1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. It's time for the 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: tech news for Thursday, January five, two thousand twin D three, 6 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: and let's start off with some of the stuff that's 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: been revealed at c S, the Consumer Electronics Show, which 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: is currently underway in Las Vegas, Nevada. To cover everything 9 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: would actually take hours of coverage, and trust me, if 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: you're curious about it, you can actually find tons of 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: outlets giving exhaustive reporting from the show. But we can 12 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: chat about a few of the interesting announcements so far. 13 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: And I do this knowing that a ton of stuff 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: is going to be announced today as well, So really 15 00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: it'll be next week when we can take a look 16 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: back and say, what were the most interesting things that 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: actually might be a full episode of tech Stuff, because 18 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: chances are there will be more than what we would 19 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: want to put into just a news episode, So let's 20 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: get to it. Last night, Sony held it's c e 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: S press conference, and I've been to a couple of these, 22 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 1: the Sony events sometimes they can be a little weird, 23 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: like there was the time I was there and Seth 24 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: Rogan came out to halfheartedly talk up the company as 25 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: part of this promotional tour for green Hornet. It did 26 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: not look like he wanted to be there, and by 27 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: the end none of us wanted to be there either. 28 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: That was awkward. But this one this year was a 29 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: little more straightforward. The company for once did not promote 30 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: its lineup of television's TVs just weren't part of this 31 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: press event. Instead, there was a large focus on PlayStation 32 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: VR gaming in general, and also a partnership with Honda. 33 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: So here are a few different things that we learned 34 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: in the course of this event. Sony executive Jim Ryan 35 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: said that gamers should be able to get a PlayStation 36 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: five without nearly as much of a hassle as they 37 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: did since it launched in twenty indicating that the days 38 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: of shortages are mostly at an end and that is 39 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: really nice. If you have been trying to get a 40 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: PS five, it sounds like either now or in the 41 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: near future, that will be easy enough to do if 42 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: you've got, you know, the cash for it. Of course, 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: now we're in a period of economic uncertainty, and you 44 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: might want to hold onto that cash in case you 45 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: need it for something else, but that's another matter. Anyway. 46 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: This should also inspire game developers to start making true 47 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: next generation titles rather than games that span two different 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: generations of consoles, because as it stands right now, a 49 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: lot of the titles that have come out have been 50 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: PS four slash PS five titles, and in order to 51 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: do that, it means you're kind of pulling your punches right. 52 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: You're not swinging as hard as you could for the 53 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: PS five type stuff. You're not taking full advantage of 54 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,839 Speaker 1: the PS five skip abilities typically. Well, now that might 55 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: start to change as the console has become more available 56 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: and more people buy them and you have a larger 57 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 1: user base. Considering that the PS five is a couple 58 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: of years old now, it was a pretty slow start 59 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: for the console. Not entirely Sony's fault. There were a 60 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: lot of mitigating factors like semiconductor shortages and such, and 61 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: a pandemic, so not I can't really blame the company, 62 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: but it has been a frustrating couple of years. If 63 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: you are a gamer and have consistently found shortages in 64 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: the various you know vendors where you would buy a 65 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: new console. Sony also announced Project Leonardo. This is a 66 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: new controller for the PS five that the company designed 67 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: with accessibility in mind. So it is a highly customizable 68 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: controller so that players who might have limited mobility or 69 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 1: dexterity can tune this controller so that they can participate 70 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: more easily in gaming. They can do things like map 71 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: buttons with each other and all sorts of stuff that 72 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: really can streamline the use of the controller for people 73 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: who have these these issues, and I think that's super cool. 74 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: We've been seeing a rise in attention to accessibility over 75 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: the last couple of years in gaming, and it's it's 76 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: really great to see because the industry had largely paid 77 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: very little attention to such things in the past, Like 78 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: you might have a mode for people who have color blindness, 79 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: but beyond that, there were a lot of games that 80 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: just didn't have many, if any accessibility features, and we're 81 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: starting to see that change. That's great and good job 82 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: Sony for doing this. Also, the video that they showed 83 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: off with various gamers talking about how accessibility is important 84 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: to them personally as a gamer, is really sweet. It's 85 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: worth watching. The other cool announcement that Sony had was 86 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: the unveiling of the FILA, which is a new brand 87 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: of electric cars. It's spelled A F E E l A. 88 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: This is the partnership between Sony and Honda. So the 89 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: company showed off a prototype and announced that the plan 90 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: is to have production cars ready for the United States 91 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: by twenty six. Sony said the three main themes for 92 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:18,040 Speaker 1: this vehicle brand our autonomy, augmentation, and affinity. So I 93 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: guess it's a triple A vehicle, which you know, Sony 94 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: triple A studio. There you go. It sounds like these 95 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: vehicles while have features that are on you know, lockdown 96 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: unless owners opt into subscription services. That's been a pretty 97 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: contentious practice recently. It's a little frustrating to purchase a 98 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: vehicle that's technically capable of doing certain things, but you 99 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: aren't able to actually tap into those features unless you 100 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: first pay a monthly fee on top of everything else. 101 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: That has not gone over well recently, but it looks 102 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: like more and more car companies are are at least 103 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: experimenting with that that business model. It sounds like the 104 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: car will be absolute at least stacked with various sensors 105 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: and other tech meant for driver assist or autonomous driving features. 106 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: And also it will have, as you would expect a 107 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: lot of entertainment features coming from Sony. Considering how autonomous 108 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: driving has started to hit the steep part of the 109 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: evolution curve towards full realization, it will be interesting to 110 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: see how advanced their autonomous features will be by the 111 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: time it comes to market, and you know whether or 112 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,239 Speaker 1: not it will be builled as more of a driver 113 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: assist feature or truly driverless vehicle technology, and you know, 114 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: how are they going to market that to customers, because 115 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: we've seen with Tesla that if you don't haven't truly 116 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: nailed it down, you can run into some legal problems 117 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: down the line. In other ce S news, alien Ware 118 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: announced it has a new five hundred Hurts desktop gaming 119 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: monitor coming out. This will make Dell Slash alien where 120 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: the first company to offer such a thing for actual purchase. Now, 121 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: there have been prototypes of five Hurts monitors from companies 122 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: like a sous in the past, but they weren't ready 123 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: for the consumer market. Now. In case you're not familiar 124 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: with refresh rates, that refers to the number of times 125 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: per second the display you're watching will refresh the image 126 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: that's on the screen. Five hurts means that the screen 127 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: is doing that five hundred times per second, which is 128 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: a lot. Now, granted, this monitor is just one part 129 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: of the equation needed to provide that experience. You also 130 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: need a graphics processing unit or GPU that can deliver 131 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: that signal to the monitor properly. You also need games 132 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: that are compatible with it, so if you have any 133 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: one component falling short on this, you don't get that 134 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: super fast refresh rate. Really, when we start talking about 135 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: specs at this level, I think the only people who 136 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: really need to be focused on it are the elite 137 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: of the elite, like gamers who are at the top 138 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: of their industry. They would probably want something like this 139 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: where every micro second of advantage matters. For other people 140 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: like shlubs like myself, it would be a total waste 141 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: of money for me to get this kind of monitor. 142 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: I would not be able to take advantage of whatever 143 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: the monitor was able to do for me, except maybe 144 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: I would actually recognize that I was totally dead meat 145 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: even earlier in a deathmatch. Anyway, Alien Wears monitor will 146 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: show up a little later this quarter, and as of yet, 147 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: Dell has not announced any price attached to it. Phillips 148 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: Hugh is giving you lightbulb owners a chance to synchronize 149 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: their lights with their entertainment, assuming that the lightbulb owners 150 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: also own a Samsung television from twenty two or later. 151 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: So to do so, the Hugh slash Samsung TV owner 152 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: will have to purchase a Samsung TV app for the 153 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: cool price the princely sum having used that phrase in 154 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,559 Speaker 1: a long time of one dollars. Then they will be 155 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: able to sink their lights to their television and the 156 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: next time they watch an explodee bang bang, shoot him 157 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: up kind of movie, the lights can time with like 158 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: muzzle flashes and explosions and mood lighting. Now, to me, 159 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: this sounds interesting as a concept, but I have a 160 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: feeling that if I actually used this kind of feature 161 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: I would quickly get very tired of it in practice. 162 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: But you have to keep in mind I am also 163 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: old and I am grouchy. Plus it's hard for me 164 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: to justify spending a hundred thirty bucks to make my 165 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: lights flash with my television. But for certain home theater enthusiasts, 166 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: I'm sure this will be a super cool compliment to 167 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: their setup. It's not for me, but you know, other 168 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: people might absolutely love this feature. At c E S A. 169 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: M D held a keynote event and Panos pan A 170 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: of Microsoft appeared as part of that event, and he 171 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: declared that artificial intelligence will be a major component in 172 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: future Windows builds and that it will quote reinvent everything 173 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: on Windows quite literally end quote. What that actually means 174 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: in practice is more of a mystery. He did indicate 175 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: that AI might help with certain tasks to make them 176 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: more energy efficient, so they would consume less battery power, 177 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: like being able to keep a camera in focus effectively. Uh, 178 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: might end up being more power efficient. And yeah, that's 179 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,839 Speaker 1: not super sexy or anything like that, but it is 180 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 1: a very practical application of the technology, and I think 181 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. I realized that, you know, it's not like, oh, 182 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: this is gonna help you get better at call of 183 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: duty or something like that, or it's going to give 184 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: you more of an augmented approach when you are composing 185 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: emails or writing reports or anything like that. Oh, that 186 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: would be neat too, But even this kind of stuff 187 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: where it's just managing things in the background so that 188 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: you get the most out of your battery power you're 189 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:00,360 Speaker 1: also consuming less energy overall. I think that's really a 190 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: great idea. Fans of Night Rider might be interested in 191 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: a prototype from BMW called the I Vision D. That's 192 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: d e E, which according to BMW stands for Digital 193 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: Emotional Experience. This concept car is an electric vehicle that 194 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: has a voice activated digital assistant, So when you talk 195 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: to your car, this one can talk back to you. 196 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: So that way, if you say something like come on, baby, 197 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: you can do it while you're trying to accelerate up 198 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: to highway speed. As you see a semi truck getting 199 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: very large in your rear view mirror, it can say, well, jeez, 200 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: I'll help you, are right, Probably not in that voice. Apparently, 201 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: the grill on the front of the car has lights 202 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,360 Speaker 1: that change in color and can even form different quote 203 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: unquote expressions, which is I guess where the emotional stuff 204 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: comes from from that emotional experience name. Anyway, this is 205 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: a concept car that means we're likely only going to 206 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: see elements of the design potentially make it into future 207 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: production vehicles, but we won't see this actual car become, 208 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: you know, like a street vehicle. And finally, in our 209 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: c E S News, Luminar a company that makes lidar hardware, 210 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: has purchased a lidar data company called Civil Maps. So 211 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: this was announced at a ce S press event. So 212 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: the long term plan is for Luminar to leverage the 213 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: data from Civil Maps as the company works to advance 214 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,959 Speaker 1: autonomous vehicle technology. So lightar is kind of like radar, 215 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: except obviously uses lasers instead of radio waves to send 216 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: signals out and then it kind of listens for the echoes. 217 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: Those echos can tell a lightar system the distance to 218 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: an obstacle, as well as information like how quickly the 219 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: object may be moving toward or away from you, how 220 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: big it is, that kind of thing. So the idea 221 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: is that Luminar is is getting access to a ton 222 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: of information that can help the company build out products 223 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: that further advance the goal of autonomous vehicle technology. Famously, 224 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: Tesla had dismissed lidar as a technology and and moved 225 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: more toward optical cameras instead of lighter But where it 226 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: is that Tesla has been internally testing lighter systems even 227 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: though publicly they had kind of poo pooed the whole technology. 228 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: So interesting there. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. 229 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: When we come back, we'll have some other tech news. 230 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: All right, we're back and we're moving away from c 231 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,719 Speaker 1: e S. We've got a few stories we need to 232 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: talk about. First up, New York City's Education Department has 233 00:13:43,679 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: issued a ban on chat GPT. That's the AI powered 234 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: chat bot that I've been talking about a lot recently. 235 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: Yesterday's episode was partly about chat GPT, and this chat 236 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: bought generates responses to queries in real time, and it 237 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: creates them, you know, at the time of the query. 238 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:06,959 Speaker 1: It's not like they have a whole bunch of responses 239 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: to stuff and just serves it up. It actually makes 240 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: the response in time of your question. And the responses 241 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: are frequently very compelling and authoritative in style. So they're 242 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: presented in such a way where it feels like you're 243 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: getting a reliable source of information, right like if you 244 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: were to open up an encyclopedia, you would get something similar. 245 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: This has been causing some concern in the education field. 246 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: Teachers have been worried about students using the tool to 247 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: generate stuff like essays, which means that students would be 248 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: plagiarizing chat GPT and cheating on their homework. Or their exams. 249 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: To that end, the New York City Education Department will 250 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: ban the use of chat GPT on Education Department networks 251 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: and devices, so you won't be able to access it 252 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: on school networks, and any school issue device will block it. 253 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: Schools that want to access chat GPT for the purposes 254 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: of teaching AI classes like saying, Hey, here's an example 255 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: of an AI powered chat bot. We're gonna learn how 256 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: it works. Um, what's limitations are that kind of thing? 257 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: They will be able to do that if they first 258 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: request special permission from the Education Department. Honestly, based on 259 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 1: how chat GPT has limited ability to provide good answers. Uh, 260 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: The answers it gives appear good like appears like authoritative 261 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,640 Speaker 1: on the surface, but frequently the answers themselves are somewhat lacking. 262 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: The real worry is that students are just going to 263 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: cheat themselves out of an education, and in the process 264 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: they'll get bad grades because the stuff they hand in 265 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: won't be very good. So it's kind of a lose 266 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: lose situation for students who depend on chat GPT for help. 267 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: But chat GPT is not the only tech boogeyman out there. 268 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: There's also TikTok, which continues to be the target of criticism, 269 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: particularly in the United States among authorities, and recently, Anton Deborah, 270 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: a cybersecurity expert, gave an interview with Futurity about the app, 271 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: and Deborah said that TikTok could amount to a threat 272 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: on national security, which echoes things we've heard out of 273 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: the f c C and out of other government agencies 274 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:26,520 Speaker 1: and and UH and representatives. So Deborah argues that TikTok 275 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: has the capacity to gather information on individuals in the 276 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: US on a grand scale. And you might think, well, yeah, 277 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: but if I have TikTok, I mean, what the heck 278 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: does the Chinese government want with my personal information? Like 279 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:43,440 Speaker 1: who am I to them? There'll be no reason for 280 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: them to do that. So really I'm not concerned about 281 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: it because why would I be a target? Especially like 282 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: you look at TikTok and you see things like like 283 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: various trends, some of which are somewhat dangerous. You see 284 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: you know, people say ng or lip syncing, you see 285 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: people dancing, you see people doing live hacks or like 286 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: recipes that kind of stuff. You think about, what's the 287 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: harm here? What use is this? But the Borrow points 288 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: out that the kind of data that TikTok could be 289 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: gathering might be used as a first step. That the 290 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,199 Speaker 1: next step could be that TikTok starts to look for 291 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 1: people who might say work in companies or offices of interest, 292 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: Like what if someone happens to work as a defense contractor, 293 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: or they work in a company that's important for US infrastructure, 294 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:38,120 Speaker 1: or they work in a government office that kind of thing. 295 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: This could then be used as sort of a launching 296 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: ground for a deeper dive into that person's information. So 297 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: TikTok might not be the front door into a wealth 298 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: of protected data that the Chinese government could then exploit, 299 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: but it might be the first indication that this is 300 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: a person we should look at more closely, because if 301 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: we can compromise them, we get access to stuff we want. 302 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: So it could serve as a very large net to 303 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: catch tons of stuff. That stuff could then be put 304 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: through a sieve to filter out and everything that's irrelevant 305 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: and then just really allow the Chinese government to focus 306 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: in almost like a spear fishing attack. And while you 307 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: might not have any direct connection with something that the 308 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,959 Speaker 1: Chinese government is actively interested in, there's a chance someone 309 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: in your life could and that you could then be 310 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: the connective tissue that allows for this exploitation to begin. 