1
00:00:11,344 --> 00:00:13,613
Welcome to User Friendly 2.0

2
00:00:13,613 --> 00:00:17,384
with host Bill Sikkens
technology architect.

3
00:00:23,623 --> 00:00:26,092
Hello, hello, this is User Friendly 2.0.

4
00:00:26,092 --> 00:00:27,761
As always, I am your host Bill Sikkens.

5
00:00:27,761 --> 00:00:30,663
Joining me Gretchen. Bill,
welcome to this week's show.

6
00:00:30,663 --> 00:00:32,732
Hello there blue.

7
00:00:32,732 --> 00:00:34,334
So what's new and exciting in your world?

8
00:00:34,334 --> 00:00:36,870
Anything?

9
00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:38,238
Oh, no.

10
00:00:38,238 --> 00:00:40,273
Yeah, it's about the same week I've had I.

11
00:00:40,273 --> 00:00:43,276
The only thing that I really have
that would be relevant is

12
00:00:43,676 --> 00:00:48,948
I got into a bit of a controversy
with vendor that I use over ACH.

13
00:00:48,948 --> 00:00:51,951
So we're going to be talking about that
a little later in the episode.

14
00:00:52,752 --> 00:00:56,923
And then the second segment,
we are going to be going over

15
00:00:56,956 --> 00:01:00,794
elastic pricing and Wi-Fi safety in 2026.

16
00:01:00,794 --> 00:01:04,130
So we'll explain all of that
when we get to that point.

17
00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:06,666
All right.
What do we have in the news this week.

18
00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:07,267
All right.

19
00:01:07,267 --> 00:01:13,673
Commodore
fans split over C64 ultimate FPGA

20
00:01:14,707 --> 00:01:17,310
firmware lockdown.

21
00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:18,611
So what does that mean?

22
00:01:18,611 --> 00:01:21,614
Well that's a lot of letters.

23
00:01:23,383 --> 00:01:25,185
So. Well okay,
what we're talking about here,

24
00:01:25,185 --> 00:01:27,454
and we've had a lot of questions
coming in about this

25
00:01:27,454 --> 00:01:30,457
and had to look it up
to figure out what this even was going on

26
00:01:30,457 --> 00:01:34,561
is like Atari,
Commodore is back in a new form.

27
00:01:34,561 --> 00:01:38,665
So anybody that of our listeners
that was around during that era,

28
00:01:38,665 --> 00:01:42,135
which would have been early to mid 80s,
may know what this kind

29
00:01:42,135 --> 00:01:45,505
of equipment is,
very first generation home microcomputers.

30
00:01:45,505 --> 00:01:48,741
And for weird people like me, I love
working with them in the retro stuff.

31
00:01:48,908 --> 00:01:52,212
I love modern technology,
but I like working with the old stuff too.

32
00:01:52,745 --> 00:01:53,680
In line with that,

33
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,550
it seems like I'm not alone in that,
and it's enough that they are reissuing

34
00:01:57,584 --> 00:02:00,820
a lot of this equipment
that was done before.

35
00:02:00,820 --> 00:02:03,823
So the Commodore 64 FPGA

36
00:02:04,057 --> 00:02:09,062
ultimate is a new system
that looks just like the original,

37
00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:12,632
what they called breadboard Commodore 64
is now they do have three versions.

38
00:02:12,632 --> 00:02:14,334
One is the beige like that.

39
00:02:14,334 --> 00:02:16,636
And then they have another one
called a Founders Edition that's

40
00:02:16,636 --> 00:02:20,373
gold, and a third one that lights up
and is kind of really cool.

41
00:02:20,373 --> 00:02:22,275
So, you know, it's
whatever the preference is.

42
00:02:22,275 --> 00:02:25,712
But being FPGA, it is an emulator,

43
00:02:25,712 --> 00:02:28,715
but it's a hardware emulator,
so it works very well.

44
00:02:29,082 --> 00:02:32,318
And you can run your cartridges,
you can run your floppy disk drives

45
00:02:32,318 --> 00:02:35,355
and all of the other peripherals
and that type of a thing on the system.

46
00:02:35,355 --> 00:02:37,390
In fact,
the only thing that I've noticed on them

47
00:02:37,390 --> 00:02:41,761
is it doesn't have the user port,
which is like an expansion port.

48
00:02:41,794 --> 00:02:45,298
However,
I found out you can get one that's on USB.

49
00:02:45,398 --> 00:02:48,334
So one of the first things
you have to talk about is early

50
00:02:48,334 --> 00:02:50,703
80s computers did not have USB or I.

51
00:02:50,703 --> 00:02:52,172
This one does.

52
00:02:52,172 --> 00:02:53,640
But the one advantage to that is, is

53
00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,476
you can plug it
into a modern monitor television.

54
00:02:56,476 --> 00:02:59,712
So that does make it a little bit easier
from that standpoint.

55
00:02:59,812 --> 00:03:03,816
Well, what's been happening
is there came out with this

56
00:03:03,850 --> 00:03:08,021
and have started shipping them,
and there are people out there

57
00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:10,190
that are trying to make firmware for this.

58
00:03:10,190 --> 00:03:13,493
That is not the firmware
that comes on the system.

59
00:03:13,493 --> 00:03:17,664
So either hack stuff or customized stuff
or whatever the case may be.

60
00:03:17,864 --> 00:03:19,399
And being that it is FPGAs,

61
00:03:19,399 --> 00:03:22,268
it does use firmware
like a modern computer would,

62
00:03:22,268 --> 00:03:24,504
so you update it
and all that kind of stuff.

63
00:03:24,504 --> 00:03:26,773
And I don't think
that would be such a big deal,

64
00:03:26,773 --> 00:03:30,710
except that users that are screwing up
their computers by doing this

65
00:03:30,743 --> 00:03:34,414
in some cases, are expecting Commodore
to honor the warranty,

66
00:03:34,714 --> 00:03:36,616
even though they're using
third party software.

67
00:03:36,616 --> 00:03:37,550
And that's a problem.

68
00:03:37,550 --> 00:03:40,987
They don't have the infrastructure to do
that, right?

69
00:03:41,054 --> 00:03:42,822
Yeah, right.

70
00:03:42,822 --> 00:03:46,559
So what they're wanting to do
is on the next update,

71
00:03:46,559 --> 00:03:51,798
which I think is 1.1 or 1.2 is locked down
a portion of the firmware.

72
00:03:51,998 --> 00:03:55,635
And the idea here is not to keep users
from being able to do what they want

73
00:03:55,635 --> 00:03:58,171
with their computer,
but is to keep it from getting screwed up.

74
00:03:58,171 --> 00:04:01,941
So of course, there's some controversy
about that because there's people

75
00:04:01,941 --> 00:04:04,944
saying, well, we want, you know,
complete access and other saying, well,

76
00:04:04,944 --> 00:04:06,980
it would be nice to know
that this isn't going to be a problem.

77
00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:08,381
And the other thing

78
00:04:08,381 --> 00:04:11,584
that I look at it from a standpoint,
because this didn't exist in the days

79
00:04:11,584 --> 00:04:14,954
that these originally were made,
but this computer is also online.

80
00:04:14,954 --> 00:04:18,424
It has Wi-Fi, which means conceivably
somebody could try

81
00:04:18,458 --> 00:04:21,861
to hack the firmware or have a virus
or something like that to, you know.

82
00:04:21,894 --> 00:04:25,632
Yeah, I didn't have to worry about that
on my Atari 136,

83
00:04:25,698 --> 00:04:26,899
but I guess today you should.

84
00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:31,571
So well, isn't wouldn't
the simple evil thing to do

85
00:04:31,638 --> 00:04:36,709
would be to get on their computer and say
C colon format or something like that?

86
00:04:36,743 --> 00:04:40,146
Well, that works on a DOS machine,
but Commodore okay.

87
00:04:40,613 --> 00:04:45,218
Like it's see, if I can remember this,
you would load something

88
00:04:45,251 --> 00:04:49,055
universally was load
quote star quote comma eight.

89
00:04:49,122 --> 00:04:49,522
That's right.

90
00:04:49,522 --> 00:04:53,192
Because for some reason the floppy drive
is the eighth device on the computer.

91
00:04:53,426 --> 00:04:55,194
I don't I can't explain that.

92
00:04:55,194 --> 00:04:56,629
But it was okay.

93
00:04:58,831 --> 00:04:59,799
Now. But it is.

94
00:04:59,799 --> 00:05:00,633
It is kind of cool.

95
00:05:00,633 --> 00:05:04,704
Now I am a bit of a purist and I'm split
on even having stuff like this,

96
00:05:04,837 --> 00:05:07,740
but there is something nice
about being able to get a machine

97
00:05:07,740 --> 00:05:11,544
that does what it originally
would have done, but is reliable,

98
00:05:11,544 --> 00:05:14,947
and that's one of the big problems
that's being run into running 4050 year

99
00:05:14,981 --> 00:05:17,717
old equipment
sometimes is it's just aging out.

100
00:05:17,717 --> 00:05:21,254
And we've talked about that in the past,
but it is definitely a thing.

101
00:05:21,254 --> 00:05:25,992
And I think it's a kind of cool
to see that we are getting this.

102
00:05:25,992 --> 00:05:27,260
And then you have a choice of both.

103
00:05:27,260 --> 00:05:31,297
You can try to buy one at a garage sale
or on eBay, or get one of the new ones.

104
00:05:31,297 --> 00:05:34,067
And the funny thing about it
is, is the price that a working machine

105
00:05:34,067 --> 00:05:37,970
on eBay originally is going for
is about the same price as the new system.

106
00:05:37,970 --> 00:05:39,639
So you know, who knows?

107
00:05:43,142 --> 00:05:45,678
Well, would you like $100?

108
00:05:45,678 --> 00:05:47,113
Sure. Yeah, sure.

109
00:05:47,113 --> 00:05:50,016
Here's my checking account and credit
card number so you can send it.

110
00:05:50,016 --> 00:05:50,383
Okay.

111
00:05:50,383 --> 00:05:53,386
Just kidding on that. But.

112
00:05:54,187 --> 00:05:57,990
So what this is, is a settlement.

113
00:05:57,990 --> 00:06:01,461
If you are one of the few
handful of people that have used

114
00:06:01,461 --> 00:06:04,931
an Android device
since 2017, you would qualify for this.

115
00:06:04,997 --> 00:06:07,266
So there's just a couple of us out there,
I guess.

116
00:06:07,266 --> 00:06:08,701
Oh yeah.

117
00:06:08,701 --> 00:06:11,137
What's that?

118
00:06:11,137 --> 00:06:13,506
So this is a class action settlement.

119
00:06:13,506 --> 00:06:16,442
The maximum amount you can get from
it is $100.

120
00:06:16,442 --> 00:06:20,513
And it is basically anybody
that has used an Android phone

121
00:06:20,513 --> 00:06:23,516
that's been online
through a cellular network.

122
00:06:23,750 --> 00:06:26,452
So if you had an Android tablet
that's only been on Wi-Fi,

123
00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:27,553
I guess that might not qualify.

124
00:06:27,553 --> 00:06:30,123
But check out the settlement website
for the details.

125
00:06:30,123 --> 00:06:34,694
And you have to be alive for some reason
that actually is in the list.

126
00:06:34,827 --> 00:06:37,864
Oh, okay. So Jeremy can't complain.

