🤫 The dirty secret airlines and hotels don’t want you to know

Welcome to your Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. Picture this: A little girl casually blurts out “Buy me a dollhouse” near a smart speaker. Sure enough, hundreds of miniature mansions were on their way to her. 

So which sassy smart speaker made it happen? A) Apple HomePod, B) Sonos One, C) Amazon Echo, D) Google Nest? The answer is waiting to mishear you at the end! 

🛑 Every five seconds, someone’s identity is stolen. Yours could be next. I use NordProtect because it actually stops it. Real protection, real alerts, not false promises. Grab 65% off now before it’s too late. 

Let’s not break up! I’m moving email providers, and your inbox might act weird. Click a few links in today’s newsletter to remind Big Tech we’re still tight. That keeps my newsletter out of spam and right where it belongs with you. — Kim

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You planned the dream getaway. Flights? Booked. Hotel suite? Paid for. Maybe you even splurged on a poolside drink package because hey, you earned it. 

Then bam, life throws a wrench in it. A surprise meeting. A fever. The worst part? That pricey reservation is nonrefundable.

Here’s the twist: You don’t have to kiss that cash goodbye. There are sites that let you resell those unused travel plans and get money back in your pocket. And if you’re looking for a travel deal, you might land a great one.

You post your reservation, someone else buys it at a discount, and you recover a chunk of your cost. The platform takes a cut, usually a 12% fee. 

The site holds the buyer’s money in escrow until the trip actually happens. That means you don’t get paid until they check in or take off, which keeps everyone honest.

SpareFare is a heavyweight in this space. It’s UK-based, so you’ll find lots of Euro-friendly listings: flights, hotels and vacation packages. 

Roomer Travel is perfect if you’re stuck with a hotel room you can’t use.

TransferTravel is the wild card. You can list not just flights and hotels but also cruises, event tickets and more. It’s like Craigslist for travel deals, only cleaner.

Totally fair. But don’t stress. These sites use escrow systems, so no one gets paid until the booking is used. Buyers are covered, sellers are protected. Win-win.

But … not all bookings can be transferred. Budget airline? Probably not. Bargain-bin hotel rate? Maybe not either. The sites will usually flag what’s transferable, but it’s still smart to double-check.

You don’t have to let your nonrefundable trip go to waste. Someone out there wants it. You get money back, they get a deal. Or maybe one traveler’s cancellation just might be your next adventure.

Elon Musk promised it would be the next big thing. Instead, its design and overhyped performance left it stuck between revolution and reality.

Listen on Komando.com →

🧨 Fission accomplished: This is bad. Communist China hackers used a SharePoint flaw to target 400+ orgs, including the U.S. nuke agency (NNSA). Microsoft says the exploit hit agencies in the U.S., EU, Middle East and more. They say no classified files were stolen since the backdoor’s been open since July 7. Yea, right.

I thought Alexa was creepy: Amazon’s buying Bee, a company whose wearable bracelet records everything you say. Why? AI summarizes your day, makes to-do lists and creates a searchable log of your life. It’s always listening and has no wake word (paywall link). I’ll pass.

🍏 AppleCare just got easier: Starting today at 8 a.m. ET, you can cover up to three devices for $20/month, instead of paying for each separately. Most products are eligible up to four years after purchase (up from 60 days). Theft and loss coverage now includes iPads and Apple Watches. Sign up at an Apple Store or in the Settings menu of your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Stay on Windows 10: Microsoft will end support on Oct. 14, but you can still get one extra year of protection for free (sort of). You’ll need to do one of three things: Trade in 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, sync your backup to OneDrive or pay $30. A pop-up on your PC will walk you through it.

💣 AI made your explosion: In a “first ever” moment, Netflix used generative AI to create a building-collapse scene in The Eternaut, claiming it was 10x faster and cheaper than traditional video effects. CEO Ted Sarandos swears it wasn’t only a major budget break but a creative opportunity. Sure, if your idea of creativity is “Chat, make Argentina go boom.” 

Ring of suspicion: Police can now request your doorbell footage again, without a warrant, if it’s part of an “emergency” investigation. The program was paused earlier this year, but Amazon quietly flipped the switch back on. So yes, your front porch cam is now part of your local precinct’s surveillance network.

✅ You asked and here it is. A 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 all for good.*

Still getting security codes via text? Hackers can steal them in seconds.

Listen on Komando.com →

🧽 I’ve got a cleaning fix for every mess life throws your way.

