We officially kick off this year's Season of Giving with a nonprofit we are proud to support: William Temple House. The charity's executive director joins us to talk about their mission - always important but more important than ever this year.
With the holidays now upon us, we talk about the latest in kitchen gadgets in our first segment.
William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler
Welcome to We Are
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:Technologies User Friendly 2.0 with host
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:Bill Sikkens, technology architect.
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:And this is User
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:Friendly 2.0 welcome to this week's show
Bill, Gretchen Welcome.
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:Hello.
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:So as we started talking about last week,
we are entering the season of Giving.
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:And this year we're proud
to support the William Temple House.
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:In our second segment,
their executive director is going to
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:come on and tell us about their program
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:and what they're trying to do
and the services that they give out.
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:And this is an amazing charity.
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:They've been around for a very long time.
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:He'll get into that.
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:But their services,
which deal with mental health and operate
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:a food bank, are even more important
this year than ever.
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:So stay tuned for segment two.
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:We're going to jump to that
and give you an idea of exactly
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:what the season of giving
is going to be about.
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:Are you guys,
what do we have in the news this week?
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:All right.
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:The Mandalorian and Grogu grew trailer
just broke
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:a 47 year old Star Wars role.
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:All right. So I'm going to talk about
what's going on here.
25
:And then Gretchen I'm going
I want to get your opinion on this.
26
:Since you are our resident
Star Wars expert.
27
:So the trailer just came out
as it said, it
28
:features Grogu,
who is the alien Yoda type?
29
:And then, Din Djarin,
who is the Mandalorian?
30
:So what we're looking at here is a case
where you have someone
31
:in a mask, a helmet, and an alien.
32
:So what is being whined about here
is that this is unusual for Star Wars
33
:not to have human characters
and feature alien characters,
34
:although I'm not sure a mandalorian
qualifies as alien in my opinion.
35
:But that is where they're going.
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:They're going to say
37
:this is really a change
from all of the other Star Wars movies,
38
:and they're going to be placing the more
human characters in the background.
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:So, Gretchen, what do you think?
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:See, I kind of disagree with this
41
:because, it's it's a buddy film,
42
:just like the Han Solo, the solo film
that was a buddy film.
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:You have Han Solo and Baka.
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:Yeah. You know, and so it's kind of like.
45
:And then you have the Ahsoka series.
46
:She's the main character, so.
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:And she's not a human or human
like character.
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:And so I kind of disagree with this.
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:I don't really, I just don't agree.
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:Yeah,
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:I don't I think, you know,
if I had to make a comment on this,
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:I would say that I don't think this is
particularly relevant to other the movie.
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:So it's not I don't know.
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:What do you think about all this?
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:Is it necessary to have humans
in the first part of a science fiction
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:film, just because others have
done it in the franchise?
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:No. So far it.
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:Yeah, it's like it's
the same thing with Farscape.
59
:Look at all of the aliens.
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:There's just one, you know, or two, two
characters that are like humans, right?
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:And it's like,
we don't need to have everything.
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:Look, it's what's what's inside
the character that you relate
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:to, not the outside of the character.
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:You know what I mean?
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:Yeah, I agree completely.
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:I think, you know,
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:and by the way, the feedback on
this is basically the same thing.
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:It's all it's about.
Your answer answers just no.
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:Why are we talking about this?
This is ridiculous. Right.
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:And even if you're
looking at the franchise,
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:I don't know about the characters,
but certainly episode eight and nine,
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:I felt like they were written
by aliens, illiterate ones.
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:But the thing of it is, is, so,
you know, you have that interaction to.
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:Yeah.
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:I mean, what's next on this?
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:Is legacy code
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:in technology systems
reaching a breaking point?
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:So this has actually been an amalgamation
of listener questions
79
:that have been coming in that
we didn't get to the Q&A last week,
80
:and I did a little research on
I wanted to put in the news
81
:because it is actually something
that is important.
82
:And what this is talking about is
computers are now, you know,
83
:I mean, they've been around
microcomputers,
84
:been around since the 70s, mainframes
and stuff before that.
85
:And today as we sit here,
oh, that goes back to that
86
:era is still being used in some system,
specifically things like banking
87
:and travel and all of that,
COBOL, Fortran, and it works.
88
:And part of the reason
why they continue to use it works.
89
:So the question that's happening here
is, is you have
90
:this type of old code
in software and hardware.
91
:Is it causing a problem is, you know,
is it
92
:sitting out there
and doing different things.
93
:So I'm going to go ahead
and describe this in this way.
94
:Let's look at technology.
95
:We talk about sci
fi here on the show a lot.
96
:But let's look at this
from a hardware perspective.
97
:Let's say that you have in the 1970s
98
:technology
that was created to make cyborgs.
99
:Okay.
100
:And then in the 1990s,
101
:you have someone that modded
at that point, and the superior lifeform
102
:had all of the upgrades
that would be current at that time.
103
:Now, fast forward to 2025,
and like any other complex system,
104
:there's maintenance
and things that are done
105
:and you're swapping out parts
and upgrading things, but you still might
106
:have some of the original technology
embedded in the system.
107
:Same thing applies to software.
108
:So what ends up happening in some cases
is if you don't have
109
:someone that knows the entire system or
some of the original source code has been,
110
:you know, ended up marriage, conceivably
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:you would have it, but not known
about by the current programmers.
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:It becomes easier to trigger
something that you don't know
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:is there that can cause problems.
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:So that's what raises the question here.
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:Is it time to throw it all away
and do something new?
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:Is that required for security
and that type of a thing?
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:General research on this says no, but
118
:is you're working on
and working with legacy systems.
119
:Been around for a while.
120
:It is important that the engineers on it
understand where it came from.
121
:Maybe not how to program it from scratch,
but you should know what's in your
122
:in your source code and stuff.
123
:You know,
124
:if you look across the character,
I think he's a marvel character
125
:that was a cyborg
126
:and had, things programed into him that,
if you triggered certain things.
