1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and good golly, so 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: much has happened this past year. Uh. This is the 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: third episode in our retrospective look at the big text 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: stories of twenty one, some of which obviously go beyond 8 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: just technology, but tech played an important role. I promise 9 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: not all of the stuff that happened one was bad. 10 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: It's just I mean, obviously, news headlines tend to gravitate 11 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: toward that. It all gets back to what drives clicks, right, 12 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: and the good stories get a lot of share on 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: social networks, but not so much on like news sites. 14 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: But um, we do have some more bad stuff that 15 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: we do have to go through in this episode. So, 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: for example, was a banner year from malicious hackers. Back 17 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: in twenty the general public first learned about the Solar 18 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: Winds hack. That's the one where hackers were able to 19 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: compromise a software vendor and insertain malicious code into an 20 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: update on one of that vendor's products, and then the 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: vendor pushed out the update which included the malicious code 22 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: to its customers. Those customers included US governmental agencies as 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: well some notable Fortune five companies that supply. Chain hack 24 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: was a preview for bad stuff to follow in. One 25 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: really big trend in one was ransomware attacks, And just 26 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: in case you're not familiar with that term, the general 27 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: idea is that the hackers get access to a target 28 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: system in some way. Maybe they infiltrate the system technologically, 29 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: maybe they use social engineering to fool someone into handing 30 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: over access, maybe it's a combination. Anyway, once they gain access, 31 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: they locked down the targeted system. Typically they do something 32 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: like they use an encryption scheme that bricks the system 33 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: so it's all encrypted. The system's owners can no longer 34 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: longer access their systems or their data, not without unencrypting 35 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:27,359 Speaker 1: it or decrypting it. And if the encryption is good, 36 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: it could mean that trying to find a solution outside 37 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: of just the official decrypt key could take centuries unless, 38 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: well unless the victim ponies up the cash to the hackers, who, 39 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: upon payment, promised to decrypt the system. We usually hear 40 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 1: about these demands being made in the form of cryptocurrency 41 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: because that stuff is harder to pin down, though not impossible. 42 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: There are actually a few ransomware stories from the past 43 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: year that end with an agency like the FBI seizing 44 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: money from the hacker is even when it was in 45 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: crypto formats. And as I always say, paying the ransom 46 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: is a bad idea for several reasons. One, it sends 47 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: the message to the hackers that hey, this works. Then 48 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: we see more groups engage in that same activity. Also, 49 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: a lot of this is coming out of hacker groups 50 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: that are states sponsored or state sanctioned. That means the 51 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: hackers are receiving support from or at the very least 52 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: are being ignored by the governments of the countries they 53 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: are based in. We mostly hear about hacker groups out 54 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: of Russia and China, um sometimes North Korea, and there 55 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: are others as well. Of course, Also, there's no guarantee 56 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: that the hackers will actually decrypt your stuff, right. You 57 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: could end up paying them and then they just run 58 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: off with the money. So there are a lot of 59 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: reasons why it's not a good idea to pay the ransoms. 60 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: The ransomware attacks this year included ones on Colonial pipeline, 61 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: which is responsible for the transportation of an enormous amount 62 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: of fuel for the East coast of the United States, 63 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: and that attack meant that for short all we saw 64 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: gas prices go up, and we saw a lot of 65 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: folks engage in a little good old hoarding, and that 66 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: was a big story over in my area. In fact, 67 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: where gas stations had no gas, they were out and 68 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: people were just rushing around like maniacs filling up garbage 69 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: cans full of gasoline, which I don't think I need 70 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: to tell you is a bad idea at any time. Anyway, 71 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 1: that happened. Colonial Pipeline paid a ransom worth around four 72 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: million dollars, but law enforcement was able to get some 73 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: of that money back. Another big ransomware attack hit a 74 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: company called jbs U s USA that as a meat 75 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: processing company that located in Brazil. I think this was 76 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: a huge hit in the meat supply chain and it 77 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: caused issues all along from the farmers who raised raised livestock. 78 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: Some of those farmers actually had to reclaim livestock that 79 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: had been sent to the processing facilities, so they had 80 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: a little stay of execution, I guess, and it went 81 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: all the way to the end customers. The Russian hacker 82 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,840 Speaker 1: group Revel was busy this year. For one thing, they 83 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: were able to take note of the Solar Winds attack 84 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: and they pulled off a similar stunt with a company 85 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: called Kassa, which counts thousands of companies and organizations among 86 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: its customer sports Virtual System administrator product. The REvil group 87 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: was able to compromise that product and push out an 88 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: update that contained malware, allowing them to lock down systems 89 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: with encryption, holding them for ransom. One person allegedly connected 90 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: to that attack has since been arrested and is awaiting 91 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 1: extradition to the United States. On a similar note, a 92 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: Chinese hacking group called Hafnium targeted vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Exchange 93 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: Server product, which affected email systems and thousands of organizations. 94 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: Microsoft issued a fixed pretty quickly, but whether organizations actually 95 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: did the work to install that fixed, that's another matter. 96 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: And any way, at that point they were dealing with 97 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: hackers snooping on emails. And then there was the n 98 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: s O group. This company, based in Israel produces hacking 99 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: tools that it markets to customers like governments, including authoritarian 100 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: and autocratic governments. In fact, mostly those kinds. The hacking 101 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,919 Speaker 1: tools are meant to allow the person using them to 102 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: compromise specific target devices and then use those devices like 103 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: surveillance tools. The story that got the most attention was 104 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: an exploit called Pegasus that could turn an iPhone into 105 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: a spy on behalf of the hacker. So the hacker 106 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: could send a message through I message and it would 107 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: include the the the malware string, and because of how 108 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: Apple processes I messages at the time, the target device 109 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: would be compromised. All you had to do is have 110 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: the person's phone number and have the Pegasus software installed, 111 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: and you could send one of these malicious messages and 112 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: it would infect the target phone. The hacker could then 113 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: look at information on the target phone, or even use 114 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: that phone's camera and microphone to spy on the device's owner. 115 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: N s O Group uh They marketed this as a 116 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: way to keep tabs on folks like terrorists, but experts 117 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: pointed out that customers were using it on all sorts 118 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: of people, including activists, politicians, journalists. I believe one leader 119 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: used it on his wife allegedly. Moreover, NSO Group could 120 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: only sell this product to customers that the Israeli government 121 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: approved of, and it began to look like this was 122 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: a really nasty case of money, politics, and authoritary and 123 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: tendencies getting really cozy with one another. For its part, 124 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: the ns A group has denied claims that its tool 125 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: has been sold far and wide to parties that would 126 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: abuse it, but organizations like Amnesty Internationals say otherwise. One 127 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: other big hackings story, though this didn't involve ransomware or 128 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: political surveillance, involved the live streaming service Twitch, known primarily 129 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: for video game streamers. In October, Twitch publicly acknowledged that 130 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: hackers had breached the service and copied a ton of data, 131 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 1: like around a d twenty eight gigabytes of information. Of course, 132 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: this came after someone had released that information, so at 133 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: that point, you know, we all knew it had happened, 134 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: and then Twitch said, oh, yeah, no, that happened. The 135 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: data included the source code for Twitch, but it also 136 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: included information about how much money streamers were making from 137 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: the service. This meant that the public could find out 138 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: who on Twitch was really pulling in the big bucks. 139 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:45,559 Speaker 1: But by big bucks, I don't mean the crazy estimates 140 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: you occasionally see bandied about online. I mean it's a lot, 141 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: but not millions of dollars a month, and only the 142 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: top top earners are seeing revenue over the million dollar mark. 143 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: And to be clear, uh, the information we were looking 144 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: at was accumulated earnings between August two thousand nineteen and 145 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,839 Speaker 1: September two thousand twenty one. So that's two years worth 146 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: of of earnings. Still a lot of money, it's just 147 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: not you know, the ludicrous amounts you would sometimes see 148 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: listed online. Okay, let's talk about Tesla, because y'all, Tesla's 149 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: a company that has a great track record for tacking 150 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: me off. Now, it's not that I don't like the 151 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: idea of electric vehicles, because I'm all for them, and 152 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: I like Tesla's aesthetics. I think the style is kind 153 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: of cool apart from that weird truck thing. And they 154 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: also want to see autonomous vehicles realize their potential. But 155 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: Tesla takes steps in the space that I frequently find 156 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: incredibly irresponsible. Now this is not a new thing. I 157 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: have complained many times about how the company named its 158 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: early driver assist features autopilot, because Okay, the word autopilot 159 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: suggests a technology that can completely take over for a person. 160 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: I mean, that's the common interpretation, right, you might still 161 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: have a person there in order to look over stuff, 162 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: but the main tasks all fall to a machine, presumably 163 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: one that is more than capable of handling those tasks. 164 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: But Tesla wanted to have it both ways. They wanted 165 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: to call the features autopilot, but they also had to 166 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,120 Speaker 1: tell drivers, Oh yeah, but you toads need to keep 167 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: your hands on the wheel and be absolutely prepared to 168 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: take over because this is not an autonomous mode, it's 169 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: a driver assist feature. Now, I would argue that the 170 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: company was selling one concept and then saying, oh no, no, 171 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: that's not what we meant. You misunderstood. Well this year 172 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: we saw that continue with the rollout of the full 173 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: self driving feature. All right, full self driving. That sounds 174 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: pretty darn cut and dried, right like. It seems like 175 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: it would be hard to misinterpret the phrase full self driving, 176 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: except that Tesla again says this isn't autonomous driving. Well, Tesla, 177 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: stop naming things that mean other things. Anyway, The rollout 178 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: of one f s D update really made headlines in July, 179 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: so Tesla pushed out this update to FSD version nine 180 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 1: beta software to a selection of Tesla owners. Now these 181 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: were owners who had passed a safety score driving test. 182 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 1: Though there were other news stories that said that that 183 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: test was pretty easy to fool in order to get 184 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,719 Speaker 1: a score high enough to be considered for this program, 185 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: and then the update ended up causing us some pretty 186 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: massive problems. So drivers found out that their cars were 187 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: erroneously detecting an oncoming crash, like a front end crash, 188 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: and so they would slam on the brakes. The cars 189 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 1: would just automatically. This would happen even if the Tesla 190 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: was behind, you know, the next vehicle, and the next 191 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: vehicle was like, you know, like like several hundred yards ahead, 192 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: or even in cases where there was no other vehicle 193 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,440 Speaker 1: on the road at all. Sometimes the the Tesla would 194 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:13,319 Speaker 1: just uh detect something that wasn't there and break very hard. Now, 195 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: obviously a car breaking suddenly is itself a safety hazard, 196 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: as anyone behind the car might not be able to 197 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: react in time to avoid rear ending the vehicle that's 198 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: that's doing the breaking, and if there's no reason for 199 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,199 Speaker 1: the car to break in the first place, that increases 200 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: the odds of an accident. Well, some drivers went so 201 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: far as to say that the update made their Tesla's 202 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,559 Speaker 1: completely undrivable, that they couldn't get down a street without 203 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: their cars, you know, applying the brakes multiple times. Elon 204 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: Musk would later tweet that the company had rolled back 205 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,360 Speaker 1: the software update, and Tesla would issue an actual recall, 206 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:52,280 Speaker 1: which was a process required due to safety regulations in 207 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: the United States. A little later on. Musk also, by 208 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: the way, really downplayed this whole thing. It was kind 209 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: of like, you know, software, sometimes stuff happens that we 210 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: didn't anticipate. That's just the way it works, and we'll 211 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: just roll it back. Um. And it's that attitude, combined 212 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: with rolling out features that potentially could end up harming people, 213 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: that infuriates me. Another big story that happened last year 214 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: was that a Tesla Megapac battery in Australia caught fire. Now, 215 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: the Mega Pac isn't a battery that fits into a 216 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: car or a house. This is meant to store electricity 217 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: as part of a renewable energy utility plant. So let's 218 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: say you've got a giant solar farm you're generating electricity, 219 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,199 Speaker 1: Well you've got to do something without electricity, and m 220 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: if you're generating more electricity than there is demand, well 221 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the electricity is just going to go 222 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,559 Speaker 1: to waste unless you store it. That's what the mega 223 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:54,319 Speaker 1: PAC is for. It's it's you know about energy storage strategy. Apparently, 224 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: in this case, there was a coolant leak in the system, 225 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: which allowed things to overheat and even caused a megapac 226 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: to catch fire. The fire was so intense that it 227 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: took firefighters four days to extinguish it. Once out, regulators 228 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: began to talk about possible changes to megapact facilities to 229 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: allow for better monitoring and more easy access for first 230 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: responders in the event of a fire. Oh and, as 231 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: we've seen with several other companies recently, former Tesla employees 232 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: alleged that the work environment at the company is toxic 233 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: as all heck. Jessica Barazza, who worked at a Tesla factory, 234 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: filed a lawsuit against the company along with several other coworkers, 235 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: claiming that she was harassed and worse while working for 236 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: the company and that the human resources department failed to 237 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: do anything about it. And a man named O N. 238 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: Diaz sued his former employer, being Tesla, saying he had 239 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: been subjected to racist abuse while at work. San Francisco 240 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: court found Indias his favor and ordered a one hundred 241 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,080 Speaker 1: thirty seven million dollar five going to be paid to DAS. Now, 242 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: normally this sort of thing wouldn't have made it to 243 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: the court system so quickly. But Daz did not sign 244 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: one of the mandatory arbitration agreements that Tesla regularly includes 245 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: in the employee contracts, and we talked about those earlier 246 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: this week. It's a pretty low tactic that companies use 247 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: in an effort to prevent employees from seeking legal recourse 248 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: to internal issues. Okay, that was a lot. How about 249 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: we take a quick break. Okay, we're back. Let's talk 250 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: about space because there were a lot of space news 251 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: stories this year. Of course, we need to talk about 252 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: billionaires and their obsession with getting into space. The three 253 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: billionaires in question are Richard Branson had a Virgin Galactic, 254 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: Jeff Bezos, the founder and former seat EEO of Amazon 255 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: and the founder of the space company Blue Origin, and 256 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX. Of those three, two 257 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: have kind of sort of been to space. First up 258 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: in mid July was Richard Branson, whose Virgin Galactic uses 259 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: a mother ship approach to getting up into space. So 260 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: you've got your really big airplane and strapped to your 261 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: really big airplane is a smaller rocket plane, and once 262 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: the really big airplane is at the right altitude, the 263 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: rocket plane can detach ignited's engines and continue up to 264 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: the peak of its suborbital flight. And the word suborbital 265 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,960 Speaker 1: is why I said, kind of sort of been to space. 266 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: Branson's flight took him and the crew up to an 267 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: altitude of about fifty three miles above the Earth. Bezos, however, 268 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: said that means Branson didn't actually go into space. He 269 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: said that he sided with the Federation Aeronautique Internacinal, which 270 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: uses the Carmen Law line as the border for space. 