It’s a beautiful Sunday, friend! Let’s start with a fun fact you can share with your friends and family. Ever wonder why you can’t smile in your passport photo? It’s all about facial recognition tech. Neutral expressions help border agents and computers compare your in-person 3D features to your photo. Smiling messes with your facial proportions.

I used a publicity photo for my passport, and I’m always so relieved when border agents think it’s me after a 10-hour (or longer) flight! Keep reading for my favorite app for international flights, too.

😗 One password. That’s all you have to remember with a password manager. It does all the work for you. I negotiated a great deal: Only $1.23 a month for the award-winning NordPass, just for you. More on them below. — Kim

I’m not sure where this year went, but it’s time to dive headfirst into the festive frenzy. I've got some tech tips up my sleeve that'll sprinkle a little magic on your celebrations. You’re gonna love ‘em!

1. Cook up a storm with a digital cookbook

If your recipes are printed or handwritten, snap a pic with your phone or tablet. Add them all to one folder (or try the Notes app on iOS or Google Keep for Android) for easy swiping. Listen here for more tips about that.

Cooking recipes you found online? Use this site to strip the ads, save the PDF versions and toss them all in one spot. There’s a free 14-day trial, so just remember to cancel if you’re not going to keep using it.

Now, let’s get your kitchen cooking tech stylin’ with two essentials:

1. An inexpensive phone and tablet holder (47% off, $7.99) will keep your phone or tablet out of the mess of flour, stock and butter in the kitchen. Btw, I use this one for my iPad when doing the show!
2. A stylus (20% off, $7.99) can be used instead of your fingers to advance videos or scroll.

2. Go with digital holiday cards

Canva, Adobe Express, Paperless Post and Mailchimp all offer solid options. Choose a template, whip up a greeting and send it in just a few minutes — no trip to the post office.

But if you want a personalized card to mail, you can pick a template and upload a photo on Amazon for 15 cards ($21.45; $1.43 each) or up to 250 cards ($180; $0.72 each).

3. Your best family pics in years

No more designating the family friend or someone’s random date as the chief photographer.

• On iPhone: Open your Camera app and tap the up arrow at the top of the screen. Scroll to the option that looks like a clock, then tap it. Select a 3- or 10-second delay.
• On Android: In the Camera app, select Timer and turn it on. Choose a delay of 2, 5 or 10 seconds.

📸 If someone insists on taking the pic, ask them to use Burst mode. All they have to do is hold down on the shutter button to capture a ton of photos at once. This gives you a better chance of having everyone smiling!

4. Remove the screen temptation

It’s not the time to be glued to your phone, scrolling headlines or social media. Need a little help disconnecting? I’ve got ya.

• On iPhone: Open Settings > Screen Time.
• On Android: Open Settings > Digital Wellbeing.

Rather than a blanket screen time limit, be strategic and limit the stuff that sucks you in. Maybe you set a 10-minute limit on Instagram, for example.

Having guests and wanting their time, not screen time? Tell everyone to put their phones in a locked box during dinner, at least. Or do what I do, and tell everyone to turn their phones over on the tables during dinner. The first person to look at his or her phone owes me $100!

5. Turn your TV into a digital fireplace

Don’t have a crackling fire? Search for “Yule log” on YouTube or your preferred streaming service. Boom — instant cozy vibes. Bonus points if you turn on your smart speaker to play holiday tunes in the background.

My husband, Barry, is hosting and producing Mannheim Steamroller’s “An American Christmas” again this year. Such a great show! We’ll be posting the stations carrying it on my site soon!

🎶 I always listen to Neil Diamond during the holidays. He’s got sweet carol lines. Sing it with me: Bum-bum‑bum!

NordPass stores all your login info securely in one place. That’s a given. But it also creates virtually uncrackable passwords to keep hackers and snoops out of your accounts — replacing anything that’s weak or has been leaked.

Shop online? With one click, NordPass autofills your credit card information so you don’t have to type it all out. Snagging Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals has never been smoother, safer or faster.

Even better, it syncs across your devices, so you have secure access to your credentials on your phone, tablet or computer. Let NordPass handle your passwords while you take care of everything else.

• Jamie in Tampa is fed up paying for so many streaming services. Don’t miss this if you are, too.
• Shirley in Littleton wants to know if (and why) she should really remove all her DNA info from 23andMe.
• Debra in Tallahassee lost her mom and is trying to sort through mountains of paperwork. It’s so hard, I know, but I can help.

Plus, Alison needs a better way to email her photo club, James is worried about a foreign government tracking him, Treg wants to try Samsung Pay, Cindy received a mountain of random Amazon packages, Vicki got a request to make her art into NFTs and much more.

🚨 Worst hack in our nation's history: That’s what one senator’s calling the Communist China attack on U.S. telecom companies. They listened to phone calls and read text messages for months. The kicker? They’re still in the system, and getting them out might require physically replacing old equipment. So far, around 150 people are confirmed to have been hit, but this number could hit the millions as more details come to light.

Tesla has the highest rate of accidents where at least one occupant is killed: The numbers don’t lie. The Model S has a fatal accident rate 4.8 times higher than the average SUV. The fatal accident rate of Tesla’s Model Y is also double that of the average car. It’s sad when you think about how many folks put their full trust in the autopilot features. You’re a fool if you do.

