WEBVTT - Home security will never be the same 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:13.440 The program that saves people fifty dollars off their monthly 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:19.280 Internet bill. Amazon releases new Echo shows, a cool file 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:23.920 sharing app from one plus plus. Your tech questions answered? 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.439 What's going on? I'm Rich Dmuiro and this is Rich 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:28.720 on Tech, the podcast where I talk about the tech 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:31.240 stuff I think you should know about. It's also the 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.519 place where I answer the questions you send me. My 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.600 name is rich Demiro, tech reporter at KTLA Channel five 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:44.800 in Los Angeles. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. What a show I 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:49.720 have planned for you today? Well, yeah, sure, okay. You 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:51.640 know I plan these things throughout the week, and I 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.479 always want to think about, like, oh, what should I 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:55.120 talk about at the beginning of the show, And then 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.360 of course I kind of forget. I don't I have 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.280 yet to master a place where I can just keep notes, 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.520 like I have so many little note taking I actually 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.760 went back to ever Note, which is just wild. But 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:10.280 I've got ever Note, I've got Google Keep, I've got 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.640 the notes on my you know whatever, the Apple what's 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:17.200 the apple one called notes? Is it just literally called notes? Yes, 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:19.759 it is called notes. Then I got an email from 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:21.600 Notion the other day. I signed up for them to 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.680 take notes, and I've got reminders in my calendar, I've 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.600 got my to do list for Microsoft. Then I have 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.280 Google keep did I mentioned that one? Then I have 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:32.520 posted notes I don't know what to do. Then I 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.840 have voice memos that I have reminders. I mean, seriously, 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.800 how do you keep track of all the different places 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:40.920 where you take notes? Like? Do you have just one 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.240 place where you take your notes? I don't. It seems 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.120 like that's a problem for me. I just I can't. 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.520 The problem is in you know, you might say, oh, Rich, 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.680 just use the notes app on on you know, the 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.800 Apple or the iPhone. Well, I like to have cross 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.680 platform things like I don't like to use anything that's 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:03.280 locked into a platform. So honestly, as I use the iPhone, 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:06.200 if I just used all Apple stuff, it would be perfect, 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.680 like the calendar, you know, the contacts, the email like 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.600 everything like it would just be so easy. But the 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.760 problem is I don't want to do that because then 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:17.880 I am beholden to one company, and so I like 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:19.680 to use things that are cross platform. And I also 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.320 like to find the best that's out there. So when 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.120 I was looking at to do lists, you know, you think, oh, 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.959 just use Google to do because you use Gmail. Well, no, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.040 when I started looking at what you can do with 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.960 the Microsoft one, it's just so much better. I mean 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.640 it's like really really good. Like it's definitely my favorite. 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:40.760 I've tested them all, believe me, and the Microsoft to 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.360 Do app is just fantastic because it lets you do 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:47.520 every single thing you need. And my favorite feature is 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.400 how every day you get a fresh start so you 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.240 can have all your tasks. Let's say you I have 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:55.560 nineteen tasks right now, but on my day where it 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:59.600 says my day, it's clean, so there's no tasks on 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.560 there now, so I can add tasks just to my day, 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:05.520 but after that day they fall into my main like 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.160 you know, all the different tasks in the background, so 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:09.919 and then you can always go back to those. I'm 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.680 not describing it very well, but anyway, it's the best. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:14.880 So my point is I don't know how to keep 0:03:14.919 --> 0:03:16.239 track of the stuff that I want to talk about 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.000 here on the show, But maybe one of these days, 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.440 I mean I've done three hundred episodes, so maybe one 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.120 of these days I'll get better at it. I just 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:29.160 saw that on the podcast app on Apple, three hundred 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.560 episodes of this. Wow, I am fostering kittens. If you've 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.000 been following me on Instagram, you know that that's happening. 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.840 I'm now growing my own plants. I'm doing some research 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.000 for a segment i'm doing on these in home gardens, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.360 and so Rise Gardens sent an in home growing system 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.160 and I'm just I am amazed. I am amazed that 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.560 I am growing plants right now. I'm looking at them. 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.480 When the little buds first came up, like the little 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.760 I forget which one was the first one to kind 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.440 of pop, I couldn't believe it. It's like being a 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:02.880 kid all over again, growing a garden out in your backyard. 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.200 And then my kids came in and they couldn't believe it. 