WEBVTT - Surprisingly good $40 earbuds 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:14.160 iPhone gets a lockdown mode, excellent earbuds for just forty bucks, 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:18.560 my favorite video editing apps, plus your tech questions answered. 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.120 What's going on? I'm Rich Demiro and this is Rich 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:23.599 on Tech, the podcast where I talk about the tech 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.759 stuff I think you should know about, and it's the 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:31.200 place where I answer the questions you sent me. I'm 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:34.760 a tech reporter at KTLA Channel five in Los Angeles. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:39.640 Welcome to the show. Hope you're having a fantastic week. 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:45.199 Welcome to my friends listening on Twitter spaces. Sometimes when 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:47.720 I'm recording the podcast just depends how I'm feeling if 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:49.839 I want to live stream it or not. There's a 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.239 little bit more pressure with the live stream because you 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:54.720 kind of see people coming in and out, maybe people 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:58.280 are clapping whatever they're doing. But the reality is it's 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.480 just me and you for the next hour here, and 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.000 we're going to talk about some of the stuff that 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.320 I think is important. All right, let's talk about the 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:09.160 new lockdown mode on iOS sixteen. This is for the iPhone. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.680 So this is a mode on the iPhone you probably 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:16.400 will never have to use, but it is in extreme 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.280 security mode. Do you remember back in the day, I 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.720 think it was President Obama who had a BlackBerry for 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:26.240 a long time, and everyone was kind of giving him 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.920 a little bit of grief because it's like, come on, 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:31.640 get an iPhone. And then it came out that you 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:35.520 can't just give the president an iPhone because of the 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:40.319 security implications of the iPhone. Now, eventually that changed, and 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:43.120 I don't know if we lessened the security on the 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.640 president's phone or we just decided it was fine. But 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.280 you know, we do know that presidents, I think even 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.120 Obama towards the end, and we know other presidents have 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.880 had the iPhone, so I guess now it's fine. But anyway, 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.280 the reality is if you are a journal or a dissident, 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:05.240 or an activist, or a head of state or someone 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:08.440 with a high net worth, you are targeted all the time, 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.360 and you're targeted by malware, by spyware, by governments trying 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:16.680 to get in on your phone. There's all kinds of 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.280 threat levels that you are exposed to. And so Apple 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.920 knows this. For the average person, I mean, we always 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.920 hear about security with the phones, but the reality is, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.959 for the average person, the biggest security risk is themselves, 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.360 and that is because they may click on a link 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:40.880 that either tries to steal their information via phishing. In 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:43.960 the worst case scenario, it may download malware to your phone, 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.160 but that is like very very small chance, especially with 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.760 the way the architecture of the iPhone is designed. That's 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.440 just really really tough to do, but it happens. And 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:59.120 so now this new lockdown mode is to gear towards 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.680 protecting a very small number of users who may be 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.000 a risk of a highly targeted cyber attack. And the 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.360 feature is going to be built into iOS sixteen. It's 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.440 also going to be built into the iPad and the 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.800 new mac os Ventura. Right now, it's in the betas, 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.720 it will be in maybe not the public beta, I'm 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:18.760 not sure, but it will be in the final version 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:21.760 that's released in the fall. So lockdown mode is turned 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.200 off by default. You can enable it in the Privacy 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:28.600 and Security section. And once it's turned on, here's what's 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:32.480 going to happen. Messages app most message attachments will be blocked. 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:35.360 In coming FaceTime calls from people who don't know those 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.520 will be blocked. Web browsing will be impacted. A lot 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.080 of the JavaScript type things, anything that requires a little 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:46.520 bit of extra things to run on the web browser. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.600 That will be blocked. Shared albums on the photos app 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.960 will be blocked when the device is in lockdown. Wired 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:57.520 connections will be blocked or I guess when the device 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:01.600 is locked, but they do that anyway. Figuration profiles will 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:07.080 be not accessible. So the phone kind of becomes a 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.800 very basic device that you can use to make and 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:13.040 receive phone calls, and nothing can sort of make its 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.279 way onto that device. So whether it's you know, spyware, malware, 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:24.640 any sort of key loggers, whatever that these organizations might 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.640 be using to spy, it just won't be possible to 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.720 put that on the iPhone. And so again, this is 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.880 something that not a lot of people need, but it's 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.359 really really smart that Apple has this mode on the 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:41.200 phone because if someone needs this, it is available, and 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:46.479 it's available quickly, simply, and it's accessible to everyone from 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.279 a person who's just speaking out against their government to 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.880 someone who is, you know whatever, I mean, any sort 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:55.839 of situation you're in, maybe you're in a country that 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:59.000 you don't feel safe in and you're worried about spying, 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:03.480 you can act this mode. So again iOS sixteen lockdown 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:09.120 mode coming in the fall on the iPhone. All right, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.800 let's get to the first question comes from Dave. Hey, 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:14.840 my name is Dave. It appeals. It appears my email 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:17.880 has been compromised. I'm getting a ton of emails from 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:19.960 people that I don't know, who seem to think that 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.239 I've sent them a scamming type of email. I've placed 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.520 a complaint with the FTC, but I haven't received any 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.760 type of help from them stopping the emails I'm getting. Well, 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.279 I didn't expect them to stop them. Is there anything 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:32.880 you know of that I can do? Any help would 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.279 be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Dave. Dave, it sounds like 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:41.400 your email account was hacked or compromised. Most likely just compromised, 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.800 like you said, Uh, probably in one of two ways. 