1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: Jovan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heeart Radio. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you. It's time for the 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: tech news for Tuesday, sept twenty two, and first we 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: have a quick Twitter acquisition update. Today, Twitter shareholders will 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,160 Speaker 1: vote on whether or not to approve the Elon Musk 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: Twitter acquisition deal, you know, the deal that Musk is 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: currently trying to back out of. And you might be 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,599 Speaker 1: surprised to learn that this vote has not yet happened, 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: and that technically shareholders could reject the deal on the 12 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: face of it and then this whole thing just goes away. 13 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,199 Speaker 1: But that is not likely to happen because Musk's agreed 14 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: upon deal means he would pay fifty four dollars twenty 15 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: cents a share, and that's pretty darn good for shareholders 16 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: right now. The closing price for Twitter from yesterday was 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: forty one cents, so twenty is a step up there, right. 18 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: You would get more than ten dollars per share over 19 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: the current going price for shares. That's a pretty nice 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: way to cash out of an investment. Anyway, Early indicators 21 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: suggest that investors are likely to approve the deal by 22 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: a comfortable wide margin, so this matter would then continue 23 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: unabated towards being decided in court. As must argues that 24 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: the deal has been altered, while Twitter says prey, I 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: do not alter it. Further attention mac os and iOS 26 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: device owners, at least for you know, relatively current devices. 27 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,639 Speaker 1: H Apple has pushed out a security update to patch 28 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: a zero day vulnerability. This is the eighth time this 29 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: year that Apple has UH patched such a vulnerability, a 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: different one in each case, not like it was the 31 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: same one, but it's happened eight times this year. More. 32 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: Apple says this particular vulnerability might have already been actively 33 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: exploited in various places, and that the vulnerability allows apps 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: that to contain specific malicious code that will allow hackers 35 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: to quote execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges end quote. 36 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: That's a pretty severe security vulnerability, so it's a good 37 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: idea to update your devices. The company has not elaborated 38 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: on the scope or severity of these UH supposed attacks, 39 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: but kernel level access is serious business, and like I said, 40 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: it's the eighth time this year that Apple has had 41 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: to address a vulnerability like this. That just goes to 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: show how different the world is from when I was 43 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: a kid, because back when I was a kid, Apple 44 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: computers were thought to be essentially malware proof, that the 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: design of Apple was just superior to DOSS and later 46 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: to Windows based PCs. Though some would argue that Apple 47 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: was mostly enjoying security through obscurity, which just means that 48 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: because Apple had a smaller slice of market share, the 49 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: people who are making malware would focus instead on DOS 50 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: and Windows machines because that's where most of the targets were. 51 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: You don't spend a ton of time to attack a 52 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,399 Speaker 1: very small population if you can make a lot more 53 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,079 Speaker 1: impact with a bigger one. Anyway, it's actually a good 54 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: reminder that no system out there is bulletproof and that 55 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: keeping up to date with security patches is a good idea. 56 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: So update those devices. Yesterday morning, Blue Origin, the private 57 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: space company that Amazon's Jeff Bezos co founded, had a 58 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: bit of a whoopsie, And by that I mean there 59 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: was a booster failure in the Blue Origin launch vehicle, 60 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: which was carrying an unmanned crew capsule up in a 61 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: flight out in order to deliver some payloads to outer space, 62 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: and this failure prompt did the launch vehicle to engage 63 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,960 Speaker 1: the capsule escape system. As that name says. This system 64 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: separates the capsule from the launch vehicle in the event 65 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: of a failure, so that these two spacecraft can get 66 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: as much distance as possible between them to best protect 67 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: the capsule and potentially the folks who might be inside 68 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: such a capsule. This one, again didn't have any one 69 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: in it. The capsule performed just as it was supposed to. 70 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: It parachuted safely to the ground, so that whole system 71 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,239 Speaker 1: worked as intended. That's actually great news, Like you want 72 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: that to happen if you have this kind of mishap. 