1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And this is the 5 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: tech news for April first one. So it's April Fool's Day, 6 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: which is something of a mixed bag if you're in 7 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: the tech world. A lot of my fellow podcasters who 8 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: cover the tech space have really grown weary of this day, 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: some of them more than others. Some of them have 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: turned into the Ebenezer Scrooge version of misers who hate 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: April Fool's Day. But that's because traditionally it can be 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: really challenging to determine what is an April Fool's goof 13 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: and what is for real z s now. I blame 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: this on two big things. One, the world seems to 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: have grown more outrageously unbelievable over the last few years, 16 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: which makes goofs seem more plausible, because, I mean, have 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: you looked at the news. If you look at the 18 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,600 Speaker 1: news and then you hear a story about a giant robot, 19 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: you know, crashing through St. Louis, you might think, yeah, 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: that tracks I mean that's one for you. But secondly, 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: a lot of would be jokesters turns out they're just 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: not very good at writing jokes. Particularly they're not very 23 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: good at writing satire, so it can be hard to 24 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: tell that they were going for a joke. And anyway, 25 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: you know, was sort of a pass for April Fools 26 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: because the pandemic was such a huge crisis. It forced 27 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: the tech world in general to kind of read the 28 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: room and say, maybe now is not the best time 29 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: for us to try and grab headlines through a pr 30 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: stunt with a goofy April Fool's joke. As I record this, 31 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: it's actually March thirty one. Yes, the Dave ron Swanson 32 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: gets all his meetings, So I don't actually know how 33 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: much Tom Foolery and Shenanigan's we should expect or what 34 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,359 Speaker 1: you have already seen by the time you hear this. 35 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: But just as a gentle reminder, it's always a good 36 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: idea to employ critical thinking, whether it's April Fool's Day 37 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: or not. Also, just in case over the next few weeks, 38 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,239 Speaker 1: when folks share stories, whether tech or otherwise, maybe they're 39 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 1: sharing it on Twitter or Facebook and those stories sound 40 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: really ridiculous, take a quick look at what the publication 41 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: date is for that article, assuming that it's posted to it, 42 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: just to make sure they aren't in fact attempts at 43 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:59,239 Speaker 1: April fool's jokes. I've seen that happen numerous times. For example, 44 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: Xwagen did not, in fact really rebrand itself as volts 45 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: Wagon in honor of its electric vehicle initiative. That was 46 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: an April fool's joke. It leaked early, the company doubled 47 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: down on it, and then later on said, yeah, this 48 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: was an April fool's joke, but we kind of got caught, 49 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: so we it's really went whole hog. That's not a 50 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: good look either. That's kind of like people see that 51 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: and they do the captain piccard face palm meme. All right, 52 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: let's move on to some real news. But this is 53 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: real news that still has fake stuff in it. Earlier 54 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: this week, a bunch of Twitter accounts purported to belong 55 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:47,119 Speaker 1: to Amazon employees began to post pro company anti union tweets. 56 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: This coincides with a vote that Amazon warehouse workers in 57 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: Alabama are holding about whether or not to unionize. The 58 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: tweets attempted to position unions as being cost lee and 59 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: unnecessary and bloated and ineffective. But the effort to do 60 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: this was terribly transparent and not effective at all. Critics 61 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: noticed right away that many of these accounts had been 62 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: created really recently and had few, if any tweets that 63 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: predated the anti union messaging. That doesn't make it seem genuine. Moreover, 64 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: after some Twitter accounts got called out, someone went in 65 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: and changed details of some of those accounts. Karen Weiss 66 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: pointed out that an account that had allegedly belonged to 67 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: an Amazon worker named Leo now magically belonged to a 68 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: different alleged Amazon worker named Sierra, and so on. Generally speaking, 69 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: the effort was held up to ridicule in the online world, 70 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,280 Speaker 1: with a lot of people suggesting that this was an 71 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: attempt to astro turf. So astro turfing refers to a 72 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: strategy in which uh an entity you usually like a 73 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: big company or a brand, sets up accounts to make 74 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: it seem like there is some sort