February 3 & 4, 2024 Show Notes
Victoria Film Festival Weekend Edition
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
The crew this week:
1) Watch out for scam emails claiming to be from Outlook warning that they've received many complaints about your account sending spam
The emails are being sent from a variety of (overseas) email addresses, and look like this…
The email is addressed not to you, but to "Dear customer", and the sentence structure and grammar are not great. If you mouse over the "Search for Virus" box (or hold your finger on it on a touchscreen device) you'll see a pop-up indicating that it'll take you to a website in South Africa Zambia (.za). (Thanks to Steve in Brisbane for correcting me on the domain! Zambia is .zm)
That website is a fake Microsoft account log-in page, and if you put in your email address and password, you'll be handing your account to hackers, who will steal your identity, and your money. NEVER click on links in emails like this!
2) Watch out for scam emails that appear to be from Shaw advising that your email account will be deactivated if you don't re-validate your entry…
A screenshot of one of the emails (received by Ron) is below…you'll see that the sender is "Service Client" but that it's coming from an account @sasktel.net…
If you click on the "Re-validate Now" button it'll take you to a fake Shaw webmail log-in page (hosted on a website in Spain) and if you give them your Shaw email address and password, the hackers will immediately get access to all your emails and can start stealing your identity and money by requesting password changes. NEVER click on links in emails like this!
4) If a message appears on the screen of your phone, tablet, or computer advising that your device is infected or is about to crash, and urging you to call the phone number on the screen, it's a scam.
Here's an iPad screenshot of what one of these scams looks like…
If this appears on the screen, it got there because you clicked on a button or link which took you to what's called a Browser Hijack — a website which has been crafted to try to trick you. Your device is NOT infected. It's just a scam. If you call the number, it'll connect you to a call-centre (often in India) where a scammer will pose as someone from Apple or Microsoft or Samsung or Google, and will offer to fix the problem, either for a hefty fee — they'll want your credit card info — or they'll try to pursuade you to give them banking info. NEVER call the number, and NEVER click on the button or link. Just restart your phone, tablet, or computer and it should go away.
10) Update: February 21st will be decision-day for Apple's proposed $14.4 million "batterygate" class-action settlement here in Canada
BC Supreme Court Justice Sharon Matthews will decide whether to approve what lawyers say was a "hard-fought" proposed settlement, which would see Canadians who owned an iPhone 6, 6S, 6+, 7, or 7+ model, be paid $150 by Apple — if they can provide their serial number.
The money would be to make-up for those iPhones being slowed-down by Apple to avoid them crashing when running newer, more-power-hungry operating systems.
A similar settlement in the USA has just resulted in Apple paying more than $400 million USD to iPhone 6 & 7 owners, which works-out to about $92 USD per person.
11) If you want to chat with someone who doesn't speak your language, the Conversation Mode in Google Translate is great!
Once you switch to Conversation Mode, Google Translate automatically switches between languages, displays what it hears on the screen in both languages (so you can be sure it heard you correctly!), and then speaks the translation.
Google Translate is a free app on iPhones, iPads, and Android phones and tablets.
12) Which is the best outdoor surveillance camera?
As we promised last week, here's some help in deciding which outdoor surveillance camera to buy here in Canada, courtesy of BuyersGuide.org
Or, if you want to skip right to their recommended model, it's the Eufy Security Camera Kit, which includes two indoor/outdoor video cameras and a base. The cameras are battery-powered and offer 1080p livestream video with night vision and two-way talk and save their recordings to a microSD card. They work with both Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit. It's currently on sale for $220 at Amazon.ca
Note that Eufy now has a new 4K model, the EufyCam 3 (see below).
Another great comprehensive review of security camera models is by Tom's Guide in the USA…
Tom's Guide breaks them down into best indoor camera, best outdoor camera, best doorbell camera, best no-subscription camera, and best 4K camera. Their choise for best no-subscription camera is the new EufyCam 3 4K. It co1mes in a kit with three 4K cameras and a base station for $800 on Amazon.
13) Telus, Bell, and Rogers are all no longer offering Canada/USA smartphone service plans — just pricey Canada/USA/Mexico plans
If you're currently subscribed to a Canada/USA plan from one of the big three carriers, you're fine — as long as you don't change your plan.