127
:So Winter soldier, Winter soldier.
128
:Oh, okay.
129
:So let's say
130
:your cyborg is something like that,
based in their original source code,
131
:and you don't know about it anymore.
132
:Then somebody comes out and triggers it.
133
:Like, you know,
134
:I don't know, maybe the base frequency
of a subwoofer or something.
135
:And that causes the, cyborg to react
136
:in a way that, wouldn't be terribly nice.
137
:Right?
138
:And have this, again,
science fiction imperative.
139
:But you can have the same thing
in real world systems.
140
:So in other words,
you need to know what you're doing.
141
:Yeah.
142
:And in this day and age,
things do change quickly.
143
:And sometimes it is very difficult
to cover just new code going out
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:from point A to point B, much less
understanding the base of what's going on.
145
:But if you can't do that, then yeah,
it is time that you would look
146
:at changing things out.
147
:However, the time consumption of something
like that might make it
148
:worthwhile to know what the code base is
that you're writing on.
149
:So is there a way to, let's say let's say
150
:something's written in an older language,
like a cobalt or a Fortran?
151
:Is there a way to take that language
and give it,
152
:a little bit of a modern injection,
or is it just old
153
:and it's not going to be able
to be upgraded?
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:Okay.
155
:So generally speaking,
in these type of environments,
156
:and I'm going to speak from when
157
:I've had to deal with some code like this
that we've used for clients.
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:Basically what you have going on
there is it's an old language.
159
:If you have someone that knows
160
:that you can inject modern elements, it's
not like it can't be changed today.
161
:But what ends up happening is modern
programmers don't know the old language,
162
:so they end up relying on resources
that are there that they can get to.
163
:But yet, as far as what kind of is behind
the curtain they may or may not know.
164
:So what's generally done is the old code
is encapsulated and you access certain
165
:elements of it in your modern system
and put the two together like that.
166
:I don't consider
167
:that to be a good way to work,
because you have this exact problem.
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:There might be other parts of it
that are dormant
169
:that could accidentally be
and not even nefarious.
170
:You send in a command to do something,
171
:and it does something weird
because you didn't know
172
:that's what it was set up to do
in the first place.
173
:So okay, I'm
going to ask another stupid question.
174
:Oh, why can't you train an AI
175
:to understand these older languages?
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:Maybe your keyboards are clicking again
on the comments with that question now.
177
:Okay. What what what?
178
:Well, if you don't have humans
who can understand it,
179
:then how could you develop eyes
that understand it?
180
:Actually, that's that's already been done.
181
:And generally speaking,
from that standpoint, what you do
182
:is let's say you have got ChatGPT analyze
the code.
183
:You could certainly do that.
184
:And then what you want to do, to be sure,
is they have, you know, say Gemini,
185
:analyze ChatGPT response,
you know, and give its response.
186
:So you get opinions from different eyes.
187
:And that will allow you
to look at these different things.
188
:You take that feedback
189
:and then if you're getting a commonality
where, there's 10,000 lines of code here
190
:that you know, aren't being accessed
or are being used any more,
191
:maybe it's a good idea
to look at that part of the system
192
:and either understand what it does
if you need it and remove it if you don't.
193
:Okay.
194
:So interesting.
195
:So in layman's terms,
what's going on is you have a foundation
196
:that is old code
and a new building is built on top of it.
197
:But nobody knows exactly
what's in the foundation anymore.
198
:Right. Exactly. Okay.
199
:That's a
that's a very, very good analysis.
200
:So anyway, you know, as our systems
get more complicated, we're going
201
:to need to deal with these things.
But yeah let's.
202
:So what's the answer to that.
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:Is that at a breaking point. No.
204
:But it does require that, you know,
205
:you have someone that can at least
understand the foundation.
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:All right.
207
:Maybe pull some people out of retirement.
208
:Yeah.
209
:Jeff Bezos will be co CEO of a
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:of an AI startup
project called Prometheus.
211
:Yeah.
212
:You know we all have things change jobs.
213
:And you know I guess you know
just tired of you
214
:know, current set up selling
a lot of things like you know everywhere.
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:So it's time to do something new.
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:Actually, I shouldn't poke fun at that.
217
:I'm doing the exact same thing.
218
:I just I'm not Jeff Bezos and I
don't have his bank account, which I did.
219
:But that being said,
yeah, he's, moving over
220
:to, this new project as you say,
221
:and they're putting together
something that, could be very interesting
222
:and building AI that's going to be
in a number of different things,
223
:including embedded systems
and some other things like that.
224
:So, you know, some of these things
could be spacecraft exoskeletons,
225
:and so on, goes from there.
226
:And this also gives you
a little bit of a difference
227
:in the idea of, you know, bank accounts
and where you're coming from.
228
:They're saying that they think
they're reasonably funded, maybe at 6.2
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:billion and venture capital,
you know, I'm
230
:sorry, they're having a startup on that
shoestring, you know, cash,
231
:cash.
232
:Removable spyware on Samsung devices
233
:comes pre-installed on Galaxy series
devices.
234
:Yeah. So this is kind of interesting,
isn't that?
235
:And the other thing that's kind of,
really even more interesting about it.
236
:It's like Samsung, don't do this.
237
:Is this only seems to be the case
on their budget models,
238
:the Galaxy A and M M-series.
239
:So if you get your, you know,
240
:one of the like the folds or,
you know, some of the newer ones, the,
241
:galaxies and all that kind of thing,
you're not going to have this problem.
242
:And what happens with
this is a lot of these
243
:applications
are built into the operating system.
244
:So these phones run on Android.
245
:And while these would not be a part
of a stock version of Android,
246
:you don't get a stock version of Android.
247
:You get the one that comes with the device
that is highly customized by both
248
:the device manufacturer and usually the
cellular companies that are on Verizon.
249
:They have their customizations
that they require on it.
250
:And that's also why when updates come out,
they go at different levels
251
:because it's not just one update,
or the update has to go to the vendor,
252
:and then it has to go to the seller,
and then eventually it gets to you.
253
:So what's happening here
is these apps spyware and marketing
254
:and these different kind of phones
are being shipped with these phones.
255
:And you can't really uninstall it
without jailbreaking
256
:the phone or something like that,
which most people don't know how to do.
257
:And if you do do what it can screw up
your warranties and things like that.
258
:So the only option you really have
is number one.
259
:No it's there. That's the first clue.
260
:You know, that you're going
to have to know what to remove.
261
:And then there is a way to go in
and disable it.
262
:But basically you're turning it off.
263
:You cannot remove it, but you can
264
:disable it
265
:from functioning and then hope
that it actually really is disable.
266
:So the only time that I've ever worked
with one of these budget
267
:models is
my mom had a series a while back,
268
:and that got replaced because it was
either that or meeting therapy
269
:every time I needed to show her
how to add a contact or something.
270
:It was slow.
271
:It was clearly monetized in my opinion,
272
:or making up for the fact that
the phone itself was cheap to begin with,
273
:and things that are basic functions
274
:in most phones it didn't have as a,
for example, a QR code reader,
275
:and the only way to get one is
276
:you had to install an app,
and that app comes with in-app purchases.
277
:And, you know, other things,
your higher end phones
278
:that's built into your camera function,
you know?
279
:So it's, definitely a situation
where this is being targeted.
280
:In my opinion.
281
:It is from what it looks like,
and it is a thing.
282
:So one of the old things
283
:that I've been always told is re
can be very expensive.
284
:So it's not really free.
285
:You're paying for it in some way.
So the price is less.
286
:You know, some of these phones are $8,090
for a full smartphone.
287
:But of course you're selling
personal privacy, your analytics
288
:and other things that you can't
289
:necessarily disable or turn off
to get the lower price on the phone.
290
:Because even with how cheap it is,
the manufacturer electronics
291
:these days, a full functioning smartphone
that's done right would still cost
292
:more than 80 bucks to make,
293
:you know?
294
:So you got to look at it
from that perspective that it's not really
295
:cheap, it's
just monetarily less than the other ones.
296
:And you're have a trade off for that.
297
:Wow. That's me.
298
:The Kindles of the way or the candles.
299
:Yeah, yeah.
300
:Or you could
or you can if what you're talking about
301
:is you buy it, it's cheaper,
but you get ads
302
:and if you pay more for the same device,
then you don't get ads.
303
:Yeah.
304
:Okay.
305
:Cloudflare down
X and more apps hit by internet outage.
306
:I'm sorry, I haven't.
307
:We already done the story
like twice in the last month I know, yeah.
308
:It's, yeah, we have this time
it was Cloudflare.
309
:Yeah. So what is Cloudflare?
310
:Because that is definitely a question
that we talked about.
311
:Cloudflare before.
312
:We've talked about it. Yes.
313
:And but again, it's one of those things
that's kind of hidden in the background.
314
:So what's unclear is, is that the cloud
management service and its cloud service,
315
:and it also handles authentication,
316
:to try and stop things like denial
of service attacks and stuff like that.
317
:So when you go to a website that uses
Cloudflare, it's going to deliver,
318
:you know, based on cost to servers
and that type of stuff automatically.
319
:And it's also going to try to check
your browser to make sure that you're not
320
:like a bot trying to harvest information
from a website or something like that.
321
:So as far as the service goes, it's
actually quite valuable in my opinion.
322
:We use it for a lot of our clients,
including our own sites, but like anything
323
:else, technology is subject
to having problems.
324
:And Cloudflare had one of these problems.
325
:This last week that took down,
as you say, apps and other things.
326
:GPT was out for a little while.
327
:I think even
WhatsApp was affected, maybe,
328
:but there were some other things like that
that were just you couldn't access them.
329
:And same kind of feeling of something
going down
330
:like, AWS and these your problems
over the last couple of weeks
331
:for a different reason.
332
:They've issued an apology
and you'd get things back up and running
333
:pretty quickly.
And this is another example,
334
:like the other ones
of where something has been fixed.
335
:But it takes a while to get things back
online.
336
:But yeah, that's what happened.
337
:Dude.
338
:Newly released images of three Atlas
confirm
339
:Harvard astrophysicist suspicions.
340
:I'm think they might.
341
:Okay, so what we're talking about here
is something,
342
:that he has been
343
:looking at the idea
that this is a super alien spacecraft
344
:and looking at different things
from it to try and substantiate that.
345
:So, you know, everything.
346
:What would be an opinion on that?
Let's set that aside for a minute.
347
:Just talk about what's going on here.
348
:He's looking at the fact
349
:that it is, in a lot of ways,
not acting like a normal comet.
350
:It seems to be able to correct course.
351
:It seems to be able to have thrust.
352
:The normal pale of the comet
sometimes goes in the opposite direction.
353
:The exhaust from a, contains elements
that we have never seen
354
:naturally created in space
before, like arsenic.
355
:So there's a lot of things going on here
that would tend
356
:to substantiate a position like that,
if you look at it from that standpoint.
357
:Now, needless
to say, the scientific community
358
:is, let's just say, not been terribly
accepting of this theory.
359
:You know, he's
been seeing counter stories.
360
:So I guess
just curious to see what you thought,
361
:because, of course, you know,
aliens are impossible.
362
:We're the center of the universe, yada
yada. Right.
363
:So the thing of the guys is,
at the end of the day, he's just saying
364
:that he's looking at an alternate approach
365
:and there are all the reasons why.
366
:And it's changed colors
and other things like that.
367
:So there are some things
about this spacecraft, I mean, comet
368
:that would tend to say
369
:that it's a little bit different
from anything else that we've seen.
370
:There's a lot of good pictures up
now with the government reopening.
371
:NASA is releasing their stuff.
372
:ESA, the European Space Agency is putting
stuff out and it's going to get closer.
373
:I believe December 19th is the closest,
flyby when the aliens will actually come
374
:visit us. So, you know, we'll have to see.
375
:I thought maybe it was a probe,
you know, like an exploration.
376
:You know, like a voyager.
377
:You know, for my understanding,
the story of the Alpha Centauri
378
:since they've already been here
with their probe.
379
:So, you know, I guess they got
all the information they can that way.
380
:It's all right.
381
:You know, I walk here.
382
:Oh, man, this took a really weird turn.
383
:So let's go to something
completely different and talk about
384
:some of the kitchen gadgets used for,
:
385
:So we're going to be doing our annual
holiday show next week and talking about
386
:some of the more general stuff
that's out there,
387
:but we get asked questions
a lot about kitchen gadgets.
388
:And this is something
that, more and more of this,
389
:like anywhere else in the house,
you're seeing specific things.
390
:But to give kind of an idea of a wrap up
of what is on the list for those that are
391
:chefs, and I had to look all this up
because I am not my idea of,
392
:you know, cooking something is boiling
water and putting, you know, Chef Mike.
393
:But there are others
that can seem to do a little better job.
394
:And to do that,
a lot of these devices are,
395
:kind of cool.
396
:One of them is the a Vona Precision
Cooker 3.0.
397
:Okay. So this is described as a smart.
398
:So it's vide how it's spelled circular
399
:and upgraded Wi-Fi connectivity
and better controls okay.
400
:So my question is well okay
that's all very nice.
401
:But what is it. Right.
402
:And this is a device
403
:that is a immersion circulator okay.
404
:And that's where the so aside
on comes from designed for immersion
405
:circulator immersion circulator.
406
:So you attach it to a pot of water.
407
:It heats and the host water
to a precise temperature.
408
:And then you can immerse
vacuum sealed foods.
409
:You get consistent
410
:restaurant level results,
at least according to the manufacturer.
411
:Yes. SUV.
412
:SUV. Okay. Yeah.
413
:Like I said,
I was. I should say it's allergies.
414
:I was wondering about that.
415
:Yeah.
416
:But it's it's interesting
because all this stuff is Wi-Fi connected,
417
:you know, smart devices
and looking at some of the other things,
418
:there's one that is about $90
and it's a meat thermometer body.
419
:It is wireless
and it has some kind of AI in it.
420
:So it can sense
421
:what you're doing with your holiday meal,
whether you're roasting or whatever.
422
:The case may be,
something that they say is very giftable.
423
:And I guess you get advised
when you need to
424
:when your item is cooking or has finished
cooking or reach a certain threshold.
425
:I'm still dealing with the fact
that my refrigerator texts me
426
:when the water filter needs to be changed.
427
:So, you know, I. I find that annoying.
428
:I think I'm just happy with my Breville.
429
:It does the air fryer thing.
430
:It reheats food.
431
:It's a toaster.
432
:It's a really awesome thing.
433
:I'm speaking of which, the next three
items on the list are air fryers.
434
:So this is saying, well, so you know,
you're right on the head there.
435
:I and I have to say, I have a ninja air
fryer that's a few years old now.
436
:And I do use it.
437
:It's just easier to deal with.
438
:And, you know,
439
:I actually can handle that a little better
than something as alien as an oven.
440
:So, you know, I kind of.
441
:And it goes from there.
442
:But these are popular items.
443
:And, like
444
:I say, the next three, the, Breville,
if I'm saying that right, has a smile
445
:on their face.
446
:That's how I said a problem. You're right.
447
:And, high tech meets everyday
cooking again, a smart device, being able
448
:to monitor things and, another one
that's a little more budget friendly is.
449
:Okay, I'm really not.
450
:I'm doing well with the namesake
or Mania French or Airfryer Bawumia.
451
:Yo, you are am I apologize,
I know I'm saying that right.
452
:But again, it's another air fryer
that cost a little bit less
453
:and has a lot of these features.
454
:And then the third one is another one
by the same company
455
:that is a little bit more expensive.
456
:It features a window
where you can see the cooking progress.
457
:My ninjas that you are
not sure that's a new feature,
458
:but it's as they say that they blend
utility and cool design.
459
:So these are some of those items that you
probably would actually need to go to,
460
:you know, be real old fashioned
and go to a brick and mortar store
461
:to check out
462
:and see what the differences are, and only
get so much from the pictures online.
463
:But air fryers are a big deal
this year, and I can, like I say, okay.
464
:Joking aside, the fact that I can't cook,
I do understand that.
465
:What was that? Gretchen?
466
:I, I know the Breville works
467
:because we had, a previous one
that was just a toaster oven.
468
:And when we got the Breville toaster
469
:oven, air fryer,
we knew it was going to work.
470
:Well, yeah. And it, you know, it's
it was worth.
471
:It's an impressive.
472
:Yeah. Yeah, it does cost a little more,
473
:but in these cases
you do get what you pay for.
474
:I think, you know, you know,
and if you actually want
475
:to go to the other side of that, fine.
476
:If you're stocking stuffers,
that type of thing.
477
:Williams-Sonoma has a holiday spatula set.
478
:It's holiday themed, you know,
479
:spatulas, whatever it does with that,
I don't know how much to say for it.
480
:This isn't QVC where I can talk
for an hour on something like that,
481
:but it would be kind of cool for somebody
that's cooking.
482
:And the other one
483
:that kind of falls along these
lines is a product made by Ice Diver.
484
:It's a 33 ball ice. Mold set.
485
:And you can make custom
ice cubes or ice balls
486
:made out of different ingredients
for drinks and whatnot.
487
:And unlike the ghosts that we tried to use
for Halloween,
488
:I was able to make them work.
489
:I was able to make them work. Yeah. Okay.
490
:Well, again, it's me in the kitchen,
so, you know. Yeah.
491
:There we are. Heaven help us.
492
:All right.
493
:Our next segment, we are going to be
talking about our season of giving.
494
:This is user friendly.
People know we'll be back after the break.
495
:Snow's coming down this time.
496
:I'm watching home.
497
:You guys, I love people around.
498
:And maybe any time
499
:my the church fell down.
500
:This is user friendly. 2.0 welcome back.
501
:As we enter this year's season of giving,
502
:we want to talk about an amazing charity
503
:that user Friendly is proud to be able
to support.
504
:William Temple House in Portland
is working to make sure every neighbor
505
:feels the warmth of the season,
506
:from their food pantry and warm clothing
program to counseling and essential
507
:support services, they help families
facing hardship and instability
508
:this holiday.
509
:They're bringing comfort,
510
:dignity and a little extra cheer
511
:to those who needed it most and have been
doing this for many, many years.
512
:For details on them,
check out User Friendly Dot show.
513
:We're going to have a link
at the top of our page,
514
:and right now I'd like to welcome
their Executive Director,
515
:who's going to tell us a deep dive
into their program for this year.
516
:Joining us
517
:now, Graham, executive director of William
Temple House.
518
:Welcome to user Friendly.
519
:Hey, Bill.
520
:Thank you. Gretchen.
521
:Thank you.
Thank you for having me here. Yeah.
522
:Thank you for joining us for this year's
season of Giving.
523
:Your organization
is absolutely incredible.
524
:And before we started recording,
we were talking that, you know,
525
:I've worked with some of your people
for a long time now,
526
:but it's the first year
that we're going to be able to have
527
:the pleasure of directly supporting
such a just needed pause right now.
528
:And what I'm going to do
is just kind of throw this over to you.
529
:If you can give us
some of your background,
530
:what you're doing,
just the general for one one.
531
:Sure, sure. So,
532
:we were formed, 60 years ago
533
:this year to provide,
free mental health counseling.
534
:Originally to this neighborhood
where we're located in northwest Portland.
535
:Since that time, we've
536
:stuck to our mission of of free
and low cost mental health counseling.
537
:Although now we serve
538
:Portland and the greater
Portland, Vancouver, Washington area.
539
:Along the way,
we added a food pantry because we realized
540
:we heard from our mental health clients
that, that was another big obstacle.
541
:And, really being, well,
542
:for a lot of them
was also food on the table.
543
:So now for the past at least 20 years,
we do, free and low
544
:cost mental health counseling and a free
a free
545
:shopping style food pantry.
546
:How does that work?
547
:This do do people that are in need
just kind of show up
548
:and they make appointments?
549
:Tell us a little bit about how,
you know, what somebody would see.
550
:Sure.
551
:The most visible part is the food pantry.
552
:It's open three days
a week. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
553
:No appointment is needed.
554
:It's we open our gates
and we keep working.
555
:And so either, you know, we run out of
food or there's no, there's no line.
556
:And when I started
557
:and I started in this role about two
and a half years ago when I started, 75
558
:people coming to the pantry in a day,
what was was it close to a record?
559
:You know, fast forward to 2025,
560
:the first Tuesday of November last week,
561
:we served 167 people.
562
:Wow, wow, wow.
563
:And that's closer to normal, 145
now, it's not a record.
564
:It's just a normal day at the food pantry.
565
:Wow.
566
:The mental health support
and counseling is a little bit different.
567
:People request our services often online
or by telephone.
568
:And then
and then those are by appointment.
569
:And, folks usually see a therapist
about 50 minutes
570
:for a 50 minute session, either
once a week or once every two weeks.
571
:So that part's a very busy part
of what we do, too.
572
:But it's not as,
it's not the first thing you see.
573
:It's a very one on one.
574
:Right.
575
:Well, yeah, especially for I could see
where the food would be more front facing.
576
:And, especially this year,
because food insecurity is a problem.
577
:But this year it's really been a problem.
578
:And, I can imagine that that's somewhat
taxing to any food bank, including yours.
579
:The changes that we've been dealing with.
580
:Yeah.
581
:You know,
so as I said, we've we've been seeing
582
:a steady uptick in demand
for two years or a little more.
583
:Then we started to see a
584
:decline in supply about a year ago.
585
:And it only got worse
with the change in administration.
586
:So the decline in supply was a thing
was happening before the administration,
587
:the new administration,
then the new administration
588
:made some pretty important cuts
to the USDA budget,
589
:and that resulted in less food
coming from farmers
590
:to regional food banks,
where we get a lot of our supply.
591
:So over the past year, we've seen demand
go up and supply go down.
592
:And so that was the situation
593
:before the government shut down and before
and before cuts to snap.
594
:So, of course
there have also been rolling cuts to snap
595
:and efforts to make snap harder, harder
to get and to get people off snap,
596
:which obviously also increases the line
at our food pantry.
597
:But all that kind of came to a head
in the last week of October.
598
:We came together as a team
and talked about what are we going to do
599
:in November
if people don't get their Snap payments?
600
:Everything I have just
described is only going to get worse.
601
:And there
is a lot of trepidation on the team.
602
:I could we do anything else
in the context of steadily
603
:increasing demand and decreasing supply?
604
:Is there something else we could do?
605
:And we decided
that we had to try to do something.
606
:And so we made a pledge
that, we'd find more food
607
:and for the month of November,
no one would go home empty handed.
608
:And that was a scary pledge to make,
609
:because over the last year,
people have been going home empty handed.
610
:I think as as I, as I said a minute ago,
you know, we tend to close the pantry
611
:either when the food runs out or the line
runs out
612
:and there have been
some type of the frequent times this year
613
:where the food's run out
and we've had to say,
614
:we're done,
we're sorry, we're done for the day.
615
:We'll have to come back
at a different time.
616
:So it was scary to say in November,
we're not going to turn anyone away.
617
:So far we've been able to do it.
618
:So far, the community has stepped up,
we found more food.
619
:We've gone out and bought food,
620
:because most of our food is donated,
but we've gone out and bought food.
621
:And so far, this is November 13th.
622
:We haven't,
we haven't had to turn anybody.
