WEBVTT - Can computers teach me to play music?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

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<v Speaker 1>tech stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hey there, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Palette. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>an editor here How Stuff Works and sitting next to

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<v Speaker 1>me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Chris, I

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<v Speaker 1>have a question for you. Okay, are you ready to rock? No? No, sorry, um,

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<v Speaker 1>I have nowhere to go now I'll make a note

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<v Speaker 1>of it. Okay, So we wanted to talk today about

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<v Speaker 1>technology and how it's playing an increasingly important role in

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<v Speaker 1>music education and learning to play musical instruments, and how

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<v Speaker 1>you can actually learn to play certain musical instruments using

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<v Speaker 1>simple programs or or hardware. And I know what you're thinking.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually I don't know what you're thinking, but you might

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<v Speaker 1>be thinking that, Yeah, you know, I gotta get your

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<v Speaker 1>our hero. But I don't see how that's gonna make

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<v Speaker 1>me pick up a guitar and start playing. But you'd

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<v Speaker 1>be dead wrong. Well maybe not dead wrong, well you'd

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<v Speaker 1>be you'd be seriously hurt wrong. Actually, you know, guitar

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<v Speaker 1>guitar Hero and rock band have inspired some people to

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<v Speaker 1>start playing the real instrument. Now we should go ahead

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<v Speaker 1>and point out, of course, that guitar hero and the

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<v Speaker 1>guitars in rock band they don't really give you a

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<v Speaker 1>feel for what playing a real guitar is like, not

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<v Speaker 1>at all. Really, No, it's true. I'm sorry, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>I was just gonna say, you know, it's the in

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<v Speaker 1>the in the interests of simplifying it into a game mechanic,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, having five buttons and a strumming button of

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<v Speaker 1>some sort, that's not the same as you know, having

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a strained guitar. It's just not gonna it's

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be nearly the same kind of effect

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<v Speaker 1>that you would have if you're playing a real musical instrument. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>guitar hero and rock band, at least the guitar parts

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<v Speaker 1>there their rhythm games um and uh, you know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of useful for drumming, you know, the drum part

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<v Speaker 1>in the in guitar hero and rock band or the

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<v Speaker 1>guitar heroes that have the rock bands world tour um

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, obviously is a rhythm situation, and the

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<v Speaker 1>microphones are actually you know, singing trying to hit the pitch,

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<v Speaker 1>but the guitars for those of you who haven't tried it,

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<v Speaker 1>basically ask you to press a certain button for a

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<v Speaker 1>certain note at a certain time. That's what the strumbar

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<v Speaker 1>is for, um. But you're not really learning how to

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<v Speaker 1>hit a certain pitch or any music theory or how

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<v Speaker 1>to play chords or any of that. Yeah. Yeah, for chords,

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<v Speaker 1>you're just play pressing multiple buttons at the same time

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<v Speaker 1>while you hit a strong bar. But that's not the same,

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<v Speaker 1>you know. Obviously that's a far cry from actually learning

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<v Speaker 1>how to play chords on the guitar. But the nice

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<v Speaker 1>thing is, I mean, a lot of us have that

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<v Speaker 1>inner rock star that's just dying to get out, you know.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, and and we maybe didn't have the opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>or the desire when we were younger to pick up

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<v Speaker 1>a musical instrument. Um, and maybe we don't have the

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<v Speaker 1>time to really to vote to learning a musical instrument.

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<v Speaker 1>But these games gave us the opportunity to, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>pretend like we're rock gods and just you thrash out

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<v Speaker 1>a blistering guitar solo and make us feel great. And

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<v Speaker 1>then some of us take that feeling and say, you

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<v Speaker 1>know what, maybe this is worthwhile. Maybe I should make

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<v Speaker 1>time to actually pick up a musical instrument and learn

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<v Speaker 1>how to play it for real, zies. That's true. That's true. UM,

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<v Speaker 1>if you haven't seen how the guitar parts work in

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<v Speaker 1>these games, Essentially, the dots representing certain notes come down

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<v Speaker 1>the screen and it looks like they're coming down a

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<v Speaker 1>fret board prob a guitar. That's the long uh, the

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<v Speaker 1>long part of the neck where you can actually see

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<v Speaker 1>the lines across that and the strings, uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>go across that and the notes are coming down what

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<v Speaker 1>would be the strings and you're supposed to play you know,

