The Computer Exorcist Bonus Show: Recent Episodes
Marc-Anthony Arena
tl;dr We talk about the societal implications of technology gone wild and how to deal with it.
Can't get enough of The Computer Exorcist Show? Neither could we!
The Computer Exorcist BONUS SHOW is hosted by author and tech guru Marc-Anthony Arena, with lots of special guests. Consider this the after-show party where we can expand upon some of the topics discussed on the main show.
So what's it about?
We're here for the 99% of intelligent, successful people in the world who feel helpless with technology. We de-mystify the concepts, scams, and scandals in the computer industry, all in Plain English. While most "computer geeks" just do obsolete virus scans, we'll discuss The Four New Threats and how to avoid them.
Instead of a one-dimensional "techie" show, we take a well-rounded approach, discussing the potential impact of technology on society and mixing in people from a variety of fields.
"Not the usual stuff you hear on air" - Matt, listener
This month, we talk with the fascinating Michelle Atlas, a coach who works with female entrepreneurs. She helps them take that leap of faith, whether it's starting a new business or up-shifting their business to the next level.
We start off by discussing Palantir CEO Alex Karp's scathing comments about Silicon Valley. He explains how this arrogant, condescending group of engineers huddled in an isolated corner of the world might be good at software, but that doesn't give them the right to: Reorganize society, decide what is moral and just, deem who can and cannot use certain technologies, surveil us, or govern us. He says it so perfectly when he says "the bargain between the public and the technology sector has for the most part been consensual"... but people will hopefully stop tolerating it once they realize what's going on.
We then discuss Google's latest drunken idea called Duplex, an AI technology that further anti-improves society. If you don't feel like calling a local business to order food or make an appointment, you just tell a Google website to do it, and then their AI auto-bot calls the business for you and (after scaring them) makes the request on your behalf. This further disconnects the already-disconnected Millennial from reality, completely removing the human factor and the empathy for those few people out there who are still working hard.
We talk about what makes a good coach/counselor (intuition and experience) versus a bad one (cookie-cutter advice and templates). We also discuss a bit about how you can still shift yourself into where you want to be, no matter how old you are. Remember, Colonel Sanders and many other people didn't succeed until their 50s or 60s!
We remind people about the new scandal of cloud-controlled devices - these are devices that will actually be disabled by their creators when they hit a certain age. We mention how Facebook welcomes further regulation (ironically they know that it'll just make it harder for new competitors to enter the market) and how awareness, then, is the only key to stopping the insanity. Finally, we brainstorm ways Marc can bring this under-reported information to a larger audience, and we come up with an idea for an exposé video series... who knows... might be coming down the pipeline!
Thanks to lofi geek for the music, and thanks as always for telling your friends about the show!
It's the June 2021 episode of The Computer Exorcist Bonus Show!
This month's articles were so bleak, I had to enlist the help of no less than Dr. Mike to help me get through them:
How the Norks are getting dangerously good at hacking, while humanity lumbers on using naked Microsoft computers
How programmers are "training" computers to "learn" on their own - and the disastrous (and usually racist) results that follow
The false promise of technology vs. the reality, such as how Google's Voice to Text thing always messes up words consistently
How nerds never, ever, ever consider the consequences of unbridled technology and the Pandora's boxes they keep opening, but feel selectively guilty on occasion
Microsoft removing the ability to disable Windows Defender, and the arrogant nerds who CANNOT COMPREHEND why anyone would want to override things in certain cases
And the "odd-even curse" of Microsoft Windows - They're all disasters, but it seems as though every other version is a greater disaster.
Stay tuned at the end for a deleted scene, and thanks to Nolan Derosia for the music!
Today we talk with multi-faceted IT bureaucrat James Coffin about The False Promise of Technology. We hear it all the time: Technology is this salve that you can rub all over a situation to make it better.
Well, in reality it's not the case. Even if it helps some things a little, it's not going to take away all your problems, and if you think so, you're in for a surprise.
