1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: and a lot of all things tech. And it's time 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: for the tech news for Tuesday, November one. And yes, 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: it's that time again. No, I don't mean the holidays, 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: I mean it's time for Jack Dorsey, Twitter co founder, 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: to step down as CEO of Twitter again. Dorsey co 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: founded Twitter all the way back in two thousand and 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: six with Biz Stone, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass. He 11 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: served as the CEO from two thousand six to two 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: thousand eight. Then he stepped aside for fellow co founder 13 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: Evan Williams to take over, and instead Dorsey assumed the 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: role of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Williams would 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: then step down after two years as CEO, and then 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: Dick Costolo, who was the former CEO of the company, 17 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: assumed the role of CEO, and when Costolo stepped down 18 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: in two thousand fifteen, Jack Dorsey returned as CEO. So 19 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: like Grover Cleveland, Dorsey served two nonconsecutive terms. Anyway, he 20 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,199 Speaker 1: has resigned and says it's time for Twitter to move 21 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: away from its founders, and now the former c t 22 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: O of Twitter, parag Agri Wall, has become the new CEO. 23 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: For years, Dorsey has faced criticism because he also serves 24 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 1: as the head of Square, that is, the the online 25 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: payment processing company famous for producing the smartphone and tablet 26 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: peripherals that create a point of sale for small businesses. 27 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 1: Investors were concerned that his attention was too divided between 28 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: these different businesses, and Twitter has stalled out when it 29 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: comes to user growth. So it was on a steady 30 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: path of growth up through two thousand and fourteen, but 31 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: after that the growth began to slow down and even 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: level off. In fact, by the first quarter of two 33 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen, Twitter announced it would no longer share its 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: monthly active user account. They had three different months in 35 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: a row in which the user number was on the 36 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: decline rather than growth, and yeah, reporting on monthly users 37 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: would make the company look stagnant and it would probably 38 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: worry investors and invite comparisons to other social networks like Facebook. 39 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: So there have been investors calling for Dorsey's resignation. For 40 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: a while. They've wanted to see Twitter shift into a 41 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: higher gear and get into growth mode again. So is 42 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: that actually possible. I honestly don't know. I suppose anything 43 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: is possible, but it would mean having to find a 44 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: way to make Twitter relevant for younger users. Twitter excuse 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 1: older for social networks. Nearly its user base is between 46 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,959 Speaker 1: the ages of twenty five and thirty five. The second 47 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: largest demographic group is aged between thirty five and forty nine, 48 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,519 Speaker 1: so like more than half of Twitter's users are over 49 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: the age of anyway. At least some investors have expressed 50 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: approval of Dorsey's resident Nation, but they've also said they 51 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: were hoping to see someone from outside Twitter take control 52 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: rather than promotion from Insight, And of course it was 53 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: promoted from Insight, so we'll have to see what happens. Today, 54 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: Twitter announced that it had updated its privacy and security 55 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: policy to extend additional protection towards quote unquote private media. 56 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: Twitter already will take action against users who publish other 57 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: people's private information without those people's consent, like you know, 58 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: a person's address or their phone number, or a picture 59 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: of their I D or you know, any kind of 60 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: other personal information. Now that protection also extends towards media 61 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: of private individuals without the permission from those individuals. So 62 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: if you snap a photo of that jerk face who 63 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: lives across the street without said jerk faces permission, and 64 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: then you share that photo to Twitter, you would technically 65 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: be violating this policy. Now, to be clear, Twitter hasn't 66 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,799 Speaker 1: employed an army of reviewers or a ton of AI 67 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: bots to scour all the tweets and look for media 68 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: and then seek out the people in that media to 69 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: find out if they gave permission for that to be 70 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: shared or not. This is instead a reactive policy. So 71 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: if I go on Twitter and I see that that 72 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: jerk face who lives across the street has posted a 73 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: photo of me and I didn't give my permission, I 74 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: can contact Twitter and I can say hey, I didn't 75 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: say jerk face could do that, and Twitter will then 76 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: remove the tweet. Maybe because the policy actually does not 77 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: apply to quote media featuring blick figures or individuals when 78 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: media and accompanying tweet text are shared in the public 79 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: interest or add value to public discourse. End quote. Now, 80 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: I don't think I actually quite qualify as a public figure. 81 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: I'm not nearly notable enough to qualify for that status. 82 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: But it does mean that if the jerk face who 83 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: lives across the street from me is I don't know 84 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: Justin Bieber, and and I snap a photo of him 85 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: and I share it. You know, you could argue that 86 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: since Biber is a public figure, that's still fair game, 87 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: you know, the price of fame. And just because I'm 88 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: a bad singer and built baby, Baby Baby while I'm 89 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: walking my dog, you know, and then I get the 90 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: restraining order. What a jerk face. Once upon a time 91 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: there was no Alphabet company and Google was just Google. 92 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: And in this magical time, Google had an official motto, 93 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: and that motto was don't be evil. And I think 94 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: that's a pretty good motto to have, particularly when your 95 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: business depends so heavily upon knowing everything you could possibly 96 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: know about people who use your search engine. Because, as 97 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: I and lots of other people have said many many times, 98 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: Google's business is not search, it's advertising. And pairing advertising 99 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: with knowledge about the customer makes advertisements way more effective. 100 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: That means they're more valuable, and that means Google can 101 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: make way more money from selling them. And being the 102 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: dominant player in the search engine world means Google has 103 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: no shortage of revenue generators out there. That is people 104 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: using Google Search anyway. Don't be evil. It's a good motto. Well, 105 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: three former Google employees have brought a lawsuit against the 106 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: company for breach of contract. The employees, all three of 107 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: whom were fired on the same day, say that Google 108 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: failed to live up to its own code of conduct, 109 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: as spelled out an employee agree mints see in twenty fifteen, 110 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: when Google formed Alphabet as a parent company, it also 111 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: dropped the don't be evil motto. You know that was strange, 112 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: wasn't it. But that phrase still exists in the employee agreements, 113 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: which says, in part, quote remember don't be evil, and 114 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: if you see something that you think isn't right, speak 115 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 1: up end quote. Well, these three employees, Sophie Waldman, Paul Duke, 116 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 1: and Rebecca Rivers, say they were fired after they spoke 117 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: out against Google the company while uh IT was signing 118 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: a contract with the Customs and Border Protection in the 119 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: United States in order to provide cloud computing services to 120 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: that institution. Now, this was during Trump's presidency, at the 121 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: height of xenophobic propaganda that painted immigrants legal and non 122 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: legal alike with a fearful and racist brush. Not to 123 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: mention the department was separating and caging families at the time. 124 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: The three employees were all fired on November twenty five, 125 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: two nineteen. Google's explanation was that the employees were leaking 126 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: confidential information and we're nosing around internal Google systems that 127 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: was outside their scope of work. The former employees they 128 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: they deny this, and they also state that they were 129 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: fired after they circulated a petition among other Google employees 130 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: asking them to show their disapproval for this cloud services contract. 131 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: I'll keep an eye on this lawsuit as it moves 132 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: through the court system to see how it all pans out, 133 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: though if it does go beyond a settlement, I'll be 134 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: really surprised. Last week, various news outlets reported that an 135 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: internal survey at Facebook revealed that a significant number of 136 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: Facebook staff are losing confidence in the company's leadership, with 137 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: fewer than half of respondents indicating that they intend to 138 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,079 Speaker 1: stay with the company. That being said, I would argue 139 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: the survey is really more of a way to send 140 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: a message to upper management and executive management. It not 141 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: necessarily an indicator that we're going to see like more 142 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,320 Speaker 1: than half of Facebook employees just turn in their two 143 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: weeks notice anytime soon. I don't expect that to happen. 144 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: The same survey indicated that most employees like their direct managers, 145 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,239 Speaker 1: so they like the people who are directly over them. 146 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: That seems to say that it really is an issue 147 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: with the executive management level as the source for employee concerns. 148 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: This isn't that big of a surprise, considering how Facebook 149 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: has been in the center of some really ugly stories 150 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: over the last several years in general, and the last 151 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: few months in particular, positive responses indicating confidence in leadership 152 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: were down to so more than half of those surveyed 153 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: indicated a lack of confidence in leadership. Um, that's not great, 154 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: and I guess I should say that, you know, we're 155 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: really talking about the company Meta, not Facebook. But old 156 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: habits are hard to break. I will frequently refer to 157 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: Facebook the company, um, you know, as Facebook, as opposed 158 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: to Meta. Anyway, as more outlets cover this story this week, 159 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: including you know, tech stuff, I imagine that executives at 160 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: Facebook are paying a little bit more attention to that survey. Now. 161 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: I don't know that they actually want to change anything 162 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: at the company. I mean, they probably want to change 163 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: how they word the questions in the survey so that 164 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: they get better responses. It might be a little cynical. 165 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: Speaking of Facebook slash Meta, the company in May of 166 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: twenty twenty acquired animated gift depository Giffee for a cool 167 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: three hundred fifteen million dollars and that appeared to be 168 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: that that is until a UK antitrust regulation organization stepped 169 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: in that says that Meta will have to now sell 170 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: off Giffee. After all, they will have to get rid 171 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: of it. The regulators say that Meta buying up Giffee 172 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:59,720 Speaker 1: gives Facebook or rather you know, Meta slash Facebook and 173 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: avantage over other social media platforms that also use Giffe, 174 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: like TikTok and stuff like that, and that it would 175 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: simultaneously remove a potential Facebook competitor from the market. This 176 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: would be in the ads space. So essentially, what they're 177 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: saying is that Giffe and Facebook could potentially court the 178 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: same advertisers. But if Facebook buys Giffe like it did, 179 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,079 Speaker 1: then that means there's a reduction of choice for those advertisers. 180 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: They can't choose to go with Facebook or Giffy because 181 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: Facebook gobbled up Giffe, thus a loss in competition. It's 182 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: interesting that a UK based regulatory body could enforce an 183 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: acquisition reversal on two US based companies, but in fact 184 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: it does have that authority. The regulators have jurisdiction over 185 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: acquisitions that represent at least a control of a market 186 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: within the UK, so unless Facebook decides to not operate 187 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: in the UK, it does fall into this category. The 188 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,959 Speaker 1: regulators actually say that Meta and Giffee together would control 189 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: a whopping eight of the animated gift market in the UK. 190 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: That puts it well over the metric needed for this 191 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: regulation body to step in. So it looks like the 192 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: tide is really beginning to turn against big tech in 193 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: a meaningful way. Meta representatives unsurprisingly released a statement saying 194 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: they disagree with this decision, which I mean, of course 195 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: they do, and that they are considering all options, including 196 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: appealing this decision. They also said that the regulators were 197 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: sending a message to entrepreneurs that quote, do not build 198 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: new companies because you will not be able to sell 199 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: them end quote. Personally, I actually think that's okay. I mean, 200 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: I get the business plan for like of all startups 201 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,439 Speaker 1: isn't to create a sustainable business. That's not the plan 202 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: for most of them. No, the plan is to become 203 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: attractive enough for some other bigger company to come along 204 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: and acquire you for oodles of cash, and you cash out. 205 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: But I'm not sure that's actually a very healthy approach 206 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: to business in the long runs. So I realized this 207 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 1: might mean we might see fewer unicorns, but based on 208 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: how gross a lot of your unicorns turned out to be, 209 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: I'm personally fine with that. Okay, we have some more 210 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: news stories to cover, but before we get to that, 211 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. We're back rolling. Stone Magazine 212 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: reports that an FBI document has revealed that the FBI 213 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: can easily access a person's WhatsApp or Apple Eye message 214 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: history as long as the or activity I should say, 215 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: as long as the bureau first secure as an appropriate 216 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: subpoena or warrant. That has a little bit of a 217 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: shocking revelation because both services help the fact that their 218 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: communications are aren't fully encrypted end to end. So the 219 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,359 Speaker 1: idea here is that only the people in that conversation 220 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,680 Speaker 1: should be able to read the messages in the other party, 221 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: including Meta in the case of WhatsApp or Apple in 222 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: the case of Eye, message would not be able to 223 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: read those messages. That's the whole point, right, So, unless 224 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: you get hold of one of the communicators devices, it 225 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: should be impossible or at the very least incredibly difficult, 226 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: to see what messages are being sent back and forth. 