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EP7 - Surviving Technology · Oh And One More Thing

0:11
Some old friends facing our fears, laughing through the
0:13
chaos and drinking some beers. So here's to the laughs, the
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crumbs and the cheers. All the awkward moments.
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And we're still here. Because in the end, we're just
0:22
doing our thing. It's our crazy life. 01 more
0:25
thing one. More thing.
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Welcome to Oh and one more thing, a podcast where 2 long
0:35
time friends try to figure out what the heck is going on with
0:38
this crazy thing called middle age.
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It's a mix of stories of how we navigate our lives and maybe
0:42
some questionable advice. Some days we're wise, other days
0:45
we're just trying to remember where the heck we left our
0:48
phone. So join us as we laugh, groan,
0:50
and maybe even learn a little something about surviving in the
0:52
second-half of life. Oh, and one more thing.
1:06
Hey, I'm Rob, welcome to one more thing.
1:08
I'm Brian. Hi Brian, What to do my friend?
1:12
Did you sleep well last night? Yes, I'm so good at sleeping I
1:15
can do it with my eyes closed. Yes, you.
1:17
Are last night I had a horrifying dream that Disco was
1:22
actually making a comeback. Oh no.
1:24
Yeah, at first I was afraid. I was petrified.
1:29
That's funny. I Will Survive my glory game.
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I get it, I get it. I kind of want to sing the full
1:33
song right now. Right Boy am IA product of the
1:36
80s. We all are well.
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Actually, the song is from 1978, but who's counting?
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Yeah, it's close enough, right? Yeah, it played a lot in the
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80s. How are you with technology I?
1:46
Usually get a little confused by it and frequently have to ask my
1:49
kids for help. I told we all I know, right?
1:51
Find me a millennial. This whole dog can learn new
1:55
tricks, but it takes a little longer than it used to.
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Technology just changes so fast it's hard to keep up.
2:01
Maybe it's easier for you. You're more of a techie one than
2:04
me, I I'm more the creative one in this relationship and you're
2:08
the technical guy I. Don't know about easier, but
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yes. Well, at least that's how I see
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it, so hopefully that's OK with you.
2:15
You're the one running the sound board and making everything.
2:17
I just make everything look pretty.
2:19
That's true. I I run the sound board because
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we don't have a producer yet. I mean, well, yet what we're
2:25
working on it. Hey, like and subscribe people.
2:27
So we get a producer. Oh, yeah.
2:30
Actually, actually enjoy that part of us doing the podcast.
2:34
It's it's been a learning experience.
2:35
As you can probably tell if you've been listening since the
2:37
first episode, sound quality was not the best out of the gate.
2:41
Hey, we're getting better. We're getting better, yeah,
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better with each one. And yes, your strength is
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definitely the creative. I love the 11 More Thing logo
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you created and our title song you put together.
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That's killer. Thank you.
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That's kind of where I excel. So I think people our age
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usually struggle a little with technology, at least I do.
2:59
It seems the tech culture today definitely skews younger.
3:03
Oh for sure. Especially towards older techies
3:05
like us. When I started my career in
3:07
graphic design, we didn't use computers.
3:09
We did everything on the drafting board by hand.
3:12
Everything. Everything so it's like cutting
3:14
pasting, everything is like it was all paced up It's crazy
3:18
it's. Like adult art class.
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Yeah, it was adult. Yeah.
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Totally. I love art class all right, but
3:22
Fast forward today and the graphic industry is completely
3:25
different and with the development of AI it's probably
3:29
going to change again. But hopefully I'll be retired by
3:32
them. Right.
3:33
Do you use a lot of AI in your in your day-to-day work right
3:36
now? I don't use it a lot, but I do
3:38
go into AI and dabble in it because I do need to learn it,
3:42
yeah. Yeah.
3:43
I mean, you're almost forced to at this point.
3:44
I mean, how can you get around it?
3:45
Well, you can. It depends on like my particular
3:48
clients that I work with, they don't want us to use AI.
3:52
OK. So it's really hard then to go
3:54
learn AI and you know, because I can't use it in a daily
3:58
function, right? So I have to figure out ways to
4:00
get it into my process that. Makes sense.
4:03
You know our kids grew up with technology and we didn't, right?
4:06
My first exposure to using a computer was in middle school
4:09
playing the Oregon Trail on an Apple 2C.
4:11
Do you remember? That yeah, yeah.
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The green screen, almost no graphics, it was horrendous.
4:17
Had to input every command using the keyboard.
4:19
There wasn't such a thing as a mouse.
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I mean, technology in the past 40 years has truly grown by
4:24
leaps and bounds. 15 years ago, having the world at our
4:26
fingertips like our phones, it was way in the future along with
4:30
flying cars. Kind of still waiting on that
4:31
one. Yeah.
4:33
Would you really want a flying car?
4:35
I mean, I wouldn't, No, because, well, number one, I'm afraid of
4:39
heights. And so that's a problem.
4:40
That's a problem. But plus, if everyone is in
4:43
their flying car and flying above the roads, then what's
4:46
there's no traffic on the road. I'll take the road.
4:49
That's that's very true. You know, as we discussed airing
4:52
of the grievances in our earlier in an earlier podcast, if you
4:55
thought road rage was out of control, wait till we wait until
4:58
we have sky rage. Yeah, but then we're going to
5:00
have our laser blasters and you can just blast them out of the
5:03
sky, you know, I think so. We're talking about technology.
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I think my kids roll their eyes at me because I do have
5:10
difficult, a difficult time figuring out how to use my phone
5:13
sometimes. I usually think I know what I'm
5:15
doing, but apparently I don't give off that air of confidence.
