The Best One Yet - 🦞 “The Lobsterman is an Influencer” — Blue Collar TikTok. Sports Illustrated’s faux-bot. Amazon’s palm-reader.

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Tickets for tonight’s TBOY Live Show in San Francisco: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shack15-live-the-best-one-yet-tickets-755859846147?aff=oddtdtcreatorThe newest Influncer trend? Blue Collar workers on TikTok — Because the more digital our lives, the more physical our desires.Sports Illustrated got caught publishing an article written by a fake journalist — So we whipped up Rule #47 for Artificial Intelligence: Robots are fine, Faux-bots aren’t.And Amazon’s newest product replaces building keycards with palm-scanners — Because Amazon’s builds the product first and finds the market second.$AMZN $METASubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on Youtube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, Saviche Wednesday, November 29th. And today's pot, it is the best one yet. It is a T-Boyd. Today is Wednesday, November 29. Oh, you know what that means, Jack? Today is our live show in San Francisco.

It's the live show in San Francisco today, although it's a sold-out show, but what did we do, Jack? We discovered a couple extra tickets. So we whipped up a few extra tickets for the Yetis out there. So if you're in San Francisco today. And you want to check out T-Boy Live. We want to see you there. Check out the show notes for an Evite link to buy your tickets. We got a few tickets left before we run out.

In the meantime, Jack, what are the three stories for today's show? For our first story, the biggest new influencers on TikTok are a fisherman, a tree trimmer, and a garbage man. Welcome to the world of blue collar TikTok. For our second story, Amazon's newest product is a palm scanner to let you into your office building. Because Amazon's best product is really the pivot. And our third and final story is Sports Illustrated. This old school sports magazine is facing backlash for articles written by AI. So Jack and I want to introduce you to the new rule of faux bots.

Not robots. No. Fobots. It's Fobots. This story is about Fobots. Not robots, fobots. And you should never use Fobots. Don't call a robot a faux bot or a fobobot.

But Yeties. before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What? A mix of stories on the live show day, Jack. Perfect mix. Celebrities. They're just like us. They're just like us. Yet these last month we told you about the new vacation trend, celebrity Airbnbs. One lucky guest can book Gwyneth Paltrow's Santa Barbara pool house on Airbnb. Detox your face while your Botox your wallet. Guess what? DJ Caled is hosting too. You can spend a night in his gigantic sneaker closet.

because DJ Collins sneaker closet is bigger than your condo. So Nook and I gotta ask, why are celebrities doing this? Yeah, well, it's not to make money with the new side hustle. They don't need the money, Jack. They're doing this because it's good Pia. It makes them very relatable. It's like when Queen Elizabeth let commoners into Buckingham Palace. If you book Ashton Couther's house and Airbnb,

maybe he forgot to transfer the laundry to the dryer. The trash can in his bathroom? Yeah, it's loaded with gross toenails too. That's relatable. But here's the news. The newest celebrity home on Airbnb is the home of Martha Stewart. Martha Stewart, legendary Yeti. She is the diva of home design.

And now you can book a night at Martha's 150-acre New York Estate with Martha Stewart. That Martha Stewart. You can get a personal wreath-making class with Martha Stewart. While you're there, you can prepare a sourdough starter kit with Martha Stewart. And you can sleep in a bedroom in sconce in a pack of fur. With Martha Stewart. But there's one thing we should point out. Yeah, there is that one thing.

What is that thing, Jack? You also have to sign an NDA with Martha Stewart. He's to stay in Martha Stewart's house on Airbnb. You must sign a non-disclosure agreement. Because she doesn't want you stealing her cookbook ideas. No snitching about her sconces. Martha doesn't want barefoot contessa getting a scoop about her next cookie recipe. Yet these celebrities, they're just like us.

But legally, we can't say anything else. Actually, we're going to be sued if we say anything else. Actually, can I even say that? Marcia, is that okay? Let me check the end, yeah. She says no, she says we have to hit our three stories, Jack. Five-star review, or else. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm.