73 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: So yeah, these capsule escape systems are the kind of 74 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: things you never want to need to use, but you 75 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: sure as heck wanted to be there and to be 76 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: reliable if that need should arise. The launch vehicle crashed 77 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: back down to Earth, but reportedly caused no property damage 78 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: or injuries. It crashed within the designated hazard aarry. Uh, 79 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: so that too happened as it was supposed to in 80 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: the event of a mishap. You know that the mishap 81 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: was not something that they were hoping for, obviously, but 82 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: everything happened the way it's supposed to end those events. However, 83 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: now the US Federal Aviation Administration or f a A 84 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: must do a compulsory investigation into the incident to determine what, 85 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: if any effect there was on public safety. And this 86 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: is standard operating procedure in the wake of an incident 87 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: like this, So this isn't like the f a A 88 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: coming down hard on Blue Origin. Now, assuming the f 89 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: a A finds no negative impacts to public safety, Blue 90 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: Origin will then be cleared to pursue future flights. Until then, 91 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: things are on hold. There were some losses that we 92 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: should mention, however. The spacecraft was carrying multiple payloads for 93 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: various scientific research projects, including several from elementary and high 94 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: school students and a couple from NASA. I'm not sure 95 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: where all these payloads were located. Did Some of them 96 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: may have been in the capsule and they could be 97 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: safe and perhaps even reused for a future launch. I 98 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: don't know, but at least two of them were attached 99 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,280 Speaker 1: to the exterior of the booster, and presumably those are 100 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: shot at this point. This is a good reminder that 101 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: space is hard y'all. I mean, there's a reason we 102 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: refer to stuff as it ain't rocket science when we're 103 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: talking about degrees of difficulty, because rocket science is right 104 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: up there with brain surgery. The Wall Street Journal reports 105 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: that research documents from inside Meta indicate that the company's 106 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: push to mimic TikTok have not met with much success. 107 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: So while back Meta introduced reels on Instagram, and these 108 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: are short form videos and are a pretty obvious attempt 109 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: to imitate TikTok's format. And it's no secret that Meta 110 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: viewsed TikTok as the competition, particularly when it comes to 111 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: attracting younger users. Now, when faced with resistance, Meta typically 112 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: does one of two things. It will either buy up 113 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: whatever company was competing with it for user attention. This 114 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: is actually what happened with Instagram back in the day. 115 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: Meta back then just Facebook purchased Instagram, partly because Instagram 116 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: was succeeding in gaining user eyeballs, which meant that fewer 117 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: people were looking at Facebook. So then Facebook bought Instagram. 118 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: The other thing it will try to do if it 119 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: can't buy its competition is it will try to make 120 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: its own version of whatever is pulling people's eyeballs away 121 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: from meta platforms like Facebook or the aforementioned Instagram, and 122 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: I think pretty much everyone sees right through these efforts. 123 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: I don't think anyone is fooled by this, but it 124 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: looks like, despite Meta's push of the reels project, the 125 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: short video format is not taking off on meta platforms. 126 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: The documents indicate that a lot of these reels videos 127 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: lack any significant engagement, and that people were spending one 128 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: tenth the amount of time looking at and engaging with 129 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: reels as the typical TikTok user spends on TikTok one 130 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: tenth the time, and also that influencers haven't really embraced 131 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: reels to the extent that Meta was hoping and you know, 132 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: needing for it to make an impact. Plus, Meta has 133 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: been integrating reels into both Instagram and Facebook more intrusively 134 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: in an effort to kind of force the format to 135 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: take hold, and users have not reacted positively. A lot 136 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: of people have complained that reels are taking up too 137 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,479 Speaker 1: much of their feeds, both on Instagram and on Facebook. 138 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: And finally, a ton of the stuff posted on reels 139 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: obviously was created for other platforms first then ported over 140 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: to Reels, which is prompting some users to just go 141 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: to the source of the original video, most frequently TikTok. Anyway, 142 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: Meta is clearly aware of all this, as the documents show. 143 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: Representatives claimed that the information that the Wall Street Journal 144 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: reported on is out of date and that reels is 145 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: doing quite well, thank you very much. In any way, 146 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: even if it's not doing well, it's it's doing better 147 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: and it's getting better all the time. So thank you 148 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: for your interest. But we're fine here, We're all fine. 149 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: I might be paraphrasing and editorializing more than just a 150 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: little with my interpretation of the response to this report, 151 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: but it will be interesting to see how that adjusts 152 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,839 Speaker 1: its strategy at all going forward regarding Reels and the 153 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: threat of TikTok. Meta has also spun off its pie 154 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: Torch project into a new organization called the pie Torch Foundation, 155 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: which will operate independently of Meta itself and as part 156 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: of the nonprofit Lennox Foundation. So you might wonder what 157 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: the heck is pie Torch. Well, the name comes from 158 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: the programming language Python and languages Torch library. That library 159 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,839 Speaker 1: is mostly focused on machine learning processes and to get 160 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: into all of this would get really technical and just 161 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: full disclosure, I would need to read up on a 162 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: lot of stuff just to have a decent grasp about 163 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: it so that I could communicate it properly. So I'm 164 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: just gonna go super high level in this news item 165 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: in an effort not to present misinformation. But high Torch 166 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: serves as a kind of scaffolding for machine learning projects, 167 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: and it frees up engineers and computer scientists to focus 168 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: on specific implementations rather than having to reinvent the basic 169 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,079 Speaker 1: tools of machine learning for every application. I think of 170 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: it kind of as similar to creating a game engine 171 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: that can serve as sort of the core uh engine 172 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: of lots of different video games, each of which have 173 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: very different styles of play and stories and all that 174 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: kind of thing. And there's some pretty famous product still 175 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: there that make use of the PyTorch frameworks, such as 176 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: Testla's autopilot system, But really it's a framework that's applicable 177 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: to all sorts of machine learning implementations. And the new 178 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: governing board for PyTorch will still include reps from Meta, 179 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: but it's also going to include reps from companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, 180 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: and in Video, among others. So the whole idea here 181 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: is to create more separation between Pyetorch and Meta in 182 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: order to avoid any conflicts of interest that could otherwise 183 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: arise if Meta were still sort of the steward of 184 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 1: this project. And that all makes sense to me. I'll 185 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: try to research PyTorch some more in order to do 186 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: a full episode about it in the future, but that 187 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: might take a while because this is seriously technical stuff, 188 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: particularly for someone who does not have a background in programming. 189 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: All right, we've got more stories to come, but first 190 00:11:49,040 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. We're act. Fast Company reports 191 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: that a survey created by a team and mass Challenge 192 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: reached out to more than five tech leaders across the space, 193 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: you know, from startups to established companies, in order to 194 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: get a grip on where industry leadership is headed as 195 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: a whole. And it's not all great news, tech folks. 196 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: It looks like a lot of those tech leaders really 197 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: want to follow the examples made by companies like Apple 198 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: and push for a return to the office. Now, that's 199 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: a pretty tough sell to employees who have proven that 200 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: they can be productive while working remotely and who show 201 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:42,200 Speaker 1: a distinct reluctance being pushed back into office environments, pointing 202 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: out lots of issues with that, including the fact that 203 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: without that requirement, they can work from wherever they live 204 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: and they don't have to live and say more expensive 205 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,719 Speaker 1: parts of the country where a company's HQ might be located, 206 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: they don't have to deal with, you know, commuting back 207 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: and forth. They don't and have to deal with added 208 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: budgets for meals in expensive places. Uh, And that there 209 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,520 Speaker 1: are a lot of benefits to it, and that the 210 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: company's benefit as well. But a lot of leaders are 211 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,599 Speaker 1: still pushing for returning to the office. Ah. Now I 212 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: should add not all the tech leaders indicated that this 213 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: was their plan. It's not like eight percent we're saying 214 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: they wanted to do that. But according to the survey, 215 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: the more established companies were more likely to say that 216 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: they wanted to return to the office only. I mean, 217 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: that's more than half, but it's not all of them obviously, 218 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: But yeah, those were the companies that were more likely 219 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: to say they want to go back to the office. 220 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:41,839 Speaker 1: If you take into account all the companies across all 221 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: categories like including brand new startups, the percentage drops to 222 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: of tech leaders saying they want to push to return 223 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 1: to the office, so it seems like the younger startups 224 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,120 Speaker 1: are more inclined to allow for remote work. Further, the 225 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: survey indicates that a lot of leaders see the economic 226 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: whatever this is we're in, but it's definitely maybe not 227 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: a recession, probably is likely going to help them out 228 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: in this effort because with that kind of threat looming 229 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: over employees heads. This, this threat of economic recession, folks 230 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,079 Speaker 1: might be less likely to put up a fuss about 231 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 1: coming back into the office. So, in other words, it's 232 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,160 Speaker 1: easier to coerce employees when they're scared that they could 233 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: be put out of a job in a tough job market. However, 234 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: the survey also found that it's not actually that tough 235 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: of a job market for tech employees. Yes, the larger 236 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: companies like Apple, Meta, Google, and more are cutting way 237 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: back on expenses, which includes cutting back on hiring and 238 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: in some cases even holding layoffs, but across the industry 239 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: as a whole, that's not necessarily the case. Many companies 240 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: are actively hiring because they have experienced massive talent loss 241 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: in the wake of the Great Resignation, which is still 242 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: an ongoing thing. So it may be that high profile 243 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: companies are scaling back, but lots of other tech companies 244 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: are not, and so it may turn out that leaders 245 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: who are hoping to kind of lean on the economic 246 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: hard times as a way to you know, influence employees 247 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: might see that plan backfire on them. Also, you because 248 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: discussing power dynamics in the workplace, particularly when it's contextualized 249 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: as how bosses can exert more control on their underlings, 250 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: is just playing gross. Anyway, the survey had some interesting 251 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: things to say, and I recommend seeking it out to 252 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: get an idea of what tech leaders are thinking. Currently. 253 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,480 Speaker 1: Google has shelved its pixel Book product line. The company 254 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,360 Speaker 1: had a team working on the next generation of the 255 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: pixel Book, which is a Chrome Os powered laptop, but 256 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: now Google has dissolved that team and reassigned everyone too 257 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: different projects. Google, it appears, is getting out of the 258 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: laptop business now. I am not surprised by this. Hardware 259 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: is a pretty competitive field, and besides, always felt like 260 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: Google was really only into hardware because it was a 261 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: way to convince other hardware manufacturers to produce products that 262 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: work with Google and offer laptops and other devices that 263 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: run on Google's operating systems like Android and Chromos, like 264 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: you know, Google was pulling out all the stops to 265 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: offer sleek hardware in order to convince these companies to 266 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: join the club. And at that point, Google could then 267 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 1: extricate itself from the hardware business and really just focus 268 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: on providing the operating systems and software back end stuff. 269 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: So this move does not come as a huge surprise 270 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: to me, particularly in an era where Google is one 271 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: of those big companies looking to cut expenses and move 272 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: away from parts of the business that aren't as profitable 273 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: as others. Now, that's a shame that the next pixel 274 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: Book will likely never see the light of day. I'm 275 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: pretty sure it must have been pretty close to being 276 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 1: ready for the market because they were supposed to debut 277 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: next year. But I'm glad to hear that the folks 278 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: working on pixel Book weren't like booted from Google and 279 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: instead of going to work on other projects. A related 280 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,400 Speaker 1: Google story, or at least related to Google, is Loon. 281 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: That's the project that had its start in Google's top 282 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: secret X division, which the company uses to pursue moonshot 283 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:26,200 Speaker 1: R and D efforts, and Loon spun off from Google. Really, 284 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: you know, from Google's parents, Shell company Alphabet to become 285 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 1: its own company, and the goal of Loon was to 286 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 1: provide Internet connectivity via high flying balloons outfited with a 287 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 1: sort of mesh network, and to beam that connectivity back 288 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: to the ground so that really remote locations such as 289 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: isolated communities in Africa, for example, would still have Internet connectivity. 