127
00:06:37,897 --> 00:06:40,066
Yeah, maybe that's what
maybe that's why they're doing it.

128
00:06:40,066 --> 00:06:41,734
So you can't like back claim?

129
00:06:41,734 --> 00:06:44,437
I don't know, but it does actually say
you have to be alive.

130
00:06:44,437 --> 00:06:46,939
And one of the other things is, is
you have to be in the United States.

131
00:06:46,939 --> 00:06:51,144
And this particular settlement,
the only state from my understanding,

132
00:06:51,144 --> 00:06:54,280
that is not covered by it, is California,

133
00:06:54,313 --> 00:06:57,350
because they have their own separate case
that you would register for there.

134
00:06:57,350 --> 00:07:00,820
So basically anybody
that has had an Android phone

135
00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:03,823
and has been online and used it,
which is most of the world

136
00:07:04,090 --> 00:07:08,494
can claim this settlement,
but you do have to go on and register

137
00:07:08,494 --> 00:07:12,698
with the settlement administrator
and give them a payment thing

138
00:07:12,698 --> 00:07:16,402
like a PayPal or, you know, sending you
a Zelle payment or something like that.

139
00:07:16,936 --> 00:07:20,373
So now the one thing that I will

140
00:07:20,673 --> 00:07:23,509
just give us a little footnote on
this is we all know

141
00:07:23,509 --> 00:07:27,580
that class action suits,
or most of us do a lot of times

142
00:07:27,580 --> 00:07:30,483
don't get quite what they tell you,
and you end up getting,

143
00:07:30,483 --> 00:07:33,953
you know, a coupon for $0.50 off
at McDonald's instead or something.

144
00:07:33,986 --> 00:07:39,025
And the payout of this
is not guaranteed to be $100,

145
00:07:39,058 --> 00:07:42,261
and it's based on the number of people
that claim and all that kind of stuff.

146
00:07:42,261 --> 00:07:43,830
So, you know, it can be a little bit less.

147
00:07:43,830 --> 00:07:46,098
But even if it is, it's still worth doing.

148
00:07:46,098 --> 00:07:47,233
Is it legitimate?

149
00:07:47,233 --> 00:07:51,103
It's not like a marketing ploy
to collect data from us.

150
00:07:51,237 --> 00:07:53,873
No, this is legitimate,
as far as I can tell.

151
00:07:53,873 --> 00:07:56,709
And if you want an attorneys

152
00:07:57,777 --> 00:07:58,144
thing on

153
00:07:58,144 --> 00:08:01,147
this, which I am not on YouTube,
and check out the attorney,

154
00:08:01,180 --> 00:08:05,151
Steve Lehto, he did a whole talk on this
where it goes into all of those details.

155
00:08:05,151 --> 00:08:07,820
But yes, it is a legitimate settlement.

156
00:08:07,820 --> 00:08:09,355
All right.

157
00:08:09,355 --> 00:08:12,358
SpaceX has deal for

158
00:08:13,659 --> 00:08:17,396
the right or a right to acquire cursor

159
00:08:17,597 --> 00:08:20,600
for $60 billion.

160
00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:23,035
So what is this cursor?

161
00:08:23,035 --> 00:08:27,240
I think number one is
because my understanding this is the only.

162
00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,709
Right okay. It's not a right. It's
the only right.

163
00:08:29,709 --> 00:08:31,611
So that's just context. Right.

164
00:08:31,611 --> 00:08:33,145
But basically what's going on here.

165
00:08:33,145 --> 00:08:35,348
Well let me actually start by explaining
what cursor is.

166
00:08:35,348 --> 00:08:37,583
And no, they're not referring to the thing
that flashes on your screen

167
00:08:37,583 --> 00:08:41,521
when you're typing in word
or some person saying foul language.

168
00:08:41,587 --> 00:08:43,990
Yeah, that would be
that would be another definition of it.

169
00:08:43,990 --> 00:08:46,192
Although I'm
sure some are considering this story.

170
00:08:46,192 --> 00:08:51,430
But there is a company that develops AI
for programmers, and I do know about them

171
00:08:51,430 --> 00:08:57,236
because I work within that thing and Musk
would like to control this assistance.

172
00:08:57,236 --> 00:09:02,675
So basically what's going on
here is a stand the swearing part of it.

173
00:09:02,708 --> 00:09:02,909
Yeah.

174
00:09:02,909 --> 00:09:07,780
Basically what it is, is controlling
the tools to create programing.

175
00:09:07,780 --> 00:09:10,416
So that's why this is going on here.

176
00:09:10,416 --> 00:09:11,217
This is a rumor.

177
00:09:11,217 --> 00:09:14,153
It's been reported in some outlets
that this is going to happen.

178
00:09:14,153 --> 00:09:15,855
It has not been something
I've been able to confirm,

179
00:09:15,855 --> 00:09:19,091
but it is out there wide enough
that it's something to be concerned about.

180
00:09:19,091 --> 00:09:19,792
And obviously

181
00:09:19,792 --> 00:09:23,362
if we find out it's not real or get
more news, we'll be covering that in the

182
00:09:23,863 --> 00:09:24,530
coming weeks.

183
00:09:24,530 --> 00:09:27,199
But one of the things on this,
and I think that this is the best way to

184
00:09:27,199 --> 00:09:31,103
sum it up, is developers are moving
from writing code to directing AI.

185
00:09:31,103 --> 00:09:32,939
And in many ways that is true.

186
00:09:32,939 --> 00:09:36,142
And in fact, before we started recording
today, we were looking at some stuff

187
00:09:36,142 --> 00:09:39,478
from our own dashboard
that we use for producing the show.

188
00:09:39,478 --> 00:09:42,615
And as a programmer,
I put the software together,

189
00:09:42,615 --> 00:09:44,784
but I am working with
AI to do the layout and design.

190
00:09:44,784 --> 00:09:47,620
I'm not good at that
and it did a really nice job

191
00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:49,422
in my opinion,
so I can see where this is going.

192
00:09:49,422 --> 00:09:53,159
The problem is,
is that current developers,

193
00:09:53,159 --> 00:09:54,794
you at least know
what you're getting back.

194
00:09:54,794 --> 00:09:57,029
And I have a funny feeling
that developers in the future

195
00:09:57,029 --> 00:09:58,397
are not going to know what the code is.

196
00:09:58,397 --> 00:10:02,134
I'll just paste it in
and that in of itself can cause problems.

197
00:10:02,134 --> 00:10:04,437
That's not a good thing,
just in my opinion.

198
00:10:04,437 --> 00:10:06,639
I see Bill,
you're agreeing with me on that.

199
00:10:09,075 --> 00:10:09,942
Yeah.

200
00:10:09,942 --> 00:10:11,811
But anyway, so yes, that's what it is.

201
00:10:11,811 --> 00:10:14,547
And we'll see if SpaceX has this happen.

202
00:10:14,547 --> 00:10:16,415
There's a lot of things that can happen
between now.

203
00:10:16,415 --> 00:10:19,418
And even if this is a real thing
that they're going to do,

204
00:10:19,986 --> 00:10:22,989
we'll see if it actually comes together.

205
00:10:23,589 --> 00:10:24,957
Disneyland announces

206
00:10:24,957 --> 00:10:28,594
immediate closure of Star Wars
Galaxy's Edge area.

207
00:10:28,961 --> 00:10:30,696
Yes, and this has been generating a lot

208
00:10:30,696 --> 00:10:33,399
of questions,
because if you look at this headline,

209
00:10:33,399 --> 00:10:36,902
you would think what the Disney's
closing Galaxy's Edge, right?

210
00:10:36,936 --> 00:10:38,904
Yeah, that's what it sounds like.

211
00:10:38,904 --> 00:10:39,905
It kind of makes sense.

212
00:10:39,905 --> 00:10:43,509
And it's like one of the most
popular places to get a photo.

213
00:10:44,076 --> 00:10:45,578
Yeah. It is. Well, people like it.

214
00:10:45,578 --> 00:10:48,514
It's the Star Wars section of Disneyland,
you know? So yeah.

215
00:10:48,514 --> 00:10:51,250
Why would they close it? Well,
what happened is, is on April 20th.

216
00:10:51,250 --> 00:10:53,185
So this last Monday,

217
00:10:53,185 --> 00:10:57,890
Disneyland abruptly blocked off
the Millennium Falcon building in Galaxy's

218
00:10:57,890 --> 00:11:04,163
Edge, and the cast members blocked access
to people getting in there,

219
00:11:04,196 --> 00:11:06,699
you know, that were guests of the park
and that type of a thing.

220
00:11:06,699 --> 00:11:10,503
But what it looks like is happening here
is they're not closing it forever,

221
00:11:10,503 --> 00:11:14,840
but they're updating it
and the ride in there is still running.

222
00:11:15,107 --> 00:11:17,877
Smugglers run,
I think, is what that's called.

223
00:11:17,877 --> 00:11:20,713
But the other part of it is being updated

224
00:11:20,713 --> 00:11:24,517
to revert it back to the original first
three movies.

225
00:11:24,784 --> 00:11:25,918
Oh, cool.

226
00:11:25,918 --> 00:11:27,520
That's what they're doing

227
00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,757
afterwards to see Darth Vader and,
you know, and a real CIF like Palpatine.

228
00:11:31,757 --> 00:11:34,260
But they'll have the characters
from that era in there.

229
00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:36,295
So that's what's actually going on here.

230
00:11:36,295 --> 00:11:39,732
But the one thing to be aware of
is that part of the park

231
00:11:39,732 --> 00:11:42,201
will not be available
if you go visit Disneyland right now.

232
00:11:42,201 --> 00:11:43,936
And this is an area
that a lot of people want to see.

233
00:11:43,936 --> 00:11:46,939
So check Disneyland's website
to see what's going on.

234
00:11:46,939 --> 00:11:48,507
And I do not believe this is affected

235
00:11:48,507 --> 00:11:50,076
in any other park,
and I don't even know for sure.

236
00:11:50,076 --> 00:11:52,378
Does Disney World have a Star Wars?

237
00:11:52,378 --> 00:11:56,282
I don't know, yeah, I don't know what
I think we should take it.

238
00:11:56,415 --> 00:12:00,986
Expense paid trip to floral research
for the show.

239
00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:02,655
Right? There you are.

240
00:12:02,655 --> 00:12:06,425
You know, I've been in there
there in the past, many, many years ago.

241
00:12:06,425 --> 00:12:12,398
But that was before
Disney had its claws into Star Wars,

242
00:12:12,398 --> 00:12:15,401
so I wouldn't be surprised.

243
00:12:15,434 --> 00:12:17,303
It's an accurate way to put it,
although fortunately

244
00:12:17,303 --> 00:12:20,239
it looks like the direction
they're going from that standpoint.

245
00:12:20,239 --> 00:12:23,242
A lot of fans, including me, are liking
what we're seeing.

246
00:12:23,242 --> 00:12:26,946
So yes, the whole thing has been great.

247
00:12:26,979 --> 00:12:28,414
Yeah, all things are great.

248
00:12:28,414 --> 00:12:32,585
And The Mandalorian and Grogu movie
looks like it's going to be really cool.

249
00:12:32,585 --> 00:12:36,122
So, you know,
we'll see what happens. Yeah.

250
00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:38,190
All right.

251
00:12:38,190 --> 00:12:42,862
New technology is changing
the way Tualatin gets its power.

