WEBVTT - Tech News: Lapsus$ Hackers Identified 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.800 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.600 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.280 and how the tech are you. It's time for the 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.400 tech news for Thursday, March twenty four, twenty twenty two. 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.600 Let's get to it. Following up on a story I 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:32.199 covered on Tuesday, cybersecurity researchers believe they have identified the 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:36.680 source of the hacking attacks on Octa and other companies. 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.080 Hacking group called LAPSUS, which is spelled l A P 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:43.720 S U S followed by a dollar sign, had claimed 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.880 responsibility for those attacks, stating that the group's goal was 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:51.000 really nothing more than just financial gain, as it infiltrated 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.080 not just Octa and as a reminder, that's a company 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:59.400 that provides authentication services to other companies, but also on 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:03.680 other big names like Microsoft and The security researchers believe 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:07.280 a sixteen year old boy in England is perhaps the 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:12.120 ringleader of LAPSUS. Another person identified by the group is 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:18.040 a teenager in Brazil, and helping out the researchers work 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:23.200 were some rival hackers who effectively doxed this teenager and 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.880 shared information about him and his family online. So it's 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.800 a pretty brutal world out there in the the hacker community. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.640 As to what will happen next, that is likely a 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.520 matter for the authorities. Meanwhile, I suspect researchers will seek 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.880 out more evidence that ties this particular teenager and his 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.640 accomplices to those attacks. And it sounds to me like 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.720 the group was extremely skilled and they were very very 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.360 fast at what they did, but perhaps they were not 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.240 the best at, you know, avoiding consequences for their actions. 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.040 It's possible that one of the reasons they commit of 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.000 these attacks was for notoriety within the hacker community. I mean, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.840 there is kind of that part of the community aspect 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.400 as well. Uh, And it might turn out that the 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.240 price of that notoriety is pretty darn steep once the 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:18.400 authorities get involved. But we'll have to see how this unfolds. 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.520 Russia continues to clamp down on information as military forces 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.560 continued to push into Ukraine. The latest service to join 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.560 the list of suspended platforms is Google News. Russia shut 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.080 off access to Google News in Russia and was saying 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:39.560 that Google News was spreading quote unreliable information end quote. 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.920 Now keep in mind that Russia continues to contextualize the 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:49.640 Ukrainian invasion as a special military operation, which is, you know, 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:54.680 certainly whitewashing what is going on. Meanwhile, thousands of people 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:59.520 have died, including perhaps more than ten thousand Russian soldiers 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:02.440 according to some estimations. I've seen estimations as high as 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:06.160 fifteen thousand Russian soldiers, and I imagine that's going to 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.320 be difficult for Russian officials to explain under the label 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.480 special military operation. It's not like they can just cover 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:18.320 up fifteen thousand deaths, you know, across the entire nation. 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:22.240 I'm actually surprised that Russia has hadn't already shut down 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.520 Google News. I'm surprised it took as long as it 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:28.600 did because the control of information is one of the 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:32.960 key tools in the Russian government's toolbox, as is often 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:38.360 the case with authoritarian regimes. SpaceX has increased the cost 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.480 of being a starlink customer. Now, if you're not familiar 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.440 with that service, Starlink is a satellite based Internet service 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:50.240 provider or i s p. SO Customers purchase a satellite antenna, 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.040 a dish in other words, that can connect to and 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.560 track small satellites that are in low Earth orbit. The 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.880 plan is to launch tens of thousands of satellites to 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.040 kind of provide this blanket coverage so that no matter 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:06.800 what time of day it is, you've got a satellite 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.560 that's in view. So the antenna will actually switch from 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.920 one satellite to another as the satellites move out of 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.400 sight because of course they're orbiting the Earth faster than 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.640 the Earth rotates, so they're kind of zooming overhead. The 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.440 dish has to switch from one to another as it 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:26.200 passes across the horizon really out of sight in general, 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.520 because a tree line will do it too. And UM 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.400 Startling is in a limited rollout right now. When it 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.320 first premiered, the cost to purchase the starter kit was 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.599 four dollars and the monthly service fee to get the 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.240 internet service was nine bucks a month. But now those 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.760 prices have gone up to five hundred dollars for the 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:50.440 starter kit and one dred ten dollars per month for service. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.840 For those customers who have already put down a deposit 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.680 but have not yet received a kit, now they're gonna 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.000 have to pay a little bit more, up to nine 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.800 dollars total before they will get their satellite antenna. Now 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.159 that's probably gonna frustrate folks who had placed in order, 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.440 put down a deposit and we're waiting for their their 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:14.200 kit and felt that they had already paid the asking price. However, 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.680 I guess one saving grace is that they're still kind 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.320 of getting a fifty dollar discount off a brand new 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:22.000 Starlink package if you if you hadn't already put down 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.159 a deposit. And apparently this is not going to impact 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:27.800 customers who really dug deep in their pockets to purchase 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.280 Starlink Premium, which I didn't even realize was a thing 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:35.960 until today. Anyway. So one of the drawbacks of satellite 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:40.839 internet is that you're typically capped at a fairly conservative bandwidth, 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:44.040 and there's also an issue with latency because well, you know, 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.560 even though radio signals travel at the speed of light, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.920 there's still a good bit of distance between an earthbound 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.800 antenna that's on your property and a satellite that's in 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:57.480 orbit overhead. So the basic service for Starlink advertises download 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.640 speeds of fifty to two fifty megabits for second. That's 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.480 actually really darn impressive for satellite um and it has 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.320 a latency of between twenty to forty milliseconds. At least 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:12.000 that's the advertised latency. The premium service well has the 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.800 same latency because you know, you can't actually make light 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.400 go any faster than it already goes, so there's no 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.680 real way to cut down on that. But the bandwidth 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.320 is advertised as a hundred fifty two up to five 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:27.080 hundred megabits per second, which is really impressive. However, to 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.440 get those speeds, you really got to shell out the 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.960 big bucks. And I'm talking two thousand five dollars for 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.160 the kit and then the monthly service fee would be 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.480 five hundred dollars a month. Yells in, I thought my 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.200 I s P bill was big. Now, to be fair, 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.599 I think that the premium services really marketed more toward 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:49.280 businesses rather than your average household. I mean, I'm sure 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.479 there are gonna be some, you know, folks who have 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:56.280 lots of cash and happen to have a mansion out 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:57.960 in the middle of nowhere where this is going to 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.560 be their preferred method, But most of us wouldn't probably 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.000 sign on to the premium service. So you might wonder 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:11.680 why did Starlink increase the prices for the basic service 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:14.160 and it seems to be that the main culprit here 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.520 is inflation, which is obviously hitting a lot of stuff 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:21.800 right now. Also, SpaceX takes a loss on those antenna 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.680 it sells. So yeah, five hundred bucks is a lot 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.560 of money. Uh, six d bucks is a lot of money. 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:32.840 But that's that's still less than what it costs SpaceX 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.520 to build the things. According to the Verge, SpaceX spends 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.520 about to build a single antenna, and originally when they 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.600 first started, that was closer to three thousand dollars. So 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.520 SpaceX has been selling these antenna as a loss leader. 