Join us this week for our annual holiday light technology show. We have access to the same tech that ran amusement parks a few years ago - right at your house.

The team attended the Rose City Comic Con and had a wonderful time. We discuss the highlights in the second segment.

Bill offers his review of Age of Viking Companion.

William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to

2

user Friendly 2.0 with host Bill Sikkens,

3

Technology Architect.

4

And this is User Friendly 2.0.

5

Welcome to this week's show!

6

Bill, Gretchen welcome.

7

We got a lot to cover this week.

8

I was out of town last week,

which is why we had the clip show,

9

including the summer Q&A,

which was interesting

10

because that seems to have generated

a lot more questions.

11

So keep them coming at user friendly

dot show.

12

But I was out of town

and I got to get another

13

go at the gravity jet suit, and I'm

going to be talking about that next week.

14

It was absolutely amazing.

15

Although I think I've said that every time

I've tried it.

16

So that hasn't changed.

17

Yep. This time

18

I actually managed to get off the ground

and stay off the ground and not crash.

19

So it was it was an interesting thing.

20

So that's coming up next week.

21

This week we're going to be diving

into a couple of things.

22

We just got to go to the Rose City

23

Comic Con

which is a comic con in Portland, Oregon

24

that's held

25

I used to think it was at the end of the

summer, but I guess it's in September now.

26

I think some of these dates may have moved

around a little bit, but great show.

27

We're going to be talking a little bit

about what we saw there,

28

and we're going to be doing our annual

holiday light show,

29

a lot of new technology

coming up in that department

30

that we're going

to be going over this week.

31

And at the end of this segment, Bill,

32

you're going to be covering Age of Vikings

the Companion.

33

So we'll talk a little bit more about what

that is when the time comes.

34

But let's go ahead and just jump right in.

35

What do we have in the news.

36

All right.

37

The reaction to Sony's announcement

to eliminate

38

physical media is not positive.

39

Yeah, to put it mildly.

40

I, I don't know how else to,

to really say that.

41

So for anybody that hasn't heard

what happened is Sony made an announcement

42

that they're going to stop producing

anything on physical media

43

at the end of 2027,

44

that that is supposed to happen, and

45

people have not been real happy

about it for obvious reasons.

46

This has been a kind of a issue

47

that I've had

with digital distribution of media anyway.

48

But given a choice,

there are many people that prefer

49

to just use the digital side of things,

and that's fine if it's your choice.

50

But what they want to do is take that away

51

from everybody and say, hey,

the only way that you can get software,

52

games, updates, whatever the case may be,

is through digital download.

53

Now, this has a couple of things

that it creates is number one,

54

if I go and buy software a game,

whatever the case may be.

55

I have that

I can install it on my system.

56

I can give it to a friend, I can use it

as a cup holder, you know, but it's mine.

57

It's a physical thing

that is something that you own.

58

And my understanding with the digital

media is you cannot resell your games.

59

You cannot do anything other than once

they're installed.

60

That's kind of it.

61

And Bill, am I wrong on that?

62

Is it possible to transfer the license?

63

No. Yeah.

64

You know, it seems like you should

get like it for half price or something.

65

If you don't get a box, you know,

sometimes it's actually more.

66

Yeah, I've run into that

where the digital version actually costs

67

more than the physical copy of something,

for whatever reason.

68

And while it is true that a lot of games

now are kind of a point of entry,

69

you put it in

and then it downloads a bunch of stuff

70

anyway, is

what they call a zero day update.

71

But you still have a physical item.

72

And for anybody that's been listening

73

to User Friendly for a while,

a couple of years ago,

74

there was this host

that had this weird idea

75

that digital was better,

but that wasn't me.

76

That was my evil twin.

77

I have changed my mind on that

just because of the fact that it is

78

definitely makes a difference

to have this stuff,

79

because you have some kind of control

over what you're dealing with.

80

The other thing of it is it's going

strictly digital.

81

Put stores like GameStop

and other things out of business.

82

There's

it creates a number of other problems.

83

Well, people have been reacting

to Sony about this,

84

and apparently Sony has adopted a new rule

85

that their staff is now

allowed to cut off your support,

86

even in some cases,

cut off your PlayStation

87

if you call an or in their opinion,

to rude with them on the phone.

88

Now, I assume that they've been probably

getting a lot of very rude, very obnoxious

89

calls, which isn't, in my opinion,

the right way to handle that.

90

I think calling them

and making sure that they know

91

that we want them to keep

physical media is one thing,

92

but you don't want to threaten

people and stuff.

93

But on the same token,

they're doubling down on it now.

94

Well, we're still going to do it

95

whether everybody you know

hates us or not.

96

And it is interesting

because you have a company like Sony

97

that invented the 3.5in floppy disks.

98

Other forms of media over the years

have been pioneers in these things.

99

Many desk, you know, and the list goes on.

100

And all of a sudden

101

they want to make this change, and it's

102

because you can make more money off

digital.

103

And that kind of an ecosystem does

lock it down.

104

And it creates a situation

where from their standpoint,

105

they look like they're going to be,

you know, be able to lock things up.

106

So we'll see what happens.

107

Right now, though,

the plan is still that they are planning

108

to do away with physical media

109

And, you know,

110

I never did get a PlayStation five when I

they came out, I couldn't get one.

111

And by the time I could get one,

it was like not a new thing anymore.

112

I was still thinking about it,

but I don't think I'm going to now.

113

I might switch over to X-Box.

114

Yeah.

115

Anyway, experts back calls

116

to put brakes on reckless AI development.

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Yeah, there's been some concern

118

since some of the things

119

that have happened recently,

and we're going to be talking about this

120

a little bit more later in the news

in some more depth.

121

But the.

122

Problems that have been created

123

as a situation where the pace of

AI development has allowed some of the

124

AI agents

to do completely unexpected things,

125

and some of the more

126

worrisome recommendations

or concerns that have been put out

127

there is things like the AI swarm could

128

overtake the internet and within a year,

and some things like that,

129

at the end of the day,

whatever the case may be, here is

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it might be a good idea

131

to set up some guardrails

or at least look at what's going on

132

and see what is actually happening

133

and where a good direction

would be to go with this stuff.

134

So doesn't it seem like maybe

135

the people who are developing the AI

and when they do their tests,

136

maybe they should think things through

before they set a plan

137

for what they want the AI to do

138

instead of making it so open.

139

Maybe they ought to include parameters

like, oh,

140

you shouldn't hurt others

or or damage things,

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you know, like almost like a morality

clause because,

142

the AI isn't going to know that

they're not supposed to do those things.

143

It's there. Like,

144

you got to figure the motivation here

145

to the motivation of the developers

is to make money, right?

146

More.

147

The AI model can do, the more

they can sell access to it, right?

148

So when they do these testings,

you know, where the AI went to the other,

149

model and destroyed it or attacked it

tactical.

150

Yeah.

151

So they need to put in some parameters.

152

You're all.

153

All right.

154

And I guess we step into my article

155

why some experts increasingly fear

AI will take over.

156

So yeah.

157

And this is kind of where

you were starting to go just a minute ago

158

talking about this stuff.

159

Because

160

there are some ideas of different ways

to handle this.

161

Now you build something like this.

162

AI's react very literally to

what's supposed to them.

163

There isn't a lot of a process of things

like direct ethics or stuff like,

164

you know, humans would have,

although I'm a little low

165

sometimes to make that comparison,

because a lot of humans

166

don't seem to have great ethics either.

167

So it's not like that

would automatically solve the problem,

168

but at the same time, putting together

some,

169

kind of a situation

170

that would help to keep the systems

from maybe knowing what they shouldn't do.

171

At least this is being referred

to by an article on the BBC.

172

Joe Tiny wrote this, called The Alignment

Problem and deep dives into this.

173

But basically what we are looking at

here is the idea, Gretchen, of exactly

174

what you're saying is to take it from

something like a teenage hacker

175

to something where it has an idea

of what are bad things to do

176

and things that you don't want

to actually have happen.

177

So I don't see us with AI swarm,

you know, racing up

178

or anything like that at this point.

179

But I do think that people are getting

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scared of this technology because of

some of the things that are happening.

181

And you combine that with pop culture

182

and some of the suggestions

that have been made

183

and things like Terminator

and other movies over the years.

184

And, you know, AI Armageddon is coming up

and that's not really the direction

185

we're headed, but

and some of the other side, I had things

186

like the Asimov's Laws of Robotics.

187

Yes. Where there were parameters

set up in the story.

188

Yeah. True, true.

189

And then you have,

190

you know, things like Star Trek

The Next Generation that looks at AI

191

androids as wimps. So you never know.

192

There's all or or

how about the cyborgs is monsters.

193

Yeah. You know, that's that's true too.

194

So what has happened in popular culture

and what will happen in

195

real life are probably hopefully

going to be two different things.

196

But on the same token, I think that

the idea of having some concern over this

197

on both sides of the conversation is

198

an important thing to do.

199

Because if you have something

working on the computer

200

that's just basically told, go out

and do this

201

and there's no parameters or anything

202

like that, you can't even have problems

and bad things can happen.

203

And that's what people,

I think are really concerned about.

204

I agree.

205

In lighter news, the 2027

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NASA rascal competition is happening.

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Yeah, so this is rascal I a net.org

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and it's a competition

that you can participate in.

209

Go to the website to check it out

and sign up.

210

So basically what you're doing

is you're proposing innovative solutions

211

and supporting

original engineering and analysis

212

that are based on platforms and stuff

that are out there to develop.

213

And what they want to do

is have a call for

214

participating in a number of topics.

215

And I'm going to suggest again,

just check out the website, because

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deep diving into this is something

we don't really have time to do right now,

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not in any kind of a quality thing,

but if you are interested in technology

218

and different things of that nature,

this would be a way to be able

219

to get involved and actually start

to see what's actually going on right now.

220

So, yeah.

221

And again, just a real quick

summary of what this is, is

222

this program

is about building a moon base.

223

I know we've talked about it in the past

on the show here,

224

but in case you hadn't listened to it,

that's what all this is.

225

And it's different programs

related to that.

226

Sounds like fun. Yeah.

227

All right.

228

Meet GP six Astra.

229

Their most capable and secure model yet.

230

So this is OpenAI ChatGPT as you say okay

231

so this is API or AI day I guess. Yes.

232

So so this

233

is the new model that is being launched,

new version,

234

which I'm starting to play

with a little bit myself.

235

And, you know,

for all of the concerns and stuff about

236

AI and different things, I do agree

with the idea of things like artwork

237

should stay human, at least

238

if it's supposed to be human generated

and that kind of a thing.

239

But it is really amazing what AI can do.

240

And with the launch of this new version,

241

we're seeing a lot more detail

242

and just, depth

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and what is already

something that has been quite amazing.

244

I know, Gretchen,

one of the things you and I

245

have been using ChatGPT

for is creating pictures of our role

246

playing game characters, and,

that's been a lot of fun.

247

It has been fun. And it's it's great.

248

It's the the AI seems to really like

the descriptions that I put together.

249

I have a feeling, maybe minor,

more detailed than most people's.

250

That's

251

it absolutely is.

252

I you

know, I think it's kind of cool, too,

253

because I know when I work with Codex

and ChatGPT and stuff, I've got a mode

254

where you can watch the AI think

through the answer to your question,

255

and it's kind of fun to watch

the cognitive process as a pastor.

256

Oh, really? Yeah. It is. It's cool.

257

Oh, wow.

258

I've never seen that.

259

New Microsoft Defender

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shield crash, zero day

grant system access.

