This week, we end the year with a look at a few interesting new(er) scams you should be aware of.
William Sikkens, Bill Snodgrass, Gretchen Winkler
Welcome to We Are Technologies
User Friendly.
2
:2.0 with host.
3
:Bill Sikkens, technology architect.
4
:And this is User Friendly 2.0.
5
:As always I'm your host Bill Sikkens
6
:And why do you me as always,
my co-host Bill and Gretchen,
7
:welcome to the last show of 2025.
8
:Happy holidays.
9
:If you believe it's already
the end of the year.
10
:I mean, our eighth season
starts in two weeks.
11
:It just is amazing to me.
12
:And it's because of all of our wonderful
listeners out there.
13
:I mean, it's just incredible
that we've been able
14
:to get this far on this journey
with everybody and,
15
:I love it, I love it.
16
:Next week,
17
:we're going to be doing a repeat,
over Christmas and you'll and all of that.
18
:And then the first show of 2026,
we're going to be looking at technology
19
:backward and forward.
20
:And then our next,
which will be our next new one, I guess.
21
:So, you know, there you are.
22
:So we're only really taking one week
23
:downtime, but,
hey, I think I think we've earned it
24
:probably.
25
:So this week we're going to be hitting
on a couple of different things.
26
:We're going to be talking about
Gretchen's book, which is now available.
27
:You can buy it on one blog.
28
:We'll be talking about that
in a few minutes here. And,
29
:hey, you know what? You've earned
that, too.
30
:So, it's been quite, quite the journey.
31
:And like I say, what? Read into that
just after the news.
32
:And then the second segment of the show
to end the year
33
:on a very positive note, we're going to be
talking about some new scams.
34
:And the reason
35
:why this is important to do right now is
there are some things that are popping up
36
:that are really getting people,
and it's kind of nasty what's going on.
37
:So, you know, positive note or not,
the positive note is
38
:maybe if you hear about this,
this won't happen to you.
39
:So we're going to be going into that
some detail in the second segment. So
40
:that never stops.
41
:But on that track let's
go ahead and jump into the news.
42
:What do we have this week.
43
:All right.
44
:Arcade one up to be acquired by basic one.
45
:All right.
46
:So for anybody
that's not familiar with all of this
47
:let me kind of go over what
all of that even is.
48
:And then we will talk about
what's going on.
49
:So arcade one up is a company
50
:that has been around for a while
that builds three quarter size
51
:arcade cabinets.
52
:So like the games when you went into
the arcade, Pac-Man and so on.
53
:They make a lot of licensed
reproductions of these things
54
:that are a touch smaller
than the original.
55
:They're meant for home use,
so no closing doors
56
:and the cabinets are not built
at the same quality
57
:that you would need for an arcade,
but they work fine for home.
58
:I have one of them Golden ax game here
that has that and some other things on it.
59
:So, you know,
it is for the market that it's meant for.
60
:They're actually pretty good.
61
:And there's different schools
of thoughts on all of this,
62
:but they've been doing
some interesting stuff.
63
:And there's been rumors,
64
:floating around last week
that they are shutting down operations.
65
:And we want to do some research on it,
because there was no official statement
66
:made until very recently. This week. And
67
:what's happening
68
:is the company is not being acquired.
69
:Exactly.
70
:But a lot of their assets are by a company
called Basic Fun.
71
:So question comes to mind.
72
:What is basic fun? Well,
I had to look into that a little bit too.
73
:But they actually have a lot of brands
and it looks like they've put together
74
:an acquired that you will have heard of.
75
:If you haven't
heard the name of the company and
76
:I'll give you a few of these here bears.
77
:Oh, Tonka trucks.
78
:Oh, yeah.
79
:White bright.
80
:Yeah.
81
:Lincoln Logs,
82
:Okay.
83
:And the list goes on, including arcade,
classic and old games.
84
:So it does seem like kind of a fit.
85
:So the question that comes out about this,
and it's actually one in a broader sense
86
:that is worth considering is a lot of
the arcade one up cabinets are online.
87
:So the golden that's
what I have is a self-contained unit.
88
:You plug it in, you turn it
on, you play it kind of thing.
89
:Okay, so that's fine.
90
:It's one of the older ones,
but I know another one.
91
:I have, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
actually has an app, and you go online and
92
:and do all the stuff through it
and some of their other devices,
93
:like the Infinity Game table
that they make, which is kind of cool,
94
:requires
being online to work and all of that.
95
:So one of the biggest concerns with this,
96
:in addition to it, would be to be able
to see all this stuff go away
97
:is if they shut down
and shut down their servers,
98
:a lot of this equipment
will will stop working, at least in part.
99
:And, and,
100
:you know, it's something to consider
because really, anything
101
:that's online and having it as an app
potentially could have that happen.
102
:And it does all the time.
103
:So what's being said here is basic
fun is going to be keeping
104
:to some extent the functionality
of these things, hopefully fully.
105
:But that has not been clarified yet.
106
:The different places
that I've been reading about,
107
:I tried to reach out to them to ask
and wasn't able to get
108
:any direct information on it,
but they are saying to some extent.
109
:So hopefully these things
will keep working.
110
:And as far as what's going
111
:to actually happen with the product line,
the arcade cabinets
112
:and all the rest of the stuff
that is currently made by arcade.
113
:One up
114
:is also something that we'll have to see
115
:because they haven't
been too direct on it,
116
:but they are acquiring the assets,
not the company, but some of the assets.
117
:So it stand to reason that they're going
to still keep
118
:making some of these products
or some version thereof.
119
:NASA has a
120
:space telescope that is 42ft long.
121
:Yeah,
it's called the Roman Space Telescope
122
:or the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
123
:And that, name
124
:has been changed to me, obviously,
the name for this person from the wild or.
125
:Excuse me, wide field infrared
study telescope.
126
:I can see it's the last show of our year.
127
:I can talk really?
128
:This telescope
129
:is designed to explore everything
from our outer solar system
130
:to the edge of the observable universe,
including planets throughout our galaxy.
131
:And our energy
132
:comes in at over 42ft long, 12.7m,
133
:about the length of a semi-truck trailer
with more than 14ft wide.
134
:When fully deployed,
the primary mirror is 2.4m or 7.5m
135
:diameter, which is about the same size
as Hubble space Telescopes.
136
:Primary mirror. So
137
:biggest difference between that
and Hubble?
138
:The resolution
this stuff is pretty similar.
139
:It has 100 times
larger view and it weighs 80% less.
140
:Oh yeah. Some technology, you know.
141
:Let's go.
142
:And so this is going to be interesting.
143
:There's a lot of different instruments
and stuff on this that we can dig into.
144
:That would take longer than doing
right now, but this might be a good topic.
145
:I know there's a lot of interest
in space stuff.
