WEBVTT - Tech News - Time Flies in VR 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.720 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.680 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:19.799 and a love of all things tech. And this is 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:24.000 the tech news for Thursday, May two thousand twenty one. 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:26.920 If I sound a little different, because I'm actually in 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:31.319 the studio today though I'm using my old equipment that 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:33.920 I use at home. But yeah, I'm in a different 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.240 recording environment. Just in case it sounds a little odd, 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:40.479 let's get into the news. Just as in Tuesday's episode, 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.159 we will start today with some stories about global politics 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.440 and global tech companies. And as I mentioned earlier this week, 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.120 big tech companies are really feeling pressure points from lots 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.160 of different sources due to global politics and policies. Now, 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:57.720 sometimes that pressure comes from, you know, a government or 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:02.200 a group of governments, and sometimes it comes from advocacy groups. 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.720 This particular story is about the latter. Numerous groups have 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:09.080 urged Google to pull out from a cloud computing project 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.640 in Saudi Arabia. The concern is that Google's efforts would 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.119 help enable a regime that has committed human rights violations. So, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.160 in other words, Google might make it easier for the 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.440 Saudi government to hurt people. Those groups include Human Rights 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.880 Watch and Amnesty International, and back in ten you might 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:35.080 remember the terrible story of the Saudi journalist Jamal ka Shoji, 0:01:35.480 --> 0:01:40.039 who was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Instantabul, Turkey. 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.120 Uh The CIA concluded that the Crown Prince Mohammed Ben 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:49.040 Solomon ordered that assassination. That particular event drew a great 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.480 deal of attention towards Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.320 and while by no means it was the only horrific 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:59.000 act attributable to the Saudi government, it is one that 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.880 stood out and the rights organizations argue that Google's cloud 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.520 product could allow the government to spy on its own 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:10.440 people as well as people visiting Saudi Arabia, It could 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.440 allow the government to limit freedom of expression, and it 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.720 could have a negative impact on due process. Humans Rights 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:19.840 Watch published a response from Google that said the company 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:23.320 had submitted its cloud project to an independent human rights 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:27.600 organization in order to identify possible points where that tool 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.960 could be abused, and that Google then quote took steps 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.400 to address matters identified as part of that review. In 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.160 the quote alright, I'm gonna chime in here now. Usually 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.640 you could say that tools are neither good nor bad. 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.360 It's all on how we use them. So a hammer 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.880 can be a useful construction tool, or it could be 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.359 used as a weapon. And while Google might identify obvious 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.280 points where they need to adjust their approach to try 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:59.240 and prevent abuse, the fact is that if someone gets 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.399 hold of a tool and they want to use it destructively, 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.959 they typically will find a way to do that. And 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.920 usually it's a way that other folks just didn't anticipate 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:13.239 because they're looking at it from a preventive standpoint as 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.560 opposed to figuring out how you would use this to 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:19.000 actually attack someone. So my point is that I'm not 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.000 sure there is a way for Google to see this 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:26.480 project through while also maintaining, you know, a spotless image 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:30.280 with regard to any abuses the saudiast might commit. It 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.760 feels a bit too close to them trying to assume 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:38.000 plausible deniability to me. But as of this recording, it 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:40.960 appears like that project is still for a go. It's 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.960 still still heading on. Moving over to Iran, the country's 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.800 government has banned cryptocurrency mining for the next few months, 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:53.960 in anticipation of increased demands in electricity usage. Iran has 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:58.080 issues with its electrical grid and has seen it's seen 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:02.080 it fail in the past due to high demand, so 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.760 they've had blackouts that have hit entire regions when energy 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.920 consumption was much higher than normal. They ban on bitcoin 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.920 mining and other cryptocurrency mining has already begun and it's 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:16.400 going to last until September twenty two. Now, as I've 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:20.400 covered several times, cryptocurrencies that use a proof of work 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.240 approach to mining, which includes bitcoin, they suck up a 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:27.680 lot of electricity. Now that's not necessarily by design. So 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.760 in the old days, a bitcoin was worth practically nothing. 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.279 You might have heard the story about the guy who 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.920 used thousands of bitcoins to order a pizza, for example. 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.600 Back in those days, the return on investment in bitcoin 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.400 mining was really low, so it didn't make sense to 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.799 have a big mining operation. You would spend more money 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.040 running it than you would in the proceeds you got 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.160 from mining. So a relatively small number of computers were 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.920 actively mining on the bitcoin system. But as interest in 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.760 the cryptocurrency grew, more people wanted to get in on it, 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.800 and as demand increased. But the supply remains, you know, 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:07.080 pretty steady. Every ten minutes, some more bitcoins are released, 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.560 but it's not a huge amount. Well, that just meant 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.320 that the value of the currency grew, and as the 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.320 value went up, more people began to jump on board 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.800 to try and mind cryptocurrency because now mining was becoming profitable, 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.839 and this led to the equivalent of a gold rush. Today, 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.200 massive computer networks attempt to be the first to mind 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.760 the next block for the the bitcoins that are released 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:34.280 when you verify a block of transactions. These computers are 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:38.159 running on super fast processors. Typically they have state of 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.880 the art graphics processing units or GPUs. That in turn 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.240 has had a big impact on the video game industry 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:46.960 because it becomes really hard to get the best graphics 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.600 card for your gaming rig because all the ding dang 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.960 bitcoin miners are grabbing them. Add to that the energy 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:56.719 needs you required to keep operations cool enough so that 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.160 your computers don't overheat, and you end up consuming more 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.520 electricity in bitcoin mining per year than the annual amount 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:08.520 of electricity used by some countries like Argentina. This has 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.520 been a big point in conversations about fossil fuels and 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.320 climate change, as not all bitcoin mining operations are dependent 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:19.040 upon renewable energy sources, but it's also a strain on 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.839 utility infrastructure, as is the case with Iran, and according 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:26.240 to analytics firm Elliptic, around four and a half percent 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:31.200 of all bitcoin mining worldwide happens in Iran. With China 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.679 cracking down on cryptocurrency for various reasons which we covered 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.200 on Tuesday, and now Iran putting the brakes on operations 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.359 for several months, this could mean that the cryptocurrency market 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.280 will still have a few more bumps in the road 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.200 for you know, the near future. Now, let us pop 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.640 over to the UK where things are changing with regard 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.080 to Uber. For the first time, Uber has recognized the 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:57.840 legitimacy of a union formed by UK workers who drive 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.120 for the company. The union g m B will be 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.440 able to stand as a representative for UK drivers and 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.040 negotiate deals with regard to stuff like earnings and benefits 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:13.040 and pensions. This is a huge shift. Traditionally, Uber has 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.800 maintained that Uber drivers are not Uber employees, They're not 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:22.600 Uber workers. Rather, Uber says these people are freelancers, their 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:27.560 contract workers who work with Uber but not for Uber, 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.840 and so argues Uber the company really only has obligations 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.679 to provide benefits and such to corporate employees, the people 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.520 who work for Uber's offices. But several lawsuits have gradually 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:43.119 kind of reshaped this issue, and the UK Supreme Court 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:46.880 ruled that no, you know what, actually, Uber drivers should 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:51.640 be considered employees and they are thus entitled to those considerations. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.880 So now in the UK, the GMB and Uber will 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:59.080 meet every quarter to discuss driver issues and concerns, and 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.200 Uber and GM will also meet to talk about Uber's 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.080 national living wage guarantee and what that looks like in 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:09.120 the UK, as well as stuff like pensions. Drivers will 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.320 have to sign up to join the union because membership 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.880 is not automatic. Also, while this is potentially great news 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.280 for UK Uber drivers, the company has not made any 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.000 similar moves in other countries. There are a lot of 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:26.920 groups advocating for change, but I mean Uber actively campaigned 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.720 against that in California just recently. So so far, the 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.120 UK is the only spot where we're really seeing this 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:37.120 kind of Uber working with you know, a union and 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:41.040 and allowing their drivers to be known as employees. It's 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.760 also good to remember the Uber is a company that 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.959 continues to lose money on a quarterly basis, in they 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.160 averaged at about a billion dollars per quarter. Actually, when 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.000 it was all said and done, they lost about six 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.000 point seven billion dollars in. Now, that was bad, but 0:08:57.160 --> 0:08:59.839 still better than twenty nineteen when they lost eight point 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:05.360 five one billion dollars. So yeah, Uper's future is one 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.880 that's really up in the air. The company keeps saying 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.559 that you know, they are on track for profitability. In fact, 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.320 up until the end of last year there was a 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.440 hope that they were going to be able to to 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.680 post a profit in but that did not happen, So 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:28.040 maybe their year left to see. European rights organization including 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:32.319 Privacy International, have filed complaints against a company called clear 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:37.720 View AI. That company specializes in facial recognition technology. The 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.280 complaints say that the company scrapes image data from various 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:46.400 websites and services and that this practice violates European privacy laws. 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.439 Clear View AI has said that it has a database 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.240 of more than three billion facial images and the company 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:59.079 frequently scans content from sites and services like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:03.520 and YouTube. Then the company organizes that database and sells 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:07.880 access to it to various parties like other private companies 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:12.080 or with law enforcement agencies. So the advocacy groups say 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.400 that this practice goes far beyond what users expect when 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.720 they post on these websites, and that this leads to 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:22.280 not just an invasion of privacy concern, but the potential 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:26.920 for harassment and wrongful accusations and more. This isn't the 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.000 first time groups have taken aim at clear View AI. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.960 There are other inquiries and investigations going on in Australia, Canada, 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.920 and the United States. Also, Hey, if you're curious, you 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.000 can actually go to clear views website and use tools 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:46.280 to request any data that the company might have on you. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.320 You can also tell clear view AI if you want 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.600 to have your face omitted from clients searches in the future. 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.560 And if a lot of people did that, it would 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:59.320 really undermine the value of clear Views product. I'm not 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.240 telling you to do it, I'm just saying it's an option. 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:08.079 On Tuesday, after our last tech News episode went live, 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.560 which is always the way, vm Ware disclosed a security 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:17.199 vulnerability in its v Center server tool, and simultaneously they 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:21.720 issued a patch to address that vulnerability. This tool lets 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:26.520 database administrators manage computer virtualization and let me give you 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.319 a quick word on that in case you are unfamiliar 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:34.120 with that term. Virtualization allows you to virtually divide up 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.720 the assets of a physical computer as if it were 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:42.120 more than one physical computer. Now, you might use virtualization 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.600 so that your computer runs as if it were a 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:49.080 totally different type of computer running on a different operating system. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.480 That's one version of virtualization where you're not really dividing 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.760 it up so much as you're having your computer kind 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:58.600 of mimic a different type of machine because of this 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:03.040 virtual environment. Or you could use it to partition a 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:07.240 computer so that different partitions have no contact with one 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.640 another their siloed. This is important for the purposes of 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:14.120 data security and that kind of thing. Well, anyway, vm 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.240 Whare says the vulnerability could mean that hackers would have 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:21.000 the opportunity to inject malware into servers running this kind 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:24.319 of software. If there is a port on the server 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.960 that connects out to the Internet, and a lot of servers, 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.200 do you know, a lot of them connect out to 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.199 the Internet in some way or another, So how bad 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.040 is this vulnerability? Well, according to security analysts, if you 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:39.400 were to rank vulnerabilities on a scale of one being 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:44.320 not very serious and tend being catastrophic. This one is 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:49.120 a nine point eight. It is a critical vulnerability. Anyone 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.840 who works on servers and uses this software that is 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:56.440 the v Center Server tool should immediately get the patch 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.600 and install it on those servers, or restrict access to 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.760 those servers, you know, disconnect them from the Internet until 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.360 they can be patched. It is that big of a deal. 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:12.440 Instagram has been testing a feature in several countries for 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:16.080 the past two years that it is now rolling out worldwide, 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.240 and it's an option that users can select that lets 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.160 them hide the number of likes and views that they 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.680 get on any given post. For some on social media, 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.520 likes and views that's kind of like currency. For influencers. 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.960 It's a way to show relevance and potentially land sponsorship deals. 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.080 But judging your own value on how many likes or 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.480 views you did or didn't get on a post isn't 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:44.920 necessarily healthy. I mean, I know, I have fixated on 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.280 that a few times, and it's always been a bad idea. 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.360 I mostly do it over on Twitter, where I'll make 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.559 what I think was a great tweet and then I get, 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.720 you know, kind of grouchy when there aren't that many 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:00.560 likes for it or shares or anything. Now, that's just 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:05.079 dumb of me to do that to myself. Now on Instagram, 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.280 people can choose to hide those numbers and just use 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.360 the app to share photos without you know, thinking about 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.559 whether the thing they posted was the best picture at 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:17.440 the best time or whatever. And I think for a 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.440 lot of users that's actually really helpful. Now, obviously, for influencers, 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.160 it's probably not something they're going to use very often, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.280 even though I think a few folks of the influencers 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:32.920 category might benefit from taking a break of quantifying their 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.320 own worth based on how people interact with their content. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.000 But hey, I'm just a grumpy old dude who shakes 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:42.440 his fist at passing clouds. Right, I'm an old content 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.480 creator who thinks sometimes it's good to kind of distance 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.640 yourself from that, because otherwise it can lead you down 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:53.160 a pretty dark mental pathway. If you would like to 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.880 activate this feature, then you can log into Instagram. You 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.960 can go to settings, You go to the posts section, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.880 and and you should see an option to hide like 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.560 and view counts. Boom sordid. People will still be able 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.840 to like and view your stuff, obviously, but you won't 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.240 have that number in plain sight, you know, mocking you 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.640 or nagging you to do better, which for me, I 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.640 mean that sounds ideal. It's not for everyone, but for 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.920 people like me, I think it's a great feature. Well, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:25.840 I've got a little bit more news to go, but 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:37.720 first let's take a quick break. We're back and hay, 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:42.560 do you use Twitter like a lot? And do you 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.520 rely on Twitter to do stuff like make connections, sell 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.760 your brand or try to get Neil Gaiman to notice you. Well, 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.000 if you're like me, the answer to those things is yeah, 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.960 and you probably feel a little sad about it, like 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.880 I do. Anyway, Twitter has a new service coming aimed 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:06.040 just at people like you and me. It's their premium service, 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.000 so yes, that does mean you will have to pay 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.840 to get access to these new features. Features like a 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:17.560 bookmarking feature and an undo tweets feature, which sounds like 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.320 it's the closest thing we're ever going to get to, 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.400 an edit button, and you know, there might be other 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.720 features as well, but like, we don't know. Because all 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:29.480 this news comes from an app researcher named Jane man 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:33.240 Chun Wong. She came across this information and shared it. 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:37.640 Twitter itself has not yet commented on this planned service, 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.760 but apparently, at least right now, it has the name 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:45.440 Twitter Blue and the subscription is a low two dollars 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.840 n cents per month. This, by the way, is a 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:53.320 separate offering from the already announced subscription based service that 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.440 Twitter is going to offer up that will allow you know, 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.920 Twitter users to set up a paid for tier of 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.160 access for their followers. So this would be like, if 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.600 I set this up, then followers who really liked me 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:11.320 could subscribe to this exclusive feed and get you know, 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:16.440 special data, special content that I'm only posting to that 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.240 version of my Twitter, and they're doing it for a 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:22.600 recurring fee, and Twitter takes a share of that subscription price. 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.679 That's something you're not likely to see me use, because 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:29.560 let's face it, I'm not important enough and I would 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.720 spend way too much time just trying to figure out 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.880 what I could say in those like two dly characters 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.520 that would be worth paying for. But these efforts show 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.080 how Twitter is looking to diversify its revenue sources. The 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.840 company has had issues attracting new users that that number 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.640 has kind of plateaued, which means it's tough to grow 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:53.320 revenue and generally speaking, in modern day business, that's a 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.480 bad thing. It's not good enough to make money. You 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:00.720 need to make more money than you made last year. Hi. 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.680 Facebook has announced that the social media platform will begin 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:09.919 to use its algorithm to counteract misinformation, which, you know, 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.000 I think it's a nice change of pace, since that 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:17.199 algorithm so far has really helped elevate and propagate misinformation. 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:20.600 The company says that now it will both label posts 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:24.840 appearing to contain misinformation and d prioritize those posts from 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.600 appearing in the feeds of other people, but it will 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:31.160 also lower the visibility of the users who are sharing 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:35.639 those posts. So if I start sharing posts that have 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:40.480 been found to contain outright lies and misinformation, what should 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.120 happen is that from that point forward, if I've done 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.160 it enough, all of my posts, not just the ones 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.960 containing misinformation, will start to show up in fewer feeds. 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.240 So would be kind of like if I found myself 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.720 in a glass cage of sadness that's sound proved, and 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:58.520 meanwhile that cage is in the middle of a big 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:01.119 old party, and that's going on all around me. I 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.640 could yell at the top of my lungs what's going on? 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.800 Or you know I could I could try and spread 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.919 misinformation from inside my glass cage, or or even I 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.760 could just say I'm thinking of getting pizza tonight, and 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.119 folks around me wasn't here because Facebook's disincentivizing the spread 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:21.480 of misinformation. There d prioritizing those messages so they don't 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.600 pop up for most people. And I actually feel like 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:29.240 this tactic, assuming the system works, is a pretty good one. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.520 It helps cut down on the echo chamber effect, and 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.119 it means that the people who try and spread misinformation 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:40.280 purposefully are going to find their influence diminishing as a result. Now, 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:42.880 the way this will work in practice is that Facebook 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.160 will keep tabs on people who have repeatedly shared posts 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:50.320 that Facebook fact checkers have flagged as containing misinformation, So 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.920 if you do that enough times, you'll find yourself essentially demoted. 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.440 Do I think this is going to solve the problems 0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:01.040 of misinformation spreading across on Facebook? Probably not. A lot 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:02.680 more has to happen for that to be a thing, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:06.520 which might require a massive change in how advertisers work 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.159 with Facebook in order for that to come about, But 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:13.000 I think it might be a step in the right direction. Possibly, 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:15.400 we'll have to see how it actually plays out when 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:19.400 it's being put in use. Okay, let's go back to England, 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:23.800 shall we, because our penultimate story is one that's all 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:29.400 about fusion. Stars are giant nuclear fusion reactors in which 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.880 elements fused together and in the process release enormous amounts 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:37.840 of energy. Or, as the somewhat apocryphal song goes, the 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.960 sun is a massive incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.119 where hydrogen is built into helium and a temperature of 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:50.719 billions of degrees. That's somewhat misleading, but still catchy. So 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:53.880 with with the son, you're talking about four hydrogen atoms 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:57.320 that fused together to form a helium adam Well, scientists 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.840 and engineers have been trying to make a sustainable, trollable, 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:05.560 usable fusion reactor here on Earth for years, and if 0:21:05.600 --> 0:21:09.080 they succeed, this could lead to an energy revolution. So 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:11.720 remember when I was talking about concerns about how much 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:16.919 electricity cryptocurrency requires, Well, if we have working fusion reactors, 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:20.440 that wouldn't be as big of a concern as long 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:24.119 as the actual infrastructure of power lines and transformers, you know, 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:27.320 all the physical stuff that conveys electricity. As long as 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:30.800 that could hold up to the demand, we'd be pretty good. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:36.679 Nuclear fusion, unlike nuclear fission, does not generate dangerous radioactive waste, 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:40.640 but nuclear fusion does have some big challenges. For example, 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:44.959 to get fusion reactions, you're typically working with systems that 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.399 have to generate enormous amounts of heat and pressure. So 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:51.400 we're talking about conditions that could be even more intense 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:53.800 than what you would find at the core of the sun. 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.240 That requires a lot of energy to do, which means 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.440 that many prototype fusion reactors have encountered the problem that 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.960 it can take more energy to generate the fusion reaction 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:07.840 then you get out of the other side of it. 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:11.440 Another challenge, one that some scientists in the UK think 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:14.879 they've really overcome, has to do with exhaust gases that 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:18.679 incredibly hot helium gas that gets generated as a result 0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:22.639 of fusion. Now, these gases are in more than a 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:26.200 hundred million degrees of celsius hot. I mean they are 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:30.200 insanely hot, hotter than the surface of the sun. Hot. 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.639 That means they're also going to cause a lot of 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:38.359 damage to elements of reactors as they exhaust out, like 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.880 they come into contact with the sides of the reactor, 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:44.560 they can start melting tiles, even tiles that are made 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:50.120 out of very melt resistant materials like tungsten. So getting 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.920 fusion reactions efficient is one area of research and we've 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:56.080 seen a lot of progress there. And now finding a 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:59.359 way to cool those exhaust gases faster so that they 0:22:59.480 --> 0:23:02.560 cause less where and tear is another big one. The 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:06.480 exhaust system the scientists developed has a cool name, which 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.000 I mean, I guess that's fitting because it's cooling gas 0:23:09.600 --> 0:23:14.359 and it is the super ex diverter. It diverts generated 0:23:14.400 --> 0:23:18.200 helium from fusion reactions down a long pathway to cool 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:21.000 and the cooling happens pretty fast. I mean like that 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:24.520 energy losses is quick, and because the helium is traveling 0:23:24.560 --> 0:23:27.840 down sort of a straightaway, it's not banging into the 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:31.280 tiled sides of the reactor structure. And this is a 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:34.200 great step, but we're still looking at a long term 0:23:34.280 --> 0:23:38.120 implementation plan for fusion reactors. The estimate is that we're 0:23:38.160 --> 0:23:40.919 not going to see a commercially viable fusion reactor for 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:44.640 at least another twenty years. So while they are promising 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.679 and if they work out, they will transform the world, 0:23:48.240 --> 0:23:49.960 we still have a lot of work to do to 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:55.280 address our energy needs in the meantime. Finally, let's talk 0:23:55.320 --> 0:23:59.920 about our perception of time. Now, we have all experienced 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.280 the fact that we perceive time passing at different rates 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:07.200 depending on what's going on. That our perception isn't a constant. 0:24:07.240 --> 0:24:10.520 We're not like a reliable clock that is just ticking 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:14.440 down each second to incredible precision. So when you're in 0:24:14.520 --> 0:24:16.840 the middle of doing something that you don't really want 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:21.240 to do, time just drags on. When you're enjoying yourself, 0:24:21.480 --> 0:24:23.639 time zooms by I mean, we've got that phrase right. 0:24:23.760 --> 0:24:27.679 Time flies when you're having fun. But now researchers have 0:24:27.880 --> 0:24:32.520 seen through some experiments that in certain virtual reality experiences, 0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:36.879