1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: how the tech are you. It's time for the tech 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: news for Thursday, September eight, twenty two, and Apple held 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: it's far Out event yesterday and unveiled its iPhone fourteen lineup, 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,520 Speaker 1: as well as updates to the Apple Watch line and 8 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: to its air pods. So we'll do a quick rundown 9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: on some of the highlights. One thing that Apple has 10 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: done is it has ditched the physical SIM card. SIM 11 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: stands for Subscriber Identification Module, and it's that little micro 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: trip that's typically embedded into a little piece of plastic 13 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,279 Speaker 1: that you have to insert into a new phone in 14 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: order to port your phone number over to a device. 15 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: Or you might go and get a SIM card if 16 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: you're traveling to a foreign country, and this way you 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: can operate on that country cellular network without ramping up 18 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: those massive roaming charges. Well, Apple already had incorporated digital 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,559 Speaker 1: sims into iPhones, but had kept the physical ones as well. 20 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: Now that's no longer the case. The physical ones are out, 21 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: so transferring your phone number from one phone to another 22 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: requires a slightly different process, and we'll actually a very 23 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: different process because there's no move of physical components anymore. 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: But it's you know, digital rather than physical. And if 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: you are an international traveler, you might have a harder 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: time getting an e SIM so that you can operate 27 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: on the native cellular network, so that's kind of a bummer. 28 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: On the flip side, digital sims can let you support 29 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: more than one phone number on a single device, so 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: you could potentially have like a business line and a 31 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: personal line both going to the same device but using 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: different phone numbers. So there are pros and there are 33 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: cons to this approach. Another new feature is the addition 34 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: of satellite connectivity in the event of an emergency. So 35 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: let's say you're a teenager and you've stumbled into one 36 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: of those ding dang darn slasher movies. You're at a 37 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: remote camp ground, maybe it's even Crystal Lake, and there's 38 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: no cellular service, and you need to get an emergency 39 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: message out to authorities or first responders to come and 40 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: rescue you. With the satellite connectivity feature, you can use 41 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: an iPhone four team to locate the satellite overhead and 42 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: then connect to it to send essentially an S O 43 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: S signal so that first responders will know where you 44 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: are and they can come help you. The feature does 45 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: require you to have a clear view of the sky, 46 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: so if there's cover overhead, you might not be able 47 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: to connect, or it might take significantly longer to connect 48 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: and send a message through. Still, this is a great 49 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: addition to the iPhone. It's the sort of thing that 50 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: you hope you will never need, but you're happy to 51 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 1: have it available. Apple introduced four models of the iPhone 52 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: fourteen at this event, and the base model, which has 53 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: a six point one inch screen and still runs on 54 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: the last generation A fifteen microchip, comes in at seven bucks. 55 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: The iPhone fourteen Plus is a larger version of the 56 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,239 Speaker 1: base model, is six point seven inches with the screen, 57 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: It has a longer battery life, and it costs eight 58 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: hundred nine bucks. It also runs on the A fifteen microchip. 59 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: I think these models are a modest upgrade to the 60 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: base iPhone thirteen model. The phones that I think are 61 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: are much more interesting are the iPhone fourteen Pro and 62 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: the iPhone fourteen Pro Max. So the Pro is six 63 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: point one inches, the Max is six point seven. Uh. 64 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: That mostly is the difference between the two. Also, the 65 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: difference that involves the price, and the you know, pro 66 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: is going to be based at Bucks, the max at 67 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: one thousand bucks. So yeah, both of those phones come 68 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: with a forty eight megapixel rear facing camera. That's four 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: times greater than the Base and Plus models, which have 70 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: twelve megapixel cameras. Now, just as a reminder, the megapixels 71 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: refer to the pixel density of an image, right the resolution. 