Hosts William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, and Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to We Are

2

Technologies User Friendly 2.0 with host,

3

Bill Sikkens technology architect.

4

And this is User Friendly 2.0 as always

I'm your host Bill Sikkens.

5

Joining Bill Gretchen

welcome to this week's show.

6

Hello to you and to our American.

7

Listen, I hope you all had a wonderful

Thanksgiving holiday.

8

And for everybody else,

think of us as we now have to go on diets

9

for the next six months.

10

So here in the States,

11

this is a holiday weekend and it's,

you know, kind of a nice break.

12

And one of the things that's

been unofficially adopted is the Friday

13

after Thanksgiving is on Thursday

and Friday, being kind of like a day

14

to spend with the family.

15

And so at least we got one a year now,

which is better than not.

16

All right.

17

On that note,

what do we have in the news this week?

18

Okay.

19

Massively overthinking.

20

How do we make better the mMORPG genre.

21

All right, so before anybody ask

the question that doesn't

22

know, that stands for massively

multiplayer online Roleplaying

23

game, just ask Sheldon in Big Bang Theory,

he explains it there.

24

So what they're talking about here is

25

this is a genre of game

that has been really popular.

26

World of Warcraft is a very,

very well known one.

27

Before that you had ever quest

and some other things like that.

28

And Ultima, I believe, had one,

Final Fantasy is another one

29

that basically what it is, is

you have an open world and you

30

pay a monthly fee usually and go on and,

and do a lot of different things.

31

That usually is built up

by your imagination.

32

There's some limitations in these games

33

just because they are games,

but for the most part, it is very much

34

a real opportunity to be creative

and get out there and do different things.

35

They kind of hit their peak

maybe ten, 15 years ago.

36

And since then, while a lot of them

are still out there, they've been kind of

37

getting older

and not really being updated as much.

38

And then some of it's

become kind of toxic.

39

One of the things that,

Blizzard, Activision figured out

40

when they were trying

to deal with politics within the game

41

that didn't work too

well and almost destroyed it,

42

things like that.

43

So what happens now?

44

Is this a genre that's over with,

or is it something

45

that is going to be rebooted

and made better?

46

It seems like the latter is what's going

on, and there's a lot of different ideas

47

out there

on how to deal with this properly,

48

but the old system of basically issuing

updates and different things

49

like that, that just the end of the story

line has become somewhat stale.

50

So what they're doing now

51

with some of them is actually living it

up, changing it up a little bit.

52

And I know that there's been a fear

with the companies of,

53

well,

we're going to lose a lot of our players

54

if we don't do something

that is exactly the same,

55

and I'm not going to give out a spoiler

alert

56

here, but do knowing firsthand on

some of what's going on with this.

57

The focus groups and different

things have found

58

that the changes actually are

breathing new life

59

into these games, and it was kind of time

to keep the same characters.

60

People are very happy with knowing

what they're doing, where they're playing,

61

the environment

they're in, and that kind of a thing,

62

but something new

and something different to do.

63

So some of the things

that are being looked at is jumping

64

the storyline ahead

a couple hundred years in the mythology,

65

so that you have different things going on

that uses the original storyline,

66

but still, you know,

it has something new going along with it.

67

So that's the really brief

explanation of it.

68

What is your guys's opinion on it?

69

I don't know if you've ever actually

played these, bill, I think I do have

70

I've never played them.

71

So. So do you guys.

72

One of you,

73

I think there's a lot

you're impressed with.

74

What's your opinion of of

75

I think that like at the stage

now, they've stagnated pretty hard.

76

For the most part, some of them haven't.

77

I think Final Fantasy has done

well to keep itself going.

78

But, wow,

79

I was stagnating when I was playing it,

and that was back at,

80

What was that?

81

Lich King era.

82

Yeah, I, I would agree with you on that.

83

As a well, player myself,

I think, they had some, DLC

84

and updates beyond that, but it seemed

like, like the headline was saying

85

it was just expanding on a storyline

that already pretty much been played out.

86

Yeah.

87

You know, so but I think there's a lot

that can really could be done to

88

bring new blood into it.

89

Yeah.

90

So do you think the genre is over or

do you think it's just time for a reboot?

91

I think it's time for a look at it,

92

really discover what's needed.

93

And I don't know if subscription service

is really what's going for it right now.

94

Yeah, well, everything's a subscription

and you get Nicole nine and death.

95

If they're going to do that,

96

they need to drastically lower

the price more people involved

97

or come up with another,

you know, way to monetize it.

98

One company was actually looking

at making the subscription free

99

or very reduced,

100

but you had all kinds of commercials

in the game and the focus groups

101

on that company, needless to say,

didn't think that would go over too well.

102

So, you know, it's

something that the big guys

103

have to figure out and not be afraid

to experiment a little bit.

104

I agree with you.

105

I think

106

as long as they are willing to do that

and bring some new life into these things,

107

people will enjoy them again

and not get involved in politics.

108

Yeah,

109

I think any you you can have entertainment

110

that gets deeply entrenched in politics.

111

You're just going to tear everything apart

and it's going to it's going to rot.

112

And that's why people go to these games

113

or go to movies

or stories to escape reality.

114

They want something else.

115

So exactly.

116

And it really that is very true.

117

And the other thing with politics, it's

part of the reason why we don't do it

118

here.

119

It's not that

we don't have political opinions,

120

but you're never going to have a situation

where somebody is not mad at you.

121

So unless it's absolutely necessary,

like you're a politician,

122

it's best to steer clear of that.

123

I mean, there's no reason to jump into it.

124

I if it's needed, but it's usually not so

125

yeah.

126

In other news, Hugo Boss says

trillion dollars

127

AI investment

boom has elements of irrationality.