271 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 1: That's one kilometers above the Earth, which is around sixty 272 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: two miles. So uh, Branson, according to Bezos, didn't go 273 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: to space. He just got, you know, kind of close 274 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 1: to it. So then Bezos gets on a spaceship shaped 275 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,439 Speaker 1: like a well you probably you probably know what folks 276 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: say Bezos is spaceship was shaped like I won't repeat 277 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: it here, but I'm thinking it pretty hard. Anyway. The ship, 278 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: called the New Shepherd, blasted off just over a week 279 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 1: after Branson's flight, and Basis went up to around the 280 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: carbon line. He got up to around sixty three miles 281 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: above the Earth, and that means he actually did go 282 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: to space, which means he is an astronaut. Nanni Nanni 283 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,360 Speaker 1: boo boo to you, Branson. But then the Federal Aviation 284 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: Administration or f a A. That agency says the beginning 285 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: of space is really more like eighty one miles in altitude, 286 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: So aquit the f a A. Bezos didn't go to 287 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: space either. The f a A calls the that area 288 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: of the beginning of space because that's the altitude where 289 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: you can enter into an orbit around Earth and remain 290 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: there at least for a short while before being pulled 291 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: back down to Earth. What Bezos did was more like 292 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: one of those carnival rides where you sit in a 293 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: seat that's attached to a tower at the base, and 294 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: then it slings you up to the top of the 295 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: tower really fast, and then you come down really fast. 296 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: That's what they said Bezos was doing. Essentially. By the way, 297 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or in o a A, Noah, 298 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: they get even more strict about space. They define the 299 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: beginning of space at six hundred miles above the Earth, 300 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: because that's where you would actually escape the Earth's atmosphere. Now, 301 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: even one miles up there is a tiny bit of atmosphere, 302 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: and that's far too thin to breathe or do anything 303 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 1: like that, but there are particles of Earth's atmosphere at 304 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: that altitude. However, if we accepted Noah's definition that space 305 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: only begins six miles above the Earth, that would mean 306 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: that the International Space Station isn't actually in space because 307 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: it's at an altitude of two twenty seven miles above 308 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: the Earth. So I guess it all just depends upon 309 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: which definition you want to follow. Now, there's been some 310 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 1: fallout from these launches, and for lots of different reasons. 311 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 1: One big one is just the extravagance of it all. 312 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: For years, one of the many selling points of private 313 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: space industry has been the promise of space tourism. And 314 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: sure enough, you could actually buy a ticket to go 315 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: up on a Blue Origin ship William Shatner, you know, 316 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: Captain Kirk did that, But this would set you back 317 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: several million dollars. So space tourism has become another way 318 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: to illustrate the vast divide between the wealthy and really 319 00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 1: the ultra wealthy and you know the rest of us, 320 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: I mean some of you listening might be able to 321 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: shell out millions of dollars and fly to space, but 322 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: I sure as heck can't. This also played into something 323 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: I touched on in an earlier episode this week, the 324 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: growing animosity towards the uber wealthy and the heads of 325 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: various corporations. There have been folks asking why billionaires are 326 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: spending money to go on a joy ride up to 327 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,399 Speaker 1: the edge of space rather than to address real world 328 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: problems here on Earth. Though I should point out that 329 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: solving problems requires a lot more than just throwing money 330 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: at the problems. It's not as simple as that, but 331 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: I get their frustration. On top of that, there's the 332 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: issue of the carbon footprint of these trips. Now, this 333 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: is a subject that needs some context because a lot 334 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: of media misrepresented this issue or maybe just misunderstood it. 335 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: So a lot of this comes from people who are 336 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: trying to boil down what a report called the World 337 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: Inequality Report had to say about the carbon released into 338 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: the environment as a result from space launches. Essentially, it 339 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: says a flight to space like the one Bezos took 340 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: would amount to at least seventy tons of carbon released 341 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: per passenger. Now that doesn't mean the spacecraft was spewing 342 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: out carbon dioxide. It was actually using hydrogen as a fuel, 343 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,360 Speaker 1: which doesn't produce C O two. It does produce nitrogen 344 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: oxides and water vapor, and water vapor can be pretty 345 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: dangerous at higher altitudes too. I mean, it's it is 346 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: a greenhouse gas as well, but the production of the 347 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,400 Speaker 1: fuel itself, it can be a very carbon intensive process. 348 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: So while burning the fuel doesn't necessarily generate a lot 349 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: of carbon dioxide, generating the fuel in the first place can. 350 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: So you have to take a really big picture look 351 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: at this stuff. You're not just saying, oh it was 352 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: you know, how much fuel did you use to get 353 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: from point A to point B. It's taking the full 354 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: chain into account. So one thing we could say is 355 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,679 Speaker 1: that the amount of car have been generated in order 356 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: to send one person to space is at least seventy 357 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 1: five tons per person. Now, the other bit of that 358 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: report they got misinterpreted says that if you look at 359 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 1: people who are on the lowest end of the financial spectrum, 360 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: so there are a billion people who are in this category, well, 361 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: one person from that group will generate less than one 362 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: ton of carbon per year. So one trip to space 363 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: can produce more carbon than a person from this billion 364 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: or so folks who fall into the lowest financial spectrum 365 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: could potentially produce in their entire lifetime. Now that got 366 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: twisted into the claim that bezos is flight into space 367 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,959 Speaker 1: generated more carbon emissions than one billion people could produce 368 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,880 Speaker 1: in an entire lifetime. That is a misrepresentation or a misunderstanding. 369 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: Uh no, it did not. Bezos Is trip produce more 370 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: carbon emissions than one person from the lowest financial spectrum 371 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 1: will produce in their lifetime. That's still not good, mind you, 372 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: but it's not as dramatic as the misinterpretations made it sound. 373 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: And again, the World Inequality Report, the whole purpose of 374 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: that is to show the disparity between what the the 375 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:23,880 Speaker 1: wealthy or even just well off folks are doing compared 376 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 1: to the most impoverished people's. So when it comes to 377 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: carbon emissions, as no surprise, the wealthier the person is, 378 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: the more carbon they typically are producing through their activities, 379 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: because poor people aren't hopping onto jets to fly to 380 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: Milan over a weekend or anything like that. As for Branson, 381 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: the f a A launched an investigation into his flight 382 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,439 Speaker 1: to space because the rocket powered plane, he was in 383 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: veered off course when returning to you know, come back 384 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: to a landing strip. The f a A grounded Virgin 385 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: glad Dick and said it would not be allowed to 386 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,919 Speaker 1: conduct space flights until the f a A had completed 387 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: an investigation into the incident. The f a A said 388 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 1: it had to determine that the issue could potentially impact 389 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: public safety. They ruled that while the spacecraft deviated from 390 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: its course, and furthermore that Virgin Galactic failed to alert 391 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: the f a A of that deviation. The company had 392 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: subsequently made changes to its policies to make sure nothing 393 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,439 Speaker 1: like that happens again, that it communicates properly with the 394 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: f a A, and also made some other changes and 395 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: tweaks so to improve their processes. Also, it was noted 396 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:42,879 Speaker 1: that the pilots performed exactly how they were supposed to 397 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: in that kind of situation, and the f a A 398 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: subsequently lifted the flight restrictions on the company by the 399 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: end of September. One really neat thing that happened was 400 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: that NASA flew a helicopter on Mars for the first time. 401 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: The Ingenuity Aircraft, a helicopter style a ton must drone 402 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 1: hitched a ride with the rovert Perseverance. Ingenuity's mission was 403 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: kind of a bonus to the Perseverance mission. The goal 404 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: was to see if the little copter that could would 405 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: attain flight in Mars's atmosphere, which is much more thin 406 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: than Earth's atmosphere. Ingenuity weighs less than five pounds on Earth. Anyway, 407 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: we would actually have to remember that Mars's gravity is 408 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: about one third of what we have here on Earth, 409 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 1: and because of the distance between Mars and Earth, communication 410 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: takes several minutes to travel from one planet to the other. 411 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: That means the chopper would have to fly autonomously because 412 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: there'd be no way to control it in real time 413 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: using a human operator here on Earth. The lag would 414 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: just be way too long. The copter could have crashed 415 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,880 Speaker 1: before we would even get a picture of it. NASA 416 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: initially had a modest plan to get the chopper flying 417 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: for about ninety seconds and attain an altitude of perhaps 418 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: as much as fIF teen or sixteen feet before it 419 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 1: would come back down and touch down again. And the 420 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: hope was that Ingenuity, if it could manage it, would 421 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 1: do this up to five times. Flash forward today, and 422 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,800 Speaker 1: that little Sucker has taken eighteen flights so far. The 423 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: first flight was on April nineteenth, and the most recent 424 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: was on December fift at least the most recent as 425 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: of the recording of this episode. The Ingenuity does not 426 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: carry sophisticated scientific equipment because honestly, we had to be 427 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,239 Speaker 1: sure we could actually get the ding dang durn thing 428 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: to fly in the first place. It wouldn't have made 429 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 1: sense to load it down with scientific instruments only to 430 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: find out that we couldn't attain lift off. But now 431 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: the Ingenuity has proven that flight is possible, at least 432 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,400 Speaker 1: on a limited scale at Mars. We should see scientists 433 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: send future aircraft to the Red planet and outfit those 434 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: aircraft with more robust instrumentation. It's pretty nifty. Another thing 435 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: that happened was that over the summer, a Ussian spacecraft 436 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: attached to the International Space Station had an oopsie that 437 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 1: sent the entire I S S into a somersault. The 438 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 1: module was the Naka, which docked with the I S 439 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: S and then a few hours later mysteriously fired its thrusters. 440 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: The entire station rotated one and a half times a 441 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: full five forty degrees, coming to a stop upside down, 442 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: which I mean doesn't mean much when you're on board 443 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: the space station because up and down are really subjective. Anyway, 444 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: NASA had a heck of a time dealing with this 445 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: because the I S S was out of range of 446 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: the Russian ground control and wouldn't be back within range 447 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,479 Speaker 1: for another hour. And of course the Russians were the 448 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: only ones who could actually send a remote command to 449 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: the KNAKA to stop firing thrusters, So NASA used other 450 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: modules to counteract naka's error and bring things back under control. 