The generation of new car deniers

Kim Commando
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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 always like to kick things off with something fun and super interesting. And how about we start with a little trivia question? Are you ready? Okay, put on your thinking cap. Which movie do you think was the first ever sold as a dvd in the United States? Okay, think about that. Which movie was the first ever sold as a dvd? Was it Star wars et or Twister? All right, here's a clue. It was set in Iowa. Okay, you know the answer. It's Twister. That's right. It was released on dvd, you know, the year 1997. Okay, but why Twister? Oh, it was those intense tornado scenes, the dynamic audio, and they say releasing it on dvd just showed off all the video and audio quality of this brand new format. Which reminds me of a joke that you can tell the kids now. I can't promise you that they're not going to be groaning. Are you ready? Okay. Did you hear that Rick Astley is really stingy with his Disney DVD collection? Yeah. Uh huh. He's going to share toy story, but he's never, ever going to give you up. Oh, I know. That was a bad one. And on that happy note, welcome. I'm Kim Commando, America's beloved digital goddess, here with you once again. And let me tell you, you're about ready to get more tech smarts, because every single thing in our lives is now a tech thing. And you can find my award winning show in over 420 top stations throughout the United States. And we're also streaming in your favorite radio app. Just go ahead and search for my last name, commando. And I need two things from each and every one of you. Number one, the best way for us to continue to grow the show is for you to just tell one friend, that's it. And number two, tell me more. What you'd like more of. You can drop me a question over@commando.com comma. Just hit that link that says ask Kim. Alrighty then. Every single day, I head down a list of over 35 different places looking for just the tech news that you need to know about. And here are the top five things that are happening right now. I'm going to start with cars. Yeah. Not too many years ago, Americans look forward to Detroit's finest unveiling of their newest and sleekest. But we're living in a world now where not a lot of people want a brand new car. Electric or gas. Get a load of this. The average age of a car in America is just over twelve and a half years. That's the oldest ever. Reason, of course, is inflation coupled with high interest rates. Yes, okay, that adds up to huge monthly payments. But it's not just that. There is a large group of gen Zers who constitute what's being called new car deniers. Yeah, they just don't want a new car. It's not only the money. They don't like engines that shut down at stoplights. They don't want any touchscreens. They don't want a digitally connected car that exposes all their personal information to the Chinese, or worse, their insurance company, or maybe even the government. And because of all this new tech, a new car becomes outdated quickly. And they don't like that either. I hope that Detroit is listening, because I am a total car gal. All right, moving on to number two, AI chat bots. No matter which one, they only know, well, I guess if that's the right word, what it's read somewhere else. Or perhaps AI knows only what it's stolen or plagiarized. Now, you can bet that even though AI can pass a bar or medical exam, no one paid the writers or the authors of all the data it has absorbed. So could it be that AI is guilty of the biggest data heist in history? Yes, we're rapidly reaching a point where AI has scanned every single shred of published material can find and what could be, I guess you'd call it, the biggest David versus Goliath story. A number of artists have launched infringement lawsuits against the largest AI companies. I know. Good luck with that. But meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that painters, photographers, and other artists who just flocked to Instagram to gain visibility and maybe start selling some of their stuff, they're now fleeing. Why? To prevent the app's parent company, Meta, from using their art to train AI models for free. Okay, great move if you're one of them. Moving on to number three. How many cameras are watching you at any given moment? Compare tech is a cybersecurity research company. They say that the average us city has about six surveillance cameras per 1000 people. Now, I want you to remember that. Six cameras per 1000 people. Now, if you think that's a lot, wait until you hear about Atlanta. Atlanta tops every other city in the United States when it comes to camera surveillance. 124 cameras per 1000 people. Wow. Okay, so what makes Atlanta such a huge hotspot for surveillance? Well, it's all in part because of Atlanta. Law enforcement uses tech from a company called Fusis. It's a system that links everyday citizens personal cameras into this big surveillance network. So say you have a camera at your place or your business. If you give permission to your local police to use it, they can access all nearby registered cameras to scope out the scene. Now, law enforcement agencies all around the country are now tapping into fuses, including Illinois. It's supposed to make tracking down crime far easier. But, you know, I have some questions when it comes to privacy. Okay, how does fuses use AI? It doesn't use AI for facial recognition, but it's used to. Here's an exact quote. Recognized weapons, vehicles of interest, and etcetera. Ooh, I never like to see etcetera. I wonder where all that footage is going. I checked the faqs on their site. No word on that. But let me know what you guys and gals think about this. All right, moving on to number four, a story from Chicago. Marissa Garad came back from a family vacation with her kids. A few days later, she got a notification on her iPhone. An Apple Airtag was totally following her. Marissa was driving at the time. She got a notification with an alert that said she could play a noise to find it. She stopped the car, she played the beep, and then she heard it coming from underneath her car. Yeah, it was there, where she found an airtag glued to the car's undercarriage. So Melissa went straight to the local police department. Good move. And shortly after that, she was able to figure out who had been stalking her and her family. It was somebody that she knew, and she knows that she's lucky. But thanks to Apple and Android's new update, it alerts you when an airtag is following you. She was able to stop the stalking. But what if you don't have a phone that has an alert like this? Okay, and you still find an airtag? Here's what I want you to do, okay? Now, I'm not saying put a tin foil hat on, but it's pretty close. I want you to wrap the airtag in aluminum foil. No gaps. That'll block the radio signal. So whoever is tracking you has no idea that they've been thwarted. Then call the police or go to the local police station. Apple will give law enforcement the info that they need about who registered the airtag to help kickstart an investigation. And finally, this coming in at number five. Okay, for so many years, the conventional wisdom was that using our smartphones or our tablets just before bed would keep us awake. But what if conventional wisdom is wrong? Experts claim that it's all the blue light. It all started with the National Institute of Health or the NIH. But in reality, scientists say there's no real reason linking smartphone screens and iPads and tablets to sleep disturbances. In fact, yeah, eleven studies say that the blue light story is simply hogwash. Okay, so what's really going on is that we get so engrossed with what we're reading or watching on these screens that we simply just cannot put it down to get a good night's rest. So, in short, we're just staying up way too late. So tonight, turn off all the tablets and screens and just go to sleep. All right, coming up. Let me tell you, it's just totally jam packed. I've got a great trick that you can do with your Amazon Alexa speakers. Oh. If you're some creepo wants your phone number, if you're trying to sell something online, you can do this instead. I have four ways that scammers try to make you fall in love and then what's going on with airlines and your data. And of course, we have all of your fantastic phone calls. You have me, Kim Commando. It's better over here.

