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The US Postal Service has reversed its brief

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suspension

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00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,299
of shipments from China and Hong Kong.

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00:00:07,679 --> 00:00:10,880
After initially halting them in response to a

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new tariff policy

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under the press under president Trump,

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Decision followed changes eliminating

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the the minimums

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exception,

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which previously allowed low value packages to enter

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The US duty free.

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Retailers like Sheen and Tumu, which have benefited

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from the exemption,

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now

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face increased

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tariffs

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and duties

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as both The US and China and Pu's

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retaliatory

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tariffs, trade disruptions remain a concern.

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Welcome. To episode 1,797

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00:00:45,045 --> 00:00:47,924
coming to you this Thursday, February 6. I'm

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00:00:47,924 --> 00:00:50,405
your host, Todd Cochran, ready to deliver your

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00:00:50,405 --> 00:00:53,045
tech news and information fix. A quick shout

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out to our incredible sponsor, GoDaddy. Score exclusive

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writing a check to the Geek News Central

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team. Thank you for keeping us online

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and going strong. Hey, everyone. How are you

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doing? Welcome to the show. I had a,

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just

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I I will call this week probably

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the most intense

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planning

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and

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orchestrating

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week I've had in a long, long time.

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Keeping everyone busy, keeping everyone focused, keeping

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their nose to the grindstone.

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It's it's been a it's just been a

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week.

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It has. I'm,

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I'm quite ready, to be honest with you.

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I'm quite ready

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for the

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weekend,

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in in a in a big, big way.

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I delayed going to the VA on Tuesday,

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so so I'm going tomorrow morning. I gotta

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get some blood taken. They're gonna check my,

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my sugar level

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and, cholesterol and all that stuff that's going

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on. So we'll see we'll see where I

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am at,

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and, I'm sure, you know, it's gonna be

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lecture time, but that's kinda

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the way it is at time. Hey,

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those on YouTube, thanks for saying hello, and

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it says,

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Garth Roselle, welcome to the Club America.

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Funny how nowhere mentioned

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AliExpress.

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It's a marketing that still has ability

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to take VAT during checkout. UK used to

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have a $15

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exemption.

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And then hi, hi,

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Brian here from Tampa. Yeah. We'll talk just

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a second about USPS

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and what's going on there.

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But for those of you that are bourbon

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lovers,

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do you see what's right there?

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I don't know if I talked about it

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on the last show.

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I've had

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two or three

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bottles of bourbon on my

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wish list for a more than a year.

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Eagle Rare,

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which that is, is from the Buffalo Trace

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family,

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has been on my list for a while,

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and, and I I scored. I scored one

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last weekend. You know, I'm a big I

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like the Buffalo Trace.

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Again, this is this is not an ad.

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And I and and, again, drink alcohol, be

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be safe on how much you consume,

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but I am a big Buffalo Trace fan.

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And,

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you know, it's got all the big names,

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Stagg,

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E. H. Taylor.

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It's got Pappy Van Winkle.

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It's got Eagle Rare. It's got, you know,

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just all

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these different,

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mixtures. Weller, of course, another bottle that's on

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my list.

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But,

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finally, I scored me an Eagle Rare,

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and, oh my goodness. It is it even

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delicious. Now I paid about $20

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above retail, which I was happy to do.

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And,

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the bourbon thing, you know, there's certain bourbons

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I don't really care for too much. They

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end up going into mixers,

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but the Buffalo Trace family, I don't know

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what it is. I really do like

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that,

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that particular bourbon. Any other Buffalo Trace fans

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out there? And, you know, if anyone's got

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a Weller,

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it's got,

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you know, any of these

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Thomas r Handys, any of these type of

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really super rare bourbons that, you know, are

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on allocations.

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Hey. I'll

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gladly pay shipping

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if you find one. If you are someplace

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and find a stag,

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and it's not insane,

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of course, you you have to know if

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it's insane or not. If you if you

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get a bourbon lover, you know what's insane

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from a price.

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Yeah. Always feel free to text me.

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I'll Cash App you.

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Yes. I know you can buy online on

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secondary, but I'm not paying secondary prices. Okay?

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Don't need it that bad.

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But, yeah, I am going to partake on

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this tomorrow,

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considering the week that I've had. It's been

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it's been insane. One thing I will also

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mention, and and and I don't know if

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any of you else have been following, but,

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my evenings when I just get in, I

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get a little time to kick back and

198
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just been crushed with all the madness going

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out of DC.

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And, I'm

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00:07:52,264 --> 00:07:54,365
had to, like, this week, take a little

202
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little bit of break and go find some

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other stuff to watch.

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00:07:58,990 --> 00:08:01,149
One thing I also seen and it's even

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00:08:01,149 --> 00:08:02,209
evident tonight,

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00:08:03,229 --> 00:08:06,610
there's a whole bunch, I mean, of super,

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00:08:07,229 --> 00:08:10,269
super, super, super biased tech news that's out

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there of everything that's going on in DC,

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and everyone has lost their damn mind about

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00:08:16,295 --> 00:08:17,115
Elon Musk

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and Doge.

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I mean, it's just,

213
00:08:21,735 --> 00:08:23,915
just crazy. Hey, Leland. How are you?

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00:08:24,535 --> 00:08:26,454
Thanks for checking in on Facebook. You can

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00:08:26,454 --> 00:08:28,829
send a few pictures over. Oh, you you've

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00:08:28,829 --> 00:08:30,430
got a little bit of a bourbon collection,

217
00:08:30,430 --> 00:08:31,169
do you?

218
00:08:32,829 --> 00:08:33,329
But,

219
00:08:34,029 --> 00:08:35,950
anyway, it's just that the tech news is

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00:08:35,950 --> 00:08:38,509
super biased, and I don't care what side

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00:08:38,509 --> 00:08:39,009
of

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00:08:39,389 --> 00:08:41,649
the politics you're on. Anytime

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we can get rid of frivolous spending,

224
00:08:45,365 --> 00:08:47,524
even if it's a dollar, I'm all good

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00:08:47,524 --> 00:08:49,764
for it. You know? We can still do

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00:08:49,764 --> 00:08:51,125
what we need to do with the world,

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00:08:51,125 --> 00:08:53,445
but let's, you know, let's get rid of

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00:08:53,445 --> 00:08:56,160
the frivolous stuff. And I've talked long and

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00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,160
hard about over the years on this show

230
00:08:58,160 --> 00:08:58,820
on how

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00:08:59,279 --> 00:09:01,759
government contracts work and the waste and the

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00:09:01,759 --> 00:09:04,399
insanity that goes into that. So there is

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00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:04,899
room

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00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:06,179
for efficiencies

235
00:09:06,639 --> 00:09:08,480
just to save you can save money just

236
00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:09,139
on efficiencies.

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00:09:10,205 --> 00:09:10,605
So,

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00:09:11,245 --> 00:09:12,925
we'll see if any of that actually gets

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00:09:12,925 --> 00:09:14,605
done. I I'm be honest with you. I

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00:09:14,605 --> 00:09:17,504
continue to be skeptical that they'll make any

241
00:09:17,565 --> 00:09:20,384
negligible impact, but it's it's definitely

242
00:09:20,764 --> 00:09:23,039
interesting to watch for sure. Alright. Let's go

243
00:09:23,039 --> 00:09:24,080
ahead and get into,

244
00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:26,660
the stack of stuff today.

245
00:09:27,279 --> 00:09:28,899
We'll start right off with this,

246
00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,220
situation that happened with USPS

247
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:33,039
and how they,

248
00:09:33,519 --> 00:09:36,019
have reversed course. It sent shock waves

249
00:09:36,644 --> 00:09:38,084
through the and a matter of fact, this

250
00:09:38,084 --> 00:09:39,384
is written by our own,

251
00:09:40,245 --> 00:09:42,324
Jen Thorpe for she put this together on

252
00:09:42,324 --> 00:09:42,985
the website.

253
00:09:44,245 --> 00:09:46,345
You know, the US Postal Service on Wednesday

254
00:09:46,404 --> 00:09:46,904
halted,

255
00:09:48,485 --> 00:09:51,370
an order that was gonna suspend incoming shipments

256
00:09:51,370 --> 00:09:51,870
from

257
00:09:52,250 --> 00:09:53,870
China and Hong Kong

258
00:09:54,409 --> 00:09:56,669
to threaten severely disrupt trade,

259
00:09:57,289 --> 00:10:00,250
between two major economies. Now how many of

260
00:10:00,250 --> 00:10:01,709
you have ordered anything?

261
00:10:02,649 --> 00:10:04,649
Maybe you've had a a wife or girlfriend

262
00:10:04,649 --> 00:10:05,870
order stuff from Sheen.

263
00:10:06,315 --> 00:10:08,955
The that company is real super popular with

264
00:10:08,955 --> 00:10:09,535
the ladies.

265
00:10:09,915 --> 00:10:11,054
Tmoo is another

266
00:10:11,355 --> 00:10:11,855
popular,

267
00:10:12,394 --> 00:10:13,455
site, Alibaba,

268
00:10:14,235 --> 00:10:16,154
any of these places where you can get

269
00:10:16,154 --> 00:10:18,715
stuff from China. And you've always wondered, how's

270
00:10:18,715 --> 00:10:20,399
this stuff come in so cheap? Right?

271
00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,399
It just comes in, they can ship it

272
00:10:22,399 --> 00:10:23,220
in and,

273
00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,500
I've ordered stuff from Alibaba in the past,

274
00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,559
you know, to have and say that I

275
00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:29,059
haven't,

276
00:10:30,639 --> 00:10:32,180
but what's happening now

277
00:10:34,004 --> 00:10:35,465
is they've suspended

278
00:10:36,485 --> 00:10:37,225
the minimum.

279
00:10:38,884 --> 00:10:41,764
So, basically, stuff that was under $800

280
00:10:41,764 --> 00:10:43,065
didn't have to pay duty.

281
00:10:43,764 --> 00:10:45,865
And now that stuff is above

282
00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:48,259
anything, and I don't know if there's a

283
00:10:48,259 --> 00:10:51,379
$10, 15 dollar, or any limit, but they

284
00:10:51,379 --> 00:10:53,480
ended the policy that allowed small packages

285
00:10:54,179 --> 00:10:56,100
worth 800 less to be sent to America

286
00:10:56,100 --> 00:10:58,040
without paying taxes and fees.

287
00:10:58,820 --> 00:11:00,524
And that is not the case now.

288
00:11:03,325 --> 00:11:05,264
So these online giants

289
00:11:06,205 --> 00:11:07,184
use the exemption

290
00:11:07,805 --> 00:11:08,785
really to

291
00:11:09,404 --> 00:11:09,904
benefit

292
00:11:10,684 --> 00:11:11,665
their own companies.

293
00:11:12,045 --> 00:11:13,839
And, you know, there's

294
00:11:14,299 --> 00:11:16,459
similar rules in The UK and European Union

295
00:11:16,459 --> 00:11:18,399
as well to reach millions of customers

296
00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:20,959
with this exception. Now

297
00:11:22,299 --> 00:11:24,379
the explosion of parcels being shipped under the

298
00:11:24,379 --> 00:11:26,985
loophole has prompted increased scrutiny in recent years.

299
00:11:26,985 --> 00:11:28,584
This I mean, we've talked about this in

300
00:11:28,584 --> 00:11:29,245
the past.

301
00:11:30,024 --> 00:11:31,644
So this trade loophole,

302
00:11:33,865 --> 00:11:35,565
really drove this

303
00:11:36,584 --> 00:11:37,485
this explosive

304
00:11:37,944 --> 00:11:38,444
growth

305
00:11:39,509 --> 00:11:41,049
for those bargain sites.

306
00:11:41,509 --> 00:11:44,169
But now that really is going to change.

307
00:11:44,789 --> 00:11:47,669
And, essentially, everything is gonna go to, I

308
00:11:47,669 --> 00:11:49,429
think, at least 35%

309
00:11:49,429 --> 00:11:49,929
duty.

310
00:11:50,789 --> 00:11:53,634
So what cost a hundred dollars before is

311
00:11:53,634 --> 00:11:55,394
now a hundred and 45 or a hundred

312
00:11:55,394 --> 00:11:56,294
and 35.

313
00:11:56,834 --> 00:11:57,334
And,

314
00:11:57,714 --> 00:11:59,634
so it's gonna be a big impact. Very,

315
00:11:59,634 --> 00:12:01,174
very, very, very big,

316
00:12:02,514 --> 00:12:03,014
impact.

317
00:12:03,714 --> 00:12:04,214
And

318
00:12:06,970 --> 00:12:08,970
one of the commenters on YouTube, and I'm

319
00:12:08,970 --> 00:12:10,970
sorry I'm having to squint, trouble is some

320
00:12:10,970 --> 00:12:11,950
of the parts

321
00:12:12,410 --> 00:12:14,730
I can only buy from China. Some have

322
00:12:14,730 --> 00:12:16,110
such a low demand

323
00:12:16,570 --> 00:12:18,910
that no local store could afford to keep

324
00:12:19,129 --> 00:12:20,029
those stocked.

325
00:12:23,334 --> 00:12:23,834
Cables

326
00:12:24,855 --> 00:12:27,194
alone are a, compatible

327
00:12:27,735 --> 00:12:29,194
lottery for eGPUs

328
00:12:30,214 --> 00:12:32,875
as tires were coming and then delayed.

329
00:12:33,309 --> 00:12:33,809
Currency

330
00:12:34,509 --> 00:12:36,690
exchange rate drastically changed.

331
00:12:36,990 --> 00:12:40,050
I saved £15 by watching the currency exchange

332
00:12:40,430 --> 00:12:42,509
rates on a mini PC, so it's probably

333
00:12:42,509 --> 00:12:43,009
true.

334
00:12:43,710 --> 00:12:44,210
Now,

335
00:12:44,830 --> 00:12:47,309
Leland says Dodge is a kicker is a

336
00:12:47,309 --> 00:12:47,809
kicking.

337
00:12:48,245 --> 00:12:48,904
Yes. It

338
00:12:49,445 --> 00:12:49,764
is.

339
00:12:52,245 --> 00:12:54,404
So we knew there was going to be

340
00:12:54,404 --> 00:12:56,745
pain. This is not a surprise,

341
00:12:57,684 --> 00:12:58,184
and,

342
00:12:59,365 --> 00:13:02,424
getting your electronics are going to cost more.

