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It’s a terrific Tuesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Ever tried printing a boarding pass and your ink cartridge ends up dying? Same. Now imagine printing the entire internet. That’s right, every site, every image, every Reddit comment, every duck meme stuffed onto dead tree pages and more.
🖨️ How much physical space would you need to store a hard copy of the modern web? A) A single skyscraper, B) A library the size of Vatican City, C) A billion shipping containers or D) The entire state of Texas. Hang around, your answer’s at the end.
🎟️ Only 7 days left in my Christmas Cash Giveaway. One reader wins an Amazon gift card every day worth up to $500, and the $1,000 grand prize is still up for grabs. Check the Golden Ticket section below to see if you’re today’s lucky winner.
Hover over the forward button, whisper “Bless your heart” and send this free newsletter to that one person who hunts and pecks like a woodpecker with a broken beak. They need me. — Kim
📬 Was this forwarded to you? Be the first to know, not the last to hear. Sign up now. It’s free!
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Finesse your finances
Image: Gemini
You don’t need to give up your morning coffee or cancel Netflix to save money. You might be overpaying every single month because you don’t know the tools, tips and a few secrets. Let’s do this.
1. Threaten to cancel
Your internet, cable or phone provider won’t call you with a better deal, but they will give you one if you ask. Here’s the trick I do at the end of every year.
Call your provider and tell the first person you talk to you’re canceling your service. Do not debate or argue with them. They have no authority to help.
Ask to speak to someone in the customer retention department. This team’s only job is to keep you. They have unadvertised, special discounts and promotional rates that the regular customer service line can’t touch. Mention a competitor’s rate, and they will often drop your bill by 15%-30% on the spot. Brilliant.
2. Use a virtual card
Free trials are designed to quietly roll into paid subscriptions. You can outsmart them.
Stop using your primary debit or credit card for trials. Instead, use a virtual card number. Many major banks offer this for free.
When you sign up for that new streaming service or gym trial, use the virtual number and set a hard spending limit on it (like $5) or set it to expire in 30 days. If you forget to cancel, the transaction is declined.
3. Paying to send money
Still using PayPal or Venmo with a credit card? Stop.
Use Zelle instead. Most major banks support it in their apps, and it allows for instant, free, bank-to-bank transfers using only an email or phone number.
You completely eliminate the 2.9% + 30¢ fees digital wallets charge when you fund a transfer with a credit card. Little changes, big results.
4. Slay zombie subscriptions
That AI app or old fitness trial is costing you hundreds annually. Time to cut the cord!
iPhone: Go to Settings, tap your Name, then Subscriptions.
Android: Open Google Play, tap Profile, then Subscriptions.
The Amazon leak: In your Amazon account, check the Memberships & Subscriptions section to cancel forgotten Prime Video channels.
Pro tip: Audit your bank statement for any recurring $9.99 or $19.99 charge you don’t recognize. Or use Rocket Money to track down all your subscriptions. I did and saved $478 a year. I had no idea how many subscriptions I had. Crazy.*
💰 Don’t keep the savings secret! Use the share icons below to send this article to the friend who pays their Venmo transfers with a credit card. Help them graduate from “paying retail” to “paying nothing.”
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THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Zuckerberg makes Metaverse cuts after $77B loss
He said this year was “do-or-die” for the Metaverse. Looks like Zuck picked “die.” Meta plans to slash its budget by 30%. Ouch. Plus, McDonald’s failed AI ad, Disney inks partnership with OpenAI, and AI hackers beat the humans.
🎧 Or listen now wherever you get your podcasts, search for “Komando.”
WEB WATERCOOLER
🚗 Dealership data spill: This feels very 2025. 700Credit, a behind-the-scenes company that handles credit checks for car dealerships, was breached, leaking sensitive info on almost 6 million people. Names, SSNs, birth dates, the works. It happened over a three-day window in October and wasn’t spotted until after the fact. They say the damage is contained. There’s no sign of misuse yet, but if history teaches us anything, “yet” is doing a lot of work on the dark web.
Uber ghosted: I’ve had Ubers be late. I’ve had them cancel. But this? A rider at Chicago O’Hare watched their trip start without them, end on a highway and still charge $23, while they were standing curbside. The driver later claimed he picked up the wrong person, then disappeared. It’s a known airport trick. Start the ride, end it fast, collect the fare, let Uber support deal with the mess. Avoid this headache entirely by requiring a ride PIN in the app.
Photoshop, minus Photoshop: Ever paid for Photoshop to blur a background once a month? This is for you. Adobe tools now live inside ChatGPT, letting you edit images and documents with plain English prompts. Upload a photo, say what you want, done. It’s rolling out on web, desktop and iOS. It’ll save you the $250/year Photoshop subscription.
📺 Permanent TV houseguest: If you own an LG smart TV, your screen may have quietly gotten a new roommate. A recent webOS update installed Microsoft Copilot automatically, and you can’t delete it, only hide it. Lovely. It now sits next to Netflix like it pays rent. LG says this is part of its “AI TV” vision. If you truly don’t want it? Unplug your TV from the internet.
New jobs loading: Every AI headline makes it sound like we’re all about to be replaced, but here’s the quieter flip side: Entirely new jobs (paywall link) are evolving around cleaning up AI’s messes. Think people whose job is to explain how AI works to judges, help companies choose the right tools, audit systems for bias, or retrain workers using AI itself. Less robots taking jobs, more humans babysitting the robots. Psst! I’m launching a new weekly AI newsletter in January. Click here to sign up now.
