Issue 20: The Ultimate Tech Roundup: Back-to-School Picks, Surveillance Breakdowns, and Gadget Hacks

Awesome gadgets for students of all ages + picks for busy parents, crime-fighting surveillance breakthroughs (what could possibly go wrong?!), and simple fixes for your most annoying gadget problems.

Aug 01, 2025

It’s moving day in LA! In a tale as old as … well, parents taking their kids to college … I’m one of the two-ish million parents helping schlep boxes and hang photos (without damaging the walls!) across college campuses far and wide this fall.

Jeneva’s moving into grad school housing at UCLA where she starts law school in two weeks. Her focus is on human and civil rights, and dang it, she’s worked so hard to get here. To say we’re proud of her is like saying the ocean has a little water or the Grand Canyon is a bit deep—it doesn’t even scratch the surface.

So I proudly donned my new Go Bruins best and am getting in leg day with a million trips up a few flights of stairs. The nearest Target is my second home and I keep promising not to cry AGAIN when I get her all settled in.

These big parenting milestones never really stop; they just evolve, don’t they? Are you moving kids to college or prepping for back to school? Let’s commiserate!

🔥 THE WEEK IN TECHISH

📚 Back-to-school gear that actually works
No more gimmicks—just the real tech that’ll make your school year easier. From tablets with enough storage to handle everything to lightweight bikes that make commuting a breeze, these are the picks that truly deliver for students, parents, and everyone in between.

📘 Check out the full list here

🚗 Flock Safety and the future of crime-fighting technology
Surveillance tech is changing the game for law enforcement. Flock Safety’s license plate readers are helping police solve crimes faster, but they’re also raising major privacy concerns. I’m diving deep into how this tech is reshaping public safety—and what it means for our privacy moving forward.

🔋 New and easy super smart tech tips that actually work!
Tech should make life easier, not more complicated. These smart tips are designed to declutter your phone, streamline your digital life, and help you work smarter, not harder. Think of it as your personal productivity boost—without the hassle.

Read about three annoying things you can fix in five minutes this weekend below!

DEEP DIVE INCOMING: These Cameras Know Where You’ve Been

There’s a fast-growing, $7.5 billion company quietly transforming how police solve crimes in America. Chances are, you’ve already driven past one of their 80,000 cameras.

It’s called Flock Safety.

Their tech tracks license plates, alerts officers when stolen vehicles pass by, and has helped recover kidnapped kids and take down trafficking rings. It’s the kind of high-tech policing that feels ripped from a CSI episode—until you realize it’s happening in real life, on your street, and your own community decides how it’s used.

Supporters say Flock helps solve crimes faster, safer, and with fewer resources. Critics say it opens the door to mass surveillance, racial profiling, and over-policing. And with local elected officials deciding who has access to your data—and how long it’s stored—most of us don’t even know what’s being captured, when, or why.

So what happens when your neighborhood gets turned into a digital dragnet? Who’s watching the watchers?

For the past two months, I’ve been investigating the rise of Flock Safety to find out what it is, how it works, and what it means for the rest of us.

Coming next week: the full breakdown—real cases, real consequences, and the biggest privacy questions so many people are working to answer.

How can we stay safe without turning into a surveillance state? It’s possible, and it’s up to us.

👀Stay tuned—this is a big one.

Hidden Tech Settings Draining Your Time, Money—and Sanity

From silent subscriptions to spying smart speakers, here’s how to fix three sneaky digital annoyances in less than five minutes.

🧾 Find & Cancel Sneaky Subscriptions

Why it matters: Americans spend an average of $219/month on subscriptions—and most underestimate it by 2x.
Quick Fix:

iPhone: Settings > Your Name > Subscriptions

Android (Google Play): Play Store > Profile > Payments & Subscriptions

Or use tools like Rocket Money, Bobby, or Ask Trim (for recurring bills too).
Bonus Tip: Search your inbox for “receipt from,” “your subscription,” or “auto-renewal” and manually clean house.

🧹 Bulk Delete Emails Without Spending a Weekend Doing It

Why it matters: Inbox overload = mental load. Also, storage costs $$$.
Quick Fix:

In Gmail: Search older_than:1y, click top box, then “Select all conversations.” Delete.
Use Clean Email or Mailstrom for deeper AI-powered cleanup.
Pro move: Create a filter for “unsubscribe” and auto-archive that junk.

🔕 Silence the Never-Ending Notification Pings

Why it matters: Constant pings = brain fatigue. You’re not Pavlov’s dog.
Quick Fix:

iPhone: Settings > Notifications > Suggested Summary (for batching)
Android: Settings > Notifications > Turn off “suggested actions” and social pings
Bonus: Turn off those red app badge icons. They’re productivity poison.

💡 Mike's Smart Tech Tips
From hidden iPhone features to saving $$$ on streaming, Mike’s (@ofinterestnews) dropping his best smart-life hacks next week. Don’t miss it.

MORE COMING NEXT WEEK

🧢 The Great American Mow Off
Tech meets turf — I’m comparing all-new smart mowers with the promise that you’ll get more time back to do things you love, not yard work.

🌪️ Before the Storm: Natural Disaster Tech Essentials
I’m rounding up the emergency gadgets you’ll want to have on hand before disaster strikes. Think power stations, smart radios, and more.

💪 Scott Reviews the New WHOOP 5.0 MG
Our athlete-in-residence (@frontpacksports) tests the all-new WHOOP 5.0 MG tracker from a performance-first perspective. What’s new? Is the MG worth the spend or upgrade? He’s putting it to the test.

SPONSOR THIS NEWSLETTER

We’re only 20 newsletters in and we have about 11,000 dedicated subscribers who want real talk and recommendations around all things tech+life.

Want to reach these people through sponsoring this newsletter or podcast? Have a product you want us to test? Or maybe you just have a nagging tech question that we can help you fix?

📬 Hit our inbox: jj@techish.com or scott@techish.com

FINAL BYTE

As I watch my daughter take this giant leap into law school and reflect on the tech that helps us keep it all together, I’m reminded that the best tech is the kind that connects us—whether it's bridging the gap between a busy mom and her kid on the other side of town (or country), or giving us the tools to help fight for justice and privacy in our communities.

From moving boxes to moving the needle on big issues, this week’s stories are all about the tech that matters in real life. Let’s keep it human, keep it smart, and keep pushing for a better, more connected future.

More to come. As always, hit reply with your thoughts, questions, or just a hello.

And? Thank you.

xo — Jenn 💛

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