This week, we talk about the next generation of mobile devices - 6G.

The Vault host James Sherwood joins us to review Tales from Talanya, a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum and tabletop role-playing game made by educators for educators.

William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to

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User Friendly 2.0 with host Bill Sikkens,

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technology architect.

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And this is User Friendly 2.0.

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I am your host Bill Sikkens.

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Joining me my co-host Gretchen and Bill,

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welcome to our lucky 13th

show of the year.

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Hello there. Hello.

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So, we're just coming off of,

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Friday the 13th, so, you know,

why not put these back to back?

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I've learned lately that that doesn't

necessarily mean bad luck.

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So, hopefully we'll continue

with that on down the right road.

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Now, I've got some stuff coming up.

We're going to be talking 60.

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I know that everybody is tired of 5G

cell phones

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and completely through all the ordeal

that's come up for that.

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So it's time to move on to 60 sarcasm

sign.

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It is something that I which is being,

discussed and talked about.

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We're going to talk about what

this will mean to you.

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Spoiler alert

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you're not going to have to worry about it

for about another five years.

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So, you know,

there's some time to prepare.

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So our second segment, we are going to be

going back to Comic-Con.

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James from the vault is going to be

joining us to talk about a D&D type game,

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but a special one that is meant for

children with developmental difficulties.

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And it's really kind of a cool system.

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We got to meet the people there

and everything like that.

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So there's a lot to talk about

from that standpoint.

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All right.

What do we have in the news this week?

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All right.

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So quantum

cryptography pioneers win Turing Award.

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So explain what quantum cryptography means

so that we all understand.

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Well,

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what this goes back to is actually 1984.

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I think there's a book by that name

that kind of corresponds

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with some of the stuff

that's happening now in the world.

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But anyway, that's a whole nother topic.

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So anyway, 1984,

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two researchers, Charles Bennett

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and Elias Brossard, and I apologize

if I mispronouncing the names.

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They're considered the pioneers

of quantum information science.

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And they introduce

something called the 84 protocol.

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And this was the first practical method

for quantum key distribution.

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All right.

So get your answer to your question.

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Quantum computing is just a 10,000ft view,

a next step

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that goes beyond our current computers

that use binary functions.

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So either on or off

it has a lot more states that it can do.

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There's a lot better ways to explain this

that I don't have time to go into here.

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So is this the chandelier computers?

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Yes. The chandelier computer.

Yeah. Okay. So, you know, there,

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So a couple of the

things that go along with this is quantum

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computing upends

the way that we do cryptography

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right now, which is kind of

what this is going into because

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the idea of a username

and a password is very much obsolete.

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Even without this.

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Those can be hacked extremely easily. Now.

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But even taking it to a next step,

a lot of the new systems

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to put into place, even things

like multifactor authentication

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and all of that can be circumnavigated

very easily using quantum computers

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just because of the additional speed

and capability that they offer.

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So, you know, this is something

that has been a lot of concern to people.

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And we have been looking at this

and developing.

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And to that end, they've been given

the award, the turning award,

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because of their contributions

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So again, focus on encryption and some of

the new ways that these are going to go.

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But there's a lot more to it.

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We hear a lot about that aspect of it,

just because it is

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one of the things that's going

to make a big first change for us.

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But the capabilities of these type

of computers are just absolutely amazing.

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And now that they have working prototypes

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and this is actually something

that's starting to be used,

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it is something we're actually see that

this is a real thing and not just

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something on paper.

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Mandalorian and Grogu movie

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will officially abandon one

franchise rule.

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Yeah, and it's for the best, at least

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according to the article in the Direct.

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This is something that's a lot of argument

among Star Wars fans.

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And basically what they're talking about

here is in shooting

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the series that's been on for,

what is it, wretched three seasons,

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I think something like that. Not sure.

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Yeah.

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Anyway, a number of seasons

and very successful for what it is.

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They've shot in a thing called the volume.

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And what this is,

is kind of a really cool setup.

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That's something akin to a Star Trek

holodeck, in a way

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where what you basically have is

you're surrounded by very high resolution

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LED screens and other things that can

basically build into the environment.

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You need to be in on the sound stage

in a very realistic way, and it's cool.

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I would like one of these in my house,

but so far I've asked George Lucas for it

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and I haven't gotten a response on that,

so I don't know.

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George, if you're listening, please

email me back.

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I know you must just miss my email.

I've got room for it.

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Right along my arcade

cabinets in my one car garage. Now,

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I think there's more room at my house

for it.

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Yeah. Oh, yeah.

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So, yeah.

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Okay.

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If we get it sent over Gretchen,

maybe we can use your garage.

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It'll be the volume

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Oh, the Volkswagen go.

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Anyway,

back to what this is talking about here,

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and what they're discussing

is that they're going to abandon

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the franchise rule of using the volume

and going back to more classic

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production techniques for the menu

or for the menu for the movie.

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Yeah, maybe the menu too,

but actually the movie more likely.

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But anyway, it's going to be a situation

where they're doing this

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because of production requirements

and different things like that.

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The volume being for what it is,

it sounds like it's very much up

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to television series or streaming

series of that kind of a thing,

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but maybe not quite up to task completely

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for creating the worlds

that it needs to in an actual movie.

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Now, looking at the specs of this plane,

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I think I might argue

that point a little bit,

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but the up to the professionals

that are doing

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this want to make sure it's right.

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So that's where they're going.

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And that's one change

that we hopefully will not see.

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Right.

