WEBVTT - Tech News: Twitter Wants Musk in Court in September

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Pay there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>And how the tech are you? It is time for

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<v Speaker 1>the tech news for Tuesday, July two. And first are

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<v Speaker 1>quick obligatory update on the Elon Musk Twitter situation. Twitter

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<v Speaker 1>wants to take Musk to court as early as September

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<v Speaker 1>uh in order to force him to acquire the company

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<v Speaker 1>that he agreed to acquire. Musk has argued that more

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<v Speaker 1>time is needed to prove that Twitter is infested with

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<v Speaker 1>bots to a point that would justify backing out of

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<v Speaker 1>the agreement to purchase the company, so he wants to

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<v Speaker 1>push the trial to February of next year. Late February,

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<v Speaker 1>i might add, and today a judge will hear Twitter's

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<v Speaker 1>motion for a September trial make a decision on that.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's possible that later this week we'll actually know

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<v Speaker 1>when this is going to head to the courts. The

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<v Speaker 1>general sense that I'm picking up reading various analysts takes

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<v Speaker 1>about this case is that Musk's argument is exceedingly weak.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of folks feel that it's pretty much all

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<v Speaker 1>but guaranteed that the courts will force him to either

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<v Speaker 1>go through the deal or he'll have to pay a

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<v Speaker 1>hefty settlement to get out of it. But don't take

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<v Speaker 1>anything for granted. When it comes to Elon Musk. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>the absurd is normal. So while that seems to be

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<v Speaker 1>the general sense at the moment, doesn't necessarily mean that's

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<v Speaker 1>where things are going to head. Albania's government has been

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<v Speaker 1>digitizing its agencies over the recent past, and it launched

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<v Speaker 1>an online portal for most government agencies and departments earlier

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<v Speaker 1>this year. Now, the government has had to take those

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<v Speaker 1>websites offline because of a cyber attack. The government said

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<v Speaker 1>the attack was synchronized and sophisticated, and that it originated

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<v Speaker 1>outside of Albania. The government is currently working with Microsoft

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<v Speaker 1>as well as a cybersecurity company to get systems back

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<v Speaker 1>online and safe from further attacks. No word as of

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<v Speaker 1>the time of this recording on who was responsible for

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<v Speaker 1>carrying out those attacks or what their goal was beyond disruption.

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<v Speaker 1>Russia has hit Google with a twenty one point one

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<v Speaker 1>billion rouble fine that amounts to about three seventy four

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<v Speaker 1>million dollars, and you might wonder Okay, well, what's the deal. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>the Russian government says that Google has failed to remove

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<v Speaker 1>prohibited information, namely information regarding Russia's invasion and war in Ukraine.

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<v Speaker 1>Google has also blocked state backed Russian media from posting

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<v Speaker 1>on platforms like YouTube. So that is a double whammy

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<v Speaker 1>against the Russian government, which has been leaning really hard

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<v Speaker 1>on its propaganda machine to fight back against Russian citizens

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<v Speaker 1>opposition to the war in Ukraine. The Affinity Credit Union,

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<v Speaker 1>which is based in the United States state of Iowa,

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<v Speaker 1>has filed a lawsuit against Apple. At the heart of

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<v Speaker 1>this complaint is yet another charge of Apple engaging in

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<v Speaker 1>anti competitive practices, something we've heard a lot of in

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<v Speaker 1>the recent past. This time it's regarding its mobile wallet

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<v Speaker 1>and contactless payment system. So essentially, this lawsuit argues that

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<v Speaker 1>Apple requires all payment card issuers that is, credit cards

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<v Speaker 1>and debit cards to use Apple's mobile wallet if they

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<v Speaker 1>want their customers to be able to use contactless payment.