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Kim Commando
Hey, before we get kick started with all of your phone calls, just a reminder, I want you to sign up for my free newsletter. I did all the math and, you know, out of five stars, we have a 4.92 star rating with over 230,000 thumbs up reviews. Okay. It's phenomenal. You're going to love it. Sign up over at get kim.com. and if you already get my free newsletter, well, you know, do me a solid. Tell one person about it and how much they're going to love it, too. Again, sign up right now, totally free at get kim.com. and how about we get started with Shawna in Atlanta, Georgia?

Shawna
My question is, my mom, sister and I have been have started a woman's clothing boutique and we've been in business almost seven years. And we just been had a lot, a lot of ups and downs in those years. And we're now in some debt. So we're just trying to figure out how we can get out of debt and start making a profit, especially after seven years or if we should close the business like we just did that crossroads right now.

Kim Commando
And so in that seven years, has the business grown overall?

Shawna
Yes. At the beginning, you know, with COVID actually, Covid year was our biggest year.

Kim Commando
Was it?

Shawna
But since then, it seems like it's just gone down.

Kim Commando
Is it? So are you just selling it through your site?

Shawna
We sell through our site. We also do pop up shops and we also have. We're in a antique store. We have a booth inside the antique store.

Kim Commando
Okay.

Shawna
So we can actually send someone there. I know it's kind of weird in an antique store, you know?

Kim Commando
What, what kind of, what's the gist of the clothing? Is it vintage or.

Shawna
No, it's mostly for working women between the ages of 30 and 30 and 60, I'd say.