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.960 Either I'm guessing that and I don't want to place 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.719 the blame on you, but I'm guessing that at some 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.280 point you clicked a link and logged in with your 0:05:56.320 --> 0:06:00.479 email or handed over your password unwillingly or I should 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.120 say unwittingly, like you didn't know this was happening, and 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.479 once they got a hold of your email, they then 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.400 turned your email into a bot account that would then 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:13.359 send out emails on your behalf with spammy messages and 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.840 the reason why they do that is because when hackers 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:20.440 get a hold of your email account, that's a good 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:24.039 email account, and so the chances that your email will 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.120 go through the spam filters on Gmail and Outlook and 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.479 Yahoo and all these other things is pretty good because 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.920 your email account has a track record of being legitimate, 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.719 and so they use that to their advantage. So what 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.159 can you do, Well, what you need to do is 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.520 change your password immediately, if that's even possible. If you 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.880 can still try to log in from a web page, 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.760 log in, change your password, and then I would go 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.760 in and set up two factor authentication. You're emailing me 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:56.560 from an att dot net email address. I'm not sure 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.400 if that's the one that got compromised, but if it is, 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.560 a just definitely go in, try to change the password, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.600 turn on two factor authentication, and then the other thing 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:08.120 I would do, and you're gonna have to search to 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.080 see how to do this is what's called log out 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:16.360 of all active devices. So most of the systems these days, 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.720 some of the big social media companies, the apps, the 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.679 email the Googles of the world, they have provisions for 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.600 helping you log out of any device that you've previously 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.280 authorized and then what that does is it triggers a 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.920 new authorization. So to understand this better, you know, you 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.160 log into your email on your computer at work, and 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:41.160 you know, let's say you're your personal account. You don't 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.880 necessarily have to log into that every single day when 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.000 you come into work. Maybe once every couple of weeks. 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.560 It might ask you to reauthorize your password, but for 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.640 the most part, you just sit down, you go to 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:56.000 Gmail dot com and it's already logged in somehow magically. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.640 So they're doing that with a combination of cookies and 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:05.920 also so some sort of algorithm security that they have built, saying, Okay, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.040 it seems like this is pretty secure, seems like there's 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.280 not anything weird happening on this computer. We're going to 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.840 allow this connection until we think that something changes. And 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.640 in the case of that manual change that I talked about, 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.760 if you trigger that, it's something that will log out. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.160 It sends a little notice to all these systems that 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.280 are logged in, saying the next time someone tries to 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.280 use this account, ask them for their password again. And 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.360 you can do this on Netflix, you can do it 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.200 on I believe Google. I know you can do it 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.200 on their Apple you can log out devices, so basically 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:39.320 you want to look for a functionality to log out 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:42.320 all active devices. Sometimes you can even see a list 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.160 of these devices, but that is probably what you want 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.880 to do, Dave, to reclaim this email. If it's an 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:50.800 email that you don't really care about anymore, you can 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.160 delete the account completely. But it depends what type of 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.800 account you're using. But that's what I would recommend. This 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.600 happens every day. Don't use the same path word over 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.679 and over. That's number one. Definitely use a password manager 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:09.560 if you can, and use two factor authentication on every 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.280 single account that you can think of that supports it, 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.679 and not just two factor. But I would use an 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.760 app to generate the authentication codes. I would not just 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.880 send them to your text message because phone numbers can 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.000 be compromised and it's much more secure to do it 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.360 to an app. And I know this stuff is so 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.800 it's so complicated, and I think I talked about this 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:37.160 when I was in when I came back from my trip, 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.360 but you know, I was in New Jersey just kind 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.720 of dealing with my family and watching how they deal 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:45.040 with stuff. And it's a real struggle for people with 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.920 these passwords and with the security. I mean, people stay 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:50.880 logged in on a computer and if that thing gets 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.040 logged out, like their entire world goes away because they 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:58.240 don't know whether where their password is and they don't 0:09:58.240 --> 0:09:59.679 know how to get back in, or they don't know 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.920 which email address they used, or they don't know where 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:06.280 they saved it. I mean, it's pretty wild how loosey 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:10.079 goosey people are with this password and security stuff. And 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:12.760 I just to me, I don't get it. I do 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.680 get it, because there have been times when I've wanted 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.840 to quickly log into a website where I'm ready to 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.320 just throw all caution into the wind and say all right, 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:24.439 let me just use whatever, and then I'd have to 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.720 sit there and say, no, wait, what's the repercussion of 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.400 this later? Later? Yeah, it's going to be easy for 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.319 me to log in, but if I don't take good 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.000 notes and if I don't put down the information that 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.800 I need later, it's going to come back to bite me. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.840 And so good example, I was trying to log into 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:43.200 my kids. We set up like a frequent flyer account 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.480 for him when he was born and we've been using 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.200 it ever since, and I was like, oh, I'm curious 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.720 how many miles my kid has racked up in this account? 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.520 And sure enough, I went into my password manager and 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.000 I had no recollection of I had his password. But then, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:10:59.960 because it had been so long, that I logged in 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:03.280 and asked me for his security questions, and of course 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:04.839 I couldn't come up with the answers because I never 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.520 use real answers for security questions because that's too obvious. 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:12.199 So I always make up answers or use answers that 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:14.920 are not true. But you have to keep track of 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.719 those answers because the problem is when you come back 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.120 to answer those, they're not the true answers, Like what's 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.280 the color of the house you grew up in? Why 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:25.400 would I use that when someone could look up the 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.720 house I grew up on Google Maps and see what 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.080 color it is. And now Google Maps let's you go 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:32.319 back in time, so you could just go back in 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.040 time and see all the different colors of that house 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.120 over the years. So my advice is to actually use 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:44.480 another generated password in place of these answers. Now, not 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.120 every website lets you put in your own answer, but 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.000 a lot of them do. Some of them make you 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.480 select them. If they make you select them, just select 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.679 a random answer. I usually take a screenshot of that 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.880 and then I will put that in a secure place, 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:00.920 or I will write down the question and answers in 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.960 my password manager in the notes section. Of course, I 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.600 did neither of that, so I had to figure out 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.760 the answers to these questions, which was not easy. So 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:14.920 that's my advice. But you got to just keep on 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:16.720 top of this stuff. I know it's complicated, I know 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.160 it's a pain, but it's I'm telling you, just a 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.679 couple of minutes of time on the front end, we'll 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:23.360 save you a lot of headaches on the back end. 