WEBVTT - Tech News: NASA Delays Artemis I Launch 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.200 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.040 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.560 And how the tech are you. It's time for the 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:24.239 tech news for Tuesday, September six, twenty twenty two. Let's 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.440 get to it. And last week in the news episode, 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.760 I talked about how NASA had to scrub the planned 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.120 Artemist one launch due to sensors indicating that one of 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.000 the engines in the Space Launch System or s l 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.320 S failed to get down to the proper temperature. The 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:44.600 Artemist project is NASA's plan to return astronauts to the 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.919 Moon and to set up stuff like lunar bases, including 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:52.440 a lunar space station, with the idea that those assets 0:00:52.479 --> 0:00:56.160 in the future will support missions to Mars. Anyway, I 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:59.520 mentioned last week that NASA had pushed the launch to 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.440 this path as Saturday, and if it didn't happen on Saturday, 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:08.479 they would have another chance today Tuesday. Well, the launch 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.360 didn't happen on Saturday, and it's not gonna happen today either. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.440 The culprit responsible for the scrub this time was a 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:19.960 quote unquote large hydrogen leak. That's according to mission manager 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:24.479 Michael Seraphin. And these sorts of things happen. NASA's history 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:29.119 is filled with scrubbed launches and engineering issues. From one 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.160 point of view, this is a good thing because NASA 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.880 detected an issue and stopped it before it could escalate 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:38.240 into something like an accident. Now, keep in mind this 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.160 particular mission, the Artemist one, has no crew on it. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.880 There are no human beings aboard the spacecraft. But obviously 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.199 you never want there to be an accident. There's always 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.440 a risk not just two equipment, but to human life. Anyway, 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.160 that didn't happen. However, the scrub also comes as a 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.800 big disappointment because the s l S has been in 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:02.000 development for a really long time. It was originally part 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.640 of the now shelved constellation programs, so it's been a 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.359 long time coming. The idea originally was that the s 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.280 l S would have been in service for quite some 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:16.400 time by now, so obviously each delay comes as a 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:19.800 setback and a disappointment. Now, I mentioned last week that 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:23.240 NASA often faces challenges when it comes to tackling huge 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.600 projects due to the fact that the agency has to 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.680 depend upon the government for funding, and then when there 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.040 are shifts in the government due to you know, elections 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.480 changing things up, well what once seemed like a solid 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:42.720 plan can disappear. Thus the Constellation program, although that program 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:46.880 had so many problems with it due to lots of 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.960 different factors. Anyway, NASA has to address the problems with 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:55.959 the s l S and the agency essentially has to options. 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.400 Time is running out, however, so option one is to 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.760 try and do the repairs on the launch pad itself. Now, 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:07.400 that would require NASA to also construct an environmental enclosure 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.360 around the launch vehicle while they do this work. But 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:15.440 on the pad, NASA can actually test the system at 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.480 cryogenic temperature, so the temperatures that the engines would be 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.120 operating at during a launch. They can lower those temperatures 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.480 down for those kind of tests on the pad. However, 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.000 time for doing that is starting to run out, like 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:30.560 there is a deadline for that because there are other 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:32.960 launches that have to happen, so the pad has to 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.880 be cleared and prepared for the next set of launches. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:40.160 So the other option is to transport the Space Launch 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.200 System back to the Vehicle Assembly Building or v a 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:48.920 B and to do repairs there. However, in the v 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.240 A B they cannot lower the SLS down to cryogenic 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.480 temperatures to do their tests. They can't do that inside 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.160 the v A B, which means that any tests they 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:02.680 do are going to be done at ambient temperatures and 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:08.040 could potentially miss issues that will emerge under actual operating conditions. 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.920 And if NASA does use the v A B, then 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:14.080 the s l S will have to stay put for 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:15.800 a while because there won't be enough time to bring 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.680 it back out before the next launch, which is a 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.960 scheduled trip to the International Space Station, and that would 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:24.120 mean that the earliest that the s l S would 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.920 be able to try again would be in October. Space 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:34.200 is hard y'all tomorrow, which is Wednesday, September seven, for 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.000 those of you from the future who, for some reason 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:39.640 I have decided to listen to an old tech news episode. 