252
00:12:42,995 --> 00:12:45,664
Wallet
in, by the way, is a city in Oregon. Yeah.

253
00:12:45,664 --> 00:12:47,199
I was going to say to Walton, Oregon.

254
00:12:47,199 --> 00:12:49,735
So this is really kind of cool.

255
00:12:49,735 --> 00:12:51,170
There's a lot of potential energy,

256
00:12:51,170 --> 00:12:52,838
and sometimes you have to be creative
to get it.

257
00:12:52,838 --> 00:12:55,975
Now we see renewable energies
with things like solar and wind

258
00:12:55,975 --> 00:12:59,411
and all that kind of stuff,
which can augment the power grid.

259
00:12:59,478 --> 00:13:01,947
But in a lot of cases it's not reliable.

260
00:13:01,947 --> 00:13:04,316
You know, if there's no wind,
you don't get wind energy.

261
00:13:04,316 --> 00:13:07,987
If you don't have sun,
the solar energy can be affected by that.

262
00:13:07,987 --> 00:13:11,023
Although I am led to understand
there are some solar panels

263
00:13:11,023 --> 00:13:13,859
now that can pick up power at night,
just not as much.

264
00:13:13,859 --> 00:13:16,262
But this is an interesting thing.

265
00:13:16,262 --> 00:13:17,096
And what they're doing is

266
00:13:17,096 --> 00:13:21,333
they're installing turbines,
power turbines into the water mains.

267
00:13:21,333 --> 00:13:23,068
So the pressurized water mains

268
00:13:23,068 --> 00:13:26,472
as it pushes through the pipe,
which it does already turns the turbines.

269
00:13:26,472 --> 00:13:28,707
And now that creates power.

270
00:13:28,707 --> 00:13:32,578
And it's not taking more power to push
the water through the pipes to do this.

271
00:13:32,578 --> 00:13:34,380
That's noticeable.

272
00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:36,816
So I'm going to really love to see where

273
00:13:36,816 --> 00:13:40,352
this ends up going,
but it is kind of cool.

274
00:13:40,519 --> 00:13:44,190
This is, I think, a take on
something like wave energy, but every city

275
00:13:44,190 --> 00:13:48,260
that has a water service,
which is most everybody.

276
00:13:48,394 --> 00:13:50,696
Yeah, do something like this.

277
00:13:50,696 --> 00:13:53,732
And you would have the investment
and the equipment initially to be able

278
00:13:53,732 --> 00:13:58,037
to retrofit your system,
but once you've done it,

279
00:13:58,070 --> 00:14:02,474
it is renewable energy that's coming
from a source that you're already

280
00:14:02,474 --> 00:14:05,711
expending the energy to put the water
through the pipes in the first place.

281
00:14:05,811 --> 00:14:08,380
So I think it's really kind of cool
whoever came up with this,

282
00:14:08,380 --> 00:14:11,383
I've got to give kudos to
because it's a neat idea.

283
00:14:11,517 --> 00:14:12,952
It's a terrific idea.

284
00:14:15,020 --> 00:14:18,090
Why don't space photos ever show stars?

285
00:14:18,257 --> 00:14:21,227
NASA's
explanation is simpler than you'd think.

286
00:14:21,227 --> 00:14:23,162
Well, it's
because we've never been off the planet.

287
00:14:23,162 --> 00:14:25,264
You know, the moon landing was fake.
I've lied to understand that.

288
00:14:25,264 --> 00:14:27,933
You don't tell who is Armstrong. That
because you might get punched.

289
00:14:27,933 --> 00:14:28,901
Or was it.

290
00:14:28,901 --> 00:14:30,469
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's.

291
00:14:30,469 --> 00:14:32,872
I think that's it.

292
00:14:32,872 --> 00:14:34,540
In any event, you know this.

293
00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:38,210
We actually get questions on this
all the time in this particular topic.

294
00:14:38,310 --> 00:14:40,145
All the conspiracy
theorists are out there.

295
00:14:40,145 --> 00:14:41,146
There's no stars.

296
00:14:41,146 --> 00:14:43,782
Well, there's actually
a very good reason for it.

297
00:14:43,782 --> 00:14:46,185
And if you've ever taken a picture,
you've probably dealt with this.

298
00:14:46,185 --> 00:14:48,120
And it has to do with light
if you're photographing

299
00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:49,989
the moon or the Earth, which is bright

300
00:14:49,989 --> 00:14:52,157
and the stars are much dimmer
in the background,

301
00:14:52,157 --> 00:14:52,992
they're not going to show up

302
00:14:52,992 --> 00:14:56,095
because you're going to be focused
in on the object and the primary area.

303
00:14:56,161 --> 00:14:58,264
You could try to do both,
but it makes it blurry.

304
00:14:58,264 --> 00:15:01,600
And on that, from the Artemis mission
that just happened,

305
00:15:01,634 --> 00:15:04,637
there are pictures of the stars
in the background,

306
00:15:04,670 --> 00:15:09,241
which are photographed
when the foreground object is not bright.

307
00:15:09,275 --> 00:15:11,310
So they are really out there, you know,

308
00:15:11,310 --> 00:15:15,080
now, the moon landing again,
I do have to say was completely faked.

309
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,082
But the one thing is, is the reality.

310
00:15:17,082 --> 00:15:18,817
They wanted to film it on location.

311
00:15:18,817 --> 00:15:22,755
So, you know,
I keep thinking about the Star Trek

312
00:15:22,788 --> 00:15:26,358
episode where they are on you to,
you know,

313
00:15:27,026 --> 00:15:30,462
I'm trying to remember the correct title
of the episode.

314
00:15:30,462 --> 00:15:33,499
It's something about something
about climbing

315
00:15:33,532 --> 00:15:36,502
to the top of the mountain,
and I can touch the sky.

316
00:15:36,502 --> 00:15:39,438
I remember that Star Trek. Yeah,
yeah, yeah.

317
00:15:39,438 --> 00:15:42,541
And now that would be the case
if you traveled out to the Dyson Sphere

318
00:15:42,541 --> 00:15:43,342
or Planet Nine.

319
00:15:43,342 --> 00:15:46,111
But we'll talk about that later. Yeah.

320
00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:49,682
Okay.

321
00:15:49,682 --> 00:15:52,818
NASA shuts off instrument on Voyager

322
00:15:52,818 --> 00:15:55,821
one to keep spacecraft operating.

323
00:15:55,821 --> 00:15:56,021
Yeah.

324
00:15:56,021 --> 00:15:59,792
So it's a what, was Star
Trek a five year mission initially,

325
00:15:59,792 --> 00:16:02,227
I think I think so, yeah.

326
00:16:02,227 --> 00:16:06,198
Well, I believe that Voyager one
and two were a three year mission

327
00:16:06,198 --> 00:16:08,467
when they started.
It was somewhere in that range.

328
00:16:08,467 --> 00:16:11,370
And we are well beyond that threshold now.

329
00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:14,073
But they are powered by a reactor.

330
00:16:14,073 --> 00:16:17,076
And as time goes by, the reactor

331
00:16:17,743 --> 00:16:20,179
generates less power
just because it's running out of fuel.

332
00:16:20,179 --> 00:16:23,882
Essentially, there's a much better
explanation for that, I know, but that's

333
00:16:23,949 --> 00:16:25,718
that's essentially a 10,000ft view.

334
00:16:25,718 --> 00:16:29,755
So as time has been going on
and the fact that the Voyager spacecraft

335
00:16:29,755 --> 00:16:31,056
has been continuing to operate

336
00:16:31,056 --> 00:16:34,893
and are still in communication with Earth
and are now the only man

337
00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,031
made objects that are actually outside
of our solar system in interstellar space.

338
00:16:39,264 --> 00:16:41,834
Keeping them going,
at least to some extent, is a big deal.

339
00:16:41,834 --> 00:16:44,903
So short of being able to run
a service call or asking the Roswell

340
00:16:44,937 --> 00:16:47,906
Grays to do it for us or something,
shutting off equipment,

341
00:16:47,906 --> 00:16:51,310
we'll prolong the life
a little bit longer.

342
00:16:51,310 --> 00:16:53,112
So they've been shutting off instruments.

343
00:16:53,112 --> 00:16:55,280
There was a plan to do this
that was put together.

344
00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,617
Well, what happened on Voyager one is
they were doing some routine

345
00:16:58,617 --> 00:17:02,321
work on it and it went almost
went into low power shutdown.

346
00:17:02,321 --> 00:17:03,022
Something happened.

347
00:17:03,022 --> 00:17:07,493
So it was decided to speak up,
turning off this last instrument

348
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,763
that they were going to do,
which is the CP.

349
00:17:10,829 --> 00:17:14,233
And what that instrument is for is

350
00:17:14,833 --> 00:17:17,836
detecting low
energy charged particles or less.

351
00:17:17,970 --> 00:17:19,104
See the acronym makes sense.

352
00:17:19,104 --> 00:17:21,373
Gretchen I'll do.

353
00:17:21,373 --> 00:17:25,544
And this is actually been something
that's been pretty much running straight

354
00:17:25,778 --> 00:17:29,348
for 49 years,
which is time since one launch.

355
00:17:29,348 --> 00:17:31,984
So they're keeping one other instrument
going.

356
00:17:31,984 --> 00:17:35,154
And the other thing they have to do
is keep the spacecraft heated enough

357
00:17:35,154 --> 00:17:37,122
so it doesn't freeze,
because I'm led to understand

358
00:17:37,122 --> 00:17:38,957
it is very cold and interstellar space.

359
00:17:38,957 --> 00:17:40,959
So I haven't checked it out for myself.

360
00:17:40,959 --> 00:17:44,096
I don't know,
but that's what I've been told. So.

361
00:17:46,932 --> 00:17:47,699
Oh my.

362
00:17:47,699 --> 00:17:49,401
Okay.

363
00:17:49,401 --> 00:17:52,738
Well all right, well, let's
go back to Earth here and talk ACH for

364
00:17:52,738 --> 00:17:53,305
a little while.

365
00:17:53,305 --> 00:17:57,709
And where this came up is
we have a storage unit.

366
00:17:57,709 --> 00:18:02,414
And the storage unit
decided that they're going to charge 1.5%.

367
00:18:02,414 --> 00:18:05,250
If you want to continue
paying with a credit card

368
00:18:05,250 --> 00:18:08,253
to try to get people to use ACH.

369
00:18:08,454 --> 00:18:13,192
And I believe that stands for Automated
Clearing House.

370
00:18:13,892 --> 00:18:16,028
Oh, I don't like the sound of that.

371
00:18:16,028 --> 00:18:19,865
What ACH is, is basically
an electronic version of a check.

372
00:18:19,865 --> 00:18:23,469
Now, anybody that's been a long time
listener knows how I feel about checks.

373
00:18:23,635 --> 00:18:26,038
I'm a little shocked
that we still have them,

374
00:18:26,038 --> 00:18:26,171
you know,

375
00:18:26,171 --> 00:18:27,739
so the rest of the world
has gotten rid of them

376
00:18:27,739 --> 00:18:29,942
because you give somebody
a check, your handing them your account

377
00:18:29,942 --> 00:18:34,179
number, tracking or routing number,
signature address.

378
00:18:34,346 --> 00:18:35,414
Yes. Yeah.

379
00:18:35,414 --> 00:18:36,615
All that stuff. Yeah.

380
00:18:36,615 --> 00:18:39,218
And that is a bit insecure.