311 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: That's what Deborah is saying, and I can see his point. 312 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: I it's hard to disagree with that from you know, 313 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,439 Speaker 1: the perspective. Is this possible, Yes, it is possible. We 314 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,920 Speaker 1: actually don't know for sure that by Dance is doing 315 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: anything like this with TikTok data by Dance being a 316 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: Chinese company, but it is possible. And we do know 317 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: that the company has engaged in some spying on journalists 318 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: and the like in the past in a report that 319 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: definitely didn't do TikTok any favors. So whether this is 320 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: like a clear and present danger kind of situation, I 321 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 1: can't say, but it's definitely something we have to at 322 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 1: least be wary of. Meta is also having a pretty 323 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: rough twenty three already. Yesterday, regulators in the European Union 324 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: issued a four hundred fourteen million dollar fine on Meta 325 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: for forcing users to accept personalized targeted ads whether they 326 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: wanted to opt in or not. That's a big old 327 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: deal in the EU, where the g d p R 328 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,959 Speaker 1: laws protect citizen data. So generally speaking, the g d 329 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: P R is meant to give EU citizens the power 330 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 1: of when, where and how they shared their personal information 331 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: with companies. That seems like a pretty darn reasonable thing 332 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: to me. I mean, because this is information that belongs 333 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 1: to and pertains to a person, So should that not 334 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: be the default domain of that person and not some corporation? 335 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: Like it's it's like this stuff belongs to you. Some 336 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: corporation can't just come and take it. They have to 337 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: be able to negotiate with you about whether or not 338 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: you allow them to use the information. That's the g 339 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: d p R kind of domain. Well, the regulators say 340 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: that Meta was collecting and exploiting EU citizen data for 341 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: the purposes of targeted advertising, and the users essentially had 342 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,680 Speaker 1: no option but to allow it or else they couldn't 343 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: use meta platforms at all. That Meta's terms of service 344 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: essentially said, hey, it's my way or the highway. If 345 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: you want to use meta platforms, then that means you are, 346 00:20:54,080 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: by default, uh, acknowledging and and allowing this kind of 347 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 1: data collection and exploitation. The EU is saying that's not 348 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: good enough. If you want to operate here, you have 349 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: to change. There's essentially saying you've got to come up 350 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: with an alternative where people can still use your platform 351 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 1: but opt out of any sort of targeted advertising or 352 00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: else you are not going to be allowed to operate 353 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: within the EU. And now Meta has three months to 354 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,640 Speaker 1: come up with a plan on how the company will 355 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: comply with this EU ruling. This is a pretty big 356 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,360 Speaker 1: blow to Meta. You know, you gotta keep in mind 357 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: Meta relies on advertising revenue for the bulk of the 358 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: money that the company makes, and of course Meta has 359 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: already seen some hits to its revenue due to Apple's 360 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,920 Speaker 1: policy changes that let iOS users opt out of certain 361 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 1: types of tracking. Uh, it'll be interesting to see how 362 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: this will affect Meta. Investor confidence in the company has 363 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: had some really rough earnings calls where investors have been 364 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: frustrated that the company's revenues are are in a shaky's ground. Essentially, 365 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: they haven't exactly plummeted, but they have taken ahead. And meanwhile, 366 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: the company has been, you know, famously spending billions of 367 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: dollars trying to develop the metaverse, which is still something 368 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: that a lot of skeptics, including myself, have questioned whether 369 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: or not that's really ever going to be a major 370 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: thing I certainly don't believe it's going to be the 371 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: future of the Internet or of online connectivity. But again, 372 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,680 Speaker 1: I could just be very shortsighted. Uh. So well, I 373 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyway, bad start there. Okay, 374 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,439 Speaker 1: We've got a few more news stories that I want 375 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: to cover before we wrap up. But before we do that, 376 00:22:53,119 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: let's take another quick break. Okay. Uh, these next couple 377 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: of stories are pretty big bummers because it's about people 378 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: losing their jobs. Last year, we saw a lot of 379 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:18,959 Speaker 1: tech companies make some pretty tough decisions to reduce headcount. 380 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: Uh and that has continued into three So now Amazon 381 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 1: corporate employees received some pretty bad news. The company now 382 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: plays to lay off more than eighteen thousand corporate workers. 