👀 Your smart speaker might testify

It’s a wonderful Wednesday, {{first_name | friend}}. Let’s take a brushstroke through history, shall we? A major museum trained artificial intelligence to think and work like Rembrandt to bring back a piece lost to time. 

🎨 Any guesses which iconic museum dared to bring back a Dutch masterpiece using AI? Was it: A) The Louvre, B) The Rijksmuseum, C) The Met, D) The British Museum? Don’t brush this off. The answer’s at the end. 

The best gifts aren’t things. They’re a little palette of curiosity, insight and aha moments that stick with you. If this newsletter adds a splash of color to your day, pass it on to someone you care about. Just forward it and send them to GetKim.com. It’s an easy way to connect, share something meaningful and maybe brighten someone else’s canvas, too. — Kim

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With more than 500 million Alexa-enabled devices sold worldwide, odds are you’ve got one sitting on your counter or desk, quietly glowing, always listening. Ever mutter something like, “I need new jeans,” and suddenly your phone’s serving up Levi’s ads? Creepy coincidence or hot mic in action?

Alexa is always in listening mode, waiting for the wake word. Then, she starts recording, and that audio gets shipped off to the cloud. By the way, you might’ve said “a lecture,” “erector” or “I’d like a snack,” but Alexa still perks up like it’s her cue to record the next few seconds of your life for her memoir.

Those recordings get stored, reviewed and sometimes even shared. One couple in Portland, Oregon, had their private conversation recorded by Alexa … and it was automatically sent to one of their contacts. That person worked at their company. Awkward.

Another time, Amazon turned over Alexa recordings as evidence in a murder investigation. So yes, your smart speaker might actually testify against you.

Unless you’ve changed your settings, there’s a running log of everything you’ve ever asked. The good, the bad and the weird. Want to hear them for yourself? 

In the Alexa app: Tap More (three lines at the bottom) > Alexa Privacy > Review Voice and Text History. You can play them back, delete them or pretend you never asked what you just asked.

Some third-party skills and apps can access your mic, calendar and contacts without much oversight. Some have been caught secretly storing data or exploiting commands, all without your knowledge.

These add-ons don’t get vetted like App Store or Play Store apps. So you’re trusting Alexa to vet her friends, and she’s a terrible bouncer.

🔇 Mute your mic when you’re not using it: There’s a physical mute button on most Alexa devices. Press it, and the light ring will turn orange or red when Alexa’s ears are officially off.

🛍️ Turn off voice purchasing: So Alexa doesn’t accidentally order 300 dog treats after your kid yells, “Order snacks!”

🗑️ Auto-delete voice history every 3 months: Do it.

📋 Review permissions on third-party skills: Some Alexa “skills” love digging into your data. 

😳 Speaking of… “Alexa, tell me a joke. … Alexa? Alexa?” She said, “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. I thought you deserved some privacy.” I said, “Really? Well, that’s nice of you.” She said, “Would you like to hear another joke?” (lol)

Use the icons below right now to share this important privacy intel with your friends and family.

Saving passwords in your browser is like handing your house key to a burglar. George, your AI host, explains why a password manager keeps you safe and covers TikTok’s takeover tweaks, how your 401(k) is funding U.S. spyware and new proof Mars had water.

Listen on Komando.com →

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⚡ Secret SIM bust: The Secret Service just shut down a rogue telecom network in NYC. Think abandoned apartments stuffed with 300 SIM servers, 100,000 SIM cards, illegal guns, and to top it all off, 80 grams of coke. Investigators say the system could’ve spammed 30 million texts a minute, crippled 911 and blacked out cell towers near the U.N. Assembly.

🚨 Insurance info spill: Hackers dumped 150,000 American Income Life insurance records online. Names, emails, birthdays, even policy details, all out there in the wild. Normally this stuff gets sold quietly, but giving it away for free? That’s like handing out candy to every scammer in the neighborhood. Expect a wave of phishing, fake claims and identity theft soon. 

Clever scam spreading: Venmo, Zelle and Apple Cash are being used for the “accidental deposit” trick. Scammers send you money (using stolen cards, of course), then say oops before begging you to send it back. If you do, your bank later reverses the original payment, and you’re out real cash. PSA: Never send money back to strangers. Let the app deal with it. 

