đ¸ Itâs so expensive
May 2, 2024 |
In partnership with Komando Community |
Happy Thursday, tech know-how seekers. Hereâs some pre-Amazon Prime trivia for ya. In 2004, an escaped convict nicknamed the âRooftop Robber,â or simply âRoofman,â hid for six months in which shuttered tech superstore: A.) CompUSA, B.) RadioShack, C.) Circuit City or D.) Fryâs Electronics? Answerâs at the end! đ¤ Welcome back, Yahoo and AOL friends. Still digging into the why, but the great Big Tech email servers there decided our newsletters should be blocked from your inbox for the past three days. So frustrating. Glad to have you back, and you can catch up on the issues you missed here. I appreciate every single one of you who reached out to let me know. â Kim đŤÂ First-time reader? Sign up here. (Itâs free!) IN THIS ISSUE
|
TODAYâS TOP STORYGuilty as chargedHereâs a shocker you need to know. Replacing the battery in an electric vehicle can set you back up to $50,000. For those of you keeping track at home, thatâs more than a brand-new Tesla Model 3. Iâm not beating up Tesla; all EV carmakers hope you donât figure this out. OK, how long do EV batteries last?Hmm, 10 years? 20? Nope. According to a Daily Mail investigation, the average EV battery lasts about eight years. After that, thereâs no hard-and-fast rule for knowing how much time you have left. Many EVs lose up to 12% of their charge capacity by the sixth year, and some lose even more. Case in point: By the time a Nissan Leaf reaches eight years old, it may have lost up to 20% of its battery life â 99 miles per charge versus the 124 per-charge miles you got while it was new. Why so pricey?EV batteries use high-demand metals like nickel, cobalt, lithium and manganese, which are also used in phone and laptop batteries. Plus, you need a specialist to replace them. Most car companies only let you get a replacement at one of their dealerships. EV batteries typically come with eight-year warranties â but beyond that, to replace it, youâre looking at $16,000 minimum. If youâre considering an EV or already have one:
Buying a used EVMost EV battery warranties cover the first eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Make sure you know exactly how much time is left on the EV batteryâs warranty and how much itâll cost to replace it. 𤣠Now, before you say âTeslaâ backward, make sure everyoneâs ready. Alset? (Oh, tough crowd today!) |
DEALS OF THE DAYPhone case walletsIf your favorite purse is a jacket, the transition to summer is bittersweet. Where to put your stuff? Enter the phone case wallet. Oh, and I always keep a $20 bill behind my phone case for emergencies. Do this and thank me later! Best for iPhones: Smartish makes iPhone wallet cases that hold and hide three cards and cash with a spring-loaded door. Their iPhone  15 case costs $24.99. Best for Samsung Galaxy phones: This handsome faux leather case ($18.99 for the S22) hides its built-in wallet, which has two vertical card slots behind a magnetic flap and an additional card pocket. Pick the right size for your Galaxy model! Best universal phone case wallet: If you have a hard plastic case or prefer a caseless phone (brave!), go for an adhesive phone wallet. This clever model attaches with super-strong 3M adhesive and expands to hold five cards. Right now, itâs 25% off ($14.99). |
WEB WATERCOOLERđŤ Cyber sweep: The U.S. Justice Department seized four web domains used by Russian hackers to create over 40,000 fake websites. The phonies were copycats of sites like Amazon, Netflix and Bank of America, and they were used to steal a million usersâ credentials and 500,000 credit card numbers. Always â always â double-check the URL. College grads, beware: Scammers are targeting recent alumni with fake job offers, claiming a dean or professor recommended them. Theyâre after student IDs and banking info, with some even persuading grads into handing over money for âhome office equipment.