Sometimes life is eye-ronic: Google’s AI assistant Gemini can now “see” and use your camera in real time. Point it at your dying houseplant for tips on how to save it, or ask what is the water dripping from your car’s engine. (I did that, and it was 100% right!) It costs $20/month to use it. ChatGPT does the same for $20/month, too.
How to fix your high streaming bills
The other day on my national radio show, I mentioned that the average American drops $110 a month on streaming services. Add another $80+ for a solid internet connection, and suddenly old-school cable doesn’t look so bad.
My inbox lit up with folks asking, “Kim, how can I lower my streaming bills?” I’m willing to bet you’re paying for stuff you’re not even watching. Let’s fix that.
🕵️ Start with an audit
So, how many streaming services are you paying for right now? Netflix? Hulu? Disney+? Max? Peacock? Oh, throw in Prime Video because you have Amazon Prime. Before you know it, you’re spending more than you ever did on cable.
Step 1: Pull up your bank or credit card statement. Not all the charges will be obvious. Look for:
- Google, Apple and Amazon auto renewals
- Obvious ones like Hulu or Paramount+
Pro tip: I use Rocket Money* to do this for me. It scans your accounts, flags subscriptions and cancels the ones you forgot about. So easy.
Step 2: Open your phone or smart TV to check which apps you actually use. If it’s been more than a month since you watched, unsubscribe. You can always rejoin later. Most don’t even erase your watch history.
Do what I do and rotate services. If you’re watching a Netflix series now, cancel the rest. Come back later when your binge list is long enough to justify the cost.
📺 Go cheap
Why pay when there are so many free, legit options with great content? There are ads, but free is free!
- Tubi: Tons of movies, including classics, thrillers and ’90s gems like Happy Gilmore
- Pluto TV: Popular option for news and sitcoms
- The Roku Channel: Slick interface, free movies and Roku Originals
- MUBI: Hidden gem for indie films and documentaries
- Freevee from Amazon: Solid shows, including Bosch: Legacy and The Good Wife
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Creepy data grab and how to make it stop
This is the kind of thing that makes you wish flip phones were still a thing. The world has moved from marketing to digital profiling. We are being tracked like never before.
Advertising giant Publicis Groupe just released a video bragging that its CoreAI platform tracks a staggering 91% of all adult internet users. Yes, that probably includes you, me and everyone we know.
🌤️ Rise and shine: Have an Echo or Google speaker? Say, “[Alexa or Hey, Google], good morning,” to turn on your lights, hear the weather and play the news. Personalize it in the Alexa app by tapping More (three-line icon) > Routines > Morning. On the Google Home app, head to Automations (three stars) > Add (+) > Personal.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Do this to see if you got hacked
I wish that I could wave my magic wand and automatically reinstate all the accounts for anyone who asks me for help because their Facebook account got hacked, their ex knows everywhere they go or they’ve lost access to everything and even money for some reason.
Bin stores let you hit the jackpot
I hit up a bin store the other day. It’s where returned and overstock items find a second chance. I spotted a sealed 2-by-2-foot mystery box for 10 bucks. Naturally, I had to buy it. What was inside?
Four pairs of men’s black socks, a cat bell, two potato peelers, an iPhone stand and a women’s tee that said, “Cowboys in my veins. Jesus in my heart.”
🛑 Stop ad trackers: It makes it harder for advertisers and data brokers to snoop on you. On iPhones, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking and toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. For Androids, open Settings > Google > Ads, then enable Opt out of Ads Personalization.
Google’s new AI video tool: I’ve been playing around with it and wow, it’s something. It can take text and create a full-blown video. Try it out. I think you’ll be amazed.
🐭 Coming to Disney next year: This is freakin’ awesome. Real Star Wars droids roaming around. They’re working with Google DeepMind and Nvidia’s new Newton model to bring them to life. This will help them walk around the parks, be more expressive and do tricky tasks on their own. What do you call a pirate droid? Arr-2 D2. (Good one, right?)
Scam alert: Google’s new call-scanning feature tells you in real time if you’re getting swindled on the phone. AI analyzes conversations, and if something sketchy happens, you get an audio, vibration and visual warning. It’s for Pixel 9 or later only. Go to the Phone app > Settings > Scan Detection. PSA: Google says they’re not saving your calls. Yea, right.
⏱️ Never be late again: Google Maps and Apple Maps are great at predicting traffic. Next time you need directions, look for the option to set your arrival time. The map app will let you know when you should leave home. Drive safe!
📍 Bait and switch: Google found over 10,000 fake listings on Google Maps and is now suing the scammers behind it. People would search for a service (often an emergency one) and get directed to a phony business. Then the scam service would show up and demand way more money than originally quoted. That’s why you need to verify details, folks.
Use Google Docs at work? You may have the Gemini AI bot to help write. Hover over the star icon next to your pic that says Ask Gemini. Click on it to open a sidebar with the writing tools. Choose options like Refine or Rephrase this document, or type in your ideas at the bottom.
📍 Friend finder: Meeting up can be tricky if your friends use different phones. If you all have Facebook, use Messenger to share your location. Open the Messenger app, then create a chat group with your crew. Tap the plus sign, then Start Sharing Live Location. You can do this on Google Maps, too.
🖼️ Hue here among us can Saturate me: Google’s new Gemini AI Flash 2.0 Experimental mode lets you edit images by simply asking. Want to add or delete objects, change scenery or zoom in and out? Just type it in, and boom, done. Don’t worry, Photoshoppers, you get to keep your job for a while. I used it to create an image of me, on a dolphin, in Hawaii at the end.
🛠️ Bricked no more: Great news if your Chromecast recently stopped working. Google’s rolling out an update that should fix it. If your second-gen Chromecast or Chromecast Audio got bricked, check the Google Home app to update it there.
✅ From Ed in Florida: “Kim, I want to get away from Google. If I sign up for StartMail, will it import all my email and contacts?” Yup. You can transfer your entire mailbox, including messages and contacts, with zero downtime and 100% security. So easy! Save 60% with my special link.
Why you need a second phone number
I have a second number on my phone. You should, too.
Your main number? Keep that locked down for the important stuff — your bank, doctor’s office and family. But when you’re ordering takeout, signing up for a one-time deal or making an online purchase, why give out your real number?
Google’s new AI model is a copyright nightmare: People are using it to remove watermarks from images so cleanly that it fills in the gaps like magic. It can also generate images of celebrities and well-known characters. Like this one of Elon Musk chilling at some random guy’s desk.