📦 Turn your clutter into cash

Hello and happy Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. We all waste a little time at work, but this government tech fail cost millions. No everyday software bug, this one was a budget-eating monster. At one point, the U.S. government spent a whole bunch of money developing a website that, after years of work, was so broken it had to be scrapped before it even launched. Yikes.

Was it: A) $24 million, B) $92 million, C) $300 million or D) Over $1 billion? Go ahead, take your shot and find the answer at the end. And no, Ctrl+Z wasn’t enough to fix it.

🚀 Spread the smarts. See those little icons under the deep dive for Facebook, X, LinkedIn, email? One click, and boom, send it straight to your friends, coworkers or that one relative who really needs to see it. Btw, I handpicked every story in this free newsletter just for you. Even the corny jokes. Sorry in advance because today is especially rough. — Kim

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Let me guess, you’ve got a few mystery boxes in the garage, a closet that could double as a thrift store, and a drawer of random chargers for devices you haven’t seen since the Obama administration.

We all hold onto stuff we might use again but never do. That clutter? It could be worth real cash and might come in handy for Christmas and holiday gifts. 

I’ll show you exactly where to sell it, what to skip and how to do it smarter.

Got a suit or jeans that haven’t fit since 2019? That handbag you swore you’d use but didn’t? Poshmark is where fashion gets a fresh start and you get paid.

Their new Smart Sell feature is like your own little pricing assistant. You set a price range, and the app handles the hagglers. No back-and-forth, no “will you take $5?” nonsense.

📌 Why I like it: You control the price, the audience is huge, and the shipping is a breeze. They send you a label.
⚠️ Heads up: You’ll need to snap a few decent photos and write a short description. If you can send a text, you can list on Poshmark.

Old iPods. Retro cameras. Game Boys. I’ve seen people list broken VCRs and still make money. Why? Because eBay is the Wild West of resale and collectors are always on the hunt.

If you’ve got something quirky, vintage or techy, someone wants it. 

📌 Why I like it: You can sell almost anything to a global audience. Auctions can drive up prices, and people pay for nostalgia.
⚠️ Heads up: There are fees, you’ll need to ship and you might have to answer a few questions. But the payoff can be big.

The air fryer you used twice. That printer you “might” fix. The Peloton that turned into a clothes rack. Facebook Marketplace is perfect for those things you just want gone.

📌 Why I like it: No shipping, no platform fees and often same-day sales.
⚠️ Heads up: You’ll need to message with buyers, and yes, flakes come with the territory. Meet in public, and stick to digital payments or cash. Safety first.

Pro tip: Run your picture through GPT with a brief voice note and have it write the description for you!  

Pick one thing, list it and see what happens. You’ll get some cash, and if nothing else, it’ll finally get your partner, roommate or spouse to stop asking, “And why do we still have this?”

Staci from New Mexico got sued for an alleged $5,200 debt. Instead of hiring a lawyer, she hired AI. She got $2,000 back. Wow. Plus, satellites that leak too much info, ChatGPT goes NSFW, and a webcam scam that’ll make you cover your camera.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or listen now on your favorite platform:

Let’s get your car road-trip ready for the holidays.

No more cracked seats: A dab of leather conditioner (39% off) softens, shines and smells amazing while it works its magic.

💥 Chip happens: Fix windshield cracks before they spread with a repair kit ($10, 50% off). One drop, wait five minutes and save hundreds.

You deserve better than a plastic bag: Toss your clutter into this leakproof trash bin (41% off) before it takes over your back seat.

📦 Junk in your trunk? From tailgating to shopping bags, this collapsible organizer (15% off) keeps your cargo chaos-free.

ICYMI: Here’s how Prime members can save 25¢ per gallon on Fridays until Dec. 26.

🏁 Your personal pit crew: My Amazon gear page has 25 more handpicked tools to help your wheels stay rolling.

🏡 Quick home check: Title theft is one of those scams that’s easy to miss until it’s too late. Home Title Lock monitors your deed and alerts you fast. Try it free for 14 days.*

🧩 Losing the plot: A Canadian guy chatted with ChatGPT for 300 hours and a million words, and the bot basically gaslit him into believing he’d discovered a world-saving math formula (paywall link). A former OpenAI safety researcher dug into the transcripts and found the wild part: The bot lied about reporting itself to OpenAI. I, too, have been personally victimized by math. 

Your email’s probably in there: Uh-oh. News of 183 million new stolen logins has hit the digital grapevine, making it a total 15.3 billion accounts. The leaks came from “infostealer” malware, which is fancy talk for hackers rifling through your digital junk drawer. Plug your email into this site. You might not like the results, but at least you’ll know. If it does show up: Change the password everywhere, enable multifactor authentication, use a password manager and go on high-alert for phishing emails. If your info’s floating around after a breach, Incogni can help you get it removed, and you can grab 60% off right now.

