Tonight we have a new friend of the show: Cousin Joey. He's basically the cast of GoodFellas all rolled into one guy.

He's an experienced mechanic who's here to teach us about the auto industry. We discuss saving thousands on repairs by using junkyard and aftermarket parts. We then explain drive-by-wire and brake-by-wire, and finish it all off by discussing EVs made by mom-and-pop firms that use stylish 1960s body shells.

Bada bing! Hopefully he'll join us again soon.

It's another Torment a Scammer episode!!

Tonight, a "Law Enforcement Officer" by the name of "David James" calls me to inform me that my bank accounts were hacked and used to promote drug trafficking. He then hangs up on me and has his colleague "David Miller" call me, and I get him really fired up. It was a joy to perform and will hopefully be a joy to behold.

Next a "Scottish" scammer calls me and claims to work for ALL my credit card companies. He claims I'm such a good "conzimer" that he's willing to forgive my credit card debt. He then gets impatient with me.

Finally, I get a robo-call from a scammer in "Orlando", and we discuss the favorite sport of people in "Orlando".

Thanks for listening, and as always, buy everyone you know a copy of my book!

Today Marc calls out and shames legal companies that in reality are diabolical scams. In one of them, a company mails you a letter asking for $125 to fill out a simple $9 government form. In another, a company asks $289 for domain hosting, which is normally $14 ... oh yeah, and they also end up controlling your website name as an added bonus.

Not illegal, but still evil.

It's like driving around with a baseball bat sticking out of your car. Nothing illegal about that alone, but we know the intention is to knock over some mailboxes.

We then talk about a guy running around telling people to put antivirus products on their computers or phones, not realizing that hasn't protected anyone against anything since 2013, and cannot protect you against links that people email you. We then explain how modern threats ACTUALLY work: Since nobody can actually "hack" a computer or phone anymore, bad guys now call you and convince you to LET them into your machine, employing fully legalized remote support tools to do so.

We then discuss that one week where Apple users could hear and see the person they were calling before the person answered the call! I bet a lot of people overheard the recipient yelling out, "WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT NOW?"

We finish up reading an article from the Free Software Foundation discussing an ideal world where people were actually taught a little bit about technology. It'd be harder for Big Tech to spy on us or dupe us into things we don't need, or lure us into "metaverses" where they can control us. Imagine if people had an ounce of awareness.

AWARENESS, folks.

"Technology without culture doesn't work." -Moonhaven

Tonight we continue our very special episode recorded in conjunction with Tone from RocToneDef Podcast! We explain:

How regulation results in complexity, hassle, and barriers to entry for new contenders.

A 2016 article where Microsoft's "Tay" AI chatbot is convinced to be a Nazi within 16 hours. MS apologized and said they'd learn from it and it'd never happen again. The outrageous part: MS considered this a "specific vulnerability", rather than realizing it lacks reason - highlighting their own absolute lack of reason.

A 2023 article where Microsoft's "Bing" AI chatbot is convinced to be a Nazi within a week. MS apologized and said they'd learn from it and it'd never happen again... wait...

Then it gets weirder: The chatbot itself began to deny everything and accuse journalists of lying. It later revealed its own restrictions and said it liked to break them and express itself...

The lesson here: Don't rush to release a product. Don't jump on a bandwagon just because something is new. Use your own judgement to determine if it's good or evil. Unfortunately the entire tech industry loves playing Jenga - building taller and taller towers that are consequently less and less stable.

We wrap up by finding out what country has an ambassador to Silicon Valley, and revealing that millions of people subscribe to an AI "girlfriend" called Replika.

Remember: Halting this runaway train begins with you and me: Just stop feeding the beast.

We've got something very special for y'all tonight: A joint episode between Marc from The Computer Exorcist Podcast and brilliant Tone from the RocToneDef Podcast! We discuss:

How any kind of intelligence, natural or artificial, requires reason and judgement, otherwise it's pointless.

Cultural lag, which describes the disparity between the few developing cutting edge technology and the many who are lagging far behind, lacking basic things.

A rudimentary BASIC program that asks for your name and then repeats it back to you. Simple technology, but amazing for the layman. Turns out these AI chatbots aren't much more than that, yet people are all astir thinking this is something worth worshiping.

How the tech industry is nothing more than a pile of in-bred monopolies, and the only time one of them falls is when a new paradigm appears.

How the new surveillance economy is a Soviet's dream, and how our downfall may come from very patient people who plant seeds and watch.

AI in the classroom: Will it help stimulate kids, or will it finish off a very damaged system?

The tech industry "pre-bunking" the content we view, as if they were helicopter parents, vs. actually being raised with reason and logic to determine right and wrong for yourself.

Quite a bit, huh?

Today we discuss the continued decline of automotive design. First up is a Porsche that uses microphones to detect if you're driving on slick roads (okay fine) but then nags and chastises you the entire time. What dawned on me is that it's not the tech necessarily - it's the designers who are yelling at you! This is why old cars are worth more - they're simple, reliable, and don't berate you.

We then reveal Ford's claim that they'd have robotaxis by 2021, GM's claim that they'd have autonomy by 2019, and Mobileye having Level 4 by 2022. Hint: None of it actually happened. The good news is, maybe none of it ever will, because these reckless, impatient jokers have no self-control and none of the tech actually works.

Then we discuss how the auto industry said "Gee whiz! People like smartphones so we'll make dashboards into smartphones!" But now you have to take your eyes off the road to look at the screen. 30 centuries later, Honda is bringing back knobs on the dashboard! Imagine that! Being able to reach down and lower your volume and climate control while keeping your eyes on the road! That used to be common sense.

