🧨 Zuckerberg is suing ... Zuckerberg?

Happy Saturday, {{first_name | friend}}. Long before influencers sent their pets skydiving for views, space agencies were doing their own “pet projects.” 

🐈 Kittenfinity and beyond! One involved a real cat in a spaceship launched into orbit(ish). Take a guess which country did it: A) USA, B) Russia, C) France or D) Canada? The answer is fur your eyes only at the end! 

Here it is, the cloud backup for you: Total Drive. It’s simple, secure and just works. And get this: Right now, you can get a massive 10TB of storage for only $18. Don’t wait for a hard drive crash. Back it up before you lose it, forever. — Kim

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

Remember when robot vacuums were basically remote-control bumper cars with anxiety? They’d bounce around, get stuck under the couch and scare the cat. These days, they claim to do it all – vacuum, mop, empty themselves and learn your floor plan better than your dog has.

Here’s the thing no one wants you to know: Most of them still have quirks. The one that works great in your friend’s apartment might flail in your pet-hair-filled, two-story home with rugs and stairs.

Let’s break it down, so you don’t waste money on a cute little robot that ends up just sitting in the corner.

Pet hair gets everywhere, and the last thing you want is to clean the cleaner. Look for strong suction and a brush that doesn’t tangle every time it sees a tumbleweed of fur. 

The roborock Q7 M5+ and Shark AI Ultra are great picks. Dyson’s robot vac looks cool, but it misses corners and has a hard time with thick fur. Pretty but not practical.

You don’t need turbo suction here, but navigation is key. The eufy C10 is affordable, quiet and doesn’t ram into your baseboards. Roomba’s 105 combo is also solid but isn’t as good at avoiding obstacles. 

The best part? They both mop while they vacuum. Great for spills, paw prints and everyday grime. I’ll never forget my mom saying about her Roomba in that Brooklyn accent, “Watch out, Rosie’s workin’ for a livin’!”

This is where cheaper vacs usually give up. The roborock S8 MaxV auto-adjusts suction and actually lifts dirt out of rugs. 

Roomba Max 705 can manage medium pile, but thick shag? Forget it. Eufy? Often skips the rug edges altogether.

Want the best all-around robot vacuum? Get the roborock Q7 M5+. It cleans like a pro, smart enough to handle tricky spaces and even mops like a magician. 

On a budget? For hard floors, try the Roomba’s 105 combo. 

For a mix of surfaces, go with the eufy C10.

And remember: The best-looking robot in the lineup isn’t always the one that gets the job done. Choose function over form, or you’ll be back to sweeping your floors the old-fashioned way.

🧨 Zuck-on-Zuck: A real Indiana lawyer named Mark Steven Zuckerberg is suing Meta and Mark Elliott Zuckerberg because Facebook keeps deleting his account for “impersonating a celebrity.” His personal and business profiles have been suspended multiple times over the past 15 years even though he submitted driver’s license, professional ID and credit card info to prove he’s legitimate. His legal practice lost $11,000 in ad funds, countless clients and precious credibility while Meta apologized four times for mistakenly disabling him. Now he’s asking for money, a formal apology and a free weeklong vacation on Zuck’s $300 million, 387-foot yacht. Heck yeah!

💻 Smile, you’re on candid malware: Remember when you’d get an email that you were recorded on your webcam watching porn but the threat was a fake? It’s now real. New malware called Stealerium watches for NSFW sites, then screenshots your screen and snaps a pic through your webcam. It sends both to a hacker, who likely will use them for blackmail. Reminder: Cover your webcam; a pack of covers is less than 5 bucks.

🏈 Fantasy football goes AI: This season, fantasy nerds are swapping gut calls for algorithms. They’ve built custom AI agents that crunch real-time data from ESPN, track injuries and even “scout” rivals by analyzing past moves (paywall link). Hey, this could be the start of smarter drafts and fewer Sunday meltdowns … if the bots actually deliver.

📱 I finally switched, and I’m not looking back. Same reliable coverage as the big guys but at a fraction of the cost. With Consumer Cellular, I’m getting two unlimited lines for just $60. Want in? Use code KIM25 at ConsumerCellular.com/KIM for $25 in savings, and make the smart switch today.*

Whack-a-stream: Cops just shut down a massive Streameast copycat that pulled 1.6 billion visits last year, more traffic than Twitter. The site streamed 10,000 illegal sports events and laundered $6.2M through a fake UAE company before Egyptian police raided it and arrested two guys. Plot twist: the real Streameast? Still online. Still streaming. 

🎤 When the main chord is an AI power cord: Meet Oliver McCann, a guy who can’t sing, play or strum a guitar. But with a chatbot, he’s pumping out everything from indie pop to country rap. One track hit 3 million streams and landed him a record deal. Here’s what AI sounds like. Fake it until you stream it.

