WEBVTT - Tech News: Musk's Twitter Deal On Hold 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.600 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.760 Jonathan Strickland and how the tech are you. It's time 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:24.200 for the tech news for Tuesday, May two thousand twenty two, 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.200 and it's also time for an update to the Elon 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.120 Musk slash Twitter saga. When last we checked in, I 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.040 mentioned that the U S Securities and Exchange Commission was 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.720 investigating Musk for allegedly filing his intent to purchase Twitter 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:43.800 at least ten days too late, which in turn had 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.960 a potentially massive impact on other investors. But since then, 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.879 a lot of other stuff has happened. Namely, last Friday, 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.120 Elon Musk tweeted that the deal to purchase Twitter was 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:59.680 on hold, at least temporarily, because Twitter reported that it 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.880 estimated fewer than five pc of Twitter accounts are bought accounts, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:08.000 i e. Fake accounts that are driven by automated processes. 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.160 Now must wasn't terribly clear at first about what the 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:16.520 actual problem was. Presumably the problem was that he didn't 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.000 believe Twitter and felt that the real number is much higher. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.560 But here's the thing. He had already put in the 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:26.600 offer of buying the company at forty four billion dollars 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:30.840 and repeatedly was boasting about one of the main things 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.080 he wanted to do was purge twitter body accounts and 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:39.160 institute a verification system to make certain that every account 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:43.840 belongs to an actual human being. So naturally this led 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.480 people like me saying, well, if part of your reasoning 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.000 to purchase Twitter is to get rid of the bots 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:55.920 on it, why does this particular estimate upset you? And 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.520 that really comes down to money. I guess my assumption 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.160 is that Elon Musk's argument is that Twitter is misrepresenting 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:08.600 how many accounts on the platform are bots, and they 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:13.200 did that when filing with the SEC, and that this, 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:17.000 in turn has inflated Twitter's stock price. It it amounts 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:21.440 to fraud, either intentionally or otherwise. And it also means 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.400 that Twitter is overvalued, and that Elon Musk's initial offer 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:31.000 was based off Twitter's stock price, which has subsequently slipped 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.240 quite a bit, largely due to Musk kind of waffling 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.680 about the deal. Now I can see how that can 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:41.320 be a legit argument, except you would think that anyone 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.600 willing to pop down forty four billion dollars to buy 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:48.280 a company would already have done, you know, some pretty 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:52.720 thorough investigations to determine if the value represented by the 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.400 stock price actually reflected the real worth of the company, 0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:00.960 you know, before you make the offer anyway. Musk also 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:05.560 in a reply to someone, mentioned that Twitter's supposed methodology 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.679 for determining how many bots are on the platform is 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.840 to take a random sample of just one accounts and 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.040 then investigate to see how many of those one hundred 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:19.960 are bought accounts and then extrapolate that. Um that, if true, 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:23.840 is is I mean to call it, to call it 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.680 too small a sample size is an understatement, like that's 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:32.320 that's nothing. You're talking about a platform that boasts a 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.680 couple of hundred million accounts on it. Just to take 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.920 one hundred and then trying to extrapolate anything from one 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:45.040 hundred random accounts, that's nothing. So if that is true, 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:51.000 that is a laughable approach to making those kinds of estimates. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.560 But then Musk said that Twitter accused him of of 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.920 breaking a non disclosure agreement or in d a about 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.160 all this, and at a tech conference in Florida, Musk 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.920 said that the real percentage of body accounts is likely 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:12.000 twenty or higher, possibly as high as n though I 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:17.040 think that is ludicrously high and really doubted. I don't 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:21.040 think only of the accounts on Twitter are real people. 