1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. It's time for the 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: tech news for Thursday, February second, twenty twenty three into February. 6 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Already on Tuesday, I mentioned that this week has a 7 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: lot of tech companies holding earnings calls and sharing with 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: their investors news about the company's performance. Tuesday's episode went 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: out before Snap, the company behind Snapchat, held its call. 10 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 1: But once that call did happen, things did not go 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: so well. Also, things will start to sound a little 12 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: bit topsy turvy as we talked through these first couple 13 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: of stories. All right, so what did Snap have to report? Well, first, 14 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: it's twenty two Q four results, because these earnings calls 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: are for the end of last year. Showed that revenue 16 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: was up slightly compared to Q four twenty one, So 17 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: year over year earnings were slightly up or revenue was 18 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: slightly up. That's good, right, But Snap has also phase 19 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: challenges when generating revenue, largely due to the digital ad 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: market decreasing as companies across all industries are watching costs. 21 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: This is what happens during periods of economic uncertainty and recession. 22 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: And while revenue grew year over year, it was at 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: a rate of twelve percent, which was slower than what 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: the company had estimated for two. So remember, it's not 25 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: good enough for a company to generate one point three 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: billion dollars in revenue. You also have to make sure 27 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: you're generating more revenue than you did before, and that 28 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: you're doing it at a significant rate if you want 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: to keep your investors happy. Now just to drop the 30 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 1: snark for a bit. If your revenue isn't growing quickly 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: but your costs are, that does actually become a really 32 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 1: big problem. And Snap reported that it had a net 33 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: loss last quarter of two eight million dollars. So it 34 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,399 Speaker 1: generated one point three billion in revenue, but it operated 35 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: at a loss of two eighty eight million. Now you 36 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: compare that to the net gain Snap had of twenty 37 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: two point five million dollars a year previous. So at 38 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: the end of one they had a twenty two point 39 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: five million dollar net profit. Then you know this past 40 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: quarter it was a two million dollar net loss. That 41 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: is bad. And what Snap had to say next really 42 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: made investors unhappy that as of right now, Snap is 43 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: seeing revenue for the first quarter of twenty three at 44 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: a seven percent decline compared to last year. It's really 45 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: bad news when the number doesn't go up enough, but 46 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: even worse news when the number actually goes into negative territory. 47 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: So Snap is hitting a real rough patch right now. 48 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: Last year saw four straight quarters of losses, and you 49 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: can't deny that Snap faces fierce competition in the social 50 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: platform space, both from enormous, well established companies like Meta 51 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: and relatively younger juggernauts like TikTok. We have more to 52 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: say about both of those companies anyway. Snapstock dropped from 53 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: around eleven dollars fifty cents per share on Tuesday two 54 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: below ten dollars per share by Wednesday, although as I 55 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: was writing this episode, there was a little bit of 56 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: a recovery and it was trading at about ten dollars 57 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: thirty six cents per share when I started to record 58 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: this episode. Then on Wednesday yesterday, we got Meta's earnings call, 59 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: and things went a little differently for Meta than they 60 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: did for Snap. Now. On the news front, it was 61 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: kind of a mixed bag. Meta post declining sales for 62 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: the third quarter in a row and a twenty two 63 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: Q four revenue of thirty two point two billion dollars. 64 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: That's how much they brought in in revenue at last quarter. However, 65 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: that was down four point five from but even though 66 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: it was down from one, that thirty two point two 67 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: billion dollars in revenue was still higher than what Wall 68 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: Street investors had estimated it was going to be. So 69 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: Meta didn't do as well as last year, but it 70 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: did better than what investors had predicted, and I guess 71 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: that makes all the difference. Now, the company did also 72 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,919 Speaker 1: post a profit of four point seven billion dollars for 73 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: last quarter. That's a heck of a chunk of change. 