of grassroots support 75 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: that is in favor of that brand or company. It's 76 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: like creating little bought accounts to act like they're your 77 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: fans in order to try and drum up wider support 78 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: among you know, real people, So in other words, it's 79 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: kind of like creating a sock puppet account. The strategy 80 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: doesn't typically work very well because people are smart. They 81 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: can usually sniff this kind of stuff out. And I 82 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: should add that Twitter has begun banning these accounts, and 83 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: that at least as of this recording, there is no 84 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,679 Speaker 1: firm evidence pointing at who was actually creating these accounts 85 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: in the first place. It could be that they came 86 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: from Amazon. It could be that they came from some 87 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: other tech company that's concerned about unionization. They're worried that 88 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: this might lead to broader movements in the tech sector. 89 00:05:57,480 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: There are a lot of companies that are very closely 90 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: watching what happens with Amazon because they're thinking, what if 91 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: we're next. By the way, I'm more on the side 92 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: of the people who work for those companies, not the 93 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: executives running those companies. But it could also just be 94 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: mischief makers. I don't know the answer to who is 95 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: behind all of this as I record this episode, except 96 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: for one specific case. One of the fake accounts was 97 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: one called Amazon FC Darla. F C stands for Fulfillment Center, 98 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: essentially the warehouses that Amazon uses a Chicago based comedian 99 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: named Robbie Appleton has confessed that he made that particular 100 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: account and that he was using the account to post 101 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: anti union messages as kind of a form of satire 102 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: and general prankishness. There's no telling if all the other 103 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: accounts sprouted up from similar reasons or were part of 104 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: some coordinated effort. Moving on, a study out of Trinity 105 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: College says that Android and iOS devices both send a 106 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,799 Speaker 1: out of data back to Google and Apple respectively, even 107 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: when those devices are in idle mode, which is not 108 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,679 Speaker 1: a big surprise, But the study also claims that Android 109 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: sends about twenty times more data to Google than iOS 110 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: sends to Apple. Now does this mean that Google is 111 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: tracking its users more than Apple is, Well, not necessarily, 112 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: but the study does point out that the technology we 113 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: have today frequently is phoning home while that technology is on. 114 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: That's just how stuff works now, particularly for tech with 115 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: evolving operating systems or firmware, a device phoning back to 116 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: home base is a way to indicate whether or not 117 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: that device is actually up to date with the latest 118 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: OS patches. That can be critical for device and information security. 119 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: You know, we know that if you don't update to 120 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: your systems. You're leaving yourself potentially vulnerable to intrusion attacks. 121 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: It's also crucial just for general devices operations. If you 122 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: don't keep updating your operating system, pretty soon you won't 123 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: be able to run the latest apps on it because 124 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: they won't be compatible with the OS. This does, however, 125 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: create concerns for user privacy, and it also raises questions 126 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: as to how the companies are actually leveraging the data 127 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: that's being collected and sent back. I should also point 128 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: out that both Google and Apple dispute the study, and 129 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: they say that the methodology that was used was inherently flawed. 130 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: Google claims the report was off quote by an order 131 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: of magnitude end quote, which is pretty darn significant if 132 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: that is in fact true. And the researcher who conducted 133 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: the study also wasn't really comparing apples to Okay, that 134 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: phrase is a little more complicated when I'm talking about Apple, 135 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 1: the company. He wasn't comparing oranges to oranges. He used 136 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: a jailbroken iPhone that was running an older version of iOS, 137 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 1: one that actually isn't really used by people so much 138 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: these days. But he used a more recent Android phone 139 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: running a version of Android that came out last year. 140 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: So in other words, if you were to do the 141 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: exact same study right now, using up to date iPhone 142 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: OS and Android running it's most recent Android OS, you 143 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: might see a different result. One thing that would