Kim Commando
And then do you sell your stuff on Amazon or on Etsy or anything like that?

Shawna
No, the fees are just so high. We were doing eBay because we have our website through shopify and we were doing eBay through there and the fees were just too much.

Kim Commando
But here's the deal, is that if you are at least making some money outside the fees, then any dollar is a good dollar, right? You may not be necessarily making all the money as you would other places, but if you could set up shop on Amazon and Etsy is that you have the potential of gaining a new customer. And then once you gain the new customer is then that's when you really get into some email marketing. Are you doing any type of email marketing.

Shawna
Yes. We do have a newsletter that we send out, try to at least once a month. We do have a social media person. She's kind of expensive, but she does our website as well.

Kim Commando
You know, there's something that's going on right now in the world, and I know you know about it. It's called artificial intelligence. And I will tell you that our web traffic is going down and web traffic around the globe is going down because people.

Shawna
Oh, wow.

Kim Commando
Because people are not using search sites anymore. I mean, think about it.

Shawna
Oh, I mean, that's true.

Kim Commando
Do you really go to Google as much as you used to?

Shawna
No.

Kim Commando
Okay. And so it's not just you, it's everybody. And it's a big fundamental shift on how we do business and how we buy things. And that's why I was thinking, like, you know, put all your stuff up on Amazon, put all your stuff up on etsy, because people are still going there to buy things.

Shawna
Right.

Kim Commando
And with social media, there's nothing like a good crazy viral video, right. That can garner attention. Now whether or not it garner sales is a whole nother issue, right.

Shawna
I do reels all the time and I put those on. I try to do it once a day. I put them on.

Kim Commando
Are they getting in views?

Shawna
Yes.

Kim Commando
Okay, how many views you get?

Shawna
Probably, I would say 300 to 500 views. Not, not a lot, but.

Kim Commando
Okay, well, that's good.

Shawna
It's actually grown.

Kim Commando
Yeah, that's good. You know, and keep doing that. You know, keep doing that and, you know, and of course, the crazier the reels, the more attention they get.

Shawna
Okay.

Kim Commando
And so with there, you know, it's always hard to sell something in a reel because it's so short. Right, right. So that's where I'm glad you're doing email. You might want to bump that up to more than once a month, especially if you can have any type of discount sales, anything that you can boost the sales.

Shawna
It seems like that's the only thing they respond to is the sale emails.

Kim Commando
Exactly. People want to deal. They do. I mean, you know, if you look at what we call here, CTA's calls to actions in the newsletters, is that, you know, there's it like today, it says save 60%. Okay. If we say show our sponsors some love to help keep us in business, people don't click. It's like, okay, exactly, exactly. But if they can save some money, that becomes, you know, something that they're going to want. Now, as far as your finances and your products, I want you to look at your products and identify what are the top selling products and then use chat GPT and say, these are my top selling products. What are complementary products with this? Or what if somebody bought this? What, what else would they want to buy? I have found great success in that, picking out products to put in our newsletters from Amazon. Okay. What happens is that with you and probably your mom and your sister, is that you guys are so close to this store that it's kind of hard because you can't see outside of it.

Shawna
Exactly.

Kim Commando
So if you can get on AI and say, be a marketing expert, be a product expert, and these are my top sellers. This is who I'm trying to target. This is it. You know what else? What could be complementary to these type of things? And you might find it has some answers. Okay, so 30 grand in debt. Are you guys paying yourself salaries?

Shawna
No.

Kim Commando
Oh, wow. Okay. All right.

Shawna
Gas money.

Kim Commando
Okay.

Shawna
We just use.

Kim Commando
Okay, so with 30,000, is there any way you could reduce the inventory, reduce the rent, any costs?

Shawna
Really, the only thing would be inventory. The rent has gone up where we are, of course, and they've moved three times. So a lot of people, people aren't finding their new location. I think that's another problem. So we're just constantly posting on Facebook to say where we are. But I think that's the biggest problem. A lot of people haven't found their new place.

Kim Commando
Now you can also target people on Facebook ads. Have you done that?

