Primary Topic
This episode delves into the recent global technological disruptions, analyzing their origins, impacts, and future implications.
Episode Summary
Main Takeaways
- Extensive Impact: The outage had a broad impact on critical sectors including finance, logistics, and communication.
- Cybersecurity Concerns: Highlighted the increasing importance of robust cybersecurity measures.
- Preparedness and Response: Discussed how businesses and governments responded to the crisis.
- Future Safeguards: Emphasized the need for improved infrastructure to prevent similar incidents.
- Public Perception and Trust: Addressed how such outages affect public trust in technology.
Episode Chapters
1: The Outage Explained
An analysis of the events leading up to and during the outage. Key topics include the initial system failures and the rapid global spread of the disruption. Kim Komando: "It started as a minor glitch but escalated within hours to a global crisis."
2: Impact Analysis
Discusses the sectors most affected by the outage, with a focus on finance, healthcare, and communications. Kim Komando: "Every sector that relies on real-time data was paralyzed."
3: Looking Ahead
Focuses on solutions and preventive measures to mitigate future risks. Kim Komando: "We need to rethink our approach to tech infrastructure."
Actionable Advice
- Regular System Audits: Ensure that systems are regularly audited and updated to ward off potential vulnerabilities.
- Emergency Response Plans: Develop and routinely update emergency response plans for technological disruptions.
- Diversify Infrastructure: Avoid reliance on a single technology provider to mitigate risks.
- Public Awareness Campaigns: Educate the public and stakeholders on how to respond during tech outages.
- Global Cooperation: Promote global cooperation in setting standards and protocols for cybersecurity.
About This Episode
A software update by CrowdStrike took down tons of computer systems around the world. Banks, businesses, hospitals, and more were all impacted. Plus, Amazon Prime Day updates and Zoom's demand for a return to the office.
People
Kim Komando
Companies
None
Books
None
Guest Name(s):
None
Content Warnings:
None
Transcript
Speaker A
It's better over here.
Speaker B
Now at T Mobile, get four 5g phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins, all on America's largest 5g network.
Speaker C
Minimum of four lines for $25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account. $5 more per line without auto pay, plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection. Charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement. Due bill credits end if you pay off devices early. Ctmobile.com dot.
Kim Commando
Hey, it's Kim Commando today, your daily podcast to keep you up to date with all things digital and beyond. And I'd love to have you be a part of our podcast. You can make an appointment to speak with me. Just head over to commando.com. and on the top right, there's a button that says email. Kim, fill that out, and that's it.
I would not want to be in an airport today.
Speaker A
What a nightmare.
Kim Commando
Could you imagine?
Speaker A
So now I wake up really early, right? And I was awake at 240, turned on the radio, and they were already talking about all the flights. So that means 05:00 a.m. like prime time on the east coast, right? No one was getting on a plane.
Kim Commando
They say over 2900 flight delays. Wow, 2900. I mean, you know, the airport's already not the most organized spot, you would say.
Speaker A
Not at all.
Kim Commando
No. Okay, so here, who do you think is the leader of flight cancellations today?
Speaker A
Ooh, I'm picking an airline.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
Interesting. Is it us? Are we talking in the US?
Kim Commando
Yes, I am.
Speaker A
Southwest.
Kim Commando
No, not even on the list.
Speaker A
Good for them.
Kim Commando
Delta.
Speaker A
Oh, Delta.
Kim Commando
Delta. Okay. All right, who's number two?
Speaker A
United. No, American.
Kim Commando
Yes, American. Okay. Then comes united.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
Now it's so bad, all the computers are down. We're gonna talk more about this, but it's so bad that in India. This is not a joke. I'm not setting you up for a joke, okay? In India, they are actually handwriting boarding passes.
Speaker A
Well, this is not new. We had the whole thing. Remember when the car dealership software got hacked and they were selling cars like it was 1945?
Kim Commando
Yes, I know. Awful. It's awful. I mean, you know, think of this in India. I mean, keep calm.
Speaker A
And you said you were not setting up a joke.
Kim Commando
Well, I wasn't there in other place.
Speaker A
Tell the story. I'm sorry.
Kim Commando
You just ruined it for me.
Speaker A
I know, but you just ruined it.
Kim Commando
I was just. I was all ready to deliver the best line, and you ruined it. You know, comedy is all about timing.
Speaker A
I understand, but I shouldn't have known the minute you said, I'm not setting up for a joke, and you were saying the word India like, 54 times that a joke was coming.
Kim Commando
Okay, well, I wasn't sending anybody up for a joke because they really are handwriting boarding passes. But the part I was going to say that I thought was extremely funny. And I think now everybody's gonna be, like, so hysterical. I mean, about is, I was gonna say, you know, so in India, the motto is keep calm and. Curry on.
Speaker A
Yeah, we can edit that out. We can edit that out. That whole thing.
Kim Commando
I thought that was hysterical.
Speaker A
Curry on.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
Did you write that?