290 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: These are places that are in such locations that it 291 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: would be very difficult to lay out physical wire like 292 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: physical cable to reach, so this was seen as a 293 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:07,199 Speaker 1: potential alternative to that. However, it ultimately didn't work out 294 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: as a viable business and Loon ultimately shut down and 295 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: Alphabet has then moved the assets of Loon to a 296 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: startup called Aleria. So does that mean that loons balloons 297 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: are going to return. Well, According to the Verge, no, 298 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: Allria is looking to solve Internet connectivity issues, but instead 299 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: of using high altitude balloons, Allria is using laser beams 300 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: shot through the air for real, y'all. So the concept 301 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: is to have base stations and endpoints and the laser 302 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: beams will carry information back and forth. So you've got 303 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: your freaking laser beams carrying info. Now you might wonder 304 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: what the heck does a company that's going to be 305 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: using laser beams need with loons old assets. One of 306 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: the tools that the Loon project used is called space time, 307 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:03,640 Speaker 1: and not the community space time, it's a different space time. 308 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: But this tool would predict where loon balloons would shift 309 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: in the atmosphere in order to balance you know, loads, 310 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: network loads, so that connectivity wouldn't be compromised. So this 311 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: was a very complicated predictive software model, and Aliria is 312 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: looking to use that same model to help predict things 313 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: like when a base station would need to hand off 314 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:29,679 Speaker 1: connectivity too, something that's in a dynamic situation, like a 315 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: plane that's flying overhead and you know how to predict 316 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: where that plane is going to go, or a boat 317 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: traveling through the water, that kind of stuff. That's the 318 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: sort of application that this tool might be put toward 319 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 1: in order to maintain connectivity. It's pretty nifty. Okay, We've 320 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 1: got a few more stories to go before we get 321 00:19:50,680 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 1: to those. Let's take another quick break. We're back now. 322 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: You may have seen some recent news about China installing 323 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:12,400 Speaker 1: a test stretch of conductor rail technology along one amounts 324 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: to a little less than five miles of highway seven 325 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: point eight kilometers to be more precise, and then testing 326 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: mag lev cars on this lane of traffic. And you 327 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: might wonder what the heck all of this is about, 328 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: And a lot of it is about China taking sometimes 329 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: drastically impractical approaches towards solving traffic issues. Well, anyway, let's 330 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: let's get to this specific implementation. So maglev stands for 331 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: magnetic levitation in case you're not familiar, and this tech 332 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: is well understood, it's not like this is breakthrough technology. 333 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: They didn't build a hover car that could work on 334 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: any platform. This is a specific use case where you know, 335 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: we've got mag lev train systems in operation today in 336 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,679 Speaker 1: various parts of the world. It's not like this is, 337 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: you know, brand new. But the basic idea is that 338 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: you use the physical fact that if you have two 339 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: magnets and you bring the north poles of each of 340 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,800 Speaker 1: those magnets closer together, you'll feel them repel each other 341 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: to the point where if you take your hand off one, 342 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: it will get pushed away by these magnetic fields like 343 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: repels like in other words, So if you have an 344 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: array of magnets, whether they're permanent or electro magnet and 345 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: in a track and a different array of magnets in 346 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: a vehicle, and you've arranged it so that the same 347 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: poles of the magnets face one another, so the north 348 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: poles face each other, for example. Then what you'll get 349 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: as a vehicle that will float over the surface of 350 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: the track itself because the magnetic fields are repelling one another. 351 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: Then using something like a linear motor, you can create 352 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: propulsion and send this vehicle flying down the track, like 353 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: literally flying in this case, or at least levitating, and 354 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: that means you have reduced resistance, like you have reduced friction, 355 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: so you can have a much faster moving vehicle. And um, yeah, 356 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:20,200 Speaker 1: it's it's perfectly promulent technology. Now, normally we are talking 357 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: about like a railroad track kind of thing where there's 358 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: a guided track, but in this case, we're talking about 359 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: lane on a highway that's acting kind of like a track, 360 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: and a car that has been retrofitted with magnets. So 361 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: this wasn't a car specifically built for this purpose, but 362 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: rather had been retrofitted with magnets so that it could 363 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: levitate over this this lane of of highway. And there 364 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 1: are videos of cars driving onto this stretch of road 365 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: and then kind of lifting off a few inches. The 366 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: liftoff isn't a very smooth motion in the videos, which 367 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: is kind of scary, and they float. It looks kind 368 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: of like an unsteady live in my view. I mean, 369 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,119 Speaker 1: I could be wrong, but the video I saw it 370 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: did not look super smooth. But then they could come 371 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: back down on their wheels and continue