Here’s a little fact that will make you feel old: Gmail first launched all the way back on April 1, 2004.

For the last 22 years, you have been stuck with the username you picked back at the start of the Iraq War during the Bush administration. For some, that means you were in grade school when you decided on the account name that would follow you for the rest of your life. Well, you don’t have to hold onto it any more, because Google will finally let you change your Gmail username to something more suitable.

A brief history of Gmail

Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted something odd about Gmail’s birthday in the paragraph above. It launched on the most unserious day of the year — April Fools’ Day. In fact, when Gmail burst onto the internet, users thought it was a joke, partially because it offered one full gigabyte of email storage. Although this seems rather paltry by today’s standards, it was far more than competitors offered at the time, making Gmail an instant hit in lieu of AOL, Yahoo, and Hotmail.

Google promises you won’t break anything by changing your Gmail username.

Gmail was a turning point for Google, marking its first consumer product beyond Google Search since the company’s inception. To put the timeline into perspective, Gmail showed up nearly an entire year before Google Maps debuted, two and a half years before Google acquired YouTube, four and a half years before the Chrome browser, and eight years before Google Drive.

Today, Gmail is still one of Google’s core services and a vital component of the company’s business.

How to change your Gmail username

A lot can change over two decades, and if you have been holding onto an outdated or downright embarrassing Gmail handle, now is the time to finally update it to something that doesn’t make you roll your eyes when you see it.

On iPhone

Open up any Google app you have downloaded on your phone — I recommend either the Google Search app or Google Maps. Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner, followed by “Manage your Google Account.” From here, tap “Personal info,” and then select “Email” from the list of options.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Google Account on iOS 26

In the next menu, tap on your email address beneath “Google Account email,” and choose to “Change Google Account email.” Then scroll to the bottom, type in your new handle, and tap “Change email.” Make sure the new address is correct before you submit!

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Google Account on iOS 26

On Android

Open the Settings app, tap your name at the top, and tap your name at the top again, followed by “Manage your Google Account.” From here, choose “Personal info,” and then select “Email” from the list of options.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Google Account on Android 16

In the next menu, tap on your email address below “Google Account email,” and choose to “Change Google Account email.” Then scroll to the bottom, type in your new handle, and tap “Change email” to confirm.

Screenshots by Zach Laidlaw/Google Account on Android 16

On PC

Go to google.com. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner, followed by “Manage your Google Account.” From here, choose “Personal info” on the left, then select “Email” from the list of options. In the next menu, click on your email address beneath “Google Account email,” and choose to “Change Google Account email.” Then scroll to the bottom of the page, type in your new handle, and tap “Change email.” That’s it!

Change at your own risk

Google promises you won’t break anything by changing your Gmail username. You will still receive new emails that are sent to your old address, and any third-party accounts created with your old address will still work as intended. The change won’t affect any of the data saved to your Google account either, including photos, Google Drive files, etc.

RELATED: Smart TVs are spying on you. One state is finally fighting back.

Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto/Getty Images

That said, there are a couple of stipulations to keep in mind.

You’re allowed to change your Gmail username up to three times over the lifetime of your account, and you will have to wait 12 full months between each change. After this, you will no longer be able to update the username on your Gmail account; you will be stuck with the final version at the end of this period, so make sure it’s a good one!

​Tech 

A police officer was allegedly kidnapped after being dragged into a getaway car during an alleged armed robbery in California, and the bodycam video has been released.

The video showed a vehicle crashing into a FoodMaxx grocery store in Antioch at about 5:15 a.m. on Feb. 20. Three armed robbers enter the store before police arrive about three minutes later.

The officer threatens to shoot DeSouza unless he stops the vehicle, and after he refuses to stop, the officer shoots him.

One of the store employees later told police that one of the men was armed and threatened employees.

As police are yelling commands, the driver of the vehicle crashes into the occupied police cruiser, and police approach the car.

At one point, an officer lunges at the car just as it reverses back into the store, and he falls inside the passenger side with the door nearly shutting behind him.

That’s when the driver flees with the officer inside. The officer was identified as Travis Donaldson.

Bodycam video from inside the vehicle captures the bizarre interaction between officer and the driver.

“Stop the car!” the officer says.

“Get out the car, bro!” the driver yells.

“Stop the car!” the officer repeats.

“Get out!” the driver yells.

“Stop the car!” the officer yells.

