Welcome to your Thursday, friend. Today’s forecast? 99% chance of waiting at Gate B12 for longer than you’d hoped. But here’s a plot twist: One company can now predict your flight delay before an airline rep even finishes their break room coffee. This is plane genius…

Take a guess which company has the crystal ball before the airline even tells you? A) Kayak, B) FlightAware, C) Google Flights or D) Hopper? You’ll find the correct answer at the end along with a pro tech tip you will use time and time again. I promise.

🛎️ Do me a solid. Tap reply and say hi, or rate the newsletter at the bottom, so the algorithm overlords know I’m not spammy, just charming. Let’s keep this little inbox party going to always keep you tech ahead and never tech behind. — Kim

Ever get the feeling someone knows too much about what you’re doing online? I’m not talking about the sarcastic “My FBI agent is amused” way, but in the “Why did my phone just text my ex and order dog food at 2 a.m.?” kind of way.

If your device is acting sketchy, there’s a real chance someone’s planted spyware. And no, it’s not always a hoodie-wearing hacker from overseas, it’s usually someone closer than you think. Maybe a jealous partner, a controlling family member or even a roommate.

🕵️‍♀️ How spyware gets on your phone

Spyware can be installed in just minutes. Sometimes all it takes is someone borrowing your phone “for a sec” and secretly installing a hidden app disguised as “Device Helper” or “System Services.”

Other spyware programs get you to click a sketchy link, sideload an app or download “stalkerware” disguised as “parental control” tools. Once it’s on your phone, the spyware can read your texts, listen to your convos and track you like it’s their full-time job.

It logs every keystroke, reads texts and emails, accesses your camera and mic, and even tracks your location, all without your knowledge.

As this intel is being collected about you, it’s secretly sent to a cloud account. That’s how the person who put the spyware on your devices sees every single thing you are doing. Sneaky, right?

All hope is not lost. Good security software could prevent spyware getting on your device.

🚩 Signs something’s wrong

Your phone will give you clues if you know what to look for.

If your battery is draining faster than your patience, random pop-ups are showing up or strange autocorrect glitches keep happening, you may have spyware lurking on your device.

Unfamiliar apps, random noises during calls, or high data usage can all be signs of something sinister beneath the surface.

Even subtle issues like your phone running hot while idle can mean spyware is secretly working in the background.

💡 Pro tip: If your phone feels like it has a mind of its own, don’t ignore it.

🛡️ What to do if you suspect spyware

Start by backing up your important files, photos, messages and contacts. Then, perform a full factory reset on your phone. This is really the best way to wipe out hidden spyware.

After the reset, don’t immediately restore from an old backup. That could bring the spyware right back. Instead, reinstall apps manually. Then, change every password and turn on two-factor authentication for extra protection.

💡 Pro tip: After that, run a full security scan using TotalAV, a trusted tool I use and recommend. It’s only $19 a year.

TotalAV helps detect, remove and prevent hidden spyware, keyloggers and other threats. In fact, with all that we do on our phones, you need to have trusted and proven security measures. If you’re using free or old AV software (or Russian-based Kaspersky!), you really need to check out TotalAV now.

If you suspect someone close to you is spying on you, don’t brush it off. Your safety comes first, and in serious cases, it’s smart to involve law enforcement.

📱 And these phone goodies for under $30 are calling your name.

✨ Tech it or leave it: Swing by my page for even more of my handpicked tech faves.

🧑‍⚖️ Zuck tried to settle with mucho bucks: Mark Zuckerberg thought he could pay his way out of a government antitrust trial over Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The FTC wanted $30B; Zuckerberg offered $450M and good vibes. The FTC said: lol, no. Meta argues that TikTok is the real threat now, not Instagram.

☠️ Windows update gone wild: Microsoft confirmed this week that updates since March have been crashing some Windows 11 devices with a terrifying 0x18B SECURE_KERNEL_ERROR. For those not versed in digital Hogwarts spells, that’s a full stop blue screen of death. And yes, it kicks in right after the update + restart combo. Oof.

💔 Tinder swindler alert: A Portland woman lost over $40,000 after falling for a scammer she met on the app. They talked for a week before he asked for money, saying he had no family to help, sealing the con with a fake photo of himself in a hospital bed. Tinder’s basically a financial thriller with worse dialogue than a Lifetime movie.