Shawna
Not yet, because we don't really know how to do them. I know. You have to know exactly how to do them.

Kim Commando
It might be interesting for you to also take a look at local radio. It's very affordable. Very affordable, at least to get people there. But let's go back to the debt that you have. I would go to whoever the landlord is and say, listen, I'm in debt. I don't want to lose my store. What can you do to help me out? And anybody who you owe money to, even the cable company, okay. Anybody, and say, you know, even your social media managers, I need to cut some costs here. What can we reduce? Your hours. You know, you'll be amazed at how many people that will say, you know what? I can do that. Let me help out. Let me help you.

Shawna
Okay.

Kim Commando
And let me tell you also a secret, that even today I go to cable companies and lawyers and I don't have a landlord anymore. But, you know, any, anybody, accountants, no matter who it be, who it is, to say, you know, how can I, what can we do? To reduce costs because they're getting out of line. And a financial advisor business, whoever it is, whoever it is, you know, look at Shopify and even call them up and say, listen, we need to cut costs here. Because here's the thing that you have to remember, Shawna, is that it's always easier to keep a current customer than to go find a new customer.

Shawna
Exactly. Exactly.

Kim Commando
So they're going to want to keep you. They're going to want to keep you. So, you know, so think about what else your social media manager could be doing. Look at your biggest and nearest competitor. Look at their website. Look at their social media profile. See how they're doing it. See what they're doing. Set up a store on Amazon Etsy. If you can make just a few more dollars, that's another dollar in your pocket that you can, and go ahead and start paying down that debt. Of course, you can always look at small business loans and grants and crowdfunding. But I, you know, I think what we want to do is just focus now. Let's increase sales, decrease costs, and let's get ourselves positioned and primed for Q four because that's when you're going to make all the money. And don't forget, you can email these people more than once a month, I'd say once a week. Give them a special, give them a deal, make them come down for a free hot dog or whatever it may be. So, Shawna, think about all that. If you need any more help, I'm right here for you. Okay? I mentioned radio commercials, so let me tell you more. Endorsement radio. That's when the host, someone like me, tells you about his or her experience with a product or in your case, your story. Really powerful. There's a reason why it's been working since the 1940s. So, Shawna, you're in WSB radio and tv territory now. I wonder, okay. I just wonder if you get the host to shop your store, then wear your clothes, and then talk about how great the experience is, how wonderful and beautiful they look, you know? Wow. Just give a call out to the WSB sales department or do it online. Just fill out a form. I mean, I think this could be a total home run for you. A total difference in your business. All right, let's switch gears and let's talk about Amazon Alexa and how you can use them as an intercom system. You can build your own, like those old school ones, but you need a few Amazon echoes. The $60 echo dot. It has a built in clock and the echoes have to be linked to the same Amazon or Amazon household account. Oh, and also on the same Wi Fi network. And then once you have all that, open up the Alexa app and then tap devices, you're gonna see all your speakers, and that's where you give them names like kitchen or living room or bedroom. Then to just start a direct convo with another room, just say Alexa, drop in on whatever the name of that room is. And then for whole house announcements, like, we're going now, kids, you better get to the car. Just say Alexa announce, followed by your message. And then every device is going to broadcast that. Yes, you have a futuristic intercom system right there in your house. All right, you need to stay right where you are because we have more phone calls coming up that you don't want to miss.

T Mobile Spokesperson
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.

