1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Get in tech with technology with tech Stuff from stuff 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to Tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland, and today we're going to 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: conclude our look back at the year what was two 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen. In our previous episode, I went from 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: January through May, which means we're picking up in June. 7 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: It busted out all over and there's lots of tech 8 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: news to talk about all the way up to current day, 9 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: which I'm recording this on December fifteen, so technically there's 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: still some time left in the year, and who knows 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: what can happen between now and January one. I apologize 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: for missing all those stories, but let's get to June. 13 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,520 Speaker 1: That's when E three happens. That's the big video game 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: Expo in Los Angeles. Not the largest video game expo 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: in the world, but a pretty big one. Big stories 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: out of three included details about Reside, Eeval seven, Legend 17 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, Crash, Bandicoot Remasters, a 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: new Spider Man game for PS four, a new God 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: of War game, Hideo Kajima's new game called Death Stranding, 20 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: Kajima Kajima's departure from Konami was a big deal in 21 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, and there was an announcement about a 22 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: remastered sky Rim or Scrim if you prefer, that's now available, 23 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: and word that Bethesda's working on a follow up to Skyrim, 24 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: although whether it's a follow up to Skyrim or yet 25 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: another Elder Scrolls game that remains to be seen. Nintendo 26 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: also announced a mysterious uh mixed reality game called Pokemon Go, 27 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: which would launch a bit later in the year, and 28 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 1: then people went bonkers for it for at least a 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: few weeks. The fat has largely died out since then, 30 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: although there's still some dedicated players out there. For several weeks, 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: it was pretty much par for the course to walk 32 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: around places and just see people staring at their phones 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: trying to catch Pokemon uh and then ticking off landowners. 34 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: That happened a lot too. Oh and and also at 35 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: E three there were announcements about the Xbox One S 36 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: and PS Pro, which got gamers talking about how the 37 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: consoles were taking a half step in console versions. It's 38 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: not a true new one, it's an kind of beefier 39 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: version of the existing consoles the current generation, plus Microsoft 40 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: teased it's next big update codenamed Project Scorpio, which I 41 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: sure hope looks like a Bond villain. This new console 42 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: will run games at four K resolution at sixty frames 43 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: per second and launches in late twenties. Seventeen, Microsoft made 44 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: available Windows Holographic, which is a variation of Windows ten 45 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: and it is meant to run on the Hollow lens. 46 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: This marked Microsoft's next big push to move into mixed 47 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: reality devices. Microsoft also announced the intention to acquire linked 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: In for twenty six point two billion dollars in cash YAWSA, 49 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: and that deal closed in December, so it is official. 50 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: In June, snapchats daily active users outpaced Twitter. Twitter averages 51 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: around a hundred forty million active users. Snapchat hit one 52 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: hundred fifty million. And I'm still not very good at 53 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,119 Speaker 1: using it. Occasionally I remember that it's a thing that's 54 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: on my phone, but honestly, I have so many different 55 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: apps that take pictures or video and then share it 56 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: that remembering there's one more is not something I'm great at. 57 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: But June was also a big month for hackers exploiting vulnerability. 58 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: Six hundred forty two million accounts were accessed across sites 59 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: like Tumbler, LinkedIn and my Space. That can't be right, people, 60 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: people were still using my Space, and later on in June, 61 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: a hacker group by the handle Tessa eight or hacker 62 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: going by the handle Tessa eight shared more than thirty 63 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: two million Twitter log in credentials, which Twitter executive said, 64 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: we're evidence of people having alwear on their computers rather 65 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: than Twitter's security itself failing. So in other words, it's 66 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: not our fault that our users are not very secure. 67 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: The United States f a A warned pilots in June 68 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: to stay away from a region over the Mojave Desert. 69 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: Turned out the Naval Air Weapons Center was testing out 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: a GPS interference device, which affects larger areas as it 71 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: increases in altitude, So at forty feet this GPS interference 72 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: device could affect areas from as far across as the 73 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: border between California and Oregon, all the way all the 74 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: way down to the Mexican border, and as far eastward 75 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: as Utah, which is pretty insane. Also, if you got 76 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,239 Speaker 1: lost in late June in that area, that might be why. 77 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: The University of Sussex and June released a report. That's 78 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,600 Speaker 1: just having a phone conversation while driving, even if you're 79 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: using a hands free system, is more distracting than talking 80 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 1: to someone in the car or listening to the radio. 81 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: And that's partly because you tend to visualize what the 82 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: conversation is about, which takes your mind off the road. 83 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: So it while having hands free is slightly better than 84 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: having the phone in your hand, still not as good 85 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: as not talking on the phone at all. So do 86 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 1: me a favor, don't don't use your phones in the 87 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,679 Speaker 1: car unless it's absolutely necessary. Just just listen to my show. 88 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: That's fine, because I'm talking at you, not to you. 89 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 1: Gawker filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy following the fallout of 90 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: the lawsuit that was leveled against it by Hulk Hogan, 91 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,600 Speaker 1: which was funded by Peter Thiel, and that was leveled 92 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: against the company earlier in the UH so Gawker's had 93 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: a real rough year, and in fact, that entire situation 94 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: caused a lot of debate in the tech sphere tech 95 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: journalism sphere about the role of funding what amounts to 96 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: be a revenge lawsuit against the company. Uh There's also 97 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: the the fact that Gawker, parts of Gawker have behaved 98 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: in ways that are not particularly upstanding or professional. Not 99 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: that that necessarily means they deserve to go bankrupt, but 100 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: rather it makes it more complicated. It's not as easy 101 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: as saying this person or this entity is clearly a 102 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: victim and this other entity is clearly the bad guy. 103 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: There was a lot of bad behavior on multiple sides 104 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: of this issue, uh, and it has raised a lot 105 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: of interesting conversations out there. I recommend you go and 106 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: check them out if you are so inclined. The Court 107 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: of Appeals ruled against overturning the fccs reclassification of Internet 108 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: service providers as common carriers. That all has to do 109 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: in net neutrality. I did a full episode about it 110 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, so you can check that out. 111 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: It's also something we'll likely see change again with the 112 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: upcoming transition and political administrations here in the United States. 