128

So Google's boss

129

Sander had an interview with the BBC,

which is where this comes from.

130

And there's been a growing concern

in the industry that AI is above it.

131

And what that means is we think back

to an example of this, the.com

132

crash back in 1999,

where there was a lot of speculation

133

and a lot of investment,

nobody was verifying anything.

134

The pixel on

look that up if you've never heard of it.

135

It's an interesting story.

136

These type of things were out there

to a point where

137

it just kind of blew up

and a lot of money was lost.

138

The basically reset.

139

The internet didn't go away or anything,

but going beyond that, there was a lot

140

more supposedly focus on

keeping things a little bit more real.

141

Arguably with things like the metaverse

and stuff

142

that hasn't been completely true.

143

But for the most part,

144

except that we're worried about it.

145

The Wall Street

basically is worried about this happening

146

with AI, and there's a lot

of speculative investment going on.

147

I think it's a little different than 1999.

148

But the thing in video is

this when you get into a situation where,

149

people are just throwing

free money at things and investing

150

and not really doing any due diligence

151

on that type of a thing, then yeah,

you can definitely have problems.

152

So basically from the BBC story

and Google, he was saying that if I does

153

crash it's going to affect every company

that's invested it.

154

Now this doesn't mean I would go away

or anything like that,

155

but it does mean that a lot of the money

that's out there would evaporate.

156

And I think to some extent, we're probably

going to see at least a correction

157

that is going to have

this kind of a response

158

just because of where everything is at.

159

And you've got some other interesting

things that are out there too.

160

And one of them is how much electricity

I use.

161

It's it's

not something we had with the.com bubble.

162

And there are finite resources

and there's going to have to figure out

163

different ways.

164

You know, the usual would be nice

to be able to power these data centers

165

without completely taxing and overloading

power grids

166

and, you know, creating pollution

and all the rest of that.

167

All right.

168

Smith and Dixon rebrands

superhuman, formerly known as Grammarly.

169

Yeah. And when I saw this, I'm like, what?

170

What are you talking about? Right.

171

Yeah, I use Grammarly.

172

So it's kind of like,

oh, what is this really for?

173

Anybody that hasn't used

it is in my opinion, a great AI tool

174

that can be installed alongside things

like word, Google Docs, whatever.

175

And as you're writing

will make suggestions

176

and you have the ability to customize

what suggestions you wanted to make.

177

And this can be anything from just,

you know,

178

being a really nice spell checker

to suggestions.

179

Gretchen, what is your experience?

180

If you had to give a description of it?

181

Actually,

I, I've had a really good experience.

182

I'm really bad, basically at,

the punctuation situation,

183

I don't know what it is.

184

And,

I, I've always been bad at spelling too,

185

so this has really helped me,

186

it reevaluate

how I'm constructing my sentences,

187

realizing

that I need commas in certain areas,

188

and sometimes I take their suggestions

and sometimes I go, you know what?

189

The whole sentence needs to be redone.

190

Yeah.

191

And but it's been helpful

and it's not like having an editor

192

who's giving their personal,

193

so, emotional baggage with it.

194

I don't that that's what you said, that

195

you've had this happen, but,

you know, it's very neutral.

196

Yeah.

197

No, and it is.

198

And it's not terribly invasive.

199

You know, if you want to parse it,

you can't all that kind of stuff.

200

It's actually used by

about 40 million people

201

and is the most used application

of this kind.

202

It's out there.

203

And what's happened is you've had

two companies, that are getting together,

204

coda, it's been acquired

and they're creating, a rebranded product

205

that puts email a number of other tools

they had along with Grammarly together.

206

It's a product called superhuman.

207

There is even a rumor that the

AI suggested these names.

208

So, you know, I don't know if that's true

or not, but, hey,

209

we kind of want to thank,

I mean, it is possible.

210

Yeah.

211

The avatar, which is now going to be used

212

within superhuman

that does the actual work.

213

The AI is being branded hero.

214

And to that end,

you're going to have an actual,

215

more interactive animated,

hopefully not like the paperclip

216

or Microsoft or Bob or something,

but actually something real that,

217

is there to be able to give more

of a human aspect to what it is doing.

218

And the other thing

that's coming along with this also

219

is the ability to specify a lot more like,

what kind of writing are you doing?

220

Is it for business?

221

Is it science fiction? Is it,

you know, a paper for school?

222

Whatever, and it's able to advise

based on that kind of input

223

and learn from it

and be able to build on top of that.

224

That's a really good point,

because right now

225

Grammarly is very business oriented.

226

So I have to take the suggestions

carefully because when I'm it's

227

trying to change dialog or suggest changes

to dialog, and I've got kids,

228

I like kinds of personalities and

I don't need everybody talking corporate.

229

Right, right.

230

Because that ruins

the story. So, you know.

231

Costco and Home

232

Depot still use IBM computers

233

Here's why.

234

Yeah. So this is kind of funny.

235

And it's not just Costco and Home Depot.

236

There's a lot of the bigger companies

that do this.

237

And our past us,

Jeremy used to work for Home Depot,

238

and I remember talking about some things

where they turn on a system,

239

and it literally would be

a green monochrome monitor.

240

Coming up, enter today's date.

241

You know, running on

like DOS six or something.

242

And these are definitely still out there.

243

One of the other operating systems

that's really used,

244

on the mainframe side is AS4 hundred.

245

This has been around forever.

246

I've done a little programing

for that in my career.

247

And you look back and these computers

248

are old and ancient, and they still work

and they can't be hacked.

249

That's really the reason why,

250

and it's kind of interesting to look at

because maybe not so much Home Depot,

251

but a store like Costco, you can go in

and buy the latest computers, equipment,

252

you know, tablets,

any of that kind of stuff.

