The Glitch - audio version

[00:00:00] The glitch.

Welcome to the Glitch, and if you're hearing this, it means you're alive. Both of our WiFIs worked. We're at recording number two 'cause it didn't work the first time. And your browser has not crashed like mine just did. So congratulations. We made it. Oh. Or you're just. Here because your uncle forwarded this podcast link on WhatsApp, and now you are trapped either way.

Hello. Either way, brace yourself. We are about to dive into the chaos that is our digital lives with all the errors, crashes, and face-palm moments included. This is 404: sense of humor not found. The podcast where [00:01:00] tech, culture and society collide. 'cause none of us really knows what's happening. Oh, a spoiler.

Sometimes you always funny because you try sometimes because you're just terrible. But hey, if you laugh, we consider it a success. Exactly. So why, why don't we tell this, these people who are listening, who we are. Hosea, go ahead. Con Con Kong, because it's Christmas time, I'll introduce myself with a pan.

Yes. And every time you see a pan, know that we are ready to cook some good chapati here from Kenya. So my name Hosea Ogari. I work at Eveminet Communication Solutions based in Kenya. I work as a business development manager. And I am Jane. I came here with a rolling pin. Also, I am a [00:02:00] data nerd and occasional AI whisperer.

I also work at Eveminet Communication Solutions as a education and training manager.

I'm Angeline Corvaglia. I am an American, as you can see from the size of the bottle that I have always next to me, but. But I'm located in Italy and I'm the executive director of Shield a nonprofit. We're focused on online safety and ethical ai. Personally, have a big passion for, uh, Africans, everything, Africa.

So I'm very excited to be doing this podcast with you, Jane and Hosea. Thank you. And together. Yes. And we're here to be funny. You're here to be funny. Exactly. How many times do we laugh when we're talking about online safety and, and ai? That's usually not very funny. So at least we can (Yeah, true) bring that.

And we are your friendly neighborhood, digital man [00:03:00] malfunctions here to explore all the tech fields, AI quirks, online scandals, and culture shocks, which will for sure have enough of them. From geography and age that make life interesting.

And by the way, we want to make as African and as as human as possible. Yes, AI is not human, but we'll make it as human as possible. Exactly, and sometimes he laugh unintentionally. So welcome to,

and this is episode 1 0 1, not 0 0 1. 0 0 1. So you might be wondering what the podcast is actually for. Like what's the point? Let's be honest. [00:04:00] Tech is amazing until it isn't. Ai, social media, WhatsApp forwards. We're barely surviving with our sanity and every day we discover something even more amazing.

That makes us shake our heads and kind of wonder what is going on? And you are going to make it relatable, laughable, and share your experiences sometimes. Most of the times you'll make sure that it is educational without making you feel bad. You're going back to class and taking the notes, so it'll give you real time experiences and real time scenarios.

Expect topics like online safety, AI confusion. Generational misunderstandings and quirks in the digital world, and we promise to keep it real. Like your grandma thinks TikTok is witchcraft [00:05:00] real, or your aunt, send a chain message about AI over the world real. Basically, if you ever felt lost in a Zoom call, misread a meme, or accidentally sent the wrong emoji. This podcast is for you and obviously there is some structure. You might not believe it from the beginning, but we do have some structure. Each month we'll drop one episode. It will be 45 to 60 minutes of more or less chaos, and we'll come with a skit or a joke like the one.

You just endured about a pan because you're not intending pans today. Then we do a hot take of the month, something trending or ridiculous online, and then next is the main discussion. Sometimes with the guest, sometimes just the three of us losing [00:06:00] our minds more or less. By the way, we have a recurring segment called Facts or Phish where you guess if a story is real.

A fake. So spoiler is usually not real. I have, I have one. I know this is not the, I have one to see for you. Is this real or fake? There are people in Kenya, mm-hmm. Who sit in front of the computer all day and have multiple conversations pretending to be various AI chatbot companions. True or fake. Very true.

