WEBVTT - The Verdict is in for Theranos 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.000 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.280 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:23.400 And how the tech are you? I'm gonna I'm gonna 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:25.959 workshop that for a while. So it is time for 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:31.000 the tech news for Tuesday, January four, twenty twenty two. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.000 Actually have to look at the date, because, as is 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.800 the usual, it'll take me about a month to remember 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.400 that we're actually in a new year. And let's get 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.720 to the news. The trial of Elizabeth Holmes has concluded 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.000 with a jury delivering the founder of Sara Nos a 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.720 mixed bag of verdicts. So for those who don't know, 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.000 Sara Nos was a biotech medical startup founded by Holmes 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.920 with the aim of producing a desktop technology capable of 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.280 running more than a hundred medical tests on a single 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:07.560 micro drop of blood. The company raised somewhere in the 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:12.199 neighborhood of nine billion dollars in investments and turned homes 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.520 into a Silicon Valley celebrity. She also gained a lot 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:19.440 of attention for seemingly emulating the late Steve Jobs, including 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:24.000 adopting the black turtleneck as her signature look. While the 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:28.119 company received a lot of attention and enthusiasm from investors 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:30.760 who were sold on the prospect that this tech could 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:34.680 disrupt the entire medical industry and represent a huge business, 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.160 things were not going so well at the company itself. 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.840 A Wall Street Journal expose a revealed that the company's 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:47.760 promises stretched far beyond its capabilities and led to investigations 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:51.160 that bring us up to this trial, Holmes had faced 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:55.120 eleven criminal charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.280 wire fraud. Of those, the jury found her not guilty 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.680 on four accounts, guilty on another four accounts, and they 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:07.000 couldn't come to a decision on the remaining three counts. 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:11.040 The judge declared a mistrial in the case of those 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:15.240 three counts. That means that technically prosecutors could bring a 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:19.080 new case against Holmes. She could face up to twenty 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:23.160 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:27.480 I would not be surprised, however, if her lawyers appealed 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:32.200 her case. Meanwhile, her business partner and former romantic interest, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.960 Ramesh Sunny Balwanni, who served as the chief operating officer 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.840 for the company, is to stand trial facing similar criminal 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:45.040 charges in February. Throughout the trial, Holmes maintained it was 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:47.880 Balwanni who was at fault for the crimes. So this 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.720 story isn't over over, but the initial trial is. It 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:55.440 will be interesting to see what bal Wanne's arguments will 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:59.640 be when that trial comes to pass. Okay, let's do 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.000 a very quick round up on some news that has 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.080 happened since we went on break, and I'm going to 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.240 start with some news about politicians in the United States 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.280 and social network platforms. First, there's the case of House 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.480 Representative Marjorie Taylor Green from my state of Georgia. Now, 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.280 I'm going to spare you my personal thoughts about Green, 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:21.919 and I'll just say I believe there may be no 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:25.960 position upon which the both of us agree. That's the 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.720 classy way to say it, I guess. Anyway, Twitter recently 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.920 permanently suspended Green's personal account it was a verified Twitter account, 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.320 even after that account received at least five strikes for 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:43.240 spreading misinformation about COVID nineteen. And y'all, my state's been 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.920 hit pretty hard by COVID, So the fact that a 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.240 rep from my own state is effectively working against her 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:55.000 own constituents is just playing crazy anyway. Following that, Facebook 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.600 removed a post from Green that was, you know, in 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.320 light of this suspend mention, uh you know, Facebook also 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:07.120 removed a post saying that it also violated their policies. However, 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:11.160 they said that Green Green's transgressions did not merit a 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.680 full suspension from Facebook, so she's still active there. The 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:18.080 move has prompted a total crap storm here in America, 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.480 with some folks like Joe Rogan urging people to leave Twitter. 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:27.000 On Moss and late night talk show hosts are rejoicing 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.039 in her removal. So you know, that whole issue with 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.520 the left and right growing further apart from each other 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.560 is just going swimmingly well in my country. Anyway. Green 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.880 isn't the only conservative to part ways with a social network, though. 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.279 I should also add that her official account as a 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:48.320 representative for Georgia remains active, so her personal account has 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.080 been suspended, but she does still have access to her 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.960 you know, official account as a representative of the House 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:59.000 of Representatives. Anyway. U S Senator Ran Paul, another Conservative, 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:03.640 has left YouTube, but this time it's Paul's decision sort 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:07.640 of see light Green Paul was dinged for spreading misinformation 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:10.599 about the COVID pandemic, and his account was suspended by 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.279 YouTube on two separate occasions. Paul now says he will 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:18.080 no longer post to YouTube unless it's two dunk on them, 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.760 and otherwise he will post his messages on other places, 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.400 going on to tell conservatives that because they make up 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:28.240 about half the country, they could put a real hurt 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.400 on networks like YouTube just by not using those those platforms. 