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And don't feel bad, that's a common issue with older men, or
5:21
so I hear. But that's our topic for today
5:23
Surviving technology. Oh, if I could only survive it,
5:27
right. OK, that's great.
5:29
I will try to keep up. So tell me, what is new in the
5:33
world of tech? Well, I think we should start
5:35
with a little generational overview.
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OK, that's good. So.
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Generally, Generation Z or Gen. Z born roughly between 1997 and
5:44
2012, are considered the most tech savvy generation due to
5:47
their upbringing in a fully digital world with constant
5:50
access to smartphones and the Internet, which we never had.
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While our generation Gen. X has seen the rise of personal
5:57
computers and the Internet becoming the early adopters of
6:00
technology and needed to find a balance between digital and real
6:03
world interactions. Plus, we're often stuck between
6:06
helping or teaching tech to our aging parents and adapting to
6:09
new technologies ourself. Yeah, I often get stuck, it's
6:15
true. How do you feel?
6:16
Do you have a smart home? Yes, we are fully in the smart
6:20
home ecosystem. So if if you've been paying
6:23
attention to me, I'm I'm a big Google fan.
6:25
You are a Google fan. And so we have, we have the full
6:27
Google Home suite in our entire house.
6:30
I mean, I, I think I've lost track how many Google Home
6:33
speakers we have in the house. But what's cool is like if we're
6:36
spending a Saturday, we're cleaning the house.
6:38
I just, you know, pop on whatever we're going to listen
6:40
to. And I hit play on all and
6:41
literally every room you walk into in the house, you're
6:43
hearing the same thing. Well, that's good.
6:45
And so that's kind of fun and it controls a lot of our lights.
6:48
We have a lot of a lot of technology tied to that and, and
6:50
we're getting more involved with that.
6:52
But yeah, a big, a big home. I, I don't get freaked out by
6:58
Google watching us. I know a lot of people do.
7:01
That doesn't bother me, 'cause the way I look at it, they're
7:03
going to find you regardless. I don't care how much you try to
7:05
hide it, they're going to find you.
7:07
What do you you guys use? You don't use Google Homes.
7:09
What? Do you?
7:10
No, we use Alexa. OK, and for the most part I
7:12
really like it. I think we have adapted to using
7:16
most of the features or so I should say.
7:19
My wife Amy has figured out how to use most of the device.
7:21
There you go. Probably 2 of the functions we
7:24
use the most would be that to turn our lights on and off and
7:27
adding list items to our grocery list.
7:30
Oh, OK, so you guys just like do the talk thing, like just yeah,
7:33
so. You just talk to it and it's
7:35
really cool because you get to the store, you just pull up the
7:38
list and there you go. And voila, easy peasy.
7:41
But it's good and bad. These systems, they are always
7:45
listening, like you mentioned. And sometimes she will just
7:48
start speaking. Oh, yeah, you know, and now I
7:51
don't like that. She's like, you're like, shut
7:53
up, Alexa. Well, I'm sorry, you know, And
7:56
and then you notice if you are like talking about some random
8:01
subject or or thing and then you start seeing ads appear in
8:05
Facebook. Oh, absolutely.
8:06
Yeah, all the time. You know they have to listen to
8:09
know when to engage, right? But, you know, there's a fine
8:11
line between what privacy and then needing to, you know, use
8:15
the tech. Right, right.
8:17
It's scary. Yeah, it is scary, but it
8:18
doesn't. I, I'm at the point where I
8:20
just, I don't, I don't want to say it.
8:22
I'm going to say it. I don't care because like I
8:24
said, they're they're going to find you anyway.
8:26
Yeah. I don't care how much you try to
8:28
cover your tracks and use all these apps out there that, you
8:31
know, fully protected. They can't follow you.
8:33
Like dude, they're following you.
8:34
Yeah. And I know they have to listen.
8:36
Yeah. You know, otherwise how will
8:37
they engage, Right. But, you know, we could use it
8:39
probably a lot more than we do. Yeah.
8:42
But it's there's that weird. Yeah, you don't think it's funny
8:44
though, if you're watching a show and like on the on the
8:46
show, they'll say, hey, Google, find me a recipe for tuna
8:49
casserole. And also the Google starts
8:50
telling you a recipe and. It pops up word like they'll
8:53
there'll be a name that's close to Alexa, and then Alexa will
8:56
pipe up and listen and then she'll answer, Yeah.
8:59
Yeah, I'll see. I'm I can hear in the background
9:02
my Google Home is talking to us. Your Google is talking.
9:04
To us right now. That is hilarious.
9:07
Sorry. So I mentioned a bit earlier
9:08
about digital lights. What do you think about those?
9:09
Oh, I love digital lights. Yeah, we have digital lights
9:12
throughout the house. They're connected to Alexa and
9:15
that's, you know, really cool because in our living room it's
9:18
the lights are multi colored. So we can then ask Alexa to turn
9:21
the lights to blue for watching movies, which of course blue is
9:24
my favorite color. But one of the funniest things
9:27
we ever did that I think is the funniest thing with their
9:30
digital lights is when we first got them, you know, Amy and I
9:33
were at a dinner party and our kids are at home watching
9:35
movies. So we played a trick on them and
9:39
logged into the app. And without any warning, we
9:41
turned the lights red in the family room.
9:44
And everyone at the dinner party was in on it.
9:46
But the girls quickly figured it out and they texted us, stop
9:50
messing with the light. But they did say when when I got
9:53
home, that scared the crap. Oh, I'm.
9:55
Sure, I. Mean that was our plan all
9:57
along, so it was great. That's so funny.
10:00
Yeah, I love art. So we have, I have some basic
10:03
ones in the house where every night we have a all that, you
10:06
know, the LED strip lights in our kitchen above and below the
10:08
cabinet. So they turn on when they get
10:10
when the sun goes down. Oh, you have them time.
