WEBVTT - Tech News: Roku Goes Kaput 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.640 Hey there, and welcome to tech stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.000 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.080 And how the tech are you? This is the tech 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:29.440 news for Thursday, January twenty twenty two. And uh, if 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.760 you are a Roku user, you may have experienced a 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:37.560 loss in service last night, that being Wednesday, January nineteenth, 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:39.640 in case you missed when I had just said the date. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.640 Apparently something on the back end uh in technical terms, 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:48.919 done messed up as several owners of Roku streaming devices 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.520 and Roku television's saw their devices freeze or get caught 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.920 in a reboot loop. People took to Twitter to express 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.800 their frustration as their respective idiot boxes appeared to waive 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.920 the white flag. Idiot boxes or what some hoity toity 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:08.640 folks in the nineteen fifties used as a slang for television's. Apparently, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:13.000 some users weren't even able to use non Roku services 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:17.280 on their Roku televisions, including stuff like video game consoles, 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:20.480 media players like DVD and blue ray, set top boxes, 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:27.080 or cable boxes, so the television was just defunct. Roku 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:31.319 was able to restore services later that night. But it's 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.680 another reminder that a lot of the technology we seek 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:39.080 out today relies heavily on a back end somewhere else, 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.520 and when something goes wrong in the back end, our 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:45.840 tech stops working, which is kind of like what happens 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:48.000 to me when my back end starts to act up. 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.800 But that's probably t m I. Anyway, When we think 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.120 of this, along with stuff like the one outage of 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.880 a large part of Amazon Web Services, we really see 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.320 how vulnerable some of our technology is to failure, and 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.640 it's beyond our control. We can't do anything about it. 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.080 We have to wait for someone else to fix something 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:12.919 somewhere else. Now, all that being said, most of the 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:18.240 time our technology works just fine because most of the 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:22.280 companies running those back end systems are spending a lot 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.560 of resources building out redundancy to minimize the chances of outages. 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:28.800 I mean, outages are just bad for business, So this 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:33.639 makes sense now. The outages still occasionally happen, but they 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:37.720 haven't been too frequent, and in most cases companies have 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.160 been able to resolve the issues within a few hours. 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.200 So while I think it's good to reflect on how 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.240 much of our tech relies on centralized systems that are 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:49.280 beyond our control. It's good to be aware of that. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.120 I wouldn't go so far as to say we're headed 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:58.840 toward catastrophe because of that model. Also, the specifics of 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.480 what actually went raw with Roku, as at least as 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.560 I record this uh, haven't been disclosed. Roku hasn't said 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.120 what happened as I record this episode. I'm sure by 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.080 the time this goes live will know more. The International 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.600 Committee of the Red Cross has been hit with a 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:19.440 cyber attack. More specifically, a firm based in Switzerland that 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.760 provides data storage services to the Red Cross was the 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.640 actual target. The Red Cross has yet to name what 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.840 that firm is, which I think is an incredible courtesy 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.840 to the company. The hackers gained access to personal information 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.120 of more than half a million people in the process, 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.320 and that includes people who are in truly dire situations, 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:44.280 like people who are separated from their families in the 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:48.520 wake of a natural disaster or military conflict. In other words, 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:53.560 people who have already lost an incredible amount like in 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:58.000 some cases everything but their lives now have had their 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:01.800 data compromised through this attack. At the time of recording, 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.680 I don't have information on who was responsible for the 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.360 attack nor what their intentions were in the first place. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.960 The Red Cross says that ransomware was not a factor. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.160 The Red Cross released a statement saying the organization is 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:19.680 committed to contacting affected individuals and informed them of potential 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:24.080 risks they face as a consequence of this breach. So 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.839 do you remember on Tuesday when we had that breaking 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.440 news at the time anyway, that Microsoft was showing out 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.719 more than sixty eight billion dollars in cold hard cash 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:39.719 to purchase the video game company Activision Blizzard. If you 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:44.080 didn't listen to that episode and you've somehow avoided that news, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:49.919 well surprise anyway. Microsoft has released a press statement that 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.000 said the acquisition would repel the company into third place 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:58.640 in the largest video game companies by revenue category, behind 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:03.279 Sony Intencent. And then Bloomberg reported that Sony's stock price 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:10.279 fell on Wednesday. That represents some twenty billion dollars of 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:14.240 market value, which is a big old yawlsa. Now, I 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.159 am no financial expert by any stretch of the imagination, 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.400 but I have a gut feeling that this drop in 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:26.480 value is strictly temporary and largely reactionary. I've seen some 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.760 analysts suggest that Microsoft will turn some franchises like the 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.280 popular Call of Duty series, which is one of Activision 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.600 Blizzards big titles, that Microsoft will turn that into Xbox 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:43.280 and PC exclusive titles, or at least they will contain 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:46.040 a lot of content that's exclusive to those platforms and 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.880 won't be allowed on other platforms, and that this could 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.000 in turn really hurt Sony because you know, PlayStation owners 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.000 wouldn't have access to that content. It will give them 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.840 an incentive to switch platforms. But then, you know, I 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:04.120 hear these arguments, but Sony has long leveraged exclusive content 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:08.599 on its consoles, either with exclusive titles where the only 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.160 place you can play those titles is on a PlayStation, 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:16.000 or with exclusive levels or other content like That's been 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.400 part and parcel of sony strategy for years, and in fact, 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:22.920 it's done that way more frequently than Microsoft. Now that 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.560 I think Microsoft wouldn't have loved to do the same thing, 0:06:26.120 --> 0:06:29.080 they just didn't have the same opportunities in many cases. 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:32.479 And so far, at least, Microsoft is sending out the 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.280 message that they don't intend to limit the platforms upon 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:39.640 which games are appearing, so that seems to be saying 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:46.400 We're not going to suddenly turn off these titles for PlayStation. Uh. 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.839 Of course, that that message could just have the unspoken 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:55.440 for now, you know at the end of it. Um, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:07:00.279 I don't know. It's also possible. In fact, Pole at 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.120 Microsoft had have said as much that the company really 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.760 just wants to get a version of Xbox game Pass 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:07.760 on PlayStation, which would be a heck of a thing. 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.160 But you know, it's a subscription based service that lets 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:16.400 people you know, access different video games for a monthly 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:21.640 fee instead of buying titles individually. And of course, titles 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.200 can disappear from the service after a while, kind of 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.880 like how some content can appear on Netflix and then 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:32.440 suddenly be inaccessible. Cough that Mitchell and web look cough anyway, Um, 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.680 it would be really interesting to see if Microsoft could 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.600 get game Pass onto PlayStation. It would be away for 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.160 Microsoft to make money off of a competitor's platform. That 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.840 would be incredible. Um. But I suspect at any rate 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:51.120 that we're gonna see Sony's market value recover before too long. 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.480 In fact, this acquisition isn't even scheduled to close until 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.960 sometime in Microsoft's twenty three fiscal year. Now, I should 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.360 point out that that fiscal year actually starts July one 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.960 of this year two. Uh. Microsoft fiscal year goes from 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:13.920 July one to June each year, so fiscal year two 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:18.360 will end June and fiscal year twenty twenty three will 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:22.840 start July one, two. Because fiscal years and calendar years 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.640 frequently don't line up. I mean, it's different for every company, 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.200 but it is not unusual to see a company have 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:34.600 its fiscal year that is significantly offset from the calendar year. Now. 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.160 One of the things some folks have commented on with 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.600 these Microsoft acquisitions, not just in gaming but in other 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.200 fields as well, is that the company has hiking up 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:47.720 its bridges to wade on into the metaverse competitive landscape, 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:52.760 as nebulous and vague as that is. Meanwhile, Ken Kutaragi, 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:58.040 who invented the PlayStation, a former Sony executive, has expressed 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:02.679 some skepticism about the metaverse concept, saying I can't see 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:06.080 the point of doing it, and y'all know me. Y'all 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.400 know I side with Kutaragi on this one, but I 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:13.240 also admit that my lack of enthusiasm about the metaverse 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.000 could totally be because I have blinders on and I'm 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.120 just not seeing the big picture. Uh. That's I totally 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:24.480 confess that could be the case. I don't see it, 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:28.480 but that doesn't mean that there's not something to be seen. Uh. 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.120 In fact, there's a lot of stuff out there that 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.080 gains a lot of traction that just baffles me, and 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.040 it proves to me that I'm one of those folks 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.360 who gets more and more out of touch as I 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.240 get older. It's that's I'm aware of it, and I 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.679 cannot stop it because I see stuff go popular and 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.920 I think I don't get it. But this isn't about 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:52.200 me anyway. Kudaragi like in the metaverse, which people will, 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:56.640 you know, presumably inhabit virtual spaces and be represented by 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:01.000 an avatar to stand in for their physical buddy. He 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:05.240 compared that to anonymous message board sites. Kutaragi appeared to 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.160 be saying that, you know, it's just a technological way 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.800 to pretend to be someone who you are not. And 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.160 when you put it that way, I can actually totally 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.360 see how the metaverse could potentially get super popular because 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:21.200 we've already seen social networking sites flourish as people use 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.640 those sites to create an image of their own lives 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.200 that isn't necessarily a reflection of reality. You know, it's 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:32.480 kind of a presentation of their idealized life, and it's 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.920 leaving out all the messy stuff and all the mundane stuff. Um. 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:39.200 You know, so many Instagrammers out there have kind of 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:44.560 cultivated this aura of being special and constantly blessed with 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:48.520 good fortune, you know, taking photos of themselves and exotic 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:54.000 locations with like expensive surroundings and you know, in great lighting, 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.440 and they look perfect, and they're using filters to make 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:01.680 them look even more perfect. It's become, you know, a 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.440 whole trope. And in fact, it's also a concern for 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.560 folks who worry about young kids, especially girls and young women, 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:11.200 who might experience mental health problems as they encounter this 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:15.199 presentation of a seemingly perfect life and they're comparing their 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:21.760 own lives negatively to that fake really example, So yeah, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.680 in that respect, I could see how the metaverse could 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:28.160 take off, right where everyone says, finally I can present 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:31.199 to the world a version of myself that I wish 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:35.200 I were, as opposed to this sack of meeting bones 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.199 that I am. And meanwhile, I'm sitting here thinking like 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.880 I'm okay being a sack of meeting bones. I'll just 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.760 I'll be a grumpy hermit in the ldite forest. I 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.600 suppose uh, because this is not a selling point for me. 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.559 But um yeah, that seems to be what Kutaragi is saying. 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:54.679 I could be reading way too much into that. I 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.440 I admit I got a lot of baggage when it 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.520 comes to the concept of the metaverse. Okay, we've got 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.080 lots of other stories to cover, but before we get 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:14.160 to those, let's take a quick break. So before the break, 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:16.280 you know, we were talking about the metaverse, and of 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.800 course we're not done yet, because that is the topic 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.240 in early two. I sure hope by the end of 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.480 this year people aren't talking about as much, but I 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.280 think that might be a hope in vain. But PC 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.520 Gamer and several other outlets have reported that meta slash 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.439 Facebook holds a bunch of patents that may point toward 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.760 how the company will leverage certain technologies uh and the 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.920 metaverse to make truckloads more money, mainly through advertising. So 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.439 those patents include a lot of stuff about haptic feedback 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.920 and tracking user movement, so a lot of stuff about 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.959 how a user will interact with a virtual environment. How 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:00.720 that virtual environment will be able to detect act what 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.800 the users doing and thus render it so that it 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:09.199 makes sense within the virtual environment. And beyond that, it's 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.080 supposed to, you know, kind of help the virtual environment 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.120 understand why where someone is looking. And you can see 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.560 why that would be important, right because it needs to 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:22.200 present to the viewer an appropriate image. If I'm you know, 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.200 standing around and I'm turning my head left and right, 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.920 well the virtual environment better reflect that or else it's 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.320 going to be a terrible experience, probably make me sick, 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.440 and I'll never want to do it again. But some 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.400 of the tech that is covered by the patents includes 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:42.240 eye tracking stuff, so that the system running the show 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.680 knows not just where your head is pointed, but exactly 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.760 what you're looking at, like what are you looking at 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.200 within your field of view? Not just you know where 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:52.760 you're pointed to. And there are a lot of legit 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.080 reasons to want that tech in a virtual environment. For one, thing, 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.880 that can really teach developers what people are focusing on, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.320 which can lead to improvements behind the scenes. You know, 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:05.360 you can look at those analytics and say, all right, well, 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.920 what's working and what's not working. Maybe developers have created 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:13.280 something really cool in that virtual environment, but it's being overlooked. 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.440 It's not getting any attention. And it's not that the 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:18.680 thing they created was bad, it's just for whatever reason, 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:24.720 the way it's positioned or whatever, is not getting people's attention. 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.640 So maybe that means developers should either not dedicate their 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.720 resources to building out similar stuff in the virtual world, 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.120 that it would just be a waste of time, or 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.040 maybe it would let them know that, hey, we need 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.280 to do something different with this asset because it could 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.640 have an impact. It's just not having an impact here. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.960 So those are like legit reasons to use eye tracking. 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.760 But of course another major application of eye tracking tech 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:53.080 is to figure out where you might best serve ads 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.800 to inhabitants in the metaverse. You might say, where are 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:58.600 people looking a lot, Let's make sure we put ads 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:03.240 where people are looking, because then we can use the data, 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.920 the eye tracking data, and go to advertisers and say, look, 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.960 if you put an ad up in this spot in 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.760 the metaverse, x number of people are guaranteed to see 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.160 it every month, and thus we can charge bookoos of 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.600 money for you to have an ad place there and 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.360 This kind of makes me think of films like Minority Report. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.440 They're little sequences in Minority Report where we see people 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.360 encounter digital ads all around them as they're just navigating 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.160 through their day. And I can see this tech being 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.200 used for stuff like augmented reality headsets, not just virtual reality, 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.880 which you know, depending on the application of augmented reality, 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:46.520 using eye tracking tech could be really cool and useful. 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:50.120 But I suspect a lot of focus no pun intended, 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:54.720 we'll be on how to monetize the capabilities, and uh, 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.880 you know, companies like Meta already kind of know what 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.000 you look at anyway, right, So yeah, this this definitely 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:07.280 sounds creepy because the idea of them analyzing where you're 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:13.160 looking sounds really invasive. But let me let you in 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.000 on a little secret because based on your browsing habits 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.760 and how much time you spend on social networks, MENA 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.920 already knows what you're looking at. Really, they already know 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.760 what you're interested in. Um, they already know what you're 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:30.440 not interested in based upon your behaviors. Like that kind 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.560 of data can be analyzed and they know how to 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.480 target you specifically. The browsing data and habits give pretty 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:39.840 much all the information needed, so the eye tracking thing 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.200 just becomes a more overt way of doing that and 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:48.240 provides a more precise way of implementing ads. But let 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.840 me tell you the creepy surveillance stuff that's already out 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:56.360 there that exists. That is the Facebook of today, and 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.560 you don't need eye tracking software too or hardware to 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.880 make that happen. Happy Thursday, y'all. On Monday this week, 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:09.520 hackers compromised a cryptocurrency trading platform called crypto dot com 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:11.560 and they were able to make off with around thirty 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:16.720 four million dollars worth of cryptocurrency. That is a heck 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.520 of a bank heist. The company recently copped to the 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.760 hack in a blog post, and it had halted withdrawals 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:29.159 for about fourteen hours for all users and send on 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.440 a message that essentially said, hey, y'all, it's tot's okay. 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.199 Your money is safe. But for four three customers that 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.000 wasn't really the case, at least not temporarily, because it 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.280 was their accounts that got hit and the hackers were 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.080 able to drain some of those accounts. Crypto dot Com 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.840 forced all users to reset their two factor authentication methods 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.240 so that they can access to their accounts. I've talked 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.760 about two factor authentication lots of times in the past 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.760 for those who are not really familiar with what that means. 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.439 It means you need you need two different ways of 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:05.800 authenticating who you are in order to access something, and 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.800 it falls into different buckets. And typically we think of 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:15.080 those buckets as being something you possess, like say your phone, uh, 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:20.120 something you know like a password, and something you are 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:24.800 like biometric data that's related to some unique physical feature 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.000 that you have, and that you need to provide one 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:32.919 from one of those from at least two categories for 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.240 to be able to access whatever it is. So commonly 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.200 this is something where it's like your password and then 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:42.640 you get a text message on your phone with like 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.960 a six digit key, and it's only when you provide 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.120 both of those pieces of information that you can gain 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.560 access to your account. To factor authentication or multi factor 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.480 authentication is very smart. You want to use it, if 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.320 it's available, you want it turned on. I know it 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.199 can be a half soul, but it is superior to 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:09.040 just relying on a single factor. However, as interesting as 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.679 it is that you know crypto dot Com told all 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.320 its users you need to reset your two factor authentication. 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:19.000 It appears that the hackers were able to access those 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:23.919 four three accounts without using two factor authentication in the 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:28.919 first place. So I don't know all the details about 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.400 the hack, but if that's the case, if the hackers 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.359 were getting access to stuff and they weren't having to 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:37.480 use two factor authentication, that's kind of like saying, hey, 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.920 you know, I know your house was robbed the other night, 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.040 so we've replaced all the locks on your front door, 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.360 and it turns out that the thieves came in through 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:49.679 the window. Like, Okay, well, I'm glad the door is 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.440 more secure. But if that's not how the the information 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:58.760 or in this case, the money was accessed, then that's 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:03.000 not really a solution. However, to the company's credit, it 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:07.440 did cover the losses experienced by each of those four accounts. 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:12.199 It restored the money in whatever cryptocurrency form it was 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:17.240 in to all FOE accounts, presumably under crypto dot COM's 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:20.400 own expense, and the hackers are reportedly in the middle 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.120 of using various crypto apps to launder the money they've stolen. 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:29.600 What a world. Okay, we're gonna take another quick break 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.119 when we come back we're gonna have a butt load 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:43.200 of Google news as well some other stuff. Okay, time 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:46.720 to transition into the Google heavy portion of the news 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.760 for today. First up, Alphabet CEO Sandar Pichai, along with 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:55.280 Apple CEO Tim Cook have reportedly been making the rounds 0:20:55.400 --> 0:21:00.080 with lawmakers in the US, arranging private phone calls to 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.480 talk with senators about stuff. And you might wonder why, Well, 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.639 it's because of a piece of proposed legislation called the 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:13.719 American Innovation and Choice Online Act that could potentially really 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.000 shake things up for some big tech companies like Apple 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:21.679 and Google and Amazon. Part of that act focuses on 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:25.359 the practice of a company promoting its own products over 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:31.000 competitors in the company's various marketplaces. So let's stick with Google. 