1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot Com. Join Josh 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: and Chuck, the guys who bring you stuff you should know, 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: as they take a trip around the world to help 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: you get smarter in a topsy turv economy. Check out 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: the all new super Stuff Guide to the Economy from 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot Com, available now exclusively on iTunes. 9 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: Hello there, everybody, Welcome to tech Stuff. My name is 10 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: Chris Bollette. I'm an editor here at how stuff works 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: dot com and sitting next to me as always as 12 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Well that was quick. No, no, 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: it's Hungarian for hello. Oh okay, I thought you were 14 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,319 Speaker 1: saying goodbye. Not yet, all right, I don't know. I'm 15 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: kind of in a fog right now. All right, Well, 16 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: today we have another one of our famous or soon 17 00:00:55,200 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: to be famous listener mail round up jamborees. I think 18 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: this would be number two, So let's get started, shall we. Sure? Right, 19 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: So here's the first one. Hi, guys, currently listening to 20 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: your April Fools podcast. So I'm so sorry this is 21 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: ticket so long for me to get to great stuff. 22 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: I think my favorite podcast so far was your two 23 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: thousand eight Christmas Picks. I didn't see anything from this 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: listener in my my stocking, but okay. Thanks. On a 25 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 1: more serious note, I worked for a small coffee roaster 26 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: in the Midwest, and I think we almost got involved 27 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: in an online scam. Someone emailed a request asking if 28 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,199 Speaker 1: we shipped to South Korea and specified a freight company 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: we should use for a quote. I did an internet 30 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: search and found this person's name and email on a 31 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: website highlighting online scams. I checked out how stuff works 32 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: dot com. Excellent choice, and to scam the article on 33 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: how online fraud alerts work, but didn't see anything about 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: how to report potential scam activity. I went to the 35 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: IC three website, but we didn't suffer a financial loss, 36 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: so I didn't know if I should still fell out 37 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: a complaint. Wow, I can't talk. Do you have any suggestions? 38 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: Thanks for all your awesome informative podcasts. I've learned I'm 39 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: a techie at heart. Sarah Well, Sarah, Yeah, we can 40 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: give you some hints and some some tips. If you 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: suspect that you've encountered an online fraud. UM. Actually, there 42 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: are quite a few different opportunities you could take. It 43 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: all depends on sort of the nature of what the 44 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: fraud is. But your first assumption to go to i 45 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: C three that's actually a pretty good one. I see 46 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: three stands for the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and it's 47 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the 48 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: National White Collar Crime Center, And uh, usually that's that's 49 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: a pretty good source to go to if you need 50 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: to report an online scam. Yeah, they're they're very specialized 51 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 1: toward internet crime, as the name suggests UM, you know, 52 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: unlike other eight agencies, so you know, it would be 53 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: very helpful. They also have if you are interested in 54 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: are not Sarah. They also have a lot of other 55 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,799 Speaker 1: scam information on the website. So even if you have 56 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: not been specifically targeted, but are interested in scams, you 57 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: can find a lot of information about different stuff that's 58 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: going on right now, different styles of scams UM and uh, 59 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: you know, specifics on what to do with regard to 60 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,359 Speaker 1: filling out a complaint. The thing is, if you haven't 61 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: actually been scammed, it's kind of I don't know what 62 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,839 Speaker 1: they'll actually do if you feel like well, I mean, 63 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: you can fill out a complaint and and theoretically they're 64 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: going to investigate it, and if they find there's anything 65 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: substantive there, then they will proceed. I don't think that 66 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: you necessarily have to suffer a loss for them to 67 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: be aware of it. I think it's better that you 68 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: go ahead and say, you know, this is this is 69 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: who I think is trying to defraud me. This is 70 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: why I think that here is some supporting evidence. I mean, 71 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: you know, you don't to just throw accusations around, right right. 72 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: You have to send you have to send some information 73 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: about who they are and what you think they were 74 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: up to. And you know, if if you actually, um, 75 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: you know, go ahead with it and send them information 76 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: or send them money, they're gonna want to know exactly 77 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: what you did and when it happened and all that information. 