"As if any of this stuff functions in real life!" sums it up nicely. Computers are unreliable garbage designed with framework that depends on framework that depends on framework, so if there's a flaw or an update, a chain reaction of annoyance takes place. It's all garbage.
We discuss:
How India's Welfare Revolution Is Starving Citizens (and what the article's author doesn't even realize is the problem)
How the Norks go on virtual bank heists by breaking into bank computers that have lax security, and how they're actually safer than we are by virtue of not using cloud-controlled gadgets!
Why one author thinks Lenovo PCs are bad (and why they're actually the best)
Colleges that don't require tuition payment until you've gotten a real job (and THE REAL REASON WHY education is so expensive)
Microsoft claiming it's going to make its products more consistent soon (HA)
Now that Facebook owns your personal life, it's out to control your work life too
Colleges being sued for recording students' biometrics
The false promise of autonomous vehicles, and how it's inevitable that nerds call for the deprecation of all human drivers
How one company aims to keep steering wheels in cars, but only if you prove to the car that you're worthy of driving it
And finally, how the You Know What might be the downfall of the much-heralded ride-sharing and car-sharing services.
Thanks to Dis-Harmony for the music, and thanks to Gotham Podcast Studio and Tandem Podcast platform for hosting the show!
As always, thanks for telling your friends about the show!
In today's episode, we welcome Sean Cronin, church planter and personal trainer. He's a non-techie and a calm, cool, collected guy, so he's the antithesis of Marc. Thanks to this opposite perspective, he brings up a lot of great points that Marc wouldn't have thought of!
In our first article, we explore the precise reasons why Kodak failed. Hint: It had to do with trying to quash the digital photography revolution rather than compete in it.
How the monochrome Game Boy succeeded by being simpler than its more advanced color-screen rivals, and what we can learn from that.
The reason why there's a surprising number of people still using dial-up Internet (and why these EXXTREEM broadband packages are useless).
How and why Google uses algorithms to change the results of your searches, and the debate about whether they should control what 90% of the world sees, or let us decide for ourselves what we should and should not read.
We discuss Apple's latest $1700 throwaway computer (shouldn't computers be repairable at that price?) and why it's less bad than other recent Apple machines.
Finally... our last article focuses on 26 Sept 1983. The day a Soviet system detected incoming American nukes. Was it real, or was it a false alarm?
It was up to one man to decide what to do. Listen to the incredible story of how cooler heads prevailed that day and the world was quite literally saved.
Thanks to Nolan Derosia for the chill music. Thanks to Gotham Podcast Studio and Tandem Podcasts for hosting our show. Thanks to you for listening and telling your friends about the show!
"We always bring you fascinating guests, and tonight is no exception."
Tonight's episode is full of "ramblings about business and tech" with bodybuilder entrepreneur Anatoly Shilman:
Social media and who should police it
How cutting-edge tech gadgets are "ageist" and nobody actually wants any of it
Graphene and diamond batteries that can harvest energy from the air
WHY Russians break into our computers
Hiring people to do things you don't like to do (saves you time and giving someone a job in the process)
How WhatsApp will soon be gobbled into the Facebook messaging monopoly (and how to move away from it)
Yuval Noah Harari's warnings that 21st Century "Soviets" can surveil and influence us
How new scary technology can be used for evil, but also for good
How "Perception is reality" - If people think Big Box stores are the only place to buy computers, that's where they'll go
Tons of inspiring quotes, such as:
All things are impossible until we've seen it done.
Keep working; nobody cares. (in a good way!)
Shut up and lift (my personal favorite)
Be at peace with your imperfections and just go for it
We hope you fail; because that's the only time you're learning.
Thanks to Egzod for the music!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today we approach the Wallace Memorial Microphone to do a car episode, with special guest star mechanic Nick Laborde, the wealth of knowledge owner of Nick's Auto Repair.