343
00:13:03,329 --> 00:13:04,870
It it just it just will.

344
00:13:06,850 --> 00:13:08,610
I've decided when I go back to The

345
00:13:08,610 --> 00:13:10,370
Philippines, I'm gonna take a Mac mini with

346
00:13:10,370 --> 00:13:13,089
me. And, I've got an extra one here,

347
00:13:13,089 --> 00:13:14,929
so I'm gonna take that with me. And

348
00:13:14,929 --> 00:13:16,825
it's I'm not, you know, I don't have

349
00:13:16,825 --> 00:13:18,764
to buy one. I've got one that's perfectly

350
00:13:18,904 --> 00:13:19,404
well,

351
00:13:20,184 --> 00:13:22,504
to go, but I needed a little I

352
00:13:22,504 --> 00:13:23,404
wanted to have

353
00:13:23,785 --> 00:13:26,045
a extension for basically a hub.

354
00:13:26,904 --> 00:13:29,144
So I went online today thinking, oh, man,

355
00:13:29,144 --> 00:13:30,285
I'm gonna get hammered.

356
00:13:30,740 --> 00:13:33,079
But they had hubs still in stock

357
00:13:33,620 --> 00:13:35,079
that are already here.

358
00:13:35,459 --> 00:13:37,879
So if you've got things that you think

359
00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:38,679
that you

360
00:13:39,059 --> 00:13:40,820
want to buy, you you need to buy

361
00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:41,480
right now.

362
00:13:41,860 --> 00:13:43,860
You need to go before the price increase,

363
00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:45,904
before the stock runs out, and they have

364
00:13:45,904 --> 00:13:48,105
to ship stuff in from China. So if

365
00:13:48,105 --> 00:13:49,404
you've been sitting on

366
00:13:50,345 --> 00:13:52,444
something that you've been thinking about getting,

367
00:13:52,985 --> 00:13:54,284
go go go go go

368
00:13:54,664 --> 00:13:55,164
immediately.

369
00:13:55,944 --> 00:13:57,324
And in order,

370
00:13:58,079 --> 00:13:58,579
because

371
00:13:58,959 --> 00:14:00,659
all this stuff is gonna see

372
00:14:01,199 --> 00:14:02,980
a dramatic increase here.

373
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:06,399
And I and, you know, I got to

374
00:14:06,399 --> 00:14:08,079
thinking about it today, and I'm thinking, do

375
00:14:08,079 --> 00:14:09,699
I need any do I have any cables?

376
00:14:10,125 --> 00:14:11,644
Do I need you know? So I was

377
00:14:11,644 --> 00:14:14,125
really kinda doing, like, a bit of an

378
00:14:14,125 --> 00:14:16,705
accounting around here. Do I need any dongles?

379
00:14:16,845 --> 00:14:18,044
Do I need and do you know, I

380
00:14:18,044 --> 00:14:18,945
was just thinking,

381
00:14:20,524 --> 00:14:23,504
even so far as to thinking about memory.

382
00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:26,149
And, of course, memory luckily comes a lot

383
00:14:26,230 --> 00:14:28,409
well, comes mostly out of Taiwan,

384
00:14:28,789 --> 00:14:30,009
some out of Korea.

385
00:14:30,549 --> 00:14:32,629
So what's gonna happen is is you're gonna

386
00:14:32,629 --> 00:14:33,610
start to see

387
00:14:34,070 --> 00:14:34,570
huge

388
00:14:35,190 --> 00:14:36,089
price disparity

389
00:14:36,845 --> 00:14:39,345
on Amazon or wherever else you shop,

390
00:14:40,605 --> 00:14:42,545
where depends on where stuff originates.

391
00:14:43,085 --> 00:14:45,165
So if it comes out of Taiwan, no

392
00:14:45,165 --> 00:14:45,665
effect.

393
00:14:46,125 --> 00:14:48,365
Comes out of Hong Kong or China, big

394
00:14:48,365 --> 00:14:48,865
effect.

395
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,700
So, again, it's because of this minimum shipping

396
00:14:53,399 --> 00:14:53,899
change.

397
00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,179
It it's it's gonna have a huge effect.

398
00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:58,460
So,

399
00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:00,940
just be aware,

400
00:15:01,964 --> 00:15:03,024
Until this thing

401
00:15:03,804 --> 00:15:05,264
kinda washes through,

402
00:15:06,125 --> 00:15:08,144
we're we're gonna we're gonna see.

403
00:15:10,284 --> 00:15:12,125
So Leland says, how much do you think

404
00:15:12,125 --> 00:15:14,044
most of the equipment will go up? I

405
00:15:14,044 --> 00:15:14,625
I think

406
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,559
they're gonna lower price. Now this this is

407
00:15:17,559 --> 00:15:18,540
the key too.

408
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,399
The China manufacturers are making so much money

409
00:15:21,399 --> 00:15:22,299
on this stuff.

410
00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:25,000
They have such a markup because it costs

411
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:25,740
them nothing.

412
00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:28,220
Their labor is essentially slave labor.

413
00:15:28,745 --> 00:15:31,404
So they so material costs and a minimal

414
00:15:31,625 --> 00:15:34,284
amount of so they're already got a margin.

415
00:15:34,664 --> 00:15:35,804
So they may

416
00:15:37,144 --> 00:15:39,725
lower their price, get a smaller margin

417
00:15:40,184 --> 00:15:41,164
just to offset

418
00:15:41,544 --> 00:15:42,044
the

419
00:15:42,850 --> 00:15:43,669
the duty.

420
00:15:47,809 --> 00:15:50,309
Leland, I think it could be 25%.

421
00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:53,570
Can can a manufacturer take a 35%

422
00:15:53,570 --> 00:15:54,070
cut?

423
00:15:54,610 --> 00:15:55,830
Now they were already

424
00:15:56,674 --> 00:15:58,454
paying 20 here's the difference.

425
00:15:59,554 --> 00:16:00,855
How they got around

426
00:16:01,714 --> 00:16:04,855
this previous duty was let's say they sent,

427
00:16:06,034 --> 00:16:07,495
stuff to an Amazon warehouse.

428
00:16:08,115 --> 00:16:09,875
As long as the shipping on that was

429
00:16:09,875 --> 00:16:11,334
under $800,

430
00:16:11,709 --> 00:16:12,450
no duty.

431
00:16:14,669 --> 00:16:15,409
But that's

432
00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:18,190
gone. So now anything they ship is gonna

433
00:16:18,190 --> 00:16:19,389
be 35%.

434
00:16:19,389 --> 00:16:20,830
There'll be a 35%

435
00:16:20,830 --> 00:16:21,889
tariff on it.

436
00:16:22,350 --> 00:16:22,850
So

437
00:16:26,294 --> 00:16:29,034
so this is where the delta is. And

438
00:16:29,254 --> 00:16:31,434
all of us that have bought anything

439
00:16:32,054 --> 00:16:33,754
that comes from China

440
00:16:34,134 --> 00:16:36,615
that has been delivered in a flat that's

441
00:16:36,615 --> 00:16:38,294
had one or two pieces of product in

442
00:16:38,294 --> 00:16:38,794
it,

443
00:16:40,409 --> 00:16:41,389
35%.

444
00:16:44,169 --> 00:16:45,929
So but they're gonna lower the price as

445
00:16:45,929 --> 00:16:47,850
much as they can, but it's gonna hurt

446
00:16:47,850 --> 00:16:49,850
them. It's gonna hurt their profit margins, which,

447
00:16:49,850 --> 00:16:52,009
you know, I you know, cry me a

448
00:16:52,009 --> 00:16:53,070
cry me a river.

449
00:16:53,934 --> 00:16:56,654
This is why American companies have not been

450
00:16:56,654 --> 00:16:57,154
able

451
00:16:57,615 --> 00:16:58,274
to compete.

452
00:16:59,054 --> 00:17:00,894
I've said this for for a long, long

453
00:17:00,894 --> 00:17:01,394
time.

454
00:17:02,174 --> 00:17:05,154
And now the economics is gonna start impacting.

455
00:17:05,375 --> 00:17:07,394
Yeah. It's gonna cost us more,

456
00:17:10,250 --> 00:17:11,769
You know? And with what happened with Canada

457
00:17:11,769 --> 00:17:14,009
and Mexico and that being waived for thirty

458
00:17:14,009 --> 00:17:14,509
days,

459
00:17:15,450 --> 00:17:16,269
we'll see.

460
00:17:16,890 --> 00:17:18,970
Again, this is a big bargaining chip, you

461
00:17:18,970 --> 00:17:19,710
know, and

462
00:17:20,089 --> 00:17:22,029
I I saw something where

463
00:17:23,085 --> 00:17:25,164
even in our own country, you know, people

464
00:17:25,164 --> 00:17:26,765
are freaking out, but I think what it

465
00:17:26,765 --> 00:17:29,325
is is, you know, someone's paying chess and

466
00:17:29,325 --> 00:17:31,505
and the other people are playing checkers here.

467
00:17:31,964 --> 00:17:33,964
Will it pan out and work out for

468
00:17:33,964 --> 00:17:34,464
everything?

469
00:17:35,029 --> 00:17:35,690
Who knows?

470
00:17:36,470 --> 00:17:38,549
But, this is why I had to kinda

471
00:17:38,549 --> 00:17:39,450
just shut

472
00:17:40,069 --> 00:17:42,069
the make sure I wasn't watching it because

473
00:17:42,069 --> 00:17:44,890
it was just bam bam bam bam bam.

474
00:17:45,190 --> 00:17:47,589
And and x if any of you been

475
00:17:47,589 --> 00:17:49,210
on x, good lord.

476
00:17:50,375 --> 00:17:51,755
I mean, it's just nonstop.

477
00:17:52,774 --> 00:17:53,274
Nonstop.

478
00:17:53,815 --> 00:17:54,315
And,

479
00:17:55,335 --> 00:17:55,835
it's

480
00:17:56,774 --> 00:17:57,274
entertaining

481
00:17:57,974 --> 00:17:59,734
to say the least. I know it, Eric.

482
00:17:59,734 --> 00:18:01,494
I'm sure there's many of you, at least

483
00:18:01,494 --> 00:18:03,194
50% of you, this aggravates

484
00:18:03,919 --> 00:18:05,380
the piss out of you.

485
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:07,779
I'm sure. I'm sure it does.

486
00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:09,700
But

487
00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,079
this this thing on the on the shipping

488
00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,960
so we'll see what USPS does with this.

489
00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:15,460
But

490
00:18:17,945 --> 00:18:20,204
Garth says when UK UK changed,

491
00:18:20,744 --> 00:18:23,085
okay, changed from 15 minimum

492
00:18:23,545 --> 00:18:25,785
to an exception, we had about a two

493
00:18:25,785 --> 00:18:26,765
months notice.

494
00:18:27,865 --> 00:18:30,345
Why didn't America give such a reasonable notice

495
00:18:30,345 --> 00:18:30,845
period?

496
00:18:31,859 --> 00:18:32,920
Well, during the

497
00:18:34,500 --> 00:18:35,880
run up to the election,

498
00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:39,460
that was we he was saying exactly what

499
00:18:39,460 --> 00:18:41,240
he was this is not news

500
00:18:41,779 --> 00:18:43,700
to anyone here in The United States. He

501
00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:45,400
said he was going to do this,

502
00:18:46,404 --> 00:18:48,424
you know, October, November.

503
00:18:48,964 --> 00:18:50,265
We knew this was coming.

504
00:18:50,805 --> 00:18:52,825
So it's not a surprise.

505
00:18:54,244 --> 00:18:55,065
But again,

506
00:18:55,684 --> 00:18:57,045
going back to and again, this I don't

507
00:18:57,045 --> 00:18:58,724
wanna get in the politics of this, but

508
00:18:58,724 --> 00:19:00,984
again, he said from a Canada and Mexico

509
00:19:01,125 --> 00:19:01,625
standpoint,

510
00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:03,619
this is not a trade war. This is

511
00:19:03,619 --> 00:19:05,859
a drug war. They just want to stop

512
00:19:05,859 --> 00:19:08,179
the people drug and people coming across the

513
00:19:08,179 --> 00:19:10,440
border trying to get the fentanyl to stop.

514
00:19:10,900 --> 00:19:11,400
So

515
00:19:12,579 --> 00:19:14,279
we'll see. We'll see what happens.

516
00:19:14,660 --> 00:19:15,160
But,

517
00:19:15,700 --> 00:19:16,920
this has been wild,

518
00:19:17,404 --> 00:19:19,404
and we'll see what happens within the tech

519
00:19:19,404 --> 00:19:19,904
sector.

520
00:19:20,444 --> 00:19:22,944
Of course, the almighty Super Bowl is coming,

521
00:19:24,605 --> 00:19:25,984
and I'm not a big

522
00:19:26,444 --> 00:19:28,365
you know? I I will watch the Super

523
00:19:28,365 --> 00:19:28,865
Bowl.

524
00:19:29,579 --> 00:19:31,339
My mom texted me a little earlier that

525
00:19:31,339 --> 00:19:31,839
my

526
00:19:32,140 --> 00:19:34,539
brother in law's cooking wings and, you know,

527
00:19:34,539 --> 00:19:36,319
there's people coming over and

528
00:19:36,619 --> 00:19:38,299
you know? To be honest with you, I

529
00:19:38,299 --> 00:19:41,019
I might rather sleep on Sunday than watch

530
00:19:41,019 --> 00:19:42,240
the Super Bowl. But

531
00:19:42,694 --> 00:19:45,255
the commercials this year, there are gonna be

532
00:19:45,255 --> 00:19:45,755
regional

533
00:19:46,855 --> 00:19:47,595
ads and

534
00:19:47,894 --> 00:19:48,954
national ads.

535
00:19:49,575 --> 00:19:51,335
So what some of you may see in

536
00:19:51,335 --> 00:19:52,934
New York will not be what I see

537
00:19:52,934 --> 00:19:54,535
in here in Michigan, but there'll be some

538
00:19:54,535 --> 00:19:56,549
that'll be national. One of them is a

539
00:19:56,710 --> 00:19:59,269
Google Gemini Super Bowl ad that they've already

540
00:19:59,269 --> 00:19:59,769
released.