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There is going to be anyway,

I think the thing with, with the volume

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is that I think it lowers

the costs, making action easier.

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So for a TV series,

I think that's probably really good.

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Yeah, I would tend to agree 100%.

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All right.

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So this is something

kind of near and dear to me and Jeremy.

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We loved

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this particular show and we're devastated.

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When it went away, it made no sense.

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So what am I gonna say?

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Firefly is coming back.

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At least it looks like it. Okay. Yep.

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So I've had a deep dive into the rumor

mill on this one to try and figure out,

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you know, some of this

and take this for what it is.

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Trying

to get any confirmation at this point

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right now is somewhat difficult to do.

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But what I can tell you on this

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is there are some reasons

that would definitely support this.

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The streaming era has revived older shows

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X-Files, Futurama

and that type of a thing.

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So seeing something like this come back

would not be that unusual or out there

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and there's also a very strong fan base

still out.

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I thought of all things the brown coats.

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Okay.

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I don't know if it's good the story.

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Trust me.

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Yeah. And nor does I know that. It's

just you know out of context.

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That's a little weird.

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But the other thing of it is, is

and this is an interesting one, Studios

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are minimizing cost.

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So using recognizable

intellectual property or IP does actually

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kind of make sense.

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So there's some complications

that they're running into.

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Some of the cast is not available,

which would be the,

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you know, biggest thing

with this kind of stuff.

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So they're looking at possibly three

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different methods of going after this

crew revival with the same cast.

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It would pick up years later.

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Most fan desired option,

but it's the hardest to pull off

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logistically and working in this media

sometimes myself.

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I can understand where they're coming from

with that,

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the next option would be

to do a soft rebuild or like a sequel

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series, new crew, same universe,

occasional cameos from originals.

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Most realistic option is probably

what they're going to end up doing.

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And we saw this like when Star Trek

The Next Generation came out,

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we saw a lot of the original actors

from the original Star Trek,

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you know, walking around the set

Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley,

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and on and on, you know, so, that's

something that actually can be done very

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successfully as, again, using Star Trek

The Next Generation and many others as a,

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you know, thing.

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Now, the third option here,

which I don't think

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is what they're going to do,

but you do see this sometimes,

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and this is actually what I didn't like

about the new Star Trek movies

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would be to do a full reboot,

or it's entirely recast,

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or they're trying to do the same thing

again, just in a new quasi universe.

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You know, I think there would be a lot

of backlash on that if that was the case.

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But the idea that this is even

being talked about is really kind of cool.

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And there's and again,

there's a lot of reasons for doing this.

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And the biggest one being is

because there is a huge fan base.

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So they're not having to remarket

and create something new.

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And along with you and Jeremy,

I liked, you know, I really like this.

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I hope that they do

it. Firefly was a lot of fun.

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Or it's a kind of like a space

opera western.

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It's like a space where, yeah, yeah, yeah,

but it was it was well done.

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And I'm not the biggest fan of Westerns

in the classic sense, but

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I did like Firefly, so,

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you know, but the other side of the coin

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is going to be to like making the movies

from Harry Potter or something.

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If this is not, it has to be done right

or it's going to be really bad.

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So yeah.

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Nvidia CEO says

critics are completely wrong

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about dLSS five technology, right?

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So, Gretchen, to answer the question

that I know you're about to ask,

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it stands for Deep Learning,

Super Sampling, DL, SS,

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and what this is basically talking about

is using AI to generate

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things like movies or television shows

or that kind of a thing.

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And there's been an argument

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going along here saying

that critics of this technology are wrong

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and Nvidia is confident

and going to go on the offense with this,

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which sends a major strategic technology

signal that this is going to happen.

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And it's not just some kind

of a minor upgrade.

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So more advanced AI frame generation for

all the people that love or don't like AI.

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And that is what this is.

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And going into that,

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basically what you have

is the ability to produce things faster.

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You don't have to rely

on older technologies,

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and it will cost less to go in

and produce things.

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What are things? Well,

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different series or shows or whatever

might be done using this technology.

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This isn't too specific on that front.

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Yeah, but the concern

and one of the biggest ones about this

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is that I do have a tendency

from time to time to hallucinate.

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And especially when, well,

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not especially when generating graphics,

but in that context.

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Although just ask anybody in the legal

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industry right now about how many AI is

right there briefs you'll find out.

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There's some hallucinations.

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There are two, but we've seen it

now, Bill,

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you and I had talked about this

on a previous show

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in one of the D&D books that came out

that they said, oh, we're not using AI.

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And it was real obvious that they work.

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And now you take this to a television

show or a series

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that's a motion picture of some kind,

animated, whatever.

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I don't know, Bill.

What are your thoughts on it?

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Do you think this is going to work,

or do you think Nvidia

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is kind of going out off the deep

end here?

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I think the video is going off the deep

end completely

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with a lot of their decisions.

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They've been making lately,

and I think this is one of the next ones

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that they really are

shooting themselves in the foot.

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Yeah, yeah.

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I think there's a lot of people

that would agree with you on that too.

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So it's going to be interesting.

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AI is an amazing technology.

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What it can do is absolutely incredible

and there's no argument with that.

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But you do have to still be involved

in what you're doing.

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And that's where this becomes a problem.

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You know, the ethics, number one

that we've talked about that

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it upends artists

and different things like that.

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And then they're not disclosed.

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But the

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second side of that being just simply

this kind of a situation.

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So if you were to use these tools in line

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with something else that you're doing,

and you actually check it

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and figure out what you're going to want

at the end of the day, and is it right?

