WEBVTT - Last show of 2023: Listener Questions & Feedback 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.200 What's going on. I'm Rich Damiro and this is rich 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.120 on Tech, the show where I talk about the tech 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.080 stuff I think you should know about. It's also the 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.920 place where I answer your questions about technology. You can 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:16.959 find me online at richon tech dot tv. There you 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:20.200 can also submit your question for me to answer. Just 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.319 go to rich on tech dot tv and hit the 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.800 link that says contact. I get a lot of emails 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.200 every single week, so I do my best to answer 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.400 some of those personally, but many times I will just 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.360 address them on the show. I hope you had a 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.919 great holiday. We are now coming up right against the 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.720 new year, if you can believe it. So I figured 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.480 I would take this opportunity to clear out the mail 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.839 bag and get through a bunch of the questions that 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.479 you have asked me. Let's start with John. John writes 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:53.880 in and says, is there such a thing as an 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.200 Internet phone that plugs into the USB port on my 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:00.840 PC and is able to make phone calls? Keep in 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.960 mind that I don't want a monthly subscription. I just 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.280 want to purchase it and use it as a backup 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.040 phone in case my smartphone is not working. That way, 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.480 I'll be able to make a call to the customer service. John. 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.840 That's a good question. But here's the thing. Most of 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.680 the time calls are going to go through the internet 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.960 these days, so most of the phone services are what's 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:26.160 called VoIP voice over IP. A couple of ways you 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.399 can do this. There is a device called magic Jack. 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.080 This was a thing when this first came out. It 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.720 was revolutionary because this came out when you would still 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:40.800 pay whatever it was for landline service. And this came 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.000 out and you would plug it into your Internet and 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:48.440 then you would plug your old school telephone jack into this, 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:50.400 and they call it the magic Jack, and you would 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.280 buy it once there was no subscription and you could 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.600 make unlimited calls, I think even long long distance calls. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.480 And so the Magic Jack at this point is forty 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.080 five dollars. You plug it into the USB connection on 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.520 your computer and then you can plug a phone into that. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.680 It's forty five dollars for twelve months of service. Another 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.440 piece of hardware is called uma Ooma, and this came 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:15.960 out kind of after Magic Jack, and this was also 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.960 seemingly too good to be true because you would plug 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.160 it into your Internet, you'd pay a fee and you 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.760 would get service for a lot cheaper than you would 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:29.000 get from your typical phone company. And so this device 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.280 at this point is one hundred dollars and phone service 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.240 is free. And I believe when this came out it 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.200 was unlimited like forever. So people are just like, wait 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:40.840 a second, how is that possible? But this again is 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:44.720 called uma Ooma and they do have this. But this 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.400 plugs into your internet service, and so you would plug 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.720 that into your router and then you can plug a 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.440 phone into that. So that's another option if you want 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:58.359 a you know, sort of a landline experience. The other 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.239 thing you can do is you Google Voice. Just sign 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:04.400 up for a free Google Voice phone number. And I've 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:07.680 had a Google Voice number forever. I'm trying to remember 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:10.440 what Google Voice was called before. Oh, it was called 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.320 Grand Central. I just remembered that. I must have signed 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.920 up for Google Voice the first minute it was available, 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:19.440 and it was called Grand Central. And why it was 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.400 called that is because it would link up all of 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:23.720 your different phones. So back in the day, you had 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.480 a landline number, you had a business phone number, and 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.840 you had a cell phone number. Potentially you know, multiple numbers, 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.720 and so this would this would bring them all into 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.440 one place. So people would call this one number and 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.720 it would call out to all your different phones and 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.720 ring them at the same time so that you could answer. 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.520 And it was pretty magical. Google bought the company like 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.600 within days, it felt like, after this launch, but it 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.320 was really really cool. Now it's called Google Voice, and 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.520 Google Voice is completely online. So you can sign up 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:54.960 for a free phone number and make calls right through 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.800 your computer. And you can just plug in a standard 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.480 you know, headset, So if you have of like the 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.440 plug in headset or a USB headset, you can use that, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.760 or you can go on Amazon and order an actual 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.600 sort of headset that like an operator would use. There 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:11.880 you go, John, some good options for getting your phone 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:13.600 calls through your computer. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:13.960 All right. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.560 Next up, Sherry writes in we are AT and T customers. 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:21.480 My husband lost his phone, but we still owe the contract. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.080 Do you know where we could order a good used 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:29.039 iPhone to add to our plan? Great question. This is 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.040 what happens when you sign up for one of these 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.200 free phones from the cellular carriers. If you lose your 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.159 phone or break it or something like that, you are 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.400 still on the hook for the thirty six months or 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.040 whatever they ask you to sign when you get that 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.440 free phone, So just keep that in mind. If you're 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.280 getting a free phone from your carrier, it is definitely 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.160 not free. They take the price of that phone, they 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.799 divide it up by twenty four to thirty six months, 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.320 and they give you that as a credit every month 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.000 until you fulfill those twenty four to thirty six months. 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.320 So if something happens to your phone, you will still 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.400 have to pay for the service. And so that's what's 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:08.200 happening here. Two places i'd recommend. First off, you can 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.960 go to Apple themselves. They have on their website a 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:16.919 refurbished area. It's called Apple Certified Refurbished, and it's odd 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:20.680 because there's really not that much available on their website. 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:22.760 So right now as I check it out, they have 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:26.320 an iPhone twelve Mini. They have an iPhone twelve, iPhone 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:30.000 twelve Pro, and iPhone twelve Pro Max. But the cheapest 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.839 here is an iPhone twelve Mini for four hundred and 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.080 twenty nine dollars. You said you didn't say which phone 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.200 you have, so I'm not sure what you're trying to replace, 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.239 but the iPhone twelve is four hundred and forty nine dollars. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.880 That's still pretty expensive. You said you wanted something cheap. 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.040 So the second place that I would look is Amazon. 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:53.440 Amazon has a refurbished section of their website, and so 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:58.080 if you search on Amazon for Amazon Renewed, you can 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.960 go there and check out the smart phone section and 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:04.360 then narrowed down by Apple. And so if we look 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.680 at if we sort by cheapest, there is an an 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.279 iPhone S, but that's the first generation. You probably don't 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.240 want that one. That one's pretty old. But they have 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:17.159 an iPhone se second generation renewed for at and T 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.240 one hundred and fifty five dollars, so that's pretty inexpensive. 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.720 You can get an iPhone eight for one hundred and 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.520 fifty nine dollars, an iPhone ten for one hundred and 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.719 seventy three dollars, iPhone ten S for one hundred and 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.839 eighty four dollars. Now, the one thing that I would 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.680 caution you on is I would make sure that this 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:38.080 phone that you get runs the latest Apple software, which 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.800 is iOS seventeen. So if you're going to get one 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.440 of these refurbished phones, you want to get one that 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:47.640 is compatible with iOS seventeen. And at this point that 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.160 is the iPhone S second generation, and then the iPhone 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:55.520 ten R and up, so that would be the iPhone ten, 0:06:56.160 --> 0:07:00.520 ten S, tens max, the iPhone eleven, all the way 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.160 up to the iPhone fifteen. So make sure you get 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.080 a phone that is still compatible with the current software 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.280 because you want to make sure that you can still 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:13.000 get those software updates. Next up, subject line, Someone's listening 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.840 to my phone and the name is Corona. Name is 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:21.080 false because I'm scared. Okay, I have changed my phone 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:25.320 number and my simcard many times, yet it still seems 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:29.120 that someone or someone's is listening to me on my 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.480 phone and when I'm home. What can I do to 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.240 stop this? I have proof that one of the person 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.680 is the cell phone employee where I pay my cell 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:42.760 phone bill in person. Please help if you can. Okay, Well, 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.720 you know what. I am open to many questions on 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.600 this show, but I don't think that someone is listening 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:52.480 to your phone unless you are a secret agent or 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:56.559 a head of state or some sort of diplomat. Most 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.520 of the time, regular people, no one's really interested in 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:03.920 your converse. So I think that maybe this is a 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:08.120 case of you know, you're just maybe a little paranoid. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.520 So I think that you don't need to do anything. 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:13.760 If I were you, you can go ahead and factory 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.480 reset your phone. That should take care of things if 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.119 you really think that someone is listening to your phone. 0:08:21.080 --> 0:08:24.000 The only software that is known in a big way 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:28.080 to exploit the iPhone I'm assuming this an iPhone is 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:33.120 the Pegasus software. That spyware is typically aimed at very 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:37.960 specific individuals with a lot to lose. So if that's 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.520 not you, then I think you're probably okay. I would 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:43.280 just do a factory reset on your phone. You said 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.600 you change your phone number and your simcard many times, 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.400 so maybe do a factory reset on your phone and 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:50.360 that should clean things up and take care of any 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:55.040 any oddities that you're experiencing. You are listening to rich 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.720 on Tech. If you want to submit your message or 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:01.079 the show, go to rich on Tech dot tv. Hit 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:04.240 the link that says contact. My name is rich DeMuro. 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.960 More rich on Tech coming your way right after this. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.360 Welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich DeMuro here hanging 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.640 out with you, talking technology. Phone lines are open at 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.640 triple eight rich one oh one. That's eight eight eight 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:23.520 seven four to two four to one zero one. Consumer 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:28.400 Reports tested cables. You know everyone's buying these new USB 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:32.560 c cables. So Consumer Reports tested seven charging cables ranging 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:34.800 from four dollars and eighty eight cents to twenty nine 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:38.600 dollars to see which ones lasted the longest. They tested 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:43.360 USB c for Android and also for iPhones in two 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.920 durability tests twisting and a ninety degree bending until the 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:51.800 cable broke. So they actually did test lightning cables too. 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.040 I guess people are still buying those. So the twenty 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:58.160 nine dollars Apple Lightning cable and the six dollars and 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:03.520 fifty five cent Amazon Basis USBC cable survived eleven five 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.680 hundred bands without breaking. They say that's equivalent to over 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:12.240 six years of use. They tried other brands from Walmart 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:17.240 and five below. Those bent us eight hundred times less 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.560 than six months of use. So I guess cheap cables 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.640 really you get your money's worth. You know, you get 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:27.240 what you pay for. Let's see the let's see price, brand, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.440 name and thickness were not reliable indicators of durability. The 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:35.800 cheap Amazon Basics USBC cable dramatically outlasted price yer branded cables. 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:40.040 So what do they recommend? The Apple Lightning cable the 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.120 official one for the iPhones and the Amazon Basics USB 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.600 C cable because of their outstanding durability. So there you 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:49.679 have it. Look at that. You can get the six 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.240 dollars and fifty five cent Amazon Basics USB C cable 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.480 that'll work for the iPhone and Android now, and then 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:58.480 if you want Apple, you probably still want to go 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:02.839 with the standard Apple line cable twenty nine bucks. By 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:04.600 the way, you see why Apple didn't want to switch 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.920 to USPC because the cables now six dollars and fifty 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:11.280 five cents versus the twenty nine dollars they were getting 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.240 for a quote unquote you know premium cable. Let's go 0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:18.280 to John in Los Angeles. John, you're on with Rich. 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:19.400 Hi. 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.280 Rich, I have a problem with my email. I bought 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:27.880 a dot com domain about twenty plus years ago, and 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.560 somewhere along the line I set it up so that 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:37.440 email going to that domain, any name, would get forwarded 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:41.120 to my Gmail account. And then a couple of weeks 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:45.680 ago it stopped working, and I couldn't really remember where 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.280 I set that up. I checked the records. It said 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:52.480 something with Outlook. I don't remember setting anything up with Outlook. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:57.080 So I did a search for a company that would 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:02.800 for a price would catch all my email to that 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.880 domain and forward it to my Gmail. But all I 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.040 find is email companies I want to sell me whole 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:08.400 email packages. Yep. 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.760 So you just want to forward. You just want to 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.600 forward from from that that domain, right, and it's just 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:17.559 is it one email address or several? 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.400 Well, I set it up as a catch all, okay, 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.560 catch all the email because sometimes people would misspell my 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.400 name and that would get bounced back. So that's why 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:28.120 I set that up. 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.360 Okay, Well, I'll tell you what I use, and there 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.520 may be more out there, but this one is the 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.800 one that I've used for years and it works really well, 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.600 and it's I think five bucks a year. Now. Remember 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:42.040 this does not include any sort of email storage or 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.600 email box nothing. This is just like you said, straight 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.640 up forwarding. And you're gonna have to check to see 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.160 if they can do a catch all email box where 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.840 you can just anything you write to that domain, it 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:54.920 will forward it to your Gmail. But the one that 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.240 I use is Hover dot com h O V E 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.040 er and I pay I think it's five dollars a 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.000 year and all they do is forward, and so my 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.400 hello at richontech dot TV. It's just a forwarded email. 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:10.480 It goes right to my Gmail when someone emails at. 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.280 So Hover ho Veer is the one that I use, 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.040 and you will need to you know, obviously, you have 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.440 to know your domain information to get that forwarded over. 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.680 So you'll go to Hover, you'll sign up for an 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.360 account and then you'll put all your information in for 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:28.600 your domain. You will have to verify that you own 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.439 that domain, and once you do, you can set up 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.199 just what's called an email forwarding. Now you can also 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.360 set up an email inbox as well. That's more like 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.240 twenty dollars a year, but you can just get email 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.880 forwarding for five dollars a year. And the question is, 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:49.120 let's see mail sent to distinct role based addresses. Help 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:54.080 at can forward to one central mailbox, so doesn't let 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.400 you send emails from your domain, so you you know 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:59.800 this is only for receiving. But I think that's the 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:01.800 main thing is that you just have to check. It's 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.280 been a while since I set this thing up, so 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.120 I'm not sure if they do a catch all email, 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.320 but if they do, that would be pretty easy. But 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:09.719 that's what you want to look for. You just want 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:14.200 to look for what's called email forwarding and not email hosting, 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.160 So good question, John, let me know if that works out. 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.760 Richon tech dot tv is my website. You can use 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.240 the UH the email form there to let me know. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.840 Let's go to UH Mickey in camerio. Mickey, you're on 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:27.360 with Rich. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:30.840 Hi, Good morning, Rich. I just had a questioning that 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:34.400 we are nearing the holidays. I've given out gift cards 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:36.880 for Walmart, Target, you know, so they can use to 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.360 purchase things, you know, or you know, whatever they need, 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:44.880 groceries and whatnot. But I want to know, are all cards, 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:49.960 whether it's Amazon, Target, Walmart, the grocery stores, can those 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.640 be used online instead of us using our bank and 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:55.880 our own credit cards, you know, because of you know, 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:01.680 for personal reasons and for you know, privacy protection for so, can. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:03.760 They all be used online? Like if you buy one 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.520 at Target in the store, can you use it on 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:11.160 their website? Yes, it depends. Yeah. The short answer is 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.120 it depends. There are certain types of gift cards that 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.960 are online only, there are some that are in store only, 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.520 and there are some that work in both places. The 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:23.240 answer is you have to look at the back of 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.560 the card to see what it says, and you have 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:27.200 to look at the card online if you buy it 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:28.760 online to see if it says you can use it 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.480 in store. The reason why I tell you this is 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:36.320 because I use an app called Raise r Aise, and 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:38.520 this is an app that lets you buy and sell 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:42.360 gift cards. So let's say you're going to Old Navy 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:44.560 and you know you're going there and you want to purchase, 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.240 you know, fifty one hundred dollars worth of stuff there. 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.640 You could go to this website, raise dot com or 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.040 the app and buy a gift card for Old Navy, 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.200 and it's discounted because how are they getting that gift card. 0:15:57.560 --> 0:15:59.600 They're getting it from someone that got this gift card 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:01.480 from gram that doesn't want it, and they want to 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.320 unload it because it doesn't cost them anything to get 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.160 rid of it at a at a lesser price than 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.760 the face value. So let me give you an example. 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:12.720 Let's say that I have a birthday party. Someone gives 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.160 me a one hundred dollars gift card to what's that 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.640 store with all the candles that bed bathroom, not bed bathroom, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.840 bed Bathom body Works, the one that sells all the 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:27.800 like fancy selling smelling candles. So let's say I get 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:29.040 that and I'm I said, you know what, I'm not 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.640 getting any pumpkin spice candles this year. I'm just gonna 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:33.040 get rid of I'm not gonna get I'm gonna get 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.280 rid of this gift card. I can go on Raise 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.760 and sell that gift card. They will give me cash 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.200 for that, and then I hand over that gift card 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.280 to them. Now they're going to give me let's say 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.960 seventy five dollars, But to me, that's found money because 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.120 I'm you know, this gift card was given to me 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.120 for free. Then Raise will go and they will sell 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.560 that gift card to other people for let's say ninety 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.600 five dollars. And now you're getting one hundred dollars gift 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.800 card for ninety five. Raise makes that spread of seventy 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:01.720 five to ninety five dollars that they sold it to 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.200 you for, they make twenty bucks. You get a discounted 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:06.960 gift card. Everyone's happy in this process. Next time you 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:09.159 get a gift card, just read the fine print and 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.399 make sure that you can use it online and in store. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.560 A lot of them, like I said, are dual purpose. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:19.240 They will work in both places. And I'm looking, for instance, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.800 I'm looking up an Amazon gift card. So you can 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.560 buy a one hundred dollars Amazon gift card on the 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:28.000 Raised website for ninety seven dollars and eighty three cents 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:32.719 and it says digital delivery, valid online and in store. 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.040 But there are some gift cards that you go to 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.240 and it will say only valid, you know, in store. 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.679 So Walmart, let's see what they say. Yeah, valid online 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.240 and in store. So I think with the big ones, 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.000 you're going to be fine. And I think that you know, 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.919 it depends on some of the smaller retailers, some of 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.240 the more obscure retailers, you may not be able to 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.280 use them in both places, whether it's online or in store, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.720 because every gift card is a little bit different, and 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.199 the way that you get these gift cards, you know, 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:01.800 depending on where you buy them from, could be a 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.480 little different. So great question eight eight eight seven four 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.520 to two four one zero one. This is rich On 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:14.600 Tech rich Demiro here, rich On Tech, Welcome back to 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.920 the show. I'm here in Westlake Village, California, with Clay Alexander, 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.880 CEO of Ember. You may know this company for its 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.960 temperature controlled mugs, but now they are branching out into 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.280 all kinds of temperature control systems. The latest product is 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:34.440 a self warming baby bottle system. Clay, welcome to the show. 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.480 Thank you for having me Rich, I'm happy to be here. 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:41.400 So a lot of folks may know Ember for the mugs. 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.359 This is the first product that I tried from Ember, 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.960 and it's a temperature controlled mug. Tell me the idea 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:48.520 behind that. 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:55.199 So actually it started with with scrambled eggs. Okay, So 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:58.840 in two thousand and nine, I had just sold my 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:02.880 light bulb to GE. It was the world's large brightest 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:07.160 led light bulb and GE had bought the rights to it. 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.919 And I was sitting there, you know, thinking, Okay, what 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:11.840 am I gonna do next with my life? 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:12.160 Right? 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.639 And I was eating scrambled eggs with my wife in 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.800 the kitchen. I get about halfway through my eggs and 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.760 my eggs get cold on my plate. This happens every 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:23.280 time I eat scrambled eggs. 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:24.080 So I thought. 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:26.960 I remember looking down and thinking, okay, this is the 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.480 twenty first century. At a bare minimum, my dinner plate 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.679 should be able to keep my food at a decent 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:37.359 eating temperature. So I've been inventor since Berth and I thought, okay, 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:41.800 let me make I started strapping RC car batteries and 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.399 temperature control circuitry to the bottom of the dinner plates 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:46.080 in my kitchen. 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.720 I'm sure, I'm sure your wife loved you. 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:51.240 No, I was making a big, giant mass in the 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.720 kitchen with electronics and wires and benchtop power supplies and 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.200 all that good stuff. So I created the world's first 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.320 self warming innerplate and I started eating my meal off 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.280 of it, steaks, salmon, et cetera. You get halfway through 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:07.359 the meal, thirty minutes later, you're taking your time. You 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:11.000 cut into the salmon, steam still comes out. It's the 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.680 perfect temperature, perfect bite. So I had invented this, and 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:19.159 I remember thinking to myself looking around the kitchen, going gosh, 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:25.280 coffee mugs, soup bowls, shafing dishes, baby bottles, all the 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:30.640 things that can benefit from temperature control. And the real 0:20:30.880 --> 0:20:34.040 question was, well, where do we start right And at 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.280 that time, this is back in twenty fourteen fifteen, when 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.800 I was making this decision, coffee, high end coffee was 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:44.560 on the rise big time. So we created the world's 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:49.080 first self warming coffee cup, and we made prototypes and 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:51.520 I remember drinking out of it, carrying it around town 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:56.320 and it looked like a crazy invention. 0:20:56.440 --> 0:20:58.760 I had batteries strapped to the side and wires and. 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:03.120 Circuitry, but the user experience was phenomenal because you got 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.040 thermosignetti and all these others, and those are dual wall 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:10.080 vacum insulation. The temperature that you pour in is what 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.840 it holds it at. If you pour hot coffee, brood 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:15.920 coffee comes out at one hundred and eighty degrees, burns 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:18.920 your mouth, or you wait for a very long period 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:21.600 of time for tacool, you get distracted, you go back, 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.000 and now it's too cool cold. So I thought, gosh, 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:26.800 what if I could What if we could create technology 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:32.480 that actually locks your drinking temperature in whatever your preferred 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.720 specific drinking temperature is. You set it in a number mug. 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:40.280 One thirty five, for instance, is mine. And every time 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:42.440 I pour a cup of coffee, no matter where I am, 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:44.520 and I poured a number mug, it goes to one 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.479 hundred and thirty five degrees on the nose, and every sip, 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:51.320 every sip, no matter where I go, it's battery powered, 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:53.760 carried around the meetings, et cetera, is at one hundred 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:54.240 and thirty. 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:56.960 Five degrees Okay, so let's talk about the self warming 0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.000 baby bottle system. This is brand new from Ember over 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:02.359 ten years in the making. Where did the idea for 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:03.040 this come from? 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:06.040 Okay, this is a great story. So my beautiful daughter, 0:22:06.240 --> 0:22:11.439 Charlotte was born eleven years ago and my wife did 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:13.240 most of the feedings. Every once in a while it 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:16.320 was dad's turn. And I remember Charlotte waking up in 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:18.879 the middle of the night crying, you know, starving. It's 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:23.359 like I'm carrying her downstairs, going into the kitchen, getting 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:26.160 a bowl of water, running the water in the sink, 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:28.920 warming up the water, putting the baby bottle in the water. 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:31.520 It's bobbing around because you know, my wife didn't want 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:34.120 me to use the microwave. And then you're like squirting 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:36.920 milk on your wrists and you're going, I'm a new parent. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:39.840 I have all these other anxieties about parenthood, and I 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:41.360 don't know if this temperature is right. 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:43.159 I'm just trying to sense it on my wrist. 