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:07.720 And the little pods that they give you tell you 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:09.760 how many days it takes for them to like sprout, 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.080 and so some of them were five, some of them 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.520 are eight. So I'm still waiting for the eight. But 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.800 it's just amazing. Anyway, let's talk about the first story 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.799 of the week. I know you heard about this major hack, 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:26.240 and this is a consumer tech news podcast, so I'm 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.360 not going to really go into the whole geopolitical situation 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:34.200 with our gas and things like that, but I do 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.720 want to talk about this hacking group and kind of 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.120 just how scary it's getting when it comes to cybersecurity 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.839 and why you really really need to protect yourself and 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.200 I'm not even convinced we can protect ourselves, Like I'm 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:52.039 sure that people are just so smart out there that 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:54.920 it's like a losing battle, like you have to do 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.880 everything you can, and I believe me. I get emails 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:01.440 on a daily basis from people that say their Facebook 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:04.800 account is hacked, their Instagram account is hacked. People trying 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.480 to log in to their accounts and they get the 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:09.200 email that says, hey, did you just try to log 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.880 in from whatever random city in the world And you're 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.760 like no, And that's a scary thing to get. So 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.440 this hacker group called dark Side is the one that's 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:23.200 behind this cyber attack on that colonial pipeline. CNBC had 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.599 an interesting little article about them where they try to 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.520 position themselves as an ethical hacker group. Now I saw 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.479 something this morning about how maybe they're not even hacking anymore, 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:34.960 so that this could all be moot. But they were 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.440 saying that, you know, they operated kind of like a 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.760 software as a service, like they would just make this 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.360 software that helped anyone hack into things, and it was 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.120 kind of like a little startup, like a like an 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.680 evil Silicon Valley startup, which is, you know, kind of weird. 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:54.760 But they said that a couple things were off limits. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.359 Number one, they weren't political, okay, but of course the 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.840 gas thing became very political. But the things they said 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:08.480 were off limits protected organizations not to be harmed include hospitals, hospices, schools, universities, nonprofits, 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:12.839 and government agencies. So basically that means all for profit 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:16.680 companies here in the US are they are at risk. 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.800 And if I ran a giant company, it's like, you know, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.400 I would make sure that my stuff is pretty locked down. 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:25.760 They also say that they're going to donate a portion 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.960 of their profits to charity, although what charity is going 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.960 to accept a donation from a hacking group. I don't 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.279 really think that that's something that they would do. So 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.680 how these hacking groups work is they typically lock up 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:45.040 people's computers or corporation's computers, and then they demand ransom 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.200 to unlock those computers, and if they don't get the ransom, 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.160 then they say that they are going to release that 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:55.479 data into the wild. I actually did a demo with 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:58.280 a company, Oh Gosh, Silance I think was their name, 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:02.520 and they showed me a demo of live ransomware software, 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.640 like it was actually on the computer that they were 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.760 showing me, and they showed me how their software could 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:09.600 stop it, but it was scary to see how it 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:13.040 actually starts working. And this one in particular that they 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:16.360 showed me was you get it through like a Microsoft 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.680 word file. And so what happens is like you basically 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:22.880 enable a macro and all of a sudden, it just 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.080 takes over your system and it's scary and it takes 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.080 it over in a big way. And once that happens, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.000 it's it's just game over. So my advice to you 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:34.520 is to use a password manager strong password as your 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:39.600 master password. Definitely use two factor authentication, and honestly, I 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.640 don't even think you should be using texts for two 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.520 factor anymore. You have to use an app, an authenticator app. 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:50.680 So there's things like Google Authenticator, there's Authie, there's Microsoft Authenticator. 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:53.200 I think what's the Microsoft one called. I don't know, 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.400 maybe it's just authenticator. But I'm telling you use one 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:58.280 of these apps, and you got to secure your stuff. 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.520 I know it's tough. I know it's annoying. When my 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:02.800 kids want to download an app on their iPad, it's 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:05.840 like the biggest process ever, and they're just so annoyed. 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.240 They're like, why is this so annoying? And I said, well, 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.640 because we got to stay protected and I'm just trying 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:16.160 to do the best I can in protecting these digital assets. 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:22.160 So anyway, all right, let's get to the first question 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:27.400 of the day. This comes from let's see here, Christine. Hey, rich, 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:31.000 I'm thinking of getting a Joby grip tight one, oh 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.560 tight one gorilla pod stan. Wow, that's quite the name. 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.600 Joby Grip Tight one Gorilla pod stand for our upcoming 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:39.920 Disney trip, Disneyland trip in a few weeks. I recently 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.480 got an S twenty one Samsung Ultra five G and 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.319 I'm wondering if you could advise if the Joby is compatible. 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:48.600 We'll hold up my phone since it's bigger and heavier 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.920 than most phones. Thank you. Any help you could provide 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:58.040 would be greatly appreciated. Christine, Christine, good question. The Joby's 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:02.440 are fine. Let me look up this specific one. This 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.720 is the Joby Grip Tight one Gorilla pod stand. And 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:09.560 that's a good concern that you have because you know 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.360 that your phone is a little bit bigger than the rest, 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.200 So yes, this will probably hold up your phone. But honestly, 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.120 and this is twenty five bucks. It's a small one, 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.120 so it may not be like the most heavy duty 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:25.199 for your big phone, but I'll be honest. My favorite 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.760 mount right now is from a company called tenacol t 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.679 E n I k l E So Tenacle three sixty, 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.320 and it's a little more expensive, it's forty bucks. But 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.800 this thing is phenomenal. I love it, love it, love it. 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.480 And it's basically kind of like the Jobe except it 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:46.199 has a more kind of a flexible bottom mount similar, 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:49.040 but it's a different kind of flexibility, but it has 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.960 suction cups on it. And so these suction cups give 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.240 you that added benefit of being able to suction your 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.920 phone to different things. Now, like you said, you've got 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:02.520 this giant phone, you gotta be a little careful because 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.560 you definitely don't want to have your brand new S 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.360 twenty one ultra fall. And that thing is a that's 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.240 a that's a heavy phone. That's a big, big, big phone. 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.959 And so it'll work because I've I used the Tentacle 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.520 three sixty with it when I had my test unit 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.800 of the Samsung. I did use it with this thing 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:22.760 and it does work. But yes, you do need to 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.440 be a little bit more aware of where you're sticking 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.800 this and making sure it's stuck for real. And even 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.040 if you're you're hooking it onto something, you just have 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.840 to be very careful. But again, it's tentacle t E 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.199 n I k l E Tenacle three sixty. The guy 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.200 who invented it, he lives here in southern California, and 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.880 I interviewed him for a segment on KTLA, and I 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:47.679 just number one, I love this is what I love 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.520 about my job. I love the fact that I can 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.160 just I love this device. And all of a sudden, 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:53.680 I just call the guy that invents it, and he 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.640 talks to me like that's so cool to me, right, 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:57.920 And he was telling me the story about how he 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.840 invented it, and he was on a hiking trip and 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.000 he wanted, well, first off, he tried to put his 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:05.600 phone like in a tree or something, and it just 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.040 fell and it fell into like rocks and it broke 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:09.920 all over the place. So he's like, all right, it's 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.520 got to be a better way. And then he's like 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:13.120 why can't I use the same thing in my car 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.200 for amount that I use in my that I use 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:16.960 like take it out of the car. And so he 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:18.480 came up with this thing with the stickies and he 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:20.240 had to go through a whole bunch of iterations. But 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.839 this is this has become my absolute favorite tool in 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.080 my back. So I carry this thing and I do 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.240 not go anywhere without it because you can use it 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.160 as a tripod, a stabilizer, so many different things. It 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.640 is just really really good. So again about forty dollars, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.679 they had a code rich on tech. I don't know 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:42.360 if it still works. Let me see, let me see 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.080 if they have a place to put in my code. 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:48.560 Proceed to check out. Let's see is there a place 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:54.960 Let's see rich on tech apply and the code still 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:57.800 works for ten percent off. It looks like, so there 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:02.000 you go ten percent on tech. Anyway, that's what I 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.160 would recommend, and check it out and have fun at Disneyland. 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.280 I we're kind of we're like debating whether to go, 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.080 Like we're like, do we think it's going to be good? 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.560 Do we not think it's going to be fun? But 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.720 let me know, let me know how it is. Christine, 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:16.520 all Right, let's talk about this new government program that 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.240 gives eligible households fifty dollars off their monthly internet bill. 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.280 This is called the Emergency Broadband Benefit. You probably couldn't 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:27.360 go anywhere this week without hearing about it. FCC set 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:31.839 aside three point two billion dollars. All the major providers 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:35.480 are participating at and T spectrum. They're pretty much all 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.640 on board. And if you have low income, or if 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.280 you lost your job or you somehow are participating in 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.599 a federal program and some sort of low income program, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.400 you're probably eligible for this bill. And so that could 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.440 be if you're you know, I think it's like near 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:54.080 the poverty level. Oh yeah, income that is added below 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.160 one hundred and thirty five percent of the poverty level. 