1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And this is the 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: tech news for Tuesday, July twenty twenty one, and let's 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,280 Speaker 1: just get right into it. Misinformation is in the news, 7 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: both you know, as a topic and literally as part 8 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: of the news, because that's the world we live in. 9 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: The New York Times is Max Fisher wrote a piece 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: earlier this week titled Disinformation for Higher A shadow industry 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 1: is quietly booming. And the contents of that piece will 12 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: likely come as no surprise to anyone who has kept 13 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: up with the ongoing mess that is misinformation and disinformation 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: campaigns and the platforms that facilitate the spread of those campaigns. 15 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: And it probably isn't a surprise that there are a 16 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: collection of companies that are kind of acting as guns 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: for hire to run and promote disinformation campaigns on behalf 18 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: of their clients. And it gives those clients kind of 19 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: a bit of distance from the cd and unethical campaigns themselves. Right, 20 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: If you want to have a smear campaign against say 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: a political rival. You'd rather not have that come back 22 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,960 Speaker 1: to you if you're saying a lot of things that 23 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: are just legit not true. Anyway, we saw all of 24 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: this years ago with Cambridge Analytica. That was kind of 25 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: a an example of this, although they did other stuff too, 26 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: and that company was actually fairly clumsy when it all 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: comes down to it. I mean that that house of 28 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: cards came crashing in on itself. But on the flip side, 29 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: there's also money to be made in fighting disinformation. So 30 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: we're also seeing startups come up to fight disinformation while 31 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: others are actively promoting it. So startups like Active Fence 32 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: are fighting disinformation. So we've got two sides of an 33 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: information war, both of which have turned this fight into 34 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 1: a profitable business. There's probably something really smart I could 35 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: say here about the whole situation and maybe about capitalism, 36 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: but I'm just going to leave that to someone who's 37 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: better equipped than I to make that observation. But just 38 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: like typical right anyway, Active Fence recently announced that it 39 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: has raised one million dollars in investments and is developing 40 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: a suite of tools to help detect misinformation campaigns. UH. 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: The company is using artificial intelligence as a way to 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: kind of crawl across various social platforms and not just 43 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: examine posts, but to look for connections between different accounts 44 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 1: and different groups, and those connections can point to concerted 45 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: efforts to spread, you know, a specific message or undermine 46 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: some other message. As we continue to deal with misinformation 47 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: campaigns around the world that deal with everything from politics 48 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: to workers rights, to vaccinations and beyond, it becomes more 49 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: important to be able to weed out the bad stuff 50 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: and to give people more opportunities to understand when they're 51 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: actually being manipulated and by whom and for what purpose. 52 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: That's incredibly valuable information to have, assuming that you actually 53 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: take the effort to look into it and not just 54 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: allow information to confirm maybe preconceived biases or prejudices you 55 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: might have, or to comfort you into thinking that something 56 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: that is your fault is totally not your fault. Like 57 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: all those kind of earmarks for how misinformation can really 58 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: get its hooks in, Uh, it's hard to overcome. My 59 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: guess is we're gonna see a continued escalation between the 60 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: companies that are offering to handle disinformation campaigns and the 61 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: ones providing the tools to fight those campaigns and it'll 62 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: just keep getting messy. That's my, you know, incredibly obvious prediction. Alright, 63 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: switching gears, let's talk about cybersecurity and software vulnerabilities. So 64 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: for many years, Apple products were seen as sort of 65 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: being bulletproof, and there were a couple of really big 66 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: major reasons for this. There are lots of reasons, but 67 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: two really big ones, and one was that Apple notoriously 68 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: follows a walled garden strategy in which the company makes 69 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: not only the operating systems, but the actual hardware that 70 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: those OS is run upon. Now, if you do this correctly, 71 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,039 Speaker 1: you can actually cut down on potential vulnerabilities. You know, 72 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: you don't have different companies making different pieces and thus 73 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: creating the potential for gaps insecurity as much. It can 74 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: still happen, but it gives you a leg up. The 75 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: second big factor was that Apple, for many years had 76 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: much lower percentage of the market share when it came 77 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: to operating systems. So if you were a batty and 78 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: you wanted to make malicious software and your goal was 79 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: to affect the largest number of people you could, you 80 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: would focus on Windows based devices, Windows based computers. Like 81 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: this is before the smartphone era, and that's because Windows 82 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: was on way more computer systems than mac OS was, 83 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: so it just made more sense you were going to 84 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: hit more targets if you aimed for Windows users. But 85 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: these factors do not make Apple immune to the problem 86 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: of malware. They're not, you know, completely uh bulletproof, as 87 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: I was saying. The Register actually reports that Apple recently 88 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: patched a zero day vulnerability in its various OS products, 89 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: including mac os and iOS, just yesterday on Monday, a 90 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: week earlier. The company issued updates to the various operating 91 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: systems to fix some other issues, and the patched vulnerability 92 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: was in a screen frame buffer. Uh. That's a feature that, 93 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: if it had been exploited by a hacker, could be 94 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: used to uh to to run malware, to execute malware. 95 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: The Register also reports that someone, though at the time 96 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: that I'm recording this, I don't know who, had been 97 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: exploiting that bug in some way. Uh. That could potentially 98 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: be the n s O group, that's the that's the 99 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: company that's behind the Pegasus spyware that I talked about 100 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: last week, the one out of Israel. At least one 101 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: security researcher has said that they knew about this particular 102 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: bug for several months, but did not report it that 103 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: they were working on their own kind of bigger report 104 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: that was going to incorporate this as part of it, 105 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: which is you know, a yikes. Anyway, this is one 106 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: of those things that really stinks for the end consumers 107 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 1: because bad actors can easily exploit vulnerabilities like these and 108 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: use some fairly simple attacks to get people to fall 109 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: prey to them. I mean, the the NSO groups. Pegasus 110 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: uses a zero click attack through messengers like I Message, 111 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: and that that's very hard to avoid. Gizmoto has an 112 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: article listing the various Windows ten features that are going 113 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: to go away when Windows eleven launches, or rather Windows 114 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: eleven isn't going to include them. If you keep running 115 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: Windows ten, you'll still have access to these features. You know, 116 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: each time Microsoft updates its flagship operating system, we get 117 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: some new features and we say goodbye to some of 118 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: the older ones, and it doesn't always end up feeling 119 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: like it was a fair trade. So what is heading 120 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: out this time? Well, Internet Explorer will finally be really 121 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: most sincerely dead, at least on Windows eleven. Microsoft hasn't 122 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: really supported i E in a while. They moved to 123 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: the Edge web Browser instead, but they kept it around 124 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: for folks who refused to use Edge. UH and Windows 125 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 1: ten still had Internet Explorer as an option, but that 126 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: will not be the case with Windows eleven. Another feature 127 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: going away is the synchronization feature called Timeline. So the 128 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: idea behind Timeline is that you could essentially link different 129 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: Windows based machines that you work on and have them 130 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: synchronize your activities across the machines. So let's say you've 131 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: got two Windows based computers in your house, and you're 132 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: on one of those computers and you open up a 133 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: word document in your one drive, and you work on 134 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: it for a while, and you say that you close out. 135 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: Then you move to your other computer. Later on in 136 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: the day, you open up Word and that document would 137 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,079 Speaker 1: be in your recent documents list in Word, even though 138 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: it was a totally different computer, because Timeline was synchronizing 139 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: these activities across the two devices. That is going away 140 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: with Windows eleven. I'm sure there'll be some comparable feature, 141 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: but it's not Timeline. Another thing that's going away are 142 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: live tiles, which I forgot we're even a thing for 143 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: Windows tin. I've never used them. These are little tiles 144 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: that you could put on the Windows tin desktop. They 145 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: can display live information, so you could have a tile 146 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: that has like a news ticker, that kind of thing. 147 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: It looks like when Microsoft is going to go back 148 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: to widgets for Windows eleven, which really aren't that different 149 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: from live tiles, I suppose, and I guess maybe this 150 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: will be the Windows where widgets really pay off. I 151 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: don't spend a whole lot of time looking at my desktop, 152 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: so maybe I'm just not the right person for these 153 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: kinds of features because I typically have programs on full 154 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: screen all the time. I've got multiple monitors and each 155 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: one has got a full screen program on it, because 156 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: I find lots of open windows in the same view 157 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: to be too cluttery. But when Whendows eleven, I'm gonna 158 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: put the widgets back. I don't think I'll be using them, 159 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,959 Speaker 1: but they'll be there. Windows eleven will also remove your 160 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: ability to place your taskbar on whichever edge of the 161 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,959 Speaker 1: screen you want, and now the task bar will live 162 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the screen and you'll like it. 163 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: And I actually do happen to like having the test 164 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: bar at the bottom of the screen. I get really 165 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: irritated whenever I accidentally relocate the taskbar to some other 166 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: part of the screen, which can sometimes happen if I'm 167 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: being sloppy with my key strokes, and then something I 168 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: can't find my start button because it's at a different 169 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,679 Speaker 1: spot of the screen. So I'm totally okay with Windows 170 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: eleven anchoring it at the bottom. Windows eleven is also 171 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,439 Speaker 1: apparently going to de emphasize Cortana. That's the virtual assistant 172 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,079 Speaker 1: feature that's named after a character in the Halo video 173 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: game franchise. Cortana will still be incorporated into Windows eleven, 174 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: but won't occupy the same sort of screen real estate, 175 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: nor will there be a Cortana segment in the setup process. 176 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: And also Skype is going to get de emphasized as well. 177 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: Microsoft's really pushing Microsoft Teams to be the main communication 178 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: tool on Windows based machines. There are a few other changes, 179 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: but I recommend going over to gizmoto and reading up 180 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: on the rest if you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 181 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: eleven when it comes out later this year. We've got 182 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: a few more news stories to cover, but first let's 183 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: take a quick break. I got a hypothetical for you. 184 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: What happens if you run a company that's focused on 185 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,959 Speaker 1: online privacy tools, you know, like virtual private networks or VPNs, 186 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: and you get caught out running unencrypted services, well you 187 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: go into damage control, and that's kind of what's happening 188 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: with the company wind describe. Wind Scribe offers virtual private 189 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: networks or VPN services, and the way VPNs work, just 190 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: from a really high level, is pretty simple. So you 191 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: use a VPN client to log into a remote server 192 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: that is kind of standing as proxy for you. Then 193 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: all of your Internet activity actually filters through this VPN 194 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: server before it comes to you. Anyone who's snooping on 195 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: your connection will only see that you are communicating with 196 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: this VPN server. They won't be able to see what 197 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: you're doing beyond that server. So let's say you're using 198 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: a VPN to get past some regional controls, or you're 199 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: trying to avoid having your Internet service provider know which 200 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: sites you're visiting. Maybe you're shopping for different I s 201 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: p s and you would just prefer if the I 202 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: s P you have doesn't know about that. These are 203 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: all basic things that you could do, and this can 204 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: be really important for protecting your security and your privacy. Now, 205 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: it can also be used to hide your activity if 206 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: you're up to no good. So there is a double 207 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: edged sword here. But all of this really hinges on 208 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,719 Speaker 1: having the VPN servers protected with encryption as well as 209 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,439 Speaker 1: a good policy with regard to record keeping. So in general, 210 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: it's it's considered best practice if the VPN is not 211 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: keeping activity log of its users, because if it is 212 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: keeping activity logs a compromise server, it could potentially reveal 213 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: all the stuff that the users were up to when 214 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,719 Speaker 1: connecting to that specific server. Well, in the Ukraine, authorities 215 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: seized a couple of VPN servers belonging to wind Scribe, 216 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: and those servers proved to be poorly encrypted using an 217 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: outdated methodology that has long since proven to be insecure. 218 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: It's been deprecated. In other words, we don't use it 219 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,640 Speaker 1: anymore because it's not reliable. The company has essentially copped 220 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: to that, saying yeah, that is what happened, and they 221 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: said that generally they encrypt servers that are considered to 222 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: be in like high risk security areas, but they failed 223 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: to do so appropriately in this case in the Ukraine, 224 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: which I would think of as being a high security 225 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: area considering the political issues that go on between the 226 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: Ukraine and say Russia, and this opened up the potential 227 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: for someone to compromise the system. And Ours Technica has 228 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: a really great piece about this. It's titled VPN servers 229 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: seized by Ukrainian authorities weren't Encrypted. That article goes into 230 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,319 Speaker 1: a lot more detail about both the issue at hand 231 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,559 Speaker 1: and wind scribes response. Also. Ours Technica wisely points out 232 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 1: that VPN services have really taken off over the last 233 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: few years, and there are a lot of different companies 234 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: that are offering them, So it really pays to do 235 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: your research to make sure that whichever service you're looking 236 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: into is following the best practices of the industry in 237 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: order to keep your activity the way Gandolf would want 238 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: you to. You know, is it secret? Is it safe? 239 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: If it's not, don't use it. The Verge has a 240 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: piece titled Vigilante app Citizen is paying users to live 241 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: stream crime scenes and emergencies, which to me just sounds 242 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: a lot like the plot to the film Nightcrawler starring 243 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: Jake Jillenhall. If you haven't seen that movie, it's intense. 244 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: It's not for everybody, but the movie follows Jake Jillenhall's character. 245 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: He's a man who finds out that he can make 246 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: some pretty decent money if he's the first on the 247 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: scene of like an awful accident or a grizzly crime, 248 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,360 Speaker 1: and he shoots footage of it, and then of course 249 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: he gets more and more involved as it goes on. 250 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: I won't spoil any more of it in case you 251 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: want to watch it, but it is a pretty intense film. Well, 252 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: now there's an app for that. The company behind Citizen 253 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: is offering between two hundred to two hundred fifty dollars 254 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: a day for people to live stream quote unquote newsworthy 255 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: events in their local area, so creating kind of a 256 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: gig economy on on the ground instant reporting. The company 257 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: expects applicants to not just point a camera at like 258 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: a developing situation, but also to conduct interviews, like to 259 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: talk to witnesses and onlookers and the police. Now they're 260 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: not supposed to interfere with police procedures or to put 261 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: themselves in harm's way, but they are supposed to interview folks. Uh, 262 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: this is I feel like it's active asking a heck 263 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: of a lot from users. The skill set for being 264 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: a good interviewer is a really nuanced and deep skill set. 265 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,720 Speaker 1: And I say this as someone who occasionally interviews folks 266 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: and I have for a few years, but I still 267 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: feel like I've got a good way to go but 268 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: to become a really great interviewer. And it just seems 269 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: disastrous to open this up to me. Apparently, the company 270 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: has folks in Los Angeles working ten hour shifts for 271 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: two fifty bucks a day, which you know is better 272 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: than minimum wage, but I imagine the work can get 273 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: pretty risky for numerous reasons. Also, I don't know how 274 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: the company works as far as paying people, Like if 275 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: you're wandering around your area and it just happens to 276 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: be a quiet day, do you still get paid. Also, 277 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: the Verge reports that there's some other disturbing things with this. 278 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: For instance, Citizen, the company is apparently testing a private 279 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: security force, complete with patrol cars. Now Here in the 280 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: United States, we're already in a situation in which a 281 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 1: large segment of the population is calling for police reform 282 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: or outright defunding the police, and it seems like creating 283 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: private security forces, particularly when you take into consideration that 284 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: Citizen used to go by the name Vigilante, can raise 285 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: all sorts of red flags. Uh, certainly something that I'll 286 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: be following closely because this concerns me. It feels like 287 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: it could very easily tip into mob justice territory, which 288 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: which which can be truly disastrous Here in the US. 289 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: During the previous presidential administration, the FCC launched the Rural 290 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: Digital Opportunity Fund, and the idea was that the FCC 291 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: would grant subsidies to companies that would extend broadband connectivity 292 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 1: to communities and agents in the US that lack broadband access. 