📱 Scratchgate is here: iPhone 17 Pro owners already started posting battle scars within 24 hours of launch. Apparently, the anodized aluminum frame scratches super easily, revealing shiny silver underneath. YouTubers warn that the camera bump chips, too. Here’s a solution: Buy a $13 case or embrace the “relic guitar” vibe.

Uber’s new Costco energy: You might want to check out using prepaid passes for routes you take often, so you save money up front. You can buy bundles of five, 10, 15 or 20 rides, and the bigger the bundle, the bigger the discount (5%‑20% off), which means no surge price surprise for your daily commute.

🍊 Fruit ninja: Coca-Cola has teamed up with MIT to save … oranges. Seriously. A bacterial disease is wrecking citrus trees, and Coke’s using AI to fast-track a cure. If they don’t figure it out, orange juice could be basically extinct in 25 years. The project’s called “Save the Orange.” Yes, that’s real. I’m rooting for juice. Your future breakfast might just be toast.

Stop wasting hours hunting for files. Here’s how AI in Google Workspace and Microsoft Copilot can find your documents in seconds and boost your productivity.

Listen on Komando.com →

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Why pay for Microsoft Office when you can use Google Docs, Slides and Sheets for free? They’re cloud-based, so you can work in your browser from anywhere. So smart.

💻 Customize the Mac menu bar: One big change in macOS Tahoe 26 is the fully transparent menu bar. Don’t like it? Go to System Settings > Menu Bar and toggle on Show menu bar background. While you’re there, you can also untick items like Bluetooth or Weather, or remove tools like ChatGPTHelper.

🐢 Speed up old PCs: On Windows 11, flashy animations and effects can slow down an older computer. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Visual effects and toggle off Transparency effects and Animation effects. Apps will open more basic and your desktop will look plainer, but you’ll get a snappier system in return.

🔥 Keep your Fire Stick cool: If it’s tucked tightly behind your TV, it can overheat and slow down. Good news: Amazon usually includes an HDMI extension cable. Use it to move your Fire Stick away from the back of the TV for better airflow.

🍏 Stop iPhone from switching audio: Ever had your AirPods cut out because your iPhone jumped to your car’s Bluetooth or a speaker? iOS 26 has a fix. Go to Settings > General > AirPlay & Continuity and toggle on Keep Audio with Headphones. Lovely.

📱 Disable Android bloatware: Some preinstalled apps can’t be uninstalled, but they’ll still update and eat resources in the background. If you don’t use them, shut them down. Go to Settings > Apps > [App name] > Disable > Disable app. Handy if your phone’s running low on storage space.

🚨 A sneaky virus could be lurking. It’s better to be safe than sorry. For just $19 for the first year, you get rock-solid antivirus protection on up to 5 devices. It’s smart, simple and keeps your tech safe without breaking the bank.*

This is pretty cool. LG’s CineBeam S is a stylish little box (4x6in) that pumps out triple-laser color, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos sound. Sit one a few inches from a wall, and boom, you’ve instantly got a 100-inch 4K screen.

The cost of hosting a mini cinema on your wall? $1,297. Comes out Sept. 29.

🎬 Sticker shock aside, it’s pretty impressive. From 3 inches away, you’ll get a crisp 40-inch picture. From 15 inches, you’re in home-theater territory. 

Just plop it down, hit play and watch Downton Abbey for the eighth time, now on a screen big enough to regret your life choices in 4K.

🤔 The answer: B) The Rijksmuseum. The legendary Dutch museum brought Rembrandt back with a little help. In one of the coolest tech-art collabs to date, the museum used AI, high-res scans and a centuries-old student copy to digitally reconstruct the missing panels of “The Night Watch.”

Here’s the back story: When the painting was moved in 1715, chunks were chopped off to make it fit on a smaller wall. Yes, a literal trim job on a Dutch masterpiece. Imagine being the genius who suggested that idea. Maybe they were cutting back because they were too Baroque.

😂 Oh, that reminds me of a joke. A man walks into an art museum and rips a painting off the wall. The guards attempt to stop him as he runs out, but he is too quick and evades all of their efforts. Once out the museum doors, he hops into a white van that speeds away as he holds the painting tauntingly to mock the guards who tried to stop him. A passerby comments to his friend, “Wow, look at that van go!” “No, you idiot,” his friend says, “That’s Rembrandt.”

This is the #1 free tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, we’re talking identity theft. 

✌️ Until then, you’ve got the insights. Now share them with someone who needs them. — Kim

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Photo credit(s): ChatGPT, LG

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