1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, and welcome to 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and I'm an 4 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: editor at how stuff works dot com. Sitting here crushed 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: me as always, his senior writer, Jonathan Strickland c is 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,759 Speaker 1: for cookie. That's good enough for me. And it was 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: just a moment ago. Yes, I told Tyler I was 8 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: ready to go. He was ready to hit record, and 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: then took a big bite out of a cookie because 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: that's professional, to be fair. That cookie was was looking 11 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: at me funny and now it's not because it has 12 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: no head, the snowman cookie. Yeah, holidays, and and saying 13 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: that we are approaching the end of two thousand twelve. Um, 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: it's it's been a different sort of year for tech. 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: We decided to do a year wrap up in tech 16 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: and um this year. I mean that's the kind of 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: article that appears on virtually every website that has to 18 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: do with anything. Um. You know, the news sites have 19 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: this year, and news and the entertainment websites have the 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: you know, the who got divorced, who got divorced, who 21 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: who passed away? And those kinds of things. We all 22 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: like reading these kinds of articles. Um, but um, you know, 23 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: I've been going back through things. It seems like this 24 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: year we didn't We had a lot of news, but 25 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: there weren't these big, kind of monumental things that have 26 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: happened like in years past, which is weird. See I 27 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: look back at two thousand and twelve and I see 28 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: some pretty major stories. I mean, things that I think 29 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: of as having the potential to affect technology well into 30 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: the future. But I mean you could argue that there 31 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: was nothing as big as say Steve Jobs passing away 32 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,160 Speaker 1: that was such a huge story in two thousand eleven 33 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: that you know, there wasn't anything of that sort of 34 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: nothing that had that kind of spectacle around it, right, 35 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: or or or things that were really fun in tech. Right. Yeah, 36 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: there weren't a couple of stories, but nothing again, nothing 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: that was like, uh, the debut of a brand new 38 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: technology that just blew everyone away, like you know again, 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: like the iPad when it came out of Grant. Don't 40 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: don't yell at me, people, I know the iPad wasn't 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: brand new in the sense that tablet computers have been 42 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: around since the nineties, but it was the first one 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: to really kind of be a success in the consumer 44 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: market or or even you know when the keep sticking 45 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: with Apple, but they really are good at introducing form 46 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: factors and making them work in the marketplace. But the iPhone, 47 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: you know, that making that was the big news because 48 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: it created the smartphone market in the consumer um world, 49 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: in the in the Western hemisphere anyway. UM, I didn't 50 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: really have any of that this year. UM. I was 51 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: going to say that part of the reason why those 52 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: were so successful as quote unquote big news story eas 53 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,680 Speaker 1: is partially because um, you know, the PR push behind it, 54 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: and UM the impact that that had. I think that that, 55 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: of course, UM escalated those particular stories for Apple. Apples 56 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,839 Speaker 1: talented it at at generating prum And we should point 57 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: out so we are not We're not like trying to 58 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: say that Apple is the greatest company ever. They just 59 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: have a real success with this PR push that Chris 60 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: is talking about. So I want to point that out 61 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: because I used to be accused of having an anti 62 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: Mac bias, and I don't want people saying that now 63 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: I'm a pro Apple bias. It's not true. He really 64 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: enjoyed that that reputation. I did for for a while. 65 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: The one iTunes comment lasted me a good two years, 66 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: two and a half years, something like that. But let's 67 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: let's start off with talking about two thousand twelve and 68 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: some of the big stories and some of the things 69 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: that happened. UM. I was gonna start off by talking 70 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: about c E S two thousand twelve because that sort 71 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: of opens the year, especially within the first week or 72 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: week and a half of January, and U C S 73 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve introduced several different technologies. Mostly it was 74 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: a lot of incremental improvements on existing tech, So we 75 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: saw a lot of super thin TVs, saw a few 76 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: ultra high definition television sets being bandied about, mostly in 77 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: the prototype stage. I expect that in two thousand thirteen 78 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: will see a lot more of those at c E 79 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: S UM. In fact, it would shock me to not 80 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,719 Speaker 1: see at least a dozen, you know, four K type 81 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: sets at c E S and two thousand thirteen. But uh, 82 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: those were general trends. Didn't see as much three D 83 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: in two thousand and twelve as we had in years past. 84 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: I think the consumer reaction to three D has been lackluster, 85 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: and so it's sort of has set that to the side. 86 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: I mean, you still have a lot of television. They 87 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,559 Speaker 1: are three D capable, but that doesn't seem to be 88 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: featured as a, you know, a killer feature anymore. But 89 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: the there was a few things that came out in 90 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve at ces that caught attention. Ultra books 91 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: debuted at ces UM. They have not really done that 92 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: well in the market, but they are you know, high performance, 93 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: sleek laptop computers and they have there's a very specific 94 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: set of parameters that you have to follow in order 95 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: to be considered an Ultra book. We actually did an 96 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: episode on it, so we won't really dive into it, 97 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: but those made kind of a splash at c S. 98 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: I remember the Roku Streaming Stick was something that caught 99 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: a lot of attention at this idea of a a 100 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: USB like thumb drive sized device that was a Roku 101 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: box essentially in that format, you would plug it into 102 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: a USB port on a TV and it would give 103 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: the television the Roku uh feature set, so you could 104 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: watch streaming video over your over the Internet through your 105 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: television and not have to hook up an actual set 106 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: top box, which was kind of cool. And that's actually 107 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: on sale now, so that that did come to market 108 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: because sometimes we see things that sees that are awesome 109 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: but never go anywhere. Um, And it seems like that 110 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: is an form factor improvement, um, which which would in 111 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: a way sort of exemplify what I was trying to 112 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: say a minute ago, which is, um, you know, we'd 113 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: had Roku devices out there. Um. This, you know, was 114 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: a big improvement in in form factors. You know, much 115 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: tinier than the box. You could plug it right into 116 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 1: the side of the TV itself. Um, but you know, 117 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: doesn't generate the same kind of story as a brand 118 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,479 Speaker 1: new O. MG, this is a really cool thing. You 119 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: should check it out sort of news story, right right. Yeah, 120 00:06:55,320 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: there wasn't anything that was so revolutionary as to uh 121 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: to really become v Darling of c E S two 122 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: thousand and twelve. There there weren't any technologies I can 123 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: think of that were so uh buzzworthy as to capture 124 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: everyone's attention. Uh. I think the coolest thing I saw 125 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: there was the maker Butt replicator. You know, three D 126 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: printers are awesome, and maker Butt creates a pretty compelling one. 127 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: So yeah, now, UM, you know these devices, we talked 128 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: about those a long time ago too. We discussed rapid prototyping. 129 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: Three D printers aren't brand new, but Jonathan's right that 130 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: the topic has come up quite a lot in the 131 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: news in uh simply because um maker bought in some 132 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: a handful of other companies have made them more I 133 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: won't say affordable, I will say more affordable than they 134 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: used to be. That the kind of thing too that 135 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: has a form factor where you can PLoP it down 136 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: on your very large desk and uh you know they're 137 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: there's it's starting to make it possible to create your 138 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: own uh stuff from scratch, and we'll introduce I think 139 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: it's funny. I think we're sort of in between on 140 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: that news cycle because now that we have three D 141 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: stuff available to us to print, you know, in this context, 142 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,559 Speaker 1: um it's still kind of expensive. But now we're starting 143 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: to see organizations um upset with the idea of three 144 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: D printing because now you can go print your own 145 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: things that maybe under copyright. And I think that will 146 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: be the big story going forward. You'll see more of that. 147 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: It's already started, but it's not really hit the mainstream news. 148 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: Like I could see Ikea becoming a big um uh 149 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: critic of this sort of technology, right because you could 150 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: go and you could say, hey, I really love this 151 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: design of this chair, but why would I buy this 152 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: chair when I can just print it at home, or 153 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: I can I can maybe even tweak this design a 154 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: little bit, not so much that you know, you can't 155 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: tell where it came from, but just a little bit 156 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: like I just want to add this one little element 157 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: to it. Yeah, that could definitely become a thing. Um 158 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: So those were sort of the items we saw at 159 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: CES two thousand twelve. Again, nothing that really jumped out, 160 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: but uh, but some interesting improvements on stuff. I also 161 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: had a great time at c S two thousand twelve 162 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: because I got to hang out with some of my 163 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: my yeah peers in the technology space, so folks like 164 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: Tom Merritt and I his actar and um uh you know, 165 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: uh Will Harris, and it was it was a great time. 166 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: But I'm looking forward to two thousand and thirteen to 167 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: see what what news stuff will come out. Moving into 168 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: actual some news stories in two thousand twelve, The first 169 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: one I have is the raid on the on Kim 170 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: dot COM's house in New Zealand, the I Got upload 171 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: raid that was done as part of a joint effort 172 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:11,559 Speaker 1: between United States federal agents and New Zealand police officers, 173 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: and we did the whole episode about Mega Upload. So 174 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: again I won't go too far into this, but that 175 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: was you know, that was a big deal. The idea 176 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: of this international crackdown on someone who was accused of 177 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: creating a service that is essentially, according at least according 178 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: to the allegations, essentially designed to allow piracy uh of 179 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: intellectual property, and that that was the main purpose of 180 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: the site. Now whether or not that really is the 181 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: main purpose of the site is completely debatable, but that's 182 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: essentially the allegation and the rate made big news, I 183 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: mean from for a good part of two thousand and twelve. 184 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: It was a story that unraveled throughout the months of 185 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve where we learned that, uh, the agents 186 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: acted without complete authorization. They didn't have all the paperwork 187 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,959 Speaker 1: necessary to conduct the raid that they did, so that 188 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: caused some problems. Uh. There's also questions about whether or 189 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: not it was even legal for the United States agents 190 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: to get involved in something that was not a US 191 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: centric matter. You're talking about a company that's based out 192 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: of Hong Kong and a the leader of the company 193 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: was a resident of New Zealand. So there were a 194 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: lot of issues that came up about this, and this 195 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: story has not concluded. It's still playing out, so it's 196 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: gonna continue on into two thousand their team. Although I 197 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: should say we are recording this at the beginning of 198 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: December two thousand twelve, so technically there will be a 199 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: month's worth of stuff that could potentially happen between when 200 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: we record this and when it publishes, in which case 201 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: we'll just say we were running long and we had 202 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: to end our episode. Oh, I thought you were going 203 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,240 Speaker 1: to say that. We just didn't want to offer any 204 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: spoiler alert. We knew about it, just in case some 205 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,439 Speaker 1: of you guys are pirating the episodes before we published them, 206 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: which would be quite a feat. Please don't try. Actually, 207 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: here's a here's an example of the very kind of 208 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: thing that you're talking about, because, um, not long ago, 209 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: we also recorded another big legal thing that affected the 210 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 1: world of tech, which is UH famous tech um entrepreneur 211 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 1: John McAfee being uh and a person of interest in 212 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: a murder case in Belize where he's been living. Um 213 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: he had been in in his in his parlance, he 214 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: had been sort of harassed by the authorities because apparently 215 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: they thought that he was into the manufacture of illegal drugs, 216 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: which he says he wasn't. Uh and uh. When he 217 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 1: saw the authorities approaching his home after a neighbor UM 218 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: was found dead, UM not far from his property, not 219 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: far from his property, UM, he thought the authorities were 220 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: coming to at least at what he claims is that 221 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: he thought that they were coming to harass him about 222 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: drugs again, so he UM he high tailed it out 223 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 1: of there, if you will. And UM has been on 224 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: the run up until UM really right, not immediately, but 225 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: in a couple of days before we recorded this, in 226 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: between the time we recorded that podcast a few weeks 227 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: ago and now he's been apprehended in Guatemala trying to 228 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: enter the country illegally. UM. Of course, the police still say, 229 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 1: as at the time we're recording this, that he's not 230 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: wanted for the murder of this person. But is they 231 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: want to ask him some questions. Is a person of interest? 232 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: I mean he he had a history of disagreements with 233 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: this neighbor. And UM also has in the past perhaps 234 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: associated himself with people who are not on the up 235 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:09,079 Speaker 1: and up. There have been a few indicators that would 236 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: make him a person of interest within the mean, just 237 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: the fact that he lived near the guy was enough 238 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,199 Speaker 1: to make him a person of a person of interest. 239 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: Plus the fact that the guy's body was found not 240 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: far from McAfee's UH property makes him a person of 241 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: interest at least as far as asking and finding out 242 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: what really did happen. And yeah, we still don't know 243 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: all the details on that one. Yeah, but of course 244 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: this episode goes live, it may all be out in 245 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: the open, but at the moment we don't know. Of course, 246 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: I'm McAfee's name is still synonymous with UM virus protection. 247 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: They they intel about the company some time ago, but 248 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: they still use McAfee as the name for their their 249 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: virus software. So UM the news reports coming out about 250 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: him this year sort of brought the founder of that 251 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: company back into UM, back into the public eye. And 252 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: you know a lot of us had said, really, the 253 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: guy who came up with the virus software is the 254 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: guy who was a person of interest in this murder case. 255 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: That's very, very strange. Back at the very beginning of 256 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: two thousand twelve, we had the Internet blackout Day, which 257 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: was in relation to UH, to a couple of different 258 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: proposed pieces of legislation and in the in Congress uh 259 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: Sopa and Pippa, both of which were about protecting intellectual property, 260 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: and critics of these pieces of legislation said that the 261 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: the powers that were being given to the government far 262 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: exceeded what was necessary to protect intellectual property, and in fact, 263 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: potentially went well beyond what any country, any sovereign country, 264 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: could do, because these these pieces of legislation specifically concerned 265 00:15:54,040 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: themselves with intellectual property theft that happens outside the borders 266 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: of the United States. So if you have let's say 267 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: you're you're are a United States company, and you are 268 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: you're an owner of a lot of intellectual property. So 269 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: let's say you're a movie studio, because that's a good example. 