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:57.840 So it's not even it could be a little bit above. 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.800 But if you're in snap, Medicaid aid, the Lifeline program, 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.880 you get free lunch, you know, all these different things, 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.960 even if you experienced a loss of income in the 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.280 past year since February twenty ninth, twenty twenty, and the 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.480 income level is reasonably high ninety nine thousand for single filers, 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.480 one hundred and ninety eight thousand for joint So again, 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:20.680 if you feel like you might qualify for this program, 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.040 or more importantly, since you're listening to this podcast, if 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.640 you know someone that might be eligible, get them signed up. 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.800 It's online. You go to the website get Emergency Broadband 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.880 dot org. You can apply right online. And I got 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:36.280 so many emails from people telling me after we did 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:38.880 this story on TV that they took advantage of this 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:40.960 and they got it, and I just felt so great, 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.120 Like for my job, if I can get if I 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.679 can just affect one person a day with some kind 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.040 of help I give them, that is my ultimate goal. 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.559 And I love that, like I love getting emails from 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.720 people saying, rich, I heard about this program, I applied, 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:57.400 I got it, and now you just save me fifty 0:13:57.400 --> 0:13:59.400 bucks a month and thank you, thank you, thank you, 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.760 And so I just I love that, and you know, 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.439 it's just it's one of those things where you feel 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.520 good knowing that you've helped someone. And so I definitely 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:10.080 helped a bunch of people with that. And it's not 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:11.840 like I'm the only one talking about it. Believe me, 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.679 everyone is, but not everyone listens to everyone. If they 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:16.280 happen to listen to me and they heard it from me, 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.600 then that's what matters. Right, I'll take that as the 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:25.080 the win in my book. But anyway, that's the program again, 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.080 is called Emergency Broadband Benefit. You got friends or family 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.400 members that may be eligible, definitely tell them about it, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.000 help them through and get them on that program if 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.080 they can, because the money is good until it runs out. 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.640 So the money is good until it runs out, which 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.720 means it could last you know, six months, could last 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:45.640 a year depending on how many people sign up. Again, 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:49.560 three point two billion dollars that's earmarked. Good luck with that. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:54.320 All right, let's get to the next question. This is 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:56.200 not so much a question, but this is something that 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:01.480 I've always found really interesting. So the whole cell phone thing, right, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:06.120 so we know that the carriers gave up the on 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.880 the whole idea of doing contracts. Right, So a couple 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.600 of years ago, when remember when the iPhone, it went 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.120 from like you would pay one hundred ninety nine dollars 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.360 every time you upgraded to like, oh wait, now I 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:19.120 have to pay this full amount, like it's a seven 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:21.560 hundred dollars phone. And everyone was like, so what what 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.960 The phone was always seven hundred, but the carrier was 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.440 subsidizing a portion of that in exchange for your two 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:30.160 year contract. And then when they did away with the 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.600 two year contracts, they just made the price of the 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.280 phone they lowered. Okay, so they lowered the price of 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.560 your monthly service. Then they made you pay for the phone, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.600 so it ended up being about the same every month. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.360 But it's just a different way of looking at it. 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:47.160 So but they also got to advertise no more contracts, 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.880 which is totally at this point kind of bogus. And 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.640 here's why. So the reason I say this is because 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:56.920 lots of these cell phone companies, like Okay, Verizon's the 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.800 latest example. They're doing this program that says you broke 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.920 your phone. So Verizon is breaking the rules, yay, And 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.560 so if you have a damage phone or a cracked phone, whatever, 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.520 you can still bring that phone to Verizon and you'll 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.720 get up to one thousand dollars off a new phone. 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.040 Sounds amazing, right, But here's what they're actually doing. And 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.440 this is thanks to my friend Jim Lawson, who I 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.440 talked about in the last podcast. I guess he's gonna 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.240 get a mention in every show, but he told me 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:26.560 that he upgraded his phone because T Mobile was doing 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.120 something similar, and so he told me that he upgraded 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.080 his phone and he got a new iPhone twelve Pro 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:33.960 and I said, ooh, and he said, they gave me 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.480 eight hundred and thirty dollars for his old iPhone ten S, 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.520 which I thought, wow, that's that's like an extremely that's 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.320 a lot of money for an old phone. And so 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.400 here's how they did it, and this is what he 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.080 confirmed to me. So he got a eight hundred and 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.680 thirty dollars promotional credit U. The one time bill credit 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.400 was two hundred and twenty two dollars and that was 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:58.320 off your U let's see, off your after two bill cycles. 