541
00:20:00,390 --> 00:20:03,130
It's two minutes, and it's just some dude

542
00:20:03,670 --> 00:20:07,190
basically doing a mock interview with Google Gemini

543
00:20:07,190 --> 00:20:08,950
for two minutes as his kids are running

544
00:20:08,950 --> 00:20:09,450
around.

545
00:20:10,445 --> 00:20:11,744
It's a well done

546
00:20:12,845 --> 00:20:13,345
ad.

547
00:20:16,924 --> 00:20:17,505
And, essentially,

548
00:20:17,805 --> 00:20:20,144
he practices a job interview with

549
00:20:20,684 --> 00:20:21,505
Google Gemini

550
00:20:22,299 --> 00:20:24,940
and then directly then sits down and does

551
00:20:24,940 --> 00:20:26,880
a real world interview.

552
00:20:28,140 --> 00:20:30,640
Do you think that's where we're at? So

553
00:20:31,019 --> 00:20:32,460
watch the video. I'd love to hear your

554
00:20:32,460 --> 00:20:36,480
feedback. Geeknews@gmail.com.

555
00:20:37,384 --> 00:20:39,005
In a very interesting move,

556
00:20:39,865 --> 00:20:41,725
CISA, and we know who

557
00:20:42,105 --> 00:20:43,884
CISA is. Right? The

558
00:20:44,184 --> 00:20:47,325
Department of Homeland Security, cybersecurity, and frustration security

559
00:20:47,384 --> 00:20:47,884
agency

560
00:20:48,664 --> 00:20:49,644
was initially

561
00:20:50,279 --> 00:20:53,400
excluded from the broader US government offer to

562
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,420
take the deferred resignation offer

563
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,480
in part due to the role of national

564
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,980
security and defending critical infrastructure.

565
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:01,420
Apparently,

566
00:21:01,799 --> 00:21:04,619
yesterday, because only 60,000

567
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:05,660
people have

568
00:21:06,255 --> 00:21:06,755
accepted

569
00:21:07,134 --> 00:21:07,634
the,

570
00:21:08,414 --> 00:21:10,195
basically, the eight month severance,

571
00:21:11,134 --> 00:21:12,434
and it wasn't enough.

572
00:21:13,055 --> 00:21:15,775
Some c I s a staffers were given

573
00:21:15,775 --> 00:21:18,095
offer in just hours to decide whether accept

574
00:21:18,095 --> 00:21:19,075
it or not.

575
00:21:19,855 --> 00:21:20,355
So

576
00:21:20,654 --> 00:21:21,394
it's being

577
00:21:22,309 --> 00:21:23,210
it's being

578
00:21:24,309 --> 00:21:26,950
thought that they were trying to get they

579
00:21:26,950 --> 00:21:28,410
weren't getting enough people.

580
00:21:28,950 --> 00:21:29,450
So

581
00:21:30,230 --> 00:21:32,549
the offer did not go to everyone. There

582
00:21:32,549 --> 00:21:34,329
was exceptions. And so

583
00:21:34,644 --> 00:21:35,865
it's interesting that

584
00:21:36,244 --> 00:21:38,404
they select, and I'd be interesting to know

585
00:21:38,404 --> 00:21:40,744
who those select people were.

586
00:21:41,045 --> 00:21:43,304
What roles did they have

587
00:21:44,005 --> 00:21:45,944
that they offered? Were they administrative

588
00:21:46,244 --> 00:21:48,184
types or were they techie types?

589
00:21:53,299 --> 00:21:56,259
So go government cybersecurity employees are panicking over

590
00:21:56,259 --> 00:21:59,080
the level unfettered access given to

591
00:21:59,460 --> 00:22:00,680
the Doge team.

592
00:22:02,275 --> 00:22:02,855
You know,

593
00:22:03,714 --> 00:22:05,815
I've talked about this before,

594
00:22:06,515 --> 00:22:07,015
and

595
00:22:07,474 --> 00:22:08,934
I I did the federal thing,

596
00:22:09,555 --> 00:22:10,775
so I understand

597
00:22:11,474 --> 00:22:12,375
how it works.

598
00:22:14,930 --> 00:22:17,590
We could if you we could never

599
00:22:18,130 --> 00:22:18,630
get

600
00:22:19,410 --> 00:22:21,830
into people I worked with before. I'm sorry.

601
00:22:22,529 --> 00:22:23,029
But

602
00:22:24,769 --> 00:22:25,269
programmers

603
00:22:25,890 --> 00:22:27,190
and IT administrators

604
00:22:29,095 --> 00:22:29,914
that have

605
00:22:30,375 --> 00:22:30,875
government,

606
00:22:32,534 --> 00:22:35,355
a k a government jobs, a federal employee

607
00:22:35,494 --> 00:22:35,994
job,

608
00:22:38,375 --> 00:22:40,454
very easily could have went out in the

609
00:22:40,454 --> 00:22:43,115
public sector and made a lot more money,

610
00:22:43,730 --> 00:22:45,350
a lot more money because

611
00:22:46,450 --> 00:22:48,150
of the of the caps.

612
00:22:48,850 --> 00:22:50,869
You go look at the general service

613
00:22:51,170 --> 00:22:51,670
scale,

614
00:22:52,930 --> 00:22:54,230
and most of those

615
00:22:54,609 --> 00:22:55,109
CISA

616
00:22:55,570 --> 00:22:57,750
folks are probably GS twelves.

617
00:22:58,934 --> 00:23:00,855
Not because it what it does is GS

618
00:23:00,855 --> 00:23:02,075
12, GS 13.

619
00:23:03,095 --> 00:23:05,095
The the higher you go in the GS

620
00:23:05,095 --> 00:23:07,894
scale, the narrower number of people that are

621
00:23:07,894 --> 00:23:09,674
actually getting those pay rates.

622
00:23:10,375 --> 00:23:14,480
So probably the majority of those CISA and

623
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:14,980
other

624
00:23:15,519 --> 00:23:16,660
IT officials

625
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:18,500
are twelves. Administrators

626
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:19,779
are thirteens.

627
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:22,259
The top bosses are fourteens.

628
00:23:24,474 --> 00:23:26,255
You just don't go to 14.

629
00:23:27,274 --> 00:23:29,294
12 and 13 is a relatively

630
00:23:29,595 --> 00:23:32,234
easy jump. If you have the time, there's

631
00:23:32,234 --> 00:23:33,134
a job position.

632
00:23:33,835 --> 00:23:36,894
You know? So but, again, you go look

633
00:23:36,954 --> 00:23:39,599
at that GS scale, and let's just look

634
00:23:39,599 --> 00:23:40,880
at it. Let's go and look at the

635
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,099
GS pay scale,

636
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,720
and you guys will understand what I'm talking

637
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:45,220
about.

638
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:47,859
Government

639
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,559
government service yeah. I got it. I I

640
00:23:50,559 --> 00:23:52,880
typed it wrong. GS scale. So here's the

641
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:53,859
general schedule.

642
00:23:55,815 --> 00:23:56,315
Salary

643
00:23:56,615 --> 00:23:57,115
tables.

644
00:23:58,454 --> 00:24:00,954
So let's look for 2025,

645
00:24:01,575 --> 00:24:03,515
and let's look at the GS.

646
00:24:05,174 --> 00:24:06,634
Come on. Of course, I

647
00:24:07,734 --> 00:24:09,674
it's not bringing it right up.

648
00:24:12,330 --> 00:24:15,710
It's usually very simple. Okay. Twenty twenty five

649
00:24:16,090 --> 00:24:18,110
GS pay table. Alright.

650
00:24:18,650 --> 00:24:19,130
So

651
00:24:24,605 --> 00:24:26,785
Alright. If you are a g s twelve

652
00:24:27,964 --> 00:24:29,244
and it's based on steps

653
00:24:30,205 --> 00:24:30,705
so

654
00:24:31,244 --> 00:24:33,085
example, if you get hired as a g

655
00:24:33,085 --> 00:24:34,785
s twelve step four,

656
00:24:35,484 --> 00:24:37,964
there's a a amount of a period of

657
00:24:37,964 --> 00:24:40,205
time you have to wait before you go

658
00:24:40,205 --> 00:24:42,019
from a step four to a step five.

659
00:24:42,019 --> 00:24:43,240
It might be two years.

660
00:24:43,619 --> 00:24:45,700
Sometimes, it takes three years to make the

661
00:24:45,700 --> 00:24:48,180
step up. So a g s twelve in

662
00:24:48,180 --> 00:24:50,900
a regional area that basically has no cost

663
00:24:50,900 --> 00:24:51,559
of living

664
00:24:52,994 --> 00:24:55,394
extras. In other words, you're in Washington, DC,

665
00:24:55,394 --> 00:24:57,234
you're gonna get a you're gonna get some

666
00:24:57,234 --> 00:25:00,035
more money. It's a cola or something to

667
00:25:00,035 --> 00:25:02,535
that effect. But if you're a GS 12

668
00:25:02,595 --> 00:25:06,515
step four or step five, that's like $85,000

669
00:25:06,515 --> 00:25:08,279
a year. Now let me take that up

670
00:25:08,279 --> 00:25:09,960
to a step 10, and I think it

671
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:10,700
takes someone

672
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,099
to get to step 10, like, twenty years.

673
00:25:14,039 --> 00:25:16,759
That's $98,000.

674
00:25:16,759 --> 00:25:19,659
That's as high as you can go, $98.

675
00:25:19,974 --> 00:25:22,054
A g s 13 is a 17,

676
00:25:22,054 --> 00:25:23,894
a g s 14, a hundred and 38.

677
00:25:23,894 --> 00:25:25,095
Now you get up in the g s

678
00:25:25,095 --> 00:25:27,575
15 level, that's a hundred and $62,000

679
00:25:27,575 --> 00:25:29,575
a year at step 10. But in step

680
00:25:29,575 --> 00:25:31,414
one is a hundred and 25. But if

681
00:25:31,414 --> 00:25:32,794
you are g s 12,

682
00:25:33,414 --> 00:25:34,315
step five,

683
00:25:34,750 --> 00:25:35,789
make an 85

684
00:25:36,029 --> 00:25:37,650
no. If you are g s 12,

685
00:25:38,190 --> 00:25:39,089
a step 10,

686
00:25:39,789 --> 00:25:40,289
making

687
00:25:41,390 --> 00:25:42,829
$98,000

688
00:25:42,829 --> 00:25:43,890
and you get promoted

689
00:25:44,349 --> 00:25:45,409
to g s thirteen,

690
00:25:47,484 --> 00:25:50,144
there is some you can't make less money.

691
00:25:50,284 --> 00:25:52,044
They don't allow you when you get promoted

692
00:25:52,044 --> 00:25:54,284
to make less money. So you were at

693
00:25:54,284 --> 00:25:56,365
$98,422,

694
00:25:56,365 --> 00:25:57,884
and you would jump as a g s

695
00:25:57,884 --> 00:26:01,059
thirteen to a step four at 99,000

696
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,000
o '28 or actually probably $98.04 $2.02. You

697
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,080
do your couple years time or whatever to

698
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,400
get the $99.00 $2.08. So even at 13,

699
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,180
you're still under a hundred thousand dollars.

700
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,259
Now we take into COLA

701
00:26:12,734 --> 00:26:14,835
and those types of considerations,

702
00:26:15,134 --> 00:26:16,275
locality pay.

703
00:26:18,095 --> 00:26:20,434
And if you are a government employee,

704
00:26:20,734 --> 00:26:23,214
not a contractor, let's just be clear about

705
00:26:23,214 --> 00:26:23,714
that,

706
00:26:25,039 --> 00:26:27,440
that's that's your salary, hundred and 20, hundred

707
00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,359
and 20 5 thousand dollars at the, you

708
00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,200
know, very kinda high ends of some of

709
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,700
those steps that most these people are at.

710
00:26:36,159 --> 00:26:38,339
How much can you make as a IT

711
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:39,700
or a cybersecurity

712
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:41,595
person on the outside?

713
00:26:42,615 --> 00:26:43,894
You make a hell of a lot more

714
00:26:43,894 --> 00:26:44,394
money.

715
00:26:46,054 --> 00:26:47,194
A lot more money.

716
00:26:48,534 --> 00:26:49,514
So the programmers

717
00:26:50,375 --> 00:26:52,554
that I had to deal with that were

718
00:26:52,934 --> 00:26:53,434
government

719
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:56,500
on the GS scale,

720
00:26:59,599 --> 00:27:00,740
they weren't that good.

721
00:27:04,559 --> 00:27:05,059
Sorry.

722
00:27:05,919 --> 00:27:08,339
They weren't that good. Now exception,

723
00:27:09,285 --> 00:27:11,144
when I worked with National Labs,

724
00:27:12,005 --> 00:27:13,785
they're on a whole different pay scale.

725
00:27:14,485 --> 00:27:15,625
They're not on the GS

726
00:27:16,164 --> 00:27:18,644
level. It's a whole different pay scale, and

727
00:27:18,644 --> 00:27:19,945
they get paid accordingly.

728
00:27:20,565 --> 00:27:22,644
We're not talking about SES. We're not talking

729
00:27:22,644 --> 00:27:23,785
about senior executive

730
00:27:24,369 --> 00:27:27,089
service, which is the next level up beyond

731
00:27:27,089 --> 00:27:27,990
GS fifteen.

732
00:27:28,529 --> 00:27:30,369
And, again, that number of people in those

733
00:27:30,369 --> 00:27:33,190
positions are rare, and they're usually government people.

734
00:27:33,329 --> 00:27:35,089
They are not and they're they're money and

735
00:27:35,089 --> 00:27:37,190
oversight people. They're not programmers.

736
00:27:39,625 --> 00:27:41,325
So when they talk about allowing

737
00:27:42,585 --> 00:27:43,724
a 20 year old

738
00:27:44,105 --> 00:27:44,605
genius

739
00:27:45,785 --> 00:27:46,684
to come in

740
00:27:47,224 --> 00:27:48,984
and work on an IT system in the

741
00:27:48,984 --> 00:27:49,724
US government,

742
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,640
an individual might be making $250,000

743
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:58,460
on the outside

744
00:27:59,319 --> 00:28:02,059
and may have equivalent or more education

745
00:28:03,079 --> 00:28:03,579
on

746
00:28:04,295 --> 00:28:05,434
modern systems

747
00:28:06,054 --> 00:28:08,075
than the people working the systems today.

