🎁 The 10 gifts everyone actually wants this year

Welcome to your spectacular Saturday, {{first_name | friend}}. I hope your morning coffee (or tea, as in my case) is revving up those brain waves. Here’s one to ponder. What came first: A) the smart toilet or B) the iPhone? Don’t flush your guess just yet, the answer’s at the end!

Fuel up right: NativePath earned my trust with their Collagen, and their new Hydrate electrolyte mix delivers the same high quality. Clean energy, sharper focus and no sugar crash. This is what staying fueled all day should feel like. 

📻 Hear me, hear me! My award-winning national radio show is airing all weekend across the USA. With over 420 stations strong, find your closest one by using our super-duper station locator map, or listen commercial-free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or in the Komando Community. — Kim

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Google dropped its 2025 Holiday 100, aka what everyone wants this season. I dug past the hype to find the gadgets, gear and glam that are actually worth your cash. But don’t wait until December. Many are bound to sell out sooner than later.

Not feeling festive yet? Scroll past all the great gifts to the Web Watercooler section to find out who Apple’s paying $1 billion a year to stop Siri from embarrassing herself. 

Built for the long haul. With a comfy over-ear fit, mic for video calls and up to 70 hours of playtime, you can fly from New York to Tokyo without recharging once.

The first mini projector with Roku built in. Connect it to Wi-Fi and stream in full 1080p. Watch a whopping 150-inch screen. I got one like this for Barry’s kids last year, and they use it all the time.

One tool, five styles. It dries, brushes, curls and smooths in one sleek package. Bonus: an oval head for volume and a round attachment for shaping. I get salon results at home.

Your five-minute glow-up kit. Get a massage, cold therapy, lymphatic drainage and headache relief for under $13. Use promo code KITSCHSAVE10 for an extra 10% off. Every woman will love this, really.

Save $164 on a chic Kate Spade. Wear it around your body, on your shoulder, as a belt or as a clutch with a removable pouch. Versatile = stylish.

Stay toasty. Ultrasoft flannel and sherpa with eight temp settings distribute warmth evenly. Doze off while using it? An auto timer shuts it off for you.

Everything a grill master could need. Get a spatula, tongs, fork and a basting brush all in one set. Perfect for your dad, husband or anyone who thinks BBQ is a food group.

12 pots a-piping. Nonstick, durable and free of “forever chemicals” that you don’t want to sauté into your body. The stain-resistant finish makes cleanup a breeze.

Don’t stress, flex. This nonelastic band has 10 loops for targeting your legs, back, shoulders and more. Perfect for the person who feels a little stiff.

For the kiddos. Get them off their phone and onto a ride with an adjustable handlebar, 5 miles of range and up to 40 minutes of ride time. Fun they’ll remember forever.

👉 Pro tip: Before you hit “buy now,” check Amazon’s trade-in program. Send in your old gadgets, and Amazon will knock up to 20% off your new device. Total win-win.

⚠️ Copy. Paste. Regret: I read about ClickFix again, this malware that uses fake videos to detect your OS, copy malicious commands to your clipboard, then pressure you with a countdown to paste them. If a site tells you to paste something into a command prompt, close your browser. 

Love at first chat: Elon Musk’s latest side quest? A hyper-sexualized chatbot named Ani, developed by his xAI team, reportedly under his direct supervision. The Wall Street Journal says staff were told to hand over facial and voice data for “AI avatars,” with no real way to opt out. And get this: Ani strips when flirted with. So, another casual Tuesday at xAI.

Siri’s billion-dollar brain donor: Apple did what every proud parent swears they’d never do: asked Google for help. They’re reportedly paying a billion dollars a year to plug Gemini AI into Siri. Yep, $1 billion to stop saying, “I didn’t quite catch that.” Supposedly, she’ll get better at summarizing, planning and pretending to care what you said. Update hits next spring. 

💾 Don’t risk it: One crash, one spilled coffee, and everything’s gone. Family photos, tax documents, the works. That’s why I trust Carbonite, my #1 choice for cloud backup. It quietly protects your files in the background and restores them with a single click. Save 50% now at carbonite.com/kim.*

Baby-making machine: Here’s a wild one. There’s this startup called Gaia that uses AI to predict whether IVF will actually work before you spend the money. That’s right, child by algorithm. And if it doesn’t lead to a baby, you don’t pay a cent. It’s already helped more than 100 families. AI is turning “hope for the best” into “plan for the best.”

