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Welcome to Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. Language is doing cartwheels again, and Gen Alpha (That's kids born from about 2010 to 2024. Think today's grade schoolers and young teens, the first generation raised on iPads from the crib.) is holding the whistle. One minute we’re saying “cool,” the next we’re decoding phrases that sound like they were found in a woodland group chat. Today’s slang is a canoe ride of mystery.
🚣 “Quiet on the creek” is Generation Alpha speak for what? A) Stop yelling, B) Keep it secret, C) Leave the chat or D) Go touch grass? The answer is hiding downstream at the end.
🧽 You can hire real humans to scrub your personal data off the internet. Seriously. Your birthday, old addresses, family members and phone number are all sitting on broker sites right now. That’s how scammers find you. Incogni sends real people to get your data removed from the worst of these sites. I use it, I trust it. Get 60% off right now.* — Kim
TODAY’S DEEP DIVE
Hover and out
Image: ChatGPT/Kim Komando
🤯 WOW! Crooks are building fake bank websites that play dead. Check one directly, and it’s a blank page. Click it from a Google search, and it turns into a perfect copy of your bank’s login. These fakes jumped 40% in three months. And Google made my favorite “hover to check” trick useless on many results.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
For years, I’ve told you one trick for spotting a bad link. Hover your mouse over it. Look at the bottom corner of your screen. See where it really goes.
Google broke that safeguard. Gee, thanks for that.
🕵️ What changed
Some search results now pass through a Google redirect first. Hover over one, and the corner of your screen shows google.com/goto?url= followed by a string of gibberish. Not the bank. Not the store. Google.
Google says it’s fighting “evolving forms of abuse.” It didn’t say which. My read: It’s about stopping companies from bulk-copying its search results. You got caught in the cross fire. You can’t check where a result leads before you click.
Google still prints a website name above each result. That’s a label. The hover was your second opinion. Now you get one, and it’s Google’s.
🦎 Why the timing stinks
Crooks game their way to the top of search results for phrases like “[bank name] login.” It works because that’s what you type when you’re in a hurry to pay a bill.
Here’s the sneaky part. Type the fake site’s address directly, and you get a dead, blank page. That’s what security scanners see, so they shrug and move on. Click it from a search result, and it turns into your bank’s login page. You type your password. They get your password.
The address looks close enough, your bank’s name with an odd ending like .ph.com. On a phone screen, you’d never notice.
🔒 Lock it down
Stop googling your bank. Type the address yourself once, then bookmark it. In Chrome on a computer, click the star in the address bar. On iPhone Safari, tap Share > Add Bookmark.
Better yet, use the bank’s app. Download it straight from the App Store or Google Play.
Skip anything marked Sponsored when you’re looking for a login page.
Read the address bar before you type a password. Your bank’s name should sit right before the .com, with nothing strange tacked on.
Let your password manager play bouncer.* It only fills in your password on the real site. If it stays quiet, you stop.
The hover trick had a good run. Your bookmark never needed a search engine anyway.
Where does Google like to drink? The search bar.
📩 Send this to someone who banks online. Everyone.
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📺 YOUTUBE: THE KIM KOMANDO SHOW
Cruise control
Jo's headed to Alaska and doesn't want to blow her budget on the wrong excursions. I show her how to turn free AI into a personal travel agent that plans port days, builds a packing list for weather that changes by the hour and spots the questions the cruise line hopes you never ask. Watch before you book. (Seriously, this one pays for itself.)
Or for audio only, search “Kim Komando” wherever you get your podcasts. I’m everywhere.
WEB WATERCOOLER
💸 Meta’s taxing experiment: Meta brags to investors that its AI is paying off. But at tax time? Those AI data centers become experimental “pilot models.” That label lets Meta claim a 1981 research tax credit (paywall link). The savings: $3.9 billion last year, up from $2 billion in 2024. Meta’s accountants reportedly worry the IRS could reverse the rule. James Shannon, the former lawmaker who sponsored that credit, says Meta went way too far. I’d tell you some tax jokes, but I doubt you’d depreciate it.
Two Big Macs walk into Fresno: One costs $1.20 more. Reuters found McDonald’s gives its stores AI-based price suggestions tied to what local customers are likely to pay. Two locations just 2 miles apart charged $5.69 and $6.89. That’s a 21% markup on the exact same burger. McDonald’s says owners set their own prices, but some say they feel pressure to follow the AI. Before you order, compare nearby restaurants in the app. I went to McDonald’s today. The ice cream machine was working.
🛑 My go-to protein for strength & glow: Collagen is the “beauty protein” your body makes less of every year, starting in your 20s. I stopped fighting it and started feeding it. Here’s the one I use.**
Copy, paste, compromised: Careful out there. Crooks are buying Google ads for fake custom ChatGPTs, calling them things like “Plus 5.6.” Click, and you land on a phony Cloudflare check that tells you to paste a command into your PC. Do it, and you’ve got remote-access malware spying through your camera and mic. No real website asks you to paste code to prove you’re human.
