Welcome to your tech-marvelous Monday, friend. Let’s start with a trivia question about Jeff Bezos. He has some quirky habits, like eating octopus for breakfast. There’s a time of day when he won’t make any important decisions. Is it … A.) Before 8 a.m., B.) Between noon and 1 p.m., or C.) After 5 p.m.? You’ll find the answer at the end.

✅ Today is the day! Watch us on YouTube at 11:30 a.m. Arizona time, which is 10:30 a.m. Pacific and 1:30 p.m. Eastern. My new video podcast is going LIVE. Subscribe to my channel and join the fun. Hope you can tune in every day, Monday through Friday, at 11:30 a.m. Arizona time! — Kim

I ran into an acquaintance I hadn’t seen for a few years, and she’d lost a ton of weight. I asked her, “Did you start an exercise program?” Nope. She’s taking supplements she heard about on TikTok. That bothered the heck out of me, so I did some research.

What I found was frightening

Lewis Brown took health supplements containing a drug called DNP, which led to his internal body temperature skyrocketing to 103.64 degrees Fahrenheit. Although he survived, Brown had a leg muscle surgically removed.

Lucero Garza died after taking the weight-loss supplement Avitia Cobrax, which she bought via Facebook. The pills were marketed as a natural remedy.

Chris Wilcock suffered a heart attack and died after taking T5, a fat-burning supplement available online. Tests revealed his body contained as much caffeine as 300 cups of coffee at the time of his death.

The weight-loss supplement OxyElite Pro was linked to 97 cases of acute nonviral hepatitis, resulting in 47 hospitalizations, three liver transplants and the death of a mother of seven. OxyElite Pro has since been recalled.

You’ve probably spotted weight-loss products on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, online ads, YouTube and other places. Many of these “brands” know folks want to get fit, and so they’re willing to lie, cheat and mislead you to get your money.

PureFit KETO – and any keto diet pill brand

There’s no such thing as keto pills. Short for “ketogenic,” the term “keto” refers to a low-carb, high-protein diet. Social media ads from “health experts” claim their pills “burn” away fat. Buy some and you’ll get sucked into a subscription service that’s impossible to cancel or worse — your health suffers.

‘Magic’ gummies ‘approved by the FDA’

“Magic” gummies are another trick Speedy Keto and other pop-up brands try. They say celebrities like Elon Musk, Dr. Oz or Dolly Parton use their gummies to get amazing results. All B.S.

Fake Wegovy and Ozempic sites

Wegovy and Ozempic do have real websites by maker Novo Nordisk, and the drugs work for losing weight. But these are prescription drugs. Just so we’re all clear: You can’t order them online.

Weight-loss ads can be tricky SOBs

Any weight-loss product that uses words like “burn,” “dissolve” or “melt” is suspicious. They use manipulated photos of popular celebrities, fake testimonials, sexy Instagram models or made-up stats to fool you into thinking they’re legit. They’re not.

The FDA doesn’t review dietary supplements

Unlike regulated medications, supplements don’t have the same testing and approval process. The lack of oversight means what's on the label might not be what's actually in the bottle.

If there’s anyone in your circle who might be taking a supplement sold online, use the share icons below to send them this story. I sent it to the woman I mentioned at the beginning, and she replied, “I had no idea the FDA didn’t check these pills out. I threw them away. Thanks for caring about me, Kim.”

For more scam defense: Stop by my guides on text and email scams, travel scams and how some scammers even create fake retail websites.

You’ve seen people lugging big water bottles everywhere, right? Hey, whatever helps you stay hydrated.

• Stanley is the “it” brand right now, and it fits in car cupholders.
• Content Queen Allie bought this one and says it’s great! (Cheaper, too.)
• If you prefer a bottle without a handle, this is nice.
• OK, I love this — a water bottle your pup can drink out of on hikes and long walks.
• When I need to mix it up, I love this zero-sugar lemonade.

🚰 Speaking of … RIP boiled water. You will be mist.

Your bumble was meant to bee: Dating apps like Hinge and Bumble are being flooded with people in consensual open relationships and looking for more love or just sex. How can you tell if your potential match will be getting more than just you? Their profiles clearly state they’re into “ENM,” short for ethical nonmonogamy. Now you know.

