It’s Friday! What do you think was the shape of Apple’s 1985 patent for its first phone? Was it … an apple, a deck of cards, a desk calculator or a large rectangle? The answer is at the end, along with a pic of the patent.

🤓 Be sure to give our sponsor, Epson, some love today. Click the link to their ad. That helps us keep this newsletter free for you. Every day, I handpick the most important news you need to know. No AI or algorithms here. It’s my noggin doing the work for you! — Kim

Enjoy gorgeous 360-degree views. Fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing. Start the morning with a cup of coffee and a fresh ocean breeze. 

All that could be yours for free if you’re willing to maintain a historic lighthouse. Thanks to GPS, lighthouses aren’t necessary for navigation like they once were. The U.S. government is on the hunt for groups to take over six of these historic landmarks.

It started back in 2000 …

… when Congress passed the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. Since, the General Services Administration has transferred about 150 lighthouses, given away 80 and auctioned off 70 to the tune of $10 million.

This year, six lighthouses are up for grabs at no cost to federal, state or local government agencies, nonprofits, educational organizations or other groups.

The Coast Guard maintains navigation aids at or near lighthouses, but the structures still need upkeep. Lighthouses are also popular tourist attractions and hotspots for photographers, artists and historians. I was thinking of getting one, but the idea goes on and off in my head.

💡 That’s caveat No. 1 for taking over a lighthouse: You must make them publicly available for educational, recreational or cultural purposes.

How many people does it take to change a giant lightbulb?

The 34-foot-tall Plymouth (Gurnet) Light in Massachusetts is an octagonal wooden structure built in 1842. Fun fact: The original lighthouse at the site was built in 1768 and staffed by America’s first female lighthouse keeper.

Warwick Neck Light in Warwick, Rhode Island, was built in 1827, is 51 feet tall and was important for mariners traveling to Providence. 

Four others up for grabs:

• Lynde Point Lighthouse in Old Saybrook, Connecticut
• Nobska Lighthouse in Falmouth, Massachusetts
• Little Mark Island Monument in Harpswell, Maine
• Erie Harbor North Pier Lighthouse in Pennsylvania

📝 Want to apply? Get more info here.

A lighthouse is heavy

Maybe you’re not sold on the idea of public showings. If you’re willing to pony up the cash, you can still turn an old lighthouse into a home (or maybe a really cool party spot). Here are some options:

• Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead Lighthouse in Ohio
• Penfield Reef Lighthouse in Fairfield, Connecticut
• Stratford Shoal Lighthouse in the middle of Long Island Sound between New York and Connecticut
• Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Lighthouse in Chassell, Michigan

🏠 Find lighthouses up for public sale here.

So long, old friends

Lighthouses aren’t the only things modern tech has put out to pasture. When was the last time you used a paper map? What about a phone booth? NYC removed its last freestanding public pay phone last year. It went straight to a local museum.

☎️ And maybe you still have a landline, but I’d argue you probably don’t need it … Here’s why. Yes, I know some of you will totally disagree!

Instead of buying those expensive ink cartridges — which always run out when you’re in the middle of printing something important — the Epson EcoTank has easy-to-refill tanks. It comes with a ridiculous amount of ink.

Stop rationing the ink in your printer. Print all you want! You only live once and who wants to waste big bucks on printer ink? No one.

I’ve heard from so many listeners and readers over the years who love their EcoTanks. If you’re ready for a printer upgrade, trust me, it’s worth it.

🖨️ One expensive paperweight: Hewlett-Packard's OfficeJet printers got a bad side effect from a firmware update, rendering them unusable. Yup, the printers are bricks. HP's been trying to solve this problem for weeks, but, so far, no fixes are working. 

A real headache: Apple just patched a massive security hole caught by Microsoft. The nasty "Migraine" bug could let hackers run amok on your Mac, install malicious software and take over your entire system. So update your Mac today to OS Monterey 12.6.6 or Big Sur 11.7.7. 

