WEBVTT - Tech News: Instagram Strikes Back 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:12.600 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.120 and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.560 I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and a love of 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.160 all things tech. It is time for the Tech News 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:27.560 per Tuesday, September twenty eight, twenty twenty one. And first, 0:00:27.880 --> 0:00:31.720 let's follow up on one of the recent Facebook stories, 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:36.400 specifically the one about how Facebook researchers conducted an internal 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:40.760 study that linked Instagram use with potential negative effects on 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:45.280 mental health, particularly for teenage girls. Now, the head of 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:50.239 Facebook's research department has posted on Facebook Newsroom that the 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.240 conclusions that were drawn by the Wall Street Journal, which 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.040 reported on all this, are inaccurate and do not reflect 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:03.240 a proper interpretation of Facebook data. But really, the post 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:09.360 mostly is an indictment against her own department's research practices. 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.560 Because she stated that the study in question only had 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.520 forty participants. That means that that sample size was way 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.600 too small to allow for any kind of broad generalizations. Now, 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:25.080 I actually agree with that, because forty is an incredibly 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:29.800 small sample size for any kind of study. One might 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.920 even argue that it really doesn't make any sense to 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.280 conduct a study that has that small of a sample size, 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:40.800 particularly if you are a company that has a platform 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:45.679 with more than a billion users, more than two billion users. Now, 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.200 that does not mean that the findings are necessarily inaccurate, right, 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.760 I mean those findings might be accurate, But rather than that, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:56.840 you can say, well, you can't be sure of that 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.120 because a sample size is way too small. It may 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.120 be that you just happen to have outliers and that 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:05.360 if you did a larger sample size, any effect would disappear. 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.400 And you know, you just can't really say for sure 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.239 to what if any degree Instagram contributes to negative mental 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.640 health outcomes based on a study like that. But I 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:18.920 will also say that her post feels a lot like 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.400 Facebook is doing kind of a tight rope routine of 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.720 saying the data doesn't show that, but also saying the 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:30.400 study isn't sufficient to draw conclusions from, like unless there's 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.400 other data that Facebook has, and there may well be, 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.839 but they haven't shared it, then it's impossible to say. 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:40.920 And because Facebook hasn't shared any extra information, there's no 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.480 way to validate whether or not you know, the arguments 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:51.120 that this is inaccurate are true. This Thursday and Tigany Davis, 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.160 the head of safety at Facebook, will appear before the 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.400 Senate Commerce Subcommittee to answer questions about the company and 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.600 its research on Instagram's effects. And I am sure that 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:05.360 there will be some senators with some pretty pointed questions. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.920 We will have to see if Davis answers those in 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.120 a straightforward way or if we get more of what 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:14.800 we've seen in the past, where Facebook kind of dances 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:19.799 around answering things when it comes to accountability. In related news, 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.360 Facebook has announced that has put a temporary hold on 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.560 its plans to launch an Instagram app aimed at kids 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.720 under the age of thirteen. According to the head of Instagram, 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:33.240 Adam Massari, the decision to do this was in response 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:37.120 to the public backlash that the company has faced, particularly 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.080 in light of those Wall Street Journal stories I mentioned. 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:42.960 He also took the time to lament that you know, 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:45.920 we all just have it all wrong. This new Instagram 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.520 app isn't meant for little kids, he explained. It's meant 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:51.760 for kids that are between the ages of ten and twelve. 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.040 Now I'm going to spare you my personal reaction to 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:59.200 that particular response, because I think you could probably guess 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.080 what it is. But he also tweeted out that kids 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:06.560 are getting smart folks like younger ages, and then they 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.200 go around and download apps and they misrepresent their ages 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:11.560 in order to use those apps. So clearly it would 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.400 be better to make apps for the kids. I would say, 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:20.440 this doesn't explain how that stops kids from just continuing 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.719 to download adult apps and to misrepresent their ages. Like 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.680 that doesn't seem to solve that problem. It's really just saying, hey, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.400 they're already on there, so what harm could we do 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.440 by introducing more of what they're already on. If anything, 0:04:36.040 --> 0:04:38.680 this is really a call both to companies and to 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.480 parents to take more steps to protect kids. And I 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.320 think parents need to have a lot of that responsibility. 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.719 But how you know, we can't give companies a get 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.160 out of jail free card just because they have a 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:57.159 token age verification system that doesn't actually verify ages. In 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:01.360 my mind, that's just a type of se purity theater, Right, 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.920 You've got the appearance of security, but it's not actually 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:09.160 making anything more secure. Now that's my own personal opinion. 