Today, we discuss our eclectic variety of news topics, ACH, and Elastic Pricing.

William Sikkens, BillSnodgrass, and Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to User Friendly 2.0

2

with host Bill Sikkens

technology architect.

3

Hello, hello, this is User Friendly 2.0.

4

As always, I am your host Bill Sikkens.

5

Joining me Gretchen. Bill,

welcome to this week's show.

6

Hello there blue.

7

So what's new and exciting in your world?

8

Anything?

9

Oh, no.

10

Yeah, it's about the same week I've had I.

11

The only thing that I really have

that would be relevant is

12

I got into a bit of a controversy

with vendor that I use over ACH.

13

So we're going to be talking about that

a little later in the episode.

14

And then the second segment,

we are going to be going over

15

elastic pricing and Wi-Fi safety in 2026.

16

So we'll explain all of that

when we get to that point.

17

All right.

What do we have in the news this week.

18

All right.

19

Commodore

fans split over C64 ultimate FPGA

20

firmware lockdown.

21

So what does that mean?

22

Well that's a lot of letters.

23

So. Well okay,

what we're talking about here,

24

and we've had a lot of questions

coming in about this

25

and had to look it up

to figure out what this even was going on

26

is like Atari,

Commodore is back in a new form.

27

So anybody that of our listeners

that was around during that era,

28

which would have been early to mid 80s,

may know what this kind

29

of equipment is,

very first generation home microcomputers.

30

And for weird people like me, I love

working with them in the retro stuff.

31

I love modern technology,

but I like working with the old stuff too.

32

In line with that,

33

it seems like I'm not alone in that,

and it's enough that they are reissuing

34

a lot of this equipment

that was done before.

35

So the Commodore 64 FPGA

36

ultimate is a new system

that looks just like the original,

37

what they called breadboard Commodore 64

is now they do have three versions.

38

One is the beige like that.

39

And then they have another one

called a Founders Edition that's

40

gold, and a third one that lights up

and is kind of really cool.

41

So, you know, it's

whatever the preference is.

42

But being FPGA, it is an emulator,

43

but it's a hardware emulator,

so it works very well.

44

And you can run your cartridges,

you can run your floppy disk drives

45

and all of the other peripherals

and that type of a thing on the system.

46

In fact,

the only thing that I've noticed on them

47

is it doesn't have the user port,

which is like an expansion port.

48

However,

I found out you can get one that's on USB.

49

So one of the first things

you have to talk about is early

50

80s computers did not have USB or I.

51

This one does.

52

But the one advantage to that is, is

53

you can plug it

into a modern monitor television.

54

So that does make it a little bit easier

from that standpoint.

55

Well, what's been happening

is there came out with this

56

and have started shipping them,

and there are people out there

57

that are trying to make firmware for this.

58

That is not the firmware

that comes on the system.

59

So either hack stuff or customized stuff

or whatever the case may be.

60

And being that it is FPGAs,

61

it does use firmware

like a modern computer would,

62

so you update it

and all that kind of stuff.

63

And I don't think

that would be such a big deal,

64

except that users that are screwing up

their computers by doing this

65

in some cases, are expecting Commodore

to honor the warranty,

66

even though they're using

third party software.

67

And that's a problem.

68

They don't have the infrastructure to do

that, right?

69

Yeah, right.

70

So what they're wanting to do

is on the next update,

71

which I think is 1.1 or 1.2 is locked down

a portion of the firmware.

72

And the idea here is not to keep users

from being able to do what they want

73

with their computer,

but is to keep it from getting screwed up.

74

So of course, there's some controversy

about that because there's people

75

saying, well, we want, you know,

complete access and other saying, well,

76

it would be nice to know

that this isn't going to be a problem.

77

And the other thing

78

that I look at it from a standpoint,

because this didn't exist in the days

79

that these originally were made,

but this computer is also online.

80

It has Wi-Fi, which means conceivably

somebody could try

81

to hack the firmware or have a virus

or something like that to, you know.

82

Yeah, I didn't have to worry about that

on my Atari 136,

83

but I guess today you should.

84

So well, isn't wouldn't

the simple evil thing to do

85

would be to get on their computer and say

C colon format or something like that?

86

Well, that works on a DOS machine,

but Commodore okay.

87

Like it's see, if I can remember this,

you would load something

88

universally was load

quote star quote comma eight.

89

That's right.

90

Because for some reason the floppy drive

is the eighth device on the computer.

91

I don't I can't explain that.

92

But it was okay.

93

Now. But it is.

94

It is kind of cool.

95

Now I am a bit of a purist and I'm split

on even having stuff like this,

96

but there is something nice

about being able to get a machine

97

that does what it originally

would have done, but is reliable,

98

and that's one of the big problems

99

old equipment

sometimes is it's just aging out.

100

And we've talked about that in the past,

but it is definitely a thing.

101

And I think it's a kind of cool

to see that we are getting this.

102

And then you have a choice of both.

103

You can try to buy one at a garage sale

or on eBay, or get one of the new ones.

104

And the funny thing about it

is, is the price that a working machine

105

on eBay originally is going for

is about the same price as the new system.

106

So you know, who knows?

107

Well, would you like $100?

108

Sure. Yeah, sure.

109

Here's my checking account and credit

card number so you can send it.

110

Okay.

111

Just kidding on that. But.

112

So what this is, is a settlement.

113

If you are one of the few

handful of people that have used

114

an Android device

115

So there's just a couple of us out there,

I guess.

116

Oh yeah.

117

What's that?

118

So this is a class action settlement.

119

The maximum amount you can get from

it is $100.

120

And it is basically anybody

that has used an Android phone

121

that's been online

through a cellular network.

122

So if you had an Android tablet

that's only been on Wi-Fi,

123

I guess that might not qualify.

124

But check out the settlement website

for the details.

125

And you have to be alive for some reason

that actually is in the list.

126

Oh, okay. So Jeremy can't complain.

127

Yeah, maybe that's what

maybe that's why they're doing it.

128

So you can't like back claim?

129

I don't know, but it does actually say

you have to be alive.

130

And one of the other things is, is

you have to be in the United States.

131

And this particular settlement,

the only state from my understanding,

132

that is not covered by it, is California,

133

because they have their own separate case

that you would register for there.

134

So basically anybody

that has had an Android phone

135

and has been online and used it,

which is most of the world

136

can claim this settlement,

but you do have to go on and register

137

with the settlement administrator

and give them a payment thing

138

like a PayPal or, you know, sending you

a Zelle payment or something like that.

139

So now the one thing that I will

140

just give us a little footnote on

this is we all know

141

that class action suits,

or most of us do a lot of times

142

don't get quite what they tell you,

and you end up getting,

143

you know, a coupon for $0.50 off

at McDonald's instead or something.

144

And the payout of this

is not guaranteed to be $100,

145

and it's based on the number of people

that claim and all that kind of stuff.

146

So, you know, it can be a little bit less.

147

But even if it is, it's still worth doing.

148

Is it legitimate?

149

It's not like a marketing ploy

to collect data from us.

150

No, this is legitimate,

as far as I can tell.

151

And if you want an attorneys

152

thing on

153

this, which I am not on YouTube,

and check out the attorney,

154

Steve Lehto, he did a whole talk on this

where it goes into all of those details.

155

But yes, it is a legitimate settlement.

156

All right.

157

SpaceX has deal for

158

the right or a right to acquire cursor

159

for $60 billion.

160

So what is this cursor?

161

I think number one is

because my understanding this is the only.

162

Right okay. It's not a right. It's

the only right.

163

So that's just context. Right.

164

But basically what's going on here.

165

Well let me actually start by explaining

what cursor is.

166

And no, they're not referring to the thing

that flashes on your screen

167

when you're typing in word

or some person saying foul language.

168

Yeah, that would be

that would be another definition of it.

169

Although I'm

sure some are considering this story.

170

But there is a company that develops AI

for programmers, and I do know about them

171

because I work within that thing and Musk

would like to control this assistance.

172

So basically what's going on

here is a stand the swearing part of it.

173

Yeah.

174

Basically what it is, is controlling

the tools to create programing.

175

So that's why this is going on here.

176

This is a rumor.

177

It's been reported in some outlets

that this is going to happen.

178

It has not been something

I've been able to confirm,

179

but it is out there wide enough

that it's something to be concerned about.

180

And obviously

181

if we find out it's not real or get

more news, we'll be covering that in the

182

coming weeks.

183

But one of the things on this,

and I think that this is the best way to

184

sum it up, is developers are moving

from writing code to directing AI.

185

And in many ways that is true.

186

And in fact, before we started recording

today, we were looking at some stuff

187

from our own dashboard

that we use for producing the show.

188

And as a programmer,

I put the software together,

189

but I am working with

AI to do the layout and design.

190

I'm not good at that

and it did a really nice job

191

in my opinion,

so I can see where this is going.

192

The problem is,

is that current developers,

193

you at least know

what you're getting back.

194

And I have a funny feeling

that developers in the future

195

are not going to know what the code is.

196

I'll just paste it in

and that in of itself can cause problems.

197

That's not a good thing,

just in my opinion.

198

I see Bill,

you're agreeing with me on that.

199

Yeah.

200

But anyway, so yes, that's what it is.

201

And we'll see if SpaceX has this happen.

202

There's a lot of things that can happen

between now.

203

And even if this is a real thing

that they're going to do,

204

we'll see if it actually comes together.

205

Disneyland announces

206

immediate closure of Star Wars

Galaxy's Edge area.

207

Yes, and this has been generating a lot

208

of questions,

because if you look at this headline,

209

you would think what the Disney's

closing Galaxy's Edge, right?

210

Yeah, that's what it sounds like.

211

It kind of makes sense.

212

And it's like one of the most

popular places to get a photo.

213

Yeah. It is. Well, people like it.

214

It's the Star Wars section of Disneyland,

you know? So yeah.

215

Why would they close it? Well,

what happened is, is on April 20th.

216

So this last Monday,

217

Disneyland abruptly blocked off

the Millennium Falcon building in Galaxy's

218

Edge, and the cast members blocked access

to people getting in there,

219

you know, that were guests of the park

and that type of a thing.

220

But what it looks like is happening here

is they're not closing it forever,

221

but they're updating it

and the ride in there is still running.

222

Smugglers run,

I think, is what that's called.

223

But the other part of it is being updated

224

to revert it back to the original first

three movies.

225

Oh, cool.

226

That's what they're doing

227

afterwards to see Darth Vader and,

you know, and a real CIF like Palpatine.

228

But they'll have the characters

from that era in there.

229

So that's what's actually going on here.

230

But the one thing to be aware of

is that part of the park

231

will not be available

if you go visit Disneyland right now.

232

And this is an area

that a lot of people want to see.

233

So check Disneyland's website

to see what's going on.

234

And I do not believe this is affected

235

in any other park,

and I don't even know for sure.

236

Does Disney World have a Star Wars?

237

I don't know, yeah, I don't know what

I think we should take it.

238

Expense paid trip to floral research

for the show.

239

Right? There you are.

240

You know, I've been in there

there in the past, many, many years ago.

241

But that was before

Disney had its claws into Star Wars,

242

so I wouldn't be surprised.

243

It's an accurate way to put it,

although fortunately

244

it looks like the direction

they're going from that standpoint.

245

A lot of fans, including me, are liking

what we're seeing.

246

So yes, the whole thing has been great.

247

Yeah, all things are great.

248

And The Mandalorian and Grogu movie

looks like it's going to be really cool.

