"My robot had an accident on the carpet!"

Join us this week as we discuss the newest installment in Call of Cthulhu, "Dust and Blood".

Then, we discuss robots! And if you want to know about what happened with the accident (and yes, it did!) - check out this week's show!

Bill Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler

Welcome to

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User Friendly 2.0 with host Bill Sikkens,

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technology architect.

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And this is User Friendly 2.0, as always

I am your host Bill Sikkens.

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Joining me my co-host Gretchen.

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Bill, welcome to this week's show.

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Hello there.

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Hello. So what's new and exciting?

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Gretchen, I understand you just started

hating the new Star Wars episode.

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Oh, really?

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Are you on something?

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I was traveling to an alternate quantum

universe that that was the case,

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so, you know.

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Oh, I wasn't watching acolyte, okay?

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I was watching all this amazing.

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Yeah, I'm not sure

there is a quantum universe where I had.

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Never mind.

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I better not say that

we will get some call. That

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the wall continues to be good and, it

definitely

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is something that, I've actually turned

Disney back on right now so I can see it.

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And we'll have to talk about it again

in a couple weeks.

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But, you're up the next two episodes,

so it is worth out there.

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And, Bill, I hear you have something

you're going to be telling us about today.

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Yep. Some Call of Cthulhu dropped

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recently, and I got, to review it. Cool.

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And for the listeners

that sent in questions

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on the last interview with that, I have

them and I will, take the hint for this.

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I forgot to give them to Bill,

but I'll compile them from this one,

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and then we can go ahead and go through

that a few weeks down the road.

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But we have I just,

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well, anyway, moving

right on playing with robots. Yes.

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I haven't played robots.

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And, we're going to be talking about that

in the next segment.

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We're doing a Stem presentation

or just get a Stem presentation

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here in Oregon

and wanted to get these robots up

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and running, which are actually prototypes

from something I was doing in the past,

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and we got it.

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But boy, it was fighting us

at every step of the way.

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So we'll be anyway.

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We'll be talking about that

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in the next segment,

because it's kind of an interesting story.

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All right.

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Well, before all of that,

let's go ahead and jump in.

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And what do we have in the news this week.

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All right.

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The blue light from your phone

isn't ruining your sleep.

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So I've heard of the blue screen of death.

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But now we have the blue light of death.

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Don't remember that years ago. Is it?

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So? Don't.

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Yeah.

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I have your phone before you go to bed.

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I was being sarcastic.

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I was trying to put two different things

together there.

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That is the blue screen of death

from windows.

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Never. Mike.

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So anyway, as Gretchen just mentioned,

it was covered,

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a few years ago now

I think it would be like 3 or 4, probably.

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I'm no longer than that.

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Yeah, yeah, it's.

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Jeremy was alive and actually the

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when we did that interview we were back

is still in the studio.

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So that would have been pre-COVID

actually. So yeah. Okay.

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So like six years ago.

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Anyway,

this idea that the blue light coming from

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your phone was why you aren't

going to sleep at night when you sit

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and use your phone or tablet

before you go to bed.

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And they came out with apps

that turned off the blue light.

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And we're doing all these different things

and study has come out now

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that that might not be all

that's going on.

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In fact,

that might not be what's going on at all.

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Reporting from the BBC on this.

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There have been more studies done on it.

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And the idea is that

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you might be dealing with something

where when you do stuff on your phone,

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it's causing all kinds of other reasons

why you wouldn't fall asleep.

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And it has nothing to do

with the frequency of the light.

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Now, blue light when you are outside

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is something that does trigger system

to say, hey, it's time to be awake now.

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So there is some truth to that.

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It's why when you go outside and,

it's a bright, sunny day,

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you feel like a, it's a bright, sunny day

and I can do that.

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But the amount of blue light

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being contributed by the phone

is very, very minimal, for one thing.

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So they've been looking into some of

the other things and are now seeing that.

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Well, you know, first of all,

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if you're doing something on the phone

that's going to keep you awake,

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you're playing a game or chatting

with somebody or whatever you're thinking,

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thinking, yeah, yeah, that's a little bit

different than reading a book

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or something of that nature.

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And one of the other things

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that was outlined here

is that if you're on a Kindle or a nook

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or some other kind of an e-reader

or even your phone or tablet,

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and just reading a book

that doesn't seem to have the same effect

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on causing you

not to be able to go to sleep.

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Now, I didn't see in the study

if they've actually compared Kindle, etc.

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to a book and to see

if there's an actual difference,

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they are off to do some research,

and I'm sure somebody has done that,

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but it's more having to deal

with the fact that it wakes you up

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when you're looking at something

and there's some headline

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that you're thinking about or upset about,

or you're trying to figure out

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how to play a game and, you know, that

kind of thing takes some concentration

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or chatting with somebody.

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And, you know, we're seeing a lot of

effects from these type of things.

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Social media,

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we've talked about this in the past

is now illegal for children in Australia.

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There's other countries

that are looking at this

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and probably following suit

because it's having some positive signs,

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some problems too.

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But you know, that kind of a thing.

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But all of this kind of stuff

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is not

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conducive to trying to relax

and go to sleep.

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So the blue light of death probably not.

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And there's

a lot of other things involved.

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And I'd say if you're really interested

into a deep dive in this,

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check out the BBC

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article that goes into a lot more detail

than what we could cover here,

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and is written by people to understand

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the psychology of these things,

which is not me. So.

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But at the end of the day, it is

interesting to see where this is going.

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I will give you the 10,000ft view

collusion in this, conclusion in this.

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And it's just this idea

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if you want to go to sleep and

not have a problem, don't use your phone

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within about two hours

of when you want to go to sleep.

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Even watching television,

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which is something

that is not recommended, is still better

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than some of the stuff

that would be on the phone.

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Unless you're reading

and that's all you're doing.

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If you have the discipline to do that.

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My problem is, if I'm on a device

and reading and a message

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pops up or something, I'm

probably going to look at it, you know?

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Yeah.

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Which is one of the nice things about the

Kindle or the nook is it doesn't do that.

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So, you know, you know,

those paper books don't do that either.

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Yeah, they don't do that either.

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And I still to this day, I like reading

an actual book, a paper book.

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But there are certain things,

if I'm traveling or whatnot,

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that having the Kindle or related is nice.

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You're not having to carry a book.

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But yeah, I don't know.

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There's still I still find that

I like that better usually.

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Unfortunately, being a little bit lazy,

there are times that I want to read

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something or hey, the new books out

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not want to wait for it to be delivered

because, you know,

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Amazon would take like two hours

to get it to me.

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So, then you have to download it

immediately to the Kindle,

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which is one of the other problems

in the modern world is we don't shut off.

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You know, the idea of something like that

is, we need it now.

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That instant gratification behavior and.

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Yeah, and it all contributes.

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So question

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if they're

saying the blue light is minimal,

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does that mean that it's not affecting us

with those people who go out there

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and buy the fancy, glasses

that, are yellow lenses?

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You know, reduce

fatigue is what they call fatigue.

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Yahtzee.

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And this is the thing

the BBC article did touch upon that.

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And I actually have a pair

of those glasses

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from back when this was a, you know,

something that was really going out.

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So what they do is basically,

use yellow phosphor

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and it's screens out the color

and that and it seems to be

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what they're talking about here

is there's a difference in fatigue

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versus something that's happening

to keep you from falling asleep.

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And that might sound a little bit weird,

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but it's kind of like the idea of I'm

so tired, I can't fall asleep.

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So there is still some science

behind the idea that using the yellow

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glasses will reduce strain on your eyes,

which is a good thing to do.

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I, I at least I would think.

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But as far as it being effective

is blocking

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blue light before going to sleep

and making it easier to fall asleep.

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No, there doesn't seem to be a correlation

there, so there's still a use for them.

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It's just not in the original use case.

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Yeah,

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well, Adobe fixes

an actively exploited Acrobat Reader flaw.

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You know, we're hearing about this stuff

a lot more.

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Chrome browser had this recently.

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And again

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what happens with these kind of flaws

is it creates an opening that a hacker,

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if they know about it, can run code

on your computer, which is a bad thing

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because they can get to your data

and stuff

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without you knowing about it, or introduce

viruses, or on business machines

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that are just malware or ransomware,

you know, all that kind of stuff.

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And,

the tracking number for this, for those

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that want to know, is CVE 2026 34621.

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And basically what you want to do here

is make sure that you have updated

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your Adobe Acrobat,

both the free and the paid versions.

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That affects the ones for the platforms,

for both Windows and Mac OS and all three

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cases, Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader DC,

and then full Acrobat 2024.

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So if you're on a Google or Google,

if you're on a, cloud subscription,

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for Creative Cloud with Adobe,

it should have auto updated.

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Now, I will tell you one thing

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that I have found that

that doesn't always happen immediately.

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So for something like this,

it would be worth logging

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into your Creative Cloud account

or your Adobe account.

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And there's a thing

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where you can get to the updates

and manually push the update through.

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Because again,

you're looking at something here

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that exploited, you wouldn't know what's

going on or that this is even happening.

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And let's face it,

a lot of us use Acrobat is kind of the go

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to standard for documents,

so it's not something that's unusual.

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All right.

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Artemis two trip around

the moon was a huge success.

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Now what?

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Well, you know, and I was reading the,

the thing on this is,

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everything went kind of according to plan.

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They didn't land on the moon.

Of course, on this.

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It was just more of a testing mission.

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But they did

get out the farthest that you need.

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Humans, supposedly have been out.

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Now, if you watch the original Star Trek,

you know, there's some humans that

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are beaming around and stuff in the 1960s,

but I don't think this includes that.

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So basically what happened

is they launched,

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the flight went pretty much

without things.

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They went around to the back of the moon,

had lunch with aliens.

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I hear artichokes was on the list.

Okay. Maybe not.

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I don't want to text.

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I like learned jokes.

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Yeah, I like artichokes, too.

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That wasn't the part that week.

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Maybe not the maybe the eight

hour jokes left to ask, but,

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and and then came back around

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and, got back

and there splashed down without a lot.

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So what's next on this?

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Well, Artemis three

and this mission will most likely

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include landing once again on the moon.

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And right now

there are bidding on the contract.

