1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: the tech news for June nine, two thousand and twenty two, 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: which is, as I recall, a Thursday. And for those 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: of you who were concerned and reached out, thank you 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: so much. Feeling much better now. My fever already broke 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: so and I've tested negative for COVID, thank goodness. So 10 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: it looks like it was, you know, just a like 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: a little bug that I caught, and I'm on the 12 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: better side of it. Now, let's get too news that 13 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: you really care about and not just me grousing about 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: feeling nikky, okay. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the committee 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: that's investigating the January sixth insurrection here in the United 16 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: States wants to get access to internal Twitter communications, including 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,639 Speaker 1: messages sent on Slack between Twitter employees, in an effort 18 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: to determine what Twitter was doing to moderate discourse on 19 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: the platform as it was leading up to the violence 20 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: that happened on January six. Twitter so far has refused 21 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: to comply with that request, at least to the Investigating 22 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: Committee's satisfaction. Anyway. Twitter representatives say that the company has 23 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: already shared some information with this committee. There's been a 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: growing awareness that employees at several social networking sites were 25 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: aware of and concerned about the growing momentum that was 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: indicating that something was going to go down on January six, 27 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: So presumably the Investigative Committee wants to see to what 28 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: extent Twitter employees were concerned and what the company's response 29 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: to those concerns were like. Was the company dismissing this 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: because they didn't want to rock the boat or anything 31 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: like that. Uh committee also suspects that participants in the 32 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: insurrection we're using Twitter to coordinate with one another, and 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: that perhaps the platform was then a facilitator for the events, 34 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: although not necessarily an active or willing participant, but you know, 35 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: it helped enable that, and that perhaps it could have 36 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,399 Speaker 1: and should have done more to alert authorities about specific 37 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: plans of action. Twitter has argued that it has a 38 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: responsibility to protect its employees and that the government demanding 39 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: access to internal documents could be a violation of the 40 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: First Amendment. For those of you who are not in 41 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: the United States. The first Amendment to the U. S 42 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: Constitution is the one that guarantees the right of freedom 43 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: of speech, as well as freedom assembly, and religion. In 44 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: related news, the U S State of Connecticut has budgeted 45 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: to create a special position dedicated to fighting back against 46 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: quote misinformation narratives about voting end quote. So the job 47 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: title is Election Information Security Officer, and the budget also 48 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: includes money that is dedicated to educating various communication platforms, 49 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: both in old media and new media, on how to 50 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: recognize and respond to misinformation campaigns, specifically targeting elections. Other 51 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: states in the US have similar departments like this in place. Already. 52 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: Misinformation has become a massive problem in general in the 53 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: United States UH, and elections, of course, are particularly targeted. 54 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: It's not exclusive, though, We've seen misinformation campaigns about COVID 55 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: and vaccinations, for example. On a personal note, I wouldn't 56 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: even know how or where to start in order to 57 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: fight back against misinformation. It's so prevalent and so invasive, 58 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: and it involves so many different tactics. I hope that 59 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: the efforts in Connecticut and elsewhere are effective. I want 60 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: to see UH platforms that have trustworthy information on them 61 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: and people who know that the election process is being 62 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: done fair and square and not being you know, fed 63 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: lies that. That's just otherwise, because once you start undermining 64 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: confidence in the system, the system itself breaks down. That's 65 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: how democracy dies, Really, democracy dies when the people no 66 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: longer have faith that the system is doing what it's 67 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: supposed to. Uh, it doesn't even you know, it doesn't 68 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: have to be real. Like the system can be working 69 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: just fine, but if people lose faith in it, and 70 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if the system is working or not, 71 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: the lack of confidence of the people is what will 72 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: kill democracy. Sticking with the United States, a collaborative effort 73 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: involving the FBI, the I R S, and the Department 74 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,599 Speaker 1: of Justice took down four domains on the web that 75 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: hosted a marketplace called ss N d o B. That 76 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: marketplace was essentially a clearing house of stolen personal information, 77 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: including social security numbers and credit card number. The social 78 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: security numbers explains the s s in bit of the 79 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: name s s in d o B. The database held 80 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: information on more than twenty million Americans, and it's been 81 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: active for several years, perhaps getting started as early as though, 82 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: as you might have guessed, folks who run illegal operations 83 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: aren't super big on documenting their history of it. The 84 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: market was known to have pulled in millions of dollars 85 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,360 Speaker 1: in revenue, a lot of it in cryptocurrency, and I 86 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: haven't seen any information about whether law enforcement has identified 87 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: the folks who are actually behind the database, So I'm 88 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: not sure how this will go beyond just shutting down 89 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,039 Speaker 1: the service. Presumably you would have to go further, or 90 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: else those who are responsible might just create a new 91 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: database on another domain and thus only experience a short 92 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: interruption of services. So I'll keep an eye on this 93 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: story as it develops. Business Insider reports that Netflix might 94 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: be making a move to acquire Roku. While Roku was 95 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: one of the early companies in the streaming business and 96 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: has a big reputation in creating really good hardware for streaming, 97 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 1: like streaming sticks and such, it has been in a 98 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: slump lately. About a year ago, the stock price for 99 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: Roku was higher than what it is today, So that's 100 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: a massive slide obviously, and Business Insiders says that Roku 101 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: employees have been told that they are not allowed to 102 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: sell their stock right now. Companies typically will do this 103 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,799 Speaker 1: when something big is happening behind the scenes. It's usually 104 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: an effort to prevent employees from engaging and stuff like 105 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: insider trading. That's when you take advantage of information about 106 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: a publicly traded company that the general public doesn't have 107 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,479 Speaker 1: access to. Right So, if you know, for example, that 108 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,559 Speaker 1: company A is going to buy a company B, and 109 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: that hasn't been announced to the general public, it would 110 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: be illegal for you to try and use that information 111 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: to your advantage because it's an unfair advantage. It sinside 112 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: or trading. Anyway, If you're wondering what, you know, why 113 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: does Netflix want Roku in the first place, one big 114 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: thought is that it isn't so much the hardware side. 115 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: I mean, Roku does make great streaming platforms, but we're 116 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: seeing more and more televisions come with that kind of 117 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: stuff you know, uh natively installed in them. So as 118 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: time goes on, things like streaming sticks become less relevant. 119 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,559 Speaker 1: It maybe the Netflix really wants Roku because Roku has 120 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: advertising on it. So Earlier this year, Netflix announced that 121 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: it was looking into new revenue sources after the company 122 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: had its first big setback. It had a decrease in 123 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: the overall subscriber number and then investor confidence in the 124 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: company just took a nose dive. With that it took 125 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: was one setback and people were out. So one of 126 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: the revenue sources that Netflix has been looking at is advertising, 127 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: namely that Netflix would introduce a lower cost subscription tier, 128 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: and that that subscription would be subsidized by including ads 129 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: in the streamed content. Roku already has an advertising model 130 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: built out, and in fact, the ads contribute significantly more 131 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: revenue than hardware sales have, so this might be a 132 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: case of Netflix purchasing a solution to save itself the 133 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: trouble of building out one of its own. Now, to 134 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: be clear, neither Netflix nor Roku have commented on this 135 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: rumored deal, so it may not even be a thing. 136 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: An ongoing trend we've been seeing around the world is 137 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: a move to transition from internal combustion engine vehicles or 138 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: i c E vehicles to electric vehicles or e vs. 139 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: The EU Parliament yesterday voted to require automakers to cut 140 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: c O two emissions by by now. Effectively that means 141 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: banning the manufacturing of any vehicle running on gasoline or diesel. Now, 142 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: this is not the same as saying that I see 143 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: vehicles would be illegal, but rather that all vehicles made 144 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: from twive on should not be vehicles that emit CEO two. 145 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,719 Speaker 1: This move has to still be approved by the individual 146 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: EU nations, so it's not a done deal yet. There 147 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,319 Speaker 1: has been some resistance to this push, with Germany's automotive 148 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: industry lobby v d A arguing that the mandate would 149 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: quote unquote hurt innovation. Hurt innovation to me typically is 150 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: is like a smoke screen. I see a lot of 151 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: companies talk about things hurting innovation, which usually just means 152 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: this will hurt our revenue and not necessarily it will 153 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: hurt innovation. In fact, a lot of times you could 154 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 1: argue that the status quo is what is hurting innovation. 155 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: That's some commentary from yours, truly, I'll just get back 156 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,839 Speaker 1: to the news now. And it might be that German 157 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 1: automakers are really objecting to this largely because they have 158 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: not been as a gre se in developing alternatives to 159 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: ice vehicles as automakers from other parts of the world, 160 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: so in other words, they're behind when it comes to this, 161 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: and that perhaps that might be part of the reason 162 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: for the objection. The v d A also argued that 163 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: the EU lacks sufficient infrastructure to support fleets of e vs. Now, again, 164 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: to me, that sounds kind of like a cop out, 165 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: because we are talking about the timeline that's more than 166 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: a decade out from today. You know, we have thirteen 167 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: years to to get this sussed out. Now, what I 168 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: will say is that as it stands, the world is 169 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: not yet producing enough EV batteries to meet the needs 170 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: of replacing all new vehicles with e V. S uh. 171 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: That's a challenge that we're going to have to overcome 172 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: or we'll need to see some serious movement on other 173 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: types of vehicles, such as hydrogen powered ones, you know, 174 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: fuel cell vehicles, that sort of thing. But that's where 175 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: it stands right now. The EU nations are now poised 176 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: to determine whether or not they will adopt this approach 177 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: to ban the sale of new I C E vehicles 178 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: starting by when we come back, we'll have a few 179 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: stories about Tesla and then a couple of others as well, 180 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: So let's take a break for these messages. Earlier this 181 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: week I did an Elon update. Now I'm not gonna 182 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: do another one, but I do have a few stories 183 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: that do relate to Tesla, which of course does relate 184 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: to Elon Musk. First up is that Reuter's reports Tesla 185 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,200 Speaker 1: will be holding a hiring event in China. Now, if 186 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: you remember, on Tuesday's episode, I talked about how Elon 187 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,319 Speaker 1: Musk indicated there would be a hiring freeze at Tesla. 188 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: He then subsequently clarified that he really meant hiring freeze 189 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: on the salaried employee or corporate side, not on the 190 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: hourly employee side, which usually means folks who work in 191 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:03,079 Speaker 1: manufact training plants, like you know, floor workers at factories. 192 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: Reuters states that this hiring event will concentrate mainly on 193 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: engineers and managers, so it certainly sounds like salary jobs 194 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: to me, but I don't know anyway. Just interesting to 195 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: see that while Elon Musk is saying that the company 196 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: is putting a freeze, uh, it doesn't appear to really 197 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: be that, at least not globally. Meanwhile, in Germany, the 198 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,480 Speaker 1: trade union i G Metal has responded to a leaked 199 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 1: internal email from Elon Musk that essentially told all Tesla 200 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: employees would have to work in the office for at 201 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: least forty hours a week before they could do any 202 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: remote work at all, Like he essentially said, if you 203 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: want to work from home, you can after you put 204 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: in forty hours of work at the office. So this 205 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 1: union has said, essentially, and I'm paraphrasing here, hey buddy, 206 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: here in Germany, it doesn't work that way. An employer 207 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: can't just you know, act like a dictator to their employees. 208 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: So Musk has been pretty clearly anti union over the years. 209 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: I imagine this is not something he wants to hear. 210 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: And considering that numerous studies have suggested that there's no 211 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,079 Speaker 1: drop in productivity with remote work situations, I feel pretty 212 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: confident that a lot of Tesla employees see his demands 213 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: as being unreasonable. Now, there are people who believe that 214 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,560 Speaker 1: the whole thing is kind of a work in the 215 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: parlance of the squared circle, that is, of professional wrestling uh, 216 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: and that Musk's approach is really just an effort to 217 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,719 Speaker 1: convince at least some people at Tesla to pack their 218 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: bags and leave, because that's one way you can reduce 219 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: overhead without having to worry about paying out severance packages. 220 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: If people quit, then you don't know him severance. That 221 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: pretty cynical observation doesn't necessarily mean it's inaccurate. I can't 222 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: say one way or the other. And meanwhile, here in 223 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: the United States, Tesla's legal team has accused the California 224 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: Department of Fair Employment and Housing or d f e H, 225 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: of skipping some key steps before that organization filed a 226 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: lawsuit against Tesla alleging racial bias and discrimination within the company, 227 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: specifically within the Fremont, California factory. So this all stems 228 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: from accusations that a former Tesla employee faced numerous incidents 229 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: of racial abuse while working at Tesla, and the d 230 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: f e H sued Tesla, But Tesla's legal team says 231 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: that the d f e H failed to take some 232 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: required steps that would normally include an attempt to mediate 233 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: a dispute before it would actually go to court. The 234 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: Tesla team then filed a petition with the Office of 235 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: Administrative Law in California over the matter. And while it 236 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: seems as though Tesla's objections have at least some merit, 237 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: because the d f e H is supposed to follow 238 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:52,080 Speaker 1: certain protocols that it appears to have skipped, UH, it 239 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: might end up all being moot anyway, because technically the 240 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: legal team would have needed to file this petition before 241 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: the legal case began, So in other words, it might 242 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: just be too late for this to matter. We'll have 243 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: to wait and see. Blizzard has been having a pretty 244 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: rough go of it recently. It's part of the massive 245 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: company Activision Blizzard, which itself is mired in controversy, ranging 246 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: from claims that the company harbored a toxic culture, claims 247 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: that I should say I seem to be largely substantiated, 248 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: to the company's attempts to discourage employees from being able 249 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: to organize into unions. But the problems I really want 250 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: to talk about with regard to Blizzard have to do 251 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: with the actual games that the company is releasing and 252 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,560 Speaker 1: the response to those games. The games have been getting 253 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: pounded by user ratings on Metacritic. So the most recent game, 254 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: dia Blow Immortal, is a mobile game, and it's obviously 255 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: an entry in the dia Blow franchise, a long popular franchise. 256 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: That game currently has a user rating on Metacritic of 257 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: just zero point five out of ten. Now, to be clear, 258 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: the critic review score, at least for the iOS version, 259 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: is sitting at seventy five out of one hundred, so 260 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:13,200 Speaker 1: not great, but not awful either. However, that user score 261 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: of zero point five that is harsh as all. Heck, 262 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: so why are the reviews so low? Well, it really 263 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: comes down to micro transactions, and we've seen micro transactions 264 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: worm into lots of different games over the last several years. 265 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: They represent a way for a game to continue generating 266 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: revenue indefinitely. You can even have free to play games 267 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: that are only supported by micro transactions, but we've seen 268 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: more and more. Even Triple A titles include micro transaction. 269 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: So you go out and you shell out, you know, 270 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: sixties seventy bucks for a game, and then you are 271 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 1: faced with all these other micro transactions as you continue 272 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: to play. Some games like Fortnite have thrived on micro 273 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: transactions and have done really well, and when they're implemented properly, 274 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: they typically can be seen as you know, harmless, maybe 275 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: a little irritating, but you know, not not really a problem. 276 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,680 Speaker 1: For example, when all the things that you can buy 277 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: are purely cosmetic, but otherwise they have no impact in 278 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: how the game plays out, most gamers are gonna begrudgingly 279 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,880 Speaker 1: accept that because at least it's not impacting the actual 280 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: game experience. But in cases where the micro transactions can 281 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: give players an advantage. Things get pretty ugly, and it 282 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: appears that in the end game, really post game part 283 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: of Diablo Immortal, where you've pretty much done all the 284 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: content of the game and then you start to focus 285 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: on things like player versus player interactions, the person who 286 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: is more willing to cough up cash for certain items 287 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: is the one who is most likely to win those encounters. 288 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: It becomes a pay to win scenario in other words, 289 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,960 Speaker 1: and gamers really really hate that. So the zero point 290 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: five score reflects this. Now, I should also point out 291 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,479 Speaker 1: Metacritic doesn't have a system in place to determine if 292 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: a person is leaving a review has even actually played 293 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: the game, so it's entirely possible that some or maybe 294 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,920 Speaker 1: even many of the negative reviews are from disgruntled gamers 295 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: who haven't even touched the title anyway. This is the 296 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: third Blizzard game in a row to receive a sub 297 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: one point oh score from users on Metacritic. It's not 298 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: a great reputation to have, and again, it mostly doesn't 299 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: seem to be targeted at the quality of the game itself, 300 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: but more due to other things like micro transaction policies. 301 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: You know that feeling that you get when something you own, 302 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: like a car, gets scuffed up for the first time. 303 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: I imagine that's how some folks at NASA feel about 304 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: the James Webb Space Telescope. The telescope, which occupies an 305 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: orbit on the side of the Earth opposite the Sun, 306 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 1: has been hit with some micro meteoroids, and that was 307 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 1: to be expected. I mean, it's space. Micro Meteoroids are 308 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: out there. It was going to happen. In fact, NASA 309 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: knew that it would happen, designed the James Webb Space 310 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: Telescope to be robust enough to handle that. But one 311 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: of those impacts appears to be larger than what NASA 312 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: was anticipating. Uh. Now that that impact hasn't ruined the 313 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: technology of the telescope or anything like that, but these 314 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: impacts do degrade the telescope's performance, and so the more 315 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: it gets hit by them, the less well it will perform. 316 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: NASA stresses that right now it's not that big of 317 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: a deal. The telescope is still an incredibly powerful piece 318 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: of technology. It's going to do some amazing science. However, 319 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: it is a reminder that space is a dangerous environment, 320 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: and as I've said many times, in the past, it's 321 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: trying to kill you. NASA has also indicated that during 322 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: more predictable events, such as a meteor shower, engineers can 323 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: actually reposition the telescope so that it can be more 324 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: protective of its optical systems. It's just that in this case, 325 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: this collision wasn't predictable, so it was unavoidable. Um, so 326 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: hopefully we don't see too many of these, especially early on. 327 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: I mean, we've just started using the James Webb Space Telescope. 328 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: It hasn't even really gotten into some serious serious research yet, 329 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: so we definitely don't want to, you know, pull the 330 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: car out of the dealership lot, take a right turn, 331 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: and then immediately scrape up against a fire hydrant. That's 332 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: what this kind of feels like. Okay, that bizarre analogy aside. 333 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: Let's take another quick break and when we come back, 334 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: we've got a couple more stories. I want to talk about. 335 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:39,119 Speaker 1: Toyota and it's subsidiary company, Woven Planet, demonstrated a prototype 336 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: hydrogen cartridge that could be used in conjunction with fuel 337 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: cells in the future. So this kind of goes back 338 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: to what I was saying earlier about electric vehicles. You know, 339 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 1: that seems to be the way that the world is moving, 340 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: that that's going to be the next incarnation of the 341 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: personal vehicle will be an electric vehicle. But some companies 342 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: like Toyota have been pushing really hard for a while 343 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: for fuel cell vehicles, which are very similar to electric 344 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: vehicles but with some key differences, the main one being 345 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: that you do have to refuel them, but in this 346 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: case hydrogen rather than say gasoline or diesel. So this 347 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:18,640 Speaker 1: cartridge is uh cylindrical, and it has a handle on 348 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: one end, and it measures sixteen inches or four d 349 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: millimeters in length and seven inches or a hundred eighty 350 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: millimeters in diameter, and when it's full, it's filled with hydrogen. 351 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: The cartridge weighs about eleven pounds or five kilograms, and 352 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: the amount of hydrogen in one of these cartridges can 353 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: supply about three point three kill what hours of energy. 354 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,360 Speaker 1: The cartridges are one way to really simplify the process 355 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 1: of refueling fuel cells. So just in case you're not 356 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 1: familiar with how fuel cells work, they are kind of 357 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: like batteries that a battery contains all the electrochemical components 358 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: it needs to generate electricity, and then a lot of 359 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: you know, the rechargeable ones, you just end up putting 360 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: electricity back into the battery and it reverses that that 361 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: chemical reaction so that it can happen again. So with 362 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,119 Speaker 1: fuel cells, you have to supply the fuel to the cell. 363 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: The fuel undergoes this electro chemical reaction and in that 364 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: process releases electrons, but afterwards you can't reverse that process, 365 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: at least not within the fuel cell itself. So with 366 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: hydrogen fuel cells, this reaction happens between hydrogen gas and oxygen. 367 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: So I won't go into all the details of how 368 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,479 Speaker 1: it works, but what you get out of it is heat, electricity, 369 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: and water. Those are your byproducts. You know, water vapor 370 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: typically because you're using operating temperatures that are high enough 371 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,440 Speaker 1: to evaporate water. But that's it. You don't have any 372 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: carbon emissions or anything else. If you're assuming you're using 373 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: pure hydrogen and pure oxygen in a you know, hydrogen 374 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: fuel cell. So this cartridge approach reminds me kind of 375 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: the way propane tanks work, where you can, you know, 376 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: get a propane tank for something like a gas grill, 377 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: So you go out and purchase a new propane tank, 378 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: or you could take a propane tank to a facility 379 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: to refill it with more propane. I feel like that's 380 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: kind of where Toyota and Woven Planet are going. They're 381 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: also looking at a strategy that could include a delivery 382 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: service as well, so presumably you could order a new 383 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: cartridge when you start running low on hydrogen and they 384 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 1: would bring it out to you, which is kind of 385 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: a cool idea too. Toyota envisions hydrogen playing a huge 386 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: role in our energy needs in the future, not just 387 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: for our vehicles, but the power of things like homes 388 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: and businesses as well. There's still a lot of challenges 389 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: that are standing in the way of that future. Hydrogen 390 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: is the most plentiful element in our universe, which is great, 391 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: but it also tends to bond with lots of other elements, 392 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: which is less great because in order for us to 393 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: get at pure hydrogen, we typically first have to break 394 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: the molecular bonds that hold the hydrogen onto the other stuff. 395 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: And if the energy we're spending to get at the 396 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,240 Speaker 1: hydrogen is more than what we're going to get out 397 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: of using the hydrogen as a fuel source, that's a 398 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: net loss and energy. So you have to be really 399 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: smart in the way you do this. For example, one 400 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: way that you can get hydrogen is you can take 401 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: water and you can run a an electrical current through 402 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: the water, and that electrical current will break down the 403 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: molecular bond between hydrogen and oxygen and it will release 404 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: both as gases. So it's essentially the opposite approach as 405 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: to what a fuel cell does. And instead of releasing electricity, 406 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: it absorbs electricity in order for this to happen, and 407 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: you have to have a smart way of doing that 408 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: or else the question is, well, you know, why are 409 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: we throwing in these extra stops. For example, if we 410 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: were using solar energy to create the electrical current in 411 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: order to generate hydrogen from water, someone might ask, well, 412 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: why aren't we just using the electricity from the solar 413 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: power directly? Why are we doing this middleman approach where 414 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: we're trying to generate hydrogen out of all this, And 415 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: that's a question you have to be able to answer. 416 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: You have to be able to say, all right, in 417 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:12,400 Speaker 1: the long run, this makes more sense from an economy standpoint, 418 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: And by economy I don't just mean by financial cost 419 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,440 Speaker 1: but energy economy. These are those those kind of questions 420 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: that if you're able to answer them sufficiently, then you 421 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: can actually pursue this sort of future. Toyota has really 422 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: been all in on this for years. I used to 423 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: do a show that was sponsored by Toyota, and fuel 424 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,120 Speaker 1: cell vehicles was one of the really big pushes back then, 425 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: and that was almost a decade ago. So, um, it's 426 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: still not really I mean, there are a few of 427 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: sell vehicles out there, it's not like it's just in 428 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: the pro type stage. There actually are fuel cell vehicles 429 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: out on the road, but it's not nearly as commonplace 430 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: as I think Toyota was hoping for by this time. 431 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: We'll have to see. I think steps like this are 432 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: important toward getting to a hydrogen based UH energy economy, 433 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:05,040 Speaker 1: but I don't know yet that that is definitely where 434 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: we're gonna go. It seems to me like the electric 435 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: vehicle approach UH and and relying more on renewable energy sources, 436 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: perhaps relying on fusion, if we can get that to 437 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: work out. Um, that appears to be the path that 438 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: we're taking right now, but who's to say. Finally, Google 439 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: Maps now has an air quality layer overlay that you 440 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: can use in the Android and iOS versions of the app. 441 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,680 Speaker 1: This is really useful if you live in a place 442 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: where air quality can be dangerous, particularly for people who 443 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: might have issues like ab SMA or other respiratory problems. 444 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 1: So this map will show you what areas within your 445 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,000 Speaker 1: region have the cleanest air. And they determine this by 446 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: using numerous sensors that use lasers to measure the amount 447 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: of particulates in the atmosphere. Essentially, they're shining lasers out 448 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 1: into the environment and then counting how many particulates passed 449 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 1: through the pathway of that laser. So lower numbers are 450 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: better because lower numbers indicate fewer particulates. So I decided 451 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: to check it out on my phone to look at 452 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: my area. The closest sensor to where I live here 453 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: in Atlanta was at twenty three, which is in the 454 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: good range. There was another one a little bit further out, 455 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: closer to the middle of the city that was around forty. 456 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: That's still in the good range. The zero to fifty 457 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: is good, fifty range is moderate. There was one spot 458 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: in the Atlanta area I saw that was at moderate, 459 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: and above that you started getting into more dangerous territory. 460 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,240 Speaker 1: With the air quality index on the app, maxing out 461 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: at four hundred. Actually looked at Los Angeles, which has 462 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: lots of these sensors, not a big surprise. The state 463 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: of California has taken a pretty aggressive stance and trying 464 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: to improve air quality in that state. So l A 465 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: has lots of sensors, a lot more densely packed sensors 466 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 1: than I found in Atlanta, and and even in l A, 467 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: I only found a couple of areas where the numbers 468 00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: were up in the above one hundred range, which is 469 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 1: where you start to get into um areas that it 470 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 1: could be potentially dangerous for those who have respiratory issues. Anyway, 471 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,040 Speaker 1: it's pretty cool. If you have Google Maps on an 472 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 1: Android or iOS device, I suggested check it out. It's 473 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,199 Speaker 1: just one of the little layers you can choose and 474 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: you can kind of see what the air quality is 475 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 1: like around where you live, assuming that you know they 476 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: have some sensors deployed in that area. That's it for 477 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: this Tech News episode of tech Stuff. Hope you enjoyed it. 478 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:35,159 Speaker 1: If you have any suggestions for topics I should cover 479 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 1: in future episodes or anything else you want to shout 480 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 1: out to me, let me know best way of doing that. Well, 481 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: there are a couple of ways, really. One is you 482 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: can use the i heart Radio apps read to download. 483 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: You can just go straight to the tech Stuff podcast 484 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: page within that app and use the talk back feature. 485 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: It's a little microphone icon you click on that leave 486 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: a message up to thirty seconds in length and I'll 487 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: hear it, or you can let me know on Twitter. 488 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: The handle for the show is text stuff h s 489 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you again really soon Y. 490 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an i heart Radio production. For more 491 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: podcasts from i heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 492 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,479 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.