They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is annoying. You need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show.

For our first story, there's a new trend in the creator economy, and that trend is blue-collar TikTok. Blue-collar TikTok. The newest influencers aren't fashion models. They're garbage guys. Yet is, have you heard of Jacob Knowles? Jack, does Jacob Knowles ring a bell to you? He's a lobster man on the mid-coast of Maine. He's about 30 years old, and at 4 a.m. every day, he puts on an orange rubber fishing kid.

True story. He grabs a couple of ropes. And he jumps on his vessel. Don't forget the diesel. Never want to forget the diesel. In the middle of the winter, when all the vacationers have left back for home, this man set sail to catch lobster. And yet he's hears the crazy news.

This lobsterman has two and a half million followers on TikTok. Sit down, stand up, and crack that lobster again, Jack. Captain Jacob Knowles, who catches lobster. You're around in Maine. He is two and a half million followers on TikTok. Could he sprinkle on some context for us, please? He is the epitome of a blue-collar TikTok influencer. And he has a following that's four times the population of Boston.

This man is the Kim Kardashian of crustaceans. Yes, he is. But Jack, let's put this lobster men aside for a second. Does the name Adam Perry mean anything to you? Oh, he's the guy who shimmies up trees. Yeah. And then he brings up a chainsaw and he trims branches that are going to fall on the apparel lines and causing out it. Yet he's Adam Perry is a tree trimmer.

He has 250. thousand followers. This man is the Mr. Beast of Bamboo. Let's round it out with the Shepherdess. That's her screen name on TikTok. The Shepherdess on TikTok has 100,000 followers. And what does the Shepherdess do exactly? She's not doing a get ready with me makeup tutorial. No. She is shearing sheep

for wool. This woman got 100,000 followers for shaving sheep on TikTok. She's a shepherdess. Yet he's added all up and that is a new trend. It's called Blue Cocker. TikTok. We have a growing obsession with watching videos of manual work done with hands. Now, driving this trend is something Jack and I mentioned to you yesterday, right, Jack?

Authenticity. Authenticity, right? On the ship of this fishing boat, there's no ring lights, no filters, no makeup. It's just a salty man on the salty sea. That's it. But yet he's, Jack and I were thinking about this blue collar TikTok story and we were thinking it's something deeper than that. The more digital our lives become, the more we romanticize. physical job. Okay, think about this for a second. You probably spend like eight to 10 hours of your day

staring at a screen, laptop, phone, iPad. The most physical thing we do on a day-to-day basis is tap the space box. That's it. Like, I, um, I moved my laptop screen, Jack. That was it. So, we see these videos as an escape to the physical. The long haul truck driver is going to show you the refrigerated ice cream hall that he's doing and that. That sounds awesome. I would watch that, Jack. These videos get us close enough to a dirty job to scratch our physical itch. But they keep us far enough away so you don't get dirty. That is blue collar TikTok. But honestly, this trend actually isn't anything new.

And now, Jack and I think we've seen it before. And I think Jack, we've seen it in our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies watching blue collar TikTok? Distribution expires. But content is forever. Yeties, Jack and I have seen this before literally. It was called Dirty Jobs. It was a TV show on the Discovery Channel 20 years ago.

Nick loves this guy. The host was Mike Ryan. Great God. He would get wicked dirty. Oh, he was incredible. He would like climb into sewers. He would drill for oil. Yeah, I saw him kill a cockroach a thousand times in one episode.

One episode, he was an exterminator. He was a pest guy. He was wild. He did dirty jobs. Well, today, Garbage Man on TikTok, he's doing the same content just through a different distribution channel. Today, it's not a 30-minute traditional TV show. on how you take out your garbage. It's a 30-second video on TikTok by Garbage Guy,

hunting for treasure in the landfill. Yet he's added all up, and this is the same content. It's blue-collar jobs. But just different distribution. Not TV, but TikTok. Because distribution channels expire, but content is forever. For our second story,

Amazon is now replacing your office building key with a palm scanner. It's a strategy pivot for Amazon. Right. Because Amazon's strategy is to pivot. Oh, Jack, do you remember that scene in Mean Girls, like the one with Gretchen Weeners? Which one? The one with Gretchen where she's trying to make fetch happen.

She's trying to make fetch happen. But it doesn't happen. No, it isn't happen. Well, yeah, ever since Amazon acquired Whole Foods, they've been trying to make palm scanning happen. Yeah, Amazon's dream is that you use its palm scanning technology when you're in aisle 16 and you're checking out at the grocery store. They want you to buy a whole Thanksgiving shopping cart. Yeah. with a high five.

Yeah, $14. Coconut water, just rub your hand. No wallet, no app. It knows who you are based on your handprint. Like a tarot reading. It's incredible. But here's the news. Amazon is pivoting that technology.

They're now selling palm scanning technology to office building. Yeah, he's instead of getting through security and locked doors with a key card at your office. And awkwardly putting your back pocket up on the scanner. One second, I got my card here. Oh, my God. I fumbled with my wallet. You can just place your hand. on a little tablet.

And honestly, Jack, that kind of makes sense, doesn't it? Because there's nothing less fashionable than a lanyard, holding your key card in front of you. When you, like, have to stretch your neck to scan in at the office. Or even worse, the little lines that, like, come in and out, you know? Best, you don't want to be that guy. Plus, key cards can be handed to colleagues. Right. So there's a security risk with key cards.

Scanning your palm is more secure. It's basically like scanning your thumb with a little more. And you can't give your palm to a buddy. Someone hasn't seen Mission Impossible Six. But Yetis, here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. This POM scan pivot by Amazon is actually part of a bigger pivot by Amazon. Stuff that failed with consumers, Amazon is now selling to businesses. Because Yeties, Jack and I have been keeping track.

And we've caught a similar Amazon story last week about them pivoting a new product. Remember Astro? Yeah. Maybe you don't actually. But Astro was a rolling droid robot with a tablet for a face that was designed for the home. It was like a robot puppy that was patrolling your house, Jack. Astro was launched two years ago, and it's like a little security R2D2 Nanny for your home. It connects to Amazon's ring home security.

It's got built in cameras so you can check your home from your phone. But last week, Amazon announced they're selling Astro to businesses instead. Yeah, to patrol the office or warehouse instead of your living room or down. dining room. Because one way to deter theft at your business is to hire a security guard. But a cheaper way to deter theft is to buy a rolling Amazon robot security guard with built-in cameras. So, Amazon's palm scanning tack was built for grocery stores, but now it's being used at office buildings. And Amazon's rolling robot was built for homes, but now it's being used for office buildings. I sense a trend. I sense a takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our?

our buddies over at Amazon. Amazon builds the product first and finds the market later. Honestly, that is the opposite of everything we've heard. Like Yetis, you've heard of product market fit? Amazon is doing market product fit. Because the funny thing about the Palm Scanner and those home robots, neither was really selling. Like that Astro Robot Amazon unveiled two years ago?

Have you ever actually seen one in a buddy's home? I haven't. No, I haven't either. And that Palm Scanning tech, it was supposed to revolutionize retail. but no one's using it outside of Whole Foods. So Amazon is pivoting like it always does. In fact, Jack and I have seen more examples throughout Amazon's history of a bunch of pivots.

Amazon Web Services started as an internal sidehouse, but now it's their main profit puppy. Amazon's key to success isn't building the perfect thing. It's pivoting to the perfect use case. Because Amazon builds the product first and finds the market later. For our third and final, Final story, Sports Illustrated, was just caught publishing articles by fake authors.

SI is using Fobots. And that's a big no-no of artificial intelligence. Jack, can we just talk a little nostalgia here about our buddies over at Sports Illustrated? It was the pioneer of sports journalism. Yeah, we grew up reading Rick Riley on Sports Illustrated in bed with like a poster of Adam Graves and the New York Rangers above our bed. Adam Graves? Hockey player? I'll pretend you didn't say that, Jack.

Every week, we wondered who would be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It was the award-winning weekly magazine telling these stories of sports, Sports Illustrated. But SI hasn't adapted well to the internet. And according to an article in Futurism, they just hit an awkward, self-inflicted rock bottom. Okay, Yetis, here's the story. Futurism noticed an article that was written on Sports Illustrated by Drew Ortiz. Here's the funny thing, though. Besides his bio page on Sports Illustrated, Drew Ortiz didn't seem to exist online.

We were Googling Drew Ortiz. You can look on LinkedIn for Drew Ortiz who works at Sports Illustrated. And, Jack, I'm not seeing anything. Not seeing anything. So based on a tip from someone inside SI, they reached out and said, who is Drew Ortiz? They were like, Sports Illustrated, what's the background of this Drew Ortiz? Be honest. Is he a real person?

Yeties, get this. Sports Illustrated did not respond to those questions about who is their writer, Drew Ortiz. But they did something. Yeah, what did they do, Jack? deleted all of Drew's articles. Yetis, plot twist and spoiler alert. It turns out Drew Ortiz is completely fake. Yeties, Drew Ortiz does not exist.

The articles published by Drew Ortiz, those appear to be fake too. Yeah, they were weirdly written for Sports Illustrated under the name of Drew Ortiz, and that was probably by artificial intelligence. Even the picture. They included a picture of Drew Ortiz. You can see Drew Ortiz. Like, we're looking at Drew Ortiz right now. Even the picture is fake.

Yeah, actually, you can actually buy this picture of Drew Ortiz. It's an artificially generated headshot, and it's labeled on this marketplace for fake headshots as neutral white male. Okay, yeah, if you go to Sports Illustrated to read more about Drew Ortiz. Well, the website's deleted. Right, right. If you did that like a week ago, you would have seen a bio of Drew Ortiz that looked real. It went on and on saying how much he loves being outdoors. But Drew Ortiz is fake, and that bio was fake, even though it sounded and looked.

So here's the recap. Sports Illustrated published a fake article from a fake author, but really tried to make him look real, with fake pictures of him and a fake description. That is awkward. Now, this isn't the first time a legit publisher has put something completely AI generated online. Who are we thinking about Jack? BuzzFeed was one of the first to use AI generated articles. Yet he's sorry to break it to you, but that top 10 ranking of Disney princesses was probably pumped out by a BuzzFeed bot. But at least BuzzFeed was transparent about it. Right, right.

Because if you go to that Disney princess listicle, it's going to say it was written by... Buzzy the bot. Who is BuzzFeed's AI robot. Right. S.I, on the other hand, they lied. They tried to trick us into thinking, it's Drew Ortiz about this. A real human being. Now, Sports Illustrated blames a contractor who they work with for this whole fake Drew Ortiz

Fiasco situation. But the buck stops with you, Sports Illustrated. You shouldn't push publish if it might be written by a bot. And that had Jack and I come up with the takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies in the tech industry? Rule number 47 of artificial intelligence. Don't use faux bots. Yet he's Drew Ortiz was a faux bot, a robot falsely pretending to be a human.

A faux robot, a foebot. And that's the worst kind of AI. It's the worst kind of robot. One that misleads you to think it's a real person. Of course, it does make sense to use the power of AI for productivity. and even creativity. But passing off that AI as a human like Sports Illustrated tried to do?

Yeah. That seems fundamentally dishonest. Now, Yetis, Sports Illustrated is financially desperate. And a lot of online publishers, they're financially desperate. But the word of the year is authentic, Nick. Literally, the dictionary said,

authentic is the word of the year. And this is blatantly inauthentic and deceiving. Now, Yeties, we're all figuring out the rules of AI as we go. But passing off AI as not AI, That just feels wrong. So, Jack, what's our rule number 47 of artificial intelligence? Don't use fobots.

If it's a robot, call it a robot. If it's a foebot, don't use it. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for Saviche Wednesday? Blue collar TikTok is the newest batch of influencers. They're doing dirty jobs. Because distribution channels expire, but content is forever. For our second story, Amazon is trying to replace office building key cards with palm scammers. Because Amazon builds the product first, then finds the market later.

And our third and final story is Sports Illustrated. They were caught using a faux bot. They had AI that tried to pass off as a human. Rule number 47 of artificial intelligence. If it's a robot, call it a robot. If it's a fobot, don't use it. Don't use a fobought. But yeties, this pod's not over yet.

Here's what else you need to know today. First, over on Wall Street, November is looking like Govember. just keep on going up on November. Stocks rose again yesterday, and it's on pace for the best month in one and a half years. And second, Apple just proposed to Goldman Sachs a plan to end their credit card partnership. It's the biggest bank to tech marriage, and it might be breaking up soon. And finally, at 99 years old, legendary investor Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway just passed away. Charlie Munger is best known as the right-hand man to Warren Buffett.

Those two were the ultimate investing. duo. And yeties, Jack and I have been reading more about them. There's some really interesting things Charlie Munger said, and we may be whipping up a story on that. We'll keep you updated. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Quate Dodson from lovely Sierra Vista, Arizona. Trivia. Trivia. Where was the first ever McDonald's drive-thru? Okay, you're never going to get this, because this is like the last place you'd think of a McDonald's drive-thru. The first McDonald's drive-thru was at Fort Wachuka, Arizona. That's right. It is the first McDonald's drive-through was born at an army base because of a quirky rule at army bases.

McDonald's noticed that their sales just outside of Fort Wachuka, Arizona, were really struggling. And it turns out that was because of a new army rule at the time that soldiers at the fort could not leave their cars when they left the base. If they left the base, they had to stay in the car. Funny rule. Yeah, weird rule. But McDonald's realized the only way we can save our business is if we serve them burgers while they're in their cars. How can we get them a Big Mac without them having to get out of the vehicle? Maybe Jack, if we add a lane to drive through in your vehicle.

That's how Fort Wachuka, Arizona became McDonald's first drive-thru. And now the drive-through is 70% of McDonald's business. Even though none of us are being told by the military to not get out of our vehicles. Sir, stay in the vehicle. Yetis, you look fantastic today. Jack, you're looking fantastic for the live show. Are you ready to go? What are you wearing, by the way?

I think we should wear a T-Boy uniform. I like what you're thinking there. Okay, right. We're going to look like we're playing a big game today. Oh, are you thinking about the new T-boy uniform? If you know, you know. Did it arrive yet? It's going to arrive before the show.

Yeties, Jack and I got some hair and makeup to hit. We are pumped for tonight's show. Remember, we have a few more tickets. Check out the link in the show now. Jack, hold my toner, Yetis. We'll see you tonight and tomorrow. In San Francisco. Can't wait.

And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Kate Brink over in Hingham, Massachusetts. And where is that, Jack? Just outside Boston. Oh, if we know Kate, she's celebrating with a fantastic dessert. And congratulations to Maddie and Ryan, who just bought their first house in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco. Hey, Maddie and Ryan, look out for our buddies, the Marinos, also in the Outer Sunset. And happy birthday to James Cullen. in Redmond, Virginia.

And Sarah Moore, a legendary Yeti, happy birthday down in Arlington, Virginia. Brandon Ranson, happy birthday over in Erie, Pennsylvania. And Sebastian Herrick is celebrating that birthday in Washington, D.C. With the best cake yet. You gotta have cake. And to anyone else celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins.

This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon, and Nick and I both own stock of Airbnb and Apple.