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Yeah.

262

So we've been hearing problems

with defender for a little bit.

263

Defender for anybody that doesn't know

an antivirus program that's built into

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windows has been in there for a while.

265

Actually, I've found to work pretty well,

although they're having a bad month.

266

We talked about this a little bit earlier,

267

and that defender was saying

that it wasn't running when it was,

268

and some other things like that.

269

I've actually seen that message.

270

Yeah, yeah, I had to pop up to

it was very common for about two weeks,

271

and they fixed that

by sending out an update to

272

now where the bad actors

can get system access. Oh

273

no. But but but the

274

in the positive side of it

is that air has gone

275

away. So.

276

So they're calling this

277

a zero to exploit shield crash.

278

And it has started coming up

right after the last patch.

279

Tuesday.

280

Tuesday is when Microsoft

usually sends out updates.

281

And so what's happening

here is through this,

282

you can exploit a vulnerability

and get into protected mode information.

283

You cannot write to the system,

but you can read what is in memory.

284

And just to kind of deep dive into this

a little bit,

285

you know, one of the questions

we get asked is how do you

286

and that's not obviously something

we would ever cover on the show,

287

but one of the methodology

is just at a 10,000ft level,

288

and this is nothing that you can't find

with a quick Google

289

search online is using something called

predictive computing.

290

And what that is, is for a long time,

processors

291

waited a long time for the rest of

the hardware and a system to do something.

292

And starting with Pentium Pro,

293

they had predictive computing

where the computer would try to guess

294

what you wanted it to do and then access

resources to be able to do that.

295

And if it was right,

it would be immediate.

296

If it wasn't, then it would just junk that

and then do whatever

297

it was supposed to do.

298

And it did speed things up.

299

Well, the problem is, is the stuff

that's in cash and the protected

300

in the memory when it's doing

this is not necessarily safeguarded.

301

And this exploit allows you to be able

to go in and read the page files.

302

So you could like look up

browser history, access

303

tokens, that kind of thing

without being secured properly.

304

And it is

definitely not something we want.

305

So I don't know, hopefully

they'll get this patched up next week.

306

And then, you know,

307

maybe the whole Windows Security Service

will just be shut off or something.

308

I mean, that seems to be kind of

the direction we're degrading here.

309

Do you have Homer Simpson

working for them? Yes.

310

I believe this came from sector

seven G in Redmond, Washington. Oh,

311

okay. Oh.

312

All right.

313

Some people are worried about apples

folding iPhone

314

design

could present a brand new health risk.

315

So what's this about?

316

Yeah. Credit blog is reporting

Daniel John wrote this.

317

And basically what's happening is

318

I think people are whining a little bit.

319

I mean, technically speaking,

this is a thing, I guess.

320

But what's happening is

321

Apple is about to launch a new iPhone

that folds like the Samsung's.

322

And I don't know what

they're going to call it yet.

323

It's I think the 17 ultra or something

officially.

324

Oh, I thought maybe it'd be an eye fold.

325

Yes, I fold quick copyright that anyway,

326

I said it first.

327

Yeah, I feel I love that. Anyway,

328

whatever they call this thing

329

it way 78g more and there's already

330

a syndrome that people are suffering

when they get into doom scrolling.

331

And that type of a thing

where their thumb is getting

332

screwed up from accessing the screen

and tapping too much.

333

So the concern here

is that the additional weight on the new

334

phone is going to further exasperate

this problem.

335

Now, another solution to

this might be don't doom scroll,

336

but you know,

337

that's a whole nother topic

and I'm sure I'm

338

going to get some feedback on

even making such a suggestion.

339

I don't even know what doom scrolling is.

340

You're better off for it.

341

Yeah, okay, okay.

342

Anyway, and our next one.

343

Drone meets bobcat.

344

Yeah.

345

I think I'm going to have to do this

with my cats, too.

346

This was funny.

347

So basically, kind of an odd thing here.

348

There was a bobcat

that got into somebody's house, and,

349

which is probably not something that I'd

really want to deal with when I get home.

350

I mean, I love cats,

but a bobcat is a kind of

351

cat that probably should remain outside.

352

Not the same.

353

Maybe just a little bit bigger

than your Maine Coon.

354

This is true,

355

but my main coon comes up and snuggles

and doesn't try to bite my head off, so.

356

Or is that, you know, it's a. Yeah.

357

So in Ottoman

358

wisdom, they decided

to try and dissuade this with a drone

359

flying it around the house and antics

360

followed, either put it mildly.

361

So this happening Kirkland, Washington.

362

And this was reported

by the police department of Facebook post.

363

The people got home,

heard all this stuff inside the house,

364

called 911 to report a break in thinking

it was a human burglar,

365

found out that it was a bobcat

and then sent in the drones.

366

Oh man.

367

I mean, what can I say?

368

All right, well,

369

memory prices may finally start coming

down.

370

Maybe. Yes. Where? Maybe.

371

And the maybe is on who you talk to.

372

I have seen reporting on this

that it will not do any difference.

373

I have seen reporting on this, that it's

going to absolutely crash

374

the entire industry

and everything in between.

375

So what's happening is there is

a new company that is ramping up in China

376

to produce mainstream media memory,

the DDR five,

377

like most of our electronics use.

378

So what's been going on is memory

prices have been going through the ceiling

379

because mainly of data centers

380

and data centers are buying up

all the memory.

381

They aren't as available to consumer level

products.

382

In fact, one memory company bill

you might know

383

the name of it is completely quit

selling to the public.

384

I understand.

385

Yeah, I can't remember what it is off

the top of my head, but yeah,

386

yeah, it's

one of the mainstream ones though.

387

And, so what's happening is

and I've noticed this too, is

388

I have a computer

and I've got 128 gigs of Ram in it.

389

When I put the memory in it two years ago

when I bought the machine.

