🔒 Tech that thief-proofs your house

Welcome to your Saturday, {{first_name | friend}}, from Phoenix, Arizona! 🌞 It’s almost 120 degrees here, and yea, it’s a dry heat. So is an oven!

Picture it: 1993. Grunge rules the airwaves. The internet still growls when you connect. Tony in IT has a mullet. Today, Tony is happily retired but still has whatever is left of a mullet. 

And tech companies think, “What if we made a phone … touch screen?” Can you guess the first true smartphone? A) Nokia 9000, B) Apple Newton, C) Motorola StarTAC or D) IBM Simon. Find the answer at the end! 

⏱️ Every five seconds, someone’s identity is stolen. Don’t let it be yours. I trust NordProtect for real protection and real alerts. No gimmicks, just results. Get 65% off now while you still can. I switched from LifeLock and saved a ton of money!

👋 Weekend chores are more fun with company. Catch my award-winning weekend radio show on a station near you. Not sure where and when? Enter your ZIP code into my handy-dandy station finder, or get my show’s podcast to listen on your schedule. Now, on to getting you tech ahead! — Kim

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Your home should be your safe place, not a bull’s-eye. 

I’ve tested every kind of security gear you can think of, and these are the real deal. No monthly fees. No gimmicks. Just solid, reliable protection for your front door, your mailbox, your garage and everything in between.

Now, if you’re not interested in this tech, I got you. Just scroll down to the Web Watercooler section to get up to date on the latest, most important tech news.

1. 🔒 Seven-in-one smart lock ($80, 43% off)

Unlock with your fingerprint, phone, code, a key and more. Psst … this $60 discount won’t last long.

2. 📦 Head-to-toe wireless doorbell camera ($55, 15% off)

Catch porch pirates red-handed. Works with Alexa, Google Assistant and stores up to 128GB of video on a local SD card.

3. ☀️ Solar motion sensor lights ($20 four-pack, 44% off)

Shine a spotlight on creepers (or raccoons) the second they step into your yard. Weatherproof and heatproof.

4. 🚨 Remote-control alarms ($22 two-pack, 28% off)

Stick these little sensors on doors, windows, gates (your choice), and get an instant alert when someone tries to sneak in.

5. 💡 Light bulb security camera ($40, 20% off)

Screws in like a normal light bulb. Tracks motion, records in color at night and sounds an alarm if something’s off.

6. 🦾 Door reinforcement lock ($22 three-pack, 21% off)

These little latches hold up to 800 pounds of force. Installs up high, so curious kiddos won’t wander off.

7. 🎥 Indoor 4K security camera ($50, 29% off)

It’s your all-seeing eye on the inside that pans, tilts and tracks movement. Pet cam? Baby monitor? All yes.

8. 🙈 Hidden wall safe ($110, 15% off)

Shhh … this air vent is really a secret safe. Stash your passports, cash or grandma’s old wedding ring in plain sight.

9. 🚗 Smart garage door opener ($43, 15% off)

Left the garage open? Check or close it without turning around mid-commute. Hooks up to over 1,600 models.

10. 📫 Locking security mailbox ($100)

Keep sticky fingers away from your checks, meds and guilty pleasure magazines. Built like a tank and easy to install.

🏠 Don’t let the bad guys win. I put all the safety tools I couldn’t fit in this list on my Amazon shop, like an RFID-blocking wallet (9% off) that shields your info from digital pickpockets. So smart!

Jim Acosta interviewed an AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a 17-year-old killed in the Parkland shooting. Was that too far? A listener uses ChatGPT to get better at painting. Plus, Zuckerberg’s Hawaiian compound, a scary new bank scam and AI wedding vows.

Listen on Komando.com →

✅ Back it up, or risk losing it. Total Drive is offering a great deal! Total Drive automatically backs up your precious memories, family photos, graduation videos and all your important documents. Everything’s safely stored in the cloud. It’s simple, secure, and yes, I use it, too! Get 10TB for just $18 with this limited time offer.*

🧨 Inside job: Security researchers tricked Google’s Gemini into turning on smart home devices using a Google Calendar invite. When Gemini was asked to “summarize the week,” it unknowingly ran booby-trapped prompts that lit up devices in Tel Aviv. It’s the first known AI attack with physical consequences. 

Private chats, public fight: Remember that NYT suing OpenAI story? Now, The New York Times wants to dig through 120 million ChatGPT logs to try to prove OpenAI’s chatbot is a copyright-violating machine. OpenAI’s like, “How about 20 mil?” NYT said nope. Now the court may decide if your “deleted” chats become exhibit A.