253

And the tablet they have,

as far as computing power goes, is

254

way more powerful

than some of these systems.

255

Is 400 is pretty decent,

especially for at the time

256

for doing large inventories

and that kind of thing.

257

But even so, what you get on the shelf

258

could easily run circles around

what's being used to sell it to you.

259

But at the end of the day, the systems are

either offline or on closed networks.

260

Which is why they say it can't be hacked.

261

The only way to keep from being hacked,

unplugged from the internet.

262

In this case, they're able to successfully

do that in a lot of these situations.

263

So you're looking at things like that.

264

The other part of it is the ability

265

that you're using an ecosystem

that already exists.

266

So you're building on top of it.

267

So changing out of

some of these things would require,

268

you know, moving to different stuff.

269

But it's kind of

funny when you're looking at

270

do they go out for job openings

271

and these kind of things, freelancers

for maintaining some of these systems.

272

And I remember looking at one

that just came out about six months ago,

273

I think it might have been for Home Depot,

but they needed a contractor to be able

274

to come out and replace the Dallas

clocks in their 286, motherboards.

275

So, in the day, to keep track of the time

276

and date and settings,

you had a physical battery.

277

They didn't have enough

Ram like we do now.

278

And, you know, batteries go dead.

279

And when they do,

your computer won't boot anymore.

280

Can't find the hard drive.

281

It doesn't know the date at the time,

you know.

282

And that was the way of things to be.

283

And one of the bigger problems

is, is because batteries corrode.

284

That's causing a lot of problems.

285

And I don't think that you can go

to the local computer story

286

if there even still is one in your area

and buy a new 286 motherboard.

287

Right?

288

So, it is definitely unique

in that respect,

289

but as long as they're maintained

290

properly, they do work

and they're very stable and reliable.

291

And again, don't have, you know,

292

they're not susceptible to people getting

and hacking that type of thing.

293

So the question might be asked, well, Home

Depot's had hacked, so it's Costco,

294

but these are on the modern systems

that are connected to the internet, things

295

like credit card processing

and that end of stuff which uses

296

new functionality, which does

require those type of connections.

297

So it's just interesting,

you know, we talked last week,

298

I think it was about COBOL

and some of the old languages.

299

You're looking at the same kind of thing

here.

300

You know what happens

when you can't get the equipment

301

anymore of that type of thing.

302

And they're they're facing that.

303

But the reality of the situation is that's

why they still use what they use.

304

All right.

305

It's that time of year.

306

It is holiday time again.

307

And Gretchen, I you know, every year

you went with me the last two years, I

308

have the pleasure of being able to give

a presentation to a group here in Portland

309

where I talk about the newest gadgets

and different things that are out there,

310

which means I have an excuse to buy them

and look at it.

311

Right.

312

So you know, it's a lot of fun.

313

And, you know, this type of thing

is geared towards who you're buying for.

314

You know, here at User Friendly, we're

going to cover more tech oriented stuff.

315

But there's a lot of interesting things

that go out there.

316

And it's actually worth going to a store

and looking at and seeing what there is.

317

Because looking at these things side

by side, there is a benefit to that.

318

So one of the ones that I thought was

really cool is thing

319

called for this screen pocket display,

and it's a ten inch rollable OLED screen.

320

That's a tube the size of a travel mug.

321

And you unroll it

and you have this nice big screen,

322

you know, so it's

323

you're not having to square the small

screen in your phone or whatever.

324

Something like that is really kind of cool

and seems almost sci fi, you know,

325

another one, it's a very useful gadget,

and this isn't exactly new,

326

but the version of it is is,

the smart mug.

327

Now, this came out of ten years ago,

I think initially as a Kickstarter

328

or something.

329

And you can buy different versions of it,

but the ones that are out this year

330

kind of upgrade

the game a little bit on that

331

and that, you keep your drink

at the exact temperature

332

you choose, you set it

and it has the ability to warm up. Cool.

333

And you also can integrate it

with your smart home so that you can ask

334

your smart home to turn on your mug

and that kind of a thing.

335

And it will even monitor

your hydration habits and tell you

336

if you haven't had enough liquid

or if had too much liquid for the day.

337

So now does it.

338

Does it monitor what's inside of the mug?

339

You know, it.

340

It can't like, detect it automatically.

341

But the app does have the ability

to tell it what it is.

342

Yeah.

343

So anyway.

344

But, you know, it's

this kind of a thing too.

345

One of the things that's down my road

that's coming out is the pixel cast.

346

And this is a console game system

347

that plays the old games

like Atari, Sega, Nintendo.

348

But there's a couple of things

going on with this

349

asking the question,

oh, there's a lot of these out there.

350

Yeah, but this one's legal.

351

So what it plays is actual,

real genuine stuff.

352

It doesn't lag, it doesn't have problems.

353

Everything works properly

and you're dealing with a situation

354

where you don't have to worry

about weird software.

355

I still don't think Mario Goes to Jail

is an actual licensed title for Nintendo,

356

so it is on most of the,

you know, let's just say,

357

behind the scenes consoles like this

you would get from Alibaba or something.

358

Interesting game.

359

But, definitely from there.

360

Another one Gretchen,

you might like is something called

361

the Nova Home Planetarium.

362

And this is actually a planetarium

that you can buy for your house.

363

It's 4K.

364

You put it in your living room,

and it's a small version

365

of the ones that we saw,

that we talked about earlier in the year

366

that, allows you to be able

to have a home planetarium.

367

Are you talking about the blow up dome?

368

Yeah, it's a small version of that.

369

It's designed to go in your living room.

370

Oh, my goodness.

371

So before we jump into the

372

some of the other ones that are here,

they're kind of interesting.

373

Is there anything specific

you guys are looking at that

374

you think is cool

this year? That's a gadget.