227 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: But the FBI document calls these two services both quote 228 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: the most popular encrypted messaging apps end quote while also 229 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: simultaneously being quote the most permissive end quote. So does 230 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: that mean the FBI is magically able to unlock the encryption, Well, 231 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: it turns out the answer to that is no. But 232 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: what the FBI can do is pretty easily monitor activity 233 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: to see stuff like who is communicating with whom at 234 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: what time, under what circumstances, in what locations. So, in 235 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: other words, this document really lays out how the FBI 236 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: can collect and track meta data about the people who 237 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: are communicating with each other. Sure, the content of the 238 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: messages remains unknown, but with other dots that are out there, 239 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: the FBI can start to build a case against people. 240 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: For example, let's say that the FBI looks and sees 241 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: that you've had some communication with someone they've labeled as 242 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: a person of interest for something like they're this person 243 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: has been targeted for an investigation, and they see that 244 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: that person has been in contact with you through one 245 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: of these apps. They could also see if you have 246 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: any other people of interest listed in your contacts. So, 247 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: in other words, they could say, all right, well, we 248 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: know that you have been in contact with this person 249 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: that we're targeting. Let's see if you're also talking with 250 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: anyone else who's on our lists. Or they can also 251 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: see if the person you're talking with has any other 252 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,040 Speaker 1: people of interest in their own contacts, and they and 253 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: start building out networks of context in this way. And 254 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: you can probably imagine at least a few cases in 255 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: which this could become a really troubling issue. For example, 256 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: let's say that you are an investigative journalist and you 257 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: rely upon contacts who are embedded in various sensitive organizations 258 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: like government offices, maybe the FBI itself. Well, the FBI 259 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: could snoop on your communications, and even without seeing what 260 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: it is your sending, could at least see to whom 261 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: you are sending information that could lead to a whistleblower 262 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: being exposed. The Rolling Stone received the FBI document from 263 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: an organization called Property of the People, which filed a 264 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: Freedom of Information Act request, and it's all aimed to 265 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: publicize this practice. And make people aware of how even 266 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: encrypted messaging services may be less safe than you might think, 267 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: particularly if they are pretty willing to work with law 268 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: enforcement on these kinds of requests for metadata. And now 269 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: here's an update to the Amazon union issue in Bessemer 270 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,159 Speaker 1: at Alabama. So in case you don't remember that story, 271 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama held a vote 272 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 1: on whether or not they should unionize this past April. 273 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 1: That vote ultimately ended up being against unionization, but organizers 274 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,359 Speaker 1: accused Amazon of engaging in illegal misconduct leading up to 275 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 1: the vote, and there were allegations of intimidating workers and 276 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: spreading misinformation about unions. Uh, the National Labor Relations Board 277 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: has now ruled that the workers can hold a new 278 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:44,959 Speaker 1: union election. Amazon representatives have expressed disappointment in the ruling. 279 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: Allegedly the company went to all this trouble to discourage 280 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: voting and make it more difficult, and even installing an 281 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: illegal drop box and more. It really does seem to 282 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: be a real kick in the teeth for all that 283 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: hard work to just go to waste. And again I 284 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: say allegedly, because you know, I don't want to get 285 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 1: in trouble here. Also, it's worth noting that Amazon has 286 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: a very high turnover rate with its employees. Many Amazon 287 00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: employees don't stay with the company for a very long 288 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: time because the work is pretty brutal, at least in 289 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: the warehouses and fulfillment centers. As such, it can be 290 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: difficult to organize people because the folks you're talking to 291 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: today might not be the same folks that you're calling 292 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,879 Speaker 1: in to vote next week. That's being I'm exaggerating a 293 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,919 Speaker 1: little bit, but you get my my meaning right, Like, 294 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: it's hard to get any kind of movement going when 295 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: the population is in such flux. Here's a different follow up. 296 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 1: I have talked a few times about state sponsored malware 297 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: on iOS devices, you know, turning things like iPhones into 298 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: surveillance machines. Uh. Notably, I've talked about the malware from 299 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: the Israeli backed in s O group. Now, Apple says 300 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: that the company will send noifications to users who own 301 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: iOS devices that have been compromised by such state backed malware. 