72 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: In other words, that's just one component that determines the 73 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: quality of a picture. But generally speaking, higher resolution tends 74 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: to be better, at least if you want to do 75 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: things like, you know, blow up the photo to a 76 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: much larger size, if you want to do digital zoom 77 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: in and that kind of stuff, having higher resolution is 78 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: important anyway. They also have several other features that set 79 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: them apart from the base models, not the least of 80 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: which is that they run on the A six team microchip, 81 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: so Apple's latest microchip. Uh. And for all four of 82 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: these models, you can start pre orders tomorrow September nine, 83 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: and the phones will start to ship on September. These 84 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: are not quite enough to convince me to abandon my 85 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: Android phone and switch over to iPhone, But then I'm 86 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: so deep in the Google ecosystem that it's hard for 87 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: me to make the move, which, believe me, is all 88 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: part of the strategy for companies like Google and Apple. 89 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: The Apple Watch models that the company showed off we're interesting, 90 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: but I've only ever owned one smart watch, and that 91 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: was the Pebble back before Pebble got acquired and then 92 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: subsequently dismantled, so I am not the best person to 93 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: hype up wearables. Still, one feature I liked was the 94 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: inclusion of accelerometers that can detect if someone has been 95 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: involved in an accident like a car crash, and it 96 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: activates a feature that lets you call for help right 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: away if in fact you were involved in in an accident. 98 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: And I love seeing safety features like this become standard 99 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: in devices. Again, you hope you never have to use it, 100 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: but you are thankful that it's there. Apple also unveiled 101 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: an Ultra Watch, which is meant for folks who are 102 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: hard on their gear, like those who are into extreme sports, 103 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: so it's more rugged than other models. It also costs 104 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: a pretty penny, starting at seven bucks. Then you've got 105 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: the new Air pods, which reportedly have better noise cancelation 106 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: capabilities than earlier models. They also have a speaker that 107 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: lets you find out where the heck you put your 108 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: darn air pods. You can use the find my app 109 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: and look for your air pods and it will make 110 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 1: a little noise and you can track them down. And 111 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: that's a feature I could definitely use because I have 112 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: a feeling that whenever it comes time for me to 113 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: move house, when I start packing stuff up, I'm gonna 114 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: come across at least seventy pairs of earbuds that I've 115 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: misplaced at one time or another. So this is definitely 116 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: one of those features I could use in my earbuds. Still, 117 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: I'm not likely to drop two fifty bucks on a 118 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: air of earbuds. And also I'm not an iPhone user, 119 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: so I'm not ready to make the leap just yet. SIMI. 120 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: Related to this is a little tidbit from the twenty 121 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: twenty two Code Conference. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, 122 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: was asked by a journalist if Apple would address issues 123 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: when it comes to messaging between Apple and Android devices 124 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: a k a. The Green bubble issue in I message, 125 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: where messages from non iOS devices pop up as green bubbles. Uh, 126 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: and there are certain features that I message supports that 127 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: don't work across platforms. This incompatibility means that certain functions 128 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: like sending videos from one device to another aren't always supported. 129 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: Cook's response was essentially, whomever has an Android device in 130 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: this communication chain should just buy an iPhone and that 131 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: will solve the problem. Like, rather than solve the compatibility issues, 132 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: you should just jump on the iPhone bandwagon, and that 133 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: Apple customers haven't really pressed Apple to address this issue, 134 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: so the company hasn't. Now Google has been pushing Apple 135 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: to adopt the Rich Communications Service or r CS standard, 136 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: but Apple has um declined to acquiesce to Google's request. Why. Well, again, 137 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: it's about convincing folks that they need to stay within 138 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: the Apple ecosystem. I Message is another feature that reinforces 139 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: lock in fun times. Oh and uh a different take 140 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: on Apple and lock in. Let's talk about Apple's iCloud 141 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: data center in China. That's where employees have been locked 142 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: into a closed loop system within the facility for the 143 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: last week. They are not allowed to go home, they're 144 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: not allowed to see their families. And yes, this has 145 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,959 Speaker 1: to do with another COVID nineteen issue in China. So 146 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: China has a zero tolerance approach to any kind of 147 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: outbreak of COVID nineteen, no matter are how small, and 148 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: requires regions to lock down whenever a case arises in 149 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: order to avoid downtime. Some facilities like this iCloud data 150 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: center will force employees to live at the data center 151 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: for the duration of the lockdown