10:12
Oh, they're they're time to sunset.
10:14
OK, yeah. And our our kitchen blind is
10:16
time to sunset and sunrise. So when the sun goes down the
10:18
blind kitchen blind goes down. We just have the one because
10:21
it's really hard to reach. Our stink is very deep so we are
10:24
struggle to reach it. So we got the automatic 1 now
10:26
and we time it to sunrise and sunset.
10:28
So we wake up in the morning, sun comes up, the blind goes up,
10:31
and that night when the sun goes down, the blind goes down.
10:33
Oh, that's really cool. I should get some of those.
10:36
We have the lights above our cabinets too, but they're on
10:39
voice command of Alexa. So we just tell that, tell her
10:41
to turn them on, and then we tell them basically at the end
10:44
of the night, we tell her, you know, Alexa, good night and turn
10:48
it off. Yeah.
10:49
Yeah. But yeah, we we can do the same
10:50
thing too with ours. But the timing thing is awesome
10:53
because you don't, you don't have to think about it.
10:54
Yeah. And have it set up so that if we
10:56
don't tell it to go off at night, the kitchen lights at
10:59
midnight, they just go off. So we do have a timer, like a
11:01
backup timer. So if we forget, whatever.
11:04
OK, Yeah. So they just go off by then.
11:05
But the ones I really like are we got the outside lights around
11:10
our house. Yeah.
11:11
Oh, I like those. Well, I know because it's always
11:13
purple and. Gold, of course, it's always
11:15
purple and gold. They're Christmas Eve for the
11:17
holidays, and they were Valentine's Day for the
11:19
Valentine's and they're green for Saint Patty.
11:22
But but yeah. And then you do little patterns
11:24
on them, but just the effect on the House is super cool.
11:26
But the the thing I like the most about that is I never have
11:29
to hang Christmas lights on my house ever again.
11:32
Right until that one bulb goes out.
11:34
No, the well, the LED, but hoping they never go out a
11:37
strip. Yeah, but the last time I hung
11:38
lights on my on my roof, on my fell.
11:41
You did fall off your roof, yes. My roof.
11:43
So we negated that. Problem.
11:45
I did not get to see it, sadly. I would have ran.
11:47
I would have ran over there and bent bend your cushion.
11:49
You could have follow. Thanks.
11:52
But no, when you talk about those like a routine, Alexa has
11:56
routines you can set up. We haven't set up a lot of
11:58
routines. So like it would know if we're
12:01
driving near the house, if we're driving, driving, the lights
12:04
would come on. We haven't set that up yet, but
12:06
maybe we should. That'd be kind of.
12:07
Cool, That's kind of cool. I I've seen that in my my Google
12:09
app too, where you can say like you're home and away so it knows
12:12
when you're coming home and like it'll turn these lights on a
12:14
locked door and blah blah blah. And so I I wonder if we could
12:17
set up routines then for like you do for sunrise and sunset.
12:22
Yeah, I would imagine I could. Yeah.
12:23
Well, I'm Amy. Could Amy?
12:26
What's this? Be real, yeah.
12:28
But since we're talking about smart homes, what else do you do
12:32
you have that makes your house digital?
12:34
Digital. So we do a digital thermostat,
12:36
which is pretty. Cool.
12:36
Do you OK? We do, yeah.
12:38
So I was going to get a Google thermostat.
12:41
My son-in-law gave me one. Well, we opened up the wall and
12:44
didn't have enough wires. Yeah, ours is the same.
12:46
So we actually have to use our, it's AI think it's a Carrier
12:49
HVAC system. So we have to use their.
12:51
Yes. Their stuff, but it's still, I
12:54
mean, I can still go into into their app and adjust things if
12:56
I'm not home, which is nice. Like we go on vacation, we'll
12:59
put it on vacation mode and then if we're not sure when we're
13:01
coming home, like as soon as we like land at the airport or
13:03
we're an hour away, we just kick on the heat again and put it
13:06
back up to normal. OK, that's.
13:07
Cool house is warm when you walk in.
13:09
So yes, we got to do furnace and air conditioner.
13:13
So it came with a brand new thermostat.
13:15
So it is digital now, but it also comes with an app.
13:18
We download it, but we haven't, Oh yeah, we got that.
13:20
Haven't set it up yet. It's pretty slick.
13:22
You guys have a doorbell, don't you?
13:24
Right. You got the Ring doorbell.
13:25
The Ring doorbell? OK, yeah, you have a lot more of
13:27
them than I do, but. Well, no.
13:28
We. Have ring lights.
13:29
Yeah, well, we have, we have Nest again Google, we have the
13:33
Nest doorbell. But yes, we have three other
13:35
cameras are on the outside. Oh.
13:36
OK, so that's different than the Ring doorbell.
13:38
Yeah, Yeah, we have the Ring doorbell.
13:39
Same but different. Yeah, the same thing.
13:41
How about a smart refrigerator or smart appliances?
13:45
Kind of. We don't have a refrigerator,
13:47
but our oven and our microwave and our dishwasher, we can.
13:51
They're all Samsung and they're in the Samsung app and they are
13:53
connected to the Wi-Fi. OK.
13:55
What's cool about the oven, though, is it's cool, but it's
13:59
also weird. But so you have to, before you,
14:01
like you leave the house, you could turn on the timer mode on
14:04
the oven and then go out and do your things.
14:07
And when you want everyone to start cooking you and whatever
14:09
you're going to cook, you can go into your app and say turn the
14:11
oven on and it heats it up for you.
14:14
I guess I'm old school. Do you really want to be not in
14:16
your home when you're running your?
14:18
Well, it just. It just creates.
14:20
It for you so when you come home.
14:21
It's ready to go. It's ready to go.
