Welcome to a terrific Thursday, friend. ✈️ Want to avoid getting sick on your next flight? Here’s a simple trick: Science says you should book the window seat because it’s the best spot to dodge germs. Why? You’re away from the aisle where people spread bacteria. For extra credit, sit in the back. Cabin airflow moves forward, not backward, so you’re less exposed. Bonus: Those are the cheaper seats, too! 🤧

🤑 Your personal info is for sale everywhere. Between data brokers, advertisers, stalkers and scammers, everything from your phone number and address to your Social Security number is for sale and out there for anyone willing to pay. I used Incogni to remove it all for me. You really need to do the same. — Kim

🙋‍♀️Raising my hand … Hello, everyone. My name is Kim, and I am a Zillow junkie. 

I have saved every home I owned, own now and would like to own. It’s fun to track what Zillow thinks the places are worth in what they call a “Zestimate.”

But can you trust it? And if you’re selling, how can you make sure it actually reflects your home’s true value?

How the Zestimate works

Zillow pulls data from public records, recent home sales and market trends. Sounds smart, but it doesn’t account for upgrades, renovations or your home’s condition. (How to fix this is below.)

🔹 The good: If you’re selling a home in a hot market, the Zestimate average error rate is 2.4%. Not bad.

🔹 The bad: If your home isn’t for sale, the error rate jumps to 7.49%. 

Here’s a link that shows you the margins of error in cities and states across the country.

How to raise your Zestimate

If buyers are checking Zillow, you want your home’s Zestimate to reflect its highest true value. Sales within 0.25 to 1 mile and in the past 6 to 12 months impact your Zestimate the most. Your Zestimate will adjust automatically as new comps come in.

If you haven’t already, claim your home on Zillow to edit your home’s details. Then, take these steps:

• Update Your Home Info – New kitchen? Finished basement? More square footage? Zillow won’t know unless you update it.
• Add High-Quality Photos – Zillow’s AI scans images. Homes with bright, professional photos get better Zestimates.
• Correct Any Errors – Zillow might have the wrong number of bedrooms, bathrooms or square footage. Fix it.

What’s your home really worth?

Since Zillow can’t always be trusted, here are better ways to find out:

• Ask a Real Estate Agent – Get a Comparative Market Analysis from a local expert.
• Check Redfin & Realtor​.com – Compare their estimates to Zillow’s.
• Get a Professional Appraisal – The most accurate way to value your home.

The bottom line

The Zestimate is a rough guess. If you’re buying or selling, don’t rely on it. As an aside, you can rent the iconic shoe house in Yorkana, Pennsylvania, that I used for this article’s photo on AirBnb for $199/night. Take your sole mate. (Ba-dum-tsss!)

As many as 7.5 million people are cyberstalked every year. Creeps can easily find your info online, and then they use it to harass you however they want. I hear from stalking victims all the time, and the person responsible is often tech-savvy.

The person harassing them isn’t always a stranger. It could be an ex, a former coworker, or even a so-called friend. But once they find those personal details online, it’s a whole new level of danger.

That’s why I use and trust Incogni. They know where to find my information all across the web, then wipe it out for me. It’s easy to set up and use Incogni. All you have to do is create a profile, then they get to work on your behalf.

Every Tesla owner doxed: Hackers created a website (now taken down) that shows a map of Tesla owners’ names, addresses, phone numbers and emails in the U.S. Why? They’re protesting Elon Musk. The site says it doesn’t endorse or condemn vandalism, but the cursor symbol is literally a Molotov cocktail. If you want your info removed, you have to prove you sold your car.

The FTC is coming for Click Profit: The company scammed customers out of at least $14 million, promising their AI supercomputer picks the best products to sell on Amazon. All you had to do was hand over tens of thousands of dollars. It was all bogus. Folks made little to no money and were stuck with unsold inventory.

SpellRing can translate sign language: This is something. Researchers developed a ring for your thumb, and as you sign, it sends out sound waves. A microphone picks them up, AI analyzes them and gestures become letters on a screen. It’s already 82% to 92% accurate.

👔 Verify your LinkedIn profile: LinkedIn has verified over 55 million accounts. The platform says verified profiles are seeing 60% more views, 30% more connection requests and a 50% boost in post engagement. Bonus: If you’re hiring, use the hashtag #Hiring on your profile photo, and here’s my special link* for a free job posting. Nice.

🚂 Thieves’ loco motives: I never thought of this crime.Gangs hitting railroads jumped 40%, costing over $100 million. Around $4 million of that comes from the BNSF railroad in California. They’re using bolt cutters to break into shipping containers to steal electronics, sneakers and toys.

State of inn-ertia: This is nuts. A woman found a deal on Expedia and got a message from the hotel asking her to cancel because the rate was “too low.” Expedia reassured her that as long as she didn’t cancel, the hotel had to honor it. But the hotel threatened to cancel the room unless she backed out. 

The future of robotics: A Swedish startup just built “Luna,” a robot dog that adapts like a human — no preprogrammed data, no training simulations. Instead, it’s one of the first examples of physical agentic AI, meaning it can think, make decisions and act on its own. Since it learns through experience, they’re going to hire a dog trainer to teach it. Wild. Watch it here.

📝 These nifty upgrades go a long way.

• Turn any space into a mini-office with a portable lap desk (13% off).
• When you’re at your desk, kick your feet up on an ergonomic footrest.
• Keep your tech tidy with a valet tray (12% off) that charges ’em wirelessly.
• More ports, less stress. This USB C hub (24% off) simplifies your dongles.
• Scan and upload your notes to the cloud with a reusable spiral notebook.

💻 Privacy, please: Keep prying eyes away with a laptop screen for your MacBook or PC (10% off).

🖥️ Double vision: Multitask with a split screen view. Just make sure the browser or app isn’t in full screen. On a Mac, hover over its green maximize button and select Tile Window to Left/Right to work with two windows side by side. For a PC, drag it to the edge of the screen or press the Windows logo key + Left/Right arrow.

Sick of hearing the same songs? On Spotify, tracks repeat in shuffle mode because it uses cached data. If you want more variety in your playlist, clear your cache. Here’s how: Go to Settings > Storage > Delete Cache. Do it every now and then.

I 🩵 the free image editor GIMP: After seven years, GIMP 3.0 is here with a fresh look and new features. Now you can make changes without messing with the original file, add text more easily and a lot more, so check ’em out here.

💵 A dollar here, a dollar there: It seems like every subscription is more expensive than when I signed up. Use the Rocket Money* app to see what you’re paying for. I do! They’ll even cancel a subscription for you if it’s not worth the money anymore.

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.

👓 Coming soon: Snapchat Spectacles with AR magic! Get GPS directions, play games and enjoy auto-adjusting lenses like Transitions. The catch? Only 45 minutes of battery life. I’m not seeing these big dorky glasses in my life.

G’day, mate: Change your smart assistant’s voice if the default gets on your nerves. I like the Australian woman’s voice. On iPhone: Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Voice. For Android: On most phones that use Google Assistant, say, “Hey, Google, open ‘Assistant settings.’” Go to All settings > Assistant voice and pick one.

✅ Before you go: It’s time you got your privacy back. Incogni has worked in the background to get my info off scummy data-broker and people-search sites. Try it yourself with my 60% off link, exclusive for my readers. I get no more spammy calls or texts. Love that. 

Drop a rating below. I appreciate your support, and thanks for letting me in your inbox with the best tech newsletter in the USA! — Kim