Happy total eclipse, techies! Today’s your day to wear blue, green and red if you’re in the path of totality. About 200 years ago, Johannes Evangelista Purkyně proved when light passes through a dimming effect like a solar eclipse, reds appear much darker, but greens and blues are much brighter. Bust out those holiday sweaters! Btw, I have the best streaming links below to watch the eclipse live.

Before we dive in: RYSE is revolutionizing the smart shade game, and you can still invest as they hit Best Buy stores. Click that link to learn more. Now on to the news, with an important story for you or anyone you know who’s worked hard to have a retirement account. — Kim

This story doesn’t have a lot to do with tech, but when I read it, I knew I had to share it with you. If you have a retirement account or know someone who does, this sinister scam is one to keep on your radar.

Mexican drug cartels are targeting older adults with vishing scams and walking away with millions. “Vishing” is a type of social engineering attack that uses fraudulent phone calls or voice messages.

You’ll be shocked by this story

One retired couple drained their life savings and went into debt after a real estate agent contacted them and offered to broker the sale of their Lake Tahoe timeshare to a Mexican businessman.

At first, the scammers requested small fees of a few thousand dollars to handle "cross-border transactions." But the amounts grew, and soon, the cartel was threatening the couple with extradition if they didn’t pay “Mexican authorities” for phony violations.

They even convinced them to invest in a commercial property, sell their home and borrow money from their daughters to make payments. The result: Almost $900,000 went to Mexican bank accounts, and the couple will never see it again.

They target people with the most to lose

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel's timeshare scam (paywall link) is simple but sophisticated.

Cartel cronies bribe employees at Mexican resorts for guests’ contact information. Then, their accomplices working in call centers pose as sales reps with an “opportunity” for timeshare owners: Sell your property for big bucks.

Once they have you on the hook, they pressure you to pay fees upfront to handle everything from “advertising costs” to “government fines.” In the past decade, Jalisco New Generation has made almost $300 million off this operation.

The stakes are life and death

This gang is feared throughout Mexico for its public executions and other brutal killings.

Last year, outside of Guadalajara, authorities found the bodies of eight Mexicans who worked at one of the cartel call centers. When they searched the call center, they uncovered U.S. timeshare membership details and blackboards filled with foreign names.

Now, because this all happens over the border, American officials can’t do much aside from warn the public of the dangers. That means it's up to you to stay alert and protect your family.

Do your due diligence on anyone looking to buy your property. Don't wire money to anyone without meeting them in person first. Don’t send money to a foreign bank account — and don’t tap into your nest egg for a risky investment.

The leading smart-home retailer has a hot, new addition to its lineup: Smart shades. Think automated opening and closing of the window coverings while still in bed. So nice, right?

Only 10% of windows are currently automated, and Best Buy has stocked RYSE’s product in over 100 of its stores. Talk about potential.

Getting into retail stores led smart-home giants Ring and Nest to billion-dollar exits. And for a limited time, you can invest in RYSE’s vision of owning the billion-dollar smart shades industry.

But hurry — their share price has already grown 20% since the last round!

🌒 This totality rocks: To watch the eclipse, tune in to NASA's informative, awesome YouTube livestream from 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern. Oh, and we’ll be doing our live video podcast a little later today at 12:15 p.m. Pacific (3:15 p.m. Eastern) on YouTube, Rumble and Facebook so we can enjoy the eclipse.

Fakes on Facebook: Watch out for bogus ads and sites pushing phony AI image and video generators like Midjourney, Sora, ChatGPT-5 and DALL-E. Instead of limited access to cutting-edge features, you’ll get malware that steals your passwords and credit card details.

Your old photos are worth money to AI: Old public photo storage sites like Photobucket, Myspace and Friendster, which were huge in the 2000s, have a new revenue stream. AI companies will pay up to $1 per photo and $1 or more for videos to train their algorithms. With 13 billion pics on Photobucket, they stand to make $13 billion. Time to take a look at your old accounts and delete them.

Like a boss: If you live in California, the proposed "right to disconnect" bill would fine your boss $100 every time they bug you after hours — unless it's a real emergency. Does this also mean the boss gets $100 every time someone on staff bugs them? Didn’t think so.

A criminal’s best asset is his lie-ability: For years, thieves have been selling streaming sticks that promise all the paid content and services for free. The crackdown has started with William Freemon, who’s been selling jailbroken Amazon Fire TV Sticks since 2016. Have one? You’re violating copyrights and can be tracked by your IP address.

Siri, clean my room: Apple’s next big idea: Robot butlers. Picture an AI smarty-pants to wash the dishes, clean the house and video chat with you when you’re not home. No word yet as to when it’ll be here. I have Amazon’s Astro patrolling my house. Give me a few weeks, and I’ll let you know how he’s working out.

This is so Goofy: Starting in June, no more sharing Disney+ passwords. Why? The Mouse needs the money. Netflix immediately added 9 million subscribers and 8% more revenue when they cracked down on password sharing.

💊 Not a hard sell: Viagra has another uplifting benefit: Brain health. Cleveland Clinic researchers found its active ingredient, sildenafil, cuts Alzheimer’s risk by 30% to 54% by boosting neuron connections and battling bad proteins. It’s science, folks.

Tired of QuickBooks? “Kim, because of you, we tried your radio sponsor, NetSuite, and we increased our profits in about two months by 17%.” If you have a business, take a minute to check out NetSuite now.* It can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

I’m hungry: Google’s new Food Mood AI tool generates recipe ideas. Tell it what you want (an appetizer, soup, main course or dessert), how many people are eating and two cuisine styles to combine. The Greek-Argentinian soup recipe it made for me looked pretty dang good.

Get the text? Apple iOS can read text in images, which is handy for menus, signs and other hard-to-decipher images. Long press on the photo, choose Show Text, then pick Copy All to send it to the clipboard.

🗑️ They’re trash: Look around. Do you see USB or other charging cables starting to fray? Do yourself a favor and toss them. You’re just asking for trouble — specifically, a fire. Pick up some new ones now.

Batteries, however, are not trash: You really should recycle them. Earth911 is a great site to find recycling centers for different types of products. Type what you've got and your ZIP code to find a nearby dropoff spot.

Are you getting your five servings of produce a day? I didn’t think so. Up your intake with these buys.

• Make your own “zoodles” (zucchini noodles) with a handheld spiralizer. I love this!
• This corer makes it easier to eat your Brussels sprouts.
• Increase the fridge life of your fresh produce with a fruit-and-veggie keeper. It works!
• Make your own smoothies with this affordable, easy-to-clean blender.
• Get your smoothie ingredients delivered with Daily Harvest (love the strawberry and peach!), or opt for plant-based premade meals.

OK, I gotta do this.

Thanks for being here, friend! Enjoy the eclipse. I’ll be trying to snap some photos of the shadows. You can see the coolest shadows near big trees. Check it out!

✅ Before you go, support this free newsletter. Learn more about investing in smart-shade company RYSE here. →

I’ll see you right back here tomorrow with a closer look at exactly what details TikTok collects. It’s … a lot. Until then, stay your awesome self! — Kim