It’s Saturday, friends! Wait, what am I doing here? That’s right, The Current is now seven days a week — but only one action-packed free newsletter per day. Thank you for letting me in your inbox!

⌛ Quick tip: Here are two lesser-known ways to save a buck (or many) on Amazon: 1) Warehouse has excellent deals on used and open-box products (check the quality, but you can return anything not up to snuff), and 2) Outlet is your spot for low prices on all the “Oops, we have too many” items. Now, on to another tech-tastic issue! — Kim

Crappy Wi-Fi is annoying — dead zones, buffering, lagging. But guess what? The main culprit is often the army of gadgets hogging your Wi‑Fi.

The good news is there's a simple fix that doesn't involve disconnecting anything. Cue the angels! "Quality of Service" (QoS) is how pros like me beat the traffic jams on wireless networks. And since you’re getting this free newsletter, I’ll let you in on the secret.

Wi‑Fight the inevitable

In a nutshell, QoS is a router technology that controls the bandwidth given to the internet-enabled devices on a network. On your Wi‑Fi network, you can mark gadgets as "more important" than others. Think of it as deciding how big a slice of the pie each one gets.

Say you'd like to prioritize your smart TV because lagging video drives you up the wall. It'll claim internet speed dibs before your PC and that Windows update takes over. That's not to say the Windows update will freeze entirely; it'll still chug along, but at a much slower rate, along with all the other devices that didn't get the VIP treatment.

Chance the router

The QoS feature won't miraculously make all the devices on your network lightning fast. Your total speed is still a big part of the equation. Think of QoS as an extra layer of optimization. Try these steps if your Wi‑Fi needs a tuneup.

✅ Now, no one will have a fun time if I put all the steps to do this for the major router brands in this email. Head to my site for instructions for Google, TP‑Link, NETGEAR and Linksys. It’s not complicated; it just takes a little time, and trust me — it’s worth it.

🤐 Be a pal and don’t tell my husband, Barry, that I made all my devices the VIPs on our network. Ha, it’s rough living with a tech pro!

🎥 Most dangerous celebs: Looking for Ryan Gosling pics and info for, let’s say, research? Be careful what you click. A new report from McAfee says scammers use his name the most to share malware. Other big names on their go-to list: Emily Blunt, Jennifer Lopez and Zendaya.

iPhone security feature is BS: Your iPhone’s MAC (Media Access Control) address is a unique identifier — kind of like a license plate. Three years ago, Apple promised to hide it to keep you safe from hackers and trackers. Guess what? It’s never worked, and there’s no word if it ever will.

Updates for Windows 10 and 11: For Windows 10, there are fixes for Outlook printing freeze issues and buggy touch screens. For Windows 11, check out the new, cool AI features for Microsoft Paint and Photos. Get both updates here.

📍 Never lost in conversation: You don’t need to know the exact name of something anymore to find it in Google Maps. Now you can search for general terms, like “plants and trees,” “frame shop” or “dog park,” and Google will find you spots that match. Finally.

Out of this Galaxy: Samsung peeps, you now get access to 30 days of unlimited cloud storage with the new Temporary Cloud Backup. Files can’t be more than 100GB each. You’ll also need to be running One UI 6 or later, and you must set this up to work over Wi‑Fi.

⚾️ The umpire strikes back: For the first time, Fox Sports will use three drones in its World Series broadcast. They’ll capture warmups for relief pitchers and views from the bullpen. Another cool tool joining the fun: UmpCam. It's a camera installed on the umpire's mask, so you can see how he makes the call. Now, when you watch the game, you'll know!

I make the complex world of tech simple and approachable. From explaining the latest gadgets in plain English to offering easy-to-follow cybersecurity advice, I’ve got you covered.

Choose your platform below to listen:

• “That hurts,” said our wallets: Automobile insurance rates are going up — blame algorithms, data collection and, of course, AI.
• Privacy shortcut: I removed my info from 73 data broker sites. I was blown away by what happened in three minutes.
• Is your car tracking you? If your car is a few years old, it sure is. You can get a free report that shows what your make and model are tracking.
• Using Temu? You might not want to after I tell you how the app really works — and who’s behind it.
• Check the list: Mozilla’s out with its best and worst tech when it comes to privacy list. Check it out here.

Think "hiring" and what site comes to mind? Yup, LinkedIn. Every week, nearly 52 million job seekers visit LinkedIn — and with good reason.

With LinkedIn, you can find the right person for any job, fast and free. Pro tip: Add your posted job and the purple "hiring" frame to your LinkedIn profile photo to spread the word.

Love this: LinkedIn screens questions and has other great tools that automatically weed out resumes that don't fit. Such a timesaver.

You can set one up in Gmail (just add a plus sign and a word to your email address, before the “@”). If you want something totally separate, check out SimpleLogin. With a free account, you can set up 10 aliases connected to one anonymous inbox. This is especially great if you want coupon codes or offers without the junk in your regular inbox.

Go full Incognito mode →

Can’t a person sneak a slice of night cake in peace?

🙏🏻 I’m hoping to get 500 new folks receiving my newsletter this weekend. You can help by forwarding this issue to just one person and asking them to subscribe. Would you please help me reach my goal? You’re awesome!

Thanks for the support on our big change: Bringing our newsletter down to one a day. If you have suggestions for what you want to see, just reply to this email or drop me a note. I read them all! I’ll be back tomorrow with another issue of the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim