WEBVTT - Tech News: Russia Shuts Down Instagram 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.760 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.840 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.360 And how the tech are you. It's time for the 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:25.959 tech news for March twenty twenty two. And while I 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.480 see a lot of folks behaving as if the pandemic 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.920 we're totally over, we're not really out of the woods yet. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:36.320 Over in China, there's been a concerning COVID nineteen outbreak, 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:41.640 technically the largest in two years, and in response, various 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.920 regional and city government officials have tightened restrictions in different 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:48.320 areas of China in an effort to stop the spread 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.560 of the virus, and that has subsequently had a huge 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:56.560 impact on certain manufacturing facilities in Shinjin uh These include 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:59.960 fox con, which is the company that supplies many component 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.960 it's for various apple products. But in addition, you have 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:09.559 other companies like Intel, Volkswagen, and Toyota having major manufacturing 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.800 facilities in the area that have had to scale back 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.679 or even halt production. The Chinese government has created an 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:20.000 allowance for companies if those companies are able to create 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.120 a sort of bubble for their workers. And by bubble, 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:25.959 I mean there really has to be a controlled, closed 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.959 environment within which workers aren't just doing their jobs but 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:33.720 are actually living there as well. In other words, it's 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:35.520 only a bubble if there's no way out of it. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.440 Though this does not necessarily mean that employees would be 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:41.760 you know, confined to the same structure for both working 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.600 and living. You know, they might have like a dormitory 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:50.120 or something in addition to the factory. Still, that's a 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:53.840 big yikes. Some companies like fox Con are attempting to 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:58.440 shift operations to other manufacturing facilities inside China that are 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.120 not seeing the same eyes in COVID cases. And it's 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.080 too early yet to say for sure to what extent 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.600 these events are going to have on things like supply 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.960 chain issues, but some analysts already are worried that we 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.480 could see the effects of this lasting as long as 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.480 six months before we're able to close the gap that 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.480 would be created by you know, these these slowdowns and 0:02:22.480 --> 0:02:27.720 and stoppages. Some might argue that China's zero case policy 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:32.079 toward COVID is too extreme and should be amended. Uh, 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.440 And it's kind of hard to push back on that. 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.680 So on the one hand, obviously you don't want outbreaks. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.000 On the other, shutting everything down every time there's a 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:45.560 rise in cases causes massive disruptions like these. However, as 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:48.560 long as the illness poses a significant risk to people's lives, 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.720 I personally find it very hard to say, you know, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.560 it's worth the risk. So this is a really tough call. 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.919 And I'm not saying that I have all the answers. 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.280 I know I don't want people to get sick, but 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:07.640 I also recognize the challenges that come about when you 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.840 know you have these massive interruptions and supply chains. Speaking 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.560 of fox Con, the company is rumored to have submitted 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.760 a proposal to build a nine billion dollar manufacturing facility 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:23.840 in Saudi Arabia. This facility would make microchips and electronic 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.960 components for other companies, you know, stuff like displays, that 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.440 kind of thing. Again, for the fox cons customers are 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.399 not people like you and and me. That's it's big 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:39.119 companies like Apple Now. Reportedly, the logic behind this move 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:43.080 largely comes from the tenuous relationship between China and the 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:47.960 United States. Most of fox CON's customers, like the aforementioned Apple, 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.840 are from outside China. Of course, Saudi Arabia has its 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.480 own tenuous relationship with the US. The country is associated 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.240 with a multitude of human rights violations as well as 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.920 crimes such as the murder of journalist Jamal Kashow Game. 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:06.560 There have been numerous dignitaries and activists who have repeatedly 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:10.160 called upon the United States to impose sanctions against Saudi Arabia. 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.440 To get into all of that would require really an 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.560 entire series of podcasts, and I'm pretty sure by the 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.800 end of that I would be a jaded, cynical husk 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.320 of a host. But anyway, fox Con is reportedly looking 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:27.440 at other potential sites as well, including the United Arab Emirates, 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:32.880 so it's not just Saudi Arabia. Russia has blocked Instagram, which, 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.640 according to Adam Massari, the head of Instagram, means that 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.800 eighty million people within Russia will be cut off from 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:42.720 each other. I personally think that that statement goes a 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.200 little far, because presumably Russians are using other means of 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.239 staying in touch. Plus it ignores the use of tools 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.640 like VPNs virtual private networks in order to get around 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:57.240 things like regional bands. But you know, it really does 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.240 represent a pretty major move on the part of the 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.520 Russian government meant. Now, the reason for the ban, Russian 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:06.360 officials have said is that Meta quote made an unprecedented 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.680 decision by allowing the posting of information containing calls for 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:15.000 violence against Russian citizens on its social networks Facebook and Instagram. 