A happy tech Tuesday to you, friend! Every time I see someone texting and driving, I want to roll down the window and tell them to knock it off. It causes an estimated 1.6 million accidents a year. In the United States, 49 states have laws against distracted driving. It’s somehow still legal in Montana, where “traffic jam” means two cows standing in the road having a long conversation!

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When I saw this in action, I knew you’d want to learn about it. Grocery stores across the country are swapping out printed price stickers on aisles for electronic ones. Retailers say it saves time. But the cost of an item could change in the time it takes you to walk from the deli to the frozen aisle.

Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are already in place in Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh stores and in regional chains, like Schnucks in the Midwest. Walmart plans to add ESLs to 2,300 stores by 2026.

They have a point about saving time

The typical Walmart store stocks roughly 120,000 different products. Adjusting all those prices manually takes days. With the ESL system, thousands of prices can be updated in the blink of an eye. Prices can change every 10 seconds.

Going digital also keeps prices consistent between what's posted online and what you see in-store. OK, having fewer price discrepancies keeps customers (and employees) happy.

Another use: Lowering prices to clear out items close to expiration dates. Less food waste, cheaper food … But the leap to surge pricing isn't a big one.

The urge to surge

Surge pricing is when a company jacks up the cost of something when demand is high. We've accepted rideshare apps like Uber do it during rush hour. Heat wave today? Bottled water goes up a dollar a case. That Ben & Jerry's you were eyeing just got pricier, too.

Will stores use ESLs to keep prices fair or fatten their own pockets? You can bet your bottom dollar the latter will happen.

One smart cart

The idea of food getting even more expensive is tough. For now, use these tips to stay on budget:

🌽 I was at the store and saw an ear of corn cost a dollar. A buck an ear? That's piracy! (Oh, that’s a great one!)

Some items need to be replaced more often than most of us actually do. I’ve got you covered! Even better, these household items are on sale now:

🏦 They’ve hacked Fort Knox: Ransomware group LockBit says they have 33TB of U.S. Federal Reserve data, claiming it holds "Americans' banking secrets." There's no proof yet, but they're threatening to spill it. Get proactive: Set up banking alerts, use two-factor authentication on your bank login and watch your accounts.

You got an unexpected package from Temu or Amazon: It might be a brushing scam, where third-party sellers send something you never asked for to fake a verified purchase and post reviews using your name. If it happens to you, check your order history to see if you were charged. Then, change your password, because someone may be in your account. Either way, you can keep the stuff.

🔋 Dead battery: Last year at this time, EVs were $8,201 more expensive on average than a gas car — a 25.1% difference (paywall link). Now, they're 8.5% cheaper, or around $2,657 less than a gas car. And 46% of all EV owners want a gas-powered car.

Researchers prove it: Our brains can distinguish deepfaked voices from real ones. The brain’s reward system, called the nucleus accumbens, is less active when you hear a fake voice. Your auditory cortex hears the difference, too. Next time you get a call and the voice feels “off,” trust your instincts.

Repeat after me: Elon isn’t hawking crypto on YouTube: The AI deepfake Elon livestream ran for five hours, attracting over 30,000 concurrent viewers. It told folks to deposit ethereum, dogecoin or bitcoin on a site promising to double their money. Poof! It all went into someone else’s wallet.

☄️ That was close: A Florida family is suing NASA after a chunk of metallic space debris crashed through their roof. No one was hurt, but the family’s 19-year-old son was just rooms away from the impact zone. They want a payout for the stress and impact (no pun intended).

Meanwhile, you can’t get your home blurred out: This is incredible. Manta Ray, the top-secret U.S. government undersea drone I told you about yesterday, was spotted on Google Maps at California's Port Hueneme naval base. Then, it vanished from the app, swapped out with boat images (seriously). Google typically refreshes its maps every one to three years, so someone called in a favor.

🗿 I love this story, but I don’t know Y: A team who discovered a lost civilization's alphabet on a fifth-century B.C. slate slab posted a pic on X. The rock caught the eye of a part-time researcher, who recognized a symbol as the Paleohispanic letter "i." He's been invited to join the official research team. Maybe X isn’t all that bad? Wait, yeah, it is.

Best day to apply for a job: Data from ZipRecruiter says Tuesday (that’s today!) is the day for job seekers. Why? Most jobs are uploaded that day, and it’s your best bet to apply within the first 24 to 48 hours.

🔴 Intimate IG: Instagram now lets you livestream just to your close friends instead of all your followers. Tap the + button, choose Live, then select Close Friends and start recording. You can add up to three pals. Want to tweak your list? Head to More > Settings > Who can see your content > Close Friends, and then add or remove people.

Lock it away: Your most private notes can be locked behind a face or fingerprint scan in the Notes app on your iPhone. With a note open, tap the three dots at the top right and then Lock.

Save your eyes: Make text and icons bigger across all the apps and menus on Android. Open Settings > Display > Display size and text.

I don’t want to see you anymore: On Facebook, go to your Memories page and select Hide People under Settings. Next, click the box for “Start typing a name …” and type in the name of the person you want to forget. Click Save.

Fake your location to get the lowest prices: A friend of mine in Phoenix booked a rental car in the U.K. It was $955. I told her to try this trick. She used her VPN to change her location to the U.K. and the same car for the same dates was $322. Just another reason why you need ExpressVPN* on all your devices. Use this link to get three months free.

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Come on down … to the 1900s!

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😂 Wow, Monday and Tuesday are my most productive days. After that, it’s WTF.

Hope you took away something from this newsletter that's good enough to use. Follow me on social: I’m on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else! I’ll be back tomorrow with a privacy warning you can’t miss. Until then, stay your awesome self! — Kim