14:23
Yeah. Got to do it fast.
14:24
Got to do it fast. No, we don't have any of the
14:26
those things digital. I think our washer dryer is new
14:29
and they have it can be digital, but we've not accessed any of
14:32
those features. You're not going to start a
14:34
little laundry when I'm gone. No, but my dishwasher will tell
14:37
me when it's time to run a self clean.
14:39
Oh, well, that's nice. Yeah.
14:40
Yeah. Little reminders like that,
14:41
other than the open, there's a smell.
14:44
And yeah, I could easily see the, the, I think our next,
14:48
Well, obviously I guarantee our next washer and dryer will
14:51
probably have that. But if you're in another room,
14:53
you'd always, always hear the little buzzer or the bell, the
14:55
cute little song it plays when it's done.
14:58
And if you haven't happened, it'll say I'm done.
15:01
And then you must rush and run to the laundry room to change
15:05
your laundry. Well, I don't like to let my
15:08
stuff sit in the dryer for too long because it gets wrinkly.
15:10
Oh, so I do like to get it hung like right away.
15:13
Well, I hang all my clothes to. Dry.
15:15
Well I I I don't hang to dry, but I refuse to iron.
15:18
So no, I don't iron. Yeah, well, but I work at home.
15:23
You do work at home. Nobody sees me.
15:24
I wear sweatpants and AT shirt every fricking day it.
15:26
Does not need to be ironed. Does not need to be all right.
15:30
How about phones? So I I clearly I have a Google.
15:32
Yep, I got an iPhone and all of us in our friend group have
15:37
iPhones. Except for me.
15:38
Except for Rob. And you know, it's funny, our
15:40
entire family all have Googles except for my wife, who has an
15:44
iPhone. Oh.
15:46
And she will not switch at. Least she's in part.
15:48
She's part of my group. She's in part of your group,
15:50
yeah. But I'm pretty much Apple
15:51
everything. So that's my computer,
15:54
everything that I've got. Yeah, I kind of like that.
15:57
I I do switch back and forth a little bit from different kinds
16:00
of tech. But how about like Apple Air
16:03
Tags? Do you have those?
16:04
Well, not Apple, but again, Google.
16:05
But yes, I do have little tags. Actually, I don't have my keys
16:08
with me. I have on my key chain and I
16:10
have one in my backpack. So if we ever go somewhere like
16:13
we need luggage or something, I just take one off there, put it
16:15
in my luggage so I can track my luggage.
16:17
Yeah, I have one just for my luggage.
16:19
Yeah, I don't. Have it just for my luggage, but
16:20
if I ever lose my keys you. Are way more techie than me.
16:24
Well it comes to computers, you know.
16:26
I'm Apple computers. Are you PC on PC?
16:29
Your PC on PC? That's sad.
16:32
I know, right? IPad or tablet?
16:35
Google tablet. I see it OK if I had an iPad.
16:39
Well, first of all, if I had a device, it would be an iPad.
16:42
It would be an iPad. Yeah, you know, it's fine.
16:44
So my wife also has a tablet. She has an iPad, and we both use
16:47
them. We probably use them on a daily
16:50
basis. You know what, usually it's when
16:51
we're watching TV and we'll like, play a couple little games
16:53
or get caught up on emails or she likes to shop a lot on
16:56
Amazon and things like that. So, yeah.
16:59
But so yeah, that's probably where we use them the most.
17:01
But what what mine is pretty cool is also a smart home
17:03
display in the kitchen. OK.
17:05
So it's dual purpose dual. Purpose.
17:07
Yeah, yeah. I would want it to do something
17:10
more than just me scrolling on it.
17:12
Yeah, that's why I don't have it.
17:14
It's like I really don't. You walk away from my computer.
17:17
I really don't want to be on another computer.
17:18
Even though we all know your phone is a computer.
17:21
It is. And I'm on it all the time,
17:22
right? Not the same the The Kitchen 1
17:25
though. I have used that a few times to
17:27
either like I'll ask about a recipe, like I'll just talk to
17:29
it and say hey I'm looking for a blah blah and it brings up a
17:31
recipe or it's YouTube videos it'll show somebody doing
17:34
whatever. And I've watched it and paused
17:36
it. And keep your hands for you
17:37
while you're doing your thing. Ohh you talking about a recipe
17:40
not not like your YouTube dance. It's you're trying.
17:42
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't.
17:43
I don't. Dance.
17:44
I know you don't. Dance have none of that.
17:47
Are you on a a watch, A smart watch guy?
17:50
Apple Watch, Pixel Watch. Pixel watch.
17:52
Yeah, Yeah, again, if I were to wear a watch, yeah, it'd be an
17:55
Apple Watch. But I don't wear watches.
17:57
Yeah, that's my wifes excuse for not switching out of Apple
18:00
because she loves her Apple Watch.
18:01
Yeah, I mean, my kids have them and they swear by them, but I
18:04
just don't want anything on my wrist.
18:06
You know, I originally, before I started wearing a watch, I was
18:09
the same way because I never wore a watch for.
18:10
No 20 plus years. But I love getting the
18:14
notifications on there. I love the step tracking.
18:17
I love. Yeah, a lot of good benefits to
18:20
it. I just can't.
18:21
The feel of it on my wrist is what bothers me.
18:25
I hope that the same category as when you're growing your beard
18:27
out. The the itchy.
18:29
The itchy that you have to pass that itchy stage, Yeah, you have
18:31
to pass the the wrist wearing. Because I've had a beard for so
18:34
long and I don't have the itchy stage anymore.
18:36
You're saying that if I would start wearing a watch, I'd get
18:39
to that? You get that point.
18:41
Time again, yes. Just don't put beard butter on
18:43
your watch. No, nobody.
