Logging In

Kali & Techie

Logging In is where Kali and Techie connect each week (unless life happens) to unpack what’s happening in culture, technology, politics, and the news — from two different sides of the country. From the White House to Silicon Valley, viral stories to AI experiments, the show gets into how technology and culture collide and what it all means in real life. Kali brings cultural context, the headlines people are talking about, and what she’s seeing from the West Coast. Techie digs into the tech stories that often get overlooked, explaining what’s happening behind the scenes, how it works, and why people outside the tech world should care — with observations from the East Coast.

  1. Sep 16

    038 - The $5,000 Scam and What Happens After You Click Pay — Featuring Victor Popovics

    What really happens when you click that checkout button? And what happens when a business gets paid, ships the product, and then the money disappears? This week on Logging In, Kali and Techie welcome special guest Victor Popovics, an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in e-commerce and the founder of Avendo, a financial technology company looking to change how businesses process credit card payments. Victor takes us behind the scenes of something we all do without thinking twice. Whether you’re shopping on Amazon or running your own business, there’s a lot happening between clicking pay and seeing that payment approved. But things get especially interesting when Victor shares how his business lost $5,000 in a fraudulent transaction. The merchandise was shipped, the bank took the money back, and the business was left with nothing. The conversation also gets into hidden processing fees, why small businesses don’t always get the best rates, how payment security works, the differences between credit cards and Zelle, and why switching payment processors isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Victor also introduces Avendo and explains how his company is working to bring competition between payment processors to individual transactions. It’s a side of online shopping most of us never see, but one that affects nearly every purchase we make. We are not endorsing Avendo or its services, and we were not paid for this interview. The conversation is intended for informational purposes only. Featuring Victor Popovics of Avendo Website: https://avendo.tech Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/loggingin/exclusive-content

  2. Jul 21

    032 - The Traffic Cone That United Scotland and Boston

    Techie’s voice is finally back, but Logging In missed a week for an unusual reason: he and his family were tracking down a traffic cone from Scotland. In Episode 32, Techie explains how the Boston Cone became a symbol of the unexpected friendship between Boston and Scotland following the World Cup. The cone traveled first class from Glasgow, was fitted with a tracker, signed by Massachusetts leaders, and became the center of a real-life scavenger hunt that Techie and his children could not resist. The conversation then turns to the World Cup final, including its unusual halftime entertainment, the trophy presentation, President Trump’s extended appearance with the winning team, and reports that a significant portion of the champions’ prize money could be subject to United States taxes. From there, the algorithms take the show in several strange directions. Techie and Kali discuss a bizarre Big Brother twist involving former Survivor contestants, dinosaurs, time travel, and a contestant being thrown into a volcano before officially entering the game. Finally, Kali introduces Instacart’s AI-powered grocery carts. These carts can recognize products, track a shopper’s location, calculate a running total, and recommend coupons based on what is happening inside the aisle. That leads to questions about privacy, incorrect prices, shopping with children, and how long it will take before people begin trying to trick the carts into offering better deals. From a world-famous traffic cone to a grocery cart that knows what you are buying, Episode 32 proves that the strangest stories are often the ones your usual algorithm would never show you. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/loggingin/exclusive-content

About

Logging In is where Kali and Techie connect each week (unless life happens) to unpack what’s happening in culture, technology, politics, and the news — from two different sides of the country. From the White House to Silicon Valley, viral stories to AI experiments, the show gets into how technology and culture collide and what it all means in real life. Kali brings cultural context, the headlines people are talking about, and what she’s seeing from the West Coast. Techie digs into the tech stories that often get overlooked, explaining what’s happening behind the scenes, how it works, and why people outside the tech world should care — with observations from the East Coast.