146
:The other thing I want to say here
is, you know, when you hear this airing,
147
:if you're hearing a smaller area,
t's the last week of December:
148
:We record on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
149
:That day we are
the 19th is the day the aliens are going
150
:to come from three outlets.
151
:So if we're still on the air,
I want to welcome a new audience.
152
:This telescope would have been nice
if it had been available to see.
153
:But hey,
we're going to see them in person.
154
:And if not,
well, then. Oh, well, I'm here.
155
:Okay.
156
:Disney.
157
:Disney to invest
158
:1 billion in open AI in major deal
that boosts
159
:Sora in Hollywood.
160
:Yeah, so that's a mouthful. Is that.
161
:And on the press release
there, it's a picture of Darth Vader.
162
:So I'm thinking, okay, what?
163
:You know, what are we doing here?
164
:So I had to do a little bit of,
165
:investigation into,
first of all, the term Sora.
166
:It is a, product that I makes that,
167
:pushes out clips, video clips.
168
:So, users of the
AI video creation platform,
169
:according to the press release,
170
:will now be able to create
clips of 200 characters
171
:from Marvel, Pixar,
and Star Wars franchises.
172
:That's what Sora's for.
173
:Oh, so I don't know exactly what
we're going to see them doing with this,
174
:because when they try to do
AI with, Darth
175
:Vader's voice, that didn't go too well,
176
:I don't know if you remember the story
from that earlier in the year.
177
:They used it in a game or something,
and, players could get, drones,
178
:you know, or drones to say things
with his very iconic voice
179
:and naughty things, because, of course,
180
:that was the first thing
everybody tried to do, and it worked. So,
181
:okay, that's bad.
182
:So though I haven't seen some interesting,
I don't
183
:I've been seeing some interesting
things on YouTube and I'm wondering
184
:if that is related to that.
185
:A whole bunch of
what if stories were Star Wars.
186
:So I'm wondering, and it may very well be,
I think that if I were to put a
187
:kind of looking at retro tech a little bit
and describing this in early days,
188
:there was something called Napster.
189
:You probably remember
downloading illegal music.
190
:And, from that everybody was going
to, oh, we're going to stop it.
191
:We're going to stop all of this.
192
:Well, I don't know about you,
193
:but I have an MP3 player
and have for the last 20 years,
194
:and I think this is a similar direction
that what they're wanting to do
195
:is allow fans to create stuff
using Disney's intellectual property,
196
:but still have control over
what's being done.
197
:So it's like the if you can't beat them,
join them kind of philosophy here,
198
:which actually makes some sense
199
:because this would be something that done
right, would allow for audience
200
:interaction, fan interaction, again,
without feeling like they're being,
201
:smothered down.
202
:Yeah, yeah.
203
:And where some of the changes
as of recording right now,
204
:we don't know for sure, but,
205
:the CEO of Lucasfilm is supposed
to be changing at the end of this year.
206
:If that happens,
207
:maybe we're looking at some things
that will bring
208
:the fans back into Star Wars
and some of these other franchises,
209
:which in my opinion
would be a very good thing,
210
:because that's always what it was about
when George Lucas ran it.
211
:And it still should be what it's about.
It's the fans.
212
:It really is that make these things
213
:successful or not, and really give
the energy that Star Wars has
214
:a place that already has enough of these
215
:3D printing spider
bot can build a house in one day.
216
:I mean, Australia lost.
217
:Oh yeah, you can build. Go ahead and wait.
218
:Before we started recording,
you gave an explanation.
219
:I hear there's spiders in Australia.
220
:Like real ones.
221
:Yes. Terrifying things.
222
:So I don't know.
223
:I guess if you have them,
you know, build on them.
224
:This thing actually does
kind of look like a spider.
225
:It, is designed
as the headline says, the full size
226
:homes up to 22,150ft² in just 24 hours.
227
:Talk about production of houses.
228
:And it says it,
229
:operates with the speed and efficiency
of over 100 bricklayers with built
230
:without waste or fatigue,
which actually is kind of a big deal,
231
:because if you've ever seen a construction
site,
232
:there's a lot of waste that goes along.
233
:Almost as much material
that goes the end of the property
234
:seems to go into the dome.
235
:And, it would be nice to see something
that would make that
236
:a little more sustainable.
237
:Uses sustainable cement remix.
238
:Made from sand, crushed
brick and recycled glass,
239
:producing walls that are fireproof,
resistant and highly durable.
240
:It's six legged
241
:design, are you the spider allows it
to move and build across uneven terrain,
242
:ideal for construction or remoter disaster
hit areas where human labor is limited.
243
:And I could see something like there.
244
:I know here
we have a huge housing shortage.
245
:You know,
if we get more homes that were affordable
246
:and that kind of a thing,
it would make a huge difference
247
:for the quality of life
for a lot of people.
248
:So looking at these kind of technologies,
there actually is a very valid
249
:good thing for, as long as it works.
250
:The biggest concern
I have about stuff like this is that
251
:going in, it has to work.
252
:If this comes out
253
:and there's a whole bunch of problems
with the houses that are built
254
:or quality of construction
or anything like that,
255
:that could really throw this off
the rails.
256
:On the flip side, if it's successful,
we could see something
257
:that really could help in a lot of parts
of the world where we need shelters.
258
:And from what I see of the pictures
of what this builds, it's nothing bad.
259
:It's actually a really nice looking house.
260
:Cool California
261
:judge rules
that Tesla engaged in deceptive
262
:marketing around autopilot
263
:right now.
264
:Anybody
that's been off world in addition to.
265
:Please let me join you.
266
:Tesla's had some controversy.
267
:Let's just put it in their,
recent past here.
268
:One of them is is their autopilot.
269
:And this whole thing blew up
and got into court
270
:and has been dragging
through the legal system for a while.
271
:And what it is
272
:is that the autopilot or full Self-Driving
is not actually an autopilot.
273
:It's not actually full Self-Driving.
274
:And the state of California is saying,
well, there's a problem.
275
:If you say that it does this and it's not,
you know, AI deceptive
276
:advertising, right?
277
:Yeah.
278
:So this is finally come out.
279
:And basically
what has been recommended here
280
:is that the company should face a 30 day
suspension of each of its licenses
281
:to sell and manufacture cars in the state
or any of the California DMV.
282
:First of all, in my opinion,
it's like, ouch, you know?
283
:But, what's happening right now
is they've been given a 60 day window
284
:to fix this problem,
285
:and then they're going to go from there
if they aren't resolved in 60 days
286
:and they move ahead with the suspension.
287
:So it's basically been stayed
until they fix this problem
288
:with what's going on with Tesla right now.
289
:They may or may not do.
290
:I mean, it's entirely possible.
291
:They're just going to say, well,
you know, I'm tough that you've said that.
292
:So I don't know.
293
:It's hard to say, what direction
this is actually going to go.