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Space X, as well as what is a blue,

not blue moon.

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I don't think it's what he called

the origin of blue origin.

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Thank you.

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I know it is blue Moon. Bezos. Okay.

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Interesting name, I guess. Blue horizon.

233

00:10:56,088 --> 00:10:58,758

So that does make sense.

And anything blue is better anyway.

234

00:10:58,758 --> 00:11:02,161

So, at the end of the day, these are the

two companies, among some others

235

00:11:02,161 --> 00:11:05,731

that are bidding on this because a lot of

this is being privatized now.

236

00:11:06,298 --> 00:11:10,803

But at the end of the day, what's going

to happen here is they are going to start

237

00:11:10,803 --> 00:11:14,840

doing some test flights

and get them ready to actually land again.

238

00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:20,613

And this time there are some ideas

of looking at actually doing a lunar base

239

00:11:20,613 --> 00:11:23,616

and what the requirements

would be for something like that,

240

00:11:24,216 --> 00:11:27,353

and it would be first colony off

Earth, you know, just

241

00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,023

where would they put it,

do you think on the on the lighted side

242

00:11:31,023 --> 00:11:34,160

or the dark side

of the dark side of the moon?

243

00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,529

I believe that was a Pink Floyd album

anyway.

244

00:11:36,529 --> 00:11:39,331

Yeah, but but the thing is, I thought

245

00:11:39,331 --> 00:11:42,334

there was problems,

like with Solar radiation.

246

00:11:42,635 --> 00:11:44,203

And actually the question is valid.

247

00:11:44,203 --> 00:11:45,871

And if you think back

to a couple of weeks ago

248

00:11:45,871 --> 00:11:48,874

we talked about this,

that they were finding areas on the moon

249

00:11:48,908 --> 00:11:51,877

that are on the light side

that seem to be blocking the Earth's

250

00:11:51,877 --> 00:11:55,081

magnetic field and some other things

from as much radiation.

251

00:11:55,614 --> 00:11:59,552

So in a perfect situation,

you would want solar light.

252

00:11:59,685 --> 00:12:01,854

You know,

because it can power things and whatnot,

253

00:12:01,854 --> 00:12:04,890

but you don't want to become radioactive

as a part of it.

254

00:12:05,458 --> 00:12:09,161

And unfortunately, you will not turn out

like Radioactive Man on The Simpsons.

255

00:12:09,228 --> 00:12:10,963

It doesn't work that way.

256

00:12:10,963 --> 00:12:13,833

So, you know, so

they're looking at some different things.

257

00:12:13,833 --> 00:12:15,901

I don't believe they've come up and said,

258

00:12:15,901 --> 00:12:18,671

this is where

we're going to build the base yet.

259

00:12:18,671 --> 00:12:20,306

But I think

all things are being considered.

260

00:12:20,306 --> 00:12:23,476

The other thing about the back

side of the moon, too, is communication.

261

00:12:24,009 --> 00:12:24,777

You would have to put

262

00:12:24,777 --> 00:12:27,446

in some kind of a communication

relay and all kinds of stuff.

263

00:12:27,446 --> 00:12:29,415

So there's more to do.

264

00:12:29,415 --> 00:12:32,418

If you were going to use something

like that, but it would effectively,

265

00:12:32,551 --> 00:12:35,187

I don't know if it stopped completely,

but certainly minimize

266

00:12:35,187 --> 00:12:36,222

the radiation problem.

267

00:12:36,222 --> 00:12:40,292

So we'll of course, be keeping on top of

this because it's an interesting thing.

268

00:12:40,292 --> 00:12:43,763

And it's kind of cool to be back

out there again, you know?

269

00:12:44,330 --> 00:12:46,265

Yeah, it feels better.

270

00:12:46,265 --> 00:12:51,003

There's something about the

the whole exploration of space

271

00:12:51,337 --> 00:12:53,439

in our area around us.

272

00:12:53,439 --> 00:12:55,641

I think we need to learn more. Yeah.

273

00:12:58,644 --> 00:13:00,513

Several dozen high value

274

00:13:00,513 --> 00:13:04,517

corporations hit by a new extortion

crew in help desk Michigan spree.

275

00:13:05,251 --> 00:13:07,920

So the Register's reporting on this.

276

00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,524

And what is going on is the bad guys

277

00:13:11,524 --> 00:13:14,627

have figured out this isn't even really

a hack in the classic sense.

278

00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:16,962

It's social engineering.

279

00:13:16,962 --> 00:13:18,264

Check out war games.

280

00:13:18,264 --> 00:13:19,632

You can see what that is.

281

00:13:19,632 --> 00:13:22,935

But a nutshell description of it

is it's the idea

282

00:13:22,935 --> 00:13:26,038

that you call somebody and you're able

to get information from them.

283

00:13:26,539 --> 00:13:30,109

So a modern phishing attack

would be an example of social engineering.

284

00:13:30,109 --> 00:13:33,112

You get a text from somebody

and you click on it.

285

00:13:33,112 --> 00:13:36,315

And that is now, you know, getting

private data in that kind of a thing.

286

00:13:36,315 --> 00:13:40,119

So you're kind of doing this in reverse

and trying to get information from

287

00:13:40,286 --> 00:13:41,954

the help desk.

288

00:13:41,954 --> 00:13:44,790

And it seems to be working.

289

00:13:44,790 --> 00:13:48,627

So the live chats and some of these other

type of things are causing companies

290

00:13:48,627 --> 00:13:53,098

like Google and others to sit down

and become more aware of it.

291

00:13:53,132 --> 00:13:56,101

Now, one of the things

that is an issue here

292

00:13:56,135 --> 00:13:59,104

is that for the most part, I won't say

everybody because I don't know,

293

00:13:59,104 --> 00:14:03,542

but for the most part, help desks

and call centers and stuff are outsourced.

294

00:14:03,709 --> 00:14:05,778

A lot of big companies do that,

and it might be

295

00:14:05,778 --> 00:14:08,113

that you're actually talking to somebody

on the other side of the planet.

296

00:14:08,113 --> 00:14:10,149

When you talk to the help desk.

297

00:14:10,149 --> 00:14:12,685

So being able to lock down on these

types of things

298

00:14:12,685 --> 00:14:15,688

can become more of an issue

in those type of environments,

299

00:14:15,788 --> 00:14:18,991

because a lot of this stuff

works by the person on the help.

300

00:14:18,991 --> 00:14:21,927

This is given a script

when you ask a question,

301

00:14:21,927 --> 00:14:24,864

especially if it's like tech support

or something, they go through the script,

302

00:14:24,864 --> 00:14:27,166

but there isn't really

a lot of training done on

303

00:14:28,133 --> 00:14:29,468

other things.

304

00:14:29,468 --> 00:14:33,205

So if you have someone savvy, call

and start doing these type of things,

305

00:14:33,205 --> 00:14:36,008

whether it's through phishing,

through some electronic thing,

306

00:14:36,008 --> 00:14:41,313

or even just the call itself or the chat

or whatever, it can be problematic.

307

00:14:41,647 --> 00:14:44,650

So it's going to be interesting

to see how this gets resolved.

308

00:14:44,650 --> 00:14:47,820

And it's just another thing to think of

if you think about a helpdesk

309

00:14:48,420 --> 00:14:52,591

and you're a customer or whatever

of the company that you're talking to,

310

00:14:53,559 --> 00:14:56,562

your information is available

to the helpdesk operator.

311

00:14:57,062 --> 00:15:00,833

So it is a valid source

to be able to get information like that.

312

00:15:02,601 --> 00:15:03,202

All right.

313

00:15:03,202 --> 00:15:06,205

Mono cab in Europe helps isolated

314

00:15:06,205 --> 00:15:09,208

places get transport.

315

00:15:09,508 --> 00:15:12,611

So kind of an interesting concept.

316

00:15:12,711 --> 00:15:15,614

This is being prototyped in Germany.

317

00:15:15,614 --> 00:15:17,549

And like here in Europe

318

00:15:17,549 --> 00:15:20,819

there are a lot of underused

or even disused railroad lines.

319

00:15:21,453 --> 00:15:24,023

And there's a lot of enthusiasts

just go on to YouTube

320

00:15:24,023 --> 00:15:27,026

and type in abandoned rail lines

and you'll find just tons of information,

321

00:15:27,059 --> 00:15:29,028

a lot of it's fun to watch too, you know,

322

00:15:29,028 --> 00:15:31,563

because you go places people haven't seen

and all that kind of thing.

323

00:15:31,563 --> 00:15:34,867

Well, but they've come up here

with is a kind of car.

324

00:15:34,867 --> 00:15:37,870

The monarch cab is called that

because it uses one rail.

325

00:15:38,037 --> 00:15:40,706

So this would work on regular lines.

326

00:15:40,706 --> 00:15:43,709

Just use lines, narrow gauge lines,

all that kind of stuff.

327

00:15:43,742 --> 00:15:46,979

And basically what it does

is it allows you to use these

328

00:15:46,979 --> 00:15:50,482

existing tracks to put product or people

329

00:15:50,482 --> 00:15:54,753

or whatever would be needed, to areas

that wouldn't be efficiently

330

00:15:54,753 --> 00:15:57,756

served by having a full railroad

going out to them,

331

00:15:58,023 --> 00:16:01,293

and especially in Europe,

a lot more than the United States.

332

00:16:01,293 --> 00:16:05,764

Trains are used a lot,

but like anywhere else,

333

00:16:05,764 --> 00:16:09,001

you have a situation

where it has to make financial sense.

334

00:16:09,601 --> 00:16:12,604

Unless you're Portland with Trump,

never mind.

335

00:16:12,671 --> 00:16:15,441

It has to make financial sense

to run your rail line.

336

00:16:15,441 --> 00:16:19,845

You know, and, at the end of the day,

something like

337

00:16:19,845 --> 00:16:23,649

this is a lot more efficient

because for one thing, you could use

338

00:16:23,649 --> 00:16:25,184

one set of rails for

339

00:16:26,185 --> 00:16:29,188

traffic going in both directions

because only use the one on the right.

340

00:16:29,221 --> 00:16:30,522

So that's kind of cool.

341

00:16:30,522 --> 00:16:33,525

The efficiency is much better

because they're lighter,

342

00:16:34,326 --> 00:16:35,561

you know, and that type of thing.