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<v Speaker 1>red or green at a certain time. Well, somebody has

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<v Speaker 1>actually put that into practice and helping you learn how

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<v Speaker 1>to play UM an instrument. And uh, we have an

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<v Speaker 1>article on their own website that Dave Russ wrote called

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<v Speaker 1>how Piano Wizard works. Yeah, and UM the Music Wizard

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<v Speaker 1>group UM actually has put this into practice. Now, this

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<v Speaker 1>is a program for your computer and you plug in

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<v Speaker 1>a USB keyboard and UM it's a little different because

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<v Speaker 1>there are a series of stickers. UM actually edited that

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<v Speaker 1>article and then went out and bought the program. And

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<v Speaker 1>it is very cool because you placed the certain stickers

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<v Speaker 1>on the keyboard, so you have there a lot more

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<v Speaker 1>than just a five and guitar hero there's it represents

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<v Speaker 1>the entire octave UH, including half steps UM. So there

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<v Speaker 1>are a variety of variety of colors that go there,

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<v Speaker 1>but UM each represents a note. So when you're on

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<v Speaker 1>the easiest level of Piano Wizard UH, the notes come

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<v Speaker 1>down from the top of the screen and you're supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to hit SAYT beige and then blue and then red,

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<v Speaker 1>and they correspond to the notes in a chord, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>the one, three, and five UM. Gradually, as you go

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<v Speaker 1>the songs get more complex, and then you can switch

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<v Speaker 1>into a different mode where instead of the notes coming

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<v Speaker 1>down from the top of the screen, they're scrolling from

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<v Speaker 1>left or right, but they're still multicolored. And then in

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<v Speaker 1>the third step they become actual notes, the notes that

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<v Speaker 1>you might see on a piece of music. And then finally,

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<v Speaker 1>in the last stage, they become black and white notes.

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<v Speaker 1>So suddenly you've gone from the colored dots coming down

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<v Speaker 1>from the top of the screen to reading black and

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<v Speaker 1>white music as it scrolls left or right on your keyboard,

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<v Speaker 1>and you're learning the actual notes where they appear on

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<v Speaker 1>the music and where that belongs on the keyboard. So

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<v Speaker 1>really it's sort of it's almost subversive in the way

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<v Speaker 1>that you're just picking up on it from having, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>having the practice, and at the same time you're getting

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<v Speaker 1>used to how your hands fit on the keyboard. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's a pretty nifty idea there. They also have

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<v Speaker 1>something called a Guitar Wizard UM which is sort of

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<v Speaker 1>a similar thing, although it uses the Fisher Price I

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<v Speaker 1>can play guitar uh instead of a USB keyboard to

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<v Speaker 1>hook up to it. So I'm so hard not to

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<v Speaker 1>laugh now. Yes, but if you learn guitar, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just imagining a toddler smashing a Fisher Price guitar

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<v Speaker 1>on a stage. Well, that part of it's not in

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<v Speaker 1>the game totally should be, I tell you, end every

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<v Speaker 1>every like major Monster set. Yeah, but that's the funny

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<v Speaker 1>thing that Guitar Hero and rock Band and Piano Wizard,

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<v Speaker 1>which is actually a learning tool, are not that far

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<v Speaker 1>apart in the very basic methodology, and it's teaching kids

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<v Speaker 1>and even some older people who learn how to play

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<v Speaker 1>other instruments how to play the piano. Yeah, that's uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's a very good point and of course,

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<v Speaker 1>like we were talking about earlier, with rock band, you

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<v Speaker 1>can or even you know, Guitar Hero World Tour that

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<v Speaker 1>has the drums instruments right when you when you add

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<v Speaker 1>the drum kid in there, you actually are learning kind

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<v Speaker 1>of the rudimentary uh steps into learning to play the drums.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I happen to be sitting with a drum god,

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Pallette here right. You may not know, but he's

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<v Speaker 1>he's a drummer. Um well, I think they know now

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<v Speaker 1>now they do. Yeah, yeah, he uh, he's he's one

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<v Speaker 1>of those rock gods that we all adore and idolize,

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<v Speaker 1>including myself. Yeah, I got up in noon today. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>nice crack of dune. And uh So I have a

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<v Speaker 1>question for you, Chris, as as an actual drummer who

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<v Speaker 1>has used real drum kits, what's your opinion on things

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<v Speaker 1>like rock band and even say electric drum kits that