Walk now, stash under your desk later. Turns “too busy to exercise” into “wow, I hit 10K steps before lunch.”

💪 Resistance bands (40% off, five-pack): Perfect if you like working out at home. They’re stretchy, soft and latex-free.

👟 Gel shoe insoles (9% off): Whether you run or are on your feet all day, these give your arches the support they need.

💦 Collapsible water bottle (38% off): Stays tall when you need it, squishes down when you don’t. No more hogging bag space.

🌀 Foam roller (6% off): Roll out those tight muscles. Cheaper than a massage therapist and always available.

😅 Don’t sweat it: Shop my Amazon store for more health gear and gadgets on sale. I’ve got your back (and legs and arms).

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Short on laptop ports? Grab a USB hub to charge devices and connect keyboards, mice or drives. Some even come with SD card readers and 3.5mm audio outputs.

👱🏻‍♀️ Your profile pic matters: On LinkedIn, you’re 14 times more likely to get noticed with a clear, well-lit headshot. Selling on Facebook Marketplace? Don’t look too serious, it scares buyers off. And on dating apps, 40% of people say a smile is the first thing they notice. Call me Cupid … that’s more right swipes for you. Btw, you can post a job for free on LinkedIn using this link.*

🌪️ Turn on emergency alerts: Your phone can warn you about severe weather or local threats. On Android: Go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Wireless emergency alerts and toggle on Allow alerts. On iPhone: Go to Settings > Notifications, then under Government Alerts, switch on Emergency Alerts and Public Safety Alerts.

My go-to earbuds! Raycon’s Everyday Earbuds Classic are comfy, sound amazing and last all day. Active Noise Cancellation keeps distractions away, and with 32 hours of playtime, these earbuds are a must have! Get 20% off today!*

🖼️ Convert HEIC to JPEG on Mac: Photos from your iPhone are often saved as HEIC, which keeps quality high and file size small. The catch? Not everyone can open them. To convert, just drag the photo out of the Photos app and drop it onto your desktop. It’ll automatically copy as a JPEG.

⌨️ Type faster on Windows 11: Cut down on typos with built-in autocorrect. Go to Settings > Time & language > Typing and toggle on Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard and Autocorrect misspelled words. Works in Word documents, Microsoft Teams and most third-party apps.

Beyond putting this fab newsletter together, I also host a nationally syndicated radio show (if you don’t listen, you really should). A lot goes into making it, and I want to give you a peek at what’s happening in the studio. Lights, camera, action:

📞 This is CRAZY: Lauren from San Francisco got a call from her dad … crying and screaming that a man wanted to kill him. Kicker? Her dad wasn’t on the line. It was a scammer. Hear this and so many other wild stories. 👉 Listen now.

😳 Are you in Zuck’s scrapbook? My viral video exposed Meta’s sneaky new feature that tries to copy every photo and video on your phone. It’s closing in on 2 million views. Don’t want Facebook rifling through your selfies? Watch this. 

Got any amazing tech stories? I want you for the show! Tell me your story here, mention that you saw this note in the newsletter, and if you’re chosen to go on-air … you’ll get a $25 gift card. You’ll be a star!

Don’t get left behind in the digital dust. Listen to my podcast now!

Let this sync in

🚣‍♂️ Row, row, row your boat, or better yet, let your robot butler canoe edition do it for you.

Meet the Rowboboat, a canoe with two robotic arms that literally paddle for you while you lounge in luxury or white-knuckle it, hoping it doesn’t toss you overboard like yesterday’s sandwich.

This masterpiece of laziness was hacked together by Dave Niewinski in his garage. No fancy lab, just some clever coding, a 3D scan of the canoe and a little AI brain running on a Jetson Orin Nano. 

It’s as if Bass Pro Shops and Boston Dynamics had a weird baby. Not available in stores (yet), but 10/10 would cruise into the apocalypse on one.

🙀 The answer: C) France. In 1963, France sent a cat named Félicette into space as part of a scientific experiment, but get this: She wasn’t supposed to go. The original feline astronaut panicked, so they swapped in the brave Félicette just before launch. Her mission? Studying zero-gravity effects on organisms.

Speaking of… What’s the difference between a cat and a comma? A cat has claws at the end of paws and a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.

⛑️ Don’t forget to back it up, or risk losing it. Keep those family photos and important tax documents safe. Total Drive has your back. Just $18 for 10TB is a no-brainer.

👋 Weekend chores are more fun with company. Catch my award-winning weekend radio show on a station near you. Not sure where and when? Enter your ZIP code into my handy-dandy station finder, or get my show’s podcast to listen on your schedule.

Félicette, the #1 tech newsletter in the United States salutes you for your act of courage. Tomorrow, I have a very personal story to share with you that has a controversial tech angle.

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Photo credit(s): Midjourney, THERUN, Dave’s Armoury

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.

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