Welcome to your back-to-work Tuesday, friend! Since our top story is about Amazon, so, too, is today’s trivia. When Jeff Bezos was CEO, he’d get email complaints from customers. He’d forward those complaints to department heads with just one character. What was that one character? You’ll find the answer at the end of this email.

😁 Come watch us live today at 10:30 a.m. Pacific (1:30 p.m. Eastern) on YouTube, Rumble or Facebook. If you have any questions you’d like to ask, drop them in the video’s comments. Tech moves fast. Lucky for us both, so do I. I’m here to keep you one step ahead. Let's do this! — Kim

I bet you used Amazon today. Maybe you picked up chicken soup ingredients from Whole Foods, streamed “Fast Car” on Amazon Music or went old-school and bought a book on Amazon.com — naturally, with your Prime Rewards Visa card.

Before you say, “Got ya, Kim! I didn’t do any of that,” you probably used Amazon today anyway. Let me explain.

Welcome to the Amazon universe

You’d be surprised to learn just how many companies are owned by Amazon. Here are some examples: PillPack, Zappos, One Medical, MGM Studios, Ring, Eero, Fabric⁠.⁠com, Wondery, Solimo, Wag, Blink, Happy Belly, Zoox, University Esports, Graphiq, Shopbop and Twitch.

And you might be worried about one company having access to this much personal data. What does it mean that Amazon knows what we eat, buy and listen to? (And Amazon definitely knows a lot about you. FYI, I share how to request your data here.)

Trading digital spaces

If you’re worried about Amazon knowing too much about you, you can downgrade its role in your life and data. I did the research to find Amazon-owned companies (left of the arrow) and my picks for non-Amazon alternatives (right of the arrow):

Audible ➡️ Libro⁠.⁠fm

Amazon bought audiobook leader Audible in 2008. A great alternative is Libro.fm — love that you can send a portion of the purchase price of each book to a local bookstore. (Want free? The Libby app is my favorite option for borrowing from the local library.)

Goodreads ➡️ StoryGraph

Goodreads, the social book-reviewing site, joined the Amazon fam in 2013. For an alternative, try StoryGraph. Folks say importing Goodreads data is easy, and the personal metrics and automated recommendations are spot on. I don’t use either one.

IMDb ➡️ TMDB

IMDb was one of Amazon’s first acquisitions, selling for a whopping $55 million in 1998. People who loved the site for its forums and personal watchlists left for TMDB, which, I can also report, is good for a quick game of, “Where do I recognize that actor from?”

AbeBooks ➡️ ThriftBooks

In 2008, Amazon bought beloved UK-based bookseller The Book Depository … which they shut down in 2023. Used-book lovers headed to AbeBooks instead, but wouldn’t you know it? That’s also been owned by Amazon since 2008! ThriftBooks is a solid alternative.

Woot! ➡️ Meh.

Once upon a time, Woot! was a deals site that featured one deeply discounted product a day until it was sold out. That’s it. Amazon bought it in 2010 and turned it into a traditional discount shopping site. Get that long-ago Woot! magic with Meh., from the original Woot! creators.

The AWS wrinkle

There’s one other way you likely interact with Amazon nearly every day: Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS is the internet’s largest cloud provider. Netflix, McDonald’s and even NASA use AWS to host their websites, services or data.

Want to see if AWS hosts your favorite sites? Type a URL into Security Trails and take a gander. If you see “Amazon” or “AWS” in any of the records, they're using it in some capacity.

Look up Komando.com, for instance, and you’ll see we use Google for hosting, not AWS. But there is a Komando.com and Amazon connection; I have e‑books for sale on Amazon and I’m an Amazon Affiliate, meaning if you buy something through a link from my site or newsletter, I get a teeny-tiny commission — never, ever at any cost to you or your data.

☂️ I was browsing deals on Amazon this morning and asked Alexa for the weather forecast. She said it was overcast with a 50% chance of my making it rain for Jeff Bezos.

• Cook the most delicious breakfast ever with this stainless-steel waffle maker.
• A fluffy pillow is a simple life upgrade.
• Don't forget the silk pillowcase to take it to another level.
• Give your old mattress a refresh with a comfy pillow-top pad.
• Does your Wi‑Fi stink? Make it better with a mesh system.

👀 Not so wise: Home security company Wyze dropped the ball big time. A glitch flashed 13,000 customers' private moments to strangers. They're blaming a "third-party caching client library" integrated into their system. Wyze says it’s tightening its security. I say you ditch them. Btw, score a discount on a SimpliSafe system with my link.*

Hard drives byte: At CES 2024, Phison unveiled a 128TB SSD, pushing us closer to the 1PB dream. Nerd speak warning: With specs like PCIe Gen5x4, TSMC's 12nm technology and insane read and write speeds, this is the biggest thing in storage since … OK, not quite the cloud. If you want to impress a geek in your life, tell them about this.