0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:47.080 So it was a very honestly, the anxiety level was 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:49.240 very high at that time for me as a parent, 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:51.679 and I thought there's got to be a better way. 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.680 And I thought, gosh, what if the baby bottle could 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.960 warm the milk itself right up to the perfect body 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:01.159 temperature and you know when it's ready. And that was 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:02.640 kind of the origin idea. 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:05.760 And so now we've got the baby bottle. It comes 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:08.880 with this sort of warming puck on the bottom. Can 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:10.159 you explain how it works. 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:12.520 There's a puck that you can throw in your back 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:16.199 pocket or anywhere, and you can basically throw the bottle 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:19.920 on the puck and it warms milk or formula up 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.760 to body temperature within less than five minutes. And part 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:25.280 of the beauty of it is if you want to 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:27.919 keep the milk cold for on the go, we also 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:30.320 have that comes in the kit that we just launched, 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:33.480 a what we call a thermal dome. So the cold 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:35.639 milk comes out of the fridge with the bottle and 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:37.760 you throw it on the puck. You throw the thermal 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:40.639 dome over it. It's all magnetic, it just sucks together. 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:43.920 The thermal dome will keep the milk in the bottle 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:48.080 cold for up to four hours on the go. So 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:50.360 you have this little like we call it like an 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.320 infant feeding kit, throw in your diaper bag, throw it 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:56.320 in your backpack on the go, and when you know 0:23:56.400 --> 0:23:59.359 your baby is hungry. You just open up your iPhone 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:01.400 or Android Divide and you go to the umber Baby app. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:04.280 You click warm Milk. It actually warms the milk while 0:24:04.280 --> 0:24:07.040 the baby bottle is in your bag, and then it 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:11.440 just notifies you when you're ready on either your connected 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:12.720 watch or on your phone. 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:15.000 And if you don't want to necessarily use the app, 0:24:15.040 --> 0:24:16.920 which you probably want to, because if you have something 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:19.320 like this, you're into apps and phones and stuff. But 0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:21.560 there's also a physical button on the bottom of the 0:24:21.600 --> 0:24:24.199 puck that you can just press five lights. When they 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:27.320 all light up, it lets you know that the milk 0:24:27.440 --> 0:24:31.119 is at the right temperature. The baby bottle is super lightweight, 0:24:31.280 --> 0:24:34.600 lighter than you would think. It is all dishwasher safe. 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:36.840 All of the parts that touch the milk the puck 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:40.960 obviously is the electronics, and you also kept the bulk 0:24:41.000 --> 0:24:43.359 of the electronics in the bottom, like the Bluetooth is 0:24:43.359 --> 0:24:45.320 not near the baby bottle itself. 0:24:45.440 --> 0:24:48.560 That's right, soar in the early days, in our first 0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:52.120 version of the umber Baby bottle, we put the battery 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:55.800 technology and the Bluetooth radio and such in the bottom 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:58.119 of the bottle is part of the bottle, just like 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:00.440 an Ember mug right, And in a lot of early 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:03.880 focus groups, parents said, you know, I don't really want 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:06.480 a bluetooth radio near my baby's face. I don't really 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:10.399 want a batteries. So we we pivoted and we re 0:25:10.480 --> 0:25:13.159 engineered the product so that we put the bluetooth radio on, 0:25:13.160 --> 0:25:15.200 the batteries and all that stuff into a little kind 0:25:15.200 --> 0:25:17.679 of hockey puck that you throw in your back pocket 0:25:17.720 --> 0:25:19.040 that's magnetic to the bottle. 0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:20.320 That way the bottle. 0:25:20.359 --> 0:25:24.720 The bottle has you know, a microprocessor, heaters and temperature 0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:28.600 control sensors all kind of embedded in there safely, but 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:31.479 there's no you know, batteries or bluetooth radio or any 0:25:31.520 --> 0:25:33.960 of that kind of stuff. So it's it's all solid 0:25:33.960 --> 0:25:35.120 state electronics in there. 0:25:35.280 --> 0:25:37.560 And safety for this this is something that you know, 0:25:37.640 --> 0:25:38.760 babies are going to be holding. 0:25:39.320 --> 0:25:43.159 Yeah, So safety has been a number one priority for 0:25:43.280 --> 0:25:46.679 us from the very very beginning. And one of the 0:25:46.720 --> 0:25:48.200 things that we really wanted to make. 0:25:48.119 --> 0:25:49.760 Sure we got right is the heating. 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:50.000 Right. 0:25:50.040 --> 0:25:53.760 We never wanted to be over body temperature, so you know, 0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:56.679 ninety eight point five degrees in this case. And so 0:25:57.119 --> 0:26:02.120 we actually designed the Ember baby bottle with three independent 0:26:02.359 --> 0:26:07.880 circuits that run inside the bottle. If the first circuit fails, right, 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:10.399 if the milk goes up, you know, ninety eight point 0:26:10.480 --> 0:26:14.760 six boom. The second circuit kicks in senses that it 0:26:14.840 --> 0:26:17.560 went a point of a degree up and then opens 0:26:17.600 --> 0:26:21.840 the circuit, essentially killing heating. If the second circuit fails, 0:26:22.040 --> 0:26:25.199 there is a third circuit that can then catch it. 0:26:25.480 --> 0:26:28.520 So it is absolutely bomb proof, never go. It will 0:26:28.560 --> 0:26:32.920 never go above that body temperature. And so that took 0:26:33.000 --> 0:26:35.240 us actually probably almost two years to engineer just what 0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:38.200 I was saying right there, this triple redundancy. 0:26:38.920 --> 0:26:41.840 The self forming baby bottle system from ember Cells for 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:43.919 four hundred dollars. Some people may balk at. 0:26:43.760 --> 0:26:47.520 That price, so in the future we'll launch less expensive 0:26:47.600 --> 0:26:50.040 versions that just have maybe one bottle and one put 0:26:50.440 --> 0:26:53.560 but at launch, we want to have an entire system 0:26:53.880 --> 0:26:56.040 that really takes care of you, and it's an infant 0:26:56.080 --> 0:26:56.880 feeding system. 0:26:56.960 --> 0:26:59.920 Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. 0:26:59.280 --> 0:27:03.760 I would say, honestly, grit to go from an idea 0:27:04.040 --> 0:27:09.560 in your mind to building a global brand. It's definitely 0:27:09.600 --> 0:27:11.919 the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. 0:27:12.240 --> 0:27:12.760 X ten. 0:27:13.440 --> 0:27:17.040 And I would just say, you like the reason that 0:27:17.280 --> 0:27:20.200 I like can't sleep at night, work seven days a week, 0:27:20.200 --> 0:27:24.080 et cetera. Is because of my passion of what I'm 0:27:24.280 --> 0:27:27.800 doing right, Like, I'm so excited about every product that 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:32.200 we create and launch. And if you don't have that passion, 0:27:32.359 --> 0:27:35.639 you're not gonna have the grit and the determination to 0:27:35.840 --> 0:27:38.080 actually pull it off. And especially when you go through 0:27:38.119 --> 0:27:40.920 tough times, you just got to keep pushing that big 0:27:41.000 --> 0:27:42.680 giant boulder up the hill. 0:27:43.520 --> 0:27:47.199 Clay Alexander, CEO of EMBER and founder, thanks so much 0:27:47.240 --> 0:27:48.040 for joining me today. 0:27:48.480 --> 0:27:51.040 Thank you, Rich. It was great to have you all right. 0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:52.880 If you want to learn more about what Ember's doing, 0:27:52.960 --> 0:27:56.119 check out the website. Just go to rich on Tech 0:27:56.359 --> 0:28:00.479 dot TV. I'm richidibureau more of rich on Tech after this, 0:28:04.080 --> 0:28:07.720 welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich Demiro here talking 0:28:07.760 --> 0:28:11.880 technology with you, and my guest is Larissa May, a 0:28:12.040 --> 0:28:17.119 digital wellness activist and founder of Half the Story, a 0:28:17.160 --> 0:28:21.800 nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation's healthy relationship with 0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:25.520 social media. They definitely need that. Larissa, thanks so much 0:28:25.520 --> 0:28:26.399 for joining me today. 0:28:26.800 --> 0:28:27.960 Thank you for hosting me. 0:28:28.920 --> 0:28:33.160 So give me a little background on yourself. Why did 0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:36.600 you start this and what's the goal I. 0:28:36.520 --> 0:28:39.040 Started Half the story eight years ago as the first 0:28:39.160 --> 0:28:42.680 you thought organization tackling the intersection of mental health and 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:45.960 tech because of my own negative experience of social media 0:28:46.280 --> 0:28:48.520 when I was in college, I almost lost my life 0:28:48.600 --> 0:28:51.800 due to my very toxic relationship with technology mixed with 0:28:51.960 --> 0:28:55.400 my depression. I saw that after going through treatment that 0:28:55.400 --> 0:28:58.240 they asked me about physical wellness, sexual wellness, but they 0:28:58.280 --> 0:29:00.440 never asked me about the drug of my POTT. So 0:29:00.480 --> 0:29:03.760 I started to ask the hard questions about technology and 0:29:03.800 --> 0:29:06.760 mental health and wanted to build an organization that would 0:29:06.800 --> 0:29:09.360 give the next generations the tools that they needed to 0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:11.800 emotionally thrive in the digital age. 0:29:12.440 --> 0:29:14.960 So what do you think now, having gone through all 0:29:15.000 --> 0:29:17.400 of that, what do you think is the problem? 0:29:17.600 --> 0:29:20.560 Well, I think there's really two major problems. One is 0:29:20.600 --> 0:29:24.440 that there's then virtually no regulation or systems in place 0:29:24.520 --> 0:29:28.080 to ensure that technology is safe for young minds. And 0:29:28.120 --> 0:29:31.240 on the flip side, kids that are getting on technology 0:29:31.280 --> 0:29:35.440 are not cognitively ready to really engage with the amount 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:38.120 of content that's coming at them, and the algorithms are 0:29:38.160 --> 0:29:42.640 really manipulating and taking advantage of our most vulnerable minds. 0:29:42.640 --> 0:29:46.959 And so it's really a bifurcated issue. And I believe 0:29:47.040 --> 0:29:50.040 that if there is change in the actual infrastructure and 0:29:50.080 --> 0:29:53.240 design of the tech, while the next generation also gets 0:29:53.240 --> 0:29:55.560 the tips and tools that they need to have agency 0:29:55.560 --> 0:29:58.560 and empowerment, we can perhaps build a better world. 0:29:59.120 --> 0:30:02.000 Do you feel like care the tech companies about this? 0:30:02.880 --> 0:30:05.080 I think that they have to care because there's actually 0:30:05.080 --> 0:30:07.920 a business case for caring when you think about the 0:30:07.960 --> 0:30:11.080 next generation of consumers and where they're going to be 0:30:11.120 --> 0:30:14.760 placing their trust in their time, that transparency and care, 0:30:14.960 --> 0:30:19.080 especially for mental health is so critical, especially amongst gen Z. 0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:21.600 The what is kind of like the first step to 0:30:21.640 --> 0:30:23.680 all this? Do the parents need to know more about this? 0:30:23.760 --> 0:30:26.760 Do they need to be concerned about social media? Yeah? 0:30:26.840 --> 0:30:30.400 First and foremost, I would say for any parent that's listening, 0:30:30.760 --> 0:30:32.920 the longer you can wait for your child to get 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:36.120 a screen, the better. Their brains are just literally not 0:30:36.360 --> 0:30:40.680 wired to deal with what technology is creating, and it's 0:30:40.720 --> 0:30:43.720 taking advantage of the Olympic system and the very emotional 0:30:43.760 --> 0:30:46.360 part of their brains. So the more that you can 0:30:46.440 --> 0:30:48.280 keep them away from it, the better, I would say. 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:50.960 The second thing is that the reality is if your 0:30:51.040 --> 0:30:54.720 kid already has a device, the abstinence idea doesn't really work, 0:30:54.800 --> 0:30:56.760 and you need to be able to engage your kid 0:30:56.840 --> 0:31:00.160 and really get curious about what is supporting them, what 0:31:00.160 --> 0:31:03.280 they like on technology versus what's hurting them, and set 0:31:03.440 --> 0:31:07.160 radical boundaries within your household and actually lead by example. 0:31:07.600 --> 0:31:09.920 So many parents come to us wanting to figure out 0:31:09.920 --> 0:31:12.000 how to fix their kids, but they're the ones that 0:31:12.040 --> 0:31:13.760 are on the phone at the dinner table or going 0:31:13.760 --> 0:31:16.200 to bed with their partner with their screens. So you 0:31:16.240 --> 0:31:19.040 really have to set that example from the start. And 0:31:19.080 --> 0:31:21.520 the last thing I would say is really teach your 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:24.480 kids how to unhack their tech. I mean, tech was 0:31:24.480 --> 0:31:26.560 built to hack their minds, but there are things that 0:31:26.600 --> 0:31:29.840 you can do to build speed bumps their stopping cues 0:31:30.200 --> 0:31:32.720 into your phone to help your kid at least deal 0:31:32.760 --> 0:31:35.520 with the amount of cognitive load that they're experiencing. 0:31:36.080 --> 0:31:38.360 Okay, so you mentioned the roadblocks and you mentioned, you know, 0:31:38.560 --> 0:31:41.840 parents kind of like leading by example. Can you give 0:31:41.880 --> 0:31:44.800 some specifics on like do we use like this the 0:31:44.840 --> 0:31:47.760 app settings to like you know, set timers? Is it 0:31:47.840 --> 0:31:50.719 screen time? Like what can we do? Yeah? 0:31:50.760 --> 0:31:53.320 So, first and foremost, for any parent that has a 0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:57.120 kid on social media, I would advise that you actually 0:31:57.160 --> 0:32:00.200 subscribe to Google RT's and all of the blogs, the 0:32:00.240 --> 0:32:02.920 social platform that your kid is on. There are a 0:32:02.960 --> 0:32:05.920 lot of safety actually a lot of safety tools that 0:32:05.960 --> 0:32:08.719 the platforms have been created, but they don't really do 0:32:08.760 --> 0:32:11.680 a great job at marketing them, so parents don't use them. 0:32:11.920 --> 0:32:14.239 We are actually at a research conference this week and 0:32:14.360 --> 0:32:17.240 one of the major platforms reported that less than ten 0:32:17.320 --> 0:32:19.520 percent of parents that have kids on the platforms are 0:32:19.520 --> 0:32:22.680 actually taking advantage of the safety features or teaching their kids. 0:32:22.520 --> 0:32:23.160 How to use them. 0:32:23.280 --> 0:32:25.720 So first, make sure you're up to date on what 0:32:25.760 --> 0:32:27.720 the platforms have in place to make it at least 0:32:27.720 --> 0:32:30.000 a little bit better of an experience. The second thing 0:32:30.040 --> 0:32:32.680 that you can do as a parent is to give 0:32:32.720 --> 0:32:35.600 your kids tools to help them with navigating this. And 0:32:35.680 --> 0:32:38.200 so there's two really great apps that I use. One 0:32:38.280 --> 0:32:40.840 is called the one SEC app. The other is called 0:32:40.840 --> 0:32:43.560 the Opal app, and the one SEC app actually gets 0:32:43.640 --> 0:32:46.200 really slows down, so if your kid opens an app, 0:32:46.440 --> 0:32:48.800 it doesn't just open the app, it actually creates a 0:32:48.800 --> 0:32:51.200 bit of a delay and gets your kid to really 0:32:51.200 --> 0:32:53.600 think about why they're opening that app and to answer 0:32:53.600 --> 0:32:56.800 that question, to build that speed bump or to slow 0:32:56.840 --> 0:33:00.360 that down before they're just mindlessly opening the platform. The 0:33:00.400 --> 0:33:03.080 opal app is a great tool for both mobile and 0:33:03.160 --> 0:33:07.800 desktop that allows you to block certain apps at certain 0:33:07.800 --> 0:33:09.600 time of the day and make that routine so that 0:33:09.680 --> 0:33:11.440 you can wake up and count on the fact that 0:33:11.480 --> 0:33:15.360 all your social platforms will be blocked. So those are 0:33:15.400 --> 0:33:17.600 two tools that I really like to use. But lastly, 0:33:18.120 --> 0:33:19.840 you know, some of the simple things that you can 0:33:19.920 --> 0:33:24.200 do are hiding your social media apps far back in 0:33:24.240 --> 0:33:26.400 your phone if you have an iPhone, you know, putting 0:33:26.440 --> 0:33:28.160 as many of them as possible into one of those 0:33:28.160 --> 0:33:31.960 little square pods and putting that a couple slides backs 0:33:32.040 --> 0:33:34.080 that you really have to think and you really have 0:33:34.120 --> 0:33:37.200 to ask yourself about why you're getting on your attack before. 0:33:36.880 --> 0:33:37.320 You do it. 0:33:38.000 --> 0:33:41.160 Okay, So again, the apps are one sec, oh any 0:33:41.440 --> 0:33:45.480 one sack sec and then opal, O p A L. 0:33:45.720 --> 0:33:47.360 And I'm looking at these and you know, I've covered 0:33:47.400 --> 0:33:49.480 tech for a while and I these are great. I 0:33:49.480 --> 0:33:51.800 mean they look like I love the idea, and I 0:33:52.120 --> 0:33:54.920 do one hundred percent agree. It's all about like, if 0:33:54.960 --> 0:33:57.080 you put these apps front and center on your phone, 0:33:57.320 --> 0:33:58.479 you know you're going to be on them a lot, 0:33:58.480 --> 0:34:00.560 You're going to be consuming them a lot because it's 0:34:00.600 --> 0:34:03.200 just when you're you know, you have a free minute, 0:34:03.400 --> 0:34:06.800 you're going to open them up, and that's just human nature. Okay, 0:34:06.840 --> 0:34:12.880 So you also have let's see the government intervention. So 0:34:13.080 --> 0:34:15.680 what specific kind of like changes would you like to 0:34:15.680 --> 0:34:17.440 see implemented for all this? Do you think it's a 0:34:17.480 --> 0:34:18.040 government thing? 0:34:18.640 --> 0:34:19.880 I mean, right now. 0:34:19.719 --> 0:34:22.800 We're basically giving kids keys to a car that haven't 0:34:22.800 --> 0:34:25.560 been tested or don't have a seat belt. So I 0:34:25.600 --> 0:34:28.000 think that if the average American team is going to 0:34:28.000 --> 0:34:30.960 be spending eight hours of their day behind the screen, 0:34:31.040 --> 0:34:34.200 there has to be some level of accountability in systems 0:34:34.320 --> 0:34:38.240 because right now there is no incentive for these companies 0:34:38.280 --> 0:34:41.640 to really build tax safer other than that maybe you know, 0:34:41.680 --> 0:34:44.080 they want to have brand trust with the next generation. 0:34:44.239 --> 0:34:46.560 But there needs to be some tracks and balances. And so, 0:34:47.320 --> 0:34:49.120 for example, one of the things that we worked on 0:34:49.200 --> 0:34:51.399 in California that just passed a couple of weeks ago 0:34:51.600 --> 0:34:57.360 actually make social media platforms remove any sexual abuse content 0:34:57.400 --> 0:35:00.840 that's on the platform of minors. Twenty five percent of 0:35:00.920 --> 0:35:04.600 sex trafficking cases of adolescence in California happened through the Internet, 0:35:04.640 --> 0:35:07.640 and up until a couple of weeks ago, that content 0:35:07.760 --> 0:35:10.880 was roaming freely. If any of that content was reported 0:35:10.920 --> 0:35:13.480 to the social platforms, they weren't required to do anything, 0:35:13.520 --> 0:35:15.880 but now they have to respond within thirty six hours. 0:35:15.920 --> 0:35:19.120 So that's just like one example. You would be I 0:35:19.160 --> 0:35:22.319 hope anyone hearing this horrified that it took twenty years 0:35:22.400 --> 0:35:25.000 to pass something like that, But that's really the state 0:35:25.040 --> 0:35:27.560 that we're in as we think about the future. What 0:35:27.640 --> 0:35:30.720 I believe we need to start doing is actually adding 0:35:30.760 --> 0:35:35.040 more agency into the algorithmic processes, especially for young people. 0:35:35.480 --> 0:35:38.040 So for example, if a young person is struggling with 0:35:38.080 --> 0:35:42.520 their mental health and they don't have and their entire 0:35:42.560 --> 0:35:45.600 feed is bad mental health and things that are triggering them, 0:35:45.960 --> 0:35:48.879 but you're never asked to refresh your interests once you've 0:35:48.920 --> 0:35:51.880 actually logged onto a social platform. So I would like 0:35:51.960 --> 0:35:55.279 the government to be able to empower these social platforms 0:35:55.320 --> 0:35:58.440 to allow more agency amongst consumers when it comes to 0:35:58.480 --> 0:36:00.719 the algorithm. And to be honest, I think it's a 0:36:00.719 --> 0:36:04.800 happy middle ground between you know, completely restricting the design 0:36:05.520 --> 0:36:09.640 and also giving the users more agency on their experience, 0:36:09.719 --> 0:36:11.799 and then you know, just on the third side, I 0:36:11.840 --> 0:36:15.000 think we need to be investing in more research and 0:36:15.040 --> 0:36:18.200 the government does outside of the social media platforms, there's 0:36:18.200 --> 0:36:21.560 more money inside the platforms with neuroscientists that are hooking 0:36:21.640 --> 0:36:25.360 kids than there is money flowing into the researchers outside 0:36:25.360 --> 0:36:29.480 of the platforms really understanding the implications of what technology 0:36:29.600 --> 0:36:32.000 is doing to young people and all minds. 