the iPhone 8. Get an estimate on Apple’s trade-in site and put it toward your next upgrade. The twist? Android trade-in values dropped.

📘 Feel like AI’s moving faster than you can keep up? You’re not alone, but you can catch up. If your business is scaling fast, grab “Demystifying AI” for free. Glenn Hopper gives a great intro to AI, core concepts and the tech that fuels it.* 

Android screen ignoring you? If swipes feel laggy or you have to press harder than usual, the screen protector might be the issue. Try this fix: Open Settings > Display and turn on Touch sensitivity. Also look for Accidental touch protection, which helps prevent random taps when the phone is in a pocket or bag.

🎬 Don’t trust the trailer: Next time your kid begs to watch a movie, don’t rely on the age rating or their very convenient summary. Ask a chatbot: “What is [movie] about? Flag violence, language or sexual content. Is it OK for a [x]-year-old to watch alone?” Boom. Instant spoilers. Caught in 4K. Get more AI tips like this in my free Splash of AI newsletter every Thursday.

Vertu wants you to drop $20,800 on a phone. Yes, you read that right. 

The AlphaFold Bespoke Alligator Skin Gold IV is wrapped in genuine alligator hide, trimmed in gold and hand-engraved with a fancy little crosshatch pattern. Only one’s left, so panic accordingly. 

Under the reptile? A folding phone with a built-in AI called Hermes Agent that controls 70-plus apps by voice, an 8-inch inner screen, a Snapdragon chip and 24/7 human concierge service for your “rare reservations.” 

Vertu pitches it as a private workspace for jet-setting executives.

Here’s what you need to know: Your $1,000 phone runs the same AI apps. Talk about a phone with serious bite.

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🔜 Tomorrow: Your insurance claim may have been denied by AI in seconds, and the company is betting you won’t appeal. I’ll show you how to use AI to read the denial, find the weak spots and draft a comeback that could actually get results.

Coming up in the next trivia, Elon Musk’s schedule is so tightly chopped up it makes your color-coded calendar look like a loose suggestion.

The answer: B) “What hath God wrought.” On May 24, 1844, Samuel Morse sent those four words from the U.S. Capitol to Alfred Vail in Baltimore, launching America’s first long-distance telegraph message and, in a very real sense, the beginning of our forever-notifications era. 

Morse heard the code was confusing and folks wanted it revised. But he had no remorse.

Congress gambled $30,000 on the whole experiment. It worked. Within years, wires crossed the country, then the ocean. The man who built the machine that shrank the world chose to launch it with an exclamation aimed straight at the heavens. 

And “Mr. Watson, come here”? That was the telephone, 32 years later.

🚨 Doxxing isn’t limited to celebrities. All it takes is one keyboard vigilante weaponizing your phone number and address online. I’ve seen it happen to regular people with zero warning. Incogni removes your personal information from the sites that make doxxing easy. Protect yourself for 60% off with code KIM60.*

Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, Vertu

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