A life-saving tool you should set up now
Plus: AI brings old photos to life, Windows 10 gets a reprieve, and how to prep your phone for international travel
Hello and welcome to another edition of my newsletter!
Let’s get right to it.
This week I attended a 911 conference in Long Beach, and not only did I get a look at how things work behind the scenes—I picked up a great tip.
There’s a website called Smart911 that lets you create a safety profile linked to your phone number. You can add things like medical info, allergies, and household details. If you ever call 911, the dispatcher can instantly see this information on their screen.
Of course, the call center has to support the system. There are over 6,000 independently run 911 centers in the U.S., each with different levels of technology. But you can check your ZIP code on the Smart911 site to see if it’s available near you.
It’s worth setting up—especially if someone in your household has a medical condition or other situation that would be helpful for first responders to know about ahead of time.
This is also a great reminder to make sure your phone is ready in case of an emergency.
On iPhone:
Go to Settings > Emergency SOS and review your options—especially your emergency contacts. Then open the Health app, tap your profile picture in the upper right, and fill out your Medical ID. Be sure to turn on “Show When Locked” and “Share During Emergency Call.”
On Samsung:
Open Settings > Safety and emergency and fill out your Medical info and Emergency contacts. Toggle on “Show on Lock screen” and “Share during emergency calls and texts.”
On Pixel:
Go to Settings > Safety & emergency, tap “Open Personal Safety,” and use the tab at the bottom labeled “Your Info.” From there, fill in your Medical information and Emergency contacts. Then toggle on “Show when locked” and “Share during emergency call.”
Better to be prepared—and hope you never have to use it.
Bring your old photos to life with AI
There are so many AI tools out there—especially ones that let you play with photos. One trend making the rounds right now is bringing old pictures to life, and there’s a tool that does just that. It’s from MyHeritage, and it’s called Live Memory.
Live Memory was designed specifically for old photos. It takes a still image and transforms it into a 5-second video clip that looks like it was filmed. Upload a photo—maybe a wedding day, a first day of school, or someone playing an instrument—and the tool brings that moment back to life.
You can try it for free and make a limited number of clips. I’m not sure how many exactly, so choose your uploads wisely.
The results? Pretty interesting. It’s not perfect with every photo I tried, but it’s definitely worth checking out. See the before and after below.
How to keep Windows 10 safe for one more year
On my radio show, I get a ton of questions about Windows 10—upgrading to Windows 11, whether your computer is compatible, and whether you can safely keep using Windows 10.
Here’s the deal: Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 in October 2025. If you keep using it after that, you’re putting your computer at risk since it won’t get security security updates.
But there’s good news—Microsoft just announced a lifeline. You can now extend security updates for one more year in three different ways:
Use the Windows Backup tool to sync your PC settings to the cloud with a Microsoft account. This gets you the updates for free.
Redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points. If you’ve used Bing or Microsoft services, you might already have these. You can check at rewards.bing.com. I happen to have over 2,800.
Pay $30 for the year of updates.
If you’re not sure whether your device can run Windows 11, go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. You can also download the PC Health Check app to find out.
My take? If your computer can handle Windows 11, just update. It works well, and Microsoft is clearly putting its focus on that OS—especially when it comes to AI and security.
And no need to email me saying how frustrating this is—Windows 10 launched in July 2015, so we’re coming up on a full decade.
You can’t enroll just yet. But starting in July or August, Microsoft will push out an enrollment wizard to help you choose one of the update options. I’ll remind you when it goes live.
If you take advantage of one of these options, you’re good through October 2026.
How to get your phone ready for international travel
Every time I travel internationally, I pick up a bunch of new tips and tricks for prepping my phone. I’ve now pulled them all together into one easy-to-watch video—and I’ve listed the key tips out for you below.
Nintendo Switch 2 review
The Nintendo Switch 2 is already off to a strong start. In my review, I found that it builds on everything people love about the original Switch—polishing existing features, improving performance, and adding some useful upgrades.
One standout: the ability to voice chat with friends while you play, something fans have been asking for. Overall, it’s a solid upgrade that keeps the spirit of the original while bringing it up to date.
Tech Tidbits
Spectrum continues to add more streaming services to its traditional cable TV bundle. Spectrum TV subscribers now have access to Hulu, joining Paramount+, Max, Disney+, Peacock, Vix, and more. These all include ads by default, but you can upgrade to ad-free versions for an additional fee. You can activate these free services here.
Starting July 8, T-Mobile customers can get a free DoorDash DashPass subscription—a $120 value. The offer is available in the T-Life app through August 4.
You can now stream iHeartRadio on Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses.
Ring notifications are about to get smarter and more descriptive, thanks to AI enhancements.
TechSpot has a great article with a curated list of essential software to install on your Mac or Windows computer. Many of the apps are free and worth a look.
Double rebates tip
James from San Diego writes in:
I’m using Chrome on Mac and getting $1 back on each Amazon purchase from both SimplyCodes and ShopBack — that’s $2 per order total. Thanks for mentioning both!
If that’s working for you—excellent! Just to recap:
SimplyCodes is my go-to for promo codes that actually work. They also have a token program that gives you 100 tokens (worth $1) for each purchase through a supported store. I haven’t tried that part yet, so I can’t speak to how well it works.
ShopBack, on the other hand, has been great for my Amazon purchases— you get $1 back on each one. All you have to do is remember to activate the extension before you shop. I find it’s a bit easier to accomplish on desktop than mobile.
They support a ton of stores and offer bonus deals through “Quests,” which are definitely worth checking out if you want to earn more.
Oh—and I have a ShopBack referral code that gets you a $20 bonus if you’re signing up for the first time.
Feedbag
More, please
John in Oklahoma City writes in…
I recently found your show on KTOK — yes, home of the OKC Thunder, NBA Champs! First, let me assure you this message wasn’t written by ChatGPT… you can tell because it doesn’t start with “I hope this message finds you well”!
Now the complaint: it’s very inconsiderate of you to only do this show once a week. I’m disappointed. I had to figure out how to use a podcast app just to catch your older shows!
Suggested solution? Air the show every day. But if you’re really too busy with your KTLA TV stuff, I’d be willing to settle for three times a week.
In all seriousness — I love the show and really look forward to it. I appreciate what you do and just wanted to share!
Thanks, John—your message made my day. Between TV, radio, and this newsletter, I’m firing on all cylinders. But if there’s ever a way to expand the show without giving up my sanity, I’ll consider it.
Follow, listen, watch, and subscribe!
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That’s all for now! Be sure to catch my radio show Saturdays from 11 AM to 2 PM PT on KFI AM 640—and call in with your tech questions at 1-888-RICH-101.
You can also catch the rebroadcast in New York City on 710 WOR, Sunday nights from 8 to 11 PM ET.
My TV show, Rich On Tech Weekly, features all of my reports - plus deeper dives into the stories you see on the news. It streams exclusively on KTLA+ every Sunday at 11 AM.
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– Rich