Are you into tech fads?

Some of you don't even realize how you've been

suckered into artificial needs and wants. Buy big tech marketing and you pay for
it by living in the matrix. Here are some examples. A friend of mine said to me,
I make a point of walking 10,000 steps a day. Say what? 10,000 steps? Why not just
say you walk two miles? Well, of course, this is an Apple Watch kind of thing. This
is now the new measure of your health. Another friend put all of his life's
photos, including those he converted to digital, on his phone so his phone has
everything. Then he gets to interrupt some conversation to show some very old
photo. And of course, this is the same guy that will have Siri interject with
some factoid. With his photos and constant hey Siri interactions, he will of
course love Apple intelligence. And Apple intelligence will have all his
intelligence made just for him. Of course, I don't even bother talking about the
dangers of iPhones with my friends, though my anti iPhone 16 video has already
exceeded one million views. So someone is listening at least. But I know that if I
ask normal people why an iPhone I get the typical fanboy answer of it takes the
best photos. Yeah, who told you that? Apple. Oh yeah, Apple says privacy is
iPhone. Yeah, right. Another matrix like behavior is when someone says to me that
he has to use WhatsApp. It's non-negotiable. Everyone he talks to is on
Facebook and WhatsApp. I've managed to survive with neither Facebook, WhatsApp
nor Instagram. Somehow I don't feel like a weirdo. People on the street crossing
an intersection, crossing a busy intersection. And instead of paying
attention to traffic, they are looking at their phones in the middle of the road.
I really wonder why there aren't more accidents. I've survived outside of the
matrix. I don't follow the trends that Tim Cook dictates, but you'll be wrong if
you imagine me to be some anti-tech Luddite. Well, folks, in this video, I talk
about what I personally do and you can judge for yourself if I live like a
ducking caveman. Everything I do is with a privacy focus in mind, yet you might
have the wrong impression of me. I think Joe Rogan had a wrong impression of me.
I'm not really that different. I don't
forget what most of you do to enjoy life. In fact, I'm very techie. Except with a
few minor changes in understanding of the world, I enjoy a safer life. It's not
that hard. If you know what I do in real life as a privacy aware person, you could
copy some of what I do. Want to find out what it is I do? Stay right there.
The difference between me and the average person listening to Tim Cook at an
Apple event is that I have very extensive tech knowledge. Not only do I
explain all these privacy and security concepts here to you on YouTube, but I've
had decades and decades of experience as an enterprise software architect. The
reason I'm seemingly so knowledgeable is that since I've done just about every
kind of tech software in the past, I can predict how someone will use any new
tech breakthrough. This gives me an idea of the potential dangers of any new tech.
And surprisingly too many, including my YouTuber friend David Bombal, is that my
predictions are pretty much always on the mark. I've done three interviews with
David so far and he's always intrigued by what I will predict since it will
always cause him to doubt its accuracy. But then it turns out to be correct after
he researches it later. The point is that I have a good understanding of the
threats to our privacy. But the assumption is that since I know what the risks are,
you would imagine that I would have no internet access, have no phone, and pretty
much disappear online. Which of course is not actually how I live my life. My point
is that if you know what I do, you will see that it's not much of a sacrifice,
it just involves some awareness and some changing of habits. Yes, there's work
involved to fight the invasion of privacy, but I don't live with a tinfoil hat on
my head.
I'm just aware. Being aware means I don't take what Tim Cook says as reality. I
don't buy big
techs depiction of what a cool modern person looks like. One dependent on iPhones
and
Google Docs and Gmail. Some of the things I push are completely low tech. Some
though are
very high tech. Well, let's see what my life is like and you can judge for
yourself.
Since we're talking Apple, I can assume that you know that I would never have an
Apple watch.
So what do I use? Well, if you carry a phone, you know that you don't really need a
watch
since you can pull out your phone. But I'm actually super low tech here. I'm a
mechanical
watch enthusiast. I'm in the watch collecting hobby. Here, for example, is what I'm
currently
wearing, which is an Omega Speedmaster. This is a modern variant of the moon watch
from the 1960s.
I just love that this watch was built without any silicon chips or without anything
electrical in it.
Just human hands and human tools. This is probably a very anti-tech choice, I
imagine.
Though really, I think Omega watches are made by robots now. Here's a controversial
watch that I
own. This is a collector's item. This is a Seagull 1963, which is a Chinese made
chronometer watch
used in the Chinese Air Force in 1963. Actually, it was designed in Switzerland and
sold to China,
but it's historical for $200. Not everything has to be super expensive. But because
I'm Asian,
there will always be the snark remark that I'm CCP, though I'm not even Chinese.
Take note, though.
I'm not going to wear an Apple watch that is not only tied to the surveillance
iPhone,
but is tracking my biometrics all day. I'll stick to the mechanical watches. Thank
you.
So the Apple fanboys say you need the iPhone to get the best camera.
Okay, let's compare that to the camera I actually use. I obviously do a lot of
camera stuff because
I do videos. This is a Sony ZV-E1 camera. You can see some of the lenses I have for
it over here.