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:25.520 Um I think some of those real people are real jerks, 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.560 but they're still people. Musk then said that this deal 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:33.480 will not move forward unless Twitter can prove that less 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.120 than five percent of the accounts on the platform are 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:40.400 in fact bots or fake or spam or whatever. Musk 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.080 also said that if he could arrive at a lower 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.520 deal for Twitter, a purchase might not be out of 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.080 the question. Now I should add there is a ton 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:54.359 of speculation online that Musk is also scrambling because maybe 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.640 the funding he secured to purchase Twitter is no longer 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.919 sufficient to cover that already four billion dollar price tag, 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.320 so some of the funding depends on Musk's shares in 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:10.640 Tesla as uh as collateral, at least according to some reports. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.960 But Tesla stock prices have also dropped significantly by around 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:19.320 thirty percent, because you know, they've been dropping ever since 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.480 this deal to buy Twitter was first announced, and Tesla 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:25.280 shareholders have been worrying that they might be saddled with 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:29.320 footing the bill for Musk's desire to own Twitter, which 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.479 has nothing to do with their their interest in Tesla 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.839 as a company. Well, if that is in fact true, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:41.440 if you know things that he has as collateral has 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.720 have dipped in value by like thirty that could mean 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.919 that he might need to secure some additional funding sources 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.600 to cover the forty four billion dollars. Now, yes, Ellen 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:55.760 Musk is a multibillionaire. In fact, he's the richest person 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.400 in the world. He has an estimated wealth of around 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:03.200 two nineteen bill in dollars. But we have to remember 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.600 the vast majority of that wealth isn't liquid. It's wrapped 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.600 up in stuff like his stock in Tesla or in cryptocurrency, 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:15.200 and if Musk were to sell off assets for the 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:20.239 sake of liquidity, it would affect the value of those assets, 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.160 which means that he would get less for them than 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:26.479 what they are currently worth, which really just nails down 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.719 how insane wealth is, and that most rich people really 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.440 just leverage their assets to get hold of cash when 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.280 they need it rather than sell stuff off. Because if 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:39.279 you sell off a lot of it, well, it becomes 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.920 like supply and demand. Right. If you're flooding the market 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.640 with supply because you're offloading your massive shares in something, 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.520 the demand goes down and the price goes down, so 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.760 you get less than what you would have gotten if 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.279 you didn't sell it off. It's it's like this weird 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.720 catch twenty two, right. Anyway, My point is that even 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.680 though Musk is the wealthiest person in the world, he 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.880 does not have forty four billion dollars in cash just 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:09.680 laying around, so he had to secure additional funding, some 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.200 of which has depreciated in value since the time of 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:17.920 the announcement. So some people assume that Musk is really 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:20.720 looking for a way to back out of the deal 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.920 that will save face, or alternatively find a way to 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.600 renegotiate the deal so that he can purchase Twitter at 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:31.760 a much lower price. Uh. I think that that's something 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:36.400 Twitter's board might resist, and certainly Twitter's shareholders would probably 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.320 be less interested in it. You know, if they're being 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.040 told they're gonna get bought out at fifty four dollars 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.680 a share and then they're told no, I'm sorry, it's 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:48.200 gonna be closer to you know, forty dollars a share, 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:53.000 that's a big step down, right, And I'm just using 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.720 those as hypothetical figures, right, But the point being that 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.880 shareholders are probably not going to be as thrilled at 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.120 thought of getting a smaller payout, so it could put 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.560 the deal at risk. Now, if Musk does back out 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.360 of the deal on his terms, it will cost him 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.720 a cool billion dollars to do it, because that was 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.960 part of the negotiation, was that if either party called 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:20.000 off the deal, then it would come at a cost 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.320 of a billion dollars. Now, could it be that Musk 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:27.880 will ultimately spend a billion dollars to not buy Twitter? Meanwhile, 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:33.280 Twitter CEO Parague Agal dismissed Musk's objection, saying that he 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:36.440 would discuss the issue of spam accounts quote with the 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:40.960 benefit of data, facts and context end quote. So the 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:48.040 story is not over yet. A security consultant