Happy Monday, friend. We view tech moguls as robotic geniuses, boardroom gladiators and investment-chasing visionaries. It’s hard to picture now, but one legend was a 19-year-old making 5 bucks an hour as a technician at Atari. 

Guess who: A) Bill Gates, B) Steve Jobs, C) Jeff Bezos or D) Elon Musk? Find the answer at the end!  

🛑 Stop spam texts and calls right now. Data brokers sell everything from your address to your Social Security number. Stop them today. I negotiated a 60% discount with Incogni just for you, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Tech moves fast. Make sure my newsletter doesn’t disappear from your inbox. Mark it as a favorite and stay plugged into what matters. — Kim

Imagine prepping for your first big job interview, only to find out you’re chatting with someone named Jamie, who turns out to be less “recruiter with a solid LinkedIn” and more “Siri with a superiority complex.” 

If you’re looking for a job or know someone who is, this is critical intel.

How it works

Once you apply for a position, you might get a message to schedule a quick AI screening. Then, expect typical questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “How do you handle challenges at work?” 

But there’s no small talk, no human empathy, and don’t expect follow-up questions that make sense if your answer gets cut off.

Some bots are smart enough to transcribe your answers, rank you by score and flag it if you seem frustrated or distracted. Don’t tap your foot during an interview. You might get labeled as “hostile.”

Can you skip the AI? 

Nope. One applicant tried hanging up mid-chat, and the bot called them back immediately like a clingy ex with access to your calendar.

Here’s what to do:

✔️ Talk like you’re answering a real person.
✔️ Keep your answers short, but don’t sound robotic.
✔️ Avoid reading as some bots track eye movement.
✔️ Double-check that the interview invite is legit (watch for scams).

This all sounds dystopian because it is. But it’s also real. Good recruiters still exist, but they’re relaxing behind a firewall, waiting for the bot to decide if you’re worthy.

It doesn’t seem like this AI recruiter phase will go away, so learn how to work with it. Yeah, brush up on your interview skills, with robots. And no, asking to “speak to the manager” will absolutely not help. 

Unless, of course, the manager is The Cloud.

🥁 It’s bad joke time: A recruiter said to a candidate, “In this job, we need someone who is responsible.” The job applicant replied, “I’m the one you definitely want. In my last job, every time anything went wrong, they said I was responsible.” 

One Google search is all it takes and someone could find out where you live. Whether it's a stalker or scammer, your personal info is out there and that’s just scary.

But you can stop it with Incogni. They go beyond removing your name from Google results. Incogni works in the background to erase your data from people-search sites, data brokers, and shady databases you didn’t even know existed.

This is what one of my readers said about Incogni:

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You can protect yourself too, and it’s easier than you think.

👀 Meta got caught snooping: Turns out Facebook and Instagram were secretly logging Android users’ web activity via a backdoor for months. Not even Google (which owns Android) knew. Meta says it stopped after getting exposed. Should we believe them? My brain says no, and my gut feeling says hell no.

Secret agent lover: Loneliness gets you. A retired U.S. Army colonel turned Air Force contractor admitted to leaking Ukraine war intel to a mystery woman he met on a dating app. She regularly requested classified updates and called him her “secret informant love.” Sentencing is in October, same time as cuffing season. Poetic?

🚨 Fix Or Repair Daily = Ford: Ford’s racked up 88 safety recalls in six months. That’s more than any other automaker hits in a year. Some are small issues, others are major safety flaws, including one affecting 850,000+ vehicles. The company has doubled their safety teams, tied 70% of exec bonuses to “quality,” and still, the recall parade goes on.

Print, click, bang: Wired just rebuilt a 3D-printed gun tied to a CEO murder plot, and yeah, it works. Despite some federal and state bans, making an untraceable firearm (paywall link) at home is shockingly legal (and easy) in much of the U.S. 

🌌 You are glowing: Turns out your cells are out there throwing microscopic raves 24/7. Humans emit ultraweak photon emissions —  basically cellular sparkle dust — until we die. It’s metabolic, not magic. You just can’t see it unless you’re in a lab with fancy cameras. But yes, you are technically glowing with stress and slowly fading like a bio glow stick.

🐻 Motorcyclist feeds bears, ends up on the menu: So sad and very avoidable. A motorcyclist died after stopping to take selfies and feed a wild bear along a Romanian highway, a top-tier route for riders. Authorities say tourists keep feeding the animals like it’s a zoo. Now, bears are basically pawing for snacks. As our very own National Park Service says, “Don’t pet the fluffy cows.”

✅ I started my business from the ground up: In a world being transformed by AI, the time to get ahead is right now. Whether you're just starting out or trying to scale, I’m here to mentor, guide, and answer your questions. Ask away, let’s win together.

🔔 School’s almost back in session. I’ve done the homework for you.

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⚡️ 3-second tech genius: On Windows, press Shift + Delete to skip the Recycle Bin. On Mac, use Option + Command + Delete. Careful with this one. Files are gone instantly, so double-check first.

Sharing Google Docs? If you’re giving someone Editor access, make a copy first. Go to File > Make a copy and rename it, so you can always go back to the original. Bonus: If you don’t want them changing anything, click Share (top-right) and set General access to Viewer only before sending the link.

🔄 Hang on, Microsoft: Don’t want a big update interrupting your work or restarting your computer mid-task? You can pause updates temporarily. Go to Settings > Windows Update > Pause updates. When you’re ready, go back and click Resume updates to keep your system secure and up to date.

Battery boost: If your phone’s nearly dead and you’ve only got 20 minutes, plug it in and switch on Airplane mode. This shuts off Wi-Fi, cellular and Bluetooth, basically all the stuff that quietly drains power. With fewer background processes, your phone can focus on charging faster.

📊 Whiteboard it out: Grab a link and brainstorm on a free collaborative whiteboard with friends or coworkers. Give a high-five to getting organized and on track!

In a sci-fi twist no one asked for, China is testing 21-mph armored robo-spheres. 

A viral X post dubbed them “Robocop hamster balls,” and yeah, it tracks. These spherical patrol bots, spotted in Wenzhou, roll over land and water with flashing lights, lidar and cameras that scream surveillance chic. 

Oh, they also can carry nonlethal tools like net guns and tear gas for crowd control. The government says it’s for public safety. Watch it in action here. How’d you like to have that thing chasing you down? Yikes!

🕹️ The answer: B) Steve Jobs! That’s right, before the iPhone, the “one more thing” and the world’s most studied turtleneck, Jobs briefly worked at Atari in the ’70s designing video games. 

He took the night shift, so coworkers wouldn’t have to deal with his whole vibe (strong BO, stronger opinions). Bonus lore? He roped Steve Wozniak into building Breakout, got paid $5,000 … and gave Woz $350. Some friend.

Fun fact for you: Steve Jobs’ favorite meal was a Big Mac. 🍔 (Not really, it was the best thing I could think of to leave you with a smile!)

👏 Before you go: Incogni is the reason I have zero spam calls and texts on my phone. They’ve sent over 1,400 requests on my behalf to people-search and data broker sites to remove me. Incredible. Try it yourself risk-free for 60% off right now. 

📬 P.S. This is the #1 tech newsletter in the United States. Tomorrow, I’m talking about the side hustle hiding in your backyard. No guests, no cleanup, just cash. You cannot afford to miss that!

Take five today. You’ve earned it. 🖐️ — Kim

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