🪓 He DoorDashed zip ties, bleach and a hatchet

Welcome to your Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. Ever wonder who the first person was to forget their password? Chances are, it was also the first person to ever have one. Back in the early days of computing, long before “Forgot Password” links and two-factor texts, engineers had their own version of cybersecurity. Spoiler: It wasn’t very secure. 

❓ Which brings us to your daily dose of tech trivia. What was considered the very first computer password ever used? Was it … A) “guest,” B) “admin123,” C) “opensesame” or D) “dawiz”? Stick around, your reveal awaits at the end! 

🫩 Feeling more tired than you used to? Starting in your 30s, your cells slow down. Mitopure by Timeline helps recharge your cellular energy. It’s clinically proven to boost strength and vitality. Save up to 40%. — Kim

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A man named William Woods spent years trying to prove he was … himself. Why? Because another man, Matthew David Keirans, stole his Social Security number and birth certificate, built a whole new life with them and lived under Woods’ identity for decades. 

The guy really committed to the bit. Keirans got caught only after DNA tests exposed the fraud, and now he’s in prison.

Recently, a woman used my husband’s name and his SSN with her address to get a set of new dentures in Tampa, Florida. Maybe she looks like a guy named Barry?

Law enforcement is also seeing an uptick in kids’ Social Security numbers being used to build fake “Franken-identities.” Why? Children don’t have credit histories yet. By the time families discover it, the synthetic persona has credit cards, loans and debt all tied back to an innocent name. 

Criminals stitch together real and fake info, say your SSN with a made-up address, and nurture that “new person” into a believable identity. They start small (a prepaid card or phone plan), then scale up to big loans or credit lines. 

When the debt piles up, the synthetic identity vanishes, but creditors chase the real person behind the stolen SSN. Banks call this the fastest-growing type of financial crime.

👉 If any of these hit your radar, it could mean someone’s cooking up a “Franken-identity” with your info. 

That’s why I use NordProtect, a sponsor of my radio show. It monitors your most sensitive info like your Social Security number, phone number, email and mailing address, then alerts you the moment something suspicious pops up. 

Think: Someone uses your name to try to take out a loan, open a credit card or file for insurance. If it happens, NordProtect doesn’t just notify you, they guide you step-by-step to shut it down fast.

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In a world where scammers combine synthetic identities with your data, 24/7 protection isn’t a luxury. It’s survival.

The Secret Service stopped a SIM server ring that could have flooded New York with 30 million texts a minute. Here’s what happened and how to protect yourself.

Listen on Komando.com →

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🪓 He DoorDashed zip ties, bleach and a hatchet: In Sweetwater, Texas, a delivery driver got an order that didn’t exactly scream “movie night.” Instead of shrugging it off, they called the police and probably saved a life. When officers arrived, 42-year-old Neil Cooper had barricaded himself inside a motel room, claimed he was armed and refused to come out. A hostage managed to escape before negotiations began, and Cooper eventually surrendered. He’s now facing kidnapping and drug charges. Here’s the twist: The hostage was also arrested on an outstanding warrant after failing to identify themselves. Wow. 

Big TikTok news: Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that officially puts TikTok’s “sale” in motion. Word is that ByteDance will drop its control and the U.S. will lease TikTok’s algorithm so it stays “American enough” to keep running.

🦠 Fake downloads scam: Hackers rigged Google and Bing with fake GitHub pages for Mac apps like LastPass, Robinhood, 1Password, Audacity and Davinci Resolve. Instead of software, users got “Atomic” malware stealing passwords and crypto. The pages redirected to macprograms-pro[.]com before being pulled, but one still lingers. Pro tip: Only download apps from official sites or the App Store.

Inbox, outsourced: Perplexity just launched an AI “Email Assistant” that moves into your Gmail or Outlook, auto-sorts messages, drafts replies in your tone and books meetings. Cool, but it’s locked behind their $200/month Max plan. For those not trying to drop part of your rent money on your inbox, just smash that “mark all as read” button. 

CapCut’s hidden side: Think CapCut’s just a video-editing app? Nope, it’s TikTok’s little cousin without seat belts. No parental controls, weak age checks, and kids can run into strangers or even see posts with phone numbers. Docs say it fuels oversharing and self-esteem hits. If your kid’s using it, check their settings, peek at their uploads and talk about what not to share.