113 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: There's a lot of worry in the text space that 114 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: net neutral he could become a thing of the past 115 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: once President Trump takes office. A committee in the EU 116 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: submitted a proposal urging for some serious thought to be 117 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: given to robots, including the possibility of extending robots the 118 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: status of personhood. The proposal focused on near future problems 119 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: such as who do you hold accountable if a robot 120 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: causes harm to a person or property, Because the more 121 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: autonomous the robot is and the more it learns through experience, 122 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: the harder it is to answer that question. I did 123 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: a great episode with Scott Benjamin where we ended up 124 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: talking a lot about robots and responsibilities, and I watched 125 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: as he began to question everything he knows and holds. 126 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: Dear longtime listeners know, I love to have Scott on 127 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: the show and then slowly try to break him because 128 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: he's such a nice guy. Moving on to July, Verizon 129 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: officially moved to acquire Yahoo for four point eight billion dollars. 130 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: We're eisen had been in the running to purchase y'ah, 131 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: whose core business since April at the earliest, or at 132 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: the latest. Rather, Yahoo is set to merge with a 133 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: O L. But this process is a slow one, and 134 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: a later hacking scandal that unfolded in September that specifically 135 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: involved Yahoo ended up complicating matters. I'll talk more about 136 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: that later. Pokemon Go launched in July and rapidly gained 137 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: more users than Twitter. It was a runaway success, and 138 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: you've got to catch them all unless you're like me 139 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: and you haven't opened the app. Since August, Twitter began 140 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: to experiment with a platform that allows for live streaming 141 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: of content alongside tweets like NFL games and presidential debates. 142 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: It's another attempt for Twitter to try and stay relevant 143 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: in a social media landscape that changes very rapidly. Twitter 144 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: is one of those things that a lot of people use, 145 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: but the company still finds it challenging to generate revenue 146 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: or to actually make it a business as opposed to 147 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: just a service. In the wake of a live video 148 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: depicting the death of Philando Castile after he was shot 149 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,680 Speaker 1: by police, Facebook had to clarify it's live video policy. 150 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: According to Facebook, the context for a video means absolutely everything. 151 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: So a video that is showing something newsworthy or that 152 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: might help people identify, say a shooter in a different context, 153 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: or something along those lines, is permissible. But videos that ridicule, mock, 154 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: or celebrate violence with someone being victimized, those are not allowed. 155 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 1: So it's kind of a judgment call on a case 156 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: by case basis. But we saw technology play a very 157 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: important role in the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, showing 158 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: that there are a lot of events that are happening 159 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,959 Speaker 1: that the mainstream population may not be aware of because 160 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: it doesn't affect them directly. Um and so this was 161 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:59,599 Speaker 1: just one of several events throughout that challenged those assumptions. 162 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 1: Nintendo announced the Nintendo Classic of video game console that 163 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: comes with thirty Classic Anys titles pre programmed on it. 164 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: It plugs into your TV via hd M I and 165 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: has controllers modeled after the original nes controllers. And I 166 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: cannot find one of these things, to say, my life, gush, 167 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: darn it. I've been looking occasionally now and then, not 168 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,439 Speaker 1: crazy serious, but once in a while, because we keep 169 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 1: hearing reports of different vendors getting a few Nintendo Classics 170 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: in their inventory, but I've yet to be able to 171 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: find one to actually purchase it. Uh So I probably 172 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: will go without not the not a big deal it's 173 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: but it's had another example of what appears to be 174 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: uh kind of a false scarcity. Nintendo has been known 175 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: for creating products that a lot of people want, but 176 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: they're just way too few out on the market to 177 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: support the demand, and this I think ultimately could hurt 178 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: the company. Don't know if it was something they had 179 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: planned on doing or if it just happened that way, 180 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 1: But the fact is it happens over and over when nintendos, 181 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: so you would think they would get the message and 182 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: get as many of these things out there as possible. 183 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: Maybe that's what they're doing, and it's just that as 184 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: many as are possible is just still too few for us. 185 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: I shouldn't put all the blame on them, but gosh 186 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: darn it, I want to. The Defense Innovation Unit, which 187 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: is an experimental division of the Department of Defense. I 188 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: did not realize was a thing until I read this 189 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 1: news report, began to look into using tech to improve 190 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: military operations, including using VR and robotics. There's also research 191 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 1: into what is called non invasive electrical stimulation. In other words, 192 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:43,839 Speaker 1: that involves zapp in the brain with a small amount 193 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: of electricity in an effort to improve learning capabilities. People 194 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: have been trying this out for a few years now. 195 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: Bio hackers have been doing this where they will attach 196 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: little electrodes to their heads to to send small amounts 197 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 1: of electricity to try and boost their they're learning of capabilities. 