Hope in healthcare: The FDA just approved a $399 AI-powered skin cancer detector. The handheld DermaSensor examines skin lesions with AI to help doctors in early diagnosis. It hit a 96% accuracy rate in trials. I hate cancer.

PR lullaby: Instagram’s "nighttime nudges" will tell teens, "Time for a break? It's getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night" if they spend too much time on Insta in the evenings. How cool … till you remember Meta is facing a big lawsuit for negatively impacting our youth’s mental health.

💸 Vision Pro hype: Apple's Vision Pro is so hot right now, preorders are pushed back a month. If you’re ready to drop $3,499, you’ll have to wait till March. Wanna skip the wait? Try your luck at an Apple store on launch day. Prepare yourself for a long line — trust me.

AI hits are misses: TikTok's new AI Song tool lets you create tunes from text prompts. Thanks to Bloom (a large language model), you can spin pop, hip-hop or EDM tracks from your lyrics. Honestly, most of it sounds a bit … off, like robots trying too hard at karaoke.

📸 Zooming in: Samsung's Galaxy S24 has “crop zoom,” a cool trick for getting perfect close-up shots. Better sensors mean you can zoom in closer than ever without upgrades to the camera itself. While it's great in good lighting, it’s not as useful in lower-light conditions. Coming to an iPhone soon.

For the gamer in your life: UC Berkeley has a new video game course called “The Art of Fighting Games.” Students get schooled in not just gaming skills but also the culture and history behind them. Grading's no joke, either — attendance, homework and, yep, how well you take a beating in tournaments. The final boss: A project on a game character's impact.

The car I drew when I was 5: A Cybertruck that passed 10,000 miles isn’t getting the promised 320-mile range with four all-terrain tires. Turns out the maximum range with a full battery is 206 miles. On the plus side, the driver says the car is a “dream to drive.”

If you live in an area where getting solid Wi‑Fi coverage is a real pain, monitoring your property remotely with a security camera is still possible. I get this question often enough I wanted to drop some tips and links here for you.

• Connect it to a mobile hotspot. Just use your smartphone's data plan to connect your camera to the internet. Here’s how, if you need help.
• Run a cable. If your camera has an Ethernet port, you're good to go.
• Some home security cameras come with a micro SD card slot, which allows you to store footage locally. That means you can still record video even if you don't have an internet connection. Nice.
• If you want to go completely wireless, use a battery-powered camera. These rely on internal batteries to power the device and usually come with built-in storage for recording video.
• Solar-powered cams work well, too. Placement matters, so don’t stick one somewhere that never gets light. This model can pan around if you need more coverage.

🏠 Need a whole-home security system? My pick is SimpliSafe.* It’s easy to set up, and there are no expensive contracts.

👁️‍🗨️ Who is the patron saint of surveillance? St. Francis of a CCTV.

🗑️ Take out the trash: On a Mac, hold down Cmd + Shift, then press Delete. Boom, your trash can’s empty. On Windows, you’re better off right-clicking and selecting Empty Recycle Bin.

This, not that: Got kiddos who love to tap around on your iPad? Or maybe you're handing over your device to show a single photo and you don't want curious fingers swiping. Activate Guided Access. Just triple-click the home button once you're in the app you wish to lock onto, then triple-click again to exit and enter your passcode.

No bars: When your cell service is wonky, switch your phone to Airplane mode, wait a few seconds, then change it back. This will reconnect you to the nearest cell tower. Sweet!

The only way to keep it your business is with a VPN. A virtual private network encrypts your data and hides your IP address, giving you an extra layer of protection from snoops, advertisers and Big Tech companies looking to profit off you.

Some VPNs slow your connection or, worse, track your internet activity and compromise your security. Not ExpressVPN. Plus, you can connect in just one click from a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, iPad, you name it.

🚨 Deal alert: Get an extra THREE months free since you subscribe to my newsletter.

Do we really need to tell people, “Remove child before washing”?

The answer: C.) After 5 p.m. Bezos says he avoids making important decisions then because he’s not at his full mental capacity at that time of day. Me, neither, thanks to a lemon-drop martini! Yup, shake it till you make it!

Thanks for getting my free newsletter. It’s such fun being able to spread tech know-how this way. Be sure to tell a few folks to subscribe using your unique referral code below so you can win free stuff. That would be amazing! — Kim