📺 Goodbye, streaming roulette

Happy Friday, {{first_name | friend}}. Today’s trivia is proof that even the world’s biggest shows start out with a stack of rejections and a sliver of hope.

Can you guess which megahit streaming show was rejected 15 times before Netflix said yes? A) Wednesday, B) The Umbrella Academy, C) Stranger Things or D) Black Mirror? Find the answer saying, “I told you so” at the end. 

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🚚 Reminder: I’m moving email providers and need your help. To train Big Tech’s algorithms that control the email you see, rate today’s newsletter at the end and leave a comment. Hopefully, it keeps me out of the spam abyss or promotions folder. The people there are so annoying. — Kim

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You know the feeling. You want to watch a specific movie, maybe an old favorite (hello, 1999’s The Mummy) or that buzzworthy show everyone’s talking about, but you have no clue where to find it. 

Instead of spending those precious moments actually watching it, you’re playing streaming detective: Netflix? Hulu? Prime Video? Is it free? Rentable? 

Maybe you’re just looking for something new and don’t want to scroll endlessly like it’s a part-time job. That’s where streaming search sites save the day. You type in what you want to watch, and they tell you exactly where to find it. 

JustWatch has been around since 2015 and operates in over 130 countries. It pulls real-time data from more than 100 streaming platforms, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu, Max, Peacock and many more. You can filter results by genre, release year, rating, price and resolution (HD, 4K, etc.). 

And yes, it’s free. It works on iOS, Android and smart TVs. Also lets you create a watch list, then acts like a personal assistant that reminds you when your top picks become available.  

Reelgood is another powerhouse. It supports over 120 streaming services, including niche ones like Crunchyroll, BritBox and Shudder. Its slick interface features curated collections (like Hidden Gems or Best New Releases), integrated trailers and personalized suggestions. 

You can sync across devices, track your viewing progress and get notified when a title is added or removed. 

Plus, it’s also free (no strings, no surprise subscription black holes) and works across web, iOS, Android and even Roku and Apple TV.

Other free options worth checking out: TV Time (for tracking shows and episode reminders), Watchworthy (personalized recommendations) and Simkl (deep tracking + anime-friendly). None are quite as full-featured, but they make great companions to JustWatch and Reelgood.

🚀 Oh, speaking of streaming subscriptions … My podcast sponsor Rocket Money finds all your recurring subscriptions and lets you easily cancel anything you don’t want. The first time I logged in, it saved me $435!*

Learning to drive isn’t a rite of passage anymore. Here’s why you should blame automation.

Listen on Komando.com →

🗣️ Prove you’re a human: OpenAI’s Sam Altman warned the Fed that we’re teetering on a “fraud crisis” due to AI tools that can impersonate you, your voice or your kid’s. AI fakes are calling parents and diplomats. The White House is prepping an “AI Action Plan.” Altman pitched The Orb for human verification. I told you all about this months ago.

Prop and circumstance: A Pennsylvania couple sold a floor buffer on Facebook Marketplace to a guy who paid with cash from the set of a movie. Literally. The bills said “for motion picture purposes” where “The United States of America” should’ve been. He took the floor buffer, blocked them and vanished like he had a Marvel budget. Cops are investigating. 

🧠 Mind over mouse: Meta just unveiled a wristband that reads your muscle signals to control devices. No touching, no implants. It decodes electrical pulses (paywall link) in your arm to move cursors, open apps and type midair. Write your name in space and watch it appear on your phone. I accidentally thought about Slack, and now I’m in six meetings.

Uber’s new girl mode rolling out: Women Uber riders in LA, SF and Detroit can request women-only drivers. The Women Preferences initiative is already live in 40+ countries (paywall link) and has logged 100M rides. Such a great idea.

⚡ Office apps get speed boost: Microsoft’s new Startup Boost preloads Office apps like Word and Excel in the background at boot. Apps chill in a paused state until you open them, shaving seconds off launch time. It’s already live for some Word users and will hit everyone by September. Your PC: now preheating like an oven.

💥 3D guts and glory: Caltech’s researchers built PillTrek, a tiny 3D-printed smart capsule that monitors your gut like a biochemical Fitbit. It tracks pH, glucose, serotonin, you name it, by crawling through your insides like a nerdy spy. It’s cheap, wireless, and eventually, yes, it comes out the old-school way. Consider it a poop diary with WiFi.

