😲 Google Translate feels ancient after this

Welcome to your Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. Quick detour from earthly things: Remember the thrill of sending your first text or email? Now picture doing that from space. Back in the ’90s, a group of astronauts launched more than themselves, they booted up one of the earliest orbital internet moments.

🚀 What was the very first message zapped from a laptop in space back to Earth: A) “Houston, we are online.” B) “Hello Earth!” C) “This is a test.” or D) “Internet works up here.”? The answer awaits you at the end.

Here it is, the cloud backup I trust: Total Drive. It’s simple, secure and just works. And get this: Right now, you can get a massive 10TB of storage for only $18. Don’t wait for a hard drive crash. Back it up before you lose it, forever. — Kim

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I’ll never forget the time I was in Paris, sitting at a café, staring down at a menu I couldn’t read. Out came Google Translate on my phone, and suddenly I thought, Wow the future is here. Fast-forward to this fall, and that “future” looks downright primitive compared to what Apple and Google are about to roll out.

Apple’s iOS 26 update, coming alongside the iPhone 17, will turn AirPods into your very own universal translator with no screens, no apps, no fumbling. You speak in English, it comes out in French. The waiter answers in French, you hear it back in English through your earbuds. No awkward mime routines while your croissant deflates.

Smooth, seamless and straight out of Star Trek.

Here’s how it works: You’ll need AirPods Pro 2 or Apple’s new AirPods 4, which are lighter and have longer battery life, plus noise cancellation that doesn’t miss a beat. At launch, the live translation feature will cover major languages like English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, with more rolling out in updates.

The best part? Your private conversations aren’t being shipped off to some server farm. Apple says all the language processing happens right on your device. That means your secrets stay yours, whether you’re ordering wine in Paris or bargaining at a street market in Seoul.

Android users, don’t worry, you’ve got bragging rights, too. Google’s Pixel Buds Pro already support real-time translation in over 40 languages, powered by Google Assistant. And Samsung is pushing the envelope with the Galaxy Buds3 Pro, which can interpret live conversations on the fly.

We’re standing at the doorstep of something huge: the end of the language barrier. No more phrase books, no awkward hand gestures, no “lost in translation” moments. Just imagine the doors this opens for travel, for business, for making friends across the world.

If you don’t want to wait for iOS 26, you can already test-drive live translation with Pixel Buds Pro paired to any Android phone running the Google Translate app. Or if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, iOS 26 beta testers will get the AirPods translation feature first, so if you’re adventurous, you can sign up for the public beta. Here’s how.

The universal translator isn’t sci-fi anymore. It’s real, it’s in your pocket, and it’s only going to get better. Next time you’re ordering tapas in Madrid or sushi in Tokyo, you’ll sound like a local.

Some say the English language is hard to learn. But you can do it through tough, thorough thought though. (Yea I agree, that was a long way to go for a drink of water.)

Really, after all the warnings? California is sending real texts to collect unpaid tolls. One woman ignored the message, thinking it was a scam. Big mistake.

Listen on Komando.com →

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💸 PayPal passwords exposed: A hacker named Chucky_BF (cute, right?) is allegedly selling plaintext passwords for 15.8 million PayPal accounts for just $750. That’s a steal both metaphorically and literally. Experts suspect the info came from malware, not PayPal itself. But still go change your password. Right now, seriously. Add 2FA while you’re at it.

Gold bars to nowhere: A Pennsylvania woman lost a whopping $800,000 to scammers posing as bank and SSA agents after a fake pop-up said her Social Security number was on porn sites. They made her believe she was “helping” an investigation, convincing her to convert her money to gold and hand it off to couriers. Ouch. 

🤖 Clickbait’s best friend is a fool: Be careful what you believe on the Motley Fool site. Roadzen’s shares nosedived 10% after Motley Fool’s “friendly Foolish AI,” JesterAI, hallucinated a massive 50% earnings miss in an article. Other sites reposted their AI-written article. “Friendly Foolish AI” sounds like a Tinder bio and a lawsuit waiting.

T-Mobile caught creeping: T-Mobile got slammed with a $92M fine for selling real-time location data without consent. Their legal defense? Basically “We did it, but like, who’s counting?” Judges were not amused. The FCC calls it a massive privacy failure. Verizon and AT&T (pending cases for $104.2M in fines) better start sweating, this was just round one.

🧬 Eyes before flys: Biometric e-gates are here. Soon, you can scan your face at six airports (ATL, SEA, DCA and more), so you can skip human interaction and plunge straight into security, assuming you’ve paid for Clear and aren’t a criminal. It’s Clear’s way of prepping for the 2026 World Cup, or the singularity, whichever comes first.

