It’s summer, and that means you’ll be taking a lot of photos. I want you to look your best. When it comes to posing, you need to be strategic. And if that doesn’t work, I share the photo-editing app Kim Kardashian uses.

Figure out your best selfie angle

Take a series of nine selfies:

• Look straight at the camera, then take three pics: One with the camera right in front of your face, one from above and one from below.
• Turn your face slightly to the right. While keeping eye contact with the lens, snap a selfie with the camera at face level, then take one where the camera is higher and one where it’s positioned lower.
• Do the same thing with the left side of your face.

Compare the nine photos to see which angle suits you best. Can’t decide? Get a second opinion from a friend you trust.

🦃 To minimize neck fat and extra skin, jut your head forward slightly so it’s closer to the camera. At the same time, elongate your neck and tip your chin down a little bit. Looks strange in person but right on camera.

Make your eyes twinkle

Bad lighting can make even the most attractive person look like a horror movie villain. Here are my rules of thumb:

• Don’t stand under a light: Direct overhead lighting casts harsh shadows that make your skin look bad.
• Use the golden hours: That’s one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunset. The soft, natural light makes your skin glow!
• Face a light source: Point your eyes toward it and widen them just a bit.
• If you’re outside: Face the sun to take advantage of the natural light. But if the sun is high and it’s making you squint or casting dark shadows, find a patch of partial shade.

Pro tip: Use better lighting on your video calls. I tried a bunch and loved the Lume Cube Broadcast Lighting Kit. It comes with a suction cup for your monitor and a tripod. Gorg!

Look better in full-body photos, too

Standing straight toward the camera isn’t flattering. Angle your torso away from the camera, then put your weight on your back hip. This makes your front leg closest to the camera look leaner.

Put a hand on your hip. It makes your arm look slimmer than keeping it pressed against your body.

🤩 The photo-editing app Kim Kardashian uses

Let’s be real. You can do everything listed above and still not look your best. There are a ton of photo-editing apps promising to make it super easy to reduce lines, shed five pounds and remove backgrounds. I saw Kim Kardashian uses the YouCamPerfect app, though, so I tried it.

Yup, this is why she looks great in every photo on social media — and how you can, too. It’s free to download but watch out: There are a ton of in-app purchases. Expect to shell out $30 a year to use the app’s full range of editing features (and remove the watermarking). That’s what I pay. Get it for iOS or Android. You’re welcome.

🤳 I asked a photographer friend which pose was the best for selfies. He said, “It doesn’t really matter. Just take your pic.”

When a service is free, you’re the product. The email providers everyone knows (yes, I’m talking about Gmail, Yahoo and all the rest) aren’t really free. You’re paying with your privacy. From where you are and what you click, to who you talk to most, they know it all.

StartMail is the secure email provider I trust. There’s no invasive tracking or annoying ads. Plus, it’s packed with top privacy features, like unlimited disposable email addresses and easy-to-use encrypted communication. They offer a business subscription, too, that includes extra storage, shared email aliases and the flexibility to add unlimited domains.

I negotiated a special deal just for you. Right now, StartMail is offering an exclusive 60% off annual subscriptions, including the new business plan. No way you can beat that. I checked.

The only constant is change: Change Healthcare says hackers stole medical records from a “substantial proportion of people in America.” That means you, me and everyone you know. The info includes names, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license and passport numbers, medical records, test results and diagnoses, medications and imaging, treatment plans, insurance and policy details, billing and claims information, and banking info. Expect a notice by mail starting at the end of July.

🛩 Air taxis: As soon as 2025, we might see Joby Aviation’s ultra-quiet eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft in the skies. An eVTOL takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane. Joby just received FAA authorization for a new software system, including an app you’ll be able to use to hail a flying taxi, just like an Uber. I’m not going to be first in line.

What a trip: An American Airlines passenger’s lost suitcase turned up in a Hollywood homeless encampment. After flying from Dallas, her AirTag tracked the bag’s detour to Denver, back to Dallas, then to Burbank and somehow into central L.A. How it happened is still a mystery. Her friend recovered the bag by paying off a local, who had the woman’s lost belongings in a shopping cart.

You’ll hear no objection from me: People are turning to small claims courts to tackle social media account issues, especially with Meta offering little to no help. Ray Palena got his Facebook account back this way after all other methods had failed. Smart idea, really. Facebook’s customer support is totally useless, and filing fees are typically under $100.