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<v Speaker 1>are you know that that synthesize the drum sound. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>they've I've been a drummer now for twenty eight years,

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<v Speaker 1>and uh when I started learning how to play the

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<v Speaker 1>drums in the nineteen eighties, um electronic drum kits were

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<v Speaker 1>just starting to become very popular. And for those of

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<v Speaker 1>you who are in your thirties or maybe older or

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<v Speaker 1>even I guess late twenties, you might remember those hexagonal

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<v Speaker 1>uh new wave electronic drum kits like people used to

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<v Speaker 1>use that sounded awful. Yeah, yeah, well they were. The

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<v Speaker 1>whole point of that was to be different. You didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want them to sound like acoustic drums and uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>professional drummers, a lot of them at the time, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>sort of had a lot of disdain for these these kits. Now, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>the machines and rock band and UM, guitar Hero are

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<v Speaker 1>pretty scaled down from that, um, you know, because they

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<v Speaker 1>still make electronic drum kids. And as a matter of fact,

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<v Speaker 1>you can believe it's the guitar Hero version that can

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<v Speaker 1>be used with an Elysis drum kit. UM, and essentially

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<v Speaker 1>you could just use that when instead. Um. But the

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<v Speaker 1>electronic drums can be very, very sophisticated. They're essentially just

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<v Speaker 1>what they call the trigger pad um, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>surface that responds to the stick hitting it or your

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<v Speaker 1>hands hitting it. There are versions of acoustic drums you

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<v Speaker 1>can play, you know, hand drums if you will. Yeah, essentially, um,

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<v Speaker 1>they have different spots to play, you know, a rim

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<v Speaker 1>shot or the center of the drum, so it represents

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<v Speaker 1>different parts of the drum like you would play with

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<v Speaker 1>your hands. Um. But uh, you know, actually these are

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<v Speaker 1>they they're sensitive to the amount of pressure with which

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<v Speaker 1>the stick hits the drum um. And uh. The other

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<v Speaker 1>part has a brain, which is basically a big electronic

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<v Speaker 1>computer that stores all the sounds in it. So the

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<v Speaker 1>nifty thing about an electronic drum kit is you can

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<v Speaker 1>have a variety of different drum kits stored, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>with the We talked about Ray Kurzweil a long time

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<v Speaker 1>ago in one of our other podcasts and his work

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<v Speaker 1>in electronic music and how electronic instruments didn't really sound

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<v Speaker 1>like real instruments until his company did work with that. Well, um,

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<v Speaker 1>that's sort of the way it is for electronic drums

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<v Speaker 1>now too. I mean a long time ago people didn't

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<v Speaker 1>talk about how realistic electronic drums might sound. But now

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<v Speaker 1>you can have all kinds of things in there, and

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<v Speaker 1>you might even have things like Latin percussion or sound effects,

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<v Speaker 1>cowbells and things you don't have to carry around. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not making it. I'm not gonna do the cowbell reference

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<v Speaker 1>just okay all right, because you know we could all

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<v Speaker 1>this podcast could use more cowbell, Yes it could, but

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<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't have to necessarily carry around all that stuff

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<v Speaker 1>with you. What what you might be surprised to know,

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<v Speaker 1>we call toys, Um, you know all those extra instruments. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you wouldn't have to carry this with you.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's an advantage to to do in that. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you don't plug it into an amplifier, you can

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<v Speaker 1>use it as a practice pad kit. Sure, um, but

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<v Speaker 1>the stuff that they have with the games, it is

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit more scaled down. Um. But that's really

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<v Speaker 1>all you need to to to learn basic drumming. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know if you have your your bass drum

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<v Speaker 1>pedal and your snare drum, that's you know the foundation

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<v Speaker 1>of most rock songs right there. Yeah, you could do

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<v Speaker 1>most of the Dave Clark five just with those. So uh,

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<v Speaker 1>when I was at CS I got to stop at

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<v Speaker 1>the roller booth, which was pretty amazing. Now, Roland they

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<v Speaker 1>make sound cards for computers, but they also make lots

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of different um music equipment. Yeah, you're not

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<v Speaker 1>just you know, not just music, all sorts of stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>But the two things they had that were getting a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of attention. Actually I guess three they had. They

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<v Speaker 1>had some guitar stuff which was getting a little attention.