🌦️ Farewell, farm classic: This is sad. After 208 years, the Farmers’ Almanac is calling it quits. The 2026 issue will be its last, and the site goes down next month. The Maine-based guide says the money isn’t there anymore. It’s been predicting the weather with “a secret formula” involving sunspots and moon cycles, but it couldn’t foresee this storm.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On YouTube, you can bookmark videos so you don’t forget about them. Tap the Save button below any video and choose Watch later. When you’re ready to catch up, go to You > Playlists to find them all.

Speaking of videos: If you have a lot of clips taking up space on your PC or Mac, try HandBrake. It’s free and easy to use. Drag and drop a file, choose where to save it, then pick a preset like Fast 1080p30 and click Start Encode. 

Pick your start page: On Chrome, set your browser to open your favorite website every time it launches. Go to Settings > On startup > Open a specific page or set of pages > Add a new page. Type in a URL like komando.com and hit Add. Next time you open Chrome, you’ll get the latest tech news right away.

📧 Fix Gmail notifications on Android: Missing emails? Pull down Quick Settings and check that Do not disturb isn’t on since it silences alerts. If that’s not the issue, open Gmail > Settings > General settings > Manage notifications, and toggle Allow notifications off, then back on. That usually gets alerts flowing again.

Let AI plan your plate: Figuring out meals for the week can be exhausting. Get ChatGPT to handle it by prompting, “Plan a week of simple, healthy meals I can cook, and make a grocery list with the exact ingredients.” You can ask it to include cooking steps and portion sizes to match your calorie goals. Pro tip: Tell it what’s in your fridge for meal ideas. Bon appétit!

🏠 Home safety made simple: SimpliSafe is running its Black Friday deal early with 60% off any new system. Protect your home with easy setup, live monitoring and award-winning sensors that keep watch day and night. Get started at SimpliSafe.com/Kim.*

❤️ From me to you: There’s so much going on that I can’t fit it in this newsletter. You can find it all on my award-winning show this week. Find your local station here.

Want to do me a solid? Radio stations love hearing from you. If you enjoy the show, take a sec to visit their site and hit the “Contact Us” page or leave a shout-out on their social media. And if you tag me, I’ll see it and send a big thank-you right back.

Is this crossing the line? Like any good dad, caller Steven wants to know if the person dating his child is up to snuff. He asks: Is there a legal way to do a background check without anyone knowing? Don’t miss this. Listen here. 

Want to share your story? I’d love to hear it straight from you. Make an appointment to speak with me, and you could be on the show. Book your spot.

📺 Watch the show on my YouTube channel. Click here. It’s like our own little corner of the internet, minus the weird pop-up ads.

Or use the links below to listen right now or whenever you want.

If you were amazed by magicians blowing up balloon animals as a kid, you’re going to love this. 

Meet the Austrian Power Giants, concept power lines molded into creatures like storks and stags, each representing local areas throughout Austria. 

Why, you ask? Why not! The goal is to turn those towering industrial grids into landmarks, making people smile instead of sigh. 

🦌 The designs have passed early safety tests, meaning Austria might soon have the most electrifying zoo on Earth. Talk about current events.

🚽 The answer: A) Smart toilet! Japan’s Toto Washlet hit shelves in 1980, complete with heated seats, a dryer and a remote control. It’s so popular today that more homes in Japan have a smart toilet than a dishwasher. Wild. 

What do computer geeks call a toilet? The IP address. (I saw you shake your head at that one!)

Boost you: Whether you’re powering through afternoon meetings or need energy, Native Hydrate gives you clean fuel without artificial sweeteners or any unnecessary ingredients. Save up to 44% with free shipping. Try it and feel the difference.

Tomorrow, I’m talking about how states are quietly selling your data behind your back. You’ll never look at the DMV the same again. This is the #1 free tech newsletter in the U.S. 

🌿 Breathe, move and let the day unfold. You are incredible and now, tech ahead. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, Austrian Power Grid

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