WEBVTT - Tech News: Superconductivity and Hype Cycles and TikTok, oh my! 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.319 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:15.800 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:18.640 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:22.760 are you? I am much better. I think I had 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:27.400 food poisoning and boyowdy did knock me on my Patucas. 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:29.760 But I'm back and it's time for the tech news 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:35.199 for Thursday, August seventeenth, twenty twenty three. And kicking the 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.320 news off today is an update on the material called 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:43.360 LK ninety nine. Now, if you've listened to recent tech 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.559 Stuff episodes or you've been following the story in general, 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.000 you probably heard that some researchers in South Korea believed 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:55.120 that they had created this material LK ninety nine, and 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:59.920 that it displays the properties of a superconductor at high temperatures. 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:02.840 So a superconductor is a material that has some really 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:07.480 interesting properties. For one, it has zero electrical resistance, meaning 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:12.720 it is a perfect conductor. Superconductors also reject magnetic fields, 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:14.720 and then you get into things like the Meisner effect. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:19.400 But usually we have to either cool a conductor down 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.000 to wicked cold temperatures like a degree or two above 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:28.400 the temperature of deep space. In order to reach super conductivity, 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.360 we have to get to the critical temperature of this material, 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:37.119 or you have to subject the material to really high pressure, 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.960 and then you can increase the temperature for the critical 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.280 nature of the material. But we're talking crazy pressures or 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.280 temperatures here. Frequently you'd have to do both. LK ninety 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:55.040 nine seem to have superconductive features at room temperature and 0:01:55.360 --> 0:02:00.600 air pressure, which would have been incredibly disruptive if true, 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:05.240 and amazing, it would have been so good, But it 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.960 appears that's not the case. Over the last couple of weeks, 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.880 various research groups have attempted to replicate the results of 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:15.880 the South Korean team, But it looks like LK ninety 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.000 nine isn't a superconductor after all. In fact, it's more 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.400 of an insulator. So how did the South Korean team 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.960 get this wrong? Well, according to chemist Preschant Jine of 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:30.080 the University of Illinois, the issue was that the process 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.840 to synthesize LK ninety nine tends to introduce impurities. Like 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.280 that's just part of the synthesizing process, and it's not 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.560 always the same each time you synthesize this stuff. But 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:45.400 one of the impurities that can be introduced is copper sulfide, 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.600 and that material has a very low electrical resistance if 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.359 it happens to also be exposed to air and it's 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.440 below like one hundred and four degrees celsius. And Jine 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.639 said that the presence of impurities is what gave researchers 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.160 the missis stake and impression that the material overall was 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.680 a superconductor because there was a sudden drop in resistance, 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:11.920 but it was because of impurities like copper sulfide. Researchers 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.320 have said that LK ninety nine is really tricky because, 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:17.960 like I said, synthesizing can lead to samples with varying 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:22.040 amounts of impurities. So even the same lab trying to 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.040 synthesize this material could end up with two different samples 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.639 with two different amounts of various impurities and different distributions. 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.600 But unfortunately, it appears that super conductivity is not a 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:39.560 property that LK ninety nine possesses. It might have some 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:44.040 ferromagnetic properties, and like I said, with these impurities, there 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:48.160 might be pockets of lower electrical resistance, but it's not 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:53.240 super conductive at least according to these follow up experiments. 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.960 So that is a bummer. It's not necessarily a surprise, 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.680 but you know, you always hope that the thing really 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.320 is an incredible breakthrough, and then you know, but you 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.080 prepare yourself for the fact that it's probably not right. 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.400 It would have been a truly extraordinary thing had it 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.240 all worked out. As always, you know, using critical thinking, 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.279 being skeptical it's important so that way you can really 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.159 investigate claims and make sure that they have merit. In 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.040 this case, it seems that sadly they did not. That's 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.280 not to say that I think the researchers from South 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.360 Korea were attempting to mislead anyone. I don't believe that. 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:37.520 I just think it was a case where they mistakenly 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:42.640 identified a property that just wasn't there. The tech research 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.400 firm Gartner released its hype cycle for emerging technologies in 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:50.280 twenty twenty three, and generative AI is perched right at 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.520 the tippy top of the peak of inflated expectations. So 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.520 the hype cycle is Gartner's way of describing the typical 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.960 pattern we see when and exciting technology starts to gain 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.680 mind share. So the hype cycle doesn't really say that 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:11.960 much about the abilities of technology itself. It's more about 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.560 how our perception of that technology and our reaction to 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:20.400 that technology often are at a big gap from what 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:24.400 the technology does. So it doesn't reflect poorly on the technology, 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:30.000 it reflects poorly on us and our tendency to get 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.160 over excited about things. So you start off at the 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.360 innovation trigger. So this is the emergence of some new technology, 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.520 and at the earliest stages, usually the only people who 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.880 are paying attention are folks who are directly involved in 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.479 that sector or field of study, right Like, these are 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.120 people who are on the forefront of research, and they 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.840 might get excited about stuff not because they think it's 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:59.160 a huge breakthrough, but that it's progress. Then you have 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:03.920 this really steep climb to that peak of inflated expectations. 