375

Anything you would want on your analyst.

376

Oh okay.

377

Maybe not.

378

I haven't,

I haven't you know many's a little tight.

379

I've been like staying away

from like looking at stuff

380

to be honest.

381

Oh hey you know

382

it makes it kind of hard

I know with that type of a standpoint.

383

But, Yeah, I'm thinking, for me,

cybernetic implants.

384

So you want to give me something,

something a cybernetic.

385

And I don't even talk about it.

386

Or if we're going to

go crazy, give me a jetpack.

387

I don't know how crazy that is.

388

You know,

389

we talk to the pilots here, and you and I

are in the process of becoming one.

390

So, I think that might be a little more

391

than a stocking stuffer, but,

hey, you know, yeah.

392

Oh, the fact that stuff like that

exists is amazing still to me.

393

You know, it just.

394

Yeah, it just is there

some of the other things are wearables.

395

There's a thing called the eco

hug heated scarf.

396

Yeah.

397

These type of things, wearable heated

things aren't exactly new,

398

but there's a lot more of them this year.

399

I've had the cold for a while

that you charge off your cell phone

400

and it actually warms up,

so when it's really cold, that's nice.

401

I've got the gloves now.

402

There are other things like vests

and stuff, and now they have a scarf.

403

So, you know someone in your life

that's really cold or something.

404

This might be, kind of a neat thing.

405

That's like something for my mom.

Yeah, exactly.

406

That's what I'm thinking.

To wear it all the time.

407

And, they're made from carbon fiber.

408

One of the questions we got on some of

the other ones is, can they be washed?

409

Yeah.

410

This is, very much light washable runs

for about eight hours on low.

411

It does have a battery.

412

And, but it's not,

like, real bulky or anything, you know?

413

Now, this next one is one

that I absolutely have to get

414

because it's

just something out of Star Trek

415

and it's a hollow note, sticky notes,

like post-it notes.

416

And there's two ways to get these.

417

One set works with your,

you know, augmented glasses,

418

like your, in reality, glasses

and that type of thing.

419

But the other one that I've seen,

420

I haven't been able

to figure out where to buy it.

421

Yeah, but it's a cube

that's actually a virtual reality phone.

422

It sits on your desk,

it looks like a post-it note,

423

and you can write on it everything.

424

But then I've got a 3D holographic

thing on it to show it to you,

425

and that you're able to interact

with and flip through and all that stuff.

426

And of course, since it's electronic,

it recognizes handwriting,

427

so you can search and find things

and whatnot.

428

You put in a contact, you can hit it

429

that adds it to your contact list,

all that kind of stuff.

430

Okay, this sounds intriguing.

431

So it would probably be,

432

something that would save me having

all the pieces of paper everywhere too.

433

So very environmentally,

you know, good for that.

434

So if you're wanting to buy me something,

that certainly would be something

435

I'd appreciate.

436

And then the last one

437

that I want to talk about,

because this is a big deal with all of us.

438

Very much

we support Stem education in our schools.

439

Science,

technology, engineering and mathematics.

440

And as a part of that,

there's a product of science

441

in a box and lab kit in the 2025 version.

442

And this is actually something

that's great

443

for the kids that they're going to enjoy,

but they're also going to learn from

444

they're not real expensive.

445

They start at about 100 bucks,

and you can go a lot crazy

446

if you want to get different things

with it.

447

But the basic one includes

sensors, microcontrollers,

448

wireless modules, student

friendly experiments.

449

And so on.

450

So back when I was growing up, you know,

back in my day, I just turned 50.

451

So back in my day, I can say that now.

452

I had a thing

453

from RadioShack

called an Electronic Project Lab,

454

and it was this thing

with all these springs and wires,

455

and it had different passive components

like resistors and capacitors and switches

456

and things,

and even had a little microprocessor,

457

and you would basically

build your own circuits by putting wires

458

between the springs

to make it do different things.

459

And that area.

460

I thought that was really cool.

461

Well, today it's full on microcontrollers.

462

You can literally build in a Stem kit,

the same thing that exists in a device.

463

You might be like, I don't know.

464

We're talking kitchen gadgets and stuff

earlier that makes those work.

465

Raspberry Pi and a or some of these

that if you're familiar with them

466

that, are used

in these type of situations.

467

And this actually is

something that comes in a kit

468

and is something that

that is just available.

469

I highly recommend them

because they're really, really good

470

or educating

that to that end user friendly.

471

So we have a list

472

of some of these hyper devices

that we've talked about here,

473

including the stem kit.

474

So you have one

stop where you can go and check it out.

475

And not that

this is any kind of a plug one plug,

476

but if you do go through our website, buy

something on Amazon.

477

We got a little bit of a kickback.

Same price for you.

478

We just got a little bit of Jeff

Bezos money.

479

And I hear Harrison, he's changing jobs.

480

You know, that might be a problem,

481

but nevertheless,

I am certainly not going to turn it down.

482

And when you go to these things, it's

483

just a way to be able

to get in there and hire someone.

484

This is user friendly 2.0.

485

We'll be back after the break.

486

Snow's coming down.

487

I'm watching,

488

you know, I love people around

489

and maybe any time,

490

the church members now.

491

Welcome back.

492

This is user friendly 2.0.

493

Check out our website.

494

User friendly dot show is your one stop

for submitting questions,

495

checking out back

episodes, and seeing what is new

496

and exciting here at User Friendly.

497

All right,

498

we're going to be doing something

that has been really liked by everybody.

499

And please continue

to send us your questions on this.

500

It's something we enjoy recording

and that is our comic friendly 2.0.

501

We're going to be talking

Batman and Mister Freeze.

502

So with no further ado,

let's go to Michael.

503

Joining us now Michael, Gina, host of

Comic Friendly 2.0 here on User Friendly.

