Ahoy, it’s Saturday! Trivia time, my friend. In 1999, Larry Page almost sold Google before the deal fell through. Terms included 1% of search engine Excite and how much money? Was it … A.) $750,000, B.) $1.5 million, C.) $3 million or D.) $10 million? Answer at the end!

Your info is for sale everywhere. Between data brokers, advertisers, stalkers and scammers, everything from your address to your Social Security number is floating around the web for anyone willing to pay. I used Incogni to remove it all for me. You really need to do the same. More below. — Kim

If you’re on the job hunt but can't seem to get to the interview stage, I’ll let you in on a tip: Find the hiring manager or team leader’s email address online, and send a personalized note after you apply. It’ll help them put a face to a name and help you stand out in a sea of resumes.

Tracking down emails isn’t just for job seekers. You might do it to network, connect with an old friend, find sales leads or even complain to Jeff Bezos about your bogus Amazon purchase. Here’s how.

Start with a search

It's obvious, but it can work. If a web search like "John Smith" and the word "email" doesn't turn up anything, try this:

• Put the full name in quotes. It’ll make sure you get results for the first and last names together.
• Add any other identifying info you know. Things like the company name, city or other keywords can narrow it down.

The more common the person’s name, the harder it can be to find their email address. You have to go a layer deeper.

Try online directories

There's a chance you can find the person's email address on their social media profiles. If not, use online directories where you can find email addresses, phone numbers and more. (You definitely want to get yourself out of these public directories. I use Incogni for that because it’s a major pain to DIY!)

If you're searching them for someone else, though, it's worth seeing what you can turn up.

• WhitePages.com shows you some free info, but you have to pay for premium details like emails and phone numbers. If you have a list of contacts you’re looking for, a five-day trial is only $1; otherwise, it’s $5.99 a month for 20 contacts.
• Hunter.io lets you search a company's domain for employee emails (25 free a month). If you know where the person works, it’s a great option. Even if they don’t have the person you’re looking for, it’ll give you a good idea of the email format.
• From a privacy standpoint, FamilyTreeNow spooks me. Before I removed it, they had a bunch of my old addresses and cell numbers. The person you’re looking for might be on there.

Use a Chrome plugin

• Email Extractor can help you find email addresses on webpages. You can't search for specific email addresses, but it’ll extract any addresses listed on a domain.
• Email Hunter is another one worth trying, and it’s also from Hunter.io. It extracts email addresses associated with pages you visit and automatically saves them to a notepad.

If all else fails, guess

I’m serious. Most companies use simple naming structures for addresses, like john⁠.⁠smith@companyname⁠.⁠com. Worst case, your email will bounce and you can try a different format.

If you want to talk to me, you don't need to track down my email address. Just drop me a note here — I read them all myself.

🎱 I asked my Magic 8 Ball which email program to use. It said, “Outlook not so good.”

Data brokers make big money gathering your sensitive personal info and selling it to the highest bidder. What’s included? Your phone number, date of birth, the places you’ve lived, your location history, your Social Security number, your driving habits, what you buy at the grocery store and more, much more.

All your data is sold over and over ... and over again. Best-case scenario, companies target you with ads. Worst case: Scammers, identity thieves and stalkers know everything about you.

I did the research and used Incogni to remove my personal data from all broker types, privacy-stealing databases and creepy people-search sites. It’s time for you to do the same.

Help protect yourself from spam calls, spam texts, identity theft, stalkers and insurance companies raising your rates. I negotiated an exclusive discount for you.

🤬 Crap as far as the eye can see: Only 45 bot accounts on X have racked up over 4 billion views. It’s not for puppy videos; they’re spreading racism, sexual abuse, conspiracy theories and climate disinformation. If you see this crap, report it (steps here).

Scammers in the skies: Crooks scan social for posts complaining about flight delays and then pose as airline customer service. They’ll DM you about your booking or send you to a fake site to harvest your info. Only contact customer service using the airline’s official website or phone number.

