WEBVTT
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Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the
ever changing world of technology? Check it
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Out can help make some sense of
it all, breaking down geeksbeak into street
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speak. Technology columnist author ANTV personality
Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week for
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every listener. Mark tackles the latest
news, reviews, and how toos to
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help you understand what's hot, what's
not and why. Hey everyone, welcome
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to check it Out. Episode three
thirty eight. What a week in tech
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with the DOJ suing Apple over its
iPhone monopoly in a landmark antitrust case.
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Wow, I've probably heard all about
that. TikTok may be banned in this
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country, So lots of drama there
and we'll learn a bit more about its
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fate next week. Formerly of CNN, Don Lemon interviewed Elon Musk over X
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on Twitter, Musk's social media platform, only for Lemon's show to be canceled.
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Okay, Amazon is in the middle
of its big bring sale as they
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call it, with lots of deals
to be had and other really big stories
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this week, and we have a
fantastic show planned for you, if I
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may say so myself. By kicking
off with a chat about whiskey and technology.
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Yes, there is a correlation,
apparently. Black Light will join us
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to chat about gaming chairs and desks. We spring into new tech with Mario
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Armstrong. We also get our geecon
to talk about comic books with the co
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owner of Silver Snail Comics, about
what's hot this spring and why all of
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this and more on an all new
tech it out powered by Intel Core Ultra
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PCs, which I'll tell you more
about shortly. But let's officially kick off
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the show with our first interview,
consider it Algorithms meets alcohol. One of
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the biggest names in the spirit world
Diagio, which of course has more than
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two hundred brands like Johnny Walker and
Smeirnoff. For the past couple of years,
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they've been experimenting with decoding whisky.
What does that mean exactly and what
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data are they looking for and why? To tell us more, we're joined
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by you and Morgan He's National Education
Director and National Luxury Ambassador for Diagio North
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America. Sweet gig, thanks for
your time you and good to chat with
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you. Nice to chat to you
too. Thank you so much. I
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know there's a lot more to your
job, but to sip whiskey as part
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of your occupation. I think it
was pretty darn cool. Yeah, it
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doesn't suck as they say, I
will expect not. Before we talk tech
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and it's connection to whiskey, tell
us a bit about yourself, your career,
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and your work with Dagio. Absolutely. So. My whiskey career started
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officially in the age of sixteen on
a distillery shoveling mall every morning. But
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before that, I actually grew up
on a distillery. Third generation whiskey.
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My dad made whiskey, my grandfather
made whiskey. I talk about whiskey,
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used to make whiskey. My son
works in whiskey, and so yeah,
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it's kind of like the family tradition. So yeah, I started thirty four
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years ago in whiskey, and my
day to day there is no day to
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day. I travel eighty five percent
of the year. I was just in
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part city. Before that, I
was in Miami. Now I'm in Scotland.
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So I get to travel around evangelizing
about the wonderful flavors and aromas and
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how to taste and how to know'
whiskey and pairing dinners I do all over
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the country, which are wonderful.
So I live charmed existence. It sounds
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like it. Congrats, thanks,
and you are joining us from Scotland from
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the Port Island Distillery. What's going
on there? Yeah, I'm on Isla
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as we speak, and landed an
hour ago and then dashed over here set
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up so we can have this week
chat. What is happening here is something
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very exciting. So this week we
are reopening distillery called Port Ellen and it
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closed in nineteen eighty three and is
reopening this year. But it's quite an
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old distiller, you know, it
was founded in eighteen twenty five, is
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known throughout the world with whiskey whiskey
geek and collectors as one of the rarest
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whiskeys on the planet because when it
did close, you know, over forty
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years ago, there was only a
finite amount of that liquid left and after
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all these years, there's not an
awful lot out there. So yeah,
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it's one of those gems of the
whiskey industry. And the fact that we're
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putting this investment into reopening it where
people can visit it again and we're going
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to make whiskey again and put it
into barrels, so we're kind of future
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proofing, you know, this the
legacy of this distillery, people are going
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to be able to taste poor Ellen
into the future, into perpetuity. Speaking
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of rare whiskey, and I don't
want to get off topic. I don't
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know if you heard. I do
live in Canada and on the west coast
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of the country. A Vancouver liquor
store this week is two hundred and twenty
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eight thousand dollars richer because they sold
a very rare bottle of what's called the
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McAllen the Reach. It's an eighty
one year old single malt. There's only
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two hundred and eighty eight bottles.
Made you hear about this? I did
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hear about it. Crazy. Yeah, So I used to work for the
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company who owned McCallen. That was
part my first job. And my cousin
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works at McCallen as well. And
my dad lives in Avalare and Space and
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he leaps over the river onto McCallen. So yeah, very very collectible distillery,
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wonderful, wonderful whiskey. Awesome.
I hope you didn't mind me getting
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off topic, not at all.
And I wouldn't aggravate you by asking you
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what's better Scotch or Irish whiskey.
But let's hear more about this connection between
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algorithms. If I hear a click, then I know I really offended you.
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But it doesn't sound like you hung
up on me. I'm still here.
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Let's hear more about the connection between
algorithms and alcohol. As I said
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off the top. Okay, So
this is actually a very very exciting step
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forward in the world of whiskey for
multiple reasons. One is the first time
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we've ever used this type of technology
using this DNAI algorithm, and two demystify
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whiskey and it creates something that everybody
can understand. So the way it works
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is we take small samples of these
whiskeys and in this case from Port Ellen
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Distillery from real belief called the Gemini
which just came out, which is a
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twin bottling of forty four year old
single malts from nineteen seventy eight. And
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what they did was they put them
into two different styles of casks. So
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they were in three sherry barrels,
and then they split those into two and
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one is called a remnant cask and
one was a sherry butt. So the
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sherry butt is from Herath in Spain. That's going to give you more fruity
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rich qualities, whereas the remnant cask
is from liquids from the sixties through the
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eighties, and it would have been
used as like an overflow cast that would
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have been in the warehouse for tasting
people when they went in these wonderful distillery
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tours. But what we wanted to
do was see the difference between the two
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of them. So if you think
about whiskey as a huge chemistry experiment,
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what happens over time is different flavors
are created, some flavors will dwindle or
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mellow. But what we wanted to
do is take a snapshot of the two
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liquids and see how different they were. So using this algorithm, we put
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it through you know, liquid and
gas chromatography, and if you're not a
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chemist, the results of these don't
really make a huge amount of sense.
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But what this does is it pulled
us data apart, using millions of these
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data points, and then it created
a visual. So what we wanted to
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do really is create this wonderful animation
that we'll say, you have all of
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these chemicals in here, but what
do these chemicals actually mean to the layman?
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So like vanilla in will taste like
vanilla. Then we've got phenol that's
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going to have this really nice smoky
characteristic to it. Then you've got other
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things in there like crease, all
phenols and cannons and why I call and
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you think it's called translactones or cis
lactones and they smell and taste like coconut.
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So what we're doing is we're taking
these chemical compounds and then attaching real
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world flavors or aromas to it,
so anybody could then understand that, you
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know, earth venus coconut, you
know this wonderful medicinal or roma or spicy
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or vanilla. Why why does this
whiskey smell and taste the way it does?
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And then creating this wonderful visual to
explain it. I'm going to ask
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you more about that in a moment. That's super cool. We are chatting
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with you and Morgan, national Education
Director and National Luxury Ambassador for Diagio North
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America. What a title, what
a job, joining us from port Ellen
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Distillery in Scotland to talk with us
about algorithms and alcohol and what they're doing
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with this extremely rare whiskey, this
port Allen Gemini by analyzing it with what's
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called the smoke. Dnai. Lets
you see the makeup of the whiskey.
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Can you elaborate a little bit more
on that. It's not just based on
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taste like vanilla or coconut notes or
anything like that. Yeah, you can
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see. We've created an animation actually
of the two different liquids, and the
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animation will show that the peaks and
like the you know, the percentiles of
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these different congeners we call them congeners
are the impurities in whiskey that make whiskey
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whiskey, and they have different flavor
profiles. You know, you'll have smoke,
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sometimes you'll have richness, you'll have
fruit, you'll have vanilla. And
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what this animation does is really show
in a visual format what the percentiles look
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like, and then overlaying it with
the chemical names, and then underneath that
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will show what those chemical names actually
give you on the palette. So anyone
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can look at it, anyone can
understand it, and it's got a very
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fancy name. They call it this
digital Neoteric Algorithmic image, and this algorithm
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is used to the code and visualize
the whiskey, smoke and the intricate composition
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and evolution during aging. A lot
of big words in there. Yeah,
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it sounds impressive. As a geek, I got to tell you, but
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what would you say the point is
of this? And is it for like
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the layman, like just regular people
like me, or is it for like
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hardcore whiskey aficionados. It's multilayered,
so you can go as esoteric and nerdy
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as you want. But on the
surface of it, what we wanted to
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do is just create this stumbprint that
anybody could look at and say, Oh,
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that's why this tastes like the way
it tastes. That's why I'm getting
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this sweet smoke, That's why I'm
getting this coconut, That's why I'm getting
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this earthy medicinal note. Why am
I getting them? And then they just
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look, they look at this visual
and it completely demystifies the whole thing.
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Very cool. Where can we see
this video? The first viewings of it
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are actually going on as we speak
in the distillery, So after this week
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is done, these will be available
online so that we've shared on the social
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media as well, so folks everywhere
can view them. And how do we
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find them? Like, what do
we look up Diagio or port Ellen Gemini,
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port Ellen as its own Instagram account. If you go on to Maltz
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dot com, it should be available
in there as well, as well as
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all of US ambassadors and education folks. Some dias you will be sharing it
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on their socials as well. Thank
you, Ewan, It's been great chatting
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with you, really insightful, so
welcome. Thank you very much. Indeed,
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more check it out coming right up
after this. Listen to check it
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out whenever you want to find the
check it Out podcast at it too,
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or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to check it out. Everyone.