We discuss:
The Nexcel, which aims to replace a simple oil change with an evil printer-cartridge-like gizmo that's computer-controlled and force you to buy their brand of oil.
The billions of dollars that could be made by selling a Corvette SUV... and the heritage that would be destroyed if it happens
Recalls that fix what the last recall broke, and recalls to fix what those recalls broke
Recall fatigue
How wireless update attacks will soon plague cars
The Corvette Flying Frunk debacle, and how GM is blaming customers for shoddy latches
Good news from Mazda, Nissan, and Ford about keeping good simple retro cars alive
The shop class instructor who teaches kids to electrify old cars
The John Deere right-to-repair scandal
A company that tears down a car and sells their findings to its competing automakers
The VW Dieselgate scandal: Why didn't they order them to put that money toward something good?
The 1970s VW ethos of not reinventing the wheel
The single mom who couldn't afford to put tires on her car because she had to buy a new catalytic converter to pass inspection
The massive need for young people to enter auto repair and other trades
"The industry is a casino and the auto manufacturers are the house."
"I shake my head so much that I think I have two bad discs because of it."
"I remove more rodents than the Orkin man."
...and many more quotable quotes from Nick!
Hope you're glued to your speakers throughout the show. I know I was!
Thanks to Xela for the music.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
On today's episode we're joined by special guest Mike Ortiz of Gotham Podcast Studio, and we discuss:
How he helps people start their own podcasts (including this one!)
His encounters with celebrities, including the time when the Wu Tang Clan took his lunch from the breakroom
The day Verizon bought the two dumpster-fires known as AOL and Yahoo, combined to create one giant cesspool of clickbait articles, and then wrote off half their value
How young people don't even know how to get their photos back from the iCloud One-Way Street
How prosecutors find photos on social media to show how unrepentant some drunk drivers are
The unknown fact that there's more to life than Trump and Covid
How you really ought to "cleanse" your Facebook posts from when you were young
Bonus bonus: Stay tuned to the very end for the mic test deleted scene!
Thanks to Nolan Derosia for the music!
In today's episode, Marc invites local Renaissance man and healer Ric Warren to talk about how technology is causing people to fear, and how taking a sabbatical from tech lowers your blood pressure and removes that "fear of missing out".
We draw parallels between the holistic Teknosophy Method and his holistic and personal approach to health, including how we both dispel fear in our clients, and how sometimes the key to healing is as simple as an empathetic touch.
We talk about how we've helped people who nobody else could seem to help, thanks to our out-of-the-box approach.
We discuss Support Scams, and how really they're just holding up a bank with a pop gun, in other words all bark and no bite.
We talk about an incredible survey a hospital did, that revealed that most disease comes from internalizing your anger.
We remind people that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and rather than pay for an "addiction" to the false sense of security that a virus scan offers, all the security you need is right there inside you.
We explain some Buddhist and Christian tactics against fear... and so much more!
Stick around for a "deleted scene" at the very end, and as always, thanks for telling your friends about the show!
Thanks to Dave Mancini for today's music!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In this episode, Sgt. Tim returns to sideswipe Marc's angry articles with his sublime wisdom and humor.
We discuss:
People willingly giving up their freedom to Alexa surveillance devices
The US Dept of Defense requiring its contractors to use open standards (FINALLY!), ensuring that their battleships and fighter jets won't be outdated arbitrarily by scummy proprietary schemes.
The startling turnaround of Opel, rescued from 20 years of losses by Carlos Tavares.
"Temporal Appropriation", Marc's new term for auto companies resurrecting an old marque, simply to trash its reputation by creating a plasticky, sensor-ridden impostor unworthy of its heritage.
Marc invents the term (and threatens to become) "80s Amish", where we refrain from all technology except that which we had during the 1980s, because that stuff wasn't evil.