748
00:28:08,535 --> 00:28:10,214
I know I'm gonna get pissed people off

749
00:28:10,214 --> 00:28:10,714
here.

750
00:28:13,174 --> 00:28:14,154
And I understand.

751
00:28:14,775 --> 00:28:15,755
I get it.

752
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:16,980
But

753
00:28:17,919 --> 00:28:18,419
why

754
00:28:19,759 --> 00:28:21,220
could we never really

755
00:28:24,799 --> 00:28:27,039
why are so many contracts made to have

756
00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:28,419
stuff go out and be programmed?

757
00:28:29,144 --> 00:28:31,144
Why does stuff go to John Hopkins where

758
00:28:31,144 --> 00:28:32,845
there's really smart people?

759
00:28:34,424 --> 00:28:35,705
Some of the stuff I used to work

760
00:28:35,705 --> 00:28:36,205
on

761
00:28:36,664 --> 00:28:37,164
was

762
00:28:37,625 --> 00:28:40,525
was was managed and coded by John Hopkins.

763
00:28:41,065 --> 00:28:43,404
Very, very smart people. Very.

764
00:28:44,349 --> 00:28:45,809
Making big money.

765
00:28:46,990 --> 00:28:48,289
Big, big, big, big money.

766
00:28:49,789 --> 00:28:50,289
PhDs.

767
00:28:51,069 --> 00:28:52,289
Super smart people.

768
00:28:53,230 --> 00:28:56,029
So there's a segment of the government work

769
00:28:56,029 --> 00:28:58,450
that goes out to the big brains.

770
00:28:59,734 --> 00:29:02,215
But when you're talking about internal in the

771
00:29:02,215 --> 00:29:02,715
office

772
00:29:03,575 --> 00:29:04,715
and you're a staffer

773
00:29:07,815 --> 00:29:08,634
I don't know.

774
00:29:13,095 --> 00:29:13,914
Don't know.

775
00:29:16,829 --> 00:29:18,589
But you have different levels of stuff. You

776
00:29:18,589 --> 00:29:20,289
have technical representatives.

777
00:29:20,990 --> 00:29:23,389
You know, the job descriptions across the federal

778
00:29:23,389 --> 00:29:24,529
government are wide.

779
00:29:25,629 --> 00:29:27,169
You know? You have

780
00:29:28,190 --> 00:29:29,569
Natick. You have

781
00:29:30,244 --> 00:29:32,565
you have government reps that sit in the

782
00:29:32,565 --> 00:29:33,065
seats,

783
00:29:34,005 --> 00:29:34,825
right in

784
00:29:35,285 --> 00:29:37,845
embedded in military units that are there as

785
00:29:37,845 --> 00:29:38,984
a technical expertise.

786
00:29:39,765 --> 00:29:42,265
And they're a GS 12, GS 13.

787
00:29:42,725 --> 00:29:45,465
They're making $80.90, hundred thousand a year.

788
00:29:46,679 --> 00:29:48,759
You know, very smart people getting paid an

789
00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:51,259
appropriate salary for their knowledge level.

790
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:55,900
But I've always said on the IT side,

791
00:30:00,054 --> 00:30:01,734
you know, it is what it is. I

792
00:30:01,894 --> 00:30:04,154
and, sure, I'm gonna get some feedback here.

793
00:30:05,335 --> 00:30:07,174
But to say they don't know what they're

794
00:30:07,174 --> 00:30:09,355
doing and they're letting these young people in.

795
00:30:09,815 --> 00:30:10,315
Okay.

796
00:30:13,049 --> 00:30:15,230
They have read only access, by the way.

797
00:30:17,289 --> 00:30:17,789
So

798
00:30:19,049 --> 00:30:22,009
the CISA thing is just one one part

799
00:30:22,009 --> 00:30:22,589
of this.

800
00:30:25,945 --> 00:30:26,845
What say you?

801
00:30:28,505 --> 00:30:31,005
Geeknews@gmail.com.

802
00:30:34,825 --> 00:30:36,045
What say you?

803
00:30:40,519 --> 00:30:42,700
What say you? I wanna hear from you.

804
00:30:44,679 --> 00:30:47,259
Leland says, I'm okay with loss of profits

805
00:30:47,319 --> 00:30:49,799
versus banning access to goods. Oh, so we're

806
00:30:49,799 --> 00:30:51,259
talking about the tariffs still.

807
00:30:51,974 --> 00:30:54,454
So thanks, Leland, for for weighing in tonight.

808
00:30:54,454 --> 00:30:55,434
Appreciate it.

809
00:30:57,974 --> 00:30:59,515
Alright. Let's move on here.

810
00:31:00,134 --> 00:31:01,035
Work from home,

811
00:31:01,894 --> 00:31:04,234
don't clean the home office tax deduction

812
00:31:05,819 --> 00:31:08,000
unless you have a sidekick in job.

813
00:31:08,460 --> 00:31:08,960
So

814
00:31:09,419 --> 00:31:09,919
I

815
00:31:11,419 --> 00:31:13,259
work from home, and I get a regular

816
00:31:13,259 --> 00:31:15,839
w two from my company, from Rawboys.

817
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:19,099
I sit at a desk. I work at

818
00:31:19,099 --> 00:31:20,559
that desk all day long.

819
00:31:21,194 --> 00:31:23,515
But when I come here and do this

820
00:31:23,515 --> 00:31:24,974
show in my little cubby

821
00:31:25,515 --> 00:31:26,494
and using up

822
00:31:27,274 --> 00:31:28,474
a 50

823
00:31:28,474 --> 00:31:30,714
square feet of space, I got storage that's,

824
00:31:30,714 --> 00:31:32,875
you know, this claim for the business. This

825
00:31:32,875 --> 00:31:35,054
is my separate business.

826
00:31:36,450 --> 00:31:37,269
So, technically,

827
00:31:38,210 --> 00:31:38,950
I could

828
00:31:39,809 --> 00:31:40,789
deduct a portion

829
00:31:41,490 --> 00:31:43,029
of the rent I pay

830
00:31:44,529 --> 00:31:47,829
in my taxes, but here's what I do.

831
00:31:50,355 --> 00:31:51,015
The IRS

832
00:31:52,195 --> 00:31:52,695
loves

833
00:31:53,154 --> 00:31:55,015
to nitpick when they audit you.

834
00:31:56,355 --> 00:31:57,654
They love to nitpick.

835
00:31:58,674 --> 00:32:00,755
So what I like to do is always

836
00:32:00,755 --> 00:32:02,295
leave a little on the bone.

837
00:32:03,075 --> 00:32:04,055
I don't claim

838
00:32:05,150 --> 00:32:06,130
any of my

839
00:32:07,390 --> 00:32:09,970
space that I'm using here in my home

840
00:32:10,349 --> 00:32:12,669
as a tax deduction. I don't and it

841
00:32:12,669 --> 00:32:13,890
wouldn't be that much,

842
00:32:16,029 --> 00:32:18,884
you know, based on the percentage of floor

843
00:32:18,884 --> 00:32:20,965
space I'm using in my rent. So you

844
00:32:20,965 --> 00:32:23,525
pay your rent your rent times 12, your

845
00:32:23,525 --> 00:32:24,025
insurance,

846
00:32:24,325 --> 00:32:26,404
whatever that total is, you take all that

847
00:32:26,404 --> 00:32:28,805
up, heat, electricity, blah blah blah, that grand

848
00:32:28,805 --> 00:32:30,244
total of a year for what it costs

849
00:32:30,244 --> 00:32:32,789
you to live somewhere. And if you're using

850
00:32:32,930 --> 00:32:35,910
10% or 15 or 20% of your space,

851
00:32:36,369 --> 00:32:38,130
and let's say that's $20,000,

852
00:32:38,130 --> 00:32:39,269
let's use a number,

853
00:32:39,890 --> 00:32:42,710
and you're using 20% of the space, well,

854
00:32:43,330 --> 00:32:44,150
20%

855
00:32:45,764 --> 00:32:48,184
by point two o times 20,000,

856
00:32:48,404 --> 00:32:50,904
4 thousand bucks. I could potentially

857
00:32:52,484 --> 00:32:52,724
claim

858
00:32:53,524 --> 00:32:55,625
I think that's right. Normally, 20,000.

859
00:32:55,845 --> 00:32:56,904
I could yeah.

860
00:32:57,519 --> 00:32:59,359
Did I say 10? Well, anyway, you guys

861
00:32:59,359 --> 00:33:00,179
got it.

862
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,259
And I could write that off.

863
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,099
I could. But

864
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,440
if I've made a $4,000

865
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:09,220
accounting error down the road,

866
00:33:09,679 --> 00:33:12,179
and Sugar wants to come after me to

867
00:33:12,894 --> 00:33:15,954
penalize me for a mistake in my taxes

868
00:33:16,015 --> 00:33:17,875
for the amount of $4,000,

869
00:33:18,575 --> 00:33:20,035
I could have an abridged

870
00:33:21,855 --> 00:33:22,355
tax

871
00:33:23,454 --> 00:33:23,954
submission

872
00:33:24,335 --> 00:33:25,315
to claim that,

873
00:33:26,815 --> 00:33:27,474
to offset

874
00:33:28,230 --> 00:33:29,829
a mistake I pretend. Now I don't try

875
00:33:29,829 --> 00:33:31,829
to make any mistakes on my taxes. I've

876
00:33:31,829 --> 00:33:33,130
been through too many audits.

877
00:33:33,589 --> 00:33:34,569
It's not fun

878
00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:37,210
and not fun at all

879
00:33:38,390 --> 00:33:39,929
because they look at

880
00:33:40,309 --> 00:33:40,809
everything.

881
00:33:42,525 --> 00:33:45,265
They look at your credit card receipts. They

882
00:33:45,484 --> 00:33:46,625
look at everything.

883
00:33:48,285 --> 00:33:48,785
So

884
00:33:49,325 --> 00:33:50,785
separation of church and state.

885
00:33:51,484 --> 00:33:53,484
I have a business card. I put business

886
00:33:53,484 --> 00:33:54,545
expenses on.

887
00:33:55,109 --> 00:33:57,769
Personal card, I buy personal stuff, cat food,

888
00:33:58,630 --> 00:33:59,130
towels,

889
00:34:00,309 --> 00:34:00,809
beans.

890
00:34:01,589 --> 00:34:03,130
That all goes on personal.

891
00:34:04,069 --> 00:34:04,809
New computer,

892
00:34:05,829 --> 00:34:06,329
lights,

893
00:34:07,349 --> 00:34:09,050
all that goes on the business card,

894
00:34:09,675 --> 00:34:12,175
keeps them separate. And if I mistakenly

895
00:34:12,474 --> 00:34:14,655
buy something on my business card

896
00:34:14,954 --> 00:34:16,954
that was supposed to be personal, I have

897
00:34:16,954 --> 00:34:17,614
to reimburse

898
00:34:18,954 --> 00:34:19,614
through my

899
00:34:20,954 --> 00:34:23,434
personal checking account back to the company, and

900
00:34:23,434 --> 00:34:24,574
I have to make a notation

901
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:26,380
that I reimbursed.

902
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,920
You can get hit on an audit for

903
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:29,739
doing that.

904
00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:31,500
You do that too many times,

905
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:33,019
you can get in trouble.

906
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,760
So I have that annotation in my taxes

907
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:39,824
said, hey. I had to pay back $262,

908
00:34:39,824 --> 00:34:41,204
put it on the wrong account,

909
00:34:42,144 --> 00:34:43,204
and make sure that

910
00:34:43,505 --> 00:34:45,844
transaction shows. And I write a check,

911
00:34:46,144 --> 00:34:48,144
deposit it in my bank accounts because I

912
00:34:48,144 --> 00:34:50,065
want a piece of paper. I just don't

913
00:34:50,065 --> 00:34:52,324
wanna trans I could probably transfer it.

914
00:34:53,820 --> 00:34:54,960
But work from home?

915
00:34:55,660 --> 00:34:57,840
Don't claim the home office due tax deduction

916
00:34:58,380 --> 00:35:00,400
before you read the article I linked to.

917
00:35:01,660 --> 00:35:03,340
So you guys are getting some super value

918
00:35:03,340 --> 00:35:04,559
out of the show tonight.

919
00:35:07,434 --> 00:35:09,514
Leland says, the day we say no to

920
00:35:09,514 --> 00:35:11,914
income tax is the day we actually become

921
00:35:11,914 --> 00:35:13,454
free citizens. I you know?

922
00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:19,180
Lina, so as far as I'm concerned, the

923
00:35:19,180 --> 00:35:21,420
IRS can take a flying leap. You know,

924
00:35:21,420 --> 00:35:22,400
as much as I

925
00:35:22,700 --> 00:35:24,320
send them every year,

926
00:35:27,260 --> 00:35:28,320
I coulda retired.

927
00:35:29,594 --> 00:35:31,434
I could've retired already on the amount of

928
00:35:31,434 --> 00:35:33,375
money I send the IRS every year.

929
00:35:33,994 --> 00:35:35,914
I'd had no problem. I could've I could've

930
00:35:35,914 --> 00:35:36,735
punched out.

931
00:35:37,835 --> 00:35:39,755
They take so much. If you really look

932
00:35:39,755 --> 00:35:40,894
how much they take.

933
00:35:41,989 --> 00:35:45,030
Kwikset launches two new smart locks with Z

934
00:35:45,030 --> 00:35:45,929
Wave support.

935
00:35:46,949 --> 00:35:48,409
And as end up as a

936
00:35:49,109 --> 00:35:51,510
private doing a private business on my own,

937
00:35:51,510 --> 00:35:53,690
the taxes I pay, oh my god.

938
00:35:57,195 --> 00:35:59,115
Quick sit and manufacturer, both traditional and smart

939
00:35:59,115 --> 00:36:01,835
locks, officially released the Home Connect nine eighteen

940
00:36:01,835 --> 00:36:02,735
and the Home Connect

941
00:36:03,275 --> 00:36:04,255
six twenty.