74 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: It is still below what some analysts expected were some 75 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: who are thinking it was going to be as much 76 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: as six billion, But the company also revealed it had 77 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: drastically reduced spending and has cut its estimation for its 78 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: three expenses. So originally Meta estimated that it was going 79 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: to spend somewhere between ninety four billion and one billion 80 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: dollars this year. Now the company says no, it's gonna 81 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: be closer to eighty nine billion to nine five billion 82 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,239 Speaker 1: now I've got to admit I cannot wrap my head 83 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: around even just one billion dollars, let alone these astronomical amounts, 84 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: So it starts to just get conceptual to me. I 85 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: can't I can't really apply any meaning to it. If 86 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,039 Speaker 1: you told me that I was going to lose eighty 87 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: nine billion dollars versus ninety four billion dollars, I'd probably 88 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: be like, that's more than I will ever see in 89 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: my lifetime. So it really doesn't matter between the two. 90 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: But for a company like Meta, obviously it does matter, 91 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: and were over to the investors it does matter. Zuckerberg 92 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: also mentioned that Meta is pushing AI innovation that will 93 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: have a big impact on business in the future, and 94 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: Meta saw growth in its user base. They passed the 95 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:20,799 Speaker 1: two billion daily active users in Q four. That is phenomenal. 96 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,799 Speaker 1: Remember for a while, well specific platforms have been seeing 97 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,720 Speaker 1: a decline, and I don't know if they broke it out, 98 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: if this was just Facebook that saw two billion daily 99 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: active users, or if this was across the company. I 100 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: didn't see that in the little earnings report I was reading. 101 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: I'm sure they did break it out in the call, 102 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: but the article I read did not Zuckerberg also said 103 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: that three will be a year in which Meta focuses 104 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: on efficiency that can be code for cost cutting measures, 105 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: including more layoffs. It's definitely going to include a change 106 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: in their data center strategy because Meta has announced it's 107 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: going to cancel a multiple data center projects. In that 108 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:07,119 Speaker 1: earnings call and after hours trading, the company stock price 109 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: increased by twenty percent. So yeah, dramatic difference between Snap. 110 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: Snap saw a drop in its stock price, met Us 111 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: saw a big boost after its earnings call, even though 112 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: both companies reported disappointing results for the last quarter. It 113 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: just shows that people view this very, very differently. Today 114 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: we're gonna get more earnings call reports from Amazon, Alphabet 115 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: and Apple, so I'm sure I will mention a little 116 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: bit of that next week. Now. I did mention TikTok earlier, 117 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: and that has often been cited as one of the 118 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: biggest players and biggest competitors in the social platform space, 119 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: but it's also been facing increasing scrutiny and criticism from 120 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: various US leaders, including Senator Michael Bennett from Colorado. Bennett's 121 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: sent a letter to Apple and to Google as both 122 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: companies to remove TikTok from their respective app stores. And 123 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: you might wonder why, Well, Bennett wrote, quote TikTok's vast 124 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: influence and aggressive data collection pose a specific threat to 125 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: US national security because of its parent companies obligations under 126 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: Chinese law end quote. So what Bennett is referring to 127 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: is a law in China that places obligations on all 128 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: Chinese companies and citizens to assist in matters of intelligence 129 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: gathering espionage work. In other words, if you have a 130 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:40,599 Speaker 1: way of getting details on one of China's um adversaries, 131 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: maybe rivals other nations, if you want to just be 132 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: really generic, you're supposed to pass that on to the 133 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: Chinese government. And so Bennett's argument is similar to other 134 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: ones we have heard in the past that because TikTok's 135 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: parent company, which is Byte Dance, is a Chinese company, 136 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: and because you have this policy in China, then it 137 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: stands to reason that Bye Dance could use TikTok to 138 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: further Chinese intelligence operations, and that perhaps that has already 139 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: been happening. Generally speaking, the government of one country it's 140 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: never too keen to open the doors to another country's 141 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: intelligence operations. That's considered bad if you just open up 142 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: the door and let all the spies come in and 143 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: steal all the info, or at least get a good 144 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: look at it. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been in 145 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: negotiations with TikTok business leaders to try and craft away 146 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: from the company to operate within the US while still 147 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: assuring the US government that it's not funneling tons of 148 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: information to Chinese intelligence and other U s leaders meanwhile 149 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: are proposing or passing legislation that is banning TikTok, at 150 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: least from government owned devices, and I've heard that there 151 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: are a few schools that have done this as well. 152 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: So we're not at a point where it's like a 153 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: nationwide ban on TikTok full stop, but we're kind of 154 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: dancing close to that. And if you end up, you know, 155 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: compelling Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, 156 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: then it's it's not technically a ban on TikTok, but 157 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: if you can't get it, then it amounts to very 158 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: much the same sort of thing. All Right, we're gonna 159 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: take a quick break. When we come back, We've got 160 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: some more news stories to talk about. We're back, and 161 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: I've got a couple of Google related stories to cover. 