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.560 Along this route is when the rest of us start 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.240 to hear about this, and usually things like the media 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:16.600 and companies and you know, personalities out there start to 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:18.880 hype up this technology and talk about all the different 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.760 ways that we might be able to use this tech 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.360 and it will transform our lives and it will, you know, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:31.080 make business processes a billion times more efficient and cheaper, 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.159 and all this kind of stuff right like, that's where 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:37.240 all that conversation starts to happen. And there's a lot 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:40.240 of blue sky thinking going on during this stage. But 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.839 at some point we start to realize that our perception 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.120 of the technology and what it can actually achieve are 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.159 out of alignment, right, that we have put way too 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:54.240 much hype on this underlying technology, and then we plunge 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.840 into what is called the troth of disillusionment. Now at 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:02.400 that stage, some of us might even dismiss that technology outright, say, 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:06.360 oh man, it's worthless, it can't do anything, and this 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.120 is the exact same technology that we were super hyped 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:14.320 about earlier. But again our perception and the actual technology 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.760 itself and its abilities are out of alignment. Now our 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:21.160 perception is below what the technology can actually do. We're 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:25.200 undervaluing it. So following the trough of disillusionment is the 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.400 slope of enlightenment. That's where we start to figure out 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.680 how the tech can actually be put to good use 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.360 without overinflating its importance. They might be a much more 0:07:35.640 --> 0:07:38.400 modest approach than what we were originally thinking when it 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:43.280 was going through that peak of inflated expectations. And then 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.680 that finally leads to the plateau of productivity. That's kind 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.560 of where the tech sits comfortably and its capabilities and 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.640 our perceptions of the technology are more or less in alignment. 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:57.480 They're more or less parallel. So if Gartner is on 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.840 the money here, that means we should be in store 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:03.800 for a pretty dramatic reversal on how companies and others 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:09.400 are looking at generative AI. There is no shortage of 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:14.320 pieces about the technologies, current limitations and drawbacks, so I 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.239 don't necessarily disagree. In fact, I'm actually a little surprised 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.800 that Gardner didn't position generative AI as if it were 0:08:20.920 --> 0:08:24.880 just past the peak and already on its way down. 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.760 Other technologies that were included on this projection are things 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:34.679 like federated machine learning, cloud sustainability, and post quantum cryptography. 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.880 All of those are still on the climbing toward the 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.120 peak of inflated expectations part of the hype cycle, according 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.040 to Gardner. And again, this is just kind of a 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.640 way of us kind of taking a step back and 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.880 looking at how we react to these technologies. It's so 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.200 interesting to me because again, it's it doesn't have anything 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.360 to do with what the technology actually can do. It's 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:02.040 all in our perception and leaf of what that technology 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:06.720 can do really fascinating, sort of a meta approach. The 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:12.280 Associated Press or AP, has updated its policies about journalism 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:16.960 and artificial intelligence in general, but also generative AI and 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:21.320 specifically chat GPT in particular. So, for example, the AP 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:25.600 states that quote any output from a generative AI tool 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:29.800 should be treated as unvetted source material. AP staff must 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:34.479 apply their editorial judgment and AP sourcing standards when considering 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:39.120 any information for publication end quote. This also doesn't just 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:44.400 include text. AP has also talked about images. The AP 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:48.440 says that journalists should never include AI generated or AI 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:53.160 altered images unless the story itself is about AI creating 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.920 or changing images, in which case you can include examples, 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.599 but you do need to clearly label them in captions 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:03.280 so that the reader of the piece is aware of 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:07.240 what that is. The AP also urge journalists to be 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.880 extra cautious when researching material, to make reasonable efforts to 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:16.120 ensure that the sources they're referencing are reliable, because if 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.200 those sources were generated by AI, they may not be. 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.240 The AP urges journalists to check multiple sources, which is 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.560 always a good thing, and to use strategies like reverse 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:30.720 image searches to validate information before including it in their 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:35.040 own pieces, which again makes sense. Also, if journalists have 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.960 any doubts about the validity of the material, they should 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.280 probably just not use it at all, and that seems 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.520 like a reasonable benchmark to me. The AP is publishing 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.520 new updates to the AP style Book today as this 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.560 episode goes out, and they will include other guidelines about AI. 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:55.319 A big one is not about journalists making use of AI, 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.080 but how they cover it, and part of that is 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.120 not buying into the hype or at least not to 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:06.040 take claims at face value, specifically from AI developers, and 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:10.000 also that journalists should avoid using language that quote attributes 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:15.839 human characteristics to these systems end quote, and that makes sense. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.080 It's also good to call attention to it, because we 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:24.360 humans are often guilty at projecting human characteristics on non 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:29.080 human stuff like animals or even inanimate objects. I mean, 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.000 how many of y'all have named your cars, for example. 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:33.640 I'm sure not all of you have, but I bet 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:37.319 some of you have. Anyway, here's hoping that these guidelines 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.440 can help journalists frame AI stories in a way that 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:43.679 leads to more accurate reporting. We're going to take a 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.840 quick break. When we come back, we will continue this 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:59.880 episode we're back. So, city employees in New York City 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.360 are now barred from installing and using TikTok on any 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.680 city owned devices. So this is a very similar story 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.120 that we've seen play out in lots of other places, 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.400 several states here in the US. Several federal agencies here 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.120 in the US have similar bands, and the concern is 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:21.160 that TikTok could potentially pose as a security vulnerability, one 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.760 that could give unauthorized persons access to, in this case, 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:29.440 New York City's networks. The ban is effective immediately, and 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.719 as I have said in previous episodes, I think this 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:37.360 is perfectly reasonable for a city owned system or a 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.760 government owned system. If you are a city worker and 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.040 the city has assigned to you a smartphone, that phone 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.439 isn't really yours, it's for you to use with respect 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:51.280 to your job working for the city. City workers are 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.199 still allowed to use TikTok on their personal devices. It's 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.360 not like they're forbidden from using TikTok at all. And 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.880 I've also said this before too, but I agree that 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.640 banning TikTok from government owned devices makes sense. I don't 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.400 have any issue with that. I think unless your job 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.240 for the government requires you to have TikTok, like maybe 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.480 you're a pr person or something, it doesn't make sense 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:19.920 to have TikTok on a government owned device. I also 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.680 think that singling out TikTok exclusively when we're talking about 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:29.640 concerns around data security and data privacy is absurd. So 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:31.840 in other words, yes, I think it makes sense to 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:36.000 ban it from government owned devices, but I also think 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:41.240 it's ridiculous to single out TikTok as the one evil 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:47.400 boogeyman in the data security space, because wild TikTok can 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:49.920 be a threat to security and privacy. That's true for 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:57.960 tons of apps right like x slash, Twitter has those issues, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:02.000 pretty much any app that's collecting information about us, and 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:05.520 especially apps that have the information later make their way 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:09.800 to data brokerage markets. All of those pots as security 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.719 and privacy threats to us. But that's a soapbox I've 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.199 been on so many times. I'll just move on. The 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:20.720 cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase has secured regulatory approval to allow 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:25.480 US based customers to deal in crypto derivatives, so globally, 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:29.320 cryptoderivatives make up the majority of crypto trades, but here 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.040 in the US they weren't allowed. If you wanted to 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.040 deal with crypto here in the US, you had to 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:40.160 actually buy or sell actual cryptocurrencies, not derivatives. So derivatives 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.040 are stuff like futures and options. And I'm going to 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:47.080 be honest, y'all, this is outside my wheelhouse. And the 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:51.920 more I read about stuff like stocks and futures and options, 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.680 the more I'm left with the sinking feeling that nothing 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:57.240 is real. And the only reason the financial world keeps 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.520 moving at all is that enough folks have agreed it's 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.160 too importan and to let it fall to pieces. So 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.200 we just have to shut our eyes and believe in 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.520 fairies and the whole thing will just keep on going. 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.920 But that's not very helpful for this particular news item, right, 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:14.360 So a future, in case like me, you really had 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.160 heard the term, but you were like, I don't even 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.160 know what that really means. A future is a contractual 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.920 agreement to buy or to sell a certain asset at 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.680 a certain price at a certain time. So it's where 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:30.880 a buyer and a seller agree upon what is going 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:34.560 to be bought slash sold, when that's going to happen 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.840 and at what price. It's a lot like making a 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.800 bet on what you think the future value of an 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.880 asset might be. So let's use an example to help 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.720 clear things up. So right now, as I record this, 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.480 the price of a single bitcoin is around twenty eight thousand, 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.960 three hundred bucks. But let's say that you think that 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.600 in three months bitcoin is going to surge in value. 