942
00:36:05,275 --> 00:36:05,675
So,

943
00:36:06,315 --> 00:36:07,375
this is using

944
00:36:07,675 --> 00:36:08,494
a Z Wave,

945
00:36:09,690 --> 00:36:10,089
so,

946
00:36:10,570 --> 00:36:12,089
you don't have to be close to the

947
00:36:12,089 --> 00:36:12,589
hub.

948
00:36:13,050 --> 00:36:15,210
So Kwikset, I like their products and services.

949
00:36:15,210 --> 00:36:16,909
The lock I have in my door downstairs,

950
00:36:16,969 --> 00:36:18,429
my steel door downstairs,

951
00:36:19,050 --> 00:36:20,010
has got a,

952
00:36:20,889 --> 00:36:22,510
a Kwikset lock on it.

953
00:36:23,735 --> 00:36:25,414
So here's here is a,

954
00:36:26,614 --> 00:36:27,355
hit piece,

955
00:36:28,215 --> 00:36:29,994
Trump's EPA to prioritize

956
00:36:30,695 --> 00:36:33,494
AI, lobbyists, and staff cuts and mission to

957
00:36:33,494 --> 00:36:33,994
traumatize.

958
00:36:34,454 --> 00:36:36,715
That's that's the title of the article.

959
00:36:39,380 --> 00:36:41,140
I'm not even gonna go into it because

960
00:36:41,140 --> 00:36:43,460
you can already see by the by the

961
00:36:43,460 --> 00:36:44,440
header of it

962
00:36:44,980 --> 00:36:46,440
what the tone is gonna

963
00:36:48,019 --> 00:36:49,640
be. Here's another one.

964
00:36:50,099 --> 00:36:54,280
Elon Musk, DOGE, storm's federal weather forecast headquarters.

965
00:36:55,164 --> 00:36:58,545
DOGE's hostile corporate takeover and proposals to privatize

966
00:36:59,005 --> 00:37:01,005
a key science agency could make it harder

967
00:37:01,005 --> 00:37:03,724
to get weather forecast. There's no proof to

968
00:37:03,724 --> 00:37:04,224
that.

969
00:37:05,244 --> 00:37:06,224
What is wrong

970
00:37:07,420 --> 00:37:08,480
with this country

971
00:37:08,940 --> 00:37:11,739
in wanting to lower the amount of money

972
00:37:11,739 --> 00:37:13,039
the government is spending?

973
00:37:17,099 --> 00:37:18,079
What is wrong?

974
00:37:19,099 --> 00:37:20,400
What is there to hide?

975
00:37:22,454 --> 00:37:23,675
I can get audited.

976
00:37:23,974 --> 00:37:25,114
You can get audited.

977
00:37:25,735 --> 00:37:27,015
I don't know about those of you in

978
00:37:27,015 --> 00:37:29,255
The UK or anywhere else, but if the

979
00:37:29,255 --> 00:37:31,015
IRS sends you a letter to audit you,

980
00:37:31,015 --> 00:37:33,914
that puts the fear of God into you.

981
00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:37,579
They have the power to put you in

982
00:37:37,579 --> 00:37:40,940
jail and take your stuff away, seal your

983
00:37:40,940 --> 00:37:41,839
bank accounts,

984
00:37:43,339 --> 00:37:45,119
enjoin you from doing anything,

985
00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:47,440
prevent you from leaving the country.

986
00:37:50,045 --> 00:37:51,905
Yet we get upset

987
00:37:52,765 --> 00:37:53,985
when six

988
00:37:54,445 --> 00:37:55,265
or seven

989
00:37:55,724 --> 00:37:58,045
Doge team members goes in and says, let

990
00:37:58,045 --> 00:37:59,885
us look at the books. Let us look

991
00:37:59,885 --> 00:38:01,025
at your IT systems.

992
00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,119
A current no employee was granted enmity because

993
00:38:13,119 --> 00:38:14,340
of the risk of retaliation

994
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,199
tells the verge that having ex that ahead

995
00:38:17,199 --> 00:38:19,804
of an external audit, staff have been instructed

996
00:38:19,804 --> 00:38:22,144
to fully delete or take down any material

997
00:38:22,204 --> 00:38:25,344
related to DEI, whether it's public available online,

998
00:38:25,404 --> 00:38:27,824
on internal sites, or in physical office spaces,

999
00:38:27,964 --> 00:38:29,105
government web pages,

1000
00:38:29,804 --> 00:38:32,385
for other federal agencies have already removed content.

1001
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:34,400
The employee tells The Verge that posters with

1002
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:34,900
information

1003
00:38:35,839 --> 00:38:38,000
has also been taken down from their chat

1004
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,579
rooms and websites or employee resource groups

1005
00:38:41,279 --> 00:38:42,739
have also gone down.

1006
00:38:44,885 --> 00:38:47,364
Well, I think they've learned that there has

1007
00:38:47,364 --> 00:38:49,944
been a bunch of attempts to avoid

1008
00:38:52,405 --> 00:38:53,704
actions in the past,

1009
00:38:54,724 --> 00:38:55,224
so

1010
00:38:56,324 --> 00:38:58,005
they're just gonna have to get together face

1011
00:38:58,005 --> 00:38:59,464
to face and talk about it.

1012
00:39:01,809 --> 00:39:04,289
QWERTYKES halts keyboard shipments to the yes over

1013
00:39:04,289 --> 00:39:05,750
tariff costs and confusion.

1014
00:39:07,090 --> 00:39:09,570
A keyboard company, QWERTYKES, has temporarily halted all

1015
00:39:09,570 --> 00:39:10,949
shipments to The United States.

1016
00:39:11,825 --> 00:39:13,505
The company says it's working on ways to

1017
00:39:13,505 --> 00:39:15,425
mitigate shipping costs, and the tariffs have made

1018
00:39:15,425 --> 00:39:17,265
it so that all keyboards from China to

1019
00:39:17,265 --> 00:39:19,925
The US now are subjected to 45%

1020
00:39:20,305 --> 00:39:21,605
tariffs at full value.

1021
00:39:23,585 --> 00:39:25,679
We are closely watching the progress situation. Really

1022
00:39:25,679 --> 00:39:27,359
hope there's something else we can do other

1023
00:39:27,359 --> 00:39:28,820
than bumping the price up.

1024
00:39:29,599 --> 00:39:32,739
Quirky says partner DHL now requires prepayment

1025
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,780
of 50% of the declared product value

1026
00:39:36,079 --> 00:39:37,539
as a tariff deposit

1027
00:39:37,894 --> 00:39:39,094
plus a $21

1028
00:39:39,094 --> 00:39:41,734
processing fee per package that would drastically raise

1029
00:39:41,734 --> 00:39:42,635
the price for customers

1030
00:39:42,934 --> 00:39:45,014
in The US. Why don't we start making

1031
00:39:45,014 --> 00:39:47,835
some stuff here? That's the question I have.

1032
00:39:51,380 --> 00:39:53,619
Leland says the only people complaining are the

1033
00:39:53,619 --> 00:39:54,840
ones spending it.

1034
00:39:56,099 --> 00:39:56,760
You know,

1035
00:39:58,579 --> 00:40:00,440
I I've been involved in the game.

1036
00:40:01,619 --> 00:40:02,280
I held

1037
00:40:02,994 --> 00:40:04,914
two pots of money when I was my

1038
00:40:04,914 --> 00:40:06,855
last couple of years in the military.

1039
00:40:07,474 --> 00:40:08,855
Fuel money for airplanes

1040
00:40:11,234 --> 00:40:12,054
and, basically,

1041
00:40:12,994 --> 00:40:14,614
gear, like weather gear,

1042
00:40:15,394 --> 00:40:16,934
coats, jackets, boots,

1043
00:40:19,230 --> 00:40:20,769
stuff that's essentially consumable

1044
00:40:21,710 --> 00:40:24,670
that can go away, cleaning supplies, that type

1045
00:40:24,670 --> 00:40:25,250
of stuff.

1046
00:40:26,269 --> 00:40:26,769
And

1047
00:40:27,230 --> 00:40:29,150
I was given a budget every year, and

1048
00:40:29,150 --> 00:40:30,289
we would allocate

1049
00:40:30,590 --> 00:40:32,530
to the squadrons based upon

1050
00:40:33,534 --> 00:40:34,034
the

1051
00:40:34,815 --> 00:40:37,235
their needs if they're deploying or not.

1052
00:40:37,695 --> 00:40:38,195
And

1053
00:40:40,015 --> 00:40:41,235
I got really good

1054
00:40:42,175 --> 00:40:44,675
at making sure people got what they needed,

1055
00:40:45,429 --> 00:40:48,010
And my predecessor before me,

1056
00:40:48,869 --> 00:40:51,190
it was basically made it hard on people.

1057
00:40:51,190 --> 00:40:53,349
But I said, listen. If you're going on

1058
00:40:53,349 --> 00:40:55,429
deployment and you're going to a cold weather

1059
00:40:55,429 --> 00:40:57,030
zone in or let's say you're going to

1060
00:40:57,030 --> 00:40:59,670
Afghanistan in the winter and you only have

1061
00:40:59,670 --> 00:41:00,170
summer

1062
00:41:00,664 --> 00:41:01,164
where,

1063
00:41:01,545 --> 00:41:02,764
then put in the requisition,

1064
00:41:03,065 --> 00:41:05,224
write it up, give me the numbers, give

1065
00:41:05,224 --> 00:41:06,585
me the total cost, and I'll send it

1066
00:41:06,585 --> 00:41:08,184
up to chain of command and get you

1067
00:41:08,184 --> 00:41:08,684
money.

1068
00:41:09,385 --> 00:41:10,445
And and and

1069
00:41:11,065 --> 00:41:12,744
and 95%

1070
00:41:12,744 --> 00:41:14,344
of the time, the stuff that came through

1071
00:41:14,344 --> 00:41:15,829
me asking for more

1072
00:41:17,170 --> 00:41:19,489
money was based on a need that was

1073
00:41:19,489 --> 00:41:21,190
justified. I knew all the people I was

1074
00:41:21,250 --> 00:41:21,910
working for

1075
00:41:22,369 --> 00:41:24,130
or working for they you know, I was

1076
00:41:24,130 --> 00:41:26,769
working for them. I was basically their money

1077
00:41:26,769 --> 00:41:28,930
man, and they and I would send that

1078
00:41:28,930 --> 00:41:29,670
up to

1079
00:41:30,974 --> 00:41:31,474
the,

1080
00:41:34,494 --> 00:41:35,394
to the wing.

1081
00:41:35,855 --> 00:41:38,494
And, really, probably in four or five days,

1082
00:41:38,494 --> 00:41:39,934
I I would get an approval. I'd get

1083
00:41:39,934 --> 00:41:41,614
their money, and I would distribute it into

1084
00:41:41,614 --> 00:41:42,355
their accounts.

1085
00:41:43,214 --> 00:41:43,454
And,

1086
00:41:44,739 --> 00:41:46,019
but when it got down to the end

1087
00:41:46,019 --> 00:41:46,760
of the quarter,

1088
00:41:47,619 --> 00:41:49,539
if a certain squadron had not used all

1089
00:41:49,539 --> 00:41:52,900
their fuel money, let's say they had $25,000

1090
00:41:52,900 --> 00:41:54,039
left in fuel money,

1091
00:41:54,980 --> 00:41:56,579
and they weren't gonna be able to fly

1092
00:41:56,579 --> 00:41:58,244
it off. They weren't have didn't have, you

1093
00:41:58,244 --> 00:41:59,764
know, they'd done all their training, done all

1094
00:41:59,764 --> 00:42:02,404
their required flights, but another another group was

1095
00:42:02,404 --> 00:42:02,904
short.

1096
00:42:03,605 --> 00:42:05,284
I I would pull that money out, put

1097
00:42:05,284 --> 00:42:06,884
it in the other squadron, and we would

1098
00:42:06,964 --> 00:42:08,184
we'd burn the fuel.

1099
00:42:09,444 --> 00:42:09,924
And,

1100
00:42:11,125 --> 00:42:13,464
there's a saying, use it or lose it.

1101
00:42:14,579 --> 00:42:17,300
So we were trained, use it or lose

1102
00:42:17,300 --> 00:42:19,220
it. Because if you spend a half a

1103
00:42:19,220 --> 00:42:20,519
million dollars in

1104
00:42:20,900 --> 00:42:21,720
jet fuel,

1105
00:42:22,740 --> 00:42:24,500
or let's say a million dollars a year

1106
00:42:24,579 --> 00:42:26,500
actually, I think we're spending a million 6

1107
00:42:26,500 --> 00:42:28,039
a year in jet fuel fuel,

1108
00:42:28,364 --> 00:42:30,465
And you you only use a million 5

1109
00:42:31,324 --> 00:42:32,065
1 year

1110
00:42:32,925 --> 00:42:35,085
because maybe things just the way things worked

1111
00:42:35,085 --> 00:42:37,085
out, but you knew we're gonna need a

1112
00:42:37,085 --> 00:42:39,744
million 6 the next year because I forecasted

1113
00:42:39,885 --> 00:42:40,784
out three years.

1114
00:42:41,724 --> 00:42:41,885
The

1115
00:42:43,030 --> 00:42:44,630
I I would we'd have to burn it

1116
00:42:44,630 --> 00:42:46,230
because if you use a million 5, the

1117
00:42:46,230 --> 00:42:47,430
budget people would say, oh, they need a

1118
00:42:47,430 --> 00:42:49,530
million 5. We give them a million 5

1119
00:42:49,990 --> 00:42:51,510
the next year, and then I'd have to

1120
00:42:51,510 --> 00:42:53,190
be begging, borrowing, stealing to try to get

1121
00:42:53,190 --> 00:42:55,110
more fuel money the following year. So the

1122
00:42:55,110 --> 00:42:56,950
idea of use it or lose it is

1123
00:42:56,950 --> 00:42:59,775
is ingrained throughout the federal government. It doesn't

1124
00:42:59,775 --> 00:43:00,994
have to be that way.

1125
00:43:01,855 --> 00:43:03,534
Why couldn't everybody said, hey. We only need

1126
00:43:03,534 --> 00:43:05,695
a million 5 this year. We'll give the

1127
00:43:05,695 --> 00:43:08,195
extra hundred thousand back to the US government,

1128
00:43:10,619 --> 00:43:12,380
and then next year, give me my million

1129
00:43:12,380 --> 00:43:14,139
6 again because I know I'm getting million

1130
00:43:14,139 --> 00:43:15,579
6 next year, but they don't work that

1131
00:43:15,579 --> 00:43:18,319
way. The whole system doesn't work that way.