78 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,239 Speaker 1: Otherwise it's going to be very difficult for them to 79 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: investigate it further. But you know, they're gonna want to 80 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: know specifics, you know, in in as much detail as 81 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,279 Speaker 1: you can give them to them. That's true. And uh, 82 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: if um, you know, if that seems like that's not 83 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: the right course for you, I've got some other suggestions 84 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: you can unn follow UM. If the business that you 85 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,559 Speaker 1: suspect is UH is committing fraud or the individual who's 86 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: committing fraud is either in the United States or Canada, 87 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: you can contact the Better Business Bureau UH. If it's 88 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: outside of that, that's outside of their jurisdiction, so that 89 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: would not work in that case. UH. Other opportunities you 90 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: could You could contact the Federal Trade Commission. That's good 91 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: for fraudulent emails or UM or fraudulent businesses UH, the 92 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: Attorney General if it's a fraudulent business UM, there's UH. 93 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: The e consumer dot gov website is a good place 94 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: to go if it's an international company that you suspect 95 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: is committing fraud UM. So that's of course one of 96 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: the big problems with the Internet. You know, it's a 97 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: global entity, so not all the the sites or all 98 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: the companies are going to be found in the United States, 99 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: which makes it a lot more difficult when you're like, well, 100 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: how why can we even do about this if they're 101 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: on the other side of the world. Can we even 102 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: prosecute anything, you know, any sort of fraud UM. But 103 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: you can go to like I said, E Consumer dot 104 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: Gov and UH and at least report scams. If nothing 105 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: else they can, they can raise awareness UM for phishing emails. 106 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: You can use the the usd S SERT, which is 107 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: the Computer Emergency Response Team website UH to report that. 108 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: You can report fraud to the FBI. You know, this 109 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: sounds like it's really kind of scary, spooky stuff, but 110 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: really we're talking about people. People's lives can be ruined 111 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: by fraud, and it happens all the time, and it's 112 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: better to go ahead and report something than to stay 113 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: quiet about and just hope that, you know, no one 114 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: else gets hurt, Like, you know, we'll eat this loss 115 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: and we'll just you know, we don't want to suffer 116 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: the embarrassment of admitting that this happened, or you know, 117 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: we don't want to go through the paperwork. That's really 118 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: kind of irresponsible. It's much better to go ahead and 119 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: step forward and say, hey, these guys over here are 120 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: just are taking people for whatever they can and we 121 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: need to stop it. UM and UH. And then there's 122 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: a www. Dot fraud dot org, which is the National 123 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: Consumer League's fraud center that's not a government site, that 124 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: is a nonprofit consumer sites. Actually one of the oldest 125 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: ones that exist, and uh, they have a they have 126 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: a lot of information about fraud, how to spot it, 127 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: how to avoid it, how to report it. And you 128 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: can report something to that center and they will they 129 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: will take it from there. They'll actually start going through 130 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: and say, Okay, these are the authorities we should contact. 131 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: Here's the information that we have to pass along to them. Um. 132 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: So that's a good resource too. Now I know that 133 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: we tend to concentrate on the United States, so I 134 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: actually looked into a couple of other opportunities as well. 135 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: So for my friends up in Canada who are still 136 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: mad that I said that they don't use one, I 137 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: just mean that you guys don't have emergencies because you're 138 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: so level headed. Um. No, seriously, I know now that 139 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: you use. At the time, I wasn't sure and I 140 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,239 Speaker 1: couldn't get to my computer, so I apologized profusely. Please 141 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: stop throwing bacon at me. But in Canada, you can 142 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: again contact the Better Business Bureau or Industry Canada Consumer Connection, 143 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: which is and I followed by three CS. Do you 144 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: think that causes any confusion? There are lots of three 145 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: I found that out, um. And then over in the 146 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: UK you can contact the Metropolitan Police or the Office 147 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: of Fair Trading, or you can go to a website 148 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: www dot rip Off, tip Off dot net to report scams. 