451 00:27:55,200 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: Then there's NASA's double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. Alright, 452 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 1: so we know that sometimes stuff what's out in space 453 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: ends up heading Earth, right like that has happened before, 454 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,880 Speaker 1: and it could lead to extinction level events, which has 455 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: also happened before. And so scientists have dedicated time and 456 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:21,000 Speaker 1: resources to identify near Earth objects and determine the likelihood 457 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: that one of them might you know, decide to come 458 00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: in for a little visit. And more work has gone 459 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: into figuring out ways to divert any such objects so 460 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: that you know, it doesn't hit the Earth. That's where 461 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: DART comes in. This is an experiment to see if 462 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: we can use a spacecraft to nudge an asteroid out 463 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: of its normal path. NASA shows an asteroid that's actually 464 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: an orbit around another asteroid, and neither of these bad 465 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: babies have any plans to visit Earth soon, so this 466 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: is really just to see if this would actually work. 467 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: They've shot up a spacecraft into space that will journey 468 00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: out to those asteroids and hit the smaller one to 469 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: see it can change the smaller asteroids path. The mission 470 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: launched on November twenty four, but it will not get 471 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: to the asteroids until late next year, so we'll find 472 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: out next year whether or not this works. The James 473 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,640 Speaker 1: Webb Space Telescope, after numerous setbacks and delays, finally launched 474 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: into space on Christmas Day one. The telescope traces its 475 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:26,320 Speaker 1: origins back to when it was originally proposed as the 476 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: next generation space telescope, and twenty five years later it's 477 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: finally in space. It will still take about a month 478 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: for the telescope to make its way to its final destination, 479 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,800 Speaker 1: which is an orbital point behind the Moon, and that 480 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: will allow the telescope to operate without having light from 481 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: the Sun mess everything up. The telescope has an array 482 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: of massive, highly polished mirrors that will collect light and 483 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: direct it to the telescope's sensors. The sensitivity of the 484 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: telescope should allow astronomers and unprecedented and look at celestial bodies, 485 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: and it will play into scientific projects ranging from studying 486 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: the origins of the stars to looking for exoplanets that 487 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: could potentially support life. Now, because the telescope is going 488 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: to be so far out there, there's no way, at 489 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: least not currently, that we could send a team of 490 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,959 Speaker 1: astronauts out there should the telescope need repairs. NASA hopes 491 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: to develop process to refuel the telescope by sending robotic 492 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: spacecraft to do it, but that's a bit further off 493 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: in the future. I should also mention that there was 494 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: a move to push NASA to rename the telescope. It's 495 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: named after James E. Webb, who served as the second 496 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: administrator of NASA. Now, the controversy stems from the fact 497 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 1: that Webb's career coincided with an era in the United 498 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: States referred to as the Lavender Scare. This was a 499 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: nasty period in American history where there was a moral 500 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,880 Speaker 1: panic centered around homosexuality and various agents these departments and 501 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 1: divisions within the US government began to fire anyone who 502 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: was thought to be gay or lesbian. So the protests 503 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: were essentially saying that Webb presided during that time when 504 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 1: the US government was persecuting homosexuals. NASA later said there 505 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: was no evidence that Webb himself participated in the that 506 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: and so the name has stuck. On November fifteenth of 507 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,520 Speaker 1: this year, Russia blew up a satellite and that created 508 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 1: a big mess, both in space and here on Earth. 509 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: This was part of a missile test, you know, the 510 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: kind of most frequently meant to show everyone else in 511 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:38,959 Speaker 1: the world what a big, dangerous country you are. In 512 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,719 Speaker 1: this case, it was about showing off the capability of 513 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: taking down a satellite in orbit by launching a missile 514 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,960 Speaker 1: at it from Earth. The explosion created a lot of debris, 515 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: which became a potential threat to the astronauts aboard the 516 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: International Space Station. They were told to suit up and 517 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: make their way to the ships that were docked at 518 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: the station, just in case they might to perform an 519 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: emergency evacuation in the event of a collision with the debris. Fortunately, 520 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: no such collision happened, but the space junk created from 521 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: that explosion is likely to remain a threat for years 522 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: to come and adds to the already concerning issue of 523 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: stuff flying around at insane speeds in low Earth orbit. 524 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: Several countries, including the United States, condemned Russia for the 525 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: test and for putting people in space projects in jeopardy. 526 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:32,720 Speaker 1: All right, talked about space for a long time. Let's 527 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:43,120 Speaker 1: take another quick break before we wrap this up. One 528 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: movement that gained momentum this past year is the right 529 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:49,360 Speaker 1: to repair crusade. I've talked about this a lot over 530 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: the last year, but in case you've missed out, the 531 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,960 Speaker 1: whole movement is about pushing companies to allow users to 532 00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: repair the products that they purchase. It has become a 533 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: pretty common practice in tech to use proprietary connectors, industrial 534 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: strength glue, and lockdown repair ecosystems that discourages or prevents 535 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: people from actually repairing their own stuff, or to take 536 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: their stuff to a repair shop of their own choosing instead. 537 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 1: You either end up with some gear that's you know, 538 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: impossible to repair, so you have to throw it out 539 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: and get a new one, which just adds to the 540 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 1: problem of e waste, or you are funneled into a 541 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: company owned or company licensed repair system and you have 542 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: no options. The Right to Repair movement seeks out a 543 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: change in that approach, with companies providing access to tools 544 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: and parts that are needed to repair their products so 545 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: that a technically inclined person could reasonably take on repairs themselves. 546 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 1: It might mean companies sell tool kits with specialized tools 547 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: for those connectors I was talking about, or to stop 548 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: using industrial glue to hold stuff together, because sometimes just 549 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: opening up a device can be pretty dark, tricky, and 550 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 1: you might end up causing more damage in the process 551 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: of process of opening it than it had already you know, 552 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: suffered from whatever the initial problem was. There are several 553 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: companies that have been pretty infamous for creating this kind 554 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,280 Speaker 1: of closed off system. Apple was one. They have recently 555 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:22,839 Speaker 1: started to make changes to this, but Apple has been 556 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: known to use a few different approaches, including those connectors 557 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: I was talking about, or really restrictive warranties, and all 558 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: of this is to push people into paying for stuff 559 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: like Apple Care and only going through groups like the 560 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:39,480 Speaker 1: Apple Genius Bar to seek out help when something goes wrong. 561 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,360 Speaker 1: But this is also a practice that John Dear, a 562 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:47,920 Speaker 1: company known primarily for its farming equipment, has adopted. Farmers 563 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,280 Speaker 1: want the ability to make repairs on their own equipment, 564 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: or the very least have the option to use a 565 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: mechanic of their own choosing rather than a mechanic that 566 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,480 Speaker 1: has you know, paid to have an official license from 567 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: John Year, since that might mean that you have to 568 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:04,600 Speaker 1: go well out of your way to get anything done. 569 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: I mean, if you are if you are a farmer 570 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,520 Speaker 1: of a large area and you are not anywhere close 571 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: to a John Dear licensed repair operation, you kind of 572 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:20,800 Speaker 1: you kind of stuck. Now, the right to repair movement 573 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,680 Speaker 1: has won a few victories around the world, notably in 574 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: Europe and then a couple of states, but here in 575 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: the US that records a little more spotty. There haven't 576 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: hasn't been you know, uh victories all down the line. 577 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:41,480 Speaker 1: Some state governments have voted against right to repair legislation 578 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:46,319 Speaker 1: after some pretty intense lobbying from you know, big stakeholders 579 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:53,120 Speaker 1: like John Deere got involved. So it's still an ongoing thing. Now, 580 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:56,200 Speaker 1: let's look forward for a second before we wrap up. 581 00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 1: I am personally curious to see what comes out of 582 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: a pretty slimmed down c e s in early January. 583 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,960 Speaker 1: In case you are not familiar with c e S, 584 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: it's an enormous trade show centered around tech in general 585 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: and electronics in particular, though in recent years it has 586 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:16,960 Speaker 1: kind of migrated away from what it used to be. 587 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,319 Speaker 1: It was the Consumer Electronics Show. Now it's just called 588 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: c e S because a lot of companies that come 589 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:28,239 Speaker 1: to showcase products are more software and app based and 590 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: not so much electronics BACE, so the trade show has 591 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:38,280 Speaker 1: tried to adapt with the times. Normally, thousands of companies 592 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:42,720 Speaker 1: take over Convention Center Space and Las Vegas, Nevada, showing 593 00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:46,520 Speaker 1: off their latest or upcoming products to tens of thousands 594 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 1: of attendees. But as the amcron variant of COVID is 595 00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: spreading like wildfire, several big name companies have chosen to 596 00:36:55,200 --> 00:37:02,560 Speaker 1: bow out of appearing in person. Those companies include Microsoft, Amazon, GM, Google, 597 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,680 Speaker 1: T Mobile, Lenovo, which typically has a pretty big, uh 598 00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: you know, presence at CEES, Meta Slash, Facebook, Twitter, and 599 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,920 Speaker 1: of course I Heart Radio. They have all reversed course 600 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: on going to c S in According to the Consumer 601 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:26,319 Speaker 1: Technology Association that's the group that organizes c e S, 602 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: forty two exhibitors have canceled at least as I record 603 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: this episode. Now, that is just a tiny drop in 604 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,720 Speaker 1: the bucket. And the organizers still intend to hold the event, 605 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: citing that they will require proof of vaccination and that 606 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 1: all attendees will have to wear a mask, plus they 607 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:48,279 Speaker 1: will have rapid tests available on site. Now, y'all, I 608 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:53,240 Speaker 1: know anecdotal evidence ain't really worth anything, as folks around 609 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:57,720 Speaker 1: me would say, but I know personally at least five 610 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:01,799 Speaker 1: people who have caught breakthrough aces of COVID even after 611 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:05,560 Speaker 1: they got vaccinated, even after they got a booster in 612 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: a couple of cases. So the vaccine is not a 613 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 1: bulletproof vest. It reduces your chance of catching COVID, and 614 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,880 Speaker 1: it also can mean that if you do catch COVID, 615 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,360 Speaker 1: your symptoms might not be as bad as they would 616 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,959 Speaker 1: be otherwise. But vaccinations and boosters they're not a full 617 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,160 Speaker 1: proof solution. They are a very important part of fighting 618 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: against COVID, but they don't make you immune. So for 619 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: anyone heading out to c e S or any other 620 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:39,120 Speaker 1: big in person event over the next few weeks, be 621 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:43,680 Speaker 1: extra careful. Get yourself a supply of in nine masks. 