Very true. There you go. It's It's true. It's true. It is true. I just found out about that this morning. All sorts of different personalities. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Nice. I'm sure we'll get to that at some point. Yeah, sure. Sure. [00:07:00] So after the Fact or Phish segment, we'll have third confessions. You, us share embarrassing or funny digital fails.

We read them like we are narrating a tragic comedy, and we'll wrap up with a short, funny, but meaningful closing bite. A tiny takeaway that just might save your sanity or at least make you giggle. So let's kick off. Let's give an example of our tech confessions and. Hosea, I think you should go first.

Yes, sure. My tech confession, so it happens sometimes in the year 2023, I had lost my job and, uh, everyone knows the hussle and tussle of finding a new job here in Kenya. It takes at least six months to get a job and the easiest place to get a job is online. [00:08:00] So we always go look for what to do, and because I had a little savings, I told myself, why not invest in online opportunities where I put a certain amount of money, it doubles and then it comes back as more who would refuse such a deal?

Of course not me, because I'm emergency and I want quick money. Yes, that would sustain me until I get the next formal job. So I had my savings. I tried with $10 and then by good luck it multiplied, and within a month it had almost doubled to 100 USD. So I saw it as a good deal and I decided to invest more.

So this is what I did. I took all my savings, put it in that Ponzi scheme. Hoping that by December I will be driving a [00:09:00] certain car. It was around September, so I took all my savings, dash it there and started imagining how my future is going to be. Uh, I did do my background search so well, and the way it looked so promising, I decided that I'll put all of my 3000 USD there.

So. It multiplied. It multiplied, and when I saw that the amount has reached where I can buy a certain car here in Kenya, the one which is so comfortable, then I decided to withdraw a little amount. So I withdrew 1000 and then it came the next time I tried to withdraw. Now hold and behold. I could not believe my eyes.

You see, every time when you're trying to withdraw it and it tells you wait or it transfers you to the next place, what you always do is you take your phone, you try withdraw again. If the [00:10:00] customer care is not working, let me call him. And, and then when you're calling them, they're telling you, oh, we see the problem is on our end.

Please, uh, make a one 50 USD deposit. So anytime you do a one 50 USD deposit, they're trying to. To steal from you. So I learned the hard way and uh, from that day I've learned to do my background search, especially on online jobs that we are doing. And yes, here I am. I can't say that I'm broke. Yeah. But you can see from the explosion of, from the look of my face,

that's actually a hard one to follow up on. I and, and we're laughing at your misery, which is not nice, but I learned. Yeah. We laugh or we cry. Right? Yeah. Jane, do you have one? How do we follow up? But I'm, I'm already used to each, so. Mine was when I was in campus university days. I really [00:11:00] wanted a, a good font at the moment, a really good fun because the one I had, like, it didn't have the specifications that I needed or a phone to have.

So, uh, then I saw this link, these links where they send you, uh, you sent to maybe five groups. You get, you stand a chance to win this particular phone. So I, I got curious maybe, and maybe I was, uh, a little bit naive, so I was like, uh, what's the worst that can happen? So I sent the link to five WhatsApp groups and, and then I waited, and then I was like, when am I supposed to win this?

Why is it not coming? Why is it not coming? But I sent two to five groups. Okay. I tried again, and then it said, uh, that I should send [00:12:00] the link to 30 people. So I sent to 30 people. So in my head I was wondering what's happening, why I'm, see you give me the phone. Like right now, I've already one the, I've already done whatever you told me that process was, I don't know how to explain it.

So like. Maybe a day or two days later, I was reading about these, uh, phishing, phishing things. I was like, oh my God. Uh, I, I'm just a victim of it. Uh, safe to say, I have never done that again. Even if, even if it is for research purposes mm-hmm. Count me out out of that because, eh, the anticipation of wanting to win this thing, eh, cannot endure.

But again. That's my tech confession today. Well, I have one that's kind of related to both of yours and mine is related to a [00:13:00] phone call that I got. I was sitting working, I get a phone call and somebody said, ask me if I was trying to buy something for 600 Euros if I was trying to use PayPal for 600 Euros.