294
:But in all reality,
295
:even though this doesn't sound like a lot,
I do think a 30 day suspension
296
:of being able to sell your product
in a state like California
297
:probably would be noticed on a bottom line
somewhere.
298
:Yeah. So you know, who knows what this is?
299
:It forces them to fix the, practices
300
:of marketing this for something
that it's not and it's not its job.
301
:If they actually get the suspension,
302
:which most other companies,
I would say they accept the:
303
:but it'll be interesting
to see where that goes.
304
:So I do think it's kind of nice to see
that the state is actually said, hey,
305
:what you're doing is wrong
and you need to fix it,
306
:and we're actually going to do something
if you don't,
307
:because that doesn't happen so many times
when there's these kind of problems,
308
:they get married or whatever,
you know, happens, happens or does.
309
:And so this is one
where it's actually going to be,
310
:you know,
interesting to see where this goes.
311
:That was a, I'm sorry, beneficial to the,
312
:the general public, you know,
313
:so it seems that the market
314
:has a really taken
too much interest in this.
315
:Is the Tesla stock price
close at a record on Tuesday,
316
:largely due to increased enthusiasm
on Wall Street surrounding
317
:the company's plan for its robotaxis
and driverless technology.
318
:I wonder if the driverless technology
is going to be really driverless.
319
:We'll see.
320
:Maybe another 30 day fine.
321
:If it's not tomorrow.
322
:The Oscars will move to YouTube
323
:in 2029,
leaving their longtime home of ABC.
324
:So we've talked about a lot of the changes
that have happened very recently.
325
:Really.
326
:It's been gearing up
cable cutting and cutting,
327
:all that stuff, been around for a while,
328
:but the last 2 or 3 years,
it seems like it's really changing.
329
:Covid kind of initiated this,
but with the technology
330
:where it is now and stuff,
it does seem like the old method
331
:of television, linear television,
that kind of stuff is certainly retro.
332
:I don't know if I want to say obsolete.
333
:There still is a place for it,
334
:but we are seeing a lot of different
things happen like this, like the NFL too.
335
:If you watch it online and the Oscars
moving, is or the Academy Awards
336
:in this matter of moving, sorry, Academy
Awards and the Oscars are different.
337
:The Academy Awards
moving in:
338
:because it is something
339
:that is a huge change from the way
that they've always done in the past.
340
:Will you get an Oscar
at the Academy Award?
341
:I understand that, but it's okay.
342
:Oscar, that's a yeah, I don't know.
343
:I guess I'm thinking there a little bit,
but it is.
344
:Yeah, it's the Oscars. People refer to it.
345
:It's really the Academy Awards.
346
:I don't know, maybe it's
just things like this that I care, but,
347
:Oh, right.
348
:Speaking of Oscars and Academy Awards,
let's talk about your new book.
349
:Yeah, right.
350
:I think the award that should be
351
:given here is that you've had the patience
and the ability.
352
:It is actually published. It's done.
353
:It actually happened.
354
:You know, we've actually got two different
things we're talking about here.
355
:And one book, The Night School Journal,
which talked about both of these
356
:in the past.
357
:We're going to get into a little bit
more detail on them here in just a minute.
358
:But The Night School Journal is a book
in that you start writing, backing
359
:up, what, 2012, I think, 2012 or 2013,
something like that.
360
:Yeah.
361
:So a while ago and then you and a pause it
well it was all right.
362
:Oh there's different philosophies
on how to write a book.
363
:And there are some people
who just sit down and,
364
:oh, I'm just going to write this story,
you know, and they don't outline anything.
365
:And I'm normally
an outline kind of person.
366
:But when I started that story,
367
:I just sat down and started writing it.
368
:And so I kind of went along
and all of a sudden
369
:it's like,
I don't know where I want to go now.
370
:I don't, you know, and so I had to, like,
set it aside and work on something else.
371
:And it took me like ten years
372
:to finally circle back to it
373
:and get myself to give it a, an ending.
374
:So. Yeah. And it's. Yeah.
375
:And the thing of it is, is I,
376
:I had read the first part that you had
written back ten years ago, 15 years
377
:and whatever it is now, and liked it
and was hoping for an ending.
378
:And the one that you wrote,
I think it really well,
379
:you've kind of modified it from
its original, set up.
380
:So it's actually part of cyber hockey now.
381
:You know, there are connections there.
382
:It's not part of the actual series,
but it is definitely the connection.
383
:And basically the synopsis of the book
is a young man who is a modern day night,
384
:basically are training to be
and things that revolve around that way.
385
:Can you give us a little bit better of a
386
:maybe a synopsis than what I just
oh, he's not a it's not a night.
387
:Yeah, he's a kid.
388
:This is the coming of age story nights.
389
:This is this is where a kid, he's
just a regular kid.
390
:He's not, like,
super fancy, like Harry Potter,
391
:who's a wizard or or,
you know, an orphan or anything.
392
:He's just a regular kid who has divorced
parents
393
:and, he finds himself,
394
:going to a private school
that he picked kind of by accident.
395
:And it turns out
it's a school for knights.
396
:And he makes wonderful, connections there
with lots of really neat kids
397
:who kind of change his life.
398
:So it's a coming in age story. It's it's.
399
:Ladies and gentlemen.
400
:That is why you let the author
describe their book instead of green.
401
:Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
402
:Yeah.
403
:You know, seriousness,
this has been a journey, and I've been,
404
:you know,
working on some of the logistical stuff.
405
:But, Gretchen,
you've been really doing the thing,
406
:and we've we've had some times,
you know, this year
407
:we've had a lot of amazing authors
on talking about some of the different
408
:things that they've dealt with,
409
:both positive and negative
and some of the pitfalls.
410
:And I think we have a bit of more
of an understanding of all that now.
411
:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
412
:Writing the book is actually
413
:and coming up with
the ideas is the easy part.
414
:Yeah.
415
:It's, it's, getting it, edited
and published to the point where,
416
:other people like it
and we'll put it out there,
417
:and then the marketing is going to be
another beast to wrestle and wrangle.
418
:I'm not a marketing person,
so this should be interesting.
419
:Back to that in a in a minute.
420
:Yeah, but just talk about the journey
a little bit.
421
:And, this is where, you know, you really
do have to check everything out.
422
:And sometimes when you do,
you still can have problems.
423
:The book is being conventionally
published.
424
:In our market, it's going to be print
on demand and some others.
425
:And it's the way the distributors
hang on the line.
426
:But what happened is
427
:we had a large company, large publisher,
well known, and well respected.
428
:It was going to take care of this and,
send us off to a department
429
:that, unknown to us, was owned
by a international situation,
430
:and we had gotten two thirds of the way
through the, editing process
431
:and finalization.
432
:And all of a sudden,
I had sent them an email on something
433
:and about the website,
the staff email, just all at once.