Kim Commando
Yes, I did.
Speaker A
Oh, I wouldn't take credit for that.
Kim Commando
How come you're so mean to me?
Speaker A
It's fun.
Kim Commando
I don't think. It's not nice. I'm telling mom. All right, all right. You ready? It's called Kim Commando today, because, after all, I'm Kim Commando. Funny how that works. And it's our fun podcast about all things digital. We are going to be talking a lot about the Crowdstrike and exactly what went down, because I don't think a lot of people really understand. A lot of people I don't even think knew about a company by the name of Crowdstrike.
Speaker A
No, I learned about them today.
Kim Commando
And then also have some news about Amazon prime. What do you have on tap?
Speaker A
The FBI got into the phone of the assassin, and we're gonna tell you, explain exactly how they did it.
Kim Commando
Oh, that would be interesting. I didn't read that story. I saw the headline, but I didn't read it.
Speaker A
All right, well, then I'm gonna fill in you and everyone else.
Kim Commando
Okay. And then don't forget to, like, comment, share.
Speaker A
This is a YouTube video. I know they're new fandangled devices, but this is a live, streaming YouTube podcast every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And if you like the podcast and you share the podcast and you comment on the podcast, it shows more people. The podcast is happening. The more people we have, the longer we get to do this. And we appreciate it. Thank you.
Kim Commando
Yes. And then don't forget to enter to win that $1,000 vacation giveaway card because I know you want to go on a flight.
Speaker A
Yeah, exactly.
Kim Commando
Winfromkim.com dot. Once again, that's winfromkim.com dot. Winfromkim.com dot. So it was a routine software update. Okay. It had a couple of lines of defective code in it. So you have this company by the name of Crowdstrike.
Crowdstrike is a public company based in Austin, Texas. They have roughly 29,000 customers. So before you say, like, that's really not a lot of people, I would.
Speaker A
Think that's a ton of people.
Kim Commando
Okay, well, for me, 29,000 customers, I didn't really think that was a lot.
Speaker A
But your customers are american airlines. They're being compass.
Kim Commando
So it's not like you just have 29,000 Americans that are following you on your TikTok account.
Speaker A
Exactly.
Kim Commando
I mean, we're talking about hundreds of millions of windows computers. Okay, so crowdstrikes. Their main purpose as a cybersecurity company is to make sure that Windows computers are safe from hackers and cyber attacks and scammers. That's what they do. Okay. So they are constantly looking for those zero day threats and trying to make sure that all these networks of computers, hundreds of millions, that they always stay up. So they actually push down the software updates. Okay, so it's not like they show up, like, in your windows computer, and you're like, oh, yeah, I'll take that update. No, you're not allowed to say no. It gets pushed down. So they push down this massive update, and then guess what happened.
Speaker A
The entire world couldn't fly anywhere.
Kim Commando
That's it. Okay. Pretty much it was banks, businesses, hospitals, emergency services, even Amazon's customer telecommunications companies.
Speaker A
Broadcasting companies, they were all affected here in Phoenix.
Kim Commando
I guess emergency response systems were down.
Speaker A
Yeah, 911 reals didn't work.
Kim Commando
Yes. Same thing in Alaska and Ohio.
The London stock Exchange had some problems.
Speaker A
Uh oh.
Kim Commando
Hospitals had to stop surgeries. And all of this because of a single update?
Speaker A
Well, now, tell me if I'm wrong, but remember when Southwest was down for, like, 12 hours, and they blamed it on corrupted code in a file in the middle of this is exactly the same thing, right? It was just one little bad file.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
That went just to everyone and made 29,000 little bad files.
Kim Commando
So Crowdstrike's CEO, George Kurtz. We never met George before. Never said his name before.
Speaker A
You never want to.
Kim Commando
He says, this is not a security incident or a cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fixed. Deployed.
Speaker A
But they fixed it pretty fast, to be honest. To give them credit.
Kim Commando
All right.
Speaker A
Uh oh. She's got her hand up.
Kim Commando
Okay, don't be talking so fast.
Speaker A
We're gonna be taught a lesson.
Kim Commando
Okay. No, because it's not like you can just, like, go, oh, I take it back.
Speaker A
Right.
Kim Commando
Okay. Now you have to like, take it back. And then all these systems that were working on this new line of code have to be told not to use that line of code. And so it could take weeks to fix this.
Speaker A
But it's back and running. I saw planes taken off all day.
Kim Commando
They are, but it's still on, teetering on the edge.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
So it's not like, oh, okay, everything's fine now. Everything's really not fine now. And then Microsoft came out and they said, oh, well, we were also having trouble with office 365. And so we fixed that. And so if you're having trouble with your windows machine, they actually said this, that you should turn your machine on.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
I mean, turn your machine off. Rather leave it off for like a minute, then turn it back on. Okay.
Then turn your machine off and then turn it back on. Turn it off. Turn it on. Turn it off. Turn it on. Turn it off. Turn it on. Off. On, off. On 15 times.