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:36.279 I'm not sure how persuasive that argument actually is, either 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:38.800 to YouTube or to is, you know, the people he's 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.600 speaking to. I do know it's pretty disgusting to make 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:45.719 arguments about freedom of speech when that speech in question 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:49.320 is all about spreading misinformation that consequently leads to people 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:53.320 getting sick and dying. Uh. I think that is pretty abhorrent. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.280 Something else that happened over the break was the successful 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:01.120 launch of the James web Space Telescope. According to NASA, 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.000 the mission so far has progressed as smoothly as could 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.960 be hoped, which must be a relief after the numerous 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.880 delays that pushed back the telescope's launch multiple times, including 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.320 that scary moment late last year when vibrations moved through 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.920 the telescope as it was being attached to its launch vehicle. Uh, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.839 the telescope is so delicate that there was a concern 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.840 that those vibrations could have misaligned things, which means that 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:28.520 the process of the telescope unpacking itself could have been, 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.600 you know, compromised. So it is currently on its way 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.359 to its destination, which will take it beyond the moon, 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:38.520 and teams are working on the process by which the 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:43.240 telescope will unpack and unfold itself. That includes unfolding a 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.159 five layer sun shield layer by layer, and each layer 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.119 is about as thick as a human hair. And also 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.479 you've got all those numerous mirrors that will reflect light 0:06:55.640 --> 0:06:59.400 to the telescope's sensors. According to the BBC, the process 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:05.120 has three separate quote single point failures end quote involved. 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:07.960 Now that means that each of those points represents a 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:12.160 moment where if things don't go well, then nothing that 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.960 follows that step will work. So it's kind of like 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.640 if your plan is to go out and go shopping 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:20.880 and then you want to go catch a movie, and 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.960 then you're gonna go out to dinner, but as you 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:24.920 leave the house you find out your car has just 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.360 been crushed by a meteor. Well, that medior crushing your 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.800 car was kind of the single point of failure because 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:32.080 none of the rest of your plans are going to 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:36.800 work out because your cars been crushed. Same sort of idea. However, 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:39.320 NASA reps have stressed that there's no reason to be 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.240 tense about this, that they've practiced this numerous times, they 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:45.240 know what they're doing, and the whole procedure is likely 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.200 to be boring. That's actually their words, and you know what, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:52.920 after years of setbacks, boring actually sounds kind of nice. 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.640 While the James Webb is in many ways the successor 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.920 to the venerable Hubble space telescope, that does not mean 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.800 the Hubble is done with adding to our scientific knowledge. Recently, 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.720 NASA released an image captured by the Hubble telescope showing 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:12.560 the spiral galaxy in GC one oh five aligning with 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.960 a second galaxy. And because it's impossible to really judge 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.640 depth just by looking at a two dimensional image, the 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.680 first impression you might have is that what we're looking 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.200 at is two galaxies colliding with one another. Now, that 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.840 kind of thing does happen, but in this case, the 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.040 image shows the galaxies are just lining up from our perspective, 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.960 kind of like how Mars can line up with Jubiter. 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.960 It doesn't mean Mars is crashing into Jubiter, just means 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.440 that from our perspective they're in line with each other. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.480 It's a pretty cool image, which you can see on 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:47.200 NASA's website about the Hubble. And while we're talking about space, 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.199 I have a fun story that involves satellites and one 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.280 of the Internet's favorite topics. Not bacon because that pretty 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:59.040 much fizzled out like five years ago. I'm talking about cats. Okay, 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:04.160 So space Sex has this project called Starlink, and this 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:08.200 uses tiny satellites in orbit to provide satellite internet connections 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.559 down here on Earth. They're running a relatively small beta 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.640 program right now in a pretty uh constricted region to 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.000 test it out. So right now, the star Link network 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.600 consists of slightly fewer than two thousand satellites, so there 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.120 are a lot up there, uh, and the company plans 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.760 to add more than twelve thousand additional ones in the future. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.280 So the goal is to provide internet service to rural 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:37.160 and underserved regions areas that cannot get reliable internet access otherwise. 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.480 All right, Well, that's all the stuff that's zooming around 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.440 in space, but down here on Earth, you need a 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.520 way to pick up those satellite signals. You have to 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.440 have a way to beam information back and forth between 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:50.520 the satellites so that you can you know, Internet good. 