383 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: So previously the reports were that Amazon was looking to 384 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:40,400 Speaker 1: cut around ten thousand jobs. Now it's eighteen thousand. That's 385 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,119 Speaker 1: a pretty big jump. Now that cut represents only five 386 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: percent of Amazon's corporate workforce. That alone is pretty astonishing. 387 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,919 Speaker 1: You know, you sit there and think, oh wow, eighteen thousand, 388 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: and that's just five When you look at company wide numbers, 389 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: it really gets mind blowing, at least for me, because 390 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 1: Amazon employe is around one and a half million people 391 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: across all its divisions. Because you've got to keep in 392 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: mind the corporate workforce doesn't include stuff like warehouse personnel, 393 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: right or delivery drivers. Previously, Amazon had focused cutbacks in 394 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,400 Speaker 1: divisions that were not particularly profitable. That included some hardware 395 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 1: divisions within Amazon itself. We heard that the and I 396 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: apologize for using the name, actually I won't use the 397 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: name Amazon's voice activated assistant product, you know, the name 398 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: That division was massively cut back earlier, or at least 399 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: that's what we heard, because the company had been struggling 400 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: to find a way to make that division a revenue 401 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 1: generator and it just wasn't getting there. So another big 402 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,719 Speaker 1: part of the problem, and this is common through a 403 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 1: lot of companies, including the one we're going to talk 404 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: about next, is that Amazon hired a ton of employees 405 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: in the early days of the pandemic because online shopping 406 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: went bananas. You know, no one could go anywhere, so 407 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: everyone was jumping online for everything. We saw this time 408 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: and time again in so many different areas within online connectivity, 409 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: whether it was in gaming or shopping or other types 410 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: of services, and as a result, companies like Amazon had 411 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: to hire tons of people in order to meet the 412 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: demand that customers were putting on the company. However, now 413 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: a lot of people have backed off of online shopping 414 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: that it's not nearly as big a thing now because 415 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: you've seen a lot of restrictions lifted around the world, 416 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: so people are going back into actual physical stores again 417 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: as opposed to ordering everything online. So now the company 418 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,919 Speaker 1: has more people than it really needs in order to 419 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: meet customer demand, and so they're going to start laying 420 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: off thousands more employees. Reportedly. Employees who will be affected 421 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: by this will receive information about the layoffs later the month. 422 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously they're aware it's going to happen, but 423 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: you know, they'll find out by the end of January 424 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: whether or not they are one of the folks affected 425 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: by the layoffs. So I just want to wish everyone 426 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: good luck that one. If you're working for the corporate 427 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: Amazon offices, I hope you're not affected by this, at 428 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: least not directly. And if you are, I hope you 429 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: are landing on your feet as quickly as is possible, 430 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: because I've been in that situation and it stinks. So 431 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: here's hoping. Meanwhile, sales force a software as a service company, 432 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: you know, like this cloud based software company also plans 433 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: to reduce its workforce. It's going to be reducing it 434 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: by ten percent. It will also have to close some offices. 435 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,359 Speaker 1: So like Amazon, Salesforce went on a hiring spree in 436 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: the early days of the pandemic because companies were scrambling 437 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,719 Speaker 1: to find various tools that will allow them to pivot 438 00:26:57,760 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: to remote work strategies. Like if you remember March of 439 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: you just had tons of companies that were really in 440 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: a rush to figure out how to make it possible 441 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: to continue business as usual when people could no longer 442 00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 1: come into an office, and companies like Salesforce that offer 443 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: this software as a service product, well, they were doing 444 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: business like gangbusters because everybody was in need of those 445 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,199 Speaker 1: sorts of solutions. However, now again that we've kind of 446 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: passed through the lockdown phase of the pandemic, assuming we 447 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: don't have another terrible outbreak, which is a dangerous assumption 448 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: to make. But you know, now that we're through that, 449 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: companies have adopted new strategies. Some have really adopted remote 450 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: work and they've developed their own tools or they've adopted 451 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,160 Speaker 1: tools that allow for that and they're good or in 452 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: some cases they're compelling employees to return to the office. 