WEBVTT - TechStuff Reviews 2016 Part Two 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.480 Get in tech with technology with tech Stuff from stuff 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:13.720 works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to Tech Stuff. 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:16.480 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland, and today we're going to 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.040 conclude our look back at the year what was two 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:24.200 thousand and sixteen. In our previous episode, I went from 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.920 January through May, which means we're picking up in June. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:32.559 It busted out all over and there's lots of tech 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.600 news to talk about all the way up to current day, 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.360 which I'm recording this on December fifteen, so technically there's 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:44.320 still some time left in the year, and who knows 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.760 what can happen between now and January one. I apologize 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:49.920 for missing all those stories, but let's get to June. 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.520 That's when E three happens. That's the big video game 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.120 Expo in Los Angeles. Not the largest video game expo 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.680 in the world, but a pretty big one. Big stories 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.960 out of three included details about Reside, Eeval seven, Legend 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:07.240 of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, Crash, Bandicoot Remasters, a 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.759 new Spider Man game for PS four, a new God 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:14.000 of War game, Hideo Kajima's new game called Death Stranding, 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:17.640 Kajima Kajima's departure from Konami was a big deal in 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:20.560 two thousand fifteen, and there was an announcement about a 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.720 remastered sky Rim or Scrim if you prefer, that's now available, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.480 and word that Bethesda's working on a follow up to Skyrim, 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.720 although whether it's a follow up to Skyrim or yet 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:34.560 another Elder Scrolls game that remains to be seen. Nintendo 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:40.920 also announced a mysterious uh mixed reality game called Pokemon Go, 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:43.880 which would launch a bit later in the year, and 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.039 then people went bonkers for it for at least a 0:01:46.040 --> 0:01:49.040 few weeks. The fat has largely died out since then, 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:53.120 although there's still some dedicated players out there. For several weeks, 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.120 it was pretty much par for the course to walk 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.480 around places and just see people staring at their phones 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:02.440 trying to catch Pokemon uh and then ticking off landowners. 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.760 That happened a lot too. Oh and and also at 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.600 E three there were announcements about the Xbox One S 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.720 and PS Pro, which got gamers talking about how the 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:15.200 consoles were taking a half step in console versions. It's 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.880 not a true new one, it's an kind of beefier 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:24.280 version of the existing consoles the current generation, plus Microsoft 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:29.920 teased it's next big update codenamed Project Scorpio, which I 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.000 sure hope looks like a Bond villain. This new console 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.720 will run games at four K resolution at sixty frames 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:40.520 per second and launches in late twenties. Seventeen, Microsoft made 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.760 available Windows Holographic, which is a variation of Windows ten 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.440 and it is meant to run on the Hollow lens. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.920 This marked Microsoft's next big push to move into mixed 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.840 reality devices. Microsoft also announced the intention to acquire linked 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:59.760 In for twenty six point two billion dollars in cash YAWSA, 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.400 and that deal closed in December, so it is official. 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:08.840 In June, snapchats daily active users outpaced Twitter. Twitter averages 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.280 around a hundred forty million active users. Snapchat hit one 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.760 hundred fifty million. And I'm still not very good at 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:20.119 using it. Occasionally I remember that it's a thing that's 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.600 on my phone, but honestly, I have so many different 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.760 apps that take pictures or video and then share it 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:31.120 that remembering there's one more is not something I'm great at. 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.320 But June was also a big month for hackers exploiting vulnerability. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.800 Six hundred forty two million accounts were accessed across sites 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:43.720 like Tumbler, LinkedIn and my Space. That can't be right, people, 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:48.640 people were still using my Space, and later on in June, 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.000 a hacker group by the handle Tessa eight or hacker 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.880 going by the handle Tessa eight shared more than thirty 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.440 two million Twitter log in credentials, which Twitter executive said, 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.720 we're evidence of people having alwear on their computers rather 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:06.160 than Twitter's security itself failing. So in other words, it's 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.240 not our fault that our users are not very secure. 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.000 The United States f a A warned pilots in June 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.480 to stay away from a region over the Mojave Desert. 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:18.880 Turned out the Naval Air Weapons Center was testing out 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.680 a GPS interference device, which affects larger areas as it 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.640 increases in altitude, So at forty feet this GPS interference 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.800 device could affect areas from as far across as the 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:34.200 border between California and Oregon, all the way all the 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.360 way down to the Mexican border, and as far eastward 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:42.080 as Utah, which is pretty insane. Also, if you got 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.239 lost in late June in that area, that might be why. 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.560 The University of Sussex and June released a report. That's 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.600 just having a phone conversation while driving, even if you're 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.840 using a hands free system, is more distracting than talking 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:59.480 to someone in the car or listening to the radio. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:01.880 And that's partly because you tend to visualize what the 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.840 conversation is about, which takes your mind off the road. 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:09.000 So it while having hands free is slightly better than 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.120 having the phone in your hand, still not as good 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.520 as not talking on the phone at all. So do 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.479 me a favor, don't don't use your phones in the 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.679 car unless it's absolutely necessary. Just just listen to my show. 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.680 That's fine, because I'm talking at you, not to you. 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.920 Gawker filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy following the fallout of 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.760 the lawsuit that was leveled against it by Hulk Hogan, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.600 which was funded by Peter Thiel, and that was leveled 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:43.840 against the company earlier in the UH so Gawker's had 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.920 a real rough year, and in fact, that entire situation 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.760 caused a lot of debate in the tech sphere tech 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:56.680 journalism sphere about the role of funding what amounts to 0:05:56.680 --> 0:06:00.680 be a revenge lawsuit against the company. Uh There's also 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:06.279 the the fact that Gawker, parts of Gawker have behaved 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:11.240 in ways that are not particularly upstanding or professional. Not 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.120 that that necessarily means they deserve to go bankrupt, but 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.479 rather it makes it more complicated. It's not as easy 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.960 as saying this person or this entity is clearly a 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.440 victim and this other entity is clearly the bad guy. 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.240 There was a lot of bad behavior on multiple sides 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.560 of this issue, uh, and it has raised a lot 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.520 of interesting conversations out there. I recommend you go and 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:36.200 check them out if you are so inclined. The Court 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:41.000 of Appeals ruled against overturning the fccs reclassification of Internet 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.359 service providers as common carriers. That all has to do 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.960 in net neutrality. I did a full episode about it 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.280 a couple of years ago, so you can check that out. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.800 It's also something we'll likely see change again with the 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:56.160 upcoming transition and political administrations here in the United States. 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.400 There's a lot of worry in the text space that 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.720 net neutral he could become a thing of the past 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:06.680 once President Trump takes office. A committee in the EU 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.040 submitted a proposal urging for some serious thought to be 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:14.120 given to robots, including the possibility of extending robots the 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:18.600 status of personhood. The proposal focused on near future problems 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.440 such as who do you hold accountable if a robot 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.400 causes harm to a person or property, Because the more 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:28.200 autonomous the robot is and the more it learns through experience, 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.280 the harder it is to answer that question. I did 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.720 a great episode with Scott Benjamin where we ended up 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.640 talking a lot about robots and responsibilities, and I watched 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:43.000 as he began to question everything he knows and holds. 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.480 Dear longtime listeners know, I love to have Scott on 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.920 the show and then slowly try to break him because 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:54.280 he's such a nice guy. Moving on to July, Verizon 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:59.360 officially moved to acquire Yahoo for four point eight billion dollars. 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:01.720 We're eisen had been in the running to purchase y'ah, 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.840 whose core business since April at the earliest, or at 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.240 the latest. Rather, Yahoo is set to merge with a 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:10.760 O L. But this process is a slow one, and 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:15.920 a later hacking scandal that unfolded in September that specifically 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.800 involved Yahoo ended up complicating matters. I'll talk more about 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:23.680 that later. Pokemon Go launched in July and rapidly gained 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.920 more users than Twitter. It was a runaway success, and 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:30.560 you've got to catch them all unless you're like me 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:35.400 and you haven't opened the app. Since August, Twitter began 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:37.960 to experiment with a platform that allows for live streaming 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:42.320 of content alongside tweets like NFL games and presidential debates. 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.960 It's another attempt for Twitter to try and stay relevant 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.360 in a social media landscape that changes very rapidly. Twitter 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.200 is one of those things that a lot of people use, 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:55.480 but the company still finds it challenging to generate revenue 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.720 or to actually make it a business as opposed to 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.520 just a service. In the wake of a live video 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.160 depicting the death of Philando Castile after he was shot 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.680 by police, Facebook had to clarify it's live video policy. 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:14.080 According to Facebook, the context for a video means absolutely everything. 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.200 So a video that is showing something newsworthy or that 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:21.760 might help people identify, say a shooter in a different context, 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:26.240 or something along those lines, is permissible. But videos that ridicule, mock, 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:31.560 or celebrate violence with someone being victimized, those are not allowed. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.080 So it's kind of a judgment call on a case 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.280 by case basis. But we saw technology play a very 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:42.720 important role in the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, showing 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.920 that there are a lot of events that are happening 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.959 that the mainstream population may not be aware of because 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.840 it doesn't affect them directly. Um and so this was 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:59.599 just one of several events throughout that challenged those assumptions. 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:05.040 Nintendo announced the Nintendo Classic of video game console that 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.640 comes with thirty Classic Anys titles pre programmed on it. 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.640 It plugs into your TV via hd M I and 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.840 has controllers modeled after the original nes controllers. And I 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.320 cannot find one of these things, to say, my life, gush, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.000 darn it. I've been looking occasionally now and then, not 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:24.439 crazy serious, but once in a while, because we keep 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.199 hearing reports of different vendors getting a few Nintendo Classics 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:30.920 in their inventory, but I've yet to be able to 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:35.360 find one to actually purchase it. Uh So I probably 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:37.840 will go without not the not a big deal it's 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.320 but it's had another example of what appears to be 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.560 uh kind of a false scarcity. Nintendo has been known 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:50.040 for creating products that a lot of people want, but 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.199 they're just way too few out on the market to 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:56.800 support the demand, and this I think ultimately could hurt 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.240 the company. Don't know if it was something they had 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.320 planned on doing or if it just happened that way, 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:05.240 But the fact is it happens over and over when nintendos, 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.920 so you would think they would get the message and 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.000 get as many of these things out there as possible. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:13.440 Maybe that's what they're doing, and it's just that as 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.439 many as are possible is just still too few for us. 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.199 I shouldn't put all the blame on them, but gosh 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.680 darn it, I want to. The Defense Innovation Unit, which 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:26.440 is an experimental division of the Department of Defense. I 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.760 did not realize was a thing until I read this 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.959 news report, began to look into using tech to improve 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:36.760 military operations, including using VR and robotics. There's also research 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:41.720 into what is called non invasive electrical stimulation. In other words, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:43.839 that involves zapp in the brain with a small amount 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.440 of electricity in an effort to improve learning capabilities. People 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.360 have been trying this out for a few years now. 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:52.720 Bio hackers have been doing this where they will attach 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:57.480 little electrodes to their heads to to send small amounts 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:01.800 of electricity to try and boost their they're learning of capabilities. 