Router rescue: In a hush-hush operation named "Dying Ember," the DOJ stepped in and wiped malware from over 1,000 Ubiquiti routers. Russian hackers broke in using default passwords, creating a botnet for spearphishing and credential theft. Let this be a wake-up call: Change the default passwords on every device you own.

Can’t spell crypto without “cry”: The Apple App Store's security just took a hit. Fake app Rabby Wallet & Crypto Solution duped customers into giving up private crypto keys, scamming them out of their money. One user lost $100,000! Always triple-check the app developer when money is involved.

⚠️ Samsung security alert: Your Galaxy might be under attack by a sly malware called Anatsa. It slips in via apps that say they’ll clean up your phone’s clutter and cache. The takeaway? Keep a tight leash on app permissions, and remember — if an app's free, you’ll pay in other ways.

Wood is good: Japanese scientists are sending LignoSat, a wooden satellite, into orbit. Crafted from magnolia and no bigger than a coffee mug, it’s on a mission to minimize the alumina particles produced when metal satellites burn upon re-entry. Cool, huh?

AD⚡️HD highway to distraction: Middle-aged women are now the face of ADHD, thanks to social media and all-too-relatable celeb tales. But some “signs” are totally normal, like procrastinating or being a little messy. If you're concerned you have ADHD, talk to a doctor you trust and skip the social media influencer diagnosis.

🚀 Live on "Mars": NASA's on the hunt for volunteers for a Mars simulation in Houston, kicking off in spring 2025. You’ll spend a year in a 3D-printed hut, doing space chores and farming, all in the name of science. Requirements: Be a U.S. citizen, age 30 to 55, with a STEM-related master's degree and relevant experience. It's a paid gig, but the salary's a mystery.

You know your phone's battery performance degrades the older it gets. That's just how lithium-ion batteries work, unfortunately. With each charging cycle, they wear down a bit. Eventually, it becomes too big a problem to ignore and it’s time to replace it.

Apple makes it easy to check

• Open Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging.

At the top, you'll see your battery's maximum capacity. Don't panic if it's below 100%. It’s designed to maintain 80% of its original capacity by 500 charges, so that percentage will tick down over time.

Under Peak Performance Capability, you'll see whether your battery is operating normally. If it’s seriously degraded, you'll see a message here.

It’s a little trickier on an Android

Most manufacturers have different steps. Here are a few to try:

• Open the Phone app, dial *#*#4636#*#* and look for an option to check your battery health. If you don't see it, try another option.
• On Samsung, open the built-in Samsung Members app. Tap Get Help > Check Android battery health.
• Apps like AccuBattery can provide a good estimate if all else fails.

Windows “shade” shutdown shortcut: Right-click on your desktop and go to New > Shortcut. In the location field, type the following command: %windir%\System32\SlideToShutDown⁠.⁠exe Click Next, name the shortcut and click Finish. Now, when you want to shut down your computer, double-click the shortcut. A pulldown shade will appear at the top of the screen. If you're using a mouse, click and drag it down to the bottom of the screen. On touch devices, you can simply swipe the screen down. Sweetness!

Not lost in translation: Gmail's app for iOS and Android lets you translate emails right on your phone. You'll see a Translate banner at the top of the message if it's in a foreign language. Pretty slick.

🔊 AI freebie: Meta’s open-source AI software creates audio from a text prompt. Think typing in "applause" and getting a custom audio clip. It’s called AudioCraft, and it can produce pro-quality sound effects and music. Try it here.

Job-hunting advice: When submitting your resume online, put about 10 keywords from the job description at the end of your document in a white font. The bots that filter resumes will “see” these words and look upon you favorably, but human eyes won’t detect them.

You’ll never believe this: No need to screenshot your weird ChatGPT convos. With “shared links,” whip up a unique URL for your chat and ping it to a friend. Try it!

The only way to keep it your business do that is with a VPN. A virtual private network encrypts your data and hides your IP address, giving you an extra layer of protection from snoops, advertisers and Big Tech companies looking to profit off you.

Some VPNs slow your connection or, worse, track your internet activity and compromise your security. Not ExpressVPN. Plus, you can connect in just one click from a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, iPad, you name it.

🚨 Deal alert: Get an extra THREE months free since you subscribe to my newsletter.

Breasts, legs and thighs are hot at KFC.

❓ The answer: Jeff Bezos would forward customer complaints to the appropriate department head with just one character: A question mark. No note, like, “Hello, I hope you’re well. Would you please look into this situation and let me know what’s going on?” Ever since I learned this, I do the same thing. Too bad Jeff Bezos retired when he was in his prime. (Ba‑dum‑tss!)

👇 Be a pal and help me help more folks get tech smarts the easy way. Look below for your referral link. When you share that link with others and they sign up, you win great stuff. Thanks in advance. I know I can count on you, just like you count on me to always have your back when comes to all things digital. — Kim