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And does it look realistic, then?

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Sure, it's a tool that maybe could augment

what you're doing, but that's not

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what's happening.

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People are trying to completely replace

disciplines with this,

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and it's just not able to do that.

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And it's not meant to do that really.

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So you know,

well, we'll have to see where this goes.

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And yeah, there's a lot of argument

that Nvidia right now needs to maybe,

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find a little different direction in

not just this,

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but a couple of other things

that they're dealing with too.

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So we'll end up seeing what happens there.

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Hundreds of millions of

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iPhones can be hacked with a new tool

found in the wild.

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What does in the wild mean?

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Well, usually means

you go to the middle of a jungle

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and just there, there's a hacking tool

sitting there, and,

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I mean, are you throwing spiders at it or,

you know,

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it has that feeling

from that description? No.

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In this context,

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it just means that it's a tool

that's out there in the general populace.

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So something that's just available

for anybody to do, you know, and,

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a term like this might be

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using some of our retro community,

finding an old video game cartridge.

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You know, these exist in the wild.

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It just means they're out there

and that kind of a thing.

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But we're that's a problem with

this is because having a hacking tool

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for a zero day

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vulnerability out in the wild targets

hundreds of millions of iPhone users,

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and they're already using it in real world

attacks.

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This is not just some theoretical this,

you know, conversation.

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One of the other things

that is a little more interesting about

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this is not

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the idea of something getting hacked,

but Apple usually is pretty secure.

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And this just goes to show

that anybody can be targeted.

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You know, if you're online, it's possible

you can get hacked.

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The better your lock on the door.

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So to speak, the more likely it is

that they're going to go somewhere else.

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But the thing of it is, is state

actors are getting involved

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in these kind of things

and different groups

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or people that can be targeted by this,

or people like journalists,

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military people that are operating

in, you know,

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some of the conflicts

and things that are going on and others

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where the bad guys would like to know what

they're talking about on their phones.

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And it just is a situation where,

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it gets scary.

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And what really is something about

this is zero

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click export exploits,

which is what this is.

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If you don't have the thing

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where you have to

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accidentally tap on a link in your email

or respond to a text message

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that you shouldn't, or that kind of a

thing, it does remove the user safety

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net entirely, which means it can happen

without you knowing about it.

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Now, Apple is very good

about issuing security patches

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as of the time of recording,

which is Wednesday.

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They haven't yet, but

I have a funny feeling when you hear this.

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There probably will be a fix for this,

so expect a push, update immediately

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if it hasn't already happened,

and make sure that you have your phone

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set up

to accept the update and install it.

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And if you're somebody

that is a journalist or others

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that might be of a higher risk of ever

being attacked in this type of a thing.

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Apple does have a lock down mode

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and it might be something

to look into to see what,

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you know, just give yourself

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a little bit more security,

at least until this is done.

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The specifics of that

is too much to go into right now.

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Just look for the mode on your phone

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and I'll give you some details

on what that's about.

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Lightning

generated waves detected on Mars.

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So, you know, the more we learn about

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the universe around us, the more

we realize how much we don't know.

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I mean, we kind of like

going to a planetarium with Roswell

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gray aliens and having them

look at the map and going, what?

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Where did you come up with this?

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You know, I it's,

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it's an interesting situation in Mars.

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Certainly is no exception to that,

because the general understanding

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is Mars has a very thin atmosphere

and very little weather.

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They have dust storms and that type

of a thing, but they are detecting

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the signature of lightning now.

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It's not caused by water clouds

or anything like that.

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It's a static electricity baseline.

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But it does go to show that dust

storms on Mars

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could be electrically active,

generating static charges and discharges.

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Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, yes.

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If you're looking at the idea

of colonizing Mars and you have

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the appropriate technology,

it might be a way of harnessing energy.

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But I don't know about you.

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I wouldn't want to be out

in a sandstorm at all,

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and certainly not one

that's electrically charged,

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and certainly not one planet

with no app with no oxygen in the air.

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So, you know, I think maybe I'll pass

on that. Yeah. Sounds like.

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We have a cool Stem project for the kids.

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How does our weather compare?

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Yeah.

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And, you know,

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I think we should start covering

more of this stuff because the Stem

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projects that are starting to be out

there are a lot of fun,

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science, technology, engineering

and math is what the acronym stands for.

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And it's an idea of instruction

for students in high school.

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And really any level of school

in engineering and related skills

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that have to do with information

technology, computer science, and so on.

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And there's a lot of things out there

that, you know, there's this idea that,

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oh, I go into that I'm going to be,

you know, a programmer

347

and sit in front of the computer

for 15 hours a day.

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And yes, that is one discipline of this,

but there's a lot of other things

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that Stem puts you in front of to

be able to do, like, oh, flying jet suits.

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I mean, you know, that is not being stuck

in front of a computer for 15 hours a day

351

unless you're developing the software

for it.

352

But outside of that, you know, it's it's

353

a situation where all of this stuff

kind of very much blends together.

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So speaking of Mars, the project

that they've come up with compares

355

weather on Earth to the weather on Mars.

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And this would be a project,

I think, for elementary

357

and middle school age

that would work out quite well.

358

And basically

you need a couple of things for this.

359

You need a piece of paper.

360

I think that's still available in 2026.

361

Yeah.

362

You put it together with column

headers, place

363

high with Fahrenheit or Centigrade

depending

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on what part of the world

you're in, how you want to

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store that information,

and the low in the third column.

