It’s a tech Tuesday, friend! Today’s trivia is brought to you by the snoops among us. What percentage of Americans admit to routinely spying on their partner’s phone and checking their text messages? Make your best guess — the answer’s at the end!

🛑 I need your help. Big Tech’s algorithms dictate what emails you see and what emails automatically go into a junk folder. Simply reply to this email with anything you want. This tells the algorithm controlling your email you actually want my free newsletter. If you can reply for a few days this week, I’d really appreciate it. It makes a difference. Thanks so much. — Kim

Amazon’s massive fall sale is here, and I did some digging to find the best tech deals. Some of the deepest discounts get bought up fast, so plan accordingly.

Reminder: You’ll need an Amazon Prime account to score these discounts. If you’re not a member, use this link to try it free for 30 days. Just remember to cancel if you don’t want to get charged.

😶‍🌫️ Didn’t see anything you liked? Here’s the secret link to all the Prime Big Deal Days sales.

✅ Pro tip: I stock up when it’s on sale. Use this special link to see if what you’ve bought before on Amazon is part of the Prime Big Deal Days sales. Review your past purchases and look for items deeply discounted for this two-day event. Hope you find a thing or two!

🇨🇳 Communist China-based hackers are the suspects: Yup, they’re the ones suspected of breaking into three major telecom companies and causing major outages — AT&T, Verizon and Lumen Technologies. Details are scarce, but the hackers probably gained access to the systems used for court-approved wiretapping and eavesdropping. Truly frightening.

Dental scams are spreading on social media: Dentists usually charge $1,000 to $2,000 per tooth for veneers, but unlicensed practitioners calling themselves “veneer techs” offer a full set of fancy chompers for around $5,000. Surprise, their work can lead to nerve damage and tooth loss. Always check a dentist’s license before you open wide and say, “Ahhhh.”

I couldn’t imagine: An 18-year-old driving a 2022 Honda Pilot got stuck on autopilot going 113 mph with his mom following him in another car. He tried everything to slow or stop the car, including putting it in neutral, braking and even pulling the emergency brake. Nothing worked. The solution? A responding police officer had the teen hit the back of his patrol car so the vehicle would stop. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

🏐 Youth clubs and school sports teams are using AI: Tools like Balltime take game footage to track players’ movements and record stats like serve speed, jump height and error rates. With scholarships and sponsorships on the line, parents are shelling out big for these services. If you have kids playing sports, look into this.

Don't buy one: After about two years of use, Apple’s M1 iMacs reportedly get dark horizontal lines across the screens. The issue appears to be hardware-related, and unless you have AppleCare+ coverage, repairs run up to $700. FYI, the M3 iMac (2023) is rumored to have this problem, too.

Buttons are back: After nearly two decades of touchscreens, companies are going back to buttons, knobs and sliders. They’re in cars, appliances and personal electronics. Even the iPhone 16 has an “action button.” It turns out we like the feel of physical controls, and, bonus, they’re safer (paywall link). A volume knob is a lot less distracting than a car’s touchscreen.

I like big bots: If you play poker online, you might be facing off against bots. It’s shifted the game from human psychology and bluffing to mathematical strategies and percentages. The result? Bots are winning more often, even beating sharks sitting at the virtual table.

In a world of e-signatures and PIN numbers: Kids can’t sign their own names anymore, and traditional signatures are becoming a thing of the past. Only one-fifth of young adults ages 18 to 24 have a personal signature. Some can’t even produce the same one consistently. Yessiree, writing my name in cursive is no longer a signature move. (Did I just see you shake your head?)

📏 I’m this close: Click this link now and subscribe to my YouTube channel. I really want the 100,000-subscribers plaque! Thank you in advance.

Quick-close your window: On Windows and Linux, press Ctrl + Shift + W to close your current window and any open tabs in it. On a Mac, it’s Cmd + Shift + W. Easy!

🌇 Riding off into the sunset: Verizon’s Message+ is shutting down in November. The suggested replacement is Google Messages, which really is your best bet. It supports RCS texting, the new standard that makes it easier to send pics and videos.

Like a personal assistant in your browser: ChatGPT’s MyGPTs and Claude’s Personal Projects let you tailor a bot to your needs. It’ll remember what you’ve said so you’re not starting from scratch each time. You can make one for work, scheduling, workouts, recipe ideas — whatever floats your boat!

🐲 Time keeps on tickin’: Check the time commitment before you let someone lure you into the extended-cut “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Bingeclock is great for movies. Tiii.me has TV show times. (Btw, it’s 11 hours and 22 minutes for LOTR.)

So fresh and so clean: Windows allows you to create multiple virtual desktops for better organization. Hold down the Windows key + Tab to open Task View, then click New Desktop at the top left. You can switch between your desktops using the Windows key + Ctrl + ← or →.

👻 Omelet these bad puns go this time.

The answer: 51% of Americans admit to spying on their partner’s phone. Oof, that’s a whole lot of snooping. Worried your partner is cheating? Hit this link.

Speaking of … Barry won’t play Scrabble anymore with me because he thought I was cheating when I used the word “quizzify” on a triple word score and got 50 points for using all my letters. My dog, Abby, ate some of the Scrabble tiles that day, too. Her next poop could’ve spelled disaster.

🤔 Go see what’s on sale. Here’s the secret link to all the Prime Big Deal Days sales. Have fun!

Another issue, done and dusted. Thanks for being here and helping make this the best tech newsletter in the USA. Rate this issue below so we know how we’re doing here in Komandoland. See you tomorrow! — Kim