1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland, Diamond, 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: executive producer for iHeartRadio, and how the tech are here. 4 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: It's time for the Tech News for Thursday, February twenty third, 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, and we're going to start off by 6 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: talking about the United States Supreme Court, which has been 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: hearing a couple of legal cases that involve Section two thirty. Now, 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: in case you're not familiar with that, Section two thirty 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: is part of Title forty seven of the United States Code. 10 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: It's part of the Communications Decency Act of nineteen ninety six. 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: But we're not going to jump all the way into 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: all that because it really gets in the weeds. What 13 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: Section two thirty is about is accountability, specifically when it 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: comes to stuff that's been posted online, namely that a 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: platform isn't responsible for the material posted to that platform. 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: Just as he wouldn't blame a street corner if someone 17 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: standing on the street corner were to incite a riot, 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,960 Speaker 1: It's not the street corner's fault. It's the person who 19 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: did the inciting. So two thirty extends a similar protection 20 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: to online platforms, and it allows users to post content, 21 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: whether it's text or audio or video or whatever. And 22 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: it also gives the platforms the authority to moderate content 23 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: as they see fit. This is what lets platforms create 24 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 1: content moderation policies and then enforce those and it protects 25 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: such platforms from legal attacks for enforcing their policies. There's 26 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: also some stuff there about making a reasonable attempt to 27 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: remove illegal content, like if a platform fails to do that, 28 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: then it doesn't receive full protection because it is seen 29 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: as sort of a facilitator. But as long as a 30 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: platform demonstrates that it does make a reasonable attempt to 31 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: remove such content, it receives this protection. Now, this seemingly 32 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: simple idea has been in the background of some extremely 33 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: complicated and emotionally charged issues. It has prompted both the 34 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: left and the right political forces in the United States 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: to criticize and question the policy. Now, sometimes it's because 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 1: a platform fails to remove content that appears to lead 37 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: to harm against people. Sometimes it's that there's this perception 38 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: that platforms are purposefully censoring a specific population, namely conservative voices. 39 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: That's one of the frequent narratives we hear in this space. 40 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: One of the two cases before the Supreme Court deals 41 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: with a really terrible situation, one in which a woman 42 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: died during an ISIS attack, and are Ely says that 43 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:06,640 Speaker 1: attack happened partly because YouTube allowed videos that incited violence 44 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: to stay on its platform. Moreover, that the YouTube algorithm 45 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 1: was serving up these videos, which was then essentially inciting violence. 46 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: So that's sort of the approach this is taking as 47 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: trying not to say that YouTube is responsible for the content, 48 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: but that YouTube is responsible for promoting the content through 49 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: this algorithm, and that therefore the platform should be held 50 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: responsible when violence actually happened in the real world. Now, 51 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: clearly this is an emotionally charged case, but as the 52 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 1: arguments preceded, the justices on the Supreme Court seemed to 53 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: come to the conclusion that they just don't know enough 54 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: about the Internet to really come to a decision on this, 55 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: Like they don't have a full understanding of what the 56 00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: consequences could be for deciding upon this case, or even 57 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: if this is a matter that should be decided by 58 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: the judicial arm of the US government at all. This 59 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: could perhaps be something that Congress, the legislative branch of 60 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: the US government, should tackle instead. Now I have to 61 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: applaud the justices who seem to realize that any dismantling 62 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: of Section two thirty would fundamentally change how the Internet 63 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: works and really cause catastrophic damage, or at least consequences 64 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: that they could not anticipate. I imagine most platforms would 65 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: be forced to essentially shut down rather than take on 66 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 1: the huge burden of either being strict gatekeepers of content, 67 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: meaning they would not allow anything to publish on their 68 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: platform until it had been thoroughly reviewed and sanitized and 69 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: made sure that it doesn't fall into any categories that 70 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: would cause problems, which is not realistic, especially when you're 71 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: looking at big platforms like YouTube gets like five hundred 72 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: hours worth of content uploaded to it every single minute. 73 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: It is impossible for humans to review that much content 74 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: and be certain that every single second of every video 75 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: that is passed does not cause any issues. Alternatively, the 76 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: other approach that the other side has said, not really 77 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: in as many words, but effectively is to allow a 78 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: fire hose of everything to publish on these platforms, regardless 79 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: of whether or not the content was harmful, because that's 80 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,720 Speaker 1: the only way you can get around any kind of 81 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: accusation of censorship, right, the only way to prove you 82 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: are not censoring content is to allow all content on 83 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: the platform, and clearly that is not a good approach either. 84 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: It's a no win situation because while you do have 85 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: general agreement that Section two thirty creates problems, there's a 86 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: fun to mental disagreement on why people think it causes problems. 87 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,239 Speaker 1: They think it causes two very different problems. Therefore, either 88 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: solution would be the opposite of what the other side 89 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: wants and it would be a disaster. Also, a lot 90 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: of the justices were said to be bored and didn't 91 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: really engage with the case, which probably is because they're 92 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: not exactly the online generation. Thank goodness, they serve for 93 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: their lifetime. Anyway, Section two thirty seems safe for the moment, 94 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: at least from the Supreme Court. To quote the band 95 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: of troubadours called Stained. It's been a while since we've 96 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: talked about Elon Musk and his exploits, but we've got 97 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: a few short stories that relate to him today. One 98 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: is that Musk continues to fire people over at Twitter, 99 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: after having already laid off around two thirds of the 100 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: total workforce since he took control of the company. Most recently, 101 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: people in engineering and sales departments found themselves let go, 102 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: while Musk continues to demand for some massive changes to 103 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: Twitter systems. Most recently, he set a very aggressive goal 104 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: to overhaul how Twitter serves ads to users. Currently, Twitter 105 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: relies on profile data and user behaviors to determine which 106 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: ads to serve to specific people. Must wants to change 107 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: that to be more like how search engines serve up ads, 108 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: and make it more keyword based rather than behavior based. 109 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: This has been met with some resistance and criticism, though 110 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: mainly from former Twitter employees, because I imagine if you 111 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: are a current Twitter employee, you're doing your best to 112 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: keep your head down so that you don't become another 113 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,119 Speaker 1: layoff statistic once Must goes on another round of firing people. 114 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: Whether Twitter can make a keyword based system work better 115 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: for ad relevance remains to be seen, but there's no 116 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: denying that the company has been in really rough shape 117 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: from an ad standpoint, because a lot of the big 118 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: advertisers that used to spend a lot of money on 119 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: Twitter have kind of bailed on the platform since Musk 120 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: took over two days ago. Musk tweeted out that the 121 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: Twitter algorithm will be made open source next week end. Quote. 122 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: Musk has said repeatedly in the past that he felt 123 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: the Twitter recommendation algorithm could be improved drastically if it 124 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: were made open source, and that would mean that developers 125 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: all around the world would be able to contribute edits 126 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: and changes and improvements and detect weaknesses and vulnerabilities as 127 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: a community instead of keeping everything behind Twitter's closed doors. Moreover, 128 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: adopting an open source approach could take some serious heat 129 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: off Twitter, because, like I mentioned earlier, there's this general 130 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: perception among the politically conservative here in the United States 131 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: that online platforms have an inherent bias against conservative messages 132 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: and points of view. That platforms like Twitter penalize such 133 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: messages by restricting their promotion so that fewer people will 134 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: see those tweets, or in some cases, they could potentially 135 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: be prevented from being seen at all. The conservatives, are 136 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: you saying they're the target of shadow banning? That's a 137 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: policy where a platform allows the user to post as 138 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: much as they want, like the user is not told 139 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: that they're being prevented from saying anything, but the platform 140 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: suppresses the spread of those messages so that fewer people 141 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,319 Speaker 1: can see and therefore engage with the material. Going open 142 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: source would mean that anyone could look at the recommendation 143 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: algorithm and determine what, if any bias is built into it. 144 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,559 Speaker 1: So there are a few reasons why Twitter would want 145 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: to go this route. One last Musk story. He also 146 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: announced this week that Tesla, another one of his companies, 147 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,559 Speaker 1: will be opening and Engineering HQ in Palo Alto, California. 