381
00:18:39,218 --> 00:18:42,354
Plus you can just print checks on your
laser printer and everybody knows that.

382
00:18:42,354 --> 00:18:45,991
So making these things up
isn't that terribly difficult to do.

383
00:18:45,991 --> 00:18:48,293
So ACH is an electronic version of it.

384
00:18:48,293 --> 00:18:49,962
Now I will give it that.

385
00:18:49,962 --> 00:18:52,798
It is safer than sending a check
through the mail.

386
00:18:52,798 --> 00:18:55,801
However, in order to sign up for ACH,

387
00:18:55,834 --> 00:18:58,770
you have to provide the company
that you're going to pay.

388
00:18:58,770 --> 00:19:04,076
With ACH, you're checking account number,
address, routing number, etc., etc.

389
00:19:04,109 --> 00:19:05,577
right? And

390
00:19:06,545 --> 00:19:09,548
well, there's not a check in the mail
that's going to get stolen.

391
00:19:09,581 --> 00:19:10,182
The concern

392
00:19:10,182 --> 00:19:13,952
I have about these things is what happens
when that payment processor gets hacked.

393
00:19:13,952 --> 00:19:17,723
Because keep in mind, most businesses
do not actually run their own credit

394
00:19:17,723 --> 00:19:20,559
card transactions. I would say 99% don't.

395
00:19:20,559 --> 00:19:24,830
They contract out with a third party
bank to do that before them.

396
00:19:24,830 --> 00:19:31,336
And these places are very much targets
because they have financial access to

397
00:19:32,571 --> 00:19:34,173
our credit cards and everything else.

398
00:19:34,173 --> 00:19:36,708
But here's the big deal on that.

399
00:19:36,708 --> 00:19:40,078
If someone steals your credit card
number and runs the card up, it's not real

400
00:19:40,078 --> 00:19:43,182
money in the sense that it's not actually
taking money out of your bank account.

401
00:19:43,182 --> 00:19:45,817
That's your paycheck
that you use to pay the power.

402
00:19:45,817 --> 00:19:48,754
And the credit card
people are kind of like keeping an eye

403
00:19:48,754 --> 00:19:52,224
on these things actively,
because this is what happens.

404
00:19:52,224 --> 00:19:53,825
So they're watching it.

405
00:19:53,825 --> 00:19:57,996
And and when you deal
with your checking account,

406
00:19:58,030 --> 00:20:03,001
while there are ways to get money
recovered, it's a hassle.

407
00:20:03,435 --> 00:20:06,572
You are not going to have access
to your money for at least a little while,

408
00:20:06,738 --> 00:20:09,675
which means your other checks for months.

409
00:20:09,675 --> 00:20:10,842
Yeah, exactly.

410
00:20:10,842 --> 00:20:14,313
And a lot of online
bill pay also uses a check,

411
00:20:14,313 --> 00:20:17,316
but it's a different kind
lot to do electronic two.

412
00:20:17,382 --> 00:20:19,184
But the checking version of that,

413
00:20:19,184 --> 00:20:23,255
since kind of a generic check
that's drawn on an account from the bank.

414
00:20:23,388 --> 00:20:27,459
So that does not actually send out
your personal checking account number.

415
00:20:27,459 --> 00:20:29,428
However, it is funded by your account.

416
00:20:29,428 --> 00:20:32,698
So if you send one of those out
or have automatic payments or whatever,

417
00:20:32,698 --> 00:20:35,734
and all of a sudden your account
has no money in it, you're going to start

418
00:20:35,734 --> 00:20:39,238
having bounce fees and overdraft
and all of that kind of thing.

419
00:20:39,504 --> 00:20:42,374
And banks generally have a lot

420
00:20:42,374 --> 00:20:45,944
less time that you have to make
the claim under your account.

421
00:20:46,144 --> 00:20:50,015
So if you don't keep an eye on it,
which everybody should, it's your money.

422
00:20:50,082 --> 00:20:52,851
You should check on it.
I do mine at least once a week.

423
00:20:52,851 --> 00:20:54,253
I'll be sitting on hold or something.

424
00:20:54,253 --> 00:20:57,623
Just check in to make sure that you know
everything looks pretty normal.

425
00:20:57,856 --> 00:21:02,894
And to that end, I strongly advise
doing that because a lot can happen.

426
00:21:03,161 --> 00:21:08,200
But anytime you're giving information
for direct access to your real money,

427
00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:12,738
I personally would recommend against that
because I do not consider it safe now.

428
00:21:12,771 --> 00:21:14,539
Yeah, they could just pull it out.

429
00:21:14,539 --> 00:21:15,073
Exactly.

430
00:21:15,073 --> 00:21:17,542
All of it,
and eventually they'll get hacked.

431
00:21:17,542 --> 00:21:21,213
I mean, the thing of it is that's not an
if it's a win really.

432
00:21:21,580 --> 00:21:26,618
So at the end of the day,
that is why I have concerns

433
00:21:26,918 --> 00:21:29,921
about dealing with stuff in this way.

434
00:21:31,356 --> 00:21:34,359
Looking to have another point.

435
00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:38,430
What if what if it's not the hackers
that's the problem?

436
00:21:38,430 --> 00:21:41,433
What if it's the company
that you're working with?

437
00:21:41,633 --> 00:21:44,069
Years ago, I had a dial up account

438
00:21:44,069 --> 00:21:47,572
where they would not accept my.

439
00:21:48,740 --> 00:21:49,541
I didn't want

440
00:21:49,541 --> 00:21:53,211
to have their services anymore,
but they kept charging my credit card.

441
00:21:53,345 --> 00:21:56,081
So what the bank did was
get rid of the credit card.

442
00:21:56,081 --> 00:22:01,019
They killed the card
to stop this, this so-called provider.

443
00:22:01,219 --> 00:22:06,391
And what happens if they just keep
stealing money out of your own?

444
00:22:06,491 --> 00:22:09,194
It's not like you can just, you know.

445
00:22:09,194 --> 00:22:11,463
And even if you could get it back,
you're still looking at months

446
00:22:11,463 --> 00:22:13,999
and you're still looking at having
to close the account to set it over,

447
00:22:13,999 --> 00:22:14,666
you know?

448
00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:17,436
Yeah. Which can be a lot of hassles
and of itself.

449
00:22:17,436 --> 00:22:19,705
And let me tell you
a little story on that,

450
00:22:19,705 --> 00:22:21,506
because these type of things do happen.

451
00:22:21,506 --> 00:22:24,142
This is a story from a cruise line
out of Florida.

452
00:22:24,142 --> 00:22:25,410
I'm not going to mention the names

453
00:22:25,410 --> 00:22:28,280
because it's not relevant,
but there was a couple on the cruise

454
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,150
that had bought the prepaid meal plan
and were having dinner,

455
00:22:32,250 --> 00:22:37,122
and they had an American Express card
connected for other charges on the boat.

456
00:22:37,155 --> 00:22:37,823
Right.

457
00:22:37,823 --> 00:22:41,827
So they go and they placed a tip
and the my understanding,

458
00:22:41,827 --> 00:22:45,831
the person that ran it,
instead of putting in the tip amount

459
00:22:45,931 --> 00:22:48,066
and they were going to leave a big tip
because the service was great,

460
00:22:48,066 --> 00:22:49,868
but instead of putting it
in the tip amount,

461
00:22:49,868 --> 00:22:52,904
they accidentally entered the ID number
of the couple on the boat

462
00:22:52,904 --> 00:22:57,376
as the amount that was going to be paid,
which got like $90,000 or something.

463
00:22:57,442 --> 00:23:01,813
So here this goes through and authorizes
this amount on their American Express

464
00:23:01,813 --> 00:23:04,616
card. Eyes up the card.
They can't use it anymore.

465
00:23:04,616 --> 00:23:08,954
But it had that been like a debit card
or ACH, it would have withdrawn

466
00:23:08,954 --> 00:23:13,191
that money from their account
or at least locked it up, you know. So.

467
00:23:16,161 --> 00:23:16,862
Yeah, I don't know.

468
00:23:16,862 --> 00:23:18,864
You got to be careful.
You got to keep your eye on things.

469
00:23:18,864 --> 00:23:20,999
You got to be vigilant,
especially in this day and age.

470
00:23:20,999 --> 00:23:24,636
But anytime
I can avoid giving a third party

471
00:23:24,836 --> 00:23:27,339
my financial information
like that, I'm going to do it.

472
00:23:27,339 --> 00:23:30,742
And in a few seconds here, you might ask,
why are they doing that?

473
00:23:30,776 --> 00:23:31,576
Well, ACH

474
00:23:31,576 --> 00:23:35,514
does not have the fees like credit cards
due to the business to be able to accept

475
00:23:36,014 --> 00:23:38,383
the payment. So that's
why we're seeing it pushed for a lot.

476
00:23:38,383 --> 00:23:40,919
But again,
think about it before you do it.

477
00:23:40,919 --> 00:23:42,521
This is user friendly 2.0.

478
00:23:42,521 --> 00:23:45,090
We'll be back after the break.

479
00:23:45,090 --> 00:23:47,092
He's from the future.

480
00:23:47,092 --> 00:23:50,395
He's got a really big computer

481
00:23:50,762 --> 00:23:53,932
and he uses it uses it every day

482
00:23:54,266 --> 00:23:57,402
and uses it uses it in every way.

483
00:23:57,669 --> 00:24:03,008
What you use it for, you know, I'm
not that sure because he is here.

484
00:24:04,042 --> 00:24:04,509
Welcome back.

485
00:24:04,509 --> 00:24:06,378
This is user friendly 2.0.

486
00:24:06,378 --> 00:24:08,914
Check out our website at User
Friendly Show.

487
00:24:08,914 --> 00:24:12,050
It is your one stop for everything
user friendly.

488
00:24:12,050 --> 00:24:16,421
And now through the end of May
we're running a special little promotion.

489
00:24:16,655 --> 00:24:20,692
Go to our site by the Cyber Hawk book
or by Nights Journal

490
00:24:20,826 --> 00:24:24,095
by Gretchen here and use the word
cyber Hawk

491
00:24:24,095 --> 00:24:28,200
and Amazon will give you $5 off,
so it's definitely worth

492
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,203
checking out and say, you know,

493
00:24:32,103 --> 00:24:33,438
you know, I was really shocked.

494
00:24:33,438 --> 00:24:36,441
The books are expensive.

495
00:24:36,475 --> 00:24:38,176
Well, the books are also quite thick.

496
00:24:38,176 --> 00:24:39,778
And that's true. Yeah.

497
00:24:39,778 --> 00:24:43,014
You're not you're not getting
some tiny little flimsy thing.

498
00:24:43,014 --> 00:24:43,882
Yeah.

499
00:24:43,882 --> 00:24:47,152
And if you like the eReader, like Kindle,
they're available on that for

500
00:24:47,185 --> 00:24:49,821
I think ten bucks. So it's you know,
you can get it that way too.

501
00:24:49,821 --> 00:24:53,024
But it's definitely worth checking out.

502
00:24:53,024 --> 00:24:57,562
And again, right through the website
and you'll save yourself some money.

503
00:24:57,562 --> 00:24:58,697
I highly recommend it.

504
00:24:58,697 --> 00:25:01,700
It's completely my unbiased opinion.

505
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,468
All right, on the note,

506
00:25:05,070 --> 00:25:08,073
I'm completely biased.