434
:About two weeks later,
I got an email from a Gmail account
435
:saying, oh, yeah, the website's been down
for maintenance, and,
436
:we're still here, so just contact us
over email as I'm going. No.
437
:Yeah, that
doesn't instill a whole lot of confidence.
438
:And I have a friend
who's in the entertainment
439
:industry who's kind of acting
like my guardian angel,
440
:and he's like,
you need to get the heck out of Dodge.
441
:Oh, okay. Okay.
442
:Yeah, it was exactly what happened.
443
:But it wasted,
like three months of effort.
444
:And it did, you know,
and then they kept coming back with stuff
445
:where they were editing your words
and changing things around.
446
:And, you know, it's like, no,
447
:you don't change the author's words.
448
:I mean, you do if you're asked to.
But that wasn't the case here.
449
:It was more go through it, make sure all
the words spelled correctly and format it.
450
:That's somehow I, you know, if,
if if you want a coffee,
451
:the barista just needs to say, here's
your coffee, sir.
452
:We don't need drama, but we got it really?
453
:Yeah.
454
:Okay.
455
:Tom is laughing somewhere.
456
:Yes, I'm sure insights, boy.
457
:Go to the website.
458
:The details are there,
but you have to dig for them a little.
459
:But anyway, on that note, we were able
to, fortunately get out of that.
460
:I had to stop a payment on a credit card,
you know, as a chargeback and everything.
461
:So we didn't lose money,
but fortunately, we were able to do that.
462
:Now everybody is so and so.
463
:Should we mention where you can find it?
464
:Yeah. Well, of course we're going
to mention where you can find it.
465
:And it's on Amazon.
466
:And you there's two ways to get to it.
467
:You can either do it directly at Amazon
or if you go to user
468
:friendly Dot show and go to our shop
and click through it.
469
:From there, we got a little bit of a,
470
:reference for that, plus anything else
you might buy on Amazon at the time.
471
:So I don't mind
taking a little bit of Jeff Bezos money.
472
:He doesn't mind giving it to us.
So that's help.
473
:The show doesn't cost any more to do that.
474
:But the thing of it is,
is yeah, it's available on Amazon.
475
:But there's a direct link on our website,
cyber Hockey, Roscosmos,
476
:the main website for the book, of course,
can get to it from there as well.
477
:And right now
we're going through an introduction issue.
478
:Starting to say earlier
dealing with the marketing,
479
:which is updating the websites
and doing all the other stuff, and the,
480
:distributor sent over a marketing plan
outline, which we're going through now.
481
:We're going to do
this is our soft launch, as they call it,
482
:and then the hard launch will be in
about 30 days where there's going to be,
483
:you know, regular promotion
and all that kind of stuff.
484
:But yeah, definitely something
that's worth checking out in my opinion.
485
:Now it's on Kindle if you prefer, right.
486
:You can get around the Kindle
487
:and then you could get a hard.
488
:Yeah, yeah.
489
:So it's depending on what is preferred
or you know what,
490
:I think you should check them out.
491
:Yeah. Both.
492
:Go ahead and buy
both and see what you prefer you know.
493
:Yeah.
494
:Oh. What the theme of videos is.
495
:It's been quite the journey.
496
:And then the next one
that's just about out
497
:is the first one in the Cyber
Hawk series called Rise of Heroes.
498
:And we're through the final,
editing process on that right now
499
:as we speak here.
500
:So probably by the time this airs,
501
:hopefully it will be available
to purchase all sorts cyber hackers.com.
502
:And, I don't know if.
503
:Gretchen,
is there anything else you want to tell us
504
:in our last 30s of the segment?
505
:I don't know, I can hardly believe
that it's actually happening.
506
:So I'm excited,
507
:I think, from everybody.
508
:Congratulations.
509
:I mean, you've worked for this, and it's,
510
:it's kind of nice to really just see
it actually actually be there.
511
:All right.
512
:This is user friendly 2.0.
513
:We'll be back after the break.
514
:The snow's coming down.
515
:I'm watching, you.
516
:I love people around and maybe any time,
517
:the church bells now.
518
:Welcome back.
519
:This is user friendly 2.0.
520
:Check out our website at User Friendly
dot show.
521
:That is your one stop for everything
user friendly play back episodes.
522
:Check out the podcast,
see what's coming up.
523
:Give us your questions in your comments.
524
:We appreciate your feedback.
525
:User friendly dot show.
526
:And you can also check out
our social media on Facebook,
527
:blue Sky and LinkedIn,
which is also on the website.
528
:If you'd like to follow us there.
529
:All right,
so let's close for the year or something.
530
:Very very happy
sarcasm sign is actually a topic
531
:that's come up and was something
that we were asked to talk about.
532
:And when I started looking into this, it's
kind of like, yeah,
533
:we all need to be aware this time of year,
we tend to all get very busy.
534
:You're dealing with stuff,
especially right now.
535
:Christmas is what when this airs,
when five days away or something.
536
:I mean we're it's that time of year,
last minute stuff.
537
:And you know, you're dealing with things,
trying to think about it.
538
:And even people that are very, very up on
scams are going to have some problems.
539
:And what I wanted to do
was talk about a few of these.
540
:Now, these aren't necessarily like new.
541
:This is just come out
and somebody dreamed it up.
542
:But there's
543
:either stuff that's happened in the past
544
:that's really coming back
or kind of a reboot, if you will, or,
545
:you know, update to something
that was going on before.
546
:But the first one here is one that,
547
:a lot of people have had this happen
and it's very easy to do.
548
:This started about two years ago
and it's been ramping up.
549
:And it has to do with the tap cart,
you know, like have to pay.
550
:So most of our credit cards,
you can put them into the reader,
551
:as always with the chip
or you can tap them.
552
:Well that's fine and usually very secure
except at an ATM machine.
553
:Now here's what's going on.
554
:Involves glue and somebody that appears
to be very friendly
555
:and usually to somebody,
but you don't see the other
556
:when you walk up to the ATM
machine, right, to put your card in.
557
:And the reader won't accept your card.
558
:Yeah. Put it in at someone. Oh, yeah.
559
:You know,
we were having problems with that either.
560
:Just use your tap, the reader won't you?
561
:Will they put glue in the readers?
What's happened?
562
:Oh, so
563
:people started having problems
where money was missing
564
:from their accounts after using the ATM
machines in this process.
565
:Oh, well, here's why.
566
:When you use a standard ATM card,
567
:your session is open
while the card's in the machine.
568
:When you take back your card
or session, well, you can't do that
569
:with a Tap card,
so it opens and then closes later.
570
:So what happens is you do need to reenter
your Pin code on every transaction.
571
:So that's where the other person
572
:somewhere standing there
watching you put in your pin.
