Hello there on a fabulous Friday, my tech friend! Let’s start off with today’s trivia. Punxsutawney Phil’s days may be numbered. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wants to replace him with an AI animatronic groundhog, saying it would be more accurate and humane. So, how accurate is Phil overall — A.) 12%, B.) 39%, C.) 51% or D.) 78%? Answer's at the end!

❣️ OK, I always share the mean comments, but look at this sweet one from YouTube: “I think you are sooo smart, funny and of course beautiful ... I get your newsletter ... There is so much great stuff there." Aw, thanks! Tune in today at 10:30 a.m. PST/1:30 p.m. EST on YouTube, Rumble or Facebook. See ya there! Now, on to the tech news and tips! — Kim

I’m going to Japan in March and have looked up flights on a few different sites. Roundtrip prices can vary easily by as much as $900, depending on where I’m looking. Oof!

Here's the twist

One place I checked was my credit card rewards site. I get points and perks when I use my card, so this seems like a total no-brainer, right? Not so fast. Do a little digging, and you may find it's not the bigger, better deal.

Lots of credit card companies offer fancy booking tools as a perk to justify the hefty annual fee, but they're not always as perky as you'd think.

The long and short of it: Prices through your credit card company are often higher than booking directly. Airlines and hotels want to drive customers to book through them, so you’re way more likely to snag a deal through their sites.

Nope, it’s not ‘free’

You probably spent a ton of money to get those credit card points in the first place. When you put it that way, it doesn't seem so free. And if you don't have enough points to cover the entire trip, you'll still have to shell out some cash to settle the bill.

Pro tip: I often cash in credit card points for gift cards to places where I’m already shopping or want to buy someone a gift.

Pricing predicament

Your credit card company doesn’t set hotel room or plane ticket prices through their portals. Most don't even manage the travel booking features at all.

• Expedia is behind the American Express travel site.
• The popular Hopper tool manages Capital One’s offering.

Keep in mind hotel and flight prices fluctuate, and websites don't update their pricing at the same time. If you don't check around, you could wind up paying the older, more expensive rate.

If you've racked up loyalty points with a specific hotel chain, use them. (You can't cash in hotel loyalty points through a third-party site, so book directly.) Depending on your status, you may get extra perks, like spa discounts and early check-in. Worth it!

Want to cash in those points?

• First-class and business-class tickets typically offer the most bang for your points and miles. Cash them in for a bougie experience.
• Credit card companies sometimes offer special discounts on vacation packages for card members, so look for deals.
• Traveling with a large group? Extended-stay properties often require a fraction of the points needed by luxury options.
• Planning a trip during a peak season? Use your points to keep down your costs.

What’s the best day of the week to book flights?

Sunday! You can save up to 15%. Now, how far in advance should you book domestic and international flights? Get the answer, along with a lot more insider travel tips, on my site. I linked to the printer version of the page, too, so you don’t see any ads. You’re welcome.

🤣 I once asked a flight attendant to change my seat because I was next to a crying baby. Turns out you can’t do that if the baby’s yours.

… are a real drag. It’s rainy here this weekend, so I may curl up under a blanket. Who am I kidding? I can’t sit still.

• Furry, warm and lots of good color options, plus it’s 48% off!
• This cotton cable-knit throw looks so comfy, and the colors are great.
• A wearable blanket means no one can steal it from you when you get up for a snack.
• Food-themed blankets are hysterical — love the pizza and tortilla. (On sale!)
• This chunky chenille throw is so gorgeous you’ll want to leave it out year‑round.

Malware mystery: Hackers are planting malware on USB drives and using trustworthy sites like GitHub, Vimeo and Ars Technica to activate it. The “how” is still a mystery, but be safe and don’t share USB drives. If you get one in the mail or find one on the street, throw it away.

I was glad to see this: eBay is paying a $59 million settlement after the U.S. Department of Justice proved pill press machines were being sold on the site. Yep, those devices can make fake, maybe fentanyl-laced, pills. How eBay could let this crap be sold in the first place is beyond me. Shame on them.