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<v Speaker 1>Apple only allows its own digital wallet to use that feature,

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<v Speaker 1>so while you could download a different digital wallet on

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<v Speaker 1>an iOS device, that wallet would not be able to

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<v Speaker 1>take advantage of contactless payment. Further, to get access to

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<v Speaker 1>Apple's mobile wallet, payment card issuers have to pay a

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<v Speaker 1>fee on all credit or debit transactions. Now, if you

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<v Speaker 1>contrast that with Android, you can actually on an Android

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<v Speaker 1>device have all sorts of different mobile wallets downloaded to

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<v Speaker 1>the device, and all of them can use contactless payment,

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<v Speaker 1>and they don't levy fees on payment card issuers. And

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<v Speaker 1>so you can see where there's some fuel for a

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<v Speaker 1>lawsuit here. Apple has been the target of numerous lawsuits

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<v Speaker 1>like this one fairly recently, as more companies and governments

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<v Speaker 1>scrutinized the company's practices, and over the last few years,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple has really leaned more heavily on being a company

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<v Speaker 1>that offers and facilitates services more than being a company

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<v Speaker 1>known for focusing on new innovative hardware. Of course, Apple

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<v Speaker 1>still does make hardware, still releases hardware. We still get

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<v Speaker 1>new iPhones and and Max and all that kind of stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>But it's been a few years since Apple has really

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<v Speaker 1>been touted as an innovative hardware company, and Tim Cook

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<v Speaker 1>has really put a lot of enthusiasm behind developing Apple

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<v Speaker 1>as a services company, because, of course, you can only

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<v Speaker 1>sell a piece of hardware to a person once, right,

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<v Speaker 1>If I sell you an iPhone. I can't sell that

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<v Speaker 1>same iPhone a second time. But if I get you

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<v Speaker 1>on a service that has a recurring subscription fee, I

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<v Speaker 1>can have a paying customer for you know, an indeterminate

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<v Speaker 1>amount of time. It's not just a one time thing.

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<v Speaker 1>So Tim Cook has really pushed the company into that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of revenue model. However, the structures that Apple has

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<v Speaker 1>built in order to give itself a dominant position on

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<v Speaker 1>its own platform has brought it under scrutiny, and it

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<v Speaker 1>may turn out that this focus on services is going

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<v Speaker 1>to cause a lot more headaches as Apple tries to

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<v Speaker 1>avoid accusations of restricting competition on its own platforms. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if you happen to know this, but

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<v Speaker 1>we are still in the middle of a pandemic. Anyway.

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<v Speaker 1>That pandemic has forced some rapid and dramatic changes across

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<v Speaker 1>our lives, which is again staying the obvious and then

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<v Speaker 1>includes how we work. And that leads us to our

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<v Speaker 1>next story, which is that Meta, the company that owns

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<v Speaker 1>you know, Facebook and Instagram, has discovered that when hiring

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<v Speaker 1>folks who wanted to work remotely, they actually saw an

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<v Speaker 1>unexpected side benefit that the new hires were more diverse

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<v Speaker 1>than what the company typically saw when it would hire

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<v Speaker 1>new employees who were coming into work at the office.

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<v Speaker 1>So there were more women and there were more people

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<v Speaker 1>of color in the hires that they were bringing on.

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<v Speaker 1>The Washington Post ran an article about this, showing that

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<v Speaker 1>the hiring saw people from underrepresentative groups joining the company

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<v Speaker 1>in larger numbers than before. Now, I've always been a

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<v Speaker 1>big proponent of purposefully making moves like that, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>actively and consciously working to diversify our workforce because more

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<v Speaker 1>perspectives and different ways of coming up with ideas have

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<v Speaker 1>an enormous benefit on the company's operations, and it can

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<v Speaker 1>also help a company avoid making decisions that would in

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<v Speaker 1>hindsight be viewed as being what I like to call

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<v Speaker 1>bone headed, or misogynistic or racist. It's good to have

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<v Speaker 1>voices that can say, hey, that's not such a good

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<v Speaker 1>idea on occasion. Anyway. This report suggests that these underrepresented

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<v Speaker 1>groups are more comfortable working remotely, and it further indicates

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<v Speaker 1>that Silicon Valley offices aren't really known for their diversity,

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<v Speaker 1>so not surprisingly, the region isn't really favored by underrepresented

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<v Speaker 1>groups who might feel pressured or they might encounter microaggressions

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<v Speaker 1>as they go to the office every day, and of

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<v Speaker 1>course by working from home, they sidestep a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>that and it ends up causing less stress on their

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<v Speaker 1>lives as they try and do their jobs. So when

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<v Speaker 1>I read these articles, I realized that, you know, listening

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<v Speaker 1>really is important and that folks like me need to