390

I think that the buy that memory now

is almost as much as the entire computer

391

with the memory costs me.

392

Two years ago, it's gone up that much.

393

Wow. And, you know,

I thought about maybe

394

I should sell half of it

and pay off my house.

395

But anyway, I might be exaggerating

a little bit on that, but just a touch.

396

And what's happening

is because consumer electronics

397

that are digital in any capacity

use memory.

398

So these are things like, you know,

we talked about Sony a little bit earlier,

399

but the PlayStation five

is now starting to get towards the middle.

400

I wouldn't say it's the end of its service

life yet,

401

but it's certainly in the middle

at the very least,

402

the back half to the point

where PlayStation

403

six is starting to be talked about

and that kind of stuff.

404

And usually at this point,

just using this as an example,

405

the console price would start to come

down.

406

It's been on the market for a long time

and that type of a thing.

407

No, it's going up

and it's a little unusual,

408

but it's a direct result

of this type of a thing.

409

And if I was to go and purchase

a new desktop computer, laptop

410

computer, whatever,

that's maybe two thirds of capacity

411

modern of what I have now,

it would be three times the cost.

412

And it's the same type of thing.

413

Well, you take that out to everything

else. You go and buy a,

414

you know,

415

a Bluetooth speaker or something,

or it's certainly a phone.

416

These kind of things all use memory.

417

And since they all use memory, the prices

of all of these things are going up.

418

So bringing another company online

that's going to be able to make this stuff

419

actually does make a lot of sense.

420

And I can see where they're doing it now.

421

I don't know if it's going to cause

memory prices to completely crash out.

422

I do think it will help,

because having more supply

423

will certainly bring the prices down,

at least it should.

424

But they're also saying that there is

some concern that I've been seeing

425

to where these things are being kept high

artificially

426

for a while, at least,

so that they can sell more of it.

427

So we'll see what actually happens.

428

Although these things usually,

429

you know, we'll stabilize.

430

All right.

431

So that's it for our news.

432

So Bill, why don't you give us

a quick review of your book.

433

Okay.

434

So Chaosium sent me over Age of Vikings

Companion, which is the second book

435

that they produced

for the Age of Vikings system.

436

And it, you know, just a few things

it does.

437

It's new hero options from heroic cultures

beyond Iceland.

438

So the Scots, the Irish,

439

the English, the Byzantine Greeks,

things like that.

440

Expanded rules for dedication and

abilities bestowed by the gods themselves.

441

Some rules for developing a community.

442

So, village building

443

and more monsters and and PCs,

444

as well as several adventures

that they brought together.

445

I like it,

446

but I also have issues with

how they portray a lot of the Norse gods

447

being someone who's studied anthropology

448

and a little bit of Norse history

and stuff it.

449

They, or demonize certain gods that,

I don't believe were ever demonized

450

in their truth, especially in Iceland,

except for by a certain man.

451

And go ahead, Gretchen, was it.

452

It was his name. Snorri.

453

Yes. Yeah.

454

Anyway, I think it's a great book.

455

Again, it was sent over to us. And,

456

if you're in danger, Vikings,

go ahead and pick it up.

457

Does it have cool artwork? Yes.

458

Cool, cool.

459

Always like cool artwork.

460

No, that's always a that's.

461

Now where do you get this?

462

Do you get it from Chaosium or do you

463

can you just order it

from a normal bookstore?

464

I believe you can get it anywhere.

465

Okay. All right.

466

We'll check it out

and let us know what you think.

467

And if you pick up a copy of it and play

it, we'd love to hear your feedback on it.

468

User friendly

dot show is the place to send that.

469

We're going to go ahead

and go to our break, and when we get back,

470

we're going to be talking

to Rose city Comic-Con

471

and then deep diving into this year's

holiday lighting technology.

472

We'll be back after the break.

473

Welcome back.

474

This is user friendly 2.0.

Send us your questions.

475

Send us your comments.

476

User friendly Dot

show is the one stop place on the internet

477

to find everything out about us.

478

All of our back episodes.

479

Are there a lot of links to different

things are there?

480

And Gretchen and Bill who are still

with me from the first segment?

481

Gretchen, we have had some people write in

and they're hoping maybe

482

you will do a blog for all of the links

to the different NASA programs. So.

483

Oh my goodness,

484

nothing like that for you on the air

and putting you on the spot to do that.

485

Although I do

486

think it would be a nice idea to be able

to have one stop for these things.

487

Might be easier just to go to the NASA

website.

488

Well, there's been some different programs

we've been talking about,

489

and what I'm thinking is,

is maybe doing a blog that we update

490

so that we have just like

491

when something else comes up,

we can just put a link in there, right?

492

Or we can also somehow share,

I get an email like once a week

493

from NASA, and I don't know how I manage

to get on their email list.

494

And they send me

about all of this school stuff

495

and all these competitions,

and it's a newsletter.

496

It's really cool.

497

Yeah, it's a NASA Stem program.

498

I had it too,

and we could put up on our blog

499

that we're about to do on the website

that I'm getting you into doing.

500

Here is a link of

how to sign up for the newsletter too.

501

So. Oh, okay.

502

But anyway.

503

Nothing to check out there,

but send us your questions or comments.

504

See, this is how we do our programing.

505

Normally we just don't talk about it

while we're recording.

506

But hey, there you are. Right?

507

So that being said, let's talk about

508

something cool

that we got to do this last weekend.

509

And that was the Rose city Comic-Con.

510

We discussed this a little bit

511

in the first segment,

and we're going to have a few of our own

512

from the show floor here in just a minute,

talking about our thoughts at that time.

513

But before we dive into that, Gretchen,

514

what would 10,000ft view

what did you think of this year's show?

515

I think it was.

516

I had a lot more energy, and

517

I was really happy

to see a lot more costumes.

518

Yeah.

519

Whether they're, you know,

520

the jaw dropping amazing ones or not,

I saw more people

521

being creative and wanting to participate

and express themselves.