198 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: But this is a much more ambitious study to see 199 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,080 Speaker 1: if there's anything really there or if it's a you know, 200 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: kind of a placebo effect where you think you are 201 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:15,439 Speaker 1: better at learning skills, but you aren't necessarily better. It's 202 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: an interesting approach. Elon Musk proposed that Tesla Motors merge 203 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: with Solar City. Tesla produces the power Wall among all 204 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: of its cars. It also creates the power Wall, which 205 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: is a home system. It's essentially a battery that's meant 206 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: to work with solar power generation its stores electricity. Solar 207 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: City is a startup founded by Musk's cousins. Now later 208 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: in the year this issue this this proposed merger is 209 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: put up to vote, and Tesla shareholders would support the 210 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: move in a majority decision. We also later learn about 211 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: a cool project in which solar City became the vendor 212 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 1: for the American Samoa island of Taiou, which now receives 213 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: nearly all its power needs from solar energy. It had 214 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: been using diesel and had to import more than a 215 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: hundred thousand gas islands of fuel per year. It won't 216 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:04,679 Speaker 1: have to do that anymore. So this is a great 217 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 1: story in that it allows an island to become much 218 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 1: more self sufficient and environmentally friendly. And another issue Towo 219 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: ran into was that sometimes the delivery of diesel would 220 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: be late and people would have to start to ration 221 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,199 Speaker 1: their fuel in order to get by until the fuel arrived. 222 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 1: So with solar power, you don't have to worry about 223 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: that unless you go into a prolonged period without an 224 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: appropriate amount of sunlight. So the power walls are there 225 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: to help store electricity. According to solar City, they allow 226 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:41,080 Speaker 1: for up to three days of electricity without being recharged. 227 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: So assuming you don't go longer than three days without 228 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: any sunlight, you'd be all right. And uh, the islands 229 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: in American Samoa are pretty much covered in the sunshine department. 230 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: So a pretty cool story. Now we've got tons more 231 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: to talk about before we get through the end of 232 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: But before we continue on, let's take a quick break 233 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. In August, Samsung announced the Galaxy 234 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: Notes seven. Now that device would end up being a 235 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: huge problem for the company. More on that when I 236 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: get to October, because man, that was a doozy. You 237 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: guys already know what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure. 238 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: Instagram launched Stories, which is a Snapchat like feature that 239 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: allows you to post ten second long videos and photos 240 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: to a collection that exists for twenty four hours before 241 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: being deleted. Snapchat meanwhile introduced memories a bit earlier in 242 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: the year, allowing you to save some of your snaps 243 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: for posterity. In other words, everyone's kind of starting to 244 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: look like everyone else. Facebook created a huge lab twenty 245 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: two thousand square feet in size, and it called Area 246 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: four oh four, and its primary purpose is to prototype 247 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: new hardware, including stuff for VR equipment. So it's kind 248 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: of weird to think of Facebook in the hardware business, 249 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: but that's what this lab is all about. Facebook also 250 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: announced in August that it would tweak the algorithm for 251 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: the news feed so that fewer articles would clickbait titles 252 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: would pop up stuff like you won't believe what Facebook 253 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: did to their news feed algorithm. I'd be out of 254 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: luck if I if I posted that, or or less 255 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: likely to get a lot of clicks anyway. Computer security 256 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: experts identified malware that had been loose and active since 257 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven, and they dubbed it Projects Suron because 258 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: they are cool. It was super tricky to identify the 259 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: malware because it was designed to hide in computer memory 260 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: and never reused IP addresses, which made each attack unique. 261 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: It was mainly found in computer systems in Russia, China, Sweden, Belgium, 262 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: Italy and Iran, and it could log key strokes, steal passwords, 263 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: and experts said that based on the sophistication and the 264 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: wide deployment, it was likely a case of state sponsored malware, 265 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: but who was behind it? Also, the battle against ad 266 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: blockers really ramped up in August, with Facebook designing a 267 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: new anti ad blocking strategy that lasted about twenty four 268 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: hours before a community of programmers found a way around it. 269 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: But the experts on both sides pointed out that the 270 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: criteria to identify and thus block ads would continuously change, 271 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: making this a cat and mouse game. So you're gonna 272 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: find workarounds for workarounds, and then workarounds for those, etcetera, etcetera. 273 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: Arianna Huffington, who was the founder of the Huffington's Post, 274 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: announced she would leave the company to launch a new 275 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: venture called Thrive Global. Huffington's Post as part of a 276 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: o L and that was acquired by Verizon back in 277 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: Whether she decided to leave because of issues around a 278 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: o L and Yahoo merging is unknown, because, as I 279 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: said earlier, rise and purchased Yahoo this year and plans 280 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: to merge AOL and Yahoo together. The University of College 281 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: of London had some researchers who create an algorithm that 282 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: can study and then replicate handwritten text, not just any text, 283 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: but specific handwriting styles. It takes a while for the 284 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: algorithm to get comfortable with a specific handwriting style, and 285 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,360 Speaker 1: it needs some guidance to understand where letters begin an end, 286 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 1: but then it can create convincing replicas of handwriting. Now 287 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: I want this so that I can send what appears 288 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: to be a handwritten letter to friends or family. Even 289 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: though I'll still type everything out, It'll still look like 290 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: it came from me with my chicken scratch. I'd be 291 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: totally down for that. And right around this time in 292 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: twenties sixteen, we started hearing talk about Twitter potentially looking 293 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 1: for a buyer. Over the next few months, companies like 294 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:55,640 Speaker 1: Alphabet which remember is Google's parent company, Salesforce, and even 295 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: Disney were rumored to be interested, but as of this recording, 296 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: no one has plopped down the money to buy Twitter. 297 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: And Twitter head of tumultuous ear in part because many 298 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: people criticize the company for its apparent reluctance to take 299 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: harassment and worse seriously around the election. It was really 300 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: getting out of control. We have terrible stories throughout the 301 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: year of harassment, especially on Twitter, and and it got 302 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: particularly bad around the elections, but it's been bad all 303 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: year long. And this has been a real issue with 304 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: lots of people asking Twitter, when are you going to 305 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,640 Speaker 1: crack down on this? When are you going to actually 306 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: make sure you are being responsible and standing up for 307 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: people who are being abused via the voices on Twitter? 