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:49.960 They make money in the long run through the monthly 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:54.840 service fees. So while this new price is steep, it's 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:57.880 still less than half of what it costs SpaceX to 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:03.600 actually make the kits. So there's that. The Etisphere Institute, 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.560 which sounds a bit to me like a sinister organization 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.320 in the Fallout video game Universe, released a report naming 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:15.680 the most ethical companies in various industries, and over in 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.520 tech we had a couple of really big names make 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:23.160 that list, including Microsoft and Apple. Those are names that 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:25.560 I found surprising to appear on a list of most 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:31.080 ethical companies for reasons, but then I think the Atmosphere 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:35.160 Institute is really taking a focused, or if you prefer, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.000 narrow view when it comes to what it means to 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:43.600 be ethical. Certainly, the commitment to ethical sourcing of materials 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:47.200 is critically important around the world. You know, I've talked 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.920 before about how at various points in the supply chain 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.680 from the point of raw material all the way to 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.360 a finished product, there are some dark spots. Spots that 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:03.600 can include forced human labor, child labor, human trafficking, and 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:08.680 more like really dark stuff. So companies that actually go 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.280 the extra mile to seek verification that the supply chain 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:16.319 they rely upon doesn't in turn rely upon human rights 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:19.479 violations is a good thing and it should be acknowledged. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.199 Though I would also say that we should probably consider 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.679 that the bare minimum right. I mean, it seems kind 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.400 of crass to say congratulations on not violating human rights 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:34.480 to bring us this gadget that. I mean, yeah, you 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.480 shouldn't get an award for not causing human misery. But 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:42.120 I digress. I do think that from certain points of view, 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.920 as ob one would say, Apple and Microsoft and some 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.840 of the other companies named have taken great strides to 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.800 make certain their processes are ethical, but I happen to 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.880 view ethics in a more broad context. Uh. These are 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.480 also companies that have reputations for stuff like clamping down 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:06.400 on employees, whether it's discouraging organization or forcing folks to 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.600 sign agreements that prevent them from going public or seeking 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:14.040 external legal help after they encounter violations of workplace policies, 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:18.640 or or they they end up being the target of 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.240 illegal activities and that kind of thing. Now, maybe I'm 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.840 looking at this from too wide a perspective, but I 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.439 think it's actually important for us to keep those shortcomings 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:33.680 in mind, because otherwise we invite a dangerous situation where 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:36.960 we let ourselves think of these companies as inherently ethical, 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.959 and then we will overlook other transgressions we I think 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.600 it's perfectly legitimate to say, yes, here is where they 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.160 are doing the right thing, and still also say and 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.400 here is where they need to change. I think we 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.160 can have room for both of those. Okay, we've got 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.199 some more news stories to cover, but before we get 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:08.160 to those, let's take a quick break. One ongoing story 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.640 that we've been covering relates to companies like Apple and 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.080 Google being pressured to allow third party payment systems within 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:18.560 apps running on iOS and Android respectively, and now we 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.959 have word that Google is making an allowance for Spotify. 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:24.640 Users will have the option to choose to pay for 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:30.560 purchases within Spotify using either Google Pay billing or they 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.240 can opt for Spotify's own billing method. This is a 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:37.120 pretty big deal because we have seen Google and Apple 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.160 long dependent upon the fact that these companies have had 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:45.640 to take a chunk out of every single in app transaction, 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:50.120 usually between fifteen and thirty per pop and hand it 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.120 over to Google or Apple, and because there were no 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.200 other payment options available, that meant the developers had no 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:00.520 choice but to accept that a fairly significant of change 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.040 per transaction was going to go to these companies. Now 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.960 we're seeing pushback around the world as various courts and 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:13.079 regulatory bodies argue that this practice is inherently anti competitive. Uh. 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.680 In fact, just on this past Tuesday episode, I talked 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.880 about how Apple was fined for the ninth week in 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:23.320 a row for doing this in the Netherlands with dating apps, 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.800 and whether this new deal with Spotify will market change 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.320 that will roll out to other apps on the Android platform. 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.800 That's too early to say, but at least it is encouraging. 