18:44
Yeah, that'd be bad. That'd be bad.
18:46
How about a garage door app? Or digital garage door.
18:50
We use that all the time. Oh yeah, we have that.
18:52
Yeah. It's amazing.
18:53
I it's nice because if you have to open the garage for somebody
18:56
or whatever, you know, pop on your phone, tap the button right
19:00
in the garage door. Open.
19:00
That's awesome. And we also have it set up where
19:03
at certain times of the night that automatically closes if you
19:05
forget or it would only stay open for so many hours and it'll
19:08
close because there have been times where we've left the
19:10
house, thought we'd close the garage.
19:12
We didn't. We'd come home like, oh, we've
19:13
been gone for 8 hours. The garage is wide open now
19:15
after like whatever we have it set 3 or 4 hours it'll just
19:18
close. Again, with the routines.
19:20
I know, right? How do you do that?
19:21
I don't how how did we live before?
19:23
Them how do I not do any of this?
19:25
Because I'm well, we know, OK, We know why I don't do this.
19:29
How does your wife not do any of this?
19:31
She's probably tired of me, you know, saying I don't know how to
19:34
do this. You know, I think after she
19:36
listen this episode, you're going to have a laundry list of
19:37
things that need to be done. Oh damn it, how did we do this?
19:43
And we know you have digital speakers all over the house.
19:45
And what did you call them? Well, they're the like the
19:48
Google Nest speakers, the. Speakers.
19:50
They're nest speakers. I've got Sonos speakers
19:53
throughout my house and it does the same thing as you were
19:55
saying, yeah, you know, you can you cast to it and we can cast
19:58
from Alexa to the Sonos speakers, right?
20:00
And it plays in every room because we have one in just
20:02
about every room. And those are amazing.
20:04
I. Love those, love those.
20:10
Hey, this is Rob. I wanted to take a moment to
20:12
talk about Spring Green. I've been using them since 2007.
20:16
They provide fertilizer, weed control, lawn insect control,
20:19
and core aeration services for my lawn.
20:21
They also spray for mosquitoes, which is huge in Minnesota and
20:25
new later this year. Liquid aerations and home pest
20:27
control. They're a locally owned and
20:29
operated company. Super easy to get a hold of and
20:32
work with. They'll give you the intention
20:33
and service that you deserve. Visit
20:35
theirwebsite@springdashgreen.com for a price quote specific to
20:38
your property and to sign up for service.
20:40
You can even register for autopay or prepaid to save a
20:42
little bit of cash right there on the website or shoot them a
20:45
message with any questions. That's spring. dashgreen.com,
20:48
springdashgreen.com. Yeah, I think all that stuff is
21:00
pretty cool, you know, but I just don't really, you know, use
21:04
it. But I probably just can't figure
21:05
out how to program it. Is real the real reason, right?
21:07
Yeah, but how are you with GPS on your phone?
21:11
I use it every day. Every day you don't know where
21:14
you're going. Every.
21:14
No, I do know where I'm going but I use it so I have to drive
21:17
through. The 7th layer of helmet is 494
21:20
in the Bloomington strip and I use it for traffic avoidance.
21:23
Oh, OK, that makes sense. So every day when I go to work
21:26
and every day when I go home and it just pops up in my car, it's
21:28
the first thing that comes up. It's our built in Yeah, that's
21:31
on the screen. So I just hit home and I hit
21:32
work and it just it just. So it'll just show you where
21:35
traffic is and then give you another route.
21:37
Yes, that's cool. You know, can young people even
21:40
figure out how to get it anywhere if they don't have GPS
21:43
on their phone? Not a chance.
21:44
You know, I think it's one of the best things you can do for
21:46
yourself is to learn how to read a physical map and find your way
21:49
around even without a map. Absolutely.
21:52
You know, use a good old fashioned navigation skills,
21:56
understand landmarks and and no actual directions, You know,
21:59
where's North? You know, I've always tried to
22:02
teach my kids, you know, how to find North and quiz them on
22:05
their way to get around without the GPS.
22:08
Yeah, I, I. Think even thinking back to the
22:10
to the MapQuest days, I don't know if they can read a
22:13
MapQuest. Oh, right.
22:16
I think that would be challenging.
22:17
That wasn't that many years ago that we lived by those.
22:19
And it's interesting when you learn more about how the United
22:22
States organizes the Interstate system.
22:24
Oh yeah, this. Is cool yeah so you can start to
22:26
understand direction on a much larger scale so in general the
22:30
Interstate naming system runs that runs east to West they all
22:33
end in 0 so I 10/20/30 etcetera and all the interstates that run
22:36
north to South those end in 5 S you know 35459585 etcetera and
22:42
there are exceptions to the rule of course but I and I don't
22:45
begin to understand the rules of the nation's highways or the
22:47
government in general but so don't shoot the messenger to
22:49
soak up the sweet knowledge on your next trivia that's.
22:53
Right, So how do you how does that help you then using GPS or
22:59
better yet, an actual map? Well having a general
23:01
understanding of roads gives you the basis for navigating like
23:04
the general grid pattern designed for local roads.
23:07
So generally speaking, if you travel South long enough you
23:10
will hit a crossroad right? And all the crossroads you run
23:12
into can start to give a sense of where you are and eventually
23:15
run into a major highway, helping you understand
23:17
navigation. That's how I, that's how I
23:20
learned how to figure out navigation, you know,
23:23
understanding the direction I was going, like, you know where
23:26
north is, if you can figure out where north is by basically by
23:29
the sun, you know, But navigating through a city, OK,
23:32
that's a different story. You know, I get into a city and
23:35
I am lost. But don't they usually they do
23:39
work off of a grid pattern? Yeah, but it depends on if
23:42
you're like in Minneapolis or Saint Paul.