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.439 So you need an antenna and it's a dish antenna, 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:57.600 what we used to call us satellite dish back in 0:09:57.640 --> 0:10:01.400 the day. Well, the Starlink dish antenna has a kind 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:05.400 of nifty feature. So essentially it has a thermometer and 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.599 it can detect if the temperature drops below freezing and 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.640 if it does, the satellite dish will generate a little 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:16.520 extra heat surface heat on the antenna itself. So the 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.800 idea is that that heat will help melt any snow 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.360 or ice that would otherwise build up on the dish 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.800 in freezing temperatures and could potentially interfere with getting a 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:30.160 satellite signal. And here's where the cats come in. A 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:33.760 Twitter user named Aaron Taylor shared an image of a 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.240 group of five cats perched on top of the Starlink 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:42.920 satellite dish, presumably outside of Aaron's home, stating quote, starlink 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.520 works great until the cats find out that the dish 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.520 gives off a little heat on cold day's end. Quote. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.920 Trust me, the image is adorable and also very funny. 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:55.560 All right, we've got some more news stories to go through, 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.640 but before we get to that, let's take a quick 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:08.520 break and we're back. US telecom companies A, T and 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.920 T and Verizon recently agreed to delay their planned rollout 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.800 of five G systems by a couple of weeks uh 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.560 this The request of delay came from the United States 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:22.120 Federal Aviation Administration or f a A, which sites concerns 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.760 that five G signals could interfere with some airplane systems, 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.719 notably stuff like a radio altimeter. There's been a lot 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.520 of back and forth between the aviation industry and the 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:36.360 telecom industry about the effects of delays as well as 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.400 the potential effects of five G transmissions. The telecom companies 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.839 are eager to move forward and deploy their five G networks. 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:47.679 They really want to make good on certain promises they 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.239 have with customers, as well as just to remain competitive 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:53.920 with companies that have already started to deploy five gen networks. 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.839 And obviously they've also been experiencing delays anyway due to 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:01.920 problems like COVID and of course, the aviation industry is 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:06.479 concerned with safety and avoiding problems like flights getting delayed, canceled, 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:11.880 or diverted, saying that if there is this UH interference, 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:17.319 then that could severely hamper flight flight control, and that 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.120 would not be great like flight control in the sense 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:24.240 of everything could get messed up. And once you start 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:30.000 having flights canceled at one airport, there's this cascade effect, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.680 right because that plane was on its way somewhere and 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:35.319 now it's not going to get there at that time. 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.800 So this ends up having like a domino effect, even 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:41.000 if you have airports that are not being affected by 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.880 this interference. So up until yesterday, A T and T 0:12:44.960 --> 0:12:47.880 and Verizon appeared unwilling to give up their rollout plans, 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.480 but that has changed and now they've agreed to a 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.640 two week delay. I'm not sure what difference the two 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.240 weeks makes, but I will continue to look into the 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.160 story as it develops. In a serious case of deja vous, 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:03.920 Microsoft has had to release a fix for a bug 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:08.640 in their Exchange server product that shut down on premises 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:13.160 email delivery at thousands of locations around the world. So 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:18.120 what happened, Well, it's all because Exchange Server two thousand 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.679 sixteen and Exchange Server two thousand nineteen have a date 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:26.480 check feature, and that date check has a maximum value 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:31.120 of to one four seven four eight three six four seven. 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:33.160 If I were to read that out, it would be 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:37.320 two billion, one hundred forty seven million, four hundred eight 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.880 three thousand, six hundred forty seven, also known as two 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.280 to the thirty first power of minus one. But Microsoft 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.760 would use the first two digits of that number, the 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:50.240 T one in this case. What that's the maximum? They 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.880 would use those first two digits to denote the last 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:56.200 two digits of the current year, which you know, that 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.040 works fine as long as the last two digits of 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:04.160 the current year are not greater than to one. And uh, 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.080 the first two digits in the number are you know, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.600 that's as high as they can go as to one. Well, 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.440 I'm told this year is two thousand, twenty two, so 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:16.040 we would use twenty two to designate the year. That 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.240 means if you put two two at the end, you know, 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.200 the front end of that very long number, it's actually 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:24.160 outside the range allowed. So when midnight rolled over from 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:27.200 New Year's Eve to New Year's Day, the systems attempted 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:32.160 to verify a date designated as to to zero one 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:37.440 zero one zero zero zero one, and on premises, email 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.760 servers looked at that and said, oh, heck no, I 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:42.880 don't get paid enough to deal with numbers bigger than 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.960 I can handle. And they quit, or rather they crashed. Meanwhile, 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.320 I t professionals around the world, We're trying to suss 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.000 out why the heck their email servers were going offline. 