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.040 So I should also add it's not clear yet if 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:40.160 Google is still taking some cut of each transaction. That 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:44.280 is a possibility. Again with the Apple story, we heard 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.840 that one of its concessions to the Dutch regulators was 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.800 to offer up a third party payment option for dating apps, 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:55.720 in which Apple would still take a hefty twenty seven cut. Now, 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:00.040 considering that payment processing services always take a cut, I 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.240 mean that's how they make money. So every transaction the 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:08.679 these the processing service that actually processes the transaction, they 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.280 get a percentage of that. It's the same with credit 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:16.280 card companies. Well, with a twenty cut on top of 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.960 whatever the third party is charging, it would mean that 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.800 no matter what third party you were going with, chances 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.000 are that option was going to be more expensive than 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.000 just sticking in house with Apple. Needless to say, the 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.000 Dutch regulators rejected this concession and called it out for 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.840 what it is, that Apple was rigging the game in 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.120 its own favor. Also, remember Apple was one of those 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.520 ethical companies we were talking about a minute ago. And 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.240 other Google related news, the company is preparing to sunset 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.400 the Google Play Movies and TV store section in May. Alright, 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.360 so Google Play has been Google's kind of all stop 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:57.120 shop for online content and apps on Google ecosystems, namely 0:13:57.200 --> 0:14:02.240 stuff like Android devices and Google Connected television services. So 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.800 you would go to Google Play to buy all sorts 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:10.640 of stuff like e books or games or apps, music, television, 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.760 and film. But then Google started to migrate some stuff 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:18.440 out of Google Play. For example, Google Play Music shut 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.880 down and shifted to YouTube Music. And it looks like 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.160 something similar is happening with Google Play TV and movies, 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.680 where users will be prompted to go to separate apps 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.640 such as YouTube or Google Tv. And perhaps this is 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:35.480 an effort to streamline stuff so that people who are 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.360 interested in one kind of content but not necessarily other 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.600 kinds of content can more easily find what they're looking for. 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.920 And I kind of get that, you know, navigating through 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:47.320 Google Play can be a bit clunky. Still, this also 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.920 feels like another example of Google introducing a feature or 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.840 a product and then a couple of years later just 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.440 pulling the plug on it. Instagram has introduced a feature 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:03.160 that will let users view in chronological order, which I 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.800 mean has been long overdue. Also, they can filter their 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.360 feeds so that they're just looking at you know, uh, 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.920 entries that are from their favorites, like the the accounts 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.640 they are most interested in, But in neither case will 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.480 users be able to set that as their default view 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:26.040 of Instagram's feed, So by default, users will still be 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:29.320 presented with the jumbled up feed that's arranged not by 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:32.840 any kind of timeliness, but by the whims of the 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:38.720 feeds algorithm. Now I don't personally use Instagram or Facebook anymore, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.680 but back when I did, one of the things I 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:46.320 consistently found really infuriating was the lack of ability to 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:50.720 just view stuff in reverse chronological order. I wanted to 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:53.640 see the most recent stuff posted by my friends and 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.560 the folks that I followed, and I hated the way 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.720 content would actually appear in both of those products out 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.920 of any kind of order. That made sense to me, 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:06.840 because I would find myself responding to something that was 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.200 actually several days old in some cases, and in off 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:13.200 often in those cases, it would turn out that whatever 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:16.560 it was was now irrelevant, like we had all moved on. 