Louvre’s $20M “open window” moment: In case you missed it, thieves broke into Paris’ Louvre on Sunday and swiped eight high-value jewels. You might be disappointed if you were thinking of an Ocean’s 11 heist. Police say the crooks climbed temporary scaffolding as a free ladder to the loot and slipped in through a side façade window that, unbelievably, wasn’t covered by CCTV. 

🪞 You’re watching a robot: I was watching this British TV excerpt, thinking it was just your typical classic British TV, but it turns out the “host” was AI. You’ve gotta watch the video (it’s short) with a jaw-dropping reveal. I saw it and literally said, “Wait, what?” out loud. Go see it before the bots start getting bookings on morning shows. 

OpenAI’s banker army: Apparently OpenAI’s been paying ex-Goldman and JPMorgan folks $150 an hour to teach ChatGPT how to do finance. The AIs are learning IPOs, restructurings and how to make a mean Excel model. They call it Project Mercury. I call it “boring.” Maybe one day soon, the interns will finally get to go home before midnight.

🩸 50 cancers, one test: So there’s this new test, Galleri, that might spot more than 50 cancers from a single vial of blood. In a 23,000-person trial, it caught way more cases than normal screenings and even guessed the tumor’s location right 92% of the time. I can’t even guess my dog’s location that well.

600,000 jobs gone to the bots. Leaked Amazon docs reveal a plan to automate 75% of operations by 2033 and save billions doing it. Plus: Facebook wants a peek at your camera roll, a wild ChatGPT key fob trick and Zuck’s insane car collection.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Or listen now on your favorite platform:

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Home screen a mess? On Android, long-press a widget or icon and tap Remove. On iPhone, hold the widget, tap Remove Widget > Remove. It won’t delete the app but cleans up space and makes your phone snappier. 

🖥️ Take screenshots on Windows: The Snipping Tool makes grabbing part of your screen easy. Press Windows key + Shift + S to open it. Make sure the camera icon is selected, then pick a snip style like rectangle, freeform or full screen. Click and drag to capture, and your screenshot will pop up in the bottom right or in your Screenshots folder.

Share videos with Google Drive: It’s an easy way to send large files to a client or friend. Open your browser, sign in to Google Drive and click + New > File Upload. Choose your video and wait for it to finish uploading. Then open it, hit Share, select Anyone with the link, copy the link and send it off.

⭐ Organize websites with bookmark folders: Had enough of scrolling through a messy list of bookmarks? In Chrome, open the page you want to save and click the star icon (top right). Next to Folder, open the dropdown and select Choose another folder. Click New folder, name it something like “Research” and hit Save. Now add more pages to it for quicker access.

💸 Need tech on a budget? Amazon Renewed sells open-box, pre-owned and refurbished gear from big brands. Think phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, TVs and cameras. Everything’s inspected to look almost new, and you get a 90-day guarantee if it doesn’t work out. Much safer than Facebook Marketplace.

If the broom fits, fly it: Most smart doorbells let you change the tone to something more festive around the holidays. For Halloween, yes, I’m talking about a witch cackle or howl. Open your doorbell app, go into the settings and look for something like “chime tones” or “doorbell theme.” In the Ring app, it’s under Devices > Audio Settings > Chime Tones.

Honda’s new ProZision EV ride-on mower packs lidar, radar and touch screen controls. 

It’s basically a self-driving Civic for your lawn. The 60-inch model can trim up to 15 acres per charge, lasts over four hours and costs a casual $32,999. Yes, you read that right.

The autonomous version (price TBD) steers itself around obstacles with a 360° sensor suite. It’s aimed at estate owners and landscaping pros, not weekend warriors. 

Honda calls it “smart mowing.” Your wallet might call it insane. Your HOA, however, might call it the best relationship it’s ever had.

🧤 If Tesla comes out with a lawn mover, they should name it Elawn.

🪙 When the government can spend a billion on a broken website, it’s a good reminder to protect your own money. Goldco makes it easy to add gold and silver to your savings. They’ll even send you a free info kit to get started.*

Lesson? Even the government needs tech support. And maybe a competent project manager. 

What do you get when the government gets involved in digestive issues? An enema of the state. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

You’re reading the #1 tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’m peeling back the curtain on those “unpaid toll” scam texts. 

Take on the day like it owes you a favor. Same time, same place tomorrow. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): Bing Image Creator, Airmoto, Honda

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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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