Moments later the driver yells, “I’m going to crash this motherf**king car! I ain’t going to jail!”

Police say the driver, later identified as 23-year-old Dominick DeSouza, was driving erratically and ignoring orders from Donaldson. He tells the officer to jump out of the car but does not slow down.

The officer threatens to shoot DeSouza unless he stops the vehicle, and after he refuses to stop, the officer shoots him. DeSouza yells in pain, crashes the car, and then flees on foot.

Police said additional officers arrived at the scene and located DeSouza within 10 minutes of his fleeing from the car. He was found with the gunshot wound to his leg and hiding in bushes.

He was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

RELATED: Teens’ story claiming they were attacked unravels after cops find their damning video posted to social media, police say

The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged DeSouza with kidnapping, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon upon a peace officer, two counts of burglary, grand theft, and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle.

Officer Donaldson suffered minor injuries during the incident.

The nine minutes of footage from the incident can be viewed in its entirety at the Antioch City YouTube channel.

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​Police officer kidnapped, Antioch california police, Bodycamera video, Getaway driver kidnaps cop, Crime 

On April 25, President Trump renewed his call to end the Senate filibuster in connection with the SAVE America Act, warning in a post on Truth Social that failure to move the legislation through the upper chamber would be a disastrous political mistake for Republicans.

He is right about the stakes.

The SAVE America Act is the most important election reform bill in a generation. For those concerned about election integrity, the bill addresses a serious weakness in America’s voting system: In numerous states, noncitizens can illegally register to vote with alarming ease, while state officials often lack the tools needed to determine how widespread the problem is.

The current rules make it easy for noncitizens and citizens alike to illegally register to vote.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections. The trouble is that the law contains far too few meaningful safeguards to make sure that rule is actually followed.

Across more than 40 states, voter registration standards are so weak that election officials often have no reliable way to determine whether a person seeking to register is, in fact, an American citizen.

Oregon is a useful example. On the state’s voter registration form, applicants are given three broad options for proving identity. They may provide a state-issued ID such as a driver’s license, the last four digits of a Social Security number, or one item from a lengthy list of other accepted documents.

That system is deeply flawed. In 19 states, Oregon among them, illegal immigrants may obtain a driver’s license or another form of driving authorization. As a result, possession of a driver’s license does not establish citizenship. At most, it might help officials later identify a questionable registration if the state conducts a serious review of its voter rolls.

But an applicant does not even have to rely on a state ID. A person can choose instead to submit the last four digits of a Social Security number.

At first glance, that might appear to be a strong barrier, since illegal immigrants are not lawfully issued Social Security numbers. But that assumption ignores a serious and long-running problem: Many illegal immigrants have obtained and used Social Security numbers, and millions more Social Security numbers have been stolen and made available on the dark web.

RELATED: How Republicans have failed to defund sanctuary cities for a generation

J. David Ake/Getty Images

Earlier this year, researchers released a report uncovering a large illegal online database that included “2.7 billion records with Social Security numbers.”

It’s hard to tell how many of the records involved the same Social Security number or a false number, but the total number of records is so high that it’s possible that this one report shows that the vast majority of Americans have already had their Social Security number illegally taken.

The weaknesses in the system go even further than SSNs. People can also register without submitting either a state ID or a Social Security number. They can instead rely on various substitute documents, none of which establish that the applicant is a U.S. citizen.

Oregon again shows how reckless these rules can be. Its voter registration form permits applicants to use non-government photo identification. It also allows documents such as a paycheck stub, utility bill, or bank statement.

Under these rules, a person with a mailing address and a cable or gas bill could be placed on the voter rolls without ever having to provide a reliable form of identification.

Pretending these rules ensure elections are secure is nothing short of delusional. The current rules make it easy for noncitizens and citizens alike to illegally register to vote.

For example, in many states, there are few safeguards to stop a parent from stealing the identity of his or her adult child to cast a second ballot. All the parent would need to register in the name of a child is the last four digits of his or her Social Security number, information that nearly all parents have.

Although voter registration rules are dangerously weak in much of the country, the protections that exist at the ballot box differ widely from state to state. In places with strong voter ID requirements and widespread in-person voting, it is much harder for noncitizens and citizen identity thieves to cast ballots. But many states have failed to adopt those basic safeguards.

RELATED: Red states are not waiting for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Twenty-four states require voters to present photo identification when voting in person, while 12 additional states require some form of identification but do not require that the ID include a photo.