149 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: And there are many other organizations you can contact. And 150 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: of course those are just two other countries. Every country 151 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: has has different departments that you can contact in the 152 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: case of scams. Um and a good resource to go 153 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: to for really any any person in any country is 154 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: www dot Consumer Fraud Reporting dot org. They actually maintain 155 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: a list of various countries and the department that you 156 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: would need to contact if you were to encounter fraud online. 157 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: And it seems, Sarah that your your instincts were good 158 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: because you knew something fishy was was going on. And um, 159 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: I know it's been said many, many, many times and 160 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: it's sort of cliche now, but yeah, if something seems 161 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: too good to be true, it probably is. So you know, 162 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: trust your gut feeling when somebody offers you something that 163 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: seems a little out of the ordinary. Uh. You know, 164 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: as far as a business proposition, I would imagine that 165 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: you know, businesses have to you know, you're looking for 166 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: every opportunity to to do more business. Um, you know 167 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: versus Hello, beneficiary, I want to uh, trade, you know, 168 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: trade your information. Hello, Mr so and so, I am 169 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: I am a lawyer for Mr so and so who 170 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: was sick in Nigeria. Yeah, yeah, so, I'm sure for 171 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: for business, it's got to be a little tougher because you're, 172 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: you know, you're looking for an opportunity to actually, you know, 173 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:42,719 Speaker 1: conclude a deal. But uh, you know, you've got to 174 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,560 Speaker 1: trust those instincts because if something smells a little fishy, 175 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: you need to to look into it, even if you 176 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: don't uh, if you don't bite, and it's uh, you know, 177 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: people know. And I encountered a lot of this back 178 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: back when I worked at a different job. I was 179 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 1: manned the phones every now and then and occasional and 180 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: we would get the phone version of this kind of 181 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: scam where someone asks you a couple of questions and 182 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: just by saying yes, they go ahead and put down 183 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: the the you know, the the client agreed to this service, 184 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: and then they start charging you for it, and people 185 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: are like, why are we getting charged for this paper 186 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: from this vendor? We don't even use this vendor. And 187 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: it was all based off of this one phone call 188 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: where they trick someone into saying yes, and that's that 189 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: is the basis of their agreement. Um, it's pretty scummy stuff, 190 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: and yeah, you find it. You find it in all 191 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: walks of life. It's just the Internet makes it, yeah, 192 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: because you can then scam people all the way across 193 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: the world. You aren't limited to the people in your 194 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: area code. Thank you Internet. It sure is moving on. 195 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 1: So our next question comes from Eric, and Eric wanted 196 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: to know the difference between the terms hardware, software, and firmware. 197 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: We talked a little bit about firmware in a previous 198 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: episode and he was just kind of curious, says to, 199 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,079 Speaker 1: you know, what exactly is firmware? So really you have 200 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: to talk about all three to kind of explain. So first, 201 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,559 Speaker 1: let's tackle hardware. That's pretty easy. Yeah, that's why I 202 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't tackle it first. Those are those are well, in 203 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,120 Speaker 1: the case of electronics and technology, the machines themselves, the 204 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:22,199 Speaker 1: physical devices your monitor, your computer, your iPod, your adapter, cars, 205 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 1: tax machine, cables, anything like that, if you can touch it, Um, 206 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,719 Speaker 1: you know technology, it's it's hardware, right, So that's pretty easy. 207 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: And then software are programs and applications that run on hardware. Um, 208 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: so this is like all the different programs things that 209 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: you rely on day to day operating systems can be 210 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: you know, that's software as well. Um, so this is 211 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,880 Speaker 1: all the little happy programs that make your technology useful. 212 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,560 Speaker 1: So it could be anything from like software on computer, 213 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: software on a mobile device. Uh, you know, even on 214 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: some watches things like that. I mean pretty much any 215 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: electronic device that can do us to phisticated sort of task, 216 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: it's using some sort of software. So the the hardware 217 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,640 Speaker 1: is the machine that without the software, it couldn't do anything. 218 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,199 Speaker 1: So that you know, the software is the program that 219 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: runs on the machine and gets it to do things. 