343

00:16:35,561 --> 00:16:38,731

So your fuel and all of

that is a lot less than what's used.

344

00:16:39,198 --> 00:16:41,433

And then you can also

have flexible scheduling.

345

00:16:41,433 --> 00:16:44,536

So unlike a classic train

where you're taking the train somewhere,

346

00:16:44,536 --> 00:16:48,774

this little tiny car could be set to leave

and come back as needed.

347

00:16:48,807 --> 00:16:51,510

But kind of an on demand train in a sense.

348

00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:53,445

Yeah,

that's what I got. The impression of.

349

00:16:53,445 --> 00:16:55,881

When I saw it, I was like, oh,

350

00:16:55,881 --> 00:16:58,017

so it's, you know, it's

kind of an interesting thing.

351

00:16:58,017 --> 00:16:59,918

They're not really deployed yet.

352

00:16:59,918 --> 00:17:01,987

It is being tested out right now.

353

00:17:01,987 --> 00:17:05,024

The other thing

is, is getting integration with,

354

00:17:05,024 --> 00:17:08,027

train lines that are still used so

you don't have an accident or something,

355

00:17:08,260 --> 00:17:09,862

you know, that kind of a thing.

356

00:17:09,862 --> 00:17:15,267

But these autonomous rail pods could

really be something that could be used.

357

00:17:15,267 --> 00:17:18,270

And even, on this side of the pond

in the United States,

358

00:17:18,303 --> 00:17:22,474

I could see having passenger rail service

available to places that it hasn't been

359

00:17:22,474 --> 00:17:23,275

just because it wasn't

360

00:17:23,275 --> 00:17:26,478

cost effective to do it for so long

using conventional trains.

361

00:17:26,478 --> 00:17:30,082

So, you know, it is really something

that is kind of cool.

362

00:17:30,582 --> 00:17:30,916

All right.

363

00:17:30,916 --> 00:17:34,720

We've got two other topics we're going to

get into in this segment at least.

364

00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:35,821

But before I want

365

00:17:35,821 --> 00:17:39,691

we do that I want to mention that,

Cyber hawk Rights of Heroes is out.

366

00:17:39,691 --> 00:17:42,961

And Gretchen, I have just got word back

from the publishers

367

00:17:43,429 --> 00:17:44,797

that your book is now on.

368

00:17:44,797 --> 00:17:47,900

All of your books are now available

for purchase on Amazon.

369

00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,371

Barnes and Noble, Walmart's

now carrying them, and pretty all right.

370

00:17:52,471 --> 00:17:53,072

Yeah, yeah.

371

00:17:53,072 --> 00:17:55,274

Go to walmart.com

and type in the name of your book.

372

00:17:55,274 --> 00:17:57,342

It's right there. Ready to order.

373

00:17:57,342 --> 00:18:00,546

So what what at what point do I

374

00:18:00,679 --> 00:18:03,549

it can I walk into a store and see them?

375

00:18:03,549 --> 00:18:05,517

Well,

you know that that's another question.

376

00:18:05,517 --> 00:18:07,352

I think the first place

you're probably going to see that is

377

00:18:07,352 --> 00:18:11,957

Barnes and Noble, but,

Oh, I got some information on that.

378

00:18:11,957 --> 00:18:15,194

But the kind of broader question

that you're asking there is, yes,

379

00:18:15,194 --> 00:18:17,096

there is a point

where that will be a thing

380

00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:18,397

where you can just buy it off the shelf.

381

00:18:18,397 --> 00:18:21,066

So, at least that's the direction

we're going.

382

00:18:21,066 --> 00:18:23,502

So, Gretchen,

congratulations to you on that.

383

00:18:23,502 --> 00:18:24,536

Oh, thank you.

384

00:18:26,004 --> 00:18:26,271

All right.

385

00:18:26,271 --> 00:18:30,109

Couple of questions that have come in

that are interesting and

386

00:18:31,143 --> 00:18:34,113

kind of a little bit weird

when you start thinking about them

387

00:18:34,379 --> 00:18:37,749

is the first one airline ticket pricing.

388

00:18:37,749 --> 00:18:40,219

Now we get asked about this all the time.

389

00:18:40,219 --> 00:18:42,688

And one of the rumors

that was coming up with this idea

390

00:18:42,688 --> 00:18:47,659

that the device you're using

will set the price of the tickets.

391

00:18:47,659 --> 00:18:50,662

In fact, we talked about this

a few weeks ago, and I decided

392

00:18:50,662 --> 00:18:53,665

to deep dive into this

and figure out what's actually going on.

393

00:18:53,699 --> 00:18:58,170

And I got to tell you,

I couldn't find any confirmation

394

00:18:58,570 --> 00:19:01,240

that when I was using an iPhone

or an Android phone

395

00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,243

or my ten year old tablet,

that that changed the price.

396

00:19:04,543 --> 00:19:07,546

But I'll tell you one thing

that did your location.

397

00:19:07,646 --> 00:19:11,550

If I went on and got ticket prices

sitting here in Oregon

398

00:19:11,950 --> 00:19:14,887

and I went on the VPN

and connected to a foreign country

399

00:19:14,887 --> 00:19:17,523

or something, in that case,

there was a huge difference in the prices.

400

00:19:17,523 --> 00:19:18,357

Same flight.

401

00:19:18,357 --> 00:19:23,362

And yes, you can book the tickets

either way, but where you are does seem to

402

00:19:23,362 --> 00:19:28,033

be the case where, the one of the places

I tried was a city in Mexico,

403

00:19:28,667 --> 00:19:31,670

and I found that

the same trip was about $80 less.

404

00:19:32,437 --> 00:19:33,972

Oh, I was in there.

405

00:19:33,972 --> 00:19:38,243

So then I vpn into a server that was just

outside of Beverly Hills, right?

406

00:19:38,310 --> 00:19:39,745

So it's more than Oregon.

407

00:19:39,745 --> 00:19:41,747

And this is all at the same time of day

and all of that.

408

00:19:41,747 --> 00:19:44,283

So, you know, it's

at least a controllable thing.

409

00:19:44,283 --> 00:19:47,252

So there is some truth to being,

410

00:19:48,387 --> 00:19:49,788

you know, vigilant about this.

411

00:19:49,788 --> 00:19:55,394

Because again, when you buy and now

where you buy from does make a difference.

412

00:19:55,627 --> 00:19:59,831

So do a little research and figure out

what time of day is the best.

413

00:20:00,299 --> 00:20:03,435

And maybe investing in a VPN on

some of the stuff, especially

414

00:20:03,435 --> 00:20:05,637

if you're doing a more expensive flight

and with flights going up.

415

00:20:05,637 --> 00:20:08,073

So much now, it is worth checking out.

416

00:20:08,073 --> 00:20:09,274

You know?

417

00:20:09,274 --> 00:20:13,245

So the second question that we get asked

a lot is on state government

418

00:20:13,245 --> 00:20:17,616

selling records, and this isn't the kind

you play on your phonograph either.

419

00:20:18,383 --> 00:20:21,753

And there's a debate

that's been going on on this because it

420

00:20:21,753 --> 00:20:24,323

is making money for governments,

which is why they're doing this.

421

00:20:24,323 --> 00:20:26,124

And it's the idea

422

00:20:26,124 --> 00:20:28,627

that and this isn't the only department,

but I'm going to pick on it

423

00:20:28,627 --> 00:20:30,195

just because it's

the one that seems to do it

424

00:20:30,195 --> 00:20:33,198

the most is that, third

party can buy DMV records.

425

00:20:33,932 --> 00:20:35,400

And what can they get from the DMV?

426

00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:39,771

Well, your driver's license number,

your picture, your Social Security number,

427

00:20:39,771 --> 00:20:42,441

your home address,

you know, and all of the rest of that.

428

00:20:42,441 --> 00:20:43,742

The expiration date of the ID.

429

00:20:43,742 --> 00:20:45,844

Now, what could a bad

guy do with that information?

430

00:20:46,812 --> 00:20:47,546

You know,

431

00:20:47,546 --> 00:20:51,183

when you think

of selling our Social Security numbers.

432

00:20:51,183 --> 00:20:53,418

What a bunch of idiots. Yeah, well, they.

433

00:20:53,418 --> 00:20:55,854

And that and that is certainly one

side of the argument.

434

00:20:55,854 --> 00:20:57,022

And I think a very good side.

435

00:20:57,022 --> 00:20:59,291

Now to

436

00:20:59,291 --> 00:21:01,827

put this in a little bit of context,

there is a thing called the Driver's

437

00:21:01,827 --> 00:21:04,730

Privacy Protection

Act. It's a federal law.

438

00:21:04,730 --> 00:21:05,697

I'm not an attorney.

439

00:21:05,697 --> 00:21:06,965

There are others that can explain that

440

00:21:06,965 --> 00:21:10,969

better than I could,

but it does set down a framework for this.

441

00:21:10,969 --> 00:21:13,839

But it doesn't ban users.

442

00:21:13,839 --> 00:21:18,043

So what it says is permissible uses

can include sales to insurance companies,

443

00:21:18,043 --> 00:21:21,513

auto manufacturers,

private investigators, law enforcements,

444

00:21:21,913 --> 00:21:24,916

and then in some states, data brokers

and marketers.

445

00:21:25,284 --> 00:21:28,287

I'm not sure what the limit would be

if that last one is on your list.

446

00:21:28,787 --> 00:21:29,087

Is it would.

447

00:21:29,087 --> 00:21:31,356

But you know, come up with that.

448

00:21:31,356 --> 00:21:33,925

So your information isn't public.

449

00:21:33,925 --> 00:21:34,426

Exactly.

450

00:21:34,426 --> 00:21:37,796

It's just for sale

under specific conditions to the public.

451

00:21:37,896 --> 00:21:40,899

Anyway, well, look, I mean,

452

00:21:41,066 --> 00:21:44,736

any idiot can go and register

a name of a business

453

00:21:45,103 --> 00:21:50,208

that has the word insurance in it

and pretend to be an insurance person.

454

00:21:50,475 --> 00:21:52,477

If, well, or just not even do that.

455

00:21:52,477 --> 00:21:55,247

Just get your personal information

and use it for other reasons.