162 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: One is that a collection of workers whose job is 163 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: to rate search results are protesting their pay. So Google 164 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: does this where they pay really the contract with another 165 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: company to have people review search results in order to 166 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: improve Google's performance over time so that search results become 167 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:04,319 Speaker 1: more relevant and compelling. And Google guarantees its own employees 168 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: and contract workers who are working thirty hours or more 169 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: a minimum wage of fifteen dollars per hour. But the 170 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,559 Speaker 1: folks who are doing this search results rating are technically 171 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: working for another company called Appen Limited, and it contracts 172 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 1: with Google in order to provide this this work to 173 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: the company, and these contract workers are getting less than 174 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: fifteen dollars per hour. Plus they are frequently finding themselves 175 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: scheduled for less than thirty hours, and that means they 176 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: dip below the cut off where they would receive the 177 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: same benefits of a Google temporary contract or vendor employee 178 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: also known as TVC workers. TVC benefits include stuff like 179 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: healthcare and tuition reimbursement. So not only are these contractors 180 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:55,319 Speaker 1: receiving less than the minimum wage of other Google contractors, 181 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: they also find themselves ineligible for these Google benefits. Many 182 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: of these workers have traveled to Google HQ in order 183 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: to protest this situation. They've received some support from other 184 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: contractors who work with Google, and I hope it all 185 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: works out. But we're also in an economy where companies 186 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: like Google are famously laying off thousands of employees right now, 187 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: so it might be very much an upheld battle. Alphabet, 188 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: Google's parent company, has some AI projects in the works 189 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: that appear to be at least in part a response 190 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: to the rise of chat GPT, So we'll talk more 191 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: about chat GPT later in this episode as well. But 192 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: there's this general concern that chat GPT can make web 193 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,959 Speaker 1: searches moot, you know, irrelevant, at least for a lot 194 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: of different topics. So instead of searching for a web 195 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 1: page that might be able to answer a question you have, 196 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: you instead just ask something like chat GPT and you 197 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: would get the answer directly. That would be cobbled together 198 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: by all the different sources on the web that this 199 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: particular tool uses, and that would have a massive impact 200 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: on Google because Google depends upon ad revenue in its 201 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: search results for a lot of the overall revenue for 202 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:16,679 Speaker 1: the company. Reportedly, Google is developing its own chat bot 203 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: called apprentice Bard. It hasn't been released to the public, 204 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: but according to c NBC, Google employees are testing out 205 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: apprentice Bard internally. These AI projects don't actually sound like 206 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: they're that new inside Google, but rather now Google is 207 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: putting a new emphasis on specific projects, including apprentice Bard, 208 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: potentially as a response to the rise of chat GPT 209 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: that that chat GPT represents a potential existential threat for 210 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: Google's business. Now, all of this is interesting, and it's 211 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: also kind of concerning to me in many ways. It's 212 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,439 Speaker 1: a manifestation of the concept of the semantic web. So 213 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: the semantic web I idea was this concept of a 214 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 1: futuristic version of accessing the web where your experience is 215 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: totally unique to you. It's not you going to the 216 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: same web pages as everybody else. Instead, your web browser 217 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: actually learns more about you the more you use it, 218 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: and it learns how to gather information and present it 219 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: in a way that grows increasingly more relevant and digestible 220 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: to you as you use it. So ultimately, instead of 221 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: using your browser to search topic and then visit specific 222 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: web pages to get an answer, it curates and arranges 223 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: information from across the entire Internet in order to present 224 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: it to you in a way that works best for 225 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: your needs. Now, this is a much less complex level 226 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: of of answering questions with chat GPT, but it is 227 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: a similar idea. It's just not nearly as sophisticated as 228 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: the concept of semantic web is. But it's doing a 229 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: similar thing. It's pulling information from across the web and 230 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: then presenting it to you generatively. It is creating that 231 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: answer as you ask questions, and presumably apprentice bar is 232 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: doing a very similar thing. But this comes with some 233 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: really big potential problems. Uh. One of them is that, 234 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: as I said, Google relies on those digital ad spends 235 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: in search result in order to get revenue. So if 236 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: Google ends up supplying its own alternative to the traditional 237 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: web search, then the company has to figure out a 238 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: different way to generate income. Do you serve ads against responses? 239 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: I guess you could do that. I mean, there's nothing 240 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: saying that you couldn't, but I don't know if that 241 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: would end up generating the same kind of revenue that 242 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: the traditional ad search ad income does. But even bigger 243 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: than that problem is a wider ranging issue of web 244 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: page owners. So if no one is being listed in 245 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 1: search results anymore, and there are no more users that 246 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: are clicking on links in order to visit your web page, 247 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: then you might see your own ad revenue drop incredibly low. Right, 248 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: Because a lot of websites out there depend upon search 249 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: engine traffic to bring visitors in. I mean, there's this 250 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: whole area of marketing called search engine optimization that's all 251 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: about getting that that sweet position in search results so 252 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: that more people visit your site. Well, if search results 253 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: just go away because people aren't using search anymore, they're 254 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: asking questions directly to a tool like apprentice bard or 255 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: chat gpt, then they're never going to any of these sites. 256 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: They're not even seeing the links. They don't even know 257 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: where the information they're getting came from, right because chat 258 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: gpt at least doesn't cited sources, So you wouldn't even 259 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: know to go to this specific web page to learn 260 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,320 Speaker 1: more about the thing you just asked. You would just 261 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: keep asking the tool to get you more information and 262 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: to clarify things, which then means that these web pages, 263 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: if they get a huge drop in revenue, maybe the 264 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: companies go out of business and then the web pages 265 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: ceased to exist. And if that happens, then tools like chat, GPT, 266 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: and apprentice bard will have fewer and fewer sources to 267 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: pull information from, which means those tools will actually get 268 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: worse over time if all this happens, so it becomes 269 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: a really big domino effect. At least that's one potential possibility. 270 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: That's how I see things possibly evolving if this continues. Now, 271 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: there are a lot of people who are way smarter 272 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: than I am who are are presumably working on this, 273 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: So it may very well be that all of my 274 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: concerns are completely unfounded. It's just my first reaction. Two 275 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: learning more about what's going on here, and then one 276 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: more Google story. Actually this is for both Google and Apple. 277 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: Both companies are facing renewed pressure from the US government 278 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: to change how they handle their policies around their respective 279 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: app stores. The Biden administration has recommended Congress order these 280 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:14,239 Speaker 1: companies to change. There's those app store policies, and they 281 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: range from things like how Apple and Google typically required 282 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 1: developers to use their respective in house payment systems. Like 283 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: Apple requires that iOS apps if they have in app transactions, 284 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: that they have to go through Apple's payment system in 285 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: most cases, and then Apple gets a cut of every transaction. 286 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: Similar thing for Google now. Apple in the past has 287 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: sort of complied with this kind of request, and I 288 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: say sort of because Apple's m O was to try 289 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: and make it as inconvenient and as expensive as possible 290 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: for a developer to use an alternative payment system rather 291 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: than use the one that Apple relies upon. And while 292 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 1: Google has allowed Android users to side load apps, meaning 293 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,919 Speaker 1: that you could go into your Android devices settings and 294 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,359 Speaker 1: you could change some options that would allow you to 295 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: download Android apps that are offered outside of the official 296 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: Google store, Apple has resisted doing that for a very 297 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: long time. But even as Apple has shown moves to 298 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: budge on that front. The argument is that these two 299 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: companies are overwhelmingly dominating the app marketplace for mobile and 300 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: the Biden administration argues that there needs to be some 301 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: increased competition and that would be a very good thing. 