WEBVTT - Tech News: Meta Ignores its Oversight Board 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:12.360 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:16.040 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.400 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.920 are you. It's time for the tech news for Thursday 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:28.200 August thirty, first, twenty twenty three. Where does the time go? Well, 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:31.600 you might be familiar with the fact that Meta has 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.040 an oversight board, which it established in the wake of 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:39.480 banning former President Donald Trump from Facebook a few years ago. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.000 So the board's purpose is to make recommendations and also 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.360 to review Meta's decisions to try and keep the company 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.360 in line with its stated policies. So essentially, it's to 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.400 make sure that Meta is obeying its own rules. But 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.880 the thing is, Meta is not actually under any obligation 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:01.680 to follow whatever the oversight board recommends. So the board 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.479 can make recommendations and urge Metta to make changes, but 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.800 Metta doesn't actually have to do any of that at all, 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.919 which might make you wonder what purpose does the board 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:17.120 actually serve apart from optics. I don't have an answer 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.880 to that anyway, The issue has cropped up again this 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.480 week because the oversight board advised Meta to suspend the 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.199 Facebook account belonging to Hun Sen, a politician, a leader 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:34.800 in Cambodia. Hun Sen has a pretty awful international reputation. 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:39.600 He's dedicated a lot of effort to squashing independent press 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.720 and critics and activists, as well as the fact that 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:48.520 despite him being a democratically elected official, he wants to 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.000 pass his position down to his son and make a 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:57.400 hereditary position, not an elected one anyway. Recently, Hunsen posted 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.680 a video that contained many threatenings statements, including the promise 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.560 to quote arrest a trader with sufficient evidence at midnight 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.120 end quote, according to The Washington Post, and so the 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:13.400 oversight board recommended to Meta that they suspend his Facebook 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:18.240 account instead. Meta Leadership has chosen to allow Hunsen to 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:22.639 keep his Facebook profile, although they did remove the video 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.040 in question after it had been up for half a year. 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.800 As for the justification of allowing Hunsen to keep his profile, 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.360 Meta said it's because that while Hunsen's video contains stuff 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:39.040 that clearly violates Facebook policies, the video itself wasn't posted 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:43.440 during a time of civil unrest, and apparently civil unrest 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.640 is a prerequisite for Meta to suspend the accounts that 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.239 belong to public figures. The board states that hun Sen's 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:54.680 post undermine democracy in Cambodia, and as such, Facebook shares 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:59.720 responsibility for elevating Hunsen's platform, and therefore, you know, they 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:05.359 should probably stop doing that because it's undermining the democratic process. 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.560 Perhaps the threat of seeing Facebook access restricted in Cambodia, 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:16.040 because that's something that Hunsen's administration was threatening, has also 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.360 played a part in the company's decisions to dismiss the 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.760 board's opinion on this particular matter. Also, like I said, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.760 they left that video up for half a year. They 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.560 only took it down when the Oversight Board started to 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:34.040 bring their concerns forward to Meta officials, and it was 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:38.000 clearly violating Facebook's policies, but it stayed up for half 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.040 a year. Human rights advocates continue to criticize Meta for 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:44.200 failing to show concern for user safety as well as 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.000 the democratic process in general, and those, of course, are 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:51.640 charges that Meta representatives deny. That being said, Meta has 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:55.040 reported that the company has removed more than seven seven 0:03:55.120 --> 0:03:58.200 hundred accounts on Facebook that they say have links to 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:03.240 a Chinese backed misinformation campaign. Further, according to Meta, this 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.320 campaign hits a broad spectrum of social platforms, Beyond just 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:12.720 the Meta ones like Facebook and Instagram, they include TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:17.800 and Twitter slash x. According to Meta, the main goal 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:21.359 for this campaign was to control the narrative regarding China's 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.920 human rights record. Essentially, the campaign looked to redirect attention 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:29.520 away from some truly horrific human rights violations, which is 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.039 putting it lightly, and instead to proclaim China's actually, you know, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:37.479 really valuing human rights. Actually. According to Meta, many of 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:39.920 the profiles started out posting about stuff that didn't have 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.680 anything to do with human rights or politics, and they 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.040 were posting a lot of the same videos and pictures 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.880 that were focusing on stuff like food and fashion, things 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:55.200 that were not triggering as far as you know, saying oh, 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.160 this is a misinformation campaign. But gradually the accounts began 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:03.560 to incorporate China messages and also heap criticism on the 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.279 United States government as well as some other Western governments. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.119 And Meta has said that the people responsible for running 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.880 the campaign they appear to be spread across China, but 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:17.160 they're all pulling content from the same source, and that 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.919 it's all likely connected to Chinese law enforcement. This is 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.880 by no means the only coordinated state backed effort to 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.440 leverage social platforms in order to spread misinformation. Meta representatives 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:32.839 noted that similar campaigns have originated out of places like Russia, Iran, 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:37.400 and Turkey. The Verge reports that the Allen Institute for 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:42.080 AI has released a new tool called Satlus. This tool 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.560 can do something to satellite imagery that makes me think 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:49.279 of the old Hollywood trope of zoom in enhance. Like 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.919 if you've ever seen any of those movies where someone's 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.880 looking at camera footage and they want the operator to 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.799 magically zoom in on one little corner of the footage 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.680 and then enhance it so you can see who it was. 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.840 You know that is mostly bogus as far as it goes, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.760 because you can't you can digitally punch in on an image. 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.159 That's entirely possible. You know that, because I'm sure you've 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:16.279 cropped videos and images before. But you can't really enhance 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.839 an image without inserting new information, right. You have to 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.960 add information there. You can't just magically get access to information. 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.120 It's not like the information was sitting there all along 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.039 and you just had to zoom to see it. You 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.039 have to add information to be able to quote unquote 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:37.080 enhance That kind of is counter to identifying someone because 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:39.560 you don't know if the information you're adding is accurate 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.159 or not. But that's kind of what satlust is doing. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:47.360 It sharpens satellite imagery by using deep learning to best 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.840 fill in details to make those images less blurry and 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:55.480 higher resolution. As for practical applications, the institute is focusing 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.880 pun intended on getting information about, you know, tree cover 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.000 and renewable energy projects that are going on around the world. 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:05.480 That data can then be part of a larger picture 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:09.760 about climate change and conservation and renewable energy. So the 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.000 hope is that by collecting information on a global scale, 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.360 scientists and activists can have a more accurate picture of 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.800 what's actually going on around the world where we could 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:23.400 perhaps concentrate future efforts to have the biggest impact, and 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:25.480 also to gain an idea of just how well or 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:30.120 how poorly policymakers are progressing with various plans to combat 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.320 climate change. Are they actually following through on their promises 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:38.960 or are the results antithetical to the goal of ending 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.200 climate change? And it's nice to have a new piece 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:47.200 about AI that's not a totally negative one, Like it's 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.320 nice to have something about AI where you start to see, oh, 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.760 this could be potentially really useful. However, I should point 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.000 out that the researchers who are working on this tool 0:07:56.040 --> 0:08:00.320 have already noted that, just like other generative AI tools, 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:05.400 is not immune to hallucinations. That's when generative AI ends 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.920 up making stuff up when it determines it doesn't have 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.720 enough information to provide a good answer. So in the 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.360 case of SATLUS, sometimes that manifests as the tool drawing 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.040 building details incorrectly, and that could possibly be due to 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.440 things like the fact that architectural styles are not uniform 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:25.320 around the world, so it may be drawing from its 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.160 quote unquote knowledge of architecture in one part of the 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:31.520 world and then just applying those principles to another to 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.240 try and complete a picture, when in fact that just 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.360 ends up making it inaccurate. So it's by far a 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.600 perfect tool, but it is an interesting application of generative 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.560 artificial intelligence. The United States Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.680 has some bad news for Internet service providers that have 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.520 been complaining that it's just too darn hard to list 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:57.000 out every fee they charge their customers each month. And 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:01.400 the bad news the FCC has is well tough because 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:05.079 he gotta. Five trade groups representing some of the biggest 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.960 broadband providers in the United States petitioned the FCC to 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:13.120 drop this requirement because, according to them, listing out all 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:18.320 the fees creates quote unquote significant administrative burdens. I'm not 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.680 sure how supplying essentially a bulleted list of various fees 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:27.680 is an administrative burden, but charging customers those fees isn't. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.160 I mean, obviously the companies have to know what the 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.679 fees are. Otherwise how could they charge customers, Like, how 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.920 could they do that? So shouldn't the customer know what 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:43.200 fees they are having to pay? So they've said to 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.320 the FCC, No, no, this would be too hard, don't 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.920 make us do this. But the FCC has not budged 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.920 and said that the rules will go into effect and 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:54.240 that the broadband companies will not be getting any exceptions 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:59.720 or exemptions or anything like that. One FCC representative said, quote, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.920 every consumer needs transparent information when making decisions about what 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.080 internet service offering makes the most sense for their family 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.040 or household. No one wants to be hit with charges 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:13.760 they didn't ask for or they did not expect end 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.600 quote to which I say, you're doggone right. I mean, 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:19.920 I'm sure I'm not the only one who is just 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.760 sick of the experience where you think you're going to 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:26.080 pay one price for a product or a service, but 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.280 then you find out that there were all these other 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.000 extra fees that get added on at the very end 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:35.160 of the transaction and it inflates the cost significantly. It's 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.760 not just broadband that does this, obviously, I'm looking at you, 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:42.920 ticket Master, your convenience fees convenient for whom? Okay, who 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:47.560 to whom? Is that convenient? Anyway? Why would broad band 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:53.560 companies oppose listing out all these fees, Well, it's not 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.320 because it's an administrative burden. It's likely because that there 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.960 are some charges that the government man dates that these 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:05.319 companies pay, and one of the things that will have 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:09.520 to happen by detailing all these different fees is that 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:11.959 the companies are going to have to show when and 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.480 how they pass those charges on to customers. So instead 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.240 of it being that it's the company's burden to pay 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:22.040 these fees, it's really the customer's burden to pay the fees, 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.640 because the company just passes the charge straight on to them, 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.440 which might be a little off putting. Also, there are 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.840 other fees that these companies add on that are not 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:39.079 mandated by the government, and by showing those, the companies 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.920 might be worried that they're going to really upset their customers, 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:45.439 who are like, yeah, but why does this fee exist? 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.080 And there may not be a good reason other than 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.640 we want your money. So there are lots of reasons 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.000 why companies could be opposing this, but so far, the 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.480 FCC hasn't budged that. Being said, the FCC, while it 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.280 does technically have the authority to do this, the whole 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.840 thing is still under review, so it's entirely possible that 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:09.160 another department within the government will change things. Anyway, we 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.560 just have to wait and see. Okay, I have a 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.120 few more news stories before we wrap up, but first 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:27.240 let's take a quick break. We're back. So X, formerly 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:29.880 known as Twitter, has asked a judge to dismiss a 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:33.679 pending lawsuit against the company that accuses it of disproportionately 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:38.280 laying off older workers once Elon Musk took over. So 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:41.800 discriminating employees on the basis of age is absolutely against 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.040 the law, and the lawsuit says that's essentially what happened 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.079 during the massive layoffs at the company. So, according to 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.440 this lawsuit, X laid off sixty percent of workers who 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:55.319 were fifty years of age or older. If they were 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.040 over the age of sixty, the percentage was closer to 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:02.200 seventy five percent, and younger employees saw layoff rates at 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:06.480 around fifty four percent. So essentially, what the lawsuit is 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.080 saying is that if age were not a factor, you 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:13.160 should see this layoff percentage be pretty even across all 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.920 age groups, but it's not. It's higher for people who 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.280 were older. The judge has not dismissed the case. They 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:24.720 denied X's request to dismiss it. However, they did instruct 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:29.040 the plaintiff that the lawsuit needs to be amended and 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:33.319 have better evidence to support the claim that the company 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.760 intentionally was laying off older workers or targeting over workers 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:41.760 during the layoffs, because as of yet, the current lawsuit 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.600 does not lay that out clearly enough, according to the judge, 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:50.000 So we'll have to wait and see if this moves forward. Meanwhile, 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.920 X is rolling out some new features. First up, if 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:56.080 you're a paid user on the X platform, you'll be 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.520 able to hide your likes. That means that other users 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:02.240 will not be able to pop onto your profile and 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.360 click on the little likes tab and get a look 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.640 at which posts you have liked in the past. They 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.400 will be able to see if you've liked an individual post. 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:13.319 Right if you've happened to like a post and they 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:15.120 see that post, they can see that you liked it, 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.520 but they won't have that aggregated tab that they can 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:20.960 check out to see if you're liking lots of stuff 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.000 that maybe you'd prefer people not see. If you're going 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:28.040 around liking a lot of folks who have very controversial opinions, 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.200 you might not want folks to know that about you, 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:34.480 for example. Now, on top of that, Elon Musk posted 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.240 earlier today, In fact, in the wee hours of the morning, 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:41.200 he posted that quote, video and audio calls coming to 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.680 X works on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. No phone 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.480 number needed. X is the effective global address book. That 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.760 set of factors is unique. End quote. Now, he did 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.320 not indicate when this feature might actually launch. We also 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:58.840 don't know if it's going to be platform wide or 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.360 if it's only going to be a to paid subscribers. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.040 I'd be shocked if it's available to just the general 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.960 populace of X. And I'm also wondering how it's gonna 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:14.120 work because I'm hoping that this feature won't allow just 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.920 anyone to make video or phone calls to anybody else 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.880 who's on the platform. That seems like that's a terrible idea, 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.880 So I imagine it's going to rely on something like 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.560 both people have to follow one another first before you 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.560 can make a call, Like you couldn't just call someone 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.320 you know, like cold call them or whatever. Otherwise people, 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.280 especially like notable people, would have their phones blowing up 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.320 all the time from phone calls and video call requests, 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:43.720 and that just seems like it's a great way to 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.400 drive people off your platform. So as much grief as 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:51.120 I give Elan Musk and the companies he owns or runs, 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.160 I don't think there's any way this feature is going 0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:57.040 out without some serious guardrails in place. I'll be shocked 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:00.920 if he lets it go out without any restrictions at all. 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.120 So we'll see Back In October of twenty twenty one, 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:08.200 Google introduced a new subscription service called pixel Pass, and 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.320 the idea was that you would subscribe to this service 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:14.560 and you would get certain features, including some discounts on 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.920 other Google services, but you would also get a Pixel phone. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.200 The type of phone you got would depend upon the 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.480 level at which you subscribed, and then every two years 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:27.720 you would get an upgrade to your phone as long 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.800 as you were still subscribed to the service, so two 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.680 years later you would get a brand new, state of 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.040 the art Pixel phone. It has been twenty two months 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.800 since Google launched the program, which means were just two 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.600 months out from the early adopters of that program getting 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:47.040 their first phone upgrade, which they will not get because 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.560 Google has scrapped the program just as those who had 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.680 signed up were about to get their brand new phone. 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.840 Google has decided the program is not working. They're canceling it, 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:00.200 which is kind of a bummer. They will continue to 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:04.720 provide service throughout the rest of the term of the subscription, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.479 They're just not going to ship out any new phones 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:12.280 to subscribers and they're not renewing any subscriptions. So the 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.880 phone upgrade was a feature of this plan. It wasn't 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:18.120 the only one, but still it is a big bummer 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.800 to have the rug pulled out for the subscribers who 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.760 were just about to get a brand new phone. So 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.520 Google has altered the deal pray they do not alter 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.600 it further. A US science organization called noir Lab, which 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.560 has the coolest name ever, it actually stands for the 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.400 National Optical Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, has said that hackers 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:42.640 have been targeting its telescopes and has brought down those 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:47.440 telescopes as well as the organization's website. The two big 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.520 telescopes that hackers have attacked are in Hawaii and Chile. 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.520 The organization says it's working with cybersecurity experts to return 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.880 the telescopes and the website to operational status as soon 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.640 as possible. That was on August twenty fourth. The most 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.560 recent reporting I could find doesn't have any information on 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.760 who might be behind these attacks or what their motivations 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.320 could be. That's not to say that the cybersecurity experts 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.280 don't have suspicions, or maybe that they you know, they 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.280 may already know who is responsible. They could just be 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:19.679 playing things close to the vest right now. We just 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:24.160 don't know. Yikes and now heads up, PlayStation owners, if 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:27.679 you subscribe to PlayStation Plus, expect your monthly bill to 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.720 go up starting September sixth unless you take action soon. 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.280 Sony is increasing the annual prices on each of the 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:39.159 three tiers of PlayStation Plus. So the base level was 0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:41.760 sixty dollars per year, now it's going to be eighty 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:46.440 dollars per year. The Extra Plan went from one hundred bucks, 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.160 it'll go to one hundred thirty five bucks a year, 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.200 and the Premium plan is going from one hundred and 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.720 twenty dollars a year to one hundred and sixty dollars 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.080 a year. So, in other words, Tier one is increasing 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:00.000 by twenty bucks per year, Tier two by thirty five 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:04.120 five bucks per year, and Tier three forty bucks per year. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.280 So not only is everything getting more expensive, but the 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.440 higher the tier, the more expensive it's getting. Now these 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:13.239 are the annual fee versions. If instead you're set up 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.080 to pay monthly or quarterly, there's no word yet on 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:20.240 whether those prices are going to change, but as it stands, 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.440 if you do pay for a full year, no matter 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.320 what the tier, it's still less expensive than subscribing monthly 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.080 or quarterly. You would be paying more per year if 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:30.880 you do it that way than if you do annually, 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.159 even with these price hikes. So the thing I would 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.680 alert you to is that you can actually stack years 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:40.960 onto your subscription. You can pre pay for years, so 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.400 if you go in and pre pay for a year 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.679 or two or three, you can actually extend your current 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.919 subscription at the current prices before those price hikes go 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.480 into effect. So just a little heads up for y'all. 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.760 All right, that's it for the news. I hope you 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:01.600 are all well, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:12.720 Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.800 visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:17.879 to your favorite shows.