Speaker A
No.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
How is it a solution for anything?
Kim Commando
I have no idea.
Okay.
Speaker A
It's a prank. They are trying to prunk us.
Kim Commando
So it's not just turning it on and off.
Turn it on and off 15 times.
Speaker A
That's ridiculous.
Kim Commando
Not 14, right?
Speaker A
Of course not.
Kim Commando
16. Why would 14 work 15 times?
Speaker A
Insane.
Kim Commando
So this brings up a bigger issue, that we are also reliant on one company.
Wow.
Yeah.
Speaker A
I mean, that's why we work against monopolies and stuff like that. Right.
But I'm sure that they have competitors, right? This company has to have.
Kim Commando
I'm sure they do too.
Speaker A
But then it's the old boy system and the buddies and, well, if the guy's over at blah blah blah, use it, then we gotta use it. And we'll go all go out to golf together and sign this big mega deal.
Kim Commando
Yes, I've got. But also, if you know that your competitor is using it, you have it too. Yeah. Cause you say, oh, well, it must be good for United, right? Must be good for Air India.
Speaker A
So are you thinking there should be regulations where when one industry can use one company and competitors in that industry have to use something else?
Kim Commando
I don't really, I'm really for a free market libertarian.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
So I mean, I, I think, like, let the market decide. I mean, if I were Delta or United or American, I would definitely be looking at competitive services right now.
Speaker A
So you could be the one airline that's still flying if this happens again when everybody else is down.
Kim Commando
Exactly. Or maybe what we do is we segment the networks and so we have one company doing.
One company uses Crowdstrike, another company uses commando, cybersecurity or whatever it is.
New business.
I'm too busy for that.
Speaker A
Domain registered this morning.
Kim Commando
Yes, exactly.
But it does pause. Does make you pause for just a second. Say, you know what? Everybody is using this. Maybe we ought to start thinking about somebody else.
Speaker A
But it's also, in the grand scheme of things, it's 12 hours and 365 days. I mean, it's a blip.
Kim Commando
Oh, yeah, tell that to the person who's standing in line at American Airlines trying to get a new flight.
Speaker A
Right, I understand that, but there could have been a tornado.
Kim Commando
I mean, maybe the preppers are onto something is what I'm saying. Maybe, you know what? Maybe all the billionaires with the bunkers, they're onto something. I mean, you know, I admit that we have food that's good for, like, I don't know, 85 years sitting in the garage.
Speaker A
What do you have? What is it? What kind of food is it?
Kim Commando
Oh, I just. You know what? Sometimes I think, actually, Barry said this to me. He's like, you know, we should take this out, and we should make it one night. It looks really good.
Speaker A
You should. That would be a great YouTube video.
Kim Commando
So I was like, which one do you want to take out? And he's like. And he pulls out one that says, like, beef stroganoff.
Okay.
Speaker A
Yummy. Garage stroganoff. Nothing sounds more delicious.
Kim Commando
I look at it like, I looked at him and said, well, number one, when have I ever eaten beef?
Speaker A
You will if there's nuclear war happening.
Kim Commando
That's what he told me. That's what he told me. But then it brought up a bigger issue, which is you need water for the beef stroganoff.
Speaker A
You can use Gatorade, okay? Sprite.
It's about calories and survival, okay? We're not gonna be picky, okay?
Kim Commando
I don't eat processed food.
Speaker A
Well, then you will die. No, I won't die in the apocalypse.
Kim Commando
That's it.
But I will have guns and gold at P. Stroganoff.
Speaker A
If it's good enough for America's soldiers, it's good enough for Kim Commando when the world is ending. Come on.
Kim Commando
There should be, like, something different.
Speaker A
Oh, you want to do like. What's that? Gwyneth Paltrow. What's her website?
Kim Commando
Goop. Goop?
Speaker A
Yeah. What if Goop came out with her own mres, like filet mignon and grilled asparagus?
Kim Commando
Or Meghan Markle's thousand dollar strawberry spread?
What happened to the $1,000 spread that.
Speaker A
Some other company came out with another spread the same week and blew her out of the water. And it just went away for like $5. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't $49.99, but you know what I mean.
Kim Commando
Like, she came out with this big thing, like American Riviera and strawberries, and she didn't even say where the strawberries were grown. But I guess maybe Santa Barbara. I'm not sure.
And then you just don't hear about it anymore.
Speaker A
No, we don't hear anything about what they do. They do something. It gets daily mail headline for about an hour and a half, and then it goes away.
That's the truth.
Kim Commando
I know. You know, I would not want to be. Would you want to be either one of them?
Speaker A
Well, yeah. Would I like to be in line for the throne? He's never gonna get there, but I'm still in line. No, Prince Andrew had a pretty good life, and he was never gonna get there either.
Kim Commando
Teenagers.
Speaker A
We can gloss over that part. But he had a pretty powerful and influential life.
Kim Commando
Yeah, he did.
Speaker A
I wouldn't mind it. At least for a week.