623
:Well that's amazing.
624
:I mean, you're pretty much halfway
through the month and holding to that
625
:pledge, which I could see
would be extremely difficult
626
:with everything in such a state of flux,
you know.
627
:So we'll talk about in a little bit
how people find you on the way
628
:to seek help and that type of a thing.
629
:But what I'd like to do is dive
into the funding aspect of a little bit,
630
:because it's certainly
631
:a question that we are going to get
from the audience is, how do we help?
632
:And we have a lot of amazing people
633
:out there trying
not just even this time of year,
634
:but to give back and support
community programs like yours
635
:that really kind of make some people's
lives worth living versus not.
636
:I mean, that really is
what it comes down to.
637
:And there's a couple of ways
I know that, that you raise money.
638
:And what I'd like to do is get you to go
into that, you know, monetary donations.
639
:And, I understand
you guys have a thrift store as well.
640
:We do? Yeah. We do.
641
:Yeah.
642
:And so,
you know, money's always the best thing.
643
:Because when we have
644
:money, for two reasons,
you know, and one is easy to understand.
645
:When we have money, when we have a budget,
we can buy whatever the thing is
646
:that we're most missing in the moment.
647
:Right?
648
:So, the other thing is that we can buy
we're in a coalition
649
:with nine other, food hunger
focused organizations in Portland.
650
:It's called the Cafe Coalition Cafe
Advancing Food Equity.
651
:And we band together
and purchase food wholesale.
652
:So if people give us money,
653
:we can buy more jars of peanut butter
654
:with the same money than if they went
to the grocery store and bought a jar.
655
:That said, you know,
I know people like to do that.
656
:I know people like the concrete.
657
:There are a lot of places
churches, schools, businesses,
658
:especially small businesses
in this neighborhood that have a barrel,
659
:you know, in their lobby.
660
:And they take food donations
for us as well.
661
:And that we appreciate all of that
as well.
662
:You know, whenever we can, we tend to say
like give and get, like if you want to
663
:give us a jar of peanut butter
and then give us 25 bucks
664
:so we can buy ten more jars like that,
that would be that'd be perfect.
665
:We also do
666
:fund a part of our operation
through our thrift store.
667
:So we, we run,
we own and run an award winning
668
:thrift store,
on Northwest Gleason in Portland.
669
:And, that generates,
670
:around 10% of our budget,
which, maybe doesn't sound like much,
671
:but it's a great 10% that,
we can count on that.
672
:We raise ourselves that, you know,
we don't have to go out
673
:and write a proposal for
or or run a campaign and hope we get,
674
:and we're growing the thrift store
we need in these crazy, uncertain times.
675
:You know, the more revenue
that we can earn ourselves
676
:so that you don't have to depend on it
from from donors.
677
:It's it would be great.
678
:So we're we're also working to, to, to
grow that thrift store business as well.
679
:Okay.
680
:I'm going to just ask the question on this
because I've heard this before.
681
:Award winning.
682
:Tell us what that means.
683
:There's a couple of different.
684
:Well, actually,
there is a lot at this point.
685
:A lot of different, you know,
top ten lists and that kind of stuff.
686
:One of the most recent ones was
we were in The Oregonian, as,
687
:as one of Portland's ten best nonprofit,
thrift stores.
688
:So there's a concrete answer.
689
:There's a bunch of
there's a bunch of top ten lists.
690
:We keep appearing.
691
:I know that the reason I bring that up
is because I've seen it,
692
:like you say,
in a number of different places.
693
:And and I throw that out there
because a lot of times you'll see
694
:award winning and,
you know, whatever that means.
695
:But you guys really are award winning.
696
:And I think it's important
to point that out. Yeah.
697
:That not just gold remit to 1903.
698
:Like, you know, every beer has that.
699
:And there you are.
700
:You know coming from Nevada,
every buffet was award winning too.
701
:So, you know, you got I,
I got to go through all of that. So.
702
:All right, how does someone donate like
go ahead and give us tell us a little bit
703
:about the specific campaign
you're doing this fall.
704
:And how somebody would
get to your website, donate monetarily.
705
:What is the exact process for that?
706
:You know, the easiest thing like,
I know you're going to you're
707
:going to help us out by by posting a link.
708
:But, you know, people can just
709
:look up William Temple House online
and our campaign page is on our website.
710
:That's probably the easiest.
711
:And then it's,
you know, it's just click and give.
712
:Yeah.
713
:And there's a lot of options,
I know for one time donation or ongoing
714
:and and then your organization,
of course, is a 501 C3.
715
:So there's all the relevant
potential tax deductions
716
:and things that come along with that too.
717
:I would assume there are. Yeah.
718
:And thank you for mentioning
monthly giving.
719
:That is that's a great choice.
720
:If somebody is thinking about,
giving us 100 bucks or
721
:if they would be willing to give us ten
bucks a month, that would be even better.
722
:Yeah.
723
:And and you can do all this
on an automatic setup.
724
:So it's not even like
you have to think about it.
725
:And I think that is one of the,
one of the best things to do.
726
:Because, you know,
we all get busy and you might forget
727
:or you might not want to deal
with the accounting.
728
:So you can just set it up
and it's good to go.
729
:And at the end of the year,
you know what, you donate it.
730
:So I like I like it when it's easy.
731
:We try to we we try to make it easy.
732
:I mean, people are trying to help us
and we don't want it to be hard for them.
733
:And that totally makes sense.
734
:You have outside
of what we've talked about,
735
:are there any other specific needs that
that your organization has this fall?
736
:Well, if anybody is listening
and has a great source of free
737
:or wholesale, eggs or meat
738
:or her, shelf stable milk,
that would be great.
739
:Those are things that we're finding
sometimes even when
740
:we're trying to buy them,
we can't find enough,
741
:available wholesale.
742
:That's probably not a surprise.
743
:I think we've probably all
had the experience
744
:now of going to the grocery store and
745
:for some reason, one week
there aren't any.