Fourteen states impose no voter ID requirement for most voters. That list includes large states with millions of voters, such as California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.

The danger is compounded by the rapid expansion of mail-in voting. Many states now permit no-excuse mail-in ballots, and eight states run their elections entirely by mail.

Furthermore, there is evidence that suggests the problem could be far greater than most are willing to admit. A 2023 survey by the Heartland Institute and Rasmussen Reports found that more than 1 in 4 2020 mail-in voters admitted to engaging in at least one activity that likely constitutes a violation of election law.

Similarly, in 2024, Heartland and Rasmussen conducted another survey that showed 28% of likely voters said they would be willing to engage in at least one form of illegal voting activity to help their preferred candidate win that year’s presidential election.

The facts are disturbing and clear: Many Americans are willing to commit voter fraud, and not nearly enough protections are currently in place to prevent them from doing so.

The SAVE America Act would finally make America’s elections safe and secure again, but only if Republicans in Congress stop making excuses and use the power voters gave them to pass it.

​American citizen, Election integrity, Election law, Election security, Federal law, Illegal immigrants, President trump, Save act, Social security number, Voter fraud, Voter registration, Voter rolls, Opinion & analysis 

Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and former President Barack Obama visited Learning Through Play Pre-K, an early childhood education center in the South Bronx. During this visit — their first in-person meeting — they read the children’s book “Alone & Together” to toddlers, joined a sing-along of “Wheels on the Bus,” joked about pizza, and highlighted the city’s push for universal child care.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray wasn’t buying the feel-good optics for a second. He interpreted the publicity stunt as proof that “these two Marxists” are “absolutely together now.”

“Are these free buses that the wheels are going around on?” co-host Keith Malinak joked, highlighting Mamdani’s high-profile campaign promise to make city bus fares free — a pledge that has already stalled due to budget realities and state control of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“I could vomit,” Pat said in response to the entire PR stunt.

“You would think [Obama] would want to distance himself a bit from a guy who is essentially at least a socialist, if not a communist, because [Obama] spent his whole life denying he was one. And now here you are hanging out with [Mamdani] talking about the same things, and you got so much in common.”

This staged photo op comes as Mamdani marks his first 100 days in office, pushing an aggressive left-wing agenda on taxes, housing, and “free” services that prioritize ideology over practical governance.

Pat sees it as classic Democrat theater: using cute kids and sing-alongs to distract from failed policies and to cement a radical alliance between Obama and the new socialist mayor.

To see clips from Mamdani and Obama’s publicity stunt and hear more of the panel’s commentary, watch the video above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Blaze media, Blazetv, Early childhood education, Free buses, Marxists, Mayor zohran mamdani, New york city, Pat gray, Pat gray unleashed, President barack obama, South bronx, Publicity stunt, Socialism 

Last weekend delivered yet another grim headline: political violence, an attempted presidential assassination, once again treated as a mystery by the left.

The alleged perpetrator, we are told, was not some fringe drifter living off the grid, but an award-winning teacher. This is a detail that would have seemed ironic a generation ago, but now seems almost predictable.

Reports indicate that the individual had a record of professional accolades and community involvement, the sort of résumé typically invoked to prove the impact of leftist ideologies.

If one wishes to understand what is happening to our country, there is no need to search for obscure explanations.

Alongside that résumé, there are early indications of ideological commitments and public expressions that fit comfortably within the increasingly militant strain of contemporary progressive activism and most university classrooms.

After such events, the public conversation follows a well-worn script. We are told this is an isolated incident. We are urged not to “politicize.” And yet, the same voices that warn against generalization in this context have no hesitation attributing sweeping moral guilt to entire categories when it suits the prevailing orthodoxy.

One is tempted to ask: How often must this pattern repeat before we permit ourselves the unfashionable act of noticing it?

It’s as if there are some mysterious places we send young adults to be indoctrinated to hate their country, hate their bodies, and hate God. The only thing worse is if we are footing the bill for tuition.

So let us ask, with due sobriety: Are there institutions in our country where young minds are being shaped, not merely to critique, but to despise?

Now that you mention it, yes, there are.

The university as moral re-education center

As a Christian and conservative professor, I have spent years calling attention to what occurs inside our universities.

Earlier this month, my college at Arizona State University formally adopted a Native American land acknowledgment as official policy.