not change, however, 144 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: is that both phones would be regularly checking in back 145 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: with home base. That would still happen. That approach looks 146 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: like it's just here to stay. The question is what 147 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,079 Speaker 1: data is being sent, how much of it can be 148 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: linked back to the specific user, and what privacy protections 149 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: are in place, and do users even have a say 150 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: about whether or not that data should be collected in 151 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: the first place. Next yesterday, That is March thirty one 152 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: for you guys. It's technically today for me, but you 153 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: know I'm playing along anyway. Microsoft officially pulled the plug 154 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: on the standalone Cortana Virtual assistant app for the Android 155 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: and iOS platforms. This was not a surprise. Microsoft had 156 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: announced it was going to do this way back in 157 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: the summer of last year, which I think was fourteen 158 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: years ago, and honestly, the company has been winding down 159 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: Cortana for a while now. I think the main problem 160 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: Microsoft had was that it was trying to piggyback a 161 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: virtual assistant on top of platforms that already have native 162 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: versions of that kind of technology. Google has Google Assistant, 163 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: and of course Apple has the famous serie. It's hard 164 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: to get smartphone users to install a new thing that 165 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: does something their phones already do right out of the box. 166 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: Microsoft gave up on its own Windows phone platform a 167 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: few years ago, with support for Windows ten mobile office 168 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: apps fading away earlier this year. But this doesn't mean 169 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: Cortana is going away completely. Instead, Microsoft has been incorporating 170 00:10:54,720 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: Cortana functionality into office products, so Outlook, we're Excel, etcetera. 171 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: So those Outlook users out there have probably already encountered this. 172 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: I know I have pretty much every day I see 173 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: I got an email from Cortana giving me a summary 174 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: of what my schedule is for that day. This reminds 175 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: me of how Google will frequently introduce a new product 176 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: that will receive, you know, like half hearted support from 177 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 1: the company, and then it will get phased out. But 178 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 1: some elements of whatever that was will eventually find their 179 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,319 Speaker 1: way into other Google services that have a bit more 180 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: staying power. I'm expecting that that's what we're seeing now. 181 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: With Cortana and Microsoft speaking of pulling the plug over 182 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: in Arizona the States, and it pulled a piece of 183 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: proposed legislation that would have changed the rules for companies 184 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: like Google and Apple when it comes to the way 185 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: they get revenue from their respective app stores. Now you 186 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: might remember the fight between Apple and Epic Games that 187 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: revolves around this very issue. Basically, Apple and Google take 188 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: a thirty percent cut of revenue from from in app 189 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: transactions on their respective platforms for certain types of apps. 190 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: It is you can't do it for apps where you're 191 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: buying physical stuff, so it doesn't apply to things like 192 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: ride haling or food delivery or Amazon shopping. In those cases, 193 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: Apple and Google don't take a thirty percent cut. But 194 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,960 Speaker 1: if your app include stuff where you can unlock more 195 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: features by paying a little extra, that's where this comes 196 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: into play. So a lot of companies would like to 197 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: see that go away, or for there to be acceptable 198 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: alternatives than through the official Android and iOS channels. The 199 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: bill in Arizona aim to allow for alternative app marketplaces 200 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: and transaction strategies, which would mean that companies that make 201 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: the apps would be able to keep more or even 202 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: all of the revenue using these alternatives instead of forking 203 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: of whatever they make to Apple and Google. Up until 204 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: this week, it looked like that bill had a really 205 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: good out of getting passed in the Arizona Senate, but 206 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: then the state Senate withdrew the bill. Apparently intense lobbying 207 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: paid for by big tech companies like Google and Apple 208 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: helped change some minds within the state government, and it 209 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: looked like the bill no longer was going to have 210 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: the support it needed in order to pass. So instead 211 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: of bringing the bill up just to get killed on 212 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,160 Speaker 1: the Senate floor, the decision was made to table it 213 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: for at least the near future. It's not likely to 214 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,160 Speaker 1: come up again for consideration this year, but it's not 215 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: all dead. I guess it's only mostly dead. A few 216 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: other states have also been considering similar bills, but so 217 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: far none of those have passed. According to Microsoft News, 218 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: SpaceX is giving the Crew Dragon Capsule a new feature. 