746
:There's no milk or there's no, you know.
747
:Yeah. Oh, yeah.
748
:No, it's. Yeah.
749
:Since Covid it's been like that.
750
:I mean the excuse was Covid, but now
it's like it's just still the same thing.
751
:And, and then it seems like
with inflation and stuff,
752
:when you do find eggs
you need an armored car to take them home.
753
:Yeah.
754
:That's why I listed those things.
755
:Those are, those are your things
that people come to the pantry
756
:really seeking, and are the hardest
for us to keep in stock.
757
:You know, you know,
there's a lot of gentleman farmers around.
758
:I say, gentlemen, there could be women,
759
:that have chickens in their backyard,
and sometimes they have extras.
760
:So hopefully, if we have any listeners
who are these kind of people,
761
:maybe they will think of you
and bring their spare eggs over to you.
762
:It would be great.
763
:Yeah. Those are those things.
764
:Or at least those are the things
that we struggle to keep on the shelf.
765
:And then I know people are really.
766
:Well, yeah, I mean, basic staples.
767
:And that's really
what all that comes down to is.
768
:That's what that is.
769
:So all right, on the thrift store side,
770
:do you just take anything and everything
or are there
771
:specific donations you're looking for
and when can people donate?
772
:You can donate whenever the store is open,
which is, every day
773
:Monday, Monday through Sunday,
it's closed.
774
:The only time it's closed
is the third Monday of the month.
775
:That's a lot for people to remember,
but it's on our website if you.
776
:But otherwise, we try to take donations
as long as we're open.
777
:And I say try because occasionally,
778
:we get flooded and we have to put aside,
ask things inside.
779
:But again, we try to be easy to help.
780
:So, you know, if we're open 11 to 7,
781
:we are we?
782
:Our intention is to take donations
whenever anyone comes.
783
:We, we take clothing,
furniture, housewares.
784
:The most valuable things for us
785
:are often women's clothing and furniture.
786
:But again, we are,
so we love to get that stuff.
787
:We are trying to make it easy for people.
788
:And so we, we take a broader range
and we resell a broader range,
789
:clothes and housewares and furniture.
790
:And that's great to kind of
have that across the board.
791
:And and I appreciate you saying that
because, you know, we've all run into the
792
:you know, I want to donate something
that's a great item. I don't know.
793
:We don't take that, you know.
794
:So it's good to know
795
:that you're a place that you're
796
:not going to get disrespected
when you bring something.
797
:You try hard,
you know, the things we can't take.
798
:And and we also spend a lot of time
sorting.
799
:But but we,
800
:we know that people,
if they want to donate their stuff,
801
:they don't want to go to three different,
you know, so we try to make it as easy.
802
:Now. Absolutely.
803
:All right.
804
:So over the next
six weeks here, give or take,
805
:hopefully we can hear back from you
on how things are going.
806
:And we're going to be talking about,
what's going on and updating every week.
807
:And to our own listeners,
if you have any questions
808
:for William Temple House
or anything that like to find out,
809
:go ahead and also go to user friendly
dot show.
810
:Send them in there.
811
:And as we were just talking about,
812
:the link to be able to
donate will be at the top of our website
813
:as well as William temple.org,
which is the website
814
:for your charity, the general website,
and correct me if I'm wrong on that.
815
:That's true. That's right.
816
:Absolutely. Right.
817
:Now that sounds absolutely amazing.
818
:Is there anything else
you want to tell us?
819
:You know, I, I,
we spent a lot of time on food
820
:and that's fair
because Oregon has an official,
821
:you know, food emergency
for November and December.
822
:But, we are seeing very similar things
happening on the counseling side as well.
823
:We're seeing a record number of people
coming to us
824
:looking for mental health support.
825
:We are seeing around 200 clients
right now,
826
:and we have another roughly
100 on our waiting list.
827
:So, you
know, our, our our kind of tagline,
828
:you know, is William Temple House food
counseling and connection.
829
:And we're seeing just
830
:a huge demand for, for all of that
right across the board.
831
:Now, now,
I can only imagine in this time, too.
832
:And, you know, as far as that goes now,
833
:can somebody seek counseling from you
that doesn't have insurance?
834
:I mean, you know, because that's
always a question that comes up. Yes.
835
:And that is how a lot of people end up
coming to us.
836
:We we are free and sliding scale.
837
:Our sliding scale starts at a dollar.
838
:There are plenty of, clients that and
839
:and their clients that, that,
that pay farther up that sliding scale.
840
:But a lot of them are here.
841
:A lot of our clients are here
because they don't have insurance.
842
:Surprisingly, at around
a third of our clients do have insurance.
843
:But you might have run into yourself.
844
:But sometimes
just because you have insurance
845
:doesn't mean you can find a provider
who will accept.
846
:Yeah.
847
:Oh, no.
848
:Never had that, at any time.
849
:Our chasm sign, right?
850
:Yeah.
851
:Yeah, I think that was a shock to me
when I started this job, but
852
:that we are not processing insurance
and yet.
853
:And yet around
a third of our clients are insured.
854
:They just can't find a provider, so.
855
:Yeah.
856
:And it's,
857
:you know, it's a little bit scary
going down that road
858
:because it's it's
both sides of the things.
859
:There's a lot more need for help
860
:and there's a lot, you know, taxes,
anybody that offers these things.
861
:But the thing of it is, is a donate
a dollars go far.
862
:You know, even with the inflation,
everything going on.
863
:And if you know how much it is
just to pay for a counseling,
864
:you know, session straight out,
I know just a donation of
865
:$100 is one session that covers,
you know, the whole thing.
866
:And and so we're not talking about huge
big bucks for some, you know, Fifth Avenue
867
:deal that, you know to get in there
and even walk in the lobby is $1,000.
868
:It actually you get a lot when you donate.
869
:You get a lot of bang for that buck.
870
:Absolutely.
I appreciate you saying that as well.
871
:And then, you know, something else
872
:that I did not say was not,
we are also a training center.