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.400 I just didn't know about it because the way the 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.680 feed was sending it to me, I was looking at 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.240 something that was already out of date. And anyway, for 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.720 those who still use Instagram. I'm glad that this is 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.000 now an option if that's something that really would be 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.160 valuable to you. I think it's still pretty irritating that 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.880 you can't just set it and forget it. You will 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.920 have to choose that view of your feed each time 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.080 you open the app, if that's how you want to 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.120 see it. I guess we should be thankful for any improvements, 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:47.560 even if they're small ones. Also, we should keep in 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.960 mind that part of the motivation for making this change 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.760 is that meta Instagram's parent company has been under fire 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.720 for relying on algorithms that promote certain materials to users 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.680 in an effort to drive engagement, and that material frequently 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:05.399 falls into dangerous categories that can become echo chambers that 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:09.080 end up promoting extremist views, or it can end up 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.560 serving up content that can harm someone's mental health. So 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.000 you could make a case that the reason Meta slash 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.680 Instagram did this was really more about trying to take 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:23.119 some of that heat off, rather than giving users what 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:26.679 they've been asking for for ages. But I guess you 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.480 don't look a gift horse in the Instagram feed, you 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:34.800 just follow it. The United Nations has launched an ambitious 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.879 project that, if successful, would connect every person to early 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.879 weather warning systems. And by every person, I mean every 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.879 person on the planet. According to the u N Secretary General, 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:50.320 six of people in Africa lack an early warning weather system. 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.000 If we look at this from a global perspective, one 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:57.200 third of all humanity lacks access to early warning weather systems, 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.439 and that is sobering, particularly when you consider due to 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.360 climate change, there is strong evidence to suggest that we're 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.440 going to see more and more severe weather events across 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.720 the world on the increase over the following years, and 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.960 early warning can mean the difference between life and death. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.160 As of how this is going to actually progress, that's 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.360 still being worked out. The u N World Meteorological Organization 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.840 has the ball now, and we'll need to put together 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.360 a plan that will achieve this goal within the five 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.640 year time frame. The w MO is expected to share 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:33.000 an action plan at the UN Climate Conference in November. Okay, 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:35.960 we've got a couple more stories to go before we 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:46.280 get to those. Let's take another quick break al right. So, 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.600 one other ongoing huge story in tech has been how 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:54.600 the world has tried to respond to the ongoing semiconductor shortage, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.480 which has happened for numerous reasons, the big one being 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.159 the pandemic and and Intel has been working on establishing 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.840 semiconductor fabrication facilities here in the United States, which would 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.080 help mitigate the necessity to depend upon Taiwan as the 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:15.239 main source for semiconductor manufacturing. This is important not just 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.399 because of the current supply chain issues, but because Taiwan 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.639 has a let's call it an uneasy political relationship with China. 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:29.840 That's being very delicate about things. There's a legitimate concern 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:33.800 that one day mainland China forces could attempt to invade 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:38.680 Taiwan or at the very least disrupt global supply chains. Now, 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.680 setting aside the numerous other reasons why a Chinese invasion 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.400 would be a bad thing, because there are lots of them, 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.800 we're just going to focus on the semiconductor side for this. 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:53.280 That's prompted Intel to invest in building facilities elsewhere, like 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.040 here in the United States. But doing that is really expensive, 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.880 and doing that at the cost of profit. It's can 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:04.399 sometimes cheese off stakeholders. You know, people who own shares 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.920 in your company. They expect a return on their investment. 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.640 That in turn has in a prompted Intel CEO Pat 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:16.520 Gelsinger to urge US Congress to grant subsidies to the 0:20:16.600 --> 0:20:21.960 U S semiconductor industry in order to help offset those costs. So, 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.160 in other words, Intel is hoping that Congress will allot 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:28.560 some taxpayer dollars to help foot the bill for building 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.320 out Intel facilities here in America, not just Intel, other 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.800 semiconductor facilities too. And while both the House and Senate 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:41.120 in Congress are considering this, and each have their own 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.240 proposals about this, but they have to work out the 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.399 differences between the two. That process has been a pretty 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:51.840 slow one, and there's been some understandable resistance and concern 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:55.240 about using taxpayer money to subsidize a company like Intel. 