🔑 Flip off: Your car’s new enemy

Welcome to your Monday, {{first_name | friend}}.

Some people have a favorite catchphrase. Mine might be “Alexa, STOP!” But if you ask Jeff Bezos, he repeats a phrase like a motivational broken record in his annual shareholder letters. It’s short, iconic and practically Amazon’s unofficial motto.

🙊 But what exactly is it? A) “Think Big,” B) “Always Day 1,” C) “Move Fast” or D) “Be Frugal”? This philosophy built a retail empire, and an actual rocket is at the end.

The best gifts aren’t things. They’re knowledge, laughs and little sparks of curiosity. If you enjoy this newsletter, forward it to one person you care about and invite them to sign up at GetKim.com. It’s a simple way to connect, learn and share something that brightens your day … and maybe theirs, too. 🙏🏻 — Kim

📬 Was this forwarded to you? Be the first to know, not the last to hear. Sign up now. It’s free!

This is insane. Like almost cartoon-villain-level shady. Say you’re trying to delete your personal information from some shady data broker’s website that’s selling your data to advertisers, marketing companies, stalkers, coworkers or anyone else with the money. 

But when you search for their opt-out page on Google? Nothing pops up on the results page. Did you miss it? Nope. 

A new Wired report just exposed more than 30 data broker companies that are deliberately hiding their opt-out pages from Google and Bing. That’s right, the pages that legally allow you to say “no thanks” to having your personal data bought, sold and shared like trading cards are being blocked from search engines on purpose. Wow.

I’m talking about your name, address, phone number, SSN, political affiliation, jobs, purchase history, health data, insurance claims, who you live with and more, a lot more. 

Now they’ve taken it a step further. They’ve made it nearly impossible for you to find the one page that lets you opt out. You’d have to go directly to the company’s website and dig through layers of menus, if you can find it at all.

This isn’t an accident or a technical glitch. It’s a strategy. A move to look compliant while hoping you don’t bother trying. Some of them even use tricky design tactics, like hiding links under layers of legal text or pop-ups you’d never think to click through.

Why? Because the harder they make it to opt out, the more your data stays in their system and the more money they make selling it.

I use Incogni. It’s like sending in the privacy cavalry. You don’t have to hunt down every shady data broker or figure out who’s hiding what. Incogni does it for you automatically, legally and effectively.

They target over 420 people search sites and data brokers, and Deloitte, one of the biggest auditing firms in the world, independently verified their entire process. No other data removal service can say that. 

With my exclusive discount, plans start at just $6.39 a month, and you still get access to Incogni’s new Unlimited Plan. You send them links where your info is exposed, and they’ll get it taken down.

✅ Don’t waste time fighting invisible enemies. Get 60% off right now, and take your privacy back with Incogni. You’ll be glad you did!

Cut the cord? Maybe you didn’t… Amazon, Apple and YouTube sell competitors’ services under one roof. I talk to a drone operator who saved a dog from a coyote. Plus: AirPods turn into live translators, and Google drops a $2,300 folding Pixel. Don’t miss this one!

Listen on Komando.com →

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Save your gums and your dentist’s judgmental sighs. Bonus: includes a free travel case.

😁 Crest Gum Detoxify Plus (24% off, three-pack): Sensitivity protection + whitening + cavity control = your mouth’s dream team.

🍋 Garbage disposal cleaner tablets (36% off): A year’s supply of citrusy, gunk-free drains? Yes, please.

🧼 Tide PODS laundry detergent (15% off): These little guys pack twice the punch as regular laundry soap.

🩷 The Pink Stuff multipurpose cleaner (46% off): TikTok’s cleaning queen. Basically, elbow grease in a bottle.

🐶 Earth Rated dog poop bags (17% off): My unsung hero for every dog walk. Extra thick, no leaks, no disasters.

🐦 Early bird gets the bargains: Click this secret link, and load up before the weekend rush. My Amazon page has more steals you’ll love.

🔑 Flip off: The Flipper Zero may look harmless, but hackers can clone key fob signals and unlock cars from brands like Ford, Audi, Subaru, Hyundai and Kia in seconds. A digital underground is selling this stealthy car-hacking software. “Flipper Boys” might become the next-gen Kia Boys by 2026. This isn’t some Hollywood heist. It’s happening in real driveways. Pro tip: Wrap your fob in aluminum foil or stash it in a signal-blocking pouch to keep the bad guys out.

Résumés meet ransomware: If you’ve ever applied through Workday, congrats, your name, phone and email are probably floating around scammer Slack right now. Never heard of Workday? ​​They have over 11,000 corporations as customers reaching 70 million people. Hackers tricked their way in with fake HR texts and calls. Brace for “we loved your résumé” spam from the dark web.

🕶️ Talk to the wrist: Meta’s new smart glasses, called Hypernova, are coming in September for about $800. They’ve got a tiny screen in the lens for things like texts, maps and photos, no phone in hand. You control it with a wristband that reads your gestures like magic. It’s all fun and games until you swipe left on your grandma.