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:44.040 Apple is holding its September event where we expect to 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:48.080 see unveilings of the iPhone fourteen, the Pro and Pro 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.839 Max models. The Pro Max might actually get a name 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.279 change and be called the Pro Plus. They're likely to 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:58.680 receive the most attention. The base model probably won't be 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:02.080 talked about nearly as my much. Now watch me eat 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.960 those words. After tomorrow, we'll see. But rumor has it 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.360 that Apple is adding in some new privacy and security 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.160 features around the camera and phone in particular. Now, if 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.880 I had to guess, I would say that this is 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:19.560 in part a reaction to malware like Pegasus, which the 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.680 Israeli company ns A Group developed and then sold to 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:28.520 various clients, including authoritarian governments. So the Pegasus malware exploited 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.800 a vulnerability long since patch now, but a vulnerability in 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:36.000 Apple's I Message app where if you knew the phone 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.320 number of your intended target, you could send them a message, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.080 and that message, just by hitting the target phone would 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.600 turn that phone into a surveillance device that you could 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.560 then control. That would give you the chance to listen 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.039 in on the phone's microphone and whatever the camera could 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.760 see and spy on your target. So my guess is 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:58.400 the Apples created some features that will indicate when the 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.560 camera and microphone are in use, so the owners will 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.880 be aware when their phones are you know, snooping on them, 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.400 or when an app is making use of a camera 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:09.640 or the microphone. And it might not be obvious in 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.840 the app itself, but users need to know that they 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.680 might be on camera or on mike. Analysts expect that 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.880 the Pro and the Pro Max or Pro Plus models 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:25.120 will likely sport Apple's new A sixteen processor, and that 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.919 the base I Phone fourteen will stick with the A 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.880 fifteen processor that's used in the last generation of the iPhone. 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:37.840 We'll probably also see some new Apple Watch models, maybe 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:40.920 some new air pods. As for what else we'll see, well, 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.360 there are a lot of rumors, but nothing really confirmed. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.960 H One question is, are we finally going to get 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:51.080 a look at the mixed reality headset that Apple has 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:55.279 been working on, also known as Apple's second worst kept secret, 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.760 the first being Apple's electric vehicle project. If we do, 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:03.040 that would surprise me. There is at least one analyst 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.800 who thinks that Apple might have a mixed reality headset 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.760 on the market by early next year, and if that's true, 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.840 then maybe we will get a glimpse of it tomorrow. 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.480 I am not holding my breath. I I mean they 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.320 could make that a one more thing and and make 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:26.080 it a big, big splash more. They might save that 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:30.200 for its own dedicated event where they can just have 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.720 an entire presentation around mixed reality. I honestly don't know 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:39.000 which way they'll go. The folks at Apple are artists 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.200 when it comes to PR so we'll just have to 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.400 wait and see what happens tomorrow. And if there's no 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.120 information about mixed reality, we know we're gonna have to 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.640 wait a while. Also an Apple news, Brazil's government has 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:55.080 ordered Apple to stop selling iPhones without a battery charger 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:57.960 in the country, and the government says that Apple's practice 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.920 of not including a battery charger hurts consumers because then 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:03.720 they have to go out and buy a charger in 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.240 addition to their phone. Now, Apple says it made the 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.880 move to stop including chargers because you know chargers, First 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:14.320 of all, they're interchangeable, at least for Apple iPhones anyway, 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.040 so really you just need one. Right you buy an iPhone, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.520 you can use that same charger for the next iPhone 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.760 you buy two years later, So even if you buy 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.440 an iPhone every couple of generations, you can keep using 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.560 the old charger. Now in the EU, this goes even 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.680 further because the EU is requiring phone manufacturers to all 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:37.200 adopt the USB C charging port as a standard, which 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.319 includes telling Apple the future iPhones and the EU are 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.480 supposed to include such a port, and the goal there 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.880 is to reduce compatibility issues and waste, because then you 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.520 just have to buy one charger for whatever phone you use, 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.440 and that same charger will work on any phone you 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.240 buy from that point forward until standards change again where 0:08:56.240 --> 0:09:00.720 we have to upgrade Brazil. Meanwhile, it's claiming that there's 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.319 no evidence that not including a charger has any significance 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.600 when it comes to environmental impact. In other words, Apples 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.440 not saving the world by not including a battery charger 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.679 with their iPhones, and that Apple will have to include 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:17.360 them if it wants to sell iPhones in Brazil. Also 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.280 in Brazil, an advocacy group called some of Us That's 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:25.560 s U m of US says that meta slash Facebook 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.960 has been boosting rhetoric and information from Bolsonaro in his 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.920 bid to hold on to the presidency. Bolsonaro has been 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:37.040 pulling poorly as of late, and some of Us says 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.079 that he has turned to using social media platforms to 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.559 push a narrative claiming that the integrity of the vote 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:47.440 in Brazil is in question. Essentially, Bolsonaro is laying groundwork 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:51.160 to question any election results that are not in his favor. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.520 The group claims that Meta has allowed Bulsonaro and his 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:58.800 campaign to leverage Facebook to spread this misinformation freely, with 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:01.880 no signs of con tent moderation or steps to label 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:06.120 such posts as containing misinformation. While we've seen Meta make 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.599 at least some moves to address misinformation campaigns here in 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.360 the United States, it has long been said that the 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:16.439 company fails to take such steps in non English speaking countries, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:20.920 so places like Brazil receive even less protection against misinformation 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.319 campaigns than we do here in the States. The group 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:27.200 published a report that does not mince words. It is 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.880 titled Stop the Steel two point oh, How Meta is 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:35.560 subverting Brazilian democracy. The group is calling on Meta to 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.280 invest in content moderation, to ensure that all political ads 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:43.640 meet both Meta's criteria and they don't break Brazilian laws, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.720 and to do a better job at assessing and then 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.480 addressing threats to human rights that are coming from Facebook 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:53.120 profiles and groups, also allowing third parties to come in 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:57.640 and evaluate Facebook's own investigation and mitigation actions to see 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.720 if the company is actually following through on reps have 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:06.360 repeatedly claimed, in an effort to be more transparent, all 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.400 right We've got several more stories, but before we get 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:20.480 to that, let's take a quick break. Next up, we've 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:24.120 got kind of a whirlwind news item. Alright, So, earlier 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.760 this week, some cybersecurity analysts spread word that there was 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.320 evidence of a data breach over at TikTok, and that 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:36.000 hackers might have accessed a ton of user information in 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.120 the process, as well as TikTok's own source code. In fact, 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:43.240 some reports said as many as two billion different data 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:48.520 records could have been stolen, and early on some analysts 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.040 were urging users to update their passwords and also to 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.520 enable multi factor authentication in order to protect their accounts. 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.800 As I always say, it's a good idea to enable 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.960 multi factor authentication. If you have that option, you should 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.600 do it. It is a great way to provide extra 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.960 protection for your online accounts. I know it can be 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.000 a hassle when you're logging in, you're like, I need 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:15.520 to put in a code. I get that, but it 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:20.440 is incredibly helpful for keeping your stuff protected anyway. A 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.720 Twitter user with the account named blue Hornet, who is 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.720 reportedly with a hacker group calling themselves Against the West, 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.959 claimed that the data was found on an Ali baba 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:37.120 Cloud account with only a week password protecting it, that 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.800 they were able to find this password through uh a 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:45.600 wee chat messaging exchange and all this other stuff, and 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:51.360 that obviously launched an understandable tirade against TikTok from folks 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.480 about the alleged poor security, Like if this story is true, 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:59.320 then you know it is. It is almost criminal how 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:04.079 poor the scurity was to protect all this user information. However, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.160 TikTok reps said they took a look at the code 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.520 that was posted to various hacker forums and said the 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.120 code in question is completely unrelated to TikTok's back in 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:17.880 source code, So they're implying that the hackers are I 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.600 think the technical term is lying out of their behinds 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:27.360 about hacking into TikTok's systems. And some early investigations into 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:30.880 the posted data seemed to indicate that at least some 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:35.240 of it was either public facing information meaning you don't 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:40.000 need to hack anything because it's literally public info, or 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.720 it could have been test data used for production purposes 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.240 and reflected no real data. So in other words, when 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:50.240 TikTok is building out something in its service, it has 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.240 to use test data to make sure that you know, 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:56.200 the something works properly, but that test data doesn't reflect 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:59.280 any real person's information. It would be like if you 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:03.080 had to create an account called Joe public just to 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.480 test some features on an online tool you had created. Well, 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.760 Joe public is not a real person in this case. 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.320 I mean, there probably is someone out there called Joe 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:14.079 public who has parents who I think their sense of 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.600 humor is more important than their child's mental health. But anyway, 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:22.280 the whole point is that test data is not real 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.760 information about people. Right. So in short, if the hackers 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.520 really did access information, they could be in possession of 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.040 around two billion data records, which is, you know, a 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:38.160 lot plus the alleged source code for TikTok. That's one possibility. 