23:44
I mean, according to a former Governor slash pro wrestler.
23:48
Oh, that guy. Yeah, that guy.
23:49
Saint Paul streets were designed by a bunch of drunk Irishmen.
23:51
And that's his comment, not mine.
23:53
So don't. Not my fault.
23:56
OK, OK. All right.
23:57
OK, new topic. OK, how do you get your music or
24:00
your podcasts? Variety of ways.
24:04
I do listen to SiriusXM once in awhile, YouTube Music and really
24:08
old fashioned radio. I am very everyday.
24:12
I listen to local K fan radio, sports radio and listen to the
24:16
morning show everyday, but I typically listen to music or
24:19
podcasts on the way home. I now, now I listen to my music
24:23
through Spotify almost all the time.
24:25
Yeah. And so I'm in the office and
24:26
I'll play music and it's always a Spotify list and a Spotify
24:29
curates a list for me now because I played it so much that
24:33
knows what I like and it's really cool.
24:35
But I used to think that you had to own all your music to listen
24:38
to, you know, that was the old way of thinking.
24:40
But you know, now moving into the age of digital and my kids
24:43
are convincing me to do more streaming of my music.
24:47
And so that's what I've kind of gravitated towards.
24:49
And I stream everything to our Sonos speakers, which we talked
24:52
about and, and it's great. However, we continually have
24:56
problems with Alexa connecting to Sonos.
24:59
So that's that whole programming issue that I've got and, you
25:03
know, we can play along and, and all of a sudden it just stops,
25:07
you know, and OK, she just has some, I think she has learning
25:11
difficulties. Yeah, maybe.
25:13
She's because Lex is Amazon. Maybe she's trying to sell you
25:17
something and she just gets confused.
25:18
Yeah, I think she's confused. Right.
25:21
Well, I just mentioned, yeah, I obviously use Google back in the
25:24
day, like you, you mentioned that you used to have to own
25:26
your own music and I had easily 6 to 700 CDs in my house.
25:30
Yeah, easily. I think I still do.
25:32
Yeah, well. And cassette tapes.
25:34
So back when iPods were huge, I didn't have an iPod and wanted
25:38
an iPod, and I found this place on the interweb where you could
25:42
send them all of your CDs. Oh, and.
25:44
They'd convert them they. Convert them all for you.
25:46
They convert Mt Threes and put them on an iPod and send you the
25:49
iPod back. But they kept the CDs that was.
25:51
OK, that was the OK. Got it.
25:53
You give them your 700 CDs, they give you all your music on an
25:56
iPod. And you trusted them with your
25:57
7. 100 CDs. No, this is I.
26:00
How about I was in this house, so it's within the last 18 years
26:04
I did this. Yeah, I sent them.
26:07
They sent me an iPod. I mean, how how crazy.
26:09
It's cool. Dumb was I I know to box up 600
26:12
CDs and just send them off hoping they're gonna send me an
26:14
I. Hoping you get that right.
26:16
Yeah, that's crazy. And you have those AI goggles.
26:19
What are they? No, they're not AI goggles, it's
26:21
it's a VR headset. OK, VR head, not the same thing.
26:24
Yeah, the VR headset is is kind of you stay in your house and
26:26
you play games and like a eyeshadow box and the AI goggles
26:29
are the things that are like your your digital assistant in
26:33
your eyes, like you can see everything right in front of
26:35
you. OK, I don't have that.
26:37
OK, but the the VR you do, yes. Now I use those I think only a
26:42
couple times my my daughter has a pair, my son-in-law has a pair
26:45
and I played only that that laser type game where you slice
26:49
the box shooting at you. That's fun.
26:52
It's fun. I really, I think it's really a
26:55
good time doing it, but you know, you really lose your sense
26:58
of balance, right? So the AI glasses you were
27:01
talking about, those are like the the ray band meta glasses.
27:06
So what do they do? They they leverage the AI and
27:09
enhance everyday experiences, right yeah.
27:13
OK, so I was reading a little bit about them.
27:15
OK and I guess they do sort of that you can do the hands free
27:20
photo video capture. OK, so in voice control action,
27:24
so you can be wearing these glasses and ask it for, you
27:28
know, an AI assist and it will it can play it right in front of
27:33
your lens so you can actually see the result.
27:36
Yeah, I see while you're wearing the glasses.
27:38
I see. I've never had them on or or
27:40
used them. I've just kind of seen a couple
27:42
things here and there. But yeah, that's crazy, isn't?
27:45
It. Yeah, it's just like, so science
27:46
fiction. Yeah.
27:48
But, you know, there are some models that will overlay those
27:50
directions and, and and it also do what's really cool.
27:53
So do translations. So it'll pick up under language
27:58
and translate it in your ear with the glasses on.
28:01
That's cool. I want those.
28:03
Yeah, those are so cool. That sounds cool.
28:06
It's kind of spendy. Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure.
28:09
Yeah, the translate thing, I've, I've, I've never actually used
28:14
it, but my, my phone has that Google Translate and if I'm
28:17
wearing the earbuds right, like somebody I can hold the phone up
28:21
to, somebody's talking in different language, it'll just
28:22
automatically translate into English right in my ear.
28:24
I I gotta, I gotta try that. Yeah, I, I definitely, I need to
28:27
find somebody who speaks a lot of like, Spanish that I don't
28:30
know and just hold my phone up to that.
28:32
Let's see. Hi, don't mind me but do this
28:35
for me. I'm just listening.
28:37
That's that's all. That's.
28:38
Awkward at all awkward? Yeah.
28:40
How about the self driving cars? Ohh self driving cars those are
28:45
crazy that that. Freaks me out man.