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Powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor, which represents the largest shift in
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Intel CPU design in more than forty
years, adding generative AI capabilities to the
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laptop. This makes accessing your data
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than leveraging the cloud. Get immediate
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me the email where I was promised
to raise or where are my wedding photos?
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The AIPC is here. More is
at Intel dot com slash Core Ultra
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or Intel dot com Slash AIPC.
Computer gamers often look to buy accessories for
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their setup, like wireless headsets,
you know, for private listening or to
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trash talk others online, or maybe
gamers want fast and comfortable mice and keyboards
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to give them an edge over the
competition. Of course there are monitors with
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fast refresh rates, but what about
gaming chairs and desks. Well, here
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to tell us all about a new
brand, black Light. We're joined by
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Alex lou He's the founder of the
company. Hi Alex, thanks for your
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time today. Hey Mark, thanks
for having us. For those unfamiliar with
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black Light, and we should tell
our listeners it's one word and light a
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spelled l yte, so it's all
in Capital's black Light. Tell us about
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the brand, I will say we
are a integrated system that vide a immersive
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experience for people who's into gaming,
music, or any type of entertainment.
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Or we can say our brand is
for the game changers, because not only
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for gaming industry. Actually a lot
of office users can benefit from our brand.
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Also, thanks for explaining that it's
also for other kinds of entertainment as
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well as those who work in an
office as well. So with that in
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mind, Alex, tell us about
some of your more popular products. So
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the two product that we're launching the
market right now is our gaming chair and
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gaming desks. We have the Theena
gaming chair right now and at us table
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I can tell you a little bit
from the chair first, yeah, please
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a little bit. Over a year
and a half developing this chair to solve
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the back pain problem that happens to
a lot of gamers and office users.
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We spend a lot of development power
into the ergonomic design. We do have
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a lumber support combined with our memory
foam to give the best support to the
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back. And then also we use
aluminum base for more lightweight design. And
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then we use a level three piston
which supports the maximum of one hundred and
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fifty programs should be covering majority of
the population. We did use a rollerblade
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casters which protects your floor, doesn't
damage anything. We have a forty armorest
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which can change the direction of the
armrest that can use for mobile gaming,
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IPI US on the chair, lounging
or different situations. And also you have
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a newly developed texture that is we
can call it the Vegan wall. That's
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very scheme friendly and very different from
our competitors. For the gaming desks,
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that's where all the juice comes in. We can't just say a desk is
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probably more a modular platform I would
say, so, we do have our
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own design chip and module built in
into the desk, powered by our own
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graphic algorithm and audio algorithm analytics.
So basically we're analyzing the in screen data,
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take data from the game, convert
them into lightning signal. Whoa,
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whoa, Okay, this is really
cool. Okay, Alex, you got
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to explain this part. So the
chair and the desk, and I know
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you don't need to have both,
it'll work with either one. They plug
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into computer or video game console.
Correct, correct, So we run the
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software within the console or PC,
analyze the data, and then it can
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sync to the other devices. That's
why I said we're an integrated brand because
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not only sync to our product,
we also open bridge to a lot of
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different brands, which is in the
development right now. I can't really claim
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what name they are, but you
guys will see start seeing stuff on the
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news. All right. So just
to be clear, the chair and the
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desk they plug into the computer,
I guess through USB, is that right?
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So the table or the chip plug
into the computer by HDMI. Oh,
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HDMI, yes, and then it
synchronizes with that game content for lighting
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and sound or just lighting, lighting
and sound. That's why I said it's
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also for the music producers because with
the audio algorithm, we can analyze the
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tone, the pitch of different sound
and create a light show for any type
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of music you listen to. Okay, very cool. So they're speakers inside
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of the chair and in the desk
in the chair at the moment. No,
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we do have a developments with light
building into the chair, multicolored lights
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like multicolored RGB RGBIC. You already
know. We are chatting with alexlu He
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is founder of a company called black
Light. It's one word b l A
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c k l yte and they are
the folks behind the Athena and Atlas gaming
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chair. And don't call it a
desk, Let's call it a battle station.
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Correct. Could this work with a
video game console like a PlayStation five
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and Xbox Series X or a Nintendo
Switch? Yes, PS five, Nintendo's
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Xbox that requires a different hub to
analyze the data it does think to the
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light too, okay? And do
you buy the hub through black Light?
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Yes? Correct? Okay. Primarily, would it be fair to say that
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even though it's not just for gamers, it's computer gamers that are the sort
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of the primary target for this if
you think of this way, if you
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use the hub, and it also
can apply to home theaters. So that's
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why we always say is for is
it immersive experiences for personalized space. It's
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not only gaming or PC or console, it's basically anything they want. Some
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entertainment chairs recline quite a bit so
you can relax and listen to music or
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watch a video or something like that. Does yours or is it an upright
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chair? Because it also you said, has office applications. Oh this life
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flat, it's not only recliented a
life flat. Okay, all right,
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00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.240
So the name of the company is
black Light. It's a relatively new brand,
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00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.200
not just in North America but worldwide. You've only been around a couple
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00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:40.799
of years. Let's now talk pricing. So Athena right now runs four four
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sixty nine, and then the Alice
table run for nine and a nine.
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00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.880
Go black Light dot com. G
O B L A K L y t
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00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.319
E dot com. Great, all
right, go black Light dot com.
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00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.200
Alex. Great to chat with you, wishing you much luck and success with
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00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:57.480
the black Light brand for gamers and
entertainment seekers. Thanks again, thank you
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00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:02.720
man, with all the best that
website again is go Blacklight dot com g
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O black l Yte dot com.
When we return on teck it Out,
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we catch up with tech lifestyle expert
Mario Armstrong on some spring recommendations. We'll
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be right back. I want to
follow Mark Google It, Mark with a
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scene and Saltsman with a Z breaking
down geeks peak into street speak. This
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is check it Out to check it
out with technology columnist, author, and
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TV personality Mark Saltzman. Welcome back
everyone, you're listening to check it Out.
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A new season is officially here.
Regardless of what it feels like wherever
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you're tuning into this program today,
it is officially spring, a time to
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renew and recharge for some smart ideas. We're joined by digital lifestyle expert Mario
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Armstrong to tell us how to swing
into spring with style no less. Hey
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Mario, I hope you're keeping well. I am Mark, Thanks so much
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for having me on, And you're
right. It's like we are officially in
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the spring season. It's one of
my favorite seasons of the year. But
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where I am in New York,
it's still chilly. It felt more like
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winter this morning, but I'm feeling
kind of in the spring vibes. All
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right, and you always have a
spring in your step. Yes, So
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hey, look, this is a
great time of year for things like home
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improvements. What are some of the
things that we could be thinking about?
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True? Well, you know you
called it right there. I've been thinking
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about a lot of the things that
have been happening across the world really and
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specifically in our country, like just
storm interruptions. So many different things are
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happening with storms and Mother Nature,
And I'm like, you know, what
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are we doing around portable backup power
and just backup power in general. So,
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the Anchor Solix F thirty eight hundred
is a portable power station and nick
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could be used as a home power
backup system, or it can even power
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your entire home. If you pair
it with the Anchor's home power panel,
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you get automatic use from of your
home's circuits. I thought that was incredible
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to be able to have that many
circuits still available, all those appliances in
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your house that you could still use
if you have solar panels. It can
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store excess energy during the day and
then you can use that at night if
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you need it to. And it
can also provide power for your evs and
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RVs as well, so I just
think backup power and portable power stations is
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a thing to really consider now,
And you took the words right out of
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my mouth. I was just going
to say, it's springs. So a
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lot of people may start camping or
clamping and you want some you want some
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power with you. So this is
on wheels. This is like a giant
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like think of it as a power
bank like you might have for your phone
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in your pocket or purse, but
this can take care of your appliances and
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important you know, when there are
things like sepap machines that many people rely
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on every night. Yeah, you
know, this kind of stuff is important.
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So that's from Anchor, one of
my favorite brands in this space.
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It's one of my favorite brands too, which is why I really like the
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fact that they, you know,
went from I'm used to carrying small Anchor
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products that power my mobile devices or
my tablets. I've been using their devices
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years. They've always been consistent,
reliable. So to see that them they're
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actually doing something for you know,
bigger back of power use, I was
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like, oh yeah, they're the
company to do that, all right.
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So that's called the Anchor Solix f
thirty eight hundred portable power station. And
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I know there's some accessories that you
mentioned as well. And if we are
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celebrating Easter, what's something fun that
we can add to the kids' baskets that's
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high tech? Well, you know, I'm part of it. All these
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cool brands, and a lot of
them are just like really perfect for kids
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and families. And I even got
something for the guys. But the Tony
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Box is a screen free audio system
that's really made for kids ages three to
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seven. So there's no screen on
this, folks. It's a little nice
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box. It's a cushion. And
what you do is your kids will have
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a blast because they take these figurines
and put it on top of the Tony
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Box and they can choose from hundreds
of different ones like Blippy, Sesame Street,
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Disney and so many more. And
then each Tony figurine basically prompts imaginative
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play because it will much into songs, stories, and the kids will learn
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everything from lessons in friendship, problem
solving, mindfulness, and a lot more.
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It's just really fun. It's educational. It's no screens. Kids dance
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around it, sing along with it. It's just a lot of fun.
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And here's something that even those who
own a Tony Box may not know about
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is that my Tony's app let's mom
or dad or grandparents record messages and stories
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that the kids can listen to when
they place the Tony's characters on top.
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So I really like that a lot. We are chatting with digital lifestyle experts.
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Mario Armstrong, who's on this program
throughout the year, always has some
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great ideas for us to consider,
and seasonal ones as well. Speaking of
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which, what are a couple of
simple ways that we can add some smart
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home products to our routine, our
regular daily routine. Yeah, and one
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of my favorite companies has some really
great products for this, and it's Roku.
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I'm a big fan of their products. They always work done phenomenally well.
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And I have two different options.
One is their colored smart light bulbs,
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so one bulb has sixteen million color
options to control your home lighting,
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which is insane. From the Roku
device and app, you can schedule sunrise
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wake up lighting, which is really
smart. Or you can set the mood
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for anything at any time. Maybe
it's a game that you're playing, or
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maybe it's a holiday you want to
put for those colors. And then they
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also have the Roku Smart Home Indoor
Camera se So this is great for easy
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home monitoring. It's got HD quality, vibrant color, night vision, motion
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and sound detection, and you can
basically see her and hear what see and
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hear what's happening from anywhere at your
home. Oh and it also can detect
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smoke as well as carbon monoxide and
send you any alerts for an emergencies,
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which I thought was great. Yeah, to get prices on all of these,
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we're going to plug a website in
a moment and to see them in
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action with Mario demonstrating and speaking of
which, Mario, I know you want
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to end off on something a little
less tech, but a little more ye
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fresh, let's say to consider for
this spring tied to personal care again.
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00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.799
Look, I always tease how you're
like the best dressed guy in the room,
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so I wouldn't expect anything less from
you. I mean, that's that's
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why I don't, you know,
I don't have the title tech expert because
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00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:08.599
I'm more of like a digital lifestyle
kind of guy. And in that vein,
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00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.480
it's like, yeah, it's springtime. I want us all to do
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00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.119
better with our self care specifically for
the guys. Look, I've been using
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00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:18.880
Old Spice shampoos for a while,
so I was like, let's talk about
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00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.319
them for a second. It may
be different, it may be not as
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00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:26.200
techy as we're used to, but
it is fitting for spring. So it's
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00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:29.920
gonna make your hair look fuller,
healthier, more moisturized. They got great
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00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.920
ingredients for cleansing and conditioning. My
favorite is the Old Spice Swagger shampoos because
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00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:37.920
you can just use them every single
day and it just kind of you know,
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00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.160
Old Spice has that vibe where you
just feel shockingly confident and it smells
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00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:47.079
incredible. So you just really feel
like confident and you smell good, your
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00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.000
hair feel soft, and I feel
like it's a great way to spring you
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00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:53.720
into the spring. It's a brand
like Cadillac, where it's classic and still
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trendy. You know, after all
these decades, which is which is still
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still trendy, still relatable, People
still use it, still love it,
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00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.839
and they keep finding new products and
new ways to keep you interested. You're
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00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.839
right, and I am a Cadillac
fan. There you go at some high
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I actually have a Cadillac. That's
funny you bring that up I did too.
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00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:12.519
There's a lot of tech in there. I'll tell you, what do
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00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:15.200
you do. You have a CTS. I have a CT six. Yeah,
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00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.880
it's a twenty seventeen. It has
the super crews hands free driving technology.
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00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.440
It's got thirty odd speakers in there. It's got each of the seats
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00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.680
are both heated and air conditioned,
and massage chairs even in the back.
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00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:33.519
It's got a rear view. Mark
was rolling. That's it, right.
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00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.920
The rear view mirror converts into a
camera. If you know your rear view
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00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.519
is like foggy or whatever, you
just flick a little switch. Yeah,
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00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.039
I didn't know that. It's got
Wi Fi. I mean, look,
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00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:45.359
this ain't your grandpa's Cadillac. That's
all I can say. Yeah, anyways,
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00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.279
I know you're out here to chat
about the Caddies, but I was
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00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.359
trying to make the connection to brands
like Old Spice that still got it,
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00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:55.119
you know, all right? So
without further ado, Mario, where can
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00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:57.400
we get more info on all this
and pricing as well? So you can
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00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:00.839
go through the website. You can
see Mark and I have our Cadillacs and
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00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.880
I'm just kidding. You can just
go to Inthnews dot TV We got the
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00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.319
videos there of everything I just talked
about pricing and you can see me displaying
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00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.039
and demonstrating some of this stuff as
well. Awesome Mario, always great to
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00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:14.599
chat with. You have a great
spring, my friend. Well chat soon
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00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:18.359
you due Mark Spring into it buddy, plea soon more. Check it out
374
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:22.799
coming right up, breaking down GeekSpeak
into street speak. Check it out.
375
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:37.519
Posted by Mark Saltzman. Welcome back
to tech it Out. We do cover
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00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:42.200
cybersecurity a lot on this program and
how you can best protect yourself in the
377
00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:45.160
digital age, even if you're not
tech savvy. Well, one part of
378
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:49.880
the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with
379
00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:55.880
Visa on tech it Out, as
they've made some significant investments in fraud prevention
380
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over the past five years, as
much as ten billion dollars yep billion with
381
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a B to support visas van prompt
to support Visa's brand promise to protect the
382
00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:11.240
financial information of individuals and businesses.
Zero liability means peace of mind when you
383
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shop online using your Visa card.
There could be no half measures when it
384
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comes to cybersecurity, which is why
the company takes an aggressive and multi layered
385
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approach to combating the rising threat of
malicious software and other threats by well funded
386
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and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments
387
00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:33.000
is priority one at visa dot com. Slash Security. A beacon for comic
388
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:37.920
book nerds on Toronto's iconic Queen Street
West, the Silver Snail Comic book Shop
389
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.640
is one of the oldest, biggest, and most respected in the city and
390
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.200
we're privileged to have on theline.
Co owner Brian Hamlin. Great to have
391
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.440
you on the show. Brian,
thanks so much for having me. So
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00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:52.079
before we hear about what's hot in
comics, Brian tell us a bit about
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00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:56.079
Silver Snail. Yeah, so we're
actually coming up. It'll be two years.
394
00:27:56.119 --> 00:28:00.640
Will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of
the store. We've kind of existed
395
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.880
for as long as comic shops as
an idea existed. The original owner,
396
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:10.039
Ron Van Lewin, who me and
my business partner Mark Shingra. We purchased
397
00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:14.240
the company from him because he's long
since retired, but he actually started the
398
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.799
store in the back of Baca Books, which is still a sci fi and
399
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.400
fantasy bookstore that still exists in the
City on Harvard Street now. So originally
400
00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:26.319
it was just a stand that would
sell books out of the back of their
401
00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:30.359
like comic books because kind of the
idea of a comic shop, there wasn't
402
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:33.599
all the memorabilia and collectibles to kind
of go around with it. It was
403
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:37.119
just, you know, he'd get
grab them off the news stand. So
404
00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.279
the reason we're called the Silver Snail
is he had no idea if it was
405
00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:45.720
a viable option for a comic book
store to actually sustain itself. So he
406
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.119
figured he'd give it maybe a year
or two and then if it didn't work,
407
00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:52.359
he'd just switches to a pet store. So that's the name was supposed
408
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.279
to be dual, trying to you
know, because at that point, you
409
00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.000
know, now we're in crazy nerd
culture where you know, there's so much
410
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:03.799
genre shows and movies and everyone's kind
of into it. But at that point
411
00:29:03.960 --> 00:29:07.839
that would have been nineteen seventy six, it was still pretty pretty Niche awesome
412
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:11.039
love that story, very efficient way
to choose a name. And what got
413
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.799
you into comics, Brian? And
at what age it was probably gonna say,
414
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.480
like five or six. Really what
got me into it was I grew
415
00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:22.839
up North of the city where like
we didn't have cable or anything, so
416
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.839
I'd only get to watch cable if
I went to my grandma's and it was
417
00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:33.079
going there and just catching episodes of
the X Men animated series and the Batman
418
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.440
animated series that kind of like blew
my mind. And I think it was
419
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:41.440
a bit of the scarcity of like
not getting to see that regularly that made
420
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.000
the obsessive part of my brain kind
of want to keep looking more into all
421
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:49.359
the characters. And then once it
was actually once I finally moved to the
422
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.359
city or my brother moved to the
city before me, and I would come
423
00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:57.960
down kind of fifteen sixteen years old
and started shopping at the snail that I
424
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:02.920
realized, like, oh you and
buy like collections of full storylines and go
425
00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.519
back. And then that started an
insane going through all back issues and backstories
426
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.559
and getting really into it until I
guess I finally purchased the store or put
427
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:15.160
into the store. So that was
kind of the ultimate collector thing to get.
428
00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:18.680
Yeah, I was gonna say,
the only thing better than a huge
429
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.839
collection, and I'm curious how many
you own personally, by the way,
430
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:25.960
Yeah, the only thing better is
actually buying the store out right. Yeah,
431
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:30.759
well, actually now I own zero. I think I have zero comics
432
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.960
of my own. I have on
my bookshelf a collection of Akira one to
433
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:37.720
six and that's it. Everything else
is in the store. So awesome.
434
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:40.519
All right, So what are some
of the best selling comics in the store
435
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:45.039
right now? Brian? Is it
Marvel DC? I mean we've always,
436
00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:49.519
even through the heights of Marvel with
the popularity of like the movies and stuff
437
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:53.039
when they're really at their peak,
we've always still been in a Batman world,
438
00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:56.799
who, like Batman kind of has
always sold no matter what, through
439
00:30:57.079 --> 00:31:02.359
even different relaunches of DC when some
of their other books always fall out.
440
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:06.519
It's like Batman is always right near
the top of our list. But basically
441
00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:11.680
the hottest Olling book right now is
The Ultimate Spider Man by Jonathan Hickman that
442
00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.319
they just relaunched. I guess it
was last month. Was the new first
443
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.039
issue, which kind of tells the
story of older Peter Parker who has like
444
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.000
children is with Mary Jane, but
him becoming Spider Man later in life.
445
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:26.279
So it's kind of allowing the character
to mature a little bit more, and
446
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:33.400
generally the idea with the Ultimate Universe
stuff is that changes actually stick. That's
447
00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:37.039
kind of the philosophy around it,
where there's less kind of retconning and going
448
00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:41.920
back to zero and more ongoing story
where things have more consequences. So that's
449
00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:45.599
kind of really taken over. Like
it's by far our most popular book right
450
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:49.480
now, and one that on release
day had we sold out. We're getting
451
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.400
calls have like second printing, third
printing, people coming in, you know,
452
00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.000
to buy multiple covers. It's been
a little bit since a book's really
453
00:31:57.359 --> 00:32:00.880
really hit like that, but that's
definitely the biggest one right now, So
454
00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:05.240
I get it, Batman, Spider
Man, those are some of the best
455
00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.440
sellers. But what about ones that
our listeners may not know about that are
456
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:10.640
hot in the comic book world.
Yeah, for sure since kind of the
457
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:15.160
big comic movie push, like of
like the mainstream ones. What's also been
458
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:21.480
going on with that is a lot
of creator owned books getting like a lot
459
00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:24.079
bigger. A lot of the stuff
that's done out like image comics, where
460
00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:30.720
it's the writers and artists actually maintain
the rights of their stories. So a
461
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:35.079
lot of those things have also turned
into you know, huge multimillion dollar franchises
462
00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:38.119
like The Walking Dead or something.
But there's still continuing a lot of image
463
00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:43.759
titles that are coming out that are
quite exciting, like Kaya is one Kaya.
464
00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:46.680
A big one that's a bit of
a favorite in the store is Minor
465
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:51.039
Threats, which is written by Pat
Now as well for dark Horse Comics,
466
00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.519
and it's drawn by Scott Hepburn.
That one has a whole kind of spinoff
467
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:59.960
universe where they're doing a bunch of
tie in books and kind of creating their
468
00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:05.279
own shared university in the way that
Marvel kind of originally did again, like
469
00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:09.200
a creator own kind of smaller indie
book. More with Silver Snail when we
470
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:14.039
return on check it out. Follow
Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter,
471
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:27.720
on Instagram. Listen to check it
out whenever you want. It doesn't get
472
00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.359
much bigger than Silver Snail. We're
chatting with the Comic book store co owner
473
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:35.799
Brian Hamelin, learning about what's hot
in comics of course DC and Marvel.
474
00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:38.680
You mentioned Walking Dad, Robert Kirkman
art was done by Tony Moore, and
475
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:42.759
you're a big fan of Japanese anime
across the board. You mentioned Aikira is
476
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:47.359
a big seller also at Silver Snail. Yeah, probably growing the section of
477
00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.440
the store that keeps growing more and
more is the manga section, like growing
478
00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:54.480
way more than any of our other
of their sections, and we got a
479
00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:58.920
lot more requests, I think,
a lot of more like new readers and
480
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:01.640
younger readers are a lot more excited
about a lot of the Japanese stuff.
481
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:08.119
I think partially it's because people are
used to streaming shows and watching stuff on
482
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:12.840
Netflix or watching streaming or you kind
of get everything all in one and the
483
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:15.440
way that we get like we don't
bring in Shown and Jump or any of
484
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.119
the books that do it kind of
weekly. It's we get the translations once
485
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:22.639
it's you know, a full volume
or like like a few full volumes.
486
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:29.559
So I think partially that's a more
accessible way to get into something new rather
487
00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:32.880
than picking up issue five hundred and
something of an ongoing DC title. But
488
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:37.039
also just I think there's something to
be said for a lot of those books
489
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:43.599
are written by the artists, so
it's one person kind of with a singular
490
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.239
vision. There's something to the pacing
and storytelling of that that is oftentimes more
491
00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:51.679
captivating. At least for me,
it feels like it flows a lot better.
492
00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:53.920
So when it comes to upcoming books, Brian, what comics are you
493
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:58.320
excited about, say, maybe this
spring or summer. Yeah, So,
494
00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:02.519
speaking of the Marvel kind of ultimate
relaunch, Marvel's kind of they do this
495
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:08.360
every few years to kind of reget
interest, but they're relaunching X Men.
496
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:13.960
It kind of starts in May with
a round Free Comic Book Day and they're
497
00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:16.360
gonna the beginning story is going to
be released in the Free Comic Book Day
498
00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:21.039
one of their specials, and then
they're kind of doing a line wide relaunch
499
00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:24.199
of X Men that will going through
the summer. So that's definitely something that
500
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:29.440
everyone's pretty excited about. I'm personally
pretty excited about because X Men was really
501
00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:32.880
my gateway into this whole world.
And then another big one is that Jonathan
502
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.239
Hickman, the writer who is currently
doing the Ultimate Spider Man book. That's
503
00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:40.400
that's really exciting for us, and
it's been generating like a lot of sales
504
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:45.320
and a lot of interest, is
relaunching a Doctor Doom book, which Doom
505
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:49.280
hasn't had kind of his own title
book for quite a few years. He's
506
00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:53.199
just one of those villains the kind
of era of Jack Kirby Doctor Doom,
507
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:57.599
that era of Marvel stuff. I
kind of sear it in my brain a
508
00:35:57.639 --> 00:36:00.920
little bit that Doom is just always
one of those cares that he's just unbelievably
509
00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:04.960
cool, Like he kind of sums
up the cool aspect of Marvel comics.
510
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.360
So like a writer like Hickman really
taking him on is definitely exciting. Before
511
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.719
we wrap up out of curiosity,
I guess the most expensive comic book is
512
00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:17.559
still Superman number one? What about
Silver Snail? What's the most expensive comic
513
00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:22.039
book you've ever sold? During twenty
twenty and twenty twenty one, comics,
514
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:27.400
like old comics really went pretty wild. There's a lot of new collectors getting
515
00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:30.840
into them. So there's some books
that went for the last ten years,
516
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:36.840
we're kind of hovering around two hundred
to three hundred dollars. Book that over
517
00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:40.159
the last few years have gone up
into the thousands. Like we sold a
518
00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:45.519
giant size X Men number one,
which is the first appearance of like a
519
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:49.199
lot of the really famous X Men, like Nightcrawler, Colossus Storm, and
520
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.239
that sold for over six thousand dollars
and it was in kind of mid range
521
00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:58.960
condition. But that's a book that
traditionally was going for six hundred was its
522
00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.280
top ten years ago, and I'm
sure it's just going to keep going up
523
00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:06.400
and up, including the rare ones
and imports and other collectors editions and all
524
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.599
that. So where can we learn
more about Silver Snail Brian? So,
525
00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:14.079
yeah, our website Silversnail dot com. Any of our social media is all
526
00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:17.480
under silver Snail to so we do
a lot of our promotions on Instagram and
527
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:21.920
our Twitter is the same handle.
Awesome, Brian, Thank you so much,
528
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:22.960
Thank you so much for having me, Thanks for having me on.
529
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:27.199
So I got to ask you tech
it Out listeners, what do you think
530
00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:31.199
about interviews like that where it's not
really about tech but kind of tech er
531
00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:36.840
geek culture like comic books. Want
to make sure I'm serving my audience,
532
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:37.960
So let me know. I'm going
to spell my name in a moment.
533
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.320
If you're on social media, I
love hearing from tech it Out listeners.
534
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:45.079
If you want to jot this down
or make a mental note, I am
535
00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:51.039
on x formerly Twitter as well as
Instagram threads. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook,
536
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.480
TikTok and YouTube and others, so
all the big platforms. It's Mark
537
00:37:54.639 --> 00:38:00.639
Saltzman, m R C s A
L t Z M A and Mark Saltzman.
538
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:05.039
If you are not so much into
social media and you prefer to send
539
00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:07.519
me an email, you can do
so on my website. It's simply Mark
540
00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:13.679
Saltzman dot com M A r C
s A L T Z M A N.
541
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:15.840
Either way, I look forward to
hearing from you. Tell me what
542
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:20.360
you think about topics like comics or
we had Kevin Smith on the filmmaker behind
543
00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:24.079
films like Clerks and mal Rats and
Chasing Amy and Dogma and the Jane Silent
544
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.880
Bob movies and all that. Are
we stepping out of our comfort zone?
545
00:38:27.960 --> 00:38:30.000
Are you good with it? So? We'd love your feedback. And hey,
546
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.599
thank you so much for tuning into
check it out. I hope you
547
00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:37.119
enjoyed the variety of topics this hour. A huge thank you to Intel and
548
00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:43.519
it's core ultra PCs ushering in the
era of the AIPC. More info is
549
00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:46.840
at Intel dot com slash AIPC.
Speaking of computers, thank you to Western
550
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:51.880
Digital. Make sure you reliably back
up your reportant files on a regular basis
551
00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:54.920
onto one of their external hard drives
or sand disc SSDs, and thank you
552
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.599
to Visa as well. All the
best everyone, have a great rest of
553
00:38:58.599 --> 00:39:00.760
your day. Looking forward to catching
up with you next weekend for another episode
554
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:02.800
of Check It Out. Bye bye
for now.
1
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.440
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the
ever changing world of technology? Check it
2
00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:08.400
Out can help make some sense of
it all, breaking down geeksbeak into street
3
00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:14.919
speak. Technology columnist author ANTV personality
Mark Saltzman covers consumer technology each week for
4
00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:19.559
every listener. Mark tackles the latest
news, reviews, and how toos to
5
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:26.000
help you understand what's hot, what's
not and why. Hey everyone, welcome
6
00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:30.800
to check it Out. Episode three
thirty eight. What a week in tech
7
00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:37.759
with the DOJ suing Apple over its
iPhone monopoly in a landmark antitrust case.
8
00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:41.640
Wow, I've probably heard all about
that. TikTok may be banned in this
9
00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:46.200
country, So lots of drama there
and we'll learn a bit more about its
10
00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:52.000
fate next week. Formerly of CNN, Don Lemon interviewed Elon Musk over X
11
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.920
on Twitter, Musk's social media platform, only for Lemon's show to be canceled.
12
00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:00.280
Okay, Amazon is in the middle
of its big bring sale as they
13
00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.319
call it, with lots of deals
to be had and other really big stories
14
00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:07.439
this week, and we have a
fantastic show planned for you, if I
15
00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.439
may say so myself. By kicking
off with a chat about whiskey and technology.
16
00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:15.359
Yes, there is a correlation,
apparently. Black Light will join us
17
00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:21.959
to chat about gaming chairs and desks. We spring into new tech with Mario
18
00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.840
Armstrong. We also get our geecon
to talk about comic books with the co
19
00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:32.079
owner of Silver Snail Comics, about
what's hot this spring and why all of
20
00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:36.359
this and more on an all new
tech it out powered by Intel Core Ultra
21
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.200
PCs, which I'll tell you more
about shortly. But let's officially kick off
22
00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:44.879
the show with our first interview,
consider it Algorithms meets alcohol. One of
23
00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:48.840
the biggest names in the spirit world
Diagio, which of course has more than
24
00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:52.879
two hundred brands like Johnny Walker and
Smeirnoff. For the past couple of years,
25
00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.400
they've been experimenting with decoding whisky.
What does that mean exactly and what
26
00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:00.079
data are they looking for and why? To tell us more, we're joined
27
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:07.040
by you and Morgan He's National Education
Director and National Luxury Ambassador for Diagio North
28
00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:09.039
America. Sweet gig, thanks for
your time you and good to chat with
29
00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:12.719
you. Nice to chat to you
too. Thank you so much. I
30
00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.759
know there's a lot more to your
job, but to sip whiskey as part
31
00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:17.439
of your occupation. I think it
was pretty darn cool. Yeah, it
32
00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:22.879
doesn't suck as they say, I
will expect not. Before we talk tech
33
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:25.520
and it's connection to whiskey, tell
us a bit about yourself, your career,
34
00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.960
and your work with Dagio. Absolutely. So. My whiskey career started
35
00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:37.919
officially in the age of sixteen on
a distillery shoveling mall every morning. But
36
00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.800
before that, I actually grew up
on a distillery. Third generation whiskey.
37
00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.240
My dad made whiskey, my grandfather
made whiskey. I talk about whiskey,
38
00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:52.000
used to make whiskey. My son
works in whiskey, and so yeah,
39
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.240
it's kind of like the family tradition. So yeah, I started thirty four
40
00:02:55.319 --> 00:03:00.080
years ago in whiskey, and my
day to day there is no day to
41
00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:04.800
day. I travel eighty five percent
of the year. I was just in
42
00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.960
part city. Before that, I
was in Miami. Now I'm in Scotland.
43
00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:14.560
So I get to travel around evangelizing
about the wonderful flavors and aromas and
44
00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:17.719
how to taste and how to know'
whiskey and pairing dinners I do all over
45
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:23.080
the country, which are wonderful.
So I live charmed existence. It sounds
46
00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:27.719
like it. Congrats, thanks,
and you are joining us from Scotland from
47
00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.479
the Port Island Distillery. What's going
on there? Yeah, I'm on Isla
48
00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:35.280
as we speak, and landed an
hour ago and then dashed over here set
49
00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.840
up so we can have this week
chat. What is happening here is something
50
00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:45.280
very exciting. So this week we
are reopening distillery called Port Ellen and it
51
00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:49.520
closed in nineteen eighty three and is
reopening this year. But it's quite an
52
00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:53.199
old distiller, you know, it
was founded in eighteen twenty five, is
53
00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:59.319
known throughout the world with whiskey whiskey
geek and collectors as one of the rarest
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whiskeys on the planet because when it
did close, you know, over forty
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years ago, there was only a
finite amount of that liquid left and after
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all these years, there's not an
awful lot out there. So yeah,
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it's one of those gems of the
whiskey industry. And the fact that we're
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putting this investment into reopening it where
people can visit it again and we're going
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to make whiskey again and put it
into barrels, so we're kind of future
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proofing, you know, this the
legacy of this distillery, people are going
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to be able to taste poor Ellen
into the future, into perpetuity. Speaking
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of rare whiskey, and I don't
want to get off topic. I don't
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know if you heard. I do
live in Canada and on the west coast
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of the country. A Vancouver liquor
store this week is two hundred and twenty
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eight thousand dollars richer because they sold
a very rare bottle of what's called the
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McAllen the Reach. It's an eighty
one year old single malt. There's only
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two hundred and eighty eight bottles.
Made you hear about this? I did
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hear about it. Crazy. Yeah, So I used to work for the
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company who owned McCallen. That was
part my first job. And my cousin
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works at McCallen as well. And
my dad lives in Avalare and Space and
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he leaps over the river onto McCallen. So yeah, very very collectible distillery,
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wonderful, wonderful whiskey. Awesome.
I hope you didn't mind me getting
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off topic, not at all.
And I wouldn't aggravate you by asking you
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what's better Scotch or Irish whiskey.
But let's hear more about this connection between
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algorithms. If I hear a click, then I know I really offended you.
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But it doesn't sound like you hung
up on me. I'm still here.
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Let's hear more about the connection between
algorithms and alcohol. As I said
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off the top. Okay, So
this is actually a very very exciting step
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forward in the world of whiskey for
multiple reasons. One is the first time
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we've ever used this type of technology
using this DNAI algorithm, and two demystify
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whiskey and it creates something that everybody
can understand. So the way it works
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is we take small samples of these
whiskeys and in this case from Port Ellen
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00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:18.560
Distillery from real belief called the Gemini
which just came out, which is a
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twin bottling of forty four year old
single malts from nineteen seventy eight. And
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00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:28.839
what they did was they put them
into two different styles of casks. So
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they were in three sherry barrels,
and then they split those into two and
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one is called a remnant cask and
one was a sherry butt. So the
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sherry butt is from Herath in Spain. That's going to give you more fruity
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rich qualities, whereas the remnant cask
is from liquids from the sixties through the
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00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.680
eighties, and it would have been
used as like an overflow cast that would
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have been in the warehouse for tasting
people when they went in these wonderful distillery
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tours. But what we wanted to
do was see the difference between the two
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of them. So if you think
about whiskey as a huge chemistry experiment,
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what happens over time is different flavors
are created, some flavors will dwindle or
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mellow. But what we wanted to
do is take a snapshot of the two
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liquids and see how different they were. So using this algorithm, we put
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it through you know, liquid and
gas chromatography, and if you're not a
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chemist, the results of these don't
really make a huge amount of sense.
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00:07:21.319 --> 00:07:26.800
But what this does is it pulled
us data apart, using millions of these
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data points, and then it created
a visual. So what we wanted to
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do really is create this wonderful animation
that we'll say, you have all of
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these chemicals in here, but what
do these chemicals actually mean to the layman?
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00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:48.319
So like vanilla in will taste like
vanilla. Then we've got phenol that's
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going to have this really nice smoky
characteristic to it. Then you've got other
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00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:58.600
things in there like crease, all
phenols and cannons and why I call and
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you think it's called translactones or cis
lactones and they smell and taste like coconut.
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So what we're doing is we're taking
these chemical compounds and then attaching real
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world flavors or aromas to it,
so anybody could then understand that, you
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know, earth venus coconut, you
know this wonderful medicinal or roma or spicy
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or vanilla. Why why does this
whiskey smell and taste the way it does?
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And then creating this wonderful visual to
explain it. I'm going to ask
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you more about that in a moment. That's super cool. We are chatting
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with you and Morgan, national Education
Director and National Luxury Ambassador for Diagio North
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America. What a title, what
a job, joining us from port Ellen
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Distillery in Scotland to talk with us
about algorithms and alcohol and what they're doing
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with this extremely rare whiskey, this
port Allen Gemini by analyzing it with what's
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called the smoke. Dnai. Lets
you see the makeup of the whiskey.
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Can you elaborate a little bit more
on that. It's not just based on
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taste like vanilla or coconut notes or
anything like that. Yeah, you can
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00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.320
see. We've created an animation actually
of the two different liquids, and the
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00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:11.039
animation will show that the peaks and
like the you know, the percentiles of
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these different congeners we call them congeners
are the impurities in whiskey that make whiskey
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whiskey, and they have different flavor
profiles. You know, you'll have smoke,
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sometimes you'll have richness, you'll have
fruit, you'll have vanilla. And
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00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.799
what this animation does is really show
in a visual format what the percentiles look
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like, and then overlaying it with
the chemical names, and then underneath that
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00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:43.080
will show what those chemical names actually
give you on the palette. So anyone
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00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:46.240
can look at it, anyone can
understand it, and it's got a very
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00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:54.279
fancy name. They call it this
digital Neoteric Algorithmic image, and this algorithm
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is used to the code and visualize
the whiskey, smoke and the intricate composition
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and evolution during aging. A lot
of big words in there. Yeah,
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00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.120
it sounds impressive. As a geek, I got to tell you, but
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00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:07.080
what would you say the point is
of this? And is it for like
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the layman, like just regular people
like me, or is it for like
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00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:16.279
hardcore whiskey aficionados. It's multilayered,
so you can go as esoteric and nerdy
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00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.639
as you want. But on the
surface of it, what we wanted to
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00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:24.960
do is just create this stumbprint that
anybody could look at and say, Oh,
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00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:28.080
that's why this tastes like the way
it tastes. That's why I'm getting
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00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.080
this sweet smoke, That's why I'm
getting this coconut, That's why I'm getting
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00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.039
this earthy medicinal note. Why am
I getting them? And then they just
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00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.320
look, they look at this visual
and it completely demystifies the whole thing.
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00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:45.759
Very cool. Where can we see
this video? The first viewings of it
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00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:50.039
are actually going on as we speak
in the distillery, So after this week
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00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.960
is done, these will be available
online so that we've shared on the social
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00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.039
media as well, so folks everywhere
can view them. And how do we
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00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.720
find them? Like, what do
we look up Diagio or port Ellen Gemini,
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00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.840
port Ellen as its own Instagram account. If you go on to Maltz
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00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:11.440
dot com, it should be available
in there as well, as well as
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00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.480
all of US ambassadors and education folks. Some dias you will be sharing it
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00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.200
on their socials as well. Thank
you, Ewan, It's been great chatting
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00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:20.240
with you, really insightful, so
welcome. Thank you very much. Indeed,
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00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:24.879
more check it out coming right up
after this. Listen to check it
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00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:26.679
out whenever you want to find the
check it Out podcast at it too,
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00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:41.159
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to check it out. Everyone.
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00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:46.320
Powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor, which represents the largest shift in
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Intel CPU design in more than forty
years, adding generative AI capabilities to the
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laptop. This makes accessing your data
more personalized, faster, and more secure
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than leveraging the cloud. Get immediate
results by asking your computer something like show
159
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me the email where I was promised
to raise or where are my wedding photos?
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00:12:05.480 --> 00:12:11.960
The AIPC is here. More is
at Intel dot com slash Core Ultra
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00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:18.200
or Intel dot com Slash AIPC.
Computer gamers often look to buy accessories for
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00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.279
their setup, like wireless headsets,
you know, for private listening or to
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00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:28.240
trash talk others online, or maybe
gamers want fast and comfortable mice and keyboards
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00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.080
to give them an edge over the
competition. Of course there are monitors with
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00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:37.000
fast refresh rates, but what about
gaming chairs and desks. Well, here
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00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.600
to tell us all about a new
brand, black Light. We're joined by
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00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:45.039
Alex lou He's the founder of the
company. Hi Alex, thanks for your
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00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.679
time today. Hey Mark, thanks
for having us. For those unfamiliar with
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00:12:48.840 --> 00:12:52.559
black Light, and we should tell
our listeners it's one word and light a
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00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:56.440
spelled l yte, so it's all
in Capital's black Light. Tell us about
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00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:01.279
the brand, I will say we
are a integrated system that vide a immersive
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experience for people who's into gaming,
music, or any type of entertainment.
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Or we can say our brand is
for the game changers, because not only
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for gaming industry. Actually a lot
of office users can benefit from our brand.
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Also, thanks for explaining that it's
also for other kinds of entertainment as
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well as those who work in an
office as well. So with that in
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mind, Alex, tell us about
some of your more popular products. So
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the two product that we're launching the
market right now is our gaming chair and
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gaming desks. We have the Theena
gaming chair right now and at us table
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I can tell you a little bit
from the chair first, yeah, please
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a little bit. Over a year
and a half developing this chair to solve
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00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.720
the back pain problem that happens to
a lot of gamers and office users.
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We spend a lot of development power
into the ergonomic design. We do have
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a lumber support combined with our memory
foam to give the best support to the
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back. And then also we use
aluminum base for more lightweight design. And
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then we use a level three piston
which supports the maximum of one hundred and
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fifty programs should be covering majority of
the population. We did use a rollerblade
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00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:09.919
casters which protects your floor, doesn't
damage anything. We have a forty armorest
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00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.159
which can change the direction of the
armrest that can use for mobile gaming,
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IPI US on the chair, lounging
or different situations. And also you have
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a newly developed texture that is we
can call it the Vegan wall. That's
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00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.639
very scheme friendly and very different from
our competitors. For the gaming desks,
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that's where all the juice comes in. We can't just say a desk is
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probably more a modular platform I would
say, so, we do have our
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own design chip and module built in
into the desk, powered by our own
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graphic algorithm and audio algorithm analytics.
So basically we're analyzing the in screen data,
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take data from the game, convert
them into lightning signal. Whoa,
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00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:56.200
whoa, Okay, this is really
cool. Okay, Alex, you got
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to explain this part. So the
chair and the desk, and I know
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00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.559
you don't need to have both,
it'll work with either one. They plug
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into computer or video game console.
Correct, correct, So we run the
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software within the console or PC,
analyze the data, and then it can
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sync to the other devices. That's
why I said we're an integrated brand because
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not only sync to our product,
we also open bridge to a lot of
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different brands, which is in the
development right now. I can't really claim
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00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.039
what name they are, but you
guys will see start seeing stuff on the
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00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.840
news. All right. So just
to be clear, the chair and the
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00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.639
desk they plug into the computer,
I guess through USB, is that right?
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00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:43.120
So the table or the chip plug
into the computer by HDMI. Oh,
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00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.519
HDMI, yes, and then it
synchronizes with that game content for lighting
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and sound or just lighting, lighting
and sound. That's why I said it's
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also for the music producers because with
the audio algorithm, we can analyze the
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tone, the pitch of different sound
and create a light show for any type
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of music you listen to. Okay, very cool. So they're speakers inside
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00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:06.279
of the chair and in the desk
in the chair at the moment. No,
216
00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:11.919
we do have a developments with light
building into the chair, multicolored lights
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00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.799
like multicolored RGB RGBIC. You already
know. We are chatting with alexlu He
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00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.960
is founder of a company called black
Light. It's one word b l A
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00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:25.879
c k l yte and they are
the folks behind the Athena and Atlas gaming
220
00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:27.960
chair. And don't call it a
desk, Let's call it a battle station.
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Correct. Could this work with a
video game console like a PlayStation five
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and Xbox Series X or a Nintendo
Switch? Yes, PS five, Nintendo's
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Xbox that requires a different hub to
analyze the data it does think to the
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00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.440
light too, okay? And do
you buy the hub through black Light?
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00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:51.320
Yes? Correct? Okay. Primarily, would it be fair to say that
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even though it's not just for gamers, it's computer gamers that are the sort
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of the primary target for this if
you think of this way, if you
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use the hub, and it also
can apply to home theaters. So that's
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why we always say is for is
it immersive experiences for personalized space. It's
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not only gaming or PC or console, it's basically anything they want. Some
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entertainment chairs recline quite a bit so
you can relax and listen to music or
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watch a video or something like that. Does yours or is it an upright
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chair? Because it also you said, has office applications. Oh this life
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flat, it's not only recliented a
life flat. Okay, all right,
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00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.240
So the name of the company is
black Light. It's a relatively new brand,
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00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.200
not just in North America but worldwide. You've only been around a couple
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00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:40.799
of years. Let's now talk pricing. So Athena right now runs four four
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00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.440
sixty nine, and then the Alice
table run for nine and a nine.
239
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.880
Go black Light dot com. G
O B L A K L y t
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00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.319
E dot com. Great, all
right, go black Light dot com.
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00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.200
Alex. Great to chat with you, wishing you much luck and success with
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00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:57.480
the black Light brand for gamers and
entertainment seekers. Thanks again, thank you
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00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:02.720
man, with all the best that
website again is go Blacklight dot com g
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O black l Yte dot com.
When we return on teck it Out,
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00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:12.440
we catch up with tech lifestyle expert
Mario Armstrong on some spring recommendations. We'll
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be right back. I want to
follow Mark Google It, Mark with a
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scene and Saltsman with a Z breaking
down geeks peak into street speak. This
248
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:36.319
is check it Out to check it
out with technology columnist, author, and
249
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TV personality Mark Saltzman. Welcome back
everyone, you're listening to check it Out.
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A new season is officially here.
Regardless of what it feels like wherever
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you're tuning into this program today,
it is officially spring, a time to
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00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:55.799
renew and recharge for some smart ideas. We're joined by digital lifestyle expert Mario
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00:18:55.960 --> 00:19:00.839
Armstrong to tell us how to swing
into spring with style no less. Hey
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Mario, I hope you're keeping well. I am Mark, Thanks so much
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00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.519
for having me on, And you're
right. It's like we are officially in
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the spring season. It's one of
my favorite seasons of the year. But
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where I am in New York,
it's still chilly. It felt more like
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winter this morning, but I'm feeling
kind of in the spring vibes. All
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right, and you always have a
spring in your step. Yes, So
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hey, look, this is a
great time of year for things like home
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improvements. What are some of the
things that we could be thinking about?
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True? Well, you know you
called it right there. I've been thinking
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about a lot of the things that
have been happening across the world really and
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specifically in our country, like just
storm interruptions. So many different things are
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happening with storms and Mother Nature,
And I'm like, you know, what
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are we doing around portable backup power
and just backup power in general. So,
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the Anchor Solix F thirty eight hundred
is a portable power station and nick
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could be used as a home power
backup system, or it can even power
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your entire home. If you pair
it with the Anchor's home power panel,
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you get automatic use from of your
home's circuits. I thought that was incredible
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to be able to have that many
circuits still available, all those appliances in
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your house that you could still use
if you have solar panels. It can
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store excess energy during the day and
then you can use that at night if
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you need it to. And it
can also provide power for your evs and
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RVs as well, so I just
think backup power and portable power stations is
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a thing to really consider now,
And you took the words right out of
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my mouth. I was just going
to say, it's springs. So a
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lot of people may start camping or
clamping and you want some you want some
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power with you. So this is
on wheels. This is like a giant
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like think of it as a power
bank like you might have for your phone
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in your pocket or purse, but
this can take care of your appliances and
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important you know, when there are
things like sepap machines that many people rely
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on every night. Yeah, you
know, this kind of stuff is important.
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So that's from Anchor, one of
my favorite brands in this space.
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It's one of my favorite brands too, which is why I really like the
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fact that they, you know,
went from I'm used to carrying small Anchor
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products that power my mobile devices or
my tablets. I've been using their devices
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years. They've always been consistent,
reliable. So to see that them they're
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actually doing something for you know,
bigger back of power use, I was
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like, oh yeah, they're the
company to do that, all right.
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So that's called the Anchor Solix f
thirty eight hundred portable power station. And
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I know there's some accessories that you
mentioned as well. And if we are
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celebrating Easter, what's something fun that
we can add to the kids' baskets that's
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high tech? Well, you know, I'm part of it. All these
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cool brands, and a lot of
them are just like really perfect for kids
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and families. And I even got
something for the guys. But the Tony
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Box is a screen free audio system
that's really made for kids ages three to
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seven. So there's no screen on
this, folks. It's a little nice
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box. It's a cushion. And
what you do is your kids will have
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a blast because they take these figurines
and put it on top of the Tony
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Box and they can choose from hundreds
of different ones like Blippy, Sesame Street,
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Disney and so many more. And
then each Tony figurine basically prompts imaginative
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play because it will much into songs, stories, and the kids will learn
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everything from lessons in friendship, problem
solving, mindfulness, and a lot more.
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It's just really fun. It's educational. It's no screens. Kids dance
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around it, sing along with it. It's just a lot of fun.
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And here's something that even those who
own a Tony Box may not know about
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00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:23.759
is that my Tony's app let's mom
or dad or grandparents record messages and stories
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that the kids can listen to when
they place the Tony's characters on top.
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So I really like that a lot. We are chatting with digital lifestyle experts.
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00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:34.200
Mario Armstrong, who's on this program
throughout the year, always has some
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00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.400
great ideas for us to consider,
and seasonal ones as well. Speaking of
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00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:41.480
which, what are a couple of
simple ways that we can add some smart
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00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.359
home products to our routine, our
regular daily routine. Yeah, and one
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00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.240
of my favorite companies has some really
great products for this, and it's Roku.
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I'm a big fan of their products. They always work done phenomenally well.
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And I have two different options.
One is their colored smart light bulbs,
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so one bulb has sixteen million color
options to control your home lighting,
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which is insane. From the Roku
device and app, you can schedule sunrise
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00:23:06.920 --> 00:23:10.079
wake up lighting, which is really
smart. Or you can set the mood
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for anything at any time. Maybe
it's a game that you're playing, or
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maybe it's a holiday you want to
put for those colors. And then they
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also have the Roku Smart Home Indoor
Camera se So this is great for easy
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home monitoring. It's got HD quality, vibrant color, night vision, motion
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and sound detection, and you can
basically see her and hear what see and
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hear what's happening from anywhere at your
home. Oh and it also can detect
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smoke as well as carbon monoxide and
send you any alerts for an emergencies,
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which I thought was great. Yeah, to get prices on all of these,
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00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:42.480
we're going to plug a website in
a moment and to see them in
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action with Mario demonstrating and speaking of
which, Mario, I know you want
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to end off on something a little
less tech, but a little more ye
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fresh, let's say to consider for
this spring tied to personal care again.
333
00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.799
Look, I always tease how you're
like the best dressed guy in the room,
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so I wouldn't expect anything less from
you. I mean, that's that's
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why I don't, you know,
I don't have the title tech expert because
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00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:08.599
I'm more of like a digital lifestyle
kind of guy. And in that vein,
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00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.480
it's like, yeah, it's springtime. I want us all to do
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00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.119
better with our self care specifically for
the guys. Look, I've been using
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Old Spice shampoos for a while,
so I was like, let's talk about
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00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.319
them for a second. It may
be different, it may be not as
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00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:26.200
techy as we're used to, but
it is fitting for spring. So it's
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00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:29.920
gonna make your hair look fuller,
healthier, more moisturized. They got great
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00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.920
ingredients for cleansing and conditioning. My
favorite is the Old Spice Swagger shampoos because
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you can just use them every single
day and it just kind of you know,
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00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.160
Old Spice has that vibe where you
just feel shockingly confident and it smells
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00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:47.079
incredible. So you just really feel
like confident and you smell good, your
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00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.000
hair feel soft, and I feel
like it's a great way to spring you
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00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:53.720
into the spring. It's a brand
like Cadillac, where it's classic and still
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00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:56.960
trendy. You know, after all
these decades, which is which is still
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still trendy, still relatable, People
still use it, still love it,
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00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.839
and they keep finding new products and
new ways to keep you interested. You're
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00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.839
right, and I am a Cadillac
fan. There you go at some high
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00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:10.960
I actually have a Cadillac. That's
funny you bring that up I did too.
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00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:12.519
There's a lot of tech in there. I'll tell you, what do
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00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:15.200
you do. You have a CTS. I have a CT six. Yeah,
356
00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.880
it's a twenty seventeen. It has
the super crews hands free driving technology.
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00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.440
It's got thirty odd speakers in there. It's got each of the seats
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00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:29.680
are both heated and air conditioned,
and massage chairs even in the back.
359
00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:33.519
It's got a rear view. Mark
was rolling. That's it, right.
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00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.920
The rear view mirror converts into a
camera. If you know your rear view
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00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:40.519
is like foggy or whatever, you
just flick a little switch. Yeah,
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00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.039
I didn't know that. It's got
Wi Fi. I mean, look,
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00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:45.359
this ain't your grandpa's Cadillac. That's
all I can say. Yeah, anyways,
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00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.279
I know you're out here to chat
about the Caddies, but I was
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00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.359
trying to make the connection to brands
like Old Spice that still got it,
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00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:55.119
you know, all right? So
without further ado, Mario, where can
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00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:57.400
we get more info on all this
and pricing as well? So you can
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00:25:57.400 --> 00:26:00.839
go through the website. You can
see Mark and I have our Cadillacs and
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00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.880
I'm just kidding. You can just
go to Inthnews dot TV We got the
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00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.319
videos there of everything I just talked
about pricing and you can see me displaying
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00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:11.039
and demonstrating some of this stuff as
well. Awesome Mario, always great to
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00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:14.599
chat with. You have a great
spring, my friend. Well chat soon
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00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:18.359
you due Mark Spring into it buddy, plea soon more. Check it out
374
00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:22.799
coming right up, breaking down GeekSpeak
into street speak. Check it out.
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00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:37.519
Posted by Mark Saltzman. Welcome back
to tech it Out. We do cover
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00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:42.200
cybersecurity a lot on this program and
how you can best protect yourself in the
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00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:45.160
digital age, even if you're not
tech savvy. Well, one part of
378
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:49.880
the solution is securely shopping online,
and so I'm thrilled about my partnership with
379
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Visa on tech it Out, as
they've made some significant investments in fraud prevention
380
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over the past five years, as
much as ten billion dollars yep billion with
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a B to support visas van prompt
to support Visa's brand promise to protect the
382
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financial information of individuals and businesses.
Zero liability means peace of mind when you
383
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shop online using your Visa card.
There could be no half measures when it
384
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comes to cybersecurity, which is why
the company takes an aggressive and multi layered
385
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approach to combating the rising threat of
malicious software and other threats by well funded
386
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and global criminal enterprises. Read more
about Visa and how securing the world's payments
387
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is priority one at visa dot com. Slash Security. A beacon for comic
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00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:37.920
book nerds on Toronto's iconic Queen Street
West, the Silver Snail Comic book Shop
389
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.640
is one of the oldest, biggest, and most respected in the city and
390
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:45.200
we're privileged to have on theline.
Co owner Brian Hamlin. Great to have
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00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:48.440
you on the show. Brian,
thanks so much for having me. So
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00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:52.079
before we hear about what's hot in
comics, Brian tell us a bit about
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00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:56.079
Silver Snail. Yeah, so we're
actually coming up. It'll be two years.
394
00:27:56.119 --> 00:28:00.640
Will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of
the store. We've kind of existed
395
00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.880
for as long as comic shops as
an idea existed. The original owner,
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00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:10.039
Ron Van Lewin, who me and
my business partner Mark Shingra. We purchased
397
00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:14.240
the company from him because he's long
since retired, but he actually started the
398
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:18.799
store in the back of Baca Books, which is still a sci fi and
399
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:22.400
fantasy bookstore that still exists in the
City on Harvard Street now. So originally
400
00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:26.319
it was just a stand that would
sell books out of the back of their
401
00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:30.359
like comic books because kind of the
idea of a comic shop, there wasn't
402
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:33.599
all the memorabilia and collectibles to kind
of go around with it. It was
403
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:37.119
just, you know, he'd get
grab them off the news stand. So
404
00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:41.279
the reason we're called the Silver Snail
is he had no idea if it was
405
00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:45.720
a viable option for a comic book
store to actually sustain itself. So he
406
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:48.119
figured he'd give it maybe a year
or two and then if it didn't work,
407
00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:52.359
he'd just switches to a pet store. So that's the name was supposed
408
00:28:52.359 --> 00:28:55.279
to be dual, trying to you
know, because at that point, you
409
00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.000
know, now we're in crazy nerd
culture where you know, there's so much
410
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:03.799
genre shows and movies and everyone's kind
of into it. But at that point
411
00:29:03.960 --> 00:29:07.839
that would have been nineteen seventy six, it was still pretty pretty Niche awesome
412
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:11.039
love that story, very efficient way
to choose a name. And what got
413
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.799
you into comics, Brian? And
at what age it was probably gonna say,
414
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.480
like five or six. Really what
got me into it was I grew
415
00:29:19.559 --> 00:29:22.839
up North of the city where like
we didn't have cable or anything, so
416
00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:26.839
I'd only get to watch cable if
I went to my grandma's and it was
417
00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:33.079
going there and just catching episodes of
the X Men animated series and the Batman
418
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.440
animated series that kind of like blew
my mind. And I think it was
419
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:41.440
a bit of the scarcity of like
not getting to see that regularly that made
420
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:47.000
the obsessive part of my brain kind
of want to keep looking more into all
421
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:49.359
the characters. And then once it
was actually once I finally moved to the
422
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.359
city or my brother moved to the
city before me, and I would come
423
00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:57.960
down kind of fifteen sixteen years old
and started shopping at the snail that I
424
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:02.920
realized, like, oh you and
buy like collections of full storylines and go
425
00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.519
back. And then that started an
insane going through all back issues and backstories
426
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:11.559
and getting really into it until I
guess I finally purchased the store or put
427
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:15.160
into the store. So that was
kind of the ultimate collector thing to get.
428
00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:18.680
Yeah, I was gonna say,
the only thing better than a huge
429
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.839
collection, and I'm curious how many
you own personally, by the way,
430
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:25.960
Yeah, the only thing better is
actually buying the store out right. Yeah,
431
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:30.759
well, actually now I own zero. I think I have zero comics
432
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.960
of my own. I have on
my bookshelf a collection of Akira one to
433
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:37.720
six and that's it. Everything else
is in the store. So awesome.
434
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:40.519
All right, So what are some
of the best selling comics in the store
435
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:45.039
right now? Brian? Is it
Marvel DC? I mean we've always,
436
00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:49.519
even through the heights of Marvel with
the popularity of like the movies and stuff
437
00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:53.039
when they're really at their peak,
we've always still been in a Batman world,
438
00:30:53.119 --> 00:30:56.799
who, like Batman kind of has
always sold no matter what, through
439
00:30:57.079 --> 00:31:02.359
even different relaunches of DC when some
of their other books always fall out.