456

00:21:55,247 --> 00:21:57,349

I mean, you know,

but I see what you're saying, Gretchen.

457

00:21:57,349 --> 00:22:00,052

It's like, you know,

there was a problem a while back when,

458

00:22:00,052 --> 00:22:04,456

they were looking into things where,

you want to order a controlled substance,

459

00:22:04,456 --> 00:22:09,661

not like a drug, but like mercury or

something, you know, that type of thing.

460

00:22:10,262 --> 00:22:13,065

Or, viral samples.

461

00:22:13,065 --> 00:22:16,068

This started

coming to light in the Covid era.

462

00:22:16,368 --> 00:22:18,837

Hey, dummy up some lever

head that says, you know,

463

00:22:18,837 --> 00:22:21,940

bills lab and send a credit card number.

464

00:22:21,940 --> 00:22:22,874

And in a lot of cases,

465

00:22:22,874 --> 00:22:25,877

the next day that sample was on its way

to you and nobody checked anything.

466

00:22:26,244 --> 00:22:30,148

So I have there's also something

I came across personally

467

00:22:30,449 --> 00:22:34,786

where,

in order to get, a death certificate,

468

00:22:35,454 --> 00:22:41,860

you had to go through some extra agency

and they would charge you this fee,

469

00:22:42,027 --> 00:22:45,864

and then they would force you

to use a certain shipping.

470

00:22:46,198 --> 00:22:51,103

And and if you didn't do that,

then they, would charge you nothing.

471

00:22:51,269 --> 00:22:56,441

But there was no guarantee that you would

actually get the the document you needed.

472

00:22:56,908 --> 00:22:58,877

And that's the thing

about a lot of government agencies

473

00:22:58,877 --> 00:23:01,313

and stuff related to that,

because you don't have the same level

474

00:23:01,313 --> 00:23:03,048

and it's a monopoly

and that type of a thing.

475

00:23:03,048 --> 00:23:05,617

So yeah, you'll run

into right into stuff like that.

476

00:23:05,617 --> 00:23:07,352

And then this kind of goes

around the other day.

477

00:23:07,352 --> 00:23:09,321

So arguments in favor of it.

478

00:23:09,321 --> 00:23:12,190

Well by the government's revenue stream,

obviously

479

00:23:12,190 --> 00:23:15,861

fees are charged to record vault data

access or subscription subscriptions.

480

00:23:15,861 --> 00:23:18,864

That's nicely or always updated

on people's private information.

481

00:23:19,431 --> 00:23:24,870

And the other argument is,

is that, obviously data

482

00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:28,607

being sold to marketing firms that could

conceivably sell it to a third party

483

00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,443

beyond that, you know,

and they say that they won't,

484

00:23:31,443 --> 00:23:34,112

but you know,

who knows what's actually going on?

485

00:23:34,112 --> 00:23:36,481

Yeah, I guarantee theft and stalking.

486

00:23:36,481 --> 00:23:38,950

And there's real world

examples of that kind of a thing.

487

00:23:38,950 --> 00:23:41,820

So anyway, that's what's out there.

488

00:23:41,820 --> 00:23:43,088

This is user friendly 2.0.

489

00:23:43,088 --> 00:23:45,690

We'll be back after the break

I you see him.

490

00:23:45,690 --> 00:23:47,692

He's from the future.

491

00:23:47,692 --> 00:23:50,796

He's got a really big computer

492

00:23:51,363 --> 00:23:54,499

and he uses it every day.

493

00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:59,938

And usually uses it in every way

you want to use it for.

494

00:23:59,938 --> 00:24:03,542

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

495

00:24:04,509 --> 00:24:05,010

Welcome back.

496

00:24:05,010 --> 00:24:07,145

This is user friendly 2.0.

497

00:24:07,145 --> 00:24:09,247

Check out our website user friendly

God show.

498

00:24:09,247 --> 00:24:13,552

It is your one

stop to find everything user friendly.

499

00:24:13,819 --> 00:24:17,589

And that includes Cyber Hawk cyber Hawk,

heroes.com is the website for that.

500

00:24:17,589 --> 00:24:21,526

Or as we were saying in the first segment,

check it out at Walmart, Amazon,

501

00:24:21,526 --> 00:24:24,529

Barnes and Noble

and anywhere else books are sold.

502

00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:26,031

All right.

503

00:24:26,031 --> 00:24:28,233

So let's dive right in here.

504

00:24:28,233 --> 00:24:31,236

Bill, you have a review

505

00:24:31,369 --> 00:24:34,306

on a book call of something.

506

00:24:34,306 --> 00:24:35,941

You better follow through live.

507

00:24:35,941 --> 00:24:39,511

Yeah,

I got, chaos zoom sent me over there.

508

00:24:39,511 --> 00:24:42,113

Latest, which is, call it Kathy Lou.

509

00:24:42,113 --> 00:24:43,648

Dust and Blood.

510

00:24:43,648 --> 00:24:47,452

It's, book containing two scenarios

that take place in Victorian London.

511

00:24:48,420 --> 00:24:52,290

The first one is about a group of people

512

00:24:52,290 --> 00:24:56,528

in a, dust yard, aka, trashy.

513

00:24:57,762 --> 00:25:00,765

If you don't know where the dust yard is

on this

514

00:25:00,832 --> 00:25:02,167

garbage dump.

515

00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:02,868

Yeah.

516

00:25:02,868 --> 00:25:05,904

And the second one,

517

00:25:05,904 --> 00:25:09,908

which is labeled

signs written Scarlet is a murder mystery

518

00:25:10,242 --> 00:25:13,245

which, ritualistic murders.

519

00:25:14,312 --> 00:25:14,779

Okay.

520

00:25:14,779 --> 00:25:17,782

Well, these sound like they would be fun

games to play.

521

00:25:18,216 --> 00:25:20,619

Tell us about you. What I mean

when these are actually playing.

522

00:25:20,619 --> 00:25:23,722

Bill, I know sometimes you do run

some of these campaigns.

523

00:25:24,489 --> 00:25:26,758

Currently,

I don't have the time to run this one.

524

00:25:26,758 --> 00:25:29,761

Of course, I just read through it.

525

00:25:29,961 --> 00:25:33,331

I found, the first one, Ashes to Ashes,

to be very good.

526

00:25:33,331 --> 00:25:35,834

It's, an introductory, as they put it.

527

00:25:35,834 --> 00:25:38,837

Even so, it's very simple,

very straightforward.

528

00:25:39,137 --> 00:25:43,241

Gets you involved

into how the mechanics of the game work.

529

00:25:43,808 --> 00:25:46,745

If you're a new player, or new lore

530

00:25:46,745 --> 00:25:49,748

Keeper, which is a dungeon master

for those who don't know,

531

00:25:50,749 --> 00:25:54,686

the second

one definitely jumps up the difficulty

532

00:25:54,686 --> 00:25:59,457

by becoming much more open

ended, much more complex.

533

00:26:00,792 --> 00:26:03,361

Really

makes you think about what's going on,

534

00:26:03,361 --> 00:26:06,331

makes you feel like an investigator

into a series of inside.

535

00:26:06,331 --> 00:26:08,166

Oh, cool.

536

00:26:08,166 --> 00:26:11,169

I feel like Sherlock Holmes a little bit.

537

00:26:11,970 --> 00:26:14,272

Me and the storylines

are actually really good.

538

00:26:14,272 --> 00:26:15,707

I don't know these new ones.

539

00:26:15,707 --> 00:26:19,077

I haven't seen them yet,

but I know in the past,

540

00:26:19,077 --> 00:26:22,080

I think they actually do a pretty

nice job.

541

00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:23,848

There's depth to it, you know?

542

00:26:23,848 --> 00:26:28,587

And, yeah, I think most people

like games like that that are better,

543

00:26:28,620 --> 00:26:31,823

you know, there's more going on,

especially in the sense of what that is.

544

00:26:31,823 --> 00:26:34,092

So this isn't just like this open world

and you make everything out.

545

00:26:34,092 --> 00:26:37,095

There's actually a,

you know, a framework to it.

546

00:26:37,195 --> 00:26:40,065

And within that framework,

a lot can happen.

547

00:26:40,065 --> 00:26:42,000

And there's a lot that's been thought out

548

00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:45,437

in advance and disagree with me

if you feel the opposite on this bill,

549

00:26:45,470 --> 00:26:47,505

but it seems like been thought through

550

00:26:47,505 --> 00:26:49,474

so that when you're dealing

with a given situation,

551

00:26:49,474 --> 00:26:51,376

it's not like you're

having to just dream it up.

552

00:26:52,644 --> 00:26:52,877

Yeah.

553

00:26:52,877 --> 00:26:57,082

The setting that costume has created

for their Call of Cthulhu books

554

00:26:57,716 --> 00:27:04,055

and, series, really does

bring in that, that H.P.

555

00:27:04,055 --> 00:27:09,060

Lovecraft and other eldritch,

you know, and existential horror

556

00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:14,599

and other kinds of things

really brings that into life in game.

557

00:27:15,634 --> 00:27:18,370

So do you feel like you're pulled

into that era,

558

00:27:18,370 --> 00:27:21,373

that time here, that late 1800s?

559

00:27:21,773 --> 00:27:23,642

Yes. There.

560

00:27:23,642 --> 00:27:25,176

The especially in this one.

561

00:27:25,176 --> 00:27:26,077

Dustin blood.

562

00:27:26,077 --> 00:27:29,881

Uses a lot of verbiage and words that,

563

00:27:29,981 --> 00:27:33,318

you know, really

bring you into it and very,

564

00:27:35,787 --> 00:27:39,090

Yeah, it just really does,

immerse you with it.

565

00:27:40,158 --> 00:27:40,392

Cool.

566

00:27:40,392 --> 00:27:44,195

So a question that came in,

and so I'm just thinking of it now,

567

00:27:44,195 --> 00:27:45,296

so I might throw this out at you.

568

00:27:45,296 --> 00:27:49,167

Is that series done like D&D beyond?

569

00:27:49,167 --> 00:27:51,903

Is it electronic?

Do you buy physical books? Is it both?

570

00:27:53,204 --> 00:27:56,207

You can buy physical and PDFs.