💸 I’m Sirius about canceling: A New York judge ruled SiriusXM’s cancellation policies violated the federal Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act. How? Think long chats with agents trained to dissuade you and up to five offers before canceling. Annoying. Luckily, the feds are going after streaming services, too. Btw, aside from my daily and weekend network radio shows, I also host a special business-oriented show once a week on SiriusXM Channel 132.

Urgent fire risk recall: For Belkin BoostCharge Pro fast wireless chargers. The iPhone and Apple Watch power pack launched in May 2023. Look for model number BPD005 on the back of your charging pad, and if you have one, stop using it immediately and fill out the refund form.

⚡ Electric hopes, gasoline habits: An extended-range electric vehicle, or EREV, is an EV with a gas engine that acts as a generator. It could eliminate the range anxiety dilemma for new EV drivers. Here’s the catch: Owners of hybrid vehicles often skip plugging in and just rely on gas; EREV drivers will probably end up doing the same.

Nice try, Microsoft: The new Bing Wallpaper refreshes your desktop daily, but it’s also pulling some shady, malware-like moves. Hidden tricks include auto-installing Bing Visual Search, pushing Edge as your default browser, and decrypting cookies from Chrome and Firefox. Don’t use it.

$96 million, missing: Thousands of Americans lost their savings after fintech firm Synapse collapsed. Customers thought their money was government-backed, but now, banks are returning very little — or nothing at all. One family was offered $500 for their lost $280,000. This is your reminder to triple-check your money to make sure it’s in an FDIC-backed account.

🤠 Don’t make me go all Beth Dutton on you: Coming soon to Warner Bros. Discovery, AI-driven ads for shopping while watching. “Shop With Max” identifies products in shows or movies and displays a QR code for you to scan with your phone and buy, buy, buy.

Binge-watch at 30,000 feet: Just download a movie or show while you’re at home. For Netflix, click the title > Download (down arrow icon). For kiddos watching Disney+, open the app and hit download below the title. You’ll see a checkmark when it’s done. Heads-up: Not all content is downloadable.

📍 Explore along your route: Make your road trip more scenic with a hidden feature in Google Maps. Enter your destination, tap Directions and press Add stops. It’ll show you the best places to eat, shop and other gems along your drive.

Skip the lines at U.S. Customs: The Mobile Passport app is your secret weapon. It’s free, secure, and lets you submit your passport and customs info right from your phone — no forms needed! Plus, you get access to fast-track lanes at participating airports and cruise ports.

🙆‍♀️ Get out of debt: PDS Debt is an A+ BBB company I checked out before it became a sponsor. They’ll do a free debt analysis to help you make a plan to pay down your credit cards, personal loans, collections or medical bills. Go to PDSDebt.com/kim. It only takes 30 seconds. Do it now and you’ll be on your way to less stress in no time.*

Take screenshots on your Kindle: Tap the upper-right and lower-left corners at the same time. You’ll see a flash when it saves. To view it, connect your Kindle to a computer. You’ll find the image as a PNG file in the root folder.

Ship smarter: This website compares rates for all available carriers, including UPS, FedEx and DHL, so you know the best price. They include current discount codes, too. Score.

Safe Wi-Fi anywhere: Using public Wi‑Fi is risky no matter where you go. It doesn’t make a difference if you stay at a five-star luxury hotel, have lunch at your hometown diner or you’re at the airport. The easy way to protect yourself? Turn on a VPN.*

☕ From mugs to machines, these gifts will have your loved ones sipping in style.

• Ever wished your Keurig could make a whiskey sour, too? With a cocktail maker machine (14% off), all you have to do is pop in a drink capsule, and voila!
• This adorable coffee mug set works overtime as a cup and a cute decoration.
• The best travel mug in their favorite color. No joke, it keeps drinks hot or cold for 8 hours!
• Give coffee lovers who don’t have much counter space a portable espresso machine. Click the coupon box for $10 off!
• No one deserves a cold cup of joe. Give the gift of warmth with an app-controlled smart coffee mug (20% off).

🚨 Only 141 clicks away! When a YouTube channel hits 100,000 subscribers, Big Tech’s algorithms change to show that content to more people. So, subscribe now to help me reach more tech-behind folks!

Write: An email your future self. I’m going to remind her to take the trash out.

Laugh: At my cohost Andrew’s reaction to Silicon Valley’s latest networking trend.

🥊 Knock out: Your Christmas shopping. I picked out winners for guys, gals, teens, kids and everyone else on your list.

ICYMI: Kim K. (the other one, not me) is getting pretty friendly with her new robot.

⚡ Last chance: Just 24 hours left to enter to win an iPhone 16 Pro with Apple Intelligence ($999 value), no purchase necessary.

Speaking of IDs … 11 states offer digital driver’s licenses, with 12 more joining soon. To see if yours does, check your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles website or do a web search for “[your state] digital driver’s license.” Keep in mind they’re not accepted everywhere yet. When in doubt, carry your physical ID as a backup.

📼 … Or just flash your Blockbuster card. If that doesn’t show your age, nothing will.

Before you go, check out NordPass to keep all your accounts safe and secure with strong passwords. You can import yours from another password manager, too. See ya bright and early tomorrow with another issue of the best newsletter in the USA! — Kim