1132
00:43:21,019 --> 00:43:22,880
But it's all about the comptroller.

1133
00:43:23,259 --> 00:43:25,259
I was a comptroller for two budget lines

1134
00:43:25,259 --> 00:43:26,000
of 13.

1135
00:43:33,875 --> 00:43:35,795
And no one likes spending money. I had

1136
00:43:35,795 --> 00:43:37,394
some request come in one time for some

1137
00:43:37,394 --> 00:43:38,994
Ray Bans, and I'm like, you you don't

1138
00:43:39,074 --> 00:43:40,375
you're not getting Ray Bans.

1139
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:42,880
Why do you need Ray Bans? Why why

1140
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:44,579
do these guys need Ray Bans?

1141
00:43:45,039 --> 00:43:47,680
They've already got government issued glasses if they

1142
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:48,820
need to wear glasses,

1143
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:52,160
and they can get government issued sunglasses, which

1144
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:53,680
are a lot cheaper than, you know, the

1145
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:55,860
birth control glasses, a lot cheaper than

1146
00:43:57,135 --> 00:43:58,494
a lot cheaper than,

1147
00:43:59,135 --> 00:44:01,135
Ray Bans. You don't need to be styling

1148
00:44:01,135 --> 00:44:03,295
on the flight line. No. You're not getting

1149
00:44:03,295 --> 00:44:03,954
Ray Bans.

1150
00:44:04,815 --> 00:44:06,735
So it wasn't like I was given everything

1151
00:44:06,735 --> 00:44:08,675
to for what they wanted. No.

1152
00:44:10,180 --> 00:44:11,400
But if it was justified

1153
00:44:12,579 --> 00:44:14,660
if you're going to a summer location let's

1154
00:44:14,660 --> 00:44:16,420
say you're going to Diego Garcia and you

1155
00:44:16,579 --> 00:44:18,340
and you're gonna be there for six months

1156
00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:20,280
and you're asking me for winter wear.

1157
00:44:20,820 --> 00:44:21,320
Okay.

1158
00:44:22,574 --> 00:44:23,315
How many

1159
00:44:24,094 --> 00:44:24,594
detachments

1160
00:44:26,094 --> 00:44:28,494
are going to somewhere where it's cold from

1161
00:44:28,494 --> 00:44:30,675
Diego Garcia? Well, only two.

1162
00:44:31,054 --> 00:44:33,215
A crew of 40. Okay. That's different. I

1163
00:44:33,215 --> 00:44:34,034
can authorize

1164
00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,059
cold weather gear for 40 people

1165
00:44:38,359 --> 00:44:40,300
instead of 240.

1166
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,539
And, oh, by the way,

1167
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:44,440
two years from now, don't ask me for

1168
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:47,079
that winter weather again year again because I

1169
00:44:47,079 --> 00:44:48,519
bought it once. It needs to be turned

1170
00:44:48,519 --> 00:44:49,019
in

1171
00:44:49,674 --> 00:44:50,255
and reissued.

1172
00:44:51,194 --> 00:44:51,694
So,

1173
00:44:55,514 --> 00:44:57,694
you know, there is it is possible

1174
00:44:58,154 --> 00:44:59,755
to manage the money good and not allow

1175
00:44:59,755 --> 00:45:00,974
stupidity to go on.

1176
00:45:01,579 --> 00:45:03,340
So I would have no problem if Doge

1177
00:45:03,340 --> 00:45:04,780
walked into my office and says, show me

1178
00:45:04,780 --> 00:45:05,440
your books.

1179
00:45:06,059 --> 00:45:08,460
Open up the computer. Here it is. Go

1180
00:45:08,460 --> 00:45:08,960
ahead.

1181
00:45:12,059 --> 00:45:14,800
Audit me. Fine. I can justify every penny.

1182
00:45:19,005 --> 00:45:21,744
So Leland says, sound justified to me. Also,

1183
00:45:21,885 --> 00:45:24,045
what they're finding is just how the government

1184
00:45:24,045 --> 00:45:24,945
has comp

1185
00:45:25,485 --> 00:45:27,804
aspired and to spend as little as possible

1186
00:45:27,804 --> 00:45:30,730
on actual services riding and pocketing the rest

1187
00:45:30,730 --> 00:45:32,410
of your shell companies. That's a whole another

1188
00:45:32,410 --> 00:45:33,869
show, Leland, right there.

1189
00:45:34,570 --> 00:45:36,970
Alright. You guys bored with me already? Google

1190
00:45:36,970 --> 00:45:40,190
magic editor will watermark its AI tweak photos.

1191
00:45:40,329 --> 00:45:42,010
And, again, I've been away from government for

1192
00:45:42,010 --> 00:45:43,070
a long time, so

1193
00:45:43,704 --> 00:45:45,304
things could have changed. I just know what

1194
00:45:45,304 --> 00:45:46,125
I know from

1195
00:45:46,505 --> 00:45:49,304
a while ago. So, again, Google magic editor

1196
00:45:49,304 --> 00:45:51,724
will watermark its AI tweaked photos.

1197
00:45:55,144 --> 00:45:57,944
Some security updates make Google Chrome so much

1198
00:45:57,944 --> 00:45:58,924
better, aka

1199
00:45:59,369 --> 00:46:01,710
password sharing. Group sharing of passwords.

1200
00:46:02,089 --> 00:46:03,529
If you're part of a family group, you

1201
00:46:03,529 --> 00:46:06,409
can send credentials through Google password manager share

1202
00:46:06,409 --> 00:46:06,909
feature.

1203
00:46:08,889 --> 00:46:10,809
But you can do so on PC too.

1204
00:46:10,809 --> 00:46:12,735
Yeah. Nothing bad is gonna happen there.

1205
00:46:13,055 --> 00:46:15,535
Sharing with only a sharing with only a

1206
00:46:15,535 --> 00:46:16,035
group

1207
00:46:16,335 --> 00:46:17,394
is a free feature,

1208
00:46:18,335 --> 00:46:20,815
but Google's seeming logic makes sense. Arguably, you'd

1209
00:46:20,815 --> 00:46:22,894
rely and share passwords with family members at

1210
00:46:22,894 --> 00:46:25,795
least anyone close enough to be considered family.

1211
00:46:26,780 --> 00:46:28,780
Yeah. You know? That's why my mom has

1212
00:46:28,780 --> 00:46:30,800
a master password to my

1213
00:46:31,739 --> 00:46:33,119
my, my password,

1214
00:46:33,820 --> 00:46:34,639
app because

1215
00:46:34,940 --> 00:46:36,159
if I stroke out,

1216
00:46:36,780 --> 00:46:38,460
the only way you're getting into any of

1217
00:46:38,460 --> 00:46:40,059
my stuff is to if you don't have

1218
00:46:40,059 --> 00:46:40,800
that password,

1219
00:46:41,184 --> 00:46:41,924
you're screwed.

1220
00:46:43,105 --> 00:46:45,045
You don't have the password to my phone,

1221
00:46:45,184 --> 00:46:46,005
you're screwed.

1222
00:46:47,984 --> 00:46:49,924
You know, that's just the way it is.

1223
00:46:51,424 --> 00:46:53,344
Apple's m five chip is rumored to be

1224
00:46:53,344 --> 00:46:55,344
in mass production, but we're still waiting on

1225
00:46:55,344 --> 00:46:56,964
m four MacBook Airs.

1226
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:01,079
So Apple's believe stepping up the Brexiom m

1227
00:47:01,079 --> 00:47:01,579
five

1228
00:47:02,119 --> 00:47:04,360
is currently slated for later this year or

1229
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,760
early twenty twenty six, is reported to stick

1230
00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:07,659
with the TSMC

1231
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:09,659
three nanometer process,

1232
00:47:10,065 --> 00:47:11,664
With the Apple, yet to make a move

1233
00:47:11,664 --> 00:47:12,804
to the two nanometer,

1234
00:47:13,984 --> 00:47:15,844
which offers even greater power

1235
00:47:16,224 --> 00:47:18,144
and efficiency. And I I will say one

1236
00:47:18,144 --> 00:47:19,824
thing about Apple, they will move when they're

1237
00:47:19,824 --> 00:47:20,324
ready.

1238
00:47:21,744 --> 00:47:24,944
Ransomware payments declined in 2024 despite massive well

1239
00:47:24,944 --> 00:47:25,844
known hacks.

1240
00:47:27,079 --> 00:47:27,579
So

1241
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:29,579
how much did we send?

1242
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,239
Extortion payments totaled 814,000,000

1243
00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:34,360
in 2024,

1244
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,219
'8 hundred and '14 million,

1245
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:37,660
almost

1246
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:39,340
a billion dollars.

1247
00:47:41,744 --> 00:47:44,324
20 20 3, it was 1,250,000,000.00.

1248
00:47:45,904 --> 00:47:47,045
Just insane

1249
00:47:47,984 --> 00:47:50,804
how much money is who's getting that money?

1250
00:47:52,944 --> 00:47:55,344
NASA's unveiled a new space telescope more powerful

1251
00:47:55,344 --> 00:47:57,320
than James Webb aimed at providing a clear

1252
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,659
understanding of the universe beginnings. I'm like, what?

1253
00:48:00,119 --> 00:48:01,420
Where did this come from?

1254
00:48:02,599 --> 00:48:05,239
SPHERE? Remember us talking about SPHERE? I don't

1255
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:07,079
remember talking about this, but I'm sure we

1256
00:48:07,079 --> 00:48:09,639
have. We know the James Webb Telescope cost

1257
00:48:09,639 --> 00:48:10,519
$10,000,000,000

1258
00:48:10,519 --> 00:48:12,744
when it launched in 2021, took, what, ten

1259
00:48:12,744 --> 00:48:13,324
or twenty years to build.

1260
00:48:14,184 --> 00:48:16,905
With exciting new piece of kit, it only

1261
00:48:16,905 --> 00:48:18,684
cost 488,000,000.

1262
00:48:18,984 --> 00:48:21,405
Here's what happened. Technology is getting better.

1263
00:48:21,704 --> 00:48:23,644
Stuff is able to be done smaller.

1264
00:48:23,945 --> 00:48:26,039
They started using when they started building the

1265
00:48:26,039 --> 00:48:28,460
James Webb Telescope probably twenty years ago,

1266
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:31,640
components were this big. Now they're that big,

1267
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:33,180
so core stuff is cheaper.

1268
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,340
So the spectrophotometer.

1269
00:48:37,344 --> 00:48:39,425
Mirrors will help uncover new points of interest.

1270
00:48:39,425 --> 00:48:39,925
So

1271
00:48:40,224 --> 00:48:42,244
when's this scheduled to launch?

1272
00:48:44,065 --> 00:48:45,525
February 27.

1273
00:48:46,065 --> 00:48:47,765
Who's gonna launch that? SpaceX?

1274
00:48:48,224 --> 00:48:48,724
Probably.

1275
00:48:50,630 --> 00:48:52,869
IPhone seven owners are getting $200 in class

1276
00:48:52,869 --> 00:48:55,210
action lawsuit. If you acted on this before,

1277
00:48:55,989 --> 00:48:57,769
yes. You will score,

1278
00:49:00,230 --> 00:49:01,050
you will score

1279
00:49:01,875 --> 00:49:03,094
your $200.

1280
00:49:03,474 --> 00:49:04,914
You were gonna get three, but it was

1281
00:49:04,914 --> 00:49:05,414
reduced.

1282
00:49:05,715 --> 00:49:07,235
Hey. I do wanna thank those who've been,

1283
00:49:07,474 --> 00:49:10,114
using a new podcast app and streaming sats.

1284
00:49:10,114 --> 00:49:12,514
Pestmark, thank you so much. On the last

1285
00:49:12,514 --> 00:49:15,735
show for, streaming sats 20 sats per minute.

1286
00:49:16,150 --> 00:49:18,309
That's a healthy, healthy donation for the whole

1287
00:49:18,309 --> 00:49:18,809
show.

1288
00:49:19,349 --> 00:49:20,489
Greatly appreciated,

1289
00:49:20,869 --> 00:49:22,389
that you did that. Thank you. Thank you

1290
00:49:22,389 --> 00:49:25,110
so much. We've had no boost no new

1291
00:49:25,110 --> 00:49:26,409
boost come in,

1292
00:49:26,710 --> 00:49:28,630
so that's a couple shows in a row

1293
00:49:28,630 --> 00:49:30,869
on that. As we talked about on our

1294
00:49:30,869 --> 00:49:31,369
last

1295
00:49:31,695 --> 00:49:32,195
show,

1296
00:49:33,055 --> 00:49:34,835
we've got this new sponsor here,

1297
00:49:35,295 --> 00:49:36,994
the and I I really,

1298
00:49:37,614 --> 00:49:39,155
am impressed with their lineup.

1299
00:49:39,535 --> 00:49:40,035
Again,

1300
00:49:40,894 --> 00:49:43,135
Valentine's Day is just eight days away. In

1301
00:49:43,135 --> 00:49:44,414
the next show, I have stuff for the

1302
00:49:44,414 --> 00:49:44,914
ladies,

1303
00:49:45,454 --> 00:49:47,394
for you guys to buy for the ladies.

1304
00:49:48,150 --> 00:49:50,309
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1305
00:49:50,309 --> 00:49:53,349
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1306
00:49:53,349 --> 00:49:53,849
essentials.

1307
00:49:54,630 --> 00:49:57,349
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1308
00:49:57,349 --> 00:49:58,250
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1309
00:49:59,030 --> 00:50:01,269
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1310
00:50:01,269 --> 00:50:01,929
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1311
00:50:02,275 --> 00:50:04,914
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1312
00:50:04,914 --> 00:50:07,574
minimalistic so I like a thin, small wallet.

1313
00:50:07,635 --> 00:50:09,315
And here's the best part. I've locked in

1314
00:50:09,315 --> 00:50:12,355
the highest discount for all of you, 20%

1315
00:50:12,355 --> 00:50:14,914
off product. Now the website says 15, but

1316
00:50:14,914 --> 00:50:16,054
we're getting you 20.

