Happy Monday! Let’s go back in time to the first webcam ever connected to the internet. Was it pointed at a … coffee pot, eagle’s nest, hot young woman or parking lot? The answer’s at the end, so you can use this question to stump your boss or coworkers!

👋 Every day, I bring you this free newsletter that contains the most important tech news you need to know. No Big Tech algorithms here. Read on and expand your know-how! – Kim

Have cash sitting around in an app like Venmo, Cash App or PayPal? The Fed just put out a new warning: Unlike the money at your FDIC-insured bank or credit union, you can lose your money sitting in these apps.

Not a big deal if you keep $20 around to pay back a friend for a drink. But this is huge if you get paid directly to PayPal or Venmo for anything.

What’s the big deal?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says more than 75% of American adults have used one of these apps.

📈 In 2022, transactions via payment apps totaled $893 billion. That’s estimated to reach $1.6 trillion by 2027. Whoa.

When money makes it to your bank or credit union, it's almost certainly protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. It's generally insured up to $250,000 per account — and it's why we can all sleep at night knowing our money is safe even if we can't see it.

If it never hits a bank … it never gets insured

PayPal, Venmo and Cash App don't send your money to a bank account automatically, of course. It sits in the app, meaning those companies control it and that's how they make the big bucks. They invest money in the app's customer accounts and charge you fees for using premium features like instant transfers.

Seems unlikely that PayPal, for instance, could fail. But if it did, you’d probably be SOL. Just look at what happened to everyone who had money in the crypto exchange company FTX. Billions of dollars gone overnight, just like that. 

Take these steps now

What if you're a business owner who gets paid or tipped through these apps? PayPal lets you set up automatic bank transfers based on time or account balance, which is excellent … with a caveat: You need a Business account.

• Click the More Options icon next to your balance. Select Automatic transfers.
• Select a bank account, the frequency and the amount. Click Turn on Automatic Transfers.

❌ Venmo and Cash App users are SOL

For you, I recommend setting a calendar reminder to transfer your money out of the app every two weeks or at least monthly.

I know what you’re thinking: “I’m so good at managing money, I got a letter from a debt collector for my ‘outstanding payment.’”

📞 Prime coverage: Amazon is talking to Verizon, T-Mobile, Dish and AT&T to make free or $10 monthly cellular service part of a Prime membership. Amazon recently paid a $25 million fine for Ring privacy violations. I’m not trusting them with my phone data and location history.

Skip a step: A Windows 11 beta feature lets you browse and transfer photos from your Microsoft phone to your PC’s File Explorer via QR code — no cord needed. Want to try? Get the latest Dev Channel build, click the Add Phone Photos button in File Explorer and scan the code.

🥾 Lost on the trail? Get 27,000 offline trail maps for free via the HiiKER app. Now you can stumble your way down the mountain and make it to your car, even if you have no cell service. 

From Google: New for Android and Wear OS, kiddos can work on reading skills with Reading Practice. For you, fun widgets for Google TV, Finance and News — and check if your passwords are on the Dark Web if you pay $1.99 monthly for Google One. 

🏕️ RV for your EV? The Lightship L1 Trailer from former Tesla engineers has a kitchen, bathroom and sitting area, all powered by solar. It can easily be towed by a 300-mile-range EV. It ain't cheap — it starts at $125,000. I think it's pretty snazzy!

Not helpful, Tessa: The National Eating Disorder Association's ChatGPT bot "Tessa" was turned off after it suggested those with eating disorders cut an additional 500 to 1,000 calories daily for weight loss. Oof.

Vimeohno: Have videos on Vimeo? I’d download and move them to YouTube right away. Vimeo is killing off its TV apps on June 27. That includes Android TV/Google TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. Never a good sign when a video site cuts a way for you to watch videos on its site.

🎸 Vinyl revival: Records outsold CDs in 2022 — that hasn’t happened since 1987. Why? The answer is simple: Music lovers say it sounds better than digital. I agree. There’s a bigger story told in a great video from The Wall Street Journal.

Every morning, brush your teeth to my Daily Tech Update. You get fresh breath and fresh tech know-how in a minute.

Listen to my podcast, Daily Tech Update, here.

Do you crush candies? Maybe you prefer word games, collecting coins or playing cards. Your favorite phone game is probably collecting a lot more than you know. No wonder it’s free!

Privacy company Surfshark put together a list of the most data-hungry games out there. Is your fave on the list?

Hunger games

They analyzed 510 popular mobile games, then used a 100-point “data hunger index” to calculate just how much an app collects. On average, the most popular games are at 33.33 on the index, with a few notable outliers. 

🏅 Here are the top 10 most popular games worldwide and their hunger index scores:

1. 8 Ball Pool: 69.9
2. Subway Surfers: 57.6
3. Gardenscapes: 42
4. Eggparty: 35
5. Parking Jam 3D: 33.6
6. Roblox: 30
7. Chess - Play & Learn: 18
8. Game for Peace: 16
9. Royal Match: 14
10. Survivor!.io: 10

You may recognize 6 and 7 on the list, as they’re most popular here in the U.S. Roblox takes the cake in collecting the most data, including — wait for it — your search history. Yeesh. I’m willing to bet a kid (or an adult) in your life plays it.

♟️ Chess - Play & Learn also collects browsing history (super …). 8 Ball Pool wants access to your contacts.

✅ Asking for your contacts is a popular sneaky tactic apps use to gather more data to sell. Here’s why that’s a mistake — along with other app no-nos.

Did you know about 40% of people still answer emails on vacation? I admit I’m guilty. Do yourself a favor and fully check out if you can! An out-of-office (OOO) email lets your contacts know they’ll have to wait for a reply.

📧 I’ve seen some great OOO replies and some really terrible ones. Here are three key ground rules:

• Keep it simple! No one wants to read for five minutes to get the point. “I’m on vacation. I will reply to your message when I return on (date). If this is an urgent matter, contact (person) at (email and phone).” Easy.
• Don’t brag about your vacation. Many people make the mistake of saying too much. Imagine sitting at your desk emailing a coworker about a project only to receive, “I’m in Hawaii and I won’t answer until my third Mai Tai” in response. No bueno.
• Give yourself a buffer. Allow an extra day before promising replies. Emails will pile up while you’re gone, and everyone’s brain is a little mushy the day back from traveling.

✅ Messy inbox = Messy mind. Here’s a way to delete things faster than doing it one by one.

There’s just too much to know between your phone, computer, TV, smart devices, printer, Wi-Fi … I could go on. 

The experts at GetKimsHelp.com are there for you 24/7. Their team can remote into your device and do it for you, so no trying to figure out complicated steps when something goes wrong. 

The best part? If they don’t fix your problem, you don’t pay!

Change does not come from a place of comfort … unless you find loose coins in the couch.

☕️ The answer: A coffee pot. In 1991, University of Cambridge computer nerds were tired of going downstairs for coffee and the pot was empty. They pointed a webcam at the coffee pot. Using the Netscape browser, the image refreshed every three seconds.

Speaking of … Two astronauts are having breakfast on the space station when one turns to the other and says, “I can't find any milk for my coffee.” The second astronaut replies, “In space no one can, here use cream.” I just crack myself up sometimes!

🥳 Thanks for your help! I made my goal of getting 500 new subscribers over the weekend. Actually, with your help, we added 642 new folks who are getting tech-smart the easy and fun way with this free newsletter! See you tomorrow! — Kim