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.840 Microsoft had a fix ready to go on January second. 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.600 So that's some pretty serious hustle right there. But that 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.360 fix has to be initiated it on every single server 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.640 running Exchange two thousand sixteen or Exchange two thousand nineteen 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.280 in order to get them working again. And that deja vue, 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.200 I said, I felt, well. That refers to the old 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:15.000 y two K panic, in which programmers around the world 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:18.360 hurriedly tried to fix millions of lines of code to 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:20.120 account for the fact that the year was going to 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.880 change from nineteen nine or just ninety nine to two 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.640 thousand or zero zero. The fear was that by going 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:32.640 from zero zero, computer systems would just assume that we 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.520 had somehow flip back to nineteen hundred. I've done whole 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.520 episodes about this. So anyway, this does seem to be 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.320 pretty similar in history has a tendency to repeat itself, 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:43.880 and I blame the conventions we used to denote what 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.680 the date is. C e S is about to go 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:51.000 into full swings starting tomorrow, January five. Several high profile 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.800 companies had pulled out of appearing in person at the event, 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:58.560 citing concerns about COVID. But the show must go on, 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.320 according to the Consumer Technology Association, that's the group that 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.800 organizes the huge trade show, and we're hearing about some 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:07.520 of the stuff that's going to be shown off at 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.360 the event. One of those things is the new Eco 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:15.280 remote from Samsung. Last year, Samsung introduced the first Eco remote, 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:18.120 which has a small solar panel on it, so you 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:22.000 can actually recharge your your remote batteries by you know, 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:25.240 leaving it in the sunlight. This year, Samsung has also 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:30.520 incorporated radio frequency harvesting capabilities, meaning that the remote has 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.520 a small antenna inside it and it can pick up 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.240 radio frequency waves from your home's WiFi network and then 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:41.120 convert those radio frequency waves to electricity, and that electricity 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.280 can go towards charging the battery. Now, I'm sure lots 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.320 of people will liken this idea to that of Nikola Tesla, 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.640 the one you know he had talked about transmating electricity 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.640 through the air more than a century ago. Here's the thing, 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.240 this is the basis for a lot of wireless charging technology, 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:01.800 and radio itself actually works on a very similar principle. Anyway, 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:04.439 Samsung's move is to get away from the use of 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:07.520 triple A batteries, and using a rechargeable battery could mean 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.359 cutting down on a great deal of waste over time, 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:12.760 which I think is a pretty good thing to aim for. 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:16.600 In other ce s, news Wired reports that a company 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:21.880 called Smarty Pair has introduced Leo's LU two. And if 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.520 you don't know what that is, where the heck have 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:30.280 you been. So it's a smart cat litter box. Yep, 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:34.680 it's a self cleaning cat litter box that also monitors 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.360 stuff like your cat's weight and you know how frequently 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.119 your furry little friend is heading to the toilets and 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:44.439 you can access the information with an app. Now, I 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.639 know that on the surface of it that might sound 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.560 like crazy, but that's actually really useful information to have 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.600 if you need to, say, talk to a vet about 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:56.800 your cats health. So while on the surface, This might 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.680 seem like overkill or perhaps you know, a gross in 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:02.520 vage asian of your kitty cats privacy. It's actually a 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:04.480 pretty smart idea for those who want to make sure 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.800 their pets are healthy. Also, it is compatible with Alexa 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:13.240 and um a an assistant at rhymes with schmoogle. I 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:16.400 don't say it because I actually have a smart speaker 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.879 in this room, and when I tried to do it before, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.360 it activated and interrupted my recording, so this is technically 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:26.280 the second take of the sentence. Anyway, My point is 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:31.040 that the cat smart cat litter boxes also compatible with 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.640 those you know, the virtual assistance, so you can control 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.919 settings on the cat litter box using those devices. It 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:42.880 also has a UV radiation method of sanitizing the cat 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.800 litter box. It also has sensors that can detect when 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.240 a cat is nearby, so it doesn't just automatically turn 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.480 on and scare your kitty cat. So kind of a 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:55.680 neat idea. I don't own any cats, and I frequently 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:01.720 smack my head when I run into smart appliances, thinking 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:03.800 that they might go a little too far or be 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.440 a little ridiculous. But I actually can see the use 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:08.800 for this one, so while it on the surface made 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.960 me laugh, the more I thought about, the more I thought, no, wait, 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:15.240 that's kind of a practical use. T. S. Eliot would 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.200 be proud, and I'm sure we'll have a lot more 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:20.680 to say about C E S later in the week. 