507
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,909
Like, you know, sarcasm sign, right?

508
00:25:10,909 --> 00:25:13,912
Yeah, sorry.

509
00:25:14,012 --> 00:25:15,380
Generally speaking,

510
00:25:15,380 --> 00:25:19,851
it is the rest of the world
that seems to be appreciating this too.

511
00:25:19,918 --> 00:25:22,521
I know you've gotten some feedback
from people that are,

512
00:25:22,521 --> 00:25:23,855
you know, somewhat negative about it,

513
00:25:23,855 --> 00:25:28,059
but the majority of your feedback
apparently is very positive.

514
00:25:28,059 --> 00:25:30,962
So that's a cool thing,
and it actually is worth the read.

515
00:25:30,962 --> 00:25:34,866
The people I know that have read it
have enjoyed it and Night School Journal

516
00:25:34,866 --> 00:25:38,503
and then The Cyber Hawk Rise of Heroes
are two very different stories,

517
00:25:38,537 --> 00:25:42,107
both set in the same universe,
but they're fun ones.

518
00:25:42,107 --> 00:25:45,377
A coming of age novel and the other ones
sci fi, where you get to play

519
00:25:45,377 --> 00:25:47,379
with all this high tech
and be a cyborg and thing.

520
00:25:47,379 --> 00:25:49,481
So topic I kind of like.

521
00:25:49,481 --> 00:25:51,483
So yeah, there you are.

522
00:25:51,483 --> 00:25:54,719
All right, on to what
we are going to talk about today.

523
00:25:54,719 --> 00:25:57,856
We've got listener questions
that have come in on both of these topics.

524
00:25:58,056 --> 00:26:01,459
So again
like I say user friendly dot show.

525
00:26:01,493 --> 00:26:04,029
Let us know what you want to hear.
Because that's where we get this stuff.

526
00:26:04,029 --> 00:26:06,998
And the first one
is something called elastic pricing.

527
00:26:08,233 --> 00:26:10,402
All right I don't like the sound of that.

528
00:26:10,402 --> 00:26:11,937
That sounds bad.

529
00:26:11,937 --> 00:26:15,140
What would you think something like that
is just just that plastic pricing

530
00:26:15,140 --> 00:26:18,944
that they'll just make it more expensive
on their whim.

531
00:26:18,944 --> 00:26:24,182
Just I don't know, I've you crazy
I don't know, I'm not mistaken.

532
00:26:24,182 --> 00:26:29,621
It's where they're pricing things
based on location or personal information.

533
00:26:29,821 --> 00:26:30,188
Yeah.

534
00:26:30,188 --> 00:26:33,191
And time of day even.

535
00:26:33,892 --> 00:26:37,862
So, what's going on here is basically
what Bill just said is they have these

536
00:26:37,862 --> 00:26:41,666
electronic price tags on the shelves now,
and you'll see a lot of them.

537
00:26:41,666 --> 00:26:42,634
I know up here

538
00:26:42,634 --> 00:26:46,705
the Kroger store has it read Myer, Home
Depot has them and a lot of others.

539
00:26:47,305 --> 00:26:50,375
Now part of why they would do that is it
saves staff

540
00:26:50,442 --> 00:26:52,277
time to be able to change prices
when they need to.

541
00:26:52,277 --> 00:26:55,280
So I understand that,
but they can also be changed on the fly.

542
00:26:55,747 --> 00:26:59,818
So some of the things that are going on,
or at least some of the concerns are,

543
00:26:59,851 --> 00:27:01,219
is that one of the rumors

544
00:27:01,219 --> 00:27:05,056
that's out there is their pricing based
on some kind of facial recognition thing.

545
00:27:05,056 --> 00:27:08,460
If you walk up to the display,
it raises the price.

546
00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:10,762
If they think you can spend more.
Now that is a rumor.

547
00:27:10,762 --> 00:27:12,731
They're not doing that, at least not yet.

548
00:27:12,731 --> 00:27:15,900
But they are doing things
like surge pricing.

549
00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:19,037
So you go into the store one time a day,
and the prices will be different

550
00:27:19,070 --> 00:27:21,773
than if you win
in another time of day, stuff like that,

551
00:27:22,941 --> 00:27:23,475
you know?

552
00:27:23,475 --> 00:27:28,780
So I have to dress like a hobo
in order to go shopping.

553
00:27:29,814 --> 00:27:31,182
No, no.

554
00:27:31,182 --> 00:27:34,619
Okay, again, it's not anything like that,
but it is the time of day.

555
00:27:34,619 --> 00:27:37,155
It is what's happening.

556
00:27:37,155 --> 00:27:40,492
If their inventory levels go low,
it can automatically raise the price.

557
00:27:40,558 --> 00:27:42,627
You know, stuff like that.

558
00:27:42,627 --> 00:27:44,162
Expiration dates.

559
00:27:44,162 --> 00:27:44,763
This is one.

560
00:27:44,763 --> 00:27:48,633
If it gets closer, it can lower the price,
which is not a term you use associated

561
00:27:48,633 --> 00:27:51,336
with. It's always about raising the price,
you know.

562
00:27:51,336 --> 00:27:52,137
But that is one thing.

563
00:27:52,137 --> 00:27:52,937
So if they wanted to

564
00:27:52,937 --> 00:27:56,875
sell something quickly and then demand
if something gets real busy,

565
00:27:57,275 --> 00:27:59,344
like they're selling a lot of this one
item, like, say,

566
00:27:59,344 --> 00:28:02,514
air conditioners here in the Pacific
Northwest in the beginning of the year.

567
00:28:02,547 --> 00:28:05,617
Well, as the demand goes up, it can
automatically raise the prices for those.

568
00:28:05,617 --> 00:28:09,454
And since it's an automated system,
it will know at the checkout

569
00:28:09,454 --> 00:28:12,691
what the price is on the shelf. So

570
00:28:13,992 --> 00:28:17,395
it literally could change from where
you picked it up.

571
00:28:17,696 --> 00:28:19,230
Yeah it could, it could.

572
00:28:19,230 --> 00:28:19,731
Yeah okay.

573
00:28:19,731 --> 00:28:21,299
That's very deceptive.

574
00:28:21,299 --> 00:28:24,936
And yeah, I could see that,

575
00:28:25,003 --> 00:28:27,972
you know, having bad results.

576
00:28:29,107 --> 00:28:29,641
It is.

577
00:28:29,641 --> 00:28:31,776
And it's, you know,
one of those types of situations.

578
00:28:31,776 --> 00:28:35,480
So basically again,
what you're dealing with here is that

579
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,583
the prices are not changing based
on who is standing in front of the shelf.

580
00:28:38,583 --> 00:28:41,419
I could see them trying that,
but that's not the case right now.

581
00:28:41,419 --> 00:28:44,522
Camera sees you, prices go up
so you don't have to dress like a hobo.

582
00:28:44,522 --> 00:28:47,492
As you say,
you will be able to get lower prices.

583
00:28:47,826 --> 00:28:49,294
At least they deny
that they're doing this.

584
00:28:49,294 --> 00:28:50,061
And regulators,

585
00:28:50,061 --> 00:28:54,699
I think, would step in on that one
because that would be a little bit

586
00:28:56,134 --> 00:28:56,935
not so nice.

587
00:28:56,935 --> 00:28:59,104
But there's
probably rules against that too.

588
00:28:59,104 --> 00:29:00,438
However, where this is going

589
00:29:00,438 --> 00:29:03,541
and what we're seeing as retailers
are investing heavily in AI pricing

590
00:29:03,541 --> 00:29:07,512
systems, loyalty
apps are getting more personalized.

591
00:29:07,545 --> 00:29:09,814
Digital things
remove the friction of changing prices.

592
00:29:09,814 --> 00:29:11,916
Now that last one,
I can kind of understand

593
00:29:11,916 --> 00:29:14,052
going through a store
and changing all the price tags.

594
00:29:14,052 --> 00:29:18,323
That would take a lot of human time,
so you can avoid that.

595
00:29:18,323 --> 00:29:19,858
That makes a lot of sense.

596
00:29:19,858 --> 00:29:24,496
It also see things like targeted discounts
of one store targets a specific item

597
00:29:24,496 --> 00:29:28,266
for a discount just in that store
or during a certain time period,

598
00:29:29,067 --> 00:29:30,068
these kind of things.

599
00:29:30,068 --> 00:29:33,271
And then app based
pricing that differs from in-store tags.

600
00:29:33,271 --> 00:29:34,572
That's another one too.

601
00:29:34,572 --> 00:29:36,441
And we're already seeing that.

602
00:29:36,441 --> 00:29:40,378
I mean, if you go online and order
something, we do the click pick thing

603
00:29:40,779 --> 00:29:43,915
where you put your grocery order in online
and then you go pick it up

604
00:29:43,915 --> 00:29:45,316
and they blow it into your trunk.

605
00:29:45,316 --> 00:29:49,554
And I have noticed that the prices
are different there than other things.

606
00:29:49,587 --> 00:29:54,092
Now, one of the other questions that's
coming into this is loyalty programs.

607
00:29:54,092 --> 00:29:57,762
And this isn't
directly related to this topic, because

608
00:29:58,296 --> 00:29:59,631
this is something
that's always been out there.

609
00:29:59,631 --> 00:30:01,900
When you run your loyalty card,
they know what you bought.

610
00:30:01,900 --> 00:30:04,803
In fact, a lot of places
put that online now and you can see

611
00:30:04,803 --> 00:30:07,939
I can see what I bought for groceries
five years ago at Smith's and Merino.

612
00:30:07,972 --> 00:30:08,273
Right.

613
00:30:08,273 --> 00:30:10,441
So not that I would need that,
but it's out there

614
00:30:10,441 --> 00:30:13,912
and they use this type of information
to target the specials they send you in.

615
00:30:13,912 --> 00:30:14,579
That kind of a thing.

616
00:30:14,579 --> 00:30:17,682
Now, I haven't had an objection to that
because it's the products

617
00:30:17,682 --> 00:30:20,051
I buy and I get coupons or whatever
the case may

618
00:30:20,051 --> 00:30:22,854
be to be able to use for that,
but it makes sense.

619
00:30:22,854 --> 00:30:24,355
You know, what I don't like

620
00:30:24,355 --> 00:30:27,759
is when they sell that data
and believe me, they do to third parties.

621
00:30:28,092 --> 00:30:31,429
So, you know, it's an interesting thing.

622
00:30:31,429 --> 00:30:35,233
In fact, there was a law and order done
about this type of a topic

623
00:30:35,266 --> 00:30:40,305
a number of years ago,
and it was based on a true story in that

624
00:30:40,305 --> 00:30:43,975
there was a stalker stalking this woman,
and they knew, you know,

625
00:30:44,042 --> 00:30:46,411
what kind of toothpaste she bought,
what kind of,

626
00:30:46,411 --> 00:30:47,946
you know, all these different things.

627
00:30:47,946 --> 00:30:50,882
And it came out well, how would they know
that even if they were watching her?

628
00:30:50,882 --> 00:30:52,650
You can see some stuff.

629
00:30:52,650 --> 00:30:55,386
Well,
the hackers had gotten into the computer

630
00:30:55,386 --> 00:30:58,389
that had her loyalty card
so they could see exactly what she bought

631
00:30:58,389 --> 00:31:02,293
when she bought it, when she was shopping,
you know, all that kind of stuff.

