Jesse (00:00): RNZ National. It's time for Tech Tuesday, and I'm joined by Daniel Watson of Vertech IT Services. Hey, Dan.
Daniel (00:06): Hey, how you doing, Jesse? Good. Good.
Jesse (00:08): Are you excited? And I can't believe I'm asking this because, but if you can't beat it, join it. Right? Are you excited about Black Friday?
Daniel (00:17): No, no, no, no. I try to avoid malls because they're temples are consumerism and I do not feel good whenever I go there.
Jesse (00:23): No, I'm the same. But of course lots of people buy things online for Black Friday, right?
Daniel (00:26): Oh yeah, true, true, true, true. Look, I guess it's an opportunity. If there is an actual bargain and not just a purported bargain, then yeah, it's cool to get that in prior to Christmas so that you saved a few bucks in November rather than leaving it all in December.
Jesse (00:44): It's like doing the Boxing Day sales, but before Christmas instead of after Christmas.
Daniel (00:49): Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's one way of thinking about it. If I was organized enough and my wife will attest to that I'm not, I would probably already have a list of things that I'd be buying for people and I would be looking at it. Alas, I am who I am. Somewhat with it.
Jesse (01:09): Any tips for buying techy gifts for people listening?
Daniel (01:13): Yeah. Well, okay, so at this time of year, people are probably going to be a bit pinched for cash or they're going to be in a rush because they start doing it last moment shopping. And that in terms of how it makes it easy for you to be scammed, is something to be aware of that there are criminals who feed on that sense of urgency or desperation in order to get you to do things that you may not normally do.
(01:44): So there is a freight forwarding type scam that you get on Facebook and on and Trade Me, and it's quite clever in terms of it anonymizes the person who's actually doing the scamming. So imagine getting offered a quick part-time job type of thing where you could earn a bit of extra cash. It could be on a Facebook or jobs page for the local area, or somebody's locally advertising for a bit of help with their online business.
(02:20): You think, "Here's could be a way I can make myself a little bit of cash." And they're looking for somebody trustworthy to do some online work for them. So essentially what they'll get you to do is say, sell a brand new iPhone on Trade Me. They've got photos of it and all the rest of the details and can tell you what to put on the post, you just need to list it for them, handle the questions and transaction back and forth, and they'll flick you one third of the profit.
(02:54): Now what that's done is that the phone doesn't exist, and they're going to get the money, and it's not going to be sent, but you are the one who's going to be left on the hook. So, if you've got a Trade Me account that might be killed off. Right? Because they're leveraging the fact that you've got probably some transaction history there.
Jesse (03:14): Got it. They take advantage of the reputation you have on a marketplace. They ask you to sell it for them, but then surprise, surprise, there's no phone. And they take the money presumably.
Daniel (03:26): Yep. And you are the one who's essentially committed fraud.
Jesse (03:32): Okay. So basically avoid offers of work on Facebook that sound like it's anything related to selling something on behalf of someone else.
Daniel (03:41): The other typical kind of one that happens is when you've put up a listing and they're offering to buy it. They send you some proof of payment for it, but it's too much. But they say that's for the shipping fees. But then, oh, could you refund that through something else, like a wire transfer? That's what they've usually done in that situation is they've faked the proof of payment like a screenshot, and they've sent that through for you, hoping that you're trusting them enough that you're just going to go and send the kit or send the money without that. That's fairly common as well.
Jesse (04:17): Can't these people just get jobs, Daniel? Honestly, the energy they put into ripping other people off, they put the same energy into going to school and getting a qualification and getting a legitimate job, their life would be so much more simple and less stressful.
Daniel (04:32): Maybe. I mean, different strokes of different folks, Jesse. Just because we're honest upright citizens doesn't mean everybody is.
Jesse (04:37): I suppose. What's on the Christmas wishlist of you? The biggest techie I know.
Daniel (04:44): Okay, so I'm going to pick, this is a recommendation that chap, hopefully, I'm not going to brutalize his name, the Kenyan long distance runner who smashed out of the ball park. He runs marathons, and the times that I'd consider a really good half marathon. Eliud Kipchoge.
Jesse (05:03): Okay, you're telling the story? No, I don't know. But go on, continue.
Daniel (05:06): You don't know him?
Jesse (05:07): No.
Daniel (05:07): Man. Dude's amazing. He's just the speed at which he runs, it's incredible. So he had a little wishlist of things that he can't live without. And it was a set of sports headphones called Shocks Open Pros. And they're the kind of headphones which sit outside the ear so they don't sit inside your ear canal, they sit just forward of that little triangular bit in front of your ear and they beam the sound backwards. And also the base kind of goes directly through the bones of that part of your cheek up there by your ears. And it feels a little bit funny at first, but then what you realize is you can actually hear the music or the audiobook very well. They can't fall out, because it wraps around the back of the head and it sits there quite snugly. They've got battery life like 10 hours. I honestly, I sometimes have trouble sleeping, so I put on an audiobook or a podcast and I fall asleep to some chap blathering away. I'll wake up in the morning, and it's still playing, and then I'll go for a run, come back and then it's still saying battery medium.
Jesse (06:21): Wow. Okay.
Daniel (06:21): I put it on charge.
Jesse (06:22): And same price as the apple Air Pods, which is on a lot of people's wishlist as well.
Daniel (06:30): Cheaper actually. Yeah. What I'm looking at is cheaper.
(06:31): And they're not going to fall off, and you're going to lose them. They're very robust. I perspire quite profusely, and they're doing very well with putting up with that. So I totally rate it.
Jesse (06:31): Okay.
Daniel (06:44): ,If you're a bit of a sports fan or you just have trouble sleeping and they don't bother, you roll over at night, you're not getting something poking you in the ear or something like that.
Jesse (06:52): Well look, they're a bit out of my budget for your Christmas present this year, Daniel, but I'm going to get you a headband, at least deal with a sweat.
Daniel (06:59): Thank you. That would be sensible. The other thing which I'm, [inaudible 00:07:04].
Jesse (07:03): Just quickly the news is coming up, Daniel, go on.
Daniel (07:05): Oh, okay. Outdoor projectors. Battery powered outdoor high definition projectors. Going camping, just imagine that you're up in the boondocks and you just want to play a movie for the kids.
Jesse (07:17): Oh my gosh.
Daniel (07:18): [inaudible 00:07:18].
Jesse (07:18): People will be cursing their radios, Daniel. They'll saying you're out in the wilderness, don't be watching a movie. But yes, I do get it.
Daniel (07:25): Oh, it's sooner or later the songs run out and the spooky bedtime stories are no longer appreciated. You just want to chuck on a movie and have the little monsters shut up. I reckon these will be great.
Jesse (07:36): So they just Google outdoor projector, would they?
Daniel (07:39): Yeah. Yeah, the outdoor projectors is like a Ben Q GS 50, which I've kind of got on my wishlist. I think that would be super cool. But there's loads, and they're in this bracket, and they look pretty neat. Some of the reviews I have seen, I mean these things are revolutionary. You know, why would you bother with anything else.
Jesse (07:59): In case anyone's interested, that's about $1,900. This is the good Christmas list.
Daniel (08:06): No.
Jesse (08:06): Good on you, Daniel.
Daniel (08:07): Not cheap.
Jesse (08:07): Nice couple of ideas there, and thanks so much. We will talk again before Christmas. Thanks so much for your time today.
Daniel (08:13): All right. Hurrah, mate.
Have you had a security incident in the past and you have a nagging feeling that not much has changed to prevent it from happening again?
See our cybersecurity services
Explore our co-managed IT services
Need help with process optimization?
Join our systems coaching