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And then you go on to a tool

that's provided, online.

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We'll put a link to it up on the user

friendly website, a user friendly dot show

368

where you can check Mars's temperature

and check the temperature

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where you currently live,

and then keep a log of it.

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And, you know, something kind of cool

to do with some of the groups

371

that have been working with this project

have taken it a step further, and even

372

gotten into discussions on

what would you wear

373

if you were on Mars,

a very thick space suit.

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But, you know,

and in the idea of considering this,

375

you know, what could you do with that

kind of a thing?

376

And how is it different from where you are

today in your home town?

377

You know, there's

a couple of obvious things there, too.

378

But looking at the temperatures

and all of the different things like that,

379

it's just one of many fun Stem projects

that are out there.

380

So yeah, NASA has a lot of these

really cool projects.

381

And if you're an educator,

382

please check them out.

383

I mean, I don't think this costs anything.

384

No, no it doesn't.

385

And that's another whole part of it too.

386

This is specifically a project like this.

387

As long as you have a tablet

or a computer or something.

388

You're fine.

389

You know, with being able

to, to do that without having to go out

390

and buy expensive equipment

or anything, really, that special.

391

So anyway, let us know, have you guys

participated in Stem projects?

392

Have your kids done? I go to

you is really not sure.

393

I'd love to get some feedback on this

394

and see what you like and maybe feature

some of these projects here on the show.

395

Now, one of the ones

that we will not be needing to look at,

396

at least not in the next

397

five years, is any Stem projects

relating to the next generation

398

of wireless communications

or what is going to be known as six G.

399

So basically,

400

you know, just to give

a little bit of a background on this,

401

the generations again, what G stands for

and we're currently in version five,

402

go back to version one which was the very

early cell phones, the big break,

403

star attack model, you know,

which I'd love to have in my collection,

404

not to operate, but just to look at

and then the second generation, third

405

generation, fourth generation,

which, was kind of when we started

406

really moving into having online access

and that type of thing.

407

And now 5G,

which takes that makes it a lot faster

408

and also brings it

to a lot more portable devices.

409

So six G. Yeah.

410

You know, again,

let's keep the numbering simple here.

411

We're not Microsoft.

So we'll actually count correct.

412

Like and we'll take this to go.

413

What's the next step.

414

Well they're looking at theoretical speeds

that are 100 times faster than 5G,

415

which would be a top out of one terabyte

per second.

416

That's fast, by the way,

417

and a latency of less than a millisecond,

which is also fast.

418

And, you know, a very good thing.

419

And six G is designed

using AI from the ground up.

420

Great.

421

It what it is, it's a self-generating

or self-driving networks.

422

It can self optimize, predict congestion

and automatically allocate resources.

423

You know, Skynet,

I mean, other things that,

424

you know, it's capable of doing

to make this stuff all work automatically.

425

And from that standpoint, you can do

a lot of different things with it

426

that you can't do now because you're able

to better use your resource.

427

It'll operate in the terahertz range,

and it'll also be something

428

that has satellite integration

built into it from the ground up.

429

Now, one of the drawbacks on this

with the higher range frequency

430

is you have a much harder time

getting through walls.

431

And the coverage, for a cell

site is a lot less.

432

It can't go as far.

433

So those are all things that have to work

about.

434

The density of this stuff

will have to come up.

435

And but doing this right, it's

using a combination of cellular network

436

satellites and drones or high altitude

platforms.

437

You'll get global coverage,

438

so you'll no longer

have these areas that are rural or whatnot

439

where you can't get on the internet,

or at least at a, you know, decent speed.

440

So one of the key use cases that they're

looking at for this is fully immersive AR.

441

And then the next one is holographic

communication.

442

And yes,

this is like what you see on Star Wars

443

where you're talking to somebody

and they stand up.

444

Now along those lines, Google actually

does have a prototype of this technology,

445

but it uses an enormous amount

of bandwidth to operate.

446

So right now

that's, you know, kind of a problem,

447

but it won't be

if you have a terabyte connection.

448

Much like you can stream 4K high

resolution video now,

449

and you couldn't have done that

ten years ago or even come close,

450

you know, so there's engineers out there

that create the technology

451

and create the patents and a lot of times

452

don't get credit for it, but it still

drives what we're dealing with here.

453

So the research is going on

for the next five years, give or take.

454

And about 2030 is

when we're going to probably see

455

this technology

start to come into its own.

456

So that'll be cool to see

where we go with that.

457

All right. Next segment coming up.

458

We are going to be talking about

459

the D&D game

that we discussed a little bit earlier.

460

And looking into that,

something really cool and something great

461

to talk about.

462

And then we're going to be giving you

an update on Ram prices.

463

This is user friendly 2.0.

464

We'll be back after the break.

465

You see here he's from the future.

466

He's got a really big computer

467

and he uses it every day

468

and uses it uses it in every way.

469

I see.

470

You sure.

471

You know, I'm not sure because he uses.

472

Welcome back.

473

This is user friendly 2.0.

474

Check out our website

at User Friendly Dot show.

475

That's where you leave your questions,

476

your comments send us your story ideas,

play back episodes, look at other things

477

we have done in the distant past

and see everything user friendly.

478

We love to hear from you again.

479

User friendly dot show check it out.

480

And as we check things out,

we're going to be looking

481

at a little different

take on Dungeons and Dragons.

482

And this is a game,

483

host, James Sherwood from the vault

was able to cover with us at Comic-Con.