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.040 But this is a much more ambitious study to see 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.080 if there's anything really there or if it's a you know, 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.120 kind of a placebo effect where you think you are 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:15.439 better at learning skills, but you aren't necessarily better. It's 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:20.400 an interesting approach. Elon Musk proposed that Tesla Motors merge 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:24.160 with Solar City. Tesla produces the power Wall among all 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.360 of its cars. It also creates the power Wall, which 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.040 is a home system. It's essentially a battery that's meant 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:32.440 to work with solar power generation its stores electricity. Solar 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:36.640 City is a startup founded by Musk's cousins. Now later 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.120 in the year this issue this this proposed merger is 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.480 put up to vote, and Tesla shareholders would support the 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.959 move in a majority decision. We also later learn about 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.480 a cool project in which solar City became the vendor 0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:53.439 for the American Samoa island of Taiou, which now receives 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.320 nearly all its power needs from solar energy. It had 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.920 been using diesel and had to import more than a 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.480 hundred thousand gas islands of fuel per year. It won't 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:04.679 have to do that anymore. So this is a great 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:07.959 story in that it allows an island to become much 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.600 more self sufficient and environmentally friendly. And another issue Towo 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.760 ran into was that sometimes the delivery of diesel would 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.840 be late and people would have to start to ration 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.199 their fuel in order to get by until the fuel arrived. 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:25.600 So with solar power, you don't have to worry about 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:29.440 that unless you go into a prolonged period without an 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.480 appropriate amount of sunlight. So the power walls are there 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:36.520 to help store electricity. According to solar City, they allow 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:41.080 for up to three days of electricity without being recharged. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.760 So assuming you don't go longer than three days without 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:48.720 any sunlight, you'd be all right. And uh, the islands 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:54.840 in American Samoa are pretty much covered in the sunshine department. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:59.080 So a pretty cool story. Now we've got tons more 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.640 to talk about before we get through the end of 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.760 But before we continue on, let's take a quick break 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:18.760 to thank our sponsor. In August, Samsung announced the Galaxy 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.040 Notes seven. Now that device would end up being a 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.520 huge problem for the company. More on that when I 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:28.920 get to October, because man, that was a doozy. You 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.120 guys already know what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.680 Instagram launched Stories, which is a Snapchat like feature that 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.600 allows you to post ten second long videos and photos 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:40.920 to a collection that exists for twenty four hours before 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.040 being deleted. Snapchat meanwhile introduced memories a bit earlier in 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.360 the year, allowing you to save some of your snaps 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.760 for posterity. In other words, everyone's kind of starting to 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:56.720 look like everyone else. Facebook created a huge lab twenty 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.760 two thousand square feet in size, and it called Area 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.480 four oh four, and its primary purpose is to prototype 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.080 new hardware, including stuff for VR equipment. So it's kind 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.440 of weird to think of Facebook in the hardware business, 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.600 but that's what this lab is all about. Facebook also 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.120 announced in August that it would tweak the algorithm for 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.000 the news feed so that fewer articles would clickbait titles 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.320 would pop up stuff like you won't believe what Facebook 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.840 did to their news feed algorithm. I'd be out of 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.680 luck if I if I posted that, or or less 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.640 likely to get a lot of clicks anyway. Computer security 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:34.960 experts identified malware that had been loose and active since 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:39.360 two thousand eleven, and they dubbed it Projects Suron because 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:43.400 they are cool. It was super tricky to identify the 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.400 malware because it was designed to hide in computer memory 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.640 and never reused IP addresses, which made each attack unique. 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:56.200 It was mainly found in computer systems in Russia, China, Sweden, Belgium, 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:01.520 Italy and Iran, and it could log key strokes, steal passwords, 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.560 and experts said that based on the sophistication and the 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:09.080 wide deployment, it was likely a case of state sponsored malware, 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:14.240 but who was behind it? Also, the battle against ad 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:18.080 blockers really ramped up in August, with Facebook designing a 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.960 new anti ad blocking strategy that lasted about twenty four 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.800 hours before a community of programmers found a way around it. 