302 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: Like if other companies could have their own app stores 303 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: where iOS or Android users could go to this alternative 304 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,760 Speaker 1: app store and get innovative apps that aren't covered or 305 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: are carried by either Apple or Google. That would be 306 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: a good thing. It's increased consumer choice. Apple and Google 307 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: both argue that this introduces dangers with malware, which is 308 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: true it does um although we've also seen malware creep 309 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: its way into official Apple and Google um UH operations, 310 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,880 Speaker 1: so you know that's a thing. There's also the matter 311 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 1: that Apple in particular has a rather mysterious process for 312 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: evaluating and approving apps before allowing them in the App Store, 313 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 1: and that there is a lack of transparency in how 314 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: Apple does this, and both Google and Apple have faced 315 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: criticism in the past that the companies have promoted their 316 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 1: own in house apps over those from independent developers who 317 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: have created apps that do something similar to an official 318 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: Apple or Google app. Now, it is important to remember 319 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: that Biden, while he is the President of the United States, 320 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: is not allowed to make laws himself. He can't do that. 321 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: That is Congress's job. That's why the Biden administration has 322 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: sent this recommendation to Congress. And while we've seen some 323 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 1: proposed legislation from folks like Senator Amy Klobuchar that addressed 324 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: some of these concerns in the past, those proposals never 325 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: actually progressed to the point where leaders put it up 326 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: for a vote. Now that might change. With the President 327 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: weighing in on this. We'll have to see. Okay, we're 328 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: gonna take another quick break. When we come back, I've 329 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: got a few more news items to cover. We're back, 330 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: and we're gonna chat about chat GPT a little bit 331 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: more so. Open Ai, which is the company behind chat gpt, 332 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: has now launched chat gpt Plus. It's in a limited 333 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: launch program right now, and this is a subscription service 334 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: that charges twenty bucks a month. And seeing as how 335 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 1: the basic version of chat gpt is free to play with, 336 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: what does that twenty dollars a month actually get you. Well. 337 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,919 Speaker 1: According to open a I, subscribers will be able to 338 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: access chat gpt anytime they like, even during times of 339 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: peak demand. Whereas people who are using the free version 340 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: may occasionally encounter a message that tells them the service 341 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,119 Speaker 1: is too busy to accommodate them and they need to 342 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: try again later. Subscribers will not get that message. They 343 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 1: will be given priority. Subscribers are also supposed to see 344 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: better response time from the app with viewer delay, so 345 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 1: it's kind of a a new and improved version of 346 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: the service, and in the future, when open ai introduces 347 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: new features, the subscribers are supposed to be the first 348 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:29,800 Speaker 1: to get a chance to use them. Now, I'm not 349 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,439 Speaker 1: sure if these benefits are going to be worthwhile to 350 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: the average chat GPT user. But the folks who are 351 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: in the field of AI research, or they're in just 352 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 1: R and D in general, or some developers out there, 353 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: I could see this being a justifiable expense. PC World 354 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: reports that despite the fact that PC sales have dropped 355 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: drastically in recent months, a m D S CPU and 356 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: GPU chips have not dropped in price, And you might 357 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: wonder why is that. If DeMay and has dropped, why 358 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: aren't these chips, why are they getting cheaper? Well. In 359 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: an earnings call with investors earlier this week, a m 360 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 1: D S CEO revealed that it's because the company is 361 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: purposefully holding back on shipping more chips to the market. 362 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,719 Speaker 1: That they've manufactured lots more chips, but they're just holding 363 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: them an inventory and they're really controlling the supply that 364 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: gets out two retailers, so they are keeping the supply low. 365 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: If a m D doesn't ship the stuff they make, 366 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: then they can try to counteract the drop in demand 367 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: by obviously limiting supply, and apparently the company plans to 368 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,120 Speaker 1: continue this strategy through the beginning of this year, though 369 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:47,239 Speaker 1: reportedly not quite as as strict as they had at 370 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: the end of last year, and it makes good business sense, 371 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: but it is likely to be frustrating to consumers, particularly gamers, 372 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: who are hoping that the decline and cryptocurrency mining and 373 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: the drop in peace SEE sales would mean that they 374 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: would finally be able to get their hands on a 375 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: great GPU for a great price. Instead, due to several factors, 376 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: including in Vidio's most recent generation of GPUs, which underperformed 377 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: in the market, last generation hardware is still pretty expensive. 