Kim Commando
I wouldn't want it.
Speaker A
No, no. You wouldn't want to be a princess. Like a legitimate, legal princess. You are lying to yourself.
Kim Commando
You know what? You're right.
You know what? I think? From now on, everybody should refer to me as Princess Kim.
Speaker A
That won't be uncomfortable at all.
Kim Commando
And you must laugh at all my jokes.
Speaker A
Somebody get hr on the phone right now.
Kim Commando
Princess Kim.
Speaker B
Now at T Mobile. Get four 5g phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins, all on America's largest 5g network.
Speaker C
Minimum of four lines for dollar. 25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account. $5 more per line without auto discount. Auto pay plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection. Charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement. Due bill credits and if you pay off devices early, ctmobile.com dot.
Kim Commando
Okay, it's Kim commando today. We're so glad that you're here with us. And just a reminder, make sure that you tell at least one person. Just tell one person about our podcast. That's all. Even if you don't like them. We don't care. Do we care?
Speaker A
No.
Kim Commando
No.
Speaker A
A body is a body.
Kim Commando
Yeah. An ear is an ear. An eye is an eye.
Speaker A
What do they call it now? There's a new term for not engagement. A launch. I think they're called launches now.
Kim Commando
What?
Speaker A
When someone starts your video on YouTube or it's a launch.
Kim Commando
I haven't heard that.
Speaker A
Yeah, it's all these tech terms, all these launch broadcasting terms. You need x amount of launches per month.
Kim Commando
Oh, so you probably. You learned that the other day.
Speaker A
No, at your seminar couple weeks ago.
Kim Commando
Oh, really?
Speaker A
Yeah.
Kim Commando
So. But if a person doesn't stay very long, does the launch count?
Speaker A
Five minutes.
Kim Commando
That's it?
Speaker A
Yep.
Kim Commando
So if they watch five minutes and then you get a view of long.
Speaker A
Term content or long form content. Yes.
Kim Commando
I see.
Speaker A
Or a stream.
Kim Commando
So how do we get people to stay for like seven minutes?
Speaker A
Why do you want seven?
Kim Commando
Well, this way. Because they're 80. Once they get to seven, they're just totally hooked.
Speaker A
Well, that's why we. I mean, you really want to talk about this right now? Yeah, that's why we start the show with content and not with an intro or who we are. That's why you lead in the show with a story.
Kim Commando
Correct.
Speaker A
So that you have them immediately and you get them to listen to for five minutes.
Kim Commando
Yeah. The worst ones are. And, you know, this is like, I was on somebody's show recently. I'm not gonna say who it was.
Speaker A
Oh, this is disappointing.
Kim Commando
Yes. I can't.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
You know, I recently, within the last.
Speaker A
Two weeks, we can google search this. We'll find it out.
Kim Commando
And it was like, you know, hi, it's Bob Smith. And this is the Bob Smith show. And coming up on the Bob Smith show, I got this, this and this. And, you know, the Bob Smith listener line is open. And by the way, Bob Smith. And I'm like, oh, my God. I'm going to poke my good eye out.
Speaker A
I don't care what's coming up, Bob. I'm here right now. Yeah, it's. But you know, that's a broadcasting cut crutch right there. That's just the only way. The first five things. Five. Five words is the hardest part of broadcasting. It's those first five words.
Kim Commando
I don't think so.
Speaker A
Well, when you start a show, do you start with it's commander today? You go right into the topic.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
Is it pre written?
Kim Commando
No, just like a dot, like couple of outline. Just like an outline.
Speaker A
Because I used to have a co worker who's no longer with us, but he used to, before you would do the show, he would just practice the first sentence because all he needed to do was get that first sentence out and he's fine. But transitioning from nothing, from commercials to the show. And so he would just sit there and repeat that. Welcome back to the show. We're talking about Cheez its. Welcome back to the show. We're talking about cheese. And he would just rehearse that.
Kim Commando
Really?
Speaker A
Yeah. So he was comfortable with that because the first sentence out of it, because you're transitioning from telling people to go buy a Ford to talking about whatever you're talking about, and you have to build that bridge. And it's those first, those first couple of sentences is the hardest part.
Kim Commando
So for those of you that have your own show.
Speaker A
Right. You're welcome for those tips.
Kim Commando
Those are insider secrets right there.
All right, so 40 minutes.
Speaker A
Yes. The FBI, they got the phone of the person who tried to assassinate the former president states, obviously they killed him on site. They had the body, they had his phone. They weren't giving any details really, on Saturday and Sunday, not any information except for they had the phone and they were trying to access it. Then they released that he had a newer Samsung with an Android operating system, a phone similar to mine for sure. And that in Pennsylvania, they were attempting to unlock it with a software called celebrate.
Kim Commando
That's an israeli company, right?