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:23.119 So on Thursday, I'll try and do a roundup of 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.360 some of the more interesting things that were shown off 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:28.359 during the event. In the meantime, I'll be glad that 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.040 I am covering it from my home rather than in 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.720 Las Vegas. Well, we've got a little bit more news 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:36.720 to cover, but before we get to that, let's take 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:48.879 another quick break. Okay, international news. The German Minister of 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.560 Justice announced that the country is moving to abolish any 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.720 data retention from telecommunications activities if there are no good 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:01.040 reasons for holding onto that information, or rather that the 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.240 minister is inclined to do as much. The minister said, 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.800 quote I reject data retention without any reason and would 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.320 like to remove it from the law once and for all. 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.879 It violates fundamental rights end quote. This would be bring 0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:18.240 German law more in line with European Union law, so 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.120 a lot of the stuff that is in German law 0:20:21.240 --> 0:20:24.560 is superseded by EU law. Anyway, So a lot of 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:29.040 the elements about data retention have been suspended, and this 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:31.120 is really more of a move to just say, let's 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.159 go ahead and make it our law as well, not 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:37.360 just EU law. But it also means that if there 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:42.640 is a specific and presumably legitimate reason to retain data 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:44.600 that would still be on the table, you would still 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.800 be allowed to do that. But should the Minister's desire 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.480 be made into law, it would be illegal under German 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:53.600 law for companies to collect any and all data and 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:57.840 just store it indefinitely while possibly just waiting around for 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.399 a way to exploit that information. This actually reminds me 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.520 of the early days of smartphone apps, in which app 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:08.560 stores did not place restrictions on developers, and developers could 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.480 essentially create any kind of app that could collect all 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:14.320 sorts of data, not just the information that the app 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:17.760 needed to do whatever it was it was doing. So, 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:22.160 for example, you might download a game on your smartphone 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:25.600 and it turns out that it's also tracking your location 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:28.720 and you know, all this other stuff uh in the 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:32.720 background without your knowledge. And in the early days that 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.919 was kind of you know, just it was happening, and 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:41.399 it wasn't until you know, Schmoogle and Apple really started 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.560 to crack down on that and say no, you can 0:21:43.640 --> 0:21:47.439 only get access to the data that your app actually 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:50.080 needs to work, and you have to ask permission first. 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.400 It's only when that happened when we started to see 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:54.600 this change. In fact, this was kind of what was 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:58.000 at the heart of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. But we're 0:21:58.000 --> 0:22:00.880 seeing a rejection of that practice in many places as 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:03.680 there is a growing concern that this data could be 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:07.440 abused and it could violate the privacy of citizens and consumers. 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:12.520 Over in China, the government has continued the suspension of 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:17.199 new game licenses within the country, and this means that 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.720 app developers who are working on games intended for various 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:24.600 platforms are kind of stuck. The government requires anyone who 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:28.679 is developing a game or updating a game to first 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:32.680 acquire a license to sell games within China, so with 0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:36.359 this suspension, there's effectively a halt on all new game 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:40.639 developers within the country. Apparently, this has led to nearly 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:44.200 a hundred fifty thousand small game studios to shut down 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:46.639 because there's just there's no way for them to operate 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:50.320 a business without obtaining a license, and all licenses are 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:55.440 currently suspended all new licenses. That is, the suspension actually 0:22:55.640 --> 0:23:00.320 began last year, but a lot of people were hoping 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:03.679 that China would lift it by two and instead it 0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:06.760 appears to be set to continue at least in you know, 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:11.200 in the near future, possibly indefinitely. As for why there's 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.159 suspension in the first place, the government has not issued 0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:19.239 a formal explanation, but the general guess is that this 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.240 ties into the government's campaign to battle what it calls 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:27.280 a gaming addiction. The government has previously passed laws that 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:30.679 restrict the amount of time young people are allowed to 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:35.320 spend playing games, so it's probably tied in with that. Again, 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:40.399 there hasn't been an official explanation. Car manufacturing company hun 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:44.960 Day has ended all development on internal combustion engine vehicles, 0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:48.800 shifting engineers over to develop new electric vehicles also known 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:53.080 as e vs. Engineers will refocus to develop new electric 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:56.280 power trains for cars, and the move makes sense. More 0:23:56.320 --> 0:23:59.200 and more countries are setting deadlines in which all new 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:02.520 vehicles sold within those countries will have to be electric 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:05.600 vehicles at some date, and this is on an effort 0:24:05.680 --> 0:24:08.919