504

And read the frickin comics on YouTube.

505

Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

506

Hey guys.

507

How are you doing? It's been a minute.

508

It's been a minute.

It's always a pleasure.

509

I'll tell you what, I enjoy talking,

and so does the audience, because

510

we always learn something kind of cool

and new and everything like that.

511

But with the weather getting colder,

I understand we're going to freeze.

512

Yes, it is going to be very cold today.

513

So right now we're we're going to be

talking about Batman and Mr.

514

Freeze today.

515

So that is going to be

our topic of discussion.

516

And I thought it would be a perfect,

segue

517

into this cold weather that we're having,

at least on my neck of the woods.

518

But, yes, let's let's dive into it.

519

All right. Mr. freeze,

my favorite villain.

520

And the best one.

And Batman, in my opinion.

521

Let's see what you feel.

522

Take her away.

523

No problem.

524

So, I wanted to,

start from the very beginning.

525

So Mr.

526

Freeze, started out, life in the comics

industry, as actually as Mr..

527

Zero.

528

So Mr..

529

Zero, was, and,

530

made his debut in Batman one 21st

531

He was created by, Bob Kane,

532

but, also by writer Dave Wood and artist

Sheldon Molder.

533

Now, when he began his mad scientist ways,

534

he was really just a sort of one and done

hero.

535

One and done villain, rather,

he kind of didn't have a background,

536

didn't really have that much that,

was, was was about him,

537

except that,

of course, he had ice themed crimes,

538

and he was typically freezing people left

and right and had ice themed weaponry.

539

His look was very, very different from

what, many viewers may identify with.

540

Mr. Freeze.

541

He had sort of an orange and red,

suit, and,

542

he did have the cryo suit that, that,

that he usually usually wears.

543

But he was known as Mr.

544

Zero,

and he really, you know, had a one and

545

done, take he froze.

546

Batman and Robin,

547

and was doing ice themed crimes,

and we didn't actually hear much from Mr.

548

Zero.

549

Beyond that, after,

after, a period of time, he,

550

first started to be known as Mr.

551

Freeze.

552

Believe it or not, in the 1966

Batman comic, TV show, rather,

553

so in the 66 series, they dubbed him Mr.

554

Freeze, and that bled over into the comic.

555

And so Mr.

556

Freeze was played by three

different characters in the 66 series,

557

George Sanders, Otto Otto Perry Minger,

558

Otto Preminger, excuse me,

559

George Sanders, Otto

Preminger, and Eli Wallach.

560

Wow. Let's try that again.

561

George Sam, Otto

Preminger and Eli Wallach.

562

Yeah, absolutely.

And oh my goodness. Series.

563

Yes yes, yes.

564

So, really, really interesting.

565

Yeah.

566

Three different appearances,

three different, actors playing him.

567

And it was there that he, you know,

got his, his full fleshed out name.

568

He started to be seen a little bit more

in, in some of those comics

569

during that period.

570

Now, the 1970s is the Silver Age

of comics, and it is a wacky wild time,

571

in comics, lots of oddball adventures,

lots of really out there.

572

One, one, one off adventures.

573

There was a period of time or Mr.

574

Freeze, you know, made a deal with,

575

with a, a demon,

576

a half demon from hell to exchange is,

his is,

577

is is his ability, you know,

578

which is, to to to freeze things, to get

579

what's called cryo kinesis,

which is actually be able to manipulate

580

cold and create cold characters and,

581

and, and build things out of,

just from his mental powers.

582

And so, you know, this kind of thing

is really, really wacky and oddball.

583

What really, reinvented Mr.

584

Freeze actually was, the 1992, comic.

585

I keep saying comic

because comics are my life.

586

The 1992 animated Batman show, that,

587

team of writers,

Paul Dini and his team, Bruce Timm,

588

they decided to, change Mr.

589

Freeze's backstory

from just being a mad scientist,

590

who was exposed to some chemicals

to actually having a thorough backstory.

591

Very tragic one.

592

And and it was so impactful and effective

that,

593

DC decided to retcon, Mr.

594

Freeze's entire backstory to and use the,

595

the backstory from the animated show,

which is kind of really rare.

596

So from becoming

597

a mad scientist,

what they did was they changed it to Mr.

598

Freeze was a cryo scientist.

599

Exploring different ways

to, to freeze and unfreeze

600

human beings, to preserve them, in case

there is, you know, some form of disease

601

that they could not recover from

to keep them alive for a period of time.

602

There's, there's different

takes on the story, but,

603

usually, the story involves Mr.

604

Freeze trying to cure, disease

from love of his life.

605

Nora. She, she,

606

on tracks, very incurable disease.

607

And Mr. Freeze obviously freezes her.

608

And during the process

of trying to find a cure for her,

609

the accident occurs, which turns him

into this villainous character.

610

He is typically trying to,

611

his crimes usually involve left

to right, to raise money,

612

to continue his research,

to help, his dying wife.

613

Even though she is cryogenically frozen,

he wants to be with her again.

614

Now, there's been lots of variations

on that on that theme,

615

but that's basically been his backstory,

since 92.

616

Moving forward.

617

And it really is a tragic one.

618

It's one of the it's it's what makes Mr.

619

Freeze kind of an enduring character,

because it might sound like a gimmick.

620

And there's there is a lot of cold

and ice themed villains

621

and heroes in comics, but freeze actually

is quite a tragic character,

622

and, he's treated

as such basically from 92 onwards.

623

And, it's really, really sort of,

a unique type of character.

624

I mean, as far as Batman's

rogues are concerned, I think

625

maybe Clayface, and a few others,

626

have this kind of tragic,

mentality to them where they're just not

627

sort of evil for evil sake, which,

you know.

628

Yeah, Joker would be something like that.

629

Or, you know, something where

630

they're they have a nefarious schemes

all the time, this kind of thing.

631

He does have his schemes, but of course

they are now done with the permits.

632

I did.

633

So, in 2011, of course,

634

DC revamped their entire line

of, of comics.

635

They dubbed it

the New 52, and they also, change freeze,

636

a little bit and change his origin story

a little bit.

637

In in, in the new 52 version of of, Mr.

638

Freeze, he, he's a scientist

working at the Wayne Foundation

639

on cryogenically freezing people.

640

And is one of his, case

studies is a woman named Nora

641

who is an his wife at this time,

but she is cryogenically frozen

642

because she has an incurable disease.

643

And she's been frozen for

for almost 80 years now.

644

At this point, he becomes

sort of obsessed with trying to cure her.

645

And Bruce Wayne, who is head of the Wayne

Foundation, of course, is

646

quite disturbed by his his, behavior.

647

And he cancels the project or takes

freeze off of it,

648

and, in a fit of rage, freeze,

you know, destroys his lab.

649

And that's

650

when he gets doused with his chemicals

and becomes this full fledged Mr.

651

Freak. So a slight change.

652

Not not too drastic.

653

But, but, you know, effective.

654

Effective and nonetheless. Right.

655

Of course, after new 52 DC,

656

reapplied their existing universe.

657

It's an it's a whole story in itself

that we can talk more about,

658

where they, where they then retcon

the retcon and, you know, brought things

659

back to that normal, freeze actually

appears in what's known as the absolute

660

universe for, for, for DC,

which is, more recent continuity.

661

The absolute universe, if you guys aren't

familiar, is kind of a, a really, really

662

I wouldn't

663

say dark and brooding, but but it is,

it's it's, it's really engaging.

664

It's. Yeah, I know it's dark.

665

Yeah. It's an absolute hit with the fans.

666

It's, consistently

been one of the number one comics,

667

every month, absolute Batman,

every few series out.

668

Absolute Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman,

Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter,

669

and so on.

670

The Mr.

671

Freeze of that universe is, called Victor

Freeze Junior or Victor Frisch junior.

672

Some people call his last name, some

people pronounce his last name is rice.

673

Freeze.

674

He was exposed to a prehistoric

675

bacterium preserved in ice

which mutated his entire body.

676

Right.

677

He doesn't wear a bulky cryo suit.

678

Instead, he actually becomes this lanky,

monstrous figure with red

679

eyes,

pale blue skin, and ice in his veins.

680

And if you've seen freeze in the absolute

universe, you would get chills.

681

Similar to the Joker and the absolute

universe, it is quite frightening.

682

It's not for little kids, that's for sure.

683

But that version of of freezes

is really is really terrifying.

684

And so that's kind of like the,

the evolution.

685

I know I, I jumped around,

686

you know, skipped much of the Silver Age,

the silly season, I would call it.

687

But, but yeah, Frieza has been,

has been a part of Batman since almost day

688

one, so he's he's definitely deserving

of that rogue's, gallery status.

689

He's definitely on that Mount

Rushmore of Batman's rogues for sure.

690

You know, it's interesting, I think Batman

more so than a lot of others,

691

we've seen a lot of changes just as it's

developed in the original TV show.

692

That was kind of campy.

693

I like that, but, you know,

that's talked about with the bang,

694

boom crunch and all of that stuff,

and there was always something

695

on Batman's bell to fix,

whatever the problem was.

696

Yeah, sure.

697

It seems like it has gone down the path

of getting darker and darker and darker,

698

not just with Mr. Freeze,

but the whole thing.

699

And what you were talking about

there is, is interesting

700

because you look at just some of the

artwork from that and it's like, oh boy,

701

yeah, yeah, yeah.

702

The, the last series that you mentioned,

I haven't seen any of that.

703

So that that's come as a big surprise.

704

My idea of Mr.

705

Freeze was the 92 version.

706

So exactly. Yeah. The, it's funny.

707

I mean, ever since and ever since

Danny O'Neil, maybe in the 80s,

708

of course, the the, the Tim Burton films

as well, in the, in the late 80s,

709

they kind of revamped Batman,

took it out of that campy phase again.

710

The 60s into the 70s

was definitely camp for

711

for Batman and Superman and most of DC.

712

But then, yeah,

it got dark and brooding, right?

713

The, the, the animated, show,

714

which I recommend everyone watch

because it is absolutely wonderful.

715

Added to that mystique, right.

716

Brought it to life in many ways.

717

It was it was so great the moving the stories there, the, you know, the animation

718

and, you know, the absolute universe

719

is kind of pushing the envelope there

and sort of reinventing these characters.

720

And I think people are really,

really gravitating towards those stories

721

just because it's fun and different.

722

You know, it's the

we know it's not established continuity.

723

This isn't

724

the Batman is just one angle, one

universe, one story that we're telling.

725

So I think it's,

I think it's a lot of fun.

726

And, people really seem

to be enjoying it for sure.

727

You know, and I think that's one thing

about the whole superhero thing,

728

because it's easy to change your universe

when you need to.

729

Your stuff doesn't get stale

730

and you don't have that ability

in a lot of other franchises.

731

But, you know, you look around

and see all the stuff that's going on,

732

and we've talked

733

Iron Man and Superman and stuff past

734

and this you're seeing

kind of the same type of thing.

735

So it's not just DC.

I mean, Marvel does it too.

736

And and you know, it's

737

nothing that unusual,

but it does seem like it gets a reboot.

738

What would you say about

once every 20 years or so?

739

I would say even less these days.

740

Probably once every ten years.

741

There there is, there is either

a full continuity reboot or, an event

742

that takes, you know, for an entire year,

that takes over for a year.