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.480 All right, let's talk about these forty dollars earbuds. So 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.280 I had these forty dollars one plus earbuds sitting around 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.880 my house for I don't know, a couple weeks at 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.040 least maybe a month or two before I got around 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:40.160 reviewing them. Because they're earbuds, I get sent so many 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.720 earbuds and ninety nine percent of the time I put 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.280 them in my ears for about ten seconds and I say, Nope, 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:50.120 these are not the ones, and that's it. Now. These 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.160 I put in my ears after I got back from Rome, 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:54.959 and I meant to take them to Rome, but I 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:56.480 didn't want to test them on the trip because I 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:01.319 needed noise cancelation earbuds, so I waited till I got back. 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.240 I put them my ears. I was like, all right, 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.280 let me try these for a workout. Immediately as soon 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:07.839 as I put them my ears. There's certain types of 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:09.960 earbuds that when you put them in, they sort of 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.880 like magnetically attached to your ears. I'm not saying with magnets, 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:16.000 but they just feel like they just fit so perfectly 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.440 that they're not going to come out, and I'm like, oh, okay, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.120 that's a good first sign. Then they were easy to pair. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.240 They don't have fast pairing, but they were easy to 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.040 pair because they have a little button on the back 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.120 and they were paired in seconds. And the next thing 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.079 you know, I'm playing music, it sounds good, I'm working out. 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.480 They don't fall out of my ears, and I'm just like, Okay, 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.600 I think I'm onto something here. I think these are 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.640 a winner. And so I kept using them for a 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.680 little bit, and then I did an interview with someone 0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:47.520 at nine to five Google who also reviewed them, and 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:50.480 he agreed that he really liked them and didn't want 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.360 to like them because of the price tag, and I 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:57.840 think the OnePlus Nord buds are a winner. Forty dollars 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:01.599 and what do you get? You get simple wireless earbuds. 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.880 They come in a case that is definitely an odd shape. 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:06.880 It's a little bit bulky, it's a little bit not 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.040 sort of ergonomic in your hands, but it works. It 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.480 charges the earbuds. You get seven hours on a charge 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.800 and then thirty hours if you include the case, so 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.480 that's a pretty good charge. Then you also have USB 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.120 C on the back, which I like. So they didn't 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.920 put the micro USB C or micro USB which some 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.160 it's actually happening a lot less. But you know, that's 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.640 one way that manufacturers can be a little cheap with things. 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:37.120 Let's see what else unique design. They've got tappable areas 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.000 on the side so you can play, skip and pause 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.240 your music. They're comfortable, Like I said, they stay in 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:45.800 your ears. There's four microphones total for high quality phone calls. 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.520 I made a phone call to my brother. He said 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.240 it sounded excellent, so as opposed to sometimes when I 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:53.040 call him when I'm testing earbuds, and he said, what 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.160 are you in a cave right now? He said, none 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:58.560 of that the sound is excellent. Like I said, there's 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:00.520 no sensor, so when you pull all these out of 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:02.720 your ears, I've gotten so used to these sensors on 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.480 all these earbuds that will play and pause music. That 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:08.160 did not happen this time because these don't have those 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.400 built in sensors, so you will have to do that manually. 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.440 The music sounds good. It's not the best sounding earbuds 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.320 I've ever tested, but again, forty dollars, so you get 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.360 what you pay for. You get a lot of features 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.440 for this forty dollars. They're good for just everyday use. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:25.880 I would not recommend these if you are traveling with 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:29.040 them on a plane because they don't block out a 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:31.400 lot of exterior sound. They do block out some because 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.920 they kind of seal up your ears, which typically I 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.360 don't like. But these are totally comfortable. But they're good 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.280 for music, good for phone calls, good for exercising. They're 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.320 on sale now again. They're called the one plus nord Buds. 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.080 They only come in one color, black slate. They're on 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.360 sale at Amazon and OnePlus website. Personally, i'd get them 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.080 from Amazon just because they're easy to return if you 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.800 end up not liking them, but we did feature them 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.280 on KTLA, so they were sold out out after about 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:03.320 two seconds. So of course I put them on TV 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.360 in the five am hour, and I immediately got the 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.560 emails from people saying you can't purchase them, but I 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.560 you know, look Amazon, they restock stuff pretty quickly. I 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.840 assume these will be restocked, so I would just continue 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.080 to kind of monitor there. But you can also buy 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:25.200 them from the OnePlus website as well. I've I don't 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.200 know what that purchase experience is like for these, but 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:33.040 it says it's free shipping, so I don't know, Maybe 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.280 take your chances there. But again, one plus nord Buds, 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:41.760 nord is sort of their inexpensive line of phones, and 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.120 then Nord is, I guess just their budget stuff in general. 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.360 But I love the one plus What were they the 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.680 one plus buds pro last year, but those were closer 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.400 to one hundred and something dollars. These are like forty bucks. 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:58.440 I'm not kidding. Really really great deal for inexpensive headphones, 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.320 so go check them out. I'll put the line in 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:08.159 the show notes. Brenda says, Rich, I'm hoping you have 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.920 some suggestions. My eighty eight year old father keeps falling 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.040 for scams on his computer. He has a PC. Originally 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.000 I was hoping he wouldn't need an email, because that's 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.080 how the scams get him. Trying to find out if 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.000 there's a good computer printal lock or something I could 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:22.720 do to protect him. I'm going to get him a 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:24.480 new Gmail account, and I didn't know if I should 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.919 get him a Chromebook or any computer. I know this 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.040 isn't worded very well, but I think you could understand 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.480 what I'm asking for. Thank you so much, Brenda, Brenda, 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:34.679 I get it. Your dad keeps falling for the oldest 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.199 tricks in the book, which these scam artists have gotten 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:41.680 very very good at. The phishing scams, the Amazon emails, 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.880 the emails that want your phone number and your address 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.000 and your logins and oh, your Gmail account is messed up. 