632
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:06,197
So again, the story that is they did
it is fiction, but it was based on

633
00:31:06,197 --> 00:31:07,532
something that actually did happen.

634
00:31:07,532 --> 00:31:09,901
And, you know, like we said in the first
half, it's not about

635
00:31:09,901 --> 00:31:13,671
if they're going to get hacked, it's about
when is it will happen.

636
00:31:13,705 --> 00:31:16,875
So these type of things,
but it isn't even so much that last week

637
00:31:16,875 --> 00:31:19,878
we talked about the DMV
selling your personal data.

638
00:31:20,311 --> 00:31:21,713
Same thing with loyalty programs.

639
00:31:21,713 --> 00:31:25,850
And you know, if you lose your login
or something, a lot of times it's okay.

640
00:31:25,850 --> 00:31:28,186
What's your name?
What's your date of birth?

641
00:31:28,186 --> 00:31:29,654
Maybe some other bit of information.

642
00:31:29,654 --> 00:31:30,822
What's your address?

643
00:31:30,822 --> 00:31:33,758
Well, if someone has that information
from the loyalty card

644
00:31:33,758 --> 00:31:37,762
or your driver's license or wherever
they got it, they're going to have that.

645
00:31:37,762 --> 00:31:38,863
And with the credit bureaus

646
00:31:38,863 --> 00:31:42,667
being hacked, most of that information
is already on the dark web, which

647
00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:46,371
and sometimes has better customer service
than the websites on the regular web.

648
00:31:47,105 --> 00:31:49,641
So I've been told by a friend. Right. But

649
00:31:51,442 --> 00:31:52,076
but in all

650
00:31:52,076 --> 00:31:55,346
seriousness, it is a huge problem.

651
00:31:55,346 --> 00:31:59,450
And I think the worry that creates
these type of things is, is

652
00:31:59,450 --> 00:32:03,187
stuff keeps going more and more digital is
could they eventually do this?

653
00:32:03,221 --> 00:32:05,823
We were talking about the idea

654
00:32:05,823 --> 00:32:09,594
that airlines were changing ticket
pricing based on the device you are using.

655
00:32:09,594 --> 00:32:13,031
And while they steadfastly deny this,
and I wasn't able to find any evidence

656
00:32:13,031 --> 00:32:14,432
that that was the case,

657
00:32:14,432 --> 00:32:17,535
I could find that where you were
buying the tickets, like physically,

658
00:32:17,602 --> 00:32:21,639
your geolocation would change the price
and other things like that.

659
00:32:21,639 --> 00:32:23,241
But I do know as a programmer

660
00:32:23,241 --> 00:32:26,344
you can tell what your user is using
the browser website.

661
00:32:26,344 --> 00:32:29,013
That's a function
that's been there for a very long time.

662
00:32:29,013 --> 00:32:32,083
And what it's supposed to be used for
is formatting the page

663
00:32:32,083 --> 00:32:34,585
so it fits the screen size, stuff
like that.

664
00:32:34,585 --> 00:32:35,253
Exactly.

665
00:32:35,253 --> 00:32:38,556
But, you know, it's
certainly not something that any bad guy

666
00:32:38,556 --> 00:32:41,993
would look at and go, hey,
I can use this for nefarious reasons.

667
00:32:42,427 --> 00:32:45,496
So the idea that there would be
a concern of these things

668
00:32:45,997 --> 00:32:49,434
to do that, actually do that and deploy
that in a store would take more,

669
00:32:49,534 --> 00:32:51,602
because you would have
to have facial recognition

670
00:32:51,602 --> 00:32:53,137
and you have to have it
tied to some system

671
00:32:53,137 --> 00:32:56,474
where they could look up who you were
and these type of things.

672
00:32:56,474 --> 00:32:59,477
But, you know,
it wouldn't be impossible to do that.

673
00:32:59,877 --> 00:33:01,212
It really wouldn't.

674
00:33:01,212 --> 00:33:04,682
And I don't know, you know, I love

675
00:33:04,716 --> 00:33:08,519
technology, I love
I love the new stuff, like I say,

676
00:33:08,519 --> 00:33:12,790
but there are some
things here where you do get

677
00:33:13,758 --> 00:33:15,393
a situation
that's going to be kind of scary.

678
00:33:15,393 --> 00:33:17,362
So what happens now? Dynamic pricing.

679
00:33:17,362 --> 00:33:21,099
So if you shop between 3 and 5,
just making this up at three and 5 p.m.

680
00:33:21,099 --> 00:33:23,701
somewhere, the prices are going
to be higher because they're busier.

681
00:33:23,701 --> 00:33:27,071
And then after prime time
it goes lower to do that.

682
00:33:27,238 --> 00:33:31,175
You know, and I know the pushback on these
things has been pretty negative.

683
00:33:31,442 --> 00:33:34,712
Uber surge pricing is one of those things
that causes problems,

684
00:33:35,213 --> 00:33:38,182
especially when there's an emergency and
everybody needs to get out of someplace.

685
00:33:38,182 --> 00:33:41,219
And now they start charging you more
because more people are using the service.

686
00:33:41,252 --> 00:33:41,953
Right.

687
00:33:41,953 --> 00:33:45,556
So pushback will be the best way

688
00:33:45,556 --> 00:33:49,193
to keep places
from doing this kind of stuff.

689
00:33:49,260 --> 00:33:51,396
And it has worked in some cases.

690
00:33:51,396 --> 00:33:54,665
As far as I know, we don't have to pay
to use the heated seats in a BMW

691
00:33:54,866 --> 00:33:58,603
or the key fob on a Toyota's remote start,
that kind of a thing.

692
00:33:58,636 --> 00:33:59,771
But these are all things

693
00:33:59,771 --> 00:34:02,974
that these companies had wanted to charge
a subscription for, or additional money,

694
00:34:02,974 --> 00:34:07,378
or that kind of a thing that people
making enough of a fuss push back on.

695
00:34:07,912 --> 00:34:11,382
So, you know, it's just interesting
to see where this goes.

696
00:34:11,382 --> 00:34:12,183
What do you guys think of that?

697
00:34:12,183 --> 00:34:17,922
Are you ready to have facial recognition
at a store and how the prices change?

698
00:34:18,523 --> 00:34:20,825
I think I'm going
to wear my mission anywhere.

699
00:34:21,959 --> 00:34:24,962
I think
I'm going to wear my Mandalorian helmet.

700
00:34:25,263 --> 00:34:27,899
I think we should all go in
Mandalorian helmets

701
00:34:27,899 --> 00:34:30,601
that would go into a bank
or a casino like that.

702
00:34:30,601 --> 00:34:32,203
You probably bad things might happen.

703
00:34:32,203 --> 00:34:34,705
So yeah, you know, now, one thing
I will tell you that's

704
00:34:34,705 --> 00:34:37,775
a little bit scary on this too, is
we covered this last year,

705
00:34:37,775 --> 00:34:41,579
but at one point Home
Depot was having videos taken of people

706
00:34:41,579 --> 00:34:45,083
using the automated checkouts
and was using facial recognition.

707
00:34:45,349 --> 00:34:49,387
So if you log in
like I have my extra military thing,

708
00:34:49,454 --> 00:34:52,490
it would actually have been able
to put my picture with my account.

709
00:34:52,890 --> 00:34:55,827
Oh, now if I go online
it knows more information.

710
00:34:55,827 --> 00:34:57,462
Now, I haven't seen them doing anything

711
00:34:57,462 --> 00:35:02,033
nefarious with it,
but I don't like them having that at all.

712
00:35:02,066 --> 00:35:05,069
You know? Yeah, it's kind of creepy.

713
00:35:05,470 --> 00:35:07,038
In a few weeks,
we're going to be doing an episode

714
00:35:07,038 --> 00:35:10,041
on all the places where there's cameras
and what they do.

715
00:35:10,274 --> 00:35:11,442
This will be in there again.

716
00:35:11,442 --> 00:35:12,777
But some of the other stuff
we've talked about,

717
00:35:12,777 --> 00:35:16,747
like lock cameras and stuff,
it's getting downright weird.

718
00:35:16,747 --> 00:35:18,716
And we're going to happen.

719
00:35:18,716 --> 00:35:22,820
Is it just here in the United States
or is it in other countries as well?

720
00:35:22,854 --> 00:35:24,622
Oh no. Oh no.

721
00:35:24,622 --> 00:35:28,092
Surveillance states
are all over the world, I think the UK.

722
00:35:28,659 --> 00:35:31,262
Yeah, I don't know if we still have,
but they had a record of having

723
00:35:31,262 --> 00:35:34,265
the most cameras per person
or something like that in London.

724
00:35:34,265 --> 00:35:37,135
Yeah,
I had a friend complaining about that.

725
00:35:37,135 --> 00:35:40,104
We're feeling concerned. Yes.

726
00:35:40,104 --> 00:35:43,708
It's a valid concern if everything you do
from when you leave your house to

727
00:35:43,708 --> 00:35:47,078
when you get back is videoed
and recorded somewhere,

728
00:35:47,278 --> 00:35:50,281
that really is not a good thing.

729
00:35:50,481 --> 00:35:52,717
I don't think I'd make a very exciting
what is it?

730
00:35:52,717 --> 00:35:58,222
Was the character's name Truman in that
movie Truman Show, the Truman show?

731
00:35:58,523 --> 00:36:01,559
I'm sorry,
I'm not really that interesting.

732
00:36:01,592 --> 00:36:05,663
Don't watch me no fall asleep.

733
00:36:05,997 --> 00:36:09,433
Let's say, as a for example,
you drive to work,

734
00:36:09,467 --> 00:36:13,671
you go to a store, you know,
a couple times a week, drive home.

735
00:36:13,938 --> 00:36:17,875
Now all of a sudden, the ads on your phone
or for that store

736
00:36:18,142 --> 00:36:22,146
and normally go there
and with some of the stuff Ford's

737
00:36:22,146 --> 00:36:24,081
patented, it's a forced commercial

738
00:36:24,081 --> 00:36:27,151
on your car infotainment system
when you drive by the place.

739
00:36:27,151 --> 00:36:29,854
Wouldn't
you like to come in today for this deal?

740
00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:33,257
Not doing it right now, but is it possible
they filed the patent for it?

741
00:36:33,257 --> 00:36:35,426
So yeah, it's possible.

742
00:36:35,426 --> 00:36:37,028
It's possible.

743
00:36:37,028 --> 00:36:40,431
So next listener question that came in
that is something

744
00:36:40,431 --> 00:36:42,667
important is securing Wi-Fi.

745
00:36:42,667 --> 00:36:44,202
Now this is not anything new.

746
00:36:44,202 --> 00:36:46,103
Wi-Fi has been out for a year or two.

747
00:36:46,103 --> 00:36:49,740
I'm led to understand
and maybe a little longer than that.

748
00:36:49,740 --> 00:36:53,277
And public Wi-Fi
as a result has been out there.

749
00:36:53,277 --> 00:36:57,882
You go to Starbucks or the airport or,
you know, nice hotel or something.

750
00:36:58,115 --> 00:36:58,416
It's all

751
00:36:59,917 --> 00:37:02,119
offer a Wi-Fi network, you know?

752
00:37:02,119 --> 00:37:04,822
And the problem is, is these open

753
00:37:04,822 --> 00:37:08,092
networks have a situation where

754
00:37:08,259 --> 00:37:11,963
when you're on them, so are the bad guys,
and it's an open network.