270 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,080 Speaker 1: So you're a United States movie studio and you're concerned 271 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: because your movies are being pirated and uploaded onto servers 272 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: that are in China, and you know, how do you 273 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: how do you pursue a complaint against that It's in 274 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: a different country. Uh, the country may or may not 275 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: be sympathetic at all toward the intellectual property rights holder. 276 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: They may not care, or they may not They may 277 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: have other concerns that are so great as that they 278 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: cannot dedicate time to that problem. So sopen people were 279 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: really about trying to find ways to cut off access 280 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: to sites like that, essentially to to shut down the 281 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: pathways that people could use to get to sites that 282 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: were alleged to have piracy on them pirated material on them. 283 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: But the problem is this could really cause issues with 284 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: the way the Internet works and how how you navigate places. Also, 285 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: it raised questions of well, what happens if the the 286 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: data there was not violating intellectual property? I mean, where's 287 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 1: where is the protection for innocence out there? How many 288 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: innocent websites could get shut down or not necessarily even 289 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: shut down, just the access itself would be blocked to 290 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: anyone in the United States. Beyond that, people who were 291 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: critics of this these pieces of legislation pointed out that 292 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: there were ways around it that anyone who was determined 293 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: to get at that material could do so using a 294 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: couple of different workarounds, some of which were really really simple. 295 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: And so the argument was that this legislation could do 296 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: more harm than than good, and ultimately it won't protect 297 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,199 Speaker 1: the intellectual property rights holders the way it's intended to, 298 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: So it doesn't work and it would break stuff. Therefore 299 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: it's bad, And a lot of websites ended up having 300 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: a policy where in January two thousand twelve, they had 301 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 1: UM they would do a blackout where if you visited 302 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: the site, you would either get a message just saying 303 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: that the site was completely offline as part of a 304 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,439 Speaker 1: protest against this legislation, or it would be a landing 305 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: page that would give you a little information about the 306 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,360 Speaker 1: legislation and then you have to click through to get 307 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: to the real site. But UM, it was a big deal, 308 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: and the legislation ultimately was withdrawn after after receiving heaps 309 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 1: of criticism, although I don't expect that to just mean 310 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: that the issue itself will go away, particularly since the 311 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,679 Speaker 1: people who were responsible for the legislation are many of 312 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: whom are still in Congress. After the elections. They were 313 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: either either they were not up for re election and 314 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: so there's still serving their terms, or several of them 315 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: were reelected. So it could very well be that we'll 316 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: just see a different version of the same sort of 317 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:15,800 Speaker 1: um legislation passed through Congress again. Yeah, and another uh 318 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: sort of political um. It's sort of political bent to 319 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: the to the tech world this year it happened outside 320 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: the United States and again recently as of the time 321 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: we're recording this UM. You know, there's there's been a 322 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: big armed conflict this year in Syria and UM just 323 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: not too long ago. UM. I guess about a week 324 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: or so before we record this UM, the entire Internet 325 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: was cut off to Syria or or mostly cut off. 326 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: And UH it's still UM at least according to my research. 327 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 1: It's still somewhat unclear UM as to the cause of that, 328 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,879 Speaker 1: whether the government actually had it shut off, or whether 329 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: there was some kind of UM the government actually claims 330 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: or that UM that rebels Syrian rebels had UM cut 331 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: off access to the Internet, although it seems that some organizations, 332 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:19,360 Speaker 1: probably the governmental organizations, still had access to the country's 333 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: UM Internet connection. UH, it was actually cut off, not 334 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: not for very long period of time, only for for 335 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: a few days. UM. But you know, it's one of 336 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: those things where people were wondering whether or not UM 337 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: both sides in that conflict would be able to tell 338 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,560 Speaker 1: their story via the Internet. I mean, that's been been 339 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: pretty common over the past few years, the ability for 340 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: UM people who are UH speaking out against the government 341 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,119 Speaker 1: in their countries to be able to use Twitter and 342 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: other social media to to communicate their ideas, to communicate 343 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: the beliefs, to organize protests. Um, of course that's some 344 00:20:55,960 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: that's been very common, especially with the Arab Spring upper 345 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,199 Speaker 1: I think. So that wasn't this year really but actually 346 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: still that that kind of activity is still going on 347 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: in in Egypt as of the time when recording this too. 348 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: Um but um, but yeah, that was that was a 349 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: big story this year. That also happened in Libya where 350 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: the Libyan uh internet access was was cut off to 351 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,400 Speaker 1: some degree. Um. It wasn't as uh colorful or actually 352 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,640 Speaker 1: funny as the woman in two thousand eleven who cut 353 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: off internet access to Georgia and Armenia because she was 354 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: find she found a cable and wanted to sell the 355 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: copper in the cable, so she cut it and cut 356 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: off web access to the entire country. But apparently she 357 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: she had never heard of the Worldwide Web. Um, so 358 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: that's no one else over there ditt either. Um but yeah, 359 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: but that that is a conflict that appears to be 360 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: uh politically motivated as well. And staying in the world 361 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,119 Speaker 1: of politics, of course, in the United States, we had 362 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,360 Speaker 1: our our presidential election and that ended up the social 363 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: networking ended up playing a big part of that election. 364 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: And UM not a big surprise. I mean, we've we've 365 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: seen that in the previous elections as well, but it wasn't. 366 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: Again one of those uh stories that kind of UM 367 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: caused some amusement in that Uh. The Democratic Party had 368 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: their approach to managing social media and the Internet and 369 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: communication as far as communicating out to supporters, you know, 370 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: ways to to uh get get out the word for 371 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: people to vote, and the Republican had Republicans had their 372 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: side as well, which famously did not work so great 373 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: a couple of times. UM. As a matter of fact, 374 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: the Republicans tool, which was nicknamed Orca um crashed on 375 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: the election day. And both both tools were had had 376 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: similar purposes, they went about it in different ways. Orca 377 00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,640 Speaker 1: and and Narwhale, which is the Democrats uh software tool 378 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: that they used, we're both designed to get people out 379 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: there and get people to vote, um, but they went 380 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: about it in different ways. Rumor has it that the 381 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: Republicans chose Orca as the nickname for their tool because 382 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: they had already heard of Narwhale and Orca's prey on 383 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: Normal's it's a whale eat whale world. Orcas are not 384 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,360 Speaker 1: technically whales. A whale of a tale to tell your 385 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: lad a whale of a tale or two. But um, 386 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: actually that's sort of a fascinating story. Is is the 387 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: tale the two software tools? But yeah, it's it's obvious 388 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 1: now that um, politics in at least in the United 389 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: States has been forever changed by social media and networked communication, uh, 390 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: mobile communication and you know, things like text messaging and 391 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:03,880 Speaker 1: the ability to communicate to get the vote out. Um, 392 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 1: I don't think you will see another unplugged election, at 393 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:12,199 Speaker 1: least not unless the world of NBC's revolution happens upon us. 394 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: The internet. I think Twitter has played such a big role. 395 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: I mean just just even if it's not a direct role, 396 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: whenever any event happened, it seemed like the part of 397 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: the story that would cover this would be how Twitter 398 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: reacted to that event, Like, within you know, x amount 399 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: of time, over one million tweets went out about this 400 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: particular thing, that kind of thing. So we heard about 401 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: that a lot with the election, but also about the 402 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: Olympics in two thousand and twelve. The Internet played a 403 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: big role with the the access to the Olympics. Um, 404 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 1: I know that I was not alone in doing something 405 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: naughty in that I watched the streaming of the opening 406 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: ceremonies live via the Internet by finding a link that 407 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: let me do that, because otherwise I was going to 408 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: have to wait and I didn't want to because it 409 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: was a slow day at work and I was hearing 410 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: about Mr Bean on the Olympics and I said I 411 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: have to see this. So anyway, it was entitlement, that's 412 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: all me. But but anyway, yeah, the the Internet played 413 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,399 Speaker 1: a big role in our access to the Olympics. Again 414 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: Twitter did it gave athletes and and outlet where they 415 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: could communicate directly with people who were supporting them. Uh, 416 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,119 Speaker 1: so we see that that it's playing a larger and 417 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: larger role in big events. This is really I don't 418 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: think it comes as a surprise to anyone. It's just 419 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: one of those things where it's in another indicator of 420 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:52,120 Speaker 1: how our world is changing, and that we are gradually 421 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: moving toward more and more of an online world when 422 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: it comes to these big real world events. UM, and 423 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: relying less on traditional forms of media. Now, that doesn't 424 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: mean that the online world outweighs those traditional forms of media. 425 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: That's not the case. There's still plenty of people watching 426 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,440 Speaker 1: TV or or reading about it in in other traditional 427 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: forms of media. Uh, it's not like the scales have tipped. 