named Sultan 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:53.160 CoStim Khan created a hack that exploits the keyless operation 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.240 mode for certain automobiles, such as Tesla's, which is why 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.640 I'm mentioning this story right after the Elon Musk story. Now, 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.439 according to con his method works on other types of 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:08.080 vehicles too, but he specifically demonstrated it on Tesla vehicles 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.600 that it works on things like the models and the 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:14.080 model why his hack would allow him to not only 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:18.480 unlock a vehicle's doors, but also start the electric motor 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:20.680 and drive off in the car. So, in other words, 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:25.480 you could totally steal a Tesla using this technology. Now, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.720 to pull it off requires a couple of pieces of hardware. 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:32.680 One piece is essentially a Bluetooth sniffer device, So this 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:36.120 is something that can detect Bluetooth signals that are being 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:41.000 broadcast from a source. Now, Bluetooth signals have a relatively 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.200 short range, so that means you would have to get 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.880 this sniffer device fairly close to your target with then 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:51.320 about fifteen feet or so, and you know, whether that 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:55.280 that target is a smartphone that has a specific app 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.160 that interacts with the Tesla or other vehicle, or it's 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.920 a keyless fob or whatever it might be, and it 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.080 then will sniff the signal that's being sent from that 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:08.000 device that would normally go to the vehicle. The sniffer 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.600 device would then relay that signal to a laptop that 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.720 is presumably close to the target vehicle, because again Bluetooth 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:21.120 doesn't have a very long range, So then con could 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:23.959 use the laptop that was coming in you know, that 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.320 was detecting the signal from the sniffer to broadcast a 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:31.320 similar signal to the car and unlock it and turn 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.960 on the electric motor. So this method is not super 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:38.880 easy to pull off. It does require some hardware and 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.199 some maneuvering in order to get it to work, but 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:45.320 the point is it is possible and there's no defense 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.800 against it. Con says that he contacted Tesla and other 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:52.280 companies and made them aware of this vulnerability, but fixing 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.800 this particular problem would require a fairly substantial overhaul of 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.600 the keyless entry system as well as the hardware it 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.600 runs on. And further more, the risk of someone actually 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.240 developing and then using this hack is fairly low, so 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.199 there do not appear to be any plans to address 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.839 this issue because the likelihood of it becoming a thing 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:16.720 out in the wild is fairly limited. Cohn also revealed 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:20.000 that other cars that use the quick set smart locks 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.360 are vulnerable to this kind of attack, but that drivers 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.840 who use their iPhones to access their vehicles have some 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.960 additional security measures that they can take advantage of. For one, 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.160 they can enable two factor authentication, which in general you 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.440 should pretty much always do for any system that offers it, 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.880 and also the iPhone compatible locks have a time out 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.600 that makes them harder to hack. The Android version locks 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.120 lack these security factors, though quick Set lands on an 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:53.360 upgrade later this year that will likely address that. We 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.840 have lots more stories to cover, including some more hacking 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.440 stories as well as a lot of other stuff. But 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:00.720 before we get to any of that, let's take a 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:12.920 quick break. We're back. Cal Newport posted in his blog 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:17.000 a really interesting piece about a scientific study titled taking 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.559 a one week break from Social Media Improves well being, 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.959 depression and anxiety. Well, the title of the paper pretty 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.600 much tells you what you need to know. The researchers 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:33.199 took on volunteers. They randomly divided those volunteers into two groups. 