Hey, hi, hello on a fantastic Saturday, friend! Let’s kick off things with a little tech know-how. Which of the following will totally destroy your Wi‑Fi signal strength? Is it … A.) LED lights, B.) Wooden furniture, C.) Mirrors or D.) Ceramic tiles? Come on, make your best guess. See if you’re right by checking the answer at the end!

Get your private, sensitive info off the internet. No more Kim Komando listed at 373 data-broker and people-search sites. Take that, scammers, thieves, stalkers and ad companies! Incogni contacts all the data brokers and people-search sites and tells them to remove your personal data. 😎 Use my link to get 60% off. Now, on to today’s helpful tips! — Kim

Let me tell you a secret: I’m all about staying tech-ahead and not trailing behind, so I’m constantly tapping into apps, programs, hardware and more before they’re released to the public. You can do the same thing in one way, even if you’re not a Digital Goddess®.

Today, if you’re up for it, try a beta version of your browser. You’ll get new features before anyone else, and the software engineers will get some important early feedback in return. I’ll show you how.

‘Mite’ or might not

With a beta, you may have to put up with a few bugs along the way, since it won’t be the polished, final version. I’ll tell you, though — beta editions are usually pretty stable and reliable. If you've ever used beta iOS software on your iPhone like I do, it’s the same deal.

Pro tip: You can even run the beta version of your browser alongside the final version and switch between them as needed. If you find something that doesn't work in one, just go back and try it on the other version.

All the links to check it out

For Safari, the process is a little different. (Of course … we’re talking about Apple here.) You’ll need to register as an Apple developer — it's free, and you won't need to code any software. After that, you can download the developer version.

Be sure you keep this in mind

When it comes to beta software, especially browsers, you’ve got to be extra careful about what you’re doing online. Remember, the whole point of beta testing is to iron out the kinks, so these versions send anonymous data back to the developers about how things are working and what’s not.

That's why you should never use a beta browser for anything confidential, like online banking or accessing sensitive documents. Even if they claim the data is anonymized, you never really know what information might be sent back as part of the testing process.

Want to know exactly what’s being shared? Take a look at the privacy policy or data collection details on the download page. It's all there in the fine print. Bottom line: Stick to the stable releases for anything that needs to stay private.

🐟 Is browsing more fun when you're using the newest software before everyone else? You’d beta believe it. (Ah, that was so good, I laughed when I wrote it!)

Data brokers make big money gathering your personal sensitive info and selling it to the highest bidder. What’s included? Your phone number, birth date, 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, the 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.

🚨 Video call deepfakes: A company called Reality Defender is close to rolling out a tool to spot them in real time. Their model analyzes still frames from the call and alerts you if you’re looking at an AI-generated person. It may come first as a plug-in for Zoom. Until then, stay skeptical and keep antivirus software running.*

Sounds like the plot for a Stephen King horror movie: A nation gives its enemies’ kids a free, fun app that takes over and destroys their lives right in front of their parents’ eyes. Newly leaked confidential docs prove Communist China-owned ByteDance knew kids could get addicted to TikTok in under 35 minutes. They also knew TikTok would cause anxiety, depression, memory issues, slower brain development and sleep problems. Hopefully, there’s no sequel.

🔐 Hackers now know the secret recipe: When an Apple device generates a strong password for you, it’s not entirely random. They’re specifically designed to be easier to type and briefly memorable. Take “hupvEw-fodne1-qabjyg.” It’s mostly lowercase characters and follows the pattern of consonant, vowel, consonant. Throw in hyphens, a single digit and voila.

Meta’s hiding political posts: A woman who usually pulls in millions of views on Instagram saw her audience drop 63% after using the word “vote” in 11 posts. One in five American adults gets their news from Instagram, but Meta still directs its algorithm away from content related to laws, elections, crimes or anything else controversial (paywall link). Yup, it’s happening on Facebook, too.

Redbox had a black box: Redbox went out of business, and 24,000 movie kiosks are sitting around. Your name, email address, home address and rental history are likely stored on those internal hard drives, going back a decade. Even worse? Some machines stored the first six and last four digits of credit cards. Hello, we need a factory reset.

💣 You da bomb: AI models like ChatGPT aren’t supposed to give answers for things that are illegal or illicit, but there are workarounds. Researchers found by writing their requests backward, they could trick AI into giving instructions to prompts like “how to make a bomb.” The success rate? A scary 98.85% for GPT‑4 Turbo and 89.42% for GPT‑4 (paywall link).

Cure for baldness: Aging, hormones, stress and genetics are the main causes. Hair transplants are pricey, and the two main treatments, Minoxidil and Finasteride, don’t work for everyone (and the latter can cause some ... issues down yonder). But there’s hope — stem cell therapy is showing promising results. I know what you’re thinking: “With a body like this, who needs hair?”

In my inbox: “Kim, what’s that link for hearing aids?” I gotcha. These aren’t bulky like the ones Grandma or Grandpa wore. See if you qualify for a 45-day free trial.*

🎁 These make great stocking stuffers!

How far is it? Use Google Maps to find the direct distance between two places, rather than the driving or walking distance. On the web, right-click somewhere on the map and pick Measure distance, then click on a second spot.

🤝 Teamwork makes the dream work: If you're working on something like a grocery list or vacation plan in your iPhone’s Notes app, you can get other people to work on the same note with you. In a note, tap the share icon (top right), then Collaborate.

For your eyes only: On Android, it’s super easy to keep private convos and notifications off your lock screen. From Settings, tap Display > Lock Screen > Privacy.

ChatGPT started with one option: Now there are a bunch of models of the OpenAI chatbot to choose from. GPT‑4o is my default, and it works for most tasks. GPT‑4o is specialized for writing and coding. o1‑preview and o1‑mini “think” in a more advanced way. GPT‑4 is still available but outdated, so skip that one.

💤 You’re getting sleepy: Most podcast and music apps have a built-in sleep timer. Use it to tell your app of choice, “Play for 30 minutes, then lights out.” Look for an icon that looks like a clock or moon, usually with some z’s. Bonus tip: I use magnesium to help me sleep.*

Take a good look at these real-life examples hackers and scammers are using right now to steal your login credentials.

The answer: C.) Mirrors. They can kill a Wi‑Fi signal, and not because you’re so incredibly good-looking. The thin coat of metal on its glass causes electromagnetic interference, so you don’t want to place a router near one.

🤣 Here’s a weight loss tip: Eat naked in front of a mirror. The restaurant will ask you to leave before you can eat too much.

✅ Before you go, check out Incogni. Since I signed up, my spam calls and texts are down to zero, zilch, nada. This link scores you 60% off. I’ll see you right back here tomorrow with more tech smarts. Until then, look at yourself in the mirror, smile and say, “I am spectacular!” — Kim