573
:So when you leave the machine, unless
you manually log out, it's still open.
574
:So the bad guy just comes up afterwards
and starts doing other transactions
575
:on your session, on your account.
576
:Okay.
577
:So then the lesson here is
if you try and use your card
578
:and you can't stick it into the reader
like you normally do,
579
:and somebody comes up to you
580
:and suggests this, you need to go,
oh, I'll do this later
581
:and walk yourself into the side
inside the bank where the ATM is located
582
:and go, hey,
and tell them what's going on.
583
:Yeah, it's
actually you're very much spot on.
584
:Report it because people aren't
going to know about this.
585
:And yes,
586
:there's a way
587
:that you can make sure you log out of
your account when you close the session.
588
:Now, I personally don't use debit or ATM
cards anymore just because
589
:with all the scamming that's going on
and you lose a credit card number,
590
:somebody can rub your card,
you lose your ATM debit
591
:card number,
someone actually can clean out
592
:your physical money
from your bank account.
593
:And, so, you know, you definitely want to
be careful with this type of thing.
594
:And the tap to pay is usually secure.
595
:It's encrypted and all of that.
596
:But this is one situation where there's
a little bit of a glitch in the system,
597
:because the ATM doesn't know
when to shut down your session.
598
:There's no way it would.
599
:So they just got it where it keeps it
open.
600
:Yeah. You have to reenter your Pin code.
601
:Well, you know somebody's watching
if you're not thinking about it.
602
:And this other person's,
you know, trying to be nice.
603
:So yeah.
604
:Just have to pay the other person
standing there,
605
:I can assure
you, is looking at that keypad.
606
:And that's how
they get at the information. So
607
:there is a way to log out.
608
:Unfortunately, it's
not the same for every bank.
609
:So you have to figure out based on the ATM
you're using how to do it.
610
:But something doesn't seem quite right,
611
:like the reader doesn't work,
which would be really weird.
612
:Gretchen, you're spot on.
613
:I would say, you know,
just listen to yourself and, you know,
614
:go into the branch or not at the bank,
figure something else out.
615
:But just don't let yourself get scammed.
616
:Because this would
be very, very easy to do.
617
:And you don't need that heartache.
618
:No you don't.
619
:And it is something
620
:that especially around this time of year,
even the other thing of it is,
621
:is there's all kinds of differences
in the time you have to get
622
:your money back and make claims and,
you know, the banks,
623
:it's different from a credit card.
624
:But even if you do get on it,
you're going to be
625
:without your money
for some period of time.
626
:And if it's right before Christmas
and you're trying to do your shopping
627
:and now all of a sudden
you don't have your resources to do that,
628
:even if you get it back in a few days,
it could still really screw things up.
629
:Yeah, yeah. So what's next?
630
:What do we have to worry about?
631
:The next one is a new version of a scam
that has been around for a while.
632
:Gretchen, your mom had this happen to her.
633
:I know it's called the panic call.
634
:Oh, yeah.
635
:So before I get into
how they've changed this,
636
:tell us what happened to your mom
real quick.
637
:Okay. She kept.
638
:She was getting a call from a female
that sounded completely upset,
639
:and she was calling her grandma,
640
:and, Oh,
641
:that's, you know, oh,
my mom has grandchildren,
642
:so, And she was trying
643
:to get my mom to send money
644
:because she was in jail
and she was in trouble.
645
:And all of this drama, it was bad.
646
:My mom didn't call for it.
647
:My mom's pretty smart.
648
:She's also had others call,
a young man who calls his grandma.
649
:I need blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
650
:And of course, my mom not having any grand
651
:male grandchildren says to him,
you need to get a better job.
652
:You're ruining your life.
653
:Because the guy was a scammer.
654
:Housing was, you know, and it's just so
655
:the thing of it is, is
what's happening now.
656
:This is a this is something
that's been around for a while.
657
:I think that happened to her
a couple of years ago.
658
:And I remember quite a few years ago.
659
:So that part's not new,
660
:but what they're doing now,
the new twist on it, if you will,
661
:is the scammers go online on your Facebook
or whatever and get voice
662
:clips or record a phone call or something,
663
:but they figure out a way
to get the actual person's voice.
664
:And then using AI, they now make the call
in the correct voice of the person.
665
:That would be the daughter or whatever
that's in jail.
666
:You know, a victim gets a call,
I've been arrested.
667
:Send money now,
kind of like what you were talking about,
668
:but it is a lot more dangerous
because it's you're going
669
:to recognize the voice is what it's.
670
:So, the way they work.
671
:This is emotional pressure.
The idea is to get you all worked up.
672
:Oh, there's a, you know, kind of thing
to not think about things completely.
673
:They still use caller ID spoofing
even though that's supposed to be fixed.
674
:It isn't completely.
675
:And the sound, the voice sounds right.
676
:That's the same.
677
:Your voice is now a password
and it's public.
678
:That's the way to think about it on that.
679
:So how do you defend yourself
against this?
680
:Well, one of the things you're suggesting,
681
:and this goes back to when these things
started, is having what they call a family
682
:safe word in other words,
it's like a password.
683
:Everybody that supposed to know
it knows it.
684
:And when you call,
685
:you can ask the individual, you know,
what is the password or what, how are you.
686
:And do that.
687
:And if they're not able
to come up with it, then there's a problem
688
:you're probably going to get hung up on
at that point.
689
:The next thing to do is to hang up
and call the relative
690
:or whoever back directly,
not at the number on the caller ID either.
691
:You would want to call them back
692
:at a known good phone number to,
you know, find out what they're doing.
693
:And really, when it comes down to this,
never act on panic calls.
694
:The whole idea is you've got a loved one
that's in trouble.
695
:Yeah, you're going
to want to help them. But,
696
:you know, and it's hard to say this
because it's not like
697
:you don't want to help your family,
but take the steps
698
:to make sure you're doing the right thing,
because 99% of the time, it won't be.
699
:And it's something.
700
:And these kind of things will eventually
get you to send money with gift cards or,
701
:you know, these transfer things that you
can't get it back and that type of thing.
702
:And it becomes incredibly difficult,
if even possible, to recover
703
:something like that.
704
:And people have lost thousands,
tens of thousands of dollars.
705
:There's really some stories out there
that are very, very scary.
706
:So somebody is going to get a lot of coal
this year.
707
:Yeah. What you're saying,
708
:speaking of which
is something called dark pattern scams.
709
:Dark pattern scams.
710
:Yeah. All right.
711
:So this is another one.
712
:It's been described to me
that this isn't even illegal.
713
:It's just deceptive. Okay.
714
:I'm going to use an example of where this
really hit the news about two years ago.
715
:But we're starting to see it in
a lot of other places.
716
:It is the product of people, money.
717
:Now, PayPal, for anybody that might not
know, is a service
718
:that used to be owned by eBay,
and you use it to pay things online.