and continue working. We've 152 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: covered similar situations with Tesla, and this is brutal. Now, 153 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: arguably you could say it's an effective way to limit 154 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: the spread of COVID nineteen, but it's you know, a 155 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: massive trade off here. Anyway, Apple hasn't had much of 156 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 1: an option when this comes down to it, because as 157 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: long as the company wants to operate in China, it 158 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: has to play by China's rules. And part of that 159 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: is that, you know, China requires all companies that have 160 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: that deal with with the private data of Chinese citizens 161 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: to operate solely on Chinese soil. Apple cannot operate a 162 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: data center that handle is Chinese citizen private data outside 163 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: of China. In fact, the government required Apple to partner 164 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: with a company called cloud Big Data, which the Chinese 165 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: government owns, so Apple really had no other options when 166 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: it comes to this. I don't want to cast too 167 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: many aspersions. I do think it is a brutal policy 168 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: and inhumane to employees, but uh, at least at least 169 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: did this part. I mean, I can't fully blame Apple, 170 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: although you could argue the company could just choose not 171 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: to operate in China. Hard to do that because China 172 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: it represents such a huge market. But which is You know, 173 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to tell investors, Hey, we're not 174 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: going to operate in the most populous country in the world. 175 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: But um, yeah, it's ah, there's some real tough ethical 176 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: issues here. All right, We've got a lot more news 177 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: to cover, some of which doesn't even involve Apple, But first, 178 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. We're back and we're starting 179 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: to hear about what happened during a court hearing back 180 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: in March of this year when two longtime meta engineers 181 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: folks who had been working with Facebook had to sit 182 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: down and answer some questions stemming from an investigation that 183 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 1: relates all the way back to the Cambridge analytic affair, 184 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: you know, the thing that was going on in and 185 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,559 Speaker 1: the court has recently unsealed the transcript of that hearing, 186 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: which is why we're now hearing about what happened. And 187 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: boy howdy, it sounds like the court appointed special master 188 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 1: guy named Daniel Gary was really getting frustrated the deeper 189 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: he tried to go into Facebook's labyrinthian systems. So Gary 190 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: was asking the engineers fairly straightforward questions, such as, air 191 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: is a person's data stored within Facebook's subsystems. We know 192 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: Facebook is combing everybody for their data, collecting huge amounts 193 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: of data, including generating data from inferences about what people 194 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: like based upon their behaviors, but the engineers answers were 195 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: unsettling because the engineers admitted they didn't know the answer. Further, 196 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: they said that it's likely no one knows that answer 197 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: because the amount of data collected and the different ways 198 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: that it's collected, and the different ways that Facebook uses 199 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: personal information are involving multiple subsystems that are collecting and 200 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: storing this information, and it's hard to know who is 201 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: collecting what and for what purpose and how frequently they're 202 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: using it. So they said, it's essentially impossible for us 203 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: to answer these questions in a meaningful way, like there's 204 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: no way for me to answer your question. And now 205 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: in a way I can at least understand how this happened. 206 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: Because Facebook is a company that grew very rapidly. It 207 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: incorporated new systems at an incredible pace, and you had 208 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: lots of different teams working on different projects all at 209 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: the same time. These teams were sometimes operating more or 210 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: less independently of each other, so there's likely overlap between 211 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: projects as well as unique approaches used by specific subsystems. 212 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: And Facebook never adopted a culture that, you know, documented things. 213 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 1: It just didn't. It didn't create documents about these systems 214 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 1: to explain what they were, how they work, and what 215 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: information they actually use. So there are no official documents 216 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: that detail these subsystems or the types of data that 217 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: flow into them. Instead, according to the engineers, the code 218 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: itself is about as close as you can get to 219 00:13:54,760 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: actual documentation. Now, this raises some very trouble ling questions. 220 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: For example, how can Facebook assure that it is complying 221 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,719 Speaker 1: with various data privacy laws around the world if no 222 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: one at the company actually knows where all the data 223 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: is going. And the answer is it can't. It's impossible 224 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: unless you make the ludicrous argument that there's security through obscurity. 