484

He was actually able

to interview the creators of this.

485

And it's a game

486

that's specifically designed for children

with developmental difficulties.

487

So with no further ado,

let's go back to the Comic-Con.

488

So I was at Fan Expo in January of 2026.

489

I had the pleasure

of sitting in on a panel

490

that was presented by Jennifer the Priest.

491

She is a elementary school counselor

492

And the interesting part of this,

the panel itself, was on the therapeutic

493

use of tabletop

role playing games to help develop

494

social skills and interactions

and collaborative storytelling.

495

Things like taking turns, things

like critical thinking in a group setting,

496

things like investing in what other people

want to do and what people have to say.

497

A lot of this was focused on people

with neurodivergent things like ADHD

498

or autism, things like that,

499

and how to bring them

into that social setting.

500

I found this absolutely fascinating.

501

And Jennifer had, of the rules, set

502

a game that she created

with the help of another counselor.

503

The game was called Tales of Toulon.

504

Yeah, it's focused on

505

people ages nine and up.

506

Again. These were educators.

507

They created it.

508

So a lot of it is focused around things

like an educational setting

509

and the ability to strengthen

skills there.

510

But this game had so much more

511

depth to it for anyone

who was struggling with role playing games

512

but really wants to get into it,

or even is passively interested in it,

513

this whole set up was fantastic.

514

So it's loosely based on Dungeons

and Dragons fifth edition.

515

It is its own game,

516

and it takes the rules

and takes a lot of the mechanics

517

and brings them down

to a more manageable level.

518

For people that don't have

a strong background in 2D RPGs,

519

so reduces the number of skills.

520

It changes how combat works,

a little bit of changes how the attributes

521

figure into things, makes it much easier

522

to handle and absorb the rules and things.

523

I immediately jumped on to this

because I have friends that have children.

524

I have children myself,

and I'm looking at the fact

525

that I would really be able to use this

to help bring them into a world

526

that has been such a huge part

of my life for so many years.

527

I've also

528

taught with some friends of mine

that are educators.

529

Their teachers

530

and I have been able to show them

that skill, and one of them actually

531

runs a Dungeons and Dragons club

or role playing club at his middle school.

532

One of the things that he immediately

latched on to is the fact that he has kids

533

that have decided they want to play,

but don't know where to start.

534

They have no background

in collaborative storytelling.

535

They have no background in these tabletop

games.

536

So here's something he can use for people

that might feel a little bit

537

awkward to help introduce them

to the concept of a world with no rules.

538

When I utilize this

in a therapeutic setting.

539

Many years ago,

I ran the Dungeons and Dragons soup

540

campaign

at a residential treatment facility.

541

I ran it for about six months,

so it's kind of a trial run,

542

and found that it was able

to really support people

543

in that concept of life was structured

and exploring consequences

544

without having real world

events take place.

545

Be able to look at things

like past experience

546

and current life stressors

and deal with them in a healthy fashion.

547

That being said, this is not necessarily

a therapy based game,

548

but it does have those practical uses.

549

I have really found tabletop role

playing games to be a huge benefit

550

for anyone

who is struggling with social anxiety

551

or having trouble

with some of that social interaction,

552

it can really help anyone,

even if you just want a brief escape

553

from the world at large,

or what you have going on in your life.

554

Tales of

555

Thulani is designed for exactly that.

556

It is designed on

how do we get people who may struggle

557

into this amazing pastime?

558

So it uses a lot of the Dungeons

and Dragons lore.

559

It uses elves and dwarves and dragonborn

and things like that.

560

It gives you a chance

to explore the world, especially

561

if you're someone who really wants

to focus more on the role play aspect

562

than necessarily on the mechanical aspect,

or what the game,

563

and on what

the world allows you to explore.

564

It gives you a chance to explore

with other people.

565

So again, for me,

this was absolutely fascinating.

566

And I got to sit down on this panel,

567

which I referenced in the very beginning.

568

I was able to sit in on this panel

569

and listen to

570

someone who does this professionally.

571

Explained to me some of the studies

572

and the science behind

why this works for anyone

573

who is interested in it,

I very much recommend looking at it.

574

So now that you've heard me

talk some about the game itself

575

for what makes it so interesting,

let's get into some of the nuts and bolts.

576

So one of the things that this game does

is, as I said before,

577

it utilizes something similar

to Dungeons and Dragons for the lore.

578

It's really simplified thing.

579

So for stats

you have your six common stats

580

strength, dexterity, Constitution,

intelligence, wisdom and charisma.

581

Rather than rolling a whole bunch of dice

and adding things up,

582

you roll a D4 six times

and you put those numbers in.

583

You have your primary stat

based on your class.

584

That's generally

where you want the highest one to go, but

585

it's really up to you to determine

how you want to build that character.

586

Do you want a wizard

that's not quite as smart,

587

but is really strong,

or how do you want to customize that?

588

Secondly, you pick your species.

589

Your species is going to add

to particular statistics

590

or give you other special abilities

like weapon

591

proficiencies

or darkvision, things like that.

592

Then you pick your class,

and your class is selected

593

from a list of seven you

how far you would have Druid

594

if that fighter you have Paladin,

595

Ranger, rogue and Wizard.

596

This gives you a pretty good selection

of classes, but again, we don't need

597

all of them.

598

We need enough to give people a taste

of what they want to play.

599

Likewise, for species,

there's eight of them in the book.

600

There's the dragon,

which is kind of a lizard folk.