249

So, you know,

we'll see what happens. Yeah.

250

All right.

251

New technology is changing

the way Tualatin gets its power.

252

Wallet

in, by the way, is a city in Oregon. Yeah.

253

I was going to say to Walton, Oregon.

254

So this is really kind of cool.

255

There's a lot of potential energy,

256

and sometimes you have to be creative

to get it.

257

Now we see renewable energies

with things like solar and wind

258

and all that kind of stuff,

which can augment the power grid.

259

But in a lot of cases it's not reliable.

260

You know, if there's no wind,

you don't get wind energy.

261

If you don't have sun,

the solar energy can be affected by that.

262

Although I am led to understand

there are some solar panels

263

now that can pick up power at night,

just not as much.

264

But this is an interesting thing.

265

And what they're doing is

266

they're installing turbines,

power turbines into the water mains.

267

So the pressurized water mains

268

as it pushes through the pipe,

which it does already turns the turbines.

269

And now that creates power.

270

And it's not taking more power to push

the water through the pipes to do this.

271

That's noticeable.

272

So I'm going to really love to see where

273

this ends up going,

but it is kind of cool.

274

This is, I think, a take on

something like wave energy, but every city

275

that has a water service,

which is most everybody.

276

Yeah, do something like this.

277

And you would have the investment

and the equipment initially to be able

278

to retrofit your system,

but once you've done it,

279

it is renewable energy that's coming

from a source that you're already

280

expending the energy to put the water

through the pipes in the first place.

281

So I think it's really kind of cool

whoever came up with this,

282

I've got to give kudos to

because it's a neat idea.

283

It's a terrific idea.

284

Why don't space photos ever show stars?

285

NASA's

explanation is simpler than you'd think.

286

Well, it's

because we've never been off the planet.

287

You know, the moon landing was fake.

I've lied to understand that.

288

You don't tell who is Armstrong. That

because you might get punched.

289

Or was it.

290

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's.

291

I think that's it.

292

In any event, you know this.

293

We actually get questions on this

all the time in this particular topic.

294

All the conspiracy

theorists are out there.

295

There's no stars.

296

Well, there's actually

a very good reason for it.

297

And if you've ever taken a picture,

you've probably dealt with this.

298

And it has to do with light

if you're photographing

299

the moon or the Earth, which is bright

300

and the stars are much dimmer

in the background,

301

they're not going to show up

302

because you're going to be focused

in on the object and the primary area.

303

You could try to do both,

but it makes it blurry.

304

And on that, from the Artemis mission

that just happened,

305

there are pictures of the stars

in the background,

306

which are photographed

when the foreground object is not bright.

307

So they are really out there, you know,

308

now, the moon landing again,

I do have to say was completely faked.

309

But the one thing is, is the reality.

310

They wanted to film it on location.

311

So, you know,

I keep thinking about the Star Trek

312

episode where they are on you to,

you know,

313

I'm trying to remember the correct title

of the episode.

314

It's something about something

about climbing

315

to the top of the mountain,

and I can touch the sky.

316

I remember that Star Trek. Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

317

And now that would be the case

if you traveled out to the Dyson Sphere

318

or Planet Nine.

319

But we'll talk about that later. Yeah.

320

Okay.

321

NASA shuts off instrument on Voyager

322

one to keep spacecraft operating.

323

Yeah.

324

So it's a what, was Star

Trek a five year mission initially,

325

I think I think so, yeah.

326

Well, I believe that Voyager one

and two were a three year mission

327

when they started.

It was somewhere in that range.

328

And we are well beyond that threshold now.

329

But they are powered by a reactor.

330

And as time goes by, the reactor

331

generates less power

just because it's running out of fuel.

332

Essentially, there's a much better

explanation for that, I know, but that's

333

that's essentially a 10,000ft view.

334

So as time has been going on

and the fact that the Voyager spacecraft

335

has been continuing to operate

336

and are still in communication with Earth

and are now the only man

337

made objects that are actually outside

of our solar system in interstellar space.

338

Keeping them going,

at least to some extent, is a big deal.

339

So short of being able to run

a service call or asking the Roswell

340

Grays to do it for us or something,

shutting off equipment,

341

we'll prolong the life

a little bit longer.

342

So they've been shutting off instruments.

343

There was a plan to do this

that was put together.

344

Well, what happened on Voyager one is

they were doing some routine

345

work on it and it went almost

went into low power shutdown.

346

Something happened.

347

So it was decided to speak up,

turning off this last instrument

348

that they were going to do,

which is the CP.

349

And what that instrument is for is

350

detecting low

energy charged particles or less.

351

See the acronym makes sense.

352

Gretchen I'll do.

353

And this is actually been something

that's been pretty much running straight

354

for 49 years,

which is time since one launch.

355

So they're keeping one other instrument

going.

356

And the other thing they have to do

is keep the spacecraft heated enough

357

so it doesn't freeze,

because I'm led to understand

358

it is very cold and interstellar space.

359

So I haven't checked it out for myself.

360

I don't know,

but that's what I've been told. So.

361

Oh my.

362

Okay.

363

Well all right, well, let's

go back to Earth here and talk ACH for

364

a little while.

365

And where this came up is

we have a storage unit.

366

And the storage unit

decided that they're going to charge 1.5%.

367

If you want to continue

paying with a credit card

368

to try to get people to use ACH.

369

And I believe that stands for Automated

Clearing House.

370

Oh, I don't like the sound of that.

371

What ACH is, is basically

an electronic version of a check.

372

Now, anybody that's been a long time

listener knows how I feel about checks.

373

I'm a little shocked

that we still have them,

374

you know,

375

so the rest of the world

has gotten rid of them

376

because you give somebody

a check, your handing them your account

377

number, tracking or routing number,

signature address.

378

Yes. Yeah.

379

All that stuff. Yeah.

380

And that is a bit insecure.