👓 Eye spy your porch: I read this and immediately pictured my front yard becoming Amazon’s unpaid film set. The company wants 5,000 delivery drivers wearing smart glasses by year’s end, snapping photos from the van to your door (paywall link). It’s not just pictures of packages. They can capture kids, cars and neighbors, then feed an AI system. Amazon says faces and plates are blurred, and police would need a warrant. Opting out? Amazon told Bloomberg it hadn’t thought about that. Comforting. I guess it’s all about optics.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Image: Amazon
🔥 Meet the new Fire TV Stick 4K
Amazon just unveiled its newest streaming stick. The biggest upgrade: speed. Apps launch more than 35% faster, and shows start playing nearly 20% faster. It’s slimmer, too, and plugs directly into your TV’s USB port. Fewer cords dangling behind the screen.
Then there’s the redesigned smarter remote. Buttons have different shapes and textures, so you can find the right one in a dark room without guessing. Plus, a customizable star button (previously only on the Alexa Voice Remote Pro) lets you launch a favorite app or toggle settings like closed captioning or Screen Magnifier.
Right now, use code 4KINTRO at checkout, and it’s yours for only $29.99 through Oct. 2.* Have an older Fire TV Stick? Amazon offers up to 20% off with an eligible trade-in.
DEVICE ADVICE
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Can’t hear someone talking on YouTube? Tap the video’s settings icon and try Voice boost for clearer dialogue. Stable volume smooths out jumps between quiet and loud parts. You can only use one at a time, and not every video has them. Less “what did they say?” followed by “why is it shouting?”
🚨 This Apple update can’t wait: Still using iOS 26? You’ll want this patch. Apple fixed a graphics bug that hackers may have exploited to get at your data. On iPhone, iPad or Mac, open Settings > General > Software Update. No word on how many folks have been hit. Let’s not add you to the count. 😅
📚 Kindle accessories worth getting: I’ve been reading more, so a tablet stand joins me at lunch. Adjustable angle, hands free. 😏 This one’s under $10 and works with iPads, too. Then there’s a cover, which has saved me from a few clumsy moments. Make sure it fits your model.
📧 Share the inbox, keep the password: Gmail lets you invite someone to read and send emails for you. On a computer, go to See all settings > Accounts and Import > Grant access to your account > Add another account. Enter their email, and they’ll get an invite. Great for helping an older relative stay on top of their messages.
🖥️ Windows 11 26H2 is here: Call it a quality of life update. You can move the Taskbar to the top or either side of your screen. The Start menu gets more layouts, and Search can understand what you meant, even with typos. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates. Small changes, but you’re staring at this thing all day.
KIM’S DAILY DEALS
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🏠 Neat tricks for a tidier home
Let’s dust-bust your to-do list.
🪟 Glass act: Window vacuum (33% off, $60)
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Squeegee drips all over the floor? Skip the towel pile. An electric one sucks up water as you wipe instead of smearing it around. It’s safe on shower doors, mirrors, tile and even kitchen counters.
Image: ZRHI
🧽 Brush it off: Don’t stop at the glass. This mesh cleaner brush (10% off, $17) lifts dust from both sides of your screens at once, wet or dry.
Three fixes, one bottle: Bounce’s anti-static spray (15% off, $6) freshens fabric and relaxes light wrinkles. Great when ironing is not happening.
🧹 The upright stuff: Sweep dirt into this standing dustpan (33% off, $27) without crouching. The broom extends, too. Your back will thank you.
A place for everything: Berry Ave’s wall rack (18% off, $13) has 11 spots for brooms, mops and other odds and ends. No stud finder needed.
🎃 October’s here! Stock up on candy, costumes and more at Amazon’s Halloween Shop. →
Prices and deals were accurate at the time of publication.
WHAT THE TECH?
Image: @softrobotics via YouTube
🖐️ Talk to the hand
Scientists finally answered the question nobody asked: What if your hand could leave without you?
ETH Zurich researchers built a robot hand that walks on its own fingertips. It hauls its 1.8-pound body across 14 indoor and outdoor surfaces. Knock it over, and it flips itself back up 84% of the time. (That’s better than me on a Monday.)
It even taps arrow keys to beat a level of the retro puzzle game Sokoban. Picture Thing from The Addams Family but with a gaming habit.
Look at him go here. I got a new pair of gloves today, but they’re both lefts. On the one hand, it’s great. On the other, it’s just not right.
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LOGGING OUT …
🎓 What you learned today: You traded the hover trick for a bookmark, comparison shopped Big Macs, found out about Amazon’s spectacle plans and met the Thing of robotics. A family locator is supposed to provide peace of mind, not feed the data broker machine. Tomorrow, I’ll break down what these apps might be doing with your family’s info.
🤫 The answer: B) Keep it secret. Yep. I kind of love it. In Gen Alpha speak (folks born roughly 2010-2025), “quiet on the creek” means keep it hush-hush, don’t announce it, don’t post it, don’t turn it into a 14-part group chat saga. Zip it, bestie.
There are two secrets to success. One: Never reveal everything you know.
🕵️ Take your privacy off the market: Data brokers quietly collect and sell your personal info: your email, phone number, even where you live. Incogni automatically removes your data from these sites before it’s sold or leaked. Real protection, running quietly in the background, so you can live life, not defend it.*
🔖 The best shortcuts are the ones you set up once and never think about again. Bookmark your bank. Your future self says thanks. — Kim
Kim Komando • Komando.com • 510+ radio stations • Trusted by millions daily
🏆 THE KIM CHALLENGE: Forward this to ONE person who needs to hear it today. Pick the person who popped into your head while reading. You know who it is.
Photo credit(s): ChatGPT/Kim Komando, Amazon, ZRHI, @softrobotics via YouTube
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