873
:And so we currently have about 15
graduate student interns
874
:in the counseling department.
875
:A lot of our therapy is provided
by those interns overseen
876
:by a more senior, fully licensed,
therapist.
877
:We're really trying to attack the mental
health part of the challenge in Portland.
878
:Both that and so we are treating people's
immediate needs right now.
879
:And we're also helping
educate the next generation
880
:of kind of community focused,
community based mental health workers.
881
:Because,
882
:you know, Oregon ranks
near the bottom of the list.
883
:We are ending on which list?
884
:Either either dead last or 48th
885
:in the country
for access to mental health services.
886
:And so, we're working as fast as we can
to provide mental health services,
887
:but also to help build out
that pool of educated providers.
888
:That Portland needs.
889
:So in you're talking about more of a long
term set up there in it is so important
890
:because if you don't do that well, right,
you have someone today, but people retire
891
:and people move
and different things happen.
892
:And all of a sudden
you don't have the experts anymore.
893
:Yeah, exactly, exactly.
894
:And we we know we can't do it alone.
895
:But that is kind of the shorthand
for us, for our mission
896
:is we want to get Portland
off the bottom of that list.
897
:We you know, I want to be 50.
898
:You know, Portlanders love Portland,
899
:you know, and we should be really upset
that we're at the bottom of that list.
900
:And so we're we're
trying to get up higher,
901
:and that's great.
902
:Well, check out William temple.org
or go to our show website.
903
:User friendly dot show for the links.
904
:All of the information will be there.
905
:Feel free to ask your questions.
906
:And in this season of giving, I know
things are a little tighter this year,
907
:but your help really does go a long way.
908
:Graham, thank you for joining us today.
909
:Gretchen. Bill, thank you both very much.
910
:So there's always two sides to every coin,
it seems.
911
:And while there are a lot of amazing,
real, genuine charities out there
912
:like William Temple House,
913
:it is important to vet
anybody that you would support,
914
:especially if it's somebody that
you're not particularly familiar with.
915
:Now, William Temple House is a 60 year
plus background in Portland
916
:and has been doing their job
effectively for a long time.
917
:It's easy to know that they're real,
but like anything else, this time of year
918
:we get busy and the scammers know that
and they try to separate you
919
:from some of your money, making
you think that is going to a good cause.
920
:There are sites like Charity finder
and you can also, in the United States,
921
:look up on the IRS website
if a charity is registered.
922
:Same thing exists in the UK and in Canada.
923
:So these are some ways to go
about doing it.
924
:Now I would be looking at a charity
and the million other things
925
:I have to do this time of year
and probably wouldn't go out and do that.
926
:So while that might be the smartest way
to do it, let's talk reality.
927
:Go online and check the references
just like you would for a product
928
:you're going to buy or a business
that you're going to support.
929
:And from that, you're going to be able
to get a lot of information.
930
:Is this group real? Is this group genuine?
931
:Look out.
932
:If you want to dig in a little bit more,
how much of
933
:if they are a registered charity,
how much of the contribution goes
934
:to things like administrative costs and
what goes towards the actual goal of it?
935
:Is the charity effective or are they 95%,
you know, to pay somebody's
936
:salary or something like that?
937
:These are all things
that are important to look at,
938
:and if something feels like
it has a red flag, listen to your gut.
939
:And in that case,
if you still want to donate,
940
:then do take the time to do
the further research.
941
:We're seeing a lot of things out there
where it's looking very good.
942
:We talked about AI on the show
all the time,
943
:and something that all of us
have our own opinion on, but with that,
944
:it's allowing the scammers
to look a lot better than they used to,
945
:and it makes it a lot harder
to be able to really know.
946
:You know, it used to be a year ago,
if an email came in, it was a scam.
947
:When you really looked at it,
there would be things that were off
948
:and you could kind of tell
not so much the case anymore.
949
:So if you're going to give money,
if you're going to hire a company,
950
:if you're going to buy something
and it's out of an email that just came
951
:in that solicited or a phone call or
something like that, first of all, don't.
952
:And second of all,
953
:I really do
954
:want to check it out
because there are a lot
955
:of good small businesses out there
online still.
956
:So it's not only go to the big guys,
957
:but go online, find the website
that actually belongs to the company,
958
:service, charity, whatever it is
that you're wanting to look at, support
959
:and check into it using the information
on their actual website.
960
:Don't use anything that came in the email,
that type of a thing.
961
:It's the same rule of thumb that if you
get a name that you know, your Chase visa
962
:card has been charged in $10 million,
and if you don't want to call this number,
963
:there's
probably something wrong with that email.
964
:But if you do want to check it out,
don't call a number in that email.
965
:Go to your Chase credit card.
966
:Look at the number on the back
and use that to contact them.
967
:Same rule of thumb holds
for pretty much any of these sites.
968
:And that being said, there's
a lot of genuine charities out there
969
:that really can use support.
970
:This year that are very good
and very genuine and very worthwhile
971
:to get and help people
that really are in need of help.
972
:Just don't like your dollars.
973
:Go to the wrong guy.
974
:Until next week.
975
:This is user friendly
2.0 keeping you safe on the cutting edge.
976
:Hey everybody, this is
977
:Bill Snodgrass Joe and user friendly
and supporting the people of the Ukraine.
978
:President Zelensky's United 24 campaign.
979
:Help is needed with health care,
980
:de-mining and many, many other things.
981
:You decide where your support goes,
go to user friendly dot show
982
:and click the Ukrainian flag at the bottom
of the homepage for more information.
983
:User Friendly 2.0 Copyright
984
:2013 to 2025 by User Friendly Media Group.
985
:Incorporated. All rights reserved.
986
:Content is the opinion
of the show's participants
987
:and not necessarily this station
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988
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989
:CCPA Privacy Notice for California
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990
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991
:and EU residents and any other feedback
992
:may be submitted at userfriendly.show
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993
:Thank you for listening.