These statements are often presented as benign gestures of historical awareness, but their actual function is quite different: They are meant to problematize the legitimacy of American land ownership and to “expose” what are called “structures of oppression.”

In practice, this language is not descriptive but rather accusatory. It does not invite inquiry; it prescribes judgment.

At the same time, faculty are encouraged to “decolonize” their curricula. That term, which sounds like a meaningless academic exercise, carries a very specific ideological payload. It teaches that Western civilization, particularly the United States, is not merely flawed but fundamentally illegitimate, built upon “white supremacy” and sustained by “structural violence.”

And if a system is fundamentally illegitimate, what follows?

Historically speaking, one does not reform such systems. One dismantles them. And so you find ASU professors calling for armed resistance to the United States.

From theory to rhetoric to action

This is not some abstract speculation. It is a demonstrable reality.

Across the country, we have seen:

Professors at American institutions openly defending or rationalizing political violence as a form of “resistance.” If intersectionality calls you “oppressed,” it’s fine to be violent. University departments issuing statements framing America as inherently oppressive while praising movements aimed at its transformation.K-12 educators using classroom time to advance ideological positions that portray students’ own nation, heritage, and even biological identity as sources of moral guilt.

Consider the broader pattern:

At Harvard and Columbia, student groups and faculty responses to recent global conflicts have included rhetoric that many Americans would recognize as moral inversion, where acts of violence are reframed as justified expressions of resistance.Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across major universities and corporations routinely instruct participants to view American history through a lens of oppression, often discouraging dissent as a form of harm.“Decolonization” and the anti-settler, anti-whiteness initiatives increasingly reject the very idea of objective truth, reason, and even science, casting them as instruments of power and white supremacy.

One begins to see the progression:

Step 1: Teach the youth that America and Christianity are evil.
Step 2: Teach that dismantling them is justice.
Step 3: Act surprised when someone takes the final step.
Step 4: Cash your state employee checks.

What of oversight?

All of this brings us to a question that is at once practical and unavoidable: Where are the Arizona Board of Regents and similar institutions in other states?

Is it merely a ceremonial body, an occasion for polite applause and catered wine and cheese receptions, or does it exist to provide actual oversight of the institutions entrusted to it?

Public universities are not private salons for ideological experimentation. They are taxpayer-supported institutions with a mandate to educate, not indoctrinate; to pursue truth, not enforce orthodoxy.

In Arizona, professors sign an employee contract agreeing not to undermine the Constitution. And yet, when faculty openly promote ideas that undermine the constitutional order they are employed under, the response is silence or, worse, complicity.

Meanwhile, those who raise concerns find themselves subject to scrutiny, marginalization, and, in some cases, professional penalty.

RELATED: The anti-Christian myth of First Amendment ‘neutrality’

Zimmytws/Getty Images

What are we paying for?

American families send their children to universities like ASU at considerable cost. It is easily tens of thousands of dollars per year and sometimes far more when all expenses are counted and taxes are factored in.

What do they expect in return? An education in truth. Training in reason. Preparation for responsible citizenship. Maybe even a little wisdom and fear of God.

But that is not what they get. Instead, their kids receive instruction in grievance. Classes about envy and training to hate your neighbor. Formation in ideological hostility. Encouragement to view their own country, their own traditions, even their own families as objects of suspicion or contempt.

And occasionally, as we are now forced to confront, something worse: calls for violent resistance by professors on the state tax dime.

A modest proposal

If one wishes to understand what is happening to our country, there is no need to search for obscure explanations.

It is happening, in large measure, in our universities. And it is paid for by taxes in the very country these professors hate so much. Parents don’t know how bad it is and continue to send their children, paying tuition, into these ideological training camps.

And — this is the uncomfortable part — we don’t stop paying for it. It’s much worse than you think, and it is time to say enough is enough. No more state checks for those who hate America. They are free to start their own private university and teach their hatred there.

I have documented these trends extensively. I will continue to do so. If you would like to keep updated on what goes on within our universities, you can subscribe to my Substack as I report from within the belly of what some call the Devil’s University.

If you find yourself in conversation with someone who asks, in genuine bewilderment, “What is happening to America?” you might offer a simple reply: “Look at the institutions shaping the next generation.”

​Arizona state university, Columbia, Diversity equity and inclusion, Political violence, Taxpayers, Assassination attempt, Harvard, Public universities, Leftist indoctrination, Opinion & analysis