T Mobile Spokesperson
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
All right, if you think that you just found the love of your life online, the person that you are going to live out to every sunset and sunrise, well, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but there are a lot of scammers online. So I've got four telltale signs that the scammers are using to make you fall in love. And then later on, how the airlines are changing and what they're doing with all of your data. And before we get to that and all of your phone calls, let's talk about your phone number. It seems like everyone nowadays wants your cell phone number, from online shops to people that you just don't want to give it out to. So that's why you need a second phone number. Now, what this means is that you don't have to carry, like, a second phone, because that would be. What a nightmare. But what I want you to do is get a free disposable phone number from Google Voice. Now, your Google Voice number lets you send text messages, phone calls. You can listen to voicemails, even transcribe voicemails, and then send it to your email. So using the app, your Google Voice number rings on your existing phone. Now, when you sign up, you can even pick your own area code. A friend of mine in Phoenix has a Washington, DC area code. He says, oh, this is going to impress a lot of people. He can say, just call my Washington, DC office, please. Oh, my gosh. He's a little funny like that. Anyway, head to voice dot google.com dot. Once again, that's Voice dot google.com dot. Now, you do need to link your primary phone number to your Google Voice account, but now you can hand out your second phone number to marketing companies. Creeps, folks you don't really know enough to give your real phone number to. Maybe you're selling something online. You get my gist. Once again, that address is voice dot google.com. all right, let's see. Sue in Raleigh, North Carolina. Glad to have you on board with us.

Sue
Oh, I'm excited. From one of your newsletters, which I read every day, you had something about a guest network for your different things that you have in your house, rather than putting it through the same network. Now, I have an ASUS RT AC 5300. It's about six years old, but it seems to still work really well. But I have Casa, which is the TP link units. We're turning on mites on and off and blink. I have ten units on the blink, and I have five Alexa units.

Kim Commando
Well, you got. You know what? You're just wired and fired over there. Sue, that's awesome.

Sue
I know. At one time I was an early adopter of everything, and that's what happened is I'm, you know, getting older and the brain's not working as well.

Kim Commando
And I don't know, you know what? You're. You can use that excuse on somebody else. Okay? It's not. I'm not falling for this crap. I mean, I'm old again and I can't think of. My memory's gone, and I've got 22 devices on my network. No, doesn't go together. Let me tell you what you need. First of all, a router that's six years old. Too old. Okay.

Sue
Okay.

Kim Commando
Probably isn't getting the right firmware updates anymore. You can try to see if it does. The whole idea of the guest network is that we're going to put all your Internet of things on a separate network so that if, in fact, one of them gets hacked, it doesn't get to your primary network and all your important files that are on that network. Okay? So I'm going to send you a link to the newer router that will work with everything that you have. And it also has a guest network. And, you know, it's you know, it's. We're on Wi Fi six. Now, I don't know what you're on, but it's probably not there anymore. Now, did you see? You had a TP link? Did you have TP link?

Sue
Yes.

Kim Commando
Okay. All right. Okay. So what I want you to do is. Maddie, I know you're screening today. Give sue the link to that TP link ax 5400. That's the model number. TP link ax 5400. Well, I want you to get a 5400. It's a Wi Fi six router, and it's about. Oh, I don't know. It's about $600 or. No, not 600. I'm sorry. It's about $160. And so it's got USB ports for media sharing. It's got some av. Parental controls are free, but I like that it will work with all your other existing TP links. You know, six years on a router, folks. Time to time to, like, turn it in and get a new one, especially if it's not getting any more firmer updates. And, sue, thank you for your call. All right, you're talking to a new guy or gal online. It's fantastic. Oh, you have so much in common. You are heading, just falling head over heels. Well, it could just be a classic romance scam. Now, romance scammers are pretty predictable, and let's break down their playbook. Number one, they move way too fast, and the goal is to make you feel like you're in a fairy tale and to get you hooked. Number two, nonstop compliments. Oh, you're so wonderful. You're so incredible. You're so beautiful. I can envision my life with you forever. Maybe not. Three, speaking of the future, they do paint a dreamy future together. It's all about getting you invested into the fantasy. And number four, suddenly they're in a crisis. They lost their job. They're stuck in a foreign country. They want to tug at your heartstrings, and then they ask for money, promising it's just alone. Just alone. Okay, here's a complete spoiler. You're not going to get the money back. You aren't. So keep your wits about you and do not get taken. All right. Still to come, we have more of your phone calls and some changes that are happening with the airlines as you travel this summer. You need to know about here on the Kim commando show. It's better over here.

T Mobile Spokesperson
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.