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<v Speaker 1>do a lot more listening. Anyway, it was interesting consequence

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<v Speaker 1>that that followed the move to remote work, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>to see this increase in diversity, and hopefully we'll see

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<v Speaker 1>increase diversity in Meta and other tech companies moving forward,

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<v Speaker 1>because honestly, we all benefit from that. One issue that

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<v Speaker 1>has plagued Amazon, apart from its workers having the temerity

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<v Speaker 1>to want to unionize the radicals, is the issue of

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<v Speaker 1>fake reviews. UH. Fake reviews skew results in Amazon's searches,

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<v Speaker 1>and they guide people to purchasing products that don't justify

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<v Speaker 1>the glowing five star ratings that have been posted by

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<v Speaker 1>fake accounts or people who are paid or otherwise compensated

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<v Speaker 1>in order to generate positive reviews. And Amazon has made

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<v Speaker 1>another big move to push back against this trend of

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<v Speaker 1>fake reviews by taking legal action against more than ten

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<v Speaker 1>thousand Facebook group administrators. So those groups, according to Amazon,

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<v Speaker 1>coordinate and facilitate fake reviews for Amazon products or products

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<v Speaker 1>that are listed on Amazon, not just Amazon products, and

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<v Speaker 1>they promised free stuff to folks who will post fake

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<v Speaker 1>reviews for a selection of products. Amazon has been waging

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<v Speaker 1>war against fake reviews for a while now, going so

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<v Speaker 1>far as to ban certain merchants from the platform, even

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<v Speaker 1>really big notable ones. But this is interesting to see

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<v Speaker 1>them going after the groups that are meant to to

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<v Speaker 1>recruit people to post these fake reviews. Okay, we're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>take a quick break and when we come back, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a few more news items. Okay, we're back. Next

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<v Speaker 1>news item up. Clear Trip a flight booking website that's

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<v Speaker 1>popular in India. Though lots of places actually use clear Trip,

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<v Speaker 1>it's just mostly used in India. Uh. It's also accompanied

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<v Speaker 1>by the way that Walmart has a majority ownership in

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<v Speaker 1>has recently had a data breach that was serious enough

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<v Speaker 1>to prompt the company to alert customers about it. The

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<v Speaker 1>company says that someone gained illegal and unauthorized access to

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<v Speaker 1>quote a part of clear trips internal systems end quote.

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<v Speaker 1>They also said the intrusion only essentially scraped surface level

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<v Speaker 1>data like a customer's profile information, but not like their

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<v Speaker 1>sensitive info like passwords and payment methods and such, although

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<v Speaker 1>they did say, hey, if it makes you feel better,

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<v Speaker 1>you can reset your password. The newspaper The Register contacted

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<v Speaker 1>clear Trip to get more information about this. They asked

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<v Speaker 1>what data did the intruders specifically gain access to, how

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<v Speaker 1>much were they able to access, how did they gain

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<v Speaker 1>access into the system in the first place, did they

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<v Speaker 1>extract any information? Is that detectable? And when the heck

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<v Speaker 1>did this happen? And when did clear Trip actually alert customers?

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<v Speaker 1>Now when it happened is a big deal because India

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<v Speaker 1>has a law that states any company that detects a

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<v Speaker 1>data breach has the responsibility to report the breach to

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<v Speaker 1>authorities within six hours. Anyway, as of this recording, clear

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<v Speaker 1>Trip had not clarified the matter. Samsung tweeted out a

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<v Speaker 1>series of messages that created a puzzle for the curious.

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<v Speaker 1>The puzzle included a message saying when will something greater arrive?

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<v Speaker 1>And then this was followed by six circles, and each

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<v Speaker 1>circle had had slightly different shades different colors of circles,

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<v Speaker 1>and another message had a grid of letters symbols and

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<v Speaker 1>numbers arranged. And then a third message had a a

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<v Speaker 1>grid similar grid, same with same height, but instead of

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<v Speaker 1>numbers and symbols and such, it had circles with different

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<v Speaker 1>colors in them. Now collectively that puzzle would reveal a date.

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<v Speaker 1>And see what would happen is you would have to

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<v Speaker 1>look at those six circles in the first picture, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you would find identical shaded circles that were in

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<v Speaker 1>the third picture of the circles that were in the grid.

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<v Speaker 1>So you'd find the ones that matched the shade, so

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<v Speaker 1>circle number one had matched a specific circle within the grid.

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<v Speaker 1>Then you would look for the corresponding symbol that was

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<v Speaker 1>in the same same position of the grid on picture

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<v Speaker 1>number two. I know it sounds confusing, but ultimately, if

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<v Speaker 1>you did all this matching, you would discover that the

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<v Speaker 1>an original message was spelling out the date zero eight

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<v Speaker 1>one zero to two, which if we're reading dates the

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<v Speaker 1>way we Americans do, which is the right way, that

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<v Speaker 1>would be August two. Of course, could be that we're

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to read the date the wrong way, in which

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<v Speaker 1>case it's the eighth of October. But you know that

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<v Speaker 1>would just be silly, right it's gotta be August right

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<v Speaker 1>either way, most folks expect Samsung will be announcing a

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<v Speaker 1>few new products, including a Galaxy Fold four, a Galaxy

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<v Speaker 1>Flip four, and a Galaxy Watch five. Hopefully the announcement

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<v Speaker 1>itself will be more exciting than the puzzle was. Earlier

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<v Speaker 1>in this episode, I talked about how Elon Musk is

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<v Speaker 1>leaning hard on the bots issue on Twitter to justify

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<v Speaker 1>backing out of the acquisition deal. Well, other folks apparently

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<v Speaker 1>leaned on bots hard to elevate the call for Warner

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<v Speaker 1>Brothers to release the so called Snyder cut of the

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<v Speaker 1>Justice League movie. Rolling Stone reports that fake accounts and

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<v Speaker 1>bots amplified the message and that it was above the

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<v Speaker 1>normal threshold. You know, bots usually make up three to

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<v Speaker 1>five percent of all accounts that are involved in conversations

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<v Speaker 1>on trending topics, but when it came to the Snyder cut,

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<v Speaker 1>it was more like thirteen. Now, granted, that still means

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<v Speaker 1>around seven of all the accounts that we're calling for

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<v Speaker 1>a Snyder cut were legitimate. They were from real users,

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<v Speaker 1>So it's not like this was a holy manufactured online crusade,

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<v Speaker 1>but it is an interesting outlier. Like why why this

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<v Speaker 1>topic why were more bots calling for this than anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Warner Media actually investigated the issue after receiving numerous complaints

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<v Speaker 1>that the call for the Snyder cut wasn't all it

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<v Speaker 1>appeared to be, which makes you wonder why, Like, why

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<v Speaker 1>was this such a big deal? Why were people so

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<v Speaker 1>upset one way or the other? I mean, I get why,

0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:17.120
<v Speaker 1>like fans wanted to see what the original intended movie was,

0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.479
<v Speaker 1>but I don't. I don't know why there was controversy

0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.240
<v Speaker 1>on either side apart from like some other issues with Snyder,

0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.160
<v Speaker 1>But I don't know. This one really confuses me. And

0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.480
<v Speaker 1>why bring bots into it? Then? I need to know,

0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.720
<v Speaker 1>So I'm hoping that we learned more about this. The

0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.720
<v Speaker 1>M I T Technology Review has a fun article titled

0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.960
<v Speaker 1>Sony's Racing AI destroyed its human competitors by being nice

0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:46.680
<v Speaker 1>and fast. So we're talking about car racing here, and

0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:50.200
<v Speaker 1>we're actually talking about video game or simulated car racing.

0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.800
<v Speaker 1>Using Grand Tarismo as the game engine, so to speak,

0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.520
<v Speaker 1>Sony developed an AI that could operate within the rules

0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.840
<v Speaker 1>of the game. So by that, I mean this AI

0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.400
<v Speaker 1>was operating like an actual driver. It was not able

0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.320
<v Speaker 1>to bend physics and cheat. I know, Anyone who's played

0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:11.960
<v Speaker 1>racing games knows that sometimes these games will fudge the

0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:14.720
<v Speaker 1>physics a bit, like there's always cases with things like

0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.560
<v Speaker 1>rubber banding. Rubber Banding is when um the the You know,

0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.600
<v Speaker 1>if if you get too far ahead of all the