148 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: The office space will occupy a building that was formerly 149 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: used by Hewitt Packard and Elon. Musk has a rather 150 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: contentious relationship with the state of California. In twenty it 151 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: seems like he was actually going to make Texas the 152 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: center of Musk World, because SpaceX is centered out of there. 153 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: The giga factory he was building was in Texas. He 154 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: moved to Texas, and part of the reason for this 155 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: might have been the fact that Musk was really upset 156 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: with California's shelter in place mandate during the height of 157 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen pandemic. He did not appreciate the fact 158 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: that he was being told he couldn't force his employees 159 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: to go into work. But when Musk did relocate to Texas. 160 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: Tesla kept its corporate HQ in California, and now there 161 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: will be an engineering HQ there as well. All right, 162 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, 163 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: we've got some more news stories to cover. The Seattle 164 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: Times reports that Mark Zuckerberg, after indicating that Meta was 165 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: not likely to hold off additional layoffs, is now looking 166 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: at holding additional layoffs. The news outlet says that HR 167 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: and legal teams are drawing up plans for a reorg 168 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: that will likely include significant downsizing. I'm sure Meta will 169 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: position this as becoming more efficient. That's been the message 170 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: for twenty twenty three. This is the year of efficiency, 171 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,439 Speaker 1: and thus this is going to be about reducing redundancy 172 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: and further cutting back after Zuckerberg himself indicated that the 173 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: company employed too many people for the amount of work 174 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,559 Speaker 1: that was needed to be done. The Seattle Times also 175 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: reported that unnamed sources within Meta believe that some employees 176 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: are likely going to quit after having their jobs dramatically change. 177 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: And I infer that to mean that Meta purposefully is 178 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: making at least some employees unhappy so that they choose 179 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,079 Speaker 1: to leave on their own terms. Because if someone quits 180 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: on you, you don't necessarily owe them a severance package. 181 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: So if you make the environment pleasant enough and you 182 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: convince them to leave on their own, you don't have 183 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: to lay them off. Now, maybe I'm being too cynical, 184 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: but according to the rumors, part of the big change 185 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: that's coming up is that some leaders within Meta are 186 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: going to find themselves in redefined jobs where they won't 187 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 1: have any direct reports, which means they will no longer 188 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,199 Speaker 1: be leaders because there won't be anyone for them to lead. 189 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: So maybe this is the group of people that insiders 190 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: think are going to be encouraged to quit the company. 191 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,719 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, this is going to change the hierarchy where 192 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg will presumably have more direct oversight over company operations. 193 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: So we'll see. On the legal front, Meta had a 194 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,559 Speaker 1: setback this week when a judge refused to throw out 195 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: a jury's decision to hit Meta with one hundred and 196 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: seventy five million dollars and damages for patent infringement. This 197 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: case was brought by an app developer called Voxer Incorporated, 198 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,079 Speaker 1: and it concerns a technology that's used in live streaming services. 199 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: The jury previously found that Meta had committed patent infringement 200 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: and found in favor of Foxer. Netta then asked the 201 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 1: judge to throw out the verdict, saying the jury was misled, 202 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: the evidence was not sufficient to draw that conclusion, and besides, 203 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 1: Voxer was mean to them on the playground. All right, 204 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: That last point was a bit of embellishment from yours truly, 205 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: But Meta reps did say that Voxer's lawyer made quote 206 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: unquote inappropriate comments about the company. I don't know how inappropriate. 207 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: The comments were. A lot of people say some really 208 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: bad stuff about Meta, and I think a lot of 209 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: it is entirely appropriate, but maybe from a legal perspective 210 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,840 Speaker 1: it's a very different story. Meta still has the option 211 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: to appeal this decision to a higher court, so we'll 212 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: see if the company decides to do that or if 213 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: it will cough up the money and just pay the damages. 