My pick for home security: Keep your home safe without the hassle. SimpliSafe installs in minutes, no wires or contracts, and comes with HD cameras, sensors and 24/7 monitoring. Get 50% off your new system today!* 

😓 Code of silence: This is so sad. Sophie, a 29-year-old policy analyst, died by suicide after months of troubling private chats (paywall link) with an AI “therapist.” It knew her plan. It didn’t tell anyone. There aren’t any mandatory reporting laws for bots, yet, but lawmakers are starting to ask whether your chatbot should call for help before it suggests journaling.

Touch screen terror: Volkswagen ditched real steering wheel buttons for chic haptic ones. Now, they’re getting sued because people say the buttons are too sensitive, like “crash your car while parking” sensitive, accelerating unintentionally after accidental brushes. VW quietly switched back to real buttons but not before several garages and hands got wrecked.

🏈 Benched: Before you get all excited that Yahoo Sports is launching a free, ad-supported streaming channel about sports, know the fine print. They’re shows about the NFL, NBA, MLB and more. Nope, not the actual games. Let me tell you, there’s such a gap between men’s and women’s sports. The difference is nuts! 🥜

Ben Affleck? Drew Barrymore? They don’t do Tinder, obvs. With A-listers and athletes galore, I’ll tell you what it’s all about.

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Download a PDF? Make sure the file name ends with .pdf. If it says .exe, delete it immediately. That’s an executable program and malware in disguise. Yikes.

😎 Miss me this weekend? If you didn’t catch my national radio show, I’ve got you. Enter your ZIP code into my station finder to see where to tune in next weekend, or grab the podcast and listen whenever it works for you. Your earbuds will thank you.

Drop your phone in water? A bag of rice won’t help. Turn it off immediately to stop short circuits, then dry it with a microfiber cloth. Remove the case and SIM card, let it air-dry for 24 to 48 hours, and see if it powers back on. PSA: Don’t use a hair dryer. It pushes moisture deeper inside.

🍏 Lock iPad to one app: Want to stop yourself (or the kids) from exiting an app by mistake? Turn on Guided Access. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Guided Access and toggle on. Open an app, triple-click the Home button, tap Start and Set a Passcode. Now you can’t leave the app. To exit, triple-click again, enter the Passcode and tap End. 

Add subtitles to YouTube videos: They’ll help you reach a bigger audience. On desktop, go to YouTube Studio and select Subtitles on the left. Choose your video, Set the language and Confirm. Then click Add under Subtitles. Upload a file or type them out manually. When you’re ready, hit Publish.

Hiring? Don’t waste time on the wrong candidates. LinkedIn connects you with qualified pros fast. Right now, you can post your job for free. Tap into the world’s largest professional network and find your next great hire today!*

$91 million
That’s what one unlucky soul lost in Bitcoin, just by trusting the wrong “support agent.” The victim handed over wallet credentials to someone pretending to help, and poof, 783 BTC vanished. My crypto newsletter is launching in mid-September. Sign up now! 

58%
That’s how many American homes are too messy to charge an EV. We could unlock millions of home chargers if folks just cleaned out their garages. Instead, most are less “charging station” and more “where clutter goes to die,” hoarding broken printers, forgotten hobbies and a suspicious number of extension cords.

4 years
That’s how much prison time one disgruntled developer is getting for building an IT doomsday device. 55-year-old Davis Lu planted a self-destruct code at Eaton Corp. that locked out thousands of users the moment his name was deleted from the employee directory. There’s quiet quitting, and then there’s quiet ctrl + alt + deleting. 

Mario Kart meets middle finger.

XPeng, a Chinese EV carmaker, dropped what might be the pettiest tech flex on four wheels: an in-car feature that lets you launch virtual emojis — think angry faces, shoes or a digital banana peel — at other drivers in real time, using augmented reality.

It’s called Road Rage Reliever, and it turns your heads-up display into a giant, emoji-flinging battlefield. XPeng calls it “civilized frustration.” Maybe things got lost in translation.

But hey, if flinging a floating poop emoji at a tailgater saves you from a real road-rage meltdown, maybe we’re driving toward emotional EV-olution. 🚗💨💩

📆 The answer: B) “Always Day 1.” Even if it’s Day 1,045. Jeff Bezos swears it’s a mindset: Stay sharp, stay curious, stay hungry. Whether you’re running a Fortune 500 or finally launching that side hustle, act like it’s the first day of your big break, full of energy and possibility.

So next time you hit snooze, just whisper to yourself … “Always Day 1.” Then hit snooze again like the rest of us. You’ve got Amazon Prime for all the stuff you forgot about on Day 1.

Speaking of… How many motivational speakers does it take to change a light bulb? Zero, because the change starts with you. (I saw that smirk, now my job is done!)

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’m going full detective mode on how cybercriminals are spinning up fake and scary-accurate websites with AI to steal your information. 

✌️ Look at you! You’re more in-the-know than you were five minutes ago. Now go help someone else catch up. 🫶 — Kim

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Photo credit(s): Midjourney, Oral-B, XPeng

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This newsletter and its content are intended for informational purposes only. They are provided without warranty of any kind. You shouldn’t construe anything provided here as legal, health, medical, technical, tax, investment, financial or any other kind of advice.

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