1317
00:50:16,409 --> 00:50:18,089
So distillunion.com.

1318
00:50:18,089 --> 00:50:19,849
Distill union Com, and you get and you

1319
00:50:19,849 --> 00:50:21,369
can use the promo code geek news at

1320
00:50:21,369 --> 00:50:21,869
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1321
00:50:22,409 --> 00:50:23,549
Upgrade your

1322
00:50:24,089 --> 00:50:27,609
wallet carry, not your conceal carry, and simplify

1323
00:50:27,609 --> 00:50:29,069
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1324
00:50:29,609 --> 00:50:32,785
union, d I s t I l union

1325
00:50:33,325 --> 00:50:34,144
dot com.

1326
00:50:34,525 --> 00:50:36,545
And, we had no new

1327
00:50:37,405 --> 00:50:39,724
donor donations come in this this event. But,

1328
00:50:39,724 --> 00:50:41,565
again, if you think about becoming an insider,

1329
00:50:41,565 --> 00:50:43,965
definitely do. And, also, check out distill union

1330
00:50:43,965 --> 00:50:44,704
dot com.

1331
00:50:45,090 --> 00:50:47,570
Bill Gates has got got it right. Intel

1332
00:50:47,650 --> 00:50:49,410
what what has happened with Intel? They have

1333
00:50:49,410 --> 00:50:50,470
lost their way.

1334
00:50:52,130 --> 00:50:54,849
He's stunned how far behind Intel has fallen

1335
00:50:54,849 --> 00:50:56,610
compared to Nvidia. And you guys know I've

1336
00:50:56,610 --> 00:50:58,450
talked about it before. I have some Intel

1337
00:50:58,450 --> 00:50:58,950
stock.

1338
00:51:03,424 --> 00:51:05,904
Jeez. Come on. I wanna I wanna retire

1339
00:51:05,904 --> 00:51:06,404
someday.

1340
00:51:10,784 --> 00:51:12,484
Probably not because of Intel.

1341
00:51:13,610 --> 00:51:16,809
Global tablet shipments grew 9% in 2024. According

1342
00:51:16,809 --> 00:51:18,349
to latest data from Canalys,

1343
00:51:19,210 --> 00:51:22,090
worldwide tablet shipments grew 5.6 year on year,

1344
00:51:22,090 --> 00:51:24,110
reaching 39,900,000

1345
00:51:24,329 --> 00:51:24,829
units.

1346
00:51:26,255 --> 00:51:28,815
Warner Brothers is doing something interesting. They're stringing

1347
00:51:28,815 --> 00:51:30,515
full movies for free on YouTube.

1348
00:51:30,974 --> 00:51:32,914
It's a strange assortment of

1349
00:51:33,215 --> 00:51:34,275
obscure oddities.

1350
00:51:35,535 --> 00:51:37,954
One's, an Eddie Murph Eddie Murphle.

1351
00:51:38,335 --> 00:51:39,715
Oh my god. Eddie Murphle.

1352
00:51:40,099 --> 00:51:40,599
Eddie

1353
00:51:40,900 --> 00:51:43,239
Murphy's dreadful Pluto Nash movie.

1354
00:51:43,619 --> 00:51:45,380
So there's, like, 40 of these that they

1355
00:51:45,380 --> 00:51:46,039
have released.

1356
00:51:47,219 --> 00:51:48,199
So for free.

1357
00:51:48,739 --> 00:51:49,480
No DMCA

1358
00:51:49,940 --> 00:51:51,559
oh, 30 of them. No DMCA.

1359
00:51:52,724 --> 00:51:55,684
So Michael Collins, Waiting for the Guf Man,

1360
00:51:55,684 --> 00:51:56,825
the the Mission,

1361
00:51:57,445 --> 00:52:00,505
Death Trap. These are, like, 8696.

1362
00:52:00,565 --> 00:52:04,025
Dungeons and Dragon movie, Hot to Trot, 1988.

1363
00:52:05,309 --> 00:52:07,869
The Eddie Murphy's Adventure of Pluto and Ash

1364
00:52:07,869 --> 00:52:08,849
02/2002.

1365
00:52:08,910 --> 00:52:11,550
So, again, these are all been very curiously

1366
00:52:11,550 --> 00:52:13,410
released by Warner Brothers on

1367
00:52:13,789 --> 00:52:15,550
YouTube. Maybe if they decide we're not making

1368
00:52:15,550 --> 00:52:17,390
no money on these things, we're going to,

1369
00:52:18,110 --> 00:52:19,650
we're going to just do that.

1370
00:52:21,065 --> 00:52:23,964
Hacker target NATO US army arrested in Spain.

1371
00:52:24,025 --> 00:52:26,824
Spanish authorities arrested an individual, allegedly hacked several

1372
00:52:26,824 --> 00:52:27,804
high profile organizations.

1373
00:52:29,065 --> 00:52:31,385
They described him as a dangerous hacker who

1374
00:52:31,385 --> 00:52:33,005
was arrested in the town of Calipi

1375
00:52:33,304 --> 00:52:35,085
in Spain's Alicante province,

1376
00:52:36,050 --> 00:52:37,510
and, he has identified

1377
00:52:38,929 --> 00:52:42,309
they identified him having more than 50 cryptocurrency

1378
00:52:42,690 --> 00:52:43,190
accounts.

1379
00:52:43,489 --> 00:52:44,389
And, oh,

1380
00:52:44,769 --> 00:52:47,109
this this dangerous hacker,

1381
00:52:48,305 --> 00:52:50,085
eighteen years old, ladies and gentlemen,

1382
00:52:50,465 --> 00:52:51,845
he hacked NATO,

1383
00:52:53,825 --> 00:52:56,085
and he hacked the US army.

1384
00:52:56,945 --> 00:52:59,045
So let let's let that sink in.

1385
00:52:59,744 --> 00:53:02,085
An 18 year old who is a dangerous

1386
00:53:02,144 --> 00:53:02,644
hacker

1387
00:53:03,289 --> 00:53:05,789
hacked NATO and hacked the US army, yet

1388
00:53:06,329 --> 00:53:08,809
we have six or seven individuals from Doge

1389
00:53:08,809 --> 00:53:09,949
that are in their twenties.

1390
00:53:12,650 --> 00:53:13,150
Okay.

1391
00:53:15,945 --> 00:53:18,505
Android 16 to feature major health updates starting

1392
00:53:18,505 --> 00:53:19,244
with Fitbit.

1393
00:53:19,545 --> 00:53:21,224
So if you're an Android user

1394
00:53:21,864 --> 00:53:23,864
and, of course, Android 15 was just launched

1395
00:53:23,864 --> 00:53:25,704
a few months ago, and they're already looking

1396
00:53:25,704 --> 00:53:26,845
in Android 16.

1397
00:53:28,179 --> 00:53:30,340
So this edition could improve how user interact

1398
00:53:30,340 --> 00:53:32,179
with their health data. I just want to

1399
00:53:32,179 --> 00:53:33,800
be able to take my blood glucose

1400
00:53:34,260 --> 00:53:34,760
without

1401
00:53:36,739 --> 00:53:38,199
having to prick my finger.

1402
00:53:39,795 --> 00:53:42,114
I can't afford the patch. That thing costs,

1403
00:53:42,114 --> 00:53:43,234
like, $1,200

1404
00:53:43,234 --> 00:53:45,234
a month or some ridiculous number. My insurance

1405
00:53:45,234 --> 00:53:46,214
won't cover it.

1406
00:53:47,234 --> 00:53:48,835
I just don't wanna have to poke my

1407
00:53:48,835 --> 00:53:50,454
finger to check blood glucose.

1408
00:53:52,849 --> 00:53:56,289
Amazon drops unsubtle hints that Alexis oh my

1409
00:53:56,289 --> 00:53:57,670
god. Alexa AI

1410
00:53:59,170 --> 00:53:59,989
did my

1411
00:54:00,610 --> 00:54:02,530
it didn't respond. I have an Alexa in

1412
00:54:02,530 --> 00:54:05,170
here that's listening. Is landing soon. Three things

1413
00:54:05,170 --> 00:54:07,514
expect from the new voice agent. It might

1414
00:54:07,514 --> 00:54:09,775
cost you more, 5 to $10 a month.

1415
00:54:10,394 --> 00:54:13,694
No. Could be an autonomous AI agent. No.

1416
00:54:14,315 --> 00:54:17,194
Amazon literally spelled Alexa teasing at this major

1417
00:54:17,194 --> 00:54:18,894
update. Oh, those are the three things.

1418
00:54:19,514 --> 00:54:21,214
Will it be worth it? No.

1419
00:54:23,739 --> 00:54:25,579
How many of you using DeepSeek even I

1420
00:54:25,579 --> 00:54:26,400
talked about it?

1421
00:54:26,780 --> 00:54:28,480
Anybody willing to fess up?

1422
00:54:29,980 --> 00:54:32,139
More Windows 11 patch woes, this time with

1423
00:54:32,139 --> 00:54:35,339
mouse pointers acting up, so, you know, don't

1424
00:54:35,339 --> 00:54:35,900
do the,

1425
00:54:36,984 --> 00:54:37,804
the optional

1426
00:54:38,984 --> 00:54:41,224
update, the KB five zero five zero zero

1427
00:54:41,224 --> 00:54:43,724
nine four patch. Don't don't don't go there.

1428
00:54:44,984 --> 00:54:45,704
You know, I I

1429
00:54:46,905 --> 00:54:47,405
oh,

1430
00:54:48,744 --> 00:54:51,085
this next article is from you. Guess who?

1431
00:54:52,900 --> 00:54:54,980
Political. You got $8,000,000

1432
00:54:54,980 --> 00:54:55,719
from USAID.

1433
00:54:56,420 --> 00:54:59,320
A bill banning social media for youngsters advance.

1434
00:55:00,340 --> 00:55:03,219
The senate commerce committee approved legislation Wednesday to

1435
00:55:03,219 --> 00:55:05,960
ban children 13 from social media by limiting

1436
00:55:06,019 --> 00:55:08,855
access. The bill hopes to address youth anxiety,

1437
00:55:09,715 --> 00:55:10,215
depression,

1438
00:55:10,594 --> 00:55:13,315
and link social media. You know something, ladies

1439
00:55:13,315 --> 00:55:13,974
and gentlemen?

1440
00:55:16,355 --> 00:55:17,795
How come the rest of us were too

1441
00:55:17,795 --> 00:55:19,574
stupid to get some of this free money?

1442
00:55:20,529 --> 00:55:22,769
I should I should have applied for some

1443
00:55:22,769 --> 00:55:25,889
USAID money. How about you? Don't you think

1444
00:55:25,889 --> 00:55:27,989
Geek News Central could have, you know couldn't

1445
00:55:28,130 --> 00:55:29,329
couldn't we have,

1446
00:55:29,809 --> 00:55:31,489
couldn't the show have gotten, like,

1447
00:55:31,905 --> 00:55:34,085
you know, I had to take 500,000.

1448
00:55:34,465 --> 00:55:36,704
That that'd run me that'd run the show

1449
00:55:36,704 --> 00:55:37,765
for five years.

1450
00:55:39,585 --> 00:55:41,684
Been fat. We could've hired someone else.

1451
00:55:42,545 --> 00:55:44,625
I don't need 8,000,000. Just give me cool

1452
00:55:44,625 --> 00:55:45,684
500,000.

1453
00:55:46,110 --> 00:55:48,690
Why not? Giving everyone else money. Right?

1454
00:55:50,190 --> 00:55:51,730
At least I'll tell you the truth

1455
00:55:55,630 --> 00:55:57,090
with my angle on it.

1456
00:55:59,630 --> 00:56:00,530
Don't you think?

1457
00:56:02,924 --> 00:56:03,904
I I I'm just

1458
00:56:04,924 --> 00:56:06,924
how come, you know, how come I didn't

1459
00:56:06,924 --> 00:56:07,824
form an NGO?

1460
00:56:10,284 --> 00:56:11,824
We're we're just dumb.

1461
00:56:13,320 --> 00:56:15,079
You know, those that are smart have been

1462
00:56:15,079 --> 00:56:16,680
the one that's been on the lam, that's

1463
00:56:16,680 --> 00:56:17,660
been on the take.

1464
00:56:19,400 --> 00:56:21,079
You know, those of us that that work

1465
00:56:21,079 --> 00:56:23,559
an honest nine to five that pay our

1466
00:56:23,559 --> 00:56:24,059
taxes,

1467
00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,420
you know, go sit on jury pools,

1468
00:56:27,724 --> 00:56:29,244
you know, do all the things you do

1469
00:56:29,244 --> 00:56:30,385
as a good citizen.

1470
00:56:31,565 --> 00:56:32,224
You know?

1471
00:56:35,085 --> 00:56:36,784
How do I get some of that money?

1472
00:56:37,085 --> 00:56:38,844
Nah. I would have never have done that,

1473
00:56:38,844 --> 00:56:39,744
but, you know,

1474
00:56:40,710 --> 00:56:42,889
it makes you go, doesn't it?

1475
00:56:45,750 --> 00:56:48,309
So the Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation Wednesday

1476
00:56:48,309 --> 00:56:50,389
to ban children on 13 from social media.

1477
00:56:50,389 --> 00:56:51,369
Well, that'll work.

1478
00:56:52,085 --> 00:56:53,684
The panel approved by the Kids of Social

1479
00:56:53,684 --> 00:56:56,324
Media Act sponsored by the panel's chair, Texas

1480
00:56:56,324 --> 00:56:59,045
Republican Ted Cruz, and Democrat on the panel,

1481
00:56:59,045 --> 00:57:01,444
Hawaii's Brian Schatz. Oh, there's a piece of

1482
00:57:01,444 --> 00:57:01,944
work.

1483
00:57:02,324 --> 00:57:04,869
I I I liked Brian before. By voice

1484
00:57:04,869 --> 00:57:06,949
point clearing the way for consideration of the

1485
00:57:06,949 --> 00:57:10,389
full senate, only Ed Markey, Democrat, Massachusetts asked

1486
00:57:10,389 --> 00:57:12,070
to be recorded as a no on the

1487
00:57:12,070 --> 00:57:12,570
bill.