Now the only way to get Canada/USA call and data roaming from the big three is to sign-up for a pricey Canada/USA/Mexico plan: Telus and Bell are charging $105/month and including 150GB of data, while Rogers is charging $110 a month for that.
The good news is that Vidéotron-owned Freedom Mobile has several Canada/USA plans, which, while not as cheap as they were at Christmas, are still a lot less-expensive than the others…
Freedom also has a Canada/USA/Mexico plan with 60GB of data for $65/month.
14) Cuba is now included in Freedom Mobile's 73-country "Roam Beyond" plan, which is $65/month and includes 60GB of data/month
In December, Freedom Mobile became the first carrier in Canada to offer a global cellphone plan. It's called "Roam Beyond", and it lets you use your phone in 73 countries without paying roaming fees.
Current destinations included (subject to change, destinations may be added or removed): Albania, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Australia (service temporarily unavailable), Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao, Czech Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, France, French Guiana, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Turks & Caicos, Ukraine, United Kingdom & Northern Ireland, United States (USA), US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan.
The "Roam Beyond" plan is $65 a month, and you have to be on it for a minimum of three months. It includes 60GB of 5G data (where 5G service is available and 4G LTE speeds if not) plus unlimited calling and texting to, from, and within the 73 countries. You can then downgrade to a less-expensive Canada/USA plan or a cheaper-still Canada-only plan.
15) It appears ads on streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ are here to stay.
Streaming services say most subscribers are opting not to pay more for ad-free streaming tiers, and they're fine with that, because they actually make more money off the ad revenue than they do off the ad-free surcharges.
CBC
Commercials may be here to stay on streamers like Amazon unless you open your wallet | CBC News
Ad-free entertainment used to be one of the big selling points of streaming services, but as more services add commercials, experts say the glory days of advertisement-free video content are gone unless you spend enough money to make up for the loss in potential revenue.
16) WhatsApp now lets you share your screen during a video call
Meta-owned WhatsApp has added screen-sharing for iPhones, Android devices, and Windows computers. It's a handy new feature if you want to share pics, notes, websites or other content on your phone with the person or people you're having a video-chat with. Instructions are below…
- Be aware that the info displayed on your shared screen, including usernames and passwords, will be visible to the person/people wiyh whom you're screen-sharing.
- Screen sharing isn't available during audio calls.
- Audio isn't available for shared content, such as Youtube, Netflix, or video games.
- Screen sharing is protected with end-to-end encryption and is never recorded by WhatsApp. No one outside of the call, not even WhatsApp, can see or hear what you share on your screen.
17) Google Assistant is shutting down on Samsung TVs
Google Assistant will no longer be available on Samsung TVs starting March 1st.
Google isn't saying what's behind the policy change, but if you own a Smasung Smart TV and use the Google Assistant now, starting next month, you'll have to switch to Amazon's Alexa or Samsung's own Bixby for voice control on compatible Samsung TVs.
18) For now, no more using music by Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo or other Universal Music artists on TikTok
Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, and SZA are among artists who've had their music catalogues removed from TikTok as part of a licencing rift between the platform and Universal Music Group (UMG).
If you uploaded a video to TikTok which uses music by an artist licenced to UMG, the video will still play, but the audio will be muted.
There's so much money at stake, analysts predict the dispute will be settled before long.
CNN
Taylor Swift songs pulled from TikTok in payment dispute | CNN Business
Universal Music Group has pulled its music off TikTok in a dispute over royalties, a move that prevents more than 1 billion users of the platform from streaming a vast catalog of songs by Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and other artists.
19) Explore the Starship Enterprise with Apple Vision Pro
A new "Star Trek" Spatial Experience has been made exclusively for the new Apple Vision Pro, featuring two hours of high-quality footage from all eras of the show and its films.
Be aware that Apple's Vision Pro mixed-reality headset is not currently available in Canada.
If you still feel the need to get one — and have a spare $5000 — MobileSyrup.com has ways you can get one, along with some important things you need to be aware of…
20) Apple has one active device per four people on the planet
Apple now has more than 2.2 billion devices currently in use around the world. Do the math, and that's an astounding one device for every four people!
Propelling these numbers is their iPhone 15 lineup, which has an astounding 99% customer satisfaction rating and holds the top spot in sales for all markets, including four out of five best-selling models in the USA, four of the top six in the UK, and all five in Australia.
21) Microsoft said to release 'groundbreaking' Windows AI this fall
It appears Microsoft is going to release a new AI-powered version of its flagship Windows operating system this fall.