🧠 OpenAI’s new models: The recently released o3 and o4-mini aren’t your typical chatbots. They’re trained to think deeply and come up with their own experiments. So, perfect for science, tech, engineering and math. The kicker? It might cost $20,000 a month!

🏡 Safe & sound: Protecting your home takes more than just locking the front door. I trust SimpliSafe, the award-winning security system that’s actually easy to set up and use. Don’t wait for a break-in to get serious about your family’s safety.*

🔍 Google’s changing its URL: Soon, local Search domains like google⁠.com⁠.br (Brazil) will redirect to google⁠.com for everyone. You’ll still get local results based on your locations. Why the change? Probably to save money and resources. AI isn’t cheap, and Google’s feeling it.

🤡 Chinese factories are trolling Americans: On TikTok, they’re telling us to cut out the middleman and get brand-name products straight from the source, like Birkenstocks for $10 instead of $165. Follow the link to AliExpress, and you’ll see these are cheap knockoffs. You saved $150 only to lose all feeling in your arches by noon.

⚡️ 3-second tech genius: Quickly find emails in Gmail by typing @ into the search bar to view emails from your contacts. Easy way to find everyone you’ve been avoiding!

🌎 A whole new world: Bored with Netflix? Change your language to find new shows and movies. Open the Netflix app, tap My Netflix > Menu (three lines) > Manage Profiles. Select your profile and hit Display Language.You can switch back to English anytime. Bravo!

⏩ Time flies: Time-lapse videos can make a simple sunset look magical. On your iPhone or Android, open the Camera app and select Time-lapse mode. Tap Record to start, and press it again when you’re done. FYI, 30 minutes of real time is about 10 seconds of video. Give it a shot tonight.

🍿 Sup, movie buffs: Wanna dish about your favorite films? Say hello to Letterboxd. It’s like Goodreads but for cinephiles. This free site lets you rate, review, keep a diary of your watch list, and even follow friends to see what they’re loving (or hate-watching).

🖨️ Print-happy warning: When you print a doc at FedEx, Staples or UPS, check the fine print. Their policies say they can use whatever you print for advertising or share it with unnamed third parties. No, thanks. UPS: “Sure, we’ll print your divorce papers … and maybe send them to Pepsi’s marketing team.”

🌳 Grow like a pro: Fast Growing Trees makes it simple to plant like a pro. They’ll recommend the best trees and shrubs for your exact location and ship them straight to your door. No hauling, no guesswork. Use promo code KIM to save an extra 15%. I got an avocado tree, and it’s thriving!*

Introducing the please stop talking to me gadget.

When I first saw this, I wondered why, but it actually makes sense. The Busy Bar is an LED-lit oversized Pomodoro timer, part smart home command center. You tap a button to declare your status: “on call,” “deep focus,” “back in 10,” and the LED display lights up with a matching message and countdown.

Mount it on your desk, stick it to the wall or prop it on your monitor like a futuristic “do not disturb” sign. Paired with its Busy App, it’ll automatically block distractions like TikTok and Instagram.

It even works with Home Assistant, so your dryer can tell you when to stop ignoring it. Priced at $249, it’s not cheap. It’s also a Kickstarter, so who knows if it will ever see the light of day?

✈️ The answer: C) Google Flights uses machine learning and historical data like past delay patterns, weather and aircraft positioning to predict delays even if the airline hasn’t updated the status yet. If there’s an 85% chance your flight will be late, Google might show a warning like: “Likely delay: 42 minutes,” well before you see it posted at the gate.

Pro tip: Text yourself your flight #, which generates a quick link. Tap the link, then voila — the flight route, inbound aircraft, gate, baggage claim carousel number and other useful info pop up. It’s all up-to-date, too!

Speaking of … I’ve got this awful disease where I can’t stop making airport jokes. The doctor says it’s terminal. (Was that a groan I heard?)

🧠 Hey, if you learned something new today (or at least chuckled once), help keep the magic going. Forward this to a friend who needs a little more tech sanity in their life.

Tomorrow, the truth behind viral tech products and more tech goodness in the best newsletter in the USA. Until then … You + Wi-Fi + this newsletter = unstoppable. — Kim

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