381

Plus you can just print checks on your

laser printer and everybody knows that.

382

So making these things up

isn't that terribly difficult to do.

383

So ACH is an electronic version of it.

384

Now I will give it that.

385

It is safer than sending a check

through the mail.

386

However, in order to sign up for ACH,

387

you have to provide the company

that you're going to pay.

388

With ACH, you're checking account number,

address, routing number, etc., etc.

389

right? And

390

well, there's not a check in the mail

that's going to get stolen.

391

The concern

392

I have about these things is what happens

when that payment processor gets hacked.

393

Because keep in mind, most businesses

do not actually run their own credit

394

card transactions. I would say 99% don't.

395

They contract out with a third party

bank to do that before them.

396

And these places are very much targets

because they have financial access to

397

our credit cards and everything else.

398

But here's the big deal on that.

399

If someone steals your credit card

number and runs the card up, it's not real

400

money in the sense that it's not actually

taking money out of your bank account.

401

That's your paycheck

that you use to pay the power.

402

And the credit card

people are kind of like keeping an eye

403

on these things actively,

because this is what happens.

404

So they're watching it.

405

And and when you deal

with your checking account,

406

while there are ways to get money

recovered, it's a hassle.

407

You are not going to have access

to your money for at least a little while,

408

which means your other checks for months.

409

Yeah, exactly.

410

And a lot of online

bill pay also uses a check,

411

but it's a different kind

lot to do electronic two.

412

But the checking version of that,

413

since kind of a generic check

that's drawn on an account from the bank.

414

So that does not actually send out

your personal checking account number.

415

However, it is funded by your account.

416

So if you send one of those out

or have automatic payments or whatever,

417

and all of a sudden your account

has no money in it, you're going to start

418

having bounce fees and overdraft

and all of that kind of thing.

419

And banks generally have a lot

420

less time that you have to make

the claim under your account.

421

So if you don't keep an eye on it,

which everybody should, it's your money.

422

You should check on it.

I do mine at least once a week.

423

I'll be sitting on hold or something.

424

Just check in to make sure that you know

everything looks pretty normal.

425

And to that end, I strongly advise

doing that because a lot can happen.

426

But anytime you're giving information

for direct access to your real money,

427

I personally would recommend against that

because I do not consider it safe now.

428

Yeah, they could just pull it out.

429

Exactly.

430

All of it,

and eventually they'll get hacked.

431

I mean, the thing of it is that's not an

if it's a win really.

432

So at the end of the day,

that is why I have concerns

433

about dealing with stuff in this way.

434

Looking to have another point.

435

What if what if it's not the hackers

that's the problem?

436

What if it's the company

that you're working with?

437

Years ago, I had a dial up account

438

where they would not accept my.

439

I didn't want

440

to have their services anymore,

but they kept charging my credit card.

441

So what the bank did was

get rid of the credit card.

442

They killed the card

to stop this, this so-called provider.

443

And what happens if they just keep

stealing money out of your own?

444

It's not like you can just, you know.

445

And even if you could get it back,

you're still looking at months

446

and you're still looking at having

to close the account to set it over,

447

you know?

448

Yeah. Which can be a lot of hassles

and of itself.

449

And let me tell you

a little story on that,

450

because these type of things do happen.

451

This is a story from a cruise line

out of Florida.

452

I'm not going to mention the names

453

because it's not relevant,

but there was a couple on the cruise

454

that had bought the prepaid meal plan

and were having dinner,

455

and they had an American Express card

connected for other charges on the boat.

456

Right.

457

So they go and they placed a tip

and the my understanding,

458

the person that ran it,

instead of putting in the tip amount

459

and they were going to leave a big tip

because the service was great,

460

but instead of putting it

in the tip amount,

461

they accidentally entered the ID number

of the couple on the boat

462

as the amount that was going to be paid,

which got like $90,000 or something.

463

So here this goes through and authorizes

this amount on their American Express

464

card. Eyes up the card.

They can't use it anymore.

465

But it had that been like a debit card

or ACH, it would have withdrawn

466

that money from their account

or at least locked it up, you know. So.

467

Yeah, I don't know.

468

You got to be careful.

You got to keep your eye on things.

469

You got to be vigilant,

especially in this day and age.

470

But anytime

I can avoid giving a third party

471

my financial information

like that, I'm going to do it.

472

And in a few seconds here, you might ask,

why are they doing that?

473

Well, ACH

474

does not have the fees like credit cards

due to the business to be able to accept

475

the payment. So that's

why we're seeing it pushed for a lot.

476

But again,

think about it before you do it.

477

This is user friendly 2.0.

478

We'll be back after the break.

479

He's from the future.

480

He's got a really big computer

481

and he uses it uses it every day

482

and uses it uses it in every way.

483

What you use it for, you know, I'm

not that sure because he is here.

484

Welcome back.

485

This is user friendly 2.0.

486

Check out our website at User

Friendly Show.

487

It is your one stop for everything

user friendly.

488

And now through the end of May

we're running a special little promotion.

489

Go to our site by the Cyber Hawk book

or by Nights Journal

490

by Gretchen here and use the word

cyber Hawk

491

and Amazon will give you $5 off,

so it's definitely worth

492

checking out and say, you know,

493

you know, I was really shocked.

494

The books are expensive.

495

Well, the books are also quite thick.

496

And that's true. Yeah.

497

You're not you're not getting

some tiny little flimsy thing.

498

Yeah.

499

And if you like the eReader, like Kindle,

they're available on that for

500

I think ten bucks. So it's you know,

you can get it that way too.

501

But it's definitely worth checking out.

502

And again, right through the website

and you'll save yourself some money.

503

I highly recommend it.

504

It's completely my unbiased opinion.

505

All right, on the note,

506

I'm completely biased.

507

Like, you know, sarcasm sign, right?

508

Yeah, sorry.

509

Generally speaking,

510

it is the rest of the world

that seems to be appreciating this too.

511

I know you've gotten some feedback

from people that are,

512

you know, somewhat negative about it,

513

but the majority of your feedback

apparently is very positive.

514

So that's a cool thing,

and it actually is worth the read.

515

The people I know that have read it

have enjoyed it and Night School Journal

516

and then The Cyber Hawk Rise of Heroes

are two very different stories,

517

both set in the same universe,

but they're fun ones.

518

A coming of age novel and the other ones

sci fi, where you get to play

519

with all this high tech

and be a cyborg and thing.

520

So topic I kind of like.

521

So yeah, there you are.

522

All right, on to what

we are going to talk about today.

523

We've got listener questions

that have come in on both of these topics.

524

So again

like I say user friendly dot show.

525

Let us know what you want to hear.

Because that's where we get this stuff.

526

And the first one

is something called elastic pricing.

527

All right I don't like the sound of that.

528

That sounds bad.

529

What would you think something like that

is just just that plastic pricing

530

that they'll just make it more expensive

on their whim.

531

Just I don't know, I've you crazy

I don't know, I'm not mistaken.

532

It's where they're pricing things

based on location or personal information.

533

Yeah.

534

And time of day even.

535

So, what's going on here is basically

what Bill just said is they have these

536

electronic price tags on the shelves now,

and you'll see a lot of them.

537

I know up here

538

the Kroger store has it read Myer, Home

Depot has them and a lot of others.

539

Now part of why they would do that is it

saves staff

540

time to be able to change prices

when they need to.

541

So I understand that,

but they can also be changed on the fly.

542

So some of the things that are going on,

or at least some of the concerns are,

543

is that one of the rumors

544

that's out there is their pricing based

on some kind of facial recognition thing.

545

If you walk up to the display,

it raises the price.

546

If they think you can spend more.

Now that is a rumor.

547

They're not doing that, at least not yet.

548

But they are doing things

like surge pricing.

549

So you go into the store one time a day,

and the prices will be different

550

than if you win

in another time of day, stuff like that,

551

you know?

552

So I have to dress like a hobo

in order to go shopping.

553

No, no.

554

Okay, again, it's not anything like that,

but it is the time of day.

555

It is what's happening.

556

If their inventory levels go low,

it can automatically raise the price.

557

You know, stuff like that.

558

Expiration dates.

559

This is one.

560

If it gets closer, it can lower the price,

which is not a term you use associated

561

with. It's always about raising the price,

you know.

562

But that is one thing.

563

So if they wanted to

564

sell something quickly and then demand

if something gets real busy,

565

like they're selling a lot of this one

item, like, say,

566

air conditioners here in the Pacific

Northwest in the beginning of the year.

567

Well, as the demand goes up, it can

automatically raise the prices for those.

568

And since it's an automated system,

it will know at the checkout

569

what the price is on the shelf. So

570

it literally could change from where

you picked it up.

571

Yeah it could, it could.

572

Yeah okay.

573

That's very deceptive.

574

And yeah, I could see that,

575

you know, having bad results.

576

It is.

577

And it's, you know,

one of those types of situations.

578

So basically again,

what you're dealing with here is that

579

the prices are not changing based

on who is standing in front of the shelf.

580

I could see them trying that,

but that's not the case right now.

581

Camera sees you, prices go up

so you don't have to dress like a hobo.

582

As you say,

you will be able to get lower prices.

583

At least they deny

that they're doing this.

584

And regulators,

585

I think, would step in on that one

because that would be a little bit

586

not so nice.

587

But there's

probably rules against that too.

588

However, where this is going

589

and what we're seeing as retailers

are investing heavily in AI pricing

590

systems, loyalty

apps are getting more personalized.

591

Digital things

remove the friction of changing prices.

592

Now that last one,

I can kind of understand

593

going through a store

and changing all the price tags.

594

That would take a lot of human time,

so you can avoid that.

595

That makes a lot of sense.

596

It also see things like targeted discounts

of one store targets a specific item

597

for a discount just in that store

or during a certain time period,

598

these kind of things.

599

And then app based

pricing that differs from in-store tags.

600

That's another one too.

601

And we're already seeing that.

602

I mean, if you go online and order

something, we do the click pick thing

603

where you put your grocery order in online

and then you go pick it up

604

and they blow it into your trunk.

605

And I have noticed that the prices

are different there than other things.

606

Now, one of the other questions that's

coming into this is loyalty programs.

607

And this isn't

directly related to this topic, because

608

this is something

that's always been out there.

609

When you run your loyalty card,

they know what you bought.

610

In fact, a lot of places

put that online now and you can see

611

I can see what I bought for groceries

five years ago at Smith's and Merino.

612

Right.

613

So not that I would need that,

but it's out there

614

and they use this type of information

to target the specials they send you in.

615

That kind of a thing.

616

Now, I haven't had an objection to that

because it's the products

617

I buy and I get coupons or whatever

the case may

618

be to be able to use for that,

but it makes sense.

619

You know, what I don't like

620

is when they sell that data

and believe me, they do to third parties.

621

So, you know, it's an interesting thing.

622

In fact, there was a law and order done

about this type of a topic

623

a number of years ago,

and it was based on a true story in that

624

there was a stalker stalking this woman,

and they knew, you know,

625

what kind of toothpaste she bought,

what kind of,

626

you know, all these different things.

627

And it came out well, how would they know

that even if they were watching her?

628

You can see some stuff.

629

Well,

the hackers had gotten into the computer

630

that had her loyalty card

so they could see exactly what she bought

631

when she bought it, when she was shopping,

you know, all that kind of stuff.

632

So again, the story that is they did

it is fiction, but it was based on

633

something that actually did happen.

634

And, you know, like we said in the first

half, it's not about

635

if they're going to get hacked, it's about

when is it will happen.

636

So these type of things,

but it isn't even so much that last week

637

we talked about the DMV

selling your personal data.

638

Same thing with loyalty programs.

639

And you know, if you lose your login

or something, a lot of times it's okay.

640

What's your name?

What's your date of birth?

641

Maybe some other bit of information.

642

What's your address?

643

Well, if someone has that information

from the loyalty card

644

or your driver's license or wherever

they got it, they're going to have that.

645

And with the credit bureaus

646

being hacked, most of that information

is already on the dark web, which

647

and sometimes has better customer service

than the websites on the regular web.

648

So I've been told by a friend. Right. But

649

but in all

650

seriousness, it is a huge problem.

651

And I think the worry that creates

these type of things is, is

652

stuff keeps going more and more digital is

could they eventually do this?

653

We were talking about the idea

654

that airlines were changing ticket

pricing based on the device you are using.

655

And while they steadfastly deny this,

and I wasn't able to find any evidence

656

that that was the case,

657

I could find that where you were

buying the tickets, like physically,

658

your geolocation would change the price

and other things like that.

659

But I do know as a programmer

660

you can tell what your user is using

the browser website.

661

That's a function

that's been there for a very long time.

662

And what it's supposed to be used for

is formatting the page

663

so it fits the screen size, stuff

like that.

664

Exactly.

665

But, you know, it's

certainly not something that any bad guy

666

would look at and go, hey,

I can use this for nefarious reasons.

667

So the idea that there would be

a concern of these things

668

to do that, actually do that and deploy

that in a store would take more,

669

because you would have

to have facial recognition

670

and you have to have it

tied to some system

671

where they could look up who you were

and these type of things.

672

But, you know,

it wouldn't be impossible to do that.

673

It really wouldn't.

674

And I don't know, you know, I love

675

technology, I love

I love the new stuff, like I say,

676

but there are some

things here where you do get

677

a situation

that's going to be kind of scary.

678

So what happens now? Dynamic pricing.

679

So if you shop between 3 and 5,

just making this up at three and 5 p.m.

680

somewhere, the prices are going

to be higher because they're busier.

681

And then after prime time

it goes lower to do that.

682

You know, and I know the pushback on these

things has been pretty negative.

683

Uber surge pricing is one of those things

that causes problems,

684

especially when there's an emergency and

everybody needs to get out of someplace.

685

And now they start charging you more

because more people are using the service.

686

Right.

687

So pushback will be the best way

688

to keep places

from doing this kind of stuff.

689

And it has worked in some cases.

690

As far as I know, we don't have to pay

to use the heated seats in a BMW

691

or the key fob on a Toyota's remote start,

that kind of a thing.

692

But these are all things

693

that these companies had wanted to charge

a subscription for, or additional money,

694

or that kind of a thing that people

making enough of a fuss push back on.

695

So, you know, it's just interesting

to see where this goes.

696

What do you guys think of that?

697

Are you ready to have facial recognition

at a store and how the prices change?

698

I think I'm going

to wear my mission anywhere.

699

I think

I'm going to wear my Mandalorian helmet.

700

I think we should all go in

Mandalorian helmets

701

that would go into a bank

or a casino like that.

702

You probably bad things might happen.

703

So yeah, you know, now, one thing

I will tell you that's

704

a little bit scary on this too, is

we covered this last year,

705

but at one point Home

Depot was having videos taken of people

706

using the automated checkouts

and was using facial recognition.

707

So if you log in

like I have my extra military thing,

708

it would actually have been able

to put my picture with my account.

709

Oh, now if I go online

it knows more information.

710

Now, I haven't seen them doing anything

711

nefarious with it,

but I don't like them having that at all.

712

You know? Yeah, it's kind of creepy.

713

In a few weeks,

we're going to be doing an episode

714

on all the places where there's cameras

and what they do.

715

This will be in there again.

716

But some of the other stuff

we've talked about,

717

like lock cameras and stuff,

it's getting downright weird.

718

And we're going to happen.

719

Is it just here in the United States

or is it in other countries as well?

720

Oh no. Oh no.

721

Surveillance states

are all over the world, I think the UK.

722

Yeah, I don't know if we still have,

but they had a record of having

723

the most cameras per person

or something like that in London.

724

Yeah,

I had a friend complaining about that.

725

We're feeling concerned. Yes.

726

It's a valid concern if everything you do

from when you leave your house to

727

when you get back is videoed

and recorded somewhere,

728

that really is not a good thing.

729

I don't think I'd make a very exciting

what is it?

730

Was the character's name Truman in that

movie Truman Show, the Truman show?

731

I'm sorry,

I'm not really that interesting.

732

Don't watch me no fall asleep.

733

Let's say, as a for example,

you drive to work,

734

you go to a store, you know,

a couple times a week, drive home.

735

Now all of a sudden, the ads on your phone

or for that store

736

and normally go there

and with some of the stuff Ford's

737

patented, it's a forced commercial

738

on your car infotainment system

when you drive by the place.

739

Wouldn't

you like to come in today for this deal?

740

Not doing it right now, but is it possible

they filed the patent for it?

741

So yeah, it's possible.

742

It's possible.

743

So next listener question that came in

that is something

744

important is securing Wi-Fi.

745

Now this is not anything new.

746

Wi-Fi has been out for a year or two.

747

I'm led to understand

and maybe a little longer than that.

748

And public Wi-Fi

as a result has been out there.

749

You go to Starbucks or the airport or,

you know, nice hotel or something.

750

It's all

751

offer a Wi-Fi network, you know?

752

And the problem is, is these open

753

networks have a situation where

754

when you're on them, so are the bad guys,

and it's an open network.

755

So your security,

if you don't have things set up properly

756

on a shared untrusted network, is a thing.

