WEBVTT - Tech News: Amazon is the new Santa Claus?

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

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<v Speaker 1>Hey 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 I love all things tech. And this is the

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<v Speaker 1>tech news for Tuesday, July twenty one. And uh, there's

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<v Speaker 1>some some rough stuff in here. In fact, let's start

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<v Speaker 1>with some more bad news for software company Solar Winds.

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<v Speaker 1>You probably remember that late last year we had news

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<v Speaker 1>break that hackers had infiltrated solar Winds products and managed

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<v Speaker 1>to create a supply chain attack that affected thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>computer systems, though it appears the hackers really focused on

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<v Speaker 1>a much smaller number of very high profile targets, including

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<v Speaker 1>US Department of Defense systems, and that the hackers appeared

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<v Speaker 1>to be operating out of Russia. Well Over this past weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>Solar Winds announced that hackers were apparently able to exploit

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<v Speaker 1>previously unknown flaws in two of solar Winds products, and

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<v Speaker 1>that these flaws are completely unrelated to the attacks from

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<v Speaker 1>last year. So these would be called zero day vulnerabilities,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that no one was aware that these things existed

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<v Speaker 1>when the products went live. This vulnerability is in the

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<v Speaker 1>company's Serve You that's s E r V DASH, the

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<v Speaker 1>letter You line of software products. Microsoft researchers apparently found

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<v Speaker 1>the bug, but not before hackers had already learned of

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<v Speaker 1>it themselves. As of this recording, that's pretty much all

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<v Speaker 1>the information I have on this. Solar Winds stated that

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<v Speaker 1>the company is quote unaware of the identity of the

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<v Speaker 1>potentially affected customers end quote, which is not a great

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<v Speaker 1>start either. Microsoft oft found evidence of quote limited targeted

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<v Speaker 1>customer impact end quote, and according to Ours Technica, the

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<v Speaker 1>vulnerability would allow hackers to gain privileged access after exploiting

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<v Speaker 1>machines that were running Serve You Managed File Transfer and

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<v Speaker 1>or Serve You Secure FTP. With this vulnerability, at that point,

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<v Speaker 1>the hackers would be able to access files on the

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<v Speaker 1>infected system. They might be able to delete data, They

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<v Speaker 1>could install new programs. They can essentially perform the sort

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<v Speaker 1>of tasks that any administrator level account could perform on

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<v Speaker 1>the system. Solar Winds has already issued a quick patch

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<v Speaker 1>to UH to be a temporary fix on this, while

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<v Speaker 1>working on a more permanent solution. On a slightly less

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<v Speaker 1>dramatic note, Twitter recently admitted that the company had mistakenly

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<v Speaker 1>verified a quote small number end quote of fake accounts

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<v Speaker 1>shortly after the company reinstated its verification program. This is

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<v Speaker 1>all according to The Daily Dot, a data scientist with

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<v Speaker 1>the truly amazing name Conspirator No. Tenno found six accounts

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<v Speaker 1>with that verified check mark next to them. And someone

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<v Speaker 1>created those six accounts back on June six, so they're

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<v Speaker 1>pretty darn recent. And while all six were verified, none

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<v Speaker 1>of them had posted so much as a single tweet,

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<v Speaker 1>and two of them were apparently using stock photographs for

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<v Speaker 1>their profile pictures. Twitter responded by copying up to the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that somehow the verification applications for a small number

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<v Speaker 1>of fake accounts had received approval, and the company has

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<v Speaker 1>since banned five of those six accounts. The sixth apparently

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<v Speaker 1>uh took itself down. Nortenno also pointed out that these

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<v Speaker 1>six accounts had a few suspicious followers in common across them,

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<v Speaker 1>to the tune of nearly one thousand accounts, and he

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<v Speaker 1>says that it looks as though these were all part

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<v Speaker 1>of a larger bot net that includes at least one thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred twelve accounts twelve twelve. I don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>that there's any significance to that. Probably not. I'm sure

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<v Speaker 1>it's just a weird fact that it's a repeating number.