225 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: In other words, the system is so complex that no 226 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: one is going to be able to find their way 227 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: through it, so you don't have to worry about people 228 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: abusing it. But that is not a really good answer, 229 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: and so it looks like there is no way for 230 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: Facebook to actually be transparent because no one at the 231 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: company even knows how to make that happen. That transparency 232 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: is impossible due to the way these various subsystems were 233 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: designed and no one documented in anything. So this transcript, 234 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: this court transcript, is available to read, but I warn 235 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 1: you it's like a descent into madness if you you 236 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: are at all concerned about data security and privacy. Not 237 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: long ago, the US government passed a bill that will 238 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: provide federal money to companies that are building out semiconductor 239 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: manufacturing facilities in the United States budded. Order to get 240 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: hands on that cold, hard cash, the companies are going 241 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: to have to agree to some firm rules, and one 242 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: big one is that the companies will not be allowed 243 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: to build quote advanced technology facilities end quote in China 244 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: for ten years now. The purpose for that restriction is 245 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: to protect national security. According to Gina Romundo, the U 246 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: S Commerce Secretary, and that's definitely a massive concern. I've 247 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: talked in previous episodes about how China allegedly has a 248 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: very long history of industrial espionage stealing technology from other companies. 249 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 1: To curb China's technological advancement, the US is looking to 250 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: make the States more self reliant when it comes to 251 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: semiconductor tech as well as cut off or at least 252 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: reduce the chance of Chinese spies stealing US design technology. 253 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: That also includes a moratorium on companies sending advanced technology 254 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: to China, so they're not supposed to build facilities in China, 255 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: they're not supposed to ship advanced tech to China. And 256 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: really there are other related rules that are meant to 257 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: cut off this flow of technology, and I p to 258 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:35,080 Speaker 1: the Chinese. Now, I have a habit of criticizing Tesla 259 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: pretty harshly for lots of things. You know, I I 260 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: acknowledge I go hard against Tesla pretty frequently, But I 261 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: do want to give the company its props when they 262 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: are deserved and over in Europe, Tesla's model why ranked 263 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: first in a European safety test of driver assist systems. Now, 264 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: I want to be clear here, the systems like autopilot 265 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: and full self driving mode are meant to be driver 266 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: assist features in order to improve safety. They are not 267 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: meant to be autonomous driving modes. So if you are 268 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: using the systems the way they are meant to be used, 269 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: then they are incredibly effective. They work very well, well 270 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: enough so that Tesla took first place in these tests, 271 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: But that doesn't erase the fact that some Tesla owners 272 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: use these features irresponsibly, nor does it push aside the 273 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: problem with Tesla's marketing of these features, which at least 274 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: I feel implies that the tech can do more than 275 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: it's actually capable of doing, or that it's meant to 276 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: perform a job other than what it's actually designed to do. Hey, 277 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: do you remember Travis Killenic, co founder of Uber. He's 278 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,160 Speaker 1: the guy who has a truly terrible reputation as far 279 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: as how he treats other human beings, and he was 280 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: ultimately forced to vacate his position of CEO of Uber 281 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: and two thousands venteen and to surrender his seat on 282 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: the board of directors in two thousand nineteen when he 283 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: cashed out of Uber entirely. And a lot of folks 284 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: point at Kala Nick when they talk about the toxic 285 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: work culture that was in the spotlight back in two 286 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: thousand seventeen. That was a very, very tough year for Uber, 287 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,880 Speaker 1: at least on the pr front. Kalin Nick has kept 288 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: a relatively low profile in the public eye since then, 289 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:28,920 Speaker 1: but he's been working on something else that just got 290 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: a big influx of cash thanks to Microsoft. That thing 291 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,160 Speaker 1: is called Cloud Kitchen. Kala Nick has used the money 292 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 1: that he made from cashing out an Uber, which amounted 293 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: to like two and a half billion dollars, to initially 294 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: fund this project. He has received investments from other parties 295 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: as well, and he purchased steak in an existing company 296 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 