Welcome to your tech wonderland Wednesday! Here’s a fun fact you can use today: Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky, at 25.4 times more luminous than the sun. Share that with your favorite person. Oh, and speaking of sharing, catch a special hour of my show every week on SiriusXM Channel 132.

I need your help. The best way for me to grow is when you tell the people in your life about this newsletter. Every little bit helps and keeps this free email coming to you. Forward it, send folks to GetKim.com or use your unique referral code at the bottom of this email to win prizes. A big, big thanks in advance. — Kim

A dear friend of mine who took care of my mom during her cancer journey and came over with his family for dinner last week. It was only when I was putting out plates that I realized I had no placemats or cloth napkins. (I’m sure they’re in some box in the garage.) So yesterday, I placed an order for new ones at Williams-Sonoma, and within five minutes, there were six other charges on my credit card from the site.

You see, I have my credit card set up to alert me when a purchase is made and my card isn’t present. While Williams-Sonoma is def not a sketchy site, the ordeal reminded me about the value of virtual cards. I don’t think I’ve explained these to you in some time.

A credit card you can switch off

Virtual cards use a randomized 16-digit number, a three-digit CVV code and an expiration date. You can sub in a virtual card for your typical online or in-store purchases. They connect to your real banking or credit accounts, but the retailers themselves can't see your actual card details.

That means an extra layer of protection against fraudsters. This is smart, sure, but you know what’s even smarter? You can easily turn off virtual cards for subscriptions without the hassle of canceling through the merchant (who wants you to keep paying).

Three virtual cards worth your time

If you’re lucky enough to have a credit card with a virtual number already built in, you’re set. If not, no problem — I found two other free options worth considering.

Best built-in: Capital One

Price: Free

• The good: Capital One is one of the only legacy credit card providers offering free virtual cards for its customers. I can’t believe Visa and Mastercard haven’t jumped on this yet.
• The bad: You’ll need a browser extension to set up numbers for individual merchants. If you just want a single virtual number, log into your account! I put the steps on my site.

A starter option: Revolut

Price: One card free, then $5 each for extra cards (or $10 per month for unlimited cards)

• The good: You can use your virtual number online or in-store with Apple Pay or Google Wallet, as well as set spending limits and cancel them anytime.
• The bad: It works more like a prepaid debit card. The free plan only offers one card number, so you can’t turn off your card for a single subscription or merchant.

All the bells and whistles: Privacy

Price: Free for up to 12 cards per month ($10 per month for pro plans)

• The good: You can set up cards for specific merchants, get one-time use cards that expire after a payment, set spending limits, and add cards to your Apple Pay or Google Wallet for in-store use.
• The bad: Privacy doesn't let you link credit card accounts or accrue points.

Always practice safe shopping

• Don't use debit cards. It's a fact credit cards are safer for online transactions. They come with more protection against fraud and card theft.
• Don't save your payment info to your device. Password managers and browsers want you to save your payment info for easier checkouts in the future. Don't let them. Doing so makes your data more vulnerable to being swiped.
• Use a VPN. A virtual private network hides your location and web browsing from snoopers. My pick is ExpressVPN.*

You don't need to be paranoid about shopping online; you just need to be smart. Read the complete list of card specs, plus extra tips for safe shopping, right here! (I couldn’t fit everything in the newsletter.)

😶‍🌫️ Ugh, I wish I could focus more when buying stuff online, but I keep checking out ...

Upgrade your phone pics (hello, better selfies and family pics!) with these attachments.

• Solar imaging filter for taking pics of the sun — or the eclipse!
• Supercharge your photos with this camera lens kit for iPhone and Android.
• This camera lens kit has 11 lens options, including super-wide-angle and fisheye lens.
• Clip-on telephoto lens — this is so cool.
• This Microscope attachment makes your phone screen the viewfinder.

🦐 AI invasion: Facebook's algorithm is now pushing AI-generated content that goes straight to ad-heavy websites and scams. Some of these spam images look real, and others, like "Shrimp Jesus" (paywall link) are so weird that people can’t help but click. Meta's response? Crickets, as usual.

Stay tuned: YouTube star MrBeast just struck a deal with Amazon MGM for the biggest competition series in TV history. "Beast Games” is a reality show featuring 1,000 contestants duking it out for a $5 million prize. A thousand? I have enough trouble keeping the contestants on “The Bachelor” straight.