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<v Speaker 1>They had some keyboard stuff as in pianos that was

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<v Speaker 1>getting some attention. But why got the most were their

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<v Speaker 1>drum kits. And they had a lot of electronic drum

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<v Speaker 1>kits there, and some of them were really really impressive,

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<v Speaker 1>like the uh, let's see as if I get this right,

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<v Speaker 1>the t D Dash twenty s which has has a

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<v Speaker 1>high hat, has three symbols and six drum pads, so

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<v Speaker 1>it's a pretty big electronic drum kit. I mean, you

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<v Speaker 1>know when you think, okay, so rock band that that

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<v Speaker 1>basic kit has the four pads and then the the

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<v Speaker 1>the kickpadis you know the kick pedal. Um this one

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<v Speaker 1>had has many more than that. But the neat thing

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<v Speaker 1>that Roland's doing is that they've got this software, this

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<v Speaker 1>tutoring software that kind of mimics the rock band approach

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<v Speaker 1>where that's one of the modes you can use. It

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<v Speaker 1>has multiple but because so many people have gotten used

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<v Speaker 1>to rock band, Roland has decided to act on this

0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:16.800
<v Speaker 1>and they have this software where you can learn to

0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.560
<v Speaker 1>play drums by kind of following along with songs and

0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.559
<v Speaker 1>and acting off of visual cues like you would in

0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.600
<v Speaker 1>rock band, to learn to play the drums for certain songs.

0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.480
<v Speaker 1>And then you eventually progress very much the same way

0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:32.000
<v Speaker 1>that the piano program you were talking about, UM kind

0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:34.600
<v Speaker 1>of similar. You know, you get each step is a

0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:38.240
<v Speaker 1>little bit more challenging and and you have to rely

0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:41.560
<v Speaker 1>more on your memory and about how this works, UM

0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.120
<v Speaker 1>until you get to the point where you're actually just

0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.960
<v Speaker 1>playing the drums. And uh, that was really neat. It

0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.280
<v Speaker 1>was also kind of interesting to see all these executives

0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.440
<v Speaker 1>in suits and ties, uh, all with these headphones on,

0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:56.400
<v Speaker 1>just rocking out. I talked with the one of the

0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.760
<v Speaker 1>representatives from Roland and she told me that some of

0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:02.280
<v Speaker 1>these guys would come in, sit down and be there

0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.160
<v Speaker 1>for forty five minutes playing on electric drum kit, and

0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.240
<v Speaker 1>then maybe they'd even come back later in the day

0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.600
<v Speaker 1>to play some more. Because it was just it was so,

0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:14.120
<v Speaker 1>you know, it's that whole rock band thing, an idea

0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.880
<v Speaker 1>of hey man, I can I could be a musician too,

0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:21.760
<v Speaker 1>and uh, and it's interesting that we see technology now

0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:25.040
<v Speaker 1>kind of catering to that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean even

0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:30.000
<v Speaker 1>even your beloved Apple is catering to that. That's true. Uh.

0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.280
<v Speaker 1>In the newest version of I Life, which is I

0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.800
<v Speaker 1>Life oh nine. Um, they've updated Garage Band yet again.

0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>And as someone who plays melodic instruments a little bit, um,

0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:47.760
<v Speaker 1>Garage Band is really nifty, uh, really nifty beginner's tool kit.

0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.960
<v Speaker 1>I mean we're not talking. You're not writing high high

0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:57.520
<v Speaker 1>end notation stuff like you would see and something like Sabellius. Um.

0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.960
<v Speaker 1>You're not um putting down tracks like you might in

0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.200
<v Speaker 1>pro tools if you're going to record an album, but

0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.840
<v Speaker 1>if you wanted to, uh to create a demo or

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.160
<v Speaker 1>learn how or just write a song, write the basics

0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:10.520
<v Speaker 1>of a song so you could take it back to

0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:14.839
<v Speaker 1>your band or even just hey, fool around with it. Um.

0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.400
<v Speaker 1>You know, Garage Band is a pretty nifty uh, pretty

0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.640
<v Speaker 1>nifty piece of software. But they've had a sort of

0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.680
<v Speaker 1>a new feature to the two thousand nine version of it,

0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:27.080
<v Speaker 1>and it's um it's a learned along with the prose

0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.000
<v Speaker 1>of thing. And they've got some big name people, yeah

0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.120
<v Speaker 1>like Sting Yes who will teach you how to play

0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:39.440
<v Speaker 1>Roxanne on the guitar and uh. Other people include um,

0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:44.400
<v Speaker 1>Sarah McLaughlin, Fallout Boy, Nora Jones, Colby k a Um,

0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:49.520
<v Speaker 1>Sarah Burrellis, ben Folds Yep, yep, John Fogerty, and One Republic.