1488
00:57:14,150 --> 00:57:16,090
So it's true. When you get Ted Cruz

1489
00:57:16,150 --> 00:57:18,570
and Ed and and senator Ed Schwartz

1490
00:57:18,965 --> 00:57:20,105
agreeing on something,

1491
00:57:21,684 --> 00:57:22,985
that's saying something.

1492
00:57:23,605 --> 00:57:25,445
Now the question is, will it will it

1493
00:57:25,445 --> 00:57:26,905
get voted on in the house?

1494
00:57:27,605 --> 00:57:29,445
The Commerce Committee will likely take up more

1495
00:57:29,445 --> 00:57:30,744
online safety legislation.

1496
00:57:32,829 --> 00:57:34,210
So what do you think about

1497
00:57:34,589 --> 00:57:35,089
banning

1498
00:57:35,630 --> 00:57:37,630
your 13 year old and younger from using

1499
00:57:37,630 --> 00:57:40,030
social media? Isn't that a parent thing to

1500
00:57:40,030 --> 00:57:40,530
do?

1501
00:57:42,269 --> 00:57:43,809
Isn't that parents' responsibility?

1502
00:57:44,510 --> 00:57:45,010
Crazy,

1503
00:57:46,295 --> 00:57:48,934
Robot dogs learn to bomb disposal tricks and

1504
00:57:48,934 --> 00:57:50,614
trials. Yeah. If you have a robot, you

1505
00:57:50,614 --> 00:57:52,474
can blow the the robot up.

1506
00:57:53,255 --> 00:57:55,575
You can teach a robotic dog new tricks.

1507
00:57:55,575 --> 00:57:57,414
The trial is led by Ministry of Defense

1508
00:57:57,414 --> 00:57:59,949
Scientists and carried out at the Defense Scientific

1509
00:58:00,010 --> 00:58:02,329
Technology Lab, this was in The UK, by

1510
00:58:02,329 --> 00:58:02,909
the way,

1511
00:58:03,289 --> 00:58:05,289
involved a number of robotic systems. It's hoped

1512
00:58:05,289 --> 00:58:07,929
that this early experiment could eventually revolutionize bomb

1513
00:58:07,929 --> 00:58:08,429
disposal

1514
00:58:09,529 --> 00:58:11,849
and, secondly, reduce risk to personnel, both in

1515
00:58:11,849 --> 00:58:12,909
Britain and overseas.

1516
00:58:14,094 --> 00:58:16,494
So they worked alongside both British and international

1517
00:58:16,494 --> 00:58:18,735
com companies like l three Harris.

1518
00:58:19,055 --> 00:58:22,195
I'm familiar with l three Harris. Marble Communications

1519
00:58:22,414 --> 00:58:23,235
and AeroVironment,

1520
00:58:23,614 --> 00:58:24,114
Tomahawk

1521
00:58:24,494 --> 00:58:24,994
Robotics.

1522
00:58:26,059 --> 00:58:28,219
And, the pilot study involved a number of

1523
00:58:28,219 --> 00:58:29,980
scenarios where a robot was required to perform

1524
00:58:29,980 --> 00:58:32,059
tasks such as opening and closing doors, navigating

1525
00:58:32,059 --> 00:58:34,000
stairs, and inspecting IEDs.

1526
00:58:35,340 --> 00:58:37,579
And it was also equipped with carbon fiber

1527
00:58:37,579 --> 00:58:40,000
disruptors. So in other words, fire.

1528
00:58:41,015 --> 00:58:42,555
So, very, very cool.

1529
00:58:43,655 --> 00:58:46,055
Workday has laid off I don't know who

1530
00:58:46,055 --> 00:58:49,015
Workday is. Workday laid off 1,750

1531
00:58:49,015 --> 00:58:51,094
employees citing demand for AI. In other words,

1532
00:58:51,094 --> 00:58:53,275
they replaced the employees with AI.

1533
00:58:54,780 --> 00:58:56,780
Anybody know who Workday is? What do they

1534
00:58:56,780 --> 00:58:57,280
cover?

1535
00:58:57,980 --> 00:59:01,039
The Veterans Affairs has reboots Oracle health records,

1536
00:59:01,579 --> 00:59:03,840
project for $330,000,000.

1537
00:59:04,699 --> 00:59:07,739
Concerns around unfixed problems remain after system result

1538
00:59:07,739 --> 00:59:09,420
in a harm to some 150

1539
00:59:09,420 --> 00:59:10,694
patients. Wow.

1540
00:59:13,554 --> 00:59:15,714
The new payments relate to a 300,000,000 agreement

1541
00:59:15,714 --> 00:59:18,275
for optimization of the electronic health record management

1542
00:59:18,275 --> 00:59:19,554
system and 29,000,000

1543
00:59:19,554 --> 00:59:21,974
for identity access management support enhancements.

1544
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:25,960
The deal means Oracle will also be used

1545
00:59:25,960 --> 00:59:26,940
to support medical

1546
00:59:27,239 --> 00:59:29,500
facilities already using software in Spokane,

1547
00:59:29,880 --> 00:59:33,159
Walla Walla, Washington, Columbus, Ohio, Rosenberg, and White

1548
00:59:33,159 --> 00:59:34,059
City, Oregon.

1549
00:59:34,359 --> 00:59:35,799
Nothing to say about the one I go

1550
00:59:35,799 --> 00:59:37,099
to in Battle Creek, Michigan.

1551
00:59:38,785 --> 00:59:39,184
So,

1552
00:59:40,304 --> 00:59:42,304
we'll see if this continues to be a

1553
00:59:42,304 --> 00:59:43,125
bad investment.

1554
00:59:43,585 --> 00:59:46,704
Volkswagen is unveiling a 20 thou $21,000

1555
00:59:46,704 --> 00:59:48,724
entry in the EV in March.

1556
00:59:49,344 --> 00:59:51,585
The small EV will make it proper debut

1557
00:59:51,585 --> 00:59:53,849
in 2027,

1558
00:59:53,849 --> 00:59:56,089
and it's gonna be available in Europe First,

1559
00:59:56,089 --> 00:59:58,190
not in America, of course.

1560
00:59:59,130 --> 01:00:01,469
And Amazon announced their fourth quarter results.

1561
01:00:02,010 --> 01:00:04,409
Net sales increased 10% to a hundred and

1562
01:00:04,409 --> 01:00:05,710
80 7 point 8 billion,

1563
01:00:06,234 --> 01:00:06,734
And,

1564
01:00:09,275 --> 01:00:10,795
excluding the 900,000,000.0

1565
01:00:10,795 --> 01:00:13,054
unfavorable impact from year over year charges,

1566
01:00:13,675 --> 01:00:15,695
north so how much money do they make?

1567
01:00:16,394 --> 01:00:19,614
Operating income increased to 21,200,000,000.0

1568
01:00:21,110 --> 01:00:23,829
in the fourth quarter compared to 13,200,000,000.0

1569
01:00:23,829 --> 01:00:24,570
in the '4.

1570
01:00:25,269 --> 01:00:25,769
Okay.

1571
01:00:26,550 --> 01:00:28,329
Oh, prior 2023.

1572
01:00:29,269 --> 01:00:32,570
So net income increased to $20,000,000,000.

1573
01:00:32,630 --> 01:00:32,869
So

1574
01:00:34,175 --> 01:00:36,414
alright. I'm I know. The the it goes

1575
01:00:36,414 --> 01:00:38,894
through all the details. If you're interested, they

1576
01:00:38,894 --> 01:00:40,974
they made money. Don't worry. They didn't lose

1577
01:00:40,974 --> 01:00:41,474
money.

1578
01:00:42,574 --> 01:00:43,394
And ChatGPT

1579
01:00:43,934 --> 01:00:46,255
has dropped its sign in requirements for search.

1580
01:00:46,255 --> 01:00:48,434
OpenAI is making its AI search engine

1581
01:00:48,849 --> 01:00:49,349
more

1582
01:00:49,650 --> 01:00:50,150
accessible.

1583
01:00:51,969 --> 01:00:53,809
Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I was definitely on

1584
01:00:53,809 --> 01:00:56,309
a rant today, but, you know,

1585
01:00:56,769 --> 01:00:58,550
if if you want to,

1586
01:00:59,250 --> 01:01:01,269
I love Buffalo Trace Bourbon.

1587
01:01:05,155 --> 01:01:05,894
You definitely,

1588
01:01:06,914 --> 01:01:09,155
you know, a donation in kind of,

1589
01:01:10,594 --> 01:01:12,755
a Stagg or Blanton's would, you know, would

1590
01:01:12,755 --> 01:01:13,974
be would be wonderful.

1591
01:01:14,550 --> 01:01:16,570
An antique one zero seven? Sure.

1592
01:01:16,949 --> 01:01:17,690
Why not?

1593
01:01:20,789 --> 01:01:21,930
Yeah. Okay.

1594
01:01:22,390 --> 01:01:22,789
So,

1595
01:01:23,750 --> 01:01:26,410
I'm pushing the wrong button here. The email,

1596
01:01:26,550 --> 01:01:28,309
geeknews@gmail.com,

1597
01:01:28,309 --> 01:01:30,684
geek news at g mail dot com, at

1598
01:01:30,684 --> 01:01:31,505
geek news

1599
01:01:31,964 --> 01:01:33,025
on x,

1600
01:01:33,405 --> 01:01:34,944
and, of course, I'm on Facebook.

1601
01:01:35,405 --> 01:01:37,324
Did you enjoy today's show? Been on a

1602
01:01:37,324 --> 01:01:38,144
bit of rant.

1603
01:01:39,405 --> 01:01:41,324
I kind of enjoyed it, actually. Reminds me

1604
01:01:41,324 --> 01:01:42,304
of the old days.

1605
01:01:45,910 --> 01:01:47,349
We're not gonna be able to keep up

1606
01:01:47,349 --> 01:01:48,010
the news.

1607
01:01:48,630 --> 01:01:51,349
It it you know, I think it's just

1608
01:01:51,349 --> 01:01:53,849
too much information overload at this point.

1609
01:01:54,710 --> 01:01:57,030
We'll see how it affects the tech sphere.

1610
01:01:57,030 --> 01:01:57,690
Don't forget.

1611
01:01:58,425 --> 01:02:00,344
If you had something techie you're gonna buy,

1612
01:02:00,344 --> 01:02:01,244
get her done.

1613
01:02:02,105 --> 01:02:03,324
Get her done before

1614
01:02:03,625 --> 01:02:05,965
the prices go up, before stock runs out.

1615
01:02:06,025 --> 01:02:06,765
And remember,

1616
01:02:07,305 --> 01:02:09,164
places don't keep too much stock.

1617
01:02:09,545 --> 01:02:11,545
That's why they have those big ships coming

1618
01:02:11,545 --> 01:02:13,164
across the ocean with containerfuls

1619
01:02:13,789 --> 01:02:15,869
of all those electronic goods that we all

1620
01:02:15,869 --> 01:02:16,769
love to buy.

1621
01:02:17,550 --> 01:02:17,949
So,

1622
01:02:18,510 --> 01:02:19,250
the hammer

1623
01:02:19,550 --> 01:02:20,369
is coming.

1624
01:02:21,230 --> 01:02:22,109
45%

1625
01:02:22,109 --> 01:02:24,190
increase. My kitty cat's down here. I'm not

1626
01:02:24,190 --> 01:02:26,190
gonna lift him up. He's clogged me twice

1627
01:02:26,190 --> 01:02:26,690
already.

1628
01:02:27,875 --> 01:02:29,574
Here's something wrong with him.

1629
01:02:31,155 --> 01:02:33,635
He's gotten real big in the middle, and

1630
01:02:33,635 --> 01:02:35,175
he's skinny front and back.

1631
01:02:35,714 --> 01:02:37,875
I don't under I don't I don't get

1632
01:02:37,875 --> 01:02:39,974
it. Last year, he was all

1633
01:02:40,434 --> 01:02:42,114
he was plump all the way through during

1634
01:02:42,114 --> 01:02:42,775
the winter.

1635
01:02:43,369 --> 01:02:45,289
He's just getting old. His his new food

1636
01:02:45,289 --> 01:02:47,530
hasn't arrived yet, so supposed to be, I

1637
01:02:47,530 --> 01:02:50,010
think, here tomorrow. So keep an eye out

1638
01:02:50,010 --> 01:02:50,670
for it.

1639
01:02:52,329 --> 01:02:54,190
I'll be back here with you on Monday.

1640
01:02:55,144 --> 01:02:56,824
I thank everyone for being here. Thank you

1641
01:02:56,824 --> 01:03:00,025
for tuning in. Don't forget about me and

1642
01:03:00,025 --> 01:03:02,505
be being an insider. You can always make

1643
01:03:02,505 --> 01:03:03,164
a donation,

1644
01:03:04,264 --> 01:03:06,105
although I can't use the donation to buy

1645
01:03:06,105 --> 01:03:08,264
liquor. That's not a legal write off. So

1646
01:03:08,264 --> 01:03:10,125
I can't use money that you donate

1647
01:03:10,869 --> 01:03:11,530
to buy

1648
01:03:12,550 --> 01:03:13,369
the juice.

1649
01:03:13,909 --> 01:03:15,210
You can send me

1650
01:03:15,590 --> 01:03:16,250
a bottle,

1651
01:03:18,230 --> 01:03:18,730
and

1652
01:03:19,829 --> 01:03:21,510
that can be a donation. I think, actually,

1653
01:03:21,510 --> 01:03:23,510
from tax standpoint, I have to claim that.

1654
01:03:23,510 --> 01:03:26,275
So but it's I'd rather claim it as

1655
01:03:26,275 --> 01:03:27,255
a gift than

1656
01:03:28,035 --> 01:03:29,255
pay for the juice.

1657
01:03:31,474 --> 01:03:34,114
Alright, everyone. We'll see you back here on

1658
01:03:34,114 --> 01:03:34,614
Monday.

1659
01:03:35,474 --> 01:03:37,735
We're on the March to eight 1800.

1660
01:03:38,341 --> 01:03:39,481
Not that far away.

1661
01:03:40,181 --> 01:03:40,661
So,

1662
01:03:41,141 --> 01:03:42,661
be good out there. We'll see you next

1663
01:03:42,661 --> 01:03:44,281
time. Thanks. Take care. Bye bye.