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.960 I could be way off base. Mossi argues that the 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:17.200 app that was planned for younger users would give parents 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.480 more oversight into what their kids are doing. But I 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.320 don't know. I mean, with every story that I cover 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.760 in this vein, I am tempted to just go move 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.599 into the woods and become a hermit, except I know me, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.520 I would die of exposure within like two days. I'm 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:38.320 a soft city boy, but the urge to retreat is 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.520 definitely there. The Chinese government is taking some pretty extreme 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:46.039 steps to curb energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions within 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.680 the country. More than half of all China's electricity comes 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.839 from coal power plants, something like sixty three percent of 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.680 it does, and while the country has committed to never 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.000 building another coal power plant, it doesn't change the fact 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.760 that right now China largely runs on coal. The price 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.119 of coal in China has been on the rise lately, 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:09.359 and so energy costs have subsequently been going up, and 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:13.520 of course we have the carbon dioxide emissions issue. So 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.240 to deal with these problems, China has started to cut 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:20.400 off power to some major manufacturing centers in certain regions 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.479 of the country, with the plan to potentially have a 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.760 schedule in place for when those regions will be allowed 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.960 to power these manufacturing centers and when those centers are 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.880 going to go without power. Now, the hope is that 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.560 doing all this will allow energy companies to get hold 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.800 of some more commodities to offset production and stabilize prices, 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.920 though there are some analysts who say that at best 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:45.479 that would be like a temporary band aid. But in 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.560 the meantime, it means that it's not always going to 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.080 be business as usual in China's manufacturing centers, and since 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.839 a lot of the world's leading electronics companies depend upon 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:59.240 Chinese factories, this could mean that some companies experience some 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:04.039 production lays. Coupled with the ongoing semiconductor shortage, this could 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.640 mean that we're in for some tough times when it 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.880 comes to consumer electronics. However, I should add that the 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.800 semiconductor industry in particular will be allowed to continue to 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.840 operate throughout this process, so China's not going to shut 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.920 off power to facilities that are making semiconductor chips. Also, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.119 a lot of companies have facilities in different regions of China, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.800 and some regions are not affected by this. Some regions 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:33.040 will continue and not be cutting off power to manufacturing centers, 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.120 so those companies might just shift operations around as much 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.400 as they can to offset any delays they would face 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.400 due to the downtime. This next story needs a little 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.560 bit of a lead in, all right, So have you 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.480 ever tried to log into a service but you couldn't 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:52.760 remember which password you used for it? So you try 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.920 a few of your old standbys, and after three or 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.560 so attempts, you get shut out and told that you 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.440 can't try and log in again for several minutes. Well, 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.640 that kind of system is in place to protect against 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:07.160 a type of password attack called brute force, and with 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:09.600 that name you probably have a pretty good idea of 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.280 how this works. Someone trying to access a system you 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.920 know they don't have authorization will end up submitting guests 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:21.480 after guests in the password field, perhaps using a dictionary 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.240 of common passwords to start off, and then moving beyond 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:29.160 that to other guesses should the dictionary fail to score 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.720 any hits. This is all done automatically. By the way, 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.439 There are computer programs that are just meant to do 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.880 this kind of attack. This is not a quick way 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.040 to gain access to a system, but with a sufficiently 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.160 powerful computer system behind it, you can get it done. 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.880 It just takes time. So these protection systems are in 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.200 place in order to prevent that. Right, the brute force 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.520 attack would take a lot longer to do because the 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.920 attacker would regularly get shut out after giving a few 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:01.559 incorrect passwords. Another way that you can protect systems is 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:06.160 to require two factor authentication. So a password is one factor, 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:11.120 it represents something you know. A two factor authentication process 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.959 would require either that you also submit something that you own, 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.360 like your phone. So this is like when you try 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.480 and log into something and a system sends you a 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.000 text message with an access code that you need to 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.640 put in an addition to your password, or maybe it 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:29.839 requires something that you are like your biometric data like 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:34.040 a fingerprint scan, and it's used in connection with the password. 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.480 These systems also protect against brute force because the attacker 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.160 needs more than just the password in order to access 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.040 the system. All right, now we've got all that. Other 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:45.120 way we can get to the actual story. Microsoft has 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:49.280 a product called Azure Active Directory or Azure a D, 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:53.760 and apparently it has neither of those protections in place. 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.200 It is a single factor authentication system, so you just 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.360 need a password and you can submit password to your 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:05.240 heart's content, and apparently, in at least some versions, the 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:09.520 system doesn't log the password attempts, so there's no record 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:14.440 kept that someone is trying and failing to submit a password. Now, 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:18.040 consider for a moment that Azure Active Directory is a 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.040 way for corporate users to sign into a corporate account 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.280 and then connect to all integrated corporate systems and devices. 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.200 It's a one login solution in other words, so you 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.120 might use it to log into your corporate email, but 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.960 then it also logs you into the corporate HR system 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.440 or maybe like a project management system that all of 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.599 these different things. Because they have the one login approach, 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.320 you already have authorization, so you're not frustrated by the 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.840 fact that you have to authenticate every single time you 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.760 try to access any company system. It's meant to make 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.360 things more streamlined. Right, As long as you were able 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:03.760 to authenticate that one gateway, you can access everything. So 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:08.520 that means that this is a potential huge security vulnerability, 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:14.960 right if a hacker targets and Azure ad log in 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:18.160 and they have a user name and they're just submitting passwords, 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.439 and those failed passwords aren't getting logged, So no system 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.000 administrators are aware of this because there's no you know, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.960 notification popping up saying hey, so and so has submitted 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.680 five seven eighty three incorrect guesses for their password. Maybe 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.200 you need to look into this. Then you could just 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.679 keep on attacking until you got a hit and managed 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:40.640 to get into the system. If you would like to 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:45.800 learn more about what scenarios this would work in and 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:47.680 what you need to be on the lookout for, I 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:52.120 really recommend reading As Sharma's post on Ours Technica. It 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:56.560 is titled new Azure Active Directory password brute forcing flaw 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.480 has no fix. That headline kind of as it all. 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.480 All right, We've got some more news stories to cover, 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.040 but before we get to that, let's take a quick break. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.160 If you are in the United States, you might remember 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.439 that a couple of years ago, the Chinese telecommunications company 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:22.960 Huawei fell under a lot of scrutiny here in America, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.320 and in part this was because then President Trump had 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.040 engaged in a trade war with China, and so at 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.559 least some of that motivation for the pressure on Huawei 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:36.200 was political trade pressure, but there was also a growing 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.560 concern that a Chinese company, one that presumably has important 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.720 and tight connections with China's communist government, might not be 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:49.080 the best fit when it comes to building out telecommunications infrastructure. So, 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.800 in other words, if you're worried about potential Chinese spies. 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:57.520 Maybe it's better not to hire a Chinese communications company 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:03.199 to install critical infrastructure components within your own communications network. 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.679 It's like opening the door for potential spies. In other words, 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.400 so the US moved to push American communications companies to 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:16.040 scuttle Huawei systems and to replace them with other systems. Now, 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.760 the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, says it has created 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:24.360 a nearly two billion dollar program to reimburse telecom carriers 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:26.960 that are going through the process of removing and replacing 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:31.520 Huawei network hardware from their systems. These telecom companies are 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.600 largely in rural areas in the United States, and I'm 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.960 sure that that relief is a literal relief to them. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:44.640 These are not necessarily your gigantic coast to coast companies. 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.640 In other words, video game company Activision Blizzard has entered 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.600 into a settlement agreement with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.599 This was in response to a lawsuit that the EOC 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.280 brought against the company following multiple allegations of issues ranging 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.840 from a hostile work environment to sexual harassment, to pay 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:07.240 disparity and discrimination. As part of the settlement, activision. Blizzard 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:11.600 will create a fund that will compensate employees who claim damages. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:13.839 So it Plays will submit a claim, it will be 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:17.680 evaluated and then determined whether or not that employee merits 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.160 getting money from this fund, and the total amount in 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.920 that fund is in the neighborhood of eighteen million dollars. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.920 Any unclaimed funds after a certain period of time end 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.320 up going to nonprofit organizations dedicated to attracting more women 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.600 to enter into the video game development industry. Bobby Kodik, 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.400 the CEO of the company, says that he and the 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.840 executive team are dedicated to putting an end too the 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:46.000 toxic work environment, which I really hope is a sincere statement. 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.440 I mean, the cynical part of me says, well, of 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:50.880 course you want to bring an end to that, because 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.920 it's costing you money. As long as it wasn't costing 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:57.840 you money, there was no real incentive. But the hopeful 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.120 part of me says, we're trying to get better, and 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:06.480 people genuinely want to make workplaces a more positive environment. 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.080 So the optimist will continue to hope and the cynic 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:14.479 will continue to mistrust. A researcher at the Ethereum Foundation 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.040 named Virgil Griffith has pled guilty to charges that he 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:22.160 helped the country of North Korea get around US sanctions 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:26.520 that aimed to prevent North Korea from using blockchain technology. 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:29.760 And that needs some explanation. So, first of all, Ethereum 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.239 is a type of cryptocurrency, and when we talk about cryptocurrency, 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.960 a lot of people just think Bitcoin, or maybe if 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.440 they're in it for the means, they might think dogecoin. 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:45.160 Ethereum is another big popular cryptocurrency that is currently trying 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.560 to switch from a proof of work approach, which is 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.400 what Bitcoin uses. That's where you're using very fast computers 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:56.320 to try and solve a very hard computer problem before 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.560 anyone else can, and it's the reason why these systems 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.640 end up consuming so much energy and as a result, 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.920 contribute to things like carbon emissions and energy spikes and 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.800 all that kind of stuff. Ethereum is trying to move 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.000 to a proof of stake approach, which does not require 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:19.600 that kind of computational processing power in order to mine 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.040 new coins. However, it does mean that you have to 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:27.240 have a sufficient stake in ethereum in order to earn 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.920 interest more ethereum. And so some people point out that 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:34.480 that approach means that you already have to be wealthy 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:41.560 in order to even enjoy that potential payout, so upside 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.840 and downsides anyway, Like bitcoin, Ethereum uses blockchain to track 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:49.600 transactions and to prevent people from spending the same ethereum 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.800 unit twice. You know, if you have something that's digital, 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.520 then arguably you could just copy it a billion times, 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:57.720 so now instead of having one dollar bill, you have 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.960 a billion dollar bills. Block Chain prevents that kind of 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.200 stuff from happening. Well. Back in twenty nineteen, Virgil Griffith 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:07.840 attended a blockchain conference in Pyongyang, and the US government 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.240 alleges that Griffith's presentation at the conference was in effect 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.440 an instruction manual for how North Korea could make use 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:18.160 of blockchain technologies, despite US sanctions meant to prevent that 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.320 very thing from happening. Griffith was arrested upon returning from 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.440 the conference, and his trial was set to begin next week, 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.080 but he decided to plead guilty to the charges, which 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:31.760 could mean he could face up to twenty years in prison. 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.840 We'll have to follow up on this as we learn more. 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.439 No once we get to sentencing, Tesla has started to 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:43.159 open up its full self driving or FSD program to 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.040 a larger number of Tesla drivers, prompting them with a 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.560 request feature that appears on the dashboard touchscreen, so you 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.479 select it and then you can put in your request 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:55.679 to be part of the program. So now if you 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.719 have a Tesla that's capable of supporting FSD, you can 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.280 ask to have that feature enabled on your Tesla. Except 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.080 there is a catch. The company will run a safety 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:10.440 check on each driver, checking their driving against five criteria 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:13.600 to be certain that the drivers are responsible and safe. 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.359 Those criteria include instances in which the driver prompted a 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:22.840 forced autopilot disengagement. So autopilot is a driver assist feature 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.719 that some Tesla owners have famously abused by treating it 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:30.680 more as like a fully autonomous vehicle mode. And this 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.800 particular feature asks drivers that they keep their hands on 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.000 the wheel and they maintain their attention on the road, 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.280 and if a driver does not do this, then the 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.480 mode is supposed to alert the driver and disengage and 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:47.119 thus force the driver to take over manual control of 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.720 the car. So if that had happened, that would be 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.600 a strike against you, would that would knock points off 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.200 your safety score, but other criteria include stuff like how 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.920 frequently the car had to engage features like a forward 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.680 collision warning, which might indicate that you're following too closely 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:05.800 or not paying enough attention, or how frequently the driver 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.840 had to use hard breaking. Again, maybe you were traveling 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.720 too fast or you break too late when you're coming 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.680 up two stops. So you have to accrue a sufficient 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.880 safety score before you will be given access to subscribe 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.440 to FSD, But Tesla is not actually saying what that 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.120 score threshold is. Only the drivers will be judged out 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.240 of a total possible one hundred points, and most folks 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.400 will land somewhere around eighty points. The FSD product requires 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.920 a monthly subscription of one hundred ninety nine dollars a month, 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:43.080 which is a princely sum. Tesla also offered a version 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:45.440 where you could just buy it outright for the life 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.760 of the car for ten thousand dollars. And I've got 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:50.800 a lot of thoughts about this, and one of those 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.040 is that the name of it full self driving is 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:59.120 just as misleading as the name autopilot is, because it's 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:03.520 really just more features that augment autopilot, so it can 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.359 do stuff like in at least some cases have a 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:08.880 car navigate out of a parking space on its own, 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:10.960 so you can have it pull out of a space 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:12.399 and then you get into the car. You don't have 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.159 to squeeze by and that kind of stuff. But it 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:19.080 doesn't always work in every situation, and it can also 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.879 do things like obey traffic signals and stop signs, so 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.280 it can travel on surface streets in this mode, and 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.199 not just on highways. It can navigate from one highway 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:30.920 to another. But it is not true self driving, or 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:35.080 at least it's not truly fully self driving. It can't 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:38.960 autonomously operate the car in all situations and scenarios, and 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:43.520 many critics, including myself, have argued that the name doesn't 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:47.680 reflect what the product actually does. Also, I find it 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.280 somewhat telling that the company refers to the system as 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:55.200 full self driving, but it is requiring drivers who are 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:59.199 applying for this to pass a safety test before they 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:02.640 get access to the features, because if it were really 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:07.119 a full self driving feature, you would want bad drivers 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.280 to get that, right, I mean, if the vehicle is 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:14.320 capable of driving itself, which I argue full self driving 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:19.160 at least heavily implies, presumably it will do so safely 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:22.160 without the risk of an accident, and it makes more 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:26.159 sense to give bad drivers that service and thus remove 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.520 their human error from the road. But the fact that 0:21:29.560 --> 0:21:34.200 Tesla requires drivers to meet a minimum safety requirement tells 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.760 me that that's not really what FSD does, right, Like, 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:40.600 if it really did that, then you wouldn't need the 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:42.879 safety check. If you need a safety check, you need 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:44.680 to make sure that the person who's driving the car 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:47.400 is going to be responsible, which tells you that FSD 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:53.000 is not really FSD. It's an augmentation system, not a 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:57.080 truly autonomous system. And I've got a lot of really 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:01.040 critical thoughts about Tesla doing this kind of stuff because 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.520 I feel that they set an unrealistic expectation in their 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:09.920 customer base, and then people have an overreliance on technology 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:12.760 that is not able to measure up to what the 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.480 people are putting it to, Like they're putting way too 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.600 much responsibility on the tech, and the tech just isn't 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:22.000 up to the challenge, and part of that is fueled 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:27.639 by the way Tesla markets it's technology. So yeah, I 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:32.159 think it's reprehensible. If I'm being you know, blunt, all right, 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:35.720 I'm gonna I'm gonna take a break and I'm gonna 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:40.040 find a way down off this high horse. But we'll 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:49.920 be back with some more news in just a second. Okay, 0:22:50.000 --> 0:22:53.440 we're back now. By the time you hear this episode, 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:58.160 Amazon will have held a hardware event and revealed some 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:02.119 new products, potentially a bunch of new ones. The event 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:08.800 was invitation only. I did not get an invite. It's hurtful, 0:23:09.680 --> 0:23:12.160 so I have no idea what it is that they revealed. 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.199 In fact, as I record this, the event has not 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:18.000 yet happened, but it will within like twenty five minutes 0:23:18.000 --> 0:23:21.239 of me saying the sentence. The Verge has made some 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:24.080 guesses as to what could be revealed, so I thought 0:23:24.119 --> 0:23:26.600 I would share with you what the Verge is guessing, 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.000 and then you can compare and see if the Verge 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:31.480 got it right. And I hope they did because I really, actually, 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:34.760 I really like that site a lot. Anyway, the Verge 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.360 predicts that Amazon will likely have a wall mounted echo device, 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:43.520 so you know, another smart speaker screen device that you 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:47.040 could actually mount on your wall. They also are predicting 0:23:47.080 --> 0:23:49.480 that there's probably going to be a sound bar system 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:52.160 with Alexa integration in it. I mean We're already seeing 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:56.080 sound bars that have Alexa integration incorporated into them, but 0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:59.320 this would be an official, like Echo soundbar type thing. 0:24:00.040 --> 0:24:02.479 There's also the possibility that the company will have a 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:06.399 dash cam for cars that has Alexa integration built into it. 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:10.119 That seems to be, you know, a pretty safe bet. 0:24:10.600 --> 0:24:13.760 But one thing that the Verge says we probably will 0:24:13.800 --> 0:24:18.080 not see is more information about a robot that Amazon 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:21.080 has had in development for several years. It's a home 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:25.520 assistant robot that was called Vesta, but apparently there have 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:29.159 been some concerns within the company that there might not 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:33.080 be sufficient demand for Vesta and that if Amazon released 0:24:33.119 --> 0:24:35.880