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter's verification process is meant to allow notable people that's

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<v Speaker 1>at least notable in Twitter's estimation, to authenticate that a

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter feed that purporting to belong to them does in

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<v Speaker 1>fact belong to them. That way, you're you know, busy

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<v Speaker 1>tweeting at Neil Gaman, you can be certain that it's

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<v Speaker 1>the real Neil Gaiman who's seeing your messages. I mean, heck,

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<v Speaker 1>I actually have a blue check mark. I have a

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<v Speaker 1>verified Twitter account, So clearly that whole notability thing is

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<v Speaker 1>a pretty you know, Lucy goosey definition. Now, for the record,

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<v Speaker 1>I applied a few years ago when we first launched

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<v Speaker 1>the Forward Thinking video series, so it was for work purposes,

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<v Speaker 1>and the check mark has just kind of stuck with

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<v Speaker 1>me ever since. Not that I'm complaining about this now. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>the fake accounts getting verified, that raises questions as to

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<v Speaker 1>how did they do that, How did they sail through

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<v Speaker 1>the verification process in the first place, particularly when there

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<v Speaker 1>are actual, real life notable people out there who never

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<v Speaker 1>received a verification from Twitter. We don't have the answers

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<v Speaker 1>to that. Down in Cuba, we're seeing a pretty familiar

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<v Speaker 1>playbook being followed by the Cuban government there in response

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<v Speaker 1>to growing protests as citizens voice their anger and displeasure

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<v Speaker 1>regarding some major issues in the country like food and

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<v Speaker 1>medical shortages. Cuba is in the midst of a severe

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<v Speaker 1>economic recession, which was exacerbated by COVID nineteen and the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that the entire tourist industry was effectively shut down

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<v Speaker 1>for a year. Citizens have taken to the streets to

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<v Speaker 1>protest the government's response to this and issues with food

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<v Speaker 1>shortages and the like, and the government's response, in part

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<v Speaker 1>has been to shut down internet access, at least that

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<v Speaker 1>appears to be the case, and thus citizens have seen

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<v Speaker 1>their ability to communicate and organize with one another online

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<v Speaker 1>cut off. Now in some areas, such as Havana, where

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<v Speaker 1>the protests are particularly you know, large, the internet outages

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<v Speaker 1>were more severe, which seems to support the argument that

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<v Speaker 1>this was a government led project. And generally speaking, Communist

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<v Speaker 1>countries like Cuba and China traditionally maintain tight controls over

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<v Speaker 1>communication channels, and they use that control to limit what

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<v Speaker 1>citizens can say or access in an effort to maintain

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<v Speaker 1>authoritarian control. I'm not saying those are the only places

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<v Speaker 1>where that happens, or that authoritarian control is limited to

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<v Speaker 1>communist countries, just saying that that tends to be a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty common practice. Speaking of China, that country is leaning

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<v Speaker 1>heavily on facial recognition technology as it attempts to handle

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<v Speaker 1>new Corona of virus outbreaks. According to tech Explore, China

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<v Speaker 1>is pairing facial recognition technology with citizens coronavirus test results, So,

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<v Speaker 1>in other words, you get tested for coronavirus, the government

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<v Speaker 1>essentially gets access to those results, and your health status

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<v Speaker 1>becomes part of your identity, and the facial recognition systems

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<v Speaker 1>keep track of where you're going and who you happen

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<v Speaker 1>to be around, which probably sounds a bit scary to

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<v Speaker 1>most of you out there, including myself. Now. At the

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<v Speaker 1>same time, China is facing a pretty difficult situation that

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<v Speaker 1>it's in a tough position. The neighboring country of Myanmar

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<v Speaker 1>is the site of some massive political unrest stemming from

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<v Speaker 1>a coup that happened back in February, and some Myanmar

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<v Speaker 1>nationals have fled to China in order to escape regional violence.