755
00:37:11,963 --> 00:37:15,633
So your security,
if you don't have things set up properly

756
00:37:16,033 --> 00:37:19,103
on a shared untrusted network, is a thing.

757
00:37:19,103 --> 00:37:20,871
So the common risks you have on

758
00:37:20,871 --> 00:37:22,873
that is something
called a man in the middle attack,

759
00:37:22,873 --> 00:37:25,743
which means you going to a website
and it's working just fine.

760
00:37:25,743 --> 00:37:28,012
But someone's injected themselves
into that data stream,

761
00:37:28,012 --> 00:37:29,213
so they're seeing what you're doing,

762
00:37:29,213 --> 00:37:32,216
getting your credit card number,
all that kind of stuff.

763
00:37:32,817 --> 00:37:34,619
Fake Wi-Fi hotspots.

764
00:37:34,619 --> 00:37:36,320
This is a big deal.

765
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,390
And with Wi-Fi seven out
now, it's an even bigger deal.

766
00:37:39,457 --> 00:37:41,959
So what will happen
is you'll go to the airport

767
00:37:41,959 --> 00:37:43,461
and you'll have a Wi-Fi network.

768
00:37:43,461 --> 00:37:46,330
They're called the airport,
you know, whatever.

769
00:37:46,330 --> 00:37:51,102
And somebody has a router
running on Wi-Fi seven or even six.

770
00:37:51,102 --> 00:37:53,704
It's probably more powerful
than what they have there.

771
00:37:53,704 --> 00:37:56,040
They plug it in somewhere,
sitting there with the same name.

772
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:57,975
Now you're connecting to their network.

773
00:37:57,975 --> 00:37:59,176
You have the routing setup, right?

774
00:37:59,176 --> 00:38:00,378
It'll still go out to the internet

775
00:38:00,378 --> 00:38:04,315
and that type of a thing, but
they can see everything that you're doing

776
00:38:04,315 --> 00:38:08,219
and that can lead to malware injection,
other things like that.

777
00:38:08,252 --> 00:38:09,520
So how do you

778
00:38:10,454 --> 00:38:11,355
how do you

779
00:38:11,355 --> 00:38:14,458
check your phone to see
if it's got malware on it?

780
00:38:14,492 --> 00:38:19,297
How do you work to protect your device?

781
00:38:19,997 --> 00:38:22,133
Now one option is prey,

782
00:38:22,133 --> 00:38:24,702
but something a little more
that you can figure out right now,

783
00:38:24,702 --> 00:38:26,904
and that doesn't require
divine intervention.

784
00:38:26,904 --> 00:38:30,941
There are some things you can do
in answer to your question to figure out

785
00:38:30,941 --> 00:38:34,945
if there's malware on the phone
or the tablet or your laptop.

786
00:38:35,212 --> 00:38:39,617
Some of the things you look for
are the device suddenly slows down,

787
00:38:39,617 --> 00:38:44,755
or you have performance issues
that kind of a thing, or you open your web

788
00:38:44,755 --> 00:38:48,826
browser and it's always forced
to some specific third party website.

789
00:38:48,826 --> 00:38:51,028
Those are some signs
of that type of thing.

790
00:38:51,028 --> 00:38:54,465
But it gets kind of scary
because if you have good programmers,

791
00:38:54,498 --> 00:38:57,468
they can do keyboard tracking.

792
00:38:57,468 --> 00:38:58,235
That kind of a thing.

793
00:38:58,235 --> 00:39:00,905
I know on a phone it's a touch screen,
but it's the same idea

794
00:39:00,905 --> 00:39:02,039
where everything you key in

795
00:39:02,039 --> 00:39:05,176
there is sent to a third party site,
and if the software is written

796
00:39:05,176 --> 00:39:07,478
correctly, it's not going to necessarily
slow down your phone.

797
00:39:07,478 --> 00:39:08,913
But if weird things start happening,

798
00:39:08,913 --> 00:39:10,815
that's one thing
that you would want to look at.

799
00:39:10,815 --> 00:39:15,152
And if you start thinking
there's a problem with it, check with your

800
00:39:15,152 --> 00:39:19,357
cell phone provider like your Verizon
or whatever is one place to start.

801
00:39:19,357 --> 00:39:20,825
And then when they don't know

802
00:39:20,825 --> 00:39:24,295
what you're talking about,
there are programs like malware bites

803
00:39:24,295 --> 00:39:27,898
and some other things that are available
on mobile platforms as well as desktops.

804
00:39:27,898 --> 00:39:31,202
Now, anti-virus software,
all that kind of stuff.

805
00:39:31,202 --> 00:39:36,440
Now, my thing with all of that is
I used to be very, very specific

806
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,544
on running, you know, like Norton
Antivirus or one of these systems.

807
00:39:40,544 --> 00:39:43,881
I have found that on the new versions
of windows, Windows Defender

808
00:39:43,881 --> 00:39:46,951
does a pretty nice job,
and it's as good as the third party one,

809
00:39:46,951 --> 00:39:48,719
and it doesn't have the footprint
that slows down.

810
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:53,023
Your computer on
your phone is a little bit different now.

811
00:39:53,023 --> 00:39:53,991
The operating systems,

812
00:39:53,991 --> 00:39:57,428
whether it's Android or iPhone,
do have this technology built in.

813
00:39:57,695 --> 00:40:00,231
We've seen even recently
where there's a zero day update

814
00:40:00,231 --> 00:40:02,433
because they've found a problem
in our exploiting it,

815
00:40:02,433 --> 00:40:03,801
and they push the update out.

816
00:40:03,801 --> 00:40:05,136
And one of the bigger problems

817
00:40:05,136 --> 00:40:09,273
with mobile devices, especially on
the Android side, is your updates

818
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,110
might come out from Google, but
might not be approved by the cell phone

819
00:40:13,110 --> 00:40:16,113
provider or the company
that makes the phone for a few weeks.

820
00:40:16,113 --> 00:40:19,116
So you get a delay
on getting these things in.

821
00:40:19,350 --> 00:40:22,420
So your Google Pixel, which is a Google
phone, will get updated before

822
00:40:22,420 --> 00:40:27,792
your Samsung Galaxy or whatever,
you know, and that can be a problem.

823
00:40:27,792 --> 00:40:31,862
So some of the other things
you can do to try to avoid getting malware

824
00:40:31,862 --> 00:40:36,100
in the first place is don't install creepy
apps.

825
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:37,334
And I will say

826
00:40:37,334 --> 00:40:40,504
Apple's a little bit more secure
on their distribution than Android is.

827
00:40:40,504 --> 00:40:45,976
But malware apps are out there
on both systems, and if you go out there

828
00:40:46,076 --> 00:40:49,513
and get an app that you know,
we're going to pay you money

829
00:40:49,513 --> 00:40:53,551
for every website you visit or every game
you play or something like that,

830
00:40:53,784 --> 00:40:55,186
probably something to be suspicious of.

831
00:40:55,186 --> 00:40:57,855
And while there are legitimate things
for this type of thing,

832
00:40:57,855 --> 00:40:59,023
don't just install it.

833
00:40:59,023 --> 00:41:02,259
Take the time, read the reviews,
make sure there are reviews.

834
00:41:02,293 --> 00:41:03,794
And it wasn't just

835
00:41:03,794 --> 00:41:06,831
launched a week ago or something,
because that's another thing to look at.

836
00:41:07,264 --> 00:41:08,632
All of that kind of stuff.

837
00:41:08,632 --> 00:41:12,703
And the other thing of it
is, is the basic stuff that we use now

838
00:41:12,736 --> 00:41:14,438
still works with this.
When you go to a website,

839
00:41:14,438 --> 00:41:17,875
make sure the padlock is
on the browser and it's Https

840
00:41:18,943 --> 00:41:19,376
from times.

841
00:41:19,376 --> 00:41:22,680
The browsers don't always show that
anymore, but the padlock will be there.

842
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:26,817
Insecure sites are a bad thing
and most major sites enforce it.

843
00:41:26,817 --> 00:41:29,119
A lot of browsers
will give you all kinds of warnings

844
00:41:29,119 --> 00:41:31,255
if it's not secure,
but they all don't do that.

845
00:41:31,255 --> 00:41:34,258
And sometimes there's ways
to get around that.

846
00:41:34,258 --> 00:41:35,459
Do you want to do that?

847
00:41:35,459 --> 00:41:38,996
If you happen to be using a site
that doesn't use HTTP

848
00:41:39,530 --> 00:41:42,666
or shows the s, I can say that really

849
00:41:43,033 --> 00:41:46,704
or doesn't
show the padlock, don't enter passwords,

850
00:41:46,971 --> 00:41:50,307
certainly don't enter credit card numbers,
and probably just don't use the site.

851
00:41:50,307 --> 00:41:54,612
And if it's a real vendor and it's 2026
and they still have something like that,

852
00:41:54,612 --> 00:41:56,013
I would call and complain

853
00:41:56,013 --> 00:41:59,350
because that would be really something
where they're not keeping up with it.

854
00:41:59,350 --> 00:42:03,521
Now, one of the better
things that you can do is using a VPN,

855
00:42:03,521 --> 00:42:06,590
and this will solve a lot of problems
because the data is encrypted

856
00:42:06,590 --> 00:42:09,593
over the VPN,
as long as it's a legitimate VPN.

857
00:42:09,793 --> 00:42:12,162
ExpressVPN, NordVPN, proton.

858
00:42:12,162 --> 00:42:14,665
There's a lot of different companies
like that that will put that out there.

859
00:42:14,665 --> 00:42:17,735
Even Eero the manufacturers, the Wi-Fi

860
00:42:17,801 --> 00:42:21,672
seven devices by Amazon
has a VPN available on their plus service.

861
00:42:21,672 --> 00:42:26,076
You do pay for it, but I know Nord for me
is like not a lot of money

862
00:42:26,076 --> 00:42:28,312
for three years.
I want to say like 40 bucks or something.

863
00:42:28,312 --> 00:42:29,580
It wasn't expensive.

864
00:42:29,580 --> 00:42:32,483
And when I travel internationally,
I like to have it too,

865
00:42:32,483 --> 00:42:35,152
because I can get to things
that would be locked out.

866
00:42:35,152 --> 00:42:41,025
You know, from that standpoint, if
the VPN is free, you know, free is nice.

867
00:42:41,025 --> 00:42:42,026
It's not really free.

868
00:42:42,026 --> 00:42:43,694
You're the product.

869
00:42:43,694 --> 00:42:47,298
And I would stay away from anything
like that, you know.

870
00:42:47,464 --> 00:42:53,304
So the other thing that is something
that I really didn't think about.

871
00:42:53,337 --> 00:42:57,942
And so I started researching
this is turn off the auto reconnect

872
00:42:57,942 --> 00:43:02,580
or the auto join function
on your phone or public network.

873
00:43:02,580 --> 00:43:05,416
So your home network, you can have that on
or a secured network at work.

874
00:43:05,416 --> 00:43:06,150
That's fine.

875
00:43:06,150 --> 00:43:10,154
But if you're at Starbucks,
don't have that turned on

876
00:43:10,154 --> 00:43:11,822
because it will auto reconnect

877
00:43:11,822 --> 00:43:14,224
and you might not know what's doing it,
you might park in the parking lot

878
00:43:14,224 --> 00:43:16,360
and it picks up the signal,
something like that.