0:36:31.640 --> 0:36:32.320 For that matter. 0:36:32.520 --> 0:36:35.120 That's because the one side that they're investing in is 0:36:35.120 --> 0:36:37.640 the one that provides the returns with the cash that 0:36:37.640 --> 0:36:40.560 they make. And so and by the way, I love 0:36:40.600 --> 0:36:42.960 the idea of sort of a reset button on the 0:36:43.160 --> 0:36:48.440 social media networks, like for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, anything like TikTok, YouTube, 0:36:48.480 --> 0:36:52.280 like hey reset, reset my interests. Let's let's start over here. 0:36:52.800 --> 0:36:55.239 Even the music services like that would be useful too. 0:36:55.920 --> 0:36:58.040 We only have a couple seconds here. Just how can 0:36:58.120 --> 0:37:03.480 parents spot this potential social media addiction or obsessive behavior? 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:07.560 Problematic social media use typically is when your child is 0:37:07.600 --> 0:37:10.400 spending a lot of time alone, putting themselves in their room, 0:37:10.840 --> 0:37:14.880 replacing the basic human needs with screen times, showing signs 0:37:14.960 --> 0:37:19.520 withdrawals almost like many mental illness symptoms. And so if 0:37:19.560 --> 0:37:23.239 your child is also visibly showing signs of distress when 0:37:23.239 --> 0:37:25.960 you remove their device, that's a sign that they probably 0:37:26.000 --> 0:37:26.640 have a problem. 0:37:26.920 --> 0:37:29.600 Uh, Larisa, We're going to leave it there. Welcome back 0:37:29.640 --> 0:37:32.759 to rich on Tech. Rich DeMuro here hanging out with you, 0:37:32.920 --> 0:37:37.040 talking technology at triple eight Rich one oh one. That's 0:37:37.120 --> 0:37:41.040 eight eight eight seven four to two four one zero one. 0:37:41.480 --> 0:37:44.000 It's the end of the year. I am cleaning out 0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:47.160 the mail bag. I get so many emails from you. 0:37:47.640 --> 0:37:49.920 I figured it would be a good time to answer 0:37:50.080 --> 0:37:52.760 a bunch of those. So if you want to submit 0:37:52.840 --> 0:37:56.040 your question, you can go to the website rich on 0:37:56.480 --> 0:38:00.799 Tech dot tv. There is a link that says contact 0:38:01.360 --> 0:38:03.200 and if you want to follow me on social media, 0:38:03.320 --> 0:38:06.040 you can find me on x You can find me 0:38:06.160 --> 0:38:10.520 on Facebook and of course Instagram, where I am hanging 0:38:10.600 --> 0:38:14.000 out most of my day. I am at rich on 0:38:14.040 --> 0:38:16.399 Tech on all of those and I post a lot 0:38:16.400 --> 0:38:19.160 of good tech tips and things throughout the week. So 0:38:19.239 --> 0:38:23.399 definitely follow me on Instagram at rich on Tech. All right, 0:38:23.440 --> 0:38:27.360 without further Ado, let's get to the first question. Dana says, 0:38:27.520 --> 0:38:31.399 moving to France and still want texts. Dana says, I'm 0:38:31.440 --> 0:38:34.120 moving to France and would like advice on the best 0:38:34.160 --> 0:38:38.560 and or most economical way to still receive identity verification 0:38:38.760 --> 0:38:43.280 texts with the US number. Mercy Well, Dana have fun 0:38:43.440 --> 0:38:46.160 in France, very exciting for you to be moving there, 0:38:46.200 --> 0:38:49.040 and I love the fact that you are using two 0:38:49.080 --> 0:38:53.560 factor authentication on your accounts. And so I understand that 0:38:53.600 --> 0:38:56.640 these accounts are set up, some of them are from 0:38:56.680 --> 0:38:59.360 the US, and you want to continue with the US number. 0:38:59.480 --> 0:39:01.239 There's a couple of ways you could do this. My 0:39:01.280 --> 0:39:04.399 initial thought is Google Voice. That's probably the easiest way, 0:39:04.920 --> 0:39:07.000 and so you can set up a Google Voice number 0:39:07.000 --> 0:39:10.400 for free, and then you can go into your accounts 0:39:10.480 --> 0:39:13.279 and change the phone number to Google Voice and get 0:39:13.280 --> 0:39:16.239 that confirmation text that way, and that will work no 0:39:16.320 --> 0:39:19.600 matter where you are because it's all through the Internet, 0:39:20.040 --> 0:39:22.160 and of course you can have those texts forwarded to 0:39:22.320 --> 0:39:26.120 a phone number of your choice over in France. The 0:39:26.160 --> 0:39:29.520 only issue I see there is that not every single 0:39:29.600 --> 0:39:34.040 two factor authentication text works with Google Voice. Most of 0:39:34.080 --> 0:39:35.799 them do, and I think for the most part it 0:39:35.840 --> 0:39:39.400 will be fine, but you may run across a service 0:39:39.480 --> 0:39:42.239 or two that does not work it's not compatible with that. 0:39:42.719 --> 0:39:45.279 So in that case, the other thing I would do 0:39:45.520 --> 0:39:48.680 is if you can't use the Google Voice number, is 0:39:48.960 --> 0:39:52.839 use a two factor authentication app. And so there are 0:39:53.360 --> 0:39:56.000 several apps out there that you can use for your 0:39:56.000 --> 0:39:59.560 two factor authentication codes. And the way that these work 0:39:59.800 --> 0:40:04.160 is that instead of the company texting you a code 0:40:04.320 --> 0:40:07.400 that you then enter on the website to continue to 0:40:07.400 --> 0:40:10.400 log in and let it proceed, you would just open 0:40:10.480 --> 0:40:13.680 up this app on your phone, and every twenty or 0:40:13.719 --> 0:40:17.240 thirty seconds or so, this app is generating a new code, 0:40:17.280 --> 0:40:19.160 and that code is just like the one that you 0:40:19.200 --> 0:40:22.080 would get texted to you, but it is coming from 0:40:22.120 --> 0:40:24.439 your own device, and so in a lot of ways 0:40:24.440 --> 0:40:28.320 it's actually more secure because the two factor authentication codes 0:40:28.320 --> 0:40:31.759 through a phone number could be unencrypted, whereas these are 0:40:31.880 --> 0:40:34.320 safe and secure on your phone. So a couple of 0:40:34.360 --> 0:40:38.520 apps I can recommend to do that. Google Authenticator is one, 0:40:39.200 --> 0:40:43.200 Microsoft Authenticator is another, and then there is another app 0:40:43.280 --> 0:40:47.760 called auth the autchy, So any of those will work. 0:40:47.920 --> 0:40:50.480 What you do is you sign into the website that 0:40:50.520 --> 0:40:53.200 you want to set up two factor authentication on and 0:40:53.239 --> 0:40:54.759 it says how do you want to set this up? 0:40:54.840 --> 0:40:59.240 With an authentication app or a phone number? Using your phone, 0:40:59.400 --> 0:41:01.760 you will scale and a QR code on your computer 0:41:01.880 --> 0:41:05.680 screen and that will link the two together. The main 0:41:05.719 --> 0:41:07.560 thing you want to think about here is that you 0:41:07.600 --> 0:41:10.080 don't want to lose that authentication app. You want to 0:41:10.160 --> 0:41:12.560 use one that is cloud based so that you can 0:41:12.640 --> 0:41:14.640 move to a different device or move that to a 0:41:14.640 --> 0:41:16.879 different account. But those are the ways that I would 0:41:16.880 --> 0:41:21.040 recommend getting those identity verification texts as you call them 0:41:21.280 --> 0:41:26.399 with a US number. Let's go to Miriam. Miriam says, hey, Rich, 0:41:26.440 --> 0:41:28.759 I hope you are well. Thanks for being there. On 0:41:28.840 --> 0:41:32.200 Saturday night, my car play stopped working. Up until then, 0:41:32.280 --> 0:41:35.080 I was able to listen to my music, use GPS, 0:41:35.160 --> 0:41:37.480 and make and receive hands free calls. I have a 0:41:37.520 --> 0:41:41.520 twenty twenty three Volkswagen Jetta and an iPhone thirteen. Now 0:41:41.520 --> 0:41:43.480 the wheels just spin and spin on the car and 0:41:43.520 --> 0:41:45.799 the phone. They're looking for each other. I've talked to 0:41:45.800 --> 0:41:49.160 Apple support, Volkswagen, and I'm talking to Verizon as well. 0:41:49.520 --> 0:41:52.200 I can't do what they recommend because the wheels won't 0:41:52.200 --> 0:41:55.719 stop spinning. Any suggestions. I appreciate you sharing all of 0:41:55.760 --> 0:42:00.560 your knowledge with us. Miriam. Well, Miriam, uh, I would 0:42:00.560 --> 0:42:03.400 say that this is just a temporary issue, and I 0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:06.640 hope it is. You've got a very late model car, 0:42:06.719 --> 0:42:09.360 You've got a very new iPhone, so I think that 0:42:09.440 --> 0:42:12.359 this is just a temporary problem. So it depends I'm 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:14.640 not sure how you're connecting here, whether it is plugin, 0:42:15.160 --> 0:42:18.400 whether it is wireless car play. Since it is a 0:42:18.400 --> 0:42:20.960 newer car, it may have that feature. But what I 0:42:21.000 --> 0:42:25.000 would do to troubleshoot this is to a couple things. 0:42:25.040 --> 0:42:28.520 First off, I would delete the phone from your saved 0:42:28.600 --> 0:42:31.160 phones on your car, So go into the settings on 0:42:31.200 --> 0:42:35.239 your Volkswagen, delete the phone out of the settings, and 0:42:35.320 --> 0:42:37.920 so that means it is no longer paired with your car. 0:42:38.360 --> 0:42:41.160 Then I would go into your iPhone and delete the 0:42:41.200 --> 0:42:44.359 car from my Bluetooth settings. So I would go into 0:42:44.400 --> 0:42:48.320 settings Bluetooth and find that Volkswagen and hit that little 0:42:48.320 --> 0:42:52.240 eye and say forget this device. Then I would restart 0:42:52.280 --> 0:42:54.399 both of these things. So i'd turn your car off 0:42:54.440 --> 0:42:58.080 and on, restart your iPhone. And then before you go 0:42:58.120 --> 0:43:00.560 ahead and pair these things back up, I might do 0:43:00.760 --> 0:43:04.640 a quick I might do a quick software update, and 0:43:04.719 --> 0:43:07.120 so I would do make sure my software is up 0:43:07.160 --> 0:43:10.120 to date on my iPhone. And if you can, I'm 0:43:10.120 --> 0:43:13.560 not sure if this Volkswagen has any sort of Internet connection, 0:43:13.680 --> 0:43:15.399 but if you can go into the settings and see 0:43:15.400 --> 0:43:18.120 if there is a software update for the Volkswagen, I 0:43:18.160 --> 0:43:21.040 would do that as well. So I would do those things, 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:23.319 and then once you're all linked up, you can go 0:43:23.360 --> 0:43:25.560 into your settings, and then if you want to look 0:43:25.560 --> 0:43:28.440 at your car play, it's under Settings General and then 0:43:28.520 --> 0:43:30.880 car Play, and you can see the different cars that 0:43:30.920 --> 0:43:34.640 are linked up. You can hit forget this car before 0:43:34.640 --> 0:43:36.520 you try to link them up one more time. So 0:43:36.560 --> 0:43:38.479 a lot of times those things get stuck in there, 0:43:38.760 --> 0:43:40.960 some kind of change happens on either the phone or 0:43:41.000 --> 0:43:44.120 the car, and it's just I don't know. It just 0:43:44.160 --> 0:43:46.000 takes a little bit for those things to link up again. 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:49.759 But there's no reason why a modern Volkswagen and a 0:43:49.800 --> 0:43:52.319 modern iPhone should not be able to link up. So 0:43:52.480 --> 0:43:54.920 if you still have a problem, I would bring it 0:43:54.960 --> 0:43:57.000 to the dealer and see what they can do. This 0:43:57.040 --> 0:43:59.719 thing is probably still under warranty and they should be 0:43:59.760 --> 0:44:02.680 able to help you out. Next up, Brian says Rich, 0:44:02.719 --> 0:44:05.120 I enjoy your show, I miss Leo, but you've filled 0:44:05.160 --> 0:44:08.440 empty space. Just find your misadventures are a great source 0:44:08.440 --> 0:44:11.400 of amusement for my wife. Have you ever encountered my 0:44:11.440 --> 0:44:13.680 problem here? It is earlier this year, we spent three 0:44:13.680 --> 0:44:17.040 weeks in Taiwan. We both took our phones. She switched 0:44:17.040 --> 0:44:19.480 out to a local simcard while I just used Wi Fi. 0:44:19.560 --> 0:44:21.640 I did nothing to my settings, but I did install 0:44:21.680 --> 0:44:25.239 a VPN. Since our return, my phone insists that it's 0:44:25.239 --> 0:44:28.720 still in Taiwan. I get Taiwanese ads on YouTube sites 0:44:28.760 --> 0:44:32.560 like eBay, give me Taiwan dollar prices and Taiwan's shipping options, 0:44:32.600 --> 0:44:36.040 and all sites I go go by local time in Taiwan. 0:44:36.160 --> 0:44:38.799 My phone shows Los Angeles local time, of course, but 0:44:38.960 --> 0:44:41.680 not on the internet. I've been all through Safari trying 0:44:41.719 --> 0:44:46.720 to reset it to California. So what gives appreciate your input? Okay, 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:49.960 So I definitely have this issue every time I go overseas, 0:44:50.200 --> 0:44:52.120 and the last time I had this happened to me. 0:44:52.680 --> 0:44:56.040 I was in Berlin and I'm searching. You know what 0:44:56.160 --> 0:44:59.560 happens is when you go to a foreign country, the 0:44:59.680 --> 0:45:03.520 IP address of your phone. When these services see it, 0:45:04.080 --> 0:45:07.719 they reset to that IP address, so they say, oh, 0:45:07.840 --> 0:45:11.799 this person is visiting us from Taiwan. Let's make sure 0:45:11.840 --> 0:45:15.040 we serve up the local version of this website. So 0:45:15.680 --> 0:45:18.200 in your case, I'm guessing that you went to YouTube 0:45:18.200 --> 0:45:19.920 while you were there. I'm guessing that you went to 0:45:20.000 --> 0:45:21.880 eBay while you were there, and I'm guessing that you 0:45:21.960 --> 0:45:24.359 went to Google while you were there. So first thing 0:45:24.360 --> 0:45:27.400 I would do is delete your history and website data 0:45:27.520 --> 0:45:30.160 on Safari. So you can go into settings on your 0:45:30.200 --> 0:45:33.600 iPhone and then tap Safari and scroll all the way 0:45:33.600 --> 0:45:36.799 down and it says clear history and website data, and 0:45:36.840 --> 0:45:38.960 so you press the big red button there and that 0:45:39.000 --> 0:45:41.160 will clear it out. I would say clear out all history. 0:45:41.239 --> 0:45:43.840 Just keep in mind that will probably log you out 0:45:43.880 --> 0:45:45.880 of many of the websites you're logged into. 0:45:46.080 --> 0:45:46.279 Now. 0:45:46.360 --> 0:45:48.399 I did write this down the last time I went 0:45:48.440 --> 0:45:50.640 to Berlin because it took me a while to figure 0:45:50.680 --> 0:45:53.680 this out. But on Google, if you're still getting the 0:45:53.760 --> 0:45:57.400 foreign search results, go to Google dot Com, tap settings 0:45:57.480 --> 0:45:59.880 in the lower right hand corner. Then you go to 0:46:00.120 --> 0:46:03.160 search settings and then other settings. So again we've gone 0:46:03.200 --> 0:46:06.480 like one, two, three deep at least. And then you 0:46:06.520 --> 0:46:10.080 want to choose English, English and United States for the 0:46:10.120 --> 0:46:14.319 results region instead of current region. So basically, when you 0:46:14.400 --> 0:46:17.600 go into Google the search settings, you want it to 0:46:17.680 --> 0:46:20.880 say English results instead of the current region. If you 0:46:20.960 --> 0:46:23.920 leave it to current region, no matter where you travel 0:46:23.920 --> 0:46:26.600 when you search, you're going to get local results in 0:46:26.680 --> 0:46:30.080 that language and that are local to that area. But 0:46:30.120 --> 0:46:33.040 if you set this to English once. No matter where 0:46:33.120 --> 0:46:36.280 you go, you're always going to get those English results. 0:46:36.520 --> 0:46:39.360 Thanks for the question, Brian. That is one that stumps 0:46:39.400 --> 0:46:42.000 a lot of people when they travel internationally. They come 0:46:42.040 --> 0:46:45.160 back home and everything sort of sticks to the foreign 0:46:45.160 --> 0:46:47.760 country that they were in. My name is rich Dumuro 0:46:47.920 --> 0:46:52.799 and you are listening to rich on Tech. Welcome back 0:46:52.800 --> 0:46:56.840 to rich on Tech. Rich DeMuro here talking technology with 0:46:56.960 --> 0:47:00.880 you at Triple eight. Rich one oh one. All right, 0:47:00.960 --> 0:47:09.200 let's bring up Stephanie. Stephanie was scammed through Facebook Marketplace 0:47:09.520 --> 0:47:12.160 and Stephanie, thanks so much for joining me. I appreciate 0:47:12.200 --> 0:47:13.960 you sharing your story because I do think it's going 0:47:14.000 --> 0:47:14.600 to help people. 0:47:16.120 --> 0:47:19.799 Of course, I'm happy to definitely help and share what 0:47:20.600 --> 0:47:23.560 I learned in my experience on Facebook Marketplace. 0:47:23.719 --> 0:47:27.560 Okay, so what let's what were you selling and tell 0:47:27.600 --> 0:47:29.960 me how you posted it and all that good stuff, 0:47:29.960 --> 0:47:31.160 Like what you're selling? 0:47:31.160 --> 0:47:36.240 What? So selling a furniture set for my in laws? 0:47:36.360 --> 0:47:40.480 Okay, pretty standard, correct, but it was a. 0:47:40.480 --> 0:47:46.719 High dollar value. So I put five thousand dollars for 0:47:47.000 --> 0:47:55.480 twelve piece dining room set. Wow, that attracted certain people. 0:47:55.760 --> 0:47:57.920 Okay, so this was a this was like like I've 0:47:57.960 --> 0:47:59.880 got a futon on there right now, and it's like 0:48:00.080 --> 0:48:02.760 fifty bucks, So this is this is high end stuff, 0:48:03.719 --> 0:48:07.160 so you think interesting. So you think that's what attracted 0:48:07.320 --> 0:48:09.680 these scammers because they're like, oh, this person might have 0:48:09.719 --> 0:48:12.759 some money because they're selling a very expensive furniture set. 0:48:13.640 --> 0:48:19.160 Yes, okay, because I lifted it and within five minutes, 0:48:19.239 --> 0:48:23.200 maybe ten, all of a sudden, I had probably at 0:48:23.320 --> 0:48:24.399 least five. 0:48:24.200 --> 0:48:27.560 To ten inquiries if it was still available and wanted 0:48:27.560 --> 0:48:28.080 to buy it. 0:48:28.760 --> 0:48:32.279 Oh wow, interesting, okay, So what happened? What do they 0:48:32.280 --> 0:48:33.320 say in these inquiries? 0:48:34.000 --> 0:48:36.359 So they're asking if it's still available, and I would 0:48:36.440 --> 0:48:39.080 respond yes, but I was trying to be fair, so 0:48:39.160 --> 0:48:42.560 I would go in order of who initiated the conversation first, 0:48:43.440 --> 0:48:47.479 and then they would ask they wanted to give more, 0:48:47.840 --> 0:48:49.759 So of course I got happy. 0:48:49.560 --> 0:48:51.480 They wanted to give you more money than you're asking 0:48:51.520 --> 0:48:53.759 for this thing, correct, okay. 0:48:55.239 --> 0:48:57.799 Which again I was like, this is weird, but kind 0:48:57.800 --> 0:49:00.359 of exciting that maybe I did do it too low, 0:49:01.160 --> 0:49:03.880 but I was gonna just kind of be weary of 0:49:03.920 --> 0:49:07.240 it at first, and a lot of the information coming 0:49:07.280 --> 0:49:09.160 through was i'll give you fifty two hundred, I'll give 0:49:09.160 --> 0:49:10.839 you fifty five hundred. The next one was, I'll give 0:49:10.880 --> 0:49:14.480 you six thousand, and I did get into a bidding 0:49:14.520 --> 0:49:19.360 war with one gentleman who was a scammer and another customer, 0:49:19.480 --> 0:49:21.680 and they kept trying to outbid one another for it, 0:49:22.000 --> 0:49:25.080 so I got up to sixty seven hundred dollars. 0:49:25.120 --> 0:49:25.560 Wow. 0:49:27.440 --> 0:49:31.520 Again, being excited, I told the one I said, unfortunately, 0:49:31.520 --> 0:49:34.799 i'ministic with the first person who bid sixty seven and 0:49:35.239 --> 0:49:37.839 just end up bidding war back and forth. I appreciate 0:49:37.880 --> 0:49:39.400 your time and I'll keep you posted. 0:49:39.520 --> 0:49:42.399 And this is all through what phone or text or 0:49:42.920 --> 0:49:45.080 how is this through messenger? 0:49:45.120 --> 0:49:45.640 Facebook? 0:49:45.880 --> 0:49:49.640 Facebook messaged me, Okay, did you look at their profile 0:49:49.680 --> 0:49:51.239 at all? Like did you check them out? Like to 0:49:51.280 --> 0:49:52.239 see what their deal was? 0:49:52.920 --> 0:49:53.520 Not at first? 0:49:53.640 --> 0:49:56.600 Okay, And what I started noticing was a lot of 0:49:56.719 --> 0:50:00.279 users created were joined Facebook in twenty twenty three, so 0:50:00.360 --> 0:50:04.360 this year, so they were new, correct, which was weird 0:50:04.480 --> 0:50:06.560 because that didn't seem correct. 0:50:06.640 --> 0:50:07.839 So I was like, okay, well, I'm going to put 0:50:07.840 --> 0:50:10.160 you to the side. But this gentleman wasn't a twenty 0:50:10.160 --> 0:50:13.200 twenty three user. I believe he was a twenty sixteen user. 0:50:13.200 --> 0:50:15.960 So I was like, okay, okay, yeah, because we look 0:50:16.000 --> 0:50:18.960 for little hints to see if these people are legitimate, 0:50:19.040 --> 0:50:21.360 because okay, they have a lot of reviews, they have 0:50:21.440 --> 0:50:23.080 a lot you know, they've been around for a while, 0:50:23.160 --> 0:50:25.799 so we feel like they might be more legitimate. That's 0:50:25.800 --> 0:50:26.560 what you kind of did. 0:50:27.160 --> 0:50:31.120 He started continuing the messaging of can I Zell you? 0:50:31.920 --> 0:50:36.439 So I thought, sure, that doesn't seem to be weird. Sure, 0:50:36.440 --> 0:50:38.520 I'll give you my email and you can. You can 0:50:38.560 --> 0:50:41.760 send me money via Zell. And that's where it started 0:50:41.800 --> 0:50:45.799 to become the scam was he they spoofed a Zell 0:50:45.960 --> 0:50:49.160 email and made it look like I couldn't have the 0:50:49.239 --> 0:50:52.760 funds because I didn't have a Zell business account, and 0:50:52.800 --> 0:50:57.319 that I needed to resolve the issue. And it was 0:50:57.360 --> 0:50:59.960 in order to resolve the issue, I had to send 0:51:00.320 --> 0:51:04.160 three hundred dollars to the user and then it would 0:51:04.280 --> 0:51:06.480 clear the situation. It would resolve it. 0:51:06.760 --> 0:51:08.920 Okay. And at this point, did you send that money? 0:51:09.440 --> 0:51:11.640 No? I was like, that seems weird. 0:51:11.920 --> 0:51:13.279 Okay, why am like? 0:51:13.400 --> 0:51:17.239 Because they overpaid? So we had agreed on sixty seven 0:51:17.320 --> 0:51:20.600 hundred and he sent seven thousand and said will you 0:51:20.680 --> 0:51:23.040 send the three hundred back? And I said, well, yes, 0:51:23.160 --> 0:51:25.279 I'm not going to take seven thousand. That's not what 0:51:25.320 --> 0:51:28.759 we agreed upon, and then the email came through from 0:51:28.840 --> 0:51:31.200 Zell saying I had to send it back, and I 0:51:31.200 --> 0:51:33.800 was like, well, this is weird. So then I checked 0:51:33.800 --> 0:51:36.520 the account first of all, and I didn't get seven 0:51:36.520 --> 0:51:40.000 thousand dollars. I didn't get sixty seven hundred dollars. So 0:51:40.440 --> 0:51:43.280 after speaking with my husband, I said, this seems weird. 