Say hello to a tremendously awesome Tuesday! Let’s start with a fun fact. “That Little Puff,” a cat influencer with 2.2 million Instagram followers, has stolen hearts with his cooking adventures. How much money do you think Puff’s owner makes per IG post? You’ll find the answer at the end.

😊 I’m so happy you’re joining me for this bountiful tech news feast. Let’s dig in! — Kim

I think we're all wondering the same thing: “Am I really saving any money since I ditched cable for streaming?” And about those commercials … They've come to streaming, too.

Just this week, Disney+ and Hulu announced price increases starting in October. Ad-free Disney+ is going from $11 per month to $14 per month; ad-free Hulu’s costs will rise from $14 a month to $18 monthly. You could pay less to watch some ads, but … they're annoying.

This marks the second time Disney+ and Hulu have raised their prices within a year, and they're not the only ones getting greedy. Keep reading to catch up on all the changes and what you can do to save money.

Well, that escalated quickly

Disney and Warner Bros. (which owns Discovery) say their original prices were too low on purpose to drive subscribers. Now that they got what they wanted, we're getting the ol' switcheroo.

It's not just hikes on subscription costs. Ad-free used to be the default, and now you pay more for that. Then come the password-sharing crackdowns. Bad news for family members who share plans … and that ex that still has your Netflix password.

Price hike roundup

Things aren’t pretty out there, people.

Don't forget these price hikes are happening at the same time as the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. If the Hollywood machine isn't turning, it's only a matter of time before the supply of new shows runs dry. Are we shelling out more cash to watch reruns of "Seinfeld"?

Streamline your streaming spending

I know you don't want to ditch your favorite streaming options altogether, but there are many ways to save.

💰 During the COVID-19 lockdown, my son was going to USC via Zoom. I have to tell you, that was the most expensive streaming service ever.

Your iPhone did slow down: It happens when Apple releases a new model. Apple's been accused of secretly throttling older iPhones, and it'll have to pay up. If you owned an iPhone 6 through 7 Plus running iOS 10.2.1 or 11.2 before Dec. 21, 2017 (and filed a claim), expect a $65 payout. Whoopee.

🚨 Talk to your teens: The Saturn app lets high schoolers upload their schedules to find classmates. The problem? It was easy for anyone to fake their identity, sneak into the app and groom kids. Saturn says they added a verification system that flags suspicious activity. Whatever. I still wouldn’t let my kid use it.

Review of reviews: Too much work to read Amazon reviews? AI to the rescue. Amazon is rolling out AI-generated review summaries to boil them down into a single paragraph. Microsoft says it's doing the same in its store. Seriously, can you trust a company to review the product it's selling you? Plus, we already know AI lies.

💣 Yeah, that’s not dangerous: A homeowner listed a possibly live World War II-era bomb from his backyard on Facebook Marketplace, offering $500 to anyone brave enough to remove it. The listing says it’s huge, old, very heavy and full of butane. I’ll pass.

Whip out your pencils: College professors around the country have a novel idea to battle artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom: Making students take oral exams and forcing them to complete handwritten assignments. A prof from Appalachian State University says he’s “going medieval” on his students. Love that!

🛰 Up and away: The U.S. Space Force is shifting its strategy by deploying a large network of cheaper satellites instead of a few expensive ones, making them harder to shoot down. Currently, 10 are in orbit for missile tracking and data relaying, with nearly 1,000 planned for launch soon.

Justice served: Two Nigerians have been extradited by the U.S. after tricking hundreds of people into sending nudes in elaborate sextortion schemes. One of the victims, 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, took his own life after the scammers threatened to release his picture online unless he paid $1,000.

⛪ Personal (AI) Jesus: Ever wonder what it’d be like to talk with Jesus, Moses and Mary Magdalene? The Text With Jesus app lets you message ChatGPT versions of them about issues like relationships or whatever else you want to talk about. The price: $2.99 a month. Talk about AI prophets. Praying is free and more meaningful.

In my no-nonsense, straight-talking podcast, I serve up everything tech in digestible, fun-sized pieces. New to the tech scene? Or maybe you're a pro? Doesn't matter. I’ve got you covered.

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I collect cars — anything from classics to supercars. But my favorite is my 2012 MB SLS with the gull-wing doors. Well, I also love my 1946 Chevy pickup and 1964 ½ Mustang ... I love them all!

In 2022, most manufacturers cut at least one model that wasn’t bringing in cash. As more factory space goes into electric vehicles (EVs), it’s no wonder. Say so long to these cars. If you have one, you might want to keep it.

🚘 My grandfather built me a car entirely out of wood. It had wooden seats, wooden doors, a wooden steering wheel, wooden floors and a wooden engine. Unfortunately, when I tried to start it, it wooden work.

Use Gmail? You’re about to become a wizard! Sure, you can copy, paste and do other simple commands in your Gmail inbox. Now, let’s open up a whole new list of time savers.

First, you need to enable your shortcuts:

Here’s a full list of Gmail shortcuts. Try these out to get started:

🇪🇬 I got an email about investing in Egyptian architecture. Sounds like a pyramid scheme.

Picking out a new computer is stressful, but you don’t have to go it alone. That’s where the pros at Dell come in, and right now, you can save up to $750.

If you’re shopping for your small business, side hustle, new venture, you name it, you can chat with a small-biz expert to get totally free advice on the right hardware. No obligation to buy, either.

That’s def going to leave a mark.

The answer: Puff makes $26,401 per post. The cat’s cute and the videos are kinda entertaining, but for this kind of money, don’t ask meow.

😸 Thanks for letting me in your inbox, and I hope you’re all tech-smarter and happier because of it. Isn’t this free newsletter purrfect? — Kim