Happy Saturday, friend!  Let’s say you find an Apple AirTag, Tile or other GPS tracker in your car. Scary, right? 🚔 Make an envelope out of aluminum foil. Put the tracker inside, and make sure there are no gaps or holes. The foil will block any signals, so the person who installed the tracker will just think it’s out of range. Then, take the foil-wrapped tracker to a police station. They can work with the tracker’s maker to figure out who put it in your car. Now that’s smart advice right there.

✅ Only $1.24 a month: That’s all it costs to upgrade to my tested and recommended password app for PC, Mac, Android, iPhone and web browsers. You’ll be so glad you did. Frustrations are gone! — Kim

I bet you’re frustrated with how often autocorrect is auto-wrong. Even with new AI features included in many platforms’ latest updates, autocorrect remains annoying. Let’s fix that for iOS and Android.

🍗 Go cold turkey

Yes, you can just turn it off — no more bad guesses or awkward corrections. Just type what you mean letter by letter, like in the early days. (Note: Depending on your Android make, model and OS, your steps may differ. There are just too many variations for me to cover all of them.)

• On iOS: Tap Settings > General > Keyboard, then toggle Auto-Correction to Off. Follow the same steps to turn it back on later, if you need it.
• On Android: Go to Settings > System > Languages and input > On-screen keyboard > Gboard > Text correction. Here, you can turn off Auto-correction and Show suggestion strip, which displays predictive text.

Team Apple: In iOS, misspellings are underlined. To turn that off, head to Settings > General > Keyboard again and turn off Check Spelling.

Team Android: Under your keyboard settings, flip the switches next to “Predictive Text” and “Show Predictions Inline.”

🗣️ Add your own slang

If you’re feeling ambitious, tell your phone to replace a phrase with your shorthand. Think turning “brt” into “be right there” or “1234” into “Four Score and Seven Years Ago.” Pretty slick!

• On iOS: Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Tap the + (plus sign), then add your word or phrase to the Phrase field (i.e., “On my way”). In the Shortcut field, type your slang of choice (i.e., “OMW”).
• On Android: Goto Settings > System > Languages and input > On-screen keyboard > Gboard > Dictionary > Personal dictionary > English and tap the + (plus sign) in the top right to add a custom word. Put your slang or abbreviation in the Shortcut box to trigger that custom word.

Pro tip: In iOS and Android, if you leave the Shortcut field blank, autocorrect will stop bugging you with alternate spellings.

Those are the big ones, but I’ve got a few extra tips for iOS and Android on my site!

🤭 I used to be a programmer for autocorrect. They fried me for no raisin. (I saw you smile!)

Cybercriminals are working around the clock to steal your passwords, credit card details and crypto wallet keys. Once they have some of that sensitive info, they can likely get access to more of it pretty easily. And forget about it if your passwords make it onto the Dark Web!

I know creating and remembering complex passwords for dozens of accounts is next to impossible. That's where NordPass comes in. It’s a password manager that generates, stores and automatically fills in strong passwords. It’s a shortcut to set unique, hard-to-crack credentials for every login.

With cyber threats growing every day, using the same old passwords just isn’t safe anymore. Take control of your security today with NordPass and keep hackers out of your accounts before it’s too late.

🗣️ You got to hear this: I called a networking gear company and got “Heather.” I could barely understand her. Those days may be over. Teleperformance, the world’s largest call center company, is using AI to change Indian accents into American or British ones in real time. You need to take a sec, click here and select Demo. Pick a person, hit Play and toggle the button on and off. Amazing.

Move over Kia Boys, the Nissan Boys are here: Steps outlining how to steal a Nissan are all over social media. Thieves use special hardware to intercept a Nissan’s key signal, which lets them unlock the doors and start the engine. To stop your key’s signal from transmitting, wrap it in tinfoil (Yup, that trick again!) when you’re at home or place it in a metal box. Expect an upgrade from Nissan soon.

