I’ve got that Friday feeling! My son, Ian, is graduating from USC on the dean’s list today. 🤗 Time flies. Speaking of … trivia time. Which tech CEO was the youngest when they founded their first business? Evan Spiegel (Snapchat), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Whitney Wolfe Herd (Bumble) or Bill Gates (Microsoft)?

Now onto another issue loaded with tech news, tips and (mediocre to great) jokes.

😀 First-time reader? Sign up here. (It’s free!) — Kim

Flying used to be fun. Now, on top of long lines and asinine delays, flights are way more expensive. So, if you’re trying to save money, what’s the best day of the week to book? I have your back, dear friends.

For years, my answer was always Tuesday. Not anymore.

There are a ton of pearls in Expedia’s 2023 Air Travel Hacks Report — and it turns out the early bird doesn’t always get the cheapest worm.

🗓️ Let’s start with the best time to book a domestic flight. That’s at least a month before you’re hopping on a flight. Expedia said the sweet spot for affordable flights falls between 28 and 35 days before departure.

Plus, domestic flights are cheaper if you travel on a Wednesday. I know, who wants to travel in the middle of the week?

There’s this: If you book too far in advance, you might pay more. So avoid buying a ticket three to six months before your departure date.

⛪️ Based on average round-trip ticket prices for flights from January through August 2022, you can save up to 15% when you book on a Sunday.

Speaking of, in church last Sunday, a nice woman asked me, “Is this seat saved?” I said, “No, but I’ve been praying for it.” She didn’t laugh. Now, I’m praying for her sense of humor.

What about international flights?

This is where you need to be on top of things. You can save an average of 10% if you book an international flight at least six months in advance.

The best way to avoid cancellations?

Rise and shine, my friends. Expedia suggests finding flights that are early in the day. Flights that leave after 3 p.m. have a 50% higher chance of cancellation!

The bottom line: Want to save the most money while minimizing your chance of delays? Book your flight on a Sunday and ensure it takes off before 3 p.m. on a Wednesday. Bon voyage!

✈️ Taking a trip this year? Here are my best pro tech tricks that will save you in so many ways.

Fold the phone: Here’s what Google showed off during its annual product announcement: The very pricey (and very cool) $1,799 Pixel Fold, AI snapshots coming to Google Search and the Bard AI chatbot is open to everyone (P.S. — I tried Bard and it still needs a ton of work).

👁️‍🗨️ Warn fams with little ones: A mom says a stranger hacked her Owlet Wi-Fi baby monitor to talk to her son at night. The password had been leaked in a data breach. Change the default passwords on all your devices, folks.

That’ll cost ya: Twitter’s new “secure” DMs are here … if you (and your recipient) pay $8/month for a blue checkmark. But messages aren’t fully end-to-end encrypted. Guess it depends on how you define secure.

Still working it out: Peloton is recalling 2.2 million bikes sold between May 2013 and Jan. 2018. The seat post is breaking on Model PL01 — bikes with the red “P” logo and the name Peloton in white on the frame. Lucky me, I have one.

🍬 Like taking candy from a baby: No matter how cute the kids selling candy are, be smart. A woman in New York made a donation and bam, her bank account was empty. Here’s how it happened.

Still use Pinterest? Video is taking over. A new update makes it easier to create static images or video pins and adds features like stockers, overlay text and tools to see how many people are watching.

Ad blockers blocked: YouTube is cracking down, forcing users to turn off ad blockers or pay for YouTube Premium ($11.99⁠/⁠month). I get it, ads are super annoying. But ads are how creators (me included) get paid for their work.

🦀 This car can crab-walk: Imagine a future without parallel parking … Hyundai’s new electric vehicle (EV) has the coolest upgrade I’ve seen in years. The e-Corner System turns the wheels 90 degrees and crab-walks into a parking space. You gotta see this.

Sound like a tech pro, even if you're not one. Try my award-winning, daily podcast. Search for my last name with "K" wherever you get your podcasts and "Go Komando!"

Listen to my podcast, Kim Komando Today, here.

Swap your literary agent for a Twitterary Agent. A relatively unknown book ended up on Amazon’s Bestseller List in just 24 hours thanks to just one tweet. Check this out:

“This Is How You Lose the Time War,” written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, is a science fiction novel written in the form of letters between two time travelers. It won a few awards (including the prestigious 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novella) but largely flew under the radar.

🪺 Until this tweet: “read this. DO NOT look up anything about it. just read it. it's only like 200 pages u can download it on audible it's only like four hours. do it right now i'm very extremely serious.”

It came from a ’90s anime fan account with 25K followers and a name made to go viral: Bigolas Dickolas WoIfwood. (My word.)

The tweet went wild (10 million views!) and so did book sales

It helped, of course, that the book lives up to the hype. Our amazing Content Queen Allie read it and loved it.

The power of social media: Earlier this year, Lloyd Devereux Richards’ daughter, Marguerite, wanted to help her dad sell a few copies of his 2012 novel. She posted about “Stone Maidens” to TikTok, and the book hit No. 1 on Amazon. OK, this is one TikTok trend I can get behind — read it for free if you have Kindle Unlimited.

📕 I finally got around to reading Stephen Hawking’s last book. It was about time.

Dust it off, and I’ll show you how to get more life out of that baby.

🚣 None of those float your boat? Use an iPad as a digital photo frame, music server, a home security camera or mount it in the car for the kids in the backseat to watch. Here’s how.

That’s why I feed Abby food that keeps her healthy — and out of the vet’s office. She used to scratch all the time and turn her nose up at her bowl. Now she chows down as soon as I put out her dinner.

Veterinarian Dr. Marty Goldstein created Nature’s Blend. It’s a premium freeze-dried, raw dog food made from real cuts of raw turkey, beef, salmon and organ meats.

Abby doesn’t itch anymore, and let me tell you, picking up her poop is more pleasant. As a reader, save 54% on your first order, plus get a free bag of dog treats! Let Dr. Marty’s 45 years of experience help your dog, too!

It’s a ruff life.

🤑 The answer: Bill Gates. He was only 16 in 1972 when he and Paul Allen launched their first biz. Evan Spiegel was 22, Jack Dorsey was 23 and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd was 19. Bill Gates met Arnold Schwarzenegger at a party and asked him if he had upgraded to Windows 11 yet. Arnold said, “Ah still love Vista, baby!”

Think of someone you like a lot and forward this newsletter to them. I bet they’ll love it, too!

💜 Have a great Mother’s Day celebrating the woman who showed you great love, whether in person or prayer. And I’ll see you Sunday for another newsletter packed with tech smarts. — Kim