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.680 One group was the control group. They were given no instructions, 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:40.400 They just went about living their normal lives. The experiment 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.360 group was told to take a week long break from 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:48.840 social media, including popular platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.160 After a week, the researchers found that the experiment group 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.360 reported they experienced less anxiety and depression, and they felt 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:01.280 an improved sense of well being. The improvements were significant 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.040 even when adjusting for variables like age and gender, so 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.040 it didn't just disappear once you started to factor those 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:13.000 variables into it. Newport points out, we should always look 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:17.360 at these kinds of scientific studies with some skepticism, largely 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:21.079 because methodologies can get a bit fuzzy, especially when we're 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.400 talking about things like mental health. There are so many 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.320 variables that impact our mental health that it can be 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.360 pretty much impossible to narrow in on one or two 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.040 variables and then eliminate all the rest. Right, Still, the 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:39.040 study seems to support earlier hypotheses that a dependence on 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.600 social media tends to bring with it an increased sense 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:47.520 of depression and anxiety. Anecdotally, I have cut way back 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:51.160 on my social network presence, having deactivated my Facebook account. 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.040 I don't go to Instagram, I don't have TikTok anymore, 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:57.199 and I only use Twitter for this show. I don't 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.880 I don't access my personal Twitter feed anymore. Are now 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.359 I can't say that I have had a massive improvement 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.040 in my mental health, but I do feel that I'm 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.640 not getting worse, which wasn't necessarily the case when I 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:14.960 was still on everything. But again, that's anecdotal evidence, which 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.600 really that's not evidence at all. We all know that, right, 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:22.400 Anecdotal evidence is not actual evidence. And goodness knows, I 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.520 would much rather feel like I was a totally new, 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.080 well adjusted person. I'm just not there yet. Still, if 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.800 you do find yourself feeling overwhelmed, it might be worth 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:37.600 considering taking a weak vacation from social media. It could help. Now, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.320 I'm pretty sure. I talked about this next story in 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.440 an earlier episode that Apple has rolled out changes that 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:47.960 allow app developers to alter subscription prices and charge users 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:54.320 more money automatically, as long as certain conditions are met. Previously, 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.840 developers were required to send a notification to users alerting 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.440 them of an upcome main price hike for their services, 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.960 and the user would then have the option to opt 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:09.160 in to paying the higher price, or they could discontinue 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:12.560 their subscription. But Apple said that this method had the 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:17.080 unintended consequence of leading to interruptions and service because users 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.960 were missing or ignoring notifications so they didn't take the 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.239 action to opt in, and their service would get discontinued 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:28.200 once their subscription was over and the price hike had 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:32.000 taken effect, and it would cause some friction. So now 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.960 the policy has changed, developers still have to send out 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:38.000 a message to users alerting them ahead of time. If 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:41.760 they're going to change the price, but the price change 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.240 gets applied automatically and there's no opt in required, so 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:50.160 if the user doesn't actively deactivate their account, they get 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:54.240 charged more So, if you miss or ignore a message, 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.520 then you might discover when you're looking at your bank 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.520 statement that what used to cost X per month now 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.880 costs X plus something else per month. Apple does have 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.440 a few other requirements the developers have to meet in 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:11.960 order to qualify for this feature. Uh, the developers cannot 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.880 hike a price more than once per year. Any increase 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.720 that they give to any subscription cannot exceed five dollars 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:24.520 or fifty of the current subscription price for monthly subscriptions, 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:28.080 and if it's an annual subscription service, the max hike 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.120 is fifty dollars or fifty of the subscription price. The 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:36.760 increase also cannot break any local laws. Now, if developers 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.880 failed to meet some of those qualifications, they can still 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:43.360 increase their subscription prices, but they will have to adhere 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.040 to the old process of giving you know, users the 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.680 opportunity to opt in, or otherwise their service will be discontinued. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.920 Darren Allen of tech Radar has an article titled bad 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.080 news and video. A m D S new GPUs are 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.320 in good stock and priced strictly at m s r 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:06.120 p UM. In case you're not familiar with the term 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:10.560 m s r P, that stands for manufacturers suggested retail price. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.080 In other words, it's how much the company what makes 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:18.600 the thing tells stores how much they should charge to 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.160 sell that thing. It's their suggested retail price. Stores aren't 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.440 obligated to sell things at m s r P, but 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.520 it is what the manufacturers are suggesting. And obviously if 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.760 stores charge weight more than that and other stores charged 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:37.040 closer to m s RP, that creates competition in the market. YadA, YadA, YadA. Well, 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:40.840 when it comes to GPUs or graphics processing units, we've 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.680 had a long run of graphics cards being incredibly difficult 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:49.399 to find and grossly overpriced above m s r P. 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:54.000 One really big reason for that was that crypto minors 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:57.800 for currencies like ethereum, we're scooping up all the available 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.760 GPUs before they could hit consumer mark markets and plugging 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:05.800 them into mining machines, or they were buying GPUs at 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.639 way above market price and then putting them into mining 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.520 machines UM. And this gave a few enterprising folks the 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.560 chance to buy up cards very quickly and then hike 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:20.120 the price up to obscene levels before offering them up 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:26.240 on after market platforms like eBay. Uh. Then the you know, 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.600 you got to take into account the semiconductor chip shortage 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:33.480 that we're currently in, and there are all the factors 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.199 you really need right. You have limited supply, you have 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:40.520 high demand that fuels crazy high prices. Well, Alan Over 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.440 at tech Radar has pointed out that a m D 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.399 has several GPUs that appear to be in stock on 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:50.119 sites like new Egg, and more importantly, that these in 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.919 stock cards are pretty much priced where they should be. 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.320 Prices have been coming down a little bit recently, in 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:00.359 large part because the value of cryptocurrency has plummeted in 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:05.680 recent weeks. Obviously, if it costs more money to run 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:11.240 mining operations, then you get out of successfully mining cryptocurrency. 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.359 You stop doing it, right, because otherwise you're operating at 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:17.520 a net loss. You want to make profits. So if 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.679 it costs you more to do the thing, then you 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.639 get out of the thing, you stop doing it. That 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:25.760 also means we don't quite see the same rush to 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.200 snap up all available GPUs. Now, don't get me wrong, 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.719 there is still a rush, it's just not quite as 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.360 vicious as it used to be, and I suspect we'll 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:38.520 see GPU availability and pricing improve, assuming there's not a 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:43.320 huge surge in the crypto market specifically with Ethereum. Also, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:45.879 we have to remember Ethereum is currently running its proof 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:50.840 of steak blockchain in parallel with its proof of work blockchain, 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.080 and proof of steak is not going to require all 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.679 that computational effort to verify transactions the way that proof 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.639 of work a pro which is do so once Ethereum 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.199 actually transitions to proof of steak, because right now the 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.280 actual transactions are still happening on proof of work blockchain. 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:13.760 But once things merge and Ethereum has transitioned over to 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:17.000 proof of steak, the demand for all those GPUs will 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.359 drop again. I mean, other cryptocurrencies will still use proof 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:26.160 of work, but they typically are valued much lower than Ethereum, 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.239 which in turn is valued much lower than bitcoing. So 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.280 it could mean that you know, the people who end 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:35.680 up seeking out and acquiring those cards end up being 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:38.479 you know, gamers who want to run their PCs so 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:41.359 that they can be able to to run the latest 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:45.520 titles at the highest settings. Wouldn't that be nice? Earlier 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.160 this year, I did an episode about the company San Sui, 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:53.159 once famous for producing high end audio equipment, and that 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:56.160 company is now really no more than a brand name, 0:20:56.760 --> 0:20:59.639 something that's happened to a lot of companies over the years. 