1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and it is time 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: for the tech news for Tuesday, May twenty one. Over 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: the weekend, China celebrated the successful landing of a rover 7 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: on the surface of Mars. That means that as of now, 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: China and the United States are the only two nations 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: to have landed rovers successfully on the planet. Other countries 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: have sent missions to Mars, but these are the only 11 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: two countries that have landed rovers that have landed safely. 12 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: The rover arrived housed in a lander which used a 13 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: parachute and retrorockets to slow its descent through the Martian 14 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: atmosphere before touching down on Martian soil. So this is 15 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: a different approach from what NASA was using with the 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: Perseverance Rover and the Curiosity Rover before that, both of 17 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: which used a sky crane technique in which the descent 18 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: stage of the spacecraft used rockets to kind of hover 19 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: over a landing zone and then lower the rovers down 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: to the surface on cables. The Chinese lander touchdown at 21 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: around eight pm Eastern time on Friday, but it was 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: another hour before China scientists could confirm a successful touchdown. 23 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: This really illustrates just you know, how hard it is 24 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: to get a successful landing on Mars. The delay between 25 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 1: when something happens and when we can know about it 26 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: is significant, even if everything is working properly, it's significant. 27 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: That's partly because the distance between Earth and Mars is 28 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: great enough that it actually takes light or you know, 29 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: radio communications, seven role minutes to make the journey from 30 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: one point to the other. The rover named you're wrong 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,239 Speaker 1: after a Chinese got a fire, and I apologize for 32 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: my pronunciation. I tried looking it up, but the source 33 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: I could find had middling responses from people as to 34 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: whether or not it was accurate. So my apologies for 35 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: for butchering that anyway, you're wrong. Will rove across Mars 36 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: for about three months if all goes well, possibly beyond 37 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,239 Speaker 1: that if things go really well. NASA has had a 38 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: history of missions lasting well beyond their projected lifespan. The 39 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: rover will use various instruments to look for evidence of 40 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: the past existence of life on Mars. In other Chinese 41 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: space program news. Back in April, China launched a rocket 42 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: carrying a module for China's space station. The country plans 43 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,239 Speaker 1: to assemble that station and have it ready for occupation 44 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: by the end of next year. The rocket that carried 45 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: that module up, unfortunately, had an un controlled return to Earth, 46 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: which caused a lot of concern along the various paths 47 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: of potential descent before it ultimately plummeted into the ocean. 48 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: But for a while, people along those pathways were a 49 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: little worried that perhaps a Chinese rocket might just fallen 50 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: and collide with the Earth and cause massive damage. So 51 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: while China has a big win with the landing on Mars, 52 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: the country also has faced some criticism because of that 53 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: rocket issue. You might remember a story from last week 54 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: about how Elon Musk, who has been a big supporter 55 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: of cryptocurrencies, helped send bitcoin values into a downward spiral 56 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: after announcing that Tesla, the company you know that makes 57 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,839 Speaker 1: electric vehicles, would no longer accept the cryptocurrency bitcoin as payment. Now, 58 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: the reasoning behind that decision, according to Musk, was because 59 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: of the environmental impact of bitcoin mining. Now I've covered 60 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: this in the past, but that is definitely an issue. 61 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,119 Speaker 1: Bitcoin mining requires an enormous amount of electricity to run 62 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: the powerful computers that rush to solve the guessing game 63 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: that ultimately determines which computer gets the next batch of bitcoins. Now, 64 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: some of those computers are getting electricity from renewable energy 65 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: sources like wind power, which is you know, good, except 66 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: it is taking up electricity that could potentially be going 67 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: to other places. However, some bitcoin mining operations are sucking 68 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: down juice from power plants that rely on fossil fuels, 69 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: so these are helping to contribute toward climate change and 70 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: carbon emissions. For a company that sells electric vehicles, which 71 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: depend partly upon at least marketing that you know, electric 72 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: vehicles are an environmentally cleaner alternative to gasoline or diesel 73 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: powered combustion engines, you know, it wasn't a good look 74 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,200 Speaker 1: hard to sell an electric vehicle as being environmentally friendly 75 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: if you're also accepting a cryptocurrency that is perceived as 76 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: being environmentally unfriendly musk SA. At the time that Tesla, 77 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: the company had no plans to divest itself of its 78 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: own bitcoin investment. It had a substantial amount of bitcoin, 79 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: but even so, the announcement meant that bitcoin took a 80 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: hit and value after already having a dip earlier in 81 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 1: the year. Then over the weekend, Musk had a Twitter 82 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: exchange that some people thought implied that Tesla had divested 83 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: itself of its bitcoin, and then the cryptocurrency took another hit. 84 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: So at the height of its value this year, a 85 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: single bitcoin was valued at around sixty five thousand bucks. 86 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: As I write this, the value is closer to forty 87 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: three thousand dollars. Now, don't get me wrong, forty thousand 88 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: bucks is a lot of money, and if you got 89 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: in on the bitcoin train at the very beginning, you're 90 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: still looking at a pretty amazing return on your investment, 91 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: just less than what it was a couple of weeks ago. 92 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: But this does mean that bitcoin's value has dropped more 93 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: than twenty thousand dollars per bitcoin in the span of 94 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: a few weeks, and that kind of volatility shows that 95 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: bitcoin can be a very dangerous investment. It's definitely not 96 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: a good currency as it stands right now, like you 97 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: wouldn't really be able to use this to make purchases 98 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,559 Speaker 1: in any effective way. It also indicates that Elon Musk 99 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: has way too much influence when, even if he didn't 100 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: mean to, his tweets can send a commodity's value into 101 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: a sharp decline. On Monday, Musk clarified that the company 102 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: Tesla had not divested itself of bitcoin. But as I 103 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:41,119 Speaker 1: record this, the currency hasn't seen much of a recovery. 104 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: So what is going on here? Well, if I were 105 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: to give an armchair analysis, and let me start this 106 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: by saying I am, by no means an expert in 107 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: these matters, I would say that what's probably happening is 108 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: you've got a sizeable group of bitcoin investors who probably 109 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: hold a relatively all percentage of bitcoin collectively. We're not 110 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: talking about the whales who owned enormous amounts of bitcoin. 111 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: But they see must tweet something, and they perceive the 112 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: possibility of bitcoin's value dropping, so they rush off to 113 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: sell off their bitcoin assets to you know, minimize the 114 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,680 Speaker 1: amount of loss they might experience, and that in turn 115 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: actually causes the dip to go lower. The dip becomes 116 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: something of a self fulfilling prophecy. Because so much of 117 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: Bitcoin's value is based in perception and speculation, you could 118 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: argue that the real people at fault here are those 119 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: investors who panicked in response to something that Musk tweeted, 120 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: and not Musk himself. But however you assign the responsibility, 121 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: the outcome is pretty much the same. Now, will Bitcoin 122 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: recover Probably, I'm guessing it will at some point, but 123 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: I would be foolish to predict how low the value 124 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: will go when it does turn around. Some people think 125 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: we're still in a bowl market, which means that will 126 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: see the value go up. Others think we have entered 127 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: a bear market and that the value is going to 128 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: continue to go down. There doesn't seem to be any 129 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: sort of agreement on that, and far be it from 130 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: me to be able to make any kind of pronouncement. 131 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: Sentiment could change quickly enough to make any guess. I 132 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: could hazard a total whiff. Anyway, this is a continuation 133 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: of my series that I'm calling Jonathan is Old, and 134 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: he thinks cryptocurrencies are inherently unstable investments, and more importantly, 135 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: they're very lousy currencies. Plus, the proof of work style 136 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:39,079 Speaker 1: cryptocurrencies are just incredibly wasteful. Proof of steak has its 137 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: own problems. Again, I'm gonna have to do a full 138 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: episode about these in the future. In mergers and acquisitions news. 139 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: It looks like a T and T is planning to 140 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: spin off Warner Media, which will then merge with Discovery Communications. 141 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: Now I find the story particularly interesting since once upon 142 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: a time I worked for Discovery Communications how Stuff We're 143 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: x the company that I started at when I started 144 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, Uh, that was part of a private company 145 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: called the Convex Group way back in the day. So 146 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: this was two thousand seven was when I joined How 147 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. Discovery acquired Convex and thus How Stuff Works 148 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: the following year two thousand eight. A few years after that, 149 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: Discovery sold off how Stuff Works to a different company 150 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: called Blue Cora. Then Blue Cora sold us to another company, 151 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: which took on the name System One. System one spun 152 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: off the podcast arm of How Stuff Works as a 153 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: separate podcast media company, which was then acquired by iHeart Media. 154 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: So I've been in the same career path this entire time, 155 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 1: the same you know, like job path. However, the names 156 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: at the top of the organ charts kept changing. But 157 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: that wild ride is nothing compared to the various properties 158 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: that are under Warner Media that includes HBO, Cinemax, Warner Brothers, 159 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: and much much more. A T and T appears to 160 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: be moving away from the vertical strategy in which a 161 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: single company serves as the delivery system that is a 162 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: telecommunications style company, uh and content generation or you know, 163 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: like a studio. This is what we see with other companies, though, 164 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,320 Speaker 1: I mean, like NBC Universal is owned by Comcast, and 165 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: that's like a unified approach, so it is interesting to 166 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: see a T and T split off from that. The 167 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: announcement came as a surprise not just to folks like myself, 168 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: but apparently it also surprised Warner Media CEO Jason Keeler. 169 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: The Verge reports that Keiler is negotiating his departure from 170 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: Warner Media. He became CEO of the company in April 171 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: of last year, so he served as leader for just 172 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: over a year now, and according to sources who spoke 173 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: with The New York Times, he was kept in the 174 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: dark about the decision to merge with Discovery. The announcement 175 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: makes it sound as though Discovery CEO David Zaslov is 176 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: going to oversee this new merged entity, which would mean that, 177 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: you know, Keiler's role would largely have become redundant. Anyway, 178 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: most estimations say the merger will take more than a 179 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: year to complete, so we're looking at twenty two before 180 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: this all settles in. What this means for the media 181 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: landscape in general is a big open question. It'll be 182 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: interesting to see how things shift around. Uh. I know 183 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: that Discovery has got to be really interested in this. 184 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: They were looking for digital solutions when they purchased How 185 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I mean, that was a big reason why 186 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: they purchased the company back in the day, and I 187 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: get the feeling that they never quite nailed it. So 188 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if this is another approach to not just 189 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: adding an enormous amount of of you know, capability to 190 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,439 Speaker 1: the company, because Warner Media is huge, but also get 191 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: that digital delivery system tightly integrated into Discoveries practices. Moving on, So, 192 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: one of the stories that's been developing in tech is 193 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 1: that Bill and Melinda Gates are divorcing and that this 194 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: process has been going on for a while now that 195 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: you know, at least since two thousand nineteen. And I 196 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: wasn't initially going to report on any of this because 197 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: while Bill Gates is an important person in tech, you know, 198 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: he was the co founder of Microsoft and served as 199 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: the CEO for many years and then was chairman of 200 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: the board for years more and still on the Board 201 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,880 Speaker 1: of Directors up until but I figured the personal struggles 202 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: of a married couple making the decision to end their 203 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: marriage wasn't something I should cover in a tech podcast. 204 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: But the plot has considerably thickened as more details have 205 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: emerged during this process. For one, Bill Gates apparently pursued 206 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: a romantic relationship with the Microsoft employee back in two 207 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: thousand and just in case you're curious, Bill and Melinda 208 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: Gates married in n Beyond the extra marital affair aspect 209 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: of this is the huge issue of a man who 210 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: had been serving as CEO until January two thousand and 211 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: who remained on as chairman of the Board of Directors 212 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: for Microsoft while simultaneously pursuing a relationship with a Microsoft employee. 213 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: Even if Bill Gates had been single, that would have 214 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: been an enormous problem. The Board of Directors initiated a 215 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: probe after receiving a letter from an employee who stated 216 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: that Gates had sought an intimate relationship with her in 217 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: two thousand and that the relationship that resulted had lasted 218 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: several years. Bill Gates resigned from the board of Directors 219 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: in twenty before that investigation was concluded. It was also 220 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: only three months after he had been re elected to 221 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:47,439 Speaker 1: the Board of directors. Now, I'm not here to speculate 222 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,439 Speaker 1: on things, but according to various sources, at least six 223 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: current or former and Microsoft employees have said that his 224 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: actions in the workplace made them uncomfortable and that language 225 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,079 Speaker 1: is open to a lot of interpretation. But again, I'm 226 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: not going to, you know, speculate as to what that 227 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: might actually mean. I feel like that's a disservice to 228 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:12,800 Speaker 1: all parties involved. Another element to this sordid proceeding is 229 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: that Bill Gates had met with Jeffrey Epstein at least 230 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: as early as two thousand eleven and as late as 231 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven was three years after Epstein had already 232 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: been found or had pled guilty to charges for soliciting 233 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: an underage girl, which is truly horrifying, and of course, 234 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: Epstein would later be linked to sex trafficking operations and 235 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 1: trafficking of underage girls, and Gates's meetings with Epstein reportedly 236 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: contributed to Melinda Gates's decision to seek a divorce from 237 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: from Bill. The whole thing paints a very ugly picture 238 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: that is still unfolding as I recorded this, and it 239 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: appears to have had large consequences regarding Gates's association with Microsoft. Now, 240 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: I say a pears because Bill Gates as representatives have 241 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: issued numerous denials regarding the various speculations and allegations linking 242 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: Bill Gates to Epstein, as well as allegations that Gates 243 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: created an uncomfortable atmosphere for Microsoft employees. So this story 244 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: I'm sure will continue. It doesn't look good, um and 245 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: I'm certainly more inclined to believe the accusers. But at 246 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: the same time, you know, obviously you want to try 247 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: and maintain objectivity as best as possible. Um. So, yeah, 248 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: complicated issue and a terrible, terrible story. We have a 249 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: couple of Apple stories to cover today as well. One 250 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: is that Apple and Amazon Music have both announced services 251 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: that would allow subscribers to their music services to listen 252 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: to lossless audio for no extra cost. So that means 253 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: we should quickly go over what lossless even means. When 254 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: it comes to digital audio. There are a few ways 255 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: to go about encoding data. Some encoding formats are lossy formats. 256 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: This helps keep file sizes down. Essentially you are losing 257 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: some of the data associated with that sound file. Raw 258 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: sound files get pretty big, which you know, until recently, 259 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: meant that streaming them was a nonstarter just because most 260 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: people didn't have the broadband throughput that you would need 261 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: to be able to do that effectively. They were also 262 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: so large that they would take up a ton of 263 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: storage space if you were trying to save them to 264 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: a device or something. So there are sound formats that 265 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: can serve file size by getting rid of some of 266 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: that data in an effort to compress the file sizes. 267 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: These are lossy formats, and the process means that depending 268 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: on what hardware you're using to listen to the music, 269 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: you might be able to tell the difference between lossy 270 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: versions and the lossless version. The goal of lossy versions 271 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: is to only eliminate data that, in theory at least 272 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: doesn't affect the listening experience of the audio file. In practice, 273 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: it can affect it. So generally speaking, lossless just means 274 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: you get a better quality of audio, but you do 275 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: have to have the right kind of equipment to listen 276 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: to it, or else it won't pick up on that well. 277 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: Apple Music subscribers will be able to listen to more 278 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: than seventy five million songs in lossless audio and Amazon Music, 279 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,480 Speaker 1: as I mentioned as doing something similar, Apple also announced 280 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: spatial audio support, which sounds a lot to me like 281 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: bin arl or three D audio. Essentially, it's a way 282 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: for producers to create sound mixes that make it sound 283 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: as if audio is coming at you from specific directions 284 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: around you, assuming again that you're listening on appropriate hardware. 285 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: So let's talk about that hardware thing. Apple says that 286 00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,119 Speaker 1: if subscribers want to listen to the top tier of 287 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: loss less audio, so the best of the best, you 288 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: would need to have a USB digital to analog converter 289 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: to thus convert the signal properly before feeding that to 290 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: a pair of wired headphones. Now, such a converter would 291 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: be an external gadget that you would have to plug 292 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: into whatever device you're using to access Apple Music. But 293 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: this also means that Apple's own air Pods, AirPods Max, 294 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,919 Speaker 1: and air Pods Pro gadgets won't support this level of 295 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:35,639 Speaker 1: lossless audio playback, at least not wirelessly. These devices typically 296 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 1: pair with an iPhone over Bluetooth A a C codec 297 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: that does not support this lossless audio format, So you 298 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: can technically listen to lossless audio on an iPhone, but 299 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: you will need to connect the iPhone to some sort 300 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: of external USB digital to analog converter, and then use 301 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: a different pair of wired headphones to be able to 302 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,400 Speaker 1: experience it. That being said, nine to five Mac reports 303 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: that air Pods Max will support high resolution lossless audio 304 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: if you're using them as wired headphones, not wireless ones. 305 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: That takes a little wind out of the sales of 306 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: this announcement. But on the flip side, both Apple and 307 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: Amazon are putting a lot of pressure on Spotify, which 308 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: is also beginning to offer lossless audio. But Spotify is 309 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: doing it at a premium subscription, so you have to 310 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: actually pay extra to get that access. Apple and Amazon 311 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:30,880 Speaker 1: using lossless audio as a free upgrade is a kind 312 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: of a big kick in the teeth to Spotify. Now. 313 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: I'm just sitting off to the side over here. I'm 314 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: just eating my popcorn and watching this whole you know. 315 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:43,639 Speaker 1: Shake it Loose, also related to Apple Parley or Parlor 316 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: if you prefer, is once again available on the Apple 317 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,679 Speaker 1: app Store. Parlor, for those who do not know, is 318 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: a social media platform that positions itself as a champion 319 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: of free speech, but funding for the service, leadership for 320 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: the service, all these things that are a key to 321 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: the service being in operation come from sources that are 322 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: either the right wing political appointees or or politicians, or 323 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: they're coming from people who have funded right wing political efforts, 324 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: and Parlor's user base skewed pretty hard toward the right 325 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: wing of the political spectrum and certainly was dipping pretty 326 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: hard into extremism. The platform saw itself ousted from Google 327 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: and Apple app stores, as well as from Amazon Web 328 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: Services UH and their hosting system after the January sixth 329 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: assault on the US Capitol, and the company repeatedly failed 330 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,920 Speaker 1: to moderate content that included hate speech and calls for violence. 331 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: Mark Meckler, who was an interim CEO who stepped in 332 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: to replace a former CEO who got fired from Parlor, 333 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 1: is now leaving the company to be replaced by George Farmer, 334 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: who since March has been the chief operating officer for 335 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: the company and previously who was a candidate for the 336 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: Brexit party over in the UK. To get back into 337 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: the app store, Parlor had to update its app and 338 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,199 Speaker 1: content moderation policies, and it looks like there will effectively 339 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: be a different flavor of Parlor on iOS. iOS users 340 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: will see a more paired down version of the content 341 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: of the app, material that would violate the terms that 342 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,360 Speaker 1: Parlor has had to agree to in order to come 343 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 1: back to Apple's App Store. All that content has to 344 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,400 Speaker 1: be hidden away from iOS users. Those who are on 345 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: the web based version or who have sideloaded the Android 346 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: app on their devices would see everything, not just the 347 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:50,360 Speaker 1: stuff that iOS would allow. Sideloading is the process of 348 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: adding an app outside of an authorized app store. Apple 349 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: does not allow for this. You cannot sideload apps on 350 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: a not out of the box Apple device without altering it. Google, however, 351 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: does allow for sideloading apps. It advises against it, but says, 352 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 1: if you want to, you can load apps that we 353 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: will not carry in our app store, but we kind 354 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: of disavow ourselves of what might happen to you if 355 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: you do it. So, while Parlor is still not in 356 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 1: the Google Play Store officially, Android users can sideload it 357 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: onto their devices. Parlor had a spike of popularity in 358 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: the fall of twenty twenty, but it was kind of 359 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: in decline even before it started getting banned from app 360 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: stores and hosting services. I'm not sure what it's numbers 361 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: look like now, but from what I understand, uh, it's 362 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: you know, not nearly as popular as it was leading 363 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: into the election. Stuff of and that's it for the 364 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:58,199 Speaker 1: tech news for Tuesday one. We'll be back later this 365 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 1: week with more news updates, as well as other episodes 366 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. If you have suggestions for topics I 367 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: should cover on tech Stuff, reach out to me let 368 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: me know what those are. The best way to do 369 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: that is on Twitter. Our handle is tech stuff H 370 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 371 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: Y tex Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For 372 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 373 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 374 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: favorite shows.