0:51:43.760 --> 0:51:47.680 I'm going to call Zell. And sure enough, I actually 0:51:47.760 --> 0:51:51.280 walked into another like a you know, situation with calling 0:51:51.320 --> 0:51:54.439 a quote unquote Zell customer service account which was not Dell. 0:51:54.920 --> 0:51:57.560 Oh so that's how they got you. Where did you 0:51:57.600 --> 0:51:58.680 get that phone number from? 0:51:59.360 --> 0:52:02.720 I googled it and of course I have the number, 0:52:02.760 --> 0:52:04.759 but I don't have the website. 0:52:04.800 --> 0:52:08.200 So you google the phone number for Zell came something 0:52:08.239 --> 0:52:10.319 came up on Google. You dialed the number that you 0:52:10.320 --> 0:52:12.480 saw on your screen, and it connected you to a 0:52:12.560 --> 0:52:16.200 scam artist, which was unrelated to the original scammer. Yes, 0:52:16.600 --> 0:52:17.760 scammers be scamming. 0:52:19.000 --> 0:52:19.360 Correct. 0:52:19.520 --> 0:52:24.839 Oh my gosh, it's like no matter where you go, I. 0:52:24.800 --> 0:52:27.719 Avoided a scam because I didn't see that didn't seem right. 0:52:28.080 --> 0:52:30.200 So I was like, okay, we're gonna call and I 0:52:30.239 --> 0:52:31.280 walked into another scam. 0:52:31.920 --> 0:52:34.960 Wow, so you actually thought you were protecting yourself and 0:52:35.000 --> 0:52:37.600 you walked right into another spider web of scam artists 0:52:38.000 --> 0:52:40.600 that is really it's like a one two punch right there. 0:52:40.960 --> 0:52:44.200 Yes, like they're getting really smart, okay, really really smart. 0:52:44.239 --> 0:52:46.880 So you call the Zel person and to this unbeknownst 0:52:46.880 --> 0:52:49.840 to you, it's not actual Zel. And then what happened where. 0:52:49.840 --> 0:52:52.359 He's walking me through un quote unquote how to set 0:52:52.400 --> 0:52:54.600 up Azell business account and I said, well, I don't 0:52:54.680 --> 0:52:56.840 want a Zell business account. I just kind of want 0:52:56.920 --> 0:52:59.680 to resolve this and deal with the furniture sale and 0:52:59.680 --> 0:53:01.600 move on. And I'm not trying to create a business. 0:53:01.920 --> 0:53:04.200 That's not what my end game is. And he said, no, 0:53:04.280 --> 0:53:06.080 I understand, man. We're going to get you set up 0:53:06.080 --> 0:53:08.719 to get the money resolved. As I'm talking to him, 0:53:09.040 --> 0:53:10.840 I had a bad feeling and I said, how do 0:53:10.920 --> 0:53:12.719 I know you're not going to take my money? And 0:53:12.760 --> 0:53:15.680 he goes, ma'am you called me, oh wow, oh you? 0:53:16.239 --> 0:53:18.960 And I said that's a really valid point. 0:53:19.200 --> 0:53:19.640 You're right. 0:53:19.960 --> 0:53:20.799 I sought you out. 0:53:21.040 --> 0:53:23.720 You didn't seek me out. As we're going through quote 0:53:23.760 --> 0:53:27.200 unquote setting up a Zell account, he has me logging 0:53:27.280 --> 0:53:32.320 into any desk, which, oh, wow, do and he sees 0:53:32.360 --> 0:53:36.360 my information, which, again, knowing I had a bad feeling, 0:53:36.360 --> 0:53:39.000 I said, this doesn't track. But I've used any desk 0:53:39.120 --> 0:53:42.080 for work related issues, so I thought that's not odd 0:53:42.400 --> 0:53:46.640 in that respect. And I'm starting to move money around 0:53:46.680 --> 0:53:49.600 and send it out to people I don't know. But 0:53:49.760 --> 0:53:51.960 he said I'll get it back, and I said, I'm 0:53:51.960 --> 0:53:53.600 going to get this money back. He says, yes, we're 0:53:53.640 --> 0:53:55.560 just moving money around. You're going to transfer the money 0:53:55.600 --> 0:53:58.880 out and it's going to come back to you. I said, okay. Again, 0:53:59.120 --> 0:54:01.720 this doesn't seem all right, and my gut is yelling 0:54:01.760 --> 0:54:05.920 at me to like end the call. I finally said, 0:54:06.239 --> 0:54:08.560 I need to finish this call later when my husband 0:54:08.560 --> 0:54:10.960 gets home, and he said, sure, no problem, we'll call 0:54:11.040 --> 0:54:13.080 you back whenever you want. But at that point, I 0:54:13.080 --> 0:54:15.320 already excelled money out to two people. I didn't know. 0:54:15.680 --> 0:54:16.680 How much did you sell? 0:54:17.320 --> 0:54:19.680 Fifteen hundred total? 0:54:20.080 --> 0:54:21.799 You realize as soon as you hung up that this 0:54:22.000 --> 0:54:24.800 was a problem, yes, yes, And how did you feel? 0:54:25.800 --> 0:54:26.480 Oh? Terrible? 0:54:26.840 --> 0:54:30.160 I said. I literally tried to avoid getting scammed and 0:54:30.239 --> 0:54:34.240 walked into another scamp. As I'm talking to the second scammer, 0:54:34.480 --> 0:54:37.960 the first scammer is blowing up the messenger, asking you 0:54:38.000 --> 0:54:41.120 know why I haven't transferred the money? What's going on? 0:54:41.239 --> 0:54:42.440 Did I read the letter? 0:54:43.120 --> 0:54:43.319 You know? 0:54:43.360 --> 0:54:45.840 I need to follow the email that they'd sent and 0:54:45.880 --> 0:54:48.320 I need to do what the email says and everything 0:54:48.360 --> 0:54:51.960 will be fine. And finally when he got he seemed 0:54:52.000 --> 0:54:56.000 to obviously be getting aggressively angry. I finally told him, unfortunately, 0:54:56.120 --> 0:54:59.360 I can't send you the money back because my account 0:54:59.480 --> 0:55:02.800 was hacked due to fraudulent activity and I cannot access 0:55:02.800 --> 0:55:05.520 any money, so thank you. And that's kind of where 0:55:05.560 --> 0:55:08.080 he was like, well, that's because you didn't follow the email. 0:55:08.160 --> 0:55:10.759 If it's no, no, no, no no, that's you know, not 0:55:10.840 --> 0:55:14.600 understanding me. I cannot access the money, there's nothing to access, 0:55:14.640 --> 0:55:18.279 nothing to send you, so I'm not going to do that. 0:55:18.400 --> 0:55:20.680 And he was getting mad, and then I finally just 0:55:20.719 --> 0:55:23.760 blocked him. After having to deal with the fraud department 0:55:23.880 --> 0:55:24.399 at my bank. 0:55:24.719 --> 0:55:27.560 Wow, okay, so I've got to go. But did you 0:55:28.480 --> 0:55:30.160 get any of this money back where you're able to 0:55:30.200 --> 0:55:30.839 reclaim it? 0:55:31.320 --> 0:55:33.800 I was, And if you ever have an issue with well. 0:55:33.760 --> 0:55:36.279 It's all your bank bottom line. What's what's your advice 0:55:36.360 --> 0:55:37.040 to people. 0:55:36.920 --> 0:55:38.759 If it's too good to be sure it probably is, 0:55:38.800 --> 0:55:40.000 and listen to your guys. 0:55:40.239 --> 0:55:42.480 Stephanie, thanks so much for calling me today. I appreciate 0:55:42.480 --> 0:55:45.080 you sharing your story. I know that's a tough story 0:55:45.120 --> 0:55:48.360 to tell, but I do believe that if you listen 0:55:48.360 --> 0:55:50.920 to these stories and hear more of them, you realize 0:55:50.960 --> 0:55:51.920 the warning signs. 0:55:52.680 --> 0:55:55.000 Of course, absolutely, thank you for listening. 0:55:56.320 --> 0:55:59.080 Welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich Demiro here on 0:55:59.200 --> 0:56:02.759 location in New York City where Google has just announced 0:56:02.800 --> 0:56:06.239 their latest Pixel eight smartphones. You've got the Pixel eight 0:56:06.320 --> 0:56:09.319 and the Pixel eight Pro. Joining me now to talk 0:56:09.360 --> 0:56:12.480 about them is Stephanie Scott with Google, and you are 0:56:12.520 --> 0:56:15.120 the product manager for Pixel Yes, I. 0:56:15.200 --> 0:56:17.560 Lead the Pixel eight and the Pixel eight Pro lines. 0:56:18.040 --> 0:56:20.959 So pixel phones to me have always been all about 0:56:20.960 --> 0:56:24.279 the camera, all about AI. Are you really sort of 0:56:24.320 --> 0:56:26.640 doubling down on those two areas this year? 0:56:27.120 --> 0:56:30.279 I would say we have amazing advancements in both of 0:56:30.320 --> 0:56:33.839 those areas this year. For the camera, we've upgraded all 0:56:33.880 --> 0:56:36.719 of the hardware on the Pixel eight Pro, so you're 0:56:36.719 --> 0:56:39.359 going to see huge leaps and improvements there, as well 0:56:39.360 --> 0:56:42.919 as bringing amazing new post capture and editing tools, things 0:56:42.960 --> 0:56:45.920 like Audio Magic Eraser that let you take out unwanted 0:56:45.960 --> 0:56:48.879 noise in your videos. We have things like best Take 0:56:49.040 --> 0:56:52.879 that will let you help select images of faces where 0:56:52.880 --> 0:56:55.960 people really look their best, and brand new features like 0:56:56.040 --> 0:56:58.960 Magic Editor that let you reimagine a shot maybe a 0:56:59.000 --> 0:57:01.680 little bit more like how you remembered it. And then 0:57:01.719 --> 0:57:04.880 for helpful AI, we have a number of new features 0:57:04.920 --> 0:57:07.839 there as well. New features like Summarize they can help 0:57:07.880 --> 0:57:10.520 sort of read a webpage and synthesize it for you, 0:57:11.120 --> 0:57:14.520 or even things like direct my Call where you actually 0:57:14.560 --> 0:57:17.600 have more ambient or helpful, helpful tips and tricks for 0:57:17.960 --> 0:57:18.880 answering a phone call. 0:57:19.520 --> 0:57:23.640 So I will say, every time I use the Pixel devices, 0:57:23.720 --> 0:57:26.720 I truly feel like it is a smartphone, like it 0:57:26.720 --> 0:57:30.080 puts the smart in phone because it almost thinks for you. 0:57:30.240 --> 0:57:33.560 And with these AI editions, you almost feel like you 0:57:33.560 --> 0:57:35.600 have super control over a lot of your photos and 0:57:35.720 --> 0:57:37.960 videos and things like that. Let's break down some of 0:57:37.960 --> 0:57:40.240 these features. Okay, so first off, you mentioned a new 0:57:40.240 --> 0:57:42.880 one which is the audio eraser. Explain that. 0:57:43.320 --> 0:57:44.560 Yeah, So Audio. 0:57:44.240 --> 0:57:47.360 Magic Eraser is an amazing new feature that we've added 0:57:47.400 --> 0:57:50.040 for videos. And when you take videos, a lot of 0:57:50.040 --> 0:57:52.880 times you're trying to capture the sound from a subject. 0:57:52.960 --> 0:57:55.920 So maybe it's a musician or a child doing a performance, 0:57:56.200 --> 0:57:59.240 but there could be unwanted background noise. So if you're 0:57:59.240 --> 0:58:01.200 recording in New York City, there could be you know, 0:58:01.360 --> 0:58:03.600 sirens or an ice cream trucks that goes by, or 0:58:03.600 --> 0:58:08.040 a bird chirping, and the feature intelligently separates those sounds 0:58:08.040 --> 0:58:11.920 out into layers and then lets you have the ability 0:58:11.960 --> 0:58:15.000 to turn those those unwanted noises down so you can 0:58:15.040 --> 0:58:17.120 really listen to the intended subject. 0:58:17.480 --> 0:58:19.400 Yeah. I was playing with this feature and it really 0:58:19.440 --> 0:58:23.120 separated out like the voice versus the background noise, and 0:58:23.200 --> 0:58:25.320 you can adjust each of them like its own level, 0:58:25.400 --> 0:58:27.840 like almost as if you recorded them independently. Yeah. 0:58:27.920 --> 0:58:29.840 No, it's really great, and it's it's great because it 0:58:29.840 --> 0:58:32.600 makes it so easy. It really gives gives you those 0:58:32.640 --> 0:58:35.280 three options in the UI and lets you have complete 0:58:35.320 --> 0:58:37.040 control over all of them. 0:58:37.400 --> 0:58:39.520 Now, this next feature, I think is going to be 0:58:39.560 --> 0:58:42.640 the most controversial when it hits the you know, the 0:58:42.720 --> 0:58:46.400 open marketplace, The best Take, because it's so unique and 0:58:46.440 --> 0:58:48.760 it's it's stuff that you could do before if you 0:58:48.800 --> 0:58:51.640 are a photo editor, but now anyone can do this 0:58:51.760 --> 0:58:53.920 in the palm of their hand. This best take feature. 0:58:54.400 --> 0:58:57.280 You take a group picture or you take even a selfie, 0:58:57.680 --> 0:59:00.880 and it will let you like, you know, changed the 0:59:00.920 --> 0:59:03.120 way the face looks. It can give a smile. Well 0:59:03.120 --> 0:59:03.680 you explain it. 0:59:03.800 --> 0:59:06.240 Yeah, yeah, so I can explain. So this feature is 0:59:06.280 --> 0:59:07.640 really built for those group. 0:59:07.440 --> 0:59:09.720 Shots where you're taking a picture, you know, with a 0:59:09.720 --> 0:59:12.160 group of friends or maybe family. And I don't know 0:59:12.160 --> 0:59:14.240 about you and your friends, but with me, a lot 0:59:14.280 --> 0:59:16.720 of times someone's blinking, someone's looking away from the camera, 0:59:16.920 --> 0:59:18.800 and so you end up with a shot where most 0:59:18.880 --> 0:59:22.600 people look good, but someone's not looking at the camera. 0:59:22.920 --> 0:59:25.960 So it's taking from that series of photos that you 0:59:26.120 --> 0:59:30.440 took at that time and helping you actually choose from 0:59:30.480 --> 0:59:34.640 the faces in that series or group of photos, another 0:59:34.760 --> 0:59:37.160 face where someone maybe looks a little bit better, or 0:59:37.240 --> 0:59:39.440 is looking at the camera or has their eyes open, 0:59:40.400 --> 0:59:43.480 to create one amazing shot where everyone looks their best. 0:59:43.760 --> 0:59:46.200 Yeah. So you take six or seven photos and you 0:59:46.320 --> 0:59:49.080 go through them, you swipe, and every single one you analyze, 0:59:49.080 --> 0:59:51.600 you zoom in on the person's face. There's always something 0:59:51.640 --> 0:59:53.520 a little bit off, and so now it's taking the 0:59:53.560 --> 0:59:56.760 best of all those photos merging them into one great picture. 0:59:56.960 --> 0:59:58.840 Yeah, And it gives you again, a lot of controls. 0:59:58.880 --> 1:00:01.200 You can go in and che the smile maybe you like, 1:00:01.200 --> 1:00:04.120 because not everyone wants that big goofy smile, you know, 1:00:04.320 --> 1:00:07.480 maybe someone wants a little more muted expression. So I 1:00:07.520 --> 1:00:09.640 can't wait personally to use this for my holiday card 1:00:09.680 --> 1:00:11.560 this year. We take it with my cat. It's always 1:00:11.560 --> 1:00:13.640 a little chaotic, and so it's just nice to be 1:00:13.680 --> 1:00:16.480 able to have have a little bit more editing control. 1:00:16.520 --> 1:00:16.720 There. 1:00:17.040 --> 1:00:18.640 Will it work on animal faces? 1:00:18.680 --> 1:00:21.200 No, it does not work on animal faces. But I 1:00:21.720 --> 1:00:23.880 can choose a picture where my cat is looking good 1:00:23.920 --> 1:00:25.120 and then correct my face. 1:00:25.600 --> 1:00:28.560 Ah, okay, got it. Well, maybe next year. The upgrade 1:00:28.600 --> 1:00:30.840 for the for the dogs. People love the dog and 1:00:30.920 --> 1:00:34.080 cat features on these like photo apps. All right, so 1:00:34.240 --> 1:00:37.880 let's talk about the operating system updates because Google announced 1:00:37.880 --> 1:00:40.920 that they will do seven years of updates for the pixel. 1:00:41.600 --> 1:00:42.640 Explain what that means. 1:00:42.960 --> 1:00:47.320 Yeah, so for Pixel, we've you know, we've offered you know, 1:00:47.400 --> 1:00:49.800 multiple years of feature updates in the past. We also 1:00:49.880 --> 1:00:54.240 have featured drops, which brings newer features to people that 1:00:54.320 --> 1:00:56.960 may have a pixel that's several years old. But this 1:00:57.080 --> 1:00:59.920 year we have a new offering that's really meaningful with 1:01:00.000 --> 1:01:04.480 which is seven years of OS security and feature drops, 1:01:04.520 --> 1:01:07.480 so offering users and sort of for Pixel eight and 1:01:07.520 --> 1:01:11.640 eight pro a guarantee that we will be supporting these devices. 1:01:11.160 --> 1:01:12.240 For that time. 1:01:12.600 --> 1:01:15.160 I mean that's a really long time, so this phone 1:01:15.800 --> 1:01:18.280 will pretty much be good to go for that long. 1:01:18.920 --> 1:01:19.120 Yeah. 1:01:19.200 --> 1:01:23.240 We're excited to have this exciting announcement for users and 1:01:23.440 --> 1:01:26.200 being able to support them as if they're planning on 1:01:26.320 --> 1:01:27.520 using the device even longer. 1:01:27.640 --> 1:01:27.960 Yeah. 1:01:28.280 --> 1:01:30.360 They also announced on stage that if you're kind of 1:01:30.400 --> 1:01:33.760 the tinkering person, you can fix your own phone. Tell 1:01:33.760 --> 1:01:34.240 me about that. 1:01:34.600 --> 1:01:37.240 Yeah, So we have a partnership with I fix It, 1:01:37.280 --> 1:01:41.680 and so we make parts and repair manuals available. So 1:01:42.440 --> 1:01:45.040 looking to again help support users that are looking for 1:01:45.080 --> 1:01:46.680 longevity in their devices. 1:01:47.080 --> 1:01:48.960 I may have to try to just replace a screen, 1:01:48.960 --> 1:01:51.120 because the last time I did that was many many 1:01:51.160 --> 1:01:53.200 years ago with an iPod. I replaced the battery and 1:01:53.240 --> 1:01:54.800 I was so proud of myself, But that was like 1:01:55.040 --> 1:01:55.880 many many years ago. 1:01:56.280 --> 1:01:59.640 Yeah, I would say it's definitely an area that's progressing 1:01:59.640 --> 1:02:01.200 and we're worth trying again. 1:02:01.880 --> 1:02:04.120 What about people that have the current Pixel phones? Are 1:02:04.160 --> 1:02:06.920 there any features you announced that they can see on 1:02:07.000 --> 1:02:07.520 their phones? 1:02:07.560 --> 1:02:07.760 Now? 1:02:08.240 --> 1:02:10.440 I think the only one we announced today was the 1:02:10.480 --> 1:02:14.800 new Fold feature that provides translation using taking a capability 1:02:14.840 --> 1:02:19.440 of the two screens, so being able to do an 1:02:19.480 --> 1:02:22.480 interpreter mode and how use the dual screens on the 1:02:22.560 --> 1:02:25.680 Fold display to be able to more easily do a 1:02:25.720 --> 1:02:28.080 translation between two people having a conversation. 1:02:28.800 --> 1:02:32.040 What's been the response on the Fold I. 1:02:31.840 --> 1:02:34.920 Honestly, I think it's a really innovative product. It's a 1:02:35.120 --> 1:02:37.520 sort of a cutting edge and we're really bringing and 1:02:37.560 --> 1:02:40.920 taking advantage of the larger screen to do even more 1:02:41.000 --> 1:02:44.840 in terms of you know, photo editing or camera features, 1:02:45.080 --> 1:02:46.880 so a really amazing space to innovate. 1:02:47.440 --> 1:02:50.760 AI is a huge part of the Pixel devices. I 1:02:50.800 --> 1:02:52.760 feel like it's always been a big part with Google 1:02:52.800 --> 1:02:56.880 Assistant and all the photo features, but now you've got 1:02:56.920 --> 1:02:59.320 these call screening features. You say that people with Pixel 1:02:59.320 --> 1:03:01.800 phones get like fit two percent less spam calls. Tell 1:03:01.800 --> 1:03:03.720 me about some of those features that you announced today. 1:03:04.000 --> 1:03:07.320 Yeah, I absolutely love our calling features. So we have 1:03:07.400 --> 1:03:11.320 a number of different features, everything from you know, direct 1:03:11.320 --> 1:03:13.520 my Call, which helps you when you're calling a business 1:03:13.520 --> 1:03:16.000 for example, to be able to navigate phone trees, to 1:03:16.120 --> 1:03:20.440 things like crystal Clear calling that remove background noise using AI, 1:03:20.880 --> 1:03:21.880 to things like hold for me. 1:03:21.920 --> 1:03:24.480 That literally save you hours of your day by not 1:03:24.600 --> 1:03:25.800 having to wait on hold. 1:03:26.240 --> 1:03:30.400 The new one we announced today is an advancement to 1:03:30.440 --> 1:03:33.800 direct My Call and call screen where you actually have 1:03:33.840 --> 1:03:36.680 more intelligent response suggestions, so you don't even have to 1:03:36.720 --> 1:03:39.000 pick up a call to respond to a call. So 1:03:39.000 --> 1:03:42.040 if you imagine, for example, a UPS driver is calling 1:03:42.120 --> 1:03:44.040 and asks where should I leave the package? 1:03:44.120 --> 1:03:45.320 Or can I leave the package? 1:03:45.440 --> 1:03:49.040 You'll actually get suggested responses and you can say things 1:03:49.080 --> 1:03:51.880 like leave it by the door, you know, and not 1:03:52.040 --> 1:03:54.080 even have to pick up the phone to give them 1:03:54.120 --> 1:03:55.560 that instruction, which is great. 1:03:56.600 --> 1:03:58.840 So you work with this phone on a daily basis, 1:03:59.240 --> 1:04:02.560 I imagine you're pretty much invested in the pixel lineup 1:04:02.560 --> 1:04:04.040 and you feel like it's probably one of the best 1:04:04.080 --> 1:04:07.640 phones out there. If someone is thinking about switching to 1:04:07.680 --> 1:04:09.920 this phone, that is a really tough thing for the 1:04:09.920 --> 1:04:12.320 average smartphone user to do because they've got a big 1:04:12.400 --> 1:04:15.200 life in their previous phone. What's your advice for them? 1:04:15.680 --> 1:04:18.160 My advice is to give it a go. I think 1:04:18.160 --> 1:04:21.720 there's a lot of new features here, amazing cameras to try, 1:04:22.280 --> 1:04:26.680 all the new helpful calling features and smarts features on board. 1:04:26.760 --> 1:04:29.840 So it's a really great time to try a pixel all. 1:04:29.840 --> 1:04:32.600 Right, So you've got Pixel eight starting at six hundred 1:04:32.680 --> 1:04:35.160 ninety nine dollars. You've got Pixel eight Pro starting at 1:04:35.240 --> 1:04:38.880 nine hundred ninety nine dollars. Also, there's a deal I 1:04:38.920 --> 1:04:41.160 saw if you pre order you might get a free watch. 1:04:41.840 --> 1:04:44.400 I think we have some amazing pre order promotions going 1:04:44.400 --> 1:04:46.640 on right now, so definitely worth giving those a try. 1:04:47.040 --> 1:04:48.160 And when are these available? 1:04:48.480 --> 1:04:50.480 These are available October twelfth. 1:04:50.920 --> 1:04:52.200 Okay, October twelfth. 1:04:52.200 --> 1:04:52.720 There you go. 1:04:53.240 --> 1:04:56.120 Stephanie Scott with Google. Thanks so much for joining me today. 1:04:56.240 --> 1:04:57.000 Thank you so much. 1:04:57.080 --> 1:04:57.280 Rich. 1:04:57.760 --> 1:05:00.760 Okay, I'll have more about the Pixel eight and Pixel 1:05:00.800 --> 1:05:03.800 eight Pro my website. Just go to richon Tech dot TV. 1:05:04.480 --> 1:05:06.160 We'll take more of your calls after this. Give me 1:05:06.200 --> 1:05:08.320 a call triple eight Rich one oh one. That's eight 1:05:08.400 --> 1:05:11.280 eight eight seven four to two four one zero one. 1:05:11.520 --> 1:05:17.480 You are listening to rich on Tech. Welcome back to 1:05:17.760 --> 1:05:19.880 rich on Tech. Rich Tomuro here hanging out with you, 1:05:20.000 --> 1:05:24.840 talking technology on location. We've done interviews in the plane. 1:05:25.000 --> 1:05:27.360 This is the first time I've done an interview on 1:05:27.400 --> 1:05:30.400 a boat. We are in Long Beach and joining me 1:05:30.440 --> 1:05:34.520 now is Mitchley of ARC Boats. Thanks for joining me. 1:05:35.120 --> 1:05:36.800 It's great to be here and we are excited to 1:05:36.840 --> 1:05:38.360 have you out on our one of our boats. 1:05:38.600 --> 1:05:41.960 So this is an all electric boat. Describe what we 1:05:42.000 --> 1:05:42.720 are on right now. 1:05:43.560 --> 1:05:45.520 This boat that we're on now is called the ARC one. 1:05:45.880 --> 1:05:48.960 It is the first model boat that we brought to market. 1:05:49.440 --> 1:05:53.480 It's a twenty four foot fully electric power boat, capable 1:05:53.600 --> 1:05:57.040 of five hundred horsepower and software limited to forty. 