Nothing to see here: The Consumer Product Safety Commission is about to tag Amazon as a "distributor," making it accountable for all those third-party products. Amazon has played the "just-a-middleman" card all these years. The new label could mean lawsuits and recall headaches for Bezos and Co.

🎨 Feel like Bob Ross: Thanks to the Imagen 2 engine, Google's Bard chatbot now does AI art. It’s free to use, and Google is adding watermarks to avoid AI image drama (ahem, Taylor Swift pics).

“This is the year that I want to fall in love — 100%.” That's what actress Sharon Stone said, even after her bad luck with online dating. Lowlights include meeting a felon and a guy with 20,000 heroin injections. If I saw Sharon Stone on Tinder, I'd def think it was fake.

⛔ It worked for Netflix: Starting March 14, no more password sharing on Hulu, Disney+ or ESPN+. Disney is banning using someone else's account — aka "borrowing." Mickey needs the money.

Dream control? Meet Halo, an AI headband promising to let you control your dreams. It detects REM sleep and nudges your brain into lucid dreaming mode. For a mere $2,000 (plus a $100 deposit), you might get to live out your “Inception” fantasies by 2025.

💋 Kiss my asteroid: A stadium-sized asteroid is cruising by Earth today, missing us by, well, 1,770,000 miles. NASA says it's "potentially hazardous" but will likely whizz on by. It's one of 2,350 space rocks keeping NASA on its toes.

Yes, it’d be nice if we could wave a magic wand to make every privacy policy as readable as possible. The next best thing? Use Ctrl + F on your keyboard for Windows or Cmd + F on a Mac to quickly search for these terms:

• Your data is worth a lot. Search for “sell,” “partners” and “affiliates” to see if it’s being sold.
• Sections like "How we collect your personal data" show what a company gathers from you and how it does it.
• Try something like “How we use your personal information" to get the company's take on why they need your data in the first place. FYI, a phrase like "business purposes" almost always means they share it.
• “Geolocation" and “geotargeting" indicate your location information is collected. I opt out when I can.
• Watch for references to “COPPA,” or the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, to see how a company protects your kid’s data.

🖊️ There’s a free resource that does all this for you, btw. Terms of Service Didn’t Read is a website and a browser add-on that summarizes the key points before you hit “Agree.”

📅 AI personal assistant: Google Bard or ChatGPT can plan your day for you. Tell the AI your top three priorities, appointments or commitments and how long a task typically takes, then ask it to create a schedule. Bam, a bullet-point list, scheduled to the minute.

Perfect for action shots, kids and pets: To try Burst mode on an iPhone XS or later, swipe the shutter button to the left. (For an iPhone X or earlier, touch and hold the shutter button.) Now, lift your finger to stop Burst mode, and select the best pics by tapping Burst > Select > Done. On an Android device, hold down your camera’s shutter button.

💤 Give your tech a breather: A restart ends background processes, clears the cache and RAM, and speeds up things. After you read this newsletter, turn your phone off and back on. Do the same with your computer for extra credit!

Germ buster: Grab a sanitizing wipe and give your computer mouse, remote controls and car keyfob a cleanup. Bonus points if you also wipe down your front doorknob.

📚 When the e‑book is … complicated: Activate Word Wise on your Kindle to get brief definitions above tricky words. Open your book, then tap the Aa menu. Select More, then Word Wise. Toggle it on.

The only way to keep it your business do that 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.

You ain’t nothing but a corndog.

The answer: B.) 39%. That's according to the Stormfax Weather Almanac. Listen, if I had an employee who only did 39% of their work correctly … that person wouldn't last long.

Dang, I can't believe the film "Groundhog Day" came out in 1993. It feels just like yesterday. Ba‑tum‑tss!

🤗 Another solid day in the books. I need a favor: Use your referral link below. The best way for me to grow this newsletter is for you to tell one person to subscribe. Would you do that for me? That would be amazing, just like you! I’ll see you on our video podcast today and in your inbox tomorrow with the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim