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June 22, 2023 |
In partnership with SimpliSafe |
Hello Thursday! Letβs start by going back in time. Which of these was advertised as βthe first under-$1,000 computerβ in the U.S.? Was it the β¦ Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PC 5150 or Tandy TRS-80? You get a gold star if you also know the year. The answer, my friends, is at the end. Thanks for embarking on the Komando Tech Trek! Buckle up, as we don't take any byte for granted. Weβre off on this electrifying journey together! β Kim π« First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itβs free!) IN THIS ISSUEπ ββοΈ Stop making these password mistakesπ€₯ Itβs official, TikTok liedπ¦ Surprising reason FTC sues Amazon |
TODAY'S TOP STORYAre your accounts safe? 2023's most-hacked passwordsPasswords keep your online accounts protected from hackers β¦ but not if they're easy to guess. Cybercriminals know whatβs overused and will use that against you. Curious as to how your passwords measure up? Read on to see if yours made the naughty list and get my smart tips to protect yourself from hackers. Spill the teaA recent study examined over 6 million breached passwords to find the worst offenders. No, it's not just things like "password" and "123456" β but those are bad, and if you use 'em, change 'em. Over 1.5 million of those crappy passwords were eight characters or less. Almost 30% used fewer than 12 characters. The most popular hacked passwords used all-lowercase letters. Take a look at the top 10 most-hacked password categories: Nicknames/terms of endearmentTV show charactersTV show namesColorsFashion brandsCitiesCountriesMovie titlesBody partsCar brandsDon't call me βsweetieβIf your online banking password shares your spouse's nickname, it's not strong enough (unless you call them something really weird). Terms of endearment like "king," "rose," "boo" and "love" were high on the easily breached list. Petsβ names, swear words and video game characters (Joel, Mario and Link) weren't far behind. Sports, football teams and superheroes were in the top 20, too. Keep it locked downPasswords are a royal pain in the rear, but you need to take them seriously. Here are some tips: Create a password with 12 to 16 characters. The longer, the better! An 8-character password can be cracked in less than an hour.Use a mix of letters, numbers and special characters or symbols. Donβt just add a β1β or an exclamation point at the end.Use a password manager to keep track of all those complex logins for you.If you think your password has been compromised, change it ASAP. This is especially true if you keep getting texts or emails that someone requested a change and it wasnβt you. Lock it down.β See the full list of bad passwords on my site. Spot one you recognize? Oops, time to change it. π What's the difference between your password and glass luggage? One's case sensitive and the other's a sensitive case. |
DEAL OF THE DAY
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WEB WATERCOOLERπ€ The party never ends: A radio station in Portland says it's got the first AI DJ. AI Ashley sounds just like its real host, Ashley Elzinga. It will take the midday slot β and won't ever need a potty break or vacay. Expect more AI on the radio as broadcast companies continue to lose money and cut staffers. Wow, Iβm shocked: TikTok just confessed to the U.S. government it's been storing the financial data of American creators in China, not Virginia and Singapore as previously claimed. Just another reason to get off TikTok. Need help? Hit my site. Is your refrigerator running? DirecTV got caught making unsolicited calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry, and itβll cost them $16.85 million. Not cool. You can enter your phone number to see if you're part of the payout here. Get a backup plan: If youβve got a Google Hangouts account, itβs time to move those precious photos and videos. Googleβs planning to sunset its Album Archive, which stored all the media you shared while chatting over the years. π Warning for parents: Roblox is allowing βmore violence, blood or crude humorβ for users 17+. Yeah, this includes naked Roblox characters. You must upload a government-issued ID to access it, but kids always find ways around it. Talk to yours. Prime deception: The FTC is suing Amazon. It says the retail giant not only hides the fact youβre signing up for a subscription, but itβs also hard to cancel Prime and a pain to shop without a membership. βAlexa, whereβs my payout?β NSFW: Watch where you go on Reddit β thereβs p*rn everywhere. Itβs being posted in protest of Redditβs new pricing changes. In the past, developers could use Redditβs API for free. Now, it wants to charge $12,000 for every 50 million data requests by third-party developers. πΊ Get your daily fiber: Fiber internet is fast, reliable and only touches about 43% of the U.S. Why isnβt it everywhere? The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is working to make that possible. Take a look in this video. |
π§ Want great content on the go?Sound like a tech pro, even if you're not one. Try my award-winning, daily podcast. Search for my last name with "K" wherever you get your podcasts and "Go Komando!" |
TRENDINGPosting pics of kids: Doβs and donβtsSocial media has come a long way from its roots, and most of the news is bad. But itβs one thing to put yourself out there and another thing entirely to post information about your children or someone elseβs. Consider this your tech etiquette lesson of the day. Donβt overshareβDropped my daughter off at the Broadway Mall today. Sheβs growing up so fast π.β Youβre expressing your thoughts to your followers, and thereβs nothing wrong with that β¦ except thereβs way too much information. Anyone who sees your post knows exactly where your kid is. And even if your profile is private, that information can leak beyond your network of friends and family. Do put yourself in their shoes before postingYour son was bullied at school and came home feeling dejected. Your daughterβs heartbroken because she doesnβt have a prom date. Theyβre probably not in the mood to have their picture taken or let the world know how they feel. Kids deserve privacy, too. Do pay attention to what your kids do onlineYou may be careful, but are your kids following the same safe practices? Sit them down and talk to them about the dangers of social media. Stumped? Start here: Think before you post.Donβt add people you donβt know.Never send inappropriate pictures or content.Never give your address or other personal information to anyone on social media.Never share your location.If you get a strange message, block that account and tell your parents immediately.β Thereβs more I couldnβt fit! Read the rest of my tips here. I also created a Kidsβ Tech Contract to help you and your family. Spread the word if you know someone else who could use it. |
DEVICE ADVICEMeasure your heart rate with your phoneYou donβt need a smartwatch to measure your heart rate. Check on your ticker with just an app. Itβs neat how these work. Put your index finger on the back camera, and the app measures your heart rate by detecting color changes. Be sure to hold your phone steady and keep still. Just remember, apps arenβt a replacement for seeing a medical professional or talking to your doctor if youβre not feeling well. For iPhone, Cardiio: Heart Rate Monitor is a good choice. It works with iPads, too.For Android, Heart Rate Monitor works similarly. Cover the back camera, stay still and youβll get a reading.β€οΈ Some people say a rapid, irregular heartbeat isn't a big deal. Sorry, but thatβs a-fib. |
Donβt take chances on cheap camsHome security is no joke, and you canβt rely on cheap junk you find from who-knows-who online. I trust SimpliSafe, and you can, too. You build the perfect system for your home online (no annoying salesperson), and itβs shipped right to your door. Set it up yourself, and youβll be up and running in no time. Itβs easy enough for anyone to do. SimpliSafeβs professional monitoring agents make sure you get priority police response β even if you're away or unable to respond β for under $1 a day. Thatβs less than half the cost of ADTβs traditional professional installed plans. |
BY THE NUMBERS61% AIβs accuracy in predicting your political leaning based on facial features. A Danish study used Microsoftβs facial recognition AI to analyze the faces of politicians. It found those leaning right are more likely to look happy in photos, and those on the left are more likely to have a neutral facial expression. 100,000 The number of compromised ChatGPT accounts found for sale on the Dark Web. By default, your chat history and responses are stored. Anyone who gets access to your account might see your quarterly numbers if you asked AI to write a memo. To disable your history, go to Settings > Data Controls. 1 in 3 The number of Gen Z-ers that support government-installed surveillance cameras inside homes. The study asked if respondents favored cameras in every household to βreduce domestic violence, abuse and other illegal activity.β Overall, 14% of Americans said yes β three in 10 young people supported the idea. |
WHAT THE TECH?The KFC Twitter account is βVery-fried.β |
UNTIL NEXT TIME ...πΎ The answer: The Tandy TRS-80, aka βTrash 80,β released in 1977 by Radio Shack, was one of the first mass-produced personal computers and was advertised as "the first under-$1,000 computer" in the U.S. Wow, what a whirlwind of a day in the tech universe! Thanks for being my sidekick on this digital journey. Feel free to invite your friends to join our tech-savvy squad. The more, the merrier! β Kim |
How'd we do?What did you think of today's issue? π Fantasticπ Just OKπ Waste of time |
π« Was this forwarded to you? Sign up free here. π§ Ready to hear more? Check out my podcasts. ποΈ Want to listen to my show? Find your local radio station. π Thinking about upgrading? Try the Komando Community free for 30 days. β Got a question (or comment) for Kim? Ask away here. π² Looking to advertise in this newsletter? Email us. |
Photo credit(s): Β© Gmm2000 | Dreamstime.com, Β© Andrey Kekyalyaynen | Dreamstime.com |
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