🔥 Must-have free app: Watch Duty on iOS and Android is tops for wildfire alerts. Volunteers deliver push notifications about nearby fires, air quality alerts, active fire boundaries, evacuation orders and shelter details. If you live in a fire-prone area, def put this on your phone.

Attention, campers and hikers: SpaceX is launching a backpack-sized Starlink Mini satellite antenna for $599. Monthly service is $150 with speeds over 100 Mbps. No, it’s not cheap, and you’re capped at 50GB per month, with extra data usage setting you back $1 for each gigabyte. FYI: Streaming a two-hour movie in 1080p eats 5GB to 8GB. But heck yeah, you have the internet wherever the path leads.

✅ Check out my new website: Komando.com is now full of all kinds of surprises, including 60% less advertising, a search tool that actually works, and better ways to listen to my podcasts and watch my videos. Reply to this email and let me know what you think, or drop a comment when you rate this issue below.

Summer is road trip season, which means it’s time to make your ride road-ready. This list isn’t exhaust‑ive, but it’s a good start!

• Toss empty snack wrappers into a leakproof car trash can, on sale for $9.99.
• Don’t throw your purse on the ground. Hang it on this hook, which goes on the back of a headrest. It’s 41% off now, at $7.66.
• This smartphone charger keeps your phone in place for navigation with a sturdy mount, and it’s 57% off.
• Air sanitizers get the lingering greasy burger or smoke smell out of a rental car. Grab a pack for 11% off.
• Every vehicle needs jumper cables, an LED headlamp and a tire pressure gauge. You’ll be set with this kit, now 15% off.

32 hours of battery life: Hey, your old earbuds don’t have that! Raycons are so much more affordable than AirPods, have studio-quality sound and they fit securely in every ear. Score 15% off and free shipping right now at BuyRaycon.com/kim.* They come with a 30-day happiness guarantee, too!

Shhhhh: You’re in a meeting and one of your browser tabs starts playing a video. Right-click on it and select Mute. Yep, you don’t even need to open the tab.

If you think it’s annoying when your phone gets brighter and dimmer on its own, turn that off. On iPhone, open Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle off Auto-Brightness. On Android, you’ll find it under Display settings.

Oops: To delete an entire word at a time, hit Ctrl + backspace on a Windows computer. On a Mac, it’s Option + Delete.

Teach Alexa your voice: I had Barry do this because she only understood me. In the Alexa app, go to More > Settings > Your Profile & Family > Your Profile > Add Your Voice. Even still, Alexa likes me better.

• Kurt in Georgia is searching for his missing friend, Julie Vessigault. He thinks she might be a trafficking victim and needs tech help to track her down.
• Victoria in Alabama thinks her coworker is being scammed. She met a man from Canada who says he works in Dubai, and they’ve known each other for two weeks. Now, they’re getting … married?
• Heidi in Michigan downloaded a shady text-messaging app and now she’s worried about privacy.

Plus, Rick fell for a pig-butchering scam, James wants to know if he can trust Google’s AI answers, Ronnie is sick of political texts, Hugh’s curious about how AI is killing small-biz websites and so much more!

🎶 Make a mixtape: Not using a cassette, though. Use YouTube.

Upgrade: The lemonade stand to a business. Shopify has a free guide for kids who want to get started selling things online.

🥗 Make a crunchy mango and avocado salad: I did and it’s so good!

Guess: The song of the day on Bandle. You only get to hear one instrument at a time, which makes it extra tricky (and fun).

Replace: Your old plastic cutting board. They’ve found microplastics in organs, blood — you name it. This one’s made of paper composite and it’s knife-safe, nonporous and nonplastic.

🐾 Do dogs pee in the pool? I know my dog does not.

The answer: D.) Mars surface ocean exploration. There is no ocean on Mars. The real Mars mission is a study of the planet’s geology, climate and possibility for past life. Browse current NASA missions here. So cool!

A whopping 60% off! That’s what you can save by getting StartMail with this link. It’s a privacy-focused email provider with no ads, no tracking and no scummy data collection. They make it super easy to get all your old mail and contacts, too.

⭐ I’ll see you right back here tomorrow with more tech smarts. Until then, have a wonderful day, my wonderful pal! — Kim