308 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: And it's continuing to be a problem. Uh and and 309 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: a big I would I would say there was a debate, 310 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: except I don't hear anything back from Twitter, so it's 311 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: not so much a debate as it is a bunch 312 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: of people who are getting increasingly frustrated and upset at 313 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: how Twitter is failing to, in their eyes, act appropriately. Now. 314 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,160 Speaker 1: Uber around this time began to test self driving cars 315 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh. Each car still has a human driver ready 316 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: to take over if the autonomous car goes all wonky, 317 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: and the rides are free of charge, though they are 318 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: randomly assigned, so you can't just use your Uber app 319 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: to call a ride in Pittsburgh and specify you wanted 320 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: an autonomous car. Uber has made no secret that its 321 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: goal is to see fully autonomous cars become a reality 322 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: by one presumably so they could switch to robo cars 323 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: and sack all the human drivers, and then you just 324 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: got a bunch of robots driving around. You don't have 325 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: to worry about humans taking home a portion of the 326 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: money for the rides. UH. I go back and forth 327 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: on that. I think that it's great that a lot 328 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,639 Speaker 1: of people can get employment or at least some extra 329 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: cash being an uber driver or a lift driver, So 330 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: it's upsetting to think about those people no longer having 331 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: that access. But at the same time, I think that 332 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,360 Speaker 1: driverless cars tend to be safer and more efficient, So 333 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: I'm torn on this one. In late August, the FBI 334 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: Cybersecurity Division noted that there was evidence of foreign hackers 335 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 1: gaining access to voter databases here in the United States. 336 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: This would be the beginning of a long story that 337 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: is still playing out as I record this. The effect 338 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: and the extent of foreign hackers interfering with the US 339 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: election is still a huge deal. We don't really know 340 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: to what extent it affected the US election. UH. It 341 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 1: has clearly created a lot of anger and anxiety in 342 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: the political landscape a lot of denialism as well. Uh, 343 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: it is not pretty, and I suspect that either it 344 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: will get even uglier or through a massive effort of 345 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: sweeping it under the ru we'll stop talking about it. 346 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 1: I hope, I hope. Actually it's the first one, because 347 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: even though I don't want to see it get uglier, 348 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: I think that this is absolutely something we have to 349 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:13,959 Speaker 1: talk about anytime any country has another country interfering with 350 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: its Uh, it's it's legal transition of power that's a problem. 351 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: And yes, I include the times when the United States 352 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: has done that to other countries. I don't think that 353 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: we are we should be exempt from that rule. Everyone 354 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 1: should be respectful of the legal transition of power, assuming 355 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 1: that the legal transition of power is actually according to 356 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: the rules that that nation follows, and not you know, 357 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: not a shell game. Anyway, Off my soapbox, because it's 358 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: time to go to September. September has become the time 359 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: when the world turns its eyes to Apple to see 360 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: if anything spectacular is announced during the annual product event, 361 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: especially especially the iPhones. This year we saw a few 362 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 1: in sting and somewhat controversial announcements. The new iPhone has 363 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: no headphone jack. I'm sure you heard enough of that 364 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: this year. That drove a lot of people nuts though 365 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: the fact that the headphone jack was gone. The new 366 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: MacBook Pro, which was announced the following month, on the 367 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: other hand, has only USB C ports and a headphone jack, 368 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:22,119 Speaker 1: but no lightning ports, which also drove people nuts, although 369 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: the USBC and lightning thing is a little different. The 370 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: second generation of the Apple Watch came out and boasts 371 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: a better battery life and a few other enhancements. Generally speaking, 372 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: I saw a lot of people kind of feeling, not 373 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: really feeling the Apple announcements. They didn't really think that 374 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: they were exciting, but that may be more due to 375 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: keynote burnout than anything else. And besides, next year marks 376 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, so we can probably 377 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,880 Speaker 1: expect something big will happen next year, and maybe that's 378 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,159 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why this year was not quite 379 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: as as big of a breakout. In early September, Samsung 380 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 1: announced it was delaying shipments of the Galaxy Note seven 381 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: after receiving reports that some devices had While the technical 382 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: term is caught all on fire, the official company statements 383 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: said that the problem was traced to the battery and 384 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: affected only point one percent of all handsets. Samsung's market 385 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: value took a hit, dropping seven billion dollars after the 386 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: initial reports. Samsung also halted sales of the Notes seven 387 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: and identified thirty five cases that were reported globally By 388 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: early September, and in non phone news, Samsung also announced 389 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 1: it would sell off its printer business to HP for 390 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: a cool one point oh five billion dollars. Now this 391 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: is an important story. This next one. Alphabet partnered with 392 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: Chipotle to deliver burritos by drone to students of Virginia Tech, 393 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: one of the most important stories of Dylan agrees with me, 394 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: because come on, it's burritos, Sky Burritos. The drones were 395 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: self guided, but they also had human operators who were 396 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: capable of taking control if the drone started, you know, 397 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: going crazy and began to chuck burritos forcifully at students heads, 398 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: which would have been hilarious, but unfortunate. The f a 399 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: A itself gave its approval for this experiment. They actually 400 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: had to ask permission of the f a A and 401 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 1: they got the thumbs up. And I'm guessing the f 402 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: a A approved it because they were hungry and hey, 403 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,640 Speaker 1: sky burritos right. Apple CEO Tim Cook gave an interview 404 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: on Good Morning America in which he said that he 405 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: believed augmented reality would be much bigger than virtual reality. 