0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:51.800
<v Speaker 1>I'm just sad that ben Folds teach teaches you how

0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.840
<v Speaker 1>to play Brick instead of any Waits any ways, is

0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.480
<v Speaker 1>my favorite ben Folds song For those of you listening

0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.240
<v Speaker 1>who want who are just curious, that's all right. My

0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.120
<v Speaker 1>my trivia with ben Folds goes back to my high

0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.920
<v Speaker 1>school days. Speaking of high school band, when I marched

0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.280
<v Speaker 1>next to the drummer for ben Folds five, Darren Jesse.

0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.320
<v Speaker 1>See if you're just one drummer spot off from playing

0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.840
<v Speaker 1>for the ben Folds five, if you had just stood

0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.800
<v Speaker 1>a little to the left. Um. So yeah, I mean,

0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:26.480
<v Speaker 1>these programs are letting you actually learn from the pros.

0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:28.960
<v Speaker 1>They show you how to play these songs and then

0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, I'm not granted, it's not as interactive. You

0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.880
<v Speaker 1>can't they're not gonna stop and say no, no, no,

0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.840
<v Speaker 1>I said, see major, Yeah, that's that's not gonna happen.

0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.040
<v Speaker 1>But it's interesting that it's an interesting approach and in

0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.480
<v Speaker 1>an in an era where music programs are getting cut

0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.360
<v Speaker 1>back in schools. Um, it's nice to see that there

0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.800
<v Speaker 1>are some other things that you can do to bolster

0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:53.560
<v Speaker 1>your kids education or your own education. There's no reason why,

0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:56.760
<v Speaker 1>uh we as adults can't look back on that and go,

0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:58.240
<v Speaker 1>you know what, I've always wanted to learn how to

0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.840
<v Speaker 1>play guitar. Yeah, and and these kinds of things can

0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.120
<v Speaker 1>help you do that. Uh, you know, bolster your love

0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.200
<v Speaker 1>for music, share it with other people. I mean, there's

0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.120
<v Speaker 1>no reason why you can't get garage band and lay

0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.720
<v Speaker 1>down something and play it behind your podcast as you

0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.080
<v Speaker 1>create your podcast. You know, you know you're the copyright holder.

0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:17.320
<v Speaker 1>I think I think we need to get a house

0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.720
<v Speaker 1>stuff for its band together the go we've got We've

0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.120
<v Speaker 1>got some pretty talented musicians. I am not one of them.

0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:27.480
<v Speaker 1>I play two instruments, the penny whistle and the Appalachian

0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.720
<v Speaker 1>dulcimer because you know that's the kind of rock god

0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:35.160
<v Speaker 1>I am so uh but hopefully other people play better instruments.

0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.040
<v Speaker 1>They would make a much better band. But uh, yeah,

0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:41.760
<v Speaker 1>it's so interesting that you can get this kind of

0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.520
<v Speaker 1>stuff and if you really do have the drive and

0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:46.720
<v Speaker 1>the energy for it, I mean, go for it, guys.

0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.680
<v Speaker 1>I mean this stuff is out there and there's there

0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.360
<v Speaker 1>are plenty of programs out on the internet now that

0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.200
<v Speaker 1>are they're free, their shareware and their freeware programs that

0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.080
<v Speaker 1>you can look at to learn things like keyboards and stuff. Now,

0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.640
<v Speaker 1>granted they won't be as sophisticated as the ones we've

0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:03.560
<v Speaker 1>been talking about, but it might be a nice place

0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:06.320
<v Speaker 1>to start, that's true. And um, you know, there are

0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:10.639
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of other opportunities out there there. Chord charts,

0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:12.960
<v Speaker 1>plenty of those out out there for those of you

0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.879
<v Speaker 1>who are learning to play streamed instruments, and uh, all

0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.920
<v Speaker 1>kinds of other references, even uh how stuff works podcasts. Yeah,

0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, if you're interested in catching up in the

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.520
<v Speaker 1>latest music stuff stuff from the side, it's an excellent podcast.