T Mobile Spokesperson
AcrossAmerica 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
Oh, you know, speaking of sponsors, great sponsors help to make this show possible. And I always negotiate money saving deals with them for you. So to check out all the deals and the special links you need to go to, here's where you go. Commando.com sponsors. Once again, that's commando.com sponsors. All right, Adam in Battle Creek, Michigan. Hi there, Adam.

Adam
All right, well, I'm getting into basically doing 3d modeling for 3d printers as well as certain CAD machines which basically carve an object out of uses, like a drilling system that carves an object out of a material which can vary from metal to wood and as well as other objects. And I'm trying to learn how to design a 3d image and it is really hard to learn and to really get good at it to be able to make what you want. So I was hoping that there was AI software where I could describe what I'm wanting. Like say, let's just say I'm trying to make a Halloween of a human skeleton. You know, it would be able to, you know, make that, hey, let's make it, you know, so big, you know, or, you know, realistic human foot, you know, you know, go through the details. You know, I want to make a bird house, you know, whatever object that I try to want to make and have the AI help basically create the object and then help me do the necessary alterations to it to suit my needs.

Kim Commando
Yeah, you can do that. I don't think the technology is quite what you're saying. Meaning like I can just type in what I want and then bingo bango, it's just going to magically appear. I mean, if you look at where we are at with creating just regular images using AI, have you tried that at chat GPT yet?

Adam
No, I have not messed around with any of the AI's at all.

Kim Commando
Oh, okay.

Adam
Like I said, what I'm trying to do is more or less 3d model.

Kim Commando
Oh yeah. Well, what I'm saying is that if you had tried it, okay, and if you go, like, if you, if you go to chat GPT and if you look at the latest model, which is say, chat GPT, four o stands for omni, and then you type and then you just type in a prompt what you want say, draw me a picture because I did this recently for our free newsletter. Draw me a picture of two nights that are checking into a hotel and put in the phrase, we need a room for two nights. Kind of like, you know, like a pun type of thing. Okay. Well, it's not that good. As a matter of fact, it can't spell. It took me like probably four or five times just to get that image. So what I'm trying to say is that, you know, what we're going to do is now you want AI that can hardly basically do a one dimensional image, and then you want it to create a 3d modeled just by you saying create a skeleton for Halloween and make it 14 and a half inches tall and three inches wide, or whatever it may be. Right? But I'm not saying that you shouldn't try it because it's, you know, where we are right now is in the infancy. And so it seems like every time the AI algorithm and model gets an update, it's a fundamental update. It's not just like a little tiny update, it's like a monumental one. And so there's one tool that you might want to check out. Actually, there's several, but one is called meshy. It's M E S H y. Mesh is free, so it's not going to cost you anything to do it, to play around in it.

Adam
I've been working with Blender as what I've been working with as of late, which is also great.

Kim Commando
Yes. And meshy actually integrates with blender pretty well. So what you're going to be able to actually tie the two together. But it does, it is an AI powered 3d modeling tool. It does the meshes and renders and all that other great stuff, and it's pretty accurate, but I just don't know if it's quite there yet. Where we're talking about, like, make me this and I'm going to sit back and you're going to do all the hard work. If you have some other time and maybe some money on hand, is that Autodesk has something called Fusion 360 that's been getting a lot of good press lately, as well as something called rhino seven with grasshopper. And those are the two that I've heard a lot about. So try Meshi, because as I said, it does integrate with blender and you're already doing that. Autodesk Fusion 360 and then rhino with grasshopper. I know I don't name these things, I just talk about them. But don't be disappointed if it doesn't do exactly everything that you want to do at the level that you want it, because, again, we're just not quite there yet. With AI, AI is growing like crazy. And every iteration, like I said, it just keeps getting better and better. Adam, thank you for your call today. Oh, another call from Michigan, James in Traverse City, Michigan.

James
Well, I'm fairly new to the digital phone world, and a lot of things are puzzling to me, which are probably very self evident to people such, who are much more knowledgeable about this. I follow a lot of things on Facebook, and every now and then, things pop up. I think they're trying to tell you how to look for hidden cameras in hotel rooms. There was one just recently. You take a quarter, put in a wooden clothespin, run it underwater, and then run it along the edge of the mirror, and it says, this is why I don't trust hotels. But nothing has changed or popped up or shown. I have no idea what they're looking for or. How do you know if you found it?