1:05:56.800 --> 1:05:57.400 Miles an hour. 1:05:58.080 --> 1:06:00.720 And I've already been on it spoiler alert, and it's 1:06:00.800 --> 1:06:04.960 quite incredible. It's quiet, it's smooth, it's powerful. Tell me 1:06:05.000 --> 1:06:07.480 about the company. Let's start with ARC You're based in 1:06:07.520 --> 1:06:09.960 Los Angeles, and what are you trying to do? 1:06:10.680 --> 1:06:14.080 This company didn't even exist three years ago, and at 1:06:14.080 --> 1:06:18.280 this point we have already manufactured and delivered the ARC 1:06:18.360 --> 1:06:22.440 one to our initial customers. The entire company is now 1:06:22.480 --> 1:06:25.000 focused on the next model we're bringing to market, which 1:06:25.040 --> 1:06:26.680 is a mass market wakesport boat. 1:06:27.640 --> 1:06:28.640 If you zoom back out. 1:06:28.880 --> 1:06:31.680 As a company, our goal is to electrify everything on 1:06:31.720 --> 1:06:35.760 the water. Electric boats make a ton more sense than 1:06:35.840 --> 1:06:39.880 gas boats across pretty much every aspect of boating. The 1:06:39.920 --> 1:06:43.640 ownership experience is much nicer, they're quiet. We can hold 1:06:43.640 --> 1:06:47.520 an interview on a boat, you're not smelling fumes. They're 1:06:47.560 --> 1:06:52.080 far more reliable, they're less expensive to operate, and the 1:06:52.120 --> 1:06:55.120 experience of operating one itself is so much better thanks 1:06:55.160 --> 1:06:58.480 to software and the technology on this boat. The hard 1:06:58.480 --> 1:07:02.080 part is actually putting enough energy on the boat to 1:07:02.160 --> 1:07:04.720 move through water at high speeds and with a lot 1:07:04.760 --> 1:07:08.400 of power. That is what we specialize in. We build 1:07:09.080 --> 1:07:11.640 our holes, our battery packs, and a lot of the 1:07:11.680 --> 1:07:14.400 systems that go into this boat in house in our 1:07:14.440 --> 1:07:16.520 manufacturing facility in Los Angeles. 1:07:17.120 --> 1:07:19.360 So, Mitch, what made you wake up and say I 1:07:19.400 --> 1:07:21.520 would like to electrify a boat. 1:07:22.120 --> 1:07:27.000 I'm a lifelong boating enthusiast. My parents were boating enthusiasts, 1:07:27.040 --> 1:07:29.680 and particularly water ski enthusiasts. 1:07:29.680 --> 1:07:33.240 They love to slalom ski. So I grew up out 1:07:33.560 --> 1:07:34.560 getting dragged behind a. 1:07:34.560 --> 1:07:39.280 Boat with wakeboarding and knee boarding and water skiing and weightsurfing. 1:07:40.080 --> 1:07:42.080 This is what I love to do with my time. 1:07:42.680 --> 1:07:46.160 I also have a degree in mechanical engineering and spent 1:07:46.200 --> 1:07:48.880 a while portion of my career as a software developer, 1:07:50.280 --> 1:07:53.360 and this is kind of the marriage of all of 1:07:53.360 --> 1:07:57.800 those things, my passion and my actual career. 1:07:58.440 --> 1:08:00.680 When I tell people I'm going out on an electric boat, 1:08:00.680 --> 1:08:03.920 they say, oh, a duffy because people think of a 1:08:04.000 --> 1:08:07.120 low powered or slower kind of boat. That's not what 1:08:07.200 --> 1:08:08.560 you set out to build. 1:08:08.720 --> 1:08:13.920 No, we absolutely want to change the perception of electric 1:08:14.000 --> 1:08:18.519 boats in the same way that most people associate electric 1:08:18.560 --> 1:08:21.639 cars with performance, with really fast zero to sixty times. 1:08:22.080 --> 1:08:24.240 We are here to change the perception of electric boats 1:08:24.240 --> 1:08:27.679 on the water, and hopefully your experience today made that point. 1:08:28.560 --> 1:08:30.800 So we're on the arc one. This is the boat 1:08:30.840 --> 1:08:35.200 that you initially sold. You made a couple dozen of them, 1:08:35.680 --> 1:08:37.920 and now you're onto Well, tell me some of the 1:08:37.920 --> 1:08:40.000 features of this unit that we're on. 1:08:40.920 --> 1:08:45.800 So this was a limited edition boat that was our 1:08:46.120 --> 1:08:50.519 first entrance into the market, into the marine space. It 1:08:50.520 --> 1:08:53.679 consists of two battery packs. Each one of those battery 1:08:53.760 --> 1:08:56.400 packs is larger than pretty much anything you'd find in 1:08:56.439 --> 1:08:59.479 an electric car. In total, it's two hundred and twenty 1:08:59.560 --> 1:09:03.760 kilos of battery capacity, which, as a point of references, 1:09:04.800 --> 1:09:07.920 roughly three times the size of a Model Y battery pack. 1:09:08.400 --> 1:09:12.759 The boat is laid out in an open seating arrangement. 1:09:13.600 --> 1:09:15.200 Given that everything is. 1:09:15.160 --> 1:09:17.880 Packaged below the floor, that affords a lot of space, 1:09:17.960 --> 1:09:19.400 a lot of space for storage and a lot of 1:09:19.439 --> 1:09:21.559 space for seating on the boat of this size. 1:09:21.920 --> 1:09:24.000 It's a big boat. It's got a lot of space. 1:09:24.080 --> 1:09:27.439 It's got a lot of space for people. Again, it's fast, 1:09:27.600 --> 1:09:31.320 it's quiet. There is absolutely no scent to the boat. 1:09:31.360 --> 1:09:33.800 There's no fumes, there's none of that boating scent that 1:09:33.840 --> 1:09:36.519 you kind of associate with being out on the open water. 1:09:36.920 --> 1:09:39.519 It's a very simple setup. So you've got just the 1:09:39.560 --> 1:09:43.240 steering wheel, the throttle. You've got this nice big screen 1:09:43.280 --> 1:09:45.719 which is kind of very Tesla esque in the center, 1:09:46.160 --> 1:09:49.439 which is showing maps, music. There's even a backup camera. 1:09:49.880 --> 1:09:51.160 I guess if you can call it a back it's 1:09:51.200 --> 1:09:54.759 a back camera. I should say. You see your current speed, 1:09:55.040 --> 1:09:59.920 your current battery, You've got a compass, the water temperature, 1:10:00.080 --> 1:10:03.160 and also the water depth. Do you think that this 1:10:03.280 --> 1:10:06.360 appeals to someone who has grown up with an iPhone 1:10:06.720 --> 1:10:09.080 or someone who is driving a Tesla. 1:10:09.120 --> 1:10:09.800 Absolutely. 1:10:10.320 --> 1:10:13.960 We want to make better boats and we hope that 1:10:14.000 --> 1:10:16.719 those boats and expect that those boats will appeal both 1:10:16.760 --> 1:10:19.400 to people that have grown up boating and people that 1:10:19.439 --> 1:10:24.280 are brand new to it. By making boats far easier 1:10:24.280 --> 1:10:26.760 to own and far less expensive to actually operate, it 1:10:26.800 --> 1:10:30.559 opens up the market These are simply better boats. They 1:10:30.600 --> 1:10:34.599 solve the main pain points with gas boats today. 1:10:35.120 --> 1:10:37.479 What about the charging situation? How long does it take 1:10:37.520 --> 1:10:40.479 to charge? How much time do you get out in 1:10:40.520 --> 1:10:41.760 the water on a charge? 1:10:42.160 --> 1:10:44.160 We think in terms of usage time. 1:10:44.320 --> 1:10:46.240 We want people to be able to use their boat 1:10:46.280 --> 1:10:48.639 exactly how they want to use it for a full day, 1:10:49.200 --> 1:10:50.840 plug in at the end of the day, and wake 1:10:50.920 --> 1:10:53.080 up the next morning with a boat that is ready 1:10:53.120 --> 1:10:56.400 to hit the water again. In practice, that tends to 1:10:56.439 --> 1:11:00.240 mean three to five hours of active usage time. That 1:11:00.560 --> 1:11:03.679 is a much better experience than what you gas boat 1:11:03.680 --> 1:11:08.000 owners deal with today, lugging gas cans down to a 1:11:08.080 --> 1:11:11.040 dock and filling it up manually, having to go twenty 1:11:11.080 --> 1:11:14.040 minutes away to the nearest marina to pay ten dollars 1:11:14.040 --> 1:11:17.240 a gallon, or any of the other creative solutions people 1:11:17.240 --> 1:11:17.720 come up with. 1:11:18.040 --> 1:11:19.920 Are the chargers readily accessible? 1:11:20.560 --> 1:11:21.200 Absolutely. 1:11:22.160 --> 1:11:24.880 This boat uses what's known as a CCS one charger. 1:11:25.160 --> 1:11:28.080 It is the same style of charger that you use 1:11:28.240 --> 1:11:31.880 for any electric car on the road today. And another 1:11:32.560 --> 1:11:35.800 awesome part about electric boats is that they tend to 1:11:35.840 --> 1:11:39.280 have easier access to power. When you look across a 1:11:39.280 --> 1:11:43.080 marina today, most of those marinas actually already are equipped 1:11:43.080 --> 1:11:46.360 with what is known as shore power, because even gas 1:11:46.400 --> 1:11:51.080 boats use electricity to power refrigerators or bilge pumps or 1:11:51.120 --> 1:11:54.439 other accessories on the boat. You can just plug straight 1:11:54.520 --> 1:11:56.960 into that, plug it into your boat, and again wake 1:11:57.040 --> 1:11:59.639 up the next morning with the charge. Boat docks tend 1:11:59.680 --> 1:12:00.519 to be the same way. 1:12:01.640 --> 1:12:04.280 You've got the ARC One already. People are using this 1:12:04.479 --> 1:12:06.559 out in the world. You're learning a lot of data 1:12:06.600 --> 1:12:11.000 from that, and you're now building your mass market electric boat. 1:12:11.200 --> 1:12:12.280 What can we expect from that. 1:12:13.200 --> 1:12:15.479 The next boat we're bringing to market is a mass 1:12:15.520 --> 1:12:18.800 market wakesport boat. We'll have more to share about that soon. 1:12:19.520 --> 1:12:23.080 But as with a lot of new technology, the goal 1:12:23.240 --> 1:12:28.519 is to, over the course of our development time, make 1:12:28.560 --> 1:12:32.160 the technology more accessible to more people. Our goal is 1:12:32.160 --> 1:12:34.759 eventually for every boat on the water to be electric. 1:12:35.200 --> 1:12:38.479 It makes sense from a customer perspective, from a product perspective, 1:12:38.520 --> 1:12:41.200 and from environment perspective. We want to make it happen, 1:12:41.240 --> 1:12:42.559 and we want to make it happen quickly. 1:12:43.280 --> 1:12:45.840 How much are we talking for this boat for the 1:12:45.880 --> 1:12:48.920 buyers that already have it, and also the upcoming model. 1:12:49.920 --> 1:12:53.360 This boat was the ARC One was three hundred thousand dollars. 1:12:53.800 --> 1:12:58.120 That's a all in price that includes trailer delivery and 1:12:58.240 --> 1:13:00.719 best in class service. That might say like a lot, 1:13:00.920 --> 1:13:05.519 but gas boats today of this size routinely sell for 1:13:06.160 --> 1:13:08.479 that amount of money. Boats just tend to be more 1:13:08.479 --> 1:13:11.920 expensive than automotive. Having said that, our goal is to 1:13:12.200 --> 1:13:14.120 drop the price of these boats over time. 1:13:14.640 --> 1:13:17.360 Performance wise, we were doing some what do you call 1:13:17.360 --> 1:13:20.719 them s turns, S curves, and it was pretty wild. 1:13:20.840 --> 1:13:24.080 This boat goes very fast, it has a lot of maneuverability. 1:13:24.200 --> 1:13:25.720 It feels like you have a lot of control in 1:13:25.760 --> 1:13:29.440 this boat. Are those advantages of the electric system. 1:13:29.760 --> 1:13:33.160 Yeah, So one of the things that we have designed 1:13:33.200 --> 1:13:37.400 into this boat is the ability to go quickly from 1:13:37.520 --> 1:13:42.320 zero up to top speed. You also get a lot 1:13:42.320 --> 1:13:44.439 of torque at low speeds, which makes it easy to 1:13:44.479 --> 1:13:46.800 pull a wake quarter or water skier out of the water, 1:13:47.240 --> 1:13:50.400 and it also makes the acceleration quite fun. So we 1:13:50.400 --> 1:13:52.479 were out there doing what are known as hole shots, 1:13:52.760 --> 1:13:56.360 which is when you pin the throttle down and let 1:13:56.400 --> 1:13:59.400 the boats software take over and accelerate that boat up 1:13:59.400 --> 1:14:02.439 to tops and then turn that into s turns where 1:14:02.439 --> 1:14:05.320 you're cranking the wheel left and right and going back 1:14:05.320 --> 1:14:08.439 and forth and really experiencing how sporty this boat is. 1:14:08.960 --> 1:14:11.280 We are not taking away from any part of your experience. 1:14:11.360 --> 1:14:15.479 This is absolutely better than what you're experiencing today on 1:14:15.520 --> 1:14:16.080 gas boats. 1:14:16.400 --> 1:14:19.360 All right, Mitch Lee, one of the founders of ARC. 1:14:19.479 --> 1:14:22.479 Tell folks how they can learn more about the company. 1:14:23.080 --> 1:14:25.160 Go to arcboats dot com. 1:14:25.160 --> 1:14:27.240 Thanks so much for joining me today out on the 1:14:27.560 --> 1:14:29.920 open water. If you want a link to that, I'll 1:14:29.920 --> 1:14:33.559 put on my website. Rich on Tech dot tv. More 1:14:33.640 --> 1:14:35.080 rich on Tech coming your way. If you have a 1:14:35.160 --> 1:14:37.360 question about technology, give me a call. The number is 1:14:37.439 --> 1:14:40.400 Triple eight rich one O one eight eight eight seven 1:14:40.479 --> 1:14:43.560 four to two four one zero one. My name is 1:14:43.640 --> 1:14:46.639 Rich d'miro and you are listening to rich on Tech. 1:14:46.840 --> 1:14:50.000 Welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich DeMuro here hanging 1:14:50.000 --> 1:14:53.599 out with you talking technology at Triple eight rich one 1:14:53.680 --> 1:14:56.840 oh one eight eight eight seven four to two four 1:14:57.080 --> 1:15:01.679 one zero one. The website is rich Tech dot tv. 1:15:02.280 --> 1:15:04.559 Once you go there, you can see all of the 1:15:04.680 --> 1:15:07.360 previous segments that I've done, not only for TV, but 1:15:07.439 --> 1:15:10.920 also for this radio show. Subscribe to the podcast and 1:15:11.000 --> 1:15:13.760 you can follow me on social media. I am at 1:15:13.960 --> 1:15:16.760 rich on Tech. This is the show where I talk 1:15:16.800 --> 1:15:19.200 about the tech stuff I think you should know about. 1:15:19.680 --> 1:15:22.160 But I also get a lot of emails from you 1:15:22.520 --> 1:15:25.360 with questions, so today I figured i'd take some time 1:15:25.400 --> 1:15:29.800 to answer those. Let's go to the mailbag. Patrick says, Hey, Rich, 1:15:29.840 --> 1:15:32.439 hope you're well, buddy. So my Android works like a 1:15:32.560 --> 1:15:35.560 charm on the home Wi Fi, but my girlfriend's iPhone 1:15:35.600 --> 1:15:39.120 is always having issues. She calls it a dead zone 1:15:39.240 --> 1:15:44.120 when she's here. Any suggestions, Patrick, I have noticed that 1:15:44.160 --> 1:15:47.519 there is a pretty big difference in the way the 1:15:47.560 --> 1:15:51.439 iPhone works with Wi Fi versus certain Android phones. I 1:15:51.560 --> 1:15:55.160 find that the reception on Android can often be better. 1:15:55.840 --> 1:15:57.880 I'm not sure why that is. I mean, it could 1:15:57.960 --> 1:16:01.200 be the case on your girlfriend's phone, it could be 1:16:01.680 --> 1:16:04.600 the way she's holding it. Just kidding. That was the 1:16:04.720 --> 1:16:07.960 joke from a long time ago when there was an 1:16:07.960 --> 1:16:11.679 antenna issue with the iPhone and Steve Jobs famously said 1:16:11.680 --> 1:16:14.519 that people were holding their phones wrong. That is not 1:16:14.640 --> 1:16:17.000 the case. These modern phones should be able to pick 1:16:17.080 --> 1:16:19.599 up a pretty good signal. But with that said, there 1:16:19.680 --> 1:16:22.679 are some things you can try to do. So number one, 1:16:23.280 --> 1:16:25.880 you can have her try taking off the case from 1:16:25.880 --> 1:16:29.760 her phone to see if that makes a difference. Obviously, 1:16:30.000 --> 1:16:33.520 restart the phone. See if that makes a difference. Disconnect 1:16:33.520 --> 1:16:36.360 from the Wi Fi and then reconnect, and by that 1:16:36.439 --> 1:16:39.639 I mean go into the Wi Fi settings and actually 1:16:39.680 --> 1:16:42.880 press that little eye forget the network, restart the phone, 1:16:42.920 --> 1:16:45.479 and then bring the phone back onto the network. See 1:16:45.479 --> 1:16:47.720 if that helps. The other thing she can try to 1:16:47.760 --> 1:16:52.080 do is a network settings reset. So if you go 1:16:52.200 --> 1:16:56.000 into your settings and then General and then reset, there 1:16:56.120 --> 1:17:00.920 is an option for network settings reset. Now, this will 1:17:00.960 --> 1:17:04.000 clear out all of her connections, not just Wi Fi 1:17:04.120 --> 1:17:06.880 but also cellular and Bluetooth, so she will have to 1:17:07.000 --> 1:17:10.160 reconnect any device that she is connected to her phone. 1:17:10.760 --> 1:17:14.599 The cellular connection will find itself again. But that is 1:17:14.960 --> 1:17:17.640 a way that you can try to troubleshoot this situation 1:17:17.720 --> 1:17:19.559 and see if she can get a better signal on 1:17:19.640 --> 1:17:22.040 her phone. Let me show you exactly how to do that. 1:17:22.080 --> 1:17:24.839 You go into Settings and then you go into General 1:17:25.160 --> 1:17:27.840 and you scroll all the way down. It says transfer 1:17:28.000 --> 1:17:31.160 or reset phone. You tap that, and then you tap reset. 1:17:31.200 --> 1:17:32.920 I know it sounds scary, but you get a whole 1:17:32.920 --> 1:17:36.320 bunch of options reset all settings, reset network settings, and 1:17:36.320 --> 1:17:38.519 then you can even tap that one more time. You 1:17:38.600 --> 1:17:40.800 have to put in your passcode and then that will 1:17:40.840 --> 1:17:43.439 reset all of the network settings. She will have to 1:17:43.479 --> 1:17:46.439 reconnect her car Bluetooth, She will have to reconnect any 1:17:46.960 --> 1:17:50.360 earbuds or AirPods or any Bluetooth headphones, and also the 1:17:50.360 --> 1:17:53.920 Wi Fi connections at her work and your place. Thanks 1:17:53.960 --> 1:17:57.559 for the question, Patrick, Marlene says, what is the best 1:17:57.600 --> 1:18:01.960 antivirus protection for three iPhone, four teens and two iPads? Also? 1:18:02.520 --> 1:18:07.240 Is there a good password protection software to keep passwords secure? Well, Marlene, 1:18:07.240 --> 1:18:09.000 I'm gonna make your day and tell you that you 1:18:09.080 --> 1:18:13.880 don't need virus protection on iOS devices. You just don't 1:18:14.000 --> 1:18:17.040 need it. The way that the iPhone is configured, it 1:18:17.120 --> 1:18:20.000 is really really tough to get a virus. It might 1:18:20.040 --> 1:18:23.600 be impossible, I'm not sure, but there is a spyware 1:18:23.720 --> 1:18:27.479 for the iPhone. It is very rare. I don't think 1:18:27.520 --> 1:18:29.400 your phone is going to get it. There have been 1:18:29.479 --> 1:18:34.360 limited cases where there's been evidence of spyware and malware 1:18:34.400 --> 1:18:37.000 on iPhones, but for the average person, it is very 1:18:37.160 --> 1:18:39.920 very rare, and there is And in fact, even though 1:18:39.960 --> 1:18:42.599 if you search in the app store for anti virus 1:18:42.800 --> 1:18:46.120 on the iPhone, you will find a million apps that 1:18:46.240 --> 1:18:49.840 sort of suggest they will give you virus protection on 1:18:49.920 --> 1:18:52.960 the iPhone. They don't. They cannot, and the reason they 1:18:53.000 --> 1:18:57.600 cannot is because of the architecture of iOS. iOS is 1:18:57.640 --> 1:19:00.519 set up as a sandbox. Pretty much every every single 1:19:00.560 --> 1:19:04.080 app that you install on iOS is living in its 1:19:04.160 --> 1:19:08.559 own little silo and it can't really interact with other 1:19:08.600 --> 1:19:11.400 apps unless it's done in the way that Apple has allowed, 1:19:11.439 --> 1:19:14.519 and they have made very strict precautions on how apps 1:19:14.560 --> 1:19:17.120 can interact with each other. Now, this is not the 1:19:17.120 --> 1:19:20.880 same for Android. Android, yes you can get you could 1:19:20.920 --> 1:19:23.479 potentially get a virus or malware on Android. It might 1:19:23.479 --> 1:19:26.760 be a little bit easier, but there's various reasons for that. Now, 1:19:26.800 --> 1:19:30.360 the other thing about the iPhone is most, if not all, 1:19:30.400 --> 1:19:33.040 of the software, unless you jail break, it has to 1:19:33.080 --> 1:19:36.000 come from the app store, and that software is scanned 1:19:36.680 --> 1:19:40.000 for viruses, and it is also scanned for malware, and 1:19:40.200 --> 1:19:42.640 it is just generally checked to make sure that it 1:19:42.760 --> 1:19:45.720 is secure. So if you are installing your apps from 1:19:45.720 --> 1:19:48.960 the iPhone app store, there is no need for antivirus protection. 1:19:49.360 --> 1:19:52.160 The one thing you do have to be careful about, Marlene, 1:19:52.280 --> 1:19:55.320 is what you click on, because yes, you can. Still 1:19:55.360 --> 1:19:58.000 there are things called zero day attacks, there are things 1:19:58.040 --> 1:20:01.400 where there are exploits for the I. It does happen 1:20:01.400 --> 1:20:03.960 from time to time. The way that it happens typically 1:20:04.120 --> 1:20:06.840 is through a text message. So the main thing you 1:20:06.880 --> 1:20:09.040 need to be careful about on the iPhone is what 1:20:09.160 --> 1:20:13.640 you click and what you download, and also what you 1:20:14.400 --> 1:20:17.240 enter your personal information too. So if you are getting 1:20:17.320 --> 1:20:19.600 some sort of text that says, hey, we've got a 1:20:19.640 --> 1:20:22.640 package for you from USPS and there's a problem. We 1:20:22.720 --> 1:20:24.799 need you to log in here with all of your information, 1:20:25.360 --> 1:20:27.720 that's really where you're going to have a problem now 1:20:27.720 --> 1:20:30.559 when it comes to passwords. So if you are just 1:20:30.720 --> 1:20:34.400 using the iPhone, I'd recommend iCloud keychain. If you're just 1:20:34.560 --> 1:20:38.120 using iOS devices, that'll work nicely and it's safe, it's secure, 1:20:38.439 --> 1:20:41.480 it keeps your passwords across all of the different Apple devices. 1:20:42.000 --> 1:20:44.559 If you want something a little bit more full featured 1:20:44.680 --> 1:20:46.840 that you're going to use on a couple different devices, 1:20:47.280 --> 1:20:51.160 Bitwarden is free and it works across various devices, So 1:20:51.200 --> 1:20:54.639 that's a good one. And Google actually has some pretty 1:20:54.640 --> 1:20:57.800 decent free software as well, built into the Chrome web 1:20:57.840 --> 1:21:00.559 browser and it does work pretty nicely on the iPhone. 1:21:01.080 --> 1:21:04.040 And if you want something that's paid, I like the 1:21:04.120 --> 1:21:08.439 software from dash Lane. I also like proton pass. Again, Marlene, 1:21:08.439 --> 1:21:12.040 I did cross check this with a with a tech expert, 1:21:12.320 --> 1:21:15.559 a cybersecurity expert, who agreed with me, you pretty much 1:21:15.560 --> 1:21:19.879 for the average person don't need virus protection on iOS devices. Finally, 1:21:20.000 --> 1:21:23.599 Carrie says, do you have anyone complaining about the Apple 1:21:23.640 --> 1:21:27.040 Watch not charging to one hundred percent after updating to 1:21:27.120 --> 1:21:30.320 iOS ten. Mine does not last all day now. The 1:21:30.360 --> 1:21:32.320 battery dies at the end of the day. It is 1:21:32.360 --> 1:21:35.720 so frustrating. Good question. I'm glad that you noticed this 1:21:35.840 --> 1:21:39.240 major change when Watch OS ten came out. That's when 1:21:39.280 --> 1:21:41.760 I noticed it. I noticed it was only charging up 1:21:41.800 --> 1:21:44.240 to eighty percent. And the reason why Apple made this 1:21:44.400 --> 1:21:48.120 change is for battery health. They want the batteries on 1:21:48.200 --> 1:21:51.360 these things to last longer, and the amount of time 1:21:51.479 --> 1:21:54.519 that your battery lasts on the Apple Watch is directly 1:21:54.560 --> 1:21:58.240 related to the age of your watch and also what 1:21:58.320 --> 1:22:00.760 you're doing on that watch. If you are not doing 1:22:00.840 --> 1:22:05.360 any sort of GPS tracking or athletic tracking or fitness tracking, 1:22:05.640 --> 1:22:07.760 your battery is going to last a lot longer than 1:22:07.760 --> 1:22:10.680 someone who is going on a hike with GPS or 1:22:10.760 --> 1:22:13.479 recording a workout with their heart rate for a long time. 1:22:13.680 --> 1:22:16.839 So the first way is while your watch is charging. 