406 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: He said that VR was limited in that it closes 407 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: people off to the real world, and he said VR 408 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: experiences can be super cool, but he felt that they 409 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,920 Speaker 1: had a limited shelf life as far as consumer interest 410 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,120 Speaker 1: is concerned. And I can kind of see his his criticisms. 411 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 1: I don't fully necessarily agree. I think that there could 412 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: be some killer VR apps and hardware that are just 413 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: down the line that could change that game. But considering 414 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: how heavy and bulky most VR sets are even now, 415 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: even the lighter ones um and how limited the experiences are, 416 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 1: I can see where what he's saying if we don't 417 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: see improvements in those areas. Absolutely, I think augmented reality 418 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 1: is going to be the bigger story of the two 419 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: UH election debates were streamed across multiple services, making the 420 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: Internet and even more important component in US politics this year. 421 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: The same must be said for candidates use of platforms 422 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: like Twitter and Facebook. President Trump's use of Twitter is 423 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: legendary and not necessarily in a good way. That's not 424 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: a judgment based upon his politics. That's purely based upon 425 00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: the stuff he has tweeted out. I mean, I've tweeted 426 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: out some dumb stuff, but I also have never run 427 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: for president. Yeah, who revealed it had been hacked inten 428 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: though it had only just recently discovered that fact in, 429 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: and that five hundred mill lien user accounts were compromised 430 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: on at least some level. That number grew as months 431 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 1: went on. The most recent account I saw was more 432 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: than a billion, which is not good. The company said 433 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 1: suspected the attacks were state sponsored, meaning that this was 434 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,560 Speaker 1: an attack from some hackers that were getting official government 435 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: backing which government they didn't say. Security researcher Brian Krebs 436 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:28,919 Speaker 1: reported that the company that hosted his website that is 437 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: All about Cybersecurity was hit by a massive distributed denial 438 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: of service attack a di DOS attack. Now, the basic 439 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,120 Speaker 1: type of de DOS attack usually you get an army 440 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 1: of Internet connecting machines and you have them all send 441 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: messages to a target computer, and that target computer gets 442 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: overwhelmed by all those data requests. So I kind of 443 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: imagine that you walk into a room full of people 444 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 1: and they all know you, and they all start trying 445 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: to talk to you at the same time. You can't 446 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,119 Speaker 1: make out what anyone is saying. You're being bombard it 447 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: by small talk from all corners. Well, that's why ad 448 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: DOS attack is except even larger and faster. This attack 449 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 1: was a little bit different from some earlier ones and 450 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: that it appeared much of the traffic came from compromised 451 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: Internet of Things devices. So we'd see many more attacks 452 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: like that using that same malware that allowed this hacker 453 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:28,160 Speaker 1: to direct machines against Brian Krebs's website throughout the rest 454 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:32,359 Speaker 1: of twenty sixteen, including attacks on dines servers d y 455 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: N that limited user access to sites like Netflix, Reddit, 456 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: and Spotify across regions of the United States, largely the 457 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: East Coast, but other areas throughout the day in late October, 458 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,400 Speaker 1: and we would also see two apartment buildings in Finland 459 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: get hit by ad DOS attack, shutting down those buildings 460 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: heating systems. So that's not good. It's really brought up 461 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: a lot of discussion about how we have not done 462 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: a great job at a king a secure Internet of things. Uh, 463 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: Adding security to Internet of things devices is a bit 464 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: of a hassle because it adds another step between getting 465 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: the thing and plugging it into your network. But on 466 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: the flip side, if you don't have a secure system 467 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: in place, then hackers can get access to it and 468 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 1: start to use it to their own ends, which are 469 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:28,680 Speaker 1: nearly always not great. As part of his Space ex duties, 470 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: Elon Musk announced his desire to see a ship sent 471 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: to Mars by three, which I think would be pretty 472 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: nifty and also crazy ambitious. BlackBerry CEO John Chen said 473 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: that the company would end all internal hardware development and 474 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:47,240 Speaker 1: would only outsource hardware development from that point forward. That 475 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: was in the wake of a pretty disastrous year for BlackBerry, 476 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: which had seen a loss of three seventy two million. 477 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: Now last year they saw a profit of fifty one million, 478 00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:00,120 Speaker 1: so going from profit to loss so dramatically was a 479 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: pretty rough transition. Moving on into October, officially, Sony released 480 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: the PlayStation VR formally known as Project Morpheus. US customers 481 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 1: can buy the peripheral for about four dollars, but that 482 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: does not include a Sony Eye camera or the move controllers, 483 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: both of which can enhance the VR experience and are 484 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: required for some games but not all of them. However, 485 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: the PSVR works with existing PS four consoles as well 486 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: as the PS pro, which means the PSVR has a 487 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: leg up on the install base. They don't have to 488 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: convince people to go out and buy an expensive new computer. 489 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: If you have a PS four, then you've got the 490 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: console that will support it. Out of the gate um 491 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: all the major VR headsets, it probably well does. It 492 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 1: has the lowest resolution. After numerous fire incidents, yes, we're 493 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: going back to Samsung. One of those fire incidents, by 494 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 1: the way, happened on a plane. Samsung issued a recall 495 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: on the Galaxy Notes seven smartphone. Now that came after 496 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: the company attempted to do an exchange program where they 497 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: would send out new handsets that in theory no longer 498 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: posed a danger. They would only allow charging up to 499 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: six of the battery and some other limitations, but the 500 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: new phones appeared to suffer the same problem, and so 501 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: Samsung issued a full recall. In addition, major airlines made 502 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: a move to discourage travelers from bringing a Note seven 503 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: on board at all, going so far as to have 504 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: exchange table set up in airports to swap out the 505 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: Note seven for a different phone. Now, this whole thing 506 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: was a huge pr disaster for Samsung. Also in October, 507 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: Samsung would acquire an AI assistant called Viv, designed by 508 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,959 Speaker 1: the same team that created Sirie for Apple. The Nobel 509 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: Prize for Chemistry would be awarded to Jean Pierre Savage, 510 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: Sir Fraser Stoddart, and Bernard Feinga. That was for their 511 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: work in designing and synthesizing nanoscale machines. Savage led a 512 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: team that designed a control system to make a molecule 513 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: rotate around another molecule so you could actually control that revolution. 