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 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with a heart radio 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And Happy New Year everybody. 5 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: It's one and yet here we are stuck with the 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: last few months of our retrospective on and to be fair, 7 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: I'm still in twenty you know, just when we thought 8 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: we were out, I pull us back in. But we're 9 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: going to wrap up the big stories that involved tech 10 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: in tw with this batch, I promise, And tomorrow you're 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,880 Speaker 1: gonna get a new episode of Tech Stuff. We're now 12 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: going to go to five episodes a week now. I'll 13 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: talk more about that at the end of this episode, 14 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: but just know that this doesn't mean every episode will 15 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: be kind of a deep dive like this one. We're 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: going to put some variety in there, so I'll talk 17 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: more about that later. Now. One bit of great news 18 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: we got in August was that returning astronauts safely splashed 19 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: down in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was the first 20 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: time NASA had used the commercial space company spacecraft to 21 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: bring astronauts to and from the International Space Station, which 22 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: was pretty fantastic. In early August, we saw a once 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: influential tech brand fade away. The brand was the US 24 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: cell phone carrier Sprint. T Mobile, once a competitor of Sprint, 25 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: had concluded a thirty billion dollar merger just a few 26 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,559 Speaker 1: months earlier. In August, T Mobile retired the Sprint brand. 27 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: They folded it entirely into T Mobile's business. Before that, 28 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: Sprint had been the fourth of the four large cell 29 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: phone carriers in the United States, and it had been 30 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: struggling up to the point of that acquisition, and several 31 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: analysts actually suggested that if T Mobile had not swooped in, 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: Sprint might well have been heading towards bankruptcy. If you 33 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: listen to the previous two episodes in this series, you 34 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: heard how President Trump was having an increasingly combative relationship 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: with social networks, which had been up to that point 36 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: pretty reliable ways for him to get his message out 37 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 1: to followers for most of his presidency. Twitter had already 38 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: started labeling some of the President's tweets with flags that 39 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: indicated that they could contain volatile or incorrect information. Facebook 40 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: finally followed suit, removing a Trump post that pushed to 41 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: claim that children are nearly immune to COVID nineteen, and 42 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg had expressed some private concerns about Trump, and he 43 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: was under intense pressure from media, from advertisers, from users, 44 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: and from Facebook employees to have the company take a 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: more active role in moderating posts. So this could have 46 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: been a response to that intense pressure. Also in August, 47 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: Anthony Lewandowski received a prison sentence. Now some of you 48 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: may not know who Lewandowski is. He's an engineer who 49 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: has focused primarily on autonomous card technology. He joined Google's 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: efforts after running his own startups, and while he was 51 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: at Google there were stories circulating that he made some 52 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: ethically questionable business decisions. However, the real trouble began when 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: Lewandowski left Google. He founded another startup company about autonomous 54 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: trucking actually, and ultimately Uber acquired that company in but 55 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: Google executives accused Lewandowski of having illegally downloaded and saved 56 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: Google documents to a personal device before he left the company, 57 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: and that Uber was then benefiting from technology that was 58 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: owned by Google. Uber would eventually fire Lewandowski in seventeen 59 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: over All of this and several legal cases would follow 60 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: with Lewandowski eventually standing trial for the theft of trade 61 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: c grits. Lewandowski pled guilty to one charge of such 62 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 1: theft in August, and the judge sentenced him to eighteen 63 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: months in prison while dismissing all the other counts. The 64 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: judge actually kept on commenting on Lewandowski being a genius 65 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: and having a need for Lewandowski's genius in the world. 66 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: I have some opinions about that, but I'll leave it. Oh, 67 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: and a fun tad bit about Lewandowski. He also established 68 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: a religion called Way of the Future, which looks to 69 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: the eventual design and ascension of an artificially intelligent deity. Essentially, 70 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: the idea is that sooner or later, we're going to 71 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: create an AI far more capable with dealing with problems 72 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: than we puny mortals are, and we should prepare the 73 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: way for such an entity. I have no idea how 74 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: sincere Lewandowski is about this endeavor, or if this is 75 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: an example of, let's say, a creative way to raise 76 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: funds and attacks exempt environ nament. Because in the United States, 77 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: religious uh well officially recognized religious organizations are tax exempt, 78 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: the United States would gain access to Instagram's Reels feature 79 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: in August. Reels that's r E e l S is 80 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: essentially Facebook or Instagram's answer to TikTok, and it lets 81 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: users record short videos to share an Instagram. From what 82 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: I can tell, the most popular versions of these videos 83 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: tend to either be cute little animal videos or young 84 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: women doing the same five dances over and over. But 85 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: I'm also old and grouchy, so I acknowledge that this 86 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: is a technology that wasn't meant for me, and I 87 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,760 Speaker 1: am out of touch with today's youth, and also get 88 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: off my lawn. More seriously, I would argue that this 89 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: is another example of Facebook trying to fend off any 90 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: attempts from any other company to pull eyeballs away from 91 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: face Book and Instagram. TikTok is really popular, particularly with 92 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: younger people, and every moment someone is looking at TikTok, 93 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: they're not looking at Instagram or Facebook, and to Facebook, 94 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: that's a big problem. Thus we get reels, and I 95 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: think for some people reels will be really useful as 96 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: they've already established a big following on Instagram, so they 97 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,119 Speaker 1: don't have to do all the work all over again 98 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: on TikTok. But for other people, it will just seem 99 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: like a lame copycat of an existing service. We saw 100 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: Uber's delivery service grow to be larger than its rideshare 101 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: service in August. Now that isn't that big of a 102 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: surprise for a world that's affected by the pandemic. Fewer 103 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: people were going out needing a ride to places, and 104 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: lots of folks needed stuff to be delivered to them, 105 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: so all of this tracks, but it marked a big 106 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,479 Speaker 1: shift in the company's momentum. Keep in mind, however, that 107 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: Uber has never been profitable, not since it was first launched. 