428 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: It's just that we're seeing a growing uh uh reliance 429 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: on the online world. Yeah, and and uh there was 430 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,919 Speaker 1: a big story actually as the Olympics were going on 431 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: here in the United States about the TV channel. The 432 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: story was in the United States. The Olympics weren't going 433 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: on here. Okay, good point. I said that a little funny. Yes, 434 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: there was a big story in the United States about 435 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: the Olympics in Britain because um, you know, they were 436 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,160 Speaker 1: several hours ahead of us in in the the time, 437 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: and just like British, I think there's so big their 438 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 1: tea in there, five hour advanced time from here, even 439 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: more of a difference on the West coast. Um. But yeah, 440 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: the the the availability of information, the the fact that 441 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: this information of scores and outcomes of events, news stories, 442 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: you know, somebody might get hurt or um you know 443 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,959 Speaker 1: the the bad mitten Gate story of this summer, Um, 444 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: look it up. Um. Oh yeah, it really was a thing. 445 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,640 Speaker 1: These stories were coming out over the internet in channels 446 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,400 Speaker 1: that we all look to every day and in places 447 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,639 Speaker 1: that we look every day, and we're thinking, you know, 448 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,959 Speaker 1: why do we have to wait until prime time here 449 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: in the United States? How why do we have to 450 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: wait until evening? Defined out these things? And the thing 451 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: is it's sort of I think it was a lot 452 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 1: of a lot of noise really because people still tune 453 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: into those broadcasts. Um. But it it highlighted a couple 454 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,080 Speaker 1: of things. One, uh, it highlighted just how much difference 455 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: in time there really is between the times that when 456 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: it's someplace that is vastly different in time, like um 457 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 1: uh than the next Winter Olympics will be in Russia, 458 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: So there's going to be an even bigger time difference 459 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: for those of us here in the United States who 460 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:27,160 Speaker 1: are going to be following those events. Um. And they go, well, 461 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: we can get this in real time. Why don't we 462 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: have to wait until TV? Well, the thing is, you 463 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: you don't um. And people still wanted to see those 464 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: those things on TV, but it also pointed out the 465 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: things that they weren't showing, and people started to question 466 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: the network that that carries those events, saying why didn't 467 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: you show this story or how come you're focused on 468 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: this one game when you know this other one meant 469 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: so much to the outcome of the medals um And 470 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: the answer is, you know, they're showing they can't show 471 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: everything without you know, basically turning it into a twenty 472 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: four hour Olympics channel. And even then there's so much 473 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: going on that you can't so it's sort of um 474 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: it was. It was a big thing for a while 475 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: among some people to say, well, they are not showing 476 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: the whole thing, and they're not showing it in real time. 477 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: But I think in the end it's sort of proved 478 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: that the people who really want that information are going 479 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: to go get it anyway online, and the people who 480 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: really want to see it packaged and a nice, neat 481 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 1: format with a little human interest stuff are still going 482 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: to watch the traditional broadcasts on TV. But it was 483 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: interesting to see how much the the technology has pervaded 484 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: our lives to where we sort of expect everything in 485 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,320 Speaker 1: in full ready when we are What I thought was 486 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: interesting also is that it gave options, uh not necessarily 487 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: options that were sanctioned by you know, whatever entity was 488 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: in charge of broadcasting the Olympics in any given country, 489 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: but it gave options that some of US found very valuable. 490 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: For example, you could watch the opening ceremonies without any commentary. Yes, 491 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: so you didn't have either in the case of the 492 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: UK commentators like people talking about stuff that you know 493 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: or or interrupting something that you found interesting, or in 494 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: the case of US commentators, people who don't understand the 495 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: references that are being made and are showing their national 496 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,640 Speaker 1: ignorance of things that I actually know about being an 497 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: anglophile and ticking me off, are using there's some commentary there, 498 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: Are you using that soapbox or a little bit um? Yeah? No, 499 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: I mean, but but that was kind of an interesting 500 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: thing too. Is that the idea that you don't have 501 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: to consume this particular type of of well not even 502 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: just entertainment, but this particularly particular content in one way, 503 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: like there's only one way that you can get this stuff, 504 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 1: and there's only one form that you're going to see 505 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: it in the idea that you suddenly could have access 506 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: to streams of this content that would be totally different 507 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: from what you would get on TV. It was really interesting. No, 508 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,880 Speaker 1: of course that's not gonna apply to every single kind 509 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: of content that's out there, but for something like a 510 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,960 Speaker 1: sports event where you may not want commentary, you may 511 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: just want to watch the the event