743

And then it is reset, that kind of thing.

744

I think, you know,

I think I think publishers are looking

745

to have stories that are gripping,

that are interesting.

746

But they also know

they've built these archetypes that

747

people don't really want you to mess

with. Right?

748

So nothing is ever permanent in comics.

749

People do not, you know, nobody ever

really dies in comics, that kind of thing.

750

But it's, you know, very rarely

do you see, like, you know, Oh, well,

751

you know,

752

Batman is now evil and, and that's,

you know, he's going to be evil forever.

753

Now, it doesn't really work

that way, right?

754

It's always it's like this very easy thing

to say in this continuity.

755

Batman is evil.

756

And what does this world look like?

757

And it's fun

to play in those areas, right?

758

But not if you stamp it

as this is a de facto change.

759

Right?

760

I think they I think, you know, DC

learned that from, from the,

761

Crisis on Infinite Earths

back in the, in the 80s where they,

762

you know,

they grouped everything together.

763

They wanted to get rid of, some of these,

these titles that, you know,

764

they had so many different titles running

765

concurrently

that they wanted to bring it all together.

766

And,

you know, they did so in a definitive way,

767

but they ended up reversing that,

you know, maybe 20 years later.

768

Right. And just saying, oh, no,

the multiverse is still there.

769

And all these stories.

770

So, I think it's fun to plan these little

different universes from time to time

771

when you know, you need the person

you're rooting for to win,

772

at least ultimately,

at the end of the day, I would be all for,

773

you know, a movie or a series

where the enemy wins or the bad guy

774

wins a little while and then it comes

back around may make a great cliffhanger,

775

but at the end of the day, you want that.

776

And I think we experienced that.

777

You know,

some of the feedback on Avengers Civil War

778

people didn't like that

because of what they were doing.

779

And The Flash is another one.

780

We're in the multiverse

or whatever they get on that,

781

which looks an awful lot like Portland,

Oregon here.

782

They have the same type of thing where

he ran into the evil version of himself.

783

And, I don't know,

it just seems like the fans

784

you got to have some continuity,

you know, I think so.

785

I think so as well. And I think that the,

786

you know, when we're talking

787

about The Flash,

I think there was a lot more

788

that was a problem with that film

than just the plot.

789

But I but I can understand that,

790

these characters, 90% of the audience

would agree with you on that.

791

I was trying to be kind.

792

That's understandable.

793

Understandable. But,

you know, it's it's interesting. Yes.

794

It is fun to play in those worlds.

795

But like I said, don't mess

with the archetypes right?

796

Don't mess with, like,

the basics of what this is.

797

Of what what the you know, especially

the trilogy, the Trinity rather of Batman,

798

Superman, Wonder Woman like don't mess

with who they are as a core of a person.

799

But yeah, play around with that

or have them go through,

800

you know, crisis or moments

in their lives, where things change.

801

Civil War was interesting because

it's like, oh, Mom and Dad are fighting.

802

I don't really like that too much.

803

Right?

804

But, I mean, it all depends on on

the type of audience that is watching it,

805

what kind of fan you are, if you

806

if you like, set that aside for a bit

and just have some fun.

807

You'll see your characters

fighting each other.

808

But but it all,

it all ended up doing pretty well.

809

Spoilers for anyone who didn't, you know,

watch What's the Marvel saga so far?

810

I think

at this point we can talk about it.

811

If anybody hasn't seen it, though,

it's worth checking out.

812

I mean, the movies were good, and,

you know, for memoir,

813

I don't know,

it's like Marvel does the, in my opinion,

814

does the movies better in DC,

does the TV series better?

815

I don't know what it is about that,

but you I it just seems to be the case.

816

You know, it's like, the same thing.

817

Don't do.

818

What is it?

819

Get an even number of version of windows.

820

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

821

Or like every, every other Star Trek

film is Or is better.

822

The even numbers are better

than the odd numbers or whatever.

823

But, but yeah,

I think DC is that definitely landed,

824

really,

really strong with their animation unit.

825

I, you know, on

a, on a, on a Saturday afternoon,

826

there's a channel that we have here

827

where they're typically playing

a DC animated film, and that's always it's

828

worth a watch, you know,

even if I've seen it before.

829

Because they're fun.

They're they're interesting.

830

They've told all kinds of stories.

831

There's flash point, there's doomsday,

and there's all kinds of different stories

832

that they've done that, that really work

well in animation.

833

And, the voice cast, the animating,

834

the art, all that kind of stuff

is really, really good.

835

So, yeah, I definitely,

definitely recommend checking those out.

836

And, you know,

Marvel definitely has nailed the

837

at least for a while

for the, you know, the good first phase.

838

They were running really strong,

tight storytelling.

839

Everything led to something.

840

It's kind of they've kind of lost

their way a little bit.

841

The quality of the films

I think are still good,

842

but they're they're not as cohesive

and telling a story, as maybe as they,

843

they were.

844

But I think that was almost the plan,

because I think they felt

845

they felt people were,

feeling the need to do homework

846

before going to see a movie

or going to see if, a new TV show.

847

You're saying, well, do

I have to watch all 27 or whatever it is

848

previous films

before I can get into this one?

849

I think they wanted

850

to break that a little bit,

and that kind of did them a disservice.

851

A little bit.

852

But I don't know, like,

the jury's still out right now,

853

whether as as people like that

strict continuity and tight storylines

854

or if each film can live on its own,

I think there's positive and negative

855

for each.

856

Yeah, yeah.

857

And I know in some

858

I actually had a marvel film

that I was disappointed in

859

and that was, Captain Marvel.

860

I that was the first,

861

Marvel film that I was ordered.

862

And most of the time I was really

I still can't,

863

I can't remember

the plotline of the story,

864

but all the others I can pretty much,

you know, recall things, events happening.