514 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: Stoddard's group created a molecular sized axle, and for Inga's 515 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: group create a molecular motor. Nintendo announced the Switch, but 516 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 1: gave us not that much information about the actual console. 517 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,720 Speaker 1: This is the new console from Nintendo. It was formerly 518 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: known as the n X. It's kind of part home console, 519 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: part handheld device, kind of like the we You in 520 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: a way. There's a tablet like screen that you can 521 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: detach from a docking station and use as a portable 522 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 1: gaming system, as detachable wireless controllers that you can use 523 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,479 Speaker 1: with the tablet, as well as other controls you can 524 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: use when it's in its console form, but Nintendo gave 525 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: very few details about how many configurations the system will have, 526 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: or when it will be available, or how much it 527 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: will cost, but we're gonna learn more about that. On 528 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: January twelve, two seventeen, Atari co founder Nolan Bushnell launched 529 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: a VR company called Modal VR. The VR system is 530 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: portable and can include full body tracking suits, but it 531 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: may not end up being a consumer product, but rather 532 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: an experience you pay to have, sort of like an 533 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: amusement park. So instead of going out and buying the system, 534 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 1: you might go to an amusement facility of some sort, 535 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: like an arcade, and pay to do it. A Russian 536 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: scientist named Dr Igor Asher Bailey announced plans to create 537 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: a space based nation called as Guardia. The nation would 538 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: consist of satellites in orbit. It would also be meant 539 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: to help with early detection of possible dangerous to Earth, 540 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: like an incoming meteor, and possibly serve to help deflect 541 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: the object or otherwise protect our planet. You can apply 542 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: for citizenship and contribute funds at as Guardia dot space. 543 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: And I think this idea is a bit wackadoodle but interesting. 544 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 1: Bill Belichick, who I am told, coaches a team called 545 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 1: the New England Patriots in a sport called football, declares 546 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 1: that he is done with tablets. After one too many 547 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:06,080 Speaker 1: technological failures using a Microsoft surface, he said he's going 548 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: to go back to paper. He said there just wasn't 549 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: enough consistency and performance with tablets. His frustration is felt 550 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: by many, although there are plenty of other NFL coaches 551 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: who are still using paper. Tesla announced that all future 552 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,040 Speaker 1: vehicles in production would include the hardware needed for full 553 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: self driving capability. This despite the issues they had had 554 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: with their autopilot system. A T and T announced the 555 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: intention to acquire time Warner for a cool eighty five 556 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: point six billion dollars. That deal is going to take 557 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: most of seen to complete, and near the end of October, 558 00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,120 Speaker 1: Google announced it would pause its activities in ten cities 559 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: where it had not already fully committed to installing Google Fiber, 560 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: and then they laid off or reassigned about nine percent 561 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: of Google fibers staff. Big sad story for those that 562 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: were going to get Google Fiber but had not actually 563 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: started the process. The company did say was still committed 564 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: to serving the cities it would already really began to 565 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: lay cable in, including Atlanta and Austin and others. Speculation 566 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: rose that Google is looking more into wireless solutions rather 567 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: than laying physical fiber. Google also created AI programs that 568 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 1: can invent their own cryptography to prevent eavesdropping, which I 569 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 1: thought was pretty darn cool. Okay, we're into the home stretch, 570 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:26,800 Speaker 1: last couple of months left to go. But before we 571 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,439 Speaker 1: jump into that, let's take another quick break and thank 572 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: our sponsor. Okay. November, Samsung announced it intended to acquire 573 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 1: Harmon International Industries Incorporated for about eight billion dollars. Harmon's 574 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: best known for creating in vehicle technologies, so this is 575 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: Samsung's move to get into the smart car field. But 576 00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: the company's woes still were not over. With the Notes 577 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,440 Speaker 1: seven debuckle, Samsung also issued a voluntary we call of 578 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 1: two point eight million washing machines in addition to those 579 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,480 Speaker 1: Notes seven issues. The washing machines, however, weren't bursting into flame, 580 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:12,239 Speaker 1: but they did have a problem with excessive vibration. The 581 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: video game company Blizzard launched a new East sports venture 582 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: in November called Overwatch League. Teams will be drafted in 583 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:23,640 Speaker 1: North and South America, Europe, China, Korea, and the South Pacific, 584 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: and I don't think they're gonna pick me because I'm 585 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,680 Speaker 1: a bullet sponge. But I do play a mean Lucio. 586 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: By mean, I mean I'm a good support character. I 587 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: don't do so well with the shooty shooting snap The 588 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: makers of Snapchat introduced vending machines containing a hundred twenty 589 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: nine dollars sunglasses called Spectacles, which are designed to work 590 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,280 Speaker 1: with Snapchat. The glasses include a camera that can record 591 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: short videos that you can then upload to Snapchat. So 592 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,160 Speaker 1: it's kind of a super simplified version of what Google 593 00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: Glass was, and it's specific to Snapchat. By mid November, 594 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,560 Speaker 1: both Google and Facebook revised their policies to help discourage 595 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: the spread of fake news. Google hits fake news sites 596 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: where it hurts in the wallet. Google said it would 597 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:13,720 Speaker 1: restrict ad serving on sites that misrepresent, misstate, or conceal 598 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: information about the publisher, the publisher's content, or the primary 599 00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,720 Speaker 1: purpose of the web property. So those fake news sites 600 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:22,799 Speaker 1: that have a statement hidden deep down that they are 601 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: technically a quote unquote satire site maybe in for a 602 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:31,399 Speaker 1: rude awakening. By the way, satire is only satire if 603 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,080 Speaker 1: you are aware that it is satire. If you cannot 604 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,520 Speaker 1: tell that it is satire. It is what we call 605 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:43,279 Speaker 1: a lie, and lies are not journalism. That's not that's 606 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: not even bias there, that's just plain old fact from 607 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:50,320 Speaker 1: a grouchy, bald guy talking into a microphone. Darn it. 608 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: SpaceX requested permission from the United States FCC to launch 609 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,440 Speaker 1: more than four thousand satellites in an effort to create 610 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:02,719 Speaker 1: a global high speed in net network. Honestly, at this point, 611 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: I don't care who gets to me first, if it's 612 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 1: Space Internet or Google Fiber. Just someone please come out 613 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 1: to my house so that I can have reliable Internet access. 