itself and that's it. 512 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: Then it was a it was a nice option to have, 513 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: and uh that I think is something that could be 514 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: very valuable in the future. Now in this case, again 515 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: it wasn't something that was necessarily sanctioned, but I could 516 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: see that easily becoming like an option, like like you know, 517 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: you could can you imagine you just you go to 518 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: let's say it's a website or a portal of some 519 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: sort that you could access even on your television, and 520 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: there'd be an option there click with commentary or without commentary, 521 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,959 Speaker 1: And for something like the opening ceremonies of of the Olympic, 522 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,920 Speaker 1: that could be a total game changer for the people 523 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,200 Speaker 1: watching it. I think that would be a really cool 524 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: feature to have for the next Olympics. Is you know 525 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: something along those lines, or do you want to have 526 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: the you know, the commentary from a particular country to 527 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,239 Speaker 1: be the one that accompanies the footage, and uh, you know, 528 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: that would be I think a pretty cool thing to 529 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,000 Speaker 1: have at your disposal. Because we've got plenty of people 530 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: in every country, there are plenty of people from other 531 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: parts of the world who might want to watch a 532 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: sporting event with the people providing commentary speaking in their 533 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: native language. I think that would be a really neat 534 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: thing to do, and it's uh uh, you know, it's 535 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: within the realm of possibility. So I'm hoping that we 536 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: see that trend become an official trend, something that is 537 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: sanctioned and isn't just you know, left up to people 538 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:59,720 Speaker 1: who are clever who have discovered a feed that doesn't 539 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: have anything attached to it and then they broadcasted on 540 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: Twitter or Facebook or whatever. Um. Speaking of Facebook, big 541 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: year for Facebook. Yes, they bought a little company called 542 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: Instagram for one billion dollars. Yes they did. And they 543 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: also had a little I p O. Yes, initial an 544 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: initial public offering of stock. They got to the point 545 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,480 Speaker 1: in size they actually reached a billion customers worldwide and 546 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: still growing. Um of where some of those are the 547 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: same people, but I won't tell Facebook if you don't. Um. Yeah, 548 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: they they got to the point where they had enough 549 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: cloud where they were really kind of had their backs 550 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: to the wall and were forced to release a stock 551 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: offering and become a public company. Yeah. They wait, once 552 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: your company reaches a certain size and has a certain 553 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,280 Speaker 1: number of stakeholders. Uh. In the United States, you are 554 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: required to have a public offering. You can't you can't 555 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: main tained that indefinitely once you reach a certain size 556 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 1: and you have a certain number of stakeholders. And Facebook 557 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,120 Speaker 1: was pretty much at that point. So there wasn't a 558 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: whole lot of choice in whether or not it would 559 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,479 Speaker 1: hold an ip O. It just came down to win yes, yes. 560 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:21,120 Speaker 1: And so before this happened, before they went public, there 561 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: was a lot of hype as there would be around 562 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,800 Speaker 1: a company as pivotal as as Facebook. Um. Of course 563 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: there was the famous dot com bubble and the late 564 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: es UM and UH, people sort of discussed this, Hey, 565 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,880 Speaker 1: this is a big deal. You know, tech companies haven't 566 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: had this kind of flashy public offering on the scale 567 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: of of a company like Facebook in years really um 568 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: and you know, there there have been some exceptions to 569 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: to the public offerings, but this was a big thing 570 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: um before. However, then they actually went public and the 571 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: stock sort of took off fish and then didn't and 572 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: then started to drop it having trouble as right now, 573 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:16,080 Speaker 1: there's a bit of controversy in that or controversy for 574 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,480 Speaker 1: my friends in England I was going to say, you're 575 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:24,120 Speaker 1: an anglophile. Um, But anyway, there was some contriversy. Controversy 576 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: in the in the sense that uh that Facebook had 577 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,880 Speaker 1: you know, it's it's essentially it had a call that 578 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:35,319 Speaker 1: talked about its financials and then updated debt. I came 579 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,399 Speaker 1: out that Facebook found out it wasn't going to hit 580 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: the numbers that it had projected, which would in turn 581 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: affect the value of the company. That information made its 582 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:50,720 Speaker 1: way out to a certain group of essentially investment groups. 583 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: Is really banks, really is what it got to financial institutions. 