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.120 Or it could be that the hackers have cobbled together 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:44.840 or copied some data records that are publicly available, or 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.240 they represent meaningless test data, and that there was no 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:53.320 actual exposure of real private information. We will have to 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.240 keep our eyes on this to see how it unfolds, 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:59.800 because I mean, I honestly don't know whether TikTok was 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.760 act or not. Um you know, again, the company says no, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.120 we were not. There's no evidence of that. Everything that's 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.400 been posted isn't from our systems, and the hackers are 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:13.560 claiming we toats did it um. It's not like I 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.160 feel inclined to just automatically believe either groups, So I'm 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.600 gonna wait for more evidence to come out. In a 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:24.120 TikTok related news story, Byte Dance is shutting down some 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:28.000 of its gaming sectors inside the company. So Byte Dances 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:32.200 the parent company, the Chinese parent company that owns TikTok Um. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.640 Of course, I should add that TikTok has long maintained 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:40.840 that it operates practically independently of Byte Dance, that there 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.960 is little connective tissue between the two. That's something that 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.720 often comes up when there are discussions about whether or 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:54.040 not TikTok represents a potential danger to things like national security. Anyway, 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:58.960 Byte Dance also, you know, poured millions of dollars, hundreds 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:04.040 of millions of dollars into developing video game UH divisions 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:07.600 within the company to help create games that could maybe 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:13.080 leverage the hundreds of millions of users of TikTok and 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.400 make more money off of them. Essentially, it is what 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:19.560 we're getting down to. However, in China, the Chinese government 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:26.080 has been taking an increasingly strict response to the video 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:30.520 game industry and to video games in particular, uh reviewing 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:33.880 games for any material that could be considered objectionable by 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:37.320 the Chinese government standards, which would obviously be required to 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.760 have all of that stripped or else that game would 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.840 never make it to the markets in China, at least 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:46.000 not legally. And a lot of companies in China that 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.880 had been focusing on video games are now looking to 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.000 kind of spread out from the Chinese market or to 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:59.960 abandon the sector entirely because that intense amount of scrutiny 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.720 has made it very difficult to do business in China. 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:07.960 So we've seen the company ten Cent, which is famous 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:11.760 for having a stake in numerous video game companies around 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.200 the world, really pushed to increase that steak in companies 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:20.560 like Ubisoft that are centered outside of China, potentially because 0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.560 that's an avenue for them to make revenue without having to, 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:30.040 you know, cow tow to the Chinese government's demands. Um. Yeah, 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.919 So doing business in China has always been kind of 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:38.760 a risky proposition because the government is so extremely hands 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.120 on when it comes to the business sector, and we're 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:45.639 starting to see now companies realize that, especially once they 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.840 reached a certain size, that continuing to do business in 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.840 specific areas within China is untenable. China has also accused 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:59.120 the United States of conducting quote tens of thousands end 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:04.080 quote of fiber attacks against Chinese companies and institutions, including 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:09.000 a university, which you know could be true because cyber 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:12.840 warfare is definitely a thing, and China definitely knows the 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:16.159 thing and two about it, as there are reportedly several large, 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.679 well funded hacker groups operating in and around China and 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:24.680 with Chinese support, although the government staunchly denies that's the case, 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.640 but no one believes them. China has said that the 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.880 n s A, the National Security Agency, has infiltrated computer 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:37.840 systems belonging to the Northwestern Polytechnical University of Chian. The 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.800 n s A has not responded, at least not publicly, 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:47.360 to this accusation. Now, could it be an accurate accusation? Um? Yeah, 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.040 I don't see why not. I mean n s A 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:52.400 did a heck of a job planting surveillance on US 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.800 based communication systems. We all heard about that, how we 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:57.760 were all being spied upon by the n s A. 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:02.760 Thanks to them planting essentially snoops at every major connection 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:06.000 point within the communications infrastructure of the United States. I 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:09.520 can only imagine what the n s A would do 0:19:09.760 --> 0:19:12.479 in order to devote some of that expertise to our 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:17.760 conducting espionage on China. Still, we should always be skeptical 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.359 of any communications from China. You know, you can't just 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:24.320 take that on face value. So while there's nothing in 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:27.639 this story that immediately makes me say, well, that's impossible 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.520 or that's a lie, there's also nothing solid in the 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:36.240 story that would make me say China is telling the truth. Uh, 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:41.000 I just don't know enough in this case. But it's 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:46.280 certainly is plausible. It doesn't mean that it's actually true. However, again, 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.600 cyber warfare is a real thing, and you know, we 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:55.200 often hear stories about how hackers working on behalf of 0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:00.359 China or North Korea or Russia, we're infiltrating various systems 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:04.359 in the United States. I can guarantee you that the 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:08.359 same sort of of ops are happening within the US 