879
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:21,799
So we're just wanted to look
for this particular feature, okay.

880
00:43:21,799 --> 00:43:24,234
The way to get to
it is different on the different phones

881
00:43:24,234 --> 00:43:26,337
iPhone versus Android
and some androids are different.

882
00:43:26,337 --> 00:43:29,673
But what you're looking for is your Wi-Fi
settings, oh, Wi-Fi settings.

883
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:30,574
Can you get into that?

884
00:43:30,574 --> 00:43:32,876
And it'll give you a list
of the remembered networks,

885
00:43:32,876 --> 00:43:35,813
and you can look through it,
and you might be kind of surprised

886
00:43:35,813 --> 00:43:38,782
at how many are actually in there,
especially now when you get new devices

887
00:43:38,782 --> 00:43:41,585
and they import the data
from the old ones. So it's not even reset.

888
00:43:41,585 --> 00:43:46,390
Really keeps that information and delete
anything out of there that you don't need.

889
00:43:46,423 --> 00:43:49,994
Now, one of the other things to do
is also try to avoid the fake networks.

890
00:43:49,994 --> 00:43:51,428
We talked about that a little bit earlier,

891
00:43:51,428 --> 00:43:54,431
but ask a staff member
for the actual name of their Wi-Fi.

892
00:43:54,665 --> 00:43:56,133
And I actually had this happen once.

893
00:43:56,133 --> 00:44:02,473
I was at a Starbucks and the network
was Starbucks, so was spelled wrong.

894
00:44:02,673 --> 00:44:06,510
The actual network was Starbucks
and somebody was actively doing it.

895
00:44:06,710 --> 00:44:10,314
This was a couple of years ago and I did
turn it in, but that type of thing

896
00:44:10,314 --> 00:44:13,517
is very easy to do,
especially if you get busy, you know?

897
00:44:13,550 --> 00:44:17,121
And if you're on a iPhone,
turn off AirDrop

898
00:44:17,721 --> 00:44:21,659
and on both types of phones, turn off file
sharing and network discovery.

899
00:44:21,692 --> 00:44:26,230
These options will also be something
that people can get in on.

900
00:44:26,263 --> 00:44:27,398
One other thing to think about

901
00:44:27,398 --> 00:44:31,468
when you're on a public Wi-Fi
network is do not use the network.

902
00:44:31,468 --> 00:44:31,702
If you're

903
00:44:31,702 --> 00:44:35,272
going to put in financial information,
like logging into your bank account

904
00:44:35,539 --> 00:44:39,043
or using credit cards,
turn the network off for that point.

905
00:44:39,043 --> 00:44:42,413
Use the cellular connection,
which will be more secure

906
00:44:42,479 --> 00:44:45,149
because it's not a thing, and then
you can turn it back on afterwards.

907
00:44:45,149 --> 00:44:48,585
And finally, like we were alluding to
earlier, keep your phone updated.

908
00:44:48,585 --> 00:44:53,090
Both operating systems
benefit from that sometimes.

909
00:44:53,090 --> 00:44:55,959
You can't always get them updates
right away, but you do want to do it.

910
00:44:55,959 --> 00:44:58,996
And when an update comes
in, don't pause it for two weeks.

911
00:44:58,996 --> 00:45:02,066
I've been guilty of that myself
because it's like it's not good right now.

912
00:45:02,066 --> 00:45:03,867
I'll do it later
and then it gets the late.

913
00:45:03,867 --> 00:45:06,970
Eventually it will force it,
but at the end of the day,

914
00:45:06,970 --> 00:45:09,873
you do want to get those in there
as quickly as you can.

915
00:45:09,873 --> 00:45:12,976
And finally,
this isn't just open Wi-Fi networks,

916
00:45:12,976 --> 00:45:15,979
but it's good advice is set up.

917
00:45:15,979 --> 00:45:17,414
Multi-factor authentication.

918
00:45:17,414 --> 00:45:20,417
Boy, this saved us on Facebook
about a year ago.

919
00:45:20,417 --> 00:45:24,722
I know I've talked about that in the past,
but one of the people that works with us

920
00:45:24,922 --> 00:45:28,459
got this message from Facebook
that your account is performed

921
00:45:28,459 --> 00:45:32,696
a crime or something that violated
their policy or whatever it is,

922
00:45:32,696 --> 00:45:38,035
and you need to go here and appeal it,
or it's going to be deleted at some point.

923
00:45:38,068 --> 00:45:42,639
So our staff member did,
and the bad guys had set up a very,

924
00:45:42,639 --> 00:45:47,211
very authentic looking site,
and it caused us to rethink

925
00:45:47,277 --> 00:45:49,513
our training a little bit more,
because when it got to

926
00:45:49,513 --> 00:45:51,281
asking for the password,
that should have been a clue.

927
00:45:51,281 --> 00:45:51,982
It is now.

928
00:45:51,982 --> 00:45:55,419
But you know, we all learn
even the best people can can get hacked.

929
00:45:55,452 --> 00:46:01,892
And I started getting all of these texts
that your MFA code is this your MFA code?

930
00:46:01,892 --> 00:46:03,293
Is this for Facebook?

931
00:46:03,293 --> 00:46:06,196
And they were trying to go in and get in
and change the password

932
00:46:06,196 --> 00:46:09,199
and hijack the account,
which is a very common thing to do.

933
00:46:09,633 --> 00:46:12,603
So, you know, at the end of the day, two

934
00:46:12,603 --> 00:46:15,706
for even though
sometimes it's a little bit of a pain,

935
00:46:16,874 --> 00:46:17,474
you can do that.

936
00:46:17,474 --> 00:46:20,811
And one of the other things is if you
travel a lot, get a personal hotspot.

937
00:46:20,878 --> 00:46:23,413
Now, I hadn't worked with these before,

938
00:46:23,413 --> 00:46:26,850
but when we did the robots at the Stem
presentation,

939
00:46:26,850 --> 00:46:30,254
I needed a network
that when I had the robots

940
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:32,923
not on my network at the lab,
they would still work

941
00:46:32,923 --> 00:46:34,992
and I didn't want to have
to reconfigure them at the school.

942
00:46:34,992 --> 00:46:36,894
That would have taken too long.

943
00:46:36,894 --> 00:46:38,428
So I bought this little mini router.

944
00:46:38,428 --> 00:46:42,232
It was about 40 bucks
and it creates its own network.

945
00:46:42,266 --> 00:46:47,838
And with that, you can connect it to the
hotspot on your phone for internet access.

946
00:46:47,871 --> 00:46:50,874
You can connect it to

947
00:46:50,908 --> 00:46:54,077
a network that you would have
that's Wi-Fi that you know is secure.

948
00:46:54,178 --> 00:46:58,148
Or you if you don't need the internet
like we did with the robots,

949
00:46:58,148 --> 00:46:59,516
you can just run it for that.

950
00:46:59,516 --> 00:47:02,920
But what ends up happening is all of your
devices that are connected to your

951
00:47:03,987 --> 00:47:06,423
private hotspot or your personal network

952
00:47:06,423 --> 00:47:09,393
stay connected, and the only place
that you have to make a change

953
00:47:09,393 --> 00:47:12,763
is on the one unit to go in and tell it's
okay to connect

954
00:47:12,763 --> 00:47:15,899
to this network or that type of thing,
or just uplink through your phone.

955
00:47:15,899 --> 00:47:19,203
Most cell phone providers now,
if you're traveling, especially,

956
00:47:19,336 --> 00:47:23,273
offer unlimited or very inexpensive data
for doing that type of a thing.

957
00:47:23,273 --> 00:47:28,512
And whatever the cost is, it's
well worth having the extra security. So.

958
00:47:28,545 --> 00:47:31,481
All right. Have I scared you guys at all?

959
00:47:31,481 --> 00:47:32,583
Not really.

960
00:47:32,583 --> 00:47:36,587
I'm concerned, but, you know, that's good.

961
00:47:36,820 --> 00:47:39,156
Yeah, it's it's stuff to think about.

962
00:47:39,156 --> 00:47:41,425
And it's unfortunate
because a lot of this attacks

963
00:47:41,425 --> 00:47:42,960
the features that are in these devices

964
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:46,296
that are supposed to make them easier
to use, things like the auto reconnect,

965
00:47:46,363 --> 00:47:48,265
you know, it's a nice thing
to be able to do.

966
00:47:48,265 --> 00:47:51,001
And again, if you're on a secure network,
it's fine to use that.

967
00:47:51,001 --> 00:47:53,971
But a public network, be careful.

968
00:47:53,971 --> 00:47:57,441
I know Gretchen going to the hospital
was another place

969
00:47:58,108 --> 00:47:59,910
that you were mentioning
before we started recording,

970
00:47:59,910 --> 00:48:01,478
where it's an auto reconnect thing.

971
00:48:01,478 --> 00:48:04,915
And is the hospital network going
to be secure when when you get on it?

972
00:48:04,915 --> 00:48:07,651
At least when I've seen
that you have to accept the terms.

973
00:48:07,651 --> 00:48:08,986
Yeah. And it's something.

974
00:48:08,986 --> 00:48:10,587
But that's not secure in the network.

975
00:48:10,587 --> 00:48:11,822
That's just securing the terms.

976
00:48:11,822 --> 00:48:14,825
It's still an open network. Exactly.

977
00:48:14,892 --> 00:48:16,026
And conditions or not.

978
00:48:16,026 --> 00:48:17,361
And the other thing of it is, is

979
00:48:17,361 --> 00:48:20,430
even if it asks for a password
through a browser, when you connect,

980
00:48:20,464 --> 00:48:23,467
not connecting to the Wi-Fi
and putting in a Wi-Fi

981
00:48:23,734 --> 00:48:26,570
password, but a password to like, log
in, I've seen that.

982
00:48:26,570 --> 00:48:29,940
And even those type of things
are still an open network.

983
00:48:29,940 --> 00:48:32,776
It's just they're securing
so that you can't get free

984
00:48:32,776 --> 00:48:35,913
access, usually have to pay them,
or to be a member of a program or whatever

985
00:48:35,913 --> 00:48:38,949
the case may be,
where you can get the password for it.

986
00:48:38,982 --> 00:48:43,754
So unfortunately,
it is definitely something to where

987
00:48:43,787 --> 00:48:45,656
maybe it's not as convenient,
but it would be less

988
00:48:45,656 --> 00:48:47,791
convenient to have to figure out
getting your money back

989
00:48:47,791 --> 00:48:50,627
and your banking account
and that type of thing. Until next week.

990
00:48:50,627 --> 00:48:53,697
This is user friendly 2.0 keeping
you safe on the cutting edge.

991
00:48:54,464 --> 00:48:55,933
User friendly 2.0.

992
00:48:55,933 --> 00:48:59,836
Copyright 2013 to 2026 by User

993
00:48:59,836 --> 00:49:02,839
Friendly and Media Group incorporated.

994
00:49:02,940 --> 00:49:04,574
All rights reserved.

995
00:49:04,574 --> 00:49:08,812
The content is the opinion
of the show's participants and does

996
00:49:08,812 --> 00:49:12,582
not necessarily reflect this station
or platform.

997
00:49:12,916 --> 00:49:16,787
Requests for material use, interviews,
disclosures,

998
00:49:16,787 --> 00:49:19,790
and other correspondence may be viewed

999
00:49:19,790 --> 00:49:23,293
and submitted at userfriendly.show.