220 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: What is firmware? Yes, it's kind of um, yeah, firmware 221 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: is this this gray area that you know, there's no 222 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: definitive point where you can say this is firmware and 223 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: this is software. Right, Well, it's sort of a combination. 224 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,199 Speaker 1: It's it's literally a combination of the two, but only 225 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,840 Speaker 1: for a very specific part of the hardware and a 226 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: very specific part of the software. Yeah, and it tends 227 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: to be these tend to be very tiny applications that 228 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: are hard coded into some part of the hardware on 229 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: your device, sort of like a driver. Really, it could 230 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: be very much like a driver or you know, a 231 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: microprocessor has machine code coded onto it, otherwise it can't work. Um. 232 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: You know, when you're running a program, ultimately it's getting 233 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: translated into machine code and then translate back into whatever, 234 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: you know, whatever the program is doing. But um, that's 235 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: you know, that's the very core of how a computer works. 236 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: So the firmware is the stuff that is hard coded 237 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: part of the device. Uh. You know, you can't remove it, 238 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: you can't write over it. It's it's what it's what 239 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: allows software to communicate with the hardware so that you 240 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: get results. Yeah, it's um, it's actually stored in ROM, 241 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: which is read only memory and UM, so it can 242 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: only be found on him on a ROM that's inside 243 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: of your machine. So it's uh, you know, it's not 244 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,079 Speaker 1: something that's on your hard drive or anything like that. 245 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: It would actually be in the chips themselves. Right. You 246 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: can think of things like, um, I I would you 247 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: call say, a cartridge game, would you call that firmware 248 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 1: because it's hardcoded onto the cartridge? Well, um, that's a 249 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: really good question you answer for you mean, like, yes, 250 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,319 Speaker 1: don't say the game. I'm not But those were those cartridges, 251 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 1: those older cartridges up until you know I guess Nintendo 252 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: sixty four era type stuff. Um, you know those those 253 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: you can't write to those cartridges. I mean you can, 254 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: but you have to have a burner to do it, 255 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: and it's a pain in the neck. You're you're putting 256 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: it inside your game machine. You're not writing to them. 257 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:21,960 Speaker 1: Those are those are rams? Um, and uh so technically yeah, 258 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: they're kind of fit in that area. I think though 259 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: that people would tell you if we went to talk 260 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: to a programming expert, um, they would say that something 261 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: inside the on the on the chips itself that tell 262 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: the chips how to handle that would actually be firmware 263 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: where the software is on the actual fair enough. So 264 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: what what about a RAM chip that you would find 265 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: in an old fashioned arcade game? See now that I'm 266 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: thinking would probably be technically firmware. Somebody's gonna write to us. 267 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: Just make make sure you put attention Pallette. So, yes, 268 00:14:57,200 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: if you would like to clarify our position, you know, 269 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 1: were not this The thing is that really firmware is 270 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: kind of it's a it's a little bit of a 271 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: fuzzy term because there are some points where you're where 272 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: you might say, well, is a driver really firmware or 273 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: is that software because drivers are what allow you know, 274 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: devices to interact with programs. So this goes back to 275 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: our our our semi definition that we're making up as 276 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: we go along, which is, um, if you download a 277 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: driver for your printer, you're storing it on your hard drive, 278 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: software on your hard drive that your computer hardware uses 279 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: to access the printer. But say you have to update 280 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: the firmware in your wireless router, and that way, you know, 281 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: you're having to download information that gets stored written back 282 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: onto the router to make it, you know, do what 283 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: it needs to do to interact with your computer and stuff. Eric, 284 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: I'd like to thank you for breaking text stuff. Well, 285 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: very much impressed, you know, I I will admit, uh, 286 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: you know, hey, I didn't really know everything about firmware 287 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: and I still don't, but I know a lot more 288 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: now from doing research changes questions. So if you have 289 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: a clarification and want to help out, if you're a 290 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: programmer expert, you know, please drop us a line. And 291 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: it may very well be that certain. You know, within 292 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: different industries you have different definitions of what this really means. 