1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And this is the 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: tech news for Thursday, June twenty one. We've got a 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: short one for you today. I'm heading into my birthday 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: weekend and I'm celebrating by unplugging. But let's get to 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,480 Speaker 1: some news. Top of the news today is that yesterday 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: we learned from authorities in Spain that John McAfee, who 10 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: founded the McAfee anti virus company, was found dead in 11 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: his jail cell. There is a lot for us to 12 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: unpack here, because there are elements to McAfee's life story 13 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: that sound like they could have come from some over 14 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: the top film about excess and handle. McAfee founded the 15 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: company back in the late nineteen eighties to market anti 16 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: virus software, but he actually resigned his position in nine 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: sold off his stake in the company. So McAfee Anti 18 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: Virus hasn't had anything to do with John McAfee for 19 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: nearly thirty years now, and in fact, McAfee would go 20 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: on to kind of slag off on McAfee anti virus, 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: calling it unnecessary, recommending people not install it, arguing that 22 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: it had bloatwear in it. He even said at some 23 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: point that he had never bothered to install anti virus 24 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: software on his own computers, that rather he would just 25 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: keep his devices UH disconnected from his own identity, he 26 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: would not link them to him, and that he wouldn't 27 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: go to sites that would typically host malware anyway. He 28 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: went on to found or work for several other companies. 29 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: He accumulated a pretty sizeable amount of wealth, but lost 30 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: a great deal of that during the global financial crisis 31 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: around two thousand eight. He lived in Belize for quite 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: a while, where authorities once rated his home on suspicion 33 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: that he was connected to unlicensed drug production. That was 34 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: a whole story, and he was also accused of having 35 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: hired a hit man to torture and kill one of 36 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: his neighbors in Belize. That was stemming from a long 37 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: kind of feud between the two UH. The neighbors certainly 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: was murdered, and there were questions about whether or not 39 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: McAfee was involved, either directly or, as is the case 40 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: with the hitman allegation, indirectly McAfee fled Belize in the 41 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: aftermath of that, and after refusing to show up in 42 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: court for charges connected to that neighbor's murder, the court 43 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: ordered him to pay twenty five million dollars to the 44 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: neighbors next of ken, which was a judgment that McAfee 45 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: just dismissed out of hand. But then he had a 46 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: habit of dismissing court judgments out of hand, kind of 47 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: made it part of his His stick is not paying 48 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: the court mandated finds that he got hit with multiple times. 49 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: He toyed with presidential campaigns at least twice, but they 50 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: never really seemed terribly serious to me. It seemed more 51 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: like almost a publicity stunt. Last October, Spanish authorities arrested 52 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: McAfee as he was preparing to travel to Turkey, and 53 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: the charge was that McAfee had been committing tax evasion 54 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: for four years, essentially not filing taxes, which he thought 55 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: of as being illegal. Uh. Turns out that's not how 56 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: the US government sees it, and this week a Spanish 57 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: court ruled that he would be extradited to the United States, 58 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: a ruling that could have been appealed, but he was 59 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,279 Speaker 1: found dead in his jail cell. Not long afterward, authorities 60 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: say that it appears that it was suicide. McAfee himself 61 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: actually sowed the seeds of out about suicide a couple 62 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: of years ago. He claimed he would never do such 63 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: a thing, and he got a tattoo that said whacked on. 64 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: It actually had like a dollar sign in w H 65 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: A C K D. He argued that if he were 66 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: ever found dead by quote unquote suicide, that all his 67 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: true believers could take faith that it was actually murder, 68 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: that he had been killed while in prison, And not 69 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: long after authorities discovered his body, his own Instagram account 70 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: posted an image of a giant Q on it, presumably 71 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: a reference to the Q and NON group. But McAfee 72 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: also has a team of folks who worked with him, 73 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: and some of them were managing his social media profiles. 74 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: That has been a thing that's been going on for 75 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: a while, so it's not like McAfee had some sort 76 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: of dead man switch to to post a picture of Q. 77 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: And while I'm certain there will be no shortage of 78 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: conspiracy theories coming out about McAfee, I do want to 79 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: point out that he was certainly not a reliable narrator. 