🗣️ AI’s new favorite party trick? Stealing your TikTok rants, word-for-um-filled-word, and deepfaking them with a totally different face and voice. A wild “incinerator at Alligator Alcatraz” video hit 20M views, copied from a real person, made by a robot. And TikTok barely flinched. Next up: a deepfake of you reacting to this deepfake.

🚗 Used car, add to cart: That’s right, Amazon Autos is now selling pre-owned rides. You’ll see the full price up front (no shady dealer math), get a Vehicle History Report, and you can return the car within three days or 300 miles. It’s rolling out in LA first, starting with used Hyundais. And yep, you can trade in your old beater, too.

Science needs your frog pics: A massive new study confirms iNaturalist, a site where anyone can upload wildlife pics tagged with time and location, is driving thousands of research papers worldwide. With millions of uploads, the platform’s helped map species ranges, spot invasives and even rediscover lost animals. It’s kind of like Pokémon Go for real animals. 

🚁 Self-flying Black Hawks? Yep, Texas A&M University is working with DARPA to make it happen. The goal is to use AI to help helicopters fly solo and handle things like wildfire drops and dangerous area surveys, all without risking human pilots. We should see them in action after two more years of testing.

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Check this out! On this episode of The Current AI Podcast, George shares secret real estate hacks to elevate your snooping game, AI tips for writing difficult messages and obituaries, the latest Docusign scam and much more.

Listen on Komando.com →

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Someone’s alarm blaring across the house? Don’t get up. Just call them. One ring is usually enough to silence it. Works on most phones and saves you the ... awkward confrontation.

Personalize your Chromebook: Right-click your Desktop and select Set wallpaper and style to change up the look. Pick an accent color, choose a wallpaper or add your own photos. You can also move the shelf. Right-click it, select Shelf position and choose Left, Bottom or Right.

📑 Save quotes and jot down ideas on Kindle: Press and hold a word, then drag from the start to the end of the text you want. When the menu pops up, tap Highlight or Note. To view these later, tap the top of the screen while reading and select the Notebook icon. Nice. 

⌚ Save battery on your Apple Watch: Push the Digital Crown, go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Low Power Mode. You can also go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and turn off the apps you’re not using. FYI: The Apple Watch SE (2nd gen) is 32% off right now. 

💬 Fact-check ChatGPT: If ChatGPT or your favorite AI chatbot says something that sounds off, ask, “Why did you say that?” It might give you the source or admit it was wrong. Still in doubt? Use this prompt next: “Are you sure this is correct? Search the web August 2025 to confirm these facts.” You’ll get updated articles.

$1
What OpenAI is charging the U.S. government to use its special ChatGPT Enterprise plan. Why? To cozy up to lawmakers and help the government work faster with AI. Oh, and Uncle Sam’s been generous, too. Back in June, OpenAI landed a defense contract worth up to $200 million. Pretty sweet trade.

6 feet
That’s how far we thought standing apart would save us from germs. Turns out, not so much. New research says our beloved 6-foot safety bubble might just be hot air, literally. It seems the typical indoor temps of 72°F to 86°F create a perfect petri dish for those pesky particles to lurk around your face. 

0%
That’s the critics’ score for Ice Cube’s War of the Worlds remake. When critics and audiences agree, you know it’s ... something. This Prime Video disaster-piece did the impossible though. People are actually watching it.

🏨 Inn it to win it!

Checking into a Miami La Quinta Inn now feels less like Southern hospitality and more like joining a Zoom call you didn’t RSVP to. 

After a long flight, one guest discovered their concierge was just a video screen with a remote receptionist in India and a kiosk that read “Check in & out here.”

The video went viral, and you can see it on X right here.  

What’s next? Room service provided by an overworked Roomba? Valet powered by a DoorDash driver on his lunch break? Rest assured, we’re going to start seeing AI bots doing this same job soon.

Answer: D) IBM Simon. Yep, I’m Basically Magic released the original smartphone before “smartphone” was even a word. Unveiled in 1993, it made calls, sent faxes (remember those?), held contacts and even came with a stylus for its touch screen.

Fun fact: The IBM Simon only sold about 50,000 units, but it paved the way for the device you’re reading this on right now. It was our phone’s chunky great-grandparent that walked 20 miles to school and back in the snow. 

Hackers don’t need permission, just one weak link, and your identity is gone. I use NordProtect for full protection: dark web scans, credit alerts and more. Right now, it’s 65% off.

This is officially the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Tomorrow, I’m dialing into Cold War core espionage, where Russian agents still love crackly shortwave radio, and spies avoid Wi-Fi like it’s a trap (because it is). 

😀 Until then, smile because you’re tech ahead and not left behind in the digital dust! — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, @dom_lucre on X

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