293 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: I mean, that's true. I was using a general Yeah, 294 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: because because someone might think of firmware one way for 295 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: say a laptop, and a different different way of thinking 296 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: about when you're talking about say a mobile phone or 297 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: or an Xbox three sixty. I mean, you know, we 298 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: have game consoles now they get firmware updates to correct 299 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: for problems. So you know, this is no longer just 300 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: the realm of the computer. Um, it's really lots of 301 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: different devices, but it's it's essentially chip instructions versus the 302 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: software that actually runs, you know, when you open a 303 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: program on your machine. So thanks a lot, Eric, I 304 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: hope that muddy up the waters a little bit. Yeah, yea, Well, 305 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: we have one more ready for the last one. Right, 306 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: Hey guys, I'm a new listener, but have only six 307 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: more of your podcast to listen to keep quick Yeah, 308 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: caught up really quickly. I can't get enough information. So 309 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: thanks on your Rechargeable Batteries podcast, I was hoping you'd 310 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: address one aspect of charging. The scenario is I've been 311 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 1: playing on my eye Touch all okay, I guess that's 312 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 1: the iPod Touch all night, and I realized it's getting 313 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:33,200 Speaker 1: late and I need to charge it so I can 314 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: take it with me tomorrow and have enough battery to 315 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: last the day. But if I plug it in now 316 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: and leave it in all night, I'm worried I'll overcharge 317 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: the battery. So my question is can you overcharge batteries? 318 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: Thanks for your help, Aaron. All right, Aaron, Well, um, 319 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: so we're talking about rechargeable batteries. Whether you know, we 320 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,520 Speaker 1: we talked a lot about what was the best way 321 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: to charge them. You know, how charge is lost over 322 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,719 Speaker 1: the duration of the lifetime of the battery, that kind 323 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 1: of thing. You remember this podcast? I do remember that podcast. So, um, 324 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: so yeah overcharging. Uh, first of all, you asked, can 325 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: you overcharge batteries? The answer to that is sometimes, Well, 326 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: the answer to that is yes, but it's sort of 327 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: it's very difficult to do it because depending on the 328 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: kind of battery you have, and depending on the machine 329 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 1: you're using to charge it. Um, It's it's unlikely that 330 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: you're gonna do that. Um because most chargers have some 331 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: technology built in to keep you from overcharging your battery. Yeah, 332 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: it'll detect how much of voltage your battery is storing, 333 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: and if it's over a certain amount, it'll stop sending 334 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: a charge to that battery. Essentially, laptop batteries are pretty 335 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: smart in that regard because they can they generally have 336 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 1: some technology built in to say, oh, well this is 337 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: this is enough, you don't need to charge anymore. So 338 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: let's just say, for sake of argument, that your charger, 339 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: the voltmeter no longer accurately measures the voltage in your battery. 340 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: So let's say that you've kept the the device, computer, 341 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: whatever plugged in for like a day. Uh, what's the 342 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: worst thing that can happen? Okay, So the best thing 343 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: that can happen is that your battery overheats a bit 344 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: and it damages the battery and your battery life suffers 345 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: as a result. And that's probably going to be the 346 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: most common thing that happens. That's like, by and large, 347 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: the best best case scenario. Worst case scenario, the battery 348 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: bursts into flames and burns down half of Detroit, um, 349 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 1: even if you lived in St. Louis. No, that's that's 350 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 1: that's a bit of an exaggeration. Uh No, No, it 351 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: really could. Though. It could burst into flames. I mean 352 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: that is a possibility. It's not likely to happen, um, 353 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: but it is. It is a potential danger that every 354 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: lithium ion battery really has. It's that if you overcharge it, 355 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: it might it might burn up. Actually, you make a 356 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: good point, because I forgot to mention that the research 357 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:01,640 Speaker 1: that I did was speci typically for lithium ion batteries, 358 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,159 Speaker 1: which is the most common battery found in laptops and 359 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: portable electronics, you know, chargeable stuff. Now, there are other 360 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: kinds of chargeable batteries, so your mileage may vary. Battery 361 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: is actually a little more dangerous, I think. But the 362 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: nickel acadmium, yeah, well they're not used as much as 363 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 1: they used to be either. Um and and lithium ion 364 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: also has a you know, you've seen those laptops that 365 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: have burst into flames. Um that's called thermal runaway. And 366 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: I had one. They burst into flames and just cut Yeah, 367 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: they got extremely hot, and that's uh, that can actually 368 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: happen by itself when you're not charging, but that requires 369 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: a serious breakdown in the battery itself too. You know, 370 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: we're talking about chemical reactions that kind of cause the 371 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: stuff to happen. So that's unrelated to the charging. Well 372 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: I guess we're charging. Yeah, So anyway, Yes, it is possible. 