865

But I don't know what it was

about that one.

866

I was really disappointed.

867

So, you know. Yeah.

868

Before we left, Thor Love and Thunder,

with a bad taste in our mouth.

869

And it's too bad I haven't seen that one.

870

It is, because that one

871

was two different, I think, you know,

if if they had done that storyline

872

with new characters,

it would have been fine.

873

But the way it was presented

using existing, I don't know,

874

I just walked out of there like Star Wars

nine, like what just happened, you know?

875

Oh, I haven't seen that one.

876

So that one is kind of air. Yeah.

877

Okay. Yeah.

878

So what did you think about the Fantastic

Four?

879

Most recent one?

880

So I, I liked it.

881

I loved the, I love the, the universe

that whatever universe we're in

882

and I think it was Earth to two,

eight, eight, I believe, or 822.

883

I forget what it's called.

884

But, I actually loved it, I loved it,

I love the style.

885

I love the storyline.

886

And it was it was, you know, it

it it did what it needed to do, right?

887

It told a story.

888

It it brought in such a big character

like Galactus.

889

I mean, literally and figuratively.

890

Extremely large character.

891

I like that this world was modern,

892

but also had this, this retro feel to it.

893

Yeah.

894

And that the world was not filled

with superheroes like the Fantastic Four.

895

Were the superheroes, right? Yeah.

896

They were so confident

in being able to do anything.

897

They weren't cocky about it,

898

but they were very confident in like, hey,

we will take care of you.

899

And then they come across something

that absolutely they could not handle.

900

Right. At least until the end.

901

I honestly thought the film was

902

it had a happy ending.

903

I thought it was going to have

a more down, ending.

904

I honestly thought that they would

they would actually.

905

So, Well, guess for anyone who's seen

this, who's not, hasn't seen it.

906

Rather, I thought they would

actually fail, in their mission,

907

and the Earth would get there,

Earth would get destroyed,

908

and they would be forced to come to Earth,

616 of Marvel,

909

and then warn everyone about, you know,

Galactus coming or something like that.

910

But it had a more upbeat

ending than than what I thought.

911

But I did like it very much.

912

So how did you how did you find it?

913

I actually enjoyed it.

914

And,

I not really, a fantastic horror fan

915

or have much knowledge about the group.

916

I just remember that it was always

the big guy was unhappy

917

and the brother was always doing

something stupid.

918

And I'm glad they stepped away from that.

919

Yeah. Absolutely.

920

Absolutely.

921

I think it was like I said, yeah,

totally great stories.

922

I think.

923

I think everyone played their roles

924

well, I, I'm interested to see where

it's going to go.

925

You know, Doctor Doom

is, is a big, big villain, right.

926

And some of the rumors I'm hearing

are pretty insane of what they're filming.

927

Right now or doomsday and,

928

and they're filming

then the next one after that as well.

929

So it's pretty,

it's pretty epic sounding.

930

Whatever is going to come about it.

931

But,

but yeah, I'm really interested for sure.

932

For sure.

933

Yeah.

934

That's great. All right. Well,

send in your questions as always.

935

User friendly dot show and check out

read the freaking comics on YouTube.

936

Both amazing things.

937

The deep dive into these subjects

and I'll tell you what.

938

But Michael, before we started doing this,

you know, comic books, I liked them,

939

but it wasn't

my since we've started doing this,

940

I've had a much bigger appreciation

for a lot of the stories

941

and stuff, and I've kind of gone back

and checked it out and yeah, I don't know.

942

I appreciate it more than I used to.

943

So it's nice having backstories.

944

That's amazing. That's that's great.

945

That's what I love.

946

I do believe comics are meant to be read.

947

Yes.

948

You can get some really nice

comics framed, but if you buy a comic,

949

it's to read it and not just frame it

and look at the cover.

950

Enjoy those stories.

951

There's so much to tell every day

I'm adding,

952

I have a little YouTube short

where I'm telling a fun story of facts,

953

some kind of character, and,

and it's just never ending.

954

It's a well that keeps, keeps on giving.

955

So definitely check it out.

956

All right, well, until next time.

957

Let us know what you think about Mister

Freeze.

958

Michael. Thank you.

959

Thank you very much, guys.

960

You know, Batman has been,

kind of a love hate relationship

961

with me over the years. All the new Mister

Freeze I'm going to love.

962

I already know that,

963

but it's kind of interesting

to talk about,

964

you know, like,

965

what Michael was bringing up about

how these things change the seasons or the

966

the universes rather change

and all that kind of thing.

967

And to see how they go forward with it.

968

And from one of my understanding is,

is the, Mister Freeze movie

969

that will be coming up is kind of a hybrid

of some of these things.

970

So the Mister Freeze character in there,

except the best parts

971

of a lot of the different parts

of the Batman genre.

972

Until next week.

973

This is user friendly.

2.0 keeping you safe on the cutting edge.

974

Hey everybody, this is Bill Snodgrass,

Joe and user friendly and supporting

975

the people of the Ukraine with President

Zelensky's United 24 campaign.

976

Help is needed with health care,

977

de-mining and many, many other things.

978

You decide where your support goes.

979

Go to user friendly

dot show and click the Ukrainian flag

980

at the bottom of the homepage

for more information.

981

User Friendly 2.0.

982

Copyright 2013 to 2025

983

by User Friendly Media Group Incorporated.

984

All rights reserved.

985

Content is the opinion

of the show's participants

986

and not necessarily this station

or platform.

987

Request for material use.

988

Interviews.

989

CcpA Privacy Notice for California

residents.

990

GDPR information for UK

991

and EU residents and any other feedback

992

may be submitted at userfriendly.show

We welcome your input.

993

Thank you for listening.