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:00.920 Intel has a market cap of two four point five 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:06.359 one billion dollars as of today's recording. Now that that 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:10.280 number that represents the total dollar value of Intel's shares, 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.439 so it's nearly two hundred five billion dollars, So you 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.959 could argue Intel is worth two hundred five billion dollars. Now, 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.440 of course, that is not indicative of how much cash 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:23.760 Intel has on hand. That's a different thing. That's closer 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.320 to probably around twenty four billion dollars at least as 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:31.000 of last year, and you can see how telling taxpayers. 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:34.399 Imagine that you're a politician and you're voting to pass 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:38.560 legislation that would subsidize semiconductor facilities in the United States, 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:42.400 and then you're asked by your constituents, Hey, um, why 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:45.359 did you use my tax dollars to help this two 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:50.199 hundred billion dollar company build factories. That's a hard sell, right, Like, 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:52.800 that's a hard question to answer, even if there are 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.040 legitimate reasons for that. Politically, you could see how this 0:21:56.040 --> 0:22:00.199 would be a very difficult thing to do and end. 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:05.120 You know, Intel is a publicly traded company. That means 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:08.280 it does have a responsibility to its shareholders. So Intel, 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:12.359 you know, can't just spend money that it has and 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:14.960 maybe some money it doesn't have, in an effort to 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:17.600 build this stuff out. It's not a private company. It 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:21.320 can't just shoulder that burden and hope to get out. 0:22:21.320 --> 0:22:23.960 On the other side, it has shareholders to answer to, 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:27.399 So it is more complicated than just saying it's a 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:31.160 two billion dollar company, why are we giving it money 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:34.560 or why are we giving it enormous tax breaks so 0:22:34.600 --> 0:22:37.679 it can build out these facilities. Meanwhile, we do have 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:41.280 to address the very real problem of the semiconductor shortage. 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:46.959 So yes, very complex issue here. Um. I definitely get 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:49.680 a little grouchy at the thought of taxpayer money helping 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:53.840 out an enormous company like Intel, but I also admit 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:57.320 that the issue is far more complicated than that. So 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:00.400 I think the subsidy is going to be a tough 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.560 pill should Congress actually agree upon it and pass it. 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:06.960 But it might be that it's a necessity in order 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:10.720 to make this come to pass. Without it, we're probably 0:23:10.720 --> 0:23:14.159 going to get facilities that have less capability than what 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:18.679 Intel wants to see. And it may be that whatever 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:22.280 facilities we get aren't really a solution to the issues 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:26.639 that we are encountering in the industry. So yeah, um, 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:28.520 I wish I could say that this was a very 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:32.480 simple matter where it's a binary thing, but it, as 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:36.760 most things in life, it's actually way more complicated than that. 0:23:37.880 --> 0:23:40.080 Now here are a couple of other quick news bits 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:45.080 to end out this episode. First, Rolls Royce, the aerospace company, 0:23:45.240 --> 0:23:49.000 not the motor car company, because those are two different entities. Uh. 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:52.800 Rolls Royce has broken records with its electric plane. It 0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:56.000 is named the Spirit of Innovation, which is a cool 0:23:56.119 --> 0:24:00.280 name for a plane, and as electric plane implies, it 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:02.920 has an electric motor, it does not have a combustion 0:24:02.960 --> 0:24:06.800 engine or jet engine. And it broke a couple of 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:10.760 speed records. One was for top speed over three kilometers, 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:15.040 which the Spirit of Innovation set at five fifty five 0:24:15.080 --> 0:24:18.080 point nine kilometers per hour. For those of us in 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:21.600 the US, that's about three miles per hour. And it 0:24:21.720 --> 0:24:26.280 also set a record for fast speed over fifteen kilometers 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.359 that was five thirty two point one kilometers per hour, 0:24:29.560 --> 0:24:33.879 or around three per hour. That's pretty darn cool. I 0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:36.760 mean that's still that's much slower than what you see 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:40.800 with like commercial jets, for example, but still really neat 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:45.360 that a purely electric flying machine was able to hit 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:48.760 those speeds over those distances. Now, of course, right now 0:24:48.800 --> 0:24:52.200 we're still talking about demonstrating capabilities here, right we're talking 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:57.159 about like the proof of concept stage really or maybe 0:24:57.160 --> 0:24:59.960