373 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: It's not easy to do, so you probably don't need 374 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: to worry about it. But in general, don't leave anything 375 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: plugged in for twenty four hours. Yeah, you'll if you 376 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: read the instructions that with your portable electronic device, computer, etcetera. Um, 377 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: you'll you'll get instructions and a lot of them will 378 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 1: tell you, yeah, go ahead and plug it in and 379 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 1: charge it overnight for the first time or you know. 380 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: I think if you come home, your batteries run down, 381 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: you plug it into the charger, and then the next 382 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: morning before you leave, you unplug it. I don't think 383 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: that's gonna cause a big problem. It's when you leave 384 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: it plugged in for days and days and days and 385 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: days and days, especially when it's something that's less intelligent. Um, 386 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: like if you've just had batteries sitting at home in 387 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: a charger and they were just well, you know, I'll 388 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: leave them in there so they're always ready. Probably not 389 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,840 Speaker 1: leaving your laptop plugged in all the time is not 390 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: probably gonna cause a big problem because it's a little 391 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: smarter than that. Yeah, so in general you're probably okay, Um, 392 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,600 Speaker 1: don't leave your your device is plugged in for twenty 393 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: four hours or more at a time. Just to avoid that, 394 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: because that's that that can cause damage. Even if it 395 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: doesn't damage the battery directly. Uh, it might, you know, 396 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: the charger, It might wear the charger down fast, I 397 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: mean or the battery. Yeah, or the battery. That's true. 398 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: The battery life can suffer if it overheats for an 399 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: extended period of time. That can that can cause the 400 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: chemical reactions to be less efficient, and then it doesn't 401 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: hold a chart as much of a charge as it 402 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: used to. And that's a simple way to tell. I 403 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: feel it. It's the battery. Yeah, you know, if it's 404 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: a little warm, you know, oh that's kind of warm. Wow, 405 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 1: that's that's that's pretty dark. If you're using a device 406 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: like I don't know, the HTC G one Google Android Farm. Uh, 407 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: if you're using like that with all of its functions going, 408 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: it can warm up all on its own. So that's 409 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: not necessarily a sign of the battery overheating. Um, that's 410 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: a sign of the processor getting really hot. I found 411 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 1: that out the hard way. So now I don't use 412 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,360 Speaker 1: nearly as many functions at a time. Well, I use uh, 413 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: you know, my my laptop at home is a as 414 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: an Apple aluminum case laptop, you know, and then there's 415 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: that you know, working in the summer wearing shorts, thing 416 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: going well, that is awfully warm, So that's you know, 417 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: they're use your head. But yeah, I mean, if you 418 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,439 Speaker 1: feel your battery and it's warmer than it should be 419 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: while it's charging, and you know, for example, you're not 420 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: actually doing anything with the battery, you know, it's just 421 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: plugged in, that's that's a bad time. So that about 422 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,639 Speaker 1: wraps it up for this this podcast. I think you 423 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 1: don't have anything else in So if any of you 424 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: have any questions or concerns, or you want to try 425 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: and get something off your chest, like the image of 426 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 1: Chris and Shorts working on a laptop. If you want 427 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: to get that you know out there, just go ahead 428 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: and send us an email tech stuff at how stuff 429 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: works dot com. Remember we've got blogs up. You can 430 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: access those from our homepage how stuff works dot com 431 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 1: and we have articles about all these sort of subjects 432 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 1: there to check them out, and we will talk to 433 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: you again really soon for more on this and thousands 434 00:23:50,400 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is that how stuff works dot Com 435 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,359 Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera 436 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: it's ready. Are you