219 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: As the name indicates, the Crew Dragon Capsule is space 220 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: X is spacecraft designed to bring humans up into space. 221 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: The new feature is a dome like window which will 222 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: normally be covered by the spacecraft's nose cap, but the 223 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: nose cap will then flip up to allow access to 224 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: the dome, so you can see through it and people 225 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: can get a really amazing view of outer space and 226 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,040 Speaker 1: Earth and stuff. This version of the Crew Dragon will 227 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: not have the docking mechanism that allows the spacecraft to 228 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: connect to the International Space Station. It has already done that, 229 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: it's already taken people up to the I S S. 230 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: But this version won't have that docking mechanism. Instead, this 231 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: specific type of Crew Dragon will just be for space tourists, 232 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: or I should restate that as this Crew Dragon capsule 233 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 1: will be for incredibly rich people who have a questionable 234 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: sense of self preservation. Maybe they just need to cast 235 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: themselves into space, which, as I have said previously, is 236 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: always trying to kill you, just so that they can 237 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: feel something. Again. Now I'm being cheeky, but I do 238 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: have to say that being able to look out into 239 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: space and back at planet or through a large dome 240 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: window sounds really really awesome and also really outside of 241 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: my price range. But it's right in that sweet spot 242 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: for billionaire Jared Isaacman, who is scheduled to take that 243 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: kind of a trip in the Crew Dragon capsule on 244 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: September along with three other non astronaut types whom Isaacman 245 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: is sponsoring. He's essentially paying for their trip up. The 246 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: other three crew members include a professor, an employee of 247 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: Lockheed Martin, and a research hospital employee. Their stories are fantastic. 248 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: The mission is called Inspiration four. There's no space between 249 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: Inspiration and the number four. The capsule they will take 250 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: is one that has docked with the space station in 251 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: the past, so that capsule actually has to be refitted 252 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: to replace that docking array with the glass dome and 253 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: special nose cap next. In the world of battle Royal 254 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: style video games, Player Unknowns Battlegrounds or pub G, occupies 255 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: a special place. It was not the first game to 256 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: introduce mechanics in which a large group of players compete 257 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: against one another in a last player Standing style match, 258 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: but it was the first truly monumental success story inside 259 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: that genre. Then Fortnite followed suit, and the story got 260 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: much more complicated anyway, There are many flavors of pub G, 261 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: with one of them being called pub G Light, as 262 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: the name indicates, developers optimized this version of pub G 263 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: to run on less powerful devices that can't crank out 264 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: the frames and graphics of the flagship version of pub G, 265 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: but now this light version is coming to an end. 266 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: Pub G Studio announced that it is ending support services 267 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: on April twenty nine of this year, with all players 268 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: support for pub G Light ending a month later. The 269 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: company did not give a reason for this decision, though 270 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: it did post a statement that said this decision to 271 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: pull the plug came after much deliberation and that the 272 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: company appreciates all those players who had played the light 273 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: version of the game. Other versions of pub G will 274 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: still continue as is, and I guess all those Light 275 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,280 Speaker 1: players will migrate over to Fortnite and sticking with games. 276 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: Chinese police, working with the mega company Tencent, which owns 277 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: a stake in several game companies, have busted up a 278 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 1: group of people who are creating and selling cheats for 279 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: various games like Overwatch. The group had set up an 280 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: operation that they called Chicken Drumstick. They offered up a 281 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: subscription based service which, according to the BBC, included plans 282 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: that were for ten dollars a day ten bucks a 283 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,159 Speaker 1: day to cheat at a video game. I mean that's bonkers. 