The New Windows AI will include a new history/timeline feature that will let you scroll back in time through all the apps and websites that Copilot has remembered, which can be filtered based on a user’s specific search criteria. For example, you could type “FY24 earnings” and every instance where that term was on-screen will reappear for you to see and open.
If you don’t remember the name or contents of a document, the search term “find me the document that Bob sent me on WhatsApp a few days ago” is something search on Windows will actually understand.
22) You still can't renew your Canadian passport online, but you can use an online tool to speed-up the renewal process
In May of last year, the Government of Canada said we'd be able to renew our passports online starting this past fall. However, you still can't do that. Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada says the online renewal system is on "hold" because assessments showed it had vulnerabilities.
So, how do you quickly renew your passport?
Narcity
Everything You Need To Know About Renewing Your Canadian Passport In 2024
Is your Canadian passport expiring soon? If you need to renew your passport and don't know where to start, we've got you covered. There are several ways to renew your passport in Canada, and we're making things easy by laying out exactly what you'll need, the best way to renew your passport and when to do so before your next trip.
22) A new website to learn Coast Salish words and phrases
NIȽ TU,O Child and Family Services Society is a Coast-Salish-led organization dedicated to strengthening the Beecher Bay, Pauquachin, Tsartlip, Songhees, Tsawout, Tseycum and T’Sou-ke families, communities, and Nations that NIȽ TU,O serves.
As part of that, the NIȽ TU,O website now contains a "Speak" page, which includes short audio recordings of common words and phrases in the three Straits Salish dialects spoken here — SENĆOŦEN, Hul’q’umi’num’, and lək̓ʷəŋən.
Homework videos (a.k.a. "time well wasted"!)
40) Watch Marques Brownlee (a.k.a. MKBHD) show us what using Apple's groundbreaking Vision Pro mixed-reality headset is really like…
41) Watch Fred Mills and the B1M crew show up the race that's underway to save the Panama Canal…
42) Watch Listen as Nathan McGowan uses vocal isolation technology to create a duet of Gene Wilder and Timothée Chalamet performing "Pure Imagination" from their respective roles as Willy Wonka in 1971 and last year…
43) Watch and listen as now 69-year-old Bruce Hornsby joins the BBC Concert Orchestra for a live studio rendition of his 1986 hit, "Just The Way It Is"…
44) Watch the now-viral official trailer for Despicable Me 4…
45) Watch a preview of the new Universal Epic Universe theme park which is taking shape in Florida…
46) Watch and listen as Sven Bensmann sings more dinosaur names than you can imagine in "We Are All In Love With Dinos…
Sven Bensmann on Instagram: "We are all in love with Dinos! 🦖🦕🌴☄️🌋🥰 More Dinosaurs and other funny stuff is waiting for you live! Visit me and my show YES WE SVEN live! All tourdates on my website! (Link in my Profile) #dinosaurs #dino #dinosaur #jurassicpark #jurassicworld #trex #viral #triceratops #raptor #paleontology #mesozoic #landbeforetime #littlefoot #brachiosaurus #billyjoel #wedidntstartthefire #comedy #fun #music #guitar #funny #love #yeswesven #svenbensmann #instamusic #instafun #instacomedy Assistant of Translation: Robert J. Murphy/@uniosnabrueck"
52K likes, 568 comments - sven_bensmann on December 30, 2023: "We are all in love with Dinos! 🦖🦕🌴☄️🌋🥰 More Dinosaurs and other funny stuff is..."
47) Watch the return of the Clydesdales in Budweiser's Super Bowl LVIII ad…
Look for a playlist of the long versions of all the best Super Bowl LVIII ads in next week's Show Notes!
Here we are in the studio: Martina - Ron's exchange student from Barcelona, Majo - Alan's exchange student from Mexico, Brian, Alan, and Ron…
Here's Majo Gomez, our new international exchange student (second from right, behind the Canadian flag), arriving at the Swartz Bay ferry terminal with her family from San Rafael, in Mexico. Her mom, Josefina is on the left, then her older sister Dana, her dad Mario, Suzanne and me, and last but not least, on the right, Emma, our international student from Germany. (Majo is short for Maria Jose.)
These are pictures of the banana plantation which Majo's dad runs in San Rafael, Mexico
…and finally…
And so it goes…