All tech. No filler.
Join 900,000+ people who stay ahead of the tech curve with The Current, delivered daily. No fluff, no BS.
You might not realize it, but airlines and cruise lines collect a lot of data, from your seat choice to the websites you browse on their Wi-Fi.
Steps to make autocorrect on Apple iPhone and Android work for you.
Breaking news and tips
How to get a job as a mystery diner
Any restaurant worth its salt wants to know what it’s doing right and what it’s screwing up. And they’re willing to pay you for that info. But they can’t just judge servers and kitchen staff when they’re on their best behavior. They need someone undercover.
Enter mystery dining. Restaurants get genuine feedback and you get to eat out for free. I found out how to have your cake and eat review it.
How it works
Yes, you really get your food free of charge, including tips and travel expenses, usually in the form of a voucher or gift card.
It is a job, though. You’ll have to give a ton of feedback about your restaurant visit. How was the food? How was the service? What could’ve been better? You’ll need to have an eye for detail and a good memory. You’ll also need to take some photos as part of the trip.
Oh, and you won’t need to worry about an awkward confrontation at the table. You’ll submit all your intel afterward to the company you’re working for.
Most of them have online portals, too. Once in their system, log into your account, check available assignments, choose one to complete and upload your results.
Who are these “mystery” companies?
Mystery dining agencies act as a middleman between you and larger restaurants that pay them for intel. Here are a few of the most reputable:
- Second to None has been in the biz for 30 years and can get you gigs in high-end and fast-food dining. Pretty sure getting paid to critique an In-N-Out burger is Barry’s dream job. They also work in retail if shopping’s more your speed.
- Eye Spy CC focuses on dining and has excellent reviews from reviewers who, uh, review for them. Shoppers report getting large enough budgets to go to high-end restaurants and really enjoy themselves. Nice!
- Market Force is another heavy-hitter in dining and retail. Diners say vouchers usually start small, but once you’ve worked with a company for a while, you can get larger assignments and additional pay.
FYI: This is a “secret” from restaurants but not from the IRS. If you make over $600 with any org, you must file a 1099 like a regular independent contractor.
How to apply
Keep calm and travel on
🧳 Grab some gear for spring break or your everyday life.
- This slim RFID wallet ($10) helps keep your cards safe from digital pickpockets.
- Catch some Z’s on your flight with a memory foam neck pillow (20% off).
- A tablet holder (13% off) will entertain your little ones on long drives.
- Tangled cords? An electronic organizer ($13) keeps them neatly packed.
- Now you won’t lose a multi-charging cable ($8) at the bottom of your bag.
🐶 Puppy love? I can’t stop talking about my new pup, Bella (sorry, not sorry). Check out these dog seat covers to save your back seat from dirt and fur.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Feeling left behind? Download NetSuite’s free knowledge drop, “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.” No matter what you do, you should know more about AI. It’s not going anywhere.
Egg prices got you scrambling?
Rent a chicken. Seriously. Rent The Chicken lets you “borrow” hens for fresh eggs at home. For about $140 a month, you’ll get two hens, a portable coop, feed and instructions to keep them happy. Expect one to two dozen eggs per week.
Eyes on you
Plus: Urgent Apple update, Oura Ring saves, FTC payouts and more tech goodness.
🐱 Purrfectly at home: Kevin Mohn built a two-story “Up North Cat Condo” (paywall link) to keep stray cats warm in the chilly Minnesota winter. Now over 3 million people watch the livestream here. What’s the difference between a cat and a comma? A cat has claws at the end of its paws and a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.
About $100
The expected price tag of Grand Theft Auto 6. This leaked on a Swiss store’s website but got quickly deleted. Hardly a steal? It’s actually about the same as the $50 original GTA from 1997 in today’s dollars. The game should be out later this year.
Don’t take the bait!
New $2K iPhone, HP bricks, TikTok changes and more to keep you in the know!
📵 Kids glued to their phones? Pick a day or time for the whole family to unplug and spend time together. Download my kids’ tech contract for them to sign and hang it on the fridge as a reminder.
A new AI chatbot hit the web: Manus isn’t your typical China-owned chatbot. Think of it like a digital worker that gets stuff done on its own. I tried it for a new business I’m starting, and it even drew prototypes. You’ll need to fill out the invite to try it. Remember, this is China, so nothing confidential.
Everything Amazon knows about you
Every click, purchase, and Alexa command you’ve ever made is tracked by Amazon. Want to see what else it knows? Here’s how to get your data.
Get your refund: The FTC is sending $25.5 million worth of payments to 736,375 scam victims. Restoro and Reimage tricked folks with fake pop-ups and ads into thinking their computers were infected when they weren’t. Check your PayPal if that’s you.
Coming to Google Gemini: Show to tell
Soon, you can open up your phone’s camera with Google Gemini to know what you’re seeing or answer questions in real time. Watch it in action. Now, imagine all the uses from knowing what you’re looking at when traveling to identifying a skin rash that your doctor will say, “You’re a sight for psoriasis.” (I saw you smile!)
How to spot a fake job
A few weekends ago on my national radio show, I shared an amazing gig that pays up to $65 an hour being an AI tutor. You’ll help the chatbot refine answers, prompts and images. Now my inbox is overflowing with people asking how to apply. Here are the sites to check out!
🙏 A nurse says her Oura Ring saved her life: Nikki had been dealing with night sweats and fatigue but brushed it off — until her Oura app kept warning her that her body was under stress. That push made her see a doctor, where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer with the same symptoms. The Oura Ring is FSA or HSA eligible, btw.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
Chop it like it’s hot
🧑🏼🍳 Your kitchen just got an upgrade.
- Slice your veggies in seconds with this chopper (22% off) that has five swappable blades. Nice.
- Get the perfect portions every time on a smart food scale ($21.89).
- Seal in freshness with a Mason jar vacuum sealer ($30) that comes in 10 colors.
- Stay organized with a 50-pack of reusable meal prep containers (13% off). So much better than baggies.
- Wipe, dry and repeat with a pack of 15 classic kitchen towels ($22).
🍽️ Cold dinner? Grab this warming mat (63% off) for food while the deal lasts.
We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.
‘Emergency donuts’
Quick reminder: Most old cellphones can still call 911 even without a plan. Federal law requires all cellphones to connect to emergency services, even if they don’t have active service. A 2-year-old in Oklahoma put this to the test by calling for an emergency donut delivery. The dispatcher played along, and the police showed up with Dunkin’ treats.
82%
K-12 schools hit by cybercriminals from July 2023 to December 2024. That’s over 9,300 incidents. Most happened when staff fell for phishing scams. But they didn’t just lose data. Some attacks forced schools to close and affected meals and special education services.
🏥 Paging Dr. Holo: Cancer patients in rural Tennessee and Mississippi can now talk to their oncologist via hologram. Your doctor appears in a $70,000 box and communicates via a camera. Proto Hologram (paywall link), famous for concert tech, makes it. Patients feel like the doctor’s in the room. Check out a pic of this cool setup toward the end of this newsletter.