The Current + The Banksying trend, Uber scams and the fall of middle management - In partnership with Timeline | Happy Friday, friend. Space might be a vacuum, but it turns out it’s not a game-free zone. Back in the ’90s, a cosmonaut decided watching Earth wasn’t exciting enough and took a video game console with him to the stars. 🧑🚀 Take a guess which game was the first to be played in space: A) Pong, B) Tetris, C) Space Invaders or D) Super Mario Bros. Find the answer at the end. 🌟 Recharge your energy at the cellular level. Timeline’s Mitopure powers up your mitochondria, and right now, it’s 40% off. More about that below. — Kim 📫 First-time reader? Sign up here. (It’s free!) | TODAY'S DEEP DIVE Not so fiction now Image: ChatGPT I’ll skip the wizards and superheroes. Give me a movie that looked into the future and actually saw something real coming before we even had Wi-Fi. These are the ones that got it right, eerily right. Some were made 10, 20, even more than 50 years ago, and they still hold up. If you haven’t seen them, add them to your list. 📺 Back to the Future Part II (1989) It’s easy to laugh at hoverboards and self-lacing shoes, but this movie predicted flat-screen TVs, FaceTime, wearable tech, voice assistants, smart homes and drones. Oh, and video glasses? Sound like Apple Vision Pro to you? 👁️ Minority Report (2002) Ads that talk to you by name. Touchless interfaces. Eye scans. Predictive policing. Facial recognition. Targeted marketing. This movie predicted half the tech you’re already using and the half you hope never shows up. 🗣️ Her (2013) He falls in love with his AI assistant. Not Alexa. This is more like Replika or Character.AI, where people are actually forming relationships with bots. They text them, confide in them, say “I love you” and even have sex. This movie isn’t the future, it’s now. 🧠 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) HAL was Siri with an attitude. Voice-controlled AI, video calling, space tourism, all decades before they were real. If HAL had a better personality and didn’t shut people out of air locks, he’d fit right into today’s smart home. 🎭 The Truman Show (1998) OK, not technically sci-fi, but stick with me. It predicted reality TV, influencer culture and how we broadcast every moment of our lives like someone’s watching. 🧬 Gattaca (1997) Designer babies. DNA-based hiring. Genetic discrimination. This one’s a warning wrapped in a killer wardrobe. It’s starting to happen now, and it raises real ethical questions that we’re barely ready for. 🕵️♀️ The Net (1995) Sandra Bullock’s identity is stolen and erased online. Back then, it was fiction. Now, it’s called a Tuesday. 🌍 WALL-E (2008) Earth is trashed, robots clean up the mess, and humans are too glued to screens to notice. What was once Pixar’s dystopia is now … kinda familiar? 🍼 Idiocracy (2006) The future is dumb, loud and sponsored by fast food. In a world where ads are everywhere and critical thinking’s gone MIA, a totally average guy becomes the smartest person alive. Got one I missed? After you rate today’s newsletter at the end, tell me in the comments. I always want to hear what you’re watching. 🍿 😂 Nerd joke alert! Did you see the movie about a database query? I heard the SQL is better. (lol) |
Daily Tech Update Is your old tech worth a fortune? Some investors are treating vintage tech like fine art. The right piece could be a gold mine. Listen on Komando.com → |
DEALS OF THE DAY Last call for ‘Prime Day’ ⏰ Quick, there’s still time to grab the best of the best. 🚗 Need a jump? Start with a smart battery charger (40% off) that works for campers, ATVs, you name it. 🔋 Watch your battery: A key chain charger (44% off) can power any Apple Watch and fits in your pocket. ⚡ Transfer data, fast: Photographers, you need this little SD card reader (38% off) with dual slots. 🤓 Screen time saver: Ease eyestrain with these blue-light-blocking glasses (37% off). Handy case included. 📱 Snap pics underwater: Just snag some waterproof phone pouches (20% off) that work up to 100 ft. 💧 Thirsty? This 10-cup pitcher (20% off) comes with a 200-gallon filter that lasts five times longer than the rest. 🍳 Secret sauce: Grab a nonstick saucepan (35% off) that works on any stovetop. PFAS- and PFOA-free, too. 🛀 Luxury within arm’s reach: All you need is a foldable bathtub tray (15% off) to hold your tablet, drink and more. ✨ Gentle clean, every time: Cetaphil’s hydrating foaming cleanser (20% off) is perfect for sensitive skin. 💩 Drop it in: These heavy-duty toilet cleaning tablets (28% off, 12-pack) tackle stains and odor with every flush. 🛒 Don’t miss out! Head to my Amazon storefront to scoop up the rest of my Komando-approved Prime Day deals before they’re gone. |
WEB WATERCOOLER 🚨 New Uber scam: You request a ride, the driver accepts and you get a call saying you need to verify your account. The scammer asks for your phone number, email and verification codes. Give it up, and they log into your account and steal your money. Your ex just Banksy’d you: That uneasy vibe? It’s called “Banksying,” a new name for a breakup tactic where someone slowly fades emotionally but sticks around just long enough to watch you unravel. It’s basically ghosting’s more psychopathic cousin. Named after the artist, it ends when they dramatically exit while you’re still mentally planning next weekend’s brunch. Perplexity launches Comet: Their new AI browser has smart search summaries and a built-in assistant that can read your emails, check your calendar and answer questions about the page you’re on. The kicker? For now, it’s only available on their $200/month Max plan. FYI: You’ll also need to give up a lot of private data, like your Google account. 📱 The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is here: It’s thinner than ever at 8.9mm closed (compared to the Fold 6’s 12.1mm). You get an 8-inch inner screen and a 6.5-inch outer. There’s also a 200MP main camera, 10MP selfie, up to 16GB of RAM and storage from 256GB to 1TB. The catch? It starts at $2,000. Yikes. “Full self-driving” debunked: A Tesla owner just got his $10K back after proving “Full Self-Driving” isn’t even close. The car never qualified for FSD beta, and turns out the hardware can’t handle autonomy anyway. It’s “Full Self-Driving” the way LaCroix is “juice.” 👶 Heartbeat in your hand: This is cool if you’re pregnant. A new AI-powered app lets you feel your unborn baby’s heartbeat by translating ultrasound data into phone vibrations. It’s giving “skin-to-skin” a low-latency, Bluetooth-enabled twist. It’s also $96/year, not FDA-cleared, but pretty neat at womb temperature. |
