The lost art of boredom

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Well, first up, we have your digital life hack, and after that I'm going to play a call for my weekend national radio show. When's the last time you actually did nothing? I don't mean scrolling while half watching tv. I mean letting your brain wander. Turns out it's a cognitive superpower. I'm Kim Commando for Carbonite, my number one choice for cloud backup. Get 50% off now@carbonite.com Kim live a better digital life with Carbonite. Neuroscientists call it the brain's default mode network. It activates when you're not focused on a task, and it's where big picture thinking happens. This part of your brain is responsible for creativity, memory, problem solving, and emotional insights. Here's the problem. Phones kill this mode instantly. Every notification, swipe or short video hijacks your attention and keeps your brain stuck in reaction mode. One study found people would rather give themselves mild electronic shocks than sit alone with their thoughts for 15 minutes. Well, that explains TikTok. So here's today's tech schedule. Boredom. Just you and your thoughts. Your brain will thank you. Get my newsletter@getkim.com Next up, a call for my weekend show, the Kim Commando Show. Enjoy. Think about all the irreplaceable moments on your computer. Your kid's photos, important records, years of work and memories. If your computer crashed today, how much would you lose? It happens every day and it's completely preventable. That's why I use and recommend Carbonite, my number one choice for cloud backup. Carbonite gives you unlimited automatic protection for everything that matters. It quietly backs up all your photos, documents, and important memories in the background, safely, privately, and always just a click away on your computer or mobile app. Carbonite is your ultimate backup plan. It protects you from the unexpected from from accidental deletions and hard drive crashes to floods, fires, and even a morning coffee spill on your laptop. And if something does happen, recovery couldn't be easier. Just log in and restore everything with one click, even on a brand new computer. Right now, get 50% off carbonite when you go to carbonite.com Kim that's carbonite.com Kim. Live a better digital life with Carbonite.

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Rosemary in Naples, Florida. Hi there, Rosemary.

2:43

Hi, Kim. How are you today?

2:47

I'm great. How can I help you?

2:48

A couple weeks ago, you mentioned how to, when you're going through tsa, how to block the camera so they didn't take a digital picture of you. And I, like, the next day I was traveling, and I was like, well, why do I want to do that? Why wouldn't I want TSA to have my picture, knowing that they probably have it for my application, passport has it, things like that.

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Well, some people are really into privacy. And even though, like you said, tsa, they have your photos, and of course, there's so much biometric and facial recognition that's happening as you even walk through the airport. I mean, I'm sure you realize this. You know, those big, long hallways are not just big, long hallways getting you from one place to another. Those big, long hallways are so that this way they can do some instant facial recognition in the airports, right? They can see who's exactly getting off the plane, entering their country. Of course, we do need the big, long hallways, but there's a. There's a lot of tech that's happening in those hallways. But, you know, certain number of people who subscribe to the newsletter, they get the show and the podcast is that they're really concerned about privacy. So that's why I throw in those tips every once in a while. Because, you know, with. With tsa, they use what's called advanced imaging technology. I mean, you know this, right? I mean, it's. They take the image of your body for security reasons. Now, TSA has stated that the images that are taken during screens are not saved or stored, that they are deleted automatically. But as I mentioned, there's just. There's a certain number of folks that rely on me to tell them things that they may not know. That when you go to.

3:14

Absolutely.

4:36

Yeah. So. So that when you go to TSA and they say, here, put your face in front of this biometric scanner, that you can say, no, I really don't want to. And then you don't have to. Now, as far as what I do, I mean, the last thing I want to do is fight with a TSA agent. I mean, a lot of them are great. And I mean, would you want that job, Rosemary?

4:36

Not in a lot, in the least. Absolutely not. No, no, no.

5:07

I would not want that job. So, you know, and so anytime I look at, you know, somebody who's in that position. I just, you know, I'm always, of course, we're always courteous. We're nice. Thankful for them to do the job, and then hopefully you'll get that consideration back. You don't always. Right.

5:11

I mean, no, I, they were, they were great. When I went up recently, as I said, and I hesitated, should I block my face in? I let them do it because I thought it was easier than pulling my, my ID out. I'm always, you know, you're going through those TSA lines and they got you grabbing things left and right, and you're always so afraid you're going to lose something at that moment.

5:30

Yeah, for sure.

5:50

And, you know, you're going to put something there and put something down and somebody else is going to pick it.

5:51

Up on the other end.

5:55

Right?

5:56

Yeah.

5:57

Yeah.

5:58

And so even just dropping something at that point because you're moving stuff and all that. So I just, I was like, I like this thing where, where is the risk of letting them take your biometrics.

5:58

They have it all. I don't. They have it all. Hey, did you hear about the new Gen Z or trend that's going through tsa? Have you heard about this?

6:10

No.

6:19

Okay, so just imagine you're, you're, you're getting on that plane that you just got on the other day, Right? Okay. The lines are so long and all. And, you know, and people already rushed to get through these lines. But in front of you, Rosemary, I want you to picture in front of you is a Gen Z who is. Is gets that bin, and they take off their watch, they take off their, you know, get their phone out of their pocket, the scarf, the hat, whatever they have, and they neatly arrange it in that bin so all the logos are facing up. Rosemary. Okay, so if it's a Yves on Laurent bag, it's gonna have that logo. If it's going to be an iPhone, we're going to see that. You know, you follow me? The Tolstrus. So now you're just waiting behind them, and they are meticulously arranging everything in that bin. Then they stand back and they take about 20 pictures of it. So that.

6:20

And you're behind them.

7:21

Yeah.

7:22

So that this way they can put that on social. For credit. For social, you know, credit. And then they can ask all of.

7:22

Their friends, do you think I packed too much? Okay.

7:31

So I would have less patience with them than the TSA agents, that's for sure. So in case you're wondering and you're traveling and you start seeing a whole bunch of Gen zers doing exactly what I said. Now you know it's a social media viral trend.

7:37

Hey, want to stay in the tech now without wasting your time? Join nearly a million folks who get my free newsletter, the Current, where you see the latest in tech in just five minutes every single day. You're just going to love it.

7:54

It has a five out of five.

8:05

Star rating over on Trustpilot. Sign up right now@getkim.com that's getkim.com.

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