1: that was called City Storage Systems before converting that over, 297 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: and City Storage Systems was buying up warehouse space in 298 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: various cities. He converted that to Cloud Kitchen, which is 299 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: a company that offers restaurants the chance to operate water 300 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: called dark kitchens, which sounds you know, scary and stuff, 301 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: but it's not really. A dark kitchen in this sense 302 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: is a facility where a restaurant can produce it's dishes, 303 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: specifically for delivery services like door dash. So the idea 304 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: here is that the home restaurant can really focus on 305 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: serving customers at that location, whether it's people who are 306 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: dining in or picking up or whatever. And the dark 307 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: kitchens will make the same dishes, but in facilities that 308 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: are inside these warehouses that are dedicated just to producing 309 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: meals meant for delivery services. So you can order a 310 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: delivery of that delicious pia from your favorite Spanish restaurant, 311 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: but it could be that the dishes actually made in 312 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: a warehouse somewhere, not in that restaurant's dedicated kitchen. Anyway. 313 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: Microsoft is reportedly the first US based company that had 314 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: previously invested in Uber to then go and invest in 315 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: Cloud Kitchen, and according to FT dot com, some folks 316 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: who were at least at one time associated with Cloud 317 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,880 Speaker 1: Kitchen are saying that the culture there is just as 318 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: toxic or perhaps even worse as the bad old days 319 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: at Uber, saying there's this massive issue with turnover due 320 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: to that terrible culture. So I guess some thing's never change, 321 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: all right. We've got a few more stories that we 322 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: need to cover before we get to that. Let's take 323 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: another quick break over at Google. The company is cutting 324 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,239 Speaker 1: way back on expenses and we've seen a lot of 325 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,360 Speaker 1: tech companies in particular cut back on things like hiring, 326 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: and some are going much further by being off employees 327 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: at least in certain divisions, all in an effort to 328 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 1: reduce expenses during our current economic turmoil. Now, I want 329 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: to say recession, but economists are still divided about whether 330 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,479 Speaker 1: or not we're actually in one. I say, if it 331 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 1: walks like a recession and quacks like a recession, it's 332 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: a recession. But anyway, since there's not consensus, I'm just 333 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:27,959 Speaker 1: gonna say economic uncertainty or economic turmoil or whatever. Anyway, 334 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: these cutbacks now include company travel at Google, so the 335 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: company is stressing that all but the most critical company 336 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: travel should be considered off the table, and that if 337 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,959 Speaker 1: employees have an option to say, attend a virtual event 338 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: rather than a physical one, they should choose the virtual option. Now, 339 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: if other companies follow suit, that is going to be 340 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: a super tough situation for the airline industry, which heavily 341 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: counts on regular business travel. And you know, it was 342 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: just starting to get back into the swing of things 343 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: after the pandemic effectively eliminated nearly all travel, particularly business travel, 344 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: for a long while. So we'll have to keep our 345 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: eyes on this see if this trend expands beyond Google 346 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: and what effects that might cause down the line. Now 347 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 1: that being said, United is reportedly investing fifteen million dollars 348 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: into a startup air taxi company. As the name implies, 349 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: an air taxi is a vehicle that flies from point 350 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: A to point B, and the idea here is that 351 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: this flying vehicle will take passengers from crowded city areas 352 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:44,119 Speaker 1: to nearby airports, skipping all the terrestrial traffic, all for 353 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: the low low price of a hundred bucks a seat. 354 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: On the low end, it could be much higher than that. 355 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,200 Speaker 1: United has conditionally agreed to purchase two hundred air taxis, 356 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: with the option to buy two hundred more. The startup 357 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: is called Eve air Mobility, and we should see its 358 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:06,360 Speaker 1: aircraft in operation sometime around at the earliest. These are 359 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: going to be v T o L aircraft that's vertical 360 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: takeoff and landing, so similar to how a helicopter operates, 361 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: but not an actual helicopter, maybe more like a quad copter, 362 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: but you know, vehicle sized. That's kind of that flying 363 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,480 Speaker 1: car concept we've been hearing about for a while now, 364 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,439 Speaker 1: and the hope is that United will find enough customers 365 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: who are willing to pony up the cash to skip 366 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: out on having to navigate through tough traffic in places 367 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 1: like New York City and Chicago. By the way, there 368 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,239 Speaker 1: are already helicopter taxi services in New York that can 369 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: take you from say, Manhattan to JFK. There's a company 370 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: called Blade that does that for the low, low price 371 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,400 Speaker 1: of a bucks per person. And yeah, this is expensive, right, 372 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: That's a lot of money to pay for a one 373 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,479 Speaker 1: way trip to an airport. But y'all, let me tell you. 374 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: I have been in situations in New York where I 375 00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: was convinced I was going to miss my flight the 376 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,639 Speaker 1: as I was in a taxi that was stuck in 377 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: stand still traffic. And if taking this option means I 378 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: can avoid a nervous breakdown, I might be willing to 379 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,560 Speaker 1: fork over a couple hundred bucks, especially if I could 380 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 1: expense it. But then we get back to that story 381 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: about companies cutting back on travel expenses and shucks. Also, finally, 382 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: I somehow missed the news last week that Twitter announced 383 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: it was going to allow users to edit tweets. This 384 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: is a feature that Twitter users have been asking for 385 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: for years, but now we've learned a little bit more 386 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: about how that's going to work. So the edit option 387 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: is only active for thirty minutes from the point when 388 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: you post a tweet, and users will only be able 389 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: to edit it up to five times. So if you've 390 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: edited it five times, or if thirty minutes have passed, 391 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: that's it. You can't touch that tweet again. Moreover, this 392 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: option is only going to go to a sub of 393 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 1: Twitter Blue users. Twitter Blue is a subscription tier of 394 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: Twitter service, so that means these folks who are accessing 395 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: it are essentially paying to have access to that feature. 396 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: It's initially launching in New Zealand, and Twitter will monitor 397 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: how people use it and whether or not folks start 398 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: to abuse the feature. You can imagine someone using Twitter 399 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: to post something really controversial or terrible, then waiting a 400 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 1: bit and then go back in and edit the tweet 401 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,040 Speaker 1: to make it appear innocent. Instigators and trolls would likely 402 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 1: use that feature to do just that kind of thing, right. 403 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: I mean, you might assume that a posted tweet is 404 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: most seen within that thirty minutes of posting, because otherwise 405 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,960 Speaker 1: it tends to get buried below other tweets. So a 406 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,800 Speaker 1: troll might just decide to post something really awful weight 407 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: twenty nine minutes and then go in and edit the tweet, 408 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,159 Speaker 1: and then you've got your plausible deniability while your followers 409 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: all saw the terrible things you said and maybe take 410 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: action base upon it. That's something Twitter is going to 411 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: have to be on the lookout for. And you know, 412 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,119 Speaker 1: once upon a time, I was one of those folks 413 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: who really felt there needed to be an edit feature 414 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 1: on Twitter, specifically so you can fix innocent stuff like typos, 415 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: particularly if you made a typo when you were typing 416 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 1: out an at reply to someone and your message would 417 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: otherwise go to the wrong person. But as we've seen 418 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 1: folks weaponize their Twitter accounts in order to target vulnerable 419 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 1: people or to spread misinformation, I have grown more concerned 420 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 1: than an edit feature will really just help bad actors 421 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: cover their tracks. Anyway, Twitter has plans to extend the 422 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: rollout to countries like Australia, Canada, and the US after 423 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: seeing how folks use it in New Zealand. My guess 424 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: is that Twitter is going to pay very close attention 425 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: to this and make tweaks on the system as they 426 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: see problems arise. Because I'm certain the people at Twitter 427 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:59,679 Speaker 1: are aware of the potential abuse scenarios. That's it for 428 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: the news for Thursday, September eight, twenty two. If you 429 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: have suggestions for topics I should cover on tech Stuff, 430 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: please reach out to me. One way to do that 431 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,360 Speaker 1: is through Twitter. The handle for the show is tech 432 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,439 Speaker 1: Stuff hs W. Another way is to download the I 433 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, which is free to download and use. 434 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: Navigate over to the text Stuff page in the I 435 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app and then you'll see a little microphone icon. 436 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:24,879 Speaker 1: If you click on that, you can leave a voice 437 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: message up to thirty seconds in Lincoln let me know 438 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: what you would like to hear in future episodes, and 439 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Y text Stuff 440 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 441 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 442 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.