601

There's elves, there's cat food,

602

there's dwarves, there's gnomes,

603

there's humans, double kin and orcs.

604

Again, it doesn't have to have every race

that any other game has.

605

It has a little bit

more simplified structure,

606

but really allows people to play

what they want to do.

607

This is kind of the primary essence

behind a tabletop roleplaying game,

608

is that ability to customize

and adjust how you want the story to go.

609

There is equipment, there is armor, and

there are weapons and things like that.

610

Again, we want to allow that customization

611

as much as possible, but

the list is shown of down a little bit.

612

We don't need to have 12 different

kinds of swords.

613

We can have 2 or 3.

614

The charts for this are pretty easily

laid out.

615

A list of primary stat

what you add to the d20 when you roll

616

it adds has a damaged die,

which is what you used to roll.

617

It's just kind of a more

simplified version of it,

618

which again, for me was very appealing.

619

The game plays like most tabletop games,

620

where you tell the story

based on what everyone wants to do.

621

If you buy the box set,

it does come with a campaign

622

already in it, as well as some one shots.

623

This campaign takes you

all the way through with most

624

of what you need

to do for several sessions.

625

It allows new DMs for people new

626

to the setting to really explore

what's going on,

627

but you can always create your own

if you enjoy what's going on.

628

And lastly,

there's the fun community element.

629

This is a game of collaborative

storytelling.

630

Like I've mentioned in the beginning,

631

this is a game where you get to sit down

with your friends, be it 2 or 3,

632

or be it 5 or 6 players and the

and the Dungeon Master or the Game Master,

633

you sit down and you play,

and you really get to have that experience

634

of of being with other people

and playing as much as you want.

635

For me, that's probably the biggest part

of my tabletop experience.

636

It's not so much

the mechanics, it's not so much

637

what you get to play as what it does

is it really allows you

638

to immerse yourself in that world

and tell a story with other people.

639

That's what Tales of Talanoa is all about.

640

It's about those social skills

and those developments

641

so that people can really experience

what they need to do.

642

So I do have a brief interview

with Jennifer.

643

Maddy, I'm going to go ahead and play

that, and then I'll be back to wrap up.

644

Thank you.

645

I this is the James of the.

646

Well,

thank you very much for coming back to us.

647

I am here with Matty and Jennifer.

648

They are two educators or school

counselors.

649

Two counselors,

yes, and school counselors.

650

They have a really interesting

take on treatment with role playing games

651

and how that interacts with social skills

and on group dynamics.

652

You do tell me a little bit about them.

653

Yeah, absolutely.

654

Thanks for having us here. First.

655

Yeah, we began kind of experimenting

with this back in Covid.

656

We were noticing that

657

our kids were really struggling

to connect socially, with the lockdown.

658

And I was actually connecting really well

online, digitally with friends

659

playing D and D.

660

And so we ended up trying to host a group

661

for our kids and digitally,

which works really well.

662

And through that process,

we actually saw a significant amount

663

of growth for them during a.

664

So it's the skills

more than what we were seeing during,

665

kind of the classic social

skills instruction, which is a lot of

666

now we're going to practice saying please

and thank you.

667

The novelty of D&D being the idea

668

of having the consequences

feel real with no real world implications,

669

and also that immediate feedback in time

made our kids, have a lot quicker

670

responses, learn a lot faster,

but also have that buying for them.

671

So it is a huge, huge

proud moment for us as well.

672

Okay, so you pretty much

just got into this fun working with,

673

you know,

so we're struggling a little bit.

674

Yeah, exactly.

675

Actually, mirror, we had, conversation

with Jen's and my principals up time.

676

We were in two different schools.

677

Jen's at elementary, and I'm at middle.

678

And so our principals gave us the

go ahead to combine and do it,

679

and it was fantastic.

680

You had here I was given, several students

that I was both providing social skills

681

instruction and I would not only do that

was not going to be very conducive online.

682

And I was like, oh my gosh,

what am I going to do with these third

683

and fifth graders?

684

And Maddie was like, dungeons and Dragons.

685

And I was like, I'm not a gamer.

I don't know how to do that.

686

That sounds really scary.

687

And so we ended up working together

with our principal student.

688

She ran in the campaign, and I helped

manage the students to help them

689

be able to manage their emotions

when we when our taxi would lose him.

690

This is mind over, combat

or Paladin was stuck in the bushes

691

because instead of joining the combat

and so that ended up working really well.

692

And he saw a lot of these kids.

693

Yeah. And yeah, fantastic.

694

For me, this was kind of near

and dear to my heart.

695

I work in behavioral health myself,

and that's my real job.

696

And of Stanford,

697

I work in behavioral health.

698

And I actually had the chance

in a residential facility

699

to run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign

for a few months and seeing the benefit

700

to people that were struggling

with life choices and collaboration

701

and the social skills there was amazing

watching that growth curve. Yes.

702

And that's exactly what we saw as well.

703

And then Jen and I ended up having

a conversation of, wow, this was huge.

704

How do we continue to do this?

705

And what worked, what didn't work.

706

And so what we ended up doing

was we ended up creating our own version

707

of Dungeons Dragons.

So it's very stripped down.

708

So really

the focus is on those relationships

709

and social skills rather than,

you know, learning the rules for grappling

710

or how much is all damage, like all things

that I really enjoy as an adult,

711

but are going to be really hard

for educators with no gaming experience.

712

There are little kids

who are just learning other.

713

So we ended up

creating an entire curriculum.