80 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: By any stretch of the imagination. I'm not saying that 81 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: there aren't questions about his death. There certainly are. There 82 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: are questions, um, whether it was by suicide or some 83 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: other means, there are definitely questions. However, I wouldn't take 84 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: anything McAfee said in the past as something truly reliable. 85 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: In rock Steady, the Spanish court had already ordered him 86 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: to be extradite to the United States, which would give 87 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: the US the chance to prosecute McAfee. So the story 88 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: that was being pushed around is that the US wanted 89 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: McAfee dead. But if the US had just successfully one 90 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: out an agreement to have McAfee extradite to the United States, 91 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: seems like having a murdered wouldn't make a whole lot 92 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: of sense to me. I mean, I'm not like deep 93 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: state Michael Crichton level kind of thing thinking sort of stuff. 94 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: So maybe I'm just missing it. But my advice is, 95 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: don't go spreading conspiracy theories. Use critical thinking. You can 96 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: ask questions. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, but it's 97 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: the leaping two answers that part that is the problem. Um, 98 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: I don't know what happened. I I'm inclined to think 99 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: that this is a case where he committed suicide after 100 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: coming to the realization that he was not going to 101 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: be able to slip out of this like he had 102 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: previous times. But that's just a guess. I don't have 103 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: the information to make, you know, a solid statement on it. 104 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: I do believe that there will probably be a billion 105 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: movies made about this guy in the years to come, 106 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: maybe one with Adam Sandler playing the part. I think that, 107 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: you know, this is sort of an uncut Gems kind 108 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: of opportunity here. In other news, the reddit crowd over 109 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: at Wall Street Bets might be doing a little bit 110 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: of a victory lab this week. Vice reported on Tuesday 111 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,600 Speaker 1: that White Square, a hedge fund that had recommended a 112 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: short cell of game Stop stock, has shut down. All right, 113 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: So if you're like me and financial stuff is a 114 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: bit outside of your wheelhouse, let's go ahead and break 115 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: all this down. And for the record, you know, I 116 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: had to refresh myself on all this kind of stuff 117 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: because this isn't my world. But hedge funds are investment 118 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: bouls in which people, typically really rich people, pour a 119 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: lot of money into the fund in the hopes of 120 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: turning it into a lot more money. So it's one 121 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,239 Speaker 1: of the many ways on how the wealthy get even wealthier. Anyway, 122 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: hedge funds tend to have more risky strategies than other 123 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: types of investment funds. Uh. It tends to be a 124 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: high risk, high reward kind of situation. So when it works, 125 00:07:56,160 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: it's paying off big time. Hedge fund managers have to 126 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: be accredited by the SEC, but in return, hedge funds 127 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: have less oversight and less regulation than other types of funds, 128 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: which gives them the freedom to make these kind of 129 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: risky moves. All right, we got hedge funds. So what's 130 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: a short sell? Well, if you suspect that a company's 131 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: stock price is going to go down, you can do 132 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: something called selling short. And essentially what's happening is you 133 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: don't own any of this company's stock already. Okay, you 134 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: just think, oh, this company X is about to have 135 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: a decline in stock price. Maybe you thought that the 136 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: stock price was overvalued and it's going to be readjusted. 137 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: Maybe you think the company's entering into some choppy waters. 138 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,359 Speaker 1: Whatever the case. So what you do is you borrow 139 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: shares of that company's stock from some other investor. And 140 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: you're essentially saying, I'll give these shares back to you 141 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: at this specific date. So you you're you set a 142 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: date when you have to return the shares to that investor. 143 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: Then you sell these borrowed shares, You wait for the 144 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: price of the stock to go down. Then you buy 145 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: back the shares you borrowed, but at a lower price. 146 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: You return the borrowed shares and you get to keep 147 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: the difference. So, in other words, uh, let's say that 148 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: you borrow some shares and you sell these shares at 149 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: twenty dollars apiece, but you buy them back when they're 150 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: down to five dollars a piece. That means you would 151 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 1: make fifteen dollars per share profit. But if the price 152 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:33,839 Speaker 1: doesn't go down, if the stock price goes up, then 153 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: you're in trouble because you still have to return those 154 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: borrowed shares. So let's say you sold off the borrowed 155 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: shares for twenty dollars each, but now the price is 156 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,640 Speaker 1: fifty dollars each and you're due. That means you're gonna 157 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: lose thirty dollars per share because you have to buy 158 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: back the borrowed shares to return them to the other investor, 159 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: so White Square shorted game Stop, and then, because a 160 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: bunch of folks really wanted to mess with hedge funds, 161 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:02,199 Speaker 1: and more than a few of those folks also wanted 162 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: to make some money in the process, a ton of 163 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: small independent investors began buying up game Stop stock that 164 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: eventually drove up the price to a point where when 165 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: it came time for White Square to return those shortened shares, 166 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: the company was hurting pretty badly. Now, for the record, 167 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: White Square reps say that the closure of the hedge 168 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: fund is unrelated to the game Stop stock issue. Instead, 169 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: according to the reps, the issue was that two of 170 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: the really big investors into that hedge fund withdrew their 171 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 1: investments from the pool, which made the hedge fund untenable, 172 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: and that this really was marking a shift toward a 173 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: different approach to making investments just generally that's happening in 174 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 1: the market. Which might be true, But I do imagine 175 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: that the company was rocked pretty hard by the game 176 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,239 Speaker 1: Stop issue, just you know, perhaps not enough to precipitate 177 00:10:55,320 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: the funds actual demise. Over in the UK, authority these 178 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: want to have a word with Amazon and I t 179 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: V News investigation captured footage of Amazon warehouse workers packing 180 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: returned and unsold merchandise, including stuff like laptops, tv other electronics, books, 181 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 1: into boxes, and those boxes had the word destroy on them, 182 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,839 Speaker 1: and that the workers then loaded trucks down with these 183 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: boxes before driving the trucks over to landfills or recycling centers. 184 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: A former Amazon employee told the investigative team that workers 185 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: were expected to dispose of more than a hundred thousand 186 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: items every week. Activists pounced on this. They pointed out 187 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: the enormous amount of waste that this generates, and they 188 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: also questioned how can a company behave in this way, 189 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: throwing out hundreds of thousands of products each week and 190 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: still remain profitable. As Greta Thunberg pointed out, quote that's 191 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: a clear sign that something is fundamentally wrong end quote. 192 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: And I concur if a company can afford to throw 193 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: out hundreds of thousands of unsold products each month, you know, 194 00:12:07,679 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: high end products at that, like TVs and computers, then 195 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: something wacky has got to be going on in order 196 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: to keep that company profitable. Now, Amazon reps have actually 197 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: responded to this. They said that no items were actually 198 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: sent to landfills. In the UK though, that could be 199 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: a qualifier, but they rather went to some recycling centers 200 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: for a quote unquote energy recovery, and that the company 201 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: routinely donates unsold items to charitable organizations in the like. 202 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: Other unnamed Amazon employees seem to contradict this, but a 203 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: full investigation would need to follow to really ferret out 204 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: the truth. I think it's pretty phenomenal. It's kind of 205 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: crazy to think about a company literally throwing out hundreds 206 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: of thousands of products. It just it's so wasteful, and 207 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: you you sit there and think, if you had a 208 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: different approach to business, you wouldn't have that waste, which 209 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: presumably would mean you would profit more. But maybe there's 210 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: other stuff going on that I just don't understand. I 211 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: admit I look at the world when it comes to business. 212 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 1: I look at the world in a pretty simplistic way, 213 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: and I acknowledge that things are way more complicated than 214 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: I particularly understand. Finally, a change in how Google handles 215 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: unlisted links could mean that we'll see some stuff sort 216 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: of just disappear from the web, or at least become inaccessible. 217 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,400 Speaker 1: So in an email to YouTube creators, I got one 218 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: of these emails. Just so you know, the company wrote quote. 