214 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: Don't know yet now Quasi related to Meta, The founders 215 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: of Instagram, who left Meta years ago, have released their 216 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: aipowered news gathering app Artifact to the general public. It 217 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: was previously in a beta rollout, and basically this is 218 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,800 Speaker 1: an app that gathers news headlines that the app thinks 219 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: you would be interested in reading, and the way it 220 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: works is you download the app they have it for 221 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: iOS and Android, and you start off by selecting a 222 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: few topic categories that you personally find interesting. This is 223 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: not a comprehensive list. Also, the taxonomy of the categories 224 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: is a little bit strange, Like when I signed up, 225 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: I saw a climate change which was listed under technology, 226 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: but there was another area where it was like global 227 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: or international news. I thought it was weird that climate 228 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: change was not under there. But the ideas that you 229 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: tell the app what subjects you're interested in, and the 230 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: app will curate articles across various publications. This, by the way, 231 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: also includes any publications you subscribe to. Part of the 232 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: process is you indicate which news outlets you might have 233 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: a subscription to, like if it's New York Times or something, 234 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: and you can then have your log in so that 235 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: you're able to read those materials as well. Then, as 236 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: you use the app and you read articles that the 237 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: app has gathered for you, it gathers more information about 238 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: what you gravitate toward and what you are really interested 239 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: in based upon what you're actually reading. So theoretically, the 240 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: more you use the app, the better the app gets 241 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: it figuring out what you are really interested in, so 242 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: over time you get a personally curated news feed. I 243 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: only just downloaded it, and I haven't really played with 244 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: it very much, so I do not know how effective 245 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: it is yet, and I've seen some reviews that have 246 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: criticized the user interface, but personally I think it's fine. 247 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: It's not great, but it's fine. It does seem like 248 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: a decent use of AI, though hopefully it will not 249 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: be a use that over time filters out all news 250 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: that would challenge a person's views, because that would just 251 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: create an aipowered echo chamber effect, and we've got enough 252 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: of those already. Activision Blizzard, the game company that is 253 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: kind of in a limbo space regarding Microsoft's attempts to 254 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: acquire it, announced that late last year a hacker got 255 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: access to Activisions systems through the old standby tricking an 256 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: Activision employee with a classic phishing attack. Now, I've said 257 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: over and over people traditionally are the weakest link in 258 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: network security. There's not any need for a hacker to 259 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: sit down in the dark at a computer terminal, their 260 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: face highlighted by the glow of the display and then 261 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: try typing in three different password guesses before getting entry 262 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: into their targeted system. Instead, you just hit some employees 263 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: with phishing schemes, and chances are you're going to get 264 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: a bite somewhere that will give you a foot in 265 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: the door. Anyway. The surprising thing here is that apparently 266 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: Activision's employees were not made aware of the attack before 267 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: the announcement to the general public, which is a heck 268 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: of a way to find out that someone got unauthorized 269 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: access to your company systems, and it also doesn't speak 270 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: very well of Activision's process to try and avoid future attacks. Typically, 271 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: in the wake of something like this, a company will 272 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: put employees on high alert, and often they'll even make 273 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,400 Speaker 1: employees take a security course to better familiarize themselves with 274 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: phishing attacks and the appropriate response to them. I can 275 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: say that here at iHeart, we have a security team 276 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: that even puts us to the test occasionally, because they'll 277 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: craft a bogus email from a bogus address and then 278 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: they'll look to see who, if anyone bites. So it's 279 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: all meant to increase awareness and to improve security. So 280 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: it's odd that Activision has allegedly taken a more passive 281 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: approach and didn't even alert employees to the attack in 282 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: the first place until it became public info. The company 283 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: has said no sensitive data was accessed or stolen during 284 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:00,440 Speaker 1: this breach, but according to Gizmoto, there's a secure group 285 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 1: called vx Underground that claims the hacker made off with 286 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: some internal Activision documents that included sensitive employee data, including 287 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: personal information as well as like salary info and stuff. 