440
00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:06.519
It's like Batman is always right near
the top of our list. But basically
441
00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:11.680
the hottest Olling book right now is
The Ultimate Spider Man by Jonathan Hickman that
442
00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.319
they just relaunched. I guess it
was last month. Was the new first
443
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.039
issue, which kind of tells the
story of older Peter Parker who has like
444
00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:22.000
children is with Mary Jane, but
him becoming Spider Man later in life.
445
00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:26.279
So it's kind of allowing the character
to mature a little bit more, and
446
00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:33.400
generally the idea with the Ultimate Universe
stuff is that changes actually stick. That's
447
00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:37.039
kind of the philosophy around it,
where there's less kind of retconning and going
448
00:31:37.079 --> 00:31:41.920
back to zero and more ongoing story
where things have more consequences. So that's
449
00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:45.599
kind of really taken over. Like
it's by far our most popular book right
450
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:49.480
now, and one that on release
day had we sold out. We're getting
451
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.400
calls have like second printing, third
printing, people coming in, you know,
452
00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.000
to buy multiple covers. It's been
a little bit since a book's really
453
00:31:57.359 --> 00:32:00.880
really hit like that, but that's
definitely the biggest one right now, So
454
00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:05.240
I get it, Batman, Spider
Man, those are some of the best
455
00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.440
sellers. But what about ones that
our listeners may not know about that are
456
00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:10.640
hot in the comic book world.
Yeah, for sure since kind of the
457
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:15.160
big comic movie push, like of
like the mainstream ones. What's also been
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00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:21.480
going on with that is a lot
of creator owned books getting like a lot
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00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:24.079
bigger. A lot of the stuff
that's done out like image comics, where
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00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:30.720
it's the writers and artists actually maintain
the rights of their stories. So a
461
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:35.079
lot of those things have also turned
into you know, huge multimillion dollar franchises
462
00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:38.119
like The Walking Dead or something.
But there's still continuing a lot of image
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00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:43.759
titles that are coming out that are
quite exciting, like Kaya is one Kaya.
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00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:46.680
A big one that's a bit of
a favorite in the store is Minor
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00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:51.039
Threats, which is written by Pat
Now as well for dark Horse Comics,
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00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.519
and it's drawn by Scott Hepburn.
That one has a whole kind of spinoff
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00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:59.960
universe where they're doing a bunch of
tie in books and kind of creating their
468
00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:05.279
own shared university in the way that
Marvel kind of originally did again, like
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00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:09.200
a creator own kind of smaller indie
book. More with Silver Snail when we
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00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:14.039
return on check it out. Follow
Mark Saltzman on Facebook, on Twitter,
471
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:27.720
on Instagram. Listen to check it
out whenever you want. It doesn't get
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00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.359
much bigger than Silver Snail. We're
chatting with the Comic book store co owner
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00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:35.799
Brian Hamelin, learning about what's hot
in comics of course DC and Marvel.
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00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:38.680
You mentioned Walking Dad, Robert Kirkman
art was done by Tony Moore, and
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00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:42.759
you're a big fan of Japanese anime
across the board. You mentioned Aikira is
476
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:47.359
a big seller also at Silver Snail. Yeah, probably growing the section of
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00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.440
the store that keeps growing more and
more is the manga section, like growing
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00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:54.480
way more than any of our other
of their sections, and we got a
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00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:58.920
lot more requests, I think,
a lot of more like new readers and
480
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:01.640
younger readers are a lot more excited
about a lot of the Japanese stuff.
481
00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:08.119
I think partially it's because people are
used to streaming shows and watching stuff on
482
00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:12.840
Netflix or watching streaming or you kind
of get everything all in one and the
483
00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:15.440
way that we get like we don't
bring in Shown and Jump or any of
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00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.119
the books that do it kind of
weekly. It's we get the translations once
485
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:22.639
it's you know, a full volume
or like like a few full volumes.
486
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:29.559
So I think partially that's a more
accessible way to get into something new rather
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00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:32.880
than picking up issue five hundred and
something of an ongoing DC title. But
488
00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:37.039
also just I think there's something to
be said for a lot of those books
489
00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:43.599
are written by the artists, so
it's one person kind of with a singular
490
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:47.239
vision. There's something to the pacing
and storytelling of that that is oftentimes more
491
00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:51.679
captivating. At least for me,
it feels like it flows a lot better.
492
00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:53.920
So when it comes to upcoming books, Brian, what comics are you
493
00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:58.320
excited about, say, maybe this
spring or summer. Yeah, So,
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00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:02.519
speaking of the Marvel kind of ultimate
relaunch, Marvel's kind of they do this
495
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:08.360
every few years to kind of reget
interest, but they're relaunching X Men.
496
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:13.960
It kind of starts in May with
a round Free Comic Book Day and they're
497
00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:16.360
gonna the beginning story is going to
be released in the Free Comic Book Day
498
00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:21.039
one of their specials, and then
they're kind of doing a line wide relaunch
499
00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:24.199
of X Men that will going through
the summer. So that's definitely something that
500
00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:29.440
everyone's pretty excited about. I'm personally
pretty excited about because X Men was really
501
00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:32.880
my gateway into this whole world.
And then another big one is that Jonathan
502
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.239
Hickman, the writer who is currently
doing the Ultimate Spider Man book. That's
503
00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:40.400
that's really exciting for us, and
it's been generating like a lot of sales
504
00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:45.320
and a lot of interest, is
relaunching a Doctor Doom book, which Doom
505
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:49.280
hasn't had kind of his own title
book for quite a few years. He's
506
00:35:49.360 --> 00:35:53.199
just one of those villains the kind
of era of Jack Kirby Doctor Doom,
507
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:57.599
that era of Marvel stuff. I
kind of sear it in my brain a
508
00:35:57.639 --> 00:36:00.920
little bit that Doom is just always
one of those cares that he's just unbelievably
509
00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:04.960
cool, Like he kind of sums
up the cool aspect of Marvel comics.
510
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.360
So like a writer like Hickman really
taking him on is definitely exciting. Before
511
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.719
we wrap up out of curiosity,
I guess the most expensive comic book is
512
00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:17.559
still Superman number one? What about
Silver Snail? What's the most expensive comic
513
00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:22.039
book you've ever sold? During twenty
twenty and twenty twenty one, comics,
514
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:27.400
like old comics really went pretty wild. There's a lot of new collectors getting
515
00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:30.840
into them. So there's some books
that went for the last ten years,
516
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:36.840
we're kind of hovering around two hundred
to three hundred dollars. Book that over
517
00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:40.159
the last few years have gone up
into the thousands. Like we sold a
518
00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:45.519
giant size X Men number one,
which is the first appearance of like a
519
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:49.199
lot of the really famous X Men, like Nightcrawler, Colossus Storm, and
520
00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:53.239
that sold for over six thousand dollars
and it was in kind of mid range
521
00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:58.960
condition. But that's a book that
traditionally was going for six hundred was its
522
00:36:58.960 --> 00:37:01.280
top ten years ago, and I'm
sure it's just going to keep going up
523
00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:06.400
and up, including the rare ones
and imports and other collectors editions and all
524
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.599
that. So where can we learn
more about Silver Snail Brian? So,
525
00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:14.079
yeah, our website Silversnail dot com. Any of our social media is all
526
00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:17.480
under silver Snail to so we do
a lot of our promotions on Instagram and
527
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:21.920
our Twitter is the same handle.
Awesome, Brian, Thank you so much,
528
00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:22.960
Thank you so much for having me, Thanks for having me on.
529
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:27.199
So I got to ask you tech
it Out listeners, what do you think
530
00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:31.199
about interviews like that where it's not
really about tech but kind of tech er
531
00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:36.840
geek culture like comic books. Want
to make sure I'm serving my audience,
532
00:37:36.840 --> 00:37:37.960
So let me know. I'm going
to spell my name in a moment.
533
00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.320
If you're on social media, I
love hearing from tech it Out listeners.
534
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:45.079
If you want to jot this down
or make a mental note, I am
535
00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:51.039
on x formerly Twitter as well as
Instagram threads. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook,
536
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.480
TikTok and YouTube and others, so
all the big platforms. It's Mark
537
00:37:54.639 --> 00:38:00.639
Saltzman, m R C s A
L t Z M A and Mark Saltzman.
538
00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:05.039
If you are not so much into
social media and you prefer to send
539
00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:07.519
me an email, you can do
so on my website. It's simply Mark
540
00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:13.679
Saltzman dot com M A r C
s A L T Z M A N.
541
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:15.840
Either way, I look forward to
hearing from you. Tell me what
542
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:20.360
you think about topics like comics or
we had Kevin Smith on the filmmaker behind
543
00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:24.079
films like Clerks and mal Rats and
Chasing Amy and Dogma and the Jane Silent
544
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.880
Bob movies and all that. Are
we stepping out of our comfort zone?
545
00:38:27.960 --> 00:38:30.000
Are you good with it? So? We'd love your feedback. And hey,
546
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.599
thank you so much for tuning into
check it out. I hope you
547
00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:37.119
enjoyed the variety of topics this hour. A huge thank you to Intel and
548
00:38:37.239 --> 00:38:43.519
it's core ultra PCs ushering in the
era of the AIPC. More info is
549
00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:46.840
at Intel dot com slash AIPC.
Speaking of computers, thank you to Western
550
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:51.880
Digital. Make sure you reliably back
up your reportant files on a regular basis
551
00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:54.920
onto one of their external hard drives
or sand disc SSDs, and thank you
552
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:58.599
to Visa as well. All the
best everyone, have a great rest of
553
00:38:58.599 --> 00:39:00.760
your day. Looking forward to catching
up with you next weekend for another episode
554
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:02.800
of Check It Out. Bye bye
for now.