757

So the common risks you have on

758

that is something

called a man in the middle attack,

759

which means you going to a website

and it's working just fine.

760

But someone's injected themselves

into that data stream,

761

so they're seeing what you're doing,

762

getting your credit card number,

all that kind of stuff.

763

Fake Wi-Fi hotspots.

764

This is a big deal.

765

And with Wi-Fi seven out

now, it's an even bigger deal.

766

So what will happen

is you'll go to the airport

767

and you'll have a Wi-Fi network.

768

They're called the airport,

you know, whatever.

769

And somebody has a router

running on Wi-Fi seven or even six.

770

It's probably more powerful

than what they have there.

771

They plug it in somewhere,

sitting there with the same name.

772

Now you're connecting to their network.

773

You have the routing setup, right?

774

It'll still go out to the internet

775

and that type of a thing, but

they can see everything that you're doing

776

and that can lead to malware injection,

other things like that.

777

So how do you

778

how do you

779

check your phone to see

if it's got malware on it?

780

How do you work to protect your device?

781

Now one option is prey,

782

but something a little more

that you can figure out right now,

783

and that doesn't require

divine intervention.

784

There are some things you can do

in answer to your question to figure out

785

if there's malware on the phone

or the tablet or your laptop.

786

Some of the things you look for

are the device suddenly slows down,

787

or you have performance issues

that kind of a thing, or you open your web

788

browser and it's always forced

to some specific third party website.

789

Those are some signs

of that type of thing.

790

But it gets kind of scary

because if you have good programmers,

791

they can do keyboard tracking.

792

That kind of a thing.

793

I know on a phone it's a touch screen,

but it's the same idea

794

where everything you key in

795

there is sent to a third party site,

and if the software is written

796

correctly, it's not going to necessarily

slow down your phone.

797

But if weird things start happening,

798

that's one thing

that you would want to look at.

799

And if you start thinking

there's a problem with it, check with your

800

cell phone provider like your Verizon

or whatever is one place to start.

801

And then when they don't know

802

what you're talking about,

there are programs like malware bites

803

and some other things that are available

on mobile platforms as well as desktops.

804

Now, anti-virus software,

all that kind of stuff.

805

Now, my thing with all of that is

I used to be very, very specific

806

on running, you know, like Norton

Antivirus or one of these systems.

807

I have found that on the new versions

of windows, Windows Defender

808

does a pretty nice job,

and it's as good as the third party one,

809

and it doesn't have the footprint

that slows down.

810

Your computer on

your phone is a little bit different now.

811

The operating systems,

812

whether it's Android or iPhone,

do have this technology built in.

813

We've seen even recently

where there's a zero day update

814

because they've found a problem

in our exploiting it,

815

and they push the update out.

816

And one of the bigger problems

817

with mobile devices, especially on

the Android side, is your updates

818

might come out from Google, but

might not be approved by the cell phone

819

provider or the company

that makes the phone for a few weeks.

820

So you get a delay

on getting these things in.

821

So your Google Pixel, which is a Google

phone, will get updated before

822

your Samsung Galaxy or whatever,

you know, and that can be a problem.

823

So some of the other things

you can do to try to avoid getting malware

824

in the first place is don't install creepy

apps.

825

And I will say

826

Apple's a little bit more secure

on their distribution than Android is.

827

But malware apps are out there

on both systems, and if you go out there

828

and get an app that you know,

we're going to pay you money

829

for every website you visit or every game

you play or something like that,

830

probably something to be suspicious of.

831

And while there are legitimate things

for this type of thing,

832

don't just install it.

833

Take the time, read the reviews,

make sure there are reviews.

834

And it wasn't just

835

launched a week ago or something,

because that's another thing to look at.

836

All of that kind of stuff.

837

And the other thing of it

is, is the basic stuff that we use now

838

still works with this.

When you go to a website,

839

make sure the padlock is

on the browser and it's Https

840

from times.

841

The browsers don't always show that

anymore, but the padlock will be there.

842

Insecure sites are a bad thing

and most major sites enforce it.

843

A lot of browsers

will give you all kinds of warnings

844

if it's not secure,

but they all don't do that.

845

And sometimes there's ways

to get around that.

846

Do you want to do that?

847

If you happen to be using a site

that doesn't use HTTP

848

or shows the s, I can say that really

849

or doesn't

show the padlock, don't enter passwords,

850

certainly don't enter credit card numbers,

and probably just don't use the site.

851

And if it's a real vendor and it's 2026

and they still have something like that,

852

I would call and complain

853

because that would be really something

where they're not keeping up with it.

854

Now, one of the better

things that you can do is using a VPN,

855

and this will solve a lot of problems

because the data is encrypted

856

over the VPN,

as long as it's a legitimate VPN.

857

ExpressVPN, NordVPN, proton.

858

There's a lot of different companies

like that that will put that out there.

859

Even Eero the manufacturers, the Wi-Fi

860

seven devices by Amazon

has a VPN available on their plus service.

861

You do pay for it, but I know Nord for me

is like not a lot of money

862

for three years.

I want to say like 40 bucks or something.

863

It wasn't expensive.

864

And when I travel internationally,

I like to have it too,

865

because I can get to things

that would be locked out.

866

You know, from that standpoint, if

the VPN is free, you know, free is nice.

867

It's not really free.

868

You're the product.

869

And I would stay away from anything

like that, you know.

870

So the other thing that is something

that I really didn't think about.

871

And so I started researching

this is turn off the auto reconnect

872

or the auto join function

on your phone or public network.

873

So your home network, you can have that on

or a secured network at work.

874

That's fine.

875

But if you're at Starbucks,

don't have that turned on

876

because it will auto reconnect

877

and you might not know what's doing it,

you might park in the parking lot

878

and it picks up the signal,

something like that.

879

So we're just wanted to look

for this particular feature, okay.

880

The way to get to

it is different on the different phones

881

iPhone versus Android

and some androids are different.

882

But what you're looking for is your Wi-Fi

settings, oh, Wi-Fi settings.

883

Can you get into that?

884

And it'll give you a list

of the remembered networks,

885

and you can look through it,

and you might be kind of surprised

886

at how many are actually in there,

especially now when you get new devices

887

and they import the data

from the old ones. So it's not even reset.

888

Really keeps that information and delete

anything out of there that you don't need.

889

Now, one of the other things to do

is also try to avoid the fake networks.

890

We talked about that a little bit earlier,

891

but ask a staff member

for the actual name of their Wi-Fi.

892

And I actually had this happen once.

893

I was at a Starbucks and the network

was Starbucks, so was spelled wrong.

894

The actual network was Starbucks

and somebody was actively doing it.

895

This was a couple of years ago and I did

turn it in, but that type of thing

896

is very easy to do,

especially if you get busy, you know?

897

And if you're on a iPhone,

turn off AirDrop

898

and on both types of phones, turn off file

sharing and network discovery.

899

These options will also be something

that people can get in on.

900

One other thing to think about

901

when you're on a public Wi-Fi

network is do not use the network.

902

If you're

903

going to put in financial information,

like logging into your bank account

904

or using credit cards,

turn the network off for that point.

905

Use the cellular connection,

which will be more secure

906

because it's not a thing, and then

you can turn it back on afterwards.

907

And finally, like we were alluding to

earlier, keep your phone updated.

908

Both operating systems

benefit from that sometimes.

909

You can't always get them updates

right away, but you do want to do it.

910

And when an update comes

in, don't pause it for two weeks.

911

I've been guilty of that myself

because it's like it's not good right now.

912

I'll do it later

and then it gets the late.

913

Eventually it will force it,

but at the end of the day,

914

you do want to get those in there

as quickly as you can.

915

And finally,

this isn't just open Wi-Fi networks,

916

but it's good advice is set up.

917

Multi-factor authentication.

918

Boy, this saved us on Facebook

about a year ago.

919

I know I've talked about that in the past,

but one of the people that works with us

920

got this message from Facebook

that your account is performed

921

a crime or something that violated

their policy or whatever it is,

922

and you need to go here and appeal it,

or it's going to be deleted at some point.

923

So our staff member did,

and the bad guys had set up a very,

924

very authentic looking site,

and it caused us to rethink

925

our training a little bit more,

because when it got to

926

asking for the password,

that should have been a clue.

927

It is now.

928

But you know, we all learn

even the best people can can get hacked.

929

And I started getting all of these texts

that your MFA code is this your MFA code?

930

Is this for Facebook?

931

And they were trying to go in and get in

and change the password

932

and hijack the account,

which is a very common thing to do.

933

So, you know, at the end of the day, two

934

for even though

sometimes it's a little bit of a pain,

935

you can do that.

936

And one of the other things is if you

travel a lot, get a personal hotspot.

937

Now, I hadn't worked with these before,

938

but when we did the robots at the Stem

presentation,

939

I needed a network

that when I had the robots

940

not on my network at the lab,

they would still work

941

and I didn't want to have

to reconfigure them at the school.

942

That would have taken too long.

943

So I bought this little mini router.

944

It was about 40 bucks

and it creates its own network.

945

And with that, you can connect it to the

hotspot on your phone for internet access.

946

You can connect it to

947

a network that you would have

that's Wi-Fi that you know is secure.

948

Or you if you don't need the internet

like we did with the robots,

949

you can just run it for that.

950

But what ends up happening is all of your

devices that are connected to your

951

private hotspot or your personal network

952

stay connected, and the only place

that you have to make a change

953

is on the one unit to go in and tell it's

okay to connect

954

to this network or that type of thing,

or just uplink through your phone.

955

Most cell phone providers now,

if you're traveling, especially,

956

offer unlimited or very inexpensive data

for doing that type of a thing.

957

And whatever the cost is, it's

well worth having the extra security. So.

958

All right. Have I scared you guys at all?

959

Not really.

960

I'm concerned, but, you know, that's good.

961

Yeah, it's it's stuff to think about.

962

And it's unfortunate

because a lot of this attacks

963

the features that are in these devices

964

that are supposed to make them easier

to use, things like the auto reconnect,

965

you know, it's a nice thing

to be able to do.

966

And again, if you're on a secure network,

it's fine to use that.

967

But a public network, be careful.

968

I know Gretchen going to the hospital

was another place

969

that you were mentioning

before we started recording,

970

where it's an auto reconnect thing.

971

And is the hospital network going

to be secure when when you get on it?

972

At least when I've seen

that you have to accept the terms.

973

Yeah. And it's something.

974

But that's not secure in the network.

975

That's just securing the terms.

976

It's still an open network. Exactly.

977

And conditions or not.

978

And the other thing of it is, is

979

even if it asks for a password

through a browser, when you connect,

980

not connecting to the Wi-Fi

and putting in a Wi-Fi

981

password, but a password to like, log

in, I've seen that.

982

And even those type of things

are still an open network.

983

It's just they're securing

so that you can't get free

984

access, usually have to pay them,

or to be a member of a program or whatever

985

the case may be,

where you can get the password for it.

986

So unfortunately,

it is definitely something to where

987

maybe it's not as convenient,

but it would be less

988

convenient to have to figure out

getting your money back

989

and your banking account

and that type of thing. Until next week.

990

This is user friendly 2.0 keeping

you safe on the cutting edge.

991

User friendly 2.0.

992

Copyright 2013 to 2026 by User

993

Friendly and Media Group incorporated.

994

All rights reserved.

995

The content is the opinion

of the show's participants and does

996

not necessarily reflect this station

or platform.

997

Requests for material use, interviews,

disclosures,

998

and other correspondence may be viewed

999

and submitted at userfriendly.show.