Speaker A
Yes. It's the cellular forensics company that builds softwares and sells it to government agencies to do stuff exactly like this. They do a lot more, but something exactly like this. And they're just trying to get past the four number code to get into the phone and have access to it. Obviously, they had permission. This is nothing they did. It was illegal. This guy tried to kill a former president. The courts are going to push that through pretty quickly.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
They couldn't get into it no matter what they tried with this software. And so they immediately sent it back to Virginia, to the FBI offices, and they literally got on customer care with celebrite and said, we can't get into this phone. And so celebrite has this new software that they've been working and developing, and it's not available to anyone. But because of the importance of the situation, of course they got it to the FBI, and the FBI then had the phone open within 40 minutes.
Kim Commando
Now, have you heard anything that they found?
Speaker A
Yeah. So they found a picture of both presidential candidates in this year's race, Biden and Trump. They also found some Google searches that were concerning about mental health disorders and depression that were searched relatively close to the time. That's really all they're giving out. There's not a lot of social media that he had for them. To find on the phone, I did.
Kim Commando
See that he was searching for Princess Kate.
Speaker A
Yeah, that could have been just a regular search.
Kim Commando
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker A
They don't know if that's connected at all. There's a lot of things on there that they don't know if it's connected at all or it's just. He was his daily life.
Kim Commando
Now, the quote on the game, on steam, that was proven to be fake, right?
Speaker A
Correct.
Kim Commando
Okay.
Speaker A
And, I mean, there's so many. Can we talk about that for a second?
Kim Commando
Sure.
Speaker A
How the Internet is just the argument over whether or not President Trump was shot in the air or if it was a piece of glass that came from the teleprompter over the last two days was enough for me to think about deleting all social media apps.
Kim Commando
Why?
Speaker A
Because it's two sides. One wants to believe it's fake. The other wants to believe that the government's behind it. So both of them don't even look at. Or looking at the truth.
Kim Commando
Yeah. Staged.
Speaker A
Right? That's what I'm saying. One thing is it's fake, but they both think it's staged, but in two totally different definitions.
Kim Commando
Okay. Really?
Speaker A
Yeah. One thinks that the Trump was never shot, and he went to the ground and put ketchup on his ear, and the other thinks that the opposite party is trying to kill him. And they're fighting over this teleprompter on social media for a day and a half.
Kim Commando
And I'm just like, I guess I'm going to the wrong place. Although I have, I'll tell you, I really don't scroll social media, but I'm looking.
Speaker A
So this is something I'm really invested because I'm 43 years old and I've had so many monumental moments in my life.
Kim Commando
Yeah, you have.
Speaker A
And, like, 911, global pandemic, you know, all these things. I hope my children don't even experience one of them, let alone all of them. And this is an assassination attempt, which people want to get on there and joke about, or, like, I've really taken this to heart and it's really affected me that this is possible in 2024 in our country. And I want to know the why. So I am digging. You're right, I don't doom scroll either, but I'm digging for information, and that's where I'm seeing all of this.
Kim Commando
Yeah, it's.
But it's obvious. Well, to me. It's obvious to me that I saw the bullet in the picture.
Speaker A
Right.
Kim Commando
Okay.
And the way that it happened, the guy was shot.
Speaker A
Yeah.
Kim Commando
Okay. And I don't know if you watched.
Speaker A
But isn't it so sad. I'm sorry to interrupt, but isn't it so sad that they have to come out and confirm the guy who's bleeding from the ear as he's being called off stage by 33 secret service members? They have to confirm that he was hit by a bullet.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
When the guy standing behind him was killed by a bullet wound.
Kim Commando
No, it is ridiculous.
Speaker A
It's exhausting.
Kim Commando
But, and you look at the way that, you know, obviously when Trump had his fist up, I mean, people, I have seen some of these people, like, he practiced that, of course.
You know, it's like, what? Okay. You know, okay, so what are we doing today, sir? All right. We're gonna be practicing when I get shot that I'm gonna put my fist up in a moment of pr pleasure and say that that's really the case.
Speaker A
Okay. But also, too, he did, he did capitalize on the moment. I mean, he could have let Secret Service just take him off the stage.
Kim Commando
I think he's a badass. Okay. I think that he's like. Because when he said fight, I. Because I was watching it live, I thought he said the f bomb.
Speaker A
Oh, okay.
Kim Commando
Like, and so that was what I thought he said. And bears like, no, he said fight. I'm like, oh, no, he's a New Yorker. He was like, you know, but I.
Speaker A
Mean, I would have, I would have personally allowed the secret Service to do their job and not push back against them when there's a legitimate assassination attempt happening. I think it was not the brightest thing the former president did by peeking his head outside a group of secret service members to promote himself, regardless of what your politics. That's what I think. Yes, but I, but this whole thing of social media, I just, I might give it up because I just can't. It's why I left. News talk radio is after President Obama was elected, and it just got so negative and so down in the dirt. Nobody can have a conversation about anything, even something as real and scary as an assassination of a former president.
Kim Commando
It is. And because people are so polarized, well.
