Police in California nabbed a burglar near the Santa Monica Pier with a drone. The little guy spotted a car thief using a screwdriver to punch open locks in a parking lot. It called in officers and directed them to the exact location. Amazing, right?
Tech tip: Share your ETA on the go
I hate being late. No one wants to leave friends hangry at a restaurant. Here’s a trick I use: Share your ETA right from your map app. It keeps everyone in the loop.
It’s way better than sharing your location 24/7. Imagine if we’d had this tech back in our 20s. Total concert and party game‑changer!
Google Maps in navigation mode
- Tap the card at the bottom of the screen.
- Choose Share trip progress.
- You can either pick a contact to send updates to through Google Maps or select a messaging app to send a link with your location.
- Tap the bottom card > Stop Sharing to stop sharing your ETA. (It won’t share your whereabouts after you end the trip.)
With Google Maps on Android Auto, you’ll see the same navigation card showing the time left on your journey. Tap Share journey to let folks know where you are. Easy‑peasy.
Apple Maps in navigation mode
- Tap the Share ETA link that appears as soon as you start a journey.
- If the link has disappeared, tap the arrow at the bottom, then tap Share ETA.
- Choose a contact to share your arrival time with.
- Tap Stop Sharing ETA at any time, if you need to.
If you’re using an iPhone, you’ll get a link to see your location on Apple Maps. Team Android gets a text saying what time you’ll show up (and another text if that changes).
In an Uber
After you accept a ride, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the trip details. Tap Share Status on iPhone or Share My ETA on Android. (This works on the Lyft app, too.) Share this with anyone who takes an Uber alone.
Don’t want to be late in the first place?
Schedule a reminder to leave on time. Google Maps has it built right in when you look up a route!
Haven't logged into LinkedIn lately? 5 reasons you really should be using it
How much do you know about LinkedIn? Sure, you probably understand it’s a social network for professionals, but it’s so much more.
Unlike most social networks that are used to share the latest vacation pictures, LinkedIn was designed for more important reasons. It can help you make connections, share work experience and find or post jobs.
✈️ Cheap flight cheat code: Go to Google Flights, select your departure location for a round-trip flight, then choose Anywhere as your destination. Leave the dates blank, and watch a map populate with the cheapest round-trip tickets available. From Phoenix, I could vacay in Cancún for $229, Seattle for $38 and Bora Bora for $1,341. I know what you’re thinking: “Kim, I’ve always wanted to go Bora Bora, but I’m poor’a-poor’a!”
3 ways grocery stores track you
You’re not just buying dinner — retailers are watching your every move, from your purchases to your location.
🦅 The secret life of birds: The Motus Wildlife Tracking system has tagged nearly 50,000 birds, insects and bats with mini trackers to reveal their flight patterns. When an animal flies by one of 2,000 stations, its location is logged. A surprising and sad find? Only 40% of fledgling barn swallows in southern Ontario survive to migrate. ”Peep” at the data yourself.
6 feet
How closely a stalker can track someone using dating apps Bumble and Hinge. It’s not an exact location but pretty darn close. These apps ask for your location to find potential partners near you, but this is seriously scary.
How to know if you’re being stalked or are just paranoid
I’ve heard it all on my national radio show. There was the guy totally freaked out because too many strangers in public knew his name for it to be a coincidence. (His name was Buddy.)
There was a woman who swore one of Metallica’s band members hacked her iPhone to stalk her after she rejected him online. And another who bought and sold three cars because she thought they all had hidden trackers.
🗺️ Awesome save: A woman who fell 60 feet down a mountain was saved because of the navigation app what3words (iOS and Android). The app divides the world into 10-foot squares, each named with a unique combination of three words to pinpoint an exact location (e.g., 51.520847, -0.19552100 ←→ filled.count.soap). With the coordinates, emergency responders knew precisely where the woman was located.
Real-time help: Pennsylvania emergency call centers now let people share live video during 911 calls. With a platform called Prepared, callers get a link that starts a live feed and pinpoints their location on a map. AI even transcribes and translates calls made in foreign languages. Look for this in more towns and cities across the country.
Never lose your car again: Google Maps can keep track of where you parked. On iPhone or Android, open the Google Maps app. Tap the blue dot that shows your location, then Save parking. Steps here to do it automatically every time.
🛤️ Stay safe: Fitness app Strava’s Heatmap feature shows popular workout routes … but it also broadcasts your location. This is fine in a busy city but risky on secluded paths. Keep your routes private: Go to Settings > Privacy Controls > Map Visibility and uncheck Contribute your activity data to de-identified, aggregate data sets.
Check your business’s Google Maps listing: Malicious competitors are using the “Suggest an edit” feature to change the location of a business’s pin on Google Maps. You probably wouldn’t know if this happened to you; Google doesn’t notify anyone. Duh.
Some 51% of people think sharing their smartphone PIN with a partner is normal and healthy. Checking internet search histories and tracking a partner’s location are a different story; 74% of those surveyed think location tracking is toxic, and that percentage jumps to 95% if the location tracking is done without the other party’s knowledge.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a cop! Police in California used a drone to nab a burglar near the Santa Monica Pier. The little guy spotted a car thief using a screwdriver to punch open locks in a parking lot, and it called in officers and directed them to the exact location. Here’s the video.
🔍 AirTag vs. Google’s Find My Device: Both devices were mailed to another state in an unofficial test. The AirTag continuously updated its location, while the Android tracker took 11 hours to ping its new whereabouts. At one point, the Find My Device tracker even lost track of its location. This is why I keep an AirTag in my cars.
📍 Where am I? Ask your smartphone! So handy on vacation or if you’re lost. You’ll get your address and location on a map, which you can then share. Just say, “Hey, Siri” or “Hey, Google,” followed by, “Where am I?”
Clues your spouse is spying on your phone
More than half of Americans confess they’ve snooped on their partner’s phone, checking texts and location history. Is your significant other one of them?
87% variation
In Chipotle bowl portions, depending on location. Finally, proof cranky Chipotle workers might be shorting you on barbacoa! Analysts weighed 75 identical bowls from eight Chipotle locations in NYC. The heaviest weighed almost twice as much as the lightest one. Oh, and all burritos are burrito-ful!
Do this before your next shindig: You can easily find your lost phone if you set this up ahead of time. Hey, why not do it now?
- For iPhone: Go to Settings > [your name] > Find My. Tap Find My iPhone, then turn on Find My iPhone. To see your device even when it’s offline, turn on Find My network.
- On Android: Go to Settings > Security > Find My Device. Or try Security & location or Google > Security. Make sure Find My Device is turned on.