714

It's called tales from Tijuana,

and it's very similar to the indie

715

in terms of playing and,

you know, elves, dragons, having the fun.

716

But we wrote our social skills guide.

717

So how to play the game,

how to embed social skills,

718

how to get parents on board,

how to get your admin on board

719

pre and post tests that we have some plans

that Jen created.

720

But she's our she's our brand for that.

721

And then you got to teach the kids

722

how to play and having scaffold out

if they'd never played.

723

So let's break it down so that they don't

get the character sheet.

724

And they're looking what is all

what are all these numbers? What do I do?

725

We break it down in a way that's

going to be more manageable for that.

726

Yeah.

727

And then we wrote a whole campaign

and then this last year

728

we really worked on writing some one shot.

729

So we had some short modules

as well on teachers for the teachers

730

that are like an hour

and a half versus a year

731

long campaign, and also have character

sheets and a quick guide of how to play.

732

So it's really the goal for us is

how do we get not only educators

733

who are non-gamers and kids

who are interested in this,

734

but don't necessarily have the capacity

for the complicated rules?

735

Again, and I've seen that.

736

So it's been really amazing.

737

We both want to enter school

at different levels.

738

I run D&D four times a week and we go, so

oh wow, that's a lot.

739

It's all authors.

740

It's why don't you get solved?

741

Okay, that would be a fun Thursday.

742

It's a great Thursday.

743

We've had some really fun things,

including things like,

744

you know, it's a great chance

for us to also be created.

745

So one of the things we did was,

my kids threw a magical device at someone.

746

And so I had the magical device

curse them, and so they could only talk,

747

so they could talk to each other.

748

But every time they tried to interact

with NPCs, all they did was honk.

749

Well, I sent them back to class

after that, and I get a call from the math

750

teacher 20 minutes later being like,

why is this kids honking at me?

751

I have to go to the class.

I'm like, I'm so sorry.

752

You come here.

753

You're not honking.

754

And you know everybody. You got it.

755

They're not going to answer the teacher.

That's okay.

756

But we're not going to get

the math teacher I so, so fantastic.

757

So what age group is this.

758

What is this geared towards?

759

It's geared towards nine and older.

760

Ironically, yeah.

761

As young as eight, which was a little

bit spicy, a little bit fun.

762

But I would recommend 14 and up.

763

We've also had people who run it,

with post high school students.

764

I'm practicing social skills,

so I think anything

765

fourth grade and older was like, art.

766

Yeah, fantastic.

767

Isn't that. Well,

thank you very much for your time.

768

This has been great and I look forward

to checking out the game.

769

But I'll try playing it myself. Awesome.

Thanks so much.

770

All right. And again,

that was Jennifer and Maddie.

771

And thank you very much

for spending the time.

772

Thank you.

773

So thank you very much for spending time

with us today of tales.

774

Until you have something that interests

you, you can look it up online.

775

You can search for tales of tularemia,

and it'll take you to their website.

776

SPL to l a n y a

777

dot w e b l y.com.

778

So sell to line the.weebly.com.

779

You can get the box set for about $150.

780

You can also contact them directly

and see if you'd need to pick up

781

just a specific book.

782

So thank you very much

for spending your time with me today.

783

As always,

I look forward to hearing from you.

784

If you want to drop me some comments,

some questions,

785

anything like that,

you can go to my website at the Volcano.

786

Go ahead, come on there

and you can reach out and contact me.

787

I would love to hear any feedback

that you may have,

788

and you all have a wonderful week.

789

Thank you for spending some time.

790

I think that whole thing

sounds like a really cool project,

791

and I remember when he took the interview

and had a chance to look at this.

792

It's actually a package that you can buy

that has everything you need in it,

793

including dice.

794

And you know you can never get too much

ice anyway, so you need that, right?

795

But all the rest of it

kind of a really cool concept.

796

So all right,

one other topic that we have had

797

a lot of questions about

and that is memory prices.

798

So for anybody that has not needed

to purchase memory in the last year

799

and a half, you probably still

maybe have a 401 K as opposed to don't.

800

Prices have gotten very difficult

to afford.

801

And basically what happened

802

is, is we had a situation

where there was a lot of oversupply.

803

This wasn't into about 2024.

804

And do that.

805

They started

to do some cuts on production.

806

And then something happened called I

807

and I requires a lot of memory

808

and now come to where we are in 2026.

809

Some of the companies crucial

810

being one of them, are no longer

even selling to the retail market,

811

just to AI data centers

and that kind of a thing.

812

And it's interesting

because I was looking at this, my computer

813

that I use for programing and editing

and all that stuff.

814

I have 128 gigs of Ram,

and whether there's 230 or 4, 32 gigabyte,

815

what they call, high.

816

What is it, high volume

Ram or high bandwidth Ram is what it is.

817

And when I bought it,

which was about a year and a half ago,

818

I think I spent about $180 thinking, boy,

that's an incredible amount of money.

819

I'll try getting that memory today

if you can even find it.

820

It it going to be 3 to 4 times the cost.

821

And it's probably not going to be a known

brand when you do.

822

Which is another thing to be worried about

because with the prices being so high,

823

we're seeing a lot of fake memory

also showing up,

824

on the market.

825

So basically what we have is a situation

where

826

because the supply is limited

and it's expensive,

827

and the companies that can afford this

that are doing the AI are buying it

828

and getting ahead of everybody else,

it has run the prices up.

829

Now, if there's a little bit of positive

830

news, it does look like

the prices are stabilizing a bit.

831

It doesn't mean they're going down.

