1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'mond executive producer with I Heart Radio and 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: how the tech are you? It is time for the 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: tech news or Tuesday, December six, two thousand two. Here 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: in the United States, the FBI is investigating a pair 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: of what it calls intentional attacks on electrical substations in 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 1: North Carolina. So over the weekend, someone caused damage to 9 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: these two substations and they knocked out power to around 10 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: forty five thousand people. That's more than half the population 11 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: of More County where the attacks occurred. The act has 12 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: brought increased attention to the United States vulnerable power grid, 13 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: something that lots of folks have been calling out for 14 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: quite some time in the past. The Wall Street Journal 15 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: published pieces that cited unnamed US security officials who said 16 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: that Russian and Chinese hackers, possibly acting with state backing, 17 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,680 Speaker 1: that is, the government's funding these hacking groups, had injected 18 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: malware into the US power grid system. That's an accusation 19 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: that China said was completely baseless. But in this particular case, 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: the attacks were physical rather than computerized, and it highlights 21 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: the fact that many electrical substations are located in remote 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: areas with limited protection. These attacks came about a week 23 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: after the Department of Homeland Security reissued a warning that 24 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: power grid infrastructure could be attempting target for domestic extremists. 25 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: So that's about all we know right now. I'm sure 26 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: I will follow up on this story as more information 27 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: becomes available. Late last week, Meta published a policy paper 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:00,639 Speaker 1: that argues against lawmakers regulating the metaverse. So the paper 29 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: lays out a case that says laws already in existence 30 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: will apply to the metaverse, meaning there's not really any 31 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: need to draft new legislation specifically regarding the mataverse because 32 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: that kind of regulation could potentially inhibit innovation. And this 33 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: is a pretty standard argument we see from companies that 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: any attempts to regulate an industry will reduce innovation and 35 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: inhibit development. We've heard it in the cable industry, We've 36 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: heard it in software, We've heard it pretty much everywhere, 37 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: And from a certain perspective, you can understand that right, 38 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: particularly in a world where the government's understanding of technology, 39 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 1: specifically the US government in this case, tends to lag 40 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: well behind the technology itself, so then you end up 41 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: with laws that are often drafted on misconceptions, misunderstanding that 42 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: kind of thing, and things get messy. But on the 43 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 1: other hand, we've also seen countless examples of big tech 44 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: companies enacting policies that were at times at least harmful 45 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: to users, either directly or indirectly, and there's definitely no 46 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: reason to believe that things will be any different with 47 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: the development of the metaverse. Of course, you could argue 48 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: that regulating the metaverse right now would be premature anyway, 49 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: because we're years away from anything we would call an 50 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: actual metaverse implementation, and there are a lot of people, 51 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: including myself, who question if folks will really participate in 52 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: the metaverse to an appreciable extent. But then there's the 53 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: problem that development of the metaverse is going to happen gradually. 54 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: There'll be a lot of little steps. It might be 55 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: one of those things where only in retrospect when we say, ah, 56 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: this is what I would point to as the birth 57 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: of the metaverse, and at the time it may be 58 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: harder to see, and if laws lag behind, we could 59 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: have a lot of problems until the law finally catches up. 60 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: So this is a complicated issue. I will say that 61 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: Meta clearly has a vested interest in being able to 62 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: pursue the company's vision of what the metaverse will be 63 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: with as few limitations as possible, So it's not like 64 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: it's coming from this from an objective background. And certainly 65 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: investors don't want to see more obstacles put in the 66 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: way because Meta is already spending billions of dollars each 67 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: year trying to develop this thing that won't manifest for 68 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: several more years. So yeah, complicated issue. In other Meta 69 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: political news, the company is threatening to remove news from 70 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,239 Speaker 1: Facebook should a piece of legislation make it through US Congress. Now, 71 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: this is very similar to a situation that happened in 72 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: Australia last year. So at the heart of the matter 73 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: is the fact that news outlets want a share of 74 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: Facebook's revenue that is generated from users engaging with the 75 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: outlets content on Facebook, and the law would make it 76 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: easier for these various forms of news media to negotiate 77 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: collectively with companies like Google and Meta. Meta does not 78 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: like that idea one bit and essentially said, hey, if 79 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: you let these companies negotiate collectively, we're just going to 80 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: remove news articles from Facebook News will not be allowed 81 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: on Facebook anymore. Andy Stone, spokesperson for Meta, says that 82 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: the company provides a valuable tool for news outlets because 83 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: they get benefits and added traffic and subscriptions from Facebook users. 