💙 Grandma gamer: This is the internet I love. An 81-year-old known as GrammaCrackers started posting Minecraft videos “just for fun,” then realized the ad money could help pay for her grandson’s cancer treatment. In a month, she hit 100,000 subscribers and half a million views. Her videos are so wholesome. I need to say, “My heart’s aquiver” more in my life!
DAILY TECH UPDATE
The AI war is on
The free-for-all is over. Disney has officially partnered with OpenAI and is suing Google for billions over copyright infringement.
🎧 Or listen now wherever you get your podcasts, search for “Komando.”
BEST GIFT DEALS OF THE DAY
🤖 Tech wins for all ages
From teens to grandparents, there’s something here for everyone.
🍿 Movie night, anywhere: Roku TV smart projector (28% off, $180)
Turn any wall into a screen. Roku is built right in, so you can stream without extra gadgets. Expands to a whopping 150 inches, and Dolby-certified speakers pump cinematic sound.
Image: Aurzen
🔊 Set the mood: Tweens love this Bluetooth speaker (29% off, $26). It’s an LED night light and wireless charger all in one. Looks cool on a nightstand and keeps cords tidy.
Paper, upgraded: The Rocketbook Flex (42% off, $30) is a notebook for the digital age. Reusable pages and a scan-to-save system help busy students stay on track.
⚡ Cut like butter: Give Dad electric scissors (13% off, $44) that slice through boxes, plastic and fabric up to a quarter inch thick. He won’t go back after using it.
Smarter housework: With powerful suction and smart navigation, Roborock’s vac & mop combo (13% off, $130) is ideal for folks who want a clean place with less effort.
🎁 Finish your wish list:
Check out Amazon’s Holiday Shop for more top gift picks.
And snag today’s lightning deals before they’re gone.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: The next time you need to print something, don’t dig through menus. On Windows, press Ctrl + P to open the print menu instantly. On Mac, press Cmd + P. This works in most documents, spreadsheets and web browsers.
📚 Kindle app got a reading assistant: There’s a new AI feature called Ask This Book that lets you ask questions about the story you’re reading. The cool part? It won’t spoil anything, since it only uses the pages you’ve read so far. Open it from the book menu or highlight text to ask a question. It’s out for iOS, with more devices coming next year.
💾 Digital insurance policy: Hard drives fail. Ransomware happens. And when it does, it’s already too late. Carbonite quietly backs up your files in the background and lets you restore everything with one click. That peace of mind is worth it. Get 50% off right now.*
🆕 Fun stuff to try in iOS 26.2 today
iOS 26.2: Control how much liquid glass shows up on your Lock Screen Clock. To change it, long-press the Lock Screen, tap Customize, then select the clock. In the pop-up, you’ll see a slider at the bottom. Slide left for a transparent look, or right for a more frosted, solid style.
watchOS 26.2: Sleep Score is better than before. Go to Settings > Sleep > Sleep Score Notifications to choose which alerts you want. Scores break down like this: 81–95 is High, 61–80 is OK, and 41–60 is Low.
macOS 26.2: On video calls in Zoom or Google Meet, click the purple Video Options icon in the top right and select Edge Light. It brightens your face in darker rooms. FYI, you can also change the intensity of the light and choose between warm or cool tones using the sliders.
iPadOS 26.2: Split View is back to normal. Drag an app to the left or right side of the screen, and it’ll snap into half the display. Use the slider in the middle to adjust how much space each app takes. Bonus: Slide Over is back, too. Long-press the green traffic light, choose Enter Slide Over, and the app will float above everything else. Lovely.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: Alef Aeronautics
🦤 The sky is the speed limit
The flying car is back, again, and this time it’s allegedly real. Alef Aeronautics says it’s officially started production on the Model A, a $300,000 electric car that can lift straight up and fly over traffic. Congestion who?
This “street legal” vehicle uses hidden rotors instead of wings, which technically makes it a car and not a helicopter. Alef already has about $1 billion from 3,500 preorders, which means 3,500 people are about to learn what beta testing feels like at altitude.
LOGGING OUT …
🤠 The answer: D) The entire state of Texas. If someone actually printed the entire current publicly accessible web, from goat memes to government sites, it would take more paper than you can possibly imagine. Experts estimate it’d physically cover all 268,597 square miles of Texas. Yeehaw.
🐴 I went to a dude ranch in Texas once. While at the stables, the guy said to me, “Do you want an English or Western saddle?” I asked, “What’s the difference?” The guy answered, “One has a horn and one does not.” I said, “I’ll take the one without the horn. I don’t expect we’ll see a lot of traffic.” He shook his head back and forth. It was a joke, I swear!
Tomorrow, secret phrases to get past the AI bots when calling for customer service. You don’t want to miss that. Spoiler: One is, “I’m returning your call.” You’re reading the #1 free tech newsletter in the United States.
🤩 Some days are for updates. Others are for upgrades. Which one is today? It’s your choice. — Kim
📣 Don’t keep me a secret: Send your friends to GetKim.com
Photo credit(s): Gemini, Aurzen, Alef Aeronautics
Companies and products denoted by an asterisk (*) within this publication are paid sponsors or advertisements. As an Amazon Associate, the publisher earns from qualifying purchases. Statements regarding products denoted by a double asterisk (**) have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration; such products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This newsletter is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or professional advice of any kind. Readers should consult with a qualified professional before making any decisions based on this content. The publisher disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or injury resulting from the use of or reliance on the information contained herein.