1:22:16.880 --> 1:22:19.479 If you want it to charge fully, make sure that 1:22:19.520 --> 1:22:22.240 your watch is charging, tap your watch to show the 1:22:22.320 --> 1:22:24.640 charging screen, then tap the circle with the green or 1:22:24.720 --> 1:22:29.120 yellow charging icon, and then you'll tap charge to full now, 1:22:29.600 --> 1:22:32.040 and that will charge your battery to one hundred percent. 1:22:32.760 --> 1:22:34.840 If you want your Apple Watch to charge to one 1:22:34.920 --> 1:22:37.479 hundred percent every single time, you're going to have to 1:22:37.520 --> 1:22:40.439 go into your settings and change a setting to make 1:22:40.520 --> 1:22:42.880 that happen. There's a setting that seems to be on 1:22:43.040 --> 1:22:46.759 by default at this time, which is called optimized battery charging. 1:22:46.800 --> 1:22:48.400 If you want to change that and turn it off 1:22:48.400 --> 1:22:50.439 and have your Apple Watch charge to one hundred percent 1:22:50.479 --> 1:22:54.160 every single time, tap the digital crown on your Apple Watch, 1:22:54.360 --> 1:22:57.280 scroll down to your settings. So let's find that I'm 1:22:57.320 --> 1:23:00.160 doing this as we speak here, and then you want 1:23:00.200 --> 1:23:02.840 to scroll down to battery and you have to do 1:23:02.880 --> 1:23:05.640 this on the Apple Watch itself. You can't do this 1:23:06.040 --> 1:23:08.519 through the settings on your phone, which is kind of odd. 1:23:08.920 --> 1:23:11.840 And now, right now, mine is saying last charge to 1:23:11.920 --> 1:23:15.559 optimized limit, and so if you want to change that, 1:23:15.640 --> 1:23:18.639 you have to tap battery health and then you'll see 1:23:18.680 --> 1:23:22.040 the option for optimized charge limit. Right now, Mine, is on. 1:23:22.560 --> 1:23:24.800 If you want your battery to charge to one hundred percent, 1:23:24.840 --> 1:23:27.679 every time you can toggle that off, will it ruin 1:23:27.720 --> 1:23:31.040 your battery? I mean over a period of long time. Yes, 1:23:31.120 --> 1:23:34.920 the battery does degrade on any device like this. So 1:23:35.000 --> 1:23:36.679 it's up to you. If you keep your Apple Watch 1:23:36.720 --> 1:23:38.880 forever and you want your battery to last a really 1:23:38.920 --> 1:23:42.760 long time, maybe consider leaving the optimized charge limit on. 1:23:43.160 --> 1:23:45.880 But if you want the maximum battery, you probably have 1:23:45.920 --> 1:23:48.200 to turn it off. Thanks for the question. Carry If 1:23:48.200 --> 1:23:50.560 you have a question for me, go to my website 1:23:50.680 --> 1:23:54.040 richon Tech dot TV. Hit the link that says contact 1:23:54.439 --> 1:23:57.360 and you can submit your question right there. My name 1:23:57.400 --> 1:24:00.559 is rich Damiro and you are listening to rich on Tech. 1:24:02.720 --> 1:24:05.960 Welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich DeMuro here hanging 1:24:06.000 --> 1:24:10.160 out with you, talking technology at triple eight Rich one 1:24:10.200 --> 1:24:13.760 oh one. That's eight eight eight seven four to two 1:24:13.840 --> 1:24:17.680 four one zero one. Let me tell you about this 1:24:17.720 --> 1:24:21.080 feature called reading Mode. Now I can't take credit for 1:24:21.160 --> 1:24:23.240 finding this. I got to give a shout out to 1:24:23.320 --> 1:24:28.880 Jimmy is Promo on YouTube. He covers all Samsung stuff 1:24:29.520 --> 1:24:32.759 and he had a great video about this reading mode 1:24:32.760 --> 1:24:35.519 that I was not aware of. And it is really 1:24:35.560 --> 1:24:40.639 really cool. So it basically makes any article on your 1:24:40.640 --> 1:24:44.160 Android phone easy to read, makes it big, and it 1:24:44.200 --> 1:24:46.840 takes out all the distractions, but it also reads it 1:24:46.920 --> 1:24:49.400 to you. And there have been ways of doing this 1:24:49.439 --> 1:24:51.880 before on Android, but this is very very simple, and 1:24:51.920 --> 1:24:55.960 it involves a Google app called reading Mode. So if 1:24:55.960 --> 1:24:59.120 you go to the Google Play Store, you search reading Mode, 1:24:59.640 --> 1:25:02.680 you select that reading Mode app, you install it, you 1:25:02.720 --> 1:25:04.479 open it up. There are a couple little things to 1:25:04.520 --> 1:25:06.160 set it up, and basically what you need to do 1:25:06.280 --> 1:25:08.920 is just set up what you want the shortcut key 1:25:09.000 --> 1:25:12.280 to be to activate this feature. And on my phone, 1:25:12.400 --> 1:25:15.720 I set it up where the volume up and the 1:25:15.920 --> 1:25:18.920 power button. Now we're talking Android here, this is not iPhone. 1:25:19.400 --> 1:25:22.280 So on the Android you would set because power down 1:25:22.400 --> 1:25:26.160 and our volume down in power is the screenshot key, 1:25:26.640 --> 1:25:29.880 So I set it as volume up and power. You 1:25:29.920 --> 1:25:33.439 press those two things together and instantly it will make 1:25:33.479 --> 1:25:37.800 whatever article you're reading super easy to look at with 1:25:37.960 --> 1:25:41.879 big fonts, whatever colors you want, if you want more contrast, whatever, 1:25:42.280 --> 1:25:44.479 and it can also read that article to you aloud. 1:25:45.000 --> 1:25:47.679 It cuts out colors, tones and marks down the white 1:25:47.760 --> 1:25:50.360 to lower contrast. To make this all easier on the ice. 1:25:50.800 --> 1:25:54.000 It is fantastic, not just as an accessibility feature, but 1:25:54.080 --> 1:25:56.800 for anyone who just wants to listen to articles or 1:25:56.920 --> 1:26:03.000 just read articles in a much easier, eager, less distracted mode. 1:26:03.200 --> 1:26:05.439 So again it's called reading Mode. Search for it in 1:26:05.479 --> 1:26:07.760 the Google Play Store. It is a Google app. So 1:26:07.760 --> 1:26:10.240 if there's other apps named reading Mode, look for the 1:26:10.280 --> 1:26:12.760 one from Google. Again, I'll put it all on the 1:26:12.800 --> 1:26:15.840 show notes go to Rich on tech dot TV for those. 1:26:16.240 --> 1:26:17.519 All right, if you have a question, give me a 1:26:17.520 --> 1:26:20.720 call Triple eight Rich one oh one. Karen is in 1:26:20.760 --> 1:26:22.439 Thousand Oaks. Karen, you're on with Rich. 1:26:23.160 --> 1:26:24.559 Hi there, thanks for taking my call. 1:26:24.720 --> 1:26:25.599 Hey, thanks for calling. 1:26:26.240 --> 1:26:28.840 Sure. I have an iPhone. I've had one since two 1:26:28.880 --> 1:26:32.080 thousand and seven and I have it backed up with iCloud. 1:26:32.880 --> 1:26:35.760 And my daughter got married and I decided that it 1:26:35.800 --> 1:26:38.320 would be a great idea to back up the photos 1:26:38.720 --> 1:26:44.040 somewhere else. So absolutely, yeah, it's easy to do it 1:26:44.160 --> 1:26:49.519 on Google Photos. So I started the process downloading it 1:26:49.680 --> 1:26:54.519 on my phone, and it ran out a memory really 1:26:54.560 --> 1:26:57.200 fast because it was backing up all my photos from 1:26:57.240 --> 1:27:00.360 my phone and I have a lot yep, and so 1:27:00.560 --> 1:27:03.720 I stopped the I stopped it, and I so I 1:27:03.760 --> 1:27:07.439 started playing around a little bit and I deleted a 1:27:07.479 --> 1:27:10.120 photo and it said, okay, we're going to delete the 1:27:10.120 --> 1:27:14.080 photo from iPhoto. So I stopped. I didn't delete anymore. 1:27:16.400 --> 1:27:21.160 But then it it took all like on Google Photo, 1:27:21.560 --> 1:27:25.160 it was completely full, and it wanted more money so 1:27:25.479 --> 1:27:29.280 to back up everything another ten bucks a months. So 1:27:29.960 --> 1:27:32.080 now I feel like I'm being held hostage by them, 1:27:33.680 --> 1:27:37.919 and so I stopped all the access to photos from 1:27:38.960 --> 1:27:43.439 my iPhone to Google. Sure, which is fine, but now 1:27:43.439 --> 1:27:47.800 it says that I can't get my email for Google. 1:27:48.560 --> 1:27:52.799 Because our account is maxed out and they're connected exactly. Yeah, okay, 1:27:52.840 --> 1:27:56.280 so with Google you get fifteen gigs of storage I believe, 1:27:57.840 --> 1:27:59.120 like included. 1:27:58.720 --> 1:28:04.000 Right right, but I already pay, but you pay for iCloud. 1:28:04.600 --> 1:28:07.320 I do can dogs because I have twenty thousand photos. 1:28:07.400 --> 1:28:10.720 Yeah okay, So here's the dilemma. So you've got these 1:28:10.760 --> 1:28:13.599 basically you're kind of okay. So two things I guess. 1:28:13.840 --> 1:28:16.040 Two part question here are you're not going to use 1:28:16.080 --> 1:28:17.120 Google anymore for this? 1:28:17.880 --> 1:28:18.240 Correct? 1:28:18.240 --> 1:28:21.400 Okay, so we can get those photos out of there. 1:28:21.600 --> 1:28:23.679 The other thing is do you are you an Amazon 1:28:23.720 --> 1:28:24.320 Prime member? 1:28:25.080 --> 1:28:25.400 I am? 1:28:25.560 --> 1:28:29.280 Okay, So have you heard of Amazon? Photos. Yes, have 1:28:29.640 --> 1:28:30.120 you used it? 1:28:30.760 --> 1:28:30.840 No? 1:28:31.120 --> 1:28:33.639 Okay, So I would recommend since you're an Amazon Prime 1:28:33.640 --> 1:28:37.080 member and you're using this as your secondary backup, so 1:28:37.200 --> 1:28:41.200 your photos are basically in They're almost in two places. 1:28:41.600 --> 1:28:43.040 Some of them are on your phone. I'm not sure 1:28:43.080 --> 1:28:46.320 if your phone carries all twenty thousand physically on your device. 1:28:46.400 --> 1:28:47.880 I don't know if you have that much storage on 1:28:47.920 --> 1:28:50.559 your phone. It may or may not. But they are 1:28:50.600 --> 1:28:53.040 backed up in iCloud, So that's one place they're backed up, 1:28:53.280 --> 1:28:54.760 and of course you want them backed up in a 1:28:54.800 --> 1:28:57.719 second place, which would be one of these cloud apps. 1:28:58.120 --> 1:29:01.519 So since since you're already paying for Amazon, I would 1:29:01.560 --> 1:29:04.959 say install the Amazon Photos app and let your photos 1:29:04.960 --> 1:29:08.360 back up there, and that way you have a secondary copy. 1:29:08.400 --> 1:29:11.320 Because I don't think it Icloud's going away anytime soon. 1:29:11.360 --> 1:29:12.880 I don't think you're gonna have an issue with that, 1:29:13.000 --> 1:29:16.120 but just in case, you will have a pretty sizable 1:29:16.120 --> 1:29:18.840 backup of your photos, especially as you take new ones 1:29:19.240 --> 1:29:23.320 on your Amazon account as well. Now that will take 1:29:23.400 --> 1:29:26.639 care of moving forward. So to get rid of these 1:29:26.640 --> 1:29:30.400 photos out of Google, I would just go ahead delete 1:29:30.439 --> 1:29:32.760 the Google Photos app off of your iPhone. You don't 1:29:32.760 --> 1:29:34.640 need to do anything first, Before you do that, just 1:29:34.680 --> 1:29:35.519 go ahead and delete it. 1:29:36.120 --> 1:29:36.439 Okay. 1:29:36.640 --> 1:29:41.280 Then I would go to photos dot Google dot com 1:29:41.320 --> 1:29:44.920 on your computer and you can go ahead and select 1:29:45.000 --> 1:29:48.920 photos in there and delete them. And I believe once 1:29:48.920 --> 1:29:50.519 you go in there, let me try this real quick. 1:29:51.160 --> 1:29:54.519 If you select like one photo, you should be able 1:29:54.520 --> 1:29:56.680 to select a bunch at a time and just go 1:29:56.720 --> 1:29:58.479 ahead and delete those. And when you delete them from 1:29:58.479 --> 1:30:01.519 the web interface, not going to delete off your iPhone 1:30:01.560 --> 1:30:04.000 at the same time because it can't talk to your 1:30:04.320 --> 1:30:06.240 your iCloud anymore. Does that make sense? 1:30:07.560 --> 1:30:07.920 I think? 1:30:08.000 --> 1:30:08.080 So. 1:30:08.800 --> 1:30:11.160 Let me just one other thing I have in iMac 1:30:11.840 --> 1:30:15.519 and I don't have iCloud on my Mac because I 1:30:15.560 --> 1:30:18.720 didn't want them if I took if I deleted them 1:30:18.760 --> 1:30:21.320 off on my phone, I didn't want them to delete 1:30:21.360 --> 1:30:22.280 them off my computer. 1:30:22.760 --> 1:30:27.400 Okay. Well, so the way that iCloud works is it's 1:30:27.400 --> 1:30:30.599 a it's a everything syncs to iCloud. So if you're 1:30:30.640 --> 1:30:33.400 looking at your photo collection on your Mac, it's going 1:30:33.479 --> 1:30:35.519 to be the same exact collection that's on your phone. 1:30:35.840 --> 1:30:38.040 That's if you go to iCloud dot com, it's all 1:30:38.120 --> 1:30:40.880 the same. And it's very confusing for people because they 1:30:40.880 --> 1:30:42.840 think because it's on an app on their phone, it's 1:30:42.880 --> 1:30:45.720 different than what's in the cloud or what's on you know, 1:30:45.880 --> 1:30:48.479 their computer if they're sinking it. So that is a 1:30:48.520 --> 1:30:51.599 little confusing. But my my main point here is that 1:30:51.680 --> 1:30:54.080 if you're if you're not wanting to use the Google 1:30:54.120 --> 1:30:57.240 Photos aspect of anything, just go to the Google Photos 1:30:57.320 --> 1:31:00.959 website and that anything you do there will not connect 1:31:01.280 --> 1:31:04.639 through to iCloud. So if you go through and delete 1:31:04.640 --> 1:31:07.879 all these pictures on Google Photos, they will only delete 1:31:07.920 --> 1:31:11.040 on the Google Photos cloud and it's not going to 1:31:11.080 --> 1:31:15.240 redelete them off of your iCloud photo collection. Okay, So 1:31:15.360 --> 1:31:18.040 and you can go through and you know, try to 1:31:18.080 --> 1:31:20.200 bulk delete. I think you can select one thousand at 1:31:20.200 --> 1:31:22.080 once or something like that. But you can just go 1:31:22.160 --> 1:31:25.479 through and kind of delete as many as possible. And 1:31:25.560 --> 1:31:27.479 I believe you can just kind of click in the 1:31:27.520 --> 1:31:29.639 corner of the photo and then drag over to kind 1:31:29.680 --> 1:31:33.080 of select multiple photos at once and that then then 1:31:33.160 --> 1:31:34.759 just go ahead and delete them. Then you can empty 1:31:34.760 --> 1:31:36.800 the trash and you should see your storage kind of 1:31:36.800 --> 1:31:41.040 clean up there. So good question, Karen. I know it's confusing. 1:31:41.080 --> 1:31:44.799 This photo cloud collection stuff is really not easy, especially 1:31:44.800 --> 1:31:48.800 when you start using multiple different providers. So good question there, 1:31:48.800 --> 1:31:50.840 and get that stuff cleaned up so your Gmail works 1:31:50.880 --> 1:31:53.240 again because it is connected. All right, more of your 1:31:53.320 --> 1:31:55.439 calls coming up. Eight eight eight rich one oh one. 1:31:55.800 --> 1:31:58.080 I hope you're having a fantastic day. Did you know 1:31:58.120 --> 1:32:01.640 that you can listen to this show as podcast. Just 1:32:01.680 --> 1:32:04.160 search rich on tech and your favorite audio app and 1:32:04.280 --> 1:32:07.679 be sure to subscribe. Then you can go to rich 1:32:07.760 --> 1:32:11.600 on tech dot tv to find the show notes. I 1:32:11.680 --> 1:32:13.680 take very good notes about what we talk about here. 1:32:13.720 --> 1:32:16.719 So if you're looking for a link to something I mentioned, 1:32:17.800 --> 1:32:20.080 chances are it's in there. And by the way, if 1:32:20.080 --> 1:32:22.640 you're not downloading the app for the retailer that you're 1:32:22.680 --> 1:32:25.960 shopping at, I highly recommend you do it. You know why, 1:32:26.120 --> 1:32:28.679 because they're trying to get people to use their apps, 1:32:28.680 --> 1:32:31.840 and what does that mean. They are putting discounts inside 1:32:31.840 --> 1:32:34.680 the app. I'm telling you any story you go to, 1:32:35.200 --> 1:32:38.920 whether it's Target, whether it is Best Buy, whether it 1:32:39.040 --> 1:32:43.000 is a fast food place, download the app. All these 1:32:43.080 --> 1:32:46.720 quick service restaurants, all of the coupons and discounts are 1:32:46.800 --> 1:32:50.360 inside the apps. See you take five extra minutes to 1:32:50.479 --> 1:32:52.760 download the app and place your order. That way, I'm 1:32:52.800 --> 1:32:56.120 telling you it will save you money. My name is 1:32:56.200 --> 1:32:59.639 rich Demiro, and you are listening to rich on Tech. 1:33:00.000 --> 1:33:03.639 Welcome back to richon Tech on location here at Crypto 1:33:03.760 --> 1:33:07.680 dot Com Arena formerly Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. 1:33:07.960 --> 1:33:10.839 Joining me now is Luke Saunders. He is the founder 1:33:10.880 --> 1:33:14.320 and CEO of Farmers Fridge, and we're here because they've 1:33:14.360 --> 1:33:18.200 got three Farmers Fridge locations here. Thanks for joining me, Yeah, 1:33:18.240 --> 1:33:20.320 thank you so much for having me. All Right, so 1:33:20.479 --> 1:33:22.599 let's talk about Farmer's Fridge. I first saw this at 1:33:22.720 --> 1:33:26.759 LAX Los Angeles Airport and it's a vending machine filled 1:33:26.800 --> 1:33:29.120 with healthy foods like fresh salads. And I was a 1:33:29.120 --> 1:33:31.679 little skeptical, I'll be honest, but I ended up getting 1:33:31.680 --> 1:33:33.519 one on my way out, and then I got one 1:33:33.560 --> 1:33:36.240 on my way home, so it worked and the salads 1:33:36.280 --> 1:33:39.760 are fresh. You've got locations all across the nation. Can 1:33:39.760 --> 1:33:41.960 you tell me how you describe what Farmer's Fridge is. 1:33:42.439 --> 1:33:47.120 Yeah, So, Farmers Fridge is a fresh food company. We 1:33:47.200 --> 1:33:50.960 make fresh food every single day in a centralized kitchen, 1:33:51.360 --> 1:33:54.160 and then we distribute that through a network of automated 1:33:54.200 --> 1:33:57.680 smart fridges and in retail locreations across the country. And 1:33:57.720 --> 1:33:59.519 really the idea is very simple, how do you make 1:33:59.520 --> 1:34:01.760 fresh food as accessible as a candy bar? 1:34:02.400 --> 1:34:04.519 How did you come up with the idea for this company? 1:34:04.880 --> 1:34:06.720 Yeah, so I came up with it because I was 1:34:06.760 --> 1:34:09.360 a traveling salesman. I was driving one thousand miles a week. 1:34:09.439 --> 1:34:11.519 I was flying all the time, and one of the 1:34:11.560 --> 1:34:13.280 biggest problems I had was trying to figure out what 1:34:13.320 --> 1:34:15.120 I was going to have for lunch every day, and 1:34:15.520 --> 1:34:17.519 how to have something that wasn't just fast food or 1:34:17.920 --> 1:34:21.680 some kind of snack from a gas station. And I 1:34:21.760 --> 1:34:24.920 realized you could make fresh food at scale and get 1:34:24.960 --> 1:34:26.519 it to more people. You just had to get it 1:34:26.560 --> 1:34:29.200 to the faster. And really the idea was if I 1:34:29.200 --> 1:34:32.519 built the entire business model around the concept of making 1:34:32.720 --> 1:34:36.960 real fresh food getting into people quickly, I could solve 1:34:36.960 --> 1:34:38.800 the problem. And then I backed into the idea for 1:34:38.840 --> 1:34:41.759 the vending machine, because something like one hundred million people 1:34:41.760 --> 1:34:44.040 a day in the United States actually visit a vending 1:34:44.120 --> 1:34:47.120 machine to buy something, so clearly it's a very convenient 1:34:47.160 --> 1:34:49.639 way to get food and get it to more places. 1:34:49.640 --> 1:34:53.240 There's about eight million vending machines in the US, so 1:34:53.320 --> 1:34:56.080 that helped to just make it more convenient, more accessible, 1:34:56.080 --> 1:34:58.479 and lower the cost to serve fresh food. 1:34:59.200 --> 1:35:02.240 And so where was first location and how many locations 1:35:02.280 --> 1:35:04.320 do you have now? And in what types of places 1:35:04.400 --> 1:35:06.400 are these smart fridges in? 1:35:07.080 --> 1:35:09.240 Yeah, So when I got started, I thought the best 1:35:09.240 --> 1:35:11.040 part of the idea was we were only going to 1:35:11.120 --> 1:35:13.680 take up, you know, twelve square feet and I could 1:35:13.720 --> 1:35:15.960 go pretty much anywhere and in a lot of places 1:35:16.040 --> 1:35:18.760 restaurants couldn't go. But it turns out that a lot 1:35:18.760 --> 1:35:21.280 of people were very skeptical about the idea of installing 1:35:21.280 --> 1:35:23.479 of anding machine full of fresh food in their office 1:35:23.479 --> 1:35:27.240 building or the lobby of the hospital or something like that. 1:35:27.280 --> 1:35:29.919 So we ended up in a food court in downtown Chicago. 1:35:30.680 --> 1:35:33.920 It was objectively the worst food court in Chicago, but 1:35:33.960 --> 1:35:35.960 it was the only place that would take us, and 1:35:36.040 --> 1:35:38.720 we had one location, and it was really just to 1:35:38.760 --> 1:35:41.080 get people to try the food, get some feedback on 1:35:41.080 --> 1:35:44.040 the concept, and from there we've grown it now to 1:35:44.560 --> 1:35:48.599 over a thousand locations across the country. We're in major 1:35:48.640 --> 1:35:51.559 retail stores across the country, and also have about six 1:35:51.640 --> 1:35:57.680 hundred and fifty fridges that we operate in hospitals, universities, airports, 1:35:57.720 --> 1:35:59.960 even places like this arenas. 1:36:00.400 --> 1:36:03.320 So tell me about making this food. It's got to 1:36:03.360 --> 1:36:05.360 be fresh. You make it in Chicago, but somehow it 1:36:05.360 --> 1:36:08.000 makes its way to Los Angeles and it still tastes fresh. 1:36:08.040 --> 1:36:08.800 So how do you do that? 1:36:09.320 --> 1:36:09.519 Yeah? 1:36:09.600 --> 1:36:12.519 So when I started, at the very beginning, I was 1:36:12.560 --> 1:36:14.439 making the food, I was delivering the food. I was 1:36:14.439 --> 1:36:18.400 building the fridges, and we still do things pretty much 1:36:18.439 --> 1:36:20.240 the same way. So I would actually drive down to 1:36:20.240 --> 1:36:22.639 the produce terminal in the morning, get the freshest product 1:36:22.640 --> 1:36:24.400 I could get it in, chop it up, put it 1:36:24.439 --> 1:36:26.760 in the jar, and get it to that fridge. So 1:36:27.680 --> 1:36:30.800 we have just continued to do that business model, but 1:36:30.840 --> 1:36:33.000 now we just do it tens of thousands of times 1:36:33.080 --> 1:36:35.960 a day. So we get whole ingredients in, we make 1:36:36.040 --> 1:36:39.000 dressings from scratch. We're literally cutting up whole heads of 1:36:39.080 --> 1:36:43.760 lettuce and mixing avocados to make our fresh in house squacamole, 1:36:44.120 --> 1:36:47.639 and so the whole business is designed to facilitate having 1:36:47.680 --> 1:36:50.120 that be our process and then get it to people quickly. 1:36:51.200 --> 1:36:53.599 A huge component that's made it scalable is we built 1:36:53.640 --> 1:36:57.280 a lot of technology in terms of where to send 1:36:57.320 --> 1:36:59.559 all of the food that we're making, but also like 1:36:59.600 --> 1:37:03.360 how to get feedback from customers if things aren't fresh 1:37:03.400 --> 1:37:06.280 and improve that, or we can lock a fridge if 1:37:06.320 --> 1:37:09.559 it goes out of temperature remotely. So all of that 1:37:09.600 --> 1:37:11.679 has made it so that it's scalable. But the idea 1:37:11.720 --> 1:37:13.920 is exactly the same as it was at the beginning. 1:37:14.120 --> 1:37:16.759 You'd get a whole ingredient in make a dressing from scratch. 