719
:They've gotten into cryptocurrency
and stuff lately and that type of a thing.
720
:There's different schools of
thought on it.
721
:It's safe or it's not,
or if people like it or they don't,
722
:but that's not particularly relevant
because what's happening here
723
:is another part of this,
where you get a pop up
724
:ad somewhere or email or whatever,
even from PayPal,
725
:because they own this company,
PayPal, honey.
726
:And it says, install this
browser extension.
727
:Anytime you go to a website,
we'll find the best deal.
728
:We'll get you coupon codes, we'll do
all of these different things, okay,
729
:so what's actually happening here
and the reason why this is a problem
730
:and PayPal funny is by the way, it's
not the only one that's doing this.
731
:It's just one of the better
known ones is two things.
732
:Most of the time,
especially content creators
733
:on YouTube
shows like us, a lot of different places.
734
:We'll have links that,
735
:get your organization,
your show, a little bit of a kickback.
736
:If you make a purchase through, it's like,
737
:you know,
we were talking about your book, right?
738
:And if you go to User Friendly's
739
:website and click on your book,
740
:you still pay the same price
for that doesn't change anything.
741
:But because we've referred you to Amazon,
there's
742
:a main promotion thing in there
where we get a little bit back
743
:and then once you're on Amazon, of course,
744
:if you buy anything else,
it works for that too.
745
:So it's just a really nice way to help
creators and other small businesses.
746
:Well, when you install this thing,
when you go to the website
747
:that it's referring you to,
it changes the referral code, unknown
748
:to you, to send the money
to PayPal or PayPal, honey.
749
:So now the person referring
or the company referral
750
:never sees what they should see
from doing the promotion.
751
:And the other thing
that's coming down with this, at least
752
:the allegation is, is that it doesn't
always give you the cheapest price either.
753
:So if you're the person buying it,
it might make some suggestions.
754
:But if for some reason
they have, a contract with somebody
755
:or something else
or want to promote one brand over another,
756
:it will never tell
you about the lowest price.
757
:So you really have to think for yourself.
758
:Yeah, yeah.
759
:And,
760
:I think think of it this way.
761
:If the product is free, it's really not.
762
:You're the product
when you think about it, right.
763
:There is a cost.
764
:It just might not be money
out of your pocket.
765
:And this is true
especially in shopping. So
766
:best thing to do is review your browser
extensions.
767
:The different browsers
have different ways of doing this,
768
:but there's usually pretty straightforward
to get in.
769
:Look up instructions on how to do that
if you need to just,
770
:you know, search for it and
771
:remove anything that you don't actually
use or at least deactivated.
772
:So if you're going in there and going,
what is this?
773
:You probably aren't going to use it.
774
:And if you do need to use it,
you'll figure out very quickly
775
:that whatever it is went away
and it was legitimate.
776
:Then you just reactivated or reinstall it.
777
:But again, this is something
that actually affects the seller
778
:and the buyer in a negative way
and makes money for the third party.
779
:Now there's some of these that seem
780
:to be very legitimate on Capital
one credit card has one, and
781
:I've never heard of a problem with that.
782
:And I know that I've used that for some
referrals and things, just to be sure.
783
:I started testing all this
when I found out about this,
784
:and that one we did get the credit for,
at least when I used it.
785
:So it's not that they're all bad,
and it's not that all these services are
786
:somehow should be avoided,
but it is very important to make sure
787
:that you're doing business.
788
:I would say with somebody that's legitimate, PayPal is a legitimate company.
789
:So it's
790
:not like, you know,
this is some third party weirdo thing.
791
:It is something that is, is out there.
792
:So anyway, I again,
793
:that just sounds like they deserve
to have Kohl's stuffed in their stocking.
794
:Yeah, it just seems like a
they're going to be in court.
795
:There's a class action that was filed,
you know all that kind of stuff.
796
:So everybody in the class action
you know, get a preorder of hash browns
797
:at a local restaurant.
798
:It settles,
but the attorneys will get paid.
799
:Oh my goodness.
800
:All right.
801
:Let's see, next one that I have
on my list here is remote chip scam.
802
:So back to the chip parts.
803
:All right.
804
:So this is another interesting one
and one to think about again
805
:with the contactless have to pay lanes
modern version of ATM skimming.
806
:If you haven't heard of C,
807
:I mean that's where the bad guy puts
something over the reader
808
:so it can read your card
as you're putting it down.
809
:Usually has a camera.
810
:So I can see the, keypad and chip cards.
811
:And these type of things
were designed to help with this.
812
:Well, the bad guys have figured out
a bit of a way around that, and one
813
:that you might not even know
that you've had this happen
814
:until days later
when you see your credit card statement.
815
:Way this works is the thieves have two NFC
near field communication devices.
816
:This is the kind of thing
that's built into the reader credit
817
:card machine, ATM,
whatever to read the card when you tap it.
818
:So you
819
:have a receiver on one end
and somebody standing at the other.
820
:Let's say it's a payment terminal
at a store or something.
821
:You're standing at the self-checkout
payment terminal,
822
:and the other guy has a reader,
and they walk by your wallet
823
:and it transmits
the code from the card in your wallet.
824
:The receiver and the receiver unlocks
the payment terminal.
825
:And you're paying with now
the bad guys paying with your credit card.
826
:You don't even know that the South
Terminal believes that your card
827
:is physically present.
828
:You know, and that kind of a thing.
829
:So this is becoming a thing.
830
:And the equipment to do
this is not that hard or expensive to buy.
831
:You can find NFC and, NFC transceivers
832
:for legitimate purposes on Amazon
and a lot of other places.
833
:And there are good reasons
to have that kind of technology.
834
:This is a bad way to use it.
835
:So you're dealing with something here
where there's no physical card theft.
836
:It works through pockets, jackets
or purses.
837
:And the victims many times
don't realize until quite a bit later
838
:what about those weird sleeves?
839
:Yeah, that's exactly what you do about it.
840
:Oh, okay.
841
:Now RFID blocking wallets, sleeves.
842
:There's different things like that
that you can buy is fairly inexpensive.
843
:Again, you can get these anywhere online.
844
:And a lot of stores
and you basically slide your card.
845
:And these are good to use for passports
and other things
846
:that have these type of technologies
847
:which slide your card in the pocket
and lock it.
848
:And the other thing of video
is if you don't see it
849
:or if you don't use it, have to pay.
850
:If that's not something you use,
you can turn it off.
851
:Usually a credit card,
you can go into your account, your online
852
:account, say, hey, I don't want to use
this, don't, you know, don't have it work.
853
:The other thing that is recommended
for this and a number of other
854
:things, is most credit cards offer a way
that you can go on into your settings
855
:and get alerts when the card is used.
856
:And a lot of people have these set up
defaults, different things like that.