The point is that there is no way that an iPhone can beat the quality of this
camera. Now obviously,
this device is all high-tech. It has the highest level of technology as far as
cameras are concerned.
But this is not connected to the internet and everything that transpires is between
me
and the SD card on the camera. This camera is so good that it has the same exact
specs as the
cameras used to create Netflix videos, meaning professional stuff. I've got a lot
to learn
to raise my videos to the pro level, but at least I'm not starting from an iPhone.
Now, this is an expensive camera. This set here could pay for multiple iPhones,
but even the medium level Sony cameras would beat the best iPhone, no doubt.
Well, obviously, you'd expect me to carry a safe phone. So I'm carrying this iPhone
6 here,
which is running IOT OS. I change phones all the time before I was using a Brax2
phone.
It could even be different Brax2 phones. Soon I'll get my hands on the new Brax3
phone,
which is slated for release in January. It's on pre-order now. I'll be sure to show
it to you when
I get it. But anyone who has a phone will likely wonder how is it that I can change
phone so quickly. Don't I have to transfer a million photos, ton of emails, and all
my contacts?
No, it isn't that much work for me and this is probably the biggest difference
between me and
the average iPhone user. I actually mostly use my phone as a phone. I don't really
put much of my
stuff on a phone. Even if I take photos, I will often auto back it up on my
Synology Drive or I
will sync it with my laptop. So I'm not forgoing technology at all. I'm just making
the deliberate
choice of avoiding a focus on mobile tech. You see, in all my lessons on privacy,
80% of the
privacy threats are actually on the mobile phone. Now, this is changing. Microsoft
and Apple are
eager to add threats to PCs as well with Microsoft Copilot and Apple Intelligence.
But I can get
around that. Because I don't rely on my phone as my data storage device, which is
an important
consideration for privacy, I can change phones constantly with little effort. Now,
let's have
no doubt that all my phones are open source phones, no Google or Apple on it ever.
So the next question
is what apps I run? You'd think I'd be so hyper about what apps I run. It's not
actually as restrictive
as you might think. So if you know what I do, then you might understand that it is
not that
restrictive for you either. I have preset rules, apps I cannot install and apps I
will never install.
The Google phones that I use, like this Pixel 6, which is running Android AOSP,
does not have
Google mobile services. This is required by most Google apps. So the first thing
you will realize
is that you cannot use most Google apps. So no Gmail, no Google Docs, no YouTube,
no Google photos
and so on. But in a pinch, you can still access Google, even YouTube on a browser.
What other
apps do I ban from my phones? Well, the only real big problem is anything meta. So
Facebook,
Instagram and WhatsApp are never installed on my phones. Absolutely never. Beyond
this,
I don't have much restrictions. I use Spotify, Amazon, Kindle, Bank App, Signal,
Netflix, Prime
Video. I can definitely run TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Yelp and stuff like that
as well.
But I don't personally find that useful for me. I've tested them though and they
work great on
a Google phone. I can even use Waze and even Google Maps, though I don't really
need them now.
But they're fine as long as you don't log into Google. By the way, the thing I hate
the most is
when I go to a restaurant and they don't give me a menu and I have to use a QR
code. This is a pet
peeve of mine because this is an example of the new phone culture I detest. I'd
rather get a real
menu and real service. Otherwise, why not just do Uber Eats? And to close this out,
Uber and Lyft
do not work on the Google phones. They really need the spyware provided by Google
mobile services.
So in a pinch, they run on a browser. Me, I never use these apps.
So in general, the only concern I have on my phone is with Google sites that I
access from a browser.
Because the phone does not have a Google ID, Google itself can't really track your
device
identifiers like IMEI and so on. But they will attempt to record your IP address if
you use a
browser. This is easily handled even with cell data that will stop them. Or
otherwise, if you
are using Wi-Fi, use VPN. But the problem is that Google sites running on a browser
will track the
IP address constantly, even when you leave the browser. So you have to clear
cookies to stop
further tracking. So that's what I do. My house runs a VPN router. So the only way
to use Wi-Fi in
my house is through a VPN router. But to be honest, I seldom use my phone when I'm
at home. I use a
computer. So I only access Google on a phone from a browser in an emergency. But I
just clear cookies
after using it.
I have several laptops since I do software development. And sometimes I have to do
testing.
What you see here is my main daily driver. This is a Dell XPS 15. And I have
another,
which is a Dell XPS 13. The main difference with the Dell XPS 15 is that it has an
NVIDIA GPU. So
I use it for video editing and for doing AI work. Yes, I do a lot of stuff with a
local AI as I
discussed in my AI videos. That is totally non caveman. But look at this laptop,
you will see
that I'm running Linux on it. Both of these are running Linux. This is what I use
when I have
real data on it. I don't care if I'm running Windows if I don't have personal data
on the
computer. But if I don't want to be tracked, I use Linux. This one here is running
Ubuntu.
And the Dell XPS 13 is running Papa OS. They're running great, actually. I do just
about everything
on Linux. This Dell here is dual boot with Windows, but I rarely go to Windows. And
my Windows instance
is a fresh install with no data. I'm definitely aware that Microsoft Windows and
Mac OS will be
scanning my data on device. So no more of that for me. All Linux. But I have to be
honest with you.
I'm not all anti Google. Not only am I a major YouTube creator, I'm actually
addicted to YouTube
even with their censorship. Even when they demonetize my iPhone video. I heard they
watch movies,
but I am on YouTube constantly. How do I do it safely? I have a dedicated browser
just for Google
and I keep it separate from any non Google interaction. This simple procedure
allows me to
enjoy what I enjoy, what I'm much concerned about privacy.
This is the part that is most unexpected of what I do. And it is part of the
question of
what apps I have on my phone. Because one of the apps that I have on my Google
phone,
which works fine by the way, is a Tesla app. Yes, I have a Tesla. In fact, I'm on
my third Tesla.
I have a long history of buying mostly Mercedes Benz. But no, I didn't buy an EV
Mercedes. I stuck
to Tesla. Some of you wonder why I chose Tesla. I'm sure you're all thinking about
all the spyware
in all cars. Well, that is true that spyware of some sort exists in all cars. I
don't actually
see that Tesla particularly stands out here. In fact, on Tesla, you can choose not
to have
internet connectivity. You could just provide internet in the car through some hot
spot.
Then this would prevent the car from communicating. However, in reality, I found
that Tesla is not a
company that is focused on collection of personal data in anything I've detected.
Even crash data
is kept in the car itself. Camera actions are kept within the car itself and stored
on a local
drive, which you can access. Yeah, it may be safer to drive a 1970s car without
tech. But here in
California, you can't really keep an old car. So you're forced to get a newer one.
I don't Uber,
by the way, that would have a more extensive tracking of my locations. The real
reason I have a Tesla
is because it's really a good car. It performs well. My last one had zero service
over three years,
zero. Plus, I wanted to learn about AI, you know, self driving. Try that with a
Mercedes.
It's very fast, no trips to the gas station. Easy long distance travel within 500
miles.
To be honest, all my decision making was completely based on my perceptions as a
consumer. I didn't
make any decision based on guilt about the environment or even the cost of fuel. In
fact,
in California, the cost of fuel versus electricity is almost equal anyway. So I
just like it. That's
really the only reason. Now, I have a standard DSL service, but I also have
Starlink. I really
only bought Starlink for testing and as a backup. It is more expensive than my
normal DSL, but it is
nice as a VPN alternative when some site blocks a VPN. Because it uses IPv6, it
shields me when I
cannot use a VPN. Can Starlink spy on you? That's not really all that relevant,
since 99% of what
I do on the internet is protected with HTTPS or TLS. Anyway, I'm more concerned
about the IPv4 address.
Now, as far as phone carriers, I've changed this several times, though mostly I've
stuck with T-Mobile
MVNOs. No real reason other than service. But nowadays, I get extra lines with Brax
virtual
phone and I just love that the less exposure to phone carriers, the better.
You might be wondering about what other electronics I use in my house. I definitely
do not use any
IoT devices like Google Home or Apple HomeKit, nor do I use Amazon Ring cameras.
You will never
catch me using Alexa Echo either. And of course, no air tag since I don't use an
iPhone. I've tested
with the Tile Pro, which is okay because I never identified myself with them, but
it's not very
accurate. What about security systems? Well, in the past, I made and actually sold
my own security
camera system with my own software using a Raspberry Pi. We actually 3D printed the
cases and had several
around my property. But I found that Eufy, which you can find on Amazon, does a
pretty good job
and it keeps my data on its local hard drive. No issues with privacy here. What
about TVs?
By the way, you can hardly buy a TV nowadays that is not a smart TV or that doesn't
have
some sort of Alexa in it. So it means microphones in the TVs themselves are
standard now.
Strangely enough, I hardly ever use a TV. I'm the caveman, but on the computer all
day,
not a phone, not a TV. So the TVs are off 90% of the time. Just make sure they're
really off
by disconnecting them from power if that concerns you. Of course, some of you are
aware of my other
YouTube channels. I have a sailing channel and a jazz channel. I'm an avid sailor
and a jazz pianist.
Hey man, I've finally gotten past 500,000 subscribers here on YouTube. I think
that's pretty
cool actually, but I don't have to act cool with my devices. Let's all act cool
together with our
secret on how to make technology work for us. Folks, this channel is supported by
all of you
that are part of this community. Thank you for supporting us on Patreon and locals
and
YouTube membership. By the way, we are releasing the new Brax 3 phone in January
and right now
we are setting up the pre-orders on BraxTech.net. We had a little bit of a glitch
with that being
able to take credit cards. So that will hopefully be handled soon by ordering it
from Indiegogo.
Please check announcements on BraxTech.net. We are also happy to provide products
that help
with your privacy and I personally use all of these. We have the Brax Virtual Phone
which allows
you to have additional phone numbers so you can keep your phone number from being
an ID card on
the internet. We have Brax Mail which is incredible because it allows unlimited
aliases you can just
invent on the fly. It allows you to create different internet identities and you
can block
each one instantly. We have Bytes VPN which protects your IP address from being
used to
track you on the internet. All these products are available on Brax Mail. Thank you
for your
continued support and I'll see you all next time.