219 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: In two thousand seventeen, we rolled out an update to 220 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: the system that generates new YouTube unlisted links, which included 221 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,079 Speaker 1: security enhancements that make the links for your unlisted videos 222 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: even harder for someone to discover without you sharing with them. 223 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: We're now making changes to older unlisted videos that were 224 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: uploaded before this update took place. End quote. So in 225 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: other words, the company is retroactively applying this updated security 226 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: SCHEMEAU to YouTube and also to Google Drive documents as 227 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: well that have you know, links in them, and users 228 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: will be able to choose one of several options with 229 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: regard to this. They can opt out of this change 230 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: entirely by filling out a form. They have to do 231 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: that by July twenty one in order to keep those 232 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: documents and those videos in their current unlisted states. So 233 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: in other words, no change is made, the unlisted u 234 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: r L remains the same, and that way people who 235 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: have the links to those videos will still be able 236 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: to get them, or embedded videos and other platforms that 237 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: otherwise are unlisted will still be accessible. Or creators can 238 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: change unlisted videos and make them public, which just gets 239 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: around the problem. Now the unlisted videos are public, they're 240 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: publicly available. That will take care of it as well. 241 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: They can also re upload the old video as a 242 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: new unlisted video, so essentially they just swap out one 243 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: for the other, or they can do nothing at all, 244 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: and the unlisted videos that were posted before will switch 245 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: over to become private videos, which means no one will 246 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: be able to access it other than the channel creator 247 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: or channel administrator. Now why is this all important, Well, 248 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: it means that any videos that were made before but 249 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: are unlisted, but are also embedded on other platforms like 250 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: on a blog or something like that, those videos will 251 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,360 Speaker 1: disappear unless the creators actually take one of these options. 252 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: So if I had made a video in two thousand fifteen, 253 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: and I made it unlisted on my channel, so you 254 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: wouldn't just come across the video if you were to 255 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: visit my channel. However, I then embedded that video on 256 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: say a personal web page or something, then that video 257 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: is going to be a broken link. Later this year, 258 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: you would go and you would find a like one 259 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: of those YouTube embedded videos that just has the little 260 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: X on it where like there's no video there, You 261 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: push play and nothing happens. Because the link doesn't work, 262 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: it's a dead link. The same is true as I 263 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: said with Google Drive links. So if you have links 264 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: to documents created and Google Drive from before, that's unlisted 265 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: documents and things like that, the same sort of rules apply. 266 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: This was all in an effort to improve privacy and security, 267 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: which I think is the right move, but it is 268 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: going to be a hassle for some creators and for 269 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: channels that have been inactive or even abandoned. That might 270 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,479 Speaker 1: mean that that video content will just disappear from Discovery, 271 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: so that videos that people once were able to watch 272 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: suddenly they won't have access to them anymore because those 273 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: will be switched to private and the channel administrators just 274 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: don't deal with that channel anymore, which is kind of 275 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: a bummer. I mean, we always say that everything lasts 276 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 1: forever on the Internet, but things like this, where you 277 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: break links, that kind of stuff is an exception to 278 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: the rule, and I've certainly had experience with this kind 279 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: of stuff before air a change in policy meant that 280 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: suddenly linked documents were no longer linked, and it is 281 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: a huge pain in the butt when that happens. Anyway, 282 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: that's the news for Thursday. June twenty one. I hope 283 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: you all have a great day, a great weekend. As 284 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: I said, it is my birthday weekend, so make sure 285 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: you go out and do something you know, nice and 286 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: thoughtful for someone else. That's that'll be a great birthday 287 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: present for me. Just doesn't have to be big, just 288 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: a nice, thoughtful gesture to someone else. And after you 289 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: do that selfless act, you are to turn your face 290 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: to the heavens and cry out, this was all for you, 291 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, and I'll know wherever I am, i'll know 292 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: that you did that. Now, if you have any suggestions 293 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: for topics I should cover in future episodes of tech Stuff, 294 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: reach out to me on Twitter handle is tech Stuff 295 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: h s W. I've been getting a bunch of those recently, 296 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: which is awesome. I am currently still working through the 297 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: glossary of tech to rms, or rather tech acronyms and initialisms, 298 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: But as soon as that series is over, I'm going 299 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: to be tackling some of these suggestions sent in by listeners, 300 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,360 Speaker 1: so you can get your suggestions into and I look 301 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,399 Speaker 1: forward to hearing from you, and I'll talk to you 302 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:21,880 Speaker 1: again really soon. YEA tech Stuff is an I Heart 303 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit 304 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 305 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.