28:47
It does, yeah. I don't think I wanna be in an
28:49
Uber or a taxi that doesn't have a driver.
28:51
No, I have visions of what's that Arnold Schwarzenegger
28:54
movie, that Total Recall? Yes, Total Recall.
28:58
Great movie by the way. Love that, love that.
29:00
I watch every time. Every time it's on.
29:03
Yeah, you can see in the taxi. No, I'm not doing that.
29:06
When he has that mask on and it's and it's, it's
29:09
malfunctioning, Yeah. And it starts to peel away.
29:13
It's awesome. Get ready for a surprise Bam.
29:19
Yes Oh my gosh, that is too crazy.
29:21
It's funny. How about you have you heard of
29:23
the the aura ring? I've.
29:26
Heard of it but I don't really know what it is.
29:28
I think it'd be pretty cool. So it's just a smart ring that
29:31
tracks your variety of health metrics and including sleep
29:35
activity, body temperature, that sort of thing.
29:38
You just kind of wear it as a regular ring and then it sends
29:41
the information up to an app. OK.
29:43
So basically my pixel watch. A lot like your pixel watch,
29:48
yes. Oh, I could get the ring instead
29:50
of wearing a watch. Totally could.
29:53
Oh, there you go. There, there's your in.
29:55
I'm putting that on my Christmas list.
29:56
Oh, you should. Amy, if you're listening, I
29:59
would like the aura ring. No, but that what, what, what
30:03
finger does it go on then? Because it obviously can't go on
30:04
your ring finger. I mean, that would just be
30:06
blasphemy. Do you see the rings that I'm
30:08
wearing? Well, Mike, you very true, very
30:10
true. All all zero of.
30:11
All for our non video people out there.
30:14
I'm not wearing any rings. So it could go on your ring
30:17
finger then that will solve 2 problems in one shot.
30:20
That's right, Solving life's problems right here.
30:24
Yeah. I mean, do you think you could
30:26
go a day or a week without using technology at this point?
30:29
I don't think I could. I don't think I could either.
30:30
I mean, it's crazy how it's such an integral part of our lives
30:33
now. Yeah, I mean, it's just even
30:35
your phone. I mean, I can't.
30:37
I'm addicted to my phone. Got you.
30:39
And and my nose isn't a thing all the time.
30:43
Yeah, I mean, find me somebody who's not addicted to their
30:45
phone. They'll they'll say they're not,
30:46
but there's no way like like when we used to have our
30:49
Internet go out on a semi regular basis.
30:52
I seriously would almost rather have the the power go out
30:55
instead because we stream everything, right?
31:00
Yeah, everything we watch is we stream everything and we listen
31:02
to everything we stream and everything's tied to digital.
31:05
We can't function anything in our house.
31:08
You'd be lost. We'd be lost.
31:09
It's horrible. It's like, OK, turn the lights
31:11
off. You're like, oh, wait, how do I
31:13
turn them off now? Like, I don't know how to do it.
31:15
Yeah. You have to do have the the
31:17
manual overrides, yeah. But, but like our kitchen
31:20
lights, I mean, they're, they're just plugged into an outlet.
31:22
They don't have a switch like our, our, our LED lights on our
31:25
cabinets. They're not on a switch.
31:26
They're just plugged into a rug of the wall outlet.
31:28
So you have to use an app or talk to them to turn them off or
31:31
on unless you. Physically, so you'd have to
31:32
physically unplug. And physically unplug them, yes,
31:34
I mean that turns them off but. OK, so like my strip lights have
31:38
an actual button. OK, then it's plugged in.
31:41
OK, yes, you might know. So I can actually go and use the
31:44
manual switch on them. But see, I got smarter.
31:47
So these lights in our in our recording studio right now we
31:49
have LED lights are on the ceiling and I had an unused
31:52
light switch so I tied them into that.
31:54
Oh, that's good. Did everybody hear that we have
31:56
a recording studio? In our studio.
31:58
With this big plush couch that we're sitting on, it's.
32:00
Very plushy, yes. How was your job change because
32:04
of technology? Well, well, my, you know, my job
32:08
being used to be all manual, but now that everything's digital,
32:11
it's constant. It's only computer.
32:14
All the programs that we use are in the cloud, you know, so all
32:19
our meetings are virtual since I work at home and the company I
32:23
actually work for is in Toronto. So we we don't meet in person.
32:31
Everything's right digital, everything's digital.
32:33
So it's kind of a complete 100 percent, 180 from how I learned
32:39
my career. Right, right.
32:40
And that's, it's funny because that became the norm during
32:42
COVID and now there's such a push to get everybody.
32:44
Back in the office there is in certain industries.
32:47
In certain industries. Yeah, In the creative industry,
32:50
it's thankfully for me, Yeah, it is not right.
32:53
It is staying home, right? How about for you with the world
32:57
of lawn care? Oh, it's changed drastically.
32:59
I mean, even five years ago we used to do everything.
33:02
Everything was paper, paper invoices, paper maps.
33:06
People would still use their phones like Google Maps and
33:08
things and that. But, but now, I mean, everything
33:10
is on a tablet and we can send our, our routes and our
33:14
invoices. Our, our routes go directly to
33:17
our technicians on the tablet and they just click a button and
33:19
it takes right to that next house automatically on the map.
33:22
And then when they're done, they hit done and it sends the
33:24
customer an electronic invoice and e-mail immediately.
33:28
So there's nothing hanging on the door anymore.
33:30
It's just, it's all automatic. And the customer can then
33:32
automatically go right on the website and see that that
33:35
service was done and the invoices in their in their
33:37
account. And leave you a 5 star review.
33:39
And and right and reviews are so huge right now for any business.
33:42
That's what drives a Google search.
