😳 Your phone’s still tracking you

Welcome to your Thursday, {{first_name | friend}}. Back in 1999, a single eBay listing managed to short-circuit the internet, and apparently everyone’s sense of reality. Bidding wars broke out. Newsrooms scrambled. Even a government agency weighed in. 

Why? Because someone tried to sell … well, take a guess: A) A grilled cheese sandwich with the Virgin Mary’s face, B) A chunk of the moon, C) A Dorito shaped like the Eiffel Tower, or D) A “slightly used” space suit. Make your selection and see if your brilliance shines at the end.

🛑 Stop spam texts and calls right now. Data brokers sell everything from your address, medical conditions and online purchases to your Social Security number. Stop them today. I negotiated a 60% discount with Incogni just for you, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.

😩 No inbox hide-and-seek. Make sure my emails always land front and center in your inbox. Tap my name at the top of this email, then choose “Add to Contacts,” “VIPs” or “Favorites.” Now, on to being tech ahead in life. — Kim

📬 Was this forwarded to you? Be the first to know, not the last to hear. Sign up now. It’s free!

You know that little GPS icon that pops up when an app is using your location? That’s the polite part. The tip of the iceberg. The warm handshake before your phone whispers your every movement to Big Tech behind your back. 

Your phone has more than one way to know where you are. Cell towers, Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth beacons and even background pings track you.

I’m not here to scare you or tinfoil-hat this. I’m here to help you take back control. I tested these steps myself, but your phone’s menus might look a little different depending on the make and model. Poke around your settings and you’ll find it.

Apple keeps a “Significant Locations” log buried deep in your settings. It’s meant to make your Maps smarter and improve recommendations, but it’s also a detailed history of where you’ve been.

Here’s how to find and clear it:

While you’re there, review your Location Services list and set apps to While Using or Never. Most don’t need 24/7 access.

Android’s version is called “Timeline,” and it’s tied to your Google account, not just your device. Even if you switch phones, the log follows you unless you turn it off.

To see it:

Next, check app permissions:

Even with these off, your carrier still knows where you are when your phone is connected to the network. If you really need to go off-grid, you’ll need to power down or use airplane mode.

🗺️ I met the man who invented the part of a map that explains what each symbol means. What a legend. (lol)

A mystery box shows up at your door with a free gift. Seems harmless, right? Think again. Here’s how to stay safe.

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Subscribe on your favorite platform:

🌀 Grift of gab: An AI deepfake of their grandson’s voice convinced an 83-year-old Pennsylvania woman and her husband to hand over $18K in cash. Scammers even used rideshare drivers to ferry them to the bank, twice. Police have the footage, but the cash is gone. Family code words could’ve saved them. 

On a wing and a snack: This is the start of something huge! Auntie Anne’s, Jamba and Schlotzsky’s are going airborne. DoorDash and Alphabet-owned Wing are piloting drone delivery in three Texas cities, promising pretzels and smoothies in just under three minutes, if you live within 4 miles. And get this. Delivery costs only $3.99. The mall food court just learned to fly. 

🕵️ The app store’s worst roommate: Cybercrime crew VexTrio Viper has been publishing fake VPNs, RAM cleaners and dating apps in official stores, pulling millions into their ad-and-scam trap since 2015. That store badge? Just lipstick on a hacker pig. Treat the app store like a public bathroom: Use it, but don’t touch anything without checking first.

NYC’s newest side hustle: Gotta give it up to ingenuity! A woman’s making cash “car-sitting” so folks don’t get street-cleaning tickets. In New York, if you don’t move your car, you get fined. Her gig? You stay at work while she chills in your ride until the sweeper passes. Beats paying the $65 ticket.

📎 Clippy’s cursed reboot: Microsoft dropped “365 companions,” mini-apps that haunt your task bar like friendly ghosts of productivity. They do just enough (search files, poke calendars, hover over your contacts) to pretend they’re helpful. 

💨 Kale, yeah: Amazon now delivers groceries like milk, meat and veggies the same day. Great when your stomach needs instant gratification. It’s live in 1,000 cities and will reach 2,300 by year’s end. Orders over $25 ship free for Prime members, with insulated bags keeping things fresh. Top sellers? Strawberries, limes and avocados because guac waits for no one.

Are you on carrier cruise control? I use Consumer Cellular, which offers the same reliable coverage as the big guys but for much less. Two lines for just $60 with unlimited talk, text and data. No hidden fees, just great coverage and U.S.-based customer service. AARP discounts available, too. Save $25 with the code KIM25.*

Zuck is making high-dollar job offers, but not everyone is following the money. Would you turn it down?