Kim Commando
Well, you know, these are basically videos that are made by anybody who can make a video, right? They don't need to have any type of expertise, any type of background, because everybody has a phone and they have an idea, and they become what's called content creators. The content creators make money by the number of people who actually watch, say, a short on YouTube that ends up on Facebook and everywhere else. And the whole idea is to garner your attention normally using three different mos, fear, sex, or greed, okay? And because those are going back to Madison Avenue days of Mad Men, that those are the three premises that can sell anything to just about anybody. So with the mirror, what they're saying is that maybe there's a two way mirror in that hotel room. You know, fact is that you're probably, I mean, unless you're staying at some skanky hotel on, you know, that type of, that strip at that part of town, I'm not sure if it's gonna have a hidden mirror. But most of these videos are done so that this way maybe you can learn something. And some of them are really good. Don't get me wrong, some of them, you know, you can sit back and go, yeah, you know what? But if I am looking for a hidden camera, then I need to get an rf detector. I need to turn off all the lights, I need to look for any type of reflections, any type of blinking lights. And, you know, the idea of looking at outlets and remote controls and everything, because today's computer chips can be so small that you can, you can hide them in just about anything. So a lot of the reels are done for education. Some of the shorts or reels, whatever you want to call them, are done for pranks, make people laugh to catch a reaction from somebody. And they're also the innocent ones where girls are putting on makeup and women are dressing up like they were back in the 1980s, and they're singing and they're dancing to their favorite Eighties tunes. Right? And so that's really what the videos are about. Now, if you're wondering if a video is ever legit or anything like that is, that's really when you start looking at the comments, and in the comments, you'll see people said, you know, oh, this is baloney. It doesn't work. And here's why it doesn't work. And if you're ever wondering the legitimacy of say something that you see in a real, I'll tell you, a really great place to go is Reddit. You go to Reddit.com. and in that search box, you just use a free word, a few words that describe that video. You can even use that content creator's name or, you know, or handle whatever they're using online. And I guarantee that somebody on Reddit is having some discussion about that person. So hopefully that helps you out. And welcome to the new world. Yes. Where everybody can be an expert on just about anything. You know, I just love to get your phone calls. And if you're ever too shy to come on the show, I get that. So here's where you can leave me your questions, commando.com. and then there's a big old button that says, ask Kim. You fill that form out, and if you want, we can schedule a time for you to actually have a conversation with me. And I do read every single note that you send me, every single one. Again, that's commando.com with akkomando, commando.com. and then there's a link at the top that says, ask Kim. Okay, what's the most invasive thing that could happen the next time you're sitting on an airplane and it's not the person in front of you just reclining or it's not maybe some screaming baby at the next row over? It's data gathering. Yes. You may not realize that airlines are collecting and tracking your data. I'm talking about, of course, your booking details, your flight, your seat number, your name, your email, your phone number and your passport are given, as is the weight of your bag. And depending on the airline your weight. Yes, some airlines are actually weighing passengers now. Now, what happens if you use the onboard Wi Fi? Of course you're going to pay for that, but they're going to track the sites that you visit, what you search for, the apps that you use, and even more is being monitored. Other things that the airlines are collecting on you. I know you're not going to believe this. What you drink or eat and how often your bed bridge is empty. Also your flight history. Any complaints to see if you're a good passenger or not? What movies you like to watch on some in flight entertainment. So why so focused on flyer data? Ah, it's all about the cold, hard cash. It's another way that any company will just repackage all of our data and then just sell it to who knows who. Hey, just a reminder to sign up for my free newsletter. Do it right now@getchim.com. dot this program is a copyrighted production of Westar multimedia entertainment and protected by the copyright laws. Any rebroadcast or use of this program for commercial, business, economic or financial purposes without the written permission of Westar Multimedia Entertainment is strictly prohibited.

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The generation of new car deniers

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1: Introduction

2: New Car Deniers

3: Digital Privacy and AI Concerns

4: Listener Interactions

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