💼 Trending job skills: Remember when "data" was just a “Star Trek” character? Well, “data science” and “analytics” are now the hottest job categories, according to a 2024 study. The fastest-growing skills? Generative AI modeling, data analytics and machine learning. Share this with someone you know in college.

Work hard, play hard: LinkedIn's mixing business with pleasure with their new puzzle games. The angle? Play online games with your connections and contacts. Seems more like a recipe for distraction, but go ahead, dunk on your work frenemy.

👂 Tinnitus relief: That annoying ringing in your ears that just won't quit? Yeah, could be tinnitus. There’s no cure yet, but a new app called MindEar could offer some relief. It mixes chatbot tech, sound therapy, and mindfulness and meditation exercises to silence that high-pitched ringing. Get this: In its first trial with 30 participants, nearly two-thirds reported some improvement. Pretty awesome, right?

PSA for parents: Kids are using Apple's "invisible ink" in iMessage to send secret texts. This feature hides messages under a static effect called “dancing pixels” that disappear with a tap. You can disable it altogether under Settings > Accessibility > Reduce Motion.

🍔 Where’s the beef? Wendy’s “dynamic pricing” PR nightmare solution is $1 burgers until April 10 as a make-good. Of course, you have to order on their app and add the coupon on their “offers” page to get the deal. 🙄

Everything is pulse-ible: Nvidia is close to replacing some human nurses with AI, all for a mere $9 an hour. Yep, you read that right. These AI nurses will do things like guide you through colonoscopies, help manage your breast cancer care and, of course, keep your doc in the loop. Check out the video. With the current nursing shortage, this could def take off.

Your phone’s address book has all the juicy details on the people you care about — birthdays, pics, names, email addresses. Newsflash: That’s not your info to share.

Seems harmless, right? What does it matter if you let X or Meta dive into your contacts? Get this: From your address book, companies build “shadow profiles” for people who aren’t on their sites, just based on info they get from their friends who don’t realize how much they’re sharing.

The “what can I do?” is simple:

• Don't give apps access to your phone's contacts. Review which apps have access and turn it off. You’ll find this in your phone’s settings under App permissions.

🛑 Pay attention, folks. Stop sharing info without a real benefit to you. It’ll make a world of difference for your privacy.

Make it math for you: The Calculator app in Windows isn't just for normal number crunching — it’s for life! Click the three lines in the top left to see everything else it can do, from converting currencies to calculating the number of days between two dates. You’ll know exactly how long you have until that next work deadline … or your anniversary.

One woman’s trash is another’s treasure: Don't shy away from putting older or broken tech on sale on sites like eBay. Plenty of people will take a chance on something they think they can fix or use the parts from, even if you've given up on it.

I'm making a list: It’s easy to save places in Google Maps, like that out-of-the-way coffee shop you love. With a pin selected, tap Save. Try making lists for trips or cities, and you can share them with your travel buddies, too.

🗑️ Delete means delete! The trash folder on macOS can be a lifesaver when you delete something accidentally, but what about you when you want it gone for good? Select a sensitive file in Finder, then hold down Option before selecting File and Delete Immediately — it’s gone.

Just brows(er)ing: The Camelizer for Chrome is a smart way to save money on your next Amazon purchase. When the price drops on something you want to buy, you'll get an alert.

I trust SimpliSafe to protect my home and studio from break-ins, fires, floods and any unwelcome surprises. With SimpliSafe, you don’t just get alerts on your phone — you get a fortress.

• Exclusive to SimpliSafe: Unusual activity? If their camera spots it, their agents stop it in real time.
• Buy now, pay later: Your security can't wait for your budget.
• Seamless installation: Whether you’re all DIY or prefer a professional touch, installation is easy. Heck, I did it without breaking a nail.
• No-risk assurance: With a 60-day money-back guarantee and free return shipping, your investment in safety is absolutely risk‑free.

Not sure where to start? Take their quick quiz to see the perfect system tailored to your specific needs. Whether you live in a cozy apartment or a sprawling home, or you oversee a business, they’ve got you covered.

Between a rock and a hard place.

🌼 That’s it for today! And, even better, spring is officially here. I’m so excited that I just soiled my plants. (Now that was a good one!)

Be a pal and help me help more folks get tech smarts the easy way. Look below for your referral link. When you share that link with others and they sign up, you win great stuff.

Join the fun with me on Instagram, X, YouTube and Facebook, too. Tomorrow’s newsletter is going to have the very best deals you don’t want to miss during Amazon’s spring sale. — Kim