this way. And 372 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: why would you do this? Well, for one thing, with 373 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 1: a computer controlled highway system, you could propel vehicles well 374 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:24,719 Speaker 1: beyond their normal top speeds, drastically reducing travel times. Now, 375 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,360 Speaker 1: you'd have to be really careful with that system so 376 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: as not to accelerate a vehicle too quickly and then 377 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,880 Speaker 1: hurt people who are insite it. And also the stopping 378 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,600 Speaker 1: is really important. You can't stop them too fast because 379 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 1: all that momentum will transfer to the passengers inside the car. 380 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:42,199 Speaker 1: And if you're going at a top speed of like 381 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: a hundred forty miles per hour and you come to 382 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: a sudden stop, the people in that car will still 383 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:48,920 Speaker 1: be moving forward at a hundred forty miles per hour, 384 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: and even if they're you know, safety strapped in, that's 385 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: gonna hurt. Like it could be kept strophic, so all 386 00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: this has to be handled very carefully and in a 387 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: controlled environment. You also, like, wouldn't want a car to 388 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: be traveling a hundred forty miles per hour down this 389 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: maglev track and then come to the end of the 390 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: track and touch down on its wheels and go from 391 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: a hundred forty miles per hour to rapidly decelerating while 392 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: it's on its wheels. You can easily lose control in 393 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: that situation, so there are a lot of safety concerns here. Um. 394 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:28,960 Speaker 1: I don't think this is a very viable way to 395 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: transport people quickly. Um. I think you would have to 396 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: have an intelligent highway system in there, and as I 397 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: talked about in a recent tech Stuff episode, those are 398 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: complicated and not necessarily practical. I think it makes way 399 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,920 Speaker 1: more sense to build out more trains rather than try 400 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: to outfit highways with like floating lanes. But we'll see. 401 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: Maybe I'll be proven wrong, But UM yeah, I don't. 402 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: I don't see this as being a very effective way 403 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: to move of people more quickly from point to point. 404 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: It's flashy, but I mean it's no back to the 405 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: future too, And uh yeah, I think it. I don't know. 406 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: Maybe I'll be proven wrong. I would like to be 407 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: proven wrong. So here's hoping that any future developments are 408 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: safe and effective. Over in the video game world, the 409 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: few fans of the game Babylon's Fall have received some 410 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: bad news. This title launched about half a year ago, 411 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: and it's an online RPG dungeon crawling type of title, 412 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,439 Speaker 1: so as a persistent online factor in it, and the 413 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: game got terrible reviews when it first came out. The 414 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: player population dropped pretty drastically after launch. Not very many 415 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: people are actively playing it at any given time, and 416 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: because it is an online game and that requires ongoing 417 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: support from Square Knicks and Platinum Games, the powers that 418 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: be determined that it makes very little sense to pour 419 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: resources into supporting a game that has so few players 420 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: in it. So in another six months, so a year 421 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,920 Speaker 1: after the game launched, the game's gonna get shut down. 422 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: And Babylon's Fall was another attempt at creating a games 423 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: as a service title in which you make money, not 424 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: just from the initial sale of the title, though I 425 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: will add Babylon's Fall was a full price game. It 426 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: was like sixty dollars at launch, but then also through 427 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: generating revenue through ongoing in game purchases, and we've seen 428 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 1: a lot of games attempt to do this with varying 429 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: degrees of success. Some titles, like Grand Theft Auto Online, 430 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: have proven to be incredibly profitable, Others, like Babylon's Fall, 431 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: The game comes out feeling like it's an incomplete game 432 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,119 Speaker 1: and that maybe you need to pay more money in 433 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: order to access the fun bits of the game. That 434 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: is not a great strategy. People object to that right 435 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,200 Speaker 1: the idea of oh, I bought this game, but it's 436 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,520 Speaker 1: only fun if I even more money. That not a 437 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: good not a good look anyway. While it seems most 438 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:10,360 Speaker 1: players either bounced off Babylon's Fall ages ago or they 439 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: never picked up the title to start, the remaining players 440 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: on the game are gonna have to resign themselves too soon, 441 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 1: having an inert title in their library that they cannot 442 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: play once support ends. That's one of the big downsides 443 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: of having games that rely in part or in the 444 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: hole on ongoing online connectivity with a publisher or a developer, 445 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: because you might not be done playing the game, but 