284 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: I mean, assuming you stick with subscriptions for more than 285 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: two months, that means you would have paid more for 286 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: cheats than you paid for the game itself. The police 287 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: seized assets that were worth around forty six million dollars, 288 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: including some fancy schmancy cars. Apparently, and again, according to 289 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: the BBC, the group had raked in more than seventy 290 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: six million dollars using this approach. Now, e games are 291 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: a really big business, and on the professional e game circuit, 292 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: you can make some serious dough if you can reach 293 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: the top ranks. I'm guessing cheats like aim bots and 294 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: codes that reveal where other players are coming pretty handy 295 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: once you start going up against the elite performers that 296 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: are out there. Apparently. In twenty nineteen, a survey found 297 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: that one third of all gamers admitted to having used 298 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: a cheat in an online game at some point. To 299 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: those thirty three percent, I just want to say, you dirty, 300 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: dirty cheaters. Look, I admit I am not a very 301 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: skilled gamer, but I have earned every single win I 302 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: have ever received, and now I also suspect I haven't 303 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: earned some of the losses handed to me. Actually, le 304 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:02,360 Speaker 1: I know that for a fact because I have been 305 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: on the receiving end of an aim bought in pub 306 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: g in the past. Which I figured out thanks to 307 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: the deathcam feature in that game. Just don't cheat, y'all. Listen, 308 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: it's just lame. My last story illustrates why it's important 309 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: to lock your computer when you walk away from it. 310 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 1: The Twitter account for US Strategic Command, that is, the 311 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,439 Speaker 1: US agency that is responsible for global strike operations, in 312 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 1: other words, nuclear Deterrence a k a. America's nuclear arsenal 313 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:42,639 Speaker 1: sent out a very odd message earlier this week. It 314 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: read and I quote semi colon l semi colon semi 315 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:54,560 Speaker 1: colon g M l x z S s a W. 316 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,239 Speaker 1: So was that some sort of coded message indicating an 317 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: impending new clear launch or an incoming attack. Nope. About 318 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: a half hour after that first message, that same Twitter 319 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: account sent out a second message reading, quote, apologies for 320 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: any confusion, Please disregard this post end quote. Presumably the 321 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,360 Speaker 1: this post meant the gibberish as opposed to the apology 322 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,639 Speaker 1: for the gibberish. But that kind of dismissal doesn't really 323 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: fly when you're talking about agency that's connected to nuclear armaments. 324 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,480 Speaker 1: And so journalist Mikhail Thaln filed a Freedom of Information 325 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: Act request to get to the bottom of it, and 326 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,120 Speaker 1: it turns out the person who manages the Twitter account 327 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: for US Strategic Command had stepped away from their computer 328 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:50,439 Speaker 1: and a quote unquote small child had apparently tapped merrily 329 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 1: away on the keyboard, inadvertently publishing the mysterious tweet whoops 330 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: the daisy, Thank Heaven. We are just talking about a 331 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: social media manager here, and not something directly connected to 332 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: I don't know launch systems, but yes, this illustrates why 333 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: it's very good to lock down your machine, even if 334 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,640 Speaker 1: you're only stepping away for a short while. You never 335 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: know when a kid or a cat or whatever is 336 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,680 Speaker 1: going to post something and they're posing as you, and 337 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: you know they are just waiting for that opportunity. I 338 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: see them plotting. I know what you're up to, cat 339 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: back off? All right. That is the news for April one, 340 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. If you have suggestions for topics you 341 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: would like for me to cover on tech Stuff, Maybe 342 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: you've got a specific company or technology or person in mind. 343 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: Maybe there's a trend in tech that you really want 344 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: to know more about. Reach out to me and let 345 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 1: me know the best way to do that is over 346 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: on Twitter. The handle we use as tech stuff H 347 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 348 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: Y Text Stuff is an I heart Radio production. For 349 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,120 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 350 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,360 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 351 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: favorite shows.