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.720 I mean, there's so many scams out there. A lot 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.600 of them have to do with phishing, which they send 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.560 an email that looks like it's something legitimate, and next 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.920 thing you know, you log in and your account is cut, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.199 or they ask you to send them gift cards, or 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.080 they want you to put in your credit card number 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.200 so you can fix something, whatever it is. It's it's 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:12.080 all out there. It's happening every single day. And yes, 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:18.000 the elderly, less tech savvy, or anyone honestly can fall 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.720 for these scams given the right circumstances. And I always 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.159 give the example of our banks. So banks like to 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:29.119 send a lot of emails and text nowadays with fraud alerts. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.440 Hey did you just use your credit card? Here? Press 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.720 one or reply one to say yes, reply to to 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.560 say no. Hey, we're just confirming that you purchase this, 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.960 or hey, your your membership is confirmed. Click here to 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.600 you know, check out the details whatever. Anyone can fall 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.480 for this stuff, and it's just a matter of taking 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.159 a little bit of a pause. And in fact, I'm 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.120 gonna quote from this website that I'm going to refer 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:59.760 you to scamspotter dot org. So here are the three 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:04.960 golden rules of scams. Number one, slow it down. According 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:07.879 to the website, scammers often create a sense of urgency 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.280 so they can bypass your better instincts. Take your time 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.399 and ask questions to avoid being rushed into a bad situation. 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.159 If you need to act fast, just don't do it. 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.600 Number two, spot check do your research to This is 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.040 again from the website scamspotter dot org. Do your research 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.640 to double check the details you're getting. If you get 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.760 an unexpected phone call, hang up, look up the bank, 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.880 the agency, or the organization that's supposedly calling, and get 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.520 in touch with them directly. The IRS does not call you. 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:42.440 Your phone company does not call you. Your bank does 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:47.360 not call you, your Google does not call you, the whatever, 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.080 Amazon does not call you. These companies rarely call, and 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:55.280 they rarely call and ask for immediate action. Number three, stop, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.359 don't send. No reputable person or agency will ever demand 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:01.919 payment on the spot. Often scammers tell you to go 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:03.600 buy gift cards, which are meant to be given as 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.520 a gift, not as payment under a threat. So if 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:09.960 you think something feels fishy, it probably is. Do not 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.080 send gift cards. So it's at Target the other day 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:14.240 they have a signed by the gift card section that says, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.800 if you're buying this gift card to send us a 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:20.520 payment to someone, don't do it. I don't even understand 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:24.320 how someone could fall for that, but again I'm not judging. 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.080 People do. And what they do is they make you 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.040 scratch off the back of the gift card, read them 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:32.280 the numbers and the code and they use that gift 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:37.360 card instantly, it's untraceable, it's done, it's fast, your money's gone. 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:39.560 They they get the money, and you never hear from 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:41.800 them again. So again, the website I would show your 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:45.640 dad is scamspotder dot org. Watch the little videos with him, 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.960 take the quizzes, and share this with your friends, because 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:53.000 I'm telling you, it's just really, really a wild West 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.600 out there on the internet. And you're sitting here listening 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:58.000 to a podcast. You're a little bit more tech savvy 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:02.239 than the average person, telling you. People fall for this 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.720 stuff every single day. Smart people. I get the emails. 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.959 Believe me, parents of people, siblings of people, friends of people, 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.960 regular people. You don't have to be quote unquote stupid 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:16.040 to fall for this stuff. You don't have to be 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.639 uneducated to fall for this stuff. You just have to 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:24.240 be a human being that is highly, highly targeted with 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:29.760 these social engineering scams. These scam artists spend all day 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.600 coming up with ways of getting stuff from us, and 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.560 believe me, it just takes one tiny little mishap for 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.680 it to happen to you. So you know, don't laugh, 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:43.320 but really feel for these people, because it's really sad 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.320 when a kid talks to their parent, and their parents 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:48.320 starts telling them something and you're like, hey, you know, 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:50.679 you were totally scammed. And we've all been scammed in 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.359 our lives in so many little ways. I told the story, 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:56.040 or maybe I didn't tell it here, but I told 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:58.000 the story of how you know, we ate it at 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:01.239 a tourist trap in Rome because we were hungry, we 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.679 were tired, we were hot, we were sweaty. We just 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.879 wanted to sit down and eat. And we sat at 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:10.040 a restaurant that was totally just kind of a tourist trap. 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:13.000 Food was overpriced, food was not very good. Did it 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.800 ruin our lives? No? Would I say I was scammed? Yeap, 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:19.040 kind of. I mean the person give us a good, 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:20.919 a good spiel about why we should eat there, and 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:23.560 we did. You know, you spend a little bit more 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:26.080 money than you should on something, You get a dent 0:22:26.160 --> 0:22:29.480 removed by someone, you know, whatever. We get scammed all 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:32.000 the time in lots of little waste. Does it always 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:35.479 ruin our lives, No, but it happens. It's you know, 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:37.680 you could get over sold on something, you could pay 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:40.600 more than you should for something. It's just it happens 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:43.159 in lots of little ways, so just be aware of 0:22:43.200 --> 0:22:46.720 it and try to help people when you can. All right, 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:50.359 Amazon Prime new benefit you get a year worth of 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:58.080 grub Hub Plus. Grub Hub Plus is their subscription. I 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:01.680 don't know what you call membership. So if you basically, 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:04.399 if you have Amazon Prime, you can go to a 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.040 website and sign up for a free year of Grubhub Plus. 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:10.399 Now I don't use grubhub, so I can't tell you 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:13.240 how good Grubhub Plus is, but I know that you 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:16.800 get discounts on things, you get free delivery on things, 0:23:16.920 --> 0:23:20.080 or reduced delivery fees on orders that are like over 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:22.960 twelve dollars. But here's a reality. If you think you're 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:26.960 saving money in any possible way with any food delivery service, 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:32.720 you are absolutely just out of your mind right now. 