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:13.720 against targets like China, Russia, and North Korea. Um, we 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:16.280 don't tend to hear about them, but you know that 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:19.159 has to be happening, because for it not to be 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:23.399 happening is just naive. Okay, we've got a couple more 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.520 news stories to cover before we finish this episode out, 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:41.040 so let's take another quick break. We're back. The Data 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:45.440 Protection Commission or DPC in Ireland has levied more than 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:50.960 four hundred million dollars in fines against Meta. The DPC 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:55.920 says that Meta mishandled personal data belonging to teen Instagram users, 0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:01.360 failing to comply with the data privacy standards of the EU. Specifically, 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.120 the investigation looked into how privacy settings would change if 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.840 a teenage user switched from a personal account to a 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:13.720 business account. So Instagram's business accounts provide users with more 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:17.399 analytics than they would get if they were just using 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:22.760 a regular personal Instagram accounts, so sometimes influencers or people 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.800 who want to be influencers will switch to a business 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.880 account for that reason. But a business account would make 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:35.080 contact information publicly available, and if the user was under 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:37.560 the age of eighteen, that would be a problem because 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.800 it violates privacy laws under g d p R in 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:44.639 the EU. The DPC also says that Meta made some 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:48.160 accounts public by default, even if the accounts were being 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:51.919 held by underage users. Now, Meta, for its part, says 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:55.600 that in addressed the public by default problem a year ago. 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:59.200 This entire investigation has taken a couple of years in total, 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:03.480 so it actually spans from before Meta made those changes. 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:08.480 The company also plans to appeal this fine. The US 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:14.119 Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is investigating Amazon's planned acquisition 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.119 of a couple of companies, namely i Robot, which is 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:21.840 the maker of the popular roomba vacuum cleaner, and a 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.480 healthcare company called one Medical. Now the purpose of the 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.520 investigation is to determine if Amazon's purchases of these companies 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:36.560 represent anti competitive behavior that Amazon would be uh significantly 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:40.760 reducing competition in these various markets. So part of the 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:44.240 concern is that not long after Amazon announced it was 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.800 acquiring one Medical, which was back in July of this year, 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:51.400 Amazon then said it was going to shut down its 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:55.840 own virtual health service. Now, the FTC might see this 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:59.639 as Amazon admitting that it wasn't able to compete in 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:03.560 the healthcare space, so rather than support their own in 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:10.119 house department, they just bought the competition, which would be 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:14.040 anti competitive behavior. It's also something that we've seen lots 0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:16.320 of like it's only been recently that we've started to 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:21.000 see the FTC kind of opposed this kind of of strategy. 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:26.280 I'm reminded of the eighties and nineties in the UH 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:29.879 the cable industry, like the actual cable company industry here 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.199 in the United States, Buying up all your competitors was 0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:35.960 the name of the game. I mean, that's how that's 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.480 how Comcast got as big as it was. It wasn't 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.199 that the company was building out new networks. It was 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:45.720 just buying up regional networks wherever it could. And those 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.399 were in the days where the FTC really just didn't 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:55.600 care about that. So things have changed, It's what I'm saying. Anyway, 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:59.880 these investigations may not stop either acquisition in the long run, 0:24:00.160 --> 0:24:04.000 will have to see. They will likely impact the timing 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.359 of these deals. They may take longer to complete because 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:11.199 of these investigations. Then again, there has been this increased 0:24:11.240 --> 0:24:14.280 focus on the rise of monopolies in recent years and 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.320 a general view that big tech companies are a kind 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:21.600 of consolidating power to a point where they are dominant 0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:24.680 in their respective wedge of the tech sector. Like it 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:28.160 would be hard to argue that Google is not the 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:32.680 dominant player in search for example, So maybe the FTC 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:37.360 will actually block this acquisition or these acquisitions from happening. 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:41.199 Will have to wait and see. Last week, Snap, the 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:45.639 company behind Snapchat, shuttered a messaging app called zen Le. 0:24:46.320 --> 0:24:49.760 Now Snap purchase zen Lee back in for more than 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:53.440 two million bucks, so it's quite the investment. But now 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:57.320 Snap is on shaky financial ground and the company is 0:24:57.320 --> 0:25:01.000 cutting way back on expenses, and that include holding lots 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:05.560 of layoffs around folks, or about twenty percent of the 0:25:05.640 --> 0:25:10.040 overall workforce to be precise. Zen Ley appears to be 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:13.960 a casualty of those cutbacks. The entire team found out 0:25:14.000 --> 0:25:17.960 about this last week. News first leaked on Twitter before 0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:21.720 snaps CEOs sent the zen Ley staff a letter about 0:25:21.760 --> 0:25:26.240 shutting down the service. And that is always a bad look, y'all. 0:25:26.400 --> 0:25:31.840 I mean, you never want to learn about layoffs from 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:37.040 a public source like Twitter before leaders actually address it 0:25:37.119 --> 0:25:39.320 to the people who are going to be directly affected. 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:43.760 That's just nasty. Now, apparently there was no chance that 0:25:43.840 --> 0:25:46.560