622 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: Those are more important to use than say cloth masks 623 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,320 Speaker 1: make sure you wash your hands a lot, practice social 624 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: distancing wherever you can, and be careful. Then you know, 625 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 1: get tested too, because it's good to know both before 626 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:03,319 Speaker 1: and after the fact that you're clear. Uh. And some 627 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: of these rules, like you know, washing your hands and 628 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,880 Speaker 1: social distancing, those are just playing good rules to follow 629 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:11,440 Speaker 1: at c E S even if there isn't a pandemic 630 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: going on. Because you cut folks from all over the 631 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:19,360 Speaker 1: place all in the same indoor space, handling technology and stuff, 632 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: you can get pretty gross to just be careful. This 633 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,160 Speaker 1: is why, by the way, when I go to C 634 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: E S, I never test the VR or a R 635 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,440 Speaker 1: stuff while I'm there, because y'all, I don't know how 636 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,799 Speaker 1: many heads that stuff has been on, and I know 637 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:39,719 Speaker 1: that companies disinfect or clean between times, but you just 638 00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:41,839 Speaker 1: need to have that one person who's been working at 639 00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,200 Speaker 1: c S for three days and they're just totally burnt 640 00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:46,560 Speaker 1: out and checked out, and they're not even paying attention, 641 00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: and they're just kind of dabbing slightly at the VR 642 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: headset with a with a sanitary wipe of some sort, 643 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:59,080 Speaker 1: and you're like, no, you know what, I can I 644 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: can skip this one anyway. C E S is supposed 645 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,640 Speaker 1: to be a hybrid event this year, so some elements 646 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,440 Speaker 1: of it will be presented virtually online rather than you know, 647 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:12,879 Speaker 1: in person on the showcase floor. So I will try 648 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:17,799 Speaker 1: to check out some of that stuff when it happens. Okay, 649 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,920 Speaker 1: those were some of the really big text stories of 650 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, and we just scratched the surface. There 651 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,839 Speaker 1: were tons of others, but these were big ones that 652 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: I think not only made headlines but also in many 653 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:36,080 Speaker 1: cases are indicators of things that are going to continue 654 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,919 Speaker 1: into the next year. I think we're going to see 655 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:45,640 Speaker 1: a continuation of employees organizing and unionizing and pushing back 656 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,719 Speaker 1: against companies. We're going to see more companies trying to 657 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:55,279 Speaker 1: create a uh AN office strategy to get people back 658 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,320 Speaker 1: in the office in a way that doesn't reflect poorly 659 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:02,880 Speaker 1: on the company, promotes productivity and ingenuity, and is safe. 660 00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,800 Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see a lot more stuff about space, 661 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:11,040 Speaker 1: which is exciting, but m yeah, I think this is 662 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:15,240 Speaker 1: like an indicator of what two is gonna be. I 663 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 1: used to do episodes where I would do a prediction 664 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,000 Speaker 1: about stuff that was going to happen in the next year. 665 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,920 Speaker 1: I have not decided if I'm gonna do that if 666 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,400 Speaker 1: I am, I'm I'm gonna be working on that later today. 667 00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,800 Speaker 1: So we will see, because I kind of got away 668 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: from it just because it got a little overwhelming. But 669 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,480 Speaker 1: I might dip my toe and say some stuff that 670 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:42,279 Speaker 1: I think might be important next year. Kind Of hard 671 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 1: for me to to do that because I feel like 672 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 1: a lot of the stuff we've covered in these past 673 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:52,560 Speaker 1: three episodes pretty much are you know, a window into 674 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,000 Speaker 1: what is going to be like. I hope you are 675 00:41:56,080 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: all well and safe and happy and healthy and all 676 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: that stuff. Be careful out there. I wish you all 677 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,239 Speaker 1: a happy new year. We will continue to have new 678 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: episodes of Tech Stuff as often as I can make them. 679 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,120 Speaker 1: And yeah, if you have any suggestions for topics I 680 00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:17,799 Speaker 1: should cover in future episodes of Tech Stuff, please reach 681 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,919 Speaker 1: out to me and let me know. The best way 682 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,040 Speaker 1: to do that is through Twitter. The handle for the 683 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:27,719 Speaker 1: show is tech Stuff h s W. Also, for those 684 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: who are still listening, there's might be two of you. Uh, 685 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:33,759 Speaker 1: don't forget that. There are some other shows that have 686 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,239 Speaker 1: yours truly on them if you want to check them out. 687 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,879 Speaker 1: Occasionally I show up on the show Ridiculous History as 688 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:43,600 Speaker 1: a character called the Quister. It's just as cringe worthy 689 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:46,320 Speaker 1: as it sounds. In fact more so, I would argue. 690 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,960 Speaker 1: I also appeared on this past season's Thirteen Days of Halloween. 691 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,279 Speaker 1: If you have not checked out that show, it's a 692 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:59,680 Speaker 1: binaural uh, spooky story anthology show. Highly recommend you check 693 00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:02,160 Speaker 1: that out. There's some really good episodes, and then there's mine. 694 00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:06,000 Speaker 1: My episode is really good. I just I feel uncomfortable 695 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,560 Speaker 1: tuting my own horn. I was really impressed with how 696 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: I came out though. Uh. And also my show Large 697 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,799 Speaker 1: Nerd Drawn Collider with my friend Ariel. Actually really it's 698 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:17,680 Speaker 1: aerial show and I'm on it. But it's a show 699 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: where we talk about geek pop culture news and then 700 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:26,200 Speaker 1: we do crazy mash ups of unrelated stuff and say, 701 00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:28,520 Speaker 1: what would it be like if you know, I don't know, 702 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:32,040 Speaker 1: he man was mashed up with my little Pony. That's 703 00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:33,799 Speaker 1: the kind of stuff we talk about on that show. 704 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:37,120 Speaker 1: So you should check that out too. That's it, and 705 00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:45,480 Speaker 1: I will talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff 706 00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 707 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 708 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.