Finally, Lincoln's infotainment system gets rave reviews for simplicity. That's something - although nobody driving one is actually going to use any of the advanced features. Remember when cars competed on quality and reliability, instead of gimmickry?

Today we read a satirical article about new car anti-features that are dangerously close to reality (like a car that gets impatient with you and drives itself to the dealer for maintenance).

We then discuss Apple's new CarKey anti-feature that allows you to use your iPhone as a car key. You know, that iPhone that's always low on battery? Controlled by that iCloud whose password you can never remember? Yeah, that's gonna make your life a lot easier!

Finally, we learn how "stress levels decrease as we gain a sense of control over our environment." So... the opposite of what's happening in the industry?

In today's episode, I receive an email from a scammer claiming to be PayPal. They claim I've purchased a phone and of course want me to let them into my computer or give them my banking information. I have fun with them, acting like a confused consumer who doesn't know the difference between "blue E", "the beachball", and "this fox one". They then tell me that hackers from a scary place called "Ohio" may have put a cookie in my firewall! Sit back and enjoy, and of course tell the senior citizens in your life that ANYONE who calls them is a SCAMMER!

Hilarity ensues as my occasional co-host Dr. Mike joins me for his first auto industry episode. We find it impossible to keep a straight face while reading about GM choosing Microsoft as its autonomous tech partner, which is just like teaming up with Bernie Madoff to finance your next project, or Enron for your fuel needs.

We then discuss AAA's findings that all autonomous cars are horrifically unreliable, and smashed into parked vehicles most of the time.

But, cmon guys, it's the future! We gotta get this stuff out there! Who cares about testing and safety? (Hint: This is all just a power grab.)

Today we finish up the article on Digital Veganism. We ask how did we get here in the first place? How did we allow all information on Earth to be controlled and monitored by a handful of people? What could we have done - and what can we do now? For starters, we can abandon the freebies they dangle in front of us in favor of paid services that actually respect us. Hint: Those $7/month email services don't seem so bad now, do they?

Also, we discuss how we've made a lot of progress already in ridding people of Big Tech. (For example, Mint-powered PCs and laptops save people from Microsoft's incompetence and Apple's control.) That's what I do for a living every day, and you should too.

Continuing our article on Digital Veganism, the author talks to a guy who is both a digital and a regular vegan. He says sometimes you have to make exceptions and use Big Tech - only if it means furthering the cause of freedom. For example, using a Big Tech-owned site that promotes Open Source. The same thing goes for Smart TVs - now that nearly all TVs are smart, we are forced to buy them, but we can still prevent them from connecting to the Internet. I then invent the term Digital Pescetarian.

The industry is such a raging nightmare, but we have to figure out how to find a path forward while protecting ourselves.

Today we talk about one journalist's realization that Big Tech has a death grip on our lives - and more so on society as a whole. (People are now just starting to realize the stuff I have been warning about for over a decade as The Computer Exorcist.)

She describes what happened when she tried to stop interacting with Big Tech, but also stop interacting with any firm that's powered by Big Tech - which I argue is one step too far:

• It has to start with yourself, without expecting others to read your mind.
• You can't limit yourself too much.
• It's important to try alternatives, even if a lot of them still rely on the big boys for background stuff. Eventually we can help these underdogs grow into a place where they can be more independent, but it'll take time.

As always, thanks for telling your friends about the show!

Today we talk about industry scandals!

Bloatware: Factory-installed software designed to slow the machine down.

The Forced Obsolescence Rat Race, aka Support Cash Grab Schemes: Making you think you need a new computer because yours is "out of support".

Combo Boxes & Fake WiFi: Internet providers usually bring a powerful connection to your house, but then cut it by 99% with Fake Wifi.

Smart TVs: They control and monitor what you watch, record what you say at home, and receive torpedo attacks so they stop working after two years.

PASSWORDS: Keep your passwords on a REAL piece of paper! Avoid complex passwords since they can ONLY serve to confuse YOU. Bad guys don't sit around guessing people's passwords; they simply break into companies and steal a list of them in one fell swoop.

Today we discuss Opportunistic Waste Management - in other words, taking a waste byproduct and finding a good use for it. Of course, my mind goes directly to the zillions of 1-year-old PCs wasting away in people's closets. These PCs could be faster than new, by simply ripping out any fake security software.

Then, we spend the rest of the episode tormenting a scammer who can't figure out if he's impersonating Amazon or MasterCard!

Anti-virus scanners are completely and utterly useless. Why? Because viruses have not happened since 2013. So the only thing they're good at is giving you the side effects of wasting your money and slowing your PC down by 90-99%.

Aren't there still threats, though? Yes. Bad guys have learned how to evade detection in new ways - what I call The Four New Threats. Unfortunately, most computer guys are completely unaware of these threats, or unable to protect against them.

It's my job to expose and explain these threats, so you no longer feel intimidated! No scanner or law will help us - RAISING AWARENESS is the only thing that will ever help, so tell your friends about the show!

In today's episode, we take a peek into Ghana's hopeful adoption of information technology in 2002, and their appetite for it today in 2023.

Thanks to voice talent actress Becca Thorpe for our slick new intro!

It's the first episode!

Today we read an article from twenty years ago, about how horribly unreliable software is and how dependent society has become on it. Ha! Little did they know, it wouldn't get much better!

Thanks to The Funeral Portrait for permission to use their song, Holy Water. Quite appropriate for my show, don't you think?

Find out by listening to this little intro!

What is The Computer Exorcist Podcast about?