Speaker A
They also are thinking so singularly, how does this affect me? Instead of thinking about the entire country and how this affects everyone, they just, I want my party to win, so I'm going to go out there and argue the points of my party.
Kim Commando
And I just, I just saw it as such a sad state.
Speaker A
So sad.
Kim Commando
I mean, that you have somebody who shoots a political candidate. I mean, and, you know, what? He doesn't have to do this. I mean, Biden has to. I mean, nobody has to be. No, you know, it's not. It's not a good time. It's not fun.
I mean, okay, yeah, maybe they got an ego, but this isn't something that you're like, wow, I don't. I mean, I'm gonna work 14 hours today, right?
Speaker A
It's work. It's not a pleasure cruise. It's work. And you're right, they are both driven. No matter who you were talking about, they're both driven by ego. Yes, and that's true. I would never wanna do that job.
Kim Commando
No.
Speaker A
Especially now. And the thing is, if you're one of those people, and I know we're talking a lot of politics here, but if you're one of those people who's standing on the outside going, I'm not voting for either one of these guys, I have problems with both of them. I can't believe we can't go out there and find an intelligent candidate to help run this country. Will you think if we're taking shots at him for 400 yards away, you're gonna get people like that to step up and fill that role? You're not.
Kim Commando
Well, it's.
You probably do need a break.
Speaker A
I do.
Kim Commando
You need to just. You just need not to.
Speaker A
Look, it's hard, though, because it's so.
Kim Commando
Important, but this is another event. I mean, Ian sees it as his 911.
Speaker A
Sure, absolutely. And I don't disagree with him.
Kim Commando
You know, and it's. It's something that we should all take seriously.
Speaker A
But there's also people who don't even think it's a big deal.
Oh, well, they missed. Oh, the Secret Service was there to protect him.
Kim Commando
You know what? The guy would be dead.
Speaker A
Should have been. He absolutely should have been. If he does not turn his head.
Kim Commando
He would have died. He would have been died right there.
Speaker A
He said it in his speech. I should not be here tonight. And he's absolutely right.
Kim Commando
And he's changed.
Speaker A
You think so? Yeah, for the first ten minutes in speech.
Kim Commando
But we're not going to go next 50. We're not going to go any more into that, because then somebody's going to. Then I'm going to get all those emails. Oh, him. Commando. You hate Trump. Oh, Kim. Commando. You love Trump. I mean, I. It doesn't matter what I say. No, it doesn't matter, because then I'm going to get. Then I'll get people who say, oh, you love Biden. You hate Biden. I always knew you loved Biden, always knew you loved Trump. I mean, and then, so what happens on social media, what you get is that I get it in your personal email and DM's and notes on the website and voicemails. And again, that's people.
Speaker A
People just thinking singularly just about themselves. Oh, Kim hates Biden. Kim hates Trump. I'm gonna let her know about it. Cause I'm mad.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
It's such, it's so much bigger than that.
Kim Commando
Okay? So don't even think of dropping me a note. Don't even think. Don't waste your time. You know, time is precious.
Speaker A
Yes.
Kim Commando
In your life. Okay? Don't waste it by sending me a note that I'm just gonna delete.
Speaker A
Yeah, you're just gonna delete. You're not gonna read it.
Kim Commando
No.
Speaker A
If you see the word T R or B I, you just delete.
Kim Commando
God.
Speaker B
After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now you can switch. Keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and at and t@tmobile.com.
Speaker C
Across America, up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying. Unlock device credit service ported. 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
Kim Commando
Hey, it's Kim commando. Today it's your fun podcast. And just a reminder is that if you're listening to the audio version of the podcast, we love you for that. Make sure that you give us a nice five star review wherever you get your podcast. And that also means that you can watch the video version of the podcast if you want, you can do it live Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 11:30 a.m. that's Pacific time, 02:30 p.m. on the east coast. And if you're in the middle of the country, it's up to you to figure it out, because that's big math.
Speaker A
It's too many. There's only four time zones, but it's too many.
Kim Commando
YouTube.com kimcommando. YouTube.com kimcommando. Speaking of big money, Amazon's prime day this past week.
Speaker A
Oh, my goodness.
Kim Commando
Did you buy anything? No, you know, I didn't either, but.
Speaker A
The rest of the planet did.
Kim Commando
Sales increased 11% over the past year. They raked in, in 48 hours. Listen to this number, $14.2 billion.
Speaker A
Honestly, if you would have said guess, I would have guessed a billion and I thought it would have been high.
$14 billion is nuts.
Kim Commando
I it's crazy.
Speaker A
Were the deals that good?
Kim Commando
Well, that's an interesting question, because there is this whole conspiracy theory that what Amazon does say, they start, like, if it was prime day in July, they start in, like, maybe March.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
And they start, like, you know, raising the price from the regular price just a little bit. Just keeps going up a little bit. A little bit.
And then so this way, when it hits prime day is that they slash it back down to the regular price.
Speaker A
What is that website that tracks all that?
Kim Commando
Camel. Camel. Camel.