293 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: In other words, like, we need to get these people connected, 294 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: and here's an incentive for companies to to do that. 295 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: They'll get these great subsidies in return, which is a 296 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: pretty good idea, except the r d o F was 297 00:18:17,119 --> 00:18:20,640 Speaker 1: riddled with flaws that made it relatively easy for companies 298 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: to land those subsidies and then you know, not actually 299 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: provide services to rural or underserved areas. Some companies instead 300 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 1: focused on building out services in places that actually already 301 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: had broadband access, and that has led the f c C, 302 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: which of course is now under new leadership because of 303 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: a change in presidential administrations, to reach out to the 304 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: companies that were granted subsidies and say, hey, buddy, either 305 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: do what you were supposed to do or we want 306 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: our money back. And I think that's pretty darn keene 307 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,680 Speaker 1: as there are lots of folks out there who really 308 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: lack any real access to broadband connectivity, and yet internet 309 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: access is increasingly a critical component to being a citizen 310 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: in the United States and just getting stuff done, particularly 311 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: in a world that is still in the midst of 312 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: a pandemic. When you have news stories about school kids 313 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: who have to go and sit in a parking lot 314 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: because that's the only way they're able to get internet 315 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: access in order to participate in school, that is a 316 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: serious failing of society and it's one that needs to 317 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: be addressed. The digital divide is not a new thing. 318 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: It has been a thing for decades. It's just not 319 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: getting better, and we need to do better. Well, we 320 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: have a couple more stories to cover, but before I 321 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: get to that, let's take another quick break. The New 322 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: York Times reports that a Toyota executive has been meeting 323 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: with congressional leaders in d C in a move to 324 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: push back against the planned path to adopting an all 325 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: all electric vehicle approach. And we're seeing various places around 326 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: the world go after fairly aggressive strategies to phase out 327 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine vehicles entirely, at least for new vehicles 328 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: that is, and just move to all electric vehicles for 329 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: new cars. So to be clear, this doesn't mean that 330 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: you know, existing internal combustion engine vehicles are going to 331 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: all have to go to the scrap heap. No one's 332 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: coming to take your Dodge charger or anything like that. 333 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: It just means that in the future, like not that 334 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 1: far out into the future, shopping for a new car 335 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: will be all about electric vehicles because internal combustion engines 336 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: will no longer be in production. Now, apparently Toyota would 337 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 1: really rather we hold off on doing that, as the 338 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,440 Speaker 1: company executive is trying to argue for hybrids and hydrogen 339 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: fuel cell vehicles to also be part of this conversation 340 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,880 Speaker 1: and they should also qualify as replacements for internal combustion 341 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: engine vehicles, and that an all electric vehicle approach is 342 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: just the wrong way to go. This could be because 343 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,439 Speaker 1: Toyota might be lagging behind some other manufacturers when it 344 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: comes to, you know, the plans to switch to e 345 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: vs UH. I would say that including hybrids and fuel 346 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 1: cell vehicles in the conversation, is not necessarily a bad idea. 347 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: They can definitely help reduce greenhouse gas emissions if they 348 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: are engineered properly, and they could have a legit seat 349 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: at the table when it comes to transitioning away from 350 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: internal combustion engines. However, Toyota's approach is one that's not 351 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: likely to win any supporters from those who want to 352 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,120 Speaker 1: see big changes in an effort to reduce the impact 353 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: of climate change. So, in other words, it might just 354 