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<v Speaker 1>Have of the new cases of coronavirus in this particular

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<v Speaker 1>region of China seem to link back to Myanmar nationals,

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<v Speaker 1>so AT raises safety concerns there. Apparently, the facial recognition

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<v Speaker 1>systems also have thermal detectors built in, so those can

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<v Speaker 1>spot people who might have elevated body temperatures, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a possible sign of infection. Not exactly fool proof or

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<v Speaker 1>anything like that. You should never, you know, depend solely

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<v Speaker 1>upon a temperature check. But human rights advocates are rightly

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<v Speaker 1>concerned that the trends we're seeing as far as surveillance

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<v Speaker 1>and facial recognition go, are going to continue even beyond

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<v Speaker 1>the pandemic, with China leaning on those technologies while targeting

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<v Speaker 1>ethnic minority groups or people who criticize the government, something

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<v Speaker 1>that the country has been known to do extensively in

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<v Speaker 1>the past. Google is protesting a nearly six hundred million

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<v Speaker 1>dollar fine that the company faces in France. At the

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<v Speaker 1>heart of the matter is that the French courts have

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<v Speaker 1>placed numerous injunctions on Google, requiring the company to pay

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<v Speaker 1>publishers for their content. It something the court says that

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<v Speaker 1>Google has largely disregarded. Now anyone who has worked in

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<v Speaker 1>the publishing industry knows that advertising revenue has dropped significantly

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<v Speaker 1>over the last couple of decades, making it harder to

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<v Speaker 1>run a viable publishing business online. The European Union holds

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<v Speaker 1>platforms like Google partly responsible for this, arguing that these

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<v Speaker 1>platforms make it possible for people to access publications without

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<v Speaker 1>actually visiting the home site of those publications, thus denying

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<v Speaker 1>those companies ad revenue. If you can read the whole

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<v Speaker 1>article through some sort of preview that's hosted on, say

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<v Speaker 1>a Google site, and you never go to the home

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<v Speaker 1>newspaper web page, well that that paper is generating work

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<v Speaker 1>but not seeing any revenue for it, at least not

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<v Speaker 1>for that instance. Google claims that it has been working

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<v Speaker 1>in good faith to address these issues, with a guarantee

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<v Speaker 1>that the company will eventually pay out around a billion

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<v Speaker 1>dollars over the next three years to various publishers, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as to collaborate on a licensing agreement that would

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<v Speaker 1>provide revenue to newsrooms. The French court requires Google to

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<v Speaker 1>pay the five million euro fine and to form a

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<v Speaker 1>compensation plan with publishers within two months or face additional fines.

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<v Speaker 1>This is similar to the stories out of Australia, with

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<v Speaker 1>media companies based in Australia having issues with platforms like

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Google, and it really points to the complicated

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<v Speaker 1>nature of business information and platforms. Technode reports that Bite Dance,

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<v Speaker 1>the Chinese company that's best known here in the United

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<v Speaker 1>States as the parent company of TikTok, will be eliminating

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<v Speaker 1>its nine nine six strategy that refers to a work

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<v Speaker 1>week that consists of nine am to nine pm. That's

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<v Speaker 1>the nine nine part, and the six part means that

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<v Speaker 1>you're working Sunday through Friday, or six days a week. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>several Chinese companies operate with the strategy. Many of them

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<v Speaker 1>use a big week and small week approach, that is

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<v Speaker 1>where employees will alternate working either five days a week

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<v Speaker 1>or six days a week, alternating every other Sunday. But

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<v Speaker 1>this is coming to an end for byte Dance in August.

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<v Speaker 1>While the decreased workload might be nice, it is likely

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<v Speaker 1>to bring along with it a salary cut, perhaps as

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<v Speaker 1>much as twin deeper cent, which my math tells me

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<v Speaker 1>would be excessive. If you're cutting two work days out

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<v Speaker 1>of a typical month, right that for two days out

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<v Speaker 1>of the month, that's excessive. Anyway, Around a third of

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<v Speaker 1>the company's workforce, when surveyed about this, said they would

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<v Speaker 1>prefer to keep their base pay where it is and

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<v Speaker 1>continue working longer hours, which, y'all, that just makes my

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<v Speaker 1>heart ache. But if you're trying to make ends, me

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<v Speaker 1>to cut and pay is a real unwelcome complication. It

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<v Speaker 1>is a tough situation and I don't have any easy

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<v Speaker 1>solutions here, but it really paints a pretty bleak picture,

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<v Speaker 1>right this idea that, oh, I can't cut back on

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<v Speaker 1>working twelve twelve hours a day, six days a week

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<v Speaker 1>because I can't afford it. Ouch. On a much lighter note,

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<v Speaker 1>over in the UK, we're seeing a creative approach to

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<v Speaker 1>advertising at soccer games, or you know, in the UK

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<v Speaker 1>football games, but I'm American, so I tend to call

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<v Speaker 1>it soccer. But many football stadiums in England have digital

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<v Speaker 1>signs that can display ads, which is something that's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>common in modern sports facilities in many parts of the world.

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<v Speaker 1>But what's interesting here is that people will see different

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<v Speaker 1>ads depending upon where they are. Those attending a game

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<v Speaker 1>in person we'll see ads displayed on those digital screens,

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<v Speaker 1>but people watching the game on television might see a

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<v Speaker 1>totally different ad, essentially superimposed or digitally replacing the ad

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<v Speaker 1>that's quote unquote really there. Broadcast masters will be able

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<v Speaker 1>to work with advertisers and swap out ads, creating a

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<v Speaker 1>new source of revenue. So the sporting facility can make

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<v Speaker 1>deals with say local businesses, and the broadcasters might go

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<v Speaker 1>for larger regional businesses. Or you could imagine a deal

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<v Speaker 1>that includes both the in stadium experience for the people

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<v Speaker 1>who are there in person, as well as the televised audience,

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<v Speaker 1>and you just pay a larger fee to get both.

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<v Speaker 1>We've seen some other examples of this kind of digital advertising,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes with glitches that can affect a TV audience is

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<v Speaker 1>viewing experience. Now, thankfully, if you're watching the game in person,

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<v Speaker 1>you would never know about those glitches because so far

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<v Speaker 1>they don't actually, you know, cross into reality yet. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>sure we will see more incorporations of technologies like this,

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<v Speaker 1>and when we see more augmented reality in the future

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<v Speaker 1>being incorporated into sporting events, we'll see even more targeted advertising. Potentially,

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<v Speaker 1>we can reach a point where every single person attend

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<v Speaker 1>a game is seeing a different targeted ad through their

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<v Speaker 1>own personalized a R system. What a world. I've got

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<v Speaker 1>a few more stories to cover, but before I get

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<v Speaker 1>to that, let's take a quick break. We were just

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<v Speaker 1>in the UK before the break. Now we're gonna take

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<v Speaker 1>a trip across the English Channel head over to the

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<v Speaker 1>continent of Europe. UK is not included in this, but

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<v Speaker 1>Intel recently announced that the company intends to invest as

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<v Speaker 1>much as twenty billion dollars over the next several years

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<v Speaker 1>to build out some chip manufacturing plants, potentially in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>The world is still in a semiconductor shortage, which is

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<v Speaker 1>largely because of the coronavirus and how that completely disrupted

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<v Speaker 1>the semiconductor supply chain over in the EU. The plan

0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:00.160
<v Speaker 1>is to boost Europe's market share of semi conduct or

0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:04.840
<v Speaker 1>manufacturing from ten percent where it is today to twenty

0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:10.600
<v Speaker 1>percent by That's a pretty aggressive timeline, but the demand

0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.880
<v Speaker 1>for semi conductors is definitely there because we're seeing industries

0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:18.760
<v Speaker 1>from consumer electronics to the automotive industry struggling to find

0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.600
<v Speaker 1>the chips that they need to produce finished products. So

0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:26.560
<v Speaker 1>we're seeing shortages and lots of industries because of semiconductor shortages.

0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.320
<v Speaker 1>Intel executives have been meeting with various government officials in

0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:34.360
<v Speaker 1>Europe clearly feeling out where it might be most advantageous

0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:38.720
<v Speaker 1>to establish manufacturing facilities. Now, this is a complicated process,

0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.520
<v Speaker 1>one that often sees companies play regions against each other

0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.720
<v Speaker 1>in an effort to get the best deal out of

0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:48.200
<v Speaker 1>the situation. Sometimes that can get pretty ugly. We've seen

0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.280
<v Speaker 1>it happen several times here in the United States. Complicating

0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.360
<v Speaker 1>matters is that the cost of business in places like

0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:59.160
<v Speaker 1>Europe and the United States is higher than places like, say, China.

0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.920
<v Speaker 1>Sometimes it's higher to the tune of around thirty more costly.

0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.240
<v Speaker 1>Of course, that's partly because places like Europe and the

0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.680
<v Speaker 1>United States have tighter regulations in place to provide at

0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.040
<v Speaker 1>least some level of protection to employees, and places like

0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:19.520
<v Speaker 1>China largely do not. Fun times. On a related note,

0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.880
<v Speaker 1>the Verge reports that the PC market is easing back

0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:28.480
<v Speaker 1>a little bit after having a pretty booming The market

0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.560
<v Speaker 1>is still growing, but it is growing at a reduced pace,

0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:36.840
<v Speaker 1>so it's growing more slowly than it was, and possible

0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.840
<v Speaker 1>reasons for that include a slightly lower demand for PCs

0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:46.000
<v Speaker 1>after the initial pandemic rush and the growing semiconductor chip

0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>shortage being part of a factor. There businesses might be

0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.800
<v Speaker 1>back into purchasing computers with more businesses reopening after a

0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.160
<v Speaker 1>year plus of being shut down, so that could change

0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.520
<v Speaker 1>things a bit. But on the consumers side, it could

0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:04.040
<v Speaker 1>be that things are slowing down because people have already

0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.520
<v Speaker 1>done bought their ding Dan computers last year. However, we

0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:11.440
<v Speaker 1>do have Windows eleven launching later this year, and that

0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:15.320
<v Speaker 1>might end up driving more PC sales in the near future.

0:17:15.920 --> 0:17:18.560
<v Speaker 1>Now again, I do want to stress this doesn't mean

0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.159
<v Speaker 1>we're seeing the PC market suddenly get into trouble. The

0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.840
<v Speaker 1>industry is still growing quarter over quarter, It's just doing

0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.560
<v Speaker 1>so at a slower rate than what it was doing earlier.

0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:33.520
<v Speaker 1>The company Amazon continues in its quest for world domination

0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:38.760
<v Speaker 1>and now has its sites set on Santa Clause you

0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:43.119
<v Speaker 1>heard it here first, Because like Santa, Amazon plans to

0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.440
<v Speaker 1>know when you are sleeping and know when you're awake.

0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.960
<v Speaker 1>But since I think Amazon is largely an a moral company,

0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:53.840
<v Speaker 1>I suspect they don't actually care if you've been bad

0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:57.000
<v Speaker 1>or good. So I mean, be good for goodness sake,

0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:00.720
<v Speaker 1>just you know, as a favor to me. But I

0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.240
<v Speaker 1>don't think Amazon cares one way or the other. Now

0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:07.520
<v Speaker 1>Amazon has secured permission from the United States Federal Communications

0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.720
<v Speaker 1>Commission or FCC, to make use of a sixty giga

0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:16.919
<v Speaker 1>Hurts radar system in some future unannounced consumer device that

0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.119
<v Speaker 1>would be able to sense gesture commands. And here's the

0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:25.320
<v Speaker 1>bigge monitor sleeping habits through radar. Now, this is all

0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.400
<v Speaker 1>from the Register, by the way, and the permission from

0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:32.000
<v Speaker 1>the f c C was a necessity because the sixty

0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:35.720
<v Speaker 1>giga Hurts frequency range is above what's typically allowed for

0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:42.000
<v Speaker 1>consumer devices. Every nation has divided up the electro magnetic

0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:47.280
<v Speaker 1>frequency spectrum to designate which slices of that spectrum can

0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.760
<v Speaker 1>be used for different purposes, and that way you avoid

0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:56.239
<v Speaker 1>having to competing technologies trying to make use of the

0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.400
<v Speaker 1>same frequency space, which would create a lot of interference.