These hidden features make multitasking easier than ever. Try this today!

Listen on Komando.com →

🔎 I found clever kitchen pros with secret skills up their sleeves.

✅ Just the tip of the spatula: Tap into my Amazon storefront for more multitaskers. Don’t miss today’s best steals while you’re there.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Gmail, it’s easy to find all the emails from a specific sender. Right-click on a message and select Find emails from Kim Komando. Now you can catch up on any newsletters you missed!

Hidden Facebook messages: If you’ve been on the app a while, chances are you’ve got tons of unread DMs sitting in your Message requests folder. That’s where Meta sends chats from people you’re not friends with. To check, tap the Messenger icon > Settings > Message requests > You may know. 

🖼️ Smarter photo searches on iPhone: The Photos app can now understand natural language. Open the app, tap the blue magnifying glass at the top and type something like “beach walks with dog” or “1 year ago.” You can even search for sounds like “laughing” or “clapping” to find matching videos.

Clean up your PC automatically: On Windows 11, turn on Storage Sense to help your computer tidy up on its own. Go to Settings > System > Storage > Storage Sense and toggle it On. It can delete temp files, empty the Recycle Bin and clear out Downloads. 

🎨 Can’t pay for Photoshop? GIMP is a free image editor that’s as close to Photoshop as you can get without paying. You can create images, logos, thumbnails or retouch photos. Plus, it’s got all the tools you need, like filters, layers, color tweaks, masking and more. Works on macOS, Windows and Linux, too.

📊 Keep headers visible in Google Sheets: Scrolling through a long table and losing track of your column names? You can freeze the top row. Go to View > Freeze > 1 row. Need more to stay put? Hover over the thick gray line at the top and drag it down to row 2, 3 or wherever you need.

31%
That’s how many pet owners said they’d date their dog, if it were human. Yes, this is real. Thanks to TikTok and a little too much ChatGPT, people are anthropomorphizing their pets … and catching feelings. Yeah … it’s less weird if you don’t think about it.

49%
Say they’d get into crypto … if someone just explained it better. Nearly half of non-crypto folks aren’t avoiding it out of fear, they don’t know how it works. That’s fixable. And it’s exactly why I’m launching a weekly crypto newsletter this August. No hype, no jargon and no pep rallies. Just straight-up brain upgrade level stuff. Click here to get on the list now.  

99%
That’s how much less radiation this new AI bone scan uses. Only two X-rays and boom, your skeleton gets digitized faster than you can say, “WebMD, my head hurts. Is this the beginning of the end?” 

Garmin just dropped a $2,500 floating smart buoy that lets scuba divers text underwater. 

Yes, really. 

The Descent S1 Buoy uses sonar networking to track up to eight divers, shoot over preset messages like “low air” or “heading back,” and guide you to the surface like a glowing breadcrumb trail. Topside crews can monitor tank pressure, send alerts and call you up early. 

I scuba, and this is fin-tastic. One of the scariest parts of diving is feeling totally off-grid. 

🤿 With this tech, you’re basically on group chat with your dive crew!

Answer: C) Stranger Things. The pitch was turned down by 15 networks. Executives said the tone was “too dark,” the leads “too young” and the concept “too weird.” 

Netflix said, “Sounds great, let’s roll.” And in 2016, Stranger Things became one of the most-watched series of all time, launching the careers of its young cast and redefining what genre TV could do on a streaming platform. Not bad for a show the industry kept passing on.

🇬🇧 Think about this: If Stranger Things was British, it’d be called Bit Odd, Innit? (You said that with an accent, I heard it!)

👉 Stop spam texts and calls right now. Data brokers sell everything from your address to your Social Security number. Incogni removes your personal info from the web. I negotiated a 60% discount just for you. If you’re not 100% satisfied, they’ll refund your money.

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the United States, grateful for another day in your inbox. Tomorrow, I’m digging into zombie accounts, password graveyards and why your old Myspace login might actually destroy your life. 

Next time someone’s confused about tech, just smile and say, “Not me, I read Kim.” 😉 — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, Garmin

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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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