84 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,239 Speaker 1: But the News Media Alliance argues that some publishers, such 85 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 1: as local newspapers, are having their content posted to Meta 86 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: and they're not receiving any revenue in return, and that's 87 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: driving more and more of these smaller companies out of 88 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: business now. As I mentioned, last year, we saw a 89 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: similar situation in Australia, and there too, Facebook threatened to 90 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: pull all news feeds, and for a while it did 91 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: shut down news feeds to Facebook. But since then things 92 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: have entered into a more stable environment with media outlets 93 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: able to negotiate with Meta. So I guess the world 94 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: didn't come to an end after all. A subset of 95 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: recently laid off Meta employees say they're not getting the 96 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: severance package that they had been promised. These employees were 97 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: part of what is called the Sorcer Development Program. So 98 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: this hires on employees, typically employees from what the company 99 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:17,719 Speaker 1: calls diverse backgrounds for a short term. It's like a 100 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: twelve year term with the potential of moving into a 101 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: career position at the company by the end of the apprenticeship. 102 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: So they are not contract employees. They are instead short 103 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: term employees who received the same sort of benefits as 104 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: a full time employee would. It's just that their continued 105 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: employment isn't guaranteed at the conclusion of that twelve month program. Anyway, 106 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: people in the program were among the eleven thousand recently 107 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: laid off at Meta, and they believe that they are 108 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: entitled to the same severance package as full time employees are, 109 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: since otherwise they get the exact same benefits as full 110 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: time employees. But they say instead they're receiving much less. 111 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: Instead of sixteen weeks of base pay and health care 112 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: for six months, they say they're receiving eight weeks of 113 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: base pay and three months of COBRA. The group has 114 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: sent a letter to Meta executives, and I have to 115 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: say it's a very polite letter. It suggests that maybe 116 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: this was just like a clerical error instead of something 117 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: that was being done on purpose. Back in March, I 118 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: had a representative from Meta's oversight board joined the show 119 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: to talk about what that group does, and one thing 120 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: it does is issue recommendations on how Meta can draft 121 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: and enforce policies in a responsible, accountable, and equitable way. 122 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: And this week, the Oversight Board is recommending that Meta 123 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: overhaul its policy regarding v I P accounts on Facebook 124 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: and Instagram because Meta seems to follow a kind of 125 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: George orwell animal farm approach. You know, all accounts are equal, 126 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: but some accounts are more equal than others. So what 127 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: I'm saying is that Meta treats accounts that belonged to 128 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: important people or important businesses differently than the accounts that 129 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: belong to the rest of us. These important accounts are 130 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: given a lot more leeway. They can bend or break 131 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: Meta's rules without Meta responding to the situation, and yeah, 132 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: that is inherently unfair. It actually has an official name 133 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: within Meta. The policy is called cross check. If someone 134 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: is thought to be of commercial value to Meta, that 135 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: being their presence on Meta drives revenue to the company, 136 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: they get a longer leash than the average user does. 137 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: The Oversight Board recommends that Meta change this to make 138 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: the program more equitable and transparent. The board actually made 139 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: thirty two recommendations in total. Now here's the thing. Meta 140 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: is in no way required to adopt any or all 141 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: of those recommendations. That can ignore every single one if 142 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: they want. They have no obligations to take on these recommendations. However, 143 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: they are obligated to make a formal response to these 144 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: recommendations within sixty days, although Meta has already asked for 145 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: and received an extension, so it'll be ninety days. In 146 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: this case, I am not holding my breath that we're 147 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: gonna see any massive changes, even though this policy is 148 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: a real bad look for the company. The Communication Workers 149 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: of America or c m A say that Microsoft has 150 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: chosen to recognize voluntarily a union of around three video 151 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: game testers with Zinimax Studios. That's the parent company of Bethesda, 152 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: among other companies. Bethesda's responsible for the Fallout and Elder 153 