33:44
So yeah, like we are asking our customers for Google reviews
33:47
because we need that to raise up on the Google search to help
33:51
find us. So it's, but what's what's nice
33:53
about it though, is it creates an immediate connection to your
33:56
customers where, you know, 5-10 years ago, unless you physically
33:59
knocked on the door and they're physically home, you would
34:01
really never interact with the customers unless they physically
34:04
called you on the telephone to ask.
34:06
And now 95% of our communication is either e-mail or text.
34:11
OK, well as a matter of fact, I got an e-mail and a text today
34:15
from you. You did about that?
34:17
Mylan will be serviced tomorrow. Right, because because we, we
34:21
love you, want to make sure you know that we're going to be
34:23
there. And how about ChatGPT?
34:25
Yeah, so I don't use ChatGPT per SE, even though it's probably
34:30
the most widely used, as was the first mainstream.
34:32
Yeah. And in others, Apple has their
34:34
AI, Apple Intelligence. I haven't used that.
34:37
Yeah, I see Apple. They're so tricky under the
34:39
acronyms. Yeah, they are.
34:41
But I use Google Gemini which is basically the Google version of
34:44
chat. GPT, it's kind of the same.
34:45
I use the ChatGPT a lot yeah. You know, if I need to write
34:49
something, OK, here's a little trick for you, everybody.
34:52
OK, so if you're in a of a business, do you have to write
34:55
goals for your for your career? You just ask ChatGPT to write
35:01
them for you. You just kind of give a couple
35:03
bullet points. Write me a goal about achieving
35:05
this. They will spit out that goal and
35:07
I'm like, done, put the lock it up.
35:10
It's ready to go. I don't have to think about it
35:13
and write it because writing goals have always been the worst
35:15
thing. Oh.
35:16
Horrible, horrible and everybody fudges them anyway.
35:20
No, nobody. No, nobody does that.
35:24
Adam, my boss. Not listening.
35:27
Not listening. Very true, very true.
35:30
Yeah, how about passwords? Oh my God, don't get me started
35:34
on passwords. How the heck are you supposed to
35:36
remember all the passwords to hundreds of accounts that I
35:39
have? Yeah, so here again, I'm going
35:41
to rely on the don't let the the the powers of the cloud scare
35:45
you because. I do get scared.
35:46
By the cloud you do, but here's the deal.
35:48
So I I'm going to give you 2 two scenarios here that that one
35:51
you'll like and one you probably won't.
35:52
So the one you're not going to like is trust the Google
35:54
password manager. So when I'm signed into Chrome.
35:57
How do I get past my own fear of trusting the manager?
36:01
You don't be 60 years old. Well, I'm not.
36:06
Yeah. But so everything I use on my
36:09
Google Chrome is when I'm signed into my account, it saves all my
36:13
passwords for me. So when I go to a website, it
36:15
automatically remembers the password and boom, you're in.
36:17
So the key to that is obviously don't forget your Google
36:20
password. Right.
36:22
And that's OK, you know, I can remember one, but right now I
36:25
have a spreadsheet. OK, I have AI have a very easy
36:28
tool so you don't need a spreadsheet anymore.
36:30
Uh oh. It's very simple.
36:32
OK, so you have your main password.
36:34
I'm going to call it just for s s and giggles.
36:38
Your password is Grover. Can you pick a new one by?
36:42
Or you usually have to have a number and a capital, so you do
36:44
like a capital G Grover 15 so that that's your password.
36:47
Right. OK, move on.
36:48
OK. So your main password is Grover
36:50
15, but you're never going to use Grover 15 because what
36:52
you're going to do when you go to your first website, you're
36:54
going to go shop at Target. You're going to your password is
36:57
going to be TAR Grover 15 GET get it.
37:03
Target is in between Target. Always the name of wherever I'm
37:07
going when. You go to Amazon, you're going
37:09
to go AMA Grover 15 zon. Therefore, your password is
37:15
different on every single website.
37:17
So you're saying if I could just figure out what your main
37:21
password is, I can get into all of your accounts?
37:23
So in a heartbeat, yes you could.
37:29
But. I've got a new mission.
37:30
Right, but I did start doing that a few years ago and
37:33
seriously, it way simplifies your life when you're trying to
37:36
remember passwords so. Did you have to go back?
37:38
And yes you did. Let's go back and rename or re
37:42
save every password. And there's a pain in the butt,
37:45
but. Actually, it'll be a good
37:46
exercise to get rid of all the accounts.
37:48
I don't. Yes, I could get down to only
37:51
two pages in my spreadsheet then, instead of three.
37:54
Yes, you could, yes, so that's that's my tip of the day, folks,
37:58
and for more tips, be sure to follow us on the socials, mainly
38:00
Facebook and Instagram at O and one more thing pod.
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And drop us a line at oandonemorethingpod@gmail.com.
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That's right, So to wrap up this topic, for us middle-aged guys,
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navigating technology requires A proactive approach, focusing on
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learning new skills, embracing new technologies, and
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maintaining social connections to foster a positive and
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fulfilling experience. So here's an easy breakdown of
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how to approach keeping up with the challenging digital
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landscape. Embrace lifelong learning.
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Technology is constantly evolving.
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Leverage voice activated technologies or screen readers
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to help make technology more accessible.
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Stay connected and engage with social media and online
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communities. Address age-related challenges,
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which include a cognitive decline, process speed,
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processing speed, see I can't even do it, and memory issues.
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And consider your future and keep an eye on new technologies
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and be an early adopter. So I guess we really are
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surviving technology. I think we are.
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Oh, and one more thing, it's Rob's birthday tomorrow, so
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everybody wish him a happy birthday.
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Aw, thanks, Brian, and I appreciate it.
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Bye everyone, bye. I think AI is listening to us
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right now of. Course it is.