Don’t wait until it’s too late: After 23-year-old Riley took his own life, his dad found instructions for committing suicide on Riley’s phone. There are hundreds of sites with similar how-tos. One of them gets 6 million views a month. So sad. If your kid is struggling, check their camera roll and search history, and then call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

💓 The key to my heart: Apple quietly filed a patent that could let your heartbeat unlock your iPhone. The patent suggests they could use this tech to figure out your mood and offer custom recommendations, too. OK, they had me with the first half …

Buy or build a PC in the past two years? If your PC has a 13th- or 14th-gen Intel CPU (like the Core i5-13400 or Core i9-14900K), Intel might owe you a new chip. They’re releasing an update this month for the crash-prone chips and extending its warranty by two years. If your PC is already crashing, the update won’t help. Reach out to Intel or your PC manufacturer.

🗓️ Wait two weeks: Don’t buy any Google tech right now; they’re revealing a bunch of new tech at their Made by Google event on Aug. 13. That includes the Pixel 9 lineup, Pixel Buds Pro 2 and new Pixel Watch 3. Then comes the race to offload old inventory at cheaper prices …

How do you sell a $20K TV? By including lots of freebies. TCL is giving a free Super Bowl ticket to the first 115 people to buy its massive 115-inch TV. Fine print: If they run out of tickets, you might have to settle for a Hollywood movie premiere or a trip to the next CES tech conference.

• Jumbled sock drawer: Toss in an $8 honeycomb organizer that expands to fit the space. Works for undies, too.
• Dust everywhere: Don’t just rub it around. These damp cleaning sponges have ridges to hold junk as you go.
• Pet hair SOS: Content Queen Allie bought the viral ChomChom roller (29% off) and loves it.
• Washing machine: Gunk collects around the gasket of front-load machines. Clear it out the easy way.
• Closet shelves: No more teetering piles of shirts and sweaters when you have dividers to hold everything snugly.

Hear the world: If you ever ask anyone to repeat something they said, check out the new, dual-processor, almost invisible hearing aids from Hear.com. The company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, a 4.9 out of 5 rating with Consumer Affairs and a 100% money-back guarantee. Click here to find out today if you qualify for a risk-free trial.*

Breathe new life into an old laptop or PC: Install ChromeOS Flex, a free, cloud-based operating system. With processing done on Google’s servers and a bare-bones interface, you’ll get surprisingly good performance. Your PC will need to meet these minimum specs: x64 CPU, 4GB RAM, 16GB storage and a USB port for installation.

🤖 Try Apple Intelligence first: Test some of Apple's AI features with the iOS 18.1 beta on an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates > iOS 18 Developer Beta > Back. Then select Upgrade to iOS 18 and hit Update Now.

Android data: The Google Fit app can use your phone to track basic metrics without you knowing about it. This data might get shared with other health apps you think are only tracked by your smartwatch. To check: Profile > tap the Gear icon > Manage data and access > App permissions.

Nifty shifty: Ctrl + Shift + T reopens the last closed tab in your web browser in Windows. Incredibly useful if you accidentally close a tab. On a Mac, use Cmd + Shift + T.

📻 A face for radio: Find your local station or hit this link to open The Kim Komando Show as a podcast on your favorite player.

So sweet: How to be a winner at Candy Crush from a master of the game.

Cha-ching: Get the difference back if your flight price changes.

💰 Save money: Hit this link to see if anything you’ve bought on Amazon is on sale. I do this for stuff I use a lot.

The answer: A.) $750,000. Rumor has it the deal fell through after Google insisted on replacing Excite’s code with its own. Wish they’d offered me that deal ... Today, Google’s market cap is over $2 trillion.

🤣 I googled "Missing Medieval Servant.” It returned with, "Page Not Found."

Three minutes to get your privacy back: That’s how long it took me to set up an Incogni account. For months, they’ve worked in the background to get my info off scummy data-broker and people-search sites. Try it yourself with my 60% off link, exclusive for my readers. You’ll be so glad you did. Back in your inbox tomorrow to talk car tech! See you then. — Kim