108 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: Uber doesn't pull enough revenue to cover all its costs, 109 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: which means the company needs regular cash injections from investors 110 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,159 Speaker 1: in order to keep going. Company executives say that Uber 111 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: uses much of its earnings to invest in growth, and 112 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: that's where the problem is. That Uber is is spending 113 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: money in order to grow larger, and if they didn't, 114 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: then the company would be profitable. Interestingly, way back in February, 115 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: Uber executive said that they saw the potential to be 116 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: profitable by the end of and then the rest of happened. 117 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: But hey, you know, it's complicated and you can't predict 118 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: the pandemic also around this time, and could grief. I 119 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: can't believe this happened this year because it feels like 120 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: it was a lifetime ago. President Trump issued an executive 121 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: order that was demanding services like TikTok and we Chat, 122 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: W E, C, H A T would receive bands from 123 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: operating in the United States unless their respective parent companies, 124 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: both of them Chinese companies, were to divest themselves of 125 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: those properties. The initial order created a deadline of forty 126 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: five days. Questions immediately popped up over whether the president 127 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: actually had the authority to do this or to enforce it, 128 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: and a lot of eyes were on TikTok and to 129 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: a lesser extent, we Chat to see what would happen next. 130 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and follow through with that story. 131 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: The deadline got an extension, mostly due to the Trump 132 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: administration not actually taking the steps necessary to do anything 133 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: about TikTok after it remained with its parent company. Meanwhile, 134 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: TikTok pursued a court case to get a judgment on 135 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: the legality of the order in the first place. A 136 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the band, so 137 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: that removed that threat and then in November, the US 138 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: Commerce Department issued a statement that said it wouldn't enforce 139 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: the executive order abiding by the judges injunction. And then 140 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: in early December, a second federal judge issued another preliminary 141 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 1: injunction against any bands on the service within the United States. Now, 142 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: the matter is not yet settled. The President's efforts largely 143 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,679 Speaker 1: have been ineffective so far. It probably doesn't help that 144 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: there's a story from back in June about TikTok users 145 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: securing tickets to a Trump rally, and they subsequently did 146 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: not go to that Trump rally, so that inflated the 147 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: pre event attendance numbers made a look like the event 148 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: was going to be a sellout, but then it was 149 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: only modestly attended, and that was a big uh, kind 150 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: of a big thumb, thumb to the nose toward the president. 151 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: So a lot of folks speculated that at least part 152 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: of the reason that Trump's actions against TikTok were the 153 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: way they were was because of a personal vendetta. Now, 154 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: whether that's true or not, his attempts to ban it 155 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: in the US have so far failed to make any 156 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: real ground. Even attempts to have American companies take over 157 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: at least some ownership of TikTok have sort of stalled out. 158 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: Early on, Microsoft was in the mix. We all thought 159 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,439 Speaker 1: that Microsoft might actually acquire the US branch of TikTok, 160 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: but more recently it was a combo of Oracle and Walmart. 161 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: The deadline for byte Dance b y t e Dance, 162 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell to those American companies 163 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 1: was back on December four, which came and went without 164 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: any such transaction. And of course later this month in January, 165 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: will have a new president here in the United States 166 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: and we may see a very different approach or maybe 167 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: not not doing a predictions episode, so we'll see another 168 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: big tech story. One I covered last year was the 169 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: battle between Epic Games and Apple, and to be clear, 170 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: Google was also in this fight, but pretty much all 171 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,319 Speaker 1: the media attention has been on Apple and Epic So 172 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: what is going on? Well, first, we have to understand 173 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: a major part of Apple's business plan. If there is 174 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: any sort of monetary exchange, either to purchase an app 175 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: from the app store or to make purchases within an app, 176 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: and that last part is important. It has to all 177 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: be within an app, then Apple will get a thirty 178 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 1: percent cut of those transactions. And when I say in 179 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: app purchases, I do mean that the experience or the 180 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: result of the purchase is also within the app. If 181 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: you make an app that allows you to order physical 182 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: services or goods that are outside the app, like a 183 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: ride hailing app right like Uber or lift, or Airbnb's 184 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,439 Speaker 1: booking app or delivery service app, those in app transactions 185 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: are exempt from that cut. But if you are to say, 186 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: create a game, and you create a game where players 187 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: can buy something within the game itself, you know, maybe 188 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: the change the way the game looks or plays that 189 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: would qualify for that thirty percent cut. Well, Epic Games 190 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: makes a lot of stuff, including the game Fortnite and 191 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: Play by the Rules. It would mean that when gamers 192 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: would purchase in game currency and Fortnite to spend on 193 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: stuff like character skins, which are just cosmetic changes within 194 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: the game, Apple would get a thirty cut of that transaction. Google, 195 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: by the way, does something similar, so Epic decided to 196 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: do a little sidestep. Epic created a way for gamers 197 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: to buy in game currency outside of the Apple and 198 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: Google apps themselves, but then they could use that currency 199 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: within the apps, and they encouraged players to do that. 200 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: They said, you can buy your currency within the app, 201 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: or you can come out of the app and buy 202 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: it there. And essentially they were saying, it's going to 203 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: get more expensive within the app because the fact that 204 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: these companies take a cut means we get less money. 205 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: So we're losing money on the deal. We're gonna have 206 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: to make it more expensive. It just makes more sense 207 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: if you buy the currency this other way. That way 208 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: you don't have to spend as much to get a 209 00:12:54,520 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: certain amount of virtual currency. So that was the the scheme, 210 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: and Apple did not take this attempt to bypass in 211 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: app purchases kindly, and they quickly removed Fortnite from the 212 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,320 Speaker 1: app store. Moreover, the company threatened to cut Epic off 213 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: from developing for iOS devices entirely, which would mean that 214 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: not only would the game never receive another update, other 215 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: stuff like a popular game engine used by lots of 216 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: different game developers, not just Epic, would end up going 217 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: unsupported because Epic oversees it. So Epic argue that this 218 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: measure was overreach and it represented any competitive and monopolistic practices. 219 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: The matter went to court with judges ultimately decided that 220 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: while Apple has no obligation to return Fortnite to the 221 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,959 Speaker 1: App Store, so that that ban is still in place, 222 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: Apple cannot go so far as to block all development 223 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: on iOS from Epic. Now that battle continues today, with 224 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: Epic leading a pr campaign to try and get influencers 225 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: to buy into a boycott of Apple products. More legal 226 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: battles are to come, and recently a judge denied Apple's 227 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: request to place limits on how much Apple CEO Tim 228 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: Cook will have to testify at the trial. They were 229 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: trying to restrict it to a certain number of hours 230 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: of testimony, and the judge said, no, you can't do that. 231 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: Also distantly related to all this, Apple announced in November 232 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: that it would cut that commission in half to for 233 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: small app makers, which Apple defines as makers who have 234 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: made less than one million dollars in net sales. Now, 235 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: the step just a bit out of the United States, 236 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: because I know these episodes have been almost almost exclusively 237 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: US focused. In mid August, a cyber attack in Canada 238 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: necessitated the government to shut down most government operated online accounts. 239 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: Reports were circulating that at the peak of the attack, 240 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: there were as many as three hundred thousand attempts to 241 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: gain unauthorized access of government accounts. The attackers were using 242 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: a method called credenti shoal stuffing, in which they had 243 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: gained access to user names and passwords through other means 244 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: such as fishing and you know, uh, social manipulation, and 245 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: they were using those credentials on the various Canadian government 246 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: sites and services. And it was a very bad time 247 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: for this to happen, as many Canadian citizens were dependent 248 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: upon government sites to get aid during the pandemic. And 249 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: towards the end of August, Elon Musk showed off a 250 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: brain computer interface. His team had implanted a prototype of 251 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: the neuralink device that they've been working on, and the 252 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: prototype was in a pig named Gertrude. The goal is 253 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: to create a ship that can allow someone to interact 254 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,320 Speaker 1: with computer systems through thought alone, and would be useful 255 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: for people who have a severe lack of mobility or 256 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: other challenges. And of course, I think it's also a 257 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: sign that certain people have a hope that they can 258 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: find a way to boost human capabilities and intelligence through 259 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: computer assistance in the future and have it be a 260 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: two way streets, not just sending commands to a computer, 261 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: but a computer sending useful information back to the human brain. 262 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: Computer interfaces themselves are not new, but traditionally they are 263 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: pretty large systems, and they take a lot of time 264 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: to train both the person who's using it and the 265 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: system itself to work together, and they require invasive brain surgery, 266 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: and generally they are fairly uh modest in capabilities. Those 267 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:39,479 Speaker 1: capabilities can have enormous benefits to people who otherwise are immobile, 268 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 1: but it's not like suddenly being able to access the 269 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: Internet just through your brain. When we come back, we'll 270 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: move into the fall of but first let's take a 271 00:16:50,000 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: quick break. In September twenty twenty, we saw that Zoom 272 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,240 Speaker 1: was going through a zoom boom for reals, because their 273 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: profit was up three thousand three And this is sort 274 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: of the opposite of what had happened to Quimby. The 275 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: use case for Zoom was a perfect fit for people 276 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: who suddenly we're finding themselves working from home, and more 277 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: than a few companies by this point in the year 278 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: we're talking about how even in a post pandemic world, 279 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: a lot of employees might still work from home in 280 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: the future. I suspect Once all the dust settles from COVID, 281 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: we're gonna see some new big challenges, not the least 282 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: of which will be in the corporate real estate world, 283 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 1: where companies will question whether or not they need to 284 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: maintain expensive office space on their ledgers. Moving forward, one 285 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: thing that may have changed since I recorded this episode 286 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,719 Speaker 1: is the outcome of a struggle between Australia's government and 287 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: Facebook and Google. Not the heart of the matter is 288 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 1: the Australian media and a determination to make Google and 289 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,360 Speaker 1: face but pay to make use of the original content 290 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: created by Australian media. The proposed legislation, which is not 291 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: yet passed as I record, this would create a negotiation 292 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: space for the media companies and these platforms to come 293 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: together to determine how much value the content represents. Facebook 294 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: and Google have been resisting and objecting to this. They 295 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: have said they're worried it would set a global precedent. 296 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: The Australian government hasn't put up but with much goof 297 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: from them. They have pointed out that these companies are 298 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: raking in enormous amounts of revenue in Australia. For Google, 299 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: it's in the billions of dollars, while local media outlets 300 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: are starting to dry up, and the whole issue is 301 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: a complicated one. Honestly, I would need a lot more 302 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: of research to really get to the core of what 303 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: is going on here and what the salient arguments are 304 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: for either side. But perhaps by the time you hear this, 305 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: the Australian government will have enact did this law, or 306 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: amended it, or maybe even dismissed it. Samsung launched a 307 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: foldable smartphone in September that retails for one thousand nine 308 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 1: dollars a princely some Samsung has had a bit of 309 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: a rocky past with foldable phones, having been burnt in 310 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen after releasing review models to tech journalists, only 311 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: to recall them a day later due to various issues 312 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 1: with the phone's durability. But now Samsung has a few 313 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 1: different folding phones in different formats on the market. Uber 314 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: announced in September that by twenty the company would only 315 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,719 Speaker 1: offer rides in electric vehicles in the US and Europe. 316 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: It was going to go electric only within a decade. 317 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: That's kind of interesting now. The company further stated its 318 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: goal was to be emissions free by twenty forty. The 319 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: announcements timing was likely a response to a report that 320 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: found that Uber vehicles are less climate efficient than the 321 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: average vehicle on the road. So I think that this 322 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: is a bold move by Uber and one that's important, 323 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: and it's important to acknowledge the responsibility of the company 324 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: to help reduce carbon emissions. But it's also in response 325 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: to the fact that it turns out that Uber vehicles 326 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: and presumably other ride sharing vehicles are generating a lot 327 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,880 Speaker 1: more carbon because those vehicles are in motion so much 328 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: more than your average one. Here's a bit of news 329 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: that I didn't hear about when it actually happened. In 330 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: mid September twenty twenty, sales of vinyl record albums were 331 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: greater than compact disc sales for the first time since 332 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties. Now, granted, the purchase of physical media 333 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,680 Speaker 1: in general has been in decline for several years now. 334 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: Most of us are accessing our music on streaming services 335 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: rather than purchasing physical albums. But still, as someone who 336 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,719 Speaker 1: loves vinyl and occasionally collects a little bit of it, 337 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: I have a very model collection. I don't I'm not 338 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: one of those people who has like a garage stuffed 339 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: with records, but This kind of gave me the warm fuzzies. 340 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: The Mega Corporation soft Bank sold the British semiconductor chip 341 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: company ARM two VideA for forty billion dollars in September. 342 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: You can learn more about ARM and a couple of 343 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: episodes are recorded back in so check the archives because 344 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: it is a fascinating company and a great story. Nintendo 345 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: announced it would discontinue the Nintendo three DS handheld console 346 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: in September. I remember being at E three a decade 347 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: ago and seeing the debut of the three DS. The 348 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: three D S line was the successor to the older 349 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: Nintendo d S systems and traces its lineage back to 350 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: the old Game Boy days. The announcement meant that Nintendo 351 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: would be focusing solely on the Nintendo Switch from a 352 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: hardware standpoint, so that line of handheld consoles is no more. 353 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: Sticking with game news, Microsoft and it was acquiring a 354 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,880 Speaker 1: company called Zeni Max for seven point five billion dollars, 355 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: which might not mean much to most people, but Zenni 356 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: Max is the parent company to Bethesda, a famous video 357 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: game development studio. Bethesda is known for series like the 358 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: recent Doom games, uh for the Fallout games and for 359 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: the Elder Scrolls games. In recent years, the company has 360 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: put out a few games that have received a mixed reception, or, 361 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: as was the case with Fallout seventy six, a largely 362 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: negative reaction. Now Bethesda joins other acquisitions like Bungee, the 363 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: company that created the Halo franchise, by becoming part of 364 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: the Microsoft family. Analysts saw this as a huge win 365 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: for Microsoft, which would be able to bring Bethesda's catalog 366 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: of games to the Game Pass service, which is an 367 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: ongoing subscription service that gives gamers access to a wide 368 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,200 Speaker 1: range of games without having to purchase the individual titles. 369 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: Moving on into October, now we're making some progress. We 370 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: saw some new hardware from Google and Apple debut in October. 371 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: Google introduced the Pixel five G smartphone, which seemed to 372 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:15,399 Speaker 1: indicate that Google was backing away from the super expensive 373 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: luxury phone market. Well, you might spend a thousand dollars 374 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: or more on a premium smartphone from other companies. Google's 375 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: new Pixel five G flagship phone has the bargain budget 376 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:33,679 Speaker 1: price of SIS. Don't get me wrong, that is still expensive, 377 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 1: but it's no longer priced in that high range of 378 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: phones on the market. And as the name indicates, it's 379 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: compatible with five G networks. And a couple of weeks 380 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,120 Speaker 1: after that, Apple held its virtual Event to announce four 381 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: new iPhone models. So on the low end you have 382 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: the iPhone twelve Mini, which, like the Pixel five G, 383 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: starts at six. On the other end of the spectrum 384 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: is the iPhone twelve Pro Max, which has a starting 385 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: price of a thousand dollars and it goes up from 386 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: there depending on which model you get. The phone has 387 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: all the features that you've come to expect on an iPhone, 388 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: including incredible cameras. The iPhone twelve Pro and Pro Max 389 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: both have three cameras on the back of the phone. 390 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: The other two models have two cameras on the back. 391 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: Here in Atlanta, we learned that our local American football team, 392 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: the Falcons, would be playing home games in the stadium 393 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,359 Speaker 1: that would be disinfected by drones, which is a weird 394 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: sentence that I didn't think I would ever say. The 395 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:43,159 Speaker 1: stadium partnered with Lucid Drone Technologies to use drones designated 396 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:48,959 Speaker 1: D one to distribute disinfectant over the seats, handrails, and 397 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: other parts of the stadium where the audience would sit 398 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: or the fans. The drones have a sort of mister 399 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: or sprinkler attachment on either side of the body that 400 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: points downward, so it flies above these areas and sprays 401 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: disinfectant downward. I am not sure how well this works. 402 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: Anyone who knows me knows I get a bit head 403 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: up about big public gatherings in this time, even under 404 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: controlled circumstances. But I'm gonna let that drop. I realized 405 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,959 Speaker 1: I'm just one voice out there. Um. But be safe, guys, 406 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,120 Speaker 1: you know, just be safe. John McAfee, the guy who 407 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: founded McFee anti virus software, was arrested in Spain in October. 408 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,919 Speaker 1: McAfee has quite the checkered past, having been involved in 409 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,879 Speaker 1: a murder investigation at one point, but he was arrested 410 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: on the charge of tax evasion, same thing they got 411 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: Capone for. The US government said McAfee willfully did not 412 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: file tax returns for several years in the United States. 413 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 1: Also interesting, at one point, McAfee had declared he was 414 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: running for president for the sixteen election. Didn't really go anywhere, 415 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: but he announced his his candidacy at one point. Anyway, 416 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: He's still in Spain. He's in prison awaiting extradition hearings. 417 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: While he's there. Um, he just has been further remanded 418 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: into the custody of Spanish prisons after appealing that and 419 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,159 Speaker 1: losing that appeal. One interesting story from October was the 420 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 1: discovery of pieces of a jet engine buried in Greenland's 421 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 1: ice sheet. Now, to be clear, we knew there were 422 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: pieces of a jet engine down there somewhere. This was 423 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: not like discovering an ancient cave and oh my gosh, 424 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: for some reason, there's an xbox in here. Aliens no 425 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: no back in an airbus jet was flying over Greenland 426 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: when one of its four engines suffered a catastrophic failure 427 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: and part of the engine broke off. Now that jet 428 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: managed to have a safe emergency landing in Canada. No 429 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 1: one was hurt, but for years people were searching for 430 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: these pieces of jet engine parts in Greenland in order 431 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: to do a full investigation into what actually caused the failure. 432 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: The prevailing hypothesis was that the engine had suffered some 433 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: damage during maintenance operations on the ground. The pieces were 434 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,199 Speaker 1: found in late twenty twenty, and after close examination, it 435 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: appears that maintenance was not the issue, but rather that 436 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: the metal used to hold the jet engines fan in 437 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: place was weak and it broke apart. And companies had 438 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: already started to address this particular issue uh in the 439 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,119 Speaker 1: in the years between when it happened and when we 440 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: found the pieces and made the investigation. But it prompted 441 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,360 Speaker 1: a new discussion about needing more rigorous standards and tests 442 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: for jet engine manufacturing processes. Moving forward, Here's a terrible 443 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,920 Speaker 1: story in a year of terrible stories. Hackers were able 444 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: to access confidential medical records of patients undergoing psychotherapy treatment 445 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: in Finland. Their records included personal identification addresses, as well 446 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,960 Speaker 1: as some details about the patient's condition, though they did 447 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: not include thorough notes or doctor patient discussions, but certainly 448 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 1: enough information to potentially be harmful. The hackers sent emails 449 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: in two various patients demanding that they be paid a 450 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 1: ransom or else they would make the information public. And y'all, 451 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: that is some seriously awful stuff going on right there, 452 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: because getting help just on its own can be very hard, 453 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: and it requires people to put a lot of trust 454 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 1: into systems and health care professionals. So in action like 455 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: this isn't just predatory, it's abusive and harmful to the 456 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: people who had to overcome the stigma of seeking help 457 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,840 Speaker 1: for for mental health issues in the first place. Authorities 458 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: recommended that patients not agree to the black tailor's terms 459 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: and said that there was no guarantee that their data 460 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: would remain private even if they did pay them. So 461 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: if your data isn't guaranteed private either way, you don't 462 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: go ahead and hand more money over it. Plus any 463 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,959 Speaker 1: payment would reinforce the idea that this the strategy works 464 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: and it would encourage further attacks. Finland's National Bureau of 465 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,240 Speaker 1: Investigation has been looking into the company, which is called Vastamo, 466 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: to determine if the company or its officers are accountable 467 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: for the vulnerability, and in researching this I found the 468 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: hack actually happened way back in though the extortion notices 469 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: have been much more recent, with those in possession of 470 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 1: the data publishing some of it on the dark web 471 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: as proof that they have access. Here's the thing, we 472 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: don't even necessarily know that the people who are doing 473 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: the blackmailing are the same ones who did the infiltration 474 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: in the first place. It could very well be that 475 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: someone hacked into the system, got access to all that data, 476 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: made it available, or sold it online and someone else 477 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: has taken that and they're using it to do the blackmailing. 478 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: We just don't know. October was also one month before 479 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: the US elections, and at this point things were really 480 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: moving at a frantic pace. You could not go a 481 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,680 Speaker 1: day without news reports about potential threats to the election system. 482 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 1: There were stories of attempted ransomware attacks, there were states 483 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: that were beefing up their cybersecurity protocols, and peace after 484 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: peace about the mountain of misinformation campaigns running across various 485 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: social platforms. No platform was immune to this. Twitter was 486 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,960 Speaker 1: faring a little better than Facebook in the public eye, 487 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: simply because Twitter was taking a slightly more proactive approach 488 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: to labeling tweets that contained misleading information in them, as 489 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: well as taking steps to ban accounts uh that were 490 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: body accounts or or run by members of extremist groups, 491 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 1: White Supreme Assists, and that sort of thing. Facebook finally 492 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: bowed under the pressure and began to ban q and 493 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: on groups after the company had been resisting that push 494 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,719 Speaker 1: to do so for a couple of years. YouTube was 495 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,280 Speaker 1: still dragging its feet even more regarding taking action against 496 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: groups that were actively pushing out disinformation campaigns and attempting 497 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,360 Speaker 1: to promote you know, racist agenda. So YouTube was was 498 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: faring even worse than Facebook in this case. It was 499 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: all really really ugly stuff and still remains that to 500 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: this day. Like it's not like all this stuff has 501 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: already been solved. Now, if you're in the United States, 502 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,080 Speaker 1: you're likely well aware of how all this would play 503 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: out over the following months. But in case you're not, 504 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:46,600 Speaker 1: here's a very quick rundown. President Trump would lose his 505 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: reelection bid, though it took time for that to be 506 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: clear due to lots of complicated reasons. Mostly those boiled 507 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: down to that there was a very large number of 508 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: mail in ballots that need to be counted, and several 509 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: states passed laws that prevented election officials from prepping those 510 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: ballots at all to be counted ahead of election day itself. 511 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: But that gets into a whole discussion about optics and 512 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: politics that doesn't have that much to do with technology. 513 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: Trump would then proclaim that he in fact won an 514 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 1: election that he lost, and his legal team would travel 515 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: the United States mounting baseless cases challenging the outcome of 516 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: the election. The team would lose more than fifty of 517 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: those legal cases. In the meantime, Trump would tweet out 518 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,200 Speaker 1: allegations saying that the various states had failed to protect 519 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: the election process, while states and heads of various federal 520 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 1: agencies said, in fact, due to the enormous amount of 521 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: pressure caused by stuff like the pandemic and the fears 522 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: of foreign interference, the process was actually safer than it 523 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: had ever been in the history of elections. It is 524 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: hard to put into words how dangerous it is that 525 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: the president is the one under mining confidence in the 526 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: democratic process. Well, the legal cases have nearly all fallen 527 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: apart completely, the rhetoric continues down the path of misinformation. Okay, 528 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 1: we are done with October, and I even covered that 529 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: election fall out a bit, which so when we come back, 530 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 1: we're gonna round out and we're gonna leave that year 531 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: behind us. But first let's take a quick break. So 532 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: in early November, we had the elections. As I mentioned, 533 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: in California, voters past Proposition twenty two, which gave companies 534 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,160 Speaker 1: like Uber and Lift and exemption when it comes to 535 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: calling their workers employees, which was a big win for 536 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: those companies, not necessarily a big win for the workers. 537 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:57,280 Speaker 1: And before that vote, judges were deciding against companies like 538 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: Uber and left, but with the passing of Prop. Twenty two, 539 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: that was no longer an option because now it's law, 540 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: as opposed to the interpretation of a law. We also 541 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: learned that Uber had lost nearly six billion dollars in 542 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and remember this was from a report in 543 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,840 Speaker 1: early November, so there was more to come. Again, Uber 544 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: is a company that has never seen a profitable year, 545 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,280 Speaker 1: and it amazes me how companies like this can continue 546 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,279 Speaker 1: to exist for years after losing so much money year 547 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: over year. I mean, I can lose money too, so 548 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:38,439 Speaker 1: someone invest a billion bucks into me. Twitter would permanently 549 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: ban Steve Bannon, the former White House Chief strategist, from 550 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,800 Speaker 1: ever having an account on Twitter again, and the inciting 551 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,840 Speaker 1: action in this case was that Bannon had posted a 552 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,680 Speaker 1: tweet suggesting that Christopher Ray, the director of the FBI, 553 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:59,640 Speaker 1: and Dr Anthony Fauci should be beheaded, which, hey, turns out, 554 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,879 Speaker 1: that a truly despicable thing to do, though apparently not 555 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: despicable enough for Facebook to do the same. Zuckerberg said 556 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 1: it wasn't enough for a band. Steve Bannon was one 557 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: of a few people supporting Trump's allegations that Trump actually 558 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: won the election, despite the fact that you know he 559 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: lost it. Meanwhile, Steve Bannon, under a criminal investigation, had 560 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: bigger things to worry about, as his lawyers withdrew from 561 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: the case, which means he got dumped by his own 562 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: legal team. Tesla, the electric car company, introduced its own 563 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: brand of tequila in November, and guys, seriously, I know 564 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:42,799 Speaker 1: is over for you guys as you listen to this, 565 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,600 Speaker 1: but as I write and record this, I am still 566 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,239 Speaker 1: in and I want out. Is it nice where you 567 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,359 Speaker 1: guys are? I mean, a car company rolling out a 568 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: brand of hard alcohol is pretty dang taboo driving an alcohol. 569 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:03,200 Speaker 1: Don't mix, y'all. The tequila, which came in lightning shaped bottles, 570 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:07,240 Speaker 1: cost two fifty dollars a pop and sold out quickly. 571 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 1: And seriously, I cannot express how messed up I find 572 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:15,320 Speaker 1: all of this. Now. Maybe it's just that I'm old fashioned, 573 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 1: I am a bit or you know, ignorant, or however 574 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: you want to put it. But I suppose you could 575 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,600 Speaker 1: argue that this is, in a way another nod to 576 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,839 Speaker 1: the future of self driving cars, in which the car 577 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: can't come under the influence. But we're not there yet. 578 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:37,040 Speaker 1: Tesla in particular has had some high profile massive failures 579 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:41,319 Speaker 1: of its autopilot system being used as a self driving system, 580 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,880 Speaker 1: and I don't imagine we're gonna have a future anytime 581 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,840 Speaker 1: soon in which it will be legal to be drunk 582 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,600 Speaker 1: in a vehicle, just in case there is a scenario 583 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: in which a human has to take over control. Meanwhile, 584 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,880 Speaker 1: Virgin hyper loop conducted its first test run with actual 585 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 1: human beings inside the passenger compartment of a test capsule 586 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: or train car if you prefer. For those not familiar 587 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:10,239 Speaker 1: with the hyperlop concept, this was another idea championed by 588 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: Elon Musk. The original concept was to create a rail 589 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,440 Speaker 1: system inside a tunnel, and fans would pull most of 590 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 1: the air out of the tunnel system and exhaust that 591 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: into the general atmosphere outside. This would create a very 592 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: low air pressure environment inside the tunnel itself, and it 593 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:32,760 Speaker 1: would also cut way down on air resistance. A train 594 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:36,360 Speaker 1: on the track would use air bearings, which is essentially 595 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,640 Speaker 1: the idea of blowing air straight down hard enough to 596 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:44,160 Speaker 1: create a space between the train and the track so 597 00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: the train floats above the track. Then it would use 598 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:52,960 Speaker 1: a linear electric motor as a means of propulsion essentially magnetism. 599 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,560 Speaker 1: By not making actual physical contact with the track and 600 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: by removing most of the air out of the system, 601 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,919 Speaker 1: you very little resistance and so you would lose very 602 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 1: little energy due to friction, which means you could get 603 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,600 Speaker 1: these things up to incredible speeds without having to spend 604 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 1: energy to overcome those resistances. By train, you might be 605 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,000 Speaker 1: able to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 606 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,399 Speaker 1: thirty five minutes, which is a trip that would take 607 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 1: you more than six hours to drive. Typically, the hyper 608 00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:27,920 Speaker 1: loop is a proposed alternative to stuff like short plane flights, 609 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: So ideally you would use the hyper loop to take 610 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:35,800 Speaker 1: over routes where the process of going through an airport, clearing, security, boarding, 611 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: and d boarding a plane actually takes more time than 612 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,239 Speaker 1: the flight time of the trip. But this approach also 613 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,759 Speaker 1: requires an enormous investment to build out the infrastructure, the 614 00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,719 Speaker 1: rail systems and such. Not to mention, you have to 615 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: do a ton of work with various federal, state, and 616 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,400 Speaker 1: local governments to coordinate all of this. But for now 617 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:00,360 Speaker 1: we're still in knee tech development phase. So Virgin hyper 618 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,680 Speaker 1: loop originally started out as hyperlop technologies, then later became 619 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 1: hyper Loop one before partnering with Richard Branson's company Virgin Group. 620 00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 1: The whole story behind the company is interesting, and I've 621 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: covered a little bit in previous episodes of Tech Stuff. 622 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:17,839 Speaker 1: There's plenty of drama in there, so maybe I'll do 623 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,880 Speaker 1: a full like deep dive examination of Virgin hyper Loop. 624 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,399 Speaker 1: But the test we saw in November was the first 625 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,160 Speaker 1: to have actual human beings a board of test capsule 626 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,240 Speaker 1: traveling on a test track, and the test was a success. 627 00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,040 Speaker 1: But there's still a ton that has to be done 628 00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 1: before hyperloop becomes a practical reality. Apple, fresh off its 629 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:42,239 Speaker 1: iPhone event in October, held a Mac focused event in 630 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 1: November introducing new computers. I don't have much to say 631 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:48,840 Speaker 1: about that except that it was a genuine treat to 632 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: see John Hodgeman, friend of the I Heart Network, pop 633 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,719 Speaker 1: up and reprise his role as the PC and to 634 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: dismissively critique the new line of Mac computers. Ring The 635 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,759 Speaker 1: security Doorbell Company was in the news in November, and 636 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:08,040 Speaker 1: not because of the controversial partnerships the company has formed 637 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,600 Speaker 1: with various police departments. Nope, in this case, it's because 638 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,440 Speaker 1: they had to recall three fifty thousand doorbells after a 639 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:18,520 Speaker 1: few of them, you know, caught on fire, which, as 640 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:20,640 Speaker 1: I understand, it is not what you want a doorbell 641 00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: to do. Both the PS five and the Xbox Series 642 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:30,320 Speaker 1: X and Series S debuted late in The Xbox series 643 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,440 Speaker 1: consoles have a little bit of a problem in that 644 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,680 Speaker 1: there are very few compelling exclusive titles available for the systems. 645 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:40,000 Speaker 1: Yet the PS five has a problem in that there 646 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:43,640 Speaker 1: just aren't enough consoles and it's devilishly hard to get 647 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:47,760 Speaker 1: hold of one. And in the entire year Nintendo Switch 648 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: has sold really, really well and it still could be 649 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,720 Speaker 1: hard to find one of those. We learned what former 650 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,480 Speaker 1: Yahoo CEO and Google executive Marrissa Meyer has been up to. 651 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 1: In November of me she and another former Yahoo and 652 00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 1: Google executive named Henri Kae Torres founded a startup originally 653 00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:11,000 Speaker 1: called Loumi Labs and then rebranded as Sunshine, and they 654 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:15,080 Speaker 1: launched their first product in November. It's an app called 655 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: Sunshine Contacts, and it uses AI to help manage contact 656 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,440 Speaker 1: lists and communication. Now, on the surface, it all sounds 657 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:27,120 Speaker 1: like pretty basic stuff, but it really does come in handy. 658 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:31,160 Speaker 1: It helps consolidate duplicate entries in your contact list, and 659 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:34,440 Speaker 1: consolidate them together so that you have just a single 660 00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:37,919 Speaker 1: entry for people. It helps keep communication histories at hand 661 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,520 Speaker 1: to facilitate communication. So there's a lot of stuff where 662 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,160 Speaker 1: it's a lot of like the busy work you would 663 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:43,879 Speaker 1: have to do on your own in order to keep 664 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:46,719 Speaker 1: up to date, and it handles it for you. Uh, 665 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:53,600 Speaker 1: not like stupendous, but arguably useful. Moving on into December, 666 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,960 Speaker 1: and yes, there were a lot of other tech stories 667 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,480 Speaker 1: that happened in November, but so many of them just 668 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:03,160 Speaker 1: tie back into misinformation and the election in particular, and 669 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,960 Speaker 1: then antitrust discussions about companies like Facebook. But I've already 670 00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 1: covered that in these episodes, so let's get back into 671 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:14,920 Speaker 1: December now. There was a big focus on new misinformation campaigns, 672 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:19,160 Speaker 1: ones that revolve around the vaccines for COVID nineteen. Uh, 673 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 1: there's a lot of cool stuff about the vaccines. Are 674 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:25,200 Speaker 1: some of the vaccines and how they were developed, And 675 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: I think that's gonna necessitate a dedicated episode to talk 676 00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: about stuff like the COVID vaccine in general and then 677 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,760 Speaker 1: the m r in A vaccines variants of the COVID 678 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:41,040 Speaker 1: vaccine in particular. But back to this story, misinformation remains 679 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 1: a huge concern. As always, using critical thinking is key 680 00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:49,640 Speaker 1: when you see information about well anything really, but vaccines 681 00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:54,520 Speaker 1: for sure. In the short term, bottom line, vaccines are important. 682 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 1: They are a necessary component to protecting more people from COVID. 