â Major red flag: Interviews are conducted solely via text or email. đľď¸ Cold-case breakthrough: In Telfair County, Georgia, a fisherman stumbled upon critical evidence from the 2015 Craigslist murder of an elderly couple. He first pulled up a .22-caliber rifle, then discovered driverâs licenses and credit cards belonging to the victims. This find has revitalized the investigation, with more clues headed to the crime lab. đ Hard lesson: A 77-year-old woman in Troy, Michigan, was duped out of $80,000 after being told sheâd won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. Millions of dollars and three cars could all be hers ⌠after she paid the âtaxesâ upfront. Her bank warned her it was a scam, but she still wired the money. Sigh. Game night is getting real: Soon, youâll be able to bet real money on arcade games like Skee-Ball and Hot Shots basketball. Using the Dave & Busterâs app, loyalty members can wager between $5 and $10. How is this legal, you ask? Since these are âskill-basedâ games, not âgames of chance,â they bypass the usual gambling licenses and regulations. Iâd hang up: New to the Google Phone app: Audio emojis. During a call, you can select from six sound effects, including clapping, laughing and farting, which play for you and the other person. On the bright side, thereâs a cooldown period, so no endless loop of fart sounds. Move over, New York Times: LinkedIn added puzzle games to its app and desktop site. You can pick from three options: Pinpoint (word association), Crossclimb (trivia and wordplay) and Queens (sudoku without the numbers). Give âem a whirl â theyâre free. đť Thatâs cray-cray: The U.S. government is auctioning off a decommissioned Cheyenne supercomputer. This 145,152-core rig was once used for scientific research and ranked as the 20th most powerful in the world in 2016. The current bid at the time I wrote this was $100,000, and the auction closes on May 5, if youâre in the market. But beware: There are issues with its cooling system. |
LISTEN UP
|
TECH LIFE UPGRADESYour desktop is a mess: Create a new folder with a name like âClean upâ or the date. Drop everything in there. When you have 5 minutes to spare, go through that folder. Itâs kind of like that junk drawer in your kitchen ⌠Attention, shopper: Liquidation.com hawks packages and undelivered goods from Amazon, Target, Walmart and the Home Depot. You can filter by brand or retailer. Shop carefully â there are no returns. YouTube trick: There might be a good reason you need a solid screenshot of a single frame of a YouTube video. Now, itâs easy to do. Pause the video, right-click on it and select Copy video frame. Sweet! Just paste it into a chat, image editor or document. Germ buster: Since I know itâs been too long, grab a sanitizing wipe and give your computer mouse, remote control and car keyfob a cleanup. Bonus points if you clean the front door knob. Yeah, mine was gross, too! No more typos: Step 1: Ask Grammarly or ChatGPT to find mistakes and typos. Step 2: Read it out loud. This helps you hear mistakes you might not see. Works like a charm. |
Your digital life, elevated: FREE for 30 days!Every day, weâre on a mission to boost your digital life to the max. Weâre out there digging through the internet, chatting with tech geniuses across the globe, and discovering all those sneaky tech tips and tricks just for you. Why not crank up the volume on your support? Dive into the Komando Community. Hereâs what youâll get:
And hereâs the kicker: Try it all out absolutely free for 30 days! No strings attached. See for yourself how it can transform your digital life. All these tech treasures can be yours for just $4.99 a month. And guess what? Check the box to get an immediate 10% discount if youâre over 50, serving in the military, are an emergency responder, veteran, teacher and more. Thank you for supporting all we do! Grab your FREE pass now â 30 days of premium access, on the house! â |
BY THE NUMBERS57 curse words On Taylor Swiftâs new album, âThe Tortured Poets Department.â Thatâs an 84% increase from her previous album (31 swear words) and a 5,600% increase since her first album (just one âdamnâ). What the âŚ? 30% of kids 5 to 7 Are using TikTok. This means 30% of parents of kids ages 5 to 7 need to become better acquainted with being an honest-to-goodness parent. $40,000 in power-ups For Candy Crush, charged to the church Visa card by a now-former Pennsylvania priest. He says it mightâve happened because heâs ânot a details guy.â I can hear those sound effects now. |
WHAT THE TECH?Itâs all downhill from here. |
UNTIL NEXT TIME âŚThe answer: C.) Circuit City, or the shell of one, was the hideout for Jeffrey Manchester, an escaped convict in North Carolina. He spent six months in the empty store before being nabbed by cops. Heâs still in jail, by the way. But if he escapes again, check the nearest Best Buy! Speaking of ⌠What do you call employees at a Best Buy store in Athens, Greece? The Greek Squad! âď¸ Iâll see you back in your inbox tomorrow. Be sure to follow me on social media â you know, in case Yahoo and AOL decide my newsletters are spam again. Iâm on Instagram, X, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else. Thank you for letting me in your inbox. Youâre swell! â Kim |