857
:But you want to set something
called low transaction alerts.
858
:There's a lot of times people are doing
this aren't going to run up $10,000.
859
:That would set off a lot of bells,
but they might do 100 bucks kind of thing.
860
:And, from that standpoint,
861
:those are just,
you know, some of the different things.
862
:It's always a good idea
to keep track of your financial accounts
863
:and use the tools that are available
before it takes a little more time.
864
:But at the end of the day, it's going
to save you a lot of time and heartache.
865
:Did you get hit with
one of these of many scams?
866
:You know, so it's too bad really,
because the technology and the convenience
867
:of things like tap to pay are really good,
and they actually are designed well,
868
:they're encrypted,
all this different kind of stuff.
869
:But if you can actually read and do it
870
:in real time,
you do get around that protection.
871
:And it is definitely something that
I know.
872
:I put my cards in the blocker
873
:and it is a little bit of a pain
because every time you use it,
874
:you have to pull it out
and it's hard to put it back,
875
:and I've had that,
but you still should do it
876
:because it's that little bit of difficulty
is definitely worth doing
877
:so that you don't have
these kind of things happen.
878
:And if it's a credit card,
then you have, you know, I've my cards
879
:been run up and, you call the credit card
company and deal with it.
880
:But like we're saying earlier,
881
:if it's a debit card,
they actually get you your physical money
882
:and you want to make sure
that that just simply doesn't happen.
883
:All right.
884
:Do we want another one?
885
:Yeah. There's more.
886
:Oh, this is so cheerful. Yes.
887
:Happy holidays everybody.
888
:Let's tell you how
your money is going to get.
889
:So and actually what we want to do
is make sure that that doesn't happen.
890
:And that's really what this is about.
891
:Yeah.
892
:So this one's not a new one but
it's still happening and happening a lot.
893
:And it has to do with the use of QR codes
on things like parking
894
:meters, restaurant menus,
that type of thing.
895
:So there's a lot of places
where you can go.
896
:We just we're a mansion,
which is a museum.
897
:You're in the Portland area,
that we like to go to every year,
898
:and you have to pay at the parking lot
to pay.
899
:Now, that might already be considered
900
:a rip off,
but it's a legal one from the city.
901
:But this part isn't.
902
:What the scammers will do is you scan
a QR code to pay for your parking.
903
:In this case, restaurant,
you might scan a QR code to see the menu.
904
:There's lots of different ways
that they make this work.
905
:Well, what the bad guy does is
they stick a fake QR code
906
:on top of the real one,
and if you do it right, you don't know it.
907
:It's almost like a skimmer in a way.
908
:So now you scan the code,
it goes online to a place
909
:where you can make your payment.
910
:So now you're putting in your credit card
911
:information and stuff to make payment
for parking and giving the bad guy
912
:all that information.
913
:On top of that, you didn't pay to park.
914
:So you're gonna probably have a
pretty good ticket when you come out too,
915
:because they're going
to say, well, you never paid.
916
:You know,
917
:same thing
918
:on the restaurant menus
and stuff like that, too.
919
:We ran into this when,
Jeremy was still with us.
920
:We were up at, I think.
921
:Oh, like, oh, we're,
one of the areas around Lake Tahoe.
922
:Was it South shore? North shore?
It would have been.
923
:It would have been
by the California border on 86.
924
:What is that? Truckee.
925
:Okay.
926
:We went to a restaurant.
927
:This is right after Covid.
928
:Kind of was starting to back off,
but they had everything touchless.
929
:So to get the menu for the restaurant,
930
:you had to scan a QR code
that was on the table.
931
:And this wasn't something I was thrilled
about anyway, but it worked.
932
:I mean, you got the menu up,
we didn't have a problem,
933
:but that's another place
where the bad guys will put a sticker.
934
:So you might even get the menu from that
restaurant if they've done their work.
935
:And then when you go to pay for the meal,
we'll have something like, okay,
936
:you know,
put your order in. Now, pay for it.
937
:You do.
And your credit card number, the bad guy
938
:love life.
939
:So reason it works.
940
:Really what it comes down to
it is through our code.
941
:So you'll officially see them
all over the place.
942
:And generally they are press badges
QR codes on them.
943
:I mean, you know, it's used very much
in a lot of different ways.
944
:You don't see the URLs before click
and you scan the code and it opens
945
:to whatever website that URL goes to.
946
:You don't actually see what it is.
947
:You can look,
948
:it'll be in the bar, but most people don't
because you don't think to do it.
949
:And you do see this a lot in tourist
areas.
950
:You're on holiday
and thinking about other things,
951
:and the bad guys know that they know
exactly what they're doing.
952
:One of the things
that's been told me to me too, is I or,
953
:you know, cybersecurity
and work with people on that,
954
:and we have 80 hours
a day to defend against that.
955
:These guys have 24 hours a day
to come up with these schemes.
956
:So that gives them a little bit of an
edge, you know, and unfortunately it does.
957
:So one of the things to look for is
if you do scan on to one of these things
958
:that the payment site feels a little off,
or it asks you for
959
:unusual extra personal info.
960
:Or there's things like typos or odd URLs
that kind of stuff.
961
:You know, the restaurant menu
962
:goes to my restaurant for you,
which that extension is Russia.
963
:That probably would be a good idea
to think that there's
964
:something really wrong here,
you know, if it feels off,
965
:unfortunately, with the use of AI
and stuff now, they're able to make it
966
:look a little more real.
967
:It isn't as like it was.
968
:I think that
969
:the best way to defend against this,
and there's not a 100%,
970
:is when you scan the QR code
that you want to use,
971
:it does actually allow you to see the URL
that it's going to just most of us
972
:don't look at it.
973
:And depending on
how your device is configured,
974
:it may or may not automatically
be on the top of the browser,
975
:but there is a way to turn it on
976
:and a way to check for it
and just get in the habit
977
:of taking a second or two to,
you know, look at it.
978
:If it's, in the case of the parking lot,
it's supposed to go to
979
:a thing called parking Kitty,
and it says so right on the sign.
980
:And it did.
981
:But if it's going to something
completely different or some weird thing,
982
:then it's a way to.
983
:No, that's
probably not something you want to get,
984
:you know, get involved
when you're with. So
985
:anyway, just some stuff and some heads up.
986
:This time of year, we're supposed
to be spending time with our families and
987
:being able to enjoy ourselves, participate
in our various religions,
988
:and do what's important to us.
989
:Not a time
that you want your money stolen.
990
:So just thinking about this
a little bit more
991
:might save you a huge amount of hassle.
992
:All right,
now that we're done with all of that,
993
:Christmas is coming up.
994
:It's your New Year's
is right around the corner.
995
:I can't believe it's already
that time of year.
996
:And I cannot believe we are starting
the eighth season of User Friendly 2.0.