614 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: Thank you. Hackers gained access to San Francisco's Muni transportation system, 615 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 1: infecting it with ransomware and then encrypting the system. They 616 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,280 Speaker 1: claimed they would release the data only upon being paid 617 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:29,040 Speaker 1: a ransom. Then the hacker who created the hack was 618 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,319 Speaker 1: hacked as their email wasn't properly secure, so someone else 619 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 1: hacked the hacker by tracing back the email that had 620 00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: the ransom demand in it. Why why. The Internet Archive 621 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:42,719 Speaker 1: announced it will create a backup of its backup and 622 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,400 Speaker 1: store it in Canada just in case, you know, just 623 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,919 Speaker 1: in case things go pear shaped. With a new US 624 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:53,040 Speaker 1: political administration, which is both sad and terrifying that that 625 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: could actually be a possibility getting into December. By mid December, 626 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:03,560 Speaker 1: Facebook's Oculus VR division got the old shuffle treatment. Brendan 627 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,680 Speaker 1: arrived stepped down as CEO in order to run the 628 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: pc VR division of Facebook's company. So now there are 629 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 1: two main divisions within Facebook VR. There's PCVR and Mobile VR, 630 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: and then Oculus VR is kind of the the overall 631 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 1: arching organization that's both PCVR and Mobile VR. They're looking 632 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: for a new CEO, or at least they were as 633 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,279 Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast, to actually be the 634 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:34,600 Speaker 1: top dog. Both divisions will answer to this new Oculus CEO, 635 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:39,399 Speaker 1: and um, I'm right here is all I'm saying. Fit 636 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,879 Speaker 1: that would go on to acquire Pebble, But I think 637 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:44,239 Speaker 1: I mentioned that in the last episode, So I'm not 638 00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: going to dwell on it here other than to say 639 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,080 Speaker 1: we're very curious to find out if this means success 640 00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: for both companies or if it's a last gasp. I'm 641 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,240 Speaker 1: hoping for success. I don't want to see a company fail. 642 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,840 Speaker 1: Amazon introduced Amazon Go at a test low cation in Seattle. 643 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: It's a physical store where you can walk in. You 644 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:06,799 Speaker 1: use an app called Amazon Go, and you just start 645 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: picking up stuff in the store, and the store has 646 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,080 Speaker 1: got cameras and sensors to detect you and computer vision 647 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,759 Speaker 1: algorithms to track you and to figure out what it 648 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:16,799 Speaker 1: is that you're picking up. So once you do it, 649 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:18,719 Speaker 1: you can just walk out of the store with the 650 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:22,399 Speaker 1: stuff you want, and Amazon bills your Amazon account for you, 651 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:24,000 Speaker 1: so you don't have to go and stop at a 652 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:26,239 Speaker 1: cashier or anything like that. You literally just pick it 653 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,879 Speaker 1: up and go. If you put something back while you're 654 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: in the store, the store actually detects it and you're 655 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 1: not charged for that item. And it's currently open for 656 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,960 Speaker 1: Amazon employees in Seattle, but will open to a broader 657 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:42,000 Speaker 1: public next year. Google announced it will purchase enough renewable 658 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:45,360 Speaker 1: energy in Seen to power all of its offices and 659 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:49,760 Speaker 1: data centers. That is huge, uh, They already purchased quite 660 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,239 Speaker 1: a bit of renewable energy, but by Seen, they made 661 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 1: this commitment that they would purchase enough energy from renewable 662 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:01,040 Speaker 1: sources to power all of their their offices and data 663 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:05,440 Speaker 1: centers um there primarily depending upon wind energy, by the way, 664 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,080 Speaker 1: not solar. Solar makes up a part of it, but 665 00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,120 Speaker 1: wind is the primary way that they are generating electricity. 666 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:16,359 Speaker 1: At this point, Samsung sent out an update to all 667 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,480 Speaker 1: remaining US Galaxy Notes seven devices. That update disables the 668 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,480 Speaker 1: phone's ability to charge, as well as disabling its ability 669 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:26,920 Speaker 1: to even be a mobile device, So it just becomes 670 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,600 Speaker 1: a brick. And seeing is how more than a hundred 671 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,320 Speaker 1: thirty thousand of these devices are still out in the wild. 672 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:36,359 Speaker 1: That's an important thing. However, Verizon said it wasn't going 673 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: to publish the update to its customers. Later on it said, okay, 674 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 1: we'll do it, but not until January seven. So if 675 00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:46,640 Speaker 1: you're a Verizon customer with a Note seven, just be 676 00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 1: careful between now in January, or go and trade your 677 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: phone in for something that doesn't burst into flames. A 678 00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,480 Speaker 1: computer science lab in Toronto used machine learning to feed 679 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,840 Speaker 1: a computer hundreds of hours of music. Then they showed 680 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,759 Speaker 1: the computer a picture of a decorated Christmas tree, and 681 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: by showed them that, they had the computer analyze the picture. 682 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:09,279 Speaker 1: Then they asked the machine to compose a song inspired 683 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: by the picture, and it did, and it is not good. 684 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,919 Speaker 1: It's vaguely creepy, but that's largely because the voice that's 685 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 1: also chosen to sing the song. It's an electronic voice. 