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.840 So that to me is probably the amount that they're 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.760 actually paying for that iPhone ten sy, maybe a little 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.560 bit more. But then he gets another twenty five dollars 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:10.480 and thirty four cents off his next twenty four bills, 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:13.080 and that's six hundred and eight dollars plus two twenty 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.080 two for a total of eight thirty. So what have 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.639 we learned from this? We learned that this eight hundred 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:21.399 and thirty dollars is actually just a different type of 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:24.560 contract for the next twenty four months. Now, Jim is 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.560 not going anywhere, he said, I'm sticking with T Mobile. 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.240 I like him. Whatever people that go to Verizon, and 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:32.200 I looked at the fine print on the Verizon deal, 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:37.080 same thing. Here we go, trade in slash, Promo credits 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:42.560 applied over twenty four months. Promo credit ends if eligibility 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.480 requirements are no longer met. So what does this tell 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.800 us all these carriers are doing with these fancy, big, big, 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:54.000 big big trade in numbers, is they are just moving 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.879 the making it so that you are locked in for 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.240 twenty four months. And you might say, rich, big deal. 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.080 I mean I'm gonna be anyway. Well, I think it 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:04.120 is a big deal because I just did a segment 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.679 on cheap cell phone plans and I was researching some 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.760 of these really inexpensive plans, and yeah, you know a 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.840 lot of us on these mainstream you know, Verizon, T Mobile, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:15.720 AT and T. There's only three of them now here 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:18.040 in the US. Uh. You know those plans are like 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:22.240 ninety bucks a month for an unlimited Not everyone needs unlimited. Uh, 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.120 but if you're on a plan and you've got your 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:25.720 phone and you just pay your bill and it's one 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:27.639 hundred and ten bucks a month or whatever it is, 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.119 you just kind of feel like Okay, that's that's how 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:33.639 much I pay. But doing research for these cheap phone plans, 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:36.479 and I know firsthand, because you know I have. I've 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.920 been testing this one called us US Mobile. I've already 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:43.399 spoken about my mom. She's on Mint Mobile. I mean 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.920 she's paying uh, it's like unlimited for thirty dollars a month. 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.560 Now she pays UH for the fifteen gigabyte plan. It's 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.720 like two fifty two. I think we just paid two 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:56.040 sixty five for the year, two hundred and sixty five 0:18:56.080 --> 0:19:00.240 dollars for the year of service. And she just can't 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.359 imagine paying any more than that because she's been paying 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.240 it for three years and she just thinks it's amazing. 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:07.760 And so it's again, these twenty four month lock in 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.080 things kind of just keep you from moving on to 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:13.080 a different carrier. And that's what I don't like. But look, 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.119 I get it. You know, everyone kind of you know, 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:16.960 is comfortable with what they do in a different way. 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:19.719 I'm just trying to give you the knowledge so that 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:22.440 you are prepared when it comes time to make one 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:24.480 of these decisions. I'm not saying what you need to 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.080 do or whether it's right or wrong. I'm just giving 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:28.960 you the knowledge, so you have all the information so 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:30.879 before you say, oh yeah, I'll take eight thirty for 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.560 my phone and then you know, oh wait, but that's 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:35.320 gonna lock me in for two years, which means I 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:37.679 can't ever go to a different carrier for two years. Like, 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.760 oh okay, I better like this. You have to see 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.800 what your opportunity cost is to stick with that carrier 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.359 for two years. Anyway, thank you Jim for screenshotting the 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.000 order process and sending it to me. I do appreciate it. 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.679 I love getting little insights into things like that because 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.040 it just really is fascinating to just you know, it's 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.840 all about just building up this knowledge right as a consumer, 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.959 just understanding how things work. And again I'm not judging 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.440 you either way. I'm not passing judgment on what these 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.800 carriers are doing. I'm just getting letting you know, like, 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:11.920 this is how things work. It's not just eight hundred 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.800 and thirty dollars for free. There is a purpose why 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:19.000 they offer that as a promotion. Tesla this week stopped 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.840 accepting bitcoin, and woo, the bitcoin bitcoin price went a 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.879 little wild. Huh. Bitcoin is so fascinating to me because 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:28.399 here it is this thing that's supposed to be like 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.960 the future of money, cryptocurrency, but yet it's so volatile 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.280