And I said, no, I'm not. And, uh, they said, oh, well someone is trying to do it. Someone is trying to steal your PayPal. And I immediately panicked 'cause I thought they're gonna like take all my money. So I was like, oh my God, tell me what I have to do. And I got really worried. And they said, they said, okay, you need to install something on your computer.

They said, go to your computer. I went to my computer. I started, I started typing. And like, you see that you don't need to install it. And then there was this little voice in the back of my mind. That reminded me that anytime someone calls you and says that something really urgent, that you need to stop them.

And I learned this story from a woman who actually told a story of how it [00:14:00] happened that she was in a parking lot and she gave $50,000 cash to people, like a a box full of 50,000. And then she was like an even. A reporter, she told the story of, uh, I can put the, the link of how she was actually a reporter about this kind of thing.

And she really got convinced that something was wrong with her, her child. And she managed to give a, like $50,000 in cash in a box, in a parking lot. And she told the story of how that happened. And so I remember this woman, I said, okay, wait, wait. I need to, uh, I need to check. So I immediately like, uh, Googled the, the name of this thing that I was gonna download, and there was this red, like, this is a scam.

This is the scam. It's gonna take over your computer. And luckily I said, I took the second advice is get them off the phone. Then tell them you need to call them [00:15:00] back. So I said, no, I have to go. I have to call you back. And they're like, no, they're gonna steal your money right now. And I said, no, I, this is really important.

I, I remember, I need to check something. And this guy got really mad. I said, no, we have to solve this right now, or they're gonna take your money. And I said, yeah, well, I, I need to, I need to go and, well, your money's gone. And he, he hung up the phone. So it was really like they would've taken over my computer and who knows what they could've found there.

Stolen from me. So yeah, that's my tech confession. Like in the last, in last moment. And I'll, I'll find the link to the story of the woman 'cause it's really interesting and we can put it in the show notes and you can hear that this confession, her ultimate confession. That was crazy. Yeah, it's so, yeah.

Well, all of yours. I mean, that's crazy. We were laughing at your ponzi scheme, but [00:16:00] I think this happens every, this happens all the time, right? It does. In all different ways. You see so. We all have the problem. Yeah, we're all malfunctioning. Somehow you're not alone and we would like you to share yours, so please share with us your malfunctions.

As you said, we can read them next time,

and that's actually all for today. So thanks for joining our introductory glitch. Remember if your zoom freezes. If your wifi dies or your chat bot starts to insult you, you are normal and so are we.

Yes, and while we are waiting for the second episode, I will be preparing my good chapati made of wheat, flour, and sugar and salt. [00:17:00] So. As we try and create a perfect round, you know the good chapati is a perfect round one. So as we try and create the perfect o, send us your tech fails. As I'm failing to create the perfect o, I need to hear your face, especially the technology fails.

Give us your weird experience and we might read it during our next episode. So can I ask you this, this chapati, I haven't heard of it just before. I think we'll put it in the, in the, in the, yes. We'll send a picture. Yeah. The picture of a chapati. It's so sweet. Can I, can I ask a chat bot to, to give me the recipe for the chapati?

Do you think it will work? Yes. Yes. And by the, oh, I forgot. I forgot. You say during this holiday. Now here in Kenya for most of my Gen Zs, you know, they're, they're always in cities and towns, so they, they're hurrying going to the, to the countryside. Now [00:18:00] they're going to visit their grandfathers and their grandmothers.

And you see now the. Transport the fare has really, really increased. So they're trying to move from city to the countryside, and most of us are usually eating fast foods. So it's time they're going to chat g PT and trying to find the recipe of, uh, cooking chapati, sweet chapati. And then so church deputy will.

We really, really have a lot of work to do. During this Christmas holiday, we had to buy a pan. Well, I'm going to do one. I'm gonna ask, according to the instructions on chat with you, please. We, we already have one. And see, I'll send you a picture. You can tell me if it looks like it's supposed to look. Okay.

So for all these, um, upcoming sessions. Follow us on social media or just laugh quietly. We won't judge [00:19:00] you.