571

00:27:56,341 --> 00:27:59,778

I believe there's a couple of sites

that are similar

572

00:27:59,778 --> 00:28:03,214

to D&D beyond,

in that you can build characters.

573

00:28:03,982 --> 00:28:07,352

But I don't believe they're like

574

00:28:07,919 --> 00:28:11,456

D&D beyond where you have to buy the books

and stuff for it and things like that.

575

00:28:11,456 --> 00:28:13,591

You have to have that ahead of time.

576

00:28:13,591 --> 00:28:15,093

Right? Right. Okay.

577

00:28:15,093 --> 00:28:18,797

I just it's a curiosity

that we tend to get asked a lot.

578

00:28:18,797 --> 00:28:21,666

And I think what it is is gamers

go into two camps.

579

00:28:21,666 --> 00:28:22,734

Some, like the electronics

580

00:28:22,734 --> 00:28:25,737

and some like the,

you know, doing it with a physical book.

581

00:28:26,371 --> 00:28:29,908

And it seems like a lot of the different

publishers address that in different ways,

582

00:28:29,908 --> 00:28:32,911

which is why I figured

I'd ask you on this one, because.

583

00:28:33,144 --> 00:28:35,814

So it sounds like you can get it

electronically, but you would still be

584

00:28:35,814 --> 00:28:38,817

playing a game with a character sheet

and that type of thing.

585

00:28:38,883 --> 00:28:42,687

Yeah, it's designed for in-person

play more than online.

586

00:28:42,787 --> 00:28:45,557

I haven't done it online. That's

the only way I've been able to do it.

587

00:28:45,557 --> 00:28:49,027

And, sites like Roll20

handle it very, very well.

588

00:28:49,461 --> 00:28:49,761

Okay.

589

00:28:50,962 --> 00:28:52,197

And that's inset,

590

00:28:52,197 --> 00:28:55,500

character sheets and stuff like that

that are set up.

591

00:28:56,167 --> 00:28:58,770

You do have to have, you know, the

592

00:28:58,770 --> 00:29:02,340

at least the starter set, worth of rules,

which is free.

593

00:29:03,041 --> 00:29:06,044

But I also like that

594

00:29:06,044 --> 00:29:09,047

what they do is if I buy a physical book,

595

00:29:09,214 --> 00:29:12,217

even though I can't

get the exact PDF of it,

596

00:29:12,317 --> 00:29:17,989

I can get all of the, handouts, character

sheets, pre generated characters.

597

00:29:17,989 --> 00:29:20,992

I can get all those digitally

so I can print those out for people.

598

00:29:21,426 --> 00:29:22,827

Okay.

599

00:29:22,827 --> 00:29:23,061

All right.

600

00:29:23,061 --> 00:29:25,663

So it's that reference type thing there

and that's it.

601

00:29:25,663 --> 00:29:29,300

If somebody wanted to look for a game

online another question that's coming in.

602

00:29:29,300 --> 00:29:32,270

How do they do it? A

you mentioned roll 20.

603

00:29:32,270 --> 00:29:36,107

Roll 20 has a looking for group, system

where you go through

604

00:29:36,107 --> 00:29:40,445

and you look at games and that are posted

by people looking for players or DMs.

605

00:29:41,913 --> 00:29:44,516

There are a number of other sites

that do the same thing.

606

00:29:44,516 --> 00:29:45,550

Other Reddits.

607

00:29:45,550 --> 00:29:49,454

I've heard some horror stories

about the Reddits

608

00:29:50,522 --> 00:29:51,923

and, let's just say that in general.

609

00:29:51,923 --> 00:29:53,658

I mean, oh, really?

610

00:29:53,658 --> 00:29:54,159

Yeah.

611

00:29:54,159 --> 00:29:57,629

So they can be kind of harsh

on that social media.

612

00:29:57,662 --> 00:30:00,131

Yeah. So like,

613

00:30:00,131 --> 00:30:02,667

oh, I've just

I've just heard a lot of stories

614

00:30:02,667 --> 00:30:05,904

that sometimes it's, it's quite a,

615

00:30:07,172 --> 00:30:08,973

get a show to get a good group.

616

00:30:08,973 --> 00:30:11,042

But when you do, you land one.

617

00:30:11,042 --> 00:30:13,077

I did

618

00:30:13,077 --> 00:30:15,413

I have been with this group for over

five years.

619

00:30:15,413 --> 00:30:17,882

We met on Roll20.

620

00:30:17,882 --> 00:30:20,985

They had an amazing friends,

621

00:30:22,253 --> 00:30:26,591

I believe anybody can do it.

622

00:30:26,591 --> 00:30:28,860

It just might take some time.

I had some bad luck.

623

00:30:28,860 --> 00:30:31,462

I had a group that I thought was

really good.

624

00:30:31,462 --> 00:30:35,333

Ended up being,

pretty bad situation for me.

625

00:30:35,767 --> 00:30:37,001

Wasn't for me.

626

00:30:37,001 --> 00:30:40,238

After I left that again,

I found another group,

627

00:30:40,238 --> 00:30:43,374

and it was just a matter of trying and

628

00:30:45,109 --> 00:30:46,711

definitely sticking up for yourself.

629

00:30:46,711 --> 00:30:47,879

You'll like something's off.

630

00:30:47,879 --> 00:30:49,280

Talk to your DM about it.

631

00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,283

Or other players I have. Yeah.

632

00:30:52,650 --> 00:30:55,587

If it's all about,

you know, D and D is better.

633

00:30:55,587 --> 00:30:58,022

Yeah. No, daddy is better than bad D.

634

00:30:58,022 --> 00:31:00,191

Yeah, it's very true.

635

00:31:00,191 --> 00:31:03,361

I know I ran into that when I was first

looking for a cyberpunk campaign,

636

00:31:03,361 --> 00:31:06,364

and I want the characters to be cyberpunk,

not the players.

637

00:31:06,464 --> 00:31:09,234

And that is exactly what I ran

into the first time.

638

00:31:09,234 --> 00:31:11,536

It's like,

okay, this is just not going to work.

639

00:31:11,536 --> 00:31:14,906

And, you know, but the thing of it is,

it wasn't like, don't do it this way.

640

00:31:14,906 --> 00:31:17,909

You just need to find something

that you're going to fit better.

641

00:31:17,942 --> 00:31:20,078

And there's a lot of options out there.

642

00:31:20,078 --> 00:31:20,745

So yeah.

643

00:31:20,745 --> 00:31:24,616

So you have to find the right chemistry

with the right personalities.

644

00:31:24,716 --> 00:31:25,483

Yeah.

645

00:31:25,483 --> 00:31:26,684

Oh, yeah.

646

00:31:26,684 --> 00:31:29,187

And, so but you would recommend these.

647

00:31:30,588 --> 00:31:33,591

I would

give them a shot if they worked for me.

648

00:31:33,658 --> 00:31:36,060

They worked for a lot of other players.

649

00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:39,063

Again,

there are going to be bad situations.

650

00:31:39,130 --> 00:31:42,133

So, you know, look out for yourself.

651

00:31:42,467 --> 00:31:46,537

And, again,

no, daddy is better than bad DP.

652

00:31:46,971 --> 00:31:49,841

Yeah, agreed. 100%.

653

00:31:49,841 --> 00:31:50,942

All right. Cool.

654

00:31:50,942 --> 00:31:53,845

Well, if you've played this campaign

or others, let us know.

655

00:31:53,845 --> 00:31:54,579

User friendly? Not sure.

656

00:31:54,579 --> 00:31:55,713

We'd love to hear back from you

657

00:31:55,713 --> 00:31:59,484

and what your experience has been

and any ideas or advice.

658

00:32:00,084 --> 00:32:02,520

Please feel free to comment.

659

00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,590

All right,

so he has promised in the opening robots

660

00:32:05,957 --> 00:32:08,993

now, this has been an experience.

661

00:32:08,993 --> 00:32:11,896

And there's two parts of this

that we're going to cover.

662

00:32:11,896 --> 00:32:14,065

The first one is actually a story

that's out right now

663

00:32:14,065 --> 00:32:15,900

with Major League Baseball.

664

00:32:15,900 --> 00:32:19,771

And kind of an interesting connection

here, because the stuff

665

00:32:19,771 --> 00:32:23,808

that's been circulating is they are

replacing the umpires with robots.

666

00:32:24,275 --> 00:32:27,245

Okay. And like a lot of,

667

00:32:28,246 --> 00:32:29,247

you know, rumors and

668

00:32:29,247 --> 00:32:32,517

different things like that that get out

there, this is partially true.

669

00:32:33,051 --> 00:32:36,287

There will still be human umpires,

but what they are experimenting with

670

00:32:36,287 --> 00:32:40,158

is using a

AI robot to call balls and strikes.

671

00:32:40,591 --> 00:32:41,626

And one of the areas

672

00:32:41,626 --> 00:32:45,863

where there's a lot of controversy

and can make the difference in a game.

673

00:32:45,863 --> 00:32:48,800

Who wins and loses, is that so?

674

00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,870

Basically, what they're looking at doing

this year is putting together

675

00:32:52,870 --> 00:32:57,108

a system where the,

and this is, this isn't like brand new.

676

00:32:57,141 --> 00:32:58,676

You've probably heard of this

because it's been done

677

00:32:58,676 --> 00:32:59,777

in some other places in the past.

678

00:32:59,777 --> 00:33:02,847

But what it is, is the teams

get two challenges,

679

00:33:03,514 --> 00:33:07,018

and if they make a challenge,

then they go to the AI.

680

00:33:07,018 --> 00:33:08,252

If the team wins the challenge.

681

00:33:08,252 --> 00:33:09,420

So they still have two challenges.

682

00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:11,422

If they lose it,

then they only have one left and so on.

683

00:33:11,422 --> 00:33:11,990

So the idea.

684

00:33:11,990 --> 00:33:15,360

So they can't keep stopping

every five seconds or anything like that.

685

00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,629

But on the same token,

if there's been a bad call made,

686

00:33:19,063 --> 00:33:22,767

they have the ability to go back

and see what the AI

687

00:33:22,900 --> 00:33:26,104

robot says it should be,

and then that's what it would be.