683 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 1: They are not part of some weird mind control conspiracy 684 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:07,000 Speaker 1: or anything like that, and if you can get one, 685 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:10,680 Speaker 1: you should. Most states here in the US are implementing 686 00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:13,520 Speaker 1: a phased rollout for vaccines to make sure the most 687 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:17,560 Speaker 1: critical populations received them first, so my plans to get 688 00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,279 Speaker 1: one as soon as I am eligible, as soon as 689 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,480 Speaker 1: the phase for general accessibility of the vaccine opens up. 690 00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:31,000 Speaker 1: In December, after numerous delays, the video game Cyberpunk went 691 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,080 Speaker 1: on sale, and what followed was a series of pretty 692 00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 1: scathing reviews due to numerous bugs and glitches in the game, 693 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,600 Speaker 1: some of which made the game unplayable or they would 694 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: crash the game without warning. It was bad enough that 695 00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:50,799 Speaker 1: Sony pulled the game from their PlayStation store. Yikes. The 696 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: story of the game's development and the rush to publication 697 00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:55,480 Speaker 1: is one that I am going to cover in a 698 00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,719 Speaker 1: future episode of tech Stuff. It's another one that makes 699 00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:02,200 Speaker 1: me feel awful for the developers who clearly worked very 700 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,880 Speaker 1: hard on something that wasn't ready for public consumption, and 701 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,080 Speaker 1: now they're facing some of the nastiest criticisms I've seen 702 00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:12,000 Speaker 1: in a long time. I think the story here is 703 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,520 Speaker 1: bigger than that, and it includes stuff like the expectations 704 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:18,520 Speaker 1: that we have free games, and the economic model used 705 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,400 Speaker 1: by game developers that puts them in a bind, and 706 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:26,680 Speaker 1: the publishers that lock in release dates, and then even 707 00:44:26,719 --> 00:44:28,799 Speaker 1: after a couple of delays, they're like, well, no, we 708 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:32,120 Speaker 1: have to ship now because we've made the promises too frequently, 709 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:35,399 Speaker 1: even though the game's not ready. All of that it's 710 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 1: complicated stuff, and we're gonna save it for a future episode. 711 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:42,480 Speaker 1: The company Airbnb became publicly traded in December. It had 712 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,399 Speaker 1: its I p O, and it sought stock price more 713 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:48,920 Speaker 1: than double on its debut on the stock market. That 714 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:54,240 Speaker 1: instantly made Airbnb more valuable than the established hotel chains 715 00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:59,080 Speaker 1: Marriott and Hilton combined. Wow, And this is in a 716 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:01,200 Speaker 1: year when a lot of people will cut way back 717 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:06,360 Speaker 1: on travel, and Airbnb itself had held some pretty significant layoffs. 718 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,760 Speaker 1: We learned that Reddit is buying a TikTok competitor called 719 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,680 Speaker 1: dub smash. Uh. This is a fairly recent story, so 720 00:45:14,719 --> 00:45:17,040 Speaker 1: I suspect I'll have more to say about it in 721 00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:22,640 Speaker 1: a future update. I'll conclude this episode with a sobering 722 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:26,720 Speaker 1: story that is still unfolding. There is a software vendor 723 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,520 Speaker 1: called Solar Winds that has a lot of really big 724 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:34,279 Speaker 1: time customers among the major governmental agencies here in the 725 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:38,440 Speaker 1: United States. In December, we learned that hackers had exploited 726 00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:43,160 Speaker 1: vulnerabilities in a particular Solar Winds product to gain access 727 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:48,839 Speaker 1: to information belonging to Solar Winds clients, including those government agencies. 728 00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:52,880 Speaker 1: And further, the hackers appear to have ties to Russia, 729 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:58,200 Speaker 1: and these hacks represent a potentially catastrophic breach of national security. 730 00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:02,560 Speaker 1: The Solar Winds p the the hackers targeted is called 731 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:06,960 Speaker 1: Oriyan and its purposes to manage various I T resources, 732 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:10,640 Speaker 1: and solar Winds has a lot of clients that use Orion, 733 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:15,280 Speaker 1: like more than thirty thousand of them. Well, evidence seems 734 00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: to suggest Russia is at the heart of all this. 735 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:22,680 Speaker 1: Trump has suggested, without presenting any evidence at all, that 736 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:26,560 Speaker 1: China is behind it. And well, there's not much I 737 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,000 Speaker 1: can say about this that would be objective and even handed, 738 00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:32,840 Speaker 1: so I'll just keep it at that, But this is 739 00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:34,600 Speaker 1: another story that I'm going to have to do a 740 00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:37,279 Speaker 1: full breakdown on in a future episode. I even have 741 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,000 Speaker 1: a special guest in mind to bring on for that 742 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:42,919 Speaker 1: so that we can really dive into it. The hack 743 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:46,480 Speaker 1: hits not just the US government, but numerous big companies 744 00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:49,880 Speaker 1: as well. The scope of the attack is enormous and 745 00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:53,560 Speaker 1: the potential harm is hard to calculate. From what I understand, 746 00:46:53,680 --> 00:46:56,480 Speaker 1: it might take years to secure systems that have been 747 00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,799 Speaker 1: compromised in this attack. I suspect it's going to lead 748 00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:03,640 Speaker 1: to some big changes in cybersecurity protocols and also in 749 00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:07,440 Speaker 1: the vetting of third party software vendors, and I suspect 750 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:11,239 Speaker 1: Solar Winds is going to have some pretty rough meetings 751 00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:15,280 Speaker 1: for the foreseeable future. And that wraps up the news. 752 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:20,320 Speaker 1: As of December twenty five, twenty twenty, which is when 753 00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:23,840 Speaker 1: I am writing this sentence, I think we're going to 754 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,400 Speaker 1: see a lot more stories about antitrust investigations and pressure 755 00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:31,680 Speaker 1: for big companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple to 756 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:36,359 Speaker 1: change or face government regulations. Heck, even in China, the 757 00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:40,040 Speaker 1: government there is looking into antitrust issues with Ali Baba, 758 00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:44,960 Speaker 1: Big tech might have a pretty rough a couple of 759 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:48,040 Speaker 1: other things before we go. However, moving forward, we're going 760 00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:51,440 Speaker 1: to have Tech Stuff five days a week. Mondays and 761 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:55,200 Speaker 1: Wednesdays will be the normal Tech Stuff format with deep 762 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:59,319 Speaker 1: dives on various tech topics, But on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 763 00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:02,840 Speaker 1: I'm going to rundown more recent headlines and tech news 764 00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,319 Speaker 1: to talk about what's just going on in the tech 765 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,520 Speaker 1: world and give a little context to those stories. So 766 00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:11,600 Speaker 1: it'll be a bit different from our typical episodes. Actually, 767 00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:13,760 Speaker 1: in some ways it may be a little more similar 768 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:17,480 Speaker 1: to this episode. Friday's will still be classic episodes of 769 00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:20,839 Speaker 1: the show from deep within the archives and back when 770 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:25,120 Speaker 1: Tech mostly consisted of rocks, string and a somewhat sketchy 771 00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:27,720 Speaker 1: business plan, which I guess is not all that different 772 00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:35,239 Speaker 1: from today. I suppose YEA. Tech Stuff is an I 773 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:38,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 774 00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:42,360 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 775 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:43,960 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.