0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.000
<v Speaker 1>AI controlled cars, they suddenly magically catch up to you,

0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.400
<v Speaker 1>as if they were attached to you by an invisible

0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.120
<v Speaker 1>rubber band. That was not going on here, at least

0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:32.240
<v Speaker 1>according to Sony that was not the case. Like this

0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:35.480
<v Speaker 1>was all legit where the AI had to operate by

0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.240
<v Speaker 1>the same rules as any human driver would, and it

0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:43.920
<v Speaker 1>quickly showed that on a blank racetrack it could. It

0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:47.560
<v Speaker 1>could actually race faster than humans could. It didn't do

0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:51.760
<v Speaker 1>so well in full races, like when the racetrack had

0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.400
<v Speaker 1>a whole group of human drivers in it. The AI

0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.040
<v Speaker 1>wasn't as competitive until Sony went and tweaked the AI

0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.840
<v Speaker 1>brought it back, and then it did really well and

0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:05.520
<v Speaker 1>was able to beat human drivers again. The AI, which

0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:10.000
<v Speaker 1>is called Gt. Sophie, interacts with the game ten times

0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:13.760
<v Speaker 1>a second. It collects information about the AI vehicle's position

0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.400
<v Speaker 1>relative to the track as well as relative to the

0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.560
<v Speaker 1>other racers, and it also tracks the physical forces that

0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.960
<v Speaker 1>are all acting upon the vehicle, which means that quote

0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.920
<v Speaker 1>unquote knows when to do things like apply the brakes

0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.479
<v Speaker 1>or begin a turn without pushing the car past its limitations.

0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.280
<v Speaker 1>The article goes into a bit more detail as to

0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.240
<v Speaker 1>the process that Sony used to train the AI, and

0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:37.360
<v Speaker 1>it's really interesting stuff. So if you're interested in this topic,

0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.800
<v Speaker 1>I recommend you check that article out again. It is

0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.640
<v Speaker 1>titled Sony's Racing AI destroyed its human competitors by being

0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.840
<v Speaker 1>nice and fast, and it's in the M I T

0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:52.400
<v Speaker 1>Technology Review. Finally, and in similar news, Microsoft recently announced

0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:56.760
<v Speaker 1>Project air Sim, which quote uses the power of Azure

0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:00.640
<v Speaker 1>to generate massive amounts of data for training AIM models

0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.560
<v Speaker 1>on exactly which actions to take at each phase of

0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:08.360
<v Speaker 1>flight from takeoff to cruising to landing end quote. According

0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:12.240
<v Speaker 1>to Jake's Siegel of Microsoft, the idea is that Project

0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.720
<v Speaker 1>air Sim will create realistic simulations of various flight conditions

0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.560
<v Speaker 1>while training AI on how to pilot an aircraft in

0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.879
<v Speaker 1>those situations, all with the goal to accelerate autonomous aircraft development.

0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.080
<v Speaker 1>And when I say aircraft, you could really substitute the

0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:29.960
<v Speaker 1>word drone in there pretty reliably. So Microsoft has built

0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.440
<v Speaker 1>a platform that will allow drone manufacturers to refine their

0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.840
<v Speaker 1>autonomous flying systems. This product replaces an earlier one that

0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.879
<v Speaker 1>was just called air sim, but that one required customers

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.360
<v Speaker 1>to have a deeper knowledge and experience with machine learning systems.

0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.199
<v Speaker 1>Project air sim simplifies matters. It kind of keeps all

0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.360
<v Speaker 1>that pesky coding stuff behind a user interface that's more

0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.840
<v Speaker 1>intuitive for customers to use. And that's it for the

0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:59.240
<v Speaker 1>news for Tuesday, July two thousand twenty two. If you

0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.720
<v Speaker 1>have any suggestions for future topics on tech Stuff, please

0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:04.320
<v Speaker 1>reach out to me. One way to do that is

0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.480
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0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.760
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0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.720
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0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.000
<v Speaker 1>you can reach out on Twitter. The handle for the

0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.720
<v Speaker 1>show is tech Stuff H s W and I'll talk

0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:28.760
<v Speaker 1>to you again really soon. Ye. Tex Stuff is an

0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.439
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