288 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: This is really damaging to Activision as well. It's not 289 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,440 Speaker 1: the sort of thing the company wants to see, especially 290 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: when you also take into account all the attempts at 291 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,640 Speaker 1: Activision for employees to unionize, because one of the big 292 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: big things in union organization is often discussions about how 293 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: companies try to make it against corporate policy to do 294 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: things like talk about compensation, because if you start talking 295 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: about compensation within a company, people will know how they 296 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: stack up to others, and they can see where disparities are, 297 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: and that's something that unions aim to eliminate to level 298 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: out that and remove disparity. So yeah, not the sort 299 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: of thing that Activision Blizzard wants to see happen ever, 300 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,400 Speaker 1: but particularly salary information while they're also trying to dissuade 301 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: organization efforts, the EU continues to force Apple's hand, at 302 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: least that's what it seems like. Previously, the EU ruled 303 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: that all smartphones and similar gadgets must have a USBC 304 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:23,239 Speaker 1: charging port, effectively making USBC the universal charging standard in 305 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: the EU, and that's probably going to force these companies 306 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: to do the same globally, because otherwise you have to 307 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: have two different production chains for products meant for the 308 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: EU versus anywhere else. Companies like Apple have long relied 309 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: on proprietary hardware for charging, which helps Apple control that supply, 310 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: so Apple can either sell its own version directly to 311 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,960 Speaker 1: consumers and make a lot of profit that way, or 312 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: Apple can require third parties to pay hefty licensing fees 313 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: to Apple before they can sell their own version of 314 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: the technology. But because of the EU law, future Apple 315 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: smartphones will need to have USBC port at least in Europe. 316 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: But now the rumor is that iOS seventeen, which is 317 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: due to launch next year, will allow something that Apple 318 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: has long resisted on iOS devices, which is sideloading. Sideloading 319 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,120 Speaker 1: is when a user can choose to download apps from 320 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: places other than the official platform app store, Ever since 321 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: Apple first launched the iOS app Store, which was, you know, 322 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: like almost a year after the iPhone came out, it 323 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: has restricted Apple users from downloading apps from anywhere else. 324 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,160 Speaker 1: Unless you were to do some alterations to your iPhone, 325 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: you could not load apps anywhere except from the iOS 326 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: app Store. This is also part of what gives Apple 327 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:54,200 Speaker 1: the power to take a healthy cut out of in 328 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: app transactions. This is one of the reasons why the 329 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: EU has pressured Apple to allow alternative because if Apple 330 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: controls the policy for apps that are found in the 331 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: iOS store, and Apple prevents anyone from going outside the 332 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: store to get an app, it forces developers to play 333 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,520 Speaker 1: by Apple's rules they don't have any alternatives. Apple has 334 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: long maintained that restricting apps to the official store means 335 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: that each app that goes into the store has actually 336 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,719 Speaker 1: gone through a review process, and that this helps Apple 337 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: make sure that the app is safe for users, and 338 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: that without this step, users will run the risk of 339 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: downloading malicious apps. So they have long maintained that the 340 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: whole reason this policy is in place is to protect 341 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 1: people from malicious applications, and there's no doubt that there 342 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: will be an increased risk for malicious apps with sideloading. However, 343 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,399 Speaker 1: I think it's more than fair to say that Apple 344 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: is far more concerned that alternatives to the App Store 345 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: will reduce Apple's power over developers, and it will reduce 346 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: the power over the apps that can appear on iOS devices, 347 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: and that there's a chance that revenues could take a 348 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: really serious hit, or at least not increase at the 349 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,239 Speaker 1: same rate that they had before. And as we all know, 350 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: it's not enough to make a lot of money. You 351 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: got to make more money than you did last quarter. 352 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: That's really the secret sauce. Okay, I've got a couple 353 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: more stories to finish up with, but before we get 354 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: to that, let's take another quick break. Okay, when we 355 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: left off, we talked about the EU and Apple. Well, 356 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: the EU is also following the lead of several US 357 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:50,520 Speaker 1: government agencies and that it has asked all staff of 358 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: the EU governing body, so government EU staff to uninstalled 359 00:22:55,240 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: TikTok from the corporate owned devices. So anything that's owned 360 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: by the EU Executive branch should not have TikTok installed 361 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: on it. If you work for the EU and you 362 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: have a device that was issued to you by your employer, 363 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: you cannot have TikTok on it. If you do, you 364 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 1: should remove it now. Again, just like in the United States, 365 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: I think this is a totally reasonable request. If it 366 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:27,320 Speaker 1: is a corporate owned device, you shouldn't be putting TikTok 367 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: on it. Unless for some reason, your job in this 368 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: corporation relates directly to TikTok, then it makes sense. But 369 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: I mean, if it's for personal use, do not allow 370 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: that on those official devices. This move, by the way, 371 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: does not prevent those employees from having TikTok on their 372 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: personal devices. They can still have them on their own 373 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: personal phones, just not their work phones. And why Well, 374 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: there's this concern that TikTok could be gathering data about 375 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: users and their employers and other sensitive information. And since 376 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: TikTok is the subsidiary of a Chinese company, there are 377 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: national security concerns. But even if we ignore the Chinese part. 378 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: You know, TikTok has repeatedly said that that is not 379 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,439 Speaker 1: a real concern, that China does not have access to 380 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: all this data, that it is a US centric company. 381 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: Those are the arguments TikTok has made in the US. Well, 382 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: this is the EU, so you're still talking about a 383 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: company that's based outside of the EU. And while the 384 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: United States isn't antagonistic to the EU, the fact is 385 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: the EU has long pushed to protect its citizens data 386 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: from being harvested and exploited outside of the European Union, 387 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,560 Speaker 1: so it stands the reason it would move to protect 388 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: the government data as well. Again, I don't think this 389 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: is unreasonable. I don't know how I feel about a 390 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 1: wider ban on TikTok in general, but I certainly think 391 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: it's a reasonable expectation for corporate or government owned devices 392 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: in the world of crypto. The Securities and Exchange Commission 393 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 1: in the United States has moved to block binance dot 394 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 1: us from acquiring Voyager. That's a crypto lender that filed 395 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: for bankruptcy last July. It was one of several high 396 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: profile cryptocurrency businesses that failed last year. It happened before 397 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: the huge FTX breakdown. So why is the SEC concerned 398 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: about binance dot us buying out the assets of a 399 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: crypto lender Voyager. Well, one is that the SEC worries 400 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: that the acquisition would quote violate laws on the unregistered 401 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,880 Speaker 1: offer and sales of securities end quote. This is according 402 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: to a report from Reuters. Adding to that complexity is 403 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: that the US government has been looking into Binance. Now 404 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: that's not Binance dot Us. It is Binance, the largest 405 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: cryptocurrency exchange in the world. This was the one that 406 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: initially said it was going to bail out FTX and 407 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: then backed off on that. Instead, we're talking about Binance 408 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 1: dot Us, which is claimed to be a quote unquote 409 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: independent partner of Binance. But it's also really complicated, and 410 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 1: I cannot even begin to unravel the legal and structural 411 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: contexts of Binance dot Us in comparison to Binance. I 412 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: do not know to what extent the two are dependent 413 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: upon one another, and that's by on purpose, like it's 414 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: meant to be difficult to tell, because like Binance, the 415 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 1: overall company is an offshore company for the purposes of 416 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 1: mostly avoiding regulation. So that part of it. The fact 417 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: that Binance dot Us has some connection to Binance to 418 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 1: some degree, but it's unknown to how to what extent, 419 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: says Mains. The SEC says, Look, we don't even know 420 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: what this connection is, and therefore we cannot allow this 421 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: to go through because it's very possible that the acquisition 422 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: would violate multiple laws, and due to the obtuse nature 423 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: of finance dot US, it's impossible for us to say, 424 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:27,159 Speaker 1: so we can't allow it to go forward. Now. I 425 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 1: don't know if that's just going to be the end 426 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: of it, or if this is just part of the journey, 427 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,080 Speaker 1: or how this will be resolved, but I wanted to 428 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,880 Speaker 1: talk about it because that ambiguity. I don't think it's 429 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,880 Speaker 1: a bug. I think it's a feature. And it may 430 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: very well be that this is yet one more step 431 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: where we see governments start to chip away at one 432 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: of the foundational elements in the crypto world, which is 433 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: this idea of these financial systems that are not regulated 434 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:05,200 Speaker 1: and not overseen by government agencies. Turns out that sometimes 435 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: that's going to end up rubbing government agencies the wrong way. Also, 436 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: when you have incredibly massive failures like with FTX, it 437 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:20,280 Speaker 1: starts to bring into question if these systems themselves are 438 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: trustworthy without oversight. And I don't know the answer to that, y'all, 439 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: because it's not like every government is squeaky clean either. 440 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,439 Speaker 1: It's it just seems like when you start getting a 441 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: lot of money grouped together in a place, whomever is 442 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: set to be in charge of overseeing that ends up 443 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: having lots of conflicts arise. It's almost like it just 444 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: kind of naturally happens, and it doesn't matter whether we 445 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: call it a government or not. I don't know. I 446 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: know that I don't have that problem. I'm not overburdened 447 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: with the problem of too much money. I'm willing to 448 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: give it a shot and find out if I'm the 449 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: exception to the rule though. So yeah, this again goes 450 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: out to all the billionaires out there. If you want 451 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: to test me, feel free to send me, you know, 452 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: a few hundred million. You know you won't even miss it. 453 00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: I'd be willing to bite the bullet on that one. Finally, 454 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: Reuter's also reports that Mercedes Benz is going to begin 455 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: to offer a quote supercomputer like performance end quote in 456 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: its cars moving forward, complete with advanced self driving capabilities. 457 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: Reuters reports that customers will have to pay extra for 458 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: those options, and that they will enable level three autonomous 459 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: driving operations. Level three is a big step right. The 460 00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 1: stuff we've mostly seen here in the United States hovers 461 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: in the level two area. Level two means that you 462 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: still have to have a human operator who is effectively 463 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: considered the driver and that all the other systems are 464 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: assisting the driver. Level three is at the lowest level, 465 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: where the computer system is there to be the driver 466 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: as opposed to the human, though you still need to 467 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: have a human in the driver's seat who is able 468 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: to take over, and the autonomous features will only work 469 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: under specific conditions. Outside of those conditions, it has to 470 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 1: be under human control. However, all that being said, Mercedes 471 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: Benz is going to be offering this stuff moving forward. 472 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: It sounds like the computer experience is a big part 473 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: of the marketing for Mercedes Benz, that that's going to 474 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 1: be kind of the focus of the cool features that 475 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: will be included in these vehicles. They also announced a 476 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: partnership with Google that will incorporate Google's navigation systems into 477 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: their vehicles. That includes things not just as you know, 478 00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: turn left in one hundred feet, but also things like 479 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,680 Speaker 1: real time traffic updates so that you can have your 480 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: vehicle reroute if say there's an accident that happened, you know, 481 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: ten miles up the highway or something, and can reroute 482 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: around those sort of things without having to have human input. 483 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: So that's kind of interesting. And that's all the news 484 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: stories I have today. Thursday, February twenty twenty twenty three. 485 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: I hope you are all well. If you have suggestions 486 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 487 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:17,920 Speaker 1: please reach out to me. You can do so by 488 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 1: going to Twitter and tweeting at tech stuff hsw let 489 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,760 Speaker 1: me know what you would like to hear, or you 490 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: can download the iHeartRadio app. It's free to download, free 491 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: to use. You just type tech stuff into the little 492 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: search field there, it'll take you to the podcast page. 493 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: There you'll see a little microphone icon. If you click 494 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: on that, you can leave a voice message up to 495 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: thirty seconds in length. Let me know what you would 496 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,880 Speaker 1: like to hear, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 497 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 498 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 499 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.