378 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: I should also add, it's not as ridiculously expensive as 379 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: it was back when folks were still using GPUs to 380 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: mine ethereum. Ethereum has since migrated to a proof of 381 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: steak model instead of a proof of work model. Anyway, 382 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,200 Speaker 1: with all the various factors that play, it's very difficult 383 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: to predict where prices are going to go. So I 384 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: guess you'all out there who are looking to buy a 385 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: new CPU or a new GPU really should just keep 386 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 1: your eyes peeled because you never know when companies will 387 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: release more inventory in order to drive more sales. Um 388 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: It's hard to say, so just be patient, or if 389 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: you can't wait, just know that, yeah, this was all 390 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: done by design. Last year, Netflix revealed that one of 391 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: its strategies to help deal with some corporate setbacks was 392 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: to cut down on account sharing. Netflix has already introduced 393 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: away for account holders to add kind of like a 394 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: secondary account that they can then share with someone outside 395 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: of their immediate household. They pay a slight increase in 396 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: their own monthly subscription fee, but then they can share 397 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: an additional account to someone. But how is Netflix actually 398 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: going to detect and stop account sharing? Well, according to 399 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: sky News, Netflix plans to associate Netflix accounts with things 400 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: like IP addresses and device i d s, So as 401 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: people connect to their account, Netflix wild monitor what the 402 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,399 Speaker 1: IP addresses and what the device i d s are 403 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: for the devices used to connect to Netflix, and then 404 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 1: use that to establish where the home base is for 405 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: that specific account. Then, should someone attempt to access this 406 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: account from an unrecognized device I D or IP address, 407 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 1: Netflix will send a essentially a two factor authentication login 408 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: prompt to the primary account holders phone or email. Now 409 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: that means that they're going to receive a message with 410 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: a code that has to be entered before you can 411 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: access that Netflix account. So the thought is this will 412 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:21,919 Speaker 1: make it inconvenient for say that slacker college student to 413 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: log into their parents account, because it also means that 414 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,680 Speaker 1: that college student has to call or text mommy or 415 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: daddy to get that authentication code. And it also means 416 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: mommy or Daddy is going to be getting these notifications 417 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:37,680 Speaker 1: whenever that slacker kid is trying to watch stranger things 418 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: or whatever. Now, I think this is a decent approach 419 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: to addressing the situation. For folks who have say more 420 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: than one home, they can just make sure that they 421 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: put in the authentication code when they get the prompt 422 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: when they're I don't know, summering in the Hampton's or 423 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: winnering in the keys or whatever it is. Rich people do. 424 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: I want to know what rich people do. Please make 425 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: me a rich person. And now for a dramatic story 426 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: that unfolded in Australia. A mining company that contracted with 427 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: a different company in order to ship some equipment across 428 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: part of Australia UM found itself in a spot of trouble, 429 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 1: which is putting it lightly so. The equipment included a 430 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,199 Speaker 1: density gauge and this thing was going to travel nearly 431 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: one thousand miles from pick up to two uh storage. 432 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,159 Speaker 1: This particular device contained within it a pellet of caesium 433 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,400 Speaker 1: one thirty seven, or if you prefer kaisi um one seven, 434 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: if we're going to pronounce caesar as kaiser as we should. 435 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: But anyway, it's it's radioactive. Caesium one thirty seven is radioactive, 436 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: and it's in fact it's radioactive enough to cause superficial 437 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: damage if you have brief exposure to small amounts of it, 438 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: and much more serious issues with prolonged exposure. So this 439 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,680 Speaker 1: is dangerous stuff. According to Andrew Robertson, the Chief Health 440 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: Officer for Australia, being exposed to trace amounts of caesium 441 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: one seven is like getting ten X rays in an hour. 442 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: That's crazy. Well here's the even crazier thing. Alright, So 443 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:22,760 Speaker 1: during transport, this device, this density gauge apparently broke, and 444 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: it broke to the point where the pellet of caesium 445 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: one seven tumbled out of not just the device but 446 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: the transport vehicle and fell out of the vehicle. And 447 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: remember this journey was nearly one thousand miles long. This 448 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:45,719 