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:33.280 So this would mean that Google would not be allowed 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:37.280 to give its own products and services a promotional advantage 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:42.760 in Google ads on Google platforms like Search. Apple wouldn't 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.160 be able to do the same thing with Apple products 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.440 and services on Apple platforms, And of course Amazon has 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:52.760 been dingd for this multiple times, with the company being 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:57.840 accused of promoting its own products over that of competitors 0:21:57.880 --> 0:22:02.240 on the Amazon marketplace. So if this legislation were to pass, 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.600 that would be a huge threat to the current business 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:09.680 models that these big tech companies rely upon. It's one 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.320 of the big ways these companies become so gargantuan in 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.879 the first place, and competitors say the practice is you know, 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:19.880 completely unfair, and even if the competitor were to offer 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:24.280 a superior product at a superior price, they are at 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:29.160 a promotional disadvantage. Whether the tech CEOs are making headway 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:32.840 with the senators, that's hard to say. I mean, money talks, 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:37.560 especially in politics, So it's entirely possible that you know, 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:41.680 these CEOs are persuading enough lawmakers to oppose or amend 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:44.159 the legislation to the point that it doesn't really do 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.720 anything um And of course, again this is proposed legislation. 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:50.320 It's not like it's been voted on yet. But there's 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:54.960 definitely a growing resentment toward big tech from multiple sectors, 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:59.800 including the common populace, and it has been growing for 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:03.960 some time now. So there might be some pressure from 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:07.080 constituents for some of these senators to kind of stick 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:10.280 to their guns and pass the legislation. We'll have to 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:14.120 wait and see if that comes to pass. In other 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:18.880 Google news, the company is reportedly establishing a new business unit. 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:23.320 This one focuses on blockchain and distributed computing and data 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:27.600 storage technologies like future ones. And this is according to Bloomberg, 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:33.359 which published that the the outlet had received a leaked 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.719 email from within the company revealing the fact that they 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:41.520 have established this blockchain business unit. Now, does this mean 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:44.240 that Google is going to launch its own cryptocurrency in 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:47.879 the future, or that maybe, you know, Android users or 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:50.520 Chrome users are going to be flooded with ads for 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:54.280 Google and f t s. I don't know. I hope not, 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:58.439 but I can't say for certain. But it is at 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:01.600 least an early indicator that Google is experimenting with more 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:06.280 technologies associated with stuff like the concept of Web three 0:24:06.400 --> 0:24:10.440 and the metaverse. Google has already obviously been working with 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:16.000 virtual reality and augmented reality applications. I mean, Google Glass 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:21.879 was a very early a R commercial product, had a 0:24:21.960 --> 0:24:24.600 very limited commercial run, but it was something like that. 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:29.160 So Google certainly has been dipping its toe in various 0:24:29.200 --> 0:24:34.840 disciplines that are converging towards this metaverse concept. And I'm 0:24:34.840 --> 0:24:37.280 thinking this might be just sort of a way for 0:24:37.359 --> 0:24:40.200 Google to stay involved in the game. I don't see 0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:42.840 Google as a company that's going to lead the way 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:45.399 in that space. But I also see it as a 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:49.480 company that doesn't want to find itself completely left out. 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:54.920 Google has a dominant position, some might call it a 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:59.800 monopolistic position when it comes to certain things like like 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.080 search and ad revenue or add ad services um and 0:25:05.480 --> 0:25:08.000 I'm sure the company is thinking, well, we want to 0:25:08.080 --> 0:25:10.080 future proof that. We don't want to make sure. We 0:25:10.119 --> 0:25:13.359 want to make sure that the next stage of the Web, 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:15.520 whatever it may be, doesn't cut us out of it. 0:25:15.640 --> 0:25:17.560 So that's what I see this as. I don't see 0:25:17.560 --> 0:25:21.080 it necessarily as an indication that we're going to, you know, 0:25:21.200 --> 0:25:25.600 see a Google version of crypto anytime soon, although that 0:25:25.760 --> 0:25:29.040 could happen, I just I'm not seeing it right now. 0:25:31.240 --> 0:25:35.440 And for a long time, Google has offered a service 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:38.840