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:37.080 Because food delivery is not cheap. It is not a 0:23:37.119 --> 0:23:40.800 deal it is It's never going to be a better 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:43.840 deal than going and picking up the food yourself or 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:47.840 cooking at home. Now, with that said, is it convenient, 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:51.240 of course, is it nice to have, Yes, But to 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:53.960 think that you're saving money somehow even with one of 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:57.160 these Grubhub Plus memberships, you're not. You're gonna be spending 0:23:57.200 --> 0:24:00.760 more on delivery because you actually have this member. Amazon 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:03.040 knows that, Grubhub knows that. Why do you think they're 0:24:03.080 --> 0:24:05.760 offering it to you for free? Now, with all that said, yes, 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:08.879 I have Door Dash whatever they call it, dash Pass. 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:11.719 It's included in my credit card, so I have it. 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:14.280 Do I spend money on it once in a while? Yes? 0:24:14.400 --> 0:24:18.320 I do. Is it more expensive than buying salads that 0:24:18.400 --> 0:24:21.000 I can go and make myself or pick up? Absolutely? 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:23.399 Was it really convenient the other night when I just 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:25.560 wanted dinner fast on the table, when I was just 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:28.680 home with the kids by myself. Sure? Did I overspend 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:32.120 on salads? Of course I did. Was it easy? Cheat? 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:34.919 Not cheap? But was it easy and simple? Yes? It was. 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:37.680 So I'm not saying you can't do this, but I'm 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:40.640 just saying, don't think that you're like getting ahead by 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:44.199 getting this free Grubhub perk from Amazon. This is a 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:49.280 marketing deal. It helps Amazon, it helps Grubhub, and that's 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:53.200 the reality here. Normally Grubhub Plus is nine ninety nine 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:55.639 a month. Once you activate it, you will get twelve 0:24:55.760 --> 0:24:59.359 months free, or I should say twelve months included in 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:02.680 your prime membership. Now, after the twelve months. It does 0:25:02.760 --> 0:25:06.160 auto renew, so you need to realize either you put 0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:08.919 something on your calendar that says cancel before the end 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:12.119 of the time, or you just go ahead and cancel 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:16.160 immediately someplace I always check whenever I sign up for something, 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:18.040 I always check to see if I can cancel my 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:22.080 subscription or membership or whatever immediately, and if I can, 0:25:22.200 --> 0:25:24.760 I'll do that. Sometimes it'll just say it'll say on 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:27.160 the you know, in the account settings, it'll say, if 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:30.520 you cancel now, you will still have access to your 0:25:32.080 --> 0:25:36.119 to your whatever through the date. So it will tell 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:38.359 you that. On Apple you can do that a lot, 0:25:38.560 --> 0:25:41.639 except with a lot of the Apple subscriptions, on a 0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:44.119 lot of the uh you know, you know, third party apps, 0:25:44.840 --> 0:25:47.800 But you just have to check. Like I sign up 0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:50.200 for a free trial of Paramount Plus the other day, 0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:53.000 and you could go in right after you sign up 0:25:53.000 --> 0:25:57.080 and just cancel, but you'll still have your Paramount Plus 0:25:57.080 --> 0:25:58.840 membership through the end of the time. You can you 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:01.800 can tell usually if you can do it right on 0:26:01.880 --> 0:26:03.879 the page on your account when you go to cancel, 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:07.320 it should usually tell you you'll still have access. Again, 0:26:07.440 --> 0:26:10.120 speaking of scams, this wasn't a scam, but I totally 0:26:10.160 --> 0:26:14.000 paid for two months or three months worth of Audible 0:26:14.880 --> 0:26:18.080 after I meant to cancel, because I just kept forgetting 0:26:18.080 --> 0:26:20.439 to cancel. It was on my list. But again I 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:22.720 got charged three months, you know, one month, two month, 0:26:22.760 --> 0:26:26.040 three months at fourteen ninety five for stuff I didn't 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:28.000 really want to buy. But is it the end of 0:26:28.000 --> 0:26:30.479 the world. No, So what I did was I finally 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:33.560 canceled because I remember to do it, But I, you know, 0:26:33.680 --> 0:26:36.560 just bought three books. When you the thing they changed 0:26:36.560 --> 0:26:40.200 about Audible it used to be even if you canceled 0:26:40.240 --> 0:26:44.040 your membership, your Audible credits would last and you could 0:26:44.040 --> 0:26:46.520 still use those even after you cancel. Well, Amazon got 0:26:46.600 --> 0:26:48.360 hipped to that and they said, oh, let's actually make 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:50.600 this a little tougher for people. Let's make them make 0:26:50.640 --> 0:26:54.560 their decisions now before they cancel. And so if let's 0:26:54.600 --> 0:26:57.040 say you have two credits in your Audible membership and 0:26:57.080 --> 0:26:58.840 you say I want to cancel, It'll say, okay, you're 0:26:58.840 --> 0:27:01.000 gonna lose these credits right away. So you have to 0:27:01.000 --> 0:27:03.119 go back in. You got to shop for books, you 0:27:03.160 --> 0:27:04.919 got to use those credits, and you have to cancel. 0:27:04.960 --> 0:27:07.920 And so what happened to me is that I started 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:11.120 this little process of buying and using the audible credits, 0:27:11.280 --> 0:27:13.359 but then I kind of forgot to go back and cancel, 0:27:13.760 --> 0:27:15.639 and so that happened another month, and then it happened 0:27:15.680 --> 0:27:17.960 another month, and finally this month I remembered and I 0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:21.480 did it. So would I call it a scam, No, 0:27:21.680 --> 0:27:24.360 It's it's kind of like they just are getting over 0:27:24.440 --> 0:27:28.080 on you because you're just forgetting. You get busy and 0:27:28.320 --> 0:27:31.320 you kind of forget about this stuff. So anyway, when 0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:36.520 in doubt, you can cancel things immediately and or set 0:27:36.560 --> 0:27:42.000 a reminder to trigger, but you know, just make sure 0:27:42.000 --> 0:27:47.600 you don't get taken like I did. All right, uh, 0:27:48.400 --> 0:27:51.000 Stacy says Rome question. I want to be sure I 0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:52.800 have the right tap to pay. I sent you a 0:27:52.840 --> 0:27:54.840 message on Instagram, but I don't know if you see 0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:58.119 those is the tap to pay by off Gate. Thanks 0:27:58.160 --> 0:28:03.440 for everything, Stacy sent from my iPhone. So, Stacey, it's 0:28:03.440 --> 0:28:05.480 actually funny. I got this question a couple of times. 0:28:05.520 --> 0:28:07.320 And this is why I try to explain things in 0:28:07.520 --> 0:28:11.560 very easy to understand terms. Because I mentioned in my 0:28:11.760 --> 0:28:13.560 Rome piece I did a piece, you know, I went 0:28:13.600 --> 0:28:16.639 to Rome. I did a little kind of travel tips 0:28:16.640 --> 0:28:19.360 piece when I came back to KTLA and I mentioned 0:28:19.359 --> 0:28:21.080 that you should set up tap to pay on your 0:28:21.119 --> 0:28:24.560 phone because it's accepted nearly everywhere you travel, and it's 0:28:24.600 --> 0:28:27.760 really easy, it's safe, it's secure, it's fast, and I 0:28:27.800 --> 0:28:31.480 was very surprised how many places in Rome took tap 0:28:31.520 --> 0:28:33.400 to pay. It was just very, very easy to use. 0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:36.679 And a lot of people texted me and said, rich, 0:28:36.400 --> 0:28:39.120 which app is tap to pay? I see a bunch 0:28:39.200 --> 0:28:41.840 of them, and I had I didn't realize I have 0:28:41.880 --> 0:28:44.120 to explain this, but I should explain this. But tap 0:28:44.200 --> 0:28:47.480 to pay is the technology, it's not the app. But 0:28:47.560 --> 0:28:49.640 I am sure if you search in the app Store, 0:28:49.920 --> 0:28:52.560 there are a bunch of scammy apps that use the 0:28:52.640 --> 0:28:56.080 term tap to pay so that you download them. And 0:28:56.200 --> 0:28:58.920 I don't know what their endgame is, but they probably 0:28:59.280 --> 0:29:02.160 either try to ski or get some sort of payment 0:29:02.200 --> 0:29:04.000 out of you. I'm not sure. I haven't looked them up, 0:29:04.200 --> 0:29:06.120 but I got this question enough where I realize that 0:29:06.160 --> 0:29:08.800 clearly there are those apps in the app Store. So 0:29:09.720 --> 0:29:13.040 tap to pay is the technology that means that you 0:29:13.080 --> 0:29:17.200 hold your phone over a reader making a tapping motion. 