0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.680
<v Speaker 1>So this case, the FCC was needed to be brought

0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:08.640
<v Speaker 1>in on this because that that frequency range is typically

0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.639
<v Speaker 1>not something that a consumer electronic product would be able

0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.320
<v Speaker 1>to take advantage of. So Amazon had to get permission

0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:21.200
<v Speaker 1>from the FCC, and the f c C granted that permission. Uh. Now,

0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.919
<v Speaker 1>the Register reports that as of now, the the proposed

0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:30.520
<v Speaker 1>device only has the vagueust of outlined purposes. It will

0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:34.359
<v Speaker 1>be a non mobile device, so Presumably this would be

0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.040
<v Speaker 1>something that you would just plug into a wall outlet

0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:40.920
<v Speaker 1>in your home, and the intended purpose, according to Amazon,

0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:43.800
<v Speaker 1>is to give people who might have difficulties with some

0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:48.280
<v Speaker 1>physical activities away to interact with Amazon systems more effectively,

0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:50.760
<v Speaker 1>that being like the gesture controls and stuff, to have

0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.760
<v Speaker 1>a more finely tuned approach to that. So that's good

0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.920
<v Speaker 1>in a way. I mean, it's a way to improve accessibility,

0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:00.800
<v Speaker 1>and I think that's a good thing, but also that

0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.360
<v Speaker 1>such a device would help for the purposes of quote

0:20:03.680 --> 0:20:07.680
<v Speaker 1>sleep hygiene end quote. Now, if you think it's a

0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:12.280
<v Speaker 1>little creepy to have a huge company keeping track of

0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:15.680
<v Speaker 1>when you're asleep and when you're awake, then you're thinking

0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:18.160
<v Speaker 1>a lot like yours truly right here, I think it's

0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.840
<v Speaker 1>really creepy. However, there are a lot of sleep tracking

0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.320
<v Speaker 1>devices out there, and many of them do phone home

0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.440
<v Speaker 1>to keep track of stats like how many hours you've

0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:31.480
<v Speaker 1>slept or how many times you tossed and turned or

0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.359
<v Speaker 1>woke up overnight or whatever. So honestly, this isn't really

0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.119
<v Speaker 1>new or unique to Amazon in that sense, like we

0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.880
<v Speaker 1>do have other technologies that do this kind of thing.

0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.800
<v Speaker 1>But however, I think it's the thought that this thing

0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:48.320
<v Speaker 1>is effectively watching you sleep that makes it seem creepy

0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:51.600
<v Speaker 1>to me. But again, many of us, myself included, have

0:20:51.800 --> 0:20:55.080
<v Speaker 1>used activity trackers that also act as sleep trackers, so

0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.879
<v Speaker 1>I admit I'm being a little bit hypocritical here. It

0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:02.520
<v Speaker 1>also has probably because Amazon's sheer size as a company

0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.439
<v Speaker 1>is something I find intimidating, and to think of a

0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:09.560
<v Speaker 1>really big company closely monitoring when people are asleep or

0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:13.520
<v Speaker 1>when they're awake is unsettling. I imagine a lot of

0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:17.800
<v Speaker 1>that information could go into all sorts of different algorithms,

0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:22.040
<v Speaker 1>including recommendations. Like if I logged into Amazon and suddenly

0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.600
<v Speaker 1>saw that all the recommendations were for pillows and white

0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:28.639
<v Speaker 1>noise machines, I'd think, Okay, Amazon knows too much about me.