Listen on Komando.com →

🎧 Subscribe on your favorite platform:

🏠 Mess is inevitable. Being ready for it is the real magic.

⭐ Best of the best: See what’s topping Amazon’s Best Sellers chart, and shop my handpicked favorites on my storefront. Just a click away!

🆓 Feeling behind the curve? Get up to speed with NetSuite’s free guide, “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.” Whether you crunch numbers or run the whole show, understanding AI isn’t optional, it’s the future, and it’s already here. Grab your free guide now!*

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: You can send your Roomba back to its dock mid-clean by pressing the Dock or Home button. Or open the app and tap Send Home or Dock. 

🌐 Better Chrome: You can change those little shortcut icons in the middle of the Google home page. Open a new tab, click Customize Chrome (bottom right) and scroll to Shortcuts. Toggle on Show shortcuts, and select My shortcuts or Most-visited sites. To remove one, click the three-dot menu and hit Remove.

Filter Spotlight search on Mac: Next time you search with Command + Space, add the filter kind: followed by a term. For example: kind:mail invoice only shows results in Mail, kind:pdf invoice finds PDFs, or kind:folder invoice searches a specific folder. Smart.

🔌 Running out of power outlets? I use multi-plug extenders around my house. Here’s one for under $10 that turns 2 wall outlets into 5. It also adds 4 USB ports, so you can charge multiple devices at once. Oh, and there’s a built-in 1680-joule surge protector to keep your electronics safe. You’re welcome. 

💥 Rename your Windows 11 PC: I called mine “Sir Crash-a-Lot.” Personalize it by going to Settings > System > About > Rename this PC. Type your new name, click Next, then Restart to apply. Now it’s easier to identify your computer when you’re on a network or connecting via Bluetooth. Nice.

$7.7 billion
That's how much Paramount paid for the rights to the UFC. That’s more than the GDP of Fiji. Seven years, 43 events a year and zero pay-per-view fees, just all-you-can-binge brawling for your $12.99 Paramount+ subscription. ESPN’s old $500M-a-year deal looks like pocket change.

51%
That’s how far Cybertruck sales dropped in just one year. Turns out America’s notorious polygon-on-wheels isn’t flying off the lots. Even Elon’s hype can’t outrun bad build reviews and a price tag that ages like milk. Slap a minigun on its back, and it’s Halo irl.

$645 million
That’s the price tag on Bill Gates’ hydrogen-powered superyacht. Well, allegedly his. The 390-foot climate-conscious leviathan is up for sale, even though Gates reportedly never set foot on it. Complete with a movie theater, gym, library and 14 balconies, because one just won’t do when you’re pondering your legacy in a hydrogen bubble bath.

The world’s biggest screenshot binge

Meet One Million Screenshots, a pixel-palooza monument to the internet’s top 1,048,576 websites. Yes, that oddly specific number is an insider tech joke (it’s 1024 squared … nerds, unite).

It’s an endless scroll of home pages, updated monthly, where you can zoom, pan and click your way through the digital sprawl like an over-caffeinated museumgoer who refuses to use the audio guide.

Why would anyone do this? No idea. 

Think of it as a Where’s Waldo? for websites, except Waldo might be a GeoCities page from 2003, and you’ll waste an hour finding it.

🌝 The answer is B) A chunk of the moon. Or so claimed an eBay seller in 1999, who tried making money off a lunar rock that was actually a diplomatic gift from the Soviet Union to Honduras. 

It had mysteriously vanished, popped up online for $5 million and sent NASA’s legal team into “Houston, we have a problem” mode. The listing was yanked and the rock returned to the Honduran government. For one brief, shining moment, moon smuggling wasn’t just a sci-fi plot, it was an eBay category.

Fun fact: Neil Armstrong used to tell really bad jokes about walking on the moon. When nobody laughed, he would follow with, “Ah, well. I guess you had to be there.”

👏 Before you go: Incogni is the reason I have zero spam calls and texts on my phone. They’ve sent over 1,900 requests on my behalf to people-search and data broker sites to remove me. Incredible. Try it yourself risk-free for 60% off right now.

This really is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Tomorrow, I’m dropping a list of AI tools so wild they’ll make Photoshop look like Microsoft Paint. The best part? You can play with them right in your browser, no tech degree required.

Until then, stay curious, my friend. The world needs more of that. 🥹 — Kim

📣 Don’t keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here)

Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, One Million Screenshots

Companies noted with an asterisk (*) sponsor my national radio show. Also, as an Amazon Associate, we earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

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.

Missed something? View past issues

Join the lists for my weekly small biz and cryptocurrency newsletters!