688

00:33:26,671 --> 00:33:30,641

So, you know, one of the areas I noticed

this kind of thing was in the Olympics,

689

00:33:31,142 --> 00:33:34,412

this last set of Olympics,

there was a lot more use of this type

690

00:33:34,412 --> 00:33:36,014

of technology and different things.

691

00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:38,349

And even just watching it,

you could see it.

692

00:33:38,349 --> 00:33:39,417

Different camera angles.

693

00:33:39,417 --> 00:33:42,720

You could get the close ups, you could,

you know, see the flash, what does it

694

00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,324

photo finish as they used to call it,

all these different type of things.

695

00:33:46,324 --> 00:33:49,093

So it is a lot more immersive.

696

00:33:49,093 --> 00:33:54,599

And it seems like because just when

humans are involved, mistakes can be made.

697

00:33:54,599 --> 00:33:59,971

And if a bad call is made, it cost

you the game and you really did it right.

698

00:33:59,971 --> 00:34:03,574

I could see where

people would want to have a check on that.

699

00:34:04,308 --> 00:34:04,542

Yeah.

700

00:34:04,542 --> 00:34:09,147

Now the question is, is

do they eventually go to a full,

701

00:34:09,447 --> 00:34:12,884

system

where the machine calls every pitch

702

00:34:14,052 --> 00:34:16,287

or there are certainly arguments for

and against that.

703

00:34:16,287 --> 00:34:19,023

And I can understand

both sides of the coin.

704

00:34:19,023 --> 00:34:22,560

But the interesting thing about it

is, and unlike a lot of new technologies

705

00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,563

where they've used this in the past,

it does seem to be accurate.

706

00:34:26,397 --> 00:34:29,400

In fact, in the research

I was doing on this topic,

707

00:34:29,500 --> 00:34:33,571

I didn't one down anything was blatantly

what it called it wrong.

708

00:34:33,571 --> 00:34:34,372

And here's the example.

709

00:34:34,372 --> 00:34:35,206

I mean, maybe that exists

710

00:34:35,206 --> 00:34:38,209

and I just didn't see it,

but it didn't seem like a problem.

711

00:34:38,309 --> 00:34:41,913

So, you know, it's professional sports.

712

00:34:41,913 --> 00:34:43,681

There's a lot of money involved,

713

00:34:43,681 --> 00:34:46,651

and therefore there's a lot of ability

to invest in different things.

714

00:34:46,818 --> 00:34:50,354

And who wins and loses

is a big part of that.

715

00:34:51,255 --> 00:34:53,591

So you do want it to be accurate.

716

00:34:53,591 --> 00:34:56,561

So I'm not a huge baseball person.

717

00:34:56,561 --> 00:34:59,564

And I would love to hear from

some of our listeners that are because

718

00:35:00,031 --> 00:35:01,632

is this a good thing or a bad thing?

719

00:35:01,632 --> 00:35:03,101

And the other thing

is, is some of the rules.

720

00:35:03,101 --> 00:35:06,037

They're coming up with this

try to speed up the game.

721

00:35:06,037 --> 00:35:10,074

And it makes me think a little bit of Star

Trek Deep Space Nine.

722

00:35:10,074 --> 00:35:12,877

They were constantly talking

about how well baseball was too slow,

723

00:35:12,877 --> 00:35:16,047

so it went away,

you know, in the 24th century.

724

00:35:16,047 --> 00:35:18,282

But some people were trying to bring it

back.

725

00:35:18,282 --> 00:35:20,818

So, you know, is that really a thing?

726

00:35:20,818 --> 00:35:22,687

And does it make it better

727

00:35:22,687 --> 00:35:25,790

versus from a standpoint of a fan

to be able to watch a game

728

00:35:26,157 --> 00:35:28,626

if you don't have things like extra

innings or,

729

00:35:28,626 --> 00:35:30,928

you know, some of the other things

that would slow down the process,

730

00:35:30,928 --> 00:35:33,264

just curiosity, question

a throw out there.

731

00:35:33,264 --> 00:35:35,433

So that's the official robot story.

732

00:35:35,433 --> 00:35:38,603

Now here's the unofficial

personal experience robot story.

733

00:35:39,370 --> 00:35:44,142

So we just did a Stem presentation and we

do these with the high schools and stuff.

734

00:35:44,709 --> 00:35:47,912

To promote the idea of the fact

that we need engineers

735

00:35:47,912 --> 00:35:49,780

if we're going to continue

living in the modern world,

736

00:35:49,780 --> 00:35:52,683

having people that understand

how that works is a good thing.

737

00:35:52,683 --> 00:35:56,854

Plus, it's an area where you can make

a very good living and that type of thing.

738

00:35:56,854 --> 00:35:59,157

You have to be someone that's

739

00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:02,960

willing to constantly update your skills

as things change, that kind of stuff.

740

00:36:03,327 --> 00:36:04,462

But at the end of the day,

741

00:36:04,462 --> 00:36:07,899

there's a lot of places to plug into this

and a lot of ones that are kind of fun,

742

00:36:08,733 --> 00:36:08,966

you know?

743

00:36:08,966 --> 00:36:11,936

And for my own standpoint,

I am a programmer

744

00:36:11,936 --> 00:36:13,638

and I actually do enjoy that.

745

00:36:13,638 --> 00:36:16,440

But I like the other stuff, too,

that I've been able to work with lately

746

00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,576

that have involved things

like exoskeletons

747

00:36:18,576 --> 00:36:21,579

that, you know, allow you to run fast

and all that kind of stuff,

748

00:36:21,712 --> 00:36:24,115

and the whole being able to fly

like Iron Man experience.

749

00:36:24,115 --> 00:36:24,916

It's been a positive.

750

00:36:24,916 --> 00:36:25,550

I haven't come up

751

00:36:25,550 --> 00:36:28,553

with a bad side of that at all yet,

and I don't think I ever will.

752

00:36:28,653 --> 00:36:31,889

But these are all things that come from

the idea of Stem.

753

00:36:32,456 --> 00:36:35,793

So within that we have two robots

that were originally prototypes

754

00:36:35,793 --> 00:36:36,661

for another project.

755

00:36:36,661 --> 00:36:39,964

We were working on that

we wanted to show off and

756

00:36:40,965 --> 00:36:43,467

this was

back in 2024 when these were made.

757

00:36:43,467 --> 00:36:47,638

And after we were done with them,

they went on a shelf and sat behind me.

758

00:36:47,638 --> 00:36:50,741

In fact, behind

where I am in my studio here.

759

00:36:50,741 --> 00:36:53,110

If you see the video version of this on

anything,

760

00:36:53,110 --> 00:36:56,247

you'll have probably seen them in

some of those views.

761

00:36:56,847 --> 00:36:58,416

So this year it's like,

okay, we're going to get them up

762

00:36:58,416 --> 00:36:59,984

and running, finalize them.

763

00:36:59,984 --> 00:37:01,018

And that should be no problem.

764

00:37:01,018 --> 00:37:03,754

Started about a month ago on this link

and I had plenty of time.

765

00:37:03,754 --> 00:37:06,224

Was working on this

until the night before our presentation

766

00:37:06,224 --> 00:37:08,392

because it's like they fought me

the whole way.

767

00:37:08,392 --> 00:37:11,596

You know, it was it was just an odd thing,

768

00:37:11,762 --> 00:37:14,732

you know, got them both back out

and dusted them off, literally.

769

00:37:15,166 --> 00:37:18,202

And then I thought, okay, I'm going to

770

00:37:18,836 --> 00:37:21,138

go ahead and fire

these guys up and see if they work.

771

00:37:21,138 --> 00:37:22,607

The software is probably out of date.

772

00:37:22,607 --> 00:37:25,676

There's a was actually a new version

of Python, which is what these run on.

773

00:37:25,676 --> 00:37:27,912

So there certainly were going to be

some things I needed to deal with.

774

00:37:27,912 --> 00:37:29,080

Right.

775

00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:31,849

And I talked about this

in a previous show,

776

00:37:31,849 --> 00:37:34,852

but the first thing that happened

is the batteries blew up.

777

00:37:35,553 --> 00:37:39,390

And what had happened was is one of the

778

00:37:39,690 --> 00:37:43,861

robots has six legs and it was running it

779

00:37:43,861 --> 00:37:47,164

and it hadn't been recalibrated yet

or anything been sitting on the shelf.

780

00:37:47,164 --> 00:37:50,368

So one part of one of the legs

got caught on the top of the frame

781

00:37:50,968 --> 00:37:52,803

and started pushing down.

782

00:37:52,803 --> 00:37:56,240

And normally what would happen

is it's more and more of a current draw.

783

00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:57,708

So you want some safety stuff in there

784

00:37:57,708 --> 00:37:59,977

so it doesn't burn out the motor,

for one thing.

785

00:37:59,977 --> 00:38:03,814

And usually that's in your power system

where the battery will turn off.

786

00:38:03,814 --> 00:38:06,851

That's part of the safety that's supposed

to be in lithium ion batteries.

787

00:38:06,851 --> 00:38:07,785

Right.

788

00:38:07,785 --> 00:38:10,821

Well, the batteries

I got turned out to be fakes.

789

00:38:10,821 --> 00:38:14,225

I mean, they were real batteries, but

they were not what they purported to be

790

00:38:14,792 --> 00:38:16,427

and had none of these systems in it.

791

00:38:16,427 --> 00:38:20,097

So the thing starts smoking

and and kind of blows up

792

00:38:20,097 --> 00:38:23,100

and it melts part of the frame

and all that kind of stuff.

793

00:38:23,301 --> 00:38:26,437

And being in the world where we are right

now, where there's no more RadioShack

794

00:38:26,504 --> 00:38:30,841

or equivalent to be able to go get parts,

it means you have to order everything in

795

00:38:31,208 --> 00:38:33,044

and then the other part of it

796

00:38:33,044 --> 00:38:36,647

that was kind of interesting is

I had a very hard time

797

00:38:36,981 --> 00:38:39,984

finding if the batteries

I was going to replace them were for real.

798

00:38:40,484 --> 00:38:44,622

So I decided, okay, I want to get a name

brand like Samsung or something.

799

00:38:44,622 --> 00:38:46,590

You know, that we know produces batteries.