🐭 Mickey needs the cash: Disney+ and Hulu are raising prices again starting Oct. 21. Ads-on plans jump to $11.99/month. Premiums hit $18.99. Even ESPN Select sneaks up to $12.99. Oh, and Hulu’s getting folded into Disney+ soon anyway. Just a reminder, that’s three price hikes in three years.

Zapped back to life: After years of crippling rheumatoid arthritis, Lynn Milam got her life back thanks to a lima bean–size nerve stimulator implanted in her neck. It zaps her vagus nerve once a day, dialing down the immune system’s overreaction. The FDA just approved it, meaning thousands of drug-resistant patients could see real relief, and maybe hug their kids again. Love this.

🧞‍♂️ Wish granted, kind of: A Virginia widow asked ChatGPT for lottery numbers. It spat out some digits. She won $150,000. And she’s donating all of it. I won’t be surprised if GPT starts getting thousands of new magic number requests per day. You know, a lottery ticket is a weird gift to give someone. It’s like “Here, this has a 99% chance of being disappointing. I saw it and thought of you.”

Bluetooth is tracking you even when your GPS is off. Apps use it to map your movements and build profiles. Here’s how to stop them and protect your privacy.

Listen on Komando.com →

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Made a typing mistake? Press Ctrl + Z on Windows or Cmd + Z on Mac to undo it. Need to redo? Hit Ctrl + Y on your PC or Cmd + Shift + Z on a Mac. 

📸 Add Instagram highlights secretly: Create highlights without posting to your story. Open the app, tap your profile button, then the (+) in the top right. Select Story, pick a photo and hit the arrow at the bottom. Under Close Friends, choose someone who doesn’t follow you back and tap Share. Then hit Add to Highlights.

🍏 Better iPad multitasking: iPadOS 26 finally gives you proper window controls. Turn it on under Settings > Multitasking & Gestures > Windowed Apps. From there, use the traffic light buttons to resize, minimize or snap apps into layouts. For example, hold the green expand button (or hover with a cursor) to arrange windows into quarters.

🎮 Keep your kids safe in online games: On public servers, strangers can talk to your kids without sending friend requests. Show them how to mute players by opening the lobby leaderboard or scoreboard and muting a profile. For younger children, just remove their microphone. This headset is 40% off and has a detachable mic.

🖥️ Customize your Windows 11 Taskbar: Want quick access to an app? Just drag a desktop shortcut down to the Taskbar, or right-click something in the Start menu and hit Pin to taskbar. To remove an app, right-click > Unpin from taskbar. Don’t like Widgets? Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and toggle them off.

📝 Take note: Looking for a free note-taking app that won’t smack you with ads or sell your data? Try Notesnook. You can jot things down, make to-do lists, attach files and organize with tags or pins. It also works offline, syncs later and runs cross-platform, so you can pick up anywhere. Nice one, right?

Apple’s new iPhone Air is an incredible 5.6mm thin, about 0.22 inches. That’s thinner than a pencil, about the same as three stacked credit cards or the width of two nickels pressed together.

This might not be your or my idea of a darn tootin’ good time, but YouTube torture-tester JerryRigEverything put the phone through the wringer. Spoiler: It barely flinched. 

The titanium frame withstood over 200 pounds of force before finally cracking. The crazy part is that the phone still worked while bent like a banana. Scratch tests? Better glass, still scratchable. 

🍑 Bottom line: Unless you’ve got buns of steel, your pants will rip long before this thing does.

🚪 The answer: C) “opensesame” was the original magic word. Back in the 1960s at MIT, there was a dash of Arabian Nights. Gone are the simple fairy tale password days. Now, our passwords look like a cat walked across the keyboard. Progress!

📲 I’ll never forget when my mom got a call from a scammer. He said, “I have all your passwords, and you better pay me $300 or else.” She replied, “Thank God for that! What are they?” He just hung up. She was so funny!

Before you go: Feeling tired and weak isn’t just part of getting older. Mitopure by Timeline helps your cells produce more energy, so you feel stronger, more alert and ready to take on the day. Save up to 40%.

This is the #1 free tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’m roasting five tech myths hotter than your overheating phone.

✌️ OK, that’s today’s spark. Go light something up in your world, figuratively speaking, of course. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, JerryRigEverything

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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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