🚗 Primed to drive: Live within 75 miles of Dallas, Houston, LA or Seattle? You can now shop Hertz’s used rental cars on Amazon Autos. That means more variety instead of only Hyundais. Just pick it up at a Hertz lot within three days. They’ll soon expand to 45 cities, because let’s be real, Amazon won’t stop until you can buy everything from them.

Thomas got pickpocketed at a bar. Using Apple’s Find My to track it down, he watched it go from a pawnshop to a church … and then all the way overseas.

Listen on Komando.com →

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✨ Cleaning isn’t glamorous, but the right tools turn “ugh, chores” into “ahh, tidy.”

🛒 Your cart upgrade: If you love these picks, tap here for more essentials. Then, pop over to my Amazon storefront for more all-stars.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Android, swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen to open all Quick Settings at once. Saved you an extra swipe. You’re welcome.

Customize Windows 11 Start menu: Under Pinned apps, right-click anything you don’t need (like Disney+) and select Unpin from Start. To add an app, right-click its shortcut and choose Pin to Start. You can also drag apps to arrange them in any order you want or group them together.

📺 Block the binge: Netflix loves to autoplay the next episode, but you can turn this off. On desktop, click your account picture and select Manage Profiles. Choose Your Profile, go to Playback settings and toggle off Autoplay next episode in a series on all devices. Now hit Save at the bottom.

🍏 Set default apps on Mac: There’s no single place to change all defaults, so you’ll need to do them one by one. For your browser: Go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock, and scroll down to Default web browser. For email: Open the Mail app, click Mail (top left corner of screen) > Settings > General > Default email reader.

😟 Break down tough tasks with AI: Next time you feel overwhelmed by a project, try this prompt with a chatbot: “I want to [goal], but I’m not sure where to start. Can you lay out the steps and suggest which to do first?” Or: “I want to [goal], but I’m a beginner. Can you explain the steps in simple terms?”

📄 Let Gemini read your Docs: You can now listen to your Docs and even customize the voice and playback speed. Just go to Tools > Audio > Listen to this tab. FYI: It only works for English documents on desktop and is limited to Workspace business, enterprise, education, AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.

👂 Struggling to hear conversations? Find top-rated hearing aids tailored to you. With expert support and a 45-day risk-free trial, there’s nothing to lose, except the frustration. Hear better today!*

$760
What it costs to unlock horsepower you already own. Volkswagen’s ID3 gives you 228 brake horsepower … but only if you pay to unleash it. Unless you subscribe ($20/month, $200/year) or cough up the one-time $760, you’re stuck with the 201 bhp version, which is like buying a cake and getting billed extra to eat the frosting.

$182
The cost of having Taylor Swift-approved posture. The Power Bra pulls your shoulders back and your bank account forward. Yes, it’s FDA-registered and HSA-eligible, but the real endorsement came from a grainy Eras Tour photo.

148%
The spike in impersonation scams over just one year. Scammers are getting better and multiplying. Last year, fake voices, cloned execs and AI chatbots helped criminals drain nearly $3 billion from victims. The crazy part? It only takes three seconds to clone your voice. 

🎣 Hook, line and phisher

At first glance, this scam message looks squeaky clean: official-sounding language, a familiar company name, even a sense of urgency. But the link? That’s where the fraudster magic hides in plain sight.

The web address shown seems trustworthy at first. It starts with “fedex⁠.com,” right? 

Wrong. Web browsers ignore everything before the @ symbol. That means you’re not going to the official FedEx site. You’re going to servicehuj⁠.xyz, a domain that is very much not FedEx. 

The part before the @ is just a decoy, meant to trick your brain and take you straight to scam city. 

Speaking of … Did you hear the news? FedEx and UPS are merging. They’re going to go by the name Fed-Up from now on. (lol)

Answer: 🛰️ B) “Hello Earth!” The rest of the 1991 email sent on a Mac continued: “Greetings from the STS‑43 crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here, … send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby, … we’ll be back!” Yes, for real. That was it.

You might be wondering why the astronauts used a Mac. Easy answer. It’s dangerous to open windows in space. (I saw that smile, you’re welcome.)

⛑️ Don’t forget to back it up, or risk losing it. Keep those family photos and important tax documents safe. Total Drive has your back, and so do I. Just $18 for 10TB is a no-brainer.

This the #1 tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’m looking into how your phone became a full-blown science lab.

✌️ Until then, take what you learned today and run with it. I’m cheering you on! — Kim

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Photo credit(s): Midjourney, a scammer

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