800

00:38:46,590 --> 00:38:48,993

And you know,

Samsung has had a pretty good record.

801

00:38:48,993 --> 00:38:51,395

They've just blown up

planes, washing machines and other stuff.

802

00:38:51,395 --> 00:38:53,531

But outside of that

it's good battery, right?

803

00:38:56,567 --> 00:38:59,136

But in all

seriousness, you get something like that

804

00:38:59,136 --> 00:39:00,371

and I pick on them a little bit

805

00:39:00,371 --> 00:39:03,140

because you know these things,

but it is a quality product.

806

00:39:03,140 --> 00:39:06,277

And a company like that's going to sell

something that purports to be what it is.

807

00:39:06,277 --> 00:39:09,080

Couldn't find them on Amazon at all.

808

00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,583

In fact, I had to do some digging

and find a third party retailer.

809

00:39:12,583 --> 00:39:15,186

Couldn't get them locally

because I would do that first anyway.

810

00:39:15,186 --> 00:39:18,422

You know, nothing available

for the special batteries that I need.

811

00:39:18,422 --> 00:39:20,324

And these aren't

just like a flashlight battery.

812

00:39:20,324 --> 00:39:23,260

You need them so that they have

the ability to run all the motors.

813

00:39:23,260 --> 00:39:24,095

That kind of a thing.

814

00:39:24,095 --> 00:39:28,833

So high draw lithium, you know, of a

certain rating and all that kind of stuff.

815

00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,404

So I finally did find them a week

and a half to get the new batteries in,

816

00:39:33,404 --> 00:39:36,640

but also the parts to rebuild the frame,

the battery container itself,

817

00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:37,875

and it melted. Okay.

818

00:39:38,909 --> 00:39:39,510

So finally

819

00:39:39,510 --> 00:39:42,747

all of this comes in

and I put it all together.

820

00:39:43,381 --> 00:39:45,916

You have to power it up

for the first time,

821

00:39:45,916 --> 00:39:48,919

and the control board burns out

822

00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:54,258

Raspberry Pi, which is what's running it

again, smoking and all that kind of stuff.

823

00:39:54,258 --> 00:39:57,862

And needless to say,

the stress is building

824

00:39:57,862 --> 00:40:01,031

and building is really fine,

you know? Yeah.

825

00:40:01,565 --> 00:40:04,034

Oh, it's like,

okay, you know what's going on now.

826

00:40:04,034 --> 00:40:07,605

So, idea that came from

just putting my head together

827

00:40:07,605 --> 00:40:10,341

with some other engineers,

is that probably when the battery blew up

828

00:40:10,341 --> 00:40:13,344

and burned out something in the pie

and you didn't notice it?

829

00:40:13,644 --> 00:40:16,113

Because when we did the soft power test,

it worked.

830

00:40:16,113 --> 00:40:19,450

But as soon as I put it under load,

it started having problems, you know?

831

00:40:19,450 --> 00:40:21,118

And that is the difference.

832

00:40:21,118 --> 00:40:23,354

Sometimes components will test

good on the meter,

833

00:40:23,354 --> 00:40:25,556

but still be bad

when you actually run power through them.

834

00:40:25,556 --> 00:40:27,224

So that is a thing.

835

00:40:27,224 --> 00:40:29,827

So it's like okay,

what are new Raspberry Pi now?

836

00:40:29,827 --> 00:40:32,096

Fortunately those aren't

that terribly hard to come by.

837

00:40:32,096 --> 00:40:34,865

It was like three days.

And I got that in here.

838

00:40:34,865 --> 00:40:37,368

And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking,

okay, I'm

839

00:40:37,368 --> 00:40:41,372

I'm putting fuzes on the battery packs

like actual fuzes in addition.

840

00:40:41,372 --> 00:40:41,872

So that's it.

841

00:40:41,872 --> 00:40:43,574

Got a backup safety thing.

842

00:40:43,574 --> 00:40:45,709

So if that happens blow the fuze.

843

00:40:45,709 --> 00:40:48,746

And also went in

and put some diodes and stuff

844

00:40:48,746 --> 00:40:50,714

in to make sure it doesn't back bead.

845

00:40:50,714 --> 00:40:53,651

You know just general stuff. Now again,

these were prototypes.

846

00:40:53,651 --> 00:40:56,520

This stuff was done

in the final version of the prototype,

847

00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:57,955

but it never made it into my prototypes

848

00:40:57,955 --> 00:41:00,958

just because we didn't

get that far with this stuff.

849

00:41:01,659 --> 00:41:05,629

So I'm testing the meter out and find,

you know, the grounds common.

850

00:41:05,629 --> 00:41:09,433

But on the positive voltage rails,

there's a dead short coming from the

851

00:41:09,433 --> 00:41:12,837

solenoid voltage into the power line

that goes into the Raspberry Pi.

852

00:41:13,804 --> 00:41:16,040

Okay, what's causing this?

853

00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:16,774

Look at the board.

854

00:41:16,774 --> 00:41:19,777

And here there was something they call

carbon tracking.

855

00:41:20,711 --> 00:41:22,980

And what had happened,

I think when the battery shorted out,

856

00:41:22,980 --> 00:41:24,782

it caused the board to heat up.

857

00:41:24,782 --> 00:41:28,219

So two of the traces on the board

had melted together basically.

858

00:41:28,752 --> 00:41:30,387

And they were the power leads.

859

00:41:30,387 --> 00:41:33,290

So if I put the new Raspberry Pi on it,

it would have gone boom.

860

00:41:33,290 --> 00:41:36,293

Two, you know, and it was just kind of

by chance I even caught this.

861

00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:39,864

So the next thing is

I can't get the PCB replaced in time.

862

00:41:39,864 --> 00:41:43,534

So I'm cutting traces and bodge

and stuff together and then making sure,

863

00:41:44,068 --> 00:41:47,371

you know, everything's working correctly

and all that kind of stuff.

864

00:41:47,972 --> 00:41:49,807

And finally,

865

00:41:49,807 --> 00:41:52,877

just this last weekend, got the thing

to boot up again and get the test small.

866

00:41:52,877 --> 00:41:55,813

Now I still have ahead of me

all of the programing,

867

00:41:55,813 --> 00:41:56,680

you know, and the different things

868

00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:58,682

that need to go along with that

to actually make it work.

869

00:41:58,682 --> 00:42:00,417

Getting the calibration done,

870

00:42:00,417 --> 00:42:03,420

which is all the stuff that I should have

been doing three weeks ago, you know.

871

00:42:03,921 --> 00:42:06,557

But I've decided I'm

not going to let this thing defeat me.

872

00:42:06,557 --> 00:42:09,560

And so we're going to we're going to get

get there if at all possible.

873

00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:12,329

And then I thought,

you know, it'd be kind of cool,

874

00:42:12,329 --> 00:42:15,332

especially since this is a demonstration

for high school students

875

00:42:15,332 --> 00:42:18,569

to have something like a PlayStation

controller to run the robot.

876

00:42:18,569 --> 00:42:19,603

Right.

877

00:42:19,603 --> 00:42:22,773

And we all can't find my PS4 hardware.

878

00:42:22,773 --> 00:42:23,841

It's gone away.

879

00:42:23,841 --> 00:42:26,176

It's probably in some storage somewhere.

880

00:42:26,176 --> 00:42:31,081

So I'm going to go get another controller

look to get a either a PS5, controller.

881

00:42:31,549 --> 00:42:34,084

That's all that's out right now

or an Xbox One.

882

00:42:34,084 --> 00:42:37,187

Well, those are so complicated

now that they don't really work too

883

00:42:37,187 --> 00:42:40,190

well out of the box for an application

like this.

884

00:42:40,591 --> 00:42:44,128

I ended up using my Atari 7800

plus controller.

885

00:42:44,895 --> 00:42:46,830

Very, very simple joystick.

886

00:42:46,830 --> 00:42:49,800

It's got the directional pad

and two buttons and it worked.

887

00:42:50,334 --> 00:42:53,537

But this is like the night before the demo

that I'm just getting the stuff

888

00:42:53,537 --> 00:42:54,538

up and running, you know?

889

00:42:55,506 --> 00:42:58,509

So yeah.

890

00:42:58,542 --> 00:43:01,779

And this

all started because of a cruddy battery.

891

00:43:01,812 --> 00:43:04,248

It all started because of a fake battery.

And yeah.

892

00:43:04,248 --> 00:43:07,251

And, you know, we're

893

00:43:07,484 --> 00:43:10,588

I brought you the solar lights

that were busted.

894

00:43:11,088 --> 00:43:15,025

And wasn't that a situation

where there was ready batteries

895

00:43:15,025 --> 00:43:18,596

once again, you know, and the end of it

is, is the quality control.

896

00:43:18,596 --> 00:43:20,798

But I think more so than that,

these things are intentional.

897

00:43:20,798 --> 00:43:23,801

Like with that, your, corrosion.

898

00:43:24,001 --> 00:43:25,469

The circuit was corroded with the battery.

899

00:43:25,469 --> 00:43:29,273

And, you know, when we looked inside it

and it's because the metal in the battery

900

00:43:29,273 --> 00:43:32,276

and the type of metal in the wiring

are too, that don't get along.

901

00:43:32,343 --> 00:43:34,345

That's why would they do that.

902

00:43:34,345 --> 00:43:35,913

That's usually usually

903

00:43:35,913 --> 00:43:37,915

you put the battery in a battery holder

and it doesn't do that.

904

00:43:37,915 --> 00:43:42,052

But to save $0.02 they soldered the wires

directly to the posts on the battery.

905

00:43:42,486 --> 00:43:45,289

And this is not a battery

that's designed to be installed that way.

906

00:43:45,289 --> 00:43:48,492

It's, you know, positive negative

like a double A battery, you know,

907

00:43:48,892 --> 00:43:51,962

a rechargeable version of it,

but they actually physically soldered.

908

00:43:52,429 --> 00:43:54,999

So the solder is one kind of metal.

909

00:43:54,999 --> 00:43:58,202

The battery is made out of a different

kind of metal, and the wiring is a third.

910

00:43:58,202 --> 00:44:02,539

And it causes a reaction

that will cause corrosion like that.