The Metaverse is dead: But the VR headset isn't. Meta just announced its new Meta Quest 3. The headset will be a lot less bulky (finally) and have better visuals and performance than the Quest 2. But it's no bargain at $500. It came out before Apple’s VR headset next week.

🤢 Is your PC sick? Microsoft's new app, Dev Home, helps you create widgets to keep tabs on your CPU, GPU, RAM and network — no Windows Insider membership necessary. Keep those bytes healthy. 

Big Brother alert: The FTC says Amazon’s Ring cams were more like public livestreams until 2017 and “gave every employee ... full access to every customer video." One creep watched 81 female cam owners in their bedrooms. So much for home security.

🍩 Donut miss this: Today’s National Donut Day. That means deals at some of the biggest chains. With a drink, get a sugary circle of your choice at Dunkin’. At Krispy Kreme? One free ‘nut, no purchase needed. Duh, get yours today!

Stick to scrambled: A mom is cautioning against a viral TikTok egg hack that severely burnt her face. She microwaved an egg in boiling water to poach it. When she tried to remove the egg from the cup, the hot water exploded in her face. Yikes!

💥 You have to watch this short vid: Over the last 100 years, Hollywood's car chases have evolved from perilous to pretty safe. Shooting live scenes on uncleared, open roads? They did that. Fasten your seatbelts and watch this great video about the movie magic and tech behind car crashes.

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!"

Listen to my podcast, Kim Komando Today, here.

If we’re going to pay through the nose for streaming services, we’d better get the most out of them. Here’s a look at classics and new releases coming to the big platforms this month.

Netflix: “Groundhog Day,” “Terminator 2,” Dunkirk,” “Spider-Man” 1 through 3, “The Breakfast Club,” “Jarhead.”

Hulu: “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Idiocracy,” “One Hour Photo,” “Dune,” “Bewitched.”

Max (previously HBO Max): “The Hurt Locker,” “Moonlight,” Dog Day Afternoon,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Ready Player One,” “Dumb & Dumber,” “Grease,” “Police Academy” 1 through 5.

Prime Video: “Creed,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Selma,” “Interstellar,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” Laverne and Shirley” seasons 1 through 4, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”

🥊 I’ve decided to stream all the Sylvester Stallone movies. Unfortunately, I'm off to a "Rocky" start.

✅ There’s a lot more to watch now. Get the whole list (including TV shows) on my site here. →

A computer’s hard drive usually lasts three to five years. When it dies … your files die with it. Here are the telltale signs your hard drive is failing:

• Your computer is sluggish and a reboot doesn’t fix it.
• You start getting corrupted files. 
• Your computer begins making strange noises, like clicks, buzzes, high-pitched whirs or warning beeps.

TL;DR If it sounds like it’s dying, it probably is.

☁️ So, what do you do if you notice this stuff? Make a backup of the hard drive in the cloud — now. (My pick for this is IDrive.*) 

🔨 Good news: It’s easy to replace a hard drive. If you don’t know what you’re doing, let a local repair shop do the job for you. And be sure your old drive is thoroughly destroyed once removed from your PC. You can get the job done (and your frustrations out) with a hammer or bat.

Wow, that’s em”bear”assing.

🍎The answer: An Apple. No kidding, before the original design for the iPhone, Apple patented a phone design in the shape of an actual apple. It was a flip phone that, when closed, looked like the Apple logo. Imagine carrying that in your pocket!

✅ Our sponsor in today’s newsletter is Epson. Do your part and help keep this newsletter free by checking out their printers that don’t use expensive ink cartridges. Check out these great printers now at Epson.com/EcoTankKim. →

🙏🏻 I’m hoping to grow this list by 500 people this weekend. You can help me by forwarding this newsletter to just one person and asking them to subscribe. Would you please help me reach my goal? Thank you in advance! — Kim