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.320 But the experts on both sides pointed out that the 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:31.760 criteria to identify and thus block ads would continuously change, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.400 making this a cat and mouse game. So you're gonna 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.600 find workarounds for workarounds, and then workarounds for those, etcetera, etcetera. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.000 Arianna Huffington, who was the founder of the Huffington's Post, 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.720 announced she would leave the company to launch a new 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:49.280 venture called Thrive Global. Huffington's Post as part of a 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:51.440 o L and that was acquired by Verizon back in 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.400 Whether she decided to leave because of issues around a 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.760 o L and Yahoo merging is unknown, because, as I 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:03.080 said earlier, rise and purchased Yahoo this year and plans 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:08.240 to merge AOL and Yahoo together. The University of College 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.960 of London had some researchers who create an algorithm that 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.680 can study and then replicate handwritten text, not just any text, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.320 but specific handwriting styles. It takes a while for the 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.720 algorithm to get comfortable with a specific handwriting style, and 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:26.360 it needs some guidance to understand where letters begin an end, 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.920 but then it can create convincing replicas of handwriting. Now 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:31.960 I want this so that I can send what appears 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.520 to be a handwritten letter to friends or family. Even 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.560 though I'll still type everything out, It'll still look like 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:41.480 it came from me with my chicken scratch. I'd be 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.320 totally down for that. And right around this time in 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.760 twenties sixteen, we started hearing talk about Twitter potentially looking 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.280 for a buyer. Over the next few months, companies like 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:55.640 Alphabet which remember is Google's parent company, Salesforce, and even 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:59.440 Disney were rumored to be interested, but as of this recording, 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:01.960 no one has plopped down the money to buy Twitter. 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.280 And Twitter head of tumultuous ear in part because many 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:07.920 people criticize the company for its apparent reluctance to take 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:14.200 harassment and worse seriously around the election. It was really 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.600 getting out of control. We have terrible stories throughout the 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:22.480 year of harassment, especially on Twitter, and and it got 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.160 particularly bad around the elections, but it's been bad all 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.399 year long. And this has been a real issue with 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:31.320 lots of people asking Twitter, when are you going to 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:34.640 crack down on this? When are you going to actually 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:39.000 make sure you are being responsible and standing up for 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:43.600 people who are being abused via the voices on Twitter? 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.160 And it's continuing to be a problem. Uh and and 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.320 a big I would I would say there was a debate, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.560 except I don't hear anything back from Twitter, so it's 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:56.320 not so much a debate as it is a bunch 0:18:56.320 --> 0:19:00.399 of people who are getting increasingly frustrated and upset at 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:07.480 how Twitter is failing to, in their eyes, act appropriately. Now. 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.160 Uber around this time began to test self driving cars 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:13.840 in Pittsburgh. Each car still has a human driver ready 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:16.520 to take over if the autonomous car goes all wonky, 0:19:16.560 --> 0:19:18.760 and the rides are free of charge, though they are 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.600 randomly assigned, so you can't just use your Uber app 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.000 to call a ride in Pittsburgh and specify you wanted 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:31.000 an autonomous car. Uber has made no secret that its 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:33.720 goal is to see fully autonomous cars become a reality 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:37.760 by one presumably so they could switch to robo cars 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.080 and sack all the human drivers, and then you just 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.000 got a bunch of robots driving around. You don't have 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.000 to worry about humans taking home a portion of the 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:51.119 money for the rides. UH. I go back and forth 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:53.800 on that. I think that it's great that a lot 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.639 of people can get employment or at least some extra 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.800 cash being an uber driver or a lift driver, So 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:02.720 it's upsetting to think about those people no longer having 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:07.879 that access. But at the same time, I think that 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.360 driverless cars tend to be safer and more efficient, So 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:14.600 I'm torn on this one. In late August, the FBI 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.600 Cybersecurity Division noted that there was evidence of foreign hackers 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.320 gaining access to voter databases here in the United States. 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.320 This would be the beginning of a long story that 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:28.560 is still playing out as I record this. The effect 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:31.320 and the extent of foreign hackers interfering with the US 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:35.000 election is still a huge deal. We don't really know 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:40.040 to what extent it affected the US election. UH. It 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:45.119 has clearly created a lot of anger and anxiety in 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:50.120 the political landscape a lot of denialism as well. Uh, 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.679 it is not pretty, and I suspect that either it 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.680 will get even uglier or through a massive effort of 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.560 sweeping it under the ru we'll stop talking about it. 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:04.120 I hope, I hope. Actually it's the first one, because 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:05.600 even though I don't want to see it get uglier, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.560 I think that this is absolutely something we have to 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:13.959 talk about anytime any country has another country interfering with 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:19.800 its Uh, it's it's legal transition of power that's a problem. 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.919 And yes, I include the times when the United States 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.520 has done that to other countries. I don't think that 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.600 we are we should be exempt from that rule. Everyone 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:35.680 should be respectful of the legal transition of power, assuming 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.959 that the legal transition of power is actually according to 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.280 the rules that that nation follows, and not you know, 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:47.040 not a shell game. Anyway, Off my soapbox, because it's 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:50.560 time to go to September. September has become the time 0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:53.040 when the world turns its eyes to Apple to see 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:56.240 if anything spectacular is announced during the annual product event, 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.720 especially especially the iPhones. This year we saw a few 0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:03.639 in sting and somewhat controversial announcements. The new iPhone has 0:22:03.680 --> 0:22:07.000 no headphone jack. I'm sure you heard enough of that 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.000 this year. That drove a lot of people nuts though 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:12.399 the fact that the headphone jack was gone. The new 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.080 MacBook Pro, which was announced the following month, on the 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:18.040 other hand, has only USB C ports and a headphone jack, 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:22.119 but no lightning ports, which also drove people nuts, although 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:25.240 the USBC and lightning thing is a little different. The 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:28.280 second generation of the Apple Watch came out and boasts 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:32.040 a better battery life and a few other enhancements. Generally speaking, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:35.280 I saw a lot of people kind of feeling, not 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:38.760 really feeling the Apple announcements. They didn't really think that 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:41.159 they were exciting, but that may be more due to 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:45.560 keynote burnout than anything else. And besides, next year marks 0:22:45.600 --> 0:22:48.240 the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, so we can probably 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.880 expect something big will happen next year, and maybe that's 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.159 one of the reasons why this year was not quite 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:58.720 as as big of a breakout. In early September, Samsung 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:01.879 announced it was delaying shipments of the Galaxy Note seven 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:06.480 after receiving reports that some devices had While the technical 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:11.560 term is caught all on fire, the official company statements 0:23:11.560 --> 0:23:13.439 said that the problem was traced to the battery and 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:17.960 affected only point one percent of all handsets. Samsung's market 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:21.000 value took a hit, dropping seven billion dollars after the 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:25.080 initial reports. Samsung also halted sales of the Notes seven 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:28.240 and identified thirty five cases that were reported globally By 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:32.280 early September, and in non phone news, Samsung also announced 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:34.679 it would sell off its printer business to HP for 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:40.399 a cool one point oh five billion dollars. Now this 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:44.000 is an important story. This next one. Alphabet partnered with 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:48.560 Chipotle to deliver burritos by drone to students of Virginia Tech, 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:52.399 one of the most important stories of Dylan agrees with me, 0:23:52.880 --> 0:23:58.600 because come on, it's burritos, Sky Burritos. The drones were 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:02.160 self guided, but they also had human operators who were 0:24:02.200 --> 0:24:05.000 capable of taking control if the drone started, you know, 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.920 going crazy and began to chuck burritos forcifully at students heads, 0:24:08.960 --> 0:24:13.520 which would have been hilarious, but unfortunate. The f a 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:17.000 A itself gave its approval for this experiment. They actually 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:19.840 had to ask permission of the f a A and 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:22.359