| Call your high school bio teacher. Turns out supporting your mitochondria can help you age better. Studies show that supporting these tiny powerhouses can boost energy and combat muscle weakness. Who knew something so small could be so mighty? Even better? After 15 years of research, Swiss scientists cracked the code. Mitopure®, by Timeline, is a clinically proven supplement that recharges your mitochondria—leading to significant gains in energy and muscle strength, all without changing your workout routine.* See for yourself with 40% off during Amazon Prime Day, while supplies last. Get 40% off during Amazon Prime Day, while supplies last → *500mg Mitopure® have been shown to (1) induce gene expression related to mitochondria function and metabolism and (2) increase the strength of the hamstring leg muscle in measures of knee extension and flexion after 4 months in overweight 40-65 year olds. |
DIGITAL LIFE HACK Boomers and Zoomers agree on this Are your phone habits harmless? There’s one thing every generation agrees is just too rude. Listen on Komando.com → |
DEVICE ADVICE ⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Print black-and-white even when your color ink is empty. In print settings, choose “Print in grayscale using black ink only.” Works on most printers and saves you mid-print rage. 💻 Emergency Windows restart: If your PC is totally frozen, don’t just hold the power button. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open the security screen. Then hold Ctrl and click the Power icon in the bottom-right. You’ll get a warning about losing unsaved data. Click OK to restart right away. 📚 Take Kindle screenshots: Want to save something on your screen? Tap the upper-right and lower-left corners at the same time. To view it, plug your Kindle into a computer and check the Screenshots folder (Root folder for older models). 👪 Decode your kids: Urban Dictionary has your back. Type in any slang word or phrase, and you’ll get the top-voted definition, usually accurate, occasionally unhinged. Great for translating “rizz,” “mid” or whatever they’re mumbling these days. 💬 Mark texts as unread: It’s not just for emails. On iPhone, swipe right on a conversation and tap Mark as Unread (it looks like a speech bubble). On Android, press and hold the convo, tap thethree-dot menu in the top-right corner, then choose Mark as unread, so you won’t forget to reply later. 🎧 Tired of earbuds that fall out or fizzle fast? I use Raycon’s Everyday Earbuds! They have clear sound, comfy fit and up to 32 hours of battery life. They’re half the price of big brands. Get 15% off today at Raycon!* |
BY THE NUMBERS $99 The price to skip the line you paid $209 a year to skip. Clear’s new “Concierge Express” lets you bypass the Clear line, because apparently, even fast isn’t fast enough. It’s like buying a VIP pass to your own VIP pass. No word yet on velvet ropes or red carpets. 48,000 That’s how many likes Tinder’s “most swiped right man” racked up without finding “the one.” Despite spending nine years and countless hours on the app (earning him the title “Mr. Tinder”), Stefan-Pierre Tomlin found love the old-fashioned way, meeting his girlfriend during a night out. She had no clue he was Mr. Tinder until she Googled him. $293 million That’s the global box office haul for Apple’s biggest movie ever … so far. F1: The Movie beat out Napoleon to take the top spot in Apple’s box office history. About 1 in 5 tickets sold were in IMAX alone, making it the coziest way to feel like you’re inside an F1 car. Popcorn included. |
WHAT THE TECH? | Image: @miazelu via Instagram |
| Her name’s Mia Zelu. She’s blonde, beautiful, emotionally vulnerable and 100% not real. The AI-generated “digital storyteller” stunned Instagram with courtside Wimbledon pics and poetic captions that sound straight out of a therapy session, tricking thousands (including, allegedly, Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant) into thinking she was human. She has over 150,000 followers and even has an AI “sister” with 2x the followers. 🥂 She is incredibly pretty, but she’s also closer to my toaster than an actual human. |
LOGGING OUT ... Answer: B) Tetris. In 1993, Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov played Tetris on a Game Boy aboard the Mir space station. Proof that even in orbit, you still can’t quit after just one level. You think block rotation is hard on Earth? Try it while floating near the ceiling. You know, playing Tetris has taught me a valuable life lesson. If you try to fit in, you’ll disappear. 🌠 More energy, better strength, no extra workouts? That’s the power of Mitopure from Timeline. And right now, it’s 40% off for Prime Day. Check it out! 🥇 This is the #1 tech newsletter in the U.S. Your inbox has incredible taste. Tomorrow, I’m talking about reclaiming your screen from the internet’s Times Square. Until then, may your Wi-Fi be fast and your inbox be empty. 📬 — Kim 📣 Don’t keep me a secret: Share this email with friends (or copy URL here) | |
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