911

00:44:02,539 --> 00:44:05,175

So, what are we doing to repair them?

912

00:44:05,175 --> 00:44:06,810

Well, we're battery holders

913

00:44:06,810 --> 00:44:09,780

and we're replacing the batteries,

you know, that kind of a thing.

914

00:44:09,847 --> 00:44:13,584

But one of the worries that I have about

this is there's a lot of Stem projects

915

00:44:13,584 --> 00:44:16,720

out there where you can go on a site

like Amazon or whatever.

916

00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:17,354

Barnes and Noble

917

00:44:17,354 --> 00:44:20,991

sell some of this stuff in other places,

and you get to build a robot

918

00:44:21,659 --> 00:44:23,994

and I'm looking at this,

and the fake batteries

919

00:44:23,994 --> 00:44:26,997

look like they're the ones

that are included with some of the kits.

920

00:44:26,997 --> 00:44:27,798

Yeah.

921

00:44:27,798 --> 00:44:30,000

So it's like you get a situation either.

922

00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:31,168

Can you imagine being a student?

923

00:44:31,168 --> 00:44:34,171

This is your first time you're going

to try to build your own robot

924

00:44:34,271 --> 00:44:35,539

and it doesn't work right

925

00:44:36,707 --> 00:44:39,543

either because it catches fire

or there's some other thing going on

926

00:44:39,543 --> 00:44:42,446

that's got a fake component,

so it doesn't do what it's supposed to do,

927

00:44:42,446 --> 00:44:44,281

and the kids are not going to know it.

928

00:44:44,281 --> 00:44:46,583

It's like, yeah,

it's going to be extremely frustrating

929

00:44:46,583 --> 00:44:50,387

or even potentially very dangerous

and demoralizing,

930

00:44:50,387 --> 00:44:54,858

and it might make them give up on

doing the whole thing in general.

931

00:44:54,858 --> 00:44:59,563

So one of the things I've been thinking

about doing with this is,

932

00:44:59,663 --> 00:45:03,200

and again,

Stem is something that I very much support

933

00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:06,236

and I think it's very important

to have this out here in a way

934

00:45:06,236 --> 00:45:10,908

that it's accessible is on these robots

and some of the other ones

935

00:45:10,908 --> 00:45:14,611

I'm finding as well

post, page the user friendly website here

936

00:45:14,611 --> 00:45:17,781

in the next couple of months

talking about some of the details on it.

937

00:45:17,815 --> 00:45:20,884

I think what I'm going to do is order

the kits, just all of them,

938

00:45:21,485 --> 00:45:23,520

you know,

or at least a cross section of them,

939

00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:26,457

put them together and video

that when I put the videos up

940

00:45:26,457 --> 00:45:29,493

and just go over what we run into and,

941

00:45:29,860 --> 00:45:34,498

go through a process that we'll set up

to be able to test and see.

942

00:45:34,498 --> 00:45:35,933

Number one of the components are real.

943

00:45:35,933 --> 00:45:37,868

And the other thing that I've been hearing

rumors about,

944

00:45:37,868 --> 00:45:41,772

I haven't experienced this yet myself,

but I'm probably will,

945

00:45:42,339 --> 00:45:46,677

is that apparently some of the foreign

made boards and that type of thing

946

00:45:46,910 --> 00:45:49,913

say that they have components

which don't actually exist.

947

00:45:50,314 --> 00:45:52,416

And these would be things

like directional diodes,

948

00:45:52,416 --> 00:45:54,351

prevent back feeding

and that kind of thing.

949

00:45:54,351 --> 00:45:56,053

So the unit will work

if everything's fine,

950

00:45:56,053 --> 00:45:59,223

but if something goes wrong

it doesn't have that safety things.

951

00:45:59,223 --> 00:46:02,025

There should be fuzes,

you know, and some other stuff there.

952

00:46:02,025 --> 00:46:04,228

Just very basic circuit protection things.

953

00:46:04,228 --> 00:46:08,432

That number one, you don't blow up

what usually is a $200 or more product

954

00:46:08,966 --> 00:46:11,769

to begin with if something goes wrong.

955

00:46:11,769 --> 00:46:14,471

And number two, so you don't do something

like burn your house down. Lithium

956

00:46:14,471 --> 00:46:19,543

fires are very difficult to put out,

and I almost had that situation here.

957

00:46:20,177 --> 00:46:23,981

You know, but,

you did drop some stuff out.

958

00:46:23,981 --> 00:46:27,284

And I guess I do have

the very unique thing that I can actually

959

00:46:27,284 --> 00:46:31,088

tell everybody that my robot spider

had an accident on my carpet.

960

00:46:35,159 --> 00:46:36,093

Quite literally.

961

00:46:36,093 --> 00:46:37,861

Yeah. It did.

962

00:46:37,861 --> 00:46:41,865

Didn't you have one of the eyes in your

in your office space?

963

00:46:41,865 --> 00:46:45,202

Go, quick, call the emergency people.

964

00:46:46,170 --> 00:46:47,604

Another part of it, too.

965

00:46:47,604 --> 00:46:50,774

So, you know that work with AI

and I work with

966

00:46:50,974 --> 00:46:55,012

I do check everything and use it

as a tool, not a replacement for me.

967

00:46:55,345 --> 00:46:58,348

Although I think sometimes you wonder

if it could do that, but,

968

00:46:59,449 --> 00:47:00,217

that kind of a thing.

969

00:47:00,217 --> 00:47:04,188

I have a camera on, and you could actually

do that and feed the camera into an AI,

970

00:47:04,721 --> 00:47:06,190

and it's monitoring what you're doing.

971

00:47:06,190 --> 00:47:08,258

And I was actually doing this

for calibrating the legs,

972

00:47:08,258 --> 00:47:11,261

because it's able to tell better

than I can from an overhead shot

973

00:47:11,461 --> 00:47:13,630

what's right and what's not.

And then I did this and yeah.

974

00:47:13,630 --> 00:47:14,565

Oh yeah. Freaked out.

975

00:47:14,565 --> 00:47:17,100

Oh yeah. Oh that call 911.

976

00:47:17,100 --> 00:47:19,269

You know evacuate the house.

Get off the planet.

977

00:47:19,269 --> 00:47:21,271

You know,

it's like okay. Everything's good.

978

00:47:21,271 --> 00:47:22,072

Oh yeah.

979

00:47:22,072 --> 00:47:24,341

It it hadn't gone far enough

that it was an actual fire.

980

00:47:24,341 --> 00:47:25,442

So I was able to deal with it

981

00:47:25,442 --> 00:47:28,278

by getting it up off the carpet

onto a solid surface.

982

00:47:28,278 --> 00:47:31,648

And then I had to go calm down my eye,

which is a little bit of a wrinkle.

983

00:47:31,648 --> 00:47:33,317

I don't think we would

have had a few years ago.

984

00:47:36,753 --> 00:47:39,489

And,

but, you know, at the end of the day,

985

00:47:39,489 --> 00:47:41,625

and this is one of the things

about generative AI is

986

00:47:41,625 --> 00:47:45,762

I think a lot of people would work and use

AI for building these projects.

987

00:47:45,762 --> 00:47:47,531

It makes total sense to do it.

988

00:47:47,531 --> 00:47:50,534

And there are some things there

that the AI can do, like the calibrations

989

00:47:50,534 --> 00:47:51,101

and stuff.

990

00:47:51,101 --> 00:47:54,104

Well, part of the learning process

for an AI

991

00:47:54,304 --> 00:47:56,640

is now the

AI would know that this happened

992

00:47:56,640 --> 00:48:00,344

and when it sees a picture

going forward of these and this is not

993

00:48:00,344 --> 00:48:03,347

bad or is fake, it would actually be able

to point that out.

994

00:48:03,413 --> 00:48:07,618

So there are some benefits,

you know, to doing things that way.

995

00:48:07,618 --> 00:48:09,553

And we talk a lot about the,

996

00:48:09,553 --> 00:48:12,322

you know, the kind of the downside

of all this stuff and that,

997

00:48:12,322 --> 00:48:14,324

you know, it's stealing jobs of artists

and other things.

998

00:48:14,324 --> 00:48:15,292

And it is doing that.

999

00:48:15,292 --> 00:48:18,395

And it's something that we've discussed

the ethics and stuff in the past,

1000

00:48:19,029 --> 00:48:23,667

but used properly as a tool,

it is absolutely amazing.

1001

00:48:24,101 --> 00:48:27,137

But you have to still be involved

and you have to be

1002

00:48:27,137 --> 00:48:30,140

the person that's actually

doing what you wanted to do.

1003

00:48:30,173 --> 00:48:33,443

Not here, write a book for me or here,

write the software.

1004

00:48:33,677 --> 00:48:37,381

But something like analyze this function

and see if there's any problems with,

1005

00:48:37,648 --> 00:48:39,449

you know, security or something like that.

1006

00:48:39,449 --> 00:48:42,452

You know, whatever the case may be,

or grammar check or whatever,

1007

00:48:42,552 --> 00:48:45,555

those are two very different applications.

1008

00:48:45,622 --> 00:48:48,625

And in some ways it's like the idea of

I have my skills.

1009

00:48:48,625 --> 00:48:51,995

So would you want an autonomous table saw

just cutting your stuff out for you?

1010

00:48:52,062 --> 00:48:53,430

Are you going to control it?

1011

00:48:53,430 --> 00:48:57,301

Even if it's smart

and can fix the same idea anyway?

1012

00:48:57,301 --> 00:48:58,135

So there you are.

1013

00:48:58,135 --> 00:49:01,772

And on that topic,

this is user friendly 2.0 as always,

1014

00:49:01,772 --> 00:49:05,676

keeping you safe on the cutting edge

user friendly 2.0.

1015

00:49:05,676 --> 00:49:08,812

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1016

00:49:09,046 --> 00:49:12,149

by User Friendly Media Group incorporated.

1017

00:49:12,783 --> 00:49:14,384

All rights reserved.

1018

00:49:14,384 --> 00:49:17,754

The content is the opinion

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1019

00:49:18,088 --> 00:49:22,059

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1020

00:49:22,793 --> 00:49:26,630

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1021

00:49:26,897 --> 00:49:29,866

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1022

00:49:29,866 --> 00:49:33,003

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