What a terrific Tuesday we've got here! Let’s kick things off with a little true or false: More bars on Wi‑Fi equals faster speeds. You’ll find the answer at the end.

🚀 Tech enthusiasts, it's a whirlwind day. Don't worry — I've got you covered! In a jiffy, you'll be fully up to speed on all things digital. — Kim

Think the cloud is a safe bet for your data? In a world of increasing breaches, hackers and threats, even cloud storage might not be enough. So, why not look to the stars — or, better yet, the moon?

NASA is partnering with Lonestar, a Florida-based computing startup, and the Isle of Man, that self-governing British Crown Dependency you might've never heard of, to put data on the moon. Think of it like the ultra-secure Fort Knox, but for digital information.

Blockchain goes intergalactic

But how do we make sure data’s safe and sound on the moon? Enter blockchain, the same tech that brought us cryptocurrency. These partners plan to use blockchain as part of the Artemis project to ensure the data isn't just secure but also genuine and tamper-proof. This isn't your mom's filing cabinet; it's literally out of this world.

Scheduled for “liftoff” in February 2024, this mission has a unique twist. After the data "cube" lands on the moon, it will be digitally "franked" on Earth to show it really came from our lunar neighbor. No more "NASA faked the moon landing" nonsense. This will prove the mission's success.

In a charming touch, the Isle of Man's post office is chipping in. It's providing digitalized stamps to be sent up in the data cube. These aren't your run-of-the-mill postage stamps, either. Talk about first-class mail!

Why the moon?

The moon isn't becoming a storage locker for your embarrassing selfies. Instead, this mission aims to preserve humanity's crown jewels — our most vital data. Think of it as Earth's external hard drive or a modern Library of Alexandria (hopefully, with a less tragic end).

What's on the moon-bound list? Obvious candidates could include:

Earth vs. the moon

Not everyone's aboard this lunar express. Critics question the practicality of the venture, and there are issues, like the extreme environment. Also, it's not like you can send over a tech to fix things.

Retrieving data from the moon won't be a cakewalk, either. It's unlikely we'd access this lunar data frequently. It's more of a "break glass in case of emergency" type of deal.

Imagine needing a space mission every time you forget your password — except exponentially more complicated. We're talking about cutting-edge spacecraft, layers of encryption, and, of course, contending with the harsh conditions of outer space.

Sounds like the start of a joke … A startup, an island and NASA decided the moon landing was a fake. It’s still up there.

My take: If you can connect to it, you can hack it. Just because it's far away doesn't mean it's 100% secure. And if Earth is gone, will we need our data?

🗳️ What do you think? Great idea or not? Vote now and weigh in on this cosmic backup strategy!

This unbelievable news is something you’re def going to want to tell your friends and family. Use the icons below to share it now!

⚰️ “Obituary pirating”: If you look up someone in your life who recently died, you might see some random YouTube videos of their obituary being read online. Video creators are reading them to make a few ad bucks. Aren’t you glad to be ahead of the rest? I told you about this weeks ago, and now the mainstream media’s picking it up.

When I was a kid, we had to pedal our bikes: Would you let your 4-year-old ride an ebike that goes 15 miles per hour? A whole lot of people apparently would because this one (for ages 4 to 8) sold out in presale. Oh, and it’s $1,300. Please tell me they’ll at least put a helmet on the child.

📡 Can you hear me now? It doesn’t stop at satellite internet service for Elon Musk’s Starlink. The next frontier is satellite cell service when you’re out of range of your provider. T‑Mobile is rumored to be the first network onboard, and testing starts next year. Makes perfect sense.

He who fumbles must be humble: The NFL and Amazon will be rolling out Next Gen Stats, AI-driven snapshots of how well a player performed, at a granular level. Think how quickly a quarterback responded or how aggressively a defender played. Speaking of … I've finally worked out why Spain is so good at football. Nobody expects the Spanish in position.

2023 phone etiquette: Lizzie Post, etiquette expert and co-president of the Emily Post Institute, says leaving a voicemail is bad form these days. Other tips: Send a text before you call, don't pick up if it's not a good time for you, and don't call twice in a row unless it’s an emergency. If you have to do all this, you shouldn't be talking to that person in the first place.

Meta’s new AI chatbot: Rolling out this week, Gen AI Personas have up to 30 different personalities. One of them, “Alvin the Alien,” attempts to get your basic info. My Pessimistic Kim bot says this isn’t going to work.

💩 One crappy situation: A Michigan woman dropped her Apple Watch in an outhouse toilet. So gross! She thought it would be a great idea to head down into the crapper to get it but instead got stuck. State troopers had to pull her out with a strap, and the toilet had to be removed. No word on whether she got the Apple Watch back. Let it go, folks.

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.

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There are so many different specs to look at when buying a phone. Pro tip: Sensor size is just as important as camera megapixels. If you take a ton of pics and videos, go for higher storage. Pick the OS that makes you happy. (I’m Team iPhone.)

But what the heck is a refresh rate? It's worth understanding since it plays a significant role in your phone's performance. You'll be glad you read this before buying your next smartphone.

It’s all in the screen

Your smartphone screen is a series of images displayed one after another very quickly. The refresh rate is simply how many times your screen updates or refreshes per second, usually measured in hertz (Hz).

The higher the refresh rate, the smoother your screen. If you play games or watch a ton of videos on your phone, this matters even more. A higher refresh rate (like 90Hz or 120Hz) reduces blur, increases how responsive your screen is and makes everything feel cleaner.

What’s the catch, Kim?

The higher the refresh rate, the more processing power — aka slightly worse performance and battery life.

If you have a phone with a super-high refresh rate, you can manually adjust it if you’re going through a full charge too quickly.

Now you feel smarter and your battery life is better. Score! Oh, I love to press F5. It’s so refreshing.

If you have sensitive pics like your driver’s license on your phone, set up a locked folder in Google Photos.

Note: Anything stored there isn’t backed up to the cloud. Wouldn’t be very private that way.

🍎 Have an iPhone? You can store secret pics in the Notes app. Open the pic in the Photos app, tap the share icon and select Add to Quick Note. Go into the note you want to protect, tap the three-dot icon in the upper right corner, and then choose Lock.

Get more Notes tips and tricks here. One of the best built-in apps and totally underrated.

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Elvis was a fan of chicken strips and wrote a song about it called “Love Me Tender.”

The answer: False. Those little bars on your device show your connection strength to the router, not the actual speed of your internet. So even if you're seeing full bars, you could still be lumbering along with a turtle-speed broadband connection.

👋 Hope you laughed at at least one thing in the newsletter — and learned something useful, too. Reply and leave a note if you want to see anything in this newsletter. I read ‘em all! See you again with the best tech newsletter from Earth to the moon! — Kim