I like big bots and I cannot lie: Your HR department can’t write you up for saying that. Your new coworker could be an AI bot. OpenAI is about to create special “agents” for jobs like sales and software development. They’ll start at $2,000 and go up to $20,000 a month for PhD-level research. Upside: The bots never call in sick.

Doing taxes this weekend? Fun times. Remember that if you made over $5,000 using apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App for your side hustle, you’ll get a 1099-K form. I answer your FAQs about this here. Here are each app’s reporting rules.

🦆 Duck off: Tell that to your AI chatbot collecting data. Duck.ai is out of beta and lets you chat anonymously, for free, with no account required. You can use GPT-4o mini, o3-mini, Meta Llama 3.3, Mistral Small 3 and Claude 3 Haiku without worrying about your data being collected. Chats are fully anonymized, meaning they’ll never be used for AI training. Try it out.

🎶 DJ King Charles III: Yes, you read that right. Chucky’s hosting a show from Buckingham Palace called The King’s Music Room on Apple Music. It’s all about the tunes and artists he loves. In the premiere dropping Monday, he’ll call out Bob Marley, Kylie Minogue and Davido. You can bet there’s no royalty-free music on his playlist. (I groaned when I wrote that!)

🩺 None of this is in vein.

• Keep your prescriptions stored away from curious kiddos (and nosy guests!) with a lockable medicine safe.
• Everyone needs a thermometer, like this classic under-the-tongue digital model on sale for $7.
• These versatile hot or cold gel packs (32% off) relieve everything from muscle strains to stubbed toes.
• Cut won’t stop bleeding? Put this first aid powder on it. (If you’re on blood thinners, you need this.)
• I love these menthol-infused pain relief patches (6% off). Crick in the neck, begone!

🌵 Prickin’ awesome: These little silicone cactus dryer balls capture hair, reduce wrinkles and soften fabric. 

💸 Create a logo with AI: Don’t have the money to spend on a professional designer? Tools like ChatGPT can help in the meantime. Tell the bot your business name, color combo and style, and let it come up with something. Who knows, you might just like it. If not, it was free.

💻 Kids having tech tantrums? You’re not alone. A 12-week study points to three winning strategies: 1.) Tell kids how much screen time they have in minutes, 2.) Involve kids in activities inspired by their favorite shows, and 3.) Let kids decide on the duration of their screen time. Been there, done that. Good luck!

Out of black ink? Before you print, change the color to #010101. It’ll look black, but it’s really 99% gray. While you’re at it, knock down the font size and switch the typeface to Courier New or Garamond. They use the least ink.

🚫 Kick moochers off your Netflix: Changing the password is one thing, but you can also log everyone out so they’ll have to sign in again. Just click your Profile icon (top right) > Account > Manage access and devices > Sign Out of All Devices. Want to be more selective? You can also remove specific devices!

Hi, you: Old voicemails can be particularly nostalgic when you’re missing someone. Make sure you save yours the right way. I did this with old messages from Mom.

Know this about LinkedIn: The best days to post are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Aim for early mornings (around 8-10 a.m.) or around lunch (12-1 p.m.) in your local time zone to capture the most engagement. Use my special link to post a job for free* on LinkedIn.

👋 Get free stuff: Or clear out the clutter. FreeCycle is an online community where folks give away things they no longer need or find items they want. 

Remembering passwords is a losing battle. Letting your browser do it for you isn’t smart, either. Get your security buttoned up with NordPass. It’s easy to use, replaces weak passwords with strong ones and autofills everything for you. Hit my link for 58% off while you’re thinking about it. 

📻 I’m on over 420 radio stations coast-to-coast! Catch up with my award-winning national radio show. Find your local station and tune in, or get my show’s podcast. I share so much there I just can’t get to in this newsletter. Can radio be an addiction? Depends on the frequency. (I had to.)

Appreciate you being here with me and the best free tech newsletter to infinity and beyond! See you on the radio! — Kim