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:19.360 End quote. Now, in this case, those calls for violence 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:24.160 refer mainly to posts that urge Ukrainians to defend themselves 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:28.400 against Russian soldiers. Meta reps have said that they made 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.800 the determination that these messages should be protected under freedom 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.120 of speech because they are framed within the context of 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.640 self defense and fighting back against an invasion, as opposed to, 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:45.200 you know, calling out attacks on a people for some 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:48.680 other reason. So the Russian government has been hard at 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:51.960 work presenting the invasion in as positive a light as 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:55.720 possible back in Russia, and my guess is that this 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.280 became increasingly difficult as social networks sort of bypassed Ussian 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:04.640 propaganda channels. Also, um, I just want to say it's 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.839 pretty darn hypocritical to hear Russian officials declare Meta a 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:13.840 platform that facilitates and encourages extremism, because well, we all 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:17.240 know that Russian operatives have long been at work leveraging 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:21.400 social networking platforms in general and Facebook in particular in 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:25.719 an effort to push radical extremist ideologies in other countries 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:31.200 and to disrupt their, you know, political processes, particularly here 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.279 in the United States. So yeah, Meta is kind of 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:38.440 awful in that way, but it always has been in 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.240 Russia has depended upon it in the past, So you know, 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.840 I guess, I guess there are no good guys in 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.920 that particular scenario. Now, one thing that Meta is doing 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:55.080 that arguably isn't terrible is it is offering to educate 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:59.880 influencers and politicians in Australia in advance of an upcome 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.040 election this May, and the goal is to help folks 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.640 stop the spread of misinformation on social networking platforms, which 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.520 is a nice change of pace really, seeing as how 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:15.760 misinformation can very quickly spread online, going straight through influential 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.960 people and then going out to the rest of us. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:23.680 So these influencers and politicians are are going through kind 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.480 of a boot camp training session on how to spot 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.800 and prevent misinformation. And this is on top of other 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.120 measures designed to scrub the tarnish off of Facebook when 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:38.240 it comes to issues like potential election interference. The company 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.600 also said it will require full disclosure of the names 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.240 of organizations and folks who pay to run political advertising 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.600 on the platform in Australia, so there won't be any 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.920 allowance for like mystery money ads being run on there. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.720 They will all have to be you know, have some 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.280 name there to hold accountability for those ads. Candidates in 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:06.160 the election will be required to activate two factor authentication 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:09.320 in order to avoid the possibility of someone hacking a 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:13.880 candidates profile or page. Also removes that whole plausible deniability 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:17.920 thing where maybe someone posts something that ends up blowing 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.000 up in their face that they can't say, oh, I 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.280 was hacked if they're they've got like two factor authentication active. 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.360 I mean, technically, if you're really determined hacker and you 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.360 get hold of someone's phone, two factor authentication is still 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:35.559 something you could crack, but it's less likely. Company representatives 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.800 say that Meta isn't taking any political side itself, so 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.040 it's not favoring one side over the other. Instead, it's 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.360 opening up these tools for all to use in an 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:48.240 effort to assure a fair process. Hopefully we'll see similar 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:52.439 strategies deployed around the world. Due to pressure from Google. 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:59.400 The Android app Advanced has shut down. You might not 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.760 know what Vanced is. You might be wondering what the 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.800 heck I'm talking about. I mean I I certainly didn't 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:09.800 know what it was before today, But Vanced v A 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:13.280 n C E D was an app that let users 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.840 view YouTube videos without all those ads and without having 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:21.040 to subscribe to YouTube to do it, so you could 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.600 actually bypass ads using the Vanced app. Google sent Vanced 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.560 a cease and desist letter and the company announced it 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.720 would shut down operations. So the current Vanced app will 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.080 continue to work for the time being, at least for 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.280 those who have already installed it. So it's not like 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.600 Google went into everyone's phones and wiped the app. Clear, 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:46.360 It's still on phones. However, it's just a matter of 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.520 time before, you know, changes in operating systems and stuff 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.280 eventually render that app inoperable, Like eventually they were going 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.840 to be incompatibilities and the app just won't work anymore. 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.560 But for the time being, it still works. And on 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.280 the one hand, I totally get it. I mean, YouTube, 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.360 when you really boil it down, is an advertising platform, 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.640 just like Google Search is really an advertising platform. Facebook 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.400 is really an advertising platform, and when you offer folks 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.360 away around advertising and one that does not involve paying 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:23.600 into a subscription instead. That kind of undermines the whole business. 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.200 But on the other hand, it does sound like Vanced 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.520 offered up a lot of features that YouTube just doesn't include, 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.280 but sounded kind of nifty, like it would be really 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:35.880 neat to see, you know, if YouTube had instead acquired 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:39.720 Advanced and then incorporated some of those features, that would 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:43.040 have been neat. And I wonder if Google would have 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:46.360 come after Advanced if the app had not allowed users 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:51.680 to bypass ads. Uh maybe or maybe not. Google has 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.560 been cracking down on apps and services that tap into 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.840 you know, Google databases and libraries like YouTube's library of 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:01.880 content without you know, getting actual permission to be able 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.079 to do that, And uh yeah, it's entirely possible that 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:08.680 Google still would have come after Vanced even without the 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:13.080 add thing. But anyway, farewell, Vanced, I never knew. Ye. 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.880 We have more news to cover, but first, let's take 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:27.440 a quick break. A restaurant group in Florida has filed 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.600 a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company has circumvented 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.280 restaurants with an order online option that more often than 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:40.240 not takes users to food delivery services rather than to 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.800 the restaurants owned and operated site. And here's where we 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.959 get into some of the big issues with food delivery services, 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.400 and one of those is that restaurants often see little 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.760 if any profit when working with these food delivery services 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.640 because the services take a hefty cut of any order, 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.559 up to like thirty of the order in some cases, 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:08.080 and so a lot of restaurants would obviously much preferred 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:10.720 if you would just order directly from them and not 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:15.240 use these delivery services. The problem is most restaurants can't 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:19.719 afford to employ a fleet of delivery drivers, so this 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:24.320 limits customers to either dining in at those restaurants or 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.160 going with take out, maybe even curbside pickup options, but 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:31.640 obviously that's not as convenient or you know, in the 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.200 case of areas that might have a high COVID out break, 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:37.720 it might not be particularly safe, particularly when we're talking 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.200 about dining in. So if these allegations are true, and 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.800 if Google has been steering visitors to food delivery services 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.040 and away from the restaurants, clearly that could really hurt 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:53.160 the restaurant in question. Google, however, disputes the claims and 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.320 says that it works with restaurants to incorporate in house 0:12:56.480 --> 0:13:01.240 online ordering systems so that the restaurants system peers alongside 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:05.840 all the food delivery services. Google also said that clicking 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.160 on the online order option really just takes users to 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.800 a page where they can choose among the various online 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:16.560 ordering services, which would presumably also include the restaurant's own 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.440 options if it has one. Now, this gets a little 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.200 bit more complicated because a lot of restaurants will rely 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:27.120 on third party companies to handle online orders. And that's understandable. 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.560 I mean, it's hard enough just running a restaurant without 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:34.240 also handling, you know, an online portal to your ordering system. 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:38.320 So a lot of restaurants will end up partnering with 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.200 a third party company that will handle the online order part. 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:45.240 But those services might show up as something unfamiliar to 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:47.800 visitors when they're looking to order a meal. Right instead 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:51.559 of it's saying, you know, you know, Joe's restaurant, it 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:55.120 might have the name of the third party service that 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.360 handles the online orders, and you might think, well, I 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:01.280 don't even know what that is, and you skip it. Anyway. 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.400 The Restaurant Group claims that Google's services amount to a 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.160 bait and switch that harms restaurants, and Google meanwhile saying 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:11.600 it's taking steps to make sure that restaurants are fairly represented. 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.760 Uh my big takeaway pun intended was that if there 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.800 is an option to order directly from a restaurant, it's 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.560 probably best to do that if you want the restaurant 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.600 to you know, stick around, and in many cases it 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.040 will likely be cheaper than ordering through a delivery service 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.240 as well. Uh, this is a tough one. I mean, 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.880 there's so much going on here because you also you 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.400 have to feel for the gig economy workers who are 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.880 actually doing the driving and delivering. You know, it's not 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.680 their fault that the service they work for is taking 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.040 this big chunk out of the orders that are going 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:53.120 to restaurants. So yeah, complicated stuff. Meanwhile, Google employees are 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:58.000 reportedly unhappy with the company. That's according to an employee 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.480 survey that Google conducts every year, and it indicates that 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.600 more employees than last year feel they aren't being compensated 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:09.280 properly for their jobs. The company also scored poorly when 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:11.760 it came to employees views on how well the company 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:16.160 executes its mission. Now, the mission itself and the company's 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:20.480 core values got very high marks. Employees feel good about those, 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.000 So this kind of sounds to me like a lot 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.720 of Google employees like the talk, but they feel like 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:30.280 the walk just ain't measuring up. This also comes at 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.880 a time when the company is moving to bring employees 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:35.960 back into the office for at least three days a week, 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.160 and it's a tough message to Google management, right, I mean, 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.840 retaining employees has become a bit of a challenge ever 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:47.160 since the pandemic hit. I'm sure we've all heard about 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:51.040 the Great Retirement, in which there's this trend of folks 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:53.880 who are choosing to resign and then live off savings 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.800 rather than continue to work, and tech companies have had 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.120 to offer more competitive pack pages in an effort to 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:05.280 attract and keep talent because there's a smaller talent pool 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.400 and it's easy to for them to jump ship. It's 0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:11.480 actually starting to remind me a bit of the heyday 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.920 of the dot com era, where you would see talent 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.160 going from company to company just following the best compensation 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:21.720 or benefits packages, and those days, those were usually tied 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.680 to stocks, which ultimately proved to be a huge mistake 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.920 because tons of dot com companies went under after the 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.880 bubble burst and those stocks became worthless. But according to CNBC, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.880 more than half of Google employees surveyed felt that their 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:41.080 compensation wasn't competitive. At Google, slightly more than half of 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.359 all employees still called the compensation quote fair and equitable 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.280 end quote. So I'm guessing some employees are miffed that 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.480 various executives and leaders at Google recently received pay raises 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.280 and bonuses, and the company itself is making serious bank 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.800 its revenue is through the roof right, and and yet 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.600 the head of compensation, Frank Wagner, said last December that 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:07.080 Google would not be issuing a blanket raise to help 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:12.080 employees address issues with inflation. Not a great look, particularly 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:13.879 as we appear to be at a turning point in 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:18.120 America where stuff like employee organization and unions and group 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:22.800 negotiations are really starting to gain traction switching gears. The 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.240 Israeli government confirmed reports recently that it was the target 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:30.359 of a massive distributed denial of service or di DOS attack. 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.040 In case you're not familiar with that term, it refers 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.960 to a kind of attack where hackers direct a bunch 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:40.680 of computers. I mean, we're potentially talking thousands or even 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:44.320 tens of thousands of computers to send messages to a 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:48.480 target or selection of targets in an attempt to overwhelm 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:52.320 those targets and cause them to underperform or even crash. 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:56.080 So the analogy I like to use is imagine that 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.520 you are absolutely required to answer your doorbell. If your 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:02.440 doorbell rings, you have no choice. You have to answer it. 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.679 But you also have to do your taxes, So you 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.800 sit down, you start doing your taxes. The doorbell rings, 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.000 so you stop your work. You head on over to 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.880 the door and you open it, but there's no one there, 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:16.359 so you close the door, you turn around, you start 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.640 walking back so you can get back to doing your taxes, 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.399 and the doorbell rings again, so you turn back around 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:23.320 and you have to go to the door and open 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.719 it and there's still no one there. Now repeat that 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:27.880 millions of times, and you see how you would never 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:31.239 get any work done well. Adidas attack is kind of 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:34.440 doing the same thing, only with electronic messages rather than 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:38.520 a ding dong ditch approach. While there is no confirmation 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.560 as of yet about who is behind the attack, the 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:45.320 general suspicion falls on Iranian cyber Crime Group. This is 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:50.359 according to the Jerusalem Post. The attack affected numerous Israeli 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.520 government websites as well as some media outlets in Israel, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:56.760 and the Israeli government has called for a state of 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:00.120 emergency and launched an investigation to determine if the attack 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.480 went beyond just a denial of service attack and is 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:07.919 looking to see if perhaps the hackers access to any 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:12.439 you know data or stoleny data as well. Tesla's senior 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:16.000 directory of public Policy, Rowan Patel, sent a letter to 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:20.240 US Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal earlier this month. 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.080 This was in response to inquiries that these senators had 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:29.600 previously made regarding quote significant concerns end quote about Tesla's 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.960 autopilot and full service Drive or f s D features. Now, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:35.919 if you've been listening to tech stuff for a while, 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.600 you have undoubtedly heard me complain about the naming conventions 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.400 that Tesla uses, because I feel they give a false 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:48.479 expectation about what they're those features can do, and to me, 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:51.840 it does really feel like a bait and switch. I mean, 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.199 I think if you call it full self driving, that 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.639 kind of suggests that the car can fully drive itself. 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.320 I mean, I don't think I'm being unreasonable about that, 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.280 But according to Patel, that's not really the intent. Because 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:09.520 Patel actually refers to both autopilot and FSD as level 0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:13.959 two on the scale of autonomy. So the autonomy scale 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.960 goes from zero to five. Zero is a vehicle that 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.959 has no autonomous features whatsoever. Five would be a vehicle 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:25.639 that is fully autonomous and capable of operating in any 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:29.560 environment or in any situation where a human driver could 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.720 also operate. So level two, as you might imagine, is 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:36.399 fairly low down on that scale, and again it raises 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:40.160 the question, if it's just leveled two, why call it 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:45.199 full self driving anyway. Patel's letters stated that these modes 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:50.240 provide definitive safety benefits and cited metrics that appear to 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.600 show that Tesla drivers who are using these types of 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:57.240 features are far less likely to get into accidents than 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:01.280 other drivers who are driving other types of vehicles. Critics 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:05.040 then complained that Tesla was using different data sets to 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:09.120 show this, that the data for other drivers included all 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:13.320 sorts of situations, from driving on neighborhood streets to cruising 0:21:13.320 --> 0:21:16.640 on highways, while Tesla was focusing really on highway operation 0:21:16.680 --> 0:21:21.120 because that's where you can enable Autopilot and FSD. In addition, 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:25.040 the Senators have reportedly not been terribly impressed with the letter, 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:29.280 saying that Tesla is really just deflecting, so it doesn't 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.399 seem like they are they are buying into Tesla's line. 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.280 We've got a few more stories, but first, let's take 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:45.880 a quick break. Have you ever looked at your bill 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.520 from your Internet service provider and thought that's weird. Sure 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:53.800 are a lot of extra fees built into this thing. Well, 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:57.600 Carl Bode recently wrote an article for tech Dirt titled 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.600 big I s p s avoided twenty twenty law banning 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:06.399 predatory modem rental fees by simply calling them something else. 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:10.560 So that headline pretty much kind of spells out the story. 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.800 So Bode rights about I s P companies. They got 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:17.600 in trouble because they were charging an equipment rental fee 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:20.439 to customers who you know, actually owned the equipment they 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:23.800 were using. They weren't actually renting anything from the I 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:26.840 s p s. So it's pretty standard practice here in 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.160 the United States for I s p s to lump 0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:34.480 in a modem slash router with your service, and for 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.760 that the customer pays a rental fee. On a monthly basis, 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:44.240 but customers can actually use their own modem and router 0:22:44.800 --> 0:22:47.240 and register that with their I s P. I mean, 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:50.280 you can do that, you don't have to use the 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:53.800 one provided by the the I s P itself. But 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:56.720 then they found many of them that they were still 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.560 being charged a rental fee, and being charged to rent 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:02.359 something that you're not renting is you know, not legal. 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.480 And Congress finally kind of pushed back on I s 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.119 p s about it by passing a law that expressly 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:13.399 forbid that kind of practice. But then, as Boat explains, 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:15.240 the I s p s found kind of a way 0:23:15.280 --> 0:23:19.560 to recontextualize those fees and pump them back into bills. 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:24.359 They just called them other stuff. And Bod's point is 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:27.399 that this approach lets I s p s advertise a 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:32.760 lower rate because the base rate that they're charging that 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:36.040 can be really low and it can be very steady, 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:38.640 so they can say, like, we we charge the lowest 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:42.960 rates you you have a base rate that is really competitive. However, 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:45.480 then they get all these hidden fees that they throw 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:49.920 in that boost the expense, and that's when your bill 0:23:49.960 --> 0:23:52.960 starts going up and up and up, and often these 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.200 mysterious vs don't seem to, you know, correlate with anything 0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:59.040 other than lining the pockets of I s P shareholders 0:23:59.040 --> 0:24:03.480 and executives. Anyway, bodes piece is well worth a read. 0:24:03.720 --> 0:24:06.560 He gets pretty salty about it in the article, but 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:09.520 it can't exactly blame him if you want to read 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:12.639 it again. That is on tech Dirt, and the article 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.840 is called big I s P s avoided law banning 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:20.760 predatory modem rental fees by simply calling them something else. 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:24.120 Check it out now. It's not often that my tech 0:24:24.200 --> 0:24:27.399 news segment includes a bit about Snoop Dogg. Uh. Not 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:30.720 too long ago, Snoop Dogg acquired the famous death Row 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:34.200 Records music label, which published music from legends like Dr 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:37.159 Dre and Tupac Shakur and of course the d O 0:24:37.280 --> 0:24:40.840 double G himself. But now fans are becoming frustrated because 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:44.120 a lot of music from many of death Rows artists 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.399 has been disappearing from various streaming services like Spotify and 0:24:48.480 --> 0:24:52.000 Apple Music. And this, paired with Snoop's announcement that death 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:54.280 Row will be an n f T label, has a 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:57.439 lot of folks ticked off in f T s. If 0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:01.240