Friyay! You, me and tech tricks to make life better? Let’s do this.

⌛ Quick tip: “Kim, you said that wrong!” I get those emails every so often, and I forget this simple trick to help me pronounce words correctly. Just open Google and search for your hard-to-say word, followed by “pronunciation.” You’ll see the word spelled out phonetically next to a speaker icon. Tap the icon to hear it, then hit the mic icon that says “Practice” to practice saying it aloud. You’ll get a digital attaboy if you get it right. — Kim

Maybe you wrote down someone's email address incorrectly, or you've been trying to track down a relative and hit a dead end. I can help.

Start with a search

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

• Put the name in quotation marks. In the above example, you might get names that include either "John" or "Smith" without them; adding them will give you an exact search.

The downside to a simple search? The more common the name, the harder it is to find an email address this way.

Try the online White Pages or web directories

Usually, when I talk about online directories, it's advice for how to remove yourself. If you're searching them for someone else, though, it's worth seeing what you can turn up.

With WhitePages.com, you can find cellphone numbers, addresses, business details, relatives and even property details.

Hunter.io lets you search a company's domain for an email address and lists them with some information redacted for business contacts. Finding the person you’re looking for there will give you a good idea of their email address. You get 25 free searches a month with Hunter.io.

Try social media

There's a chance you can find the person's email address on their social media profiles. Some professionals will list their contact info on sites like X or LinkedIn.

Use a plugin

Browser plugins like Email Extractor for Chrome can help you find email addresses on webpages. While you can't search for email addresses with the plugin, it can extract all the addresses listed on a domain.

Email Hunter is another Chrome plugin worth trying. It extracts email addresses from pages as you visit them and automatically saves them to a notepad.

Make your best guess

If all else fails, guess. Really! Most companies use simple naming structures for addresses, like john.smith[at]acmeinc[.]com. Using the Hunter.io web directory, you can easily see a company’s email naming structure.

Good luck with your hunt! 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.

What’s in your wallet? A Google Wallet vulnerability allows someone with an NFC reader to steal your credit card details. The good news is there's a fix coming soon. Make sure you've installed the September 2023 security patch for Android if it's available to you.

That hurts: A tweet floating around made me groan, and I know it'll make you groan, too. The gist is that if you bought Apple shares instead of an iPhone with each release, you'd be swimming in money by now. The math on that viral post doesn't quite check out, but a reporter at TechCrunch says you'd be up around $150K. Not bad.

🤢 Yuck: Researchers randomly tested watch wristbands and found 95% were contaminated with harmful bacteria, including E. coli and MRSA. Have a gold or silver wristband? Those had the lowest amount. Plastic and rubber, on the other hand, held the most junk.

Hello, Big Brother: Airbnb has a new way to tell if you have too many people in your rental. Thousands of properties now have a device similar to a smoke detector that measures decibel levels and beeps if the noise is too high. It can also count the number of mobile phone radio signals — aka everyone with a phone.

🔊 No video: But you can now take Webex or Zoom meetings from the car if you have Android Auto. The apps work in audio-only mode and make joining a meeting easier than calling in from your phone while driving. Before, you had to be worried about people texting. But what about someone driving poorly because they're yelling at someone on Zoom?

In my no-nonsense, straight-talking podcast, I serve up everything tech in digestible, fun-sized pieces. New to the tech scene? Or maybe you're a pro? Doesn't matter. I’ve got you covered.

👉 Get my podcasts today!

🏃 Bring on the cool weather: This Phoenix heat is putting a real hitch in my step game! Fall, I’m ready for you. I like to aim for 30 miles or more a week. The built-in step counter on iPhone is just OK. The MapMyWalk app is way more accurate. Try it for iPhone or Android.

Google trick: Type filetype: at the beginning of your search when looking for a spreadsheet or other document. Want a PDF? Write filetype:pdf and then your keyword. For an Excel spreadsheet, type filetype:xlsx and your keyword. Anything publicly available is just a few clicks away!

Speak up: Komando Content Queen Allie is struggling with carpal tunnel. One of the best remedies is typing less. Use your voice in Google Docs by going to Tools > Voice typing. Speak loudly and clearly. (Yes, that's how this tip was written.)

👆 Gaming secret: Thumb-tapping on your phone? Try an upgrade — use your index fingers. It’s odd at first but much more precise. You’ll thank me when you’re smashing high scores on your fave game.

Does this match? Not everyone has an eye for colors — Coolors to the rescue. On the homepage, click Start the Generator, then hit the spacebar to get a new color palette. Use it for a website, home makeover or anything else!

A virtual private network, or VPN, is a great place to start. A VPN encrypts your data and hides your IP address, giving you an extra layer of protection from snoops, advertisers and Big Tech companies looking to profit off you.

Some VPNs slow your connection or, worse, track your internet activity and compromise your security. Not ExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN’s servers run on RAM, or volatile memory, that’s cleared each time the server is reset — meaning they don’t save your data. You can connect in just one click from a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, iPad, you name it.

🚨 Deal alert: Get an extra THREE months free since you subscribe to my newsletter.

❓ Have a question for me? Drop it right here, or leave me a voicemail at 602‑381‑8200 ext. 290.

Stock photos can get pricey. That’s why I love Unsplash. They have a huge collection of free-to-use pics from photographers around the world. Landscapes, portraits, products — you name it, they’ve got it. Pro tip: Anything that says Unsplash+ is not free!

➡️ Browse free photos →

Snoop Dogg doesn’t snoop. Bryan Ferry rocks my boat. And Dr Pepper isn’t a pepper.

☀️ Have a wonderful weekend, friend. I’ll see you back in your inbox Sunday morning. Be sure to follow me on social for more tech smarts and fun! I’m on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else. — Kim