😌 Self-care isn’t optional: Click here for more personal care deals and my Amazon store to feel like “you” again.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Windows, press Ctrl + or – to zoom. On Mac, use Cmd + or –. Want things back to normal? Hit Ctrl + 0 (Windows) or Cmd + 0 (Mac). Works in most apps.

Lock down your Fire Stick: Improve performance and protect your privacy by cutting down on the data your Fire Stick sends to Amazon. Go to Settings > Preferences > Privacy Settings > Manage Sharing from Apps and turn it Off. Then go back and also switch off Device Usage Data, Collect App Usage Data and Interest-based Ads.

🍏 Reopen a lost Safari window on iPad: If you closed one by accident, it’s easy to bring it back. Just leave Safari and long-press the app icon in your Dock or Home Screen. Tap Show All Windows, then hit + Reopen Closed Window in the top-left corner. Boom, you can pick up where you left off, tabs and all.

Stand out on LinkedIn by posting when your audience is actually watching. Peak times are Tuesday to Thursday, 7–9 a.m. or 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Skip weekends and late nights. Use my special link to post a job for free.*

Refine your Google search: Looking for results from a specific website? Type something like “site:apple⁠.com” to limit results to that site. Then add your search term in quotes, like “iPhone,” to find pages with that exact word. Share it with the kids, it’s great for narrowing down info fast.

📱 Tidy up your Home Screen: On Android, new app shortcuts can automatically appear after installs, which clutters things up fast. To stop this, long-press any empty area on your Home Screen, tap Settings, then find Add icon to Home Screen or Add new apps to Home Screen and toggle it Off.

🚨 Find hidden cameras: Do a quick sweep by turning off the lights and shining your phone’s flashlight around vents, smoke detectors, remote controls, wall outlets and other random objects. Hidden lenses will reflect back at you. Want a pro-level check? This hidden camera detector spots bugs, trackers and cams in seconds.

$0
The tuition cost at the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. The Walmart heiress is footing the bill for the first five graduating classes at her brand-new med school, AWSOM, in Bentonville, Arkansas. It’s not charity, it’s a bet to prove that preventive care, art and a side of nutrition training can reshape health care. Call it Whole Foods meets Grey’s Anatomy.

86,276
The updated count of Yellowstone quakes after AI combed through underground drama. Seismologists used machine learning to reprocess data from 2008–2022 and uncovered nearly 10x more earthquakes than previously recorded. If the national parks formed a supergroup, Yellowstone would be the drummer.

2.5 billion
That’s how many prompts ChatGPT gets every single day. Apparently, asking an AI to settle your group chat arguments or plan your vacation is a full-time job, worldwide. Some 330 million of those prompts are coming from U.S. users alone, and at least half are from my Monday morning before coffee.

Wow. Just wow.

The Walker S2 pulled off the robot equivalent of a mic drop: It swapped its own battery.

😱 Seriously, you have to check out the 95-pound biped waddle over to a charging station, dislocate its arms like a contortionist and change out its drained battery for a fresh one. Afterward, the thing struts off like it didn’t upend the labor market.

This “world’s first” move means robots can now work around the clock, fueling a future of 24/7 “dark factories” with zero human battery-changers required. 

Answer: C) Amazon Echo. In 2017, a sweet 6-year-old in Texas said, “Alexa, buy me a dollhouse,” and like the helpful genie she is, Alexa obeyed.

But wait, it gets weirder. A local news anchor repeated the quote during a broadcast, and Echos across the city started ordering dollhouses on their own. The result? A wave of unsolicited two-story plastic homes and very confused parents.

🤦🏼‍♀️ Mea culpa: The answer to yesterday’s trivia question about which electronics brand got hacked was missing. Sorry about that. Back in 2014, an LG smart fridge had been hijacked and used as part of a spam botnet, tweeting gibberish while quietly chilling your oat milk and listening to cool jazz.

😟 Hackers don’t need your permission, just one weak link, and your identity is theirs. I don’t take chances. I use NordProtect to stay one step ahead. Full protection, 65% off right now with this limited time offer. Don’t wait. I switched from LifeLock.

This is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Tomorrow, I’m sharing how to finally stop yelling, “Where’s it streaming?!” into the void. Smarter tools, fewer meltdowns, much more movie time.

Look at you, all tech-savvy and ahead of the game. Your smart friend status is officially unlocked. 🧠✨ — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, UBITECH

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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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