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: Scrolls video game series you know, Skyrim. Anyway, when employees 154 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: vote to unionize, companies can either recognize the union and 155 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: thus begin to work together on things like employee negotiations 156 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: and such, or companies might resist until some larger authority 157 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 1: like the US National Labor Relations Board gets involved. And 158 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: while Microsoft is currently engaged in acquiring Activision Blizzard, which 159 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,679 Speaker 1: is a company that has resist employee attempts to organize 160 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: multiple times in the past, Microsoft has gone a different 161 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: route in this case. I find it a little surprising 162 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: because Microsoft is also a company that, at least traditionally 163 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: has not been super keen on employee organization efforts. But 164 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 1: this is good news for testers at Zimax Studios. Okay, 165 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: we've got some more news to go through before we 166 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: get to that, let's take a quick break. We're back. 167 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or t s MC, has 168 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: long been a major player in the semiconductor fabrication industry, 169 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: but political pressures have an impact on the company's business, 170 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 1: with the U S imposing sanctions against China that sometimes 171 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: also affect Taiwan. T SMC has been building a fabrication 172 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: facility here in the United States. It's not yet open, 173 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: it's still being built out, but now Nicka Asia reports 174 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: that companies Apple and Nvidia have already signed up to 175 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: be customers to buy chips produced from this facility. Moving 176 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: more semiconductor fabrication to the US has been a big 177 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: priority for the Biden administration, and many have pointed to 178 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: an increased domestic production as a huge step towards ensuring 179 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 1: national security and productivity. Business Insider reports that Amazon is 180 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: launching an ad verification program as part of its Shopper Panel, 181 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,600 Speaker 1: that is, Amazon's invitation only panel of Amazon customers, who, 182 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: in return for sharing information about themselves and their purchases, 183 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: received small incentives, typically around ten bucks a month for 184 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: their participation. The new ad verification element will invite shop 185 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: Panel members to earn two additional bucks per month, and 186 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:48,880 Speaker 1: in return, the users consent to Amazon monitoring their traffic 187 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: data to see stuff like what time of day they're 188 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: browsing the web, how much time they're spending there, what 189 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: ads are they seeing, where did they see them. The 190 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: program covers not just Amazon's ads, but i'll a third 191 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,959 Speaker 1: party ads, And personally, I think privacy is worth more 192 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: than two or even twelve bucks a month, but it's 193 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: up to each person in the program to decide whether 194 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: or not it's worthwhile. I think there are some privacy 195 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: concerns that folks should take into account before they make 196 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: any sort of decision. Wired James Jackson has a great article. 197 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: It is titled Tesla's Berlin Hub can't hire enough people 198 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,679 Speaker 1: or keep them. It's a great read, but I want 199 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: to give you some key points that are made in 200 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: the article. One is that Tesla's reputation in Germany, at 201 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:40,959 Speaker 1: least among engineers and workers, isn't exactly stellar. The piece 202 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: explains that Tesla's compensation packages are below the industry standard 203 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: in Germany and that lots of employees will leave Tesla 204 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: in order to go work somewhere else that has better 205 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: compensation and benefits. There's also a general shortage of talent 206 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: in the auto industry in Germany, and there's no shortage 207 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: of job openings, so it's difficult for pretty much anyone 208 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: to reach a fully staffed status, let alone a company 209 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: that is getting a reputation for not compensating its employees, 210 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: as well as others in the area. Making matters more 211 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 1: difficult is that testless facility requirement that employees be fluent 212 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: in German, because this discourages otherwise qualified individuals from other 213 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: parts of Europe, namely Poland, from seeking employment there. Former 214 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,079 Speaker 1: employees also say that they experienced sudden and dramatic changes 215 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,840 Speaker 1: to their job descriptions, requiring them to put in more 216 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: hours at different times of the day throughout the week, 217 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: and such changes were overly disruptive and it kind of 218 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: sounds like this Tesla facility is experiencing issues very similar 219 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: to other Elon Musk operations, and this is one place 220 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: where that kind of thing really just isn't going over 221 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:50,080 Speaker 1: very well. Recently, I covered how Neuralink, another Elon Musk company, 222 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: was aiming to implant a brain computer interface or b 223 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: c I into a human brain within the next six months. 