446 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: if they're done supporting it it won't matter. Then you 447 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,919 Speaker 1: won't really have any options. Finally, Nintendo held one of 448 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: its Nintendo Direct Events this morning, and I have a 449 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:48,160 Speaker 1: few tidbits I can share because putting this episode took 450 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: longer than I anticipated, and the actual Nintendo Direct event 451 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: happened while I was still writing the episode, so I 452 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,160 Speaker 1: can talk about some of the stuff they announced. They 453 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: revealed that the next game in the Legend of Zelda series, 454 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,120 Speaker 1: the follow up to Breath of the Wild, finally has 455 00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: a title. It is going to be called The Legend 456 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 1: of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and it debuts on 457 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,320 Speaker 1: the Switch in May of twenty three. There's a new 458 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: Pickman game coming to the Switch, Pickman four. We're getting 459 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: a sequel to the game Octopath Traveler, which is a 460 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: two D RPG that gamers really liked that will come 461 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: out on February. Uh. The original Octopath Traveler was set 462 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: in kind of a fantasy medieval setting. This one looks 463 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: like they've advanced the timeline a bit and it has 464 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: a steam punk spin on the aesthetic, so it'll be 465 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,600 Speaker 1: interesting to see like how much time has supposedly passed 466 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,440 Speaker 1: between the two games. Phoenix Labs is bringing us a 467 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: game called Faith Farm that's f a e and that 468 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: reminds me a lot of Star Do Valley. The gameplay elements, 469 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: the actual aesthetic, and the the three D world isn't 470 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: a different presentation than Star Do Valley, but the activities 471 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: of the game, like you you get to do stuff 472 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: like farm crops and go fishing and collect resources. It 473 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: looks very Star Do Valley to me. It also has 474 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: multiplayer coop as well. Looks pretty cute. I think it's 475 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: the kind of game that I would like to zin 476 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: out to. I still play Star New Valley to this day. 477 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: It is like one of my go to games when 478 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: I want to kind of relax and just do crazy 479 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: maximized efficient setups for my farm like character has more 480 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: than twenty million dollars at this point. I don't even 481 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: know why I keep playing, other than I do find 482 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: it relaxing anyway. Other announcements Nintendo made is that there's 483 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: gonna be a new Fire Emblement game. They're gonna be 484 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: some updates to Platoon three already, which is pretty exciting, 485 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: including an in game event that's going to span from 486 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: September through September, and that there is an upcoming port 487 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: of the beloved James Bond themed in sixty four classic 488 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: title Golden I double O seven. It will include online multiplayer. Uh, 489 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: this title is one of those that I absolutely loved 490 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: in the olden sixty four days, and it's coming both 491 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 1: to the Switch and to the Xbox family of consoles 492 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: through Game Pass. And now I just need a port 493 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,600 Speaker 1: of the classic wrestling games that were on the N 494 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: sixty four because I maintain that the N sixty four 495 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,560 Speaker 1: wrestling titles were some of the best pro wrestling titles 496 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: on any console ever. Gosh darn it. Yeah, the graphic 497 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,680 Speaker 1: fidelity can't even hold a candle to the stuff that 498 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,479 Speaker 1: came out the following generation, let alone what we can 499 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,600 Speaker 1: do today. But the game play and the depth of 500 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: your your character creation system and all the different moves 501 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: that you could use to to kit out your character, 502 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: that has never been equaled, in my opinion, since the 503 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: N sixty four days. But hey, if you know a 504 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: truly amazing, entertaining video game wrestling title, shout it out 505 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: to me, because I really like those games, and I've 506 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: been kind of disappointed with a lot of the titles 507 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: I've played in the last few years. But that's you know, 508 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: that's beside the point. If you want to reach out 509 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: to me for any reason, whether it's to give me 510 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: suggestions for wrestling games or topics for future tech Stuff episodes. 511 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: There are a couple of different ways to do it. 512 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: One is to download the I Heart Radio app. It 513 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: is free to download and use. Just navigate over to 514 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: the tech Stuff part of the app and use the 515 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: little microphone icon. You can record a voice message up 516 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: to thirty seconds in linked for me, or you can 517 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: reach out on Twitter. The handle for the show is 518 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: tech Stuff HSW and I'll talk to you again really soon. 519 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an i heart Radio production. For more 520 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 521 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.