686 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: It reminds me a bit of the YouTube video I 687 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,839 Speaker 1: Feel Fantastic, but not the Jonathan Colton song. I'm talking 688 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: about the creepy robot mannequin that sings I Feel Fantastic 689 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 1: over and over and over again. That's kind of what 690 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:36,400 Speaker 1: it reminds me of. Not quite as creepy as that, 691 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:41,400 Speaker 1: but I doubt that it's going to replace you know, Baby, 692 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:46,280 Speaker 1: it's cold outside or anything like that. National Geographic became 693 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:50,080 Speaker 1: the first content creator to post a live three sixty 694 00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,920 Speaker 1: degree Facebook video showing scientists walking out of a Mars 695 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,239 Speaker 1: Desert research station in Utah. Uh. This is the thing 696 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,839 Speaker 1: where you can actually control a camera and look in 697 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:06,160 Speaker 1: all directions because the setup uses cameras that face outward 698 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 1: in all directions. It's either a special camera that can 699 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,359 Speaker 1: capture a three D sixty degree view, or it's an 700 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,840 Speaker 1: array of cameras that are stitched together so that digitally 701 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,600 Speaker 1: you can pan across and keep panning until you can 702 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:21,640 Speaker 1: turn three sixty degrees. Uh. The National Geographics the first 703 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 1: one to do a Facebook live that way. Pretty cool. 704 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,600 Speaker 1: It's got some limited applications because Generally speaking, when you 705 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:34,800 Speaker 1: are shooting video or photographing something, the stuff that's behind you, 706 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,279 Speaker 1: you don't want people to focus on that. You want 707 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 1: people to focus on the subject of your video or 708 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,320 Speaker 1: or your photography. But if it's something where you're really 709 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:48,160 Speaker 1: literally in the middle of an interesting landscape or an 710 00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:54,400 Speaker 1: interesting event, it's pretty cool. Alphabet created a new company 711 00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:57,920 Speaker 1: to spend off the autonomous car project previously that under 712 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:02,320 Speaker 1: Google X. So you know Alphabet again. Google's parent company, 713 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,960 Speaker 1: Google x is kind of the the research and development 714 00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:10,240 Speaker 1: arm that does the super duper high tech stuff. Well, 715 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:12,880 Speaker 1: they took the autonomous car project out of there and 716 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: they turned it into a company called Weymo w A 717 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:22,040 Speaker 1: y m O. John kraft Sick is named CEO of Weymo, 718 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 1: and Google is partnering with Fiat Chrysler and there are 719 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,200 Speaker 1: rumors that the company hopes to have a ride sharing 720 00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:31,800 Speaker 1: service available by the end of twenty sev So you 721 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: remember I was talking about that Amazon Ghost store. There's 722 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:38,120 Speaker 1: another piece of technology, this one from Panasonic that is 723 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:41,320 Speaker 1: a special checkout system and it rings up your purchases 724 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,080 Speaker 1: and even bags them up for you. Being used in 725 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,000 Speaker 1: the convenience store in Osaka, Japan. It's kind of a 726 00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:50,480 Speaker 1: testing ground for the technology. I love all these because 727 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,880 Speaker 1: I'm the guy who gets to the self checkout area, 728 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,680 Speaker 1: and then I feel like I'm taking way too long 729 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,560 Speaker 1: to use very simple technology, even though I'm using it 730 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:03,280 Speaker 1: all properly, i just feel like I'm not being terribly 731 00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:07,280 Speaker 1: efficient with my scanning and bagging approach. So if someone 732 00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:09,800 Speaker 1: could take that off of my shoulders so that I 733 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:14,760 Speaker 1: could feel like a decent human being again, I'd like that. Meanwhile, 734 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,440 Speaker 1: the California Department of Motor Vehicle sent a letter to 735 00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:21,080 Speaker 1: Uber and said, knock it off with those autonomous card tests. 736 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,400 Speaker 1: Uber had been doing these tests in San Francisco, but 737 00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,040 Speaker 1: did not have a permit to do that, and so 738 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,680 Speaker 1: the California Department of Motor Vehicle said, Hey, the DMV 739 00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,040 Speaker 1: is gonna get all up in your face if you 740 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,879 Speaker 1: don't back off. And Uber said, hey, relax, our cars 741 00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: won't work unless a human driver is present in the 742 00:44:39,239 --> 00:44:41,640 Speaker 1: first place, even if that human driver isn't, you know, 743 00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:45,400 Speaker 1: actually driving, So that has not yet resolved as the 744 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:50,160 Speaker 1: recording of this podcast. Florida's Court of Appeals Second District 745 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:55,400 Speaker 1: ruled that UH police can compel someone to provide a 746 00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:58,120 Speaker 1: pass code to an iPhone five if they have a 747 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:03,160 Speaker 1: search warrant. Now, courts in Vermont, California, and Michigan had 748 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:06,279 Speaker 1: previously ruled against that, saying that that would fall under 749 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:11,279 Speaker 1: the category of self incrimination, which technically U. S. Citizens 750 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:14,080 Speaker 1: shouldn't have to worry about because we have a whole 751 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:18,200 Speaker 1: amendment in the Constitution protecting us against it. It's called 752 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:21,200 Speaker 1: the fifth one. So yeah, you have to read all 753 00:45:21,200 --> 00:45:23,759 Speaker 1: the way down to five. If you gave up at 754 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,919 Speaker 1: three or four, I mean, I understand that you don't 755 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,279 Speaker 1: don't know about it, but just keep reading because when 756 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,520 Speaker 1: you get five, it's pretty clear that a person is 757 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: not cannot be compelled to incriminate themselves. UM, very important, 758 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:44,000 Speaker 1: important right there, but not in Florida, at least right now. 759 00:45:44,719 --> 00:45:48,000 Speaker 1: So that is it. That is all the stories that 760 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,520 Speaker 1: I collected for now. Clearly a lot more happened that 761 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,640 Speaker 1: year than just the stories I covered, but to go 762 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:59,279 Speaker 1: through all of those would take ages. And uh, I 763 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,279 Speaker 1: think that, um, it's important that we turn our eyes 764 00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:06,120 Speaker 1: forward prepare ourselves for next year, which is why I 765 00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:10,080 Speaker 1: am so excited to announce that I will soon be 766 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:16,280 Speaker 1: recording my predictions for yes, that time of year where 767 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:21,080 Speaker 1: I hate myself and try to make wild guesses about 768 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:22,960 Speaker 1: what the future of tech is going to be like 769 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 1: and then hopefully forget about them for twelve months until 770 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,799 Speaker 1: I have to revisit it and then realize how far 771 00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,600 Speaker 1: off I was. But I'm going to make a promise 772 00:46:32,600 --> 00:46:35,480 Speaker 1: to you guys. I'm gonna try again to make big, 773 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:40,120 Speaker 1: bold guesses so that, uh, at least we have something 774 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:42,279 Speaker 1: to talk about when the year is over. Even if 775 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,000 Speaker 1: what I'm talking about is that how wrong I was, 776 00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:50,200 Speaker 1: at least that's interesting as opposed to say, you know, uh, 777 00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:53,800 Speaker 1: there'll be a new Call of Duty game that's not exciting, 778 00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:57,359 Speaker 1: So I will do that soon. I hope you guys 779 00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:00,120 Speaker 1: enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for sticking with 780 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:04,960 Speaker 1: us throughout. I hope that you guys have a happy 781 00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:09,040 Speaker 1: and safe New Year's Eve, and happy New Year to 782 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,319 Speaker 1: you guys. I will see you in Remember. If you 783 00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:14,040 Speaker 1: want to get in touch with me, you can email 784 00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:17,600 Speaker 1: me the addresses tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com, 785 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:20,040 Speaker 1: or you can drop me a line on Twitter or 786 00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:23,880 Speaker 1: Facebook at both of those. We are tech Stuff hs 787 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:32,480 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you next year. For more 788 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:34,799 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Is It How 789 00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:45,640 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com