Speaker A
Yes.
Kim Commando
Camel. Camel. Camel.
Speaker A
I thought it had a really unique name.
Kim Commando
I know. What should we call this? Well, you know, it has to do with, you know, looking at historical prices, seeing if you're getting the best deals. It does price predictions.
Speaker A
I got an idea. What if we call it Turtle? Turtle. Turtle.
Kim Commando
No, no, that's too slow. That's slow. Oh, yeah, that's slow.
Camels in the desert.
Speaker A
Yeah. We should call it camel.com. that's a great idea.
Kim Commando
Camel, camel, camel, camel, camel, camel.
Speaker A
What a weird website name.
Kim Commando
Bloomberg reported two years ago that sometimes prices labeled as discount were actually the item's regular price.
So now the question is, does this happen over the holidays, too?
Speaker A
Sure.
Well, do isn't Kohl's is the one, if I believe, if I remember incorrectly, got busted for that. Yes, because they were like, they got sued by some guy because he was in there and he wanted to buy these suitcases, and they were 60% off for only $239. He's like, wow, 60% off. And he went and he got. And got some money together. I think he actually, like, borrowed the money from his mom because he really needed them. Went and bought the suitcases, came back the next week, and they were no longer on sale. They were no longer 60% off, but they were still dollar 260.
Kim Commando
That's a bargain.
Speaker A
Exactly.
Kim Commando
You know, I didn't buy anything on prime because I really didn't need anything.
Speaker A
Neither do I. Yeah.
Kim Commando
You know, I mean, but normally what I do on prime day is that I, what I always usually do, but I didn't do it again this time, is that I go to, like, recent orders, and then I look at what I would, I've bought to see if that's on sale.
Speaker A
So you can rebuy it, or is you gonna return the other one and save some money?
Kim Commando
No, I can rebuild. I'm not gonna return something.
Speaker A
That's a lot of work.
Kim Commando
Yeah, it is. I'm just not gonna do that a dollar 50. But, you know, but we. So in our newsletters, you know, we did a whole bunch of lists of, like, products for people to buy on Prime Day.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
And people thanked us because they said, you know, it's just overwhelming.
Speaker A
Yeah, that's true. If you can narrow it down, $14 billion. I mean, that's the gdp of some countries.
Kim Commando
I think it's like. I think we did the math. It was like 7 million products, 7 million items a minute that they were selling.
Yeah. 6.9 items per minute. Could you imagine having a business that you sold? 7 million items per minute?
Speaker A
I can't imagine selling a business that I sold. Seven items per minute.
Kim Commando
That would be.
Speaker A
7 million is insane.
Kim Commando
I would like to get seven new subscribers a minute. That's all. Seven?
Speaker A
That's all.
Kim Commando
I don't. I mean, it doesn't have to be 7 million. No, it can be just seven.
Speaker A
You should have put the newsletter up on Prime Day, 100% off free. Put it up there for $10 and then take 100% off.
Kim Commando
You know, we need some big numbers. We need some big numbers behind this newsletter. So if anybody, you know, if you're listening, you're watching, and you have, like, employees.
Speaker A
How do we take every topic and turn it back to how you make money? How do we do this?
Kim Commando
Do you like a paycheck? Don't you?
Speaker A
That's true. Go ahead. If you're an employer, please tell your employees, make it a mandate. They get no Christmas break unless they subscribe to the newsletter.
Kim Commando
Let me tell you something. Our web traffic is in the crapper.
Speaker A
Oh, no, it is.
Kim Commando
No joke. It's in the crapper. Our traffic to switch to the new website. No, just over, I think because of chat, GPT, and also switching to the new website doesn't help because that kind of screws up the SEO algorithms. But, yeah, so, I mean, Jeremy and Allie came into my office yesterday, and they're like, we want to try this new software, and it's going to do AI SEO and all this other stuff. And I said, well, you know, sounds good. And Allie was all excited. Okay, all excited. And I said, how much is it? And Jeremy said, well, it's like a. I'm like, what was that?
Speaker A
That expensive, huh?
Kim Commando
It was $40,000, kid. I almost swore for a year.
Speaker A
Not even forever.
Kim Commando
No, just a year.
Speaker A
So that means you gotta make 120,000 off of it for it to be worth it.
Kim Commando
Yes. You know my numbers. Yes, yes. You gotta. Times that by three. I gotta go make 120 off of it.
Speaker A
She's not buying that software.
Kim Commando
Not, no way. Tell you how I told him. I said, you go get a 30 day free trial.
Speaker A
See how it works.
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
Then we'll get another email and sign up for another 30 day trial.
Kim Commando
Cancel it.
Speaker A
Keep doing it.
Kim Commando
Cancel just like you do on your streaming services.
Speaker A
It's better over here.
Speaker B
After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus right now you can switch. Keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon. And at and T at t mobile.com.
Speaker C
Across America, up to four lines via virtual prepaid card allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months.