0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:29.600
<v Speaker 1>Highly recommend it. Well, this was a good conversation. And

0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.000
<v Speaker 1>and before we go, I would like to once again

0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.000
<v Speaker 1>refer to our listener mail. I'm just gonna keep doing

0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:39.760
<v Speaker 1>it that way. You know that, right, Okay, So this

0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.600
<v Speaker 1>one comes from Brendan Davey, and now Brendan rights to

0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:48.320
<v Speaker 1>give us a clarification on our Fishing and Farming podcast.

0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.840
<v Speaker 1>I remember that, right, I do too, So he says

0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.200
<v Speaker 1>in your podcast on Fishing and Farming, you said that

0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.480
<v Speaker 1>before clicking on a link to check the bottom left

0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.320
<v Speaker 1>of your screen to see the U r L of

0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.119
<v Speaker 1>the link. However, you can use HTML to make the

0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.480
<v Speaker 1>link look like it's going somewhere else. For example, a

0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:05.640
<v Speaker 1>link says click here, and when you put your mouth

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.320
<v Speaker 1>on it, the bottom left says it's going to Google.

0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:10.520
<v Speaker 1>When you click on it, it actually takes you to Yahoo.

0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.359
<v Speaker 1>And so the only way to prevent farming is to

0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:16.359
<v Speaker 1>type into the website yourself, like, type in the address

0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.240
<v Speaker 1>of the website. Um, thanks Brendan, that is true that

0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.840
<v Speaker 1>you can spoof u r l's like that. It's it's

0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.640
<v Speaker 1>actually called hyperlink spoofing sometimes web spoofing. However, you did

0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.000
<v Speaker 1>say that the only way to guarantee was to type

0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.600
<v Speaker 1>in the address yourself. I'm sad to say that's not

0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:38.119
<v Speaker 1>true either. Um, there is really no guarantee if someone

0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:42.800
<v Speaker 1>has committed a d n S cash poisoning attack. It

0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:44.840
<v Speaker 1>is possible to create a man in the middle attack

0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.239
<v Speaker 1>where you type in a U r L and you

0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.600
<v Speaker 1>know that it's a legitimate U r L and you

0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:52.199
<v Speaker 1>hit enter, it can get intercepted and sent to a

0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:58.080
<v Speaker 1>farming site. So it's possible even taking the biggest precaution

0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.840
<v Speaker 1>we can say, which is type out you're the the

0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:04.840
<v Speaker 1>U r L. Even that can can backfire on you. However,

0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:06.960
<v Speaker 1>I should also point out that those kind of attacks

0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.119
<v Speaker 1>are not common and they usually only affect certain I

0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:13.600
<v Speaker 1>S P s. Uh. You know, it's not like it's

0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:18.520
<v Speaker 1>a web wide attack, thank goodness. But it is possible,

0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:20.560
<v Speaker 1>and it is usually. It's the kind of thing that

0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:22.960
<v Speaker 1>would happen very seldom, and it's also the kind of

0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.280
<v Speaker 1>thing that would probably be discovered fairly quickly. Yeah. Yeah,

0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.119
<v Speaker 1>that's the sort of thing where, yeah, it can happen,

0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.520
<v Speaker 1>but someone's gonna find out about it fast, they're going

0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.600
<v Speaker 1>to react. Uh. So it's not something to really stay

0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.240
<v Speaker 1>up nights worrying about. But we should point out, in

0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:39.920
<v Speaker 1>the interest of full disclosure, that it is possible. True,

0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:42.879
<v Speaker 1>But yes, you're right. The best way to do that

0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:45.080
<v Speaker 1>is to type it in yourself, and that's your your

0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.239
<v Speaker 1>best chance of getting when you're really trying to go.

0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:49.600
<v Speaker 1>So thanks very much, Brendan, And if you want to

0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:51.920
<v Speaker 1>email us, you can send an email to podcast at

0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.240
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. If you want to learn

0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.200
<v Speaker 1>more about music and technology, well check out our website,

0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.960
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot com. Um, and we'll talk to

0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.920
<v Speaker 1>you again really soon. For more on this and thousands

0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:08.479
<v Speaker 1>of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Let

0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.199
<v Speaker 1>us know what you think. Send an email to podcast

0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:17.400
<v Speaker 1>at how stuff works dot com. Brought to you by

0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.840
<v Speaker 1>the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you