The demise of real human customer support, the rise of anti-empowered support agents living in chicken coops, and how to bypass the evil AI phone autoattendants that are designed to frustrate people to the point of hanging up.
Music provided by the multi-talented Tommy Gravino!
Thanks for listening and as always, tell your friends about the show!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
I have to admit I scheduled this interview before I realized it was Earth Day... but hey, it worked out really well!
In this episode we interview Cassidy Putney of Impact Earth Roc, a new waste management company that does things a bit better. Today we talk about:
AI trash cans that take themselves to the curb
Throwaway HP printers floating in the oceans
Sonos speakers, Apple AirPods, and HP ink cartridges that are designed to stop working after a certain date
"Smart cities" where Toyota monitors your health with robots, vs. "Dumb cities" whose porous concrete roads absorb water in order to prevent floods
The 60 million tons of e-waste that is estimated to be discarded in 2021 alone
and finally: 1950s washing machines that will outlive all this stuff!
Thanks to SMSHNG HRTS for the rockin music, and as always thanks to Gotham Podcast Studio.
Our snarkiest special guest Dr. Mike returns to help Marc lambaste the tech industry... In this episode, we invent the word Techxit to describe liberation from deceptive Cloud services, we call Microsoft "The Cat in the Hat" for sending out update attacks that fix one thing and break 10 others, and bask in the nostalgia of 90s swap-meet computer shows, replete with Big Gulps, old Toyotas, and awkward teenagers. Oh yeah, and we balk at the existence of Star Wars cuckoo clocks.
Bonus bonus content: Now included at the very end is a sound test/outtake you're sure to enjoy if you're from western NY.
We're back for a new season!
In this episode we discuss the lives of Gary Starkweather (inventor of the laser printer), Tony Fadell (inventor of the iPod and Nest), and Coach Bob Bradley (inventor of being nice to people instead of having Twitter wars).
Special guest is printer expert Pete Skidmore and music from the very talented guys of The Funeral Portrait!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In tonight's episode, the brilliant psychologist and computer programmer Udochi Okeke joins us:
We talk about her latest projects, which include writing a dictionary and resurrecting an ancient African alphabet.
We then discuss how the traditional idea of decentralized communities are always going to be more effective than modern cities full of lonely cloud-worshipping people.
Finally, we explore how electric cars and smartphones rely on conflict metals - so you might want to think twice before you throw your week-old iPhone in the garbage.
Thanks to N-Dub City for the epic music!
Today we continue our discussion from the main show about resisting technology in cars. Unfortunately, the extreme arrogance, condescension, confusion, complexity, and unreliability of the computer industry is spilling over into the car industry (for example, the Tesla Mobile App, which requires Cloud permission before you can unlock your car!). We discuss how automatic headlights, automatic braking, wireless keys, and other stupidity are scaring people so much, that they're now walking into dealerships asking for stripped-down models. We also speculate on rumors of a possible Corvette SUV, how the average person can buy exotic cars as an investment, we talk about a company that sells completely custom cars using 3D printing, and why last year's BMW is always better than a current year's model. Thanks to Startisan for the music!
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This is the second episode of The Computer Exorcist Bonus Show!
Friend of the show Dr. Mike calls in and co-hosts tonight, as we delve into some articles that were too lengthy to get into on the regular show.
Hope you like tangents! We go off on a lot of them as we delve into the tech industry's bad attitude, HTC smartphones that aim to decentralize your data (instead of suck all your photos away from your phone and then wipe them out when you forget your password, like Apple does), and a Wired mag article about realistic robots. It's all here, including some "garbage plate" references...
Hope you love it!
Welcome to the first episode of The Computer Exorcist Bonus Show!
In this episode, we interview data analyst Gregor Gordon of PhysXanalytics.com - He talks about how tech companies and small businesses monitor customer interest. We also go into his unusual career path and life (going from coffee barista to climber of Mt. Everest) and how that has served to make him a more capable and interesting person.
Hope you love it!