453 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: Hello Twitter. So sales for Force has found itself overstaffed 454 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: because they just don't have the business to support the 455 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,720 Speaker 1: number of people they have. Now on top of that, 456 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: Salesforce has really seen a reduced demand and its services overall, 457 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: and it's another example of the tough environment we're seeing 458 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,119 Speaker 1: in the wake of the pandemic, as well as the 459 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,160 Speaker 1: ongoing economic uncertainty that's also playing a huge part. Right 460 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: You have companies that are very budget conscious right now 461 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: because there are all these worries that the economic situation 462 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 1: is going to affect consumer spending. That you have businesses 463 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: that are tightening the belt in anticipation of that, and 464 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: part of that tends to be, hey, what can we 465 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: afford to get rid of? And software as a service 466 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: can sometimes fall into that category. If it's not a 467 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: critical component of a business, then they might just do 468 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: without for at least the foreseeable future. So that is 469 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: also affecting Salesforce. And finally, late last month, The Guardian, 470 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 1: a UK based news organization, found itself the victim of 471 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: a ransomware attack. The attack has essentially shut down the 472 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: Guardians office in London. So the office's WiFi is inaccessible, 473 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: it's been locked down and according to reports, you can't 474 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: even get the cash registers to work in the building's 475 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: cafeteria at this point. So The Guardian has subsequently shut 476 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: down its offices to all but essential staff at least 477 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:33,960 Speaker 1: until January, and it attempts to regain access to its systems. 478 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: As you can imagine, the attack has severely impacted the 479 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: ability of The Guardian to stay on top of publishing news. 480 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: It sounds like it took a herculean effort on the 481 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: part of staff to get the print version of the 482 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: newspaper out to vendors on time in the days following 483 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: the attack, Like they pretty much almost literally stopped the presses. 484 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: But I don't even want to manag gen the kind 485 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: of hoops people had to jump through in order to 486 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: get that to work. It isn't a phenomenal display of dedication. 487 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 1: The company has also had to scramble to find alternatives 488 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: that will allow it to cover stuff like payroll. You know, 489 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: these are the sort of things that you don't necessarily 490 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: think about immediately when you hear about stuff like ransomware. 491 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: You might think of proprietary information or really important files. 492 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,959 Speaker 1: But that can also include, you know, systems that are 493 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: highly automated, stuff like payroll, and when that's affected and 494 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: people aren't getting paid, that's a huge impact. Right anyway, 495 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: Ransomware attacks can be absolutely brutal, and there is often 496 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: a strong incentive to give into the demands and pay 497 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: the ransom. But security experts say that's always a bad 498 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: idea because when you pay a ransom, you prove that 499 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: ransomware tactics are an effective way to make money, which 500 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: means you're encouraging future attacks. It's only by denying those 501 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: ransoms and finding a way through the problem or around 502 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: the problem in order to continue on where the attackers 503 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:05,600 Speaker 1: have less and less incentive to go through the trouble 504 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: of launching an attack, because if they're not getting anything 505 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: out of it, they're wasting their time. So that's why 506 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: paying the ransom is always a bad idea. All right, 507 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: that's it. That's the news I have for you today. 508 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: There's a lot more out there that I'm sure we'll cover, 509 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: but a lot of it is developing news. So I 510 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: didn't want to record something that would already be out 511 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: of date by the time you listen to it. But 512 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,240 Speaker 1: next week I'm sure we will be catching up on 513 00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: some other stuff in the meantime. If you have suggestions 514 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: for me, there are a couple of ways you can 515 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: let me know. One is to download the I Heart 516 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: Radio app. It's free to download. It's free to use. 517 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: You can navigate over to tech Stuff using a little 518 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: handy dandy search engine inside the app. This type tech 519 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: stuff in there. It will take you there, and there 520 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: you will find a little microphone icon. If you click 521 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: on that, you can leave me a voice message up 522 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: to thirty seconds in length. And I love hearing from you, 523 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: so feel free to do that. If you would prefer 524 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: to send any suggestions or requests or anything like that 525 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: in writing, the best way to do that is over 526 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: on Twitter. The handle we use for the show is 527 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,479 Speaker 1: tech Stuff H s W and I'll talk to you 528 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: again really soon. Yeah. Text Stuff is an I Heart 529 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 530 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 531 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.