1:37:16.760 --> 1:37:18.559 It's gonna taste good. You just have to get it 1:37:18.560 --> 1:37:20.479 to people quickly so they have enough time to buy 1:37:20.479 --> 1:37:21.360 it before it goes bad. 1:37:21.760 --> 1:37:24.639 Let's talk about some of the food that's in this fridge. 1:37:24.680 --> 1:37:28.040 So these solids are served in sort of plastic jars. 1:37:28.120 --> 1:37:29.200 Is that what you call them? 1:37:29.439 --> 1:37:32.719 Yeah, it's a plastic jar. So the idea at the beginning, 1:37:32.800 --> 1:37:34.400 I was actually trying to figure out what kind of 1:37:34.439 --> 1:37:38.920 packaging to use that would help reinforce freshness. And my 1:37:39.000 --> 1:37:41.720 brother in law actually recommended these mason jar salads he 1:37:41.760 --> 1:37:45.120 had seen on Pinterest, and so I initially thought it 1:37:45.160 --> 1:37:47.760 was a crazy idea, but once I started testing with them, 1:37:47.840 --> 1:37:50.120 it just looks so beautiful. It actually helps keep the 1:37:50.120 --> 1:37:53.160 food fresh because you can layer ingredients, so we put 1:37:53.160 --> 1:37:56.680 like wet and acidic ingredients on the bottom, things like 1:37:56.760 --> 1:37:59.360 lettuce on the top. So that allows you to have 1:37:59.560 --> 1:38:03.880 a higher quality meal that lasts longer, and it really 1:38:04.080 --> 1:38:06.640 just shows really well in the machine because what we 1:38:06.760 --> 1:38:10.360 found I tried so many different ways to tell customers 1:38:10.479 --> 1:38:13.240 our food was fresh at the beginning, and over and 1:38:13.280 --> 1:38:15.599 over again. What we heard when we'd actually talked to 1:38:15.640 --> 1:38:18.280 the potential customers or people that were intimidated by the 1:38:18.360 --> 1:38:21.200 vending machine is I'm looking at your food and I 1:38:21.200 --> 1:38:23.320 want to see that that food looks fresh, and you 1:38:23.360 --> 1:38:25.920 can tell, like the greens are not wilted, they're not brown. 1:38:26.439 --> 1:38:29.680 Things are clearly handmade. And we were getting that kind 1:38:29.680 --> 1:38:31.840 of feedback constantly, so that's a big part of why 1:38:31.840 --> 1:38:32.760 we package it that way. 1:38:33.160 --> 1:38:34.840 And so in the machine, I see all types of 1:38:34.840 --> 1:38:38.000 different salads. You've got wraps, you've got hard boiled eggs 1:38:38.040 --> 1:38:41.800 in there. Like you said, chips and guac. What's some 1:38:41.880 --> 1:38:42.799 of your top sellers. 1:38:43.479 --> 1:38:45.439 So actually the chips and guac is a top seller, 1:38:45.560 --> 1:38:48.360 which makes a lot of sense for us because we 1:38:48.400 --> 1:38:51.280 actually are making that guacamolean house. We're adding peg go 1:38:51.439 --> 1:38:55.120 to the top. There's no preservatives, nothing, and then it's 1:38:55.320 --> 1:38:57.960 only I have a few days shelf life, so you 1:38:58.000 --> 1:38:59.880 cannot buy a product like that anywhere else, and I 1:39:00.080 --> 1:39:03.160 think the average price is four fifty. The caesar salad 1:39:03.400 --> 1:39:06.080 is one of my personal favorites. It's just a very 1:39:06.160 --> 1:39:10.000 high quality caesar salad with chicken. But the idea is 1:39:10.040 --> 1:39:12.280 to have twenty five skews and have every single one 1:39:12.280 --> 1:39:14.280 of those be something that you're like, Wow, that was great, 1:39:14.280 --> 1:39:15.000 I'll buy it again. 1:39:15.360 --> 1:39:17.120 And what type of price point are we talking? 1:39:17.920 --> 1:39:20.760 So the product's range in price from three dollars all 1:39:20.760 --> 1:39:23.280 the way up to about ten dollars on the high end, 1:39:24.160 --> 1:39:27.280 our average item is about six fifty. You can also 1:39:27.320 --> 1:39:29.160 get a discount if you're using our app. There's a 1:39:29.200 --> 1:39:31.880 loyalty program, but then we also offer twenty five percent 1:39:31.920 --> 1:39:34.960 off at the airport. So on average, our average ticket 1:39:35.000 --> 1:39:36.440 is actually lower than McDonald's. 1:39:36.520 --> 1:39:38.320 So tell me about the tech that helps you get 1:39:38.320 --> 1:39:39.599 these solids in these machines. 1:39:40.240 --> 1:39:43.479 Yeah, So the core technology for Farmer's Fridge is really 1:39:43.479 --> 1:39:46.719 about inventory management, so we can see in real time 1:39:46.760 --> 1:39:49.920 what's in every single fridge across the country, and then 1:39:50.080 --> 1:39:54.280 every day we're making tens of thousands of meals, and 1:39:54.320 --> 1:39:56.120 so the idea is we don't actually know where they're 1:39:56.160 --> 1:39:58.479 going until the end of the day because that gives 1:39:58.560 --> 1:40:01.040 us as much time the day to get the sales 1:40:01.120 --> 1:40:04.639 data from the fridges, and then a cost function algorithm runs. 1:40:04.840 --> 1:40:07.360 So essentially, it's looking at what's the inventory in the network, 1:40:07.400 --> 1:40:10.040 how many products that you produce, and things like the 1:40:10.040 --> 1:40:13.880 weather or tsa checkpoint traffic to say this is where 1:40:13.920 --> 1:40:16.920 we think you should send everything to maximize the profitability 1:40:17.000 --> 1:40:19.719 and reduce the amount of unsold inventory the next day. 1:40:20.280 --> 1:40:22.600 So imagine like we kind of get that report and 1:40:22.640 --> 1:40:25.280 everybody snaps into action. We're picking and packing the food, 1:40:25.320 --> 1:40:27.000 putting it onto trucks and getting it out. 1:40:26.880 --> 1:40:27.519 To the fridges. 1:40:28.040 --> 1:40:30.759 And over the last year we've even invested in pushing 1:40:30.800 --> 1:40:34.360 that prediction downstream. So what that means is we make 1:40:34.400 --> 1:40:37.920 it once at our initial production facility, but then we'll 1:40:37.920 --> 1:40:40.120 make it multiple points along the way. So when a 1:40:40.200 --> 1:40:43.240 driver gets to the airport, let's say a flight got 1:40:43.240 --> 1:40:44.760 in late and a bunch of people were hungry. He 1:40:44.800 --> 1:40:48.720 bought ten salads. His drivers app he actually carries an 1:40:48.720 --> 1:40:52.400 iPad with him, will tell him here's where you should 1:40:52.400 --> 1:40:54.960 actually take this item from this fridge on your route 1:40:54.960 --> 1:40:56.960 and put it into this fridge on your route, and 1:40:57.000 --> 1:41:00.360 it's giving them all that feedback in real time start 1:41:00.360 --> 1:41:02.960 to finish. The whole technology process is about how do 1:41:03.000 --> 1:41:06.000 you make fresh food scalable? And really that's about inventory management. 1:41:06.640 --> 1:41:08.360 The one question I had was when I bought my 1:41:08.439 --> 1:41:10.200 salad and I took it on my flight, how long 1:41:10.240 --> 1:41:12.519 do I have to eat this? How long can I 1:41:12.600 --> 1:41:15.000 keep this salad out of the fridge and still consume 1:41:15.040 --> 1:41:16.400 it safely? Yeah? 1:41:16.439 --> 1:41:19.200 So, I mean, obviously I recommend eating the salad when 1:41:19.200 --> 1:41:21.599 you get out of the fridge for just taste and quality, 1:41:21.640 --> 1:41:25.880 because it's cold and it's crisp. But generally speaking, the 1:41:26.200 --> 1:41:28.280 guidelines for fresh food or you want to keep it 1:41:28.680 --> 1:41:32.320 under forty degrees. If it's over forty degrees after four hours, 1:41:32.320 --> 1:41:35.120 you definitely want to throw it away. US For example, 1:41:35.160 --> 1:41:37.720 the fridge actually if it goes above forty degrees for 1:41:37.800 --> 1:41:39.360 more than an hour will shut down. 1:41:39.439 --> 1:41:40.479 You cannot buy anything. 1:41:41.160 --> 1:41:43.840 So but in general, if you're a consumer, you're on 1:41:43.880 --> 1:41:46.280 your flight, you have before our flight, you bought that salad, 1:41:46.400 --> 1:41:48.560 you should still eat it. Is my recommendation. 1:41:49.520 --> 1:41:51.360 What's the goal of all this, what's the goal of 1:41:51.400 --> 1:41:54.360 Farmer's Fridge. The goal is really simple. 1:41:54.439 --> 1:41:56.799 Farmer's Fridge wants to make fresh, healthy food as accessible 1:41:56.800 --> 1:41:59.160 as a candy bar. And what that means is you 1:41:59.200 --> 1:42:01.639 should anytime you see a candy bar, have the option 1:42:01.720 --> 1:42:03.920 to also get a salad, not because you shouldn't have 1:42:03.960 --> 1:42:06.120 a candy bar, but just because we're going to give 1:42:06.160 --> 1:42:06.840 people the option. 1:42:06.920 --> 1:42:08.120 We don't even want you to think. 1:42:07.920 --> 1:42:10.720 About this as healthy food. It's just something that's convenient 1:42:10.760 --> 1:42:12.920 and affordable and tastes good, and so you want to 1:42:12.960 --> 1:42:15.519 buy more of it. And so until we're kind of 1:42:15.560 --> 1:42:18.720 everywhere and that's true, we're gonna keep going. 1:42:18.960 --> 1:42:21.640 Luke Saunders from farmers Fridge dot com, thanks so much 1:42:21.680 --> 1:42:23.840 for joining me today. Thank you so much for having me, 1:42:23.880 --> 1:42:26.599 appreciating on coming up more of your phone calls at 1:42:26.640 --> 1:42:29.160 Triple eight rich one oh one, you are listening to 1:42:29.640 --> 1:42:35.960 rich on Tech. Welcome back to rich on Tech. Rich 1:42:36.000 --> 1:42:40.360 DeMuro here hanging out with you, talking technology. Website for 1:42:40.400 --> 1:42:44.800 the show is richon Tech dot TV. Now it's time 1:42:44.840 --> 1:42:47.559 for the feedback segment. These are the emails and the 1:42:47.600 --> 1:42:51.160 comments I get from you, and for the last show 1:42:51.360 --> 1:42:54.439 of the year, I figured I would do something special. 1:42:54.920 --> 1:42:57.360 Now I post a lot on social media, but I 1:42:57.439 --> 1:43:00.240 can't always respond to each and every comment. But I 1:43:00.280 --> 1:43:03.000 do read a lot of them, so I figured for 1:43:03.120 --> 1:43:06.599 this show I would read your comments about the show. 1:43:07.240 --> 1:43:09.439 It was a big change for me to start something 1:43:09.479 --> 1:43:12.320 new after Leo had been doing this for so long. 1:43:12.800 --> 1:43:15.760 But fifty two shows later, if you count this one, 1:43:16.080 --> 1:43:18.720 I am so glad you stuck with me, and hopefully 1:43:19.120 --> 1:43:21.960 I found some new listeners as well. And by the way, 1:43:21.960 --> 1:43:24.000 we're gonna do this again next year. I can't wait 1:43:24.080 --> 1:43:26.479 to bring you more tech news, more interviews, more tips, 1:43:26.520 --> 1:43:29.960 more tricks, more gadgets to make your life easier and 1:43:30.080 --> 1:43:34.360 help you feel more informed. Without further ado, let's go 1:43:34.439 --> 1:43:37.720 to the feedbag. Art says, very impressed with how you 1:43:37.800 --> 1:43:42.080 inform the masses about cyber and social media. Yes, that's 1:43:42.080 --> 1:43:45.880 a big part of the show. Cyber security is a 1:43:46.160 --> 1:43:49.479 huge deal in this world, and just staying ahead of 1:43:49.520 --> 1:43:54.160 these scam artists is a big part of avoiding falling 1:43:54.240 --> 1:43:56.960 victim to a lot of this stuff. Jim says, you 1:43:57.040 --> 1:44:01.080 are the best. Rich listening as always from Phoenix, Arizona. 1:44:01.680 --> 1:44:05.880 Thank you Jim for listening from Phoenix, Arizona. Caroline says 1:44:06.040 --> 1:44:10.040 I loved you on TV then on Tech Tuesdays with Handel. 1:44:10.439 --> 1:44:13.200 Thank you, Rich, You are so kind giving advice to 1:44:13.240 --> 1:44:17.120 the seniors and others that are not tech savvy, not 1:44:17.439 --> 1:44:20.680 in big letters, and yes, the advice to seniors and 1:44:20.720 --> 1:44:22.960 others that are not tech savvy. That is the whole 1:44:23.040 --> 1:44:26.480 point of this show. Is that I want the average 1:44:26.520 --> 1:44:29.559 person to be informed about this stuff. That is the thing. 1:44:30.040 --> 1:44:33.720 Techi's can listen and enjoy the information, but if you're 1:44:33.760 --> 1:44:37.400 not techie, you can still listen and enjoy learning in 1:44:37.439 --> 1:44:41.200 a very easy to understand way. Ronnie says, love your show, 1:44:41.320 --> 1:44:44.719 kept it sweet and simple. Sue says, always learn something 1:44:44.800 --> 1:44:48.000 new on your informative show. Thank you, Sue, I'm glad 1:44:48.040 --> 1:44:50.760 that you do that. Greg says Merry Christmas twenty twenty three. 1:44:50.840 --> 1:44:53.439 Much happiness and blessings to you and your lovely family. 1:44:53.800 --> 1:44:57.759 Happy Holidays, Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to you as well. Greg. 1:44:58.160 --> 1:45:01.560 Jeffrey says, I am a local truck in southern California 1:45:01.600 --> 1:45:04.680 and listen to Rich every Saturday morning. I believe I 1:45:04.760 --> 1:45:07.960 was even one of his first listeners ever asking questions 1:45:08.000 --> 1:45:10.240 on the radio. When he started it was about my 1:45:10.360 --> 1:45:13.679 Apple TV. Let me see, Jeffrey, do I remember that one? 1:45:13.760 --> 1:45:15.880 I think I do. Actually, I think your Apple TV 1:45:16.200 --> 1:45:17.800 was I don't know, it's been a while. I can't 1:45:17.840 --> 1:45:20.479 believe from day one to now we have gone an 1:45:20.640 --> 1:45:24.120 entire year. That is wild. Mike says, Rich, thank you, 1:45:24.160 --> 1:45:26.519 my friend for taking my call in question. It is 1:45:26.600 --> 1:45:29.479 always great to talk with you, buddy. Your radio show 1:45:29.560 --> 1:45:32.960 is amazing. Keep up the good work. Merry Christmas to 1:45:33.000 --> 1:45:35.760 you and your family. Merry Christmas to you, Mike. Mike 1:45:35.920 --> 1:45:39.559 was a listener of this show when I did it 1:45:39.600 --> 1:45:42.960 as a podcast. There were many iterations of this show, 1:45:43.000 --> 1:45:46.000 so it started out as a Facebook live which became 1:45:46.040 --> 1:45:48.120 a podcast, and I would basically just sit in front 1:45:48.120 --> 1:45:50.519 of my computer and I rigged up a way to 1:45:50.560 --> 1:45:53.599 have people call in the show from their cell phone 1:45:53.640 --> 1:45:55.880 and I answered it on my cell phone. It was 1:45:55.920 --> 1:45:58.280 not pretty, believe me. We have a much better system 1:45:58.320 --> 1:46:01.040 now with Kim and our call screener and our phone system. 1:46:01.280 --> 1:46:03.439 But it was fun and some of the same people 1:46:03.479 --> 1:46:06.160 called over and over. Mike was one of them. Thanks Mike, 1:46:06.600 --> 1:46:11.160 Guy says, as always great stuff in caps. Thank you guy, 1:46:11.920 --> 1:46:14.880 Lily says, listening to you while I do my Saturday 1:46:14.920 --> 1:46:19.599 house chores, I enjoy your show from La Joya. Thank you, Lily, 1:46:19.680 --> 1:46:23.200 listening from La Joya. That is a beautiful place. Bruce says, 1:46:23.240 --> 1:46:26.439 you are considerate, you care, and we appreciate your efforts. 1:46:26.640 --> 1:46:29.880 Thank you rich Well. Thank you Bruce for noticing that, 1:46:30.000 --> 1:46:32.200 because I do try to be considerate, I do care, 1:46:32.320 --> 1:46:35.240 and I'm glad you appreciate my effort because it is 1:46:35.280 --> 1:46:37.559 a lot of effort. I work five days at the 1:46:37.560 --> 1:46:39.479 TV station that I come in here to do the 1:46:39.560 --> 1:46:42.559 radio show, and so believe me, I do this because 1:46:42.600 --> 1:46:44.880 I really love it and I really do want to 1:46:44.920 --> 1:46:47.880 reach as many people as possible and help them with 1:46:47.880 --> 1:46:51.080 their technology. Susan says, never miss you listening now, You're 1:46:51.080 --> 1:46:54.960 the best. We listen every Saturday on KFI. Thank you 1:46:55.080 --> 1:46:58.480 Susan for listening on KFI, our big station in Los Angeles. 1:46:58.920 --> 1:47:01.400 Michelle says, I really like your radio show. I listened 1:47:01.439 --> 1:47:03.920 on the iHeart app while working at home. I've been 1:47:03.960 --> 1:47:06.360 working on shortcuts. I built one to detect when I'm 1:47:06.360 --> 1:47:09.799 at the office to turn down my ringer volume. Good stuff, 1:47:10.479 --> 1:47:13.599 Thanks Michelle. We talked about shortcuts on the show. We 1:47:13.640 --> 1:47:16.479 had Matthew Cassanelli on the show, and he talked about 1:47:16.520 --> 1:47:20.280 those little sort of programming hacks you can do on 1:47:20.320 --> 1:47:23.519 your iPhone that automate certain tasks, So I'm glad that 1:47:23.560 --> 1:47:25.439 you figure that out. Maria says, thank you for all 1:47:25.479 --> 1:47:28.360 the good information you give us. Rich Mike says, was 1:47:28.600 --> 1:47:30.960 just listening to Rich on tech in the car. Keep 1:47:30.960 --> 1:47:34.320 bringing us to good tech. It always amazes me when 1:47:34.400 --> 1:47:36.320 people come up to me and they say, Rich, I 1:47:36.360 --> 1:47:39.000 can listen to you in my car. It's still even 1:47:39.040 --> 1:47:41.400 though I know how radio works and I know this show, 1:47:41.479 --> 1:47:43.320 but it's still just wild to me that you can 1:47:43.360 --> 1:47:45.600 tune in. And I think this really occurred to me 1:47:45.640 --> 1:47:48.320 when I was on vacation and I just found a 1:47:48.360 --> 1:47:50.960 local station that was playing the show and I could 1:47:50.960 --> 1:47:52.840 hear myself. It was a tape show, and it was 1:47:52.960 --> 1:47:54.599 just I only do that a couple times a year, 1:47:54.800 --> 1:47:57.479 but it was just so wild to hear myself on 1:47:57.600 --> 1:48:01.040 a random radio station in a town. It was really 1:48:01.080 --> 1:48:04.760 really cool. Pat says, great show on KFI. Jim says, 1:48:04.800 --> 1:48:07.679 absolutely nobody does it better than Rich with two thumbs up. 1:48:08.320 --> 1:48:11.000 Elvira says, I learned so much from your show. I 1:48:11.040 --> 1:48:13.439 am not very techy, but with your show, I have 1:48:13.560 --> 1:48:16.040 learned a few things. Thank you, Elvira. That is the 1:48:16.720 --> 1:48:20.440 hope here Karen says, sometimes I listen to live and podcast. 1:48:20.560 --> 1:48:25.000 Oh wow, double dipping. Thank you Karen for listening to both. Hey, 1:48:25.200 --> 1:48:27.160 you know if you miss something live, you get the podcast. 1:48:27.200 --> 1:48:29.680 Why not. Casey says, great show, but it was a 1:48:29.760 --> 1:48:32.559 rookie move to say Alexa as many times as you did. 1:48:32.880 --> 1:48:36.639 A couple of weeks ago, my echoes lost their robot minds. 1:48:38.240 --> 1:48:41.000 This is a real problem because I'm always talking about 1:48:41.000 --> 1:48:44.200 these smart assistants, you know, whether it is Google, whether 1:48:44.280 --> 1:48:47.720 it's alex A, whether it's Siri, and they activate and 1:48:47.760 --> 1:48:50.559 you're usually listening on the device perhaps that these things 1:48:50.600 --> 1:48:53.360 are they're in the room, and yeah, it's a problem. 1:48:53.400 --> 1:48:56.360 So I'm trying. Drew says I've listened to you every 1:48:56.479 --> 1:48:59.400 week through your podcast. I love your show and the format. 1:48:59.479 --> 1:49:03.519 Thank you. I appreciate it. Eileen says, we really enjoy 1:49:03.720 --> 1:49:06.240 the show. Betty says, love your show. 1:49:06.320 --> 1:49:06.479 Rick. 1:49:06.640 --> 1:49:08.519 I love when people call me Rick because I don't 1:49:08.560 --> 1:49:11.040 ever call myself Rick, but people do. Oh wow, we 1:49:11.080 --> 1:49:13.559 got a bunch more. Let's see here. Leo says, great show. 1:49:13.560 --> 1:49:16.920 Always educational and I'm so happy to listen to something 1:49:16.920 --> 1:49:19.360 on the radio that is about someone who sincerely wants 1:49:19.400 --> 1:49:23.240 to help another. Thank you well, thank you, Leo. I 1:49:23.280 --> 1:49:25.639 don't think that's the Leo, but it is a Leo. 1:49:26.080 --> 1:49:28.640 Jones says every weekend I listen, and Frank says, I 1:49:28.680 --> 1:49:31.160 would love to listen to your show. However, I acquired 1:49:31.200 --> 1:49:36.439 a BMWIFO full electric and it has no AM radio. Frank, yes, 1:49:36.600 --> 1:49:40.160 you and all the tesla's out there. In Los Angeles, 1:49:40.160 --> 1:49:43.640 you can actually listen on Coast HD two. They simulcast 1:49:43.680 --> 1:49:46.040 the show or the KFI signal, I should say, But 1:49:46.160 --> 1:49:48.680 in other cities it all depends. I think in some 1:49:48.840 --> 1:49:52.120 cities the AM stations are on an HD two. You 1:49:52.200 --> 1:49:53.880 just have to look for that information. But you can 1:49:53.920 --> 1:49:58.400 always use an app as well to listen live. Richard says, Hey, Rick, 1:49:58.560 --> 1:50:02.040 I really enjoy your show. Up the good work. Erica says, 1:50:02.120 --> 1:50:05.280 all the time I listen, I learned something new each week. 1:50:06.000 --> 1:50:09.080 Thank you, Daniel, and Alabama says, great show and great 1:50:09.120 --> 1:50:12.080 moving into the slot. Although I've always been a podcast listener, 1:50:12.200 --> 1:50:16.120 Leo or rich versus the radio do mostly to my location. Thankfully, 1:50:16.120 --> 1:50:18.120 that means I was listening to you for quite some 1:50:18.280 --> 1:50:21.920 time before the transition. Rick says, I've listened to Leo 1:50:22.040 --> 1:50:24.559 for years. I was disappointed in his retirement, but you 1:50:24.560 --> 1:50:27.599 have stepped up to the plate. Very well. Good job, Oscar, 1:50:27.720 --> 1:50:31.080 says long time listener. Enjoy your one of a kind 1:50:31.520 --> 1:50:36.400 show providing a gambit of information, tips and help. Oscar, 1:50:36.520 --> 1:50:39.240 thank you so much, and I appreciate all of the 1:50:39.439 --> 1:50:43.760 kind words. Believe me, it does not go unnoticed. I 1:50:43.880 --> 1:50:46.000 love when I hear from you, and I love the 1:50:46.040 --> 1:50:48.960 feedback on the show, good or bad. Believe me, I 1:50:49.080 --> 1:50:53.080 do take the constructive criticism as well. But it sounds 1:50:53.120 --> 1:50:55.000 like you like the show. So I'm gonna keep doing 1:50:55.040 --> 1:50:57.799 what I do and thank you so much for listening. 1:50:58.160 --> 1:51:00.479 You can always find me on social media. I'm mostly 1:51:00.520 --> 1:51:02.760 on Instagram, but I'm also on Facebook and x. I 1:51:02.800 --> 1:51:06.160 am at rich on Tech on all of those places. Now, 1:51:06.160 --> 1:51:08.120 if you don't subscribe to this show as a podcast, 1:51:08.240 --> 1:51:10.679 just search rich on Tech in your favorite audio app 1:51:10.720 --> 1:51:13.200 and you'll never miss a thing. And if you like 1:51:13.280 --> 1:51:15.880 what you hear right here, be sure to watch my 1:51:15.960 --> 1:51:19.040 TV segments. I cover a wide variety of tech topics. 1:51:19.439 --> 1:51:22.960 Just go to Richontech dot tv to watch them. If 1:51:23.000 --> 1:51:25.240 you can believe it, that's going to do it. For 1:51:25.439 --> 1:51:29.000 one year of this show. Next week we'll get a 1:51:29.040 --> 1:51:31.719 preview of CS in Las Vegas, one of the biggest 1:51:31.760 --> 1:51:34.800 tech shows in the world. That's where I'm headed next. 1:51:35.320 --> 1:51:37.519 Thank you so much for listening. There are so many 1:51:37.520 --> 1:51:40.400 ways you can spend your time. I really do appreciate 1:51:40.439 --> 1:51:41.679 you spending it right. 1:51:41.520 --> 1:51:42.240 Here with me. 1:51:42.800 --> 1:51:46.639 Thanks to everyone who makes this show possible, Bobo, Kim, Bill, 1:51:46.880 --> 1:51:51.920 Adam Robin, Julie, the engineers, and of course you. My 1:51:52.040 --> 1:51:54.800 name is rich Demiro. Have a happy New Year. I'll 1:51:54.800 --> 1:51:56.200 talk to you real soon.