0:29:17.280 --> 0:29:19.360 You don't actually have to touch your phone to the reader, 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:23.000 but you hold your phone over this little receiver on 0:29:23.120 --> 0:29:25.560 the reader. It looks like a little Wi Fi symbol 0:29:25.640 --> 0:29:29.560 on its side, and you tap there or you hover there, 0:29:30.040 --> 0:29:34.080 and your phone exchanges the payment information with the terminal, 0:29:34.400 --> 0:29:37.600 So instead of swiping, instead of dipping your card, you 0:29:37.760 --> 0:29:42.040 just hover your phone and it wirelessly transmits your credit 0:29:42.120 --> 0:29:45.320 or debit card number to the reader. And what I 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:47.680 like about Tap to Pay is that it transmits a 0:29:47.720 --> 0:29:50.920 one time code. So if you're using a debit card 0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:54.000 or a credit card credit card, I know we don't 0:29:54.000 --> 0:29:56.480 care as much, but you still should care because if 0:29:56.520 --> 0:29:58.520 you do have to change your number if it's hacked, 0:29:58.840 --> 0:30:00.800 it's a pain because that happened to me, and it's 0:30:00.840 --> 0:30:02.840 like I'm still getting like, oh, your credit card can't 0:30:02.840 --> 0:30:06.840 be authorized. Ugh. So with debit card, it's definitely most 0:30:06.880 --> 0:30:09.200 annoying because it's linked to your checking account and that 0:30:09.280 --> 0:30:12.360 money goes away very quickly. So what you want to 0:30:12.400 --> 0:30:14.920 do is set up your credit or your debit card 0:30:15.000 --> 0:30:18.200 on this Tap to pay and it transmits a one 0:30:18.280 --> 0:30:22.240 time code, which means if that retailer is ever hacked, 0:30:22.920 --> 0:30:25.600 your number is safe. Because all the numbers that these 0:30:25.600 --> 0:30:27.840 hackers get on the back end when they hack something, 0:30:28.400 --> 0:30:30.920 it won't work. It only worked that one time, and 0:30:31.000 --> 0:30:33.360 so that's what's really nice about tap to pay and 0:30:33.400 --> 0:30:37.560 that's also why I recommend using it now. There are 0:30:37.680 --> 0:30:41.479 three tap to pay apps in the US that I 0:30:41.520 --> 0:30:44.480 know of that work on the iPhone. It's just one. 0:30:44.760 --> 0:30:49.240 It's Apple Pay. And Apple has not been forced to 0:30:49.320 --> 0:30:52.040 open up their tap to pay to any other third 0:30:52.080 --> 0:30:55.920 party app, although I think some of the companies are 0:30:56.080 --> 0:30:59.560 trying to get that changed because tap to pay could 0:30:59.560 --> 0:31:03.240 be from anyone the other ones. On an Apple Pay 0:31:03.280 --> 0:31:05.360 is built into the iPhone. You just have to set 0:31:05.360 --> 0:31:07.320 it up. You can open up Apple Walla and set 0:31:07.360 --> 0:31:10.200 it up on the Android. You have your choice of 0:31:10.240 --> 0:31:13.960 two that I know of, and that is Google Pay 0:31:14.000 --> 0:31:18.280 and then Samsung Pay. And I don't know if Samsung 0:31:18.320 --> 0:31:21.840 Pay works on non Samsung Pay devices, but you can 0:31:21.840 --> 0:31:26.560 try it. Samsung Pay versus Google Pay is really a preference. 0:31:27.080 --> 0:31:30.280 I used to prefer Samsung Pay because it had a 0:31:30.280 --> 0:31:33.560 little trick built into the Samsung phones, and that is 0:31:33.760 --> 0:31:37.479 it worked even on credit card terminals that were not 0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:42.520 Tapped to Pay enabled. I know, very complicated, but Samsung 0:31:42.840 --> 0:31:45.080 very many years ago bought this company. I think it 0:31:45.120 --> 0:31:48.520 was called loop that they had a wireless technology that 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:52.040 would broadcast a signal. They had a special antenna inside 0:31:52.080 --> 0:31:57.520 Samsung phones that would broadcast a signal to the magnetic 0:31:57.600 --> 0:32:02.160 stripe receiver on a credit card terminal, and you actually 0:32:02.160 --> 0:32:04.640 really kind of just tapped your phone there. Your phone 0:32:04.680 --> 0:32:09.000 would somehow emit a strong enough magnetic signal that this 0:32:09.080 --> 0:32:13.280 magnetic reader could read, and it would work on any 0:32:14.920 --> 0:32:18.040 credit card terminal, even credit card terminals before tap to 0:32:18.080 --> 0:32:20.600 pay was a big thing. I'll never forget trying this 0:32:20.640 --> 0:32:23.520 out for the first time. I was at someplace in 0:32:23.560 --> 0:32:27.120 Marina del Rey here in California, and it was like 0:32:27.120 --> 0:32:30.720 a lunch place, and the credit card reader was one 0:32:30.720 --> 0:32:34.160 of those that were like a swipe on the actual 0:32:34.760 --> 0:32:37.080 like you know, the cashier is sitting behind a screen 0:32:37.080 --> 0:32:39.520 where it's like a touch screen where they tap and 0:32:39.560 --> 0:32:42.200 some of them are swivel mounted now, but back then 0:32:42.280 --> 0:32:46.640 it was just literally a fixed terminal with a touch 0:32:46.680 --> 0:32:49.560 screen and then a swipe reader on the right. And 0:32:49.600 --> 0:32:53.240 so the person was like, Okay, it'll be whatever, ten 0:32:53.280 --> 0:32:56.040 dollars forty eight cents and let me, you know, swipe 0:32:56.080 --> 0:32:59.280 your card. And I said, oh, I said, I'm testing 0:32:59.320 --> 0:33:02.560 this new tech. Where I can use my phone as 0:33:02.560 --> 0:33:04.120 a credit card, and they're like, oh, that's not gonna work. 0:33:04.160 --> 0:33:06.480 I'm like, no, no, it will work. But sure enough 0:33:06.480 --> 0:33:08.840 it didn't work. But I'm sitting there like tapping the 0:33:08.920 --> 0:33:11.240 side of their terminal. They probably thought I was like 0:33:11.240 --> 0:33:14.040 trying to hack the system because nobody knew about this, 0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:18.080 you know, this Samsung tap to pay system. It was 0:33:18.200 --> 0:33:21.280 so embarrassing. It ended up not working, and I kept saying, 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:23.160 let me try one more time, and the cashier was 0:33:23.200 --> 0:33:25.560 actually friendly enough to let me try it a couple 0:33:25.640 --> 0:33:28.200 times before they're like, all right, kid, no more, We're 0:33:28.240 --> 0:33:30.440 done with this. You know, do you have a regular 0:33:30.440 --> 0:33:33.160 credit card? And so finally it didn't work and I 0:33:33.240 --> 0:33:35.400 got my regular credit card out. But at the end 0:33:35.400 --> 0:33:38.200 of the day, the Samsung system was kind of cool 0:33:38.240 --> 0:33:40.240 because it would work in a lot of mom and 0:33:40.240 --> 0:33:43.520 pop shops that didn't have tap to pay set up 0:33:43.600 --> 0:33:46.600 just yet, but the credit card terminal was there typically 0:33:46.640 --> 0:33:49.080 where you either swipe your card or dip it. But 0:33:49.160 --> 0:33:50.880 it was kind of cool. But then they ended up 0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:55.840 stopping that technology. They stopped building it into their phones. 0:33:55.880 --> 0:33:58.720 I forget which phone. It was either the S twenty 0:33:58.880 --> 0:34:00.479 or the S twenty one. I think it was yes, 0:34:00.560 --> 0:34:04.520 twenty maybe, but they stopped building that technology in and 0:34:04.600 --> 0:34:06.840 so that's when I stopped favoring Samsung Pay because it 0:34:06.920 --> 0:34:10.160 was there's no longer an advantage over Google Pay unless 0:34:10.160 --> 0:34:13.480 you just like the way Samsung Pay worked. But just 0:34:13.800 --> 0:34:16.160 these little things I have over the years. You know, 0:34:16.160 --> 0:34:19.520 I've been working at KTLA and testing technology for like 0:34:19.520 --> 0:34:22.439 what fifteen years now, and so well, I've been working 0:34:22.480 --> 0:34:25.040 at KTLA for over ten but before that, I did 0:34:25.080 --> 0:34:28.400 cover technology as well for cnet and some other places, 0:34:28.480 --> 0:34:31.520 and so I've been testing technology in one form or 0:34:31.520 --> 0:34:33.720 another for many many years. And it's just so funny 0:34:33.760 --> 0:34:35.279 the things that you have to do. You know, Like 0:34:35.320 --> 0:34:37.120 I was on a plane once and I was testing 0:34:37.120 --> 0:34:41.040 out a VR headset for watching a movie, and it's 0:34:41.080 --> 0:34:42.680 just like people were probably looking at me like what 0:34:43.120 --> 0:34:46.319 in the world is this person doing, you know, And 0:34:46.360 --> 0:34:48.360 it's the thing, the silly little things you have to 0:34:48.400 --> 0:34:51.320 do to test out this technology. You know, we're on vacation, 0:34:51.560 --> 0:34:53.160 I asked my wife, I'm like, hey, do you mind 0:34:53.200 --> 0:34:55.640 if we, you know, use this thing on the beach 0:34:55.840 --> 0:34:57.359 or you know, can you can you get a shot 0:34:57.400 --> 0:35:00.120 of me trying this out or whatever, and it's it's 0:35:00.160 --> 0:35:02.080 just always like kind of a little eye roll. But 0:35:02.120 --> 0:35:04.120 now I've got kids in on it, so my kids 0:35:04.160 --> 0:35:05.879 will really help me out. I'll be like, hey, can 0:35:05.920 --> 0:35:08.200 you just get a shot of me doing this or whatever. 0:35:08.640 --> 0:35:10.840 But it is fun. It's just funny the things that 0:35:10.920 --> 0:35:14.400 you you know, technology is evolving, it's ever changing, and 0:35:14.440 --> 0:35:16.920 it doesn't always work exactly the way it's supposed to 0:35:17.040 --> 0:35:19.920 on day one, and so you know, but I do 0:35:20.040 --> 0:35:22.799 enjoy testing this stuff out. It just takes a little 0:35:22.800 --> 0:35:25.640 bit longer and people think you're a little bit nutty 0:35:25.640 --> 0:35:30.640 sometimes anyway, So those are the tap to pay situations 0:35:30.640 --> 0:35:32.719 you need to be aware of. Pick an app, whether 0:35:32.760 --> 0:35:36.040 it's Apple Pay on your iPhone, definitely definitely use it, 0:35:36.800 --> 0:35:39.760 or pick Google Pay or Samsung Pay on the Android. 0:35:40.560 --> 0:35:44.080 All right, let's get to the next story of the week. 0:35:44.920 --> 0:35:47.959 E three is returning in twenty twenty three. E three 0:35:48.040 --> 0:35:50.480 I call it the Video Game Convention now it's more 0:35:50.480 --> 0:35:54.839 of an interactive entertainment show. It's finally coming back to 0:35:54.880 --> 0:35:58.000 the Los Angeles Convention Center the second week of June 0:35:58.120 --> 0:36:02.160 twenty twenty three. Many people thought this show was completely dead. 0:36:02.600 --> 0:36:04.360 It has been put on for many years by the 0:36:04.480 --> 0:36:08.360 Entertainment Software Association. It looks like they still own the show, 0:36:08.719 --> 0:36:10.839 but it went away during COVID and then it kind 0:36:10.880 --> 0:36:13.000 of came back as a virtual thing, you know, but 0:36:13.160 --> 0:36:17.080 it was not. It just lost its luster. In person 0:36:17.480 --> 0:36:19.000 still the way to go with a lot of these 0:36:19.040 --> 0:36:22.640 big shows, and it is coming back. They made an 0:36:22.640 --> 0:36:27.080 announcement that they are now teaming up with this company 0:36:27.320 --> 0:36:30.759 called whereas it read pop, I guess. They put on 0:36:30.800 --> 0:36:33.560 a lot of shows, including packs, the New York Comic 0:36:33.600 --> 0:36:38.200 Con and Star Wars celebration. So E three twenty twenty 0:36:38.239 --> 0:36:42.560 three will welcome back publishers, developers, journalists, content creators, manufacturers, buyers, 0:36:42.600 --> 0:36:46.960 and licensers. The event will highlight digital showcases and feature 0:36:47.040 --> 0:36:50.279 in person consumer components. So it sounds like this is 0:36:50.280 --> 0:36:53.480 a win for video game fans. In recent years it 0:36:53.520 --> 0:36:56.080 has been open to the public. It looks like they 0:36:56.080 --> 0:37:01.279 will probably continue to do that again. Registration will be 0:37:01.440 --> 0:37:07.000 announced in late twenty twenty two. Media creators, industry professionals 0:37:07.080 --> 0:37:10.160 and fans. There you go. Fans are encouraged to visit 0:37:10.200 --> 0:37:13.680 the website for updates. SO again E three returning in 0:37:13.760 --> 0:37:17.920 twenty twenty three. So video game. Folks, mark your calendar 0:37:18.000 --> 0:37:20.719 second week of June if you want to travel to 0:37:20.800 --> 0:37:23.640 Los Angeles or just kind of if you're in LA. 0:37:24.280 --> 0:37:27.640 Definitely a place to go. COVID took a really hard 0:37:27.719 --> 0:37:29.759 hit on a lot of these in person things, but 0:37:29.880 --> 0:37:32.080 this is the year a lot of them are coming 0:37:32.120 --> 0:37:34.799 back or potentially next year if they couldn't get their 0:37:34.800 --> 0:37:42.440 act together for this year. All right, let's get to 0:37:42.520 --> 0:37:48.239 the next question. Let's see this comes from no one. 0:37:48.480 --> 0:37:50.400 They didn't put a name. I would like to purchase 0:37:50.480 --> 0:37:52.960 the locator tags to put on my trailer and off 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:55.560 road car. I am not an Apple person. I have 0:37:55.680 --> 0:37:58.240 looked at several that need to be charged every two weeks. 