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:02.240 And we have another company that we can kind of 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.760 add to that list, and this one is on Kyo, 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:08.840 oh in k y O. Unlike san Sui, on Kyo's 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.760 target market was more in the mid range for audio 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.520 equipment and video equipment. The company produced a v equipment 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.280 that was a little more modest than the brands that 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:23.159 were targeting, you know, the the wealthy audio file crowd. 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.800 But on Kyo hit on hard times. It got delisted 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:30.080 from the Stock Exchange last year, and now the company, 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:35.920 which was originally founded way back in has gone bankrupt. However, 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:42.040 last year, Sharp and the American Premium Audio Company formed 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:47.000 a partnership and purchased the Onkyo Home Entertainment division. So 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:50.879 while on Kyo, the company that created that division is 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:55.200 no more, the assets, the brand, the technology, and all 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:58.919 the stuff that the company actually made now belongs to 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:02.200 other companies that are actually in a much better position. 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:05.640 So essentially it means we should still expect to see 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:08.840 on Kyo products on the market. It's just that the 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:12.480 company that started it all is no more. I might 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:14.480 have to do a full episode about this in the future. 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:17.480 In fact, leave me a talk back message on the 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.040 I Heart radio app if you agree. If you don't 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:22.240 know what that is. On the I Heart Radio app, 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.200 you will see a little microphone icon on the tech 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:28.200 stuff page, either on the page itself or on the 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.000 actual entry for this episode, and if you tap that, 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:34.000 you can leave a voice message up to thirty seconds 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:37.159 long and let me know what you think. All right, 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:39.680 We've got some more stories to get through before we 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:51.360 wrap up this episode, but first let's take another quick break. Well, 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:54.480 the power grid in the United States state of Texas 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:58.320 is back in the news again. So last year, during 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:02.359 a particularly harsh into storm, thousands of people in the 0:23:02.400 --> 0:23:05.880 state of Texas experienced power outages and it really put 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:11.080 a spotlight on that state's unique situation. See. Unlike most 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:12.920 of the other states in the US, which have power 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:16.000 grids that interconnect with one another, Texas decided to go 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:19.320 in house with its power grid. And you might wonder 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:24.679 why well, Being interconnected means being partly dependent upon and 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:28.119 partly accountable to other parties, and gosh dang it, that 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:31.960 just ain't a Texan thing to do. More seriously, being 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:34.960 part of the interconnected system would bring texas As power 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.840 grid within the jurisdiction of federal regulations, and that darn 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:42.240 sure anna Texan thing to do. The state has always 0:23:42.240 --> 0:23:46.200 been fiercely independent, even when it meant that citizens were 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:49.320 bound to suffer as a consequence. There's also a lot 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.720 of allegations that the various politicians who have maintained a 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:57.280 status quo have done so at considerable personal benefit, meaning 0:23:57.600 --> 0:24:00.760 there's a lot of alleged greasing of politic coal wheels 0:24:00.840 --> 0:24:04.120 going on here if you believe the accusations. But let's 0:24:04.119 --> 0:24:08.320 talk about the impact on the average person. Back in 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:13.639 around folks lost their lives because they didn't have power 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:18.520 during this incredible winter storm, and now the Texas power 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:21.840 grid is struggling with electricity demands as the state experiences 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:25.880 high temperatures, not an unusual thing in Texas. Uh. It's 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:29.000 pretty hard to live in Texas without air conditioning, or 0:24:29.040 --> 0:24:31.800 at least without a lot of fans. And it's definitely 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:34.479 dangerous to do it. So a lot of folks are 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:37.480 running their air conditioning when the weather gets hot, and 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:41.240 it's already really hot. Some parts of the state hit 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:45.000 a hundred five degrees fahrenheit or forty point six degrees 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:50.560 celsius yesterday. But this over taxes the state's power grid, 0:24:50.680 --> 0:24:53.720 which is incapable of tapping into the rest of the 0:24:53.840 --> 0:24:56.760 United States as systems which would allow it to help 0:24:56.840 --> 0:25:00.200 shoulder the load. It can't do that because it's an 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:04.199 independent little island, and as a result, power stations have 0:25:04.320 --> 0:25:07.600 had outages recently, and the state has urged citizens to 0:25:08.000 --> 0:25:11.439 limit their power usage, asking people to set their thermostats 0:25:11.480 --> 0:25:14.160 to seventy eight degrees fahrenheit and for those of y'all 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:17.000 who use the more civilized celsius, that's about twenty five 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.600 point six degrees celsius. They also have been asked not 0:25:20.640 --> 0:25:23.399