832

And that certainly doesn't mean

they've stopped going up.

833

But there's not going up

quite as bad as it was.

834

I'm grasping at straws

to find some good news related to this.

835

And that was about

836

does this affect the prices of computers

and tablets and phones?

837

Well, it affects anything

that's electronic and has a microprocessor

838

because everything we use

has memory in it.

839

Right.

840

You know, it's your smart home devices

or you're like you cigarets

841

and your phones and tablets,

obviously computers are,

842

but microprocessors are in your cars.

843

If you go out and buy a new stereo

844

that has a microprocessor

and it's radio on a chip, right.

845

You know, things like,

developmental tools like Raspberry Pi

846

and a domino,

all that stuff uses memory already.

847

Everything is super expensive.

848

We don't need more things

becoming expensive.

849

Yeah,

and it's like the cycle things get into.

850

One drives the other price up,

which, you know,

851

and that's the type of thing

that's going here.

852

Now they are upping production

a little bit.

853

But one of the things too

is that the companies

854

of which there really are only four,

855

there will be people

856

that will argue with me on that,

but there's pretty much

857

only four companies

that produce this in the world.

858

None of them in the United States either.

859

They're not wanting to ramp production

way back up

860

because they don't

want the prices to crash again.

861

So there's a financial motive for them

of keeping the supply low.

862

So current ballpark prices

as we're recording today,

863

Ddr4, which is the older memory

that's used in

864

computers, Ddr5,

which is the newer one 16 gigabyte module.

865

We're only about 55 bucks.

866

That was about 18 a year and a half ago.

867

32 is 110.

868

And then the Ddr5 equivalent

of a little bit more,

869

with the 16 being about 80

and the 32 being about 140.

870

Now, keep in mind

also with this is that in modern

871

computers, most of the time

you have to use two memory sticks.

872

Not always. And there are platforms

that don't require that.

873

But usually if you're buying it,

it's in pairs

874

because of the way the bus and all of that

kind of stuff works in the computer,

875

which is a little bit

more than we have time to get into today.

876

As to why.

877

But again, you're

878

looking at this from a standpoint,

Ddr4, Ddr5

879

prices are closing, and gap was a one time

when there was a big difference.

880

So you know,

that's going to be the key thing.

881

So in the rest of 2026

the projection is that

882

we're going to see a B flat

to maybe a little bit more of an increase.

883

You're probably

not going to find this on sale at Amazon.

884

You know, Prime days this summer either.

885

And if you do, it's going to be

one of those things that I have heard.

886

It's an allegation

I, of course, don't know for sure.

887

So nobody from Amazon

see what's over this.

888

But there are some claims or stuff

889

like this that the prices will be run up

higher before the sale happens,

890

so that it can look like

it's been discounted.

891

So again, I don't know for sure

that that's what's going on.

892

But yeah.

893

While some, some things are like

you look at and you're going,

894

is that going to work?

895

Yeah, exactly.

896

You know,

897

so you have to know

kind of where you're coming from

898

and get away from the hype,

899

the other things that this is starting

to run the price up for,

900

which is a little bit

unusual, is game consoles.

901

So usually at this point

902

in a game console generation,

the price starts to come down.

903

And I was looking at possibly

getting a PlayStation five.

904

I haven't yet

because I haven't really needed one.

905

But you know, just to play with it

and see what it is thinking,

906

it would be less even the prices on

eBay are still pretty close to retail

907

for used ones, and the current prices

908

that they're selling for

are about what they started out as,

909

not including the scalpers

when all the supply stuff was low,

910

but the actual retail price from,

you know, Xbox One X or PlayStation five,

911

or even switch.

912

Now, switch two is new, so it's not really

in that part of the cycle yet,

913

but it is a situation

where we're definitely seeing that.

914

And if you want to upgrade things

like memory with solid state hard drives,

915

oh boy, is that another one

that, be prepared for some sticker shock

916

and, the one thing that that has done

is of driving up

917

the sale of mechanical hard drives again,

there was this idea that there weren't

918

even going to be made anymore, and,

no, they're still being made. And,

919

but of course, that's

920

driving the prices of them up

a little bit, too.

921

So, yeah.

922

Gretchen, like you say, it's something

where it's the cycle where everything is

923

getting more expensive across the board,

and it affects stuff.

924

And when you have something that is used

925

in everything

that is electronic, practically.

926

I used, for example,

I got a little smart plug.

927

I have a Nixie clock that I wanted

to have a remote control for.

928

So it's a hi, my kitten.

929

I don't want to eat nixie tubes

so not ended up on the wall,

930

but I need a way to turn it on

and turn it off.

931

And it's a little device.

932

It's just a remote control on a plug

that basically has a relay

933

and it snaps. It on and off

when you push the button on the remote.

934

And I was looking at that.

935

And it's a situation

where even in that device,

936

remote control has a microprocessor

and so does the receiver,

937

and it has memory

just for that little thing.

938

So that little thing

we see an increase in price.

939

So we'll keep our eyes on this for you.

940

And everything else.

941

Because as always

this is User Friendly 2.0 until next week.

942

Keeping you safe on the cutting edge, User

Friendly 2.0.

943

Copyright 2013 to 2026

944

by User Friendly

Media Group, Incorporated.

945

All rights reserved.

946

The content is the opinion

of the show's participants

947

and does not necessarily

reflect this station or platform.

948

Requests for material use, interviews,

disclosures,

949

and other correspondence may be viewed

950

and submitted at userfriendly.show