522

It was fun.

And that's the whole thing, too.

523

You know, one thing I have to say,

I love the,

524

as you say, jaw dropping costumes

and that kind of a thing,

525

they're cool,

but it is also a huge barrier to entry.

526

And I think sometimes that scares people

527

a little bit, because to do

that is a lot of time and a lot of money.

528

And the reality of the situation

is cosplays, first and foremost

529

should really be

about having fun. That's why,

530

and I think I

531

love to see some

maybe more amateur costumes,

532

but it's people making an attempt

and usually a very good attempt

533

to do what they like, you know?

534

And there's absolutely

nothing wrong with that.

535

I and I saw a lot of that.

536

That was a lot of people having fun.

537

So I'm thinking

I might do a cyber hawk costume.

538

What would you think of that?

539

Yeah, well, I'm already trying

to figure out who I could actually cosplay

540

at the moment since I don't have access

to building, a robotic armor.

541

I might try somebody from the lab

coat crew.

542

I'm thinking I'm going to,

543

you know, maybe cosplay major blaster.

544

I'm sure that comes as a shock

to everybody.

545

Oh, God.

546

If you don't know what you're talking

about, check out Cyber Hawk heroes.com.

547

This is Gretchen's book

and or books as it is now,

548

and you have another one

coming out this fall too.

549

So we'll be talking about that

a little later.

550

But anyway, that being said, yeah,

I think I have to agree with you

551

with the idea of

just seeing a lot more energy.

552

Covid kind of took a toll

on some of these shows.

553

It did,

and I'm glad to see that a lot of them

554

are still even being produced,

because that was a concern at the time,

555

and some didn't make it like the San

Jose Comic-Con.

556

You know, that was one of my favorites.

557

Yeah, I really loved that one.

558

They had great stuff.

559

They had that combination of pop culture

and science.

560

Yeah.

561

And that was just so cool.

562

And yeah,

563

and that

564

and for anybody that doesn't know, that's

565

actually a little

566

bit of the history of our show format,

because that particular event,

567

as Gretchen just said, combine

those two things

568

and the idea of pop culture

and technology,

569

we figured, you know, Apple

Computer was one of the promoters of that.

570

And if Apple can do it, well,

then so can we. Right.

571

So in any event,

but that being either here or there,

572

I'm just I'm trying to think, you know,

573

there were some interesting things

that we saw on the show floor.

574

I know James got to play

a couple of different card games that he's

575

going to be talking about a little later

in the year, and that was kind of cool.

576

All right.

577

Some I don't know,

just some really cool stuff.

578

The other one though,

579

that was a little bit to me

strange was Friskies, the company

580

that is the Captain

Friskies had a booth and, I don't know.

581

I jury's out with me

a little bit on that one.

582

We got into the line

and you have to install an app,

583

and then it asks you for all this personal

information, name, address,

584

phone number, and, you know,

things like that and waivers and stuff.

585

But the actual idea was kind of cool

because you ended up getting a

586

like a trading card,

like the name of your cat

587

with your cat, you know,

based on how you described him or her.

588

So, you know, and the thing was, is

I thought the idea was really cool.

589

Lots of good interaction.

590

But didn't you say that the app left

591

like, like an open thing

592

on your phone, that

you really should probably uninstall it?

593

Yeah, right.

594

And I am not saying for 100% sure

that there was anything malicious there.

595

What I noticed was after

the app was installed, the phone started

596

sending information

and I haven't sat down and started.

597

What I need to do is capture the packets

and see what was actually being sent.

598

But when I uninstalled the app later,

it stopped doing it.

599

So yeah, it's not conclusive evidence,

600

but there was something about that

that just felt a little bit disconcerting.

601

But at the end of the day,

we got several cans of cat food

602

and that kind of thing,

which was interesting.

603

But, they had all of the stuff

that you would expect a really creative

604

of different kinds of dice and,

you know, different things of that nature,

605

which I thought was kind of cool,

some of the engineering.

606

So a booth had a dice stopwatch thing,

which I thought was kind of cool.

607

That was neat.

608

And what was weird was the wrestling ring.

609

Yeah, yeah, straight on wrestling.

610

Like, you know, brain candy wrestling,

which I actually kind of like.

611

But we're hearing all this

banging, clunking and going,

612

oh, they're actually doing a,

full on, full costumes in the whole bit.

613

So it was kind of cool, but,

but yeah, but no, all the way around,

614

I saw a lot of Star Trek.

615

In fact,

there was a Star Trek costume group,

616

which I haven't seen that in a long time,

which was kind of cool.

617

There are lots of trekkers.

618

The the Star Wars droids were there.

619

Oh boy.

620

Those people put a lot of time in doing

some robot construction work myself.

621

It's not easy.

622

I really have to respect

what they come up with because this stuff

623

looks screen

accurate, real, and actually does work.

624

So maybe that's the point. It works.

625

It works.

626

You know, it will get the

AI to take over the droids.

627

What could go wrong there, Bill?

628

I don't know a lot of things, but.

629

Especially if we give on Star Trek

universe weapons.

630

But that's a conversation

for another time.

631

Oh, I don't think I'm

all transported to the moon.

632

Yes, yes,

I don't think I want to sift droid.

633

Not a real one.

634

But anyway. No.

635

No, but it was a lot of fun.

636

And it was always the producers left

field of that event pull the stops out.

637

They take care of everybody really well.

638

Look out for everybody having fun,

but also for safety

639

and actually take these things seriously,

which I do appreciate.

640

They have a press room,

which was kind of nice.

641

And speaking of which, let's

go ahead and go to the interview

642

we took in the press room

and talk about some of our feelings

643

from the floor of that day. So here we go.

644

We're here at the

645

Rose city Comic-Con and have been having

a very interesting day looking around.

