📱 Holy heist

Happy Wednesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Here’s a fun one to distract you from whatever spreadsheet or work chat convo you’ve been pretending to focus on: How well do you know your QWERTY keyboard without looking?

🇺🇸 Turns out, only one U.S. state name can be typed using just one row of the keyboard. Talk about home row advantage. Is it A) Texas, B) Alaska, C) Ohio or D) Minnesota? Tap the virtual keys in your mind, and pick your choice wisely. The truth is unveiled at the end!

📥 Like this? Mark me as “not spam” and favorite this newsletter or drag me from the promotions or junk folder to your primary inbox. This helps tell your email program you like the info you get for free every day to keep you tech ahead. Thank you for being here! — Kim

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It starts like any typical night out. You’re sipping something overpriced and half-listening to your friend’s relationship drama. Then, you check your pocket. Empty. You think maybe it was a pickpocket. But the reality is far stranger.

Dozens of iPhones stolen in cities like Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have resurfaced thousands of miles away, deep inside religious communities in southern China. That’s the interesting part.

Folks whose iPhones were stolen are using Apple’s Find My app to track their phones’ travel across the world.

In one case, a man watched his iPhone move from a D.C. bar to Latin America, then Southeast Asia, and finally land in a building linked to a Chinese church. He had never heard of the town, let alone visited it. 

Other people reported nearly identical patterns, with their phones pinging from the same region.

So how did stolen iPhones end up in churches on the other side of the globe?

Turns out, there’s an entire international pipeline designed to launder locked iPhones. These phones are pretty useless in the United States without the original Apple ID credentials. But in the hands of skilled hackers or digital middlemen, they can be exploited.

And many, it appears, are routed through church groups in China, getting them as part of larger electronics shipments. 

It’s not just about slipping past customs. It’s about creating cover. Spiritual sanctuaries don’t exactly scream “criminal enterprise.”

In countries with heavy surveillance and strict internet controls, religious organizations can operate in legal gray zones, especially if they’re unofficial or underground. 

That makes them the perfect fronts for quietly moving tech across borders.

Even if a stolen iPhone is locked and can’t make calls or be resold through normal channels, it’s still a powerful tool. The phone’s camera, microphone, offline apps and messaging can be used for discreet communication, organizing meetups, storing encrypted content or recording without drawing attention.

In the hands of the right people, that “worthless” locked phone becomes a digital Swiss Army knife, especially in places where free speech and movement are tightly controlled. 

So, what started as a petty theft at happy hour might actually be fueling an underground digital resistance halfway across the world. Isn’t that fascinating? I thought so, too.

Amazon’s Bee records and transcribes your conversations. No secrets, no apologies, just full-on wearable surveillance.

Listen on Komando.com →

😌 Life’s hard. These five upgrades make it softer.

🛍️ Skip the doomscrolling: Take a scroll through my Amazon store for more self-care goodies. You’ll thank me later.

🤖 Who’s the bot now? ChatGPT’s new agent tool snooped its way through a human verification test by clicking the “I am not a robot” checkbox. Yes, it passed a bot test as a bot. Even narrated the click like it was writing its memoir. Somewhere, a human is failing the same CAPTCHA and crying into their LaCroix.

Your AI confidant isn’t confidential: Thought your sob session with ChatGPT was sealed tight? LOL. CEO Sam Altman just confirmed that all your convos, with juicy, emotionally messy details, could end up in court. Yes, even the stuff you deleted. Unlike therapists, AI bots don’t get client privilege. Good to know. 

🧠 Your tabs get a brain: Microsoft Edge just dropped Copilot Mode, an AI-powered browser that sees your tabs, listens to voice commands and helps you shop, plan and even book paddleboards. Will it judge your 48 open tabs? Let’s hope not. For now, the feature is opt-in and free for a limited time.

Crypto checkout’s new era: PayPal’s now letting merchants accept over 100 cryptocurrencies at checkout (paywall link): Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT and more. Funds get auto-converted into fiat or its PYUSD stablecoin. Fees? Just 0.99%. Settlement? Instant. And businesses can earn ~4% on PYUSD balances. Finally, a way to turn Ethereum into “Live, Laugh, Love” wall decals. Confused by crypto? Sign up for my new weekly crypto newsletter hitting in August.

🍏 iPhone 17 Pro rumors: It’s getting a major camera upgrade, like 8x optical zoom instead of the 16 Pro’s 5x. Apple’s also working on a special pro camera app and adding a new button on the top edge for quick shots. It might even support 8K video recording. Now everyone can see your nose hairs.