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.800 So you want to secure a futures contract. You want 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.680 to purchase one bitcoin, but you want to purchase it 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:08.520 in three months at the price of Let's say you've agreed, 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.520 You've negotiated it to twenty nine thousand dollars, so it's 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:15.240 more than what it's valued at now, but you think 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.720 that in three months it's going to be worth way 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.360 more than that. Now, let's say that someone else who 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.520 owns bitcoin thinks that the price of bitcoin is actually 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.560 going to dip in three months, so they have an 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.240 incentive to make a deal, especially to sell one bitcoin 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.320 at twenty nine thousand dollars, which is again higher than 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.040 what the current market value is. So the two of 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:40.800 you enter into an agreement, You create a contract, you 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.720 sign on the dotted line three months go by, and 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:46.920 now it's actually time for you to pay for that 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.920 bitcoin and take possession of it. So the agreed upon 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.680 price was twenty nine thousand dollars, and it turns out 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:55.240 you were right. Let's say that the market did surge, 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.280 and now the market price for bitcoin is close to 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.240 forty thousand dollars. That means you're able to buy a 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.480 forty thousand dollars bitcoin at twenty nine thousand dollars. So 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.920 you've already made a profit as soon as you make 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:11.239 the purchase. Or let's say the seller was right, and 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.480 now the current price a bitcoin is down to twenty thousand, 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.080 but you've already agreed to pay for it at twenty 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:21.040 nine thousand. Now you might say, Jonathan, why would you 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.120 trade in futures when you could just buy or sell 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.240 the actual cryptocurrency in real time. If you think the 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.520 price is gonna go up, why not just buy it now? 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:34.440 And to that, I say, beats me. Maybe it's that 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.560 you don't have the money right now, so that three 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:40.000 months would give you enough time to gather the money 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.200 you would need to buy the asset. That's one way 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.560 of doing it, although that is putting yourself on a deadline. 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.919 That is scary, my friend. You get close to that 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:50.680 three months and you're like, oh man, I need to 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:54.919 scrounge up that twenty nine K. But I am not 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.240 at all an expert in financial matters, which is more 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.159 than evident, right, And I am sure there are lots 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:07.080 of really legitimate, smart financial reasons to trade in futures. 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.520 I mean I get it for like physical stuff like agriculture. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.760 I totally understand it in that context. But in things 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:18.440 like stocks and cryptocurrencies, that blows my mind. So it's 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.000 outside my wheelhouse. And you might as well just tell 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:24.679 me it's magic, and I'll believe you because it totally 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.440 escapes me. Anyway, the fact that regulators have now approved 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.960 derivatives for Coinbase is a huge deal both for US 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:37.240 investors and for the crypto exchange itself. Meanwhile, in the UK, 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:42.120 PayPal will pump the brakes on customer crypto sales starting 0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:46.919 in October. That's because UK regulators are implementing new rules 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:52.080 and restrictions regarding crypto trading in the UK starting October eighth, 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:55.280 and PayPal execs say they need to pause crypto features 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:59.120 to make certain that the company's operations satisfy these new 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:04.240 rules will still be able to sell their crypto through PayPal, 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:06.800 but they won't be able to buy. And that's because 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.639 these new rules are going to include giving clear and 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:15.040 understandable warnings about the risks that are surrounding the investment 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:19.840 into cryptocurrencies. So regulators have been really concerned that customers 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.960 in the UK don't fully understand those risks, and so 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:28.000 these rules are more about raising awareness about possible consequences 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.080 if you were to pour your money into the cryptocurrency world. 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.720 And because they say that, a lot of people just 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.280 view it as this is a guaranteed way to get 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.120 rich and they don't take into consideration the very real 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:44.080 possibility that your investment could just disappear. That you could 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:47.440 invest all that money and then the asset could fall 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.320 through and then you've lost all that money. So it's 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:55.240 not an outright ban on the buying and selling a crypto, 0:19:55.320 --> 0:20:01.639 but more about making sure that any any company that 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.520 facilitates the buying and selling of crypto has to be 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:09.800 able to express these risks to customers. So that's why 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:12.400 PayPal is going to put a pause on things. Well, 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.480 they make sure that they comply with those rules. Okay, 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.679 I've got three more stories to go, but we're going 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:34.240 to take another quick break to thank our sponsors. Okay. 