997
:I know we talked it up in the top as well,
but I don't know.
998
:It's just so, so much has happened.
999
:We have another guest post
that's going to be joining us,
:
00:46:07,531 --> 00:46:10,734
this coming year in:which we'll go into when we get there.
:
00:46:10,734 --> 00:46:13,137
But we were talking
about some of these different things.
:
00:46:13,137 --> 00:46:16,340
And, you know, user
endly was first on the air in::
00:46:17,341 --> 00:46:19,309
It was like version 1.0.
:
00:46:19,309 --> 00:46:20,277
We're just user friendly.
:
00:46:20,277 --> 00:46:22,379
We started
we've talked about this a little bit.
:
00:46:22,379 --> 00:46:28,385
We we started in a mall at a, in Reno,
you know, and it was crazy.
:
00:46:28,619 --> 00:46:29,286
It was crazy.
:
00:46:29,286 --> 00:46:31,755
But we got our feet wet, you know,
:
00:46:31,755 --> 00:46:34,825
and during that time, we've had some years
where we've produced
:
00:46:34,825 --> 00:46:38,762
every week on 1.0, it's
some years that we just did a podcast.
:
00:46:38,762 --> 00:46:42,533
Now, the 2.0 version, since we moved over
to, Salem Media
:
00:46:43,033 --> 00:46:44,368
has been pretty much weekly.
:
00:46:44,368 --> 00:46:46,136
It's been an amazing thing.
:
00:46:46,136 --> 00:46:47,104
It's been a lot of fun.
:
00:46:47,104 --> 00:46:49,773
There's been a lot of things
to the journey.
:
00:46:49,773 --> 00:46:52,409
I would tell you, you know,
we started that before Covid.
:
00:46:52,409 --> 00:46:54,945
So we were in studio
at the time we started, you know,
:
00:46:54,945 --> 00:46:57,781
doing this in that revision.
:
00:46:57,781 --> 00:46:59,349
And then Covid happened.
:
00:46:59,349 --> 00:47:00,384
So all that close down.
:
00:47:00,384 --> 00:47:04,254
So we all got our home
studios and Covid ended and we all decided
:
00:47:04,254 --> 00:47:07,991
what's what's you're not going to drive
45 minutes each way, you know, to record.
:
00:47:07,991 --> 00:47:09,626
Not necessary.
:
00:47:09,626 --> 00:47:12,663
And you like your ability to participate
is because of the way
:
00:47:12,663 --> 00:47:14,765
the technology has changed
because you're not
:
00:47:14,765 --> 00:47:18,202
local, you know, and it's wonderful
that that's something that you can do.
:
00:47:19,369 --> 00:47:19,770
Yeah.
:
00:47:19,770 --> 00:47:20,871
It is.
:
00:47:20,871 --> 00:47:23,540
Oh, the other thing
that's been really cool about the change
:
00:47:23,540 --> 00:47:26,910
in technology too, is the fact
that we used to be limited on.
:
00:47:26,910 --> 00:47:28,712
Yes, we've got some amazing guests,
you know, that
:
00:47:28,712 --> 00:47:31,815
come on the show, but we were limited
to who could come into the studio,
:
00:47:31,815 --> 00:47:35,552
which meant or like, you know,
there's a a lot of people available here.
:
00:47:35,953 --> 00:47:38,488
But then they too came in
with some of the new technology.
:
00:47:38,488 --> 00:47:41,592
We're able to talk to people
all over the world and do.
:
00:47:41,592 --> 00:47:44,595
And it's just just amazing. So, you know,
:
00:47:45,195 --> 00:47:49,433
so as far as all of that goes,
it's been an amazing year.
:
00:47:49,867 --> 00:47:52,469
We're looking forward to another one.
:
00:47:52,469 --> 00:47:55,272
And for the last time,
I'm going to be able to do this.
:
00:47:55,272 --> 00:47:58,275
I invite everybody
to participate in the Season of Giving.
:
00:47:58,675 --> 00:48:01,678
This year, we've been proud
to support the William Temple House
:
00:48:01,745 --> 00:48:04,248
or a user friendly show,
or William temple.org.
:
00:48:04,248 --> 00:48:05,949
See what they're doing.
They are raising money.
:
00:48:05,949 --> 00:48:07,751
They help provide
:
00:48:07,751 --> 00:48:11,555
free or low cost mental health services
to people that you did in Portland,
:
00:48:11,889 --> 00:48:16,026
and also operate, which this year has
become extremely important, a food bank.
:
00:48:16,793 --> 00:48:18,328
They also have a really cool thrift store.
:
00:48:18,328 --> 00:48:20,931
I found out too, that,
or some of the other things
:
00:48:20,931 --> 00:48:22,399
I do with retro electronics.
:
00:48:22,399 --> 00:48:24,101
Oh boy, is that worth visiting.
:
00:48:24,101 --> 00:48:25,936
Not that they have no retro electronics.
:
00:48:25,936 --> 00:48:28,572
If you're into that, go somewhere else,
but everything else is great to go there.
:
00:48:31,174 --> 00:48:31,808
It's too late.
:
00:48:31,808 --> 00:48:32,910
They already got it.
:
00:48:32,910 --> 00:48:33,577
All right. Yes.
:
00:48:33,577 --> 00:48:35,178
The cat's out of the bag on that one.
:
00:48:35,178 --> 00:48:40,117
So anyway, to everybody, merry,
you'll merry Christmas.
:
00:48:40,117 --> 00:48:44,721
Happy new year, happy Hanukkah and happy
whatever it is you do this time of year,
:
00:48:45,055 --> 00:48:47,791
we will see you in::
00:48:47,791 --> 00:48:51,395
Until then, this is user friendly
2.0 keeping you safe on the cutting edge,
:
00:48:51,728 --> 00:48:53,430
user friendly 2.0.
:
00:48:53,430 --> 00:48:57,167
Copyright::
00:48:57,167 --> 00:49:00,170
by User Friendly Media Group incorporated.
:
00:49:00,203 --> 00:49:01,772
All rights reserved.
:
00:49:01,772 --> 00:49:05,108
Content is the opinion
of the show's participants
:
00:49:05,342 --> 00:49:08,712
and not necessarily this station
or platform.
:
00:49:09,212 --> 00:49:11,682
Request for material use.
:
00:49:11,682 --> 00:49:12,683
Interviews.
:
00:49:12,683 --> 00:49:16,954
CcpA Privacy Notice for California
residents.
:
00:49:17,421 --> 00:49:20,624
GDPR information for UK
:
00:49:20,891 --> 00:49:24,528
and EU residents and any other feedback
:
00:49:24,528 --> 00:49:28,231
may be submitted at user friendly
Dot show.
:
00:49:28,532 --> 00:49:31,168
We welcome your input.
Thank you for listening.