Kim Commando
Hey, it's Kevin commando today. I have to keep telling you the name of the podcast because this way it reminds you to subscribe, follow like, tell all your family members and friends. And also, just a quick reminder, make sure that you do enter. To win that $1,000 vacation giveaway card, go to winfromkim.com dot. Just gotta get one newsletter, winfromchem.com dot. You know, I forgot to mention with Amazon is that you had it on your list. You want to talk about the coffee badgers?
Speaker A
Yeah. So Amazon is trying to crack down on people who are coming into the office, badging in through the front door, going to the cafe, buying a cup of coffee and then going home because they have two points where they can be tracked. They can be tracked in the cafe and at the door, and then they go home for their eight hour shift. And so now Amazon is using other means to track where they are in the office throughout the day to make sure that they're there for the full 8 hours.
Kim Commando
How are they doing that?
Speaker A
Cameras and computers. If you're going to plug in your laptop better not be plugged in at home. It better be plugged in at the Amazon offices. But there's so many people at the Amazon offices that are doing this, they have a nickname for them.
No one wants to work in the office. Companies, get this through your head. That reminds me, this is our final story.
Zoom. Are you familiar with Zoom?
Kim Commando
Yes.
Speaker A
This is the company that revolutionized working from home.
Kim Commando
You know what, nobody heard about them until the pandemic hit.
Speaker A
Right. And when they did, everybody did. It became a verb. I'll zoom you later and we'll talk about that.
Kim Commando
Right.
Speaker A
Well, they are saying enough is enough. Every single member of the staff, except for one guy, needs to go back to the office because we're returning to the office. RTO. RTO work from the office because we'll be more collaborative, we'll be more inspired, we'll get more done, more productive, and everyone, except for one guy, has to come back and work in the office.
Kim Commando
Everyone.
Speaker A
Guess who that one guy who doesn't have to come back is?
Kim Commando
The one guy.
Speaker A
The one guy that made the decision for everyone to go back to the office. The head of human resources.
Kim Commando
He gets to work at home.
Speaker A
Yes. The police is the executive, because he's, you know, he's not a little piddly worker.
Kim Commando
But how, you know, you have to lead by example.
Speaker A
He will later, but right now, he's gonna stay working remotely because that's the deal he signed when he went to Zoom and started working there. But everyone else back to the office hit the mines.
Kim Commando
Mmm. You know, we were talking about the coffee badgers. It reminded me of when I worked at Unisys on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, and I was a district sales manager in the aerospace industry.
Speaker A
That's cool.
Kim Commando
Okay. And I was like, I don't know, my mid twenties, and my boyfriend said, you know, let's go to Mexico for the weekend. Long weekend. And I was like, oh, yeah, that'd be fun. We'll go to Mexico, and we'll have a great time.
Speaker A
Right.
Kim Commando
But the problem was, is that I had no vacation time.
Speaker A
All right.
Kim Commando
And also, I had a manager who was always, you know, very micromanagey.
Speaker A
Okay.
Kim Commando
Okay.
Speaker A
Did you have a bad relationship with this manager?
Kim Commando
Well, his name was Dick.
Speaker A
Yeah. Okay. Carry on.
Kim Commando
And I would say, what do you want to do, Dick? Okay.
Speaker A
So, you know, just using his name.
Kim Commando
I know.
Speaker A
There's nothing wrong with that.
Kim Commando
I got called into HR for that because they said I said his name in an offensive manner.
Speaker A
All right, so are you going on Friday through Monday?
Kim Commando
Oh, I'm going. Leaving Wednesday.
I'm coming back, like, on Tuesday.
Okay.
Speaker A
So this is definitely a vacation.
Kim Commando
So I had an assistant. Her name was Natalie. Okay. So I told Natalie, said, natalie, here's the deal.
Going to Mexico.
But anytime dick comes around, you got to want you to say, like, you know, I just saw her. Okay. Or what's going on? So gave Natalie cups, you know, some. Some gift cards.
Speaker A
Okay. And you're paying her off to do your dirty work.
Kim Commando
And so.
And so she would. So I gave her, like, five different jackets so she'd swap out the jacket every day.
Speaker A
Like on your coat rack or on the back of your chair?
Kim Commando
On the back of my chair. Okay, so, like, you know, and puree. Okay. And then also I, she put like a hot cup of coffee there and so, and then every once in a while she would page me and go, Kim, you have a call in line four. Kim, line four.
Speaker A
Did you get away with it?
Kim Commando
Yes, I did.
Speaker A
No way. Yeah, Dick was a bad manager.
Kim Commando
Yeah. I came back and he's like. And I was all tan and all relaxed. Had a great old time.
Speaker A
Good for her. That's a great co worker. That's a great.
Kim Commando
I should look, see where Natalie is, right?
Speaker A
Rehire her.
Kim Commando
Natalie, if you are listening, reach out to me.
Yeah, Dick.
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Speaker A
It's better over here.
Speaker B
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Speaker C
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Speaker E
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