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.760 So this is an important one if you happen to 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:41.800 drive a Ford vehicle that was made between like twenty 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:45.440 fifteen and twenty twenty one, in particular, So, Texas Instruments 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.159 recently discovered a vulnerability in a Wi Fi driver that 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:54.040 the company supplies to the automaker Forward and this is 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:58.840 for the use in the SINC three infotainment system. And 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.359 this is a bad one because this flaw makes it 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:05.400 possible for a hacker to tap in through a vehicle's 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:10.760 WiFi and to execute remote code on that infotainment system. 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:16.080 So essentially a hacker can take over that infotainment system. 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:19.320 Ford at least has reassured the public that the infotainment 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:23.600 system is firewalled off from critical driving systems like breaking 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:27.359 and steering in that kind of thing. So the good 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:32.480 news is that while this is a critical security vulnerability, 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:36.040 there's not really any risk of hackers getting the ability 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:41.359 to force board vehicles off the road by exploiting this 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.160 vulnerability in the SINC three infotainment system. Nothing like that 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:49.600 should be possible. Still, The recommendation is for people who 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.000 own a Ford that was made after twenty fifteen that 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:57.040 has this Sink three infotainment system in it, they should 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:01.160 go into their Wi Fi settings and turn off Wi 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:05.040 Fi while they wait for Ford to issue a security patch, 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:09.639 which they would then have to install via USB or 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.439 bring it into a Ford dealership to have it installed there. 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:17.240 The current version of the infotainment software on Ford vehicles 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.199 made since twenty twenty one is Sync four, So if 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:25.119 you have a Sink four infotainment system, this shouldn't apply 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:28.080 to you. At least Ford has not revealed any vulnerabilities 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:34.320 in that generation of the infotainment system. So again, if 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:36.679 you own a Ford it was made between twenty fifteen 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.119 and twenty twenty one, it's got Sync three infotainment system, 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:43.320 go into those settings and turn off Wi Fi until 0:22:44.200 --> 0:22:46.880 Ford has a security patch, and you know, just keep 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:51.920 an eye on Ford's own website about this issue, and 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:54.760 that way you can avoid having your car get hacked 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:59.480 into by hackers. What a world right. Earlier this week, 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:02.960 I talked about how San Francisco recently authorized robo taxi 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:07.520 companies Waimo and Cruise, which is owned by General Motors. 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:10.560 Weimo is owned by Alphabet, you know, Google's parent company. 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.720 But anyway, they have authorized these companies to operate within 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:18.359 the city of San Francisco. They've got certain things that 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:19.960 they have to follow in order to be able to 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.400 charge for rides. But anyway, I also talked about how 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:28.159 several vehicles owned by Cruise, maybe as many as a dozen, 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:31.400 created a bit of a traffic jam in San Francisco 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:34.560 when they stopped on a street in the San Francisco 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:39.679 neighborhood Doe to sell service interruptions and interference. There was 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:42.399 this big music festival that was hogging all the data, 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:45.280 and the cars were unable to navigate properly, so they 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:47.720 just kind of parked it on the street and caused 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.560 a bit of a traffic jam. Now there's another report 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:53.160 out of San Francisco that says a Cruise vehicle made 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:57.239 a booboo when it drove over a construction site and 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:02.320 then into wet concrete. Apparently the car registered the wet 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:05.199 concrete as being just fine to drive on, and so 0:24:05.440 --> 0:24:09.280 it drove in and got stuck. Crewise employees had to 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.080 come to its rescue. A little bit later on, the 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.240 Cruise vehicle was not carrying passengers at the time at least, 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:18.440 but does illustrate that these vehicles have limitations and we're 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:21.520 likely to see similar issues while engineers work to make 0:24:21.560 --> 0:24:25.200 the vehicles better. It might lead some people to ask 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:30.240 if perhaps these cars are in operation a bit prematurely, 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:34.600 and I think that's a fair question to ask. Others 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:37.240 would say that, well, the whole purpose of operation at 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:42.160 this stage is to find out where these problems are 0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:44.600 so that we can fix them and make them better. 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:49.800 But when you're talking about a device that is that big, 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:53.280 can move that fast and can potentially kill somebody, I 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:55.880 think you got to hold it to a very, very 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.680 very high standard. Finally, our last story is a bunch 0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:02.320 of foe folks who owned three D printers made by 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:08.800 the company Bamboo Bambu found that their devices spontaneously began 0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:12.320 to print in the middle of the night recently. So 0:25:12.359 --> 0:25:14.680 it is the machine uprising, only it's just the three 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:18.000 D printers and they can't do very much else other 0:25:18.040 --> 0:25:21.439 than you know, print stuff. But they were trying to 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:26.639 print previous print jobs, sometimes printing over an earlier print 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:30.719 job or a print job that had been going and 0:25:30.760 --> 0:25:33.520 then just stopped and now it had been restarted, so 0:25:33.560 --> 0:25:35.560 printing on top of it and just ruining the whole thing. 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:38.720