Speaker 1: pellet is the size of a p like is a tiny, 449 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: tiny pellet of radioactive material. Then we got this big 450 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: search effort where vehicles that were outfitted with radiation detection 451 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,719 Speaker 1: equipment traveled the route this one thousand mile nearly one 452 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: is a mile route in order to try and track 453 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: down this tiny piece of radioactive material. And surprisingly enough 454 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 1: it worked. One of these vehicles actually picked up some 455 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: readings and began to narrow in on the location and 456 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: found that tiny little piece of radioactive material. Like this 457 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: astounds me. It just really shows how sensitive that that 458 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: radiation detection equipment is in order to start picking up 459 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: on something while the vehicle that was traveling and searching 460 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: was going up like almost like maybe a little bit 461 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: more than forty miles per hour, So that's phenomenal. And yeah, 462 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: they found it. So now it's being uh encased in 463 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: safe material and then it'll be transported for long term storage. 464 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: And there's a chance that the mining company and the 465 00:29:54,640 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: transportation company could face some fines for uh improperly handling 466 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: hazardous material. However, in Australia, such violations carry a maximum 467 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: fine of seven hundred dollars per day in which it happened, 468 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 1: and it may have happened over the course of a 469 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: couple of weeks, so it's really not that much money 470 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,479 Speaker 1: when you look at it in a big picture, I mean, 471 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: especially when you consider the nature of what was misplaced. 472 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: But I mean that's the law in Australia, which maybe 473 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: will see change in the future as a result of 474 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: this particular incident. At least it all turned out okay. 475 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: And finally, an article in the a V Club alerted 476 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: me to a ridiculous twitch stream that's been going on 477 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: since December of last year, and it's called Nothing Forever. 478 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 1: It is an AI generated, animated and endless Seinfeld episode. 479 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: Uh so it's it's like a simulated Seinfeld episode. It's 480 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:57,560 Speaker 1: not taking actual Seinfeld episodes as these little computer generated 481 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: characters who are stand ins for characters from the sitcom Seinfeld. 482 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:10,040 Speaker 1: And it's using GPT generated dialogue and also at a 483 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: computer generated laugh track. So I checked it out, um, 484 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: and the anime characters are very low polygon crudely kind 485 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,720 Speaker 1: of animated characters. You know who is supposed to be who. 486 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: They also have different names from the official Seinfeld characters, 487 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: So you have Larry instead of Jerry, You've got Fred 488 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: instead of George, You've got Yvan instead of Elaine. I 489 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: hear that Kramer is in there too. I don't know 490 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: what his alternate name is because he did not show 491 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: up when I was watching the stream. Um. They also 492 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: include little bits of Larry's stand up routines, so it's 493 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: like Jerry's stand up routines in early Seinfeld episodes. And 494 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: most of the time what is being said makes very 495 00:31:55,080 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: little sense, like the sentences are coherent, but the situations 496 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 1: are simultaneously banal and absurd. And then you get that 497 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: laugh track sound that pops up, usually right after something 498 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: not at all funny has been said, which just makes 499 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: it even more bizarre. The cynical of those out there 500 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: may say that this is just like a modern sitcom. 501 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: You get laugh tracks that spike after things that are 502 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: not funny have been said. I think my favorite bit 503 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 1: from when I was watching was a scene where Larry 504 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: told Fred about how the pet store down the street 505 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: had supposedly sold a unicorn, and they wondered if that 506 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: was true, and then they wondered what kind of conversations 507 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: they would have with each other if they had bought 508 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:47,480 Speaker 1: the unicorn, and then we got a laugh track. And 509 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: I don't know if I love it or hate it, 510 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:54,320 Speaker 1: but yeah, it's up on Twitch. It's called Nothing Forever 511 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: and you can watch as much of it as you 512 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: like um and maybe your tolerance will be greater than mine. 513 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: I only sat for about maybe five or ten minutes, 514 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: and then I was like, I got I've got work 515 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: to do. I can't I can't just gawk in awe 516 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: at this thing. All right, that's it for the tech 517 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: News for Thursday, February second three. I hope you are 518 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: all well. 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Let 527 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: me know what you would like to hear in a 528 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: future episode, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 529 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For more 530 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio up, 531 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.