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 1: come across as the wrong move. Toyota has had some 355 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: pretty notable, highly public pr issues in recent past that 356 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: have to deal with politics, so we'll see if this 357 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: also adds to the fire. Intel, which was once the 358 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: king of the hill when it comes to computer processors, 359 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: has slipped a little bit in recent years, but according 360 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 1: to the company's Intel Accelerated Virtual Event, the company has 361 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: a plan to regain the top spot by and part 362 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: of that strategy is a drum roll, please, a new 363 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: way of naming processors. Now, a lot of chips reference 364 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: the you know, size of components on a processor in 365 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: the nanoscale, which is a number that just keeps getting 366 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: smaller in defiance of physics itself. But as I recently learned, 367 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: those numbers don't necessarily actually reflect the actual components sizes 368 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: on the chip. That's a matter for another podcast. I 369 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: think I'm gonna have to do a full podcast about 370 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: how misleading those numbers are because it surprised me, and 371 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,160 Speaker 1: I've been covering this stuff for years, so I need 372 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: to do an episode about it. The new naming scheme will, 373 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: according to Intel, create quote, a more accurate view of 374 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,479 Speaker 1: process nodes across the end of street end quote. So 375 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: what does that mean, I'm gonna pull a Teva from 376 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: Fiddler on the Roof. I don't know, but this might 377 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: help Intel move away from a nomenclature that is at 378 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: best confusing and at worst misleading, and it might give 379 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: the company the chance to show off what it's hardware 380 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: can do without someone saying, yeah, but that number of 381 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: a day is better than your number, and it comes 382 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: down to performance rather than naming conventions. In other words, 383 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: and on that front, Intel's chips have been holding up 384 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 1: pretty well. Actually, honestly, I'm just curious to see if 385 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: this strategy is going to pay off for Intel the 386 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: processor industry as a whole, has had a lot of 387 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: shake ups recently, in large part because the pandemic has 388 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 1: really disrupted business and caused massive delays for long term plans. 389 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: So we'll just have to see how this all develops. 390 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: And finally, speaking of electricity, Dell and its subsidiary alien Ware, 391 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: have a shocking problem, and that's the fact that several 392 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: of the new alien Ware products those are like high 393 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: performance gaming rigs that they exceed the power consumption regulations 394 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:16,679 Speaker 1: for states like California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, 395 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: which means people in those states cannot actually order those 396 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: particular models and have them shipped to them. The company's 397 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: website makes this clear for those specific models that if 398 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: you order one and you happen to have a shipping 399 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: address that's in one of those states, that order will 400 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: not go through. So while the computers might go fast 401 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: while they're sitting still, they ain't gonna be making their 402 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 1: way to those states, at least not directly, because the 403 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: power consumption levels are just too high. On the one hand, 404 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: this feels like it's just incredible access to me, right, 405 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,360 Speaker 1: Like you have a computer that is so juiced up 406 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: for gaming that it's pulling way too much electricity, like 407 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: more than some of your other appliances in your home. 408 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: But on the other hand, I think this could be 409 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,400 Speaker 1: a gold mine for advertising. I imagine it alien ware 410 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: the computer so fast it's illegal in six states. I mean, sure, 411 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,119 Speaker 1: that's not entirely accurate, but I think it could move units. 412 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,400 Speaker 1: And that's it for the Tech News for July one. 413 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: We will not have a tech News episode this Thursday. 414 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: We have a new episode of Smart Talks coming out, 415 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: but we'll have more news next week, and we'll have 416 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: other episodes of tech Stuff obviously throughout the week. So 417 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,920 Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions for future topics I should 418 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: cover on tech Stuff, reach out to me on Twitter. 419 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: The handle for the show is text Stuff H s 420 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:52,360 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech 421 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts 422 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,680 Speaker 1: from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app 423 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts wherever you listen to your favorite shows.