😳 Oklahoma school board scandal: During a Board of Ed meeting, someone streamed a video of nude women gathered around a “chiropractic table” on the big screen. So there’s a full-blown investigation, and fingers are pointing at Ryan Walters, the state’s head of education. He’s denying everything, of course.

🚇 Off the rails: I thought this was interesting. NYC dropped big bucks on a computerized train signal system 25 years ago, and it’s already headed for retirement. ICYDK, it was supposed to let trains run faster and closer together. Meanwhile, the 100-year-old clunky mechanical system is still doing its thing, chugging along like your grandma’s toaster that refuses to die.

These free tools track maintenance, log repairs and send reminders, so your ride stays in top shape.

Listen on Komando.com →

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Closed a tab by mistake? Press Ctrl + Shift + T on Windows or Cmd + Shift + T on Mac to bring it right back. It’s the “oops” button your browser always needed. Awesome.

🍏 Add nicknames in iPhone contacts: Can’t decide between a real name or nickname? You don’t have to. Create the contact using their real name, then open it > tap Edit > add field > Nickname, type it in and press Done. Now you can use either name with Siri or search, and your phone will know who you mean.

 See past edits in Google Docs: View earlier versions of a document by going to File > Version History > See version history. It shows what changed, who made the edits, and lets you restore old work. FYI: To restrict access, click the Share button (top right) and adjust the permissions.

📚 Keep reading without your Kindle: You can install the Kindle app on your phone (iOS or Android), and it’ll sync your progress automatically. Perfect for finishing that book when your e-reader isn’t around. Don’t have one? The newest Paperwhite model has weeks of battery life.

😁 Look better in photos: Never face the camera head-on. Instead, turn your body about 45 degrees, shift your weight to your back foot and lean your torso slightly forward. It’s a simple trick for a more flattering pose. The source? Oh, just 20+ years of broadcasting and looking fabulous!

Don’t live in fear: Get the best home protection with no wires or contracts. Set it up in just 30 minutes, complete with sensors, cameras and 24/7 monitoring. For a limited time, you get 50% off a new system with an awesome monitoring plan.*

3x
That’s how much Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses sales grew in the first half of this year. Zuck wants your face real estate (paywall link). Apparently, we also want our sunglasses to take selfies and hear voices. Meta is staking its claim before your sunglasses start running ads, really.

100x
That’s how often grocery prices can change in a single day at some stores. One blink and your eggs are cheaper. Or not. Welcome to grocery aisle gladiator match, where price tags refresh more than your Instagram feed, thanks to electronic shelf labels (ESLs) (paywall link). 

95%
That’s how much of the U.S. Walmart plans to cover with three-hour delivery by year’s end. The race isn’t who sells it cheaper, it’s who gets it to your couch faster. With Gopuff, Disney and Starbucks joining in, your impulse buys might arrive before your buyer’s remorse does.

Shanghai just unveiled its own RoboCop (minus the gun, thankfully). “Xiao Hu” (which translates to “Little Tiger”) is a humanoid robot in full police gear now directing traffic like it’s auditioning for a musical about crosswalk safety. 

The robot gives voice prompts like “Red light, please stop,” waves at pedestrians and answers questions.

Soon, these shiny robocops might man intersections citywide. Because nothing says “public safety” like being told off by what looks like a lost Daft Punk DJ. 

💡 Answer: B) Alaska. All the letters in “Alaska” live happily on the middle row of your keyboard (QWERTY supremacy!). No pinky stretching or mid-sentence finger yoga required.

Bonus brain snack: The QWERTY layout was originally designed in the 1870s to slow typists down so typewriter keys didn’t jam. Yup, we’re all still typing slower, on purpose, thanks to 19th century hardware drama.

One for the road in case you guessed Texas: A man sits down at the bar and orders a beer. “Why is this so huge?” the man asks. The bartender says, “Well everything’s big in Texas!” Then the man orders a cheeseburger, and it’s enormous. After his meal, he asks the bartender, “Where are the bathrooms?” The man forgets which way the bartender said to go. He wanders to the right, falls into the swimming pool and screams, “Don’t flush! Don’t flush!” (I saw you shaking your head on that one!)

P.S. This is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Tomorrow, I’m breaking down how “Let’s move to WhatsApp” sweet talk turns into a $60K disaster.

Till then, remember the best upgrades in life aren’t always software. 💖 — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, Shanghai Let's Meet

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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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