0:37:58.239 --> 0:38:02.040 What type do you recommend? Thank you? If you don't 0:38:02.040 --> 0:38:05.120 have Apple products, I would recommend Tile instead of Apple. 0:38:07.360 --> 0:38:08.960 The ones that you're looking at that need to be 0:38:09.040 --> 0:38:13.640 charged every two weeks, those are GPS receivers and if 0:38:13.680 --> 0:38:18.280 you really want like the most secure tag for your 0:38:18.560 --> 0:38:21.080 trailer and off road car, yes, I would recommend those. 0:38:21.120 --> 0:38:23.720 I know there's a bunch of I think T Mobile 0:38:23.719 --> 0:38:27.759 makes one that's a GPS tracker. There are some other 0:38:27.840 --> 0:38:30.160 ones out there, but the reality is if it's a 0:38:30.200 --> 0:38:34.000 GPS tracker. The battery is gonna die very quickly because 0:38:34.040 --> 0:38:38.240 GPS takes a lot of battery to continually update the location. 0:38:38.760 --> 0:38:40.480 The way that the air tags work and the way 0:38:40.520 --> 0:38:44.960 that TILE works is a combination of Bluetooth and a 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:49.200 finding network, and so there is not actual GPS on 0:38:49.400 --> 0:38:54.240 these devices. What's happening is when a locator device gets nearby, 0:38:54.800 --> 0:38:58.480 and a locator device could be an Android phone with 0:38:58.600 --> 0:39:02.080 the Tile app installed on it, or an iPhone that 0:39:02.239 --> 0:39:06.120 is just nearby with the air tags, or I guess 0:39:06.120 --> 0:39:10.400 with Tile as well. But those devices kind of ping 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:13.960 the locator device and they say, oh, okay, here I am, 0:39:14.520 --> 0:39:16.600 and the locator device says, okay, I know I'm in 0:39:16.640 --> 0:39:19.319 this little area, so that must be the area that 0:39:19.400 --> 0:39:23.000 the tag is in. So they're not exact, they're not precise, 0:39:23.080 --> 0:39:25.360 and they're not real time, but they still give you 0:39:25.400 --> 0:39:28.160 a pretty good idea of where things are. And they 0:39:28.160 --> 0:39:32.239 also have built in audible tones, and when it's when 0:39:32.320 --> 0:39:35.600 it's within range of Bluetooth, like near your phone, you 0:39:35.640 --> 0:39:37.880 can use a Bluetooth to really hone in on the 0:39:37.920 --> 0:39:42.440 location of these tags specifically, So if you don't have Apple, 0:39:42.480 --> 0:39:45.640 I would recommend looking into Tile. Tile is the second 0:39:45.800 --> 0:39:49.640 best when it comes to the locator tags, and I 0:39:49.680 --> 0:39:53.520 would say they are a distant second because Apple just 0:39:53.560 --> 0:39:57.960 has way more, way, way, way more products attempting to 0:39:58.000 --> 0:40:03.080 locate their tags than Tie does and Tile has. They're 0:40:03.080 --> 0:40:05.880 getting better because I think people have really ramped up 0:40:05.920 --> 0:40:08.160 the knowledge of these tags, and so more people are 0:40:08.280 --> 0:40:10.440 using Tile because of air tag is kind of the 0:40:10.520 --> 0:40:15.640 halo effect. But also I think that Amazon activated what's 0:40:15.680 --> 0:40:19.799 called Amazon Sidewalk, which also works with Tile, so many 0:40:19.880 --> 0:40:23.800 more devices are sort of linked in to this finding 0:40:24.280 --> 0:40:28.040 network for Tile. But that's what I recommend. Check them out. 0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:30.319 And you know, I don't know if it's gonna work, 0:40:30.400 --> 0:40:32.400 but it's better to have it on there than to not. 0:40:33.640 --> 0:40:37.680 All right, let's talk about what do you want to 0:40:37.719 --> 0:40:40.080 talk about gas prices? Let's talk about gas prices. So 0:40:40.120 --> 0:40:42.920 I did a segment on KTLA about expensive gas prices. 0:40:42.960 --> 0:40:45.319 I know, very expensive, but I was trying to find 0:40:45.320 --> 0:40:49.200 some new ways to sort of, you know, cut down 0:40:49.200 --> 0:40:52.000 on some of these expensive gas prices. So I saw 0:40:53.480 --> 0:40:55.959 a lot of these gas stations want you to pay 0:40:56.000 --> 0:40:59.640 through their app. So I noticed seventy six has an app, 0:41:00.160 --> 0:41:03.239 has an app exon mobile has an app, and all 0:41:03.280 --> 0:41:05.360 of these apps, the trick is that they want you 0:41:05.400 --> 0:41:07.520 to sign up for their rewards program. They'll give you 0:41:07.520 --> 0:41:10.440 a little bit of either cash back or points based 0:41:10.440 --> 0:41:14.120 on that. But then if you pay by linking your 0:41:14.239 --> 0:41:16.959 checking account, they'll give you a little bit more cash back. 0:41:17.000 --> 0:41:19.759 And I typically would not recommend doing that. I'd say, 0:41:19.840 --> 0:41:21.960 just use your card at the pump because it's much easier. 0:41:22.000 --> 0:41:24.520 It's just quicker. I know a lot of people get 0:41:24.520 --> 0:41:29.120 cash back on their credit cards. So but in this case, 0:41:29.440 --> 0:41:32.239 you know, I think because gas prices are so high, 0:41:32.280 --> 0:41:34.280 you've got to look for some new ways of saving 0:41:34.360 --> 0:41:37.160 even more. Anything helps, Even if you could save five 0:41:37.160 --> 0:41:39.640 to ten cents a gallon with the prices this high, 0:41:39.680 --> 0:41:42.239 it's better than nothing. And so what these companies want 0:41:42.280 --> 0:41:44.640 you to do is pay through your checking account. And 0:41:44.680 --> 0:41:47.160 the reason why they like your checking account is because 0:41:47.600 --> 0:41:50.120 they pay less fees and so they pass along some 0:41:50.160 --> 0:41:53.680 of that savings to you. And so I wouldn't typically 0:41:53.719 --> 0:41:57.560 recommend giving out your checking account to various companies. But 0:41:57.760 --> 0:42:00.000 if it does save you some money, do your research 0:42:00.040 --> 0:42:02.200 see if it's worth it. It's only worth it if 0:42:02.200 --> 0:42:04.160 you go to the same station I wouldn't say sign 0:42:04.239 --> 0:42:07.239 up for every rewards app from a gas station and 0:42:07.280 --> 0:42:09.520 put in your checking account number on all of them. 0:42:09.560 --> 0:42:12.160 No way. I think that you pick and choose, like 0:42:12.360 --> 0:42:14.759 one gas station that you like, and then kind of 0:42:14.760 --> 0:42:18.360 hone in on that. Obviously, you can use gas Buddy, 0:42:18.680 --> 0:42:21.719 you can use gas Guru, you can use ways to 0:42:21.800 --> 0:42:24.880 find low gas prices. Also, an app called i Exit 0:42:25.000 --> 0:42:28.680 is really good and their prices are very much updated 0:42:28.719 --> 0:42:32.080 and it can tell you where to go for the 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:34.600 best gas price, especially when you're traveling on the freeway 0:42:35.040 --> 0:42:37.919 or the highway and you're on a road trip filling up. 0:42:38.320 --> 0:42:40.200 You know, most of the time we just stop at 0:42:40.239 --> 0:42:42.880 the most convenient station. But if you have this power 0:42:43.040 --> 0:42:46.520 and knowledge of knowing that the gas station two stops 0:42:46.560 --> 0:42:50.759 ahead is cheaper than the exit right up ahead, then 0:42:51.000 --> 0:42:53.560 that is good knowledge. It's power, and that will translate 0:42:53.640 --> 0:42:56.560 into savings. The other app that I've been testing out, 0:42:56.600 --> 0:42:58.080 which I think is kind of cool. Now, you know, 0:42:58.120 --> 0:43:00.000 if you listen to this show, I do drive a Teslas, 0:43:00.040 --> 0:43:02.480 so don't say I'm biased and I don't know anything 0:43:02.480 --> 0:43:04.319 about gas price. I still do have a gas car 0:43:04.400 --> 0:43:07.440 in the family, and so it is definitely something that 0:43:07.920 --> 0:43:10.080 we look to save money on when we fill up, 0:43:10.760 --> 0:43:13.440 but this upside app can help you do that because 0:43:13.960 --> 0:43:16.479 it's an app that's like a cash back rewards app. 0:43:16.480 --> 0:43:18.600 And typically I wouldn't really recommend these things in the 0:43:18.600 --> 0:43:21.000 past because they're kind of a hassle. But I did 0:43:21.080 --> 0:43:25.000 test it out, not with gas, but with groceries, and 0:43:25.040 --> 0:43:28.439 so a grocery store was giving a bunch of cash back. 0:43:28.480 --> 0:43:31.160 I think it was like eighteen percent, which is pretty wild. 0:43:31.320 --> 0:43:33.360 So I went in there. You have to So what 0:43:33.400 --> 0:43:35.520 I did was I had to activate the deal from 0:43:35.560 --> 0:43:37.560 the app. Then I had to put in my credit 0:43:37.560 --> 0:43:39.839 card number on the app. You only have to put 0:43:39.880 --> 0:43:43.319 in your first six digits in the last four you 0:43:43.360 --> 0:43:45.520 activate the offer. You go in there and you just 0:43:45.560 --> 0:43:48.360 shop as usual, and that's it. You have like a 0:43:48.400 --> 0:43:50.640 window of time to shop. I think it was four hours. 0:43:51.160 --> 0:43:56.640 And so somehow they figure out that you actually indeed 0:43:56.719 --> 0:43:59.480 shop there. I guess they somehow scour the credit card 0:43:59.600 --> 0:44:01.600 numbers on their back end. I don't know if the 0:44:01.640 --> 0:44:03.880 grocery store shares that with them. I have no idea, 0:44:04.440 --> 0:44:07.240 but somehow the next morning it said, up, we verified 0:44:07.280 --> 0:44:10.120 your purchase, and it knew exactly how much I spent 0:44:10.239 --> 0:44:12.640 and I got my eighteen percent cash back. It was 0:44:12.680 --> 0:44:15.759 like seven bucks. I thought that was pretty cool, and 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:18.120 it was like somewhere I would go normally to shop. 0:44:18.160 --> 0:44:19.920 It wasn't like I was going out of my way. Now, 0:44:19.960 --> 0:44:22.120 the idea of this app is that it is marketing 0:44:22.120 --> 0:44:24.040 to you. So I've talked about this in the past. 0:44:24.320 --> 0:44:26.440 They are not doing you a favor, They are not 0:44:26.680 --> 0:44:29.600 helping you out. They are marketing to you. So you 0:44:29.680 --> 0:44:32.319 may not know it, but eventually you will purchase a 0:44:32.360 --> 0:44:35.359 pizza at a place that has twenty percent off through 0:44:35.360 --> 0:44:37.440 this app because you think it's a good deal. And 0:44:37.520 --> 0:44:40.480 it may be. But again, this is all marketing, and 0:44:40.520 --> 0:44:42.359 so that's the end game here, is that they're trying 0:44:42.400 --> 0:44:45.279 to get you to eventually spend more money or money 0:44:45.280 --> 0:44:47.799 that you wouldn't typically spend, and that's why they give 0:44:47.800 --> 0:44:51.040 you these cash back deals throughout the the regular money 0:44:51.080 --> 0:44:54.839 that you're spending, to get you to spend even more eventually. Look, 0:44:54.880 --> 0:44:57.160 I'm not saying don't do it. I'm just saying these 0:44:57.160 --> 0:44:59.319 are the facts of how these things work. These things 0:44:59.320 --> 0:45:02.800 are not doing you a favor. They are marketing machines 0:45:02.840 --> 0:45:07.279 that are built to help market things to you. And 0:45:07.320 --> 0:45:09.520 that marketing could be a new restaurant that opens up 0:45:09.800 --> 0:45:11.520 and it may say, hey, twenty five percent off if 0:45:11.560 --> 0:45:13.480 you go get a burger at this new restaurant. But 0:45:13.719 --> 0:45:16.040 I mean, is that a bad thing? Not necessarily if 0:45:16.040 --> 0:45:17.759 you're gonna buy a burger anyway, if you're gonna go 0:45:17.800 --> 0:45:20.319 get dinner anyway, why not go to the places twenty 0:45:20.360 --> 0:45:23.760 five percent off and give it a try so upside app. 0:45:24.480 --> 0:45:28.239 You can find the link on my I'll put it 0:45:28.320 --> 0:45:31.800 on the show notes. But they also have this referral 0:45:31.840 --> 0:45:33.640 system where you can earn money off of people that 0:45:33.719 --> 0:45:36.319 sign up under you and then people that sign up 0:45:36.400 --> 0:45:38.400 under them. So it's kind of like a little pyramid scheme, 0:45:39.080 --> 0:45:41.359 although I technically don't know if it's called that. I'm 0:45:41.400 --> 0:45:43.959 not saying it's that, but it feels that way because 0:45:44.000 --> 0:45:46.520 anyone who signs up under your link, you get a 0:45:46.520 --> 0:45:48.960 little cash back from them, and anyone who signs up 0:45:49.000 --> 0:45:50.480 from them, you get a little off of them. It's 0:45:50.560 --> 0:45:52.879 kind of like this little thing, but it does add 0:45:52.960 --> 0:45:55.360 up and it seems to be worth it. I mean, look, 0:45:55.600 --> 0:45:57.320 if you're gonna save money on gas going to the 0:45:57.360 --> 0:45:59.399 station that you typically go to and it's a better deal. 0:45:59.480 --> 0:46:02.480 Why not? But again I did try it, so I 0:46:02.560 --> 0:46:04.960 was telling you about that one. So upside app is 0:46:05.760 --> 0:46:12.480 the details on that. Pam says, Hey, Rich, happy fourth. 