0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:31.680
<v Speaker 1>It knows that I've been dealing with insomnia recently, right,

0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:35.480
<v Speaker 1>Like that would just be creepy. Who knows what this

0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:38.600
<v Speaker 1>will ultimately turn out to be, And we may not

0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.679
<v Speaker 1>ever actually see this consumer product. That's another possibility. We

0:21:42.800 --> 0:21:46.240
<v Speaker 1>just don't know enough yet. But uh, it does look

0:21:46.240 --> 0:21:49.879
<v Speaker 1>like it's yet another step into the world of quantifying

0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:53.600
<v Speaker 1>everything about ourselves and handing that data over to some

0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.800
<v Speaker 1>other party, something that I think we should probably re

0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:02.240
<v Speaker 1>examine sooner rather than later. And our last story is

0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:05.280
<v Speaker 1>that a group of researchers with the National Institute of

0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.880
<v Speaker 1>Information and Communications Technology or n i c T over

0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:14.200
<v Speaker 1>in Japan have used a four core optical fiber system

0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:18.840
<v Speaker 1>with a sophisticated multiplexing technology to send data across a

0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:23.720
<v Speaker 1>physical cable at the incredible throughput of three hundred nineteen

0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:27.880
<v Speaker 1>terabits per second across a distance of just over three

0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:32.680
<v Speaker 1>thousand kilometers three thousand and one to be precise. That

0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:37.440
<v Speaker 1>is a truly astonishing data throughput rate for that kind

0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:41.280
<v Speaker 1>of distance. These days, we talk about really fast home

0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:44.679
<v Speaker 1>internet connections having a throughput of around a gigabit per second,

0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:47.600
<v Speaker 1>maybe more like maybe up to ten gigabits per second.

0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:51.359
<v Speaker 1>That's what we think of as being screaming fast for

0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:55.280
<v Speaker 1>consumer internet. But a gigabit is a billion bits per second.

0:22:55.640 --> 0:23:01.439
<v Speaker 1>Three nineteen terabits is three nineteen trillion bits per second.

0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:05.840
<v Speaker 1>To be clear. We've seen even greater throughput than this before,

0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:10.520
<v Speaker 1>but only at extremely short distances. This marks a world

0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:14.160
<v Speaker 1>record for transmitting that much data per second at that

0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.960
<v Speaker 1>kind of distance. Now, this doesn't mean, we're right around

0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:20.719
<v Speaker 1>the corner from all having terribit per second home connections,

0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:24.439
<v Speaker 1>which would be nice, but it's not gonna happen. This

0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:27.119
<v Speaker 1>technology is more likely to be used in applications that

0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:31.120
<v Speaker 1>relate to backbone operations of the Internet, but it's an

0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:36.719
<v Speaker 1>incredible technical achievement. Now. One day, I hope to maybe

0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.639
<v Speaker 1>bring someone on the show to talk about fiber optics

0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:44.680
<v Speaker 1>and what multiplexing really means and how it works, because

0:23:44.960 --> 0:23:49.440
<v Speaker 1>that subject very quickly escalates beyond my own understanding of it.

0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:52.280
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I can always research into it and and

0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:56.159
<v Speaker 1>take copious notes and such, but really, I'm just saying

0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:58.639
<v Speaker 1>that if I try to do an episode about this

0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:01.679
<v Speaker 1>all by myself, I'm probably going to get something wrong

0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:06.320
<v Speaker 1>because it is a pretty complicated topic. But I think

0:24:06.359 --> 0:24:08.640
<v Speaker 1>I might have to get somebody on to really talk

0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:12.080
<v Speaker 1>about it and get into the nitty gritty of how

0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.800
<v Speaker 1>fiber optics work and also why it can be so

0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:19.760
<v Speaker 1>hard to get access to fiber optics service depending on

0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:23.800
<v Speaker 1>where you live. But that's something for a later episode.

0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:26.840
<v Speaker 1>If you have suggestions for topics I should cover in

0:24:26.920 --> 0:24:29.479
<v Speaker 1>tech stuff, reach out and get in touch with me.

0:24:29.760 --> 0:24:31.840
<v Speaker 1>The best way to do that is over on Twitter.

0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:34.879
<v Speaker 1>The handle for the show is text Stuff h s W,

0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:40.159
<v Speaker 1>which I don't think is verified, but I am and

0:24:40.200 --> 0:24:48.399
<v Speaker 1>I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is

0:24:48.400 --> 0:24:51.560
<v Speaker 1>an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my

0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:55.280
<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:24:55.400 --> 0:25:00.119
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows now