WEBVTT - Tech News: The Death of G4TV (Again) 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.560 Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.640 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.079 And how the tech are you? It is time for 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.200 the tech news for Tuesday, October two thousand twenty two. 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:29.640 And boy, how a lot of stuff happened late last 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:35.000 week and over the weekend. Let's start with G four TV. 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.240 So I did some episodes about G four TV about 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.800 a year ago, where I talked about the formation of 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:45.400 the channel, you know it's origins and it's merger with 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:50.320 tech TV under Comcast, and then the subsequent dissolution of 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:54.200 the channel following years of decline, and that era happened 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:58.160 between two thousand two and two thousand twelve. Then I 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:00.560 talked about how the channel was being revived fived in 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:06.640 twenty twenty one, coming back from extinction. So the Zomba 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:11.240 five G four TV emerged on November six, and with 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.480 the relaunch, we saw the reappearance of programs like x Play, 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:21.279 which was a video game criticism show like a review show, 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.000 as well as Attack of the Show, which is more 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:28.000 of a geeky variety show, and some of the hosts 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.640 from the glory days like Kevin Pereira and Adam Sessler 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.400 returned and they were joined by newcomers to the channel 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.040 like Fiona Nova and Gina Darling and others. But then 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.839 less than a year later, the channel has once again 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:46.920 gone silent. Comcast Spectator, which in itself is a subsidiary 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:51.480 of Comcast, sent out a memo on October six, two 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.600 thousand twenty two a lerning the team that due to 0:01:54.760 --> 0:02:00.440 low viewership, the channel was financially unstable, so that essentially 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.240 meant that it probably cost more to produce the content 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:07.040 on the channel than the channel was actually making. As 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.240 a result, the plug has been pulled and the channel 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:13.639 is once again dead. The memo goes on to say 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:17.040 that Comcast Spectator HR will work with the affected staff 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.679 of which they were around, to try and find other 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.360 opportunities and discuss other options. This stinks because there were 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.520 some really cool people working over there, you know, talented, 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.880 hard working folks. I was honestly surprised that the new 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:37.079 G four TV wasn't more of an online network as 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.640 opposed to an attempt to to go the traditional TV 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.640 channel route. Again, I doubt such a channel would be 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.600 able to attract the same talent pool if it were 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.000 online only like that would be hard to do because 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.720 you typically don't see the same kind of investment for 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.840 that sort of stuff. However, the costs of production would 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.639 be much lower as well. A lot of folks online 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.960 are kind of playing armchair analysts and drawing conclusions like 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.600 that the television era in general is coming to a close, 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.880 and that's why G four TV couldn't find a new audience, 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.960 because the audience has moved away from the medium there 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:17.880 getting their content online as opposed to on television. I 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:19.919 would actually have to do some real research to find 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.560 out how likely that is. I mean, I know anecdotally 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.200 that I haven't watched any television programming in years, but 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.919 that's just me. I could be an outlier. I don't know. 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.440 I don't know how how popular TV is in general 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.480 at this point because I'm so far removed from it. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:40.000 I'd have to actually look into it. But I just 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.080 want to say that I hope the staff of G 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.960 four TV finds new opportunities quickly and that they are 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:50.840 all able to pursue their dreams, just under a different banner, because, 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:55.720 like I said, this stinks. Uh I can't really blame 0:03:56.320 --> 0:04:02.040 Comcast Spectrum from for doing this, right, Like, if they 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.880 were unable to find an audience, you can't really justify 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:09.440 just running the channel just so it exists. If no 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.320 one's seeking it out, then ultimately you could argue that 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.640 the effort being put forward to create that content is 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.440 wasted and that people could achieve better things by doing 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:25.159 something else. So I can't really criticize the decision to 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:28.160 end the channel. I just hate that it was a 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.120 necessity because you know, I like some of the folks 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.680 over there, and um, you know, I I think that 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:39.159 this stuff they make is worthwhile. That being said, since 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.880 I don't watch TV, I hadn't been watching g for TV, 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.080 so I'm part of the problem, all right. Moving on, 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.599 Also in the geek entertainment sphere is some pretty ugly 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.160 news coming out of Rooster Teeth. Now, if you're not 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.640 familiar with the name Rooster Teeth, it's a company that's 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:59.640 known primarily for its podcasts and video series that orbit 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.760 the video d games space. They're either directly about video 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:08.080 games or are kind of tangentially related to video games, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.000 and it's all with an entertainment spin. The company got 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.720 started with a web series called Red Versus Blue, which 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.920 uses the Halo game engine as a kind of studio, 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:22.480 actors treating their master Chief characters like digital puppets and 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:27.799 recording voice over with it. That Little Colonel grew into 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:32.560 a pretty impressive entertainment network, which ultimately branched out into 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:38.160 making feature films, premier series, an anime inspired series, and more. 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:41.080 I've actually had a couple of people from Rooster Teeth 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:45.440 on this show as guests in the past, including Bernie 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:49.159 Burns and Jack Potillo. Well, the news out of Rooster 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.960 Teeth this week is pretty awful, and it started when 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:55.880 news broke that the company, which ultimately is part of 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:01.360 Warner Brothers Discovery, dissolved several positions, meaning they just eliminated 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:06.320 these positions from existence. That included one of an online personality, 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.359 a guy named Matt Bragg who posted that he was 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.120 going to go part time on sort of a contract 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.440 basis because of this. Now, that prompted some backlash in 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:20.200 the community, which then got turned up to eleven in 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.960 intensity when a former Rooster Teeth employee named Caden talked 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:28.839 about her experiences at the company. Her accusations are numerous 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:33.320 and disturbing. They range from going unpaid for nine months 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:36.320 while doing some contract work for the company, to then 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:41.680 being vastly underpaid and overworked as a producer and a 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.640 director and editor, even to a point where she developed 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.400 pneumonia and then, upon returning to work, was immediately put 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.640 back under the same grueling schedule. She also said that 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.760 she was targeted with a homophobic slur in the office, 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.000 and that slur was used by on screen talent in 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.040 an altered form so that they refer to her with 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.359 this slur while being on camera, and in turn, the 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.920 community got in on using that nickname, though presumably most 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.720 folks didn't know what the significance of the word was. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:17.080 Side note, however, Caden herself, in a previous life, like 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.160 fifteen years ago when she was a teenager, had uploaded 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:25.000 videos that featured her and this was before her transition 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:28.640 surgery and before her employment at Rooster Teeth, But it 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:33.640 featured her using homophobic language, anti Semitic language, racist language. 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.040 So that doesn't excuse the treatment she received at at 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.960 Rooster Teeth. But you know, I feel like I need 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.280 to talk about it because otherwise someone's going to bring 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.520 it up and say, yeah, but Cayden said these terrible 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:50.200 things when she was younger, and doesn't that make her 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:55.840 a hypocrite? Really? I feel like Caden's arguments were that 0:07:55.920 --> 0:08:00.920 the company failed to act when she brought these concerns 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.920 to HR. And that's the issue, right. It's not that 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:08.080 Cayden was a perfect person, or that Kayden herself had 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:15.760 not engaged in terrible UH language and and the expression 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.760 of horrible racist and homophobic ideas herself. She had. That 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.160 was bad that she had done that on her own channel, 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.640 but rather that this indicated a systemic problem within Rooster 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:31.000 Teeth and that HR did nothing to take action on 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:37.600 that and to protect employees. That is still a massive problem. UH. 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.560 Caden's behavior was also a massive problem, something that she 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.679 has apologized for in the past, though you know, some 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:48.200 people are are arguing that that apology wasn't sufficient. I'm 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:53.080 not here to judge the sufficient nature of apologies because 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.880 that's that's a fool's errand in my mind, But anyway, 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.440 it doesn't change the fact that there were these systemic 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.439 problems that Rooster Teeth. Now, Rooster Teeth issued a statement 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:04.520 that a lot of people in the community have said, 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.880 isn't nearly enough, saying that the company failed to really 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:13.520 take accountability for the things that Caden accuses the company 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:18.800 of doing. Largely this reliance on the exploitation of employees 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:25.120 who are underpaid by industry standards, while meanwhile some some 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:30.600 few people at the top are benefiting disproportionately from that labor. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.720 So it is really ugly. This is not the first 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:38.240 time that Rooster Teeth has had to face some pretty 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.640 tough scandals. There was a similar one when Mica Burton 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.280 left the company and revealed she had been the target 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.160 of racism and abuse, and the company failed to really 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:51.120 do anything to help her. Then in scandal broke out 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:52.920 again when it was made public that one of the 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.280 on screen talent at Rooster Teeth had engaged in predatory 0:09:56.400 --> 0:10:00.719 behavior with the fan base. So this later this controversy 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.520 implies that the company as a whole has failed to 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:07.199 address those systemic problems within the culture of the organization, 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.120 and many are comparing what's going on within Rooster Teeth 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.520 two similar situations that companies like Activision, Blizzard and uby 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.240 Soft and Uber. Meanwhile, as part of Warner Brothers Discovery, 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.120 I imagine there's a very real worry at executive level 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:27.040 level leadership at Rooster Teeth about what maybe in the 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.480 future for Rooster Teeth. I mean, as possible they could 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:33.160 get sold off, because we know that David Zaslov over 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.679 at Warner Brothers Discovery and his team are looking to 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:42.120 trim billions of dollars off the overall corporate budget, and uh, 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.360 it may very well be that Rooster Teeth could be 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:46.960 on the chopping block for that, whether it gets sold 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.000 off or dissolved or whatever. Rooster Teeth canceled all of 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.800 its live podcast recording sessions yesterday, likely because the company 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.120 is working to create a response to these accusations and 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.360 community reaction, and the host of that podcast would have 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.440 been potentially been a real mess. Right if you had 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:12.080 live interactive chat with a podcast recording, it would be 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:15.880 setting the stage for accusations and criticism and abuse and 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:19.160 tough questions and it just would have been a big mess. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:21.840 Whether this controversy is going to have a lasting effect 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:25.559 on the company remains to be seen, but it definitely 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:30.480 has exposed a very ugly side to Rooster Teeth's corporate culture, 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:34.400 one that arguably has been exposed before in the past. 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:40.080 But the company had had assured community members that steps 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.480 would be taken to correct it. So, yeah, not a 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.199 good situation. All right. When we come back, we've got 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.560 a lot more news to get through, but first let's 0:11:48.559 --> 0:12:01.840 take this quick break. We're back. Yeah. Formerly known as 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:05.760 Kanye West, is in the process of acquiring the beleaguered 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.680 social network platform Parlor. Now you might remember that Parlor, 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:13.640 which brands itself as a free speech platform, became kind 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:17.160 of a gathering place primarily known for right wing conservatives 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.319 leading up to the twenty twenty election, when there was 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:25.040 a big spike in interest in Parlor. The service ran 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.880 into some major turbulence, however, when Apple and Google dropped 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.800 Parlor from app stores citing the company's lack of a 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.880 suitable content moderation policy around the same time as the 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:39.120 January six, two thousand twenty one insurrection. Amazon would then 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:43.720 subsequently boot Parlor from its hosting service, and so Parlor 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:46.679 had to find a new host and initially switched to 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.040 a Russian based company called de dos Guard, but then 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:54.680 switched to an American based company called sky Silk. The 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:59.040 general reporting round Parlor has indicated that there's been a 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:03.840 pretty substant hill decline in active users since the return 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:09.240 from online exile in early one. Anyway, Yea apparently decided 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.600 to purchase Parlor after he received a Twitter ban for 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:17.600 posting anti Semitic comments. He had also been banned from Instagram. 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:19.280 And I think it's interesting to point out that Yea 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.760 has been hanging out with a conservative commentator and author 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.240 named Candice Owens recently because Owens happens to be married 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.840 to a man named George Farmer, and Farmer happens to 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.680 be the CEO of Parlor. So that's led some folks 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.400 and allegedly including some folks in Yea's own circles, to 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:41.560 perhaps suggest that Owens has influenced Yea and kind of 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:45.120 guided him into buying what is a flailing social media site, 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.280 which will potentially see both her and her husband benefit 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.800 from that sale. And I am not used to reporting 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.760 this kind of drama, y'all. Anyway, when you consider that 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.480 Elon Musk is still in the process of acquiring Twitter 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.200 and that Donald Trump on to found Truth Social it's 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.679 hard to get past the feeling that some highly opinionated, 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.720 rich people think that the real solution to being moderated 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.679 is to go and buy the platform or to make 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.880 your own so interesting stuff there. Over in the UK, 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.560 the Competition and Markets Authority or c m A, which 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:22.160 is a regulatory body, has set a new precedent by 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:26.800 ordering Meta to sell off Giffee or Jiffy if you prefer. 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:33.160 That's the gif creation website that Meta acquired in twenty though, 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.720 of course, in Meta was still known as Facebook. Actually, 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.800 the c m A had already ordered Meta to do this. 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:44.080 This is not a new decision. However, Meta appealed that decision. 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.840 The matter went back for review, and now after reviewing 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:51.360 that initial decision, the c m A says, now we're good, 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.400 We're still going to make you sell it. So the 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.880 CMA says that Meta's acquisition hurts competition in the space, 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:01.320 potentially cutting off Giffee rivals from being able to leverage Facebook, 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.640 or forcing those rivals to give up more user data 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.520 to Facebook in return for being allowed to access the platform. 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:12.160 Meta reps issued a statement reading quote, we are disappointed 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.320 by the CMA's decision, but except today's ruling as the 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.960 final word on the matter, we will work closely with 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:22.000 the c m A on divesting Giffee end quote. So 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:26.000 it looks like the dismantling of meta has begun, or 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:27.880 maybe this is just the beginning and end of it all. 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.200 We'll we'll have to wait and see. Researchers at the 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.760 security firm z Scaler warned that there's a new data 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:39.960 stealing malware propagating across Facebook. A phishing campaign called Ductail 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.400 appears to be responsible, and according to a report on 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.920 tech Radar that's titled a phishing campaign is spreading brand 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:52.080 new malware targeting Facebook users. This malware quote cannot only 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:56.280 steal Facebook adjacent data, but also other sensitive data stored 0:15:56.280 --> 0:16:00.040 in browsers, such as data related to cryptocurrency, wallet's a 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.600 count information, and basic system data end quote. Ducktail has 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:10.480 previously distributed malware through LinkedIn messages containing malicious links, and 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.840 it sounds like this particular attack is really insidious and 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.840 that it mostly works within computer memory, which helps it 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.760 evade detection from anti virus programs. It also sounds like 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:25.880 this started as a spear phishing campaign. UH. Spear phishing 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.840 means that the perpetrators are targeting specific populations. It's not 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:34.120 just throwing out a phishing attack in general, it's really 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.120 focusing them. So in that case, it involved high level 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:41.480 employees who had access to company Facebook business accounts. However, 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.480 z scaler is now warning that this campaign has widened 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:48.840 to target pretty much anyone. Z Scaler says that quote 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:53.160 the malicious executable files are mostly in dot zep format 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.640 and hosted on file sharing platforms, posing as cracked versions 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:03.360 of office applications, games, subtitle files, porn related files, and 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:07.399 others end quote. So once again, just a reminder, don't 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.639 download files from questionable sources. You're playing Russian Roulette with 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:16.159 your computer and potentially all of your data, including financial data. 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:21.040 Business Insider reports that Microsoft has recently held layoffs, affecting 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.639 quote less than one thousand employees end quote this week, 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.280 and that the cuts were made across pretty much all 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:32.199 of the company, including the Xbox division and Microsoft's strategic 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:37.400 missions and technology departments. Business Insider also references an internal 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:41.440 email that indicated the company is re prioritizing various projects, 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.199 with some essentially being canceled or shelved. This kind of 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:47.679 goes in line with what we've been hearing across the 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:51.880 industry really, as large companies have put in hiring phrases 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:56.000 and started holding layoffs. Uh. Microsoft has previously said that 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.359 it anticipates it will not lay off more than one 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.920 percent of its workforce globally, but the you know, this 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.399 is part of that process, and I think we're going 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.920 to see a lot more stories about various folks facing 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.639 tough situations like this across the tech industry. So on 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.080 a similar note, Engadget reports that some leaked documents from 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:24.959 inside Amazon paint a really bleak picture for the company 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:30.400 when it comes to retaining employees. The report says that attrition, 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:32.879 which is a nice way to say the loss of 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:38.280 employees that is both regretted and unregretted, which essentially means 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.399 both the folks who quit and the folks that we 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:46.119 fired or laid off collectively. They cost the company some 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:53.200 eight billion dollars annually eight billion dollars billion with a B, 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.800 all because of turnover, whether that's from layoffs and firings 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:03.320 or folks quitting the company. The documents indicate that about 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.399 twice as many people leave the company on their own 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:09.719 as opposed to being laid off or fired. So that 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.560 definitely does not paint a nice picture of what it's 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:15.639 like to work for Amazon. Right, So you've got this 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:20.920 massive issue of turnover. The vast majority of which involves 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.840 people leaving the company quitting the company, and that you know, 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:28.320 regretted attrition a people who are leaving on their own 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.840 account was at a low of sixty nine point five 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.000 percent and a high of any one three percent across 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:40.879 all levels of employees. Yikes. And it goes on to 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.119 add that only one out of three employees even sticks 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:48.359 around for ninety days or more. That means if you 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:53.720 get three Amazon employees who joined on you know, January one, 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.000 two out of those three are going to be gone 0:19:56.640 --> 0:20:02.760 before the end of March. Like that crazy. That's an 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.320 insane amount of turnover. And we've always known that turnover 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.719 at Amazon has been a big problem. It's just that 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.640 it hasn't really been quantified like this before these internal 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:16.919 documents got out. At that rate, Amazon is really going 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.720 to burn through all potential employee options in major cities 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:22.639 within a couple of years. And then where is it 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.720 going to be. I mean, that sounds like it's hyperbole, 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.440 but other news outlets have actually said exactly the same 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:34.960 thing that at the rate of Amazon's turnover, the employable 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:39.320 public in the various cities where Amazon has major operations 0:20:39.920 --> 0:20:42.520 are going to be run through and then you've got 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:45.479 no one left. So you've got to address these issues 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.800 with retention. It also seems to at least imply that 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.280 working conditions at Amazon are lousy, right otherwise you wouldn't 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:56.160 have people quitting within three months of getting a job. 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:01.000 So it's a costly problem that Amazon needs to solve. 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.400 I really recommend reading the whole article. The article has 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:09.560 the title exclusive Amazon's attrition costs eight billion annually according 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:13.680 to leaked documents, and it gets worse. And again that's 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:17.520 over at in Gadget. Okay, I've got a few more 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:19.920 stories to go through before I get to those. Let's 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:32.560 take another quick break. We're back. Not too long ago, 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:36.440 I covered a story about how YouTube was experimenting with 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.400 putting four K content behind a sort of paywall. So 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:43.880 some users in various regions, but not all of them, 0:21:43.880 --> 0:21:47.120 but some some areas of the world reported that when 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:51.639 they encountered videos on YouTube that were available to watch 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:55.760 in four K, they first saw a prompt to upgrade 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:59.439 to YouTube Premium in order to access the content in 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:04.280 four A resolution. Now mac Rumors reports that the company 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:09.000 has ended this experiment, removing the upgrade prompts and returning 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:11.399 four K content to just being a normal option for 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:15.239 users to choose from for videos that have that availability. 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:19.480 The company has indicated that this experiment is officially over. 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:22.880 They've said so in tweets people have sent in questions 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:26.679 over Twitter and YouTube accounts of State stated that this 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:30.480 experiment has ended. However, there hasn't really been any comment 0:22:31.160 --> 0:22:34.200 on what prompted the experiment to come to an end. 0:22:34.680 --> 0:22:39.680 Presumably the decision is not to lock four K behind 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:43.600 a paywall. It is possible that user backlash convinced YouTube 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:48.520 leaders that putting higher resolution content behind an upgrade requirement 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:51.280 would not be an effective way to actually drive people 0:22:51.320 --> 0:22:55.399 to subscribe to YouTube premium. If their conclusion was people 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:59.520 are just angry and it's not really making anyone subscribe, 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:02.720 then obviously it doesn't make any sense to institute that 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:06.439 strategy across the platform because it's not gonna work anyway, 0:23:06.440 --> 0:23:09.680 and it's just gonna take off your user base. So, um, 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.160 I'm not sure what YouTube is going to try next 0:23:12.320 --> 0:23:17.560 to try and increase YouTube Premium subscriptions, but it apparently 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:21.320 will not be locking content, you know, high resolution content 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:24.240 behind the paywall. So that's good news if you like 0:23:24.359 --> 0:23:27.560 watching you know, four K content on YouTube and you 0:23:27.640 --> 0:23:33.560 don't want to have a YouTube premium subscription. German regulators 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:38.160 have now levied a five million dollar fine on Telegram, 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.800 the messaging app that originates out of the United Arab Emirates. 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:46.080 It's a Dubai based company, and the regulators are saying 0:23:46.119 --> 0:23:48.960 that the reason for the fine, this five million dollar 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:53.800 fine is that Telegram has failed to fulfill two requirements 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:58.520 in order to operate a messaging service within Germany. Namely, 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:03.159 Telegram has not created a legal way for reporting illegal 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:07.359 content to German officials. So content within Germany that is 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:12.400 considered illegal must be reported to the authorities, and Telegram 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:15.600 has not proposed a way of doing that. And the 0:24:15.640 --> 0:24:18.800 other accusation is that Telegram has not named a German 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:23.400 entity like a company or point of contact, who would 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:28.640 be responsible for receiving official communications from the German authorities 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:32.880 or from Telegram, kind of being a liaison between Telegram 0:24:32.920 --> 0:24:36.320 and the German government. Telegram does have the option to 0:24:36.440 --> 0:24:41.080 appeal the fine um and the company has recently named 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:44.160 a German law firm as sort of a point of contact, 0:24:44.240 --> 0:24:49.240 so potentially one of the two problems has been resolved. 0:24:49.520 --> 0:24:54.359 Whether or not Telegram has formulated an official process for 0:24:55.520 --> 0:24:59.400 reporting illegal activity, I have not heard, so that may 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:05.159 still be an issue. Finally, the European Space Agency plans 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:09.439 to launch a demonstration satellite in twenty four that aims 0:25:09.440 --> 0:25:12.800 to push encryption into the quantum age, or at least 0:25:12.800 --> 0:25:16.280 play a part in it. So this plan involves putting 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:20.160 a satellite, a communication satellite called Eagle one, into orbit, 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:22.760 and this satellite is going to serve as part of 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:26.920 a quantum key distribution system and will be used to 0:25:26.960 --> 0:25:32.000 help test different strategies centered around quantum encryption, which is 0:25:32.040 --> 0:25:35.040 important in the age of quantum computing. And I've covered 0:25:35.160 --> 0:25:37.720 quantum computing in the past, but just as a quick reminder, 0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:42.000 quantum computers, at least those that have enough processing capability 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:44.919 as well as the right algorithms to go with it, 0:25:45.119 --> 0:25:49.240 can pose an enormous threat and existential threat to our 0:25:49.280 --> 0:25:54.000 modern methods of encryption. Um. So your standard computer would 0:25:54.320 --> 0:25:58.280 have to work thousands of years to decrypt a really 0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:03.119 sophisticated encrypted message today like that would just because the 0:26:03.160 --> 0:26:07.320 way classical computers work, it would take so long as 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:11.199 to be unrealistic to ever be able to decrypt a 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:16.119 truly well encrypted message, But a suitable quantum computer paired 0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:19.199 with the correct algorithm could do the same thing in 0:26:19.240 --> 0:26:23.920 a relative blink of an eye, because it's effectively solving 0:26:24.600 --> 0:26:31.200