584 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:59,240 Speaker 1: The information got to them. Facebook apparently, uh communicated information 585 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:04,200 Speaker 1: to a select number of financial institutions, which then could 586 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: make the decision to you know, sell off all that 587 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,799 Speaker 1: stock at a higher value than what the company was 588 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: actually worth based upon this new updated information. However, that 589 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,799 Speaker 1: same info, that key critical info about the value of Facebook, 590 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:25,719 Speaker 1: did not get communicated to a broader audience of investors, 591 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:29,319 Speaker 1: which meant that there were people who were buying up 592 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:34,240 Speaker 1: Facebook stock assuming that the stock price reflected the actual 593 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 1: value of the company. And once that information started to 594 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: become public, then there was this big uproar about it 595 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: being an unethical business. Practice. Now, I should state this 596 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,719 Speaker 1: is not illegal what Facebook did as far as I 597 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:56,640 Speaker 1: can tell, there's nothing illegal about it, but it is 598 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:01,680 Speaker 1: some people would call it unethical. Yeah. Basically, UM, I 599 00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:04,759 Speaker 1: think this sort of hedges on on what is known 600 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,719 Speaker 1: as insider trading UM, where somebody who is on on 601 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: the inside, if you will, knows something about a company 602 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: before the company announces it to the public, and they 603 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,720 Speaker 1: make stock trades based on that. And UM, basically this 604 00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:23,879 Speaker 1: this is you know, this makes people think that there 605 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: is something like that going on. UM, and that is 606 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:31,040 Speaker 1: what is in legal terms known as a no no. Yeah. 607 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,440 Speaker 1: I have to consult a lawyer, but I think that 608 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 1: a no no is pretty much Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Uh. 609 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,040 Speaker 1: And Facebook was not, of course, the only coming to 610 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 1: have some pretty big changes happen, uh you know with 611 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 1: without going public. That was a big change for Facebook, 612 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 1: and H well, it'll be interesting to see how that 613 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: plays out, whether or not the company can kind of 614 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:55,280 Speaker 1: get out of the doldrums. There have been some some 615 00:37:55,400 --> 00:38:00,080 Speaker 1: statements that perhaps the web advertising market is going to 616 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,279 Speaker 1: um continue to to decline in importance and therefore the 617 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,960 Speaker 1: chief revenue stream for Facebook is going to kind of 618 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:14,480 Speaker 1: uh not not go away and not even not make money, 619 00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: but it just won't make as much money as quickly 620 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,640 Speaker 1: as traditionally had been the case. And therefore that will 621 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,280 Speaker 1: affect the value of Facebook. And that's why the stock 622 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: price may not change much. Unless Facebook finds a new 623 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,000 Speaker 1: way of generating revenue UH or if the web advertising 624 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 1: market turns around somehow, that could dramatically impact Facebook's value 625 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,279 Speaker 1: as well. So the stock price is not it's not 626 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,440 Speaker 1: a guarantee that's going to stay where it's at, but 627 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: it is, you know, an ongoing story. As far as 628 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: other companies go, we saw some pretty big changes of 629 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: I mean, Yahoo had a year of changes. In January, 630 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:57,160 Speaker 1: Scott Thompson became the interim CEO. UH. He announced that 631 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: they were going to be massive layoffs. UM. He made 632 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:06,359 Speaker 1: some decisions that were pretty dramatic. And then there was 633 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:13,000 Speaker 1: another controversy. UH. There's another controversy with Thompson's background. It 634 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:17,560 Speaker 1: came out that his executive bio had some information in 635 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,440 Speaker 1: it that was what we would call not entirely accurate 636 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: or made up. UM. But he he had on his 637 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: bios some information about UH degrees that he did not 638 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:36,239 Speaker 1: actually hold, like computer science. Yeah, and so this ended 639 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:43,480 Speaker 1: up prompting some shareholders in Yahoo to call for Thompson's resignation, 640 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 1: saying that you know it was he's misrepresenting himself, it's 641 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,160 Speaker 1: a bad fit for the company, it's bad pr for 642 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 1: the company. He needs to get out. And he did resign, 643 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:59,560 Speaker 1: and uh Yeahoo brought on Marissa Meyer, formerly of Google, 644 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:03,960 Speaker 1: one of the earliest female employees at Google, the first 645 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: engineer at female engineer at Google, uh to come in 646 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:12,520 Speaker 1: and become the new CEO. And that was a huge story. 647 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:19,200 Speaker 1: People who were very pessimistic about Yahoo's chances in two 648 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 1: thousand twelve began to hedge their bets a bit. And 649 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that people were saying, oh, well, now 650 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:29,560 Speaker 1: Yahoo is definitely saved, but there was more optimism around 651 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:33,280 Speaker 1: the company than I had seen in the last few years. Also, 652 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 1: she actually has a degree in computer science. Also, this 653 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 1: story will come into play in our next episode when 654 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,080 Speaker 1: we talk about the results of our predictions for two 655 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: thousand twelve, because she ruined our predictions for Yahoo. So 656 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,000 Speaker 1: we shake our fist at Meyer. All right, Okay, So 657 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,799 Speaker 1: it turns out that Chris and I talked way more 658 00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,879 Speaker 1: about two thousand twelve than we expected, so we are 659 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:03,920 Speaker 1: actually split think this epic long episode into two manageable episodes. 660 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:09,239 Speaker 1: You're welcome. So this concludes part one. Chris, I think 661 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: you'll agree that this was the prudent choice. Yep, Okay, 662 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: thank you. That was just to prude that Chris is 663 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,400 Speaker 1: in fact in the studio. I'm not doing this by myself. 664 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:19,680 Speaker 1: So we're going to wrap this up. If you guys 665 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,960 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, please 666 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:26,400 Speaker 1: write us. Our email address is tech stuff at Discovery 667 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: dot com, or let's know on Facebook or Twitter are 668 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,680 Speaker 1: handled There is tech stuff hs W and Chris and 669 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: I will talk to you again really soon for more 670 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,440 Speaker 1: on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how 671 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com