224 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,920 Speaker 1: Now the US government is investigating Neuralink for animal well 225 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: welfare violations. UH. Some employees have indicated that at least 226 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: in some cases, rushed tests have resulted in needless animal 227 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: suffering and death. That while animal testing maybe a necessary 228 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: step to develop b c I chips to make them 229 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: safe for humans, the pressure to carry out tests quickly 230 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 1: has led to mistakes, and those mistakes have had cruel 231 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: effects on animal tests subjects, and it also necessitates that 232 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: those tests have to be then repeated, because a mistake 233 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: means you can't rely upon any data that was generated 234 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: by the test, so you've got to scrap it and 235 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: do it again, which influs more harm on animals. So 236 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: Reuter's reports that the company has killed around fift animals 237 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: since two thousand eighteen, which includes like monkeys and pigs 238 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: and sheep, but Reuter's also says that's merely an estimate 239 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: because neuralalink doesn't actually document the number of animals that 240 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: are killed in tests. Finally, the U. S Secret Service 241 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: says that hackers, potentially with the backing of the Chinese government, 242 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: stole at least twenty million dollars in tentaiver COVID relief benefits. 243 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: Hacker group called APT forty one is responsible. It's a 244 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: known hacker group with ties to the Chinese government, and 245 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: it effectively took US taxpayer dollars that were intended to 246 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: help people who were impacted by COVID in the United States, 247 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: particularly those who became unemployed. And it's possible that this 248 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: problem extends well beyond APT forty one, and that foreign 249 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: backed pandemic fraud operations could be pretty darn common. The 250 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: Secret Service has only gone so far as to say 251 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: it is pursuing more than one thousand ongoing investigations relating 252 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: to fraud and public benefits programs. So that's not specifically COVID. 253 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: That could be lots of other stuff, but it just 254 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: shows that this is of a wide ranging issue. It 255 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: actually sounds like the fraud might not have been too 256 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,320 Speaker 1: hard to pull off. According to the Labor Department Office 257 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: of Inspector General, four states in the United States, remember 258 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: we got fifty of them. Four states saw more than 259 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: fort of pandemic benefits paid out improperly. Like at that point, 260 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: you're getting pretty close to a coin flip situation as 261 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: to whether or not the tax money is actually going 262 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 1: to the people who need it or not. And that 263 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: is unthinkable. It's a really bad situation because the US 264 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 1: employees a mishmash of different computer systems, and having one 265 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: computer system compromise can be enough to cause massive problems 266 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: because you do still have some interconnectivity between different systems 267 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: throughout the United States. And the solution typically is, well, 268 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: you kind of gotta take everything down and rebuild it 269 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: with a new system, which is a huge undertaking. Only that, 270 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: but you have to get approval and funding. It's just 271 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: the sort of thing that is not likely to happen 272 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: because it is such a huge job to do, right, 273 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: You've got a lot of inertia built up in existing systems, 274 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: and so it's not likely that state and federal governments 275 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: are going to be able to do that. And meanwhile, 276 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: we know that many of these systems have been compromised, 277 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: so it is a really bad situation. Okay, well, that's 278 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: it for the news for Tuesday, December six two. I'll 279 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: be back later this week to give new news update. 280 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: Hopefully there'll be some fun good news in there, because 281 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,200 Speaker 1: you know, I don't like being all doom and gloom either. 282 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: I just report on what's breaking. That's kind of it's 283 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: it's up to the world to be a little bit 284 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: of a better place, I guess. But yeah, well we're 285 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: gonna look for some good news earlier this week anyway. 286 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: If you have any suggestions for topics for tech stuff, 287 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 1: remember I'm doing an into the year wrap up pretty soon. 288 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 1: You've got any suggestions for stories I should make sure 289 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: I include in my wrap up, let me know. One 290 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: way to do that is to download the I Heart 291 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: radio app. It's free to download and use. Navigate over 292 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: to tech stuff just put tech stuff in the search field. 293 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 1: You'll pop on over there. You'll see that there's this 294 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:16,959 Speaker 1: little microphone icon. If you click on that, you can 295 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: leave a voice message up to thirty seconds in length. 296 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: Let me know that way. If you would prefer not 297 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: to do that, you can also get in touch with 298 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: me via Twitter. To handle for the show is tech 299 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: Stuff H. S W and I'll talk to you again 300 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: really soon. Tech Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 301 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i 302 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:46,080 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 303 00:18:46,119 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.