302 00:19:06,359 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: Apple will send notifications via I message to affected users. 303 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: They also send out emails. There will be other notifications 304 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: as well. It's expected that not very many people will 305 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: actually receive these notifications because state sponsored attacks are usually 306 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: really targeted and precise. You know, they have specific people 307 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,479 Speaker 1: in mind that they go after, rather than casting a 308 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: wide net like a lot of hackers. They make malware 309 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: and the whole intent is to infect as many devices 310 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: as you possibly can, So you're taking a broad approach. 311 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: That's not the case with state sponsored attacks. They're usually 312 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: looking at specific people and saying, we want to compromise 313 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: their device so we can find out what they're up to. So, 314 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 1: in other words, unless you are a diplomat or an 315 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: international journalist or an activist or you know, politician, maybe 316 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: like the head of some big company, you probably haven't 317 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,480 Speaker 1: been targeted and you won't get one of these messages probably, 318 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,920 Speaker 1: you know, just just keep a lookout on those iOS notifications. 319 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: An I T company called land Sweeper surveyed Windows based 320 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: devices that were running on various networks. You know, you 321 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,920 Speaker 1: can get a lot of data about what machines are 322 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: actually using your network that doesn't involve anything about the 323 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 1: people behind the machines, Like you can see what sort 324 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,199 Speaker 1: of operating system was being used by that machine that 325 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: accessed your network. So they did this in an effort 326 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 1: to kind of see how many machines out there. How 327 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,159 Speaker 1: many PCs are running the most recent version of Windows, 328 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: which is of course Windows eleven. It launched last month. Now, 329 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: according to the firm, an easily point to one percent. 330 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: That's zero point to one percent of PC users are 331 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: running the newest operating system a month after its release. 332 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: That is shockingly low. That's even fewer folks running the 333 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: Windows eleven than are currently running Windows XP. Windows XP 334 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: hasn't been supported by Microsoft since like two thousand and twelve, 335 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: I think maybe even earlier than that, and yet it's 336 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: still commands more than three and a half percent of 337 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: all PCs on these same networks. That is really shocking. Uh, 338 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: The survey should really be a matter of concern not 339 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,959 Speaker 1: just a Microsoft, which clearly the company has a vested 340 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: interest in seeing their products get widespread adoption, but it 341 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: also should be a big concern to I T professionals 342 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: in general. On various networks, a significant number of machines 343 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: are running on end of life versions of Windows. That is, 344 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: versions of Windows that Microsoft no longer supports, like XP 345 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: and Windows seven. Those are no longer getting support updates. 346 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: That means that for any of the exploits that have 347 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: popped up since Microsoft ended support, and any future exploits 348 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: there's no real chance to rescue there. Right, these machines 349 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: are going to be vulnerable to that kind of exploitation. 350 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: So this is why it's a good idea to try 351 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,200 Speaker 1: and stay up to date with operating systems whenever possible. 352 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:20,159 Speaker 1: That being said, I do have a couple of caveats 353 00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: to this. Generally, I suggest that you balance out the 354 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: need to be up to date with the latest versions 355 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: of operating systems with waiting a short while once updates 356 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 1: come out to make sure that they don't break stuff, 357 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: because sometimes an update will break things, and depending on 358 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: what it breaks, it might be something important. Right. However, 359 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: there's a caveat to that caveat, which is that in 360 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: the case of urgent security updates. Let's say that there 361 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:53,640 Speaker 1: was a a critical vulnerability found within an operating system 362 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: and a patch is sent out, I think then it 363 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: is a good idea to update as soon as you 364 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 1: have access to that that patch, because vulnerabilities are serious 365 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: things like you do not want your device to get compromised. However, 366 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 1: Windows eleven it has not had widespread adoption, even though 367 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: like a lot of tech people love to jump on 368 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,239 Speaker 1: the latest thing. Windows does not appear to be one 369 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: of those things. Uh. One reason for that might be 370 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: that Windows eleven also has some relatively hefty resource requirements, 371 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: so your computer needs to be, you know, a fairly 372 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: recent machine to run Windows eleven effectively. So for some 373 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: folks it's just not practical to upgrade to the latest 374 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: OS because you know, you don't want your operating system 375 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: eating up all your computer's resources, leaving nothing for anything else. Um. 376 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 1: That was my big issue with Windows when it first 377 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: came out way way back when I was one of 378 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: those grouchy kids who was, you know, grousing about the 379 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: fact that we were moving away from MS DOSS to Windows. 380 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: Because the Windows operating system required so much uh, computational resources, 381 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: which was granted, a fraction of what you would have 382 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:14,919 Speaker 1: in a even a even a modest smartphone would be 383 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: better than the computer I had back then. But because 384 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: the operating system was requiring so much processing power, it 385 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: limited what you could actually run on the machine. And 386 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: I thought that was ridiculous at the time. I still 387 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: think it's ridiculous now, but it's just the way of 388 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: the world. So anyway, that's one reason why a lot 389 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: of people haven't upgraded the Windows eleven is just that 390 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: it's not ideal for whatever machine they're running on. Meanwhile, 391 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: we're still in a supply chain nightmare and a semiconductor 392 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: chip shortage on top of that. That's you know, part 393 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,120 Speaker 1: of the supply chain issue, and getting a new computer 394 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,919 Speaker 1: isn't necessarily easy, nor is it cheap because you know, 395 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: we've seen those prices start to go up because of 396 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: these the supply chain issues. So there are a lot 397 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: of legit reasons why people my be holding back on 398 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,960 Speaker 1: adopting Windows eleven. It's really seen as the kind of 399 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: operating system that is coming out with new machines, and 400 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: there's just not as big of a market for new 401 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: machines right now because of all those reasons. So this 402 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: could be a problem that sticks around a little bit 403 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: and has little to nothing to do with the actual 404 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,959 Speaker 1: quality of the operating system itself. It's a very frustrating 405 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,960 Speaker 1: problem to have, I'm sure for Microsoft. Here in the US, 406 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: lawmakers are introducing, or rather reintroducing legislation that aims to 407 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,199 Speaker 1: make it illegal for people to use automated bots to 408 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,159 Speaker 1: buy up retail goods. That issue is the fact that 409 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: when certain products are on the verge of exploding and 410 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:43,320 Speaker 1: popularity or demand, some folks who have a lot of 411 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: money will use bots to buy up all the available products, 412 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,399 Speaker 1: and then they might sell them off at marked up 413 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,320 Speaker 1: prices on like auction sites. I always think this might 414 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: be a thing that happens with Treasure Truck. Maybe it's 415 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: just me. I sometimes get notifications from Amazon about Treasure 416 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: Truck stuff, and occasionally I'll check it out of curiosity, 417 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: And almost always when I check it, it turns out 418 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,120 Speaker 1: that whatever the thing was, I mean, even if I 419 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: click on it, as soon as I get that text message, 420 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: it says it's out of stock, which either means there's 421 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: an incredibly small amount of stock that's being on offer, 422 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: or maybe I'm getting the message too late, or perhaps 423 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,240 Speaker 1: people are using bots to buy those things up before 424 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,120 Speaker 1: other folks get a chance to. But you really see 425 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,920 Speaker 1: this with stuff like video game consoles. This is one 426 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: of the many reasons why it's hard to get hold 427 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: of something like a PlayStation five right now. It also 428 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: is a big issue with graphics cards, even though we've 429 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: seen bitcoin miners move away from graphics cards, because even 430 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 1: the most powerful graphics cards now don't have the oo 431 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: needed to do bitcoin mining. Even though that has stopped 432 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: being as big of an issue, we still see graphics 433 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: cards getting bought up faster than people can even you know, 434 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 1: keep them in stock. So this proposed legislation has the 435 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: cute nickname of Stopping Grench Bots Act. For those who 436 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: are unaware. The Grench as a character from a Dr. 437 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: Seuss book, and he famously invades a small town to 438 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: steal all the Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. Anyway, lawmakers 439 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,880 Speaker 1: previously introduced this proposal back in twenty nineteen, but it 440 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: didn't go very far. It kind of stalled out. But 441 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: that was before the pandemic and before all the supply 442 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: chain issues that I've been alluding to throughout this episode. 443 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: And perhaps this year it can get a little more 444 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: traction as Americans struggled to engage in the rampant consumerism 445 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,920 Speaker 1: that marks the holiday season. All right, speaking of rampant consumerism, 446 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,199 Speaker 1: it's time for us to take a quick break for 447 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: some ads. We will be back with a few more 448 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: stories after this. We're back, Okay, just a few more 449 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,400 Speaker 1: stories to round out this episode for us. Of all, 450 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: the car manufacturing company Nissan has announced plans to budget 451 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: nearly seventeen point six billion dollars towards electrifying its fleet 452 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: of vehicles, shifting more resources towards the design and production 453 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: of electric vehicles in anticipation of more regions throughout the 454 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 1: world passing e V mandates. You know, there are a 455 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: lot of places like the UK that have said that 456 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: by twenty thirty five, for example, no more internal combustion 457 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,399 Speaker 1: engine cars will be available for sale, no more new ones. 458 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,680 Speaker 1: That is, you can still sell older vehicles, but all 459 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: new vehicles will have to be electric vehicles from that 460 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: point forward. Uh. Nissan interestingly did not go so far 461 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: as to make a commitment towards ending production of internal 462 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: combustion engine vehicles, and in fact, there are a couple 463 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: of Japanese companies manufacturing car manufacturing companies that have also 464 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: not gone to that step. Um, perhaps hoping that that 465 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: either the adoption of electric vehicles will be the aid, 466 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: or that, you know, maybe it's just too expensive to 467 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: shift operations to e V production. But whatever the reason, 468 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: we're seeing a couple of companies kind of drag their 469 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: feet on this, and Nissan appears to be one of them. Uh. 470 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: The company said that it will be introducing twenty three 471 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: new electric vehicles by and more than half of those 472 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: will be fully electric. The rest will be hybrids of 473 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: some sort. Right now, the company plans for electric vehicles 474 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: to make up to its sales by twenty forty here 475 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: in the United States. That's assuming, of course, that we 476 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: don't see more states passing these similar kinds of mandates, 477 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: or even a federal mandate that requires all new vehicles 478 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: to be electric vehicles. In that case, that entire strategy 479 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: will have to be rethought. Meanwhile, some BMW models are 480 00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:00,120 Speaker 1: going to have fewer options than what would typically be 481 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: offered because of that ding dang darn semi conductor chip 482 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: shortage I was talking about. It has forced BMW to 483 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: nix the touch screen that would typically be found in 484 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: models like the BMW X five or the X six 485 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 1: series or X seven or Z four series, as well 486 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: as others. I think the BMW three and four both 487 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: have models that have typically the touch screen as an 488 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: option in the vehicle. Now they're not going to have that. Instead, 489 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: they will have controls in the center console, kind of 490 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: like older BMW models. They used a BMW system called 491 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: I drive Controller and it was all built in the 492 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: center console. It looks like these new cars are also 493 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: going to go back to that older design. BMW has 494 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: recognized that this is a step back and has announced 495 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: that it will offer a five dollar credit on models 496 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: that should have had a touch screen but will no 497 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,280 Speaker 1: longer have them. This has affected other stuff, but sides 498 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: just an interface in the car. Uh there was a 499 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: backup assistant feature that was part of the parking Assistant 500 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: package that the Parking Assistant package is still going to 501 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: be available in these vehicles, but the backup Assistant feature 502 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 1: is no longer an option that would allow you to 503 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,640 Speaker 1: use a system that would automatically reverse the process of 504 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 1: parking when you were backing out so that you could 505 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: get out of things like super tight spaces or whatever. 506 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: Now you're just gonna have to do it on your 507 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: own again. And in South Korea, the National Police Agency 508 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: is advocating for a new process that would require elderly 509 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 1: drivers to apply for conditional driver's licenses before being allowed 510 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: to drive. This process would include a joy ride in 511 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: a virtual vehicle, so the idea is to use VR 512 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: to test the elderly to make certain they can still 513 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: operate a vehicle. Safely under normal conditions, both day driving 514 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: and night driving. From why I understand the people who 515 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,720 Speaker 1: will apply I for this conditional license will have to 516 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: wear a VR headset and they will go through a scenario, 517 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: a series of scenarios three both in in day and 518 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: in night that will introduce things like an incident that 519 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: happens that you have to respond to common stuff like 520 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: let's say someone cuts you off on the highway. Um, 521 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: you would have to be able to respond safely and 522 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: quickly to be able to avoid any kind of collision. 523 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: That's the kind of thing that they're going to replicate 524 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: or simulate with this VR system. So South Korea has 525 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: an aging population and police are concerned about a rise 526 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: in accident rates, in traffic accident rates that involved senior drivers. 527 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: So this is an effort to try and identify potential 528 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: issues before they become hazardous or deadly. The plan is 529 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: to have this new process in place by twenty five. 530 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 1: And finally, I have an update on the James web 531 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: Space telescope story. So I mentioned last week that there 532 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: was an accident that caused a vibration to move through 533 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: the telescope. The telescope itself is a satellite telescope. It's 534 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:18,520 Speaker 1: an incredibly sensitive piece of machinery, very delicate. It's got 535 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: lots of delicate moving parts. Uh. For example, it has 536 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,680 Speaker 1: this massive array of mirrors that will have to unfold 537 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 1: in space that will end up reflecting electromagnetic waves towards 538 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:37,920 Speaker 1: the detector on the telescope. So if those actuators are damaged, well, 539 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: then the telescope just won't work because you have to 540 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 1: have those mirrors in the proper configuration in order for 541 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: it to focus very weak signals so that we can 542 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 1: study them. Well, the little incident meant that at the 543 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: very least the telescope's launch would have to be delayed 544 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:58,520 Speaker 1: from December eighteen to quote no earlier than December twenty 545 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: two end quote. Well, now NASA has conducted a thorough investigation. 546 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: Engineers were looking for any signs of damage in the telescope. 547 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: They reported that they found none. So NASA has now 548 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:15,680 Speaker 1: authorized the launch for December twenty second, seven twenty a 549 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: m Eastern Standard time. So it seems like the very 550 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: very long journey to launch is coming to an end 551 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: after more than a decade. I mean, I've got a 552 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: tattoo that is related to the James Webb Space Telescope, 553 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,560 Speaker 1: and I got that tattoo a few years ago. Soon 554 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: after this happens, we'll have another long journey ahead of us, 555 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:43,040 Speaker 1: but this time it will be one marked in you know, miles, 556 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: rather than in years. We're talking about the journey into 557 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: space itself. The telescope will go into orbit and it 558 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: will search for answers about how the earliest stars and 559 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,960 Speaker 1: galaxies took shape in our universe right at the very 560 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 1: beginning of time, as well as it will help study 561 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,960 Speaker 1: exoplanets in our ongoing quest to find out if there 562 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:07,240 Speaker 1: are other planets in our neighborhood that could potentially harbor 563 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: life on them. And by neighborhood, I mean like our galaxy, 564 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,520 Speaker 1: not our solar system. But that would be really cool, 565 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: whether to you know, possibly study and search for actual 566 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:21,839 Speaker 1: life or just you know, kind of make plans for 567 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: far off distant future travels that would take generations to complete. Anyway, 568 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,680 Speaker 1: I think it's pretty exciting. I really hope that the 569 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: rest of the process goes without any more incidents. This 570 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: telescope has been through a lot, and the only incident 571 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,279 Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind having more discussion about is the name 572 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: of the telescope. But apart from that, like, there have 573 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: been so many delays associated with this particular device that 574 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: it would be really nice if we could get it 575 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,120 Speaker 1: up into space and have it operational, you know, within 576 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: a few months. That's my hope. We'll have to see 577 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: if it happens. And that is it for the news 578 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:05,439 Speaker 1: for Tuesday, November one. Just a heads up, we will 579 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,360 Speaker 1: not have a news episode on Thursday. We have another 580 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 1: episode of Smart Talks with IBM publishing on Thursday. I 581 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 1: think that might be the final one that publishes in 582 00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,800 Speaker 1: tech Stuff, and after that it'll it'll just be me again, 583 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,399 Speaker 1: you know, just us. I hope you like that. If 584 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,840 Speaker 1: you have any suggestions for topics I should cover on 585 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff, whether it's a technology, a company, 586 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 1: a trend in tech, anything tech related like that, shoot 587 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,360 Speaker 1: me a message on Twitter let me know. The handle 588 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: for the show is text Stuff H s W and 589 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:51,080 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is 590 00:36:51,120 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 1: an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from my 591 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 592 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite show.