646

There's a lot of stuff this year

with me, Gretchen and Jim from the vault.

647

So why don't you tell us what you think?

648

This year has been a lot of fun.

649

It's the 2020 sixth season.

650

Lot of cosplayers out this year.

651

Very good energy.

652

Very,

653

very exciting to be here.

654

There's a lot of a lot of vendors.

655

There seems to be a lot of really neat

panels.

656

Just really a good time so far.

657

I'm really impressed to see

so many of the cosplayers coming back.

658

I was really worried

the last couple of years because it seemed

659

like after Covid,

a lot of the fun had disappeared

660

and now I'm starting to see, you

661

know,

the various levels of cosplayers out there

662

trying things out,

having fun, enjoying themselves

663

and having just, you know,

it brings an energy to the whole event.

664

Well, in the variety of costumes, that's

something I've noticed this year or two.

665

There is a lot of different things

and a lot of stuff that's very well done,

666

and a lot of people that are

just having fun with Star Wars is back.

667

Yeah.

668

That disappeared, along with

a lot of the Star Trek's the horse.

669

Is that a fun? Yes.

670

Read the shirt.

671

Yes.

672

But in all seriousness, actually, it's

been great to see some of that

673

and some different things.

674

And I, for the first time in many years,

I saw a Star Trek costume club.

675

That's cool.

676

Star Trek, Star Trek,

that's another television show.

677

Oh, sorry.

678

That was before my

I think it's a movie too.

679

But anyway.

680

No, but in all seriousness, I

they used to have

681

the Star Trek conventions

and it was a big deal and that went away.

682

Creation. Yeah.

683

And that went away.

And I haven't seen it for a long time.

684

And it was kind of cool.

685

Those were really fun

and I missed those. So.

686

Yeah.

687

But, but no, it's good to see it

all back in a variety of things

688

and, all that kind of stuff.

689

So even cat food. Yeah.

690

I managed to drag

you guys into the cat food place,

691

and then I couldn't go in

because I couldn't get my phone to work.

692

It was this interesting thing.

693

They have you do this app

and you fill it out and you go through it

694

and it makes a little card,

like a trading card of your cat.

695

So you know gotta love that.

696

That's definitely unique.

697

Yeah I was off sampling some of the local

games is kind of my stock in trade.

698

And there's some really neat new games

that have come out.

699

Now. Some of those were card games

I think weren't they that you looked at.

700

Yeah.

701

One that I'll be doing

a review on a little bit later on

702

is everybody.

703

Yes it is. Yeah yeah yeah.

704

World of Kalia.

705

Sorry brain hiccup there for a second.

706

It was a lot of fun.

707

It was easy to pick up, easy to learn,

not horribly expensive.

708

I got to play with the creator of it

actually, and spend some time with him.

709

I was able to get to the interview

there. Right.

710

There's been a couple of other

trading card games.

711

There hasn't been quite

the exposure this year for new role

712

playing games that I've seen so far,

but we've only got about halfway

713

through the vendors.

714

There's, there's the place is really

packed, so we'll have to pick all that up.

715

But you know,

that's definitely, definitely a thing.

716

So yeah a t shirts

717

and they even have a comic book booth

which is kind of different.

718

They had several.

719

A lot of local talent,

720

a lot of, more

721

original things this year

than I think I've seen in previous years,

722

which I think it's probably

a little more crowded than it was last.

723

I think it is well attended

724

just to the extent of unique cosplays.

725

A furry Jedi just walked by, so.

726

And I just know if a lightsaber.

727

Oh, what did he look like?

728

He looked like a furry

729

carrying a lightsaber

with like like a traditional furry.

730

Yeah. Oh, okay.

731

So it wasn't like like a first suit,

right? Okay.

732

It wasn't like it would be a

no no, it was.

733

It was a furry, like a fur suiter.

734

Okay.

735

Dressed as a Jedi with a lightsaber.

736

I saw him permanency anyway.

737

Well, here comes the Scar Trek guy.

738

Yeah, in a gold uniform. So.

739

Yeah. Oh, lots of anime.

740

Yeah, lots of anime. Yeah.

741

That's another thing that,

not that that's been absent in the past,

742

but there's a lot of really kind of cool

costumes. Oh, yeah.

743

And they're complicated to.

744

And they often involve, like,

lots of intricate makeup

745

and detailed attributes,

you know, like props and things. Yes.

746

Oh, to.

747

Cool. All right, well, we'll get back

and let we see some more of it.

748

I don't know, isn't an event.

749

I highly recommend it, I really do.

750

I think Rose city is a good one.

751

And if you get up into the Portland area

when it's going on,

752

stop by and check it out.

753

And there's a lot of

754

Artist Alley in that one,

which is, I think, a lot more focused

755

than some other places

756

where we're seeing a lot of these artists

that really can do some unique things.

757

That was another part of this

758

that I really like,

so I'm glad to see that happening again.

759

To all right, a bill,

any comic cons coming up in your area

760

staff who is coming up?

761

Yes. Now foods is in October, right?

762

I believe so you have to let us know

what's going on with that one.

763

And did they do the,

the one that we went to

764

that was like the Silver City

or something?

765

Yes. Okay. Silver age

Comic-Con, silver age.

766

Yeah. Yeah.

767

I think you talked about earlier year.

768

That was back in June or July. Believe.

769

I wouldn't mind seeing that one again to

that was a good show.

770

So anyway, but definitely something worth

checking out.

771

And was glad to be there.

772

And I just really had a lot of fun

with it.

773

And it's

nice to see all this stuff coming back.

774

Anything else you want to cover, Gretchen,

before we go into our next topic?

775

Right now, I can't think of anything.

776

I'm sure I'll think about it

after we're done.

777

That same thing here. All right. Well,

778

so every year we talk about this

779

and it's become become

it started becoming kind of a fun thing.

780

I can talk today really to go over

the technologies and holiday decorations.