0:46:12.520 --> 0:46:16.200 Can you recommend a monthly budget slash bill tracker app? 0:46:16.200 --> 0:46:18.920 There are so many out there as always, Thank you, Pam, Pam. 0:46:19.400 --> 0:46:21.880 I don't really use too many of these budget and 0:46:21.920 --> 0:46:24.200 bill track apps. I did use true Bill at one point. 0:46:24.200 --> 0:46:26.920 I thought it was great. Mint is also a good 0:46:26.960 --> 0:46:28.960 one that I've used throughout the years. I think that 0:46:29.000 --> 0:46:33.200 one's good. Personal Capital is one that seems to be 0:46:33.280 --> 0:46:36.560 pretty good as well. They're all they're all kind of 0:46:36.600 --> 0:46:40.319 the same thing. They all aggregate your different accounts that 0:46:40.360 --> 0:46:43.439 you have and put them all into one place and 0:46:43.480 --> 0:46:46.000 you can see your net worth. They also have some 0:46:46.040 --> 0:46:50.120 sort of monthly bill slash budgeting built into them, slash 0:46:50.200 --> 0:46:52.960 subscription trackers, so you can see the things you're subscribed to. 0:46:53.960 --> 0:46:58.360 Quite honestly, I use a spreadsheet. I use an Excel 0:46:58.400 --> 0:47:01.360 spread or just a spreadsheet. I should say that I 0:47:01.600 --> 0:47:04.280 go in every single week and I put in everything 0:47:04.320 --> 0:47:06.160 that I expect to spend and the money that I 0:47:06.200 --> 0:47:09.160 expect to have come in, and I get it to zero, 0:47:09.440 --> 0:47:11.759 and so I've basically spent all of my money on 0:47:11.840 --> 0:47:14.840 paper before I've gotten it, and then as I go 0:47:14.920 --> 0:47:17.360 along the week, I put in the transactions that I 0:47:17.440 --> 0:47:22.480 do and continue to make sure that everything is zeroed out, 0:47:22.920 --> 0:47:26.640 putting in money for savings, putting in money for you know, kids, college, 0:47:26.719 --> 0:47:30.120 whatever I can throughout the way. But again, it's a 0:47:30.280 --> 0:47:33.120 very manual process. There is no easy way that I've 0:47:33.120 --> 0:47:35.600 found to do this. There are many apps that promise 0:47:35.680 --> 0:47:38.439 to make it easy, but quite honestly, I've been doing 0:47:38.440 --> 0:47:41.239 this method for fifteen years now and I find it 0:47:41.280 --> 0:47:45.359 to be the best method for actually seeing where your 0:47:45.360 --> 0:47:48.560 money's going and directing your money to where you want 0:47:48.600 --> 0:47:51.080 it to go. I know I'm a little weird in 0:47:51.080 --> 0:47:53.680 that aspect, but I don't think that there is a 0:47:53.800 --> 0:47:57.560 simple automated way to do your budget because you're you know, 0:47:57.600 --> 0:48:00.200 it's just you got to figure out where your money's going, 0:48:00.560 --> 0:48:03.840 where it's going before the month starts, and then direct 0:48:03.920 --> 0:48:07.680 it towards those places. And for me personally, I just 0:48:07.719 --> 0:48:10.000 find that that putting all the money down and spending 0:48:10.040 --> 0:48:12.400 it on paper before I get it gives me a 0:48:12.400 --> 0:48:16.839 better understanding of how much spending ability I have that month. 0:48:16.880 --> 0:48:19.120 Some months are are worse than others. You know, you 0:48:19.160 --> 0:48:21.520 get these big bills that come in, you get these 0:48:21.640 --> 0:48:26.879 unexpected charges. You know, you're paying for your insurance that month, 0:48:26.920 --> 0:48:28.800 and it's a little bit more than the month before. 0:48:29.239 --> 0:48:31.239 And so again it's just it's just easier for me 0:48:31.320 --> 0:48:34.799 to do this spreadsheet and figure it all out on 0:48:34.880 --> 0:48:37.480 paper and then just kind of when I do get 0:48:37.520 --> 0:48:42.160 those things in, just mark them off and continually optimize 0:48:42.360 --> 0:48:45.840 and and save. That's the best advice is to really 0:48:45.920 --> 0:48:49.040 save and to always be optimizing what you're spending your 0:48:49.040 --> 0:48:52.960 money on. All right, let's get to the final spot, 0:48:53.360 --> 0:48:55.680 the final talking point. I'm gonna talk about some of 0:48:55.760 --> 0:48:57.880 the editing apps I like. I did a segment on 0:48:57.960 --> 0:49:02.640 KTLA because I will admit that an editing app called well, 0:49:02.640 --> 0:49:04.000 I'll tell you about it in a little bit, but 0:49:04.360 --> 0:49:06.759 this editing app really changed my life. So I was 0:49:06.800 --> 0:49:10.759 really struggling to edit my Instagram reels and I follow 0:49:10.800 --> 0:49:13.080 a guy named Zach Honig Honing I think you say 0:49:13.200 --> 0:49:16.400 is his name. He I believe, used to be with 0:49:16.440 --> 0:49:19.640 the Points guy and now he's off at a different startup. 0:49:19.640 --> 0:49:22.000 But he's a big travel guy. He's just traveling all 0:49:22.000 --> 0:49:24.840 the time, and so his tips are really really handy. 0:49:25.960 --> 0:49:27.319 Let me see if I can find him on here 0:49:27.400 --> 0:49:34.680 Instagram Zach h O n I G. Yeah, Zach Hoenig 0:49:34.960 --> 0:49:38.479 h O nig. And he's just very very handy person. 0:49:38.520 --> 0:49:40.640 Oh wow, he's got one hundred and nineteen thousand followers, 0:49:40.680 --> 0:49:45.240 so clearly people like like what he's what. He's tweeting 0:49:45.280 --> 0:49:48.560 our instagramming about as much as I do. And so 0:49:51.160 --> 0:49:54.000 he wrote me, I forget, but I just said, oh, 0:49:54.040 --> 0:49:55.839 your stories are so I forget what I said to him. 0:49:55.840 --> 0:49:57.680 But he was like, oh dude. He's like, don't use 0:49:57.719 --> 0:50:00.960 the built in Instagram editing. He's like, use an app 0:50:01.000 --> 0:50:04.319 called Splice. That's what I use. And I downloaded it. 0:50:04.320 --> 0:50:05.920 It was a two week free trial. It was very 0:50:05.960 --> 0:50:08.439 expensive to purchase. It was like seventy bucks for the year. 0:50:08.800 --> 0:50:10.640 But I said, you know what, I kind of like, 0:50:10.800 --> 0:50:13.239 do this for a living, so let me let me 0:50:13.960 --> 0:50:16.680 actually pay for this, and so I did, and I 0:50:16.719 --> 0:50:18.919 will tell you it has changed my life because it's 0:50:18.960 --> 0:50:21.520 so much better to edit on that app than anything 0:50:21.600 --> 0:50:24.480 else that these built in editors give you on the 0:50:24.520 --> 0:50:27.760 social media apps. And so I'm telling you that because 0:50:27.800 --> 0:50:29.399 I don't think you need to go out and buy 0:50:29.960 --> 0:50:32.080 Splice for seventy dollars for the year, or even three 0:50:32.120 --> 0:50:34.160 dollars a week, which I think is what they charge 0:50:34.520 --> 0:50:38.359 if you buy it weekly. But there are two other 0:50:38.440 --> 0:50:40.479 apps I think are really good. Splice is the best. 0:50:40.520 --> 0:50:43.200 I'll just tell you that. But yes, not everyone wants 0:50:43.200 --> 0:50:45.360 to pay for editing. If you just want to do 0:50:45.400 --> 0:50:48.160 this for fun, for friends, for family, for your Instagram, 0:50:48.360 --> 0:50:50.000 you probably want to use a free option, and that 0:50:50.120 --> 0:50:54.760 is probably why cap Cut. Cap Cut is the most 0:50:54.800 --> 0:50:57.520 popular free video editing app. It is always at the 0:50:57.520 --> 0:51:00.239 top of the app store lists. It's for I wes 0:51:00.320 --> 0:51:04.239 and Android. This app is amazing. There are so many 0:51:04.239 --> 0:51:07.400 features built in to help you make creative reels. It 0:51:07.520 --> 0:51:11.440 is great. The downside is that it's owned by TikTok, 0:51:11.640 --> 0:51:14.920 so if you are not comfortable with that reality, you 0:51:14.920 --> 0:51:16.880 may want to use the different app. But it is 0:51:17.120 --> 0:51:19.680 really really good. There is just about every editing tool 0:51:19.719 --> 0:51:22.799 you can think of built into cap Cut. Inshot has 0:51:22.840 --> 0:51:24.680 been around forever. You might have used it back in 0:51:24.719 --> 0:51:29.600 the day to help squeeze your your four x three 0:51:29.640 --> 0:51:32.839 Instagram pictures into a square with some borders on the side. 0:51:32.960 --> 0:51:37.239 Now they have a fully robust editing app. This one 0:51:37.280 --> 0:51:39.120 is fully free as well, but they will try to 0:51:39.280 --> 0:51:41.479 pay you make you pay to upgrade, but you don't 0:51:41.480 --> 0:51:44.480 have to if you don't. There are on screen ads 0:51:44.560 --> 0:51:48.040 just about everywhere. There's also a watermark logo, but you 0:51:48.040 --> 0:51:50.239 can get rid of that by watching an ad. And 0:51:50.320 --> 0:51:53.680 it's just a great all around editing app. It does 0:51:53.719 --> 0:51:56.880 work really well with both photos and videos. And finally, 0:51:57.280 --> 0:51:59.920 like I mentioned, Splice is really good. But Splice is 0:52:00.280 --> 0:52:04.800 definitely a little bit more on the high end because 0:52:04.880 --> 0:52:09.120 it does cost more money. All right, So those are 0:52:09.160 --> 0:52:13.600 the three apps I recommend. Oh wow, and if you want, 0:52:13.640 --> 0:52:16.239 by the way, check out my Instagram reels. I do 0:52:16.400 --> 0:52:17.960 you know, I don't put a tonnel work into them, 0:52:18.000 --> 0:52:20.360 but I do enjoy doing those and I do enjoy 0:52:21.160 --> 0:52:25.239 coming up with those on a reasonably regular basis. All right. 0:52:25.280 --> 0:52:27.520 That sound means that is going to do it for 0:52:27.640 --> 0:52:29.560 this episode of the show. If you would like to 0:52:29.560 --> 0:52:32.279 submit a question for me to answer, just go to 0:52:32.320 --> 0:52:35.120 my Facebook page, Facebook dot com, slash rich on Tech 0:52:35.239 --> 0:52:37.759 hit the big blue send email button, or go to 0:52:38.080 --> 0:52:42.960 rich on Tech dot tv and hit the email icon. Also, 0:52:43.000 --> 0:52:44.480 I would love it if you had a rate and 0:52:44.560 --> 0:52:46.799 review this podcast. Just go to the listening app of 0:52:46.840 --> 0:52:49.239 your choice write a quick line about what you like 0:52:49.239 --> 0:52:51.560 about this show to help other people understand why they 0:52:51.560 --> 0:52:54.600 should listen. You can find me on all social media. 0:52:54.680 --> 0:52:56.560 I am at Rich on tech and no matter where 0:52:56.560 --> 0:52:58.919 you live in the US, you can download the free 0:52:59.000 --> 0:53:02.160 KTLA plus app on Apple, TV, Fire TV, and Roku. 0:53:02.760 --> 0:53:04.879 Scroll to the tech section and you can watch all 0:53:04.960 --> 0:53:08.560 of my TV segments on demand. My name is Rich Demiro. 0:53:08.719 --> 0:53:10.799 Thank you so much for listening. There are so many 0:53:10.840 --> 0:53:13.239 ways you can spend an hour of your time. I 0:53:13.320 --> 0:53:16.759 do appreciate you. I do appreciate you spending it right 0:53:16.800 --> 0:53:19.520 here with me. Thank you. I'll talk to you real soon.