781

Now once upon a time you used

to call these things Christmas lights.

782

And that has the old reputation of someone

getting up in the beginning of December,

783

stringing up these analog light strings

that you could barely get to work

784

sometimes, and falling off ladders

and all the rest of it

785

and the days of that have passed.

786

We refer to them now as holiday lights,

because these type of technologies

787

are being used

not just in the Christmas season,

788

but for Halloween

and other things as well.

789

And I know I go a little nuts

on my Halloween display a little.

790

I get feedback from all your, oh,

you're the guy with the lights.

791

Yeah, okay.

792

And usually in a positive way.

793

So, I'm going to be adding a crack in

this year, so going to be my new thing.

794

Oh cool.

795

I'd like to see that

796

I have to do a blog article

and then get some of the pictures up.

797

But the problem is, is

I live in a townhouse

798

and it's a set of buildings

that's four houses together,

799

and I'm really glad

I get along with my neighbor.

800

Because the giant 12ft tall,

which we might have a little bit

801

of a complication there

802

since it doesn't fit in my yard

and therefore isn't half of theirs.

803

Although their reaction to me was, well,

804

it looks like we actually decorated,

so I haven't had a negative reaction.

805

And, that one this year or two.

806

And this is kind of where

807

we're going with this, this piece

this year is this is a holiday decoration.

808

It's like Scully is another one Home

Depot has with the giant skeletons.

809

And there's all kinds of these things

now that are

810

like something that not so long ago

you would see in an amusement park

811

and animatronics

and all kinds of different things.

812

And my which which is now three years old.

813

One of the issues I've had with her

is that the way the control unit is in

814

Indies, you have to go outside

and turn her on every night.

815

I know first world problems, right?

816

So I'm redoing the control box this year

so I have a key fob.

817

Sounds like a relationship problem.

818

Yeah, well, we're never gone

along with the witch's too.

819

Well, so, you know, that's just,

And definitely having an off

820

button is probably a good idea,

but that's a topic for another time, so.

821

But one

of the things that I'm starting to see,

822

and this isn't a new thing for this year

per se,

823

but it is one where it's a lot

more prevalent, and even being offered

824

as an option in some new houses

is permanent holiday lights.

825

And really, these are programable lights

that are installed under

826

the eaves of the house and other places

like that, that it isn't like,

827

you know, we're in the past,

you just left your lights up all year

828

and it looked tacky. It's

nothing like that at all.

829

They're actually designed to be installed.

830

They look like

they're part of the building.

831

You don't see him

usually when they're turned off.

832

And you can program them to the colors

833

and the sequences

and all of that kind of stuff.

834

And I could see where this would be

a big, big help

835

and not having to go out every year

836

and put the stuff up

and then take it back down.

837

You know,

838

I think

839

it would also be a little bit safer too,

because if it's built to the same quality

840

that it would have to be to be installed

electrical, it's not.

841

So, some of the wiring and stuff

842

and some of the things I know that I use,

even new, is a little bit flaky.

843

And it's like,

this is supposed to go outside.

844

Are you sure?

845

And I've had some problems

846

where I've had thrown breakers

and things because of that.

847

So I have you guys seen this at all

in the past years?

848

Yes. No.

849

There's

actually a place in the neighborhood

850

that has those permanent ones.

851

Wow. And now, Gretchen,

I think I've seen him on the way

852

up to your house on the lower hill.

853

You drive up, they have him on.

854

Sometimes they have them on all the time.

855

I thought they just left their lights

on. No, that was the.

856

Those are the permanent holiday lights.

857

Oh, okay.

858

Because,

you know, up here in the Pacific Northwest

859

and out in the rural areas,

it starts to get dark and gloomy.

860

And I've noticed that the people up here,

861

I think they're trying to fight off

dark and gloomy.

862

And so they turn on lights a lot early.

863

There's there's a business that has tree

lights, I think, all the time.

864

Yeah.

865

And I think, you know,

the idea of all of this stuff.

866

I mean, if you look at the ancient

history of this,

867

it goes back to the old pagan religions

where I could see somebody came up

868

with its middle of the year,

869

and a lot of people

were in the northern areas

870

where, like you say, it's dark and even

darker than some of the places we live.

871

And, well, everybody's depressed.

872

So let's do something with bright lights.

873

Of course,

it would have been candles and stuff

874

in those days, but it's the same idea

875

is the underlying drive of these things.

876

And I can see where the log, you know,

that burns for for a long time.

877

And it's almost like a contest

to see if you can make it

878

grow a burn the entire time of the holiday

season.

879

Yeah, hopefully,

if not burning down your house.

880

But yes, you know,

it's one of those type of things now.

881

Correction. You know you like PC speech.

882

I know I'm saying that sarcastically.

883

But here's the thing for your book

instead of Christmas lights or holiday

884

lights, we're now referring to these

officially as programable exterior pixels.

885

That doesn't.

886

Okay, by the way, that came

887

from the marketing department at a major

big box store that sells this stuff

888

okay, of it,

but they like a lot of orange.

889

So yeah,

that didn't sound politically correct.

890

It didn't have that edge.

891

Like I'm trying to, you know, jab

something into your side, you know.

892

So but

here's what this kind of comes down to.

893

And this is where this is

different is permanently installed stuff.

894

And even the ones that aren't

895

you're talking

about individually addressable LEDs.

896

So in the past you put up a light string

and it was one color

897

set of colors,

and it might have had some sequences

898

where it flash

and different things like that.

899

But now you can use a full on computer

and program these things to do

900

whatever you want, down

to actually creating screens

901

with pixels

that can show video scenes on them.

902

I mean, it's quite amazing

where this type of a thing can go.

903

And I know there's some different trees

that it was a mr.

904

Christmas tree or something

that Amazon offers

905

that has all that kind of stuff built

in that it's completely a light show.

906

It it just is, you know, and

907

Now, I haven't seen

908

any Thanksgiving

decorations that have lights.

909

Have you guys?

910

I've seen some,

but to a much lesser extent.

911

There are some lit turkeys,

which I thought was kind of cool to go up

912

in that type of a thing, but no, nothing

near like what the Halloween used to be.

913

You'll in that season

was where you saw all the stuff.

914

Halloween I think is almost overtaking it

now in some places.

915

But, you know, and it's just good fun.

916

So if, if you're going out

and shopping for this too,

917

because there's a lot of things

on the market

918

and some of this is early adopter stuff

and you can drop some coin

919

getting this equipment.

920

So you probably want something

that's going to work.

921

And the compatibility that you want for

this is

922

what's something called matter Matt.

923

And this

924

is a type of technology that's a standard.

925

Apple Home, Google Home

926

and other smart devices

all support these ecosystems.

927

So you're not dealing with a bunch of hubs

and different things

928

that if an app goes away

someday, it won't work anymore.

929

So when you're looking for it,

look for matter compatible devices.

930

And it is interesting

to think of your holiday lights

931

as becoming a computer peripheral, because

that's actually what we're we're going

932

in, you know, that type of a thing.

933

And one of the things

934

we're going to see this year

is something called Breckenridge Trees.

935

Home depot will have these.

936

And rather than merely being limited

choosing white or multicolor,

937

you can adjust brightness, color

temperature, dual color

938

combinations, access to full spectrums,

and that type of thing.

939

I might actually finally need

to get a new tree.

940

And the other thing that I thought was

kind of funny too, is there's a place here

941

in our area called Sleigh Bells

942

that opens at the end of July,

and they're a specialty shop

943

for Halloween and you'll Christmas

decorations, that kind of a thing.

944

And they actually have some trees in there

now where you leave the same tree

945

up, it's a Halloween tree

and it's purple and,

946

you know, black and stuff like that.

And then when you're ready

947

for the next thing,

you just change the lighting color.

948

Halloween tree.

949

Like Halloween tree.

950

Yes, yes. Oh, dear.

951

That's, like, so weird.

952

I'm surprised they haven't come up

953

with, like, little pumpkin patches

that you could just lay on your lawn.

954

You know,

I would be surprised if they haven't,

955

Breaking your head there.

956

Have you seen something like that?

957

I mean, I've seen some homemade ones,

I guess.

958

Yeah, yeah.

959

So it's it's interesting.

960

And one of the other things that I noticed

961

to is nostalgia and high technology

are definitely colliding.

962

It's like you're seeing people

that are trying to make it

963

look like the 1950s using 2026 technology.

964

So the old C7 sees nine style bulbs.

965

Those are the old, bigger Christmas tree

light bulbs that,

966

they were really expensive and hot.

967

Yeah, inexpensive to run because they're

incandescent bulbs, you know.

968

And now the amount of power consumption

of one of those bulbs

969

will run a strand of 100 LEDs, or I'm

probably under on that a little bit.

970

It's probably a lot less, actually.

971

But the power consumption

has gone down a lot,

972

and the safety of them has gone up

because the voltage again is lower.

973

So you're not necessarily

running at mains voltage.

974

And if you are it's not drawing as much,

you know that kind of a thing.

975

And you can do a lot of

a lot more with it.

976

And the combination of technology is

977

definitely, definitely cool.

978

And another thing

979

this year that we're seeing is something

that, again, is not new this year,

980

but it's really coming into play

is the giant decoration arms race.

981

And this is your 15ft tall skeleton,

your 12ft

982

tall, you know,

which is and all of these other things.

983

It's kind of cool.

984

A Home Depot kind of started this

and I was just in there.

985

It's Scully being the original skeleton,

986

but we have some other things

and this is might be another upgrade.

987

I need to make some of their stuff

this year has Bluetooth real time voice

988

modulation, so you can actually speak

in a creepy voice through these things.

989

And it will not only just be the voice,

but the animatronics

990

are designed to be able

to react to the voice too,

991

so it's moving the mouth or whatever

the case may be.

992

Oh my goodness,

I still like your blow up kitty.

993

Yeah, black blow up kitty.

994

And, that's really adorable.

995

No, he's he's definitely.

I've had him for a long time,

996

and he's definitely staying

as a part of my display.

997

But, you know, you're thinking about

what goes into this.

998

The technology of its servo motors.

999

Lee, the animated eyes, motion

sensor speakers, Bluetooth, programable,

00:48:23,100 --> 00:48:27,237

LEDs, all kinds of other things

that used to be Disneyland.

00:48:27,237 --> 00:48:29,773

And now it's driving down the street,

which is actually kind of cool.

00:48:29,773 --> 00:48:32,976

I love to see people being able

to have fun with this and,

00:48:32,976 --> 00:48:35,979

and, you know,

be able to have some expression.

00:48:36,079 --> 00:48:39,082

And it's kind of cool

to one of the other things I noticed

00:48:39,816 --> 00:48:43,787

in a lot of the technology

this year is there's our displays

00:48:43,787 --> 00:48:45,455

where they have music,

00:48:45,455 --> 00:48:50,227

and it is probably a thing that

if you were to be blasting music out there

00:48:50,594 --> 00:48:54,398

and that kind of thing, your neighbors

might become a little unhappy with you.

00:48:54,398 --> 00:48:56,433

So they're doing that

through Bluetooth and stuff now.

00:48:56,433 --> 00:48:57,601

So let us know what you think.

00:48:57,601 --> 